Guild Wars 2

pita spoon.5708:

vicious.2193:

Whoever the elementalist for Head Hunters is on GoM that was hanging around NsP during the late morning/early afternoon EST, my hat off to you. Had a great 2 minute 1v1 to start my morning off and I was truly saddened that a small group traveled with me the rest of the morning. You stuck it out, though, and tore through most of my allies. Big, big tip of the hat to you.

that might have been me.. was you the mesmer i fought at the ruins,, right after you took the sentry?

Yep, then several other times throughout the morning, though there was a warrior with me most of the rest of the day. I asked him to break off and check out the camp for y’alls mesmer when I saw you alone on the hill for our last fight of the day. I seemed to have lucked out with multiple crits on a 4x shatter in close, making for an anticlimactic end to the day for me.

Anyways, hats off to you and your mesmer that I had the pleasure of 1v1’ing for a couple of minutes until you showed up and we were both downed. Hats off, indeed.

Whoever the elementalist for Head Hunters is on GoM that was hanging around NsP during the late morning/early afternoon EST, my hat off to you. Had a great 2 minute 1v1 to start my morning off and I was truly saddened that a small group traveled with me the rest of the morning. You stuck it out, though, and tore through most of my allies. Big, big tip of the hat to you.

It really depends on how you want to play. You mentioned being in groups for WvW – do you feel like you can just pop in, burst, and pop out? If so, toughness isn’t that big of a deal – you don’t plan on taking many hits.

However, if you’re talking about a smaller team or regular solo play, you may want to consider you defenses a bit more – including taking a staff instead of a GS for its great defensive potential. I know it’s cliche, but it’s actually quite true for us – it depends on how you plan on playing.

Personally, I’d advocate starting with as little toughness as you can and seeing how it feels. If you find yourself dying far more than you’d like, gradually change pieces until you feel comfortable with a balance between burst and stability.

Only a Mesmer can compliment the person next to them, but still be a complete narcissist.

I sincerely hope Necros and Engis get a portal-like ability (I really want them to have their own flavor) and nobody else. It makes sense for the two of them – not so much any other class. Sure, you can stretch it for your chosen class all you want, but these 2 fit right in with the idea.

I also sincerely hope that we get a +25% run speed signet in exchange. We’re losing the individuality of one of our only mobility options, making the other options potentially better for use of the portal (they can lay down the end faster than we can, in theory). It’s time for us to be able to move.

Finally, I sincerely hope it ends here – but I doubt it will. I’m fairly positive that TW will be the next on the block and the only thing that will be “specific” to the mesmer will be illusions and shattering, which are EASILY countered with a simple dodge.

tl:dr – This mesmer likes the idea of only necros and engis having portal, hopes we get a runspeed increase in exchange, and hopes they don’t continue nerfing us to the ground.

Sprawl.3891:

vicious.2193:

/sigh. Close the gap, man. The GS auto-attack’s damage is based on range, if you get inside on them it does almost nothing. Use your dodge button and you’ll avoid 100% of the damage from either the zerker or the duelist (and just about everything else, too).

I don’t know why I keep wasting my time here, people just refuse to look at all their own options and figure out how to deal with something so simple. The reasons Mesmers seem to overpowered to 95% of the people that make threads to nerf them into the ground is because folks go into a fight with a mesmer already believing they’ve lost. You can’t play defensive against a mesmer – you have to be aggressive. Aside from frenzy, they have NO real mitigation – especially if they’re running GS/S+P.

Seriously, it’s not that hard. Learn the class before you start complaining about it. Or, better yet, learn your own.

mesmers are tricky because if you close the gap they will just frenzy, pistol 5 stun, then GS knockback + blink and reset. I run a phantasam build and the zerker and duelist do hit hard as he described. I also run the phantasam health trait and utility so it’s not easy to just kill them unless it’s a big aoe class like a HB warrior. The key to beating me at least in 1v1 is to dodge the phantasm skills and keep pressure on. But even then most good mesmers will use knock back/stun in order to guarantee the phantasm gets off then just kite / gs auto and then swoop in again with stun/frenzy/shatter to finish off. condi spammers are the best counter.

It seemed as though the discussion was based around melee, though, and (from my experience) most melee don’t condition like ranged do – with the exception of Guardian (that’s a whole ‘nother OP thread, though). The vast majority of mesmers will do what you just said – either knockback (you now know that the zerker is coming) or frenzy+stun (you know the bullet is coming after the frenzy). It’s these moves, over and over again, that most mesmers make their bread and butter against melee – just counter them.

