Guild Wars 2

marquez.7182:

selan.8354:

depending on what your organized guild does.
if im wih a big group around 25-30 then i go glamour build because it supports my team and i do get nice tags and help with reflects and condi cleanse.

most of the time i run with a zergbusting group 18 people fighting 40-60 situation. there im pretty much jus there to veilbot. so important here is that u are tanky. id recommend a pu power build in this situation.

now if u are really good on your mes, try to go glkittenter and kill backlines off, but u will melt in seconds if u arent careful.

those are the only 3 i can see atm…there really isnt much beside veilbot duty and a little support atm. glamour is not really viable anymore, u get tags, but u dont kill anything with it really. but we will see what happens after the patch maybe there will be some more changes and maybe we will get 1 decent viable build that is not veilbot based…oh well one can always dream…

Any trait recommendations?

Something like this
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vgAQRAsf7dlknpUtlpxVNcrRiYqAxdShyxckUUaoWJF22FC-z0CBYhYINIYNDimWIZkAgk3wEIBKTtIasFWFRjVJjIqWpELAwBAfv7y7u8uFCYxcA-w

It has been confirmed. I’ve read it. I can confirm it. But who cares, see for yourself on patch day. Save us the trouble of digging up a link.

Oh and to OP, not excited, no. I’m not sure what class (properly built, properly played) is going to have a hard time dealing with a full staff clone user with an extra bounce.

Pyroathiest.4168:

Ansau.7326:

@Pyro. You arguments work for pug zergs, but in dedicated guilds or GvG, even a mesmer dying can mean your team losing.
Of course this trait wont makes us unkillable, but not only will be useful to not to die, the moment you see a yellow number you’re free to do whatever you want, it will prevent CC, spike damage, condi spam…

I currently run with an organized guild, both in zergsmashing and GvG. My survivability will not be enhanced by this trait. Win or lose, I survive based on other factors. If I’m running my Zergmower build, I survive because that’s what it’s designed to do. If I’m running a glassy pick group spec in a GvG, then I survive based on good positioning and smart bursting.

Basically, here’s the issue. If people you’ve tagged, as a mesmer, are dying, it means one of 2 things. Thing 1 is they have a ton of downs, and you’re applying cleave damage to keep them down, and they die. In this case, the trait is unnecessary. Thing 2 is you’re using Zergmower, because that’s the only build I’ve ever encountered that is capable of tagging mass numbers of people without being up close and personal, and in that case the trait is once again useless.

Exactly this. My experience is the same.

If I’m going full zerk, id never put myself in the frontline to begin with. I’f im using an actual front line zerg build, I’m built to survive without distortion (I rarely use my F4 and im in control of that distortion).

Chill effects interrupt cd’s.

Pyroathiest.4168:

BlackDevil.9268:

Ross Biddle.2367:

Pyroathiest.4168:

Ansau.7326:

First of all, on Tuesday new GM traits will come, and if it does what it seems to do, the new Duels GM will be mandatory, so will need to add 10 points into Duels. 3s of distortion per kill is too good not to have it.

This is incredibly false. As has been discussed before, the dueling GM trait will only be useful if you’re already winning, and then you don’t need it

Not to mention, it’s so ridiculously easy to survive without it now, making one wonder why they’d ever want to take it in the first place. It just has no practical value for a mesmer.

I still don’t agree on this. Try surviving when running (nearly) full zerker shatter. The thing that kills you atm is not the damage of the enemy but the retaliation. The distortion will most likely cause you to be immune against that as it does already now with F4.
You’re not winning a 20vs 50/60 when you killed 5 guys or 10 guys. You’re winning when they are down to 25-30. Also not to mention everlasting tower/keep fights. You want them dead as fast as possible. You’re not really helping yourself by going full tank that way. Having that 3 sec distortion every now and then can be pretty usefull.

