Guild Wars 2

This question has been addressed before: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/pvp/wuvwuv/Willing-to-share-WvW-details/first#post1190009

MikeFerguson.8921:

DonRobeez.3560:

- How does siege despawning work?

Unbuilt siege sites that are placed by players will go away if someone does not bring supply to them within 10 minutes. Anyone that adds supply to a site should reset that timer.

Completed siege weapons will despawn if they haven’t been manned for 30 minutes.

Why do we have to do this? Each weapon takes up some small amount of resources on the server because we register a few pieces of data for each weapon in the field. One thing we absolutely cannot do is remove the timer entirely or else we have a situation where someone can put down a ton of weapons that could potentially be around forever (or until matches reset) and it would start to cause bad things to happen to the server. We also use some placement restrictions to help prevent there being too many siege weapons on the field, I’ll explain those more in the next question.

It’s admittedly not an ideal system but it is something we are required to do to keep the game running as smoothly as possible. We’d like to make it more obvious that the weapons have some sort of despawn timer since it is a completely hidden mechanic, but we don’t have a way to expose that timer to players yet.

DonRobeez.3560:

- Do we have a siege limit? If so, what happens if we cross it?

There are two basic hard limits to siege placement.

There is a limit to how many siege weapons can be placed within a certain radius of each other. We tried to set it to be fairly lenient, right now you can set 5 weapons (sites or completed weapons) within any 1000 unit radius. If you try to place a new site somewhere within a radius that already has hit it’s limit, the placement will fail but you should still have the weapon bundle in your hands so you can try to place it somewhere else.

There is also a hard limit to how many weapons can be placed on the map. This map limit is a bit harder to explain as it is based on some internal concepts that don’t translate well to laymans terms, but basically anything that is not a ram counts towards one ‘limit’ for the purpose of this explanation and each team can have up to 100 of these types of weapons out at any time per map. Each team can also have up to 100 rams placed on a map.

^ What killcannon said.

It would be helpful if we knew what server you are currently on, zones you are frequenting, etc. So far as shopping around for a new server goes, take advantage of the guesting feature before you commit the gems to it!

As a Mesmer, I’m constantly amazed at how many people go after my downed clone. Can’t you see the huge red arrow hovering over me?!

The downed state should absolutely be reworked. Specifically to make my character die from laughter when someone stomps my clone.

(Loot/exp/spvp points would not be given when this happens.)

I seem to remember a dev commenting somewhere that they were working on the Mesmer speed issue, but I could have been hallucinating. Also, “working on” only lends the weakest hope for an actual fix.

I typically run focus + blink in WvW. I typically keep up OK. When I have my commander tag on, I find the group buffs my swiftness plenty.

The pull on the focus is awesome. My server was blue for a while, and I could pull people off the bridge at Langor Gulch in EB from below. They’d lose about half of their health from the fall and panic, which made for easy pickings

That said, I wish I wasn’t forced to use a focus, because the pistol is great, and the stealth on the torch is also very useful. Alas, I save those for sPvP.

Ah, this is a difficult one to answer. Yes, the mesmer is viable as a ranged class, but the mesmer really shines when using both.

One of the problems with being only ranged in WvW is shatters. Shattering is our class mechanic, and some builds rely on them heavily (personally, I go shatter happy) while others use them sparingly. In WvW, using the shatter at range means that the illusions need to run to their target. As illusions are fragile (especially clones) many of them don’t make to their target before being killed. That said, there are a few illusions that “spawn” at the target instead of next to us, so that diminishes the problem a little.

So far as viability for all ranged, it can be done. The Staff is a wonderful weapon that relies on condition damage, and the GS is a solid staple that relies on power. The scepter is a mid-range option, but it sucks in WvW. For a ranged build you’ll want to go with Glamour or Phantasm builds. (See Fay’s list stickied at the top of the forum) Carrion gear would make a Staff/GS build work while also getting some survivability.

tl;dr A range-only mesmer is absolutely viable, definitely effective, and very limiting to what the class is capable of as a whole.

I think the bug here is that you took Cannon Mastery.

Just giving you a hard time. Good to know about this! Any chance you can recreate it and give us a screenshot?

I’ll second the posts about stun breaker/condition removal (though sometimes I ditch my condition removal for portal/veil/feedback/etc.)

