[Dev Update] Soul Reaping and Mesmer Issues

I'm going to respond to this as I read some things that made me flinch. This is not an attack, but my opinion, as an experienced PvE player, on what has been said.

The problem is not the lack of flashy lights. The problem is not that people can't tell what the Mesmer is going. The problem is the point that gets skimmed over; The mesmer can do what they do very well indeed, but what it does is not important. There is no role the Mesmer serves that cannot be surpassed by another focused class. I was actually confused on whether this was an analysis or something that the team copied off GWO, because 'people can't tell what the Mesmer is doing, so they don't want them' has been a common sentiment for years - and has recently become false. People can see what the Mesmer is doing - it just isn't doing anything. The Mesmer is ' not as likely to have a pile of bodies at their feet', but leaving bodies at your feet is the entire point of PvE - either killing the monsters or keeping your team alive long enough to do so - and other classes have more effective disruption (meteor showers, ranger interrupts) while still having the capability to deal damage. Simply, there is no role for the design purpose of the Mesmer, and this is due to several issues (which I outlined on my thread in the Mesmer forum).

Oh? A great number of people say the Mesmer needs more skill because of the less direct nature of the skills. Does it really?

The absolute best Mesmer PvE skills have always been domination damage skills - the ones that require no skill to use. Empathy on melee, backfire on casters - this is not hard to do. Interrupting isn't even unique to Mesmers. Shutdown is a joke in PvE, thanks to the policy of making areas hard with lots of high-health enemies.

The complex parts of the Mesmer are not the best. The best skills in the Mesmer lines are the simplest ones, for the most part. Some of these reward skill (diversion), but their use in PvE is near to null.

Spreading degen does not take skill. Putting the right hex on the right foe is not skill. In fact - these 'skills' are shared by most other classes. Relating subtlety to skill is not necessarily accurate. At the absolute most, they require some knowledge (backfire tends to be ineffective on Anur Rand mobs).

The issue of collecting someone with skill is an issue for every class - bad monks, bad eles, bad warriors are just as common if not more so - people simply gloss over this as their job is simple, and their simple job is effective. Don't bring a knife to a gunfight, and don't bring a Mesmer to an AoE nukefest. Chances of success are not necessarily linked to a Mesmer with the exception of certain niche situations where they are more useful - which is the problem with a great deal of classes which either have design aims inconsistant with PvE itself, or design aims that are not clear.

Do you want to improve Mesmers in PvE? Really? I'll tell you how.

Rethink the design of PvE.

Adding more damage skills in the game, and introducing larger packs of higher health mobs reduces the use of Mesmers - who without the damage to compete against ridiculously out of line mobs (1000 health Anurs?), and without the AoE to deal with pack size (Urgoz Warren anybody?), with every 'elite area' the use of Mesmers is being decreased.

You said PvP is where Mesmers are useful. Make PvE enemies more like PvP enemies. Give them REAL skill lists and synergizing skills. Make more enemies like the Jade Brotherhood and less like Anurs. Make difficulty come from the ability of the enemy rather than brute numerical force, and the effects of disabling and incapacitating enemies becomes more valid. You don't need to make numbers higher to increase challenge, that is exactly the opposite of the origins of the game.

If your foes are 10 juggernauts that fight as if they were alone, it makes sense to just kill them with damage because they will drop before you do if you are prepped. If you fight 10 mixed foes that all support each other, you can have the same difficulty, with monsters that aren't supercharged, and in a situation where knocking out a link becomes that much more effective in taking down a group.



I don't mean offence, but the depth of the viewpoint that was put forward is the kind of thing I would expect off a random GWO poster, and not from an examination of the class.

In all honesty, I think a lot of us may underestimate the factors involved in a change like this. I think Anet may have been hesitant in the SR change and were trying to figure out what to do with it. I think they've gone through many scenario's in trying to think up the best option to put a limit on it but not making the class unplayable.
Of course, the longer you wait the harder it gets. And I think they took into account a lot of factors but as theory is still far from practice they didn't see a couple of things coming.
GW is a big game now with its 3 chapters and there are lots of skills. Any change to a primary has a lot of consequences.

Maybe Anet was a bit surprised and disappointed because they probably put in a lot of time to figure this thing out and now there is such a storm of negative reactions.

I suppose when something is a lengthy process it gets harder and harder to see what's happening. We've asked for a change now and I can imagine that it may not be so easy to do this or that change but that it takes a lot of work and testing...again in this case. Life can be a pain...

