Guild Wars Guru

Hero Builds: Implementing Gwen and Norgu

1 pages • Page 1
Bibblenorn
Bibblenorn
Frost Gate Guardian
• #1
I don't have much experience with mesmers, and the reason I do not yet have a mesmer character is I dread the grind to level up to 20 (I have taken several characters through each beginning area, and so it is now all boring).

I have been reading alot of forums, and people keep going on about how powerful mesmers are now in GW:EN. How they are valuable parts of many teams, and how sometimes they can help you roll right through a dungeon.

I would like to use Gwen and Norgu more effectively, but I am not sure how to go about it mostly. I was wondering if anyone would care to share any builds that work well on a hero.
=
=DNC=Trucker
Krytan Explorer
• #2
Unfortunately the nature of a mesmer just doesn't play right with heroes. It usually requires certain human interaction that simply cannot be replicated with AI. There is one exception to that rule: Interruption. Their AI decides what to do in a few milliseconds, while humans take up to 1/2 of a second to react properly. You'll find an interrupt mez to be quite useful. While a ranger has a few more powerful interrupts like dis shot, the extra benefits from some of the mesmer interrupts are often overlooked, such as power leak and power spike.

OK, I am not sure my post helped whatsoever.
jamesrt2004
jamesrt2004
Ascalonian Squire
• #3
Interrupt mesmer Works GREAT as they have super human interrupt knowledge lol
someone will have a build for it but it can be really strong against things like ele's other mesmers and also monks and necros... so yea good to have with you
Toutatis
Toutatis
Walking Wiki
• #4
I'd go with interrupting as well, due to the insane reaction time sthe AI has when it comes to landing an interrupt. The only issue with this is that the AI is indiscriminate when it comes to interrupts. While they'll never miss, they might not always interrupt something critical.
Bibblenorn
Bibblenorn
Frost Gate Guardian
• #5
Any particularly effective builds for interrupting? I have a couple that I have been playing with, but I have noticed that my mesmer heroes are still the weak point of a group.
Toutatis
Toutatis
Walking Wiki
• #6
I currently have Gwen running a ringbearer build, with interrupts:

Ether Feast
Signet of Distraction
Signet of Disruption
Leech Signet
Unnatural Signet
Signet of Humility
Keystone Signet [E]
Resurrection Signet

I'm still trying to work a few bugs out of it, but it works rather well. Load her armor with Artificer's Insignias for a nice armor boost with that build
jesh
jesh
Forge Runner
• #7
.. That is a pretty awesome build. Not much use in Power Block anymore, is there..
Toutatis
Toutatis
Walking Wiki
• #8
Power Block can still be good as a cornerstone for a different build... The only gripe I have with Power Block is that its high cost coupled with the AI's inability to prioritise which skills to interrupt can mean that Power Block's awesome shutdown ability can sometimes be wasted, especially against monsters that use skills from different attributes.
Painbringer
Painbringer
Furnace Stoker
• #9
I tried Gwen with an illusion mix and Assassin Promise (Worked mediocre she had issues with the using the promise hex she would not use it as much as she should)
I tried Gwen with a domination Hex eater vortex mix and I was very happy
I tried Gwen with her as a smiter signet monk so so (I had my monks running it at the same time so harder to see the effectiveness) Gimmicks to kill the undead
I tried Gwen with power block mixed with damaging skills and was pleased. She is great with Cry of frustration the interrupt easy to watch because of the ^%&*% the enemy makes.
I tried Gwen with a Searing flames support build and let me tell you 3 heroes running Searing Flames following my targeting mixed with me using a snare like deep freeze and ouch !@$%

I am going to try the signet disruption build listed above

And a Fevered Dreams build will be tried when my Assassin or Ranger find the time to explore GWEN
Seef II
Seef II
Desert Nomad
• #10
The AI excels at two things: knowing who has what effects without tabbing, and interrupting.

So put hex removal (HEV, IHex), enchant removal (Drain, Shatter, Inspired), and interrupts on the bar. You can also put on spam hexes like Images of Remorse or Conjure Phantasm, but the heroes will be out of energy rather quickly spamming them ad nauseum. Hard rez is nice too.
Gun Pierson
Gun Pierson
Forge Runner
• #11
Quote: Originally Posted by Toutatis
I currently have Gwen running a ringbearer build, with interrupts:

Ether Feast
Signet of Distraction
Signet of Disruption
Leech Signet
Unnatural Signet
Signet of Humility
Keystone Signet [E]
Resurrection Signet

I'm still trying to work a few bugs out of it, but it works rather well. Load her armor with Artificer's Insignias for a nice armor boost with that build I use mantra of inscriptions too in my signet build to make my mesmer go frenzy interrupt and for a faster recharge of keystone signet ofcourse. You can change hex eater with res sig if you want.

[skill]Signet of Distraction[/skill][skill]Signet of Disruption[/skill][skill]Leech Signet[/skill][skill]Signet of Clumsiness[/skill][skill]Unnatural Signet[/skill][skill]Hex Eater Signet[/skill][skill]Keystone Signet[/skill][skill]Mantra of Inscriptions[/skill]
You should give this baby a try for example in 'sepulchre of draggimar' dungeon. The spell output per minute is just unbelievable as energy is unlimited and of no importance.

