Guild Wars 2

I’m in agreement with a reply up above, if we’re going to have to deal with both phantasms being pain to summon with all the denial effects in the game now (see: WvWvW, as soon as anyone in a swarm recognizes there’s a mesmer, you see the whole kitten swarm spam any blind they have and I see so much dodging <_<), our phantasms should be more durable to compensate.

I would honestly say beween 200-300% current health, they’re paper thin at the moment and sneezing too hard will shatter them. Fixing Signet of Illusions’ passive to trigger properly would also be a huge improvement on them.

as an avid torch user, I’d love to be able to chain the prestige instead of having to wait for it to finish once to miss out on the blast finisher because any fields I combo it with vanish unless I pop them just before using it (which defeats the purpose of the combo field)

As long as it retains the blast finisher and has maybe a 1 second cooldown after you start the invisibility before you can pop the blast, I think it’d be perfectly balanced

For some reason every time I log on, the first time my male charr mesmer draws his greatsaw he goes “WAHOO!”

also I’m at the point where I can recite all of the mantras from memory XD

I’m thinking more because all of my clones will be triggering the wild lightning effects and such

For those who don’t know what Bolt is: http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Bolt

I’m planning on doing a binge over my winter break from college to make the legendary longsword Bolt, and I’m curious about how it looks

On memser, if I use Leap/Swap, does the clone leave a trail of lightning behind them?
Do the lightning steps only show on my feet or both feet and hands while running as a Charr?
How awesome does the lightning look during Blurred Frenzy?

Take a peek at my current build: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znBKeXrN2AE

I’m built around self-heals in any state by using my shatters and mantras.

I think if you were to apply this with adjustments for melee, probably swapping Signet of Midnight for Mirror Images and working with distortion, and putting 10 points in duelist for sword cooldown, this could work great.

My assumption would be high healing power, toughness, and vitality from a mix cleric and magi, or going with shaman stats for healing and condition damage if you run staff. The main bulk of the fighting would be through using distortion to it’s max through blurred attacks and distortion use.

Another consideration is building aroun regeneration and protection on regen, and running heavy on melee range phantasms while going mele yourself. I’m thinking running sword/focus, defender, and sword/sword on the off-set. phantasms boost your damage and will trigger some regen/prot. Combine with Dwayna Runes for maximum melee survivability.

Popping Mantra of Bump.

Thread really does deserve to be stickied

you need healing power if you intend to….heal decent amounts.

I’m healing a little over 2k and I could probably sneak in another 500-600 healing power if I rune out for it

They mentioned it pretty well above, but you’re opting for Charr!

We get toys like the Charrzooka for AoE, Proxy Mines, and battle roar ^^

I’m full spectrum colorblind here, not full colorblindness but more an overall deficiency and trouble with red/green yellow/blue…

bumping the thread to get more people to see it <_<

All Mesmer with a single engineer would be amazing, anything that gets in the way is smattered with a wall of illusions to cut through and absolutely bathed in conditions, especially considering all of the weapon #1s for engineer can combo with the mesmer’s ethereal fields

I can assure you it works, it’s the cornerstone of my current build :P

The big thing is you need to have something to shatter in order to get the heal, which either by having illusions active, or by self-shattering with illusionary persona at the end of the illusions tree

Maybe not as much as thief, but we can get all kinds of distortion active and most other players aren’t familiar with mesmer enough to know the signs of distortion

I might try to run this build over the weekend for laughs just to see how hard I can make someone rage. Tempted to even say in spvp it could be viable when used as a distraction for a thief to position themself with

Illusionary Persona or Restorative Mantras here, iPersona is awesome because with the heal on shatter trait, I can heal without illusions up for burst healing

This is mostly for the AoE rings….people like me who are colorblind can’t see those AoE rings on most of the ground textures and we just take hit after hit from things that should be easy to avoid under normal circumstances (see: floor traps in the swamp fractal, traps in AC, etc)

All I’m asking is something like brighter, easier to see rings for enemy AoE, I’d like to see that there’s a rock headed for my face when I’m out in the world <_<

Hammer for engineer.

