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[Guide] Where and When to Reflect

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Posted by: apharma.3741

apharma.3741

TA (fw/up): Only things reflect able are the nightmare archers attacks. Additionally I’m not sure the blink/portal locations still work either.

CoE: Path 1 golem you can reflect the buffs the turrets shoot as well as the beam though in practise it’s easier to just kill 2/3 of the turrets by placing the golem halfway between retal and the other.

CM: Most things are reflectable. They prevented reflects from reflecting missiles from the turrets in path 3 however they do block them if you need a sec to rez.

Arah: Seems up to date however traiting 66002 and using 3 mantras and keeping 3 clones/phantasms up is best so you can feedback straight into mid phase 3 or even one shot lupi. Additionally making sure lupi has as many targets as possible and saving time warp for phase 3 so you can make that final burn fast is very helpful.

AC: A reflect if stacking on the spider queen to burn her is useful to reflect the projectiles from the little spiders and turrets. If you’re group has high dps then they are more of a threat than queenie.

Edit: I hate Apple auto correct.

(edited by apharma.3741)

Defiant bar and interrupt traits

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Posted by: apharma.3741

apharma.3741

I always had my reservations about the unveiling of the breakbar. Some people said it was great, it walked on water and would deliver us to the promised land. However what it is doing is removing your control over the enemy.

A co-ordinated (even semi co-ordinated) group could strip defiant stacks and stun, knockback, fear etc when they needed. Now they won’t be able to without Anets permission it seems.

Added to that that it now means unless that window for CC happens when it’s doing an attack or has something to interrupt all those traits won’t work. This is of course assuming it counts as YOUR CC as opposed to a self inflicted one which will proc nothing for anyone.

This has me very worried about mesmer in PvE. Currently we do poor damage, it can be ok if we get lucky with phantasms staying alive etc. With the trait changes I see pistol trait becoming a lot worse as you need to interrupt to recharge. The mantra damage trait is one step forward 2 steps back. What little utility mesmers provided will now cost a lot of potential damage by having to go full into inspiration for wardens feedback, probably at the expense of chrono, duelling, domination or illusion lines.

On the bright side PS warrior is getting a massive boost and shouldn’t be so far behind a DPS warrior so no need for might stacking or sharing. However most classes are getting sizeable damage increases from the number of traits they can pick that all synergise and I feel Mesmer is getting left in the dust.

[suggestion] Moa on transforms

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Posted by: apharma.3741

apharma.3741

I know in the go4GW2 weekly for Europe there were mesmers but no power necros. I don’t generally watch NA as it’s been very boring but I do know power necro is more meta there so I’ll give that a watch.

You’re more likely to see comparable skill match ups there and people that are pretty good with their class. Decimating as lich or beating a lich without moa in hot join doesn’t mean the guy is playing it well, especially with the daily system.

Arcana obscura under 8 mins?

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apharma.3741

Is it possible on mesmer? Yes. Is it possible the teapot orbiting the solar system spontaneously decides to head straight for my coffee table burning up in the atmosphere and land as a small bit of dust? Yep also possible.

Generally I found the entirety of season 2 plain old easier on any class that didn’t use a pet or rely on AI. The easiest to do what you’re asking was thief as stealth wins most stuff. I attempted a few things on Mesmer but decided it was just easier to get achievements on anything but a Mesmer.

What Mur traits should be baseline?

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apharma.3741

Imbued diversion and maybe that phantasm health trait get my vote in addition to what is already being made baseline. I thought about maybe phantasmal haste but I’m not sure.

What I do think needs doing is a second pass at the way Mesmer damage is distributed, what weapons are being used, how and for what sort of builds. I think they need to really polish up the skills so they actually do what they say more often and for what they say they do to actually work.

For example the summon on block stuff, usually a hefty aftercast and it feels clunky. Sword 2 is a nice idea but since illusions die so fast it doesn’t work in practice.

I just feel that there’s so much potential in Mesmer but it’s being let down by bad AI, poor implementation and terrible scaling when numbers or content gets harder.

I’d like secs to do lvl 50 fractals as mesmer, the new living story and realise just how pet unfriendly it all is.

[Vid]OMFG, The ToL Team

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apharma.3741

One thing I think would help you guys, check out the ESL go4gw2 Europe finals on the official gw2 twitch channel. Had 2 teams with mesmers in the semi finals and Jebro makes some good explanations on portal placements etc.

Think it would help as I saw some effective use of portals but I feel you could have used them more aggressively.

Hey Anet! What About Sword?

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apharma.3741

The range on sword 3 should be base improvement or no improvement. If there’s one thing Anet has hopefully realised with the trait changes it’s that giving extra range in traits when it generally needs it anyway is bad. This is why we’re seeing a lot of things going baseline.

Chance to boon rip is a nice idea, if I wasn’t so selfishly PvE orientated I’d like it.

[Vid]OMFG, The ToL Team

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apharma.3741

Nice vids, you all did very well for how new you were. Hope to see you get further in the next tourney =D

will shatter be viable in dungeons some day?

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apharma.3741

Funny you mention about viable and optimal. In my last mmo (STO) the difference in dps between an optimal group and pugs was by a factor of anywhere between 10 and 100. No, I’m not joking, pugs were that bad and the (pay to win) power creep was that bad.