So yes, we need to get rid of the 5 second rule. That was the thing that makes this nerf a bad one, but I imagine reworking it may actually take some doing.

I personally would've thought that it would've been easier and better to have minions and spirits only give you 0 or perhaps 1 energy as their existence is too fleeting and other deaths a more limited gain like 1e for every 2 levels of soul reaping.

But it is harder for me to oversee what is involved in putting that into place.

At a time like this I would actually be interested to know how the devs feel about all this and what moves them. Perhaps people can be a bit more understanding. At this point we should've passed the point of anger anyway and be more constructive. At least that's how I feel.

I completely agree, making PvE more difficult has always been about increasing the number of enemies and increasing the damage they do so it's no surprise that people don't want to have mesmers in their team. If the AI actually avoided AoE effect spells and knew how to use all the skills correctly and showed at least some form of teamwork then people might actually consider using a mesmer.

One hopes this is called Hardmode.

If it's not I dont see another rework of PvE anytime soon. It would not be economically viable I think to revise every mob and patrol path in all 3 chapters again. Althoguh a lot of mob issues could be solved just by adding in a decent monk bar and more use of res skills.

That leaves us with the next best thing. Skills. Anyway Hard mode will be here soon and we'll see how things are then.

I am not happy with the state of SR at present, and I have been quite vocal about that so I am not going to reiterate what I have said before. I have 8 characters that I have played up to level 20 and completed campaigns with.

My first character is a warrior which I have mostly played with a Mesmer secondary.

My second character is a mesmer which I originally set up with a Ranger secondary, but generally only play as mesmer.

My third character is a ritualist which I have always played as an attacking and not a nurturing ritualist.

My fourth character is an elementalist and perhaps the most versatile profession with huge amounts of energy and potential for massive damage.

My fifth character is a ranger and also is versatile, perhaps a little harder to play than the elementalist.

I have an assassin who I never really play.

I had a dervish but I cannot understand why a close up fighter has no good armour.

I have a paragon who is a ranged fighter and has good armour but requires quite a lot of concentration to keep the energy up. But he is a good axe warrior substitute even if he looks ungainly wielding an axe, lol. Or as my young son says "it looks so gay!" bearing in mind the newest meaning of gay that being wrong.

I have a necro who is still fun to play even with the current SR status, but if I did not have the Signet of Lost Souls would be a pain to play with now.

Of course I can never see myself playing a monk. I sometime play a smiting elementalist or a smiting necro.

I am really looking forward to see the mesmer given his due. I guess without the mesmer skills I would still be trying to kill Shiro in Cantha and Elona.

I also hope that a decent change is made for the necromancer.

Good Luck with the changes.

Something that just occurred to me... would love some feedback on it:

What if SR worked on the same mechanic as XP does? That is to say, you gain energy at 1 per point in SR for any enemy the same level as you *that you take part in killing*, or friendly minions, and then it scales both down AND up from there. While very similar to many other suggestions already put forth, the twist is that the maximum gain from minions would be less than full, but not quite half, and it would help to balance things out in PvE (as I don't really PvP very much, I won't comment on viability there). I can't bring to mind the exact numbers wrt how XP scales, but it seems it would "even out" the energy gains between low and high level areas pretty well. For example, a level 5 critter dies, you get 2 energy with 10 SR. Kill a level 28 boss with the same SR, and you get 20 energy. Exploitation of zero or low level minions would be done away with as well. As to spirits, there would be any number of ways to handle that... could either be half (which would be less than the current "half" at anything but very low SR levels, as I think spirits max out at a lower level than minions).

Also, seeing as how the XP mechanic already exists, it seems this could be a relatively simple thing to implement code-wise.

Anyway, would love some opinions on whether or not something along these lines would work, and if not, why not.

Cheers,
-B.
*dons flame-retardant suit, just in case*

QFT.