So far as catching people or getting away from them, consider a focus. When you are chasing, use the pull from temporal curtain and then blink/ileap to them. When you’re being chased, gain the swiftness from the temportal curtain, and the use the pull when those chasing you are near it. (I’ve mapped the C key to look behind me. Can’t remember which control option that is, though.)

Also, when you stealth, most people assume you keep running in a straight line.

A few thoughts for balance/functionality:

This skill is intentionally two-steps, one for cripple, one for immobilize. Given how much damage Mesmers can dish out at close range, the target needs the opportunity to at least dodge out of the way if caught by the cripply. So, I would be opposed to having ourselves being the one that leaps in and immediately immobilizes.

The clone also serves as a visual warning. Having the clone spawn at the target would eliminate this cue and unintentionally buffs the skill. It’s a great skill already, we just need it to function.

I support hoyasaxa’s second suggestion for the fix. Have the clone be a gap closer instead of a sprinter would keep iLeap balanced.

Edit: Just realized it’s probably not a gap closer now because clones are only programmed to press 1 every so many seconds. If all sword clones need to act the same way, giving them a gap closer could be difficult. Phantasms behave different though, but phantasms currently don’t exceed more than one per weapon bar. (I assume main-hand weaps intentionally don’t have them because all the off-hand weaps do.)

I run a 10/20/0/10/30 build with mostly Carrion gear. (Would’ve preferred Rabid, but I don’t have a lot of condition removal, so vitality was more important than toughness.) Sw/Focus + Staff.

As a Commander, I tried to avoid being too squishy. And if I’m properly caffeinated, I can be here, there, and everywhere when charging into battle. Having the 10 points in Inspiration for Vigorous Revelation keeps Vigor up almost 100% of the time while I’m in battle. Those extra dodges are life saving (and produce lots of clones).

Commanding as a Mesmer is pretty much the same as any other class, we just need to be a little careful when going head to head against another zerg. I have few problems charging with the front line, (gives followers a bit of confidence to also charge) but I also know when to fall back and play support.

When defending a tower, I’ve gotten pretty good at jumping off the tower, popping off blurred frenzy and a few shatters and then blinking back through the entrance. Usually defenders on top can then take out a zergling or two that I’ve wounded. (Can’t stick around to finish the job after all!)

A Focus.

#15char

As others have noted, there is a lack of a sense of decorum around this forum. Alas, in WvW, everyone is out for blood/WXP.

I’ve played alongside some amazing characters in WvW. Please know that chivalry is not dead, and the greedy greetings should be read as excitement for what you have in store for us, Devon.

Glad to have you here, Devon! And best of luck to Habib in his next steps.

Snickers.9570:

Retaliation and Confusion counter fast attack builds, Blind and Aegis counter slow heavy attack builds. You’re being countered by skills that are meant to counter your attacks.

^ Awesome point.

No matter the outcome of this post, there’s always a complaint. Even if Retaliation and Confusion are reworked, someone will find another way to be effective. Then more complaints come in.

Zerglings often think they can hide from damage because of the pure number of people in their group, and that’s a fallacy. Constantly tweaking your build is really important. I’ve got so many notes I have to keep variations of my build written down depending on what kind of group I’m running with that night. And even then swapping on the fly is common enough. (Especially when my 5-man camp team is called on to help defend a keep/garrison.)

When I opened this thread, I expected to see someone flaming about ram shrines and RMT messages increasing latency in WvW. Pleasant surprise to see this instead.

+1 for first ever NYT citation on GW2 Forums. Thanks for keeping us updated on current events!

Ah, I hadn’t thought of that solution, Deb. Definitely a workaround, but it would become a bit cumbersome to figure out what all the commanders’ account names are and then track any changes that way. If the name changes and I haven’t memorized the commander’s account name, I won’t be able to connect the dots.

Ideally there’d be some way to communicate this change with the WvW population of a server, though I can see how that’d be weird. I love the idea of being able to change names, but it comes with drawbacks to building communities.

One of the arguments that we’ve heard about not having an account-wide Commander Pin is that servermates won’t be able to identify and follow their favorite commanders. It made sense at the time, and I was OK with that.

I know who I’m willing to push a line for and who’s sending us on a fool’s errand based on name. I have a commander pin myself (usually I run as a secondary commander since I’m still learning). Fortunately I like my name, so I’m not planning on changing it, but there might be other commanders who want to and risk losing their following.

Additionally, with the name change, makeover kit, and tons of dye options, a below-average commander could completely rebrand him/herself to gain followers. I’m all for second chances, but taking the time to train would be a better fix for these people.