Mesmers aren’t invincible beasts of glory – a few people have given them that reputation and it’s seeped into their hearts and minds of the unimaginative.

2.) I would prefer a signet like almost everyone else that has a useful CD on it.

/sigh. Close the gap, man. The GS auto-attack’s damage is based on range, if you get inside on them it does almost nothing. Use your dodge button and you’ll avoid 100% of the damage from either the zerker or the duelist (and just about everything else, too).

I don’t know why I keep wasting my time here, people just refuse to look at all their own options and figure out how to deal with something so simple. The reasons Mesmers seem to overpowered to 95% of the people that make threads to nerf them into the ground is because folks go into a fight with a mesmer already believing they’ve lost. You can’t play defensive against a mesmer – you have to be aggressive. Aside from frenzy, they have NO real mitigation – especially if they’re running GS/S+P.

Seriously, it’s not that hard. Learn the class before you start complaining about it. Or, better yet, learn your own.

iNsane.5028:

Why the QQ all state the 10sec AoE quickness but none of you state the CD??? Because it’s just fine when you look at the CD 210sec for 10sec buff. If you want reduce to half like 5sec TW sure but reduce the the CD to half that’s what something to trade of with.. 10sec every 210sec? how long spvp/tpvp last per match? how many TW will up and break your team? not count the mesmer down or TW got counter. That’s why there’s thief job > cutting the mesmer before reach point capture and use TW, that’s why there’s necro turn Boon into Condition and AoE condition in area. alot of counter for TW. Please learn and play more before you QQing and keep ask a nerf for certain class. 10sec buff for 210sec cd you do the math how many % the up time during single spvp/tpvp match i bet yall QQer better in counting paper…
Or just simply remove the unique class from the game if you can’t accept something untraditional class like a mesmer..

[NOTE] Instead of asking a nerf to one class to the other why don’t you guys ask dev Anet to fix the broken skill/trait/sigil that not working properly at the moment? fix the bugs then we talk about the balance. If no fix and keep changing stuff, the more Anet change the more bugs coming.

-sorry english isn’t my 1st languages-

They don’t bring up its cooldown for the same reason they don’t bring up the ways to counter it – like using reflection to destroy the TW’d group.

Because they don’t actually know and haven’t taken the time to consider it.

Powerr.3649:

well… its unlikely to win a team fight if the enemy has time warp and you don’t. Time Warp is infuriating

Free pro-tip: use reflection.

Great vids, guys. Show the sheeple the light of day. Unfortunately, it won’t do much good. The only way to break down that wall is to keep banging our heads against it, obviously.

There is always going to be a perceived “best” grouping in PvP in an MMO. These groupings will stay for as long as a patch cycle, be nerfed in one way or another, and another will then take its place. It has literally happened in every game with a large enough following that is willing to do the groundwork and find the match. GW2 is a few months old, literally. WoW is nearly a decade old and it STILL goes through this. It’s simply not possible for a team of < 100 to look at the picture and see as much as a group of > 10,000+. Being a dev for a MMORPG is the job of playing constant catch-up.

That being said, the other reason for these “metas” is the sheeple. It gets posted by a few folks that do the math and the vast majority fall in line, never looking for their own ways to improve upon the foundation.

hackks.3687:

Question: What if I just don’t like Mesmers? What if I think they’re aesthetically unpleasant and just want nothing to do with them? Does that mean I should be punished because no other class can move my entire team across the map or give me 10 sec of haste with zero drawbacks while every other team uses these to their obvious advantage?

Or to put it in the realm of the eSports aspirations, as a casual observer, why would I watch more than a couple matches when everyone is playing the same comp, with the same tactics, and the same skills? And if everyone is doing the same thing, is there any actual skill involved in that or is it merely GW2’s version of painting by numbers? In short, why should I stay interested?

In truth, these “Don’t Nerf TW” posts are effectively arguing for keeping the status quo. But when I look around in PvP the status quo doesn’t particularly look so good – particularly when measured against the game’s aspirations. So how about we let the “countering TW” argument go, because this isn’t about countering TW. It’s about adding diversity to this already extremely limited and stale game. ANet themselves have already stated that more diversity is a goal so it stands to reason that a change is gonna come. Why prop one’s self up against change? Specially when change is much needed.

2c

I respectfully disagree. These “don’t nerf TW” posts are saying “don’t fix what isn’t actually broken”. TW aside, the most common complaint I hear about fighting Mesmer is “the clones make it impossible to tell who the Mesmer is” – which is a clear indication of the problem. The Mesmer is always the one that’s moving and using different/faster attacks – it’s really not hard to tell. However, this requires going “above and beyond” paying attention to your character and his/her 10 skills.