One day I got 4 of us for their version of a dungeon and needed a 5th so grabbed a pug figuring they’ll just be amazed by how fast it all died. Well, we killed everything really fast, the pug had trouble even getting to stuff but we saw him shooting at things. Everything died, boss spawned and we nuked it, dungeon ended and then in chat we saw “wuuuut!!”

The pug didn’t get the reward. The pug did so little damage as a percentage of total damage he was deemed to have not done enough to get credit for even being there.

So who knows, maybe in some horrifyingly scary way the OP is actually meaning they use a shatter build and never manage to get credit for killing stuff.

P.S. I am half joking with that last sentence but maybe there are people playing Mesmer that are in that situation where they barely get loot because of bad tagging.

(edited by apharma.3741)

Why Do YOU Run Condi on Mesmer?

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apharma.3741

I like MtD condition build because it stacks conditions that most other classes can’t cap. I know, bleed and burning but almost everything applies bleed in this game, it’s like the go to condition for minors.

On the other hand, I’m always concerned about the confusion application. Confusion is really strong especially when paired with torment as it more or less forces them to be extremely careful about moving and activating skills. This is not bad per say but some classes are way more dependant on using skills than others.

We’ll see what HoT brings. I hope they make these rarer runes a tad easier or more universal to obtain outside of PvP. Full torment or perplexity runes are very expensive.

will shatter be viable in dungeons some day?

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apharma.3741

so your calling me a noob just because I like something? lol
or was I suppose to bow down to you oh holy one because you hit platinum in 5 days? lol.

To spell it out (irony and all) more clearly, s/he is saying that people learn at different rates and have a different maximum possible. I know a guy with one hand, he would never be able to be as good at this game as a 14 yr old with two hands and a 2 month summer break and few real life commitments. Even if the one handed guy played for 2 years.

Some people see concepts and things about this game much faster and clearer than others, could be experience with similar games, concepts or they got an ideafrom someone earlier.

I think one of the biggest things holding most people back is their egos…and having only one hand with that guy I know.

[suggestion] Moa on transforms

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apharma.3741

Correct me if I’m wrong but I think Fay was saying not that counters don’t exist, it’s that builds don’t have the room for them due to needing other utilities instead.

Naturally a high uptime on reflects or projectile blocks would neuter a lich, however what classes can actually afford to slot that against what is currently meta and thus usually more useful? The only class I can think of is ele by choosing offhand focus.

Most other classes would be making very radical changes to traits or gimping their utility to simply provide that counter. Which leads to non reflect counter, which is as far as I can tell moa, again, looking at what you’d have to give up etc. It’s also worth asking, if it wasn’t for this effect would anyone even use moa? I know I only ever use it for comedy value and even rate racials (in WvW) higher than moa.

Because I’m lazy and don’t like typing it all out again.

And Daniel covers the rest.

P.s. Sadrien, why are you wanting to become a reflect bot in PvP as well? Mesmers deserve to be a class and not reflectatron 3000!

(edited by apharma.3741)

What's wrong with our Greatsword?!

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apharma.3741

Wow, are there people that actually care if you stack with them as a mesmer?

Yes, as with engy, ele, warrior, guard, ranger, thief and necro. Everyone stacks, even though I said 600 range for boons but they still stack.

I think most just see mesmers as a utility bot for reflects and time warp.

Yep, that’s what they’re reduced to most of the time and portal short cuts.

I’m starting to think the only reason people adhere to the sword + sword / sword + focus “meta” is because of the belief that everyone takes the game as seriously as they do.

Nope, they adhere to S/S+F because it offers the some of the best damage. It also gives a precision boost for your reflects and usually has trained focus because as we’ve established, you’re a reflect bot.

You say taking it seriously, I say completing things efficiently for the limited time I get to play. Sure you can have a blast doing 3 dungeons in 1hr30mins and playing how you want. That’s good, I’m glad you will but that doesn’t make it efficient, especially when my group has run 9 dungeons in the same time.

how good does mesmer perform in pve?

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apharma.3741

The higher reflect uptime would be actually worth something if all projectiles were reflectable. Unfortunately Anet has a history of instead of reducing the damage of these one shot projectiles opting to maintain the silly high damage and make them unreflectable. Thus avoiding mesmers instagibbing bosses etc.

Perhaps we should be asking for more consistency with enemy projectiles?

how good does mesmer perform in pve?

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Posted by: apharma.3741

apharma.3741

The thing is, a lot of the time you don’t need to reflect, simply nullify the projectile. Example, fire shaman, the pug killer.

If you find yourself in a group with 1 thief and 1 guardian then the Mesmer is not bringing much and generally is just not worth bringing over a warrior, ele, or well played engy or well played ranger.

All 4 of those offer better utility at easier access and more damage. By that I mean they aren’t reliant on their utility to get a damage buff like mesmers with mantras, they have water fields and cleanses without changing thier dps traits etc.

Generally due to the AoE behaviour and how hit and miss phantasm immunity to AoE is most of the time unless you’re a brilliant Mesmer you will be bottom of the damage ladder. Not by a little but by a lot and you would generally offer the same utility and do more damage as a guardian.

