Guild Wars 2

I would like to just say that watching your video made me want to make my Charr a Necromancer instead of a Mesmer (I still can’t decide). I have seen a lot of hate for the necromancer on it’s own forums, and was actually put off of it because people said wells were so bad, but to see how they can be used for combo fields and AOE usefulness, it makes me want to go ahead and try it out for myself.

Frankly, I can’t find anything wrong with Necromancer, which is really annoying me because I thought I had finally decided on Mesmer as my main, LOL. It’s such a great profession with so much versatility without the annoying frustration/stress of other professions like Elementalist and Engineer. I can’t think of anything I would want to do in the game I can’t do with a Necromancer, except perhaps combine two fun aspects into one build (I can’t support with wells AND summon stuff like I can with Mesmer).

My greatest annoyance is simply the fact that we are the slowest class to get from point A to point B. I don’t care if we get a signet or just a longer swiftness. All I know is that to get around, while leveling or in WvW, we are the slowest.
We have the best combat mobility, I agree with that. We have a great survivability in our escaping from bad situations. I’m not talking about combat, I’m not talking about chasing down a runner or running ourselves. I’m talking about exploring the world or going for map completion, or trying to get to that event before it ends. We are the worst class at getting there.
The ONLY way for us to get some movement speed is to give up all 6 of our armor rune slots OR use a weapon that is arguably substandard. That’s a much greater price to pay than the single utility slot (easily switchable when not traveling the world, and FREE), or some traiting that gives us some bonuses alongside the movement trait.
I don’t know why we have to pay such a great cost when no one else has to.

Hmm okay those are good suggestions. I find even Mind Wrack isn’t fast enough sometimes. I may just carry a greatsword for events, because I love LOVE the staff for everything else. Mesmer staff is the most fun thing I have played in this game.

I think the main problem is that I find Phantasms are only really useful on bosses. With the exception of the IBerzerker, things just die too fast and the phantasms go away too quickly to be useful any other time. Shattering, on the other hand, solves this problem perfectly with the AOE shatters. Additionally, with a full Phantasms build, I don’t have cooldown on many weapons with phantasms (only Sword, which is decent, and focus, which doesn’t follow enemies so if the battle moves, it doesn’t). This compounds the above problem, because the Phantasms are wiped often due to things dying fairly fast, and then I can’t replace them very quickly, either.

So I see some suggestions to use staff for leveling. During dynamic events, do you recommend switching to another weapon? I really like staff, but when I tried to use it for an event today, I couldn’t even get off enough damage in my tagging to get more than bronze medals. That seems… kinda awful.
Any suggestions on how to do this?

Can someone point me in the direction of a good Phantasm build? I can’t seem to figure out how I make one on my own and I did a search but didn’t find much. Bonus if it also explains how to best use Phantasms.

This was the greatest obsticle to me to playing a Mesmer. I really REALLY missed that run speed buff having just tried out a Necromancer and having a permanent 25% increase at level FIVE, and a swiftness whever I wanted it off a the warhorn.
The kick in the face to me was how much I had to switch weapons as a Mesmer compared to any other profession. For clone/phantasm generation I switch often, and it’s frustrating that the Phantasm on the focus isn’t one I like.

This is going to sound wierd, but I was curious about something.
When you selected your profession, or perhaps when you chose which profession would be your main, how did that profession fit your playstyle, and how did you set your build to incorporate the playstyle you liked?
For example, I like being a mage, playing support, and summoning things. As such, I looked at Guardian, Mesmer, and Necromancer. My frist was a Guardian and I enjoyed that but the temporary/long cooldown nature of the summons didn’t really appeal to me. While I love undead, I found that Necromancer couldn’t support well AND summon with the same build.
However, after asking around on the forums and recieving some great advice, I learned Mesmer would summon regardless of build, AND that they often supported at least a little as a side-effect of many of their skills. I now play a Mesmer and enjoy it because it suits my playstyle.
So, how dooes your profession suit your playstyle? Or perhaps, more generally, why is it fun to play your profession?