In theory? Maybe. In practice? Not really. Go back and look at your own videos. Actually watch them carefully. I did this back when the trait was first released, and you posted a video as proof of how it would be effective. I watched your video and counted the number of times you got a kill in a situation that would have mattered. If I recall correctly the number was something around 5 times. 5 kills out of the multiple hundreds shown in your video that would have been useful. The rest would have been you just running around permanently invulnerable as RG mopped up another pug group.

Mesmer is not even in a strong position for the effect to trigger.

For the past month I’ve been playing a full zerk staff ele while raiding with my guild. Coming from Mesmer I found it very easy to utilize the ele’s skills/utilities to survive even in the full map blob tier 1 fights we were taking part in. The thing is, even if I went down which can happen often when things get crazy, after dropping the crazy AoE power of the ele, and tagging everything in sight, I was quick to rally off the back of it.

Functionally this is the very similar to what the new grandmaster trait is going to do. However unlike the ele, the mesmer has nowhere near the tagging power (or supporting, widespread dps) in order to make the effects happen. I know distortion is a mesmer thing, but the trait just feels weak, and would synergism better mechanically with other classes (such as ele).

mysticque.6182:

WvW 2v1 is fun enough for you??? How about during the entire season were you’d be fighting against 2 conspired zergs from each alliances. Meanwhile Blackgate TS is going through ddos attack every so often. Well sure enough JQ and TC are completely enjoying this moment to take advantage of the situation and they are absolutely not subjected to penalty. I think ANet needs to change how WvW mechanics work as opposed to pve perspective. Unlike GW1 they have skills changed when you switch between pve/pvp maps. I think they should do exactly the same thing over here in GW2. Skills should not be limited to 5 (10 if includes friendly target) targets. This makes the challenges in WvW easy to be manipulated against the favor of fair games.

---

Blackgate Power

I see your problem and a solution presents itself!

Solution: Transfer to either TC or JQ where EVERYONE is having fun, bar none. You can have fun bagging BG, and drinking tears too!

Pyroathiest.4168:

Ansau.7326:

First of all, on Tuesday new GM traits will come, and if it does what it seems to do, the new Duels GM will be mandatory, so will need to add 10 points into Duels. 3s of distortion per kill is too good not to have it.

This is incredibly false. As has been discussed before, the dueling GM trait will only be useful if you’re already winning, and then you don’t need it

Not to mention, it’s so ridiculously easy to survive without it now, making one wonder why they’d ever want to take it in the first place. It just has no practical value for a mesmer.

BG sought BeeGee’s
Purchased season two theme song
Reply: Tradgedy!

http://tinyurl.com/pohrgwf

I’m curious what server you transferred from and to?

People heal outside of stealth? o.O

Narsil.6579:

hendo.1940:

Narsil.6579:

From speed runs (if what you plan on doing) usually run focus/sw with GS. Mainly because if you are doing speed runs, most of the time you are stacking and the Warden is stationary , deals more damage AoE wise, the curtain light field + leap= retal. The curtain + whirl = Cleanse bolts (condition clear). Usually I run this (ran tbh). That being said, if you are semi casual, not really into speed clearing, staff can be more group support. Still deeps is always good if you have a coordinated team, also more risky.

< is member of elite NA dungeon guild
< has a mesmer with berserker, assassin and centaur sets
< does not own a greatsword
< has never felt the need to use a greatsword
< does not intend on purchasing a greatsword
< has never been asked to use a greatsword by guildies

I’m not sure what speed run meta you’re following, but ranged weapons aren’t a part of it unless you mean staff eles – which you don’t.

Ahh ok I am so sorry, I did not know we had alot of elite NA dungeon guilds, please tell me you’re not the type who runs through glitches, map terrain *shortcuts and or abuses certain bugs and exploits to speed clear. On a side note I did not say staff wasn’t better, I just like my greatsword, and if unless you are from DnT, I can give less craps about your guild. To top it off, I am not throwing around gear sets and runes. I seen 5 necros speed clear and I have seen several other classes. For my comp its usually 4 warriors 1 mesmer. Op is asking about weapons with high damage, usually the GS focus sword is my combo for kiting and stacking, now please explain how you use staff.