Don’t mistake this for I hate mesmers, I don’t, I would love to play it more but I have a regular guardian in my usual team comp already which takes care of most of what a Mesmer provides. Also Mesmer seems to be crashing my game due to a graphics bug so that’s another reason I don’t anymore.

[suggestion] Moa on transforms

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Posted by: apharma.3741

apharma.3741

Correct me if I’m wrong but I think Fay was saying not that counters don’t exist, it’s that builds don’t have the room for them due to needing other utilities instead.

Naturally a high uptime on reflects or projectile blocks would neuter a lich, however what classes can actually afford to slot that against what is currently meta and thus usually more useful? The only class I can think of is ele by choosing offhand focus.

Most other classes would be making very radical changes to traits or gimping their utility to simply provide that counter. Which leads to non reflect counter, which is as far as I can tell moa, again, looking at what you’d have to give up etc. It’s also worth asking, if it wasn’t for this effect would anyone even use moa? I know I only ever use it for comedy value and even rate racials (in WvW) higher than moa.

[suggestion] Moa on transforms

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apharma.3741

I fail to see the significance of people complaining about Lich being a giant attack me sign.

It’s not that I don’t see the giant green dps machine, it’s that there’s never a moment in a fight I do not make a conscious effort to hard CC and kill the necro….except in plague form and with over 50% health. Why that last bit? Coz you’re wasting your time trying to DPS/kill a necro in plague if you have other targets around.

What's wrong with our Greatsword?!

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apharma.3741

Actually, I’m not saying “use what you want,” I’m saying “who the **** cares.” Most groups composed of non-mesmers won’t even know that the sword auto attack is better because the damage is still almost nothing compared to theirs anyways.

Yes they will or even worse they will be ignorant enough to think mesmers do no damage at all and never bother making or bringing one ever again. People who are good at running dungeons know classes, they know that being in melee means you’re being a team player and getting boons. They know that someone over 600 units away is (assuming they’re stacking 25 might) not getting might and therefore not doing anywhere near as much damage.

You’re using bear bow arguments now, it is a plague upon this game, one that should not be propagated. Even if you’re attacks at max range were to do the same damage as your melee weapon, the lack of might (also fury, possibly banners) you receive due to distance from party will make you do a lot less.

What's wrong with our Greatsword?!

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apharma.3741

PSA: Mesmers have lower overall damage than most other professions no matter which weapon you use. If you care about achieving maximum damage, then play a different profession.

I know. I do. It really annoys me too as I want Mesmer to be worth bringing in PvE outside of record runs with portal tricks. Sadly when your usual party is 1 guard, 1 PS warrior and a thief what is there for a Mesmer to do other than provide a time warp every 3 mins? Look pretty while everyone (including the mesmer) thinks “why didn’t they just bring their main which is an ele?”

This is why I’m posting on Mesmer forums and in particular threads about the trait changes and PvE as its the one chance mesmers will get for another 2-3 years to actually not suck as badly as they currently do at PvE. Mesmer is fun, it’s a fun design, it’s stylish but it is just so badly suited to PvE I’d rather bring a necro /cry.

Whiteside Ridge looking for players!

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Posted by: apharma.3741

apharma.3741

Whiteside Ridge is the friendliest community I’ve had the pleasure of being a part of. They don’t simply roll over and let people walk all over them in WvW and they regularly hold a Thursday night PvE extravaganza which culminates I a T6 Dry Top for much loot and gold for all.

TLDR: Go to WSR.

Chronophantasma for Phantasm Builds?

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Posted by: apharma.3741

apharma.3741

Personally I see it as limited by the re summon on what it shatters on, way to open to the extraordinary amount of cleave the game and classes have.

I would much rather it resummons the phantasm upon death, whether that be shatter or cleave out. It will then give phantasm builds what they really need, a way to keep phantasms up and out with a good uptime. It’s worth mentioning phantasms generally die to 1-3 hits which can be annoying in PvP but also they die in 1 hit in most PvE and no amount of good positioning or summoning makes up for that.

Sure I can see a PU zerk, chrono phantasm build being annoying, possibly the new turret engy but let’s see it first then balance it.

Edit: I also agree with windwalker, the all attacking on resummon, while funny and great is a bit much so inheriting the attack time of the phantasm it replaced would be tangfastic if possible.

(edited by apharma.3741)

What's wrong with our Greatsword?!

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Posted by: apharma.3741

apharma.3741

About my mesmer, that one individual says is like a bearbow, I only do open world pve. Neither pvp nor dungeons hold any interest for me. So I really don’t care what others think about my build. I play for fun, not to be frustrated by constant dirt naps trying to meet the expectations of others, people that I don’t even know.

OP is specifically asking about dungeons not open world PvE. I know you (and in general the “bear bow” types) like to do whatever you want but at least take the time to read a few sentences.

Being ranged (using GS) in a dungeon to me says one of a few things.
1. You don’t know the mechanics of the boss or instance and didn’t ask or
2. You play the way you want and everyone else can eff off, in which case you’re not a team player and can do one yourself or
3. You don’t understand the way melee works, group buffs and how generally melee weapons do more damage.