I agree with the idea that they were trying to appeal to everyone. Sadly, at some point, that just isn’t going to happen. I believe that’s why there are 80 levels in this game (I loved the 20 lvl cap in GW1, like you guys did) but it became a niche game not suited people who wanted that sense of accomplishment from trudging through many levels to reach the cap. Now, Guild Wars 2 has that.
Honestly, I would HATE to see a level cap increase. The issue of trait points has been raised, and I agree that I would really be saddened to see the builds of this game go to a generic set-up for each class (even if I did wish my Mesmer had 5 more points to get all I want on him). At that point, why even have traits?
Honestly, I think they are on the right track with the ascended gear. It’s something that makes your character slightly more powerful, making the current dungeons (which are considered very difficult) easier without causing them to be “required” to play.
All this being said, Guild Wars has always been about playing the game to play it, not so much for progression. Capping skills always really annoyed me because it required me to play something I didn’t want to play to get the skills that I did want to play. Essentially, I had to do something not fun to get the the parts that were fun. I am enjoying just playing this game now, even at max level, and honestly probably will never get bored, even if the game didn’t change at all.
They could always add “more of the same” though, and that’d be cool. More weapon/armor skins, more dungeons, etc. Perhaps a new race or profession.

There’s definately a few things here and there that you are going for (weapon/armor skins, etc.), but I think GW2 is really the first MMO to forget progression and just go for gameplay. I am one of those guys that could do the same thing over and over again and if it was fun the first time, it’ll be fun again.
I have a lot more fun playing this game than any other MMO- emphasis on “playing.” I do not care if I get legendaries, I do not care if I get any rewards actually, once I am decently geared. I really enjoy just grouping up with people and running dungeons/events. That’s what’s fun for me, and that’s why this game appeals so much, as even without groups, I join many others simply by doing an event.
Unfortunately, I seem to be one of the few. Most people want “progression” and goals to accomplish. I think that’s well and good, but it’s not why I play MMORPGs. I play to have fun joining others to accomplish short-term goals, with the possible long-term goal being a side venture.

Thanks for the encouragement. I have stuck it out and really like the class now. I think I just had to basically relearn the game when playing as a Mesmer. The more comfortable I got with Shattering (which I hated to do before since I hated giving up my Phantasms) and clones, the better I was doing. I can now contribute respectably to events, and it’s quite fun.
The only thing I may change is going with Staff. I find Staff to be more fun, but Greatsword more effective for leveling, especially during events. In the future, I may switch to staff and go from there when soloing and doing dungeons, but will have to keep a greatsword build for events.

Anyone ever go support? I hear extremely differing opinions about that role of the Necromancer.

I actually wasn’t aware Necromancers could go power and deal straight DPS. Everyone says Condition Damage is the only viable damage. That’s fun to hear.

I am interested in Necromancer and am curious how people play theirs.
The three things I see most people doing are Minions, Well support, and Condition Damage.
How do you play your necromancer and why is it fun for you? What are some ways Necromancers fill the control role (since every class is supposedly able to fill any role)?

Ultimately what it sounds like people are saying is that while a Necromancer can support, and do fairly well, there are other classes that do it more easily and to greater effect.
Honestly, that doesn’t bother me. I am looking for a class that uses condition damage, summons, and can support- not necessarily at the same time. The fact that I’m not quite as good at it doesn’t bother me, only the fact that it’s completely inneffective would.
I understand what people are saying about not being as good as other professions, and I see that as a valid point when you are trying to get into a dungeon party or doing PvP, and are not selected because a guardian/whatever is avaliable. However, I just wanted to know if it could be done and was viable. I like supporting sometimes, and it sounds like the Necromancer supports fairly well- enough to be useful anyway. That’s all that really matters to me.

I will definately look into that staff build. There are many MANY things I want to try with Mesmer, but it feels like I have to set everything up “just so” in order to get what I want. For example, Runes of the Centaur will be must-haves for my Mesmer because I really miss the swiftness, and they won’t help till level 60, so I really have to build toward really having fun on the character. I think eventually, though, it’ll be a really fun class with many choices for playability and I hope I can hold out long enough to get there.

You know? Those videos and guide did help me quite a bit. I am having trouble deciding between Greatsword Power build (which I didn’t even know was possible for a mesmer until recently) and Staff/conditions. Staff is very VERY fun with the shortest cooldown summons and the constant shattering, but doesn’t kill very quickly. I think Greatsword might be the way to go until higher levels when I have more points to give to condition damage/etc.
Thanks for the encouragement. I look at what is possible with Mesmer and know this is the class for me, but I just struggle with it since I have played other classes and had more fun from the beginning. Mesmer will eventually be the most fun character I have, but that word “eventually” shouldn’t be understimated, hehe.

