Guild Wars 2

Alasteir.7031:

Iluth.6875:

Wyrden.4713:

its ground targetted, so u gotta move ur mouse on ur enemy…

^ dont get me wrong, not making fun of u, just in case u r an only keyboard user, u might not have noticed it

Ohh I see. Yes I have instant ground targeting enabled so I had no clue what was happening Thanks.

A player who doesn’t have ground targeting enabled? I-I think I’m going to cry! It makes me cringe whenever I see an Engi using nades and aiming with the ground circles with every ability.

Can you elaborate on this? I have the option where when I activate an AoE ability, I get the circle that I position using the mouse. That is “best” option for Mesmer, right? Just making sure I’m not missing out on some setting I should be using.

maxinion.8396:

As a build at this stage, since you won’t be doing max DPS anyway because of the gear,
Hope all this helps~

Wow, you guys are awesome! This is a great thread, I really really appreciate advice and guidance. There really is a lot yet to explore. I have a few questions:

In your link to the 6/6/0/0/2 build, the dom master trait isn’t selected. What should it be?

Is this the 2/4/0/5/3 build?

Is it at all worth while to play with PI, CC and/or RM in the Inspiration line if you don’t need reflect? Someone posted a build where you have RM and spam MoP for group heal support.

Also, for the build DeathReign mentions, I assume he’s dropping FF or BT (if not using sword) for PH (now that it works)? Is PH > FF? I’m trying to get used to using sword (I’ve been playing GS/Staff and really love it), so I assume I should keep BT. Considering how broken iWarden is, if I don’t need reflect then maybe use Sw/Sw and Sw/pistol? Downside to this I assume is that if you use a Sw/Sw main-hand skill, it doesn’t come off CD if you swap to Sw/pistol (and vice versa). Another issue is, how do you keep your AA damage up when you only have sword main-hand? I find that I’m still a bit squishy to be doing melee all the time, and only having sword means you’re always in the thick of it. Does that change when you gear up?

I also haven’t gotten the hang of using mantras yet. For them to be “readied”, that means you have charges on them right? So for EM, you want to actually not use the mantras unless absolutely necessary? I always forget to use them.

I’ll probably go with one of those 2/4 or 2/3 builds. If I’m not stacking mantras, then what util skills should I focus on. Feedback seems to be something you should always have, as well as TW. Is it better to be using SotE over EF with this kind of phantasm build? I know blink is popular, and that’s another skill I have yet to master. Personally, I love decoy. Anything else worth my time? Finally, with respect to shattering. I know this is a phant build, so you don’t want to shatter them. But what about when your target is almost dead? Surely if you think the shatter will be a deathblow, it’s a good idea to get in that extra AoE damage since the phants are going to die on target death, right?

Thanks SO SO SO much for your posts and support. Much love to the mesmer forum!

AsteriskCGY.5931:

Current best builds are still considering around Empowering Mantras. Because of the move it meant fewer traits for support moves.

I followed this fellah’s advice and it sounds reasonable.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjZhKTy9b2w

Just watched it, very interesting! Thanks for this.

maxinion.8396:

I’ll add some more details later, but I’d avoid the gear choices that Brazil lays out, since I feel that Assassin’s pigeon-holes you a bit too much (and I disagree with his 6/2 build, which is the main reason he recommends assassin). Berserker is still fine as long as have you have a minimum of 4 points in dueling.

If you want the best, cheap DPS rune: get Ranger. 1.25 gp on the TP right now, and these are almost as good (or better than??) even the old reliables like Scholar. The 7% damage works with phantasms and illusions now, and you’ll almost always have at least one of those up.

Looking forward to more details. You actually wrote to me once before when I was lvl60 and I’ve followed your advice so far. I never would have guessed that “companion” would include illusions. On the wiki, when you click on the word “companion” in the desc of the rune, you link to an article on pets.

Very much looking forward to your detailed advice and build(s)!