You’re both filthy PvE’rs, so regardless of who’s “right” you should both be ashamed anyway :p

I run hybrid

http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQRAsf7dlwzKqHTzmGb9IipHEXwBckUUavWJF22FC-jUEBohS0oLYINIYNA0CLjm6AgABKHqIaslhht6KalXBRbDTFbR16YAmbKamcp2uDQIgFTAA-w

Or build thread with vids
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/mesmer/Build-The-Holy-Hell-Build-s-solo-zerg/first#post3589756

Pow/prec/tough is called Knights. Already in game.

Aesthetics

Natronix.9827:

Lol at the T1 tears.

Do you guys think you’re a speacial snowflake because you optimaze your PPT play? We know what you guys do, and its extremely boring.

You dont just blob with baddies, you:
- Have mutiple 5 man ganking squads around bloodlust to cap and secure it, because this will get you loads of score from the constant fighting
-Have players willing to sit on towers/keep to scout, siege up and shoot anything that passes by
-Escort yaks en masse, play like a turttle most of the time
- If an open field fight is too difficult, set up siege
- “Map politics” lol

Rinse an repeat on all maps, ta da. Oh and when it gets “competitive” you know its time to:
-Siege grief
-Spy other teams voice comms or send alt acct
-Buy guilds for x time zone.
-Set up truces with another server that at the end you’ll the one taking more advantage

Instead of all that kitten you could be having fun just forgetting about the scoreboard and focus more on getting better at using your own character, syncronizing with your team. But nah winning matches is top leet skill amirite

http://www.sirlin.net/articles/playing-to-win-part-1.html

zortek.9607:

Design decisions (like actions) have consequences. There is virtue in letting a disaster play out. I am opposed to fixing the broken system — such would be knee-jerk or reactionary.

Rolling fixes are all too often the result of poor planning, inadequate frontloading, or immature simulation — any of which is a direct reflection of poor leadership, or more likely, bad management. I can’t stand it when simple-minded decision-makers lurch about after a decision.

• We take to the field of opportunity — not the field of dreams.
• We fight with the army we have — not the army we want.

Rather than lock in failure, I think it is much healthier and productive to accept the real circumstances into which we have been thrust than to obsess over ideals.

Whether I take to field with 1, 10, or 100, I want those around me to trust that I will deliver my best possible performance. And regardless of the standings or metrics, I want the amazing talent that I fight with and against will deliver their best possible performance. Win or lose, I want to take to field with friends and make the kind of legendary memories that will survive well after this venue has gone to the bit bucket.

Choices were made… those choices will lead to specific outcomes.

I can not blame ANet or a server or another individual for my poor performance. In the end, I accept personal responsibility for my fun. I own it and if it is unsatisfying… I understand that I chose to accept the challenge.

If you don’t like or can’t handle the challenge, find your fun elsewhere.

Years from now, your friends won’t care if you won or lost on a particular server in a particular event… THE STORY will be that you were there — and how great (or miserable) it was!

And tomorrow, there will be a new story to commiserate…

20 yeas from now

Person 1 “Remember season 2 back in the good old WvW2 days?”

Person 2 “Yeah. That was the one where, regardless of how much effort your side put in, or how skilled they were, or even if they were smart enough to stack and cover all times zones, lesser servers came out ahead because Anet employed a faulty tournament system.”

Person 1 “Yeah….”

This is a story we should want?

I see no difference between the warrior being used in that zerg, and warriors out solo roaming or pve’ing.

Nice try though Drigan.

I think the issue is pretty clear and obvious.

Glamor confusion’s gonna stack 1, possibly 2 stacks of confusion on a training zerg. That’ll proc confusion ticks per attack somewhere between 150-400 damage for as long as the confusion remains.