Why not?

anyways on topic with the thread….it depends what role you want to take

Mesmers and Thieves are great 1v1 dueling classes, Mesmer you have to prey on player psychology while thief is big on unpredictability (and yes they are stupidly strong with the culling issues right now)
If you’re looking more for crowd control, I’d look into Engineer, Necromancer, or Elementalist.

also Mesmer clones? ctrl click the mesmer at the start of the fight.

So this is an “in theory” thread, not a build thread, but a buddy of mine is leveling a mesmer and we started talking about distortion and dodge stacking to be invuln for awhile.

So let’s start off with skills that could work for this…I’m taking a Charr Mesmer into consideration here due to racials but any race should be able to do this:

-Distortion: scales with clones and self-shatter.
-Signets with trait: 1s per signet, casting time could be an issue but it’s there. Midnight probably functions best for this since it’s an instant stun break with blind, as well as signet of illusions to reset the shatter.
-Hidden Pistol: It’s basically a free dodge for Charr with a combo shot. Slip in Mirror Images instead if more clones are needed instead of 1s evade from dodge.
-Blurred Frenzy (S): 2s of distortion on this, can have CD reduced on the duelist tree down to I believe 8s cooldown(?)

So let’s open up the traits for this setup:

30 Duelist: dodge to clone and sword cooldown reduction, plus vigor on crits
10 inspiration: vigor on shatter for endurance recharge between dodges
30 illusions: Self-shatter, Signets grant distortion, recharge shatters at 25% health

This should give us the clones needed for distortion, make Blurred Frenzy more available, and sneak in a few seconds more of distortion.

Now that we have our skills and traits, let’s put together the final skillset:
Sword/Sword: Blurred Frenzy and a Block for the end of the distortion cycle
Scepter/Torch: Another block for the end of the cycle and The Prestige for stealth at the end.
Sigil of Energy will be needed in a weapon on each set to refill 50% endurance for additional clones.

Our utility will be Signet of Illusions, Signet of Midnight, and Mirror Images, with Mass Invisibility for our Elite.

The Combo
This is assuming 1v1 and the target is actively attacking you.

Sword/Sword
Leap
-Make iSwordsman
Swap
Blurred Frenzy (2s dist, it starts here.)
dodge at the end (3i up)
Distortion (4s distortion)
-Pop MW, CoF, and Diversion (gives vigor)
-Mirror Images
-Auto-attack until end
Signet of Illusions at the end (1s distortion, time to trigger when dist ends)
Sword Block after dist (lasts 2s, but let’s assume 1s before blocked, 3i now up)
Distortion after block (4s distortion, BF is recharged at about 2s of it)
-Autoattack
Blurred Frenzy at the end (2s distortion)
dodge at the end
dodge (should empty last of endurance)
Signet of Midnight (1s distortion)
Weapon Swap to Scepter/Torch (50% endurance refilled)
-blinded attack misses (assume 0.5s until miss)
Scepter Block (3i up, again lasts 2s assume 1s)
Diversion (1-2s daze on target)
Torch Phantasm
dodge
The Prestige (3s invisibility, position yourself behind them)
Mass Invisibility (5s invisibility)

While the invuln ends with the invisibility starting, in theory, you could do this out of stealth…
Weapon Swap to Sword/Sword (could could leap position if you want)
Blurred Frenzy (2s distortion)
Sword Block
dodge (3i)
Shatter
-Opponent ragequits.
(you have 50% endurance or so remaining for another dodge if you wanted)

So let’s do some math!
Assuming each dodge is about 0.5s worth of evade invulnerability, and each block takes up 1s of time and the blind buys you 0.5s

-Time Spent in Distortion: 14s (16s with the post-invis shenanigans)
-Time Spent dodging: 2s (2.5s)
-Time Spend blocking: 2s (3s)
-Time Invisible: 8s
-Time safe by other means: 1.5-2.5s (blind and stun)

For a total of 18s full invulnerability(21.5s), 1.5-2.5s situational, 8s invis, or upwards to 32s of safety!