So, have any commanders changed their names yet? Or perhaps you want a fresh start as a commander and are considering it? I’d be interested to hear your experiences.

I like the initiative here, though I’m not sure this would be the way to go. Instead of seige-capping, saboteurs would still engage in this activity to pull people away from the zerg to vote on their sieges. Also, they could work with the other server to siege cap in the most inconvenient of places. Near the enemy spawnpoint, for example. Getting everyone over there to vote would then be a trap.

SilverWF.4789:

Biggest hope?
They will recalculate old WvW achievments so we will not be forced to farm WXP from the zero

I don’t have the time to find the source on this, but this hope was already addressed by a dev when ranks were first announced. There won’t be any retroactive WXP. Everyone starts at 0 today.

snip

Post removed for outdated information. Why are we resurrecting old threads anyway?

I can’t seem to get the link to work even with copy and pasting (tried Chrome and Firefox). I could just be an idiot, though.

Only thought from your description so far is that retaliation doesn’t proc when a shot is blocked/reflected. So, I’m not sure how many traits you sunk into reflection, but I thought it was worth mentioning. P/V/T is a great stat combo for retaliation, though. It’s calculated off of power anyway, and the the vit and tough make it so you can actually take hits.

Ralathar.7236:

Preacher.9018:

What i`d like to see more is actual divercity and alternative – current presented perks are basically linear upgrades – while it would be better if people could specialize in one at cost of another, and such choices actually make some kind of difference.

This. I like being able to specialize. Being able to get it all makes it not special.

I’ll third that. And that’s how most of the game is structured right now. You can’t take all of your traits, you have to choose. On my Mesmer I rarely respec entirely but rather trade out different traits. On my Engineer, it’s completely different builds for WvW and PvE. Also, weapons/utilities can’t be swapped out in combat. Sure, easy enough to drop combat make the switch and get back in. I do that all the time as well.

The point is, we can’t have it all. And we shouldn’t be able to. I hope there is a limit on WvW ranks, but I’d also like the ability to respec. (Especially with a new mechanic, the idea of not being able to “go back” because of a lame pick is a bit scary.)

We’d all love to get a reply from the devs, though they seem somewhat absent from this subforum. Habib and others do stop by every so often, though.

That said, the same thing came up on my server this past reset night. Not sure if it’s a bug or misreporting by teammates. Server reset, and my guild was assigned to protect our home BL. We all jumped in, and a guildmate who was late to the party entered the queue. A second guildmate entered after this person and cleared the queue faster than the first guy.

While I disagree with your point about having twice the defenders for home BLs, there could be something buggy going on with the queue. My report is pure hearsay, however.

Ah, I forgot my place. The forums are a place for complaining, and I shouldn’t have left myself open to such an easy retort. Too bad “Tough Mudder” was already taken.

At any rate, I’m going to grab a few fairweather friends and see which one of us can hit a yak with a cow first. Cheers!

Cactus.2710:

There’s something really, really, really really wrong with the basic game when people have to try to come up with “game-within-a-game” ideas to make things interesting. I would MUCH prefer that ANet spend their time and resources fixing the basic issues (lag, maps, matches, etc) in WvW than wasting time on distractions like this.

Perhaps I was misunderstood. This isn’t supposed to be something ANet designs. It’s supposed to be community driven.

I’m not looking to make a game within a game. I’m looking to challenge the players that are already present. Most of the idea here is to get more people involved in WvW and make a community-building way to train your teams. Instead of spamming in Lion’s Arch to try to recruit players to WvW, we can give them something to do. Form a team, build creative strategy. It’s amazing what people will come up with when put in really stressful situations. And these are all skills that will carry over into everyday battle.

This is an idea mostly for lower pop servers (there are a few outside of T8), though it could be tailored for anyone.

The WvW Olympics would be a series of events that teams register to compete in. The events should be focused on tactics that would be useful in the general course of WvWing, but should also be challenging enough that teams need to be clever. Anything that is allowed in WvW would be allowed in the Olympics, including guild buffs, superior siege, food, etc. (The only exception to this is commander tags.)

Below are some of my ideas for events. What are some events you would incorporate into the WvW Olympics? What rewards would you want to see from competing/winning? Is it even possible to organize something like this or am I optimistically delusional?