An other variant of mine is the smiting mesmer with signets: (12 in smite, 13 in inspiration) Use a staff + 60 hp and runes of vitae and da mesmer will have over 600hp. Together with the artificer's bonus (in this case + 21 armor) makes this mesmer more than a secret weapon. Useful against wisps with vow of silence and what not. You can switch hex eater signet with signet of clumsiness or signet of distraction to get one more interrupt.

[skill]Signet of Judgment[/skill][skill]Bane Signet[/skill][skill]Castigation Signet[/skill][skill]Hex Eater Signet[/skill][skill]Leech Signet[/skill][skill]Signet of Disruption[/skill][skill]Mantra of Inscriptions[/skill][skill]Resurrection Signet[/skill]
m
mulsum
Ascalonian Squire
• #12
Any other build ideas? I'm not familiar with Mesmers, but I think that signet build seems a little too good to be true? Does the AI know how to manage the renewal skills?

Otherwise, very few of the interrupt skills look useful for AI, due to the recharge. I imagine Norgu still be running around and dying, mostly.
S
ShadowbaneX
Wilds Pathfinder
• #13
Anyone ever tried a mesmer hero with a Signet of Illusions build? I'm curious to see how the AI handles that.

Also what are the stats for the Keystone Signet build? I would imagine pretty heavy on inspiration and fast casting.
Toutatis
Toutatis
Walking Wiki
• #14
Quote: I'm not familiar with Mesmers, but I think that signet build seems a little too good to be true? Does the AI know how to manage the renewal skills? The AI will use Keystone Signet whenever there is at least one other signet on the bar that is recharging, although the AI will also prioritise skills from left to right in combat. If Keystone is in slot 7 or 8, the AI will generally use another skill first before activating Keystone (depending on combat conditions). The AI will also try to keep Mantra of Inscriptions running constantly, if it is the only stance on the bar.

Also, in the build that I posted above, once the rez signet is used the AI will use Keystone whenever it's ready without fail, even out of combat (the AI doesn't seem to realise that Keystone doesn't recharge rez signets).
deluxe
deluxe
Desert Nomad
• #15
at that signet mesmer bar: bit of a waste to not use the massive energy ur getting, imo a expensive energy skill instead of the rez sig
Aegis, extinguish or even cry of frustration
m
mulsum
Ascalonian Squire
• #16
That's really interesting, Toutatis. I wasn't expecting that much from such a complex profession, so these interrupts will be really helpful at times. So the downside is really only that they must be signets?

I guess besides that.. They're spread across 3 attribs, along with Fast Casting. That won't work. I'll check out other signets though. Thanks for the build.
Toutatis
Toutatis
Walking Wiki
• #17
Quote: So the downside is really only that they must be signets? To get the recharge bonuses from Keystone or Mantra of Signets, they must be signets.

Quote:
They're spread across 3 attribs, along with Fast Casting. That won't work. I'll check out other signets though. Thanks for the build. The build I listed earlier in this thread only uses skills from the domination and inspiration lines. All of them also have relatively fast activation times, so it's not necessary to pump fast casting all that much. 12 domination, 12 inspiration and 3 fast casting uses the full complement of attribute points; and after that it's your call on whether or not you use domination/inspiration runes on the gear to pump the main attributes higher.
Pyro maniac
Pyro maniac
Desert Nomad
• #18
mantra of recovery
protective spirit
guardian
s
sixofone
Krytan Explorer
• #19
Quote: Originally Posted by Toutatis
The AI will use Keystone Signet whenever there is at least one other signet on the bar that is recharging, although the AI will also prioritise skills from left to right in combat. If Keystone is in slot 7 or 8, the AI will generally use another skill first before activating Keystone (depending on combat conditions). The AI will also try to keep Mantra of Inscriptions running constantly, if it is the only stance on the bar.

Also, in the build that I posted above, once the rez signet is used the AI will use Keystone whenever it's ready without fail, even out of combat (the AI doesn't seem to realise that Keystone doesn't recharge rez signets). I've been trying to use a Signet Only build with Norgu (due to my having found a ton of Artificer runes), but have to say I'm pretty disappointed with it so far. The signets don't really work together coherently - there's little or no synergy between them. (I haven't tried him as a Me/Mo, yet, however.) Poor guy - kept getting butchered anytime we got mobbed! I thought the +24 extra armor would keep him protected better tha it did, but Hekets ganged up on him and we couldn't get them killed fast enough. The plus side: w/virtually no Energy cost, Norgu being at -60% DP didn't make much difference to what he could do. His Health, however, mad ehim last about 3 seconds under concentrated fire.

Still looking for a Signet build I like...
joemanstar
joemanstar
Krytan Explorer
• #20
hero mesmer is good for hex removal, enchantment removal, interupt and supportive healing
human mesmer can do a lot more than that including melee/caster shutdown, fast cast of anything, SoI combo, e-denial, hp/energy degen