Of course this is purely theorycrafting, and not factoring in runes which could EASILY extend this theoretical combo with triggers like endurance regen on heal with Mantra of Healing, or some sigils that trigger effects like daze or blind.

Final Note: While this will tie someone up for a hilarious amount of time, there’s near nil damage output, so don’t go crying OP on this because I will have done all of about 4k damage over 32s.

Feel free to discuss the potential shenanigans!

uhohhotdog.3598:

Here’s how I think it should go. You do dynamic caps in increments of perhaps 50. (Or whatever number you want it to be) When WvW opens the cap starts at 50. When all 3 servers reach 50 players then it increases to 100. When all 3 reach 100 then it increases to 150 and so on. Now when 2 of those servers fall below the previous cap, then it shrinks back down by 50. Then the higher pop world that is now over the cap will keep the people that are in there but they will not be replaced until they are under the cap.

in theory that would work, but whenever a server gets rocked alot of players take off and suddenly you’ve taken down the other two servers from say 200 down to 50, right there the other two servers just lost 150 players

hahah challenge accepted

I’m that mesmer thats keeps healing and sitting there way too kitten long, if I bump into ya I’ll take a crack at a duel

I’ve seen Twilight look pretty sexy on mesmer, havn’t seen Sunrise in action yet

Posted a video walkthrough, if anyone’s interested

Here’s a walkthrough of my Healing Bunker build, complete with 0 reliance on illusions :P

Feels great to finally see the interior of the castle

I’ll use the toughness boost to tank through trash mobs or to move from one spot to another in wvw, comes in handy sometimes.

I use the mantra mostly for AoE heals though, and the fact I never have a condition sitting on me at any point

ps: +4% damage per mantra prepared? yes please.

setting it to stack duration unfortunately would turn it into a weaker poison, mesmers have little trouble keeping a stack of confusion up at all times if they build around it, we need the stacks for damage more than duration

I’ve been using Sword/Torch since I rebuilt into a mantra/signet heals all day build, found that popping the prestige and using your mantra of heal healing triggers with runes like grenth or balthazar keeps you in stealth and gives you a free chill without being chased, VERY useful

Also I believe vuln does boost up retaliation from some minor testing

okay so I’m not the only one seeing this….

I’ve been seeing this in our borderlands and in frostgorge while going uphill at Snow Climb

Running a Nvidia GeForce GTX 560SE, issue never happened until the most recent patch

I’m running full Rata Sum right now for my runeset, noticed a few glitches:

-The Trigger for the radiation field appears to be both “on hit” and “when hit”, isn’t this supposed to trigger on my attack hits?

-Radiation field does not create a poison combo field as listed

-Radiation field often is created on my character’s location and not on my target….glitch or intended location?

I actually actively run this build in dungeons

With full healing power gear, the heals are pretty potent, and the heal on shatter works because I have the self-shatters

I would say precision because you can stack bleed and other fun conditions on crit in the background on top of your confusion.

popping my signet of bump, hoping for some feedback on this build

NOW WITH VIDEO WALKTHROUGH
NOTE: The Video’s build is the current setup of this build, it has been improved since the written out version below.

Seeing the healing threads about I figured I may as well post my current build.

The idea behind this build is to have a near endless stream of minor heals to sustain you in an extended fight. This isn’t a hard hitting build, but instead a headache for anyone who can’t handle fighting beyond their initial set of skills.

Traits:
-10 Domination
I take 20% Signet recharge here, this is mostly for running Signet of Illusions to reset shatters. Arguably you can put this 10 anywhere, but for my particular setup, signet cooldown works best.

-30 Inspiration
I take Mender’s Purity for condition removal, Restorative Mantras/Vigor on shatter (preference really), and most importantly, Restorative Illusions for heal on shatter.

-30 Illusions
I take shatter recharge at 25% hp (NOT 50% as the tooltip says) or CoF retaliation for pvp, blind causes confusion (signet of midnight confusion bomb), and the most important part of the build: iPersona self-shatter.

The way this works out, using any shatter ability will trigger a self-heal regardless of whether you have illusions out or not. This healing scales off of Healing Power.

Using your shatters in a sequence can give you bursts of heals when you need them most.

