Guild Wars 2

Cool. Wouldn’t the classic in such a build be mace/shield? Just probing to learn more.

redslion.9675:

Oh, wait, I’m sorry, the skilled decision if someone is taking empty far should be to spam in team chat “Y U ON FAR NOOOB!” And leaving the match. That’s what good players do.XD

Happened to me last night. And then the match ended and I requeued and we ended up in the same group.. and the guy apologized to me after I explained why I was hitting far (we won that game).

In the second game we lost.. mainly because their team kept decapping our home point. I love irony.

Empathetic Fighter.2065:

As an example, GW1 was balanced around top-tier (development worked together with [rawr]) and it was a lot more successfull than its follower.
Top-tier players can achieve a level of experience, which a casual will never have. A top-tier player is able to push a class/the game to a maximum and can show the full potential of it.

I don’t really care about GW1. Never played it, and it’s history. I also dispute your claim that it was “a lot more successful”.

Why should gameplay be oriented around the top 0.1% in this game?

Interesting build, thanks.

Why all the on-crit stuff with only a 22% crit chance though?

I run a similar build, only in PvP so far. Not sure what you mean by “iMage is your own personal iDisenchanter” since you get 1 condition removed and the Disenchanter does a lot more.

If you want to improve your ability to chase, the simplest way to do it is to swap the sword/sword for a GS. Makes a huge, huge difference.

Except torch/staff builds are usually 20/20/30/0/0. MP is what I use when I try to build more offensive builds that move away from PU, but it’s just too much of a pain to make it work properly unless you pile a ton of points specifically into making the mantra more viable.

I agree with you about the mantra being severely overrated, and the reason is entirely having to do (almost) nothing for 3 seconds every time you charge the darned thing. Since I can’t try to charge it any time I need to be able to react, or any time it might be interrupted, it ends up taking much longer than it should.

Rarnark.5623:

Qaelyn.7612:

Oh, and while we’re at it – balancing a game around the needs of the top 0.1% of the playerbase is an incredibly stupid way to run a business.

I disagree. A pvp game should be balanced around the highest levels of competitive play.

Why?

If that happens a short line in team chat usually solves the problem, at least for me.

It does seem fairly pointless to open these once you have one copy of all the gear. Breaking them down is time-consuming, gives very little luck compared to PvE, and I’m not getting glory boosters out of mine.

Thanks, appreciate the empathy if nothing else.

I tried to play warrior a bit in PvP but haven’t found anything that works well for me, at least not yet. I can usually handle them on my mes but this was a decent one.

Part of the problem is that at the low ranks at least some players/teams pay heavy attention to trebbing but many ignore it, so a lot of folks don’t think taking it out is important. Plus my mes is not a good class for treb killing as it relies greatly on crits and conditions.

What warrior build do you use?

As a defensive mesmer I get a lot of the downplaying of 1v1 also and it never made much sense to me.

I report it under LFG system abuse. Close enough, and they can decide if they want to do anything about it.

Aren’t you supposed to get glory boosters from these chests? Everyone talks about having more of them than they know what to do with but I’m not getting them. Just RNG?

What do I do with all this extra gear? Break it down? Put it in the mystic forge? I’ve never used the forge so not sure how that works.

Thanks.

Thanks. I thought you got better stuff in the chests when you were higher rank.

I have about 100 of them. Will I get better “stuff” if I open them at a higher rank later on?

For those who didn’t already know this – like me, until just now – you do not get a condition clear when charging the mantra. Even though the tooltip suggests you do.

And here I had just convinced myself I could live with the annoyance of the mantra since it worked so much better with Mender’s Purity. It still does, I suppose, but not worth it now.

Just lost a solo queue match because, despite my repeated requests, nobody would help me take out the trebuchet. I went all the way there myself, barely lost to the warrior manning it, then had to go back again. While the rest of my team just ran around skirmishing and dying to the treb shots.

This is why I cannot win matches, and there’s nothing realistic I can do about it.

Yeah, I’m venting, but it’s frustrating.

Coulter.2315:

Qaelyn.7612:

DavyMcB.1603:

That being said, I wanna kill myself every time I see condi PU mesmers.

I wish people would. Makes it even more fun!

As predicted the true nature of the Prismatic Understanding Mesmer is revealed – nothing but a troll who delights in other players having a kittenty experience.

When I’m not making videogame builds just to ruin the experience for others, I like to torture small furry animals.

Oh great, and I’m leveling an engineer, lol.

Solstice, what warrior build do you use? I’m still looking for something “OP” to help me raise my PvP MMR.

DavyMcB.1603:

That being said, I wanna kill myself every time I see condi PU mesmers.

I wish people would. Makes it even more fun!

You said PU was “so 2013”. One week left.