I’m level 72 now. I don’t do dungeons over and over and over.. not yet anyway. I mostly do open world, but as I hit level 80 and the need to get XP becomes moot, I’ll need to find something to do. WvW and PvP are something for me to look into. So is doing a lot of dungeons. People do that so you can buy top-tier gear right?

Anyway, I’m looking for PvE build(s) that are viable (ie, power/DPS focused I guess). There used to be only 1 and it was built around Empowering Mantras. Now that that’s moved, what are the viable build(s)? I want to feel like I’m actually contributing; that I can feel proud that I helped and the team really benefited from my presence. I know a lot of that is how good you are, but to some extend it’s your build too. Links to gw2skills.net would be helpful, since the major traits to take still aren’t obvious to me.

I’ll need builds that take into account the fact that I don’t have any top-tier runs/sigils/gear. I’ll need to know gear I can buy or grind for fairly quickly. I only have 18g, so saying all zerk doesn’t really work for me. However, saying “buy X stuff it’s cheap” and then saying “but grind to this” is helpful.

That being said, I’ve never hit 80 in an MMO before. What do I do now? Do people mostly grind for gear? How does that even work? People grind for the tokens you get from beating dungeons on explore? I know I can keep doing open world, and that’s def fun, but without the reward of XP meaning anything, I know it’s going to feel empty.

maxinion.8396:

I’d really recommend against this.

You can make a personal choice like “I want to use staff” and have a slightly worse build because of it. But, it’s not the end of the world— your Warlock still wrecks kitten, and sword/sword or sword/focus as a second set will provide lots more DPS. You lose a bit, but it’s not game-changing.

But then this build promotes a second “personal choice” of scepter/focus as an alternate set.

And a third “personal choice” of rabid gear, when mesmer condition damage is not particularly high (we have great condition pressure from torment and confusion, but those are very PvE focused).

Any of these single one of these choices is going to result in a sub-optimal, but not terrible, build in PvE. All three of them together makes a pretty trash build for PvE.

(Note that I personally use staff and rabid+krait in PvP— I love the setup there).

All true. My point was that he asked about PvE staff. My response is basically, try this out. You may not like it for many reasons (DPS, “viability”, perception from others etc.) but it’s worth trying out and making your own decision. He’s asking for options. Ultimately, #1 is having fun. How you achieve that is personal preference. Some people might choose to play a certain way with no regard for DPS and whatnot. I personally don’t feel any responsibility to others to play a certain way. If I want to play (3x) sub-optimal, terrible PvE build, I’ll do it if I want to. However, to go with that is to not misrepresent yourself (don’t join a speedrun group pretending to be maxed).

You may want to read this thread and try the build. This build calls for rabid runes.

Will some think you’re a noob by playing staff? Yes.
Will some straight up kick you? Yes.
Should you be running staff if you’re looking to min/max, or speedrun? No.
Should you get upset if those who want min/max or speedrun kick you? No.
Can you show others that you’re a good player despite using staff? Yes.
Should you play what’s fun for you? Yes.
Should you care if playing staff means others will assume things about you and preclude you from from PvE groups? That’s your call.

I come and check this thread occasionally, and just wanted to put my +1 for getting these bugs fixed. If you look on the mesmer forums people have pretty much gotten over the kitten of the new GMs being pretty meh. All people seem to really want at this point is just bug fixes these bugs; even just some of the main weapon-breaking or trait-killing ones. Even just some word from ANet SAYING they’re working on X bugs, or that they’re NOT working on Y bugs (just saw ANet post from page 6)

My 2cents: Illusionary Elasticity and iWarden ASAP, please!

How does the relate to “precision being less important”?

Do PS and PH not stack? Is there not a way to make a viable build using both?

So if I understand correctly, they just renamed +X%CritDam to Ferocity, and then lowered the bonuses of ferocity on gear? So in other words, the same exact thing could have happened if they just lowered the +X%CritDam on gear and didn’t rename it?

maxinion.8396:

In PvE long ago, Time Warp was nerfed— quickness went from a 100% attack speed bonus to 50%. That was a big hit, but probably warranted.