Mesmers have no role in PVE, because:

1. Half hex duration on foes (Ok, Wastrel's Worry rocks )
2. Human interruption is useless if you can't spam them, because foes always (or just too often) cast spells in half time, so reaction + LAG = wasted energy
3. Diversion is useless beacuse of 1. and monster skills.
4. E-denial DOES NOT work in PVE, even warrior foes have more than 2 pips enery regen and it seems that caster foes have near infinite energy pool or incredibly high regen. e.g. Bringer of Deceit spams heal party like there's no tomorrow
5. Hordes of steriod foes in a single group

Give mesmer's AoE interrupts and AoE degen. How about AoE energy theft but please dont add the 5 second rule. LOL

Gaile,
I am happy to see this update as it has reassured me that Anet is being true to their philosophy and actually taking the view of players into consideration (note that some would disagree, but I think there's a difference between taking orders of what to do from players and reflecting on what they have to say to take it into consideration). I just urge you and all of Anet to think about what I, and quite a number of people, have said in the previous discussion regarding the Skills associated with Soul Reaping, energy management skills and the respective campaigns in which they are avaiable. I do actually believe Anet is not just up for money and commercial cohertion, as to me it's actions have proven differently in a number of ocasions, so with that in mind, please don't disregard this issue as you rethink Soul Reaping and the Necromancer profession.

To note, in accordance to what Gaile said, while playing a Necromancer before the Soul Reaping nerf, I really very rarely thought about how is my energy doing in this or that situation in PVE and in Alliance Battles or Fort Aspenwood, except for the unordinary occasion when I really spent it all up. Therefore I speak as a player who agrees to the nerf but is not entirely happy with the timer.

Balancing the professions is within bounds good and it seems the players adapt.

That said major changes to the way Soul Reaping works can have perhaps more affects than initially thought - weapon modification choices. For example, I like the high +15 -1 mod on a necro weapon.

The first death is sometimes problematic for a necro and soul reaping. (I play a MM as N/ra with a dire pet named tru minion for that reason - nice to have a minion with interupts and health regen) When I play curses I also like the inital energy to get the deaths going..... for soul reaping to kick in.

Very lightly here Necros have weak armor, many skills that sacrifice health to work..... there only real advantage is their energy and in some cases minions.

Increasing cast times or energy costs can compensate for the basic fundemental of soul reaping providing a steady flow of energy and seems a better way to tweak the profession.

Agreed. I think if you want Masters against Shiro, a mesmer is essential.

And that means that the suggestion of a redesign of PvE is right. We need more bosses only a mesmer can kill. Well, not quite only, but has the highest guaranteed success rate. (The ranger ebon dust aura build helped a lot against Shiro in Elona.) How about treasure chests/hidden treasures in Cantha and Tyria guarded by such type creatures? Quests with incentive. Cooler weapon drops.

Or some things in hard mode that become ridiculously easy [well maybe not ridiculously...] if you have a skilled mesmer in tow?

Or how about a Weekend Event that gives Mesmers a chance to shine? In which only groups with non-Norgu mesmers can get a mini-mesmer for party members when they successfully complete some arduous task.

The other option is really cool skills that only work with fast casting, so they're virtually useless on a mesmer secondary. Perhaps those are coming in GWEN?

Creative thinking. I have no idea how it would work. Perhaps the author of the soul-reaping nerf script would like to script this and give a view.

actually it's just anet browsing these hallowed forums looking for something to nerf because they have an insatiable thirst for nerfing things. ie UW 55 monk/SS Necro and now it seems each week they're nerfing something else. PLEASE stop messing with the friggin game WOW the game was fun like 6 or 7 months ago and now i'm contemplating shelving the game and heading back to FPS's. that is after i have already completed all 3 chapters and darn near lost my marriage over this game ....pffft! and who and the heck wants to play with a mesmerer. have ya'll seen they're armor?

In the words of Johnny Blaze "Flame On!!!!"

I like the mesmer and use them often even the hench mesmer comes along when building a group. It is interesting that the discussion here is about Necros and Mesmers. I find the real issue with a mesmer is Lack of energy. Yes there are lots of skills that allow you to capture energy and you can make an effective focused build ..... but when thinking about mesmers my fist thought is how to manage energy. Necros how to get the first couple of deaths to get energy flowing and if the area has enough and the right type of foe to support a minion master.

Most of the other characters I think of the role in the group first.

Anet, you dont need to add aoe skills to mes or make them nukers. Just improove AI on npc monks and such in the coming expansion and everybody would ask mes very nicely to join the group.
If you make NCPs AI smarter, and we know you do, cause you showed us in heros you can improove them, then brute force will only get you killed and you need to start working with your group effort to win.
Maybe even imprve the AI only in hard mode, so regular pveers will not run away to wow to jump as a group a single monster.
Lets say a monk actualy uses lod correctly, and protect spells and kite an attack. Lets assume ele in the mob can sync an attack that will spike you and kill you unless you interrupt them then you will need in pve when is needed in pvp and mes with all thier skills will be critical to your win.