The 6-Camp Dash (For a team of 10)
How fast can your team cap all 6 supply camps in the green borderlands?
All 6 must be held by your server for time to be called, and be careful not to abandon one you’ve claimed. If it flips, that’s 5 min before RI wears off.

Bunker Tower Defense (For a team of 5)
How long can you hold a tower in enemy territory in EBG?
A zergball is coming at you in any second. How do you place your siege/use your abilities to keep them preoccupied? Time starts when the tower is capped by your server, and ends when you lose it.

3-Legged Golem Race (For a team of 5)
Can you get a Golem through a mapped out route before it dies?
Golems slow everyone down, and moving them quickly and discreetly is key. Using your WPs is disallowed, and winner is determined by the most health remaining. (Screenshot required.)

Dolyak Trebbing (For a team of 2)
Can you kill a dolyak using only a trebuchet?
You’ll never be worthy of the title Yakslapper unless you can pull this off. Winner is the team who uses the fewest number of shots. (I realize how ridiculous this one sounds, but it would be useful for counter-trebbing/eliminating enemy siege placement.)

Race for Attrition (For a team of 20)
How fast can you deplete SMC supply?
We all love SMC. It’s shiny and big and has a lot of great trebbing spots. Low pop servers rarely get their hands on it though. This is a race to run it dry. They can’t repair walls if they don’t have supply, amirite?

Commisar.8695:

You made them sad by double teaming them with CD and letting CD keep their bl! Jerks!

Last night CD had a good turnout on our BL. I was there for most of the night and we did work to keep it painted Red. Haven’t logged in yet today though.

I was keeping an eye on EBG. CD had SMC for the first stretch of reset, then SBI took it over. Of course, SBI’s BL was in shambles at that point. I assumed they burnt their team out by taking the castle and nobody wanted to do cleanup work in the BL.

I went with a Norn. Giant Mesmer = Giant Clones, and if making 3 of myself wasn’t enough evidence of a narcissistic personality disorder, then making them giant certainly is. I am pretty awesome, after all

That said, I’ve been envious of the Asuran skills for WvW. Sure, I don’t actually have the spare utility slot on my bar, but poison field + confusion stacks puts someone in a difficult position. If their health is low, then they have to decide between outlasting the poison, or take confusion damage with a health/condition removal. Plus you’ve got 15 secs of poison field to execute combos while they are figuring this all out.

Profession skills usually trump racial skills, but the racials do have their place. This post seems to be for new players who won’t understand all the mechanics of each skill, so research will only go so far.

Size matters. Tall Norns/Charrs can be difficult to get through a jump puzzle. Small Asuras have ridiculously tiny weapons (setback for those who like special effects/legendaries)

Aesthetically, each race wears armor differently. Check out the cultural armor to get a feel for that. (People are generally aware of the option to customize face/body, and if not, it comes up early in character creation so they can always back out and pick again.)

First half of the personal story is all about race. Small consideration for long-term players, but better to be engaged with your story when first starting than be bored by the concept.

Pandabro.8743:

Why so many complaints about Staff? It’s pretty much our best weapon. Why don’t we complain more about freaking scepter?

It’s the QQ of the Week! We’ve beaten the scepter to death already. Variety is the spice of life, and I’m kitten tired of booning my clones.

I can see where buffing Johnny McCool is still helping the fight we’re engaged in (despite our lack of asking for it). So, we could argue that either way. Stacking might/fury on clones is absolutely pointless. Sure, the phantasms might be able to use it, but there are already traits for that in place.

Carighan.6758:

I would go with Lyssa, but then I love random stuff. I genuinely like the Signet of Inspiration, I’d definitely keep the concept (I’d slightly buff it however).

I’ve been wanting to pick up Lyssa Runes as well. I’m waiting for the patch though. There’s talk of Boon Hate coming out (extra damage against those with stacked boons), and Lyssa would play directly to that.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Boon-Hate-Discussion/first

Grats! Always awesome to share a proud moment with someone

ForAce.1943:

Now. Trait what give You Vigor. So You alwasy can make dodge.

So true. I just switch over to 10 pts in Inspiration for Vigor on shatters. If you take Illusionary Persona as well, vigor is up 100% of the time. The extra dodges are SO worthwhile.

Beethoven’s Last Night by Trans-Siberian Orchestra: http://grooveshark.com/#!/album/Beethoven+s+Last+Night/1122342

TheComet.6471:

F3 is a stun, good for interrupts if you have Illusionary Persona traited

Just to clarify this since the OP is learning, F3 is a daze. (They can still move, they just can’t use skills.)