Skills:
-Mantra of Healing
With restorative mantras or just having enough healing power piled up, this is one of the most efficient heals mesmer has. You can use it when you’re stunned/dazed/knockdown/etc., and it have multiple uses. Not to mention the chant AND the charges all trigger rune triggers like Water/Flock/Dwayna/Grenth.

-Signet of Illusions
Refresh your shatters when shatter cycling for heals. Timing this right is key, since the cooldown is long even with reduction.

-Signet of Midnight
I love this signet personally, it has no cast time and with the traits above it acts like an AoE confusion bomb. Also it’s your stun breaker.

-Mantra of Resolve
Any defensive build should be running this, it’s too valuable to NOT run in my opinion.

Weapons:
This is really down to preference, I’ve run every weapon combo under the sun with this build and they all seem viable, but a couple stand out a little.

-Greatsword/Scepter+Focus
Mostly focused on getting those wardens out to make reflect bubbles and drop damage on pve enemies. Greatsword for all around damage. Swap the Focus for Sword if you prefer phantasms that dodge and attack.

-Scepter+Sword/Sword+Torch
This is an interesting uber defense setup, you have 2 blocks available to negate big attacks, which sits nicely with distortion. When those are used up, swap into their face, pop distortion, then prestige out of the line of fire before swapping back.

Suggested Gear:
I -HIGHLY- suggest running Water, Flock, or Dwayna for your runeset here as they make your mantra heals huge due to a seperate heal piled on top of the exisiting restorative mantras bonus. Grenth is also viable if you’re a staff user, since you’ll have high condition damage as well as AoE chill on heal, opens up some close range shatter combos.

As far as armor goes, Cleric is the most effective on this setup. It gives you a great deal of defensive bonuses and you have flat power based damage to work with.

Magi is also viable if you’re willing to swap out shatter regen @25% for MW crit chance, which should boost your damage a hair at the expense of power. Running Magi could make Blood a good sigil to run, although you’ll have more health to refill.

So there you have it, my screwball healing build that doesn’t make much use of phantasms/clones. Try it or not, it’s up to you

EXPLOSIONS!!!!!

If you’re really hellbent on healing, I’d suggest running Water/Flock/Dwayna runes with restorative mantras and Mantra of Healing+Mantra of Pain.

You can pile on AoE heals using that, but it takes some getting used to.

The Black Citadel is just awesome, the lore is pretty nice, and I absolutely love the Iron Legion.

Also Charrzooka on a mesmer

MrMacAndCheese.3907:

TheComet.6471:

The regen spreads to the duelists as well so they’ll be more durable, so hopefully they’ll live long enough.

In the Inspiration line, there is the option early on to Phantasms 20% more Life, which seems logical and worthwhile if you are providing Regen to you AND your party. I stress AND becuase NO mesmer needs this build. It’s strictly for party support, and as I’m seeing it now, its pretty poor party support.

Ideally, you would add vit to yourself, making yourself more long lasting and your heals good, except you only have self heal.

At 5 pts, get retaliation for phants, great cus you want them to live, why? the send out regen

At 10 pts, can get 20% more phant health, great why? cus they can send out regen.

At 15pts, phantasms send out regen, only not really, only hardly, just kidding.

Wasted 15 trait points, I could be traiting Precision and using a Pistol like everyone else.

I used to run phantam regen on my old dwayna build with the signet of inspiration ready, I’d use the full stacks of regen and prot I gained from the duelists while everyone else got up close, get up to them and pop my signet to spread the 20s of regen and prot on the whole party.

It was a different build, full mantras built around party healing and support, but it worked nicely in dungeons.