Meteor shower on a glass ele is going to rain down AoE death of 3k+ – 10k+ (17k is the biggest, or around about, that ive seen), not to mention all additional outgoing damage from staff 2 + AA etc.

Is glamor viable for damage? Hardly, no. Will it give a mesmer a better chance to tag? Absolutely. Mesmers place in a zerg is due to his utility. For damage? Any serious force, or just serious player, should more appropriately be on another class.

Don’t know till I see all the new runes.

dank.3680:

Well it is a real world tactic.. And so happens to be most beneficial in game so ppl do it..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=8sFsSJMrQaE#t=47

Sad Swordfish.9743:

But guys, that’s the thing.

Why should players be able to stand 50 people “inside” each other? why cant they disable this for WvW. after all, it forces you to tab target into stead of relying movements and positioning right?

And if people cant run through each other, you cant have 50 people right by the commander. So create force field, in which everyone in the field gets any buff and passive bonus as long as they are in the field.

Because, out of frustration, people would log off more than anything.

Imagine trying to kite your enemy when, suddenly, your friendly kiting the other way bumps into you. The two of you effectively stun eachother in a nasty aoe and the enemy calls it a day. Awesome.

In the line format, people could still stand directly on the commander and be on the line.

Also the main reason for stacking, or turtling, is damage mitigation. If one side decided to spread out, the other could stack tight and push the very center of the line (on the commander). In which case the commander would take a full 50 AA’s a second. Where’as if his side also stacked, those 50 AA’s would disperse over his zerg, and he would only cop a fraction of them.

I run scepter/focus for my main, and sword/torch for my offhand.

What sword/torch provides is an easy way to run around and tag during “clean up” when all the opponents are down and dropping, but otherwise the torch provides that target dropping should you find yourself being focused, or out alone behind enemy lines (not really a problem when commanding as you are the front line). I don’t take the torch for condi removal. Not only is it not needed, but it’s not really enough on it’s own if conditions are really a concern for you. The stealth and target dropping are really what’s going to save your kitten, not the condi clear.

To balance you have to start somewhere. Simple as that.

• Reduce power/crit spike
• Players can reduce reliance on toughness to counter
• Players can swap toughness for other stats (vit or healing or hybrid damage)
• Other stats help to counter condi meta
• Build Diversity opens up
• Anet continues to balance, possibly altering condi damage etc etc bla bla bla

OR

• Change nothing
• Nothing changes
• Players continue to whine on and on about the stupid meta

Have you tried watching some vids?

Here’s a 1v1 with a thief you might draw from.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zmfdj4KucfE

There are tons of examples of predicting/countering the thiefs gameplay.

Here’s general gameplay vs a bunch of different classes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zmfdj4KucfE

Channel/reflect should be 4 seconds as per tooltip, and on land. It’s only 2 seconds tops while underwater.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/bugs/Mesmer-Mimic-Underwater

Channel/reflect should be 4 seconds as per tooltip, and on land. It’s only 2 seconds tops while underwater.

I use PU. The way I do it I still find it very aggressive/fast pace. I ran shatter in the past.

Yoh.8469:

I think at the end of the day it just comes down to play style and preference.
Do you want to do you damage now, or over time.

Actualy at the end of the day it comes down to did you/your team win, or not. How quickly you dealt damage becomes irrelevant.

Mr Balance Dev was interested in looking at it, tweaking it, giving it a quality of life overhaul, over and above the PvE issues it had. But he didnt come back to us about any thoughts he had, let alone if or when it might happen.

Mesmers aren’t allowed unique things anymore :p

Your options are either a trait, a utility, a condition, or possibly a weapon skill.

Simple answer: Yes.

All that said, with the coming sigil changes and ‘on hit’ instead of ‘on crit’ option, there’ll be more options surrounding this.

Depending on your build you can still crit well in full Dire too. It’s really users preference. Vitality is great, but you can certainly live without it.

Simple answer: Yes.