If you wanna run round with a character called enterprise and role play going pew pew with a GS in open world that’s fine. I’ll have a little chuckle when I see the character name, maybe say nice name and leave you to it. It’s your right to play how you like and so long as no-one is relying on you to perform a certain task it’s great fun.

Edit: And before someone says “dungeons are face roll easy do what you like”. I agree they are easy but I do not like spending half an hour to an hour watching a bunch of people range bosses, run away, get hit, die and reset a fight when the whole dungeon can be done in 5-10 mins.

The reason for this is I only get to play for a certain amount of time in the evenings and would like to get some gold pretty quickly then maybe head into WvW where you don’t get much gold. It’s not toxicity, it’s valuing my time.

(edited by apharma.3741)

WvW applied fortitude and applied strength

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apharma.3741

We’re not talking about defensive abilities or mechanics, 2500 HP is raw, pure buffer. It allows you to survive one more mistake. And it’s gone. So, you either drop some damage to get back that “buffer” or you learn to make less mistakes.

I know, if Anet is smart about it they will bring the removal of applied fortitude with the trait changes which should ease people in. That way when we lose that buffer we also gain the ability to make up for it without changing your build much or at all.

Take the double ranged shatter in trait changes, illusionary elasticity and persona are now baseline, far reaching manipulations will be baseline. We get a better mental torment too and can pick empowered illusions at the same time as mental torment. DE is now GM and in the master and adept slot you now have room for something else. Blind on shatter, evasive mirror are great contenders for master level, adept I’m looking at desperate decoy.

Your own builds will get room for more defence or offence too, though as far as I can tell you do lose the distortion on kill which is a much heavier blow imo =S

Like I say, a lot of builds will now have room for defence through traits if only for the mandatory nature of picking one of 3 traits in that tier.

[suggestion] Moa on transforms

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apharma.3741

As someone already said, the state of certain elites at the moment with pulsing stability is just stupid. Stripping and trying to CC is of limited effectiveness and is very build centric.

Fix the way RaO, Tornado, Lich, Swarm and Rampage make you immune to CC and then we can talk about Mao messing up transforms.

One thing I do think needs adding is a transformer golem in HotM which gives you an hour of each transform to play around with the skills for including moa. Knowing is half the battle and all.

Edit: It’s also worth remembering that lich is a 100% positive elite, it cannot be blocked or stopped happening except by interrupt afaik. You may say you’re “defenceless” but in reality you can exit it at any point and it gives you immense direct damage pressure which rapidly overwhelms people.

Moa has a very long cooldown like Lich but can be dodged, blocked, blinded etc like others have said. Which means it needs setting up to be used right and carries a big risk as if you miss, that’s quite a big loss. Remember this is a team game and gives the prevelance of guards, thieves and engineers there is no shortage of those going around.

(edited by apharma.3741)

WvW applied fortitude and applied strength

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Posted by: apharma.3741

apharma.3741

With the increase in power of certain traits across different classes (ie mental torment), I expect there will be a lot of one-shotting any glass cannons.

On the other side a lot of classes are getting some things they had to spend 2-4 trait points on being made baseline so they have room for defensive traits. Without even mentioning the extra master and GM it would give.

WvW applied fortitude and applied strength

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apharma.3741

Yeah, Gobbes makes a good point, a lot of classes will get an extra 750 health from the stats being removed from traits thing.

To me it also depends on where you’re playing. T8-9 and you may notice it initially but the zergs aren’t as absolute death as they are higher up. 2.5k health won’t save you if you’re in the wrong place and a venom well Zerg runs over you.

Roaming it will be noticeable but then everyone will not have that extra buffer so it’s not so bad. Can maybe one shot a thief where as before they escaped by the skin of their teef.

should I play Mesmer?

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apharma.3741

If you want to PvE record runs: Yes.
If you want to be really efficient to pugs or semi co-ordinated groups: No, roll guard.
PvP: Thief simply outclasses it at the moment but Mesmer is a lot of fun.
WvW: Can I get a veil? Where’s my veil? GIVE ME A VEIL!!

Mesmers are nice, they have some good things about them and are fun but they’re a pain to level and certainly subpar in PvE. In PvP a thief will wreck you a lot unless you’re very good and they’re very bad however outside of top tier it’s a lot of fun and worth it.

WvW if zerging all people care about is veil and portal. Can still be fun, check out Menaka’s thread on his many many WvW builds.

TLDR: they have issues but are fun, try it and see if you like it.

Applied Fortitude and Strength to be removed

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apharma.3741

I think a lot of people who are complaining are being very short sighted at the moment. Yes you may lose the 2500 health from applied fortitude and that’s a lot of some meta zerk builds. However this is coming with a lot of trait changes.

Someone mentioned the meta ele build, well, you’re getting 3 full trait lines now, revamped and more powerful traits, blasting staff as baseline. Quite frankly all it means is if you were running full zerk you might consider an extra PVT piece or to take an extra defensive trait. Many will be picking up renewing stamina and the GM minor in water is 25% outgoing healing which is a massive buff.

It’s also worth pointing out that a lot of people do not do WvW more than casually or at all. I saw a photo of blacktide, underworld and barach bay from 2 years and I honestly couldn’t believe the numbers from back then. BT and UW are now T9 and T8 and I have never seen that many from either them recently.