Also, a while back I saw a thread that was talking about keybindings. One of the devs (don’t remember who, but he said he was really tall) noted that he remapped his keys. F1 through F4 became Ctrl+1 through Ctrl+4. I tried it out and it really increased my effectiveness as a Mesmer.

Getting used to new keybindings is difficult. To ease the learning curve, I started by only using Mind Shatter (the Ctrl+1 skill) with this setup since it’s the most common shatter. The other three shatters quickly fell into place after that.

It is not uncommon for WvW videos to use premier footage.

It’s difficult to gauge, and not everyone who posts videos is trying to cast themselves in a super-Mesmer light. But footage is meant to demonstrate the abilities of a person, so showing clips of ideal situations happens.

So far the responses here have been about Mesmer abilities and gearing. Again, without a video or two you’re talking about it’s hard to speculate. It could be that the videos are showing a fully geared Mesmer going after under-geared or glass cannon enemies. As with most things, it’s probably a combination of the two.

Exotic gear isn’t difficult to obtain, and you’ll see the biggest gain by upgrading those green accessories. Jewelcrafting is worth the investment, though there are multiple ways to get Ascended accessories as well.

If it makes you feel any better, I have full exotics/ascended (mostly Carrion) and I do about 1300 without crits on the GS. I don’t run full glass cannon builds though. (10/20/0/10/30. So much more vigor by moving 10 points )

I wouldn’t be jazzed about this skill. Our elites are strong already (save for Moa Morph. It has it’s place, just never finds it way to my toolbar).

Astrum.3652:

Good god, yes. Without using stealth skills, it’s so easy for people to keep track of you even with 3 clones out. I’d love a skill that would let me switch places with my clones and actually let me mess with people’s heads.

If we’re just blinking around, targeting won’t be dropped. There’d have to be a stealth component to drop targeting and we’re then approaching overpowered in this skill.

In short, we’re already very mobile in a fight, being a clone factory is not difficult to accomplish, and dodging/blocking damage is our specialty. I don’t see a place for this skill.

kurtosis.9526:

Thanks, but, um… really or are you just kidding?

/confused

No joke, it really triggers at 50%. Learn to burn a few shatters as your health is dropping and it won’t be wasted.

Xolo.3580:

If you look closely, it becomes obvious that many traits were designed for a Mesmer with more interrupts. In Beta times, GS #3 for instance, was a single target daze if I remember correctly. Even the 6 piece bonus of the Mesmer rune has daze duration, which is not a very desirable bonus for Mesmers as of now.

In any case, I don’t really desire having more dazes unless combat evolves in a direction where you can make conscious decisions whether to interrupt something or not (the same is true for dodging btw, which is mostly done after the maxim “looks like a good time to dodge now, I guess”)

This is actually really useful information. I didn’t play beta, so I missed out on some of this daze action. As things stand, I currently rely on confusion quite a bit. Why would I want to daze a target I just stacked confusion on? It seems counterintuitive. Because of this, I very rarely use Diversion or other daze abilities.

Note: I play mostly WvW where confusion is much stronger. Daze seems to be a bit more effective in PvE.

Yeah, it’s a godsend in Swamp Fractals. I find it easier to drop the portal in the base and then run to an essence. (I’ve had some people request that I drop it in the middle of the map so people can run to it while I run to base, but sometimes they can’t get to the map marker because of obstacles.)

Outside of portal bombing in WvW, I also use it often for supply runs.

Your questions are being answered by others, so here’s a little extra flavor.

Utility spells are awesome, especially in groups. Everyone knows about portaling at this point. Feedback is a great skill that casts a reflective dome around your target. So, if you’re at a chokepoint, pop a Feedback bubble and projectiles can’t get in for 6 seconds or so. We also have two very strong elite skills (Timewarp and Mass Invis.) Blink is a utility that has also changed my gameplay a lot (when I play an alt, I always forget I can’t just instantly teleport 900 – 1200 units away.)

Each weapon shines in specific circumstances, but they stand alone so well I wish I could use them all, all of the time. (I change them in and out a ton.)

Traits for me are a bit of a hangup. We are a trait-dependent class (which is why so many people complain about leveling a Mesmer). I also have a hard time not grabbing Illusionary Persona and Deceptive Evasion (2 diff trees, 50 points total). Other people have had success with different builds, so it could just be my playstyle.