Why is Deceptive Evasion useful for condition builds? Is it for Cry of Frustration? Additionally, I mostly PvE and understand that confusion isn’t all that great there. Should I focus more on Condition Damage for PvE then and not on shattering for confusion?

So, I am really struggling with my mesmer for a really wierd reason. I find myself hating my mesmer most of the time. He walks slow with a long-cooldown swiftness and is relatively fragile. He doesn’t dish out the damage I am used to from other professions and I almost die on him often.
However, there are times when everything comes together perfectly and I have more fun than I have had on any other character. Watching myself throw a Mirror Blade at the pack of enemies approaching, damaging and making them vulnerable, then calling out the Phantasmal Berzerker to tear through them, and then shattering against that same pack, and then using mind stab to mop up the stragglers… is… awesome.
And then I sit and wait on cooldowns. And I auto-attack for a while. And I watch the other people at the event continue to do neat things… and THEN I am ready to go again.
The reason I’m struggling is not that I don’t like Mesmer. It’s because Mesmer is the most fun I have had playing an MMO, but only in short bursts. It’s not fun to play very often, but when it is fun, it’s the most fun ever.
So I have a question: Do the moments of awesome come more frequently the higher level you get? I hear people talk about how fun their Mesmer is, and based on my experience, I could see how that would be possible, but how often is it fun, really? Do I just need to push my way through these levels as a fledgling mesmer and forge ahead to the really fun stuff?

Okay, I read a lot about both and actually just wrote down pros/cons for each one after playing around with both in the mists. The only reason I really like mesmer is because they summon with ANY build they are in and I find them aesthetically more pleasing.
However, excepting those two things, I like everything else about the necromancer more. I like the Necromancer weapon skills and speed utilities, that they can heal, and that they have an easier time with AOE damage, as well as having Death Shroud to get myself out of trouble when things go bad.
Additionally, I did not like the transient nature of Mesmer where you are constantly shifting tactics during the fight. I understand the playstyle of mesmer, but I am also confused by it. There were highlights where I had more fun than I have ever had playing this game, but they were few and far between, when my skills were flowing well and the situation was set up well for me. Between those moments of awesomeness, though, was a lot of drudgery and frustration.
Necromancer doesn’t have those awesome highlights, but it’s fun to play all the time. I think I really should pick the class that will be the most fun throughout the game instead of just incredibly fun some of the time.

Okay so I should just go for traits instead of trait line bonuses? That helps a lot, as I wouldn’t need to take much Domination, assuming the armor is the better way to go. That means I could take more illusion or Chaos instead to get the minor/major traits, with a splash of Dueling for the Bleeds. Thanks

Hmm okay. The reason I said that is because they both have a lot of skills that do both conditions and boons at the same time, or clear both at the same time. Necromancers have marks, for example, and Mesmers have Chaos Storm.

So, I’m struggling to make a condition damage build. Staff is used to apply conditions, but the staff traits are on Chaos, which adds no Condition Damage or duration. Condition Damage is on Domination line but no traits assist in condition damage there. If you want to bounce the staff projectile you need a trait on the Illusions trait line adds the bounce, but that actually works because Illusions has condition duration. If you want to be able to stack bleed you need 15 pts in Dueling for Sharper Images.

I just don’t get how this is supposed to work. Condition damage on Domination, bleed damage on Dueling, Staff weapon on Chaos, and then further staff enhancement and condition duration on Illusions? How is a condition damage build supposed to work for a Mesmer?

It kinda feels like Mesmer and Necro are similar, with many of their abilities doing bad things to the enemy at the same time as doing good things for the team. However, Mesmer feels a bit more… hectic and random, wheras Necromancer feels more solid and steady. Do you think this is a good assessment of the differences bewteen them?