TLDR: trait changes will make people stronger and WvW in its current state isn’t attracting people. It needs shaking up.

Is a SoI every phant summon that OP?

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apharma.3741

Well, it is a grandmaster trait. Compare it to some GMs on other classes in terms of power to those classes and you realise it’s not really OP. Could we see a bunker Mesmer on point? Possibly, possibly an unkillable/hard to kill one with PU but I’d rather see these interesting powerful builds first (with nerfing if needed) on a very neglected class than never.

If you have a gripe it should be at half the line lacking inspiration. The glamour trait isn’t good and shouldn’t be anything more than master. Most of the master traits are niche and better things elsewhere or just straight up bad.

Also eles can (and will) still be pumping out AoE protection, fury, swiftness, might and regen without a second thought. No, really, they don’t care about you that get it, they’re just doing it because it’s what eles have to do to survive, helping allies is an afterthought a lot of the time.

However it could do with kitten ICD just in case it triple casts when phantasms are resummoned using the chronomancer GM trait….but then I see guardian GMs and think, yeah might not be OP.

Mesmer dps contribution in pve

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apharma.3741

A couple of things worth mentioning too. Some calculations take into consideration condition damage which can be overwritten by others in the party.

Also as far as I know the calculations were off 3 phantasms being up all the time (really funny thread to read) and that the damage is back ended. What does back ended mean? Well it means you spent the first few seconds of the fight doing very little dps as you’re summoning or using signets or playing with flutterbys.

You also have to remember that some guard builds use unscathed contender and some don’t, it is a huge boost to dps if you can keep it up. Frifoxy is the guy/gal to ask about this stuff though, they’ll likely pop in soon =)

Edit: Pow Frifoxy beat me to it.

Clear glicko score - allow free transfers

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apharma.3741

No, no free transfers, please.
The best thing in wvw is the community which would likely be destroyed if too many “strangers” came there at once- so you’d have the situation you have on NA: you can see when and where big guild transfered to a server and when they left as most up to silver/gold league have giant leaps in their ranks – disposable servers without identity.

Sounds like you won’t have much problems with that as your community sounds very xenophobic from what you’ve put.

There’s a lot of guilds that want to travel to different servers, (for GvGs and change in fights) include themselves very nicely and often leave a good impression on not only the server they go to but the enemies they face.

Currently the pay to transfer actually breaks communities and guilds up, with it being free guilds can say they have a home server/community and transfer once in a while for fights and then come back, as one guild. Less drama, less exclusion, less people being left out because they can’t afford the fee.

I am of course speaking from an EU perspective, I recently went to GH and all I can say is they welcome all, are very friendly and helpful. If there were free transfers I could pop back to my original server every few months, as it is now, I won’t go back as I won’t pay twice.

Clear glicko score - allow free transfers

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apharma.3741

I’m in the camp of clearing glicko will cause more harm than good and probably make for even more stacking.

Personally I would allow free transfers but have them time gated. so you get one free transfer a month or every two months. However it is always free and able to move down at any point (must be at least 3 ranks) to help spread load.

Then if you want to circumvent this time gating you can pay based on current WvW activity levels of the server you’re trying to join. So joining T1 servers will generally be as expensive if not more so than they are now.

Finally I’d use this mega server tech they have and dynamically close/open maps based on population. So outside of prime time (say 2am) you might have everyone filling up EB and the border maps closed. During prime time on T1 you’d have all borders +2 or 3 EB style maps. In T9 maybe just 2 EB style maps in prime time. I would also want upto 3 maps similar to EB with a spawn and keep in each corner.

It’s not perfect but it would help deal with population problems, queues, night capping etc. Oh and no more gold costs for upgrading stuff, just supply, time and maybe karma.

Mesmer spec. is like a "back hand compliment"

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apharma.3741

1. Mesmers do have a lack of mainhand weapons. They have 2, 1 “damage” and 1 condi, and I feel they could do with 1 more however it should be folded into baseline Mesmer.

2. A lot of mesmer traits (in the revamp) do seem PvP focused, sure there’s some use in PvE for some of them but it feels like the old necro now where you’re choosing what you can from a bad set.

And before someone mentions that 8s stacking ferocity boost on using mantras, you will spend half your time charging the blooming things which will probably be a net loss. I know, high skill cap and all but that doesn’t mean anything if other classes do more, for less, easier. Emphasis on the more glares at guardians.

I think for me it put the final nail in the coffin of my PvE Mesmer when they said they wanted mesmers to shatter in PvE. Without a huge rebalance of the way mesmers do damage I do not see this as viable without handing Helseth lighting bolts and calling him Zeus.

I appreciate the hard work put in on the Mesmer and the chronomancer by Robert but I think it’s just going too PvP orientated which is killing the class for me. Why should I play my Mesmer when it’s doing half the damage of my guard (both zerk) because phantasms die and offers less utility as guards get team wide aegis, condi cleanse, healing, protection and projectile mitigation as well as doing better damage?

Why should I play my mesmer in high fractals when my engineer strips defiance better, are heals, and condo cleanses at little to no cost to damage and, once again does more damage.