As has been mentioned, it is ridiculously easy to turn a TW against the entire group that’s using it – reflection. However, there are many other issues (as you mention) that DO affect PvP that are not as easily overcomeable. The persistent culling issue, the fact that Mesmers are punished for 100% world completion, and general warrior balancing are a few that immediately come to mind (the last one is half a joke before any of you warriors freak the kitten out).

Attacking a Mesmer skill that you don’t understand, simply because you don’t understand it and getting it nerfed seems to be the status quo here. So, in a way, defending TW is breaking the status quo. Regardless, defending it is simple – it isn’t what the attackers claim it to be (some insurmountable beast of a skill). In fact, when defended properly, TW can turn the tide AGAINST the caster’s team.

Honestly, stay calm. That’s the best PvP advice I can give anyone, ever. Once you fight a few bursty thieves and really figure them out, it helps tremendously if you don’t freak out when you see them cloak.

As for in-game, the staff is your friend. It’s useful in virtually every build – I never go anywhere without one. It’s great for mobility, survival, and buff/debuff. Even without blink, you can get away while producing a clone that can eventually be used for damage, confusion, dazing, or a moment of invuln.

Cool head + experience + staff = thieves will always ends up stealthing away from you.

Because every thief is a kitten.

I plan on testing out a 10/20/10/0/30 build tonight, just to see how much the additional 100 toughness matters. I’m not sold on membrane being a game-changer and I change weapons frequently enough that I’m not sure if the 20% CD reduction on the staff is a must-have either. It may be, and probably is, but I’ve never really tried to run without it.

Anyone else try that out already, though?

You can’t really do that in tPvP – which is where the fuss is coming from. The true counters to TW are reflection, retaliation, and/or confusion – reflection being the strongest, IMO.

They also love the holiday jumping puzzles with their big, shiny gear and giant, shiny swords. :*(

Me 1: Condition based Mesmer
Most Feared: Warrior or good thief – they can stop the war of attrition before I can start it
Least Feared: Other Mesmers

Me 2: Shatter Mesmer
Most Feared: Good thief – pesky little kittens
Least Feared: Other Mesmers

Ostricheggs.3742:

Yea no kitten. That’s a grenade nerf coupled with a smoke bomb nerf, an elixir R nerf and a downed HP nerf. And I am a kittening engineer. I have 1900 tourneys on an engi. I earn my kills more than anyone by a decent bit. There is NO STRATEGY TO COUNTER TIME WARP.

And for a guy who doesn’t even run time warp, what’s the big deal? It’s clear you don’t see value in it because you obviously don’t TPvP. Your lack of knowledge about the game shows in nearly every single post you’ve made. You’ve been CORRECTED on the information about time warp by an ENGINEER. Quite literally your input is nearly null value aside from the cautionary tale of too many nerf bats making a class go stale. It’s true. But time warp is kittening broken, plain and simple.

Your repeated assertion that everyone needs to “l2p” is countered instantly by you not running time warp and by you not understanding time warp and by yours and others’ continued assertion that it’s counterable BY RETALIATION AND CONFUSION.

And reflection, though. Reflection, alone, can and will decimate a ranged group in a TW field. So, basically, at worst you’re looking at 4 ranged players who are truly benefiting from the 10 seconds of TW (Mesmer abilities are more strongly tied to CDs, not quickness), and all of their abilities can be reflected back at them. That also means that for the rest of the match, you’re only facing off against ranged – who are likely less armored. This also ignores the fact that TW can be boosting a pet instead of a player.

TW has no real benefit to melee if you even stand at the very edge. TW can be countered, and violently, with confusion, retaliation, and – most of all – reflection. It’s been stated before, in this thread, that a single wall of reflection will WRECK an entire group inside a TW field.

How long is Wall of Reflection? 10 seconds. What’s its cooldown? 40 seconds.

Contrary to some claims in this thread, TW absolutely can be countered. Also mentioned in this thread is that it really comes into play in tPvP, where an organized group with a Mesmer can use it in conjunction with portal to take a point and, subsequently, hold it with a bunker. That means 2/5 of that group is not going to benefit, entirely, from TW (the Mesmer and the Guardian). In order to NOT reflect, your group can’t have any guardians, thieves (dagger storm), engineers, rangers, eles, mesmers, or warriors (missile deflection).

Also, in tPvP, your team should also be just as organized as the one with the Mesmer. You mean to tell me that you won’t have any of those other classes – especially a Guardian who can WoR – or even push out the group? That same Guardian who can also, after the initial TW damage has been done, can pop his book and heal the group up?