So, I have decided to play a Charr and I have decided to either be a Necromancer or Mesmer. However, I keep hearing somewhat conflicting things about both, so let me tell you what I am lookin for in a class, and perhaps you can point me in the right direction:
Condition Damage builds: Really interested in doing a condition damage build with my character, or at least having a viable one avaliable.
Summons: I like summoning things… a lot.
Support: I like being able to support a team. How this is accomplished is rather unimportant to me, whether it’s buffing/debuffing or heals.
No melee: I prefer to stay at range if possible. For soloing, I would be willing to take up a melee weapon.
Which class covers these specifications more adequately?

Ultimately, I feel like Mesmer suffers from identity crisis, and this is just a result of that. The conditions we can stack are good, although vulnerability really has more of a grouping application, but we buff with the same skill. The great thing about mesmers is they add a little “something extra” when they join a fight, in addition to their primary build’s function. The BAD thing about mesmers is… well, see above.
In the end, we can’t be good at both with the same skill. If we were able to auto-attack and be both great boon-ers and condition-ers with the same auto-attack that’d be a little overpowered. Unfortunately, it now kinda feels like we do neither very well, even when speced for it.
I almost wish they would add a weapon to Mesmer, maybe rifle, that ONLY did conditions, and then had staff prefer player targets and let that be our boon spreader.

Okay this has been really helpful, thank you.
First off, I will get over the movement speed. I didn’t know about Runes of the Centaur, that’ll be nice later on.
I very much believe that it is a matter of playing other classes (Guardian was my frist 80 but it wasn’t really very fun for me and I tried Necromancer after that) and expecting the same from Mesmer. Now that I have put a little more time into it, Mesmer is the most fun profession I have played. Staff is incredibly fun (but is a slow killer), especially Phase Retreat, and having played more with Greatsword, that’s really enjoyable, too.
I have to admit, though, Mesmer won’t cover everything. I struggle to tag things in Orr even with my Guardian, and it’ll be more difficult as a mesmer.
I think what I need to do is just have fun playing the mesmer and use other characters to run Orr/etc. Mesmer isn’t going to give me everything I am looking for, but it is going to be the most fun to play. I’ll just use other characters to support the non-gameplay aspects of the Mesmer.

You’re right, lack of movement speed is just a minor inconvenience. I think I just got so used to it with my other characters that it just seems so very VERY slow on this character.
I’ll look into sword. I know you can port into range, and then use Blurred Frenzy for invulnerability, but I wasn’t aware that was an AOE attack. I may just have to play sword even if I don’t like it very much.
I was aware of Chaos Storm but Winds of Chaos only has the two bounces, so I didn’t see it as an AOE. Conversely, all but the 1 ability of Greatsword is AOE, and even Mind Stab is a bigger AOE than I expected.
I think I understand what you are saying about traiting. It seems cooldowns are the bane of Mesmers and traiting helps that a lot. That would explain why level 40 is when things open up for us, although even at 15, I will get a cooldown reducer. I experimented with the cooldown traits though, and it seems like they can only be stacked twice. In the Mists, I did as you suggested and traited Illusionist’s Celerity, Phantasmal Haste, and Greatsword Training, but the cooldown remained at 12 instead of dropping to 8.

So, having played like… everything now, I have discovered that I like Necromancers perhaps the most. Not for the reasons I was expecting, actually, but because I can support so very, very well as a necromancer, including healing. With the staff and all it’s AOE chills, regens, boon/condition tearing and a panic button fear, plus wells, I dare say, I am not only having more fun supporting as a necro, but also am better at it than the other characters I have played.
But I see on the forums that most people believe necromancers to be weak in support. Why is this said? Is it a matter of there being something about the other classes that just makes them better- so that we are not actually weak, just not as good as others?

I struggled greatly with my first necromancer as well. Several things that hepled me:
-Get rid of the axe ASAP. I definately got more Life Force with axe, but the damage is… well it’s just really bad. Dagger tears through stuff more easily and the warhorn can be used for the swiftness AND to help in melee range with the same skill. As suggested above Dagger/warhorn, and Staff cover all your bases. If you join an event, pull out the staff and AOE everything you can.
As far as builds, wells are fun for events, but I find minion builds to be better early on. Not only are the minions independent from your traits (which helps early on), they also serve as a discraction, and with ponts in Death Magic (which has abilities for minion skills) you are tougher to kill, which I found to be a fun side-effect.
And don’t forget about Death Shroud! Early on, I often died with a full life force bar and was kicking myself for forgetting about it. Later, I started to outright incorporate it in my attacks, poppoing into Death shroud for free AOE damage with the 4 attack (while being protected while I was doing that damage), and for saving myself when I was low on health. It has now saved me many times.