Where does anything bigger than a 5 man fight matter? Zerging? I don’t like my mesmer in zergs anyway, and that doesn’t leave much else. In PvE I think everyone pretty much agrees PU sucks.

Didn’t want to start a thread on it, but if you’re tinkering anyway.. a shorter p/w would be nice. It’s not like it’s a bank vault or anything. Just a suggestion.

Bunda.2691:

Come on, condition PU is so 2013. PU Phantasms are the new thing. Too bad they’re next to useless in anything but roaming.

If by “roaming” you mean “doing pretty much anything”, then yeah, they’re useless except for roaming.

Seriously, what’s with all the oversimplifications? PU is one trait and there are dozens of builds that use it.

PS Even if you’re right, I still have 1 more week to enjoy it.

Sometimes I’m capping a point and someone else comes and stands next to me.

I’ve found a foolproof solution to this problem however.

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It’s a really great solution.

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Wait for it..

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I leave.

To give you an idea of the state of tournaments at the lower rank levels right now, on more than one occasion I have been in a position where I was downed and there was a teammate nearby who didn’t try to res me, or where I saw one teammate down and another didn’t try to help until I went and did it.

Chaos Archangel.5071:

PU power builds are a slightly different story…

Ya.

That’s why I can’t go back to straight PU.

I think the Clown is just feeling frowny on mesmers in general, and is a bit confused about what exactly is turning his smile upside down.

Sounds mostly like a bad experience with a GS wielder. Those clones can stack bleeds over time as well (though not 15 I don’t think).

It’s an interesting concept, worth exploring. I agree this is not like Blackdevil’s build very much at all.

What trinket do you use in PvP?

I’m still skeptical of a pure power build though. I also don’t really see that PU is bringing much to the table in this build, and it seems to me 15 points in Dueling would do a world of good.

The other thing about this build is that it’s going to be really slow. I’m pretty much permanently settled on centaur runes in PvP as it doesn’t matter how good I am if I’m in the wrong place, and the slow mesmer trudging just gets hard to handle.

Not sure what role this would play in PvP. It seems like a striker-type build, but then that’s where the slow speed becomes an issue.

This seems like it could work in WvW with the various boosts available. I’d like to see the PvP version, though, because I don’t see how you’re going to get massive might stacking there.

I’d have a very hard time giving up Sharper Images, though your build has very low crit chance. I suppose it’s just a straight power build, which again, is hard to do in PvP.

Some actual meaningful content is always nice for a thread.

In answer to your trite question, a trite answer: it exists because it works.

Don’t know the original song, but that was creative.

PvP or WvW? WvW uses scaling, PvP puts you at 80 with a completely different set of gear/stats/traits.

Baldric, there aren’t a lot of people anxious to sign up a newbie mesmer to their team. And I can’t commit to a nightly schedule or whatnot either. At some point I’m sure I’ll find a team that fits, but it will take a while.

Eyia, thanks. I don’t really have another class I feel comfortable with in PvP right now. I know thief fairly well but don’t enjoy it in PvP at my skill level. Warrior I like even less, and guardian seems kind of bleh. I’m trying to learn engi right now.

Mogar.9216:

:) you screwed up so you feel the need to teach US a lesson?

Yes, it’s called helping others learn from one’s mistakes.

For example, I lost a summer’s worth of programming work 30 years ago and it’s made me a backup vigilante ever since.

Thanks Tman. It sounds cool and long-term I’d like to learn to play that style as well.

Thanks, Reesha, but most of those things can be done by a PU mesmer as well, since the “classic” PU build uses staff and anyone can use portal. I don’t see most shatter builds using GS but maybe it’s more common at higher levels (I use GS in my hybrid).

I agree that shatter mesmers have stronger burst. The problem is that they don’t really seem to have enough to really take anyone down. When I duel a shatter mesmer I almost always win unless it’s one of the lockdown/shatter variants played by someone good.

As for me, my best contribution is what some would call “trolling” the other team. I’ve turned games around simply by charging the other team’s home point and keeping two people tied up there for 30-60 seconds at a time trying to kill me.

I think it’s possible for someone to be in a place where they would make a solid contribution to a good team but they aren’t strong enough carry a weak one. This happens in real life as well.

Assuming I stick with PvP, I may have to switch to a different class that works better at these levels to try to raise my MMR to a place where this happens less. It’s pretty difficult for a mesmer of any sort to carry a team.

It could just be bad luck.

Or it could be that I suck. shrug

Whatever it is, it’s not fun.

Vanthian.9267:

PU builds are insanely strong in 1v1 situations while not having to cap a point.

What I find is that I can very often prevent the other guy from taking the point, but I usually lose it myself temporarily due to the use of mobility and stealth. This isn’t ideal, but it’s a lot better than just getting chased off the point or killed, and I can usually win most 1v1s with the players I encounter. And given half the players I run into now are using so-called “cheese” builds such as spirit ranger, MM necro, hambow warrior etc. I usually need all the tools at my disposal.