Of course Mesmers have a role in PvE, it's to 'Mesmerize'. The problem is that this particular role is inferior towards any other profession. Why bother with mesmerizing a target when you can just nuke the crap out of them? Aside, even if a Mesmer was favored for its 'skill', rangers can spam interrupts, eles have better snares, and parties don't like it when you're not following the leader's target. The supposed role of the mesmer has already been taken up by other classes. So it's not as though the mesmer's role doesn't exist, but its just ineffective.

I can see how improving PvE would be better for the mesmer, but there are also skills in this profession that don't see the light of either PvP or PvE.

I'll say this over and over again, Mesmers have not relied on their skill to survive these past two years, no. They relied on the following three:

1: Their attire
2: Testimonials and Outspoken people
3: Getting a party invitation by default

If it wasn't for having these three, the Mesmer would have died earlier on, and, the Mesmers would have gotten their attention sooner. But if any player took a look at the mesmer, and then made a comparison to another profession in terms of 'what a party needs in a particular quest/mission', then the only time a mesmer would be included into a party if there really was no one else to fill the required role.

A mesmer can do anything that any other class has accomplished, and because of this simple fact, one can challenge themselves as a Mesmer to go into very difficult areas and still come out triumphant - but that doesn't make them unique or skillful.

AoE interrupt - Cry of Frustration

AoE degen is more on the Necromancer line.

AoE energy steal - Signet of weariness

These skills are good...but really...theres no point to them in PvE

-------------------
Ranger Interrupt VS Mesmer interrupt. There seems to be some rubbish that rangers are better at interruption than mesmers.

Rangers interrupts are cheaper and by far easier to spam. They often have no "additional" effect, other than damage, with except of [wiki]Broadhead Arrow[/wiki], which i think pays for its high cost.

Mesmer interrupts cause way, way more damage, specifically to spellcasters and more negative impact to the target or positive impact to the caster (like [wiki]Power Block[/wiki] or [wiki]Power Spike[/wiki]).

Mesmers also have melee interrupt like [wiki]Ineptitude[/wiki] and [wiki]Clumsiness[/wiki] which are just fun vs Assassins ^^ oh lets not forget [wiki]Psychic Distraction[/wiki]

Yes but there are players like myself that could care less about PVP and only play PVE so thank you for finally looking at Mesmers in PVE. Overuse in PVP should not determine skill nerfing in PVE in my opinion.

I think this is good news as well. If I want to play a damage dealer I'll play as my Elementalist. For once I look forward to the changes in store for the Mesmer.

A ranger is far more effective in shutting down spellcasters than a mesmer ever will be. Shoot broadhead arrow on the spellcaster while the rest of the team is doing 'chop-chop' and laugh.

Perhaps if enemies were more like... say, the Zaishen team you fight right before Hall of Heroes (unworthies, whatever they're called), more groups would be mesmer friendly.

In terms of AI and skill, those enemies are the hardest foes you fight in the entire game.

So basically.... this is an update to tell us that nothing has changed.... but that they might... maybe... be considering making some very minor changes to things people have been complaining constantly about.


¬_¬

Perhaps if enemies were more like... say, the Zaishen team you fight right before Hall of Heroes (unworthies, whatever they're called), more groups would be mesmer friendly.

In terms of AI and skill, those enemies are the hardest foes you fight in the entire game.

As I read the OP, I thought "oh great, here come the two melee + three mesmer GvG builds again." Eurospike gimmickry sucked and was primarily fueled by damage dealing mesmer skills (plus the stupid shadowstepping mechanic acting as a cover for poor warrior play). While I agree there are a great deal of mesmer skills that need to be reworked so they're viable, I completely disagree that the class needs an overhaul with an eye primarily on PvE play. If anything needs an adjustment, it's the PvE play itself and the fact that mass damage can overwhelm pretty much any mob. Revising even one monster's bar in a group such that it needs to be shut-down in order for the rest to fall would go a long way towards helping mesmers be considered more viable in PvE. The type of monster could rotate from mob to mob such that it's a ward spamming ele one time and a monk with a proper Gift of Health prot bar the next. Even if they don't do so in easy mode PvE (now there's a redundancy), it could/should be implemented in the upcoming hard mode. Bottom line: there'll be a lot of rage if they imbalance PvP in order to make it easier for mesmers to find a group at DoA.