Even ranger is more use (played well and not longbow camping) as they provide long lasting water fields, a range of boons based on pets, team support and projectile mitigation at little cost to dps, which, yep is more than mesmers on average.

Chronomancer Traits

in Mesmer

Posted by: apharma.3741

apharma.3741

Chronophantasm – it looks good on paper but I don’t often have the problem of shattering them and wanting them back. I have the problem of they just die to all the aoe in the game. Perhaps they just respawn after the first death whether it be shatter or aoe killed?

The version you’re talking about would be sooooooo annoying in PvP, though.

Maybe so but given they’re removing most if not all clone death traits then mowing down mesmers, whether they be clones or phantasms has little to no downside. At the moment cleave and AoE is a problem, bad summoning will still get these things killed fast but good summoning will at least give them a fighting chance if a stray fight goes past them.

To add to my previous post:

Seize The Moment – Gain quickness for each illusion you shatter. (1s of Quickness) Thinking maybe add superspeed to it also or maybe slows enemies by an equal amount to the quickness you get.

Improved alacrity I’m not sure of. On the one hand it’s a nice thing to get more recharge but on the other they already said it’s risky playing with cooldowns. A good way to reduce the risk is to limit the variables which would be to remove the trait. I also think it smells a lot like the traits that are being made baseline.

I’d make a shield trait instead. Maybe allow echo memory and tides of time to recharge each other?

Chronomancer Traits

in Mesmer

Posted by: apharma.3741

apharma.3741

Hey all. Here are the Chronomancer traits from Robert! Keep in mind, all numbers are a work in progress.

Minor

  • Time Splitter – Gain access to continuum split/shift which allows you to revert to an earlier point in time.
  • Flow of Time – Gain alacrity when you shatter. (1s)
  • Time Marches On – You move 25% faster. The duration of incoming movement-impairing conditions is reduced by 25%. (Cripple. Chilled, Immobilize)

Adept

  • Time Catches Up – Activating a shatter gives your illusions Super Speed
  • Delayed Reactions – Interrupting a foe slows them. (3s of Slow)
  • All’s Well that Ends Well – Wells remove conditions from allies when they end. (1 condition)

Master

  • Illusionary Reversion – Gain a clone after you activate a shatter skill.
  • Improved Alacrity – Alacrity applied to you lasts longer. (33%)
  • Danger Time – Gain additional critical hit chance against slowed enemies. (30%)

Grandmaster

  • Lost Time – Every 3rd critical hit will slow your target. (2s of Slow)
  • Chronophantasma – Your phantasms respawn the first time they are shattered.
  • Seize The Moment – Gain quickness for each illusion you shatter. (1s of Quickness)

Based on the traits and not the numbers I think.

Minors: All good, not really a baddy here. Concerned about continuum shift sprite health.

Adept:
Time catches up – good trait if it helps land shatters, needs to be a few seconds (4s)
Delayed reactions – good trait, no probs, duration needs increasing, say 4-5 seconds.
All swell that ends well – weak atm. Needs to do more, remove 1 condi per first 2 pulses, final pulse gives a random boon to allies or a random condition to enemies.

Master:
Illusionary reversion: looks alright, trying to replace DE for clone generating. We’ll see what combos well with it.
Improved alacrity – good idea but the numbers need a buff to compete with other cool down traits. Could prove a balancing nightmare though. Would recommend looking at other alternatives.
Danger time – this all depends on slow durations and access but looks good. Does it carry over to phantasms?

Grandmaster:
Lost time: looks like it will combo nicely with danger time, could be annoying in PvP with almost permanent slow on some weapons.
Chronophantasm – it looks good on paper but I don’t often have the problem of shattering them and wanting them back. I have the problem of they just die to all the aoe in the game. Perhaps they just respawn after the first death whether it be shatter or aoe killed?
Seize the moment – this doesn’t seem GM worthy at the moment. Perhaps extend it to your illusions and phantasms. Increase to 2s. Edit: This is dumb, I feel bad because this is bad, oh how stupid a comment can I make facepalm

Also why no “Lord of Time” trait ????

(edited by apharma.3741)

Hey Anet! What About Sword?

in Mesmer

Posted by: apharma.3741

apharma.3741

All nice ideas but what I’d rather see is the precision aspect removed and sword skills deal bonus damage to targets with no boons.

-20% CD, Sword skills do 50% more damage to boonless targets.

And yes, it is painfully obvious I’m thinking of PvE but hey, it’ll take a lot of skill getting that damage buff going in PvP.

P.s. Before someone cries OP, you will still do a lot less than the normal auto attack from other classes.

(edited by apharma.3741)

BBC write a non-story about 1 hacker

in WvW

Posted by: apharma.3741

apharma.3741

Typical BBC news reporting on technology. Just a “this happened” followed by the faint meh of no-one caring.

Also that justice part was totally me =D

What a joke.

in Mesmer

Posted by: apharma.3741

apharma.3741

I understand the concern. However, maybe there will be some traits connected to this, to make it more resilient. It also depends on how it actually works. If it’s like engie turrets, it will be immune to conditions. And if it has some decent HP, it might just survive long enough to be useful.

Weren’t turrets made to take damage from condi in the last patch, and can be critically hit?