Again, reflection (which is available to almost everyone) is the real TW killer.

Of all the classes I’ve played (Guardian, Warrior, Ranger, Mesmer, and Ele), the Mesmer had the highest “learning curve” in order to be “enjoyable”. Granted, that’s just for me – but it’s a sentiment that many others have mirrored. However, it’s also the single most rewarding class I’ve played, and that’s why it’s my main.

I grew very bored with my Ranger and now can only really stand to level him one or two levels a week, he’s in his 40s, now. I never grew bored with the Mesmer – though that may have something to do with the fact that he was my 2nd 80.

I’m going to jump on the “varying difficulty” bandwagon for the next event JP. A brief example:

1.) No timer on “snowflakes” but health does drop at a lesser rate. Link the achievement to this one.
2.) That backwall starts pushing players forward and health degenerates to match it. Have loot available for being this level.
3.) Backwall pushes while the health drops at a faster rate than the wall. Epic loots come with this one and maybe a second achievement that is not required for the event title.

I don’t see how this wouldn’t please everyone. Once you complete one level, you move on to the next. This also will break the “large groups” apart.

I think it’s also important to note that you don’t need this achievement for the title – if that is your goal. You only need 12 holiday achievements out of the 14. Unless, of course, 2 of the others don’t count for some reason.

Tdawg.8309:

In my humble opinion a few things need changing:

1: players that pick up presents cannot drop them untill downed, of obvious reasons.

2: players should get credit for doing a certain amount of damage instead of just for the downed shot. Just like with loot drops.

These 2 small changes will ensure people actually get this achievement.

This. Granted, it’s a 2 week event. But I’ll be damned if I haven’t been the majority of damage on at least 12 carriers this morning and someone just came in and popped them off or the kitten dropped the box right before the final blow just to kitten me off.

Soba.3041:

I had a fun fight with a Thief today.
-snip-

No you didn’t – you had a fight where the Thief decided to stick around. My problem with thieves isn’t that they’re OP – it’s that they always run away and, at times, it feels like the whole map is made up of them. With culling, you literally can’t see them for 4-5 seconds and, by that time, they’re long gone.

Angry as I may get, I always feel flattered when we get nerfed.

I’m more in-line with making phantasms a non-shatterable pet with higher health whose cooldown begins when they die. I know there’s a ton of numbers issues with this that would have to be worked out for each individual phantasm, but as many others have said so far – our phantasms often get one shot out before they die and they have been consistently toned down since launch.

Making it so we have one phantasm at a time at all times with adjusted damage is better than feeling like we’re wasting a ~10s CD every time we touch it. They are obvious targets with low health in PvP as it is, what really changes if they’re “permanent”. We technically lose an “attack” button, they’re not shatter-able, and they’re still easily targetable. This way, however, we can plan ways to use it to our advantage instead of “hoping” it doesn’t die immediately after being summoned.

How about a small symbol or something to show how many people from your server are on any given WvW map. I know the larger servers don’t have this issue, but us smaller guys can often go to an enemy zone and literally be alone. I just think it would be nice if I could get into WvW, pull up my map, and see if there’s a small group in Green or a medium sized group in Red, if you know what I mean.

I like it, too. However, I must ask, why the REALLY small internal 3? It really looks like they’ve got 3 spots per “zone” with 1 keep-like thing at the center. That seems severely limiting.

I understand the point is to get zones specifically for small groups so that they’re not limited to avoiding zergs and picking up camps – but that actually does work. It seems to me like a group of 20 can rush that small zone, take that center keep, and hold it until a zerg of 40 shows up. The extremely small zone, in a way, only serves to increase zergs – it just makes them bounce.

How about the notion of taking those zones – as 3 or 6 – and making them “supply lines” of some sort? I think that adds a dimension and will help to make zone-jumping more popular. As it is right now, you get in a zone and you stay there for however long you plan on playing. Adding an element like that could help spread out the fighting.

I’d agree with this if the long-term releases of the game was more gear-advancement based. To my knowledge (and from everything they’ve said), it’s not. It makes sense for a game where gear is the core concept and new gear with better stats is released with every content update (every few months). GW2, however isn’t designed that way. With a few exceptions, the “best” gear in the game at launch is still the “best” gear available.

Having a reforge system like WoW’s in GW2 would serve to create a “stagnant” state. While the “eternal” carrot-on-a-stick is not present in GW2, there is still a carrot out there.

Tommytoons.2481:

Can some one just explain the staffs mechanics and how to use it? I’ve noticed that many builds use staff. I also use staff but I don’t know why. I know(think) that its main source of damage is skill 2 stacking condition and skill 3 is based off of conditions. How many clones vs warlocks should I have? Atm, I try to get 2 clones and a warlock when its an easy mob and try to get 3 warlocks when its a champ and many people are stacking conditions.