I’m working to learn how to defend points without allowing them to get decapped due to stealth. I may also try to mix some lockdown into my build in order to get better at decapping other points.

Vanthian.9267:

Shatter Mesmer has more to offer in Tpvp than a PU Mesmer will imo.

In what ways do you think it is superior for team play?

All the ego-swagger and hero-worship in this thread is amusing. I feel rather confident that if some random person posted these suggestions rather than someone who’s apparently famous for some reason I don’t know, that 90% of the people taking them seriously would be laughing at them.

Oh, and while we’re at it – balancing a game around the needs of the top 0.1% of the playerbase is an incredibly stupid way to run a business. If there’s a problem with, for example, how thieves play in top 100 tournaments, then Arenanet could look into ways to tinker with them to prevent those problems, but suggesting that the class be destroyed for the other 99.9% of thief players is, well, foolish.

Mrbig.8019:

bunker engi.

Can anyone tell me what’s the current go-to build for this for “carrying” a team? Thanks.

Yeah, I’ve pretty much given up at this point. My rank keeps going up as I play, and I know I do a decent job.. and my leaderboard position and MMR are stuck and not going anywhere.

I may keep playing to get my rank higher, but I’m already thinking about joining the (very large) ranks of former PvP players. It’s just not fun to constantly lose because of things you really can’t control.

I may give a shot to one of those OP builds everyone complains about. Maybe that will help me nudge out of this. I doubt it though.

DoYourBestBear.6810:

I never said it wasn’t a fundamental class characteristic…

You said “being able to spam abilities because of a resource mechanic should be addressed.” The entire point of the initiative system is to allow exactly that — but in bursts.

Unreal.

DoYourBestBear.6810:

Now that you’re looking at initiative, keep in mind there are zero cooldowns on the thief weapon sets aside from after-cast timers. Being able to spam abilities because of a resource mechanic should be addressed.

LOL. The initiative system is a fundamental characteristic of the thief profession. This comment alone shows that this discussion is pointless.

DoYourBestBear.6810:

You can say this is whack-a-mole, but you’d be incorrect.

No, more like trying to fix a grandfather clock with a sledgehammer.

DoYourBestBear.6810:

That’s not particularly grounded – but you also said there were no meaningful buffs. By extension, I assume you can’t read since you glossed over the Improvisation change which changes a broken/nonfunctional damage modifier into something that works.

I made that comment in the context of initiative. The last update weakened initiative regen traits in favor of an increase in base regen; you removed 80% of that increase and did nothing about the traits that were nerfed. A buff to one unrelated trait is, well, unrelated. Your suggestions overall would weaken what’s hardly an OP class right now.

Heapheaus.5238:

edit: Evidently, you don’t know who Do your best bear is do you?

Appeals to authority… how impressive!

I’m only interested in what’s written in the thread, sorry. The suggestion to destroy the mesmer GS actually made me laugh.

DoYourBestBear.6810:

Looking at shortbow number 3, you now have almost infinite dodges/evades.

Because tournaments are being dominated by thieves spamming SB 3, gotcha.

Ambrecombe.4398:

Says the Mesmer using a Scepter!

If they put an autoattack on a weapon you like, pray they don’t use the mesmer scepter as the model.

DoYourBestBear.6810:

You know, conjecture and theorycrafting is nice, but you need to display some math and specific changes you have in mind.

These are your proposals and you didn’t provide much of anything in the way of justification for your changes, so it seems odd that you’d demand such of critics.

I mean, look at thief. In the most recent update the pretty much universal consensus is that thieves got massively nerfed. Several weapon skills and abilities were rather severely hampered, in return for an increase in initiative regeneration that most don’t think compensates enough.

And your suggestion? Basically return initiative regen to the old rate, but without undoing any of the nerfs or introducing any meaningful buffs. “The worst of both worlds” as it were.

Sorry, but it’s simply dismissible on its face. It shows a total lack of understanding of the class and its current position in the meta.

The only two classes I know well are mesmer and thief and the suggestions on those are enough that I’m afraid I don’t really need to read the others.

Sort the list of servers by number of people and look for a server with 12-15 people in it for 8v8 or 7-9 people for 5v5. Usually works for me.

Fourth.1567:

As such the necessity of paying attention to an opponents defensive state is almost non-existent.

That’s simply false. It may be less than in a shatter build, but it’s not the case.

Fourth.1567:

And conversely from your opponents point of view also hurts their ability to interact with what you are doing, which hurts their enjoyment of the game.

While I never grief and I try to behave in a sportsmanlike manner, my goal is not to make my opponents enjoy the game. It’s to beat them.

If a shatter build impresses people on the forum and loses in-game, it’s a loser build, period. I don’t think that’s always the case, but it’s certainly far less effective for me.