Me/N general pve build

After a long while, I finally decided to make a pve mes....I first messed with a pvp mes to see if I could create a build suitable for pve since they're more of a pvp class. This is what I'm using so far:

15-16 dom
11-12 death
(whatever you can put in FC)

[skill]Echo[/skill][skill]Backfire[/skill][skill]Empathy[/skill][skill]Power Spike[/skill][skill]Consume Corpse[/skill][skill]Putrid Explosion[/skill]

...and Necrosis + a res sig.

The point of using Echo is simply to "counter" the long recharge times on some domination skills which are pretty powerful, but not very spammable (a good example being Backfire). One prob I ran into when running a few builds was low energy, then I saw Consume Corpse....it works great in pve since corpses are everywhere. I didn't think I'd be using any offensive skills from Death magic (since I only spec'd into it for CC's emangement) but Putrid Explosions seems to work well...it gives mesmers what they lack but what's also important in pve - aoe damage. While they do already have aoe-damage skills, many of them are conditional and have long recharges.....at 12 death, it's damage is 100+ which is pretty good. Before I made my pve mes, I already knew Necrosis would never leave my bar - if you max the SS title for the 90dmg, it puts many direct-damage mesmer spells to shame.....combined with fast casting, it can put out some very good DPS.

When playing any of my chars in pve, I only like using the most effective builds....since mesmers arn't exacly suited for pve because of their somewhat conditional spell effects, I found it kinda hard to put a decent build for pve. Lookin for any comments, suggestions, etc

Wouldn't [skill]Mantra of Recovery[/skill] be a better choice, with a bit more of an investment in FC be better than Echo, it's cheaper and would effect all your spells, not just one. And there's more enchant removal than stance removal in PvE.

I can see it working well if you can keep the body count up because it is your heal skill. Kind of fun teleporting all over the place. You will kill all builds for a Necro who uses corpses though. I ran in a group with duel corpse using necro’s (wells and minion), and it drove me crazy I could not get spells off! We were fighting for corpses the whole time. I love [skill]rotting flesh[/skill] because it transfers from critter to critter good opening attack as well. And we do not fight too many humans.

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Well something for u guy to try out

[skill]Mantra of Recovery[/skill][skill]ether nightmare[/skill][skill]signet of corruption[/skill][skill]Cry of pain[/skill][skill]necrosis[/skill][skill]backfire[/skill][skill]shame[/skill][skill]guilt[/skill]

This is a bit energy intensive sometimes, and u need to manage the signet, shame and guilt quite good. Optionally you could kick out backfire or shame to place a hard res or LB gaze for example

U can put 12+2/1FC/12+1/2DOM like this

I think I'm going in another direction this time:

[skill]Assassin's Promise[/skill][skill]Backfire[/skill][skill]Empathy[/skill][skill]Mistrust[/skill][skill]Arcane Echo[/skill][skill]Ether Signet[/skill]

..then Cry of Pain and a Res sig.

Somewhat similar to MoR in the fact that it recharges your skills fast, but I'm wonderin if this might be superior to it. The main point is to echo Cry of Pain then use Assassin's Promise on a dying target to recharge them. Once they are recharged, you can use them twice again doing upto 400dmg (if you're maxed) in an area range. I think I might like Assassin's Promise better because it doesn't require a high rank to function well (unlike MoR) and has some e-management attached to it (also unlike MoR), so that means I was able to spec somewhat high into inspiration for Ether Signet, which can be recharged very often with promise. Mistrust is for some added aoe damage. Backfire for those skill spammers.

Prob is, I haven't even capped Assassin's promise on my mes (but I'm workin on it now) and I'm far from the good Sunspear farming spot so I'll have a crappy SS rank for a while =/

I capped Assassin's Promise and its much better than I thought. It can be used so frequently in pve that the need for e-mangement skills in inspiration is unneeded. The skill effect is much better than MoR. The worst thing is not being able to go Me/N for Necrosis, which is a powerful spell. The other drawback is that if you fail to kill before it ends, you're a tad bit useless for abit but that's been kinda rare. Being able to frequently use Mistrust/Cry of Pain can do some pretty good aoe damage.

EDIT: didn't mean to make a 2nd post =/

I think there is a problem here in so much as you are looking for a general pve build. mesmers are most powerful in pve when you have a good knowledge of the type of enemies that you are going to be fighting and building around that rather than trying to make a general build.

The way pve is setup, there's a build for almost every class that works in just about every area and mission. Even if the enemies do change abit, usually it's not enough to make you have to change your build around. There's a few rare missions that might have you bring some different skills though, mainly stuff in HM.

I wish I had my mes back before Spiritual Pain got nerfed....I was always wonderin why pve mesmers were complaining about a skill that took a massive 30 secs to recharge till I realized it was used with Assassin's Promise to deal constant aoe damage. It'd help tons if they made Cry of Pain work with any hex.

Yes but Mesmers aren't like "any other class". Their skills that work against warriors/melee classes are not the same skills that work against elementalists, or the same skills that work against monks/support casters. If you know predominantly what you're facing you can choose better skills for that situation.

I'd say for a PvE Me/N, you really should be taking both PvE Mesmer Skills and Necrosis.

Mantra of Recovery and Power Drain should be able to handle most of your energy problems. Also, it makes all of your other skills really nice, especially Cry. Maybe try taking Cry of Frustration if you can afford it?

Or Auspicious Incantation and Conjure Nightmare (MoR still would be a good elite if you use this...) =P

Just ideas =)

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