In PvE recently, Empowering Mantras was moved to the Domination line, which killed all the meta builds which allowed you to stack maximum reflect damage and maximum reflect uptime in one build. You need separate builds for this now, so it’s irritating, but not the worst nerf.

In WvW long ago, confusion with glamour (Domination VIII) used to be very powerful, letting you stack lots of confusion on zergs very quickly. This was also nerfed to the ground.

I think these have been the major hits, but I could be missing a few.

Thanks!

I’ve read a lot about how mesmer used to be “OP” back in the day, and then then got nerfed. I’ve head this a lot here in these forums by mesmer players. I say “they” b/c I wasn’t playing a mesmer then. Can someone fill me in on how the mesmer used to be OP, how long ago, and what has done to nerf them?

Ideally, I’m trying to educate myself on the history of our class, so I can be a more well-rounded player who understands how the mesmer has evolved over the years.

Clearly I’m missing something. There used to be a stat buff on gear/traits/etc that was “+X% Critical Damage”. Now we have ferocity which means the same thing. So, what has happened besides changing the label? It seems like crit damage was tied to precision, but now it’s not? Is that the problem? Clearly I’m not… clear, on exactly how changing _crit dam to ferocity has changed the mechanics of the game, and why it’s “bad”, or a “nerf” etc.

Thanks!

Well, I didn’t intend to create a thread where people would be arguing back and forth… then again, I posted words on the internet (in a forum no less), so I should have known better

Anyway, I was just shocked by the initial reactions I was seeing (some justified, some not so much IMHO) and I was afraid this was like a “last straw”, or something out of the ordinary. Seems like this is pretty standard, and some people have accepted that, and others rage against it. It’s all okay by my book. The whole idea of a public forum is to to give people a forum to publicly express their ideas and view points…

So, in a way I apologize to the community for possibly accidentally causing more emotional inflammation than I intended. I just wanted to try and remind people to stick around, see how things shake out.

I was playing last night with my gf, and I brought up WoW. She said she’d played it for about 2mo a while ago and hated it. She liked the game mechanics, but was constantly anxious or upset because the players were so mean and aggressive. I pointed out that GW2 seems to me a more “casual” MMO, aimed at more cooperative play. She said that the thing she loves most about GW2, what keeps her playing, is the people. The people are so nice. As she was saying this, someone helped me find the entrance to a dungeon and was just super cool about it and offered to help run it and everything. I know there are TONS of cool and nice people playing WoW, and there are 4895034580234234 reasons that she may have kept running into kittens, but still, the GW2 players and community are just so great/helpful/positive/nice, I really hated the idea of some people rage-quitting over a patch. My fears were probably unfounded, I guess it was just a gut reaction.

TL;DR: Much love for all of you!

DonQuack.9025:

sirrealist.1360:

None of this is viable in PvE right? I’m trying to find what builds I should be practicing as I level from 60-80. So far, nothing is PvE viable yet.

I guess what I’m getting at is, torment isn’t something you focus on in PvE right?

I saw a shatter mesmer in cm using the torment. I almost cried. then I noticed the other one was doing the same thing. THEN I CRIED. thankfully I was a zerker guardian and the other 2 were zerker wars and we carried them along, watching them do nothing as we melted everything in less than 3 seconds.

mes 1 staff / swordtorch – Mes 2 Staff sceptretorch

OKay, thanks for confirmation. Back to feeling useless in dungeons I guess (the first few anyway).

None of this is viable in PvE right? I’m trying to find what builds I should be practicing as I level from 60-80. So far, nothing is PvE viable yet.

I guess what I’m getting at is, torment isn’t something you focus on in PvE right?

I’m probably not at all qualified to ask this, but please stick around guys. I’m still new to mesmer, and this new patch just seems so bad overall (some bright spots are starting to show). I don’t know what it’s like to have played a level 80 mesmer for a long time. All I ask is that you guys stick with it for a bit, do some build testing and see if the mesmer is still fun. I know there are thousands of players and the forums are just a small slice of that, but I’d hate to lose quality mesmers so quickly. Maybe things will not be so bad “after the dust has settled”.