Soul reaping was bad, bad, bad in PvP. Those stupid spirit/minion crapping N/Rt teams were able to spam hexes and/or spike skills with no concern for energy management (and also with little reason to worry about defensive positioning because of the spirit cover). A capable minion master in PvE shouldn't be negatively impacted by the change. Likewise, someone who understands the concepts of energy management shouldn't suffer. The other day I gave Olias GoLE and Sig of Lost Souls plus a bar full of 10/15e hexes and he spammed like mad throughout an entire mission with no energy difficulties. I know heroes are typically better than humans, but "his" performance convinced me that life as a PvE necro hasn't been trashed by the change to soul reaping. It's trite, I know, but the SR change was really a "lrn2play" moment for a lot of folks and I hope ANet sticks to its guns (or, even better, further tempers SR with an eye towards PvP by negating the energy gain from spirits).

Instead of leaving us in the dark, ANet decides to tell us where they're going with these changes, and you call it arrogance? Sounds like you are the one with an excess of that particular trait, good sir.

Also, maybe Gaile should have said in her chat, "All reasonable and knowledgeable necros have agreed that soul reaping needed a change." It did. Period. Hassle-free energy management is not conducive to PvE balance, and YES there is such a thing. Especially with the upcoming hard mode, which ANet wants to actually be hard. I would imagine this change has come in an attempt to make it so 2 MMs and 2 SF eles can't roll every hard mode mission and area in the game.

If you really think threatening to sell your game account will stop ANet from providing needed balances, you're deluded. Actually, I think if you care enough about the game to threaten as such, you're more deluded if you think you'd go through with it, but maybe that's just me not being able to understand people who make such threats, as if they help with the conversation AT ALL.


To help with the conversation, Progor's solution (or something like this, the numbers could be changed) seems to me to be the most elegant solution, and would work well.

Thank you for you concern to mesmers in pve, but I am curious how exactly you plan on addressing to them? Is it via pve-skills only? Global skill balance? Wider mob skill list? I really do not see how mesmer will be needed if you don't change the pve structure. I'm assuming however, that hard mode will probably change the situation a little, at least.

Actually, the threat is to MAKE Anet provide needed balances, as they have not done so.

Its nice to see that they understand about mesmers....since I have 3 yes three of them I usually play with heros and henchies.....so I would love to be accepted into groups like my necro or ele------
so three cheers for that!!

My necro hasnt been played for a while since she doesnt like to do minnions, but a guildee needed some assistance so I hopped on with my necro and well, I was unimpressed with the change in sr ......I understood that it was overpowering (heck mm's rule the game for the most part!).....but the nerf took it a bit tooo far.....so I am happy that they are still looking into it, since waiting around for your skills to recharge is bad enough, but also waiting after that to get enough energy to build a new minion is a bit much. I think I will go back to ss until this is over.

It's a pity that people who know so much about this game know so little about this game. Mesmers make everyone else better while doing nice damage, plus other effects. Any FoW group, for example, will run much more smoothly with a good Dom mez along, and that Dom mez will dish out nearly as much damage as anyone else, while preventing boatloads of damage and allowing your "damage dealers" to do their jobs more easily. This also makes for better monks because they have less damage to heal. Some skills that are great for FoW, for example, are Shatter and Inspired Hex (heavy damage plus great e-management while allowing your others to fight on un-hexed), Energy Surge is still a nice AoE when you have a good aggro-taking tank... Mistrust adds to the AoE. Backfire... a must have.

People like to say that mesmers aren't "necessary", however, they actually make a party much more efficient than say, that third ele does. Tanks become tankier, casters castier, monks monkier. They deal and prevent damage in a combination like no others.

"Necessity" is the wrong word to use. Mesmers make your party better. Yes, you can get by with that third ele, but you'll do better with the mesmer along.

Is it just me, or did that post about the Mesmer manage to completely dodge the issue?

She told us:
-Mesmers aren't being invited into parties.
-Mesmer effects aren't visible.
-Mesmers require skill.
-Party leaders don't know how much skill the Mesmer player has.

Nothing about the skills. Nothing about Fast Casting. Nothing at all.

In what way does that tell us ANY "preliminary information about how the designers are looking at the Mesmer, with some early thoughts on potential changes to the profession that will be directed towards Mesmer players in PvE mode???"

I don't see any information about anything the designers are actually doing, do any of you? Just that the designers are "going to take a look at potentially widening the scope of the Mesmers and, perhaps, adding more damage to the mix in a Mesmer-themed way." (emphasis mine)

"Going to," "take a look," "potentially," and "perhaps," all in the same sentence? That's not a good sign.