Overall, I can burst down one person pretty fast in WvW if I play my cards right. And we have enough “Get out of Jail Free” cards up our sleeve so that playing with the front-line zerg works even in light armor.

Until recently, I have only known you from the Dev Tracker subforum. I saw you as a warrior of justice and a guardian against bots. There are those who would thieve from the life force of Tyria, but you engineer methods against them. Your service is anything but elementary.

Then, I read your GW1 wiki page. Tales of your heroism—and perhaps some of this wine—went straight to my head. It was in that moment I became truly mesmerized.

When I think of you, I no longer need agony resistance. You are the howler of my warhorn, the bolt in my heart. As sunrise becomes twilight, I want to share all of eternity with you. You are truly legendary, Ms. Gray. //kneels and produces an ascended ring// Will you marry me?

Before you protest insisting I can’t give you this ring because it’s bound to my account, please know there is no one I would trust that with more than you.

mosspit.8936:

Recently I was in a party where a member complained that he got no skull and was downed. Thing is, I saw the skull above him.

I might be stating the obvious but character model can affect the skull “appearance”. Bigger models (I would think norn and charr) will have a bigger looking skull that is positioned higher. And the skull will not readjust based on camera angle so you might miss it if you are zoomed in.

Or it could be a bug shrugs

Ah, my team saw the skulls above me and my illusions, but I didn’t. We were using TS3, which helped.

That said, I do play the tallest sized Male Norn available (I have epic clones. They often draw enemy attention in WvW.) But I’ve run Maw many times, including on this character. So, I don’t think I missed the skulls at all, but it sounds like your party member may have been bugged.

Stooperdale.3560:

I believe I had the same thing. The first time I thought I had just missed it. The second time I thought I had been too close to the rocks and my camera view wasn’t zoomed out far enough to see it (both times). Third time, again near the left side rocks, I was getting suspicious of a bug.

Third time’s the charm. That’s when I was hip to it too.

Ethics.4519:

It hasn’t happened to me, but I was in a group where it was happening to a member. We were on TS3, so we just planted him at a crystal and politely told him (read: screamed) when he had a dot over his head.

Haha, they were screaming at me on TS3 as well. It was even better when they confused a clone for my character. Then the screaming became, “Put the clones away! Oh kitten! Another skull! Wait, is that you or a clone?” Oh, the struggles of being a Mesmer.

Ethics.4519:

Side note: When are they going to not target pets? I can understand clones and minions because you can control those…. but pets? really?

No official response on the Maw death beam aimed at pets, though other people have asked about it in a thread Robert Hrouda is monitoring:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/ranger/Robert-Hrouda-on-pets-in-dungeons/first

Ioflux.4369:

Were you standing inside tentacles? It tends to not be visible inside.

Good thought, but I wasn’t. Once we realized what was happening, I was trying to stay near the crystals with very little luck. In hindsight, I should have just carried a crystal always instead of trying to contribute to DPS.

Kumakichi.2583:

Yup had it happen in one of my early runs

Thanks for the confirmation!

Edit: Per the Moderator, if you’re confirming the bug, please give all relevant information including Character race and profession, Fractal lvl, Personal Reward lvl, and what you were drinking at the time

Character: 80 Male Norn Mesmer (Tallest height available)
Fractal lvl 10, Personal lvl 17
Added Info: Could not see skulls over myself or my illusions, confirmed by my team through TS3
Drink: Pinot Grigio (straight out of the bottle.)

Narrative: I was running fractals last night with a guild group. We’ve all run this a bunch so it was a swift blow-through. When we got to the Maw, we were hoarding crystals and whatnot. The first beam attack was aimed at me, and I went down. Figured I just missed the skull icon. Then it happened a second time a little later. After a third time, my group is like, “Jack! What are you doing?! At least dodge those.” I realized I wasn’t getting the skull icon at all, but I could see it when other people were targeted. They started calling it out when it was aimed at me. (I’m a mesmer, once they mistook a clone for me. I couldn’t see the skull over my illusions either.) I could see skulls over other people, so if I didn’t see any, then I knew I was in trouble. Usually it was too late even when they did call it out.

Anyway, NBD for this run. My party carried me through it, and none of them had the bug. Has anyone else run into this though?

Ikarushka.9564:

Making aoe more powerful will not fix anything… the way things are now, it will be a game of which zerg can using culling better and nuke the other zerg with aoe.