Regardless, I think having to trait to use the thing is commitment enough without adding another to actually make it useful as opposed to useless. I don’t mind buffing or adding functionality like how engy traits do to turrets, but adding traits to make the sprite more resilient (which may feel required) is just bad.

I also do echo the concerns of an earlier poster about alacrity and the way Mesmer cool downs are being reworked. It seems to be folded in on this alacrity, where other classes will get a flat cool down reduction you must work for yours, as such I would expect its potential to be much greater. I know theory crafters are saying chaos armour looks great but that GS one looks bad. Pistol trait is hit and miss for me, it’s a net loss currently for PvE.

What a joke.

in Mesmer

Posted by: apharma.3741

apharma.3741

Peters and I discussed the chronomancer traits thing today. We’ll try to get something out to you guys as soon as we can (next week at the earliest, obviously).

Thank you for popping in to clarify this and help put to rest some of the concerns players were having.

Perhaps Karl could present with Rubi when doing these sorts of things on POI and devs with a little less experience on live shows could go with Josh. This way the less experienced devs can be eased in and guided by a presenter I feel shows off classes better. Karl seems really connected to what people want to know and efficiently shows it off, I think pairing him and Rubi up could be very effective in the future for other reveals.

(edited by apharma.3741)

DH Wipes the Floor With LB Ranger

in Ranger

Posted by: apharma.3741

apharma.3741

In wvw dragonhunter is op hands down. Not a question about it. Once DH is released, you will see almost no rangers anymore in wvw.

I made a long post here: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Dragonhunter-revealed-meh/page/8#post5047794 about why DH is op.

Even if they nerf all the shown skills damage by 50% i’d still think it’s op for wvw zerg warfare wich should say something about how op it currently is.

To bad GWEN will be fortified in wvw and not thorn apart.

GWEN will die, GG.

What a joke.

in Mesmer

Posted by: apharma.3741

apharma.3741

Easily available, long lasting, easy to use damage and defence for guards. Don’t worry mesmers, you get the something almost as good, once you jump through the hoops of fire, they’re just past the laser guided sharks and wall of tigers.

Ok, sort of joking (I think) there. I do believe that chronomancer is stronger or could be. Just need to see those traits before I grab the pitchfork. It kinda hinges on them and maybe some changes to some other things while they finalise it.

What a joke.

in Mesmer

Posted by: apharma.3741

apharma.3741

Pretty sure the compensation comes from F5 and Alacrity. Its looking like we’ll be able to manage our cooldowns well enough to make all our other skills recharge much faster, opening up new combinations, builds, and making certain utilities much more lucrative.

(Double portals. Double Illusions of Life., ECT.)

Whether or not that is good enough compensation remains to be seen, but I already see potential for some interesting plays.

For now, as it currently is. We don’t know too much about traits so we don’t know the interaction too much or how they will gel with other lines. I think if someone perhaps just poked their nose in and said “hey, the traits weren’t finished so we didn’t show them” that would help.

Also, let’s face it, it will get whined about and nerfed. I know it and deep down everyone here knows it. People won’t see the cost, they won’t see that the really good mesmers have been fighting hard and getting really good with a more difficult to learn class for a long time. All they will see is “double moa for 10s OP!!1” or even worse double spike shatter time warp craziness.

I feel more sorry for rangers at the moment, they had a good viable trap build which was good, solid and required skill and now guard has taken a big fat….symbol(ism) on it.

Are Chronomancer Cooler Than Dragon Hunter?

in Mesmer

Posted by: apharma.3741

apharma.3741

This summary really did the class justice.

Hopefully we won’t feel the wrath of all the angry guards.

It’d be misdirected.

Anyway, guard was never cool. Guards are like a box of weebix. They’re cerial, you eat them, you keep a box in the cupboard, but you generaly don’t choose to get them out for breakfast. There’s usually something better to have, whether it be a more enjoyable cerial (Mesmer) or honey on toast (warrior). Why would a specialization change that? Giving weetbix a longbow…. its still weetbix.

It takes great resolve to stick to wheatabix and you’re rewarded for a stable diet in the long term.

I hope this gives others the courage to follow suit in the zealous fight against lower GI problems.

Are Chronomancer Cooler Than Dragon Hunter?

in Mesmer

Posted by: apharma.3741

apharma.3741

This summary really did the class justice.

Hopefully we won’t feel the wrath of all the angry guards.

DPS Analysis and Suggestions:

in Mesmer

Posted by: apharma.3741

apharma.3741

I’d buff Mesmer sword auto by 25% against targets with no boons and the final hit that already does more damage against boonless targets being 25% harder. I doubt this will be a problem in PvP.

Compounding power buffed to 5%.

Mantra trait being a 10% damage buff when you use a mantra, doesn’t stack and lasts 10s (think like arcane lightening but different)

That’s what I would do in the current PvE environment. We have no idea what HoT will be like though and all bosses might have fast refreshing boons (every 2s) which makes sword bad.

Fragility now pls.

Maybe a trait that makes phantasms deal no damage but you receive a 25% damage buff for 15s for each shattered phantasm. Again, no stacking. Just as a way to spice up the class to move away from phantasm damage. Though I figure this would be OTT in PvP and get wine.