Once you get that second duelist out, it isn’t too hard keeping them alive long enough to stack regen and prot, considering it should only take you about 3-5 sec to get it way up there as far as stacks go

I’ve thought of this, have a few ideas in mind:

-Instant chant mantra: Pop this mantra and your next mantra chant is instant.
-AoE chill mantra
-Mantra recharge mantra: At the end of the chant, all mantras are recharged. no charges for this one.
-Regeneration Mantra: each use gives 10s regeneration with a 5s cooldown per charge

I’m currently running a mantra/signet healing bunker build

10 Dom – Signet recharge. This is mainly for Illusions shatter reset

30 Inspiration – Healing mantras and heal on shatter mostly

30 Illusions – Shatter on self is where the magic begins, every shatter regardless of whether I have summons out is a free 2.5k+ heal. Also run shatters recharge at 25% health (not 50% as it lists sadly). I also run Blind causes confusion so I can pop signet of midnight as a confusion bomb as well as a stunbreak

Running a mix of Cleric and Magic gear with Water/Flock runes for all around survivability and massive healing

I’ve been loving this build since I can just sit there and string together 11 heals before cooldown becomes an issue, and even then, my mantra of healing is ready to be recast (which will also heal me a great deal on chant)

For skills I run Mantra of Healing, Signet of Illusions, Signet of Midnight, Mantra of Confusion, Mantra of Cleansing, Charrzooka (for when I need to do some knockback magic and combo missiles)

It has a long delay on every phantasm EXCEPT Illusionary Duelist

The Duelist can stack regen on itself if you have any boon duration bonuses, and if you stand between two of them you can stack protection and regen to their cap

The regen spreads to the duelists as well so they’ll be more durable, so hopefully they’ll live long enough.

yep, Mantra of healing for heals, Mantra of Pain can act as another heal when you chant it, Mantra of Distraction is great for interrupts, and Mantra of Resolve guaruntees you’ll never have conditions. ever.

ps: this isn’t exactly an easy build to run of course, you’ll have to figure the best timing for popping your mantra abilities, but once you settle into a groove it’ll feel wierd going to anything else.

If you don’t want to run pure mantras, signets tend to work nicely together with them, or swap out mantra of distraction for mirror images or decoy

when you unlock tier 2 traits, why not give mantras a shot with restorative mantras on the inspiration tree?

You’ll come to love the sustainability with the endless heals

Post your screenshots of your epic Canach rooms

I’ve been pretty much unable to play wvw, as every time a warrior shows up or a guardian it’s basically time for my phantasms to all hit cooldown with their aegis and dodges.

Seriously, every time someone realizes there’s a mesmer in the crowd aegis goes up or everyone starts dodge rolling against me, or warrios whip up their long kitten block.

If they touch my healing ability and/or mantras (which are weak to begin with), I’ll probably wind up just stopping playing this game as a whole. Mesmer is the only class I find appearling, the rest are just more of the same thing I’ve played on every other MMO that has come out.

Full Mantras spec mesmer here

Mantras are nice due to the lower cooldowns and multiple uses, not to mention you can pop them while knocked down, stunned, etc.

Personally I run a healing power build with water runes, giving me massive heals (healing mantras channeling and use counts as a healing spell for those) and the mantras allow me to interrupt from any position.

Not to mention you never have conditions. ever.

I’d like to see a few of the existing environments to pop up as a neutral map to fight in
-Ascalon Ruins: so much verticality to have fun with here, and ghosts roaming the field!
-Branded zones: With the cannon emplacements there could be some pretty epic defenses
-Skritt tunnel networks: environmental weapons and the like, could be interesting

100% in support of this thread, it’s a great idea (surprised there isn’t a pinned thread like this)

Actually here’s an idea to accomplish the ladder idea without making essentially a mesmer portal: Grappling Hooks.

the hook is a one time use item to get only one person up, and that person takes 10 seconds to scale the wall. Any damage knocks them off the rope and the grapple is destroyed in the process. Price it about 20s and there ya go.

If they’re fragile, I’m all for ladders, assuming that you can break them about as easily as a mesmer illusion with the signet of illusions.
The only downside would be nightcapping due to fewer defenders, there would have to be priority targetting on the ladders by the AI to take them out as quick as possible so ladder swarms would be needed for the tactic to work.

Siege Towers could be stupidly durable and move like the golems – slowly. They’d obvious take fire from EVERYTHING, and I’d say they lock into wall sections so they’re a 1 time use thing. That would make them favorable only for the main castle, which is also where it’s most heavily defended and the tower would take the most damage