Where's the beef, ANet? The same post talks miles about testing out our Soul Reaping builds, in both before and after versions? Sounds like actual work is actually being done on the Necromancer, but nothing on the Mesmer other than how they might, in the future, perhaps, take a look at the Mesmer. Why have Mesmers been put at the bottom of the pile... again?

The Mesmer half of this post is nothing to celebrate over, folks. It's just a dodging of the issue that shows how Mesmers are being ignored... again.

-Sol

Mesmers are great, one of my oldest characters is one, but a lot of their skills have been nerfed, mainly due to use in secondary professions.

If you put most of the mesmer interrupts and energy recovery skills into the fast casting primary skill, you'd instantly be giving the mesmer a boost as a primary profession.

A few more general interrupts (non-spell caster) and non-conditional damage skills would be good.

It's called "damage control".

Anet knows theres a problem. Anet acknowledges the problem in public.

If Anet wanted to dodge the issue, they would have kept their mouth shut.

How can you criticize Anet for actually TALKING to its players. Other game companies would never have this level of player control.

I believe Anet has learned from the SR nerf that doing major mechanic changes without player feedback first is not the best way to do things.

I must be the only one who actually likes Fast Casting. Tried other casters... do you realize how long a three seconds skill actually takes to cast without fast casting?! I felt myself age. It's fun to see an ele start casting meteor shower, run downstairs and throw a load in the laundry, brew up a fresh batch of lattes, get back to the computer and interrupt it. I like casting spells and having them cast before that warrior finished his sword attack! I like it!

How is this any value in PvE? It gives me the time to choose the right spell for the right situation. It allows me to deal damage at a faster rate and regain my energy quickly without my hair greying in the process.

Now... like mentioned, a lot of skills should be either moved to fast casting -or-, even better, have a chance of failure without a minimum in fast casting.

QFT... I've been playing PC games for a few years and have never seen a company invite player feedback (and actually LISTEN) the way Anet does.

I will look at [wiki]Ineptitude[/wiki] but I generally run a very Vanilla Mesmer build. It seems resilient and I guess I would not go farming with it.

with a spread over all attributes

You know, I'm very close to UAS, and I've never bothered to unlock Cry of Frustration. It's mainly because I don't like mesmer interrupts, and also because I just don't think of it as being that useful. Casters don't usually stand around together to begin with, and they don't all cast simultaneously.

I know that the whole idea of mesmers interrupting spells is quite nice, but I find the only people I can reliably interrupt are Necromancers and Elementalists, and Rits, although the whole "it's not a spell, it's a ritual" thing throws me off. Monks will sometimes have one or two things I can interrupt, but generally, all of the skills in the game that mesmer interrupts actually work on cost too much to just throw out willy nilly. I stress out with my finger on the Power Spike skill already, trying to guess when the monk in PvP is going to throw down Zealous Benediction.

In my experience as a Mesmer and a Ranger, I just bring a Ranger for interrupts. They're far more reliable, can interrupt almost all skills, not just spells, and don't suffer so badly when you don't time an attack just right.

Personally, when I do use a mesmer, it's just to passively harass casters with hexes like diversion, backfire and wastrel's worry so my teammates can get the job done. It's not unique or clever but it's the most efficient and reliable kind of build you're going to get out a mesmer.

Well said. But keep in mind it is much more difficult to find a good Mesmer as opposed to a searing flames ele. If any of you love playing Mesmers in FoW or UW just add me to friends list and gimme a PM if I'm on and America has favor I will 99% make room in the party for you if I am leading it. I dont mind playing with mesmers in other PvE areas as well so if you need help and cant get a PuG gimme a shout.

I had a mesmer toon I deleted a long time ago because I couldn't get a group to do anything . I always felt left out and unwanted. So I made a monk (most wanted prof ftw) Hence my empathy with the rest of the mesmer player community

This is pvp application of course.

Ineptitude + Clumsiness spike on any martial weapon class is generally enough to make one turn around and run away.

Its really hard to use these skills in PvE though.

I never said they weren't acknowledging the problem. In fact, it was acknowledged months ago with that statement on what the designers were addressing.

My post points out that her post shows that there have been no advancements since. Thus, "Where's the beef?"

-Sol

Try 'em on a pack of aataxes with epidemic to spread the blind around.

My best bet is that whatever Anet cooked up is active on the test server and will be rolled out.

Dodging the question? Hardly.

Like i said. If they wanna dodge it, theyll keep quiet about it.

Like for example: Alternate access to the Deep/Urgoz. We were promised this...and nothing came to fruition.