My first post!!! Have been reading these posts avidly for some time now. And now I have a reason to post.
I started out playing GW in January of this year. Started with an ele - I usually play spellcasters in games like this. Eventually moved over to Mesmer, which has been a great challenge seeing as I haven't played any other characters.
I love the mesmer. The ability to jack with other characters is very fun. I have done almost exclusively PVE with my guild up until now. And without trying to sound cocky, I actually think I do a pretty good job against both Tyria and Cantha monsters. Being a small guild, I've found I'm usually the only mesmer. I've gotten my guildmates to switch over to PVP occasionally. I've done a ton of RA, but now am moving over to TA with some guildies.
Here's some questions I have:
In PVE, I've gotten very comfortable with degen build, warrior hate build, and interrupt build. So I've transferred those over to RA and had success with all three.
1) In PVP, have people found it useful to carry a "jack of all trades" build (a little degen, an interrupt or two, some caster hate, and some war hate), or have people found it useful to jack with just one type of char, but do it very well (full war hate build, full caster shutdown build, etc)?
I found in my limited TA, that going with jack of all trades made me a little irritating to all of my opponents, but not very effective against any of them.
2) Related question: Do people find it more useful to bring support spells (remove/expel hex, remove conditions from monk 2ndary, etc.), or to rely exclusively on skills that will complete the offensive build? I'm guessing the answer to this depends on the makeup of the rest of your team. I found that our monk kept telling me to bring an expel hex and a remove condition, which with a self heal and a rez took up 4 of my skill slots. That left 4 for my "true build" which didn't feel like enough to me.
3) Less of a question and more of a self-critique: I found that after I/we got worked in TA, I'd go back and tweak my build to counter how I got worked. Then we'd re-enter, and I might win, but I might get worked again. If the latter, then I'd go tweak it again, and before long I kept tweaking it to counter what I just faced, only to face something new. Is this why people might suggest going with a jack of all trades build?
I really love the mesmer, and I respect many of you who post in here - without you realizing it, you have helped me a lot as I have read your posts over the past 4 months. But as I try and move into pvp, I am finding that mesmer is very complicated all over again.
Thanks in advance for your responses!
Strategies in Switching from PVE to PVP - Please Help!
arobmic
Effigy
1. I don't suggest the "jack of all trades" route, but it is a good idea to bring skills that are useful against multiple types of opponents. For instance, Diversion and Blackout. These aren't "caster hate" or "melee hate," they're "everybody hate" and trust me, everybody hates them. Gale is another good multi-purpose skill if you play Me/E, as getting KDed sucks no matter who you are. However, don't be afraid to bring 1-2 skills that are more specialized.
2. Mesmers can fill virtually any role with the right character and team build. If your monk(s) need more hex/condition removal, it's probably best to help out. However, you should discuss this with your team and explain that you are having trouble fitting what you want in the limited skill slots.
3. You have to accept that you can't make one build to counter everything. If you could, that's the only build people would use. Rather than changing your bar to counter what just beat you, just keep track of which enemy builds are giving you the most problems on average. If you're facing lots of X type build and it's giving you trouble, try to figure out how to can change to be more effective against X without making yourself more vulnerable to Y.
2. Mesmers can fill virtually any role with the right character and team build. If your monk(s) need more hex/condition removal, it's probably best to help out. However, you should discuss this with your team and explain that you are having trouble fitting what you want in the limited skill slots.
3. You have to accept that you can't make one build to counter everything. If you could, that's the only build people would use. Rather than changing your bar to counter what just beat you, just keep track of which enemy builds are giving you the most problems on average. If you're facing lots of X type build and it's giving you trouble, try to figure out how to can change to be more effective against X without making yourself more vulnerable to Y.
Trakata
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Originally Posted by arobmic
In PVE, I've gotten very comfortable with degen build, warrior hate build, and interrupt build. So I've transferred those over to RA and had success with all three.
1) In PVP, have people found it useful to carry a "jack of all trades" build (a little degen, an interrupt or two, some caster hate, and some war hate), or have people found it useful to jack with just one type of char, but do it very well (full war hate build, full caster shutdown build, etc)?
I found in my limited TA, that going with jack of all trades made me a little irritating to all of my opponents, but not very effective against any of them.
Quote: Originally Posted by arobmic 2) Related question: Do people find it more useful to bring support spells (remove/expel hex, remove conditions from monk 2ndary, etc.), or to rely exclusively on skills that will complete the offensive build? I'm guessing the answer to this depends on the makeup of the rest of your team. I found that our monk kept telling me to bring an expel hex and a remove condition, which with a self heal and a rez took up 4 of my skill slots. That left 4 for my "true build" which didn't feel like enough to me. Well...that depends. For TA I don't think it would hurt you to help out the monk, since your offensive should only focus around 4 skills, maybe less. However, look for more feedback as I'm kind of on the fence about this.
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Usually specializing is good, although many Mesmer skills can be used cross-barriers - i.e. it is useful in various situations against various different foes.|
Originally Posted by arobmic
3) Less of a question and more of a self-critique: I found that after I/we got worked in TA, I'd go back and tweak my build to counter how I got worked. Then we'd re-enter, and I might win, but I might get worked again. If the latter, then I'd go tweak it again, and before long I kept tweaking it to counter what I just faced, only to face something new. Is this why people might suggest going with a jack of all trades build?
Like I said before, you need to pick one build that will murder the target of your choice, be it Warriors, Monks, etc. Tweaking builds to combat something you just saw is bad, because in the RA and TA levels people experiment with some weird, unpredictable builds. You're best of picking one thing to do, and doing it well.
Hope that helps.
LightningHell
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Originally Posted by arobmic
I found in my limited TA, that going with jack of all trades made me a little irritating to all of my opponents, but not very effective against any of them. |
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Draw Conditions is very useful, but I don't believe you need a self heal really. Distortion at a respectable spec perhaps, but you don't need a self heal IMO.
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3) Less of a question and more of a self-critique: I found that after I/we got worked in TA, I'd go back and tweak my build to counter how I got worked. Then we'd re-enter, and I might win, but I might get worked again. If the latter, then I'd go tweak it again, and before long I kept tweaking it to counter what I just faced, only to face something new. Is this why people might suggest going with a jack of all trades build?
It's not very good to go Dom/Illu and use Clumsiness with Backfire (not that Backfire is good in PvP), if that's what you're talking about "Jack of All Trades". I'd type more, but I have to move on.  Quote:
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