I just really love GW2, really love the mesmer (pre-patch anyway), and I’m hoping the veterans will stick around so that the new guys have people to learn from and play with. I’d also hate to see the mesmer forums “go dark”.

Thanks guys.

Thanks Kai. I actually furiously grinded from 30-60 the past 2 weeks to make sure I got at least to 60 before the patch. So glad I did that.

Anyway, I don’t mean this to be an insult, just strictly speaking, is the lazy kai build still viable? I know it’s still a work in progress so I’m just asking for your initial reactions. I still have 20 levels to go and I mainly play open world and dungeon, so with the move of the mantra trait I’m not sure what I should be using for PvE anymore.

Triumphant Distortion was supposed to have no ICD, but it apparently has a 10s one.

IDK if this belongs on your list, but IE was not fixed in this patch (despite us being told it would be).

aelfwe.4239:

omg guys go to a golem and try it, they fixed it. they just have not wrote it on patch notes.

Come on test stuff before cry

It’s not crying. Multiple people have reported it not working. Are you sure it’s correct?

Warlord of Chaos.7845:

I just asked a dev about it and he said that they would take a look at it. Don’t worry, It is noticed!

Awesome! How’d you get a dev’s ear?

All, please take video of how it’s still bugged and post to bug thread. They didn’t address it so it’s not like they messed up a fix, but it’s still important for them to know that we want it corrected.

Dear Devs,

There have been multiple threads (example) where it was stated that IE would be fixed in this feature pack (IE apply to clones). However, as reported officially here and from players, it appears it has not been addressed. Any word on why, and when?

Thanks!

According to the wiki, there should be no CD. Wait 4mo for next patch that may/not address?

I’m still at work , but kitten , this really sucks. I was so looking forward to spamming staff clones and watching the WoC fly. kitten.

I specifically spent the last week grinding from 30-60 to make sure I could keep Deceptive Evasion once the patch hit. Matheory, you’re going to have a tough time of it. My recommendation is to hit up AC as soon as you can, play story mode and join or create any group that says “All Welcome” or “Beginner Story” etc. You’ll get lots of XP and loot, and most likely you’ll have higher level toons to carry the group though. I like using staff and GS for tagging. Winds of Chaos would have been even better for tagging, had the fixed it like they said they would…

Looks like fixing Illusionary Elasticity got skipped over again:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/info/updates/Game-Update-Notes-April-15-2014/first#post3896059

soooooo, maybe they’re NOT fixing it? No mention here (as StickerHappy mentioned):
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/info/updates/Game-Update-Notes-April-15-2014/first#post3896059

There are multiple threads where they specifically said they’d address this. Gonna do some more research now.

Hey guys, can you do me a favor? All of you who posted builds you want to try, can you quickly build them out in gw2skills.net and provide a link? Sorry, but majo trail choices aren’t obvious to me yet, so it’d be REALLY helpful for me to be able to see the build you’re talking about.

Also note what it’s viable for (PvP, WvW, PvE etc)

Yeah, it’s sad but true. Very lame. Since I solely play PvE, I was hoping for some new build options. Oh well.

I really wish Debilitating Dissipation triggered on shatter.

Pyroathiest.4168:

No.

LOL, can’t argue with that.

Any chance condi or condi/shatter will be viable in PvE now? I doubt this change will make any difference since it doesn’t address the underlying problem with condi in PvE, but for those with experience, what do you think? I’d love to run a 0/20/30/0/20 build (linked in my OP), or some of the others you guys are posting.

Pyroathiest.4168:

Yeah, since anet is kittening leveling chars over, that’s pretty much the best you can do.

You know, I actually really like the idea of having to go on mini-quests to unlock traits. I actually wish they were locking traits for all so I could do the little adventures. As it stands, I’ll probably try to get my hands on a list of all the trait-unlcoking quests so I can just go do them. As for extending out the level reqs for traits, while I do think that sucks for the Mesmer, I like the idea overall. Having something new to unlock when you get to 80 is cooler than having it since 60. IMHO, of course.