Good suggestions, except for the phantasm dmg buff, that seems op op

Weird thing about that. I posted in other topics so spreadsheets from Frifox and DeKeyz and Mesmer with 3 phantasms is about that of say a guard. Now, the build that was measured on I don’t know, did they have 3 or 4 mantras but you can kinda tell the traits.

Bottom of it is damage is split about 40-50% mesmer and the rest phantasms. From the tables you can estimate Mesmer dps to be anywhere between 2.7k and nearly 4k. If you gained a 75% damage buff that would, even at the top end put you still behind a no unscathed contender guard and remember I said no damage from phantasms.

With all the other buffs maybe it would reach warrior levels but then maintaining a 3 phantasm shatter damage buff in and of itself wouldn’t be easy unless you were a chronomancer.

It was really a possible solution to Anet wanting us to shatter in PvE.

Personally I’d just like to be able to do decent DPS without having to have all the utilities taken up by things to keep DPS up like readied mantras, constantly casting instead of damage and all sorts of other things. That way mesmerising can offer the utility with the damage in a similar way to guards.

DPS Analysis and Suggestions:

in Mesmer

Posted by: apharma.3741

apharma.3741

I’d buff Mesmer sword auto by 25% against targets with no boons and the final hit that already does more damage against boonless targets being 25% harder. I doubt this will be a problem in PvP.

Compounding power buffed to 5%.

Mantra trait being a 10% damage buff when you use a mantra, doesn’t stack and lasts 10s (think like arcane lightening but different)

That’s what I would do in the current PvE environment. We have no idea what HoT will be like though and all bosses might have fast refreshing boons (every 2s) which makes sword bad.

Fragility now pls.

Maybe a trait that makes phantasms deal no damage but you receive a 25% damage buff for 15s for each shattered phantasm. Again, no stacking. Just as a way to spice up the class to move away from phantasm damage. Though I figure this would be OTT in PvP and get wine.

DPS Analysis: Permanent Phantasms

in Mesmer

Posted by: apharma.3741

apharma.3741

True that, had that impression at some point too, then stoped caring.

I wouldn’t say it’s night impossible to keep 3 phantasms up, it’s rather the low hp/high quantity of mobs that just melts our single-target damage resources. Add to that unreliability “ramp up time” and you have your low-mid tier DPS.

Sometimes I get my mesmer out to do dungeons, fractals and general PvE, I last about an hour before I set her crying in a corner and switch to a more PvE friendly class. =’(

Move Empowered Illusions to ILLU or INSPIR

in Mesmer

Posted by: apharma.3741

apharma.3741

For starters, I would like to see a link to calculations of that “highest sustained DPS” for “all classes”.

http://www.dtguilds.com/forum/m/6563292/viewthread/13987449-dps-estimates-for-each-professions-in-30s-battles

That link is a little outdated but considering the massive undertaking that was needed for it you can’t really expect it to be updated every patch. However it does give a nice indication of how poor mesmer DPS can be. Also don’t forget to look at the link in the post as it opens out to a very good spreadsheet.

Also the mesmer forum mathmagician (or maybe mesmagician) frifox did a nice post on the mesmer section here (last post) which shows a nice breakdown of the way a mesmer does DPS and how it should be compared etc. It’s interesting reading for a few minutes, I take it s/he was using 4 mantras and all the jazz in the absolute max dps available.

http://www.dtguilds.com/forum/page/5/m/6563292/viewthread/13274266-mesmerino-dpserino-no-copypastarino

As for on topic, domination or illusions doesn’t matter to me too much but I do think it’s fine where it is as it allows for PvE specs to pick up most phantasm damage traits.

I guess moving the damage to inspiration or illusion minors would be a good improvement as you could take wardens feedback without having to drop duelling or illusions.

To be honest though if the damage on mesmers was buffed so they aren’t terrible and can bring feedback with 1 or 2 mantras instead of having to pack 4 mantras just to do average damage then wardens feedback may not be needed and instead a mesmer and guard would cover projectile block/reflect and do decent damage.

Blacktide Thief Hacker Strikes again, part 10

in WvW

Posted by: apharma.3741

apharma.3741

Again, this company is in the business of entertainment, does April fools jokes on people, has a bit of banter with the community on its livestreams (see the trait changes and the “helseths demise” joke) and generally has fun with the community and has a history of not taking it easy and making an example out of hackers.

Seems this video is more than appropriate, fits the history and is a big hit with the player (customer) base. Quite frankly the guy should be lucky he didn’t have bear how maths placed upon him.

Your of the opinion it is unprofessional but to me it’s like your complaining at clowns not turning up in suits and ties for work.

Blacktide Thief Hacker Strikes again, part 10

in WvW

Posted by: apharma.3741

apharma.3741

Depends which side of the fence you’re on. As one of the victims for months on end I very much feel this was needed as do many others judging by the thread.

Hacking isn’t victimless, it’s not like he’s done no harm. People choose to spend their precious down time in this game doing fun things like WvW to take a break from life. To have people like this hacker for months keep taking away your enjoyment is far far worse.

In fact, Mr Cleary providing some entertainment for us as recompense feels like justice.