So, I have narrowed down my main character choice to Mesmer or Necromancer. I played the necromancer, and, while I understand they don’t really hit their stride till later, I enjoyed it. That being said, I really like the asthetics of Mesmer more, I have always liked illusionist/enchanter classes and this was no different. But, I am struggling with the Mesmer right now and really having a hard time liking it, even after looking at the class at 80. These are the main problems I am having:
1) Almost every class, including Necromancer, has a signet or something to allow increased movement speed. Mesmer only has Temporal Curtain on a long cooldown. I’m having a hard time getting around with the slow movement speed. Am I missing somthing here?
2) I knew going in that there wasn’t much AOE on a mesmer, but I didn’t realize how bad it was till I played one. I’m having a hard time tagging mobs in events. I was using Greatsword for the AOE attacks on it, but I think I am not doing enough damage for it to count, as I don’t get the xp when something dies. What are you guys using to tag the mobs?
3) Perhaps this will get better later, but I am struggling to take down enemies of any level. I prefer to stay at range, and since I MUST bring a focus to solo/level I have to use the scepter, but it attacks rather slowly and doesn’t do much. I can switch to Greatsword, but even then things aren’t really falling very quickly. Besides melee sword, what’s a good weapon to level with? I tried staff, but had the same problem as Greatsword.
I have watched the comprehensive Mesmer guide (which was fantastic BTW) but can’t seem to get over the hump and into level 40 where everyone says it gets better.
Should I just play Necromancer instead?

Basically, having to change between 4 attunements to suit different situations scares me. Ideally, I would prefer to stay in 1, and switching, especially later in the game, rather confuses me. For example, if I am specced to heal, is it viable to stay in water attunement primarily, unless something goes horribly wrong and I have to switch to earth to tank until I can get my friends up?
Certain things I understand. I have experienced weapon swapping to switch from single-target to AOE and vice-versa when adds came or everything was down except a veteran/champion. But to have to essentially cover 4 different roles at the same time is not something I think I can handle.
Is that really something you guys do? How hard is that to keep track of?

With the same traits? You can switch skills and not traits as an elementalist and fill another role? The thing that fascinates me about Mesmer is that they have several skills that basically do the same thing, just in different ways. Chaos Storm, Phantasmal Disenchanter, And Null Field all support, but they are each different types of skills from different sources. Theoretically, this means a Staff-focused, Phantasm-focused, OR glamour-focused Mesmer could support, they would just be doing it in a different way.

So, I have always liked Mesmer, and have played one since Guild Wars 1. However, I really struggled to find my place as a mesmer in this game, and almost scrapped it. After extensive research and finally just playing around on my own, it finally dawned on me: Mesmer might choose HOW to play, but they can always change WHAT role they want to play.
Let me give an example: Minion Necromancers have all their skills laid out for them. Their healing, utility, and elite skills are all going to be minions. Their weapon will probably be staff to support the minions, and all their traits will be slotted to increase their minion’s abilities. They are a tank/DPS type build, for being a Minion Necromancer locks you in to both how you play and what role you take. A burning Guardian will take the torch weapon, burning skills as utilities, and trait themselves for burning. They will therefore be a DPS build.
Mesmers are very different. Mesmers set up a basic way to play- the “how” of what they will be doing, but they can fill different roles with that “how.”
For example, if you are a Pantasm-focused mesmer, you will take all the Phantasm traits, but it doesn’t limit you in the role you will take in the game. You can AOE DPS by summoning the Greatsword and Focus Phantasms and taking damaging utilities. Or, you can support a team by tanking with the Phantasmal Defender and clearing boons and conditions with the Phantasmal Disenchanter. Or, you can do single target DPS with the Phantasmal Duelist, etc.
Ultimately, I feel like the Mesmer is a lot less specialized than other classes. On the one hand, that hinders us. Our AOE DPS abilities, for example, are spread across different weapons, as opposed to other classes who have almost all AOE abilities on single weapons (Greatsword and Staff, I am looking at you). In a sense, it hurts us not to have a way to get all we want on a single weapon/build set up. On the other hand, it allows us to swap abilities, even in the middle of dungeons, and cover whatever role is needed.
Do you think we have this capability? What do you think the concept behind mesmer was?