As part of the bug fixes in the new feature pack, IE will now work for your staff clones. This is something they said they would correct. See here for more.

Pyroathiest.4168:

Yeah, you’re going to want to ditch staff and go for sword/focus. Take those 20 points out of illusions and toss them into inspiration to trait the focus. You’ll also want to drop DE, it’s not necessary in PvE at all, in any way, and it will cause problems with overwriting phantasms. Instead of DE, trait your sword.

Going sword/sword sword/focus in dungeons isn’t as imperative for someone that’s leveling, but it’s good practice regardless, so I’d recommend starting to try that out to see how it goes. Sword/focus is a must though.

So something like this?

I wasn’t sure what traits to use in Domination line, but figured that even though I want my phantasms to stay alive, it doesn’t hurt to shatter them when target health is getting low, and an extra 20% on mind wrack is pretty good. Thoughts? Next 20 goes into illusions until I’m 80, have access to GM and can retrait?

@Pyro: But, but, but… what about this build"?

Just kidding, I know this build isn’t viable for PvE.

Wow maxinion, thanks for all the advice! It remains to be seen if I’ll lose access to GM traits tomorrow, but at least getting to 60 means I can keep my master traits (like DE!!!). I’m getting better and better with playing mesmer, and I feel good with my performance. I’m exited to get to 80 and really open up the possibilities.

This is my current build

I really like the flexibility of attacks/defense/shatter with the GS/Staff combo. I know it’s not ideal, but I’m only doing PUG story mode in AC/CM/TA for now. I just started using mirror images again because I’m enjoying experimenting with all the different shatters. I had blink there but idk, I’m too slow with targeting where I want to be that I find it’s more often a hinder than a help. I’m sure all I need is practice. I also JUST got my 10th pt in Illusions and picked IE because I want to see how staff clones will be starting tomorrow.

I know when I get serious I’ll need to get good with the 0/30/0/25/15 build, but for now I’m just experimenting. Staff condi build FTW!

Zepidel.5349:

Wish we had dps meters instead of spreadsheets :\

I’m hesitant to say “WoW”, but in WoW there were all kinds of plug-ins that would measure your personal DPS, party DPS, give you all kinds of info on how you’re doing and how optimal you are. I know plug-ins are a no-no in GW, but is there any way to actually see the game calc all this and provide it for you? I’m guessing a big fat “NO” b/c otherwise I would have heard about it by now.

maxinion.8396:

sirrealist.1360:

Zepidel.5349:

You lose a good deal of dps going 0-30-0-25-15 instead of 10-15-0-25-20. % increase dmg only applies to illusions if the source specifically states its does, the grandmaster trait you are grabbing isn’t worth it all. You are losing 15% phantasm damage and 20% recharge for a negligible dps increase for your attacks not tied to phantasms. We already lag way behind other classes dps wise, and we lost a tons of group support with the TW nerf, no need to kitten our damage even further.

I had read somewhere that the differences between the two are:
0/30/0/25/15 – 25% faster cooldowns on phantasms
10/30/0/20/10 – slightly more damage (3-4%)

Is this not true? One could argue that with phantasms on a faster CD, you could make up that 3-4% DPS loss. Can you provide a build link for what you are suggesting? I need a link b/c the major traits to choose aren’t always obvious to me.

He’s talking about a different build entirely (this 10/15 thing which I haven’t seen before). Your assessment of the difference between the two meta builds is correct, though. For absolute speed-clear groups, the 10/30 is better because bosses die before you can summon the third phantasm even if you have the cooldown traited. For most pugs or even most organized groups, 0/30 is better because it will help you get the third phantasm out quicker, which will indeed increase your DPS in the long term of the fight.

Thanks! I’m just learning dungeon clearing and getting better with mesmer (hit level 60 last night). I’m not sure if tomorrow I will still have my GM traits unlocked (a bit o debate about whether toons created before patch will be subject to new level reqs for GM traits). Anyway, is there a general strategy or rotation for these phantasm builds? I’m new to this idea (I’ve just been running staff/GS and using skills as I see then needed), but I’m trying to get better at the whole min/max thing.