I’ve had a hell of a long day, so I’m going to let Nero explain
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Io0OQ2zPS4

To say this can’t be made more functional is a lie. To not stack may be working as intended, but that doesn’t mean the full duration shouldn’t be obtained regardless.

StickerHappy.8052:

I had this talk with Pyro the other day and I agree with Carighan completely. DE is too valuable in any build but at the same time, It kinda makes you have the feeling of being “forced” into getting it.

It is also the same with Blink and Decoy.

Try running with a build without DE or the two latter, or all 3 of them.

I wouldn’t see you fair so well against “skilled” players.

skilled= maybe try fighting someone without blink and decoy anyone of the popular players in OMFG. or just use decoy without DE. (PUs are excluded of course)

I am saying this because, instead of having the freedom of putting anything into the traits or Utility Slots, you are quite have the feeling of “you have to slot it in”.

The ONLY thing I swap decoy out for is Mimic (4s blocking/reflects in placed of 3s/4s stealth), and I’ll be using torch for that stealth/target break. I also wouldn’t do this while roaming. Decoy all the way.

Raunchy.6891:

People make the mistake of thinking they “need” these traits, but you only need them if you have a shatter heavy build. Even then, I’ve run a shatter build without DE with pretty good success.

Not entirely true. Having clones out is important for all mesmer trait/features that increase in power per illusion (ether fest being a major one). A single solo melee guardian can outkill your clone production without DE no trouble. Then, of course, there’s the added conditions on clone death, the rate of application and stacks of which would be dramatically effected. Shatters isnt the half of it.

Djahlat.9610:

I don’t know about you, but I’d never trade my staff for a greatsword. Ever.
’nuff said

What about in a duel vs a thief?

Pyroathiest.4168:

frifox.5283:

Equip Mirror of Anguish and Halting Strike. Interrupt the ele while he has Shocking Aura on him and you have a chance to proc the bug. It’s possible that the bug has been fixed though.

Yeah, this bug is old news, and it’s not a bug with halting strike anyway. If I recall correctly from Tyler’s venture into the bug thread, it’ll be fixed on the feature patch.

My memory can confirm its in the coming fixes.

Spicyhash.7605:

Guard, warrior, mesmer, ele, etc, all have access to long duration stability.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Mantra_of_Concentration
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Power_Break

1 utility slot for two 2s stability with a 2s recharge time between them, on a 25s cooldown, and takes 2 3/4s channel when you can to recharge the two mantra charges?

Holy kitten, mesmer stability so OP!!!!!!

quercus.9261:

Charming Rogue.8071:

How does this build work in big zerg fights? Somehow it seems like it’s impossible to tag a variety of enemies for loot bags (except for Chaos Storm, which has a very long cd). This is also a very important aspect of WvW. :P

It doesn’t

Running tonight on a staff build on TC against JQ map blobs. Kept getting downed, clones die instantly, conditions cleared instantly, just a rally bot. I actually rage quit and logged my warrior.

I was running my uplevel ele in those fights and leveling off the endless kills :p

Currently leveling alts only come out to level on karma train Friday anyway. It’s not as though you’ll be introducing any game breaking material.

Exploding Shatters: All shatter skills are blast finishers.

Here’s some vid containing running away
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GZ6UgA_MUo

Stealth + misdirection + high swiftness uptime + long range blinks + portals + boon stealing (arcane thievery).

One time I dropped a portal, swam away, dropped the other end and instead of taking the portal I stealthed instead. The enemy players turned to go back for the other portal end while I continued on in the other direction.

While I know I’m aware of it, it’s funny how this reminds me I’m always running toward (pressuring) my opponent with my build/playstyle. That said, Hot Boy has it right with free camera, and also this helps a ton
http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-mice/razer-naga

Making the use of your hands/fingers in a more efficient manner helps you to manage things like camera panning etc.