There were only 2 races I liked when I started Guild Wars 2: Charr and Sylvari. Now, I like them all. I have NEVER played a human in a game where I didn’t have to be one. But, in Guild Wars, the other races are so different, that humans are very unique. You don’t have humans, then short humans, then pointy-ear humans, and short, stout humans with beards. Every race is very different from the others, except for Norn, who at least have a completely different personality and personal story.
Since there were 5 professions I like, it worked out. Well… almost. Still trying to figure out which race should go with the 5 professions I like, hehe.

I got to wondering why people choose their races. So, why did you choose yours? Was it looks? Utlity skills? Personal story background? Character animations? General racial opinion toward the profession you wanted? Wanted to be a hipster/mainstream?

I’m torn between making a Sylvari or Human necromancer. I like how the Silvari looks better and the idea of “life and death” is fun- druidic powers mixed with necromancy. However, I am also interested in being a “religious” necromancer calling on the power of the gods in skills, and especially in choosing Dwayna as a patron to temper the darkness of necromancy. Also, being a noble-born necromancer sounds intriguing.

So I started a guardian a while back and while I enjoy him he really isn’t what I want. He is level 61 now and I am pushing him through the levels for one reason: to get gold for alts that may become mains since I suspect I will like them more. Primarily, I would like to get at least one crafting profession to max, perhaps 2.
How much gold does it generally take to max out one crafting profession? That would help me not only have equipment for my character, but level a little faster by crafting my way through levels.

I do not like being small.
I do not like arrogance, especially within myself.
I do not like having teeny-tiny weapons and having to actually jump up in the air to throw an axe.
I do not like knowing that most creatures I fight could literally open their maws and swallow me in a single gulp.

Today, I played an Asura, ya know, is for fun. And well… I loved him. That little guy was cute and dangerous-looking at the same time and by golly, I loved his ears. And the eyes, oh the eyes, how big and how they reflected the light! The idea of the eternal alchemy is fantastic, and I love that he belongs to a college that specifically focuses on it. And it leaves open an idea that speaks to my own personal beliefs.
I don’t want to like you… WHY, Asura, why are you so fun!?

………..I think I am going to go cry in a corner now….

Interesting. Okay what I may do then is play a Guardian first to really get to learn the game. If I can summon and support fairly easily as a Guardian, that may be better to start, before trying a necro. Obviously, I don’t know the dungeons or the bosses and I don’t have good timing yet. If Necromancer needs that to be solid in a dungeon, that doesn’t describe me yet.
I will return to necromancer after I have learned the game by playing a Guardian. Hopefully by then, the minion AI and the other things I hear about Necro will be resolved.
Besides, I kinda wanted to be a Sylvari for my first character, but a Sylvari Guardian is more fascinating to me than a necro. I also like being a “hipster” I believe you people call it and it seems like there are far more Sylvari Necros than Guardians.
Thanks for the advice, even if it was that another profession would suit me more.

I don’t intend to PvP much (although occassionally), so no I meant mostly dungeons. I will look over the build and make those changes. Additionally, I see the purpose of specializing in conditions that protect the team (blind, chill) rather than actual heals as a Guardian would do, and will be exploring that option as well.

I just started playing this week, and have read a lot about the classes I am most interested in and am currently torn between Guardian and Necromancer. I like Necromancers more and would really REALLY like to have a good summoning build .
My hesitation comes from my desire to have a support build, as well. I understand wells may be the best way to do this, but am struggling with a build. A full wells build seems to be somewhat lacking in consistent support for a team. I have this:
http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fQAQNAndWjQaV6haea8bKApCYP9o7xFH+Qu0HKH

With the idea being that I lay down wells and use Reaper’s Touch on the focus for sporadic healing and Mark of blood on Staff. Ghastly Claws on Axe helps me build Life Force to Death Shroud and then heal with Life Transfer.
Am I even getting a general idea of how builds work or am I way off base? Additionally, is this the best support build for necromancer?
If Necromancers simply don’t have a decent way to support, then I should probably play a Guardian with Spirit Weapons to include my desire for a summoning build.