Zepidel.5349:

You lose a good deal of dps going 0-30-0-25-15 instead of 10-15-0-25-20. % increase dmg only applies to illusions if the source specifically states its does, the grandmaster trait you are grabbing isn’t worth it all. You are losing 15% phantasm damage and 20% recharge for a negligible dps increase for your attacks not tied to phantasms. We already lag way behind other classes dps wise, and we lost a tons of group support with the TW nerf, no need to kitten our damage even further.

I had read somewhere that the differences between the two are:
0/30/0/25/15 – 25% faster cooldowns on phantasms
10/30/0/20/10 – slightly more damage (3-4%)

Is this not true? One could argue that with phantasms on a faster CD, you could make up that 3-4% DPS loss. Can you provide a build link for what you are suggesting? I need a link b/c the major traits to choose aren’t always obvious to me.

yeah, I’d probably make the description “First time explore: anyone want to show me the ropes?”

something friendly and clear

EDIT: Also, just to clarify something: You get the same XP rewards no matter how many times you play it before your next dungeon/daily reset?

Is this the 0/30/0/25/15 build?

I feel like I’m in the large minority here (and that’s okay!), but I’m really excited about the fix to IE coming up. I know that condi in PvE is terrible, but I’m really excited to see how the Maniac Magician or any other condi build using IE will turn out.

Am I the only one that is excited about the idea of spamming staff clones and having chaotic balls of awesome bouncing all over the place?

Hello!

I am new to dungeons. I have yet to do one in explore mode, I’ve only done AC, CM and TA in story mode. Recently I’ve been trying to level a mesmer quickly, and have been doing dungeons to do so. Can someone explain to me the mechanics of DR in GW2? The questions that come to mind right now are:

1) How often can you do a dungeon w/o suffering DM?
2) How diminished are the returns each time you play it after the first?
3) Do the the DM grow linearly, exponentially etc. in growth as you play? How does it grow?
4) What time does the number of plays “reset”, so you can play your “first of the day” again? If it’s not a set time, then how does that work?
5) If you do story mode, and then explore, is that 2 times? Or are story and explore counted differently?
6) As a side note, how does XP gained from explore compare to story? If you’re trying to get XP as quickly as possible, is it better to do story or explore for your 1st of the day? Is it worth it to keeping doing them, despite DR? If so, story or explore?

Anything else that you guys can tell me about DR, story vs explore or anything else you think is useful to know about being new to dungeons is greatly appreciated! I’ve been reading the stickies so I have the basics (I think), but anything you guys have to say will be read and considered.

Thanks all!

Invite accepted. Thanks!!!

maxinion.8396:

sirrealist.1360:

I’m sure others are going to chime in, but I thought I’d offer my 2cents:
If you haven’t already, check out this list of builds

I’d suggest roaming through the PvE builds and see what matches the play style you’re looking for.

I would be very wary recommending this list for PvE. None of the PvE guides seem to list the correct current builds. (Even colesy’s is out of date, since I know he runs the 10/30 I listed above)

Thanks, and my apologies for misleading.

I’m sure others are going to chime in, but I thought I’d offer my 2cents:
If you haven’t already, check out this list of builds

I’d suggest roaming through the PvE builds and see what matches the play style you’re looking for.

Hi all! I have a Warrior (72), Elementalist (22), Thief (12) and Mesmer (52). Apparently I like sitting at the X2 mark. Anyway, Warrior was my main for a long time, but then some friends joined my gf and I and I decided to roll an Elementalist. As I was leveling that, I saw a Mesmer fight and thought it looked so cool. Now I’m running Mesmer as my main and I’m loving it (though it’s too bad condi is junk in PvE).

I’ve only done PvE with all my characters, mostly open world explore. Now I’m doing dungeons and having a blast. I want to learn more about PvP and WvW, so I figure a guild would be a good place to start. I came to the forums to learn how to play better, and OMFG has all my favorite posters in it!