I agree with you on this. Though before we see any AoE change, culling will be gone. They’re shutting it off in the patch this month (though who knows if it will return because of lag complaints).

EasymodeX.4062:

You know, it’s kind of hard to move while sticking your sword into the ground.

I agree. Just add a blast finisher and rooting is more than worth it. Chaos armor for everyone!

Ross has a good point. I also run Illusionary Persona, though the OP didn’t note that in his build.

Ross’s second awesome point is that glamour fields aren’t reliable. People see them and dodge away. Especially feedback. They just roll out of it and don’t pay attention to the confusion. Feedback is most effective in bottleneck situations, and the damage from reflect almost always does more than the damage from confusion.

Given that you’ve taken 30 points in Illusions, swap out Dazzling Glamours for Illusionary Persona. And ditch either Feedback or Null Field (again, both are situation specific. I use both) for Blink. That way you can get in the heat of battle, pop off your shatters, and Blink away. With Illusionary Persona, you don’t even need a clone out, and your personal PBAoE deals confusion. And since you have a scepter, you want to be in close range. Getting the full stack from #3 scepter requires close to mid range.

When making a confusion build, the biggest thing to remember is that the confusion condition is contingent upon someone else acting. If someone is at 75%+ health, they will wait for confusion to end before using skills. If you can catch them at 25% health and apply a bunch of confusion, they’ll down themselves because they are trying to get away/heal. And even that’s a gamble.

Treat confusion as it if were a skill lock, not a damaging condition. Make sure you have something available to you to finish the job.

Ross Biddle.2367:

Ok ok, I’ll bite.

Here’s what the postol looks like, notice the mesmer in this video is using Skill #3: Let’s call it Downing Big Birds (Notice at 40 seconds the good use of Distortion and Illusionary Persona)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmqNMc0IDWE

Now, Skill 2: Fires out a stick with a flag on it that reads “BANG”. A clone pops up behind the target and the target remains confused.

http://www.destructoid.com/elephant/ul/100915-jokers-gag-gun-bang-fatallity.jpg

I hadn’t seen that clip of the Joker before. Pure over-the-top genius. And the gag gun I can really get behind; it suits our class well.

Eviator.9746:

There are many sound chess principles that apply to the overall strategy on a WvW map. “Attack the opponent where they are strongest” is not one of them.

Someone get this man a Commander pin. He’s already got more know-how than half of the commanders running around!

Seriously though, well thought out post. And I completely agree. Hopefully some of the changes they make to commanders will include some kind of commander chat channel. What we’ve covered here only applies to one map out of four. So, here we have one tower being stalemated. SM being stalemated is a whole different situation, though just as boring. Better communication would set us up. EB commander could put out the call that they are preparing to take SM. So, while s/he starts pinning camps and building golems, another commander goes to gank the enemy BL in hopes of pulling their attention. If I’m upgrading points in our home BL though, then I don’t know what’s going on in EB.

Of course, any of this is difficult to pull off as there is little incentive for activities like tactical teams. You don’t get many badges that way, so people want to stay in the action. WvW is about so much more than just throwing zerg balls at each other and seeing what happens, but right now we’re lacking some tools for surgical precision. A scalpel, for one.

I can see where you’re headed with this build. It’s a great start, though maintaining confusion could be difficult. You’ve got a lot of skills that will put on a stack or two of damage here or there. Because of condition removal and retreating into the zerg, I find confusion is most effective when spiked. You’re already traited to accomplish this with shatters.

Your clone/illusion output might be a little low (especially considering how fast clones die in a zerg). The scepter is a mid range weapon though. A good place to start might be swapping out the signet for Mirror Images. Pop them when you’re in close range and then immediately use Cry of Frustration. If you get all 3 clones to hit, that’s 6 stacks of confusion (2 each) instead of the 1 stack the signet is offering. You can maintain confusion by also throwing Mind Wrack out there (1 stack each this time). Paired with your other skills, you’ll see confusion up a bit more.

Also, be sure to keep Chaos Armor as much as you can. It’s the only staff skill you have that’ll inflict confusion (because of the blind), and you’ve got plenty of ethereal fields to use Phase Retreat on for the leap finisher. The Prestige is supposed to be a blast finisher, but it’s currently bugged as of this patch. Devs have responded to this bug though, so hopefully it’ll be sorted out next patch.