Maniac Magee.2643:

Ross Biddle: I don’t expect everyone to read the whole thing but if you are going to post about some specifics then make sure I havent covered it first. I have stated already that it is meant to be with a group. I do havoc in WvW and the staff build is a wonderful thing to have in a group of 5-20 player fights. This game is SUPPOSED to be played with a team. I have already said that if you’re a solo roamer you don’t need to pay attention here. Solo Roaming is for kitten builders. Next sry but I can easily afford the toxic crystals.

I didn’t mean any disrespect. That said, regardless of it you covered it it needed to be said. So allow me to counter your counters.

I won’t argue that staff doesn’t offer anything to your 5-20 man groups. Boons are boons, and that’s great. I used to like boon stacking (using staff) and sharing with the signit in fractals etc. The problem is there are just so many better mesmer options to bring in a group fight. Aside from the random boon procs on your allies, your passive agressive, selfish defense weapon isnt bringing anything to the game. It’ll keep you alive (as you said, you’ve been the last one left alive, tanking but doing nothing but holding out till your group mates arrive to deal with the enemies), but that’s it… It’s like the chaos trait line on a weapon.

The other thing I give to staff is it’s extreme survivability. It’s the one thing it’s great at, and this makes it a solid starter weapon for newbie mesmers. The problem is that there’s no amount of survivability the staff offers that cannot be acomplished without staff. Therefor, why take it? There’s a learning curve to this to be sure, but once you’re there the only reason left to take a staff is either A: because you enjoy it, B: to easily counterbalance extreme offence such as GS, or C: (enter whatever asthetic you prefer here).

In conclusion: sure, staff is great. But you’ll be better off with something else in a Playing to Win game.

Easy solution: Chill increases initiative cost by 66% (or whatever).

Bombsaway.7198:

Your basic point is that the warrior is so incredibly OP right now that what should be insanely good GM traits won’t get used because there is something more insane.

I agree. The need is a warrior nerf.

lol, hilarity ensued.

Cogbyrn.7283:

HHR LostProphet.4801:

While he made a mistake, you’re still wrong. Just use your GS Spin2Win and Savage Leap. You’ve created some impressive distance by now. Now you just have to toot in your horn to clear all cripples and chills and you’re free to go. Simple as that.

Of all the Warrior weapons I dabbled with, I never used a Warhorn in combat, so I’d forgotten that #4 removes cripple/chilled/immob.

In general though, forum-based “X then Y” arguments are terrible enterprises that go nowhere, but it’s true that Sword+Warhorn/Greatsword is exceptional at running away. The thing is, that’s all it is exceptional at. I don’t know how this combo kills you, because there’s really only 1 ability you ever have to be careful of: Flurry.

I just don’t see the big deal. At all. If an enemy specs for running away, then the fight ceases to be about you securing the kill while avoiding death and becomes you securing the kill and keeping him from escaping. His goal is to chain his abilities in such a way that he gets out of range, and your goal is to drop your abilities into his chain in such a way that keeps him in range. Maybe you land your cripple/chill immediately after the Whirlwind finishes to kitten his Savage Leap, then you follow up with a secondary snare after he blows his Warhorn #4.

It could happen a number of ways, and it’s going to depend on what your class is as well.

But you have basically no threat of dying, so enjoy the chase and stop worrying so much about it.

If you can’t deal damage/kill on a high landspeed/mobility warrior, you don’t know how to play one.

It’s ignorant to say they’re incapable of doing anything but running.

DE should be a class feature and not traited at all. Only then will build diversity open up for mesmers. It doesn’t matter if you don’t like the sound of that, it’s the truth.

Yes glamors need to be re-instituted. However your biggest hurdle is overcoming the devs bias against Mesmers in which they see anything regarding “Purple Cheese”.

You’re fighting an uphill battle on something that’s a rainy day bookshelf consideration for a balance dev.

Never the less, I run confusion on enter/exit, and a single feedback when zerging. At least I can tag well enough to get some bags in WvW.