You seem to have it about right, as far as rule of thumb goes. The iWarlock can be a powerful SOB in large groups with multiple conditions stacking on the regular.

However, the real beauty of the staff is explained very well by Oscariot. Not only is it bad for them, it’s good for you. Though a long range weapon, the staff really shines up close with an extra bounce. You’re not only damaging and stacking conditions on your opponent but giving yourself boons as well. Throw a #5 down, also, and you’re really in business.

I tend to run a 20/0/30/0/20 condition damage build in PvE as well as W3, though my groups are usually melee heavy so my extra staff bounce and staff #5 are even more useful. I shatter, of course, but my build isn’t built around shattering. It’s just one of our core mechanics and, honestly, it needs to be used if you’re really doing your “best”.

Just out of curiosity, have you looked at your title dropdown to see if its there despite the no-show on this achievement page?

That’s awesome! I wish I had enough artistic ability to even follow a stencil – nonetheless make something original.

Not sure if anyone else has experienced this, but I topped off “Halloween Huntin’” and “Trick or Treat bags opened” last night around 11PM EST. This morning, it showed a full 150/150 and 100/100 when I logged in briefly to cut up some pumpkins as well. However, logging in now shows that I’ve been downgraded to around 110 (I killed a few again before I noticed) and around 50 (again, opened a couple more bags). Did the update patch have something to do with it? Has anyone else had this problem?

Aragiel

Im playing a mesmer and in fact shatter mesmer become trully a DPS beast ! Not only it can kill almost everything in 1v1 including also bunkers. But it has one of the best utilities in game as well (null field, portal, time wrap)
Im sorry if you dont see it but other classess have to spent much more time and effort to achieve what mesmer class can do. And the worst thing ever is – clones and illusions are doingit all for you.
In fact i offten dont even need to bother, just spam illusions / clones and keep them do their work.
I would like to see a decrease in illusions dmg and boost for mesmers abilites. IMHO mesmer class should use clones and phantasms only as distraction and not as main source of damage..

You do realize that clones do next to no direct damage, right? Also, that illusions all have their own restrictions and longer cooldowns? Go into PvP with your mesmer and try to kill someone without doing anything other than summoning clones and illusions. Go ahead, we’ll wait here.

Of all the classes I’ve played, mesmer has been the most finesse and required the most understanding of the mechanics in order to really, honestly succeed. Ranger was very simple and straightforward. Guardian was more complicated but, honestly, you could just power your way forward with stats. Mesmer really needs a style and it needs patience. I’m honestly sorry it took me so long to make one and he’s definitely going to be my main.

As for stories, on a WvW map I had a fantastic time fighting 1v1 with another mesmer. Fighting is a relative term, of course, as the majority of our 10 minutes spat was someone trying to run away from the other with portal, blink, or clone dodging. In my years of gaming in various MMOs, I’d easily call this one spat the most “epic” I’ve ever had.

Akhaandir.8297:

It’s actually a pretty good idea. For larger guilds, it allows them to create a second sister guild, and either move some people there or use it to invite new people too. Also, it gives people the option of joining guilds with specific focuses like WvWvW, events, roleplaying etc, and swap between them depending on what they’re doing at the time.

This, 10 times over. I’m currently in three guilds for three different reasons. I have a social guild from a forum that I regular that I will pop into when I’m not doing PvE content and in the guild for that or WvW content with the guild I run that with.

Looks like it will play well for brief 1-on-1s and general “questing”, but you’re ignoring conditional removal which is imperative in dungeons (and sPvP from what I’ve heard). Aegis rocks, yes, but when you have a 60 second poison on you and no conditional removal, you’re going to die.

It’s really going to depend on what style of thief you want to play (or continue playing). If you want to keep popping in-and-out with a quick hit-and-run approach, it may not be something you look for and, honestly, just having more vitality could be the answer (depending on what drops you end up finding as you play).

Also, as said before, it’s still very early on and, without dueling, it’s very hard to do much in the way of number crunching on the subject. The best possible answer, right now, is stack until you feel comfortable during your “brief” 1-on-1s.

The only dodge issues I’ve had, so far, have been mid-animation – trying to get that one extra shot in – and being unable to roll out. I’m aware that’s on me but I swear there have been a couple of times where, during the autocasting of the “1” ability, it just won’t go. That quarter second is brutal.

Once again, though, the concept of stop doing damage to be able to continue doing damage prevails.