Mesmer/Elementalist Support build

After doing some soul searching I have come to accept the fact that as a Mes/Ele I will never be able to deal damage as my primary function if I want to pretend to be effective at what I do. Thus I have resolved to play to the strengths of the Mesmer and be a full time disruptor. In a sense my damage output will be judged not by how much damage I can do but by how much I can reduce the damage output and healing ability of the opposing team. With that in mind I have tried to make a build that will hinder to some degree the effectiveness of most opponents.

Class: Mesmer / Elementalist

Assumed items:
+1 to Fast Casting
+1 to Domination Magic
+2 to Inspiration Magic

Attributes: (cost)
Fast Casting: 10+1 (61)
Domination Magic: 8+1 (37)
Inspiration Magic: 9+2 (48)
Air Magic: 9 (48)

Total attribute points used: 194/200


Skills:
1) Blinding Flash (availability) - (15,1,4) Target enemy is blinded for 7 seconds.
2) Spirit Shackles (availability) - (10,3,5) For 23 seconds, target foe loses 5 energy whenever that foe attacks.
3) Ether Feast (availability) - (5,2,8) Target foe loses 5 energy. You are healed 23 for each point of energy lost.
4) Diversion (availability) - (10,2,5) For 6 seconds, the next time target foes a skill, that skill takes an additional 38 seconds to recharge.
5) Power Block (availability) (elite) - (15,1,30) If target foe is casting a spell, that spell is interrupted. The interrupted spell and all spells of the same attribute are disabled for 11 seconds for that foe. This is an elite skill.
6) Power Drain (availability) - (5,1,30) If target foe is casting a spell, the spell is interrupted and you gain 29 energy.
7) Power Leak (availability) - (10,1,20) If target foe is casting a spell, the spell is interrupted and target foe loses 19 energy.
8) Inspired Hex (availability) - (5,1,0) Remove a hex from target ally and gain 12 energy. For 20 seconds, Inspired Hex is replaced with the hex that was removed.

The first thing most of you will notice is that the only Elementalist skill I have is Blinding Flash. In my defense I would like to say that I find it to be a most effective means to render an enemy Warrior or Ranger utterly useless (the current IW builds will not be effected by this). However, I do recognize that it has a rather large energy cost. I am not counting the 48 skill points that I spent in Air Magic to be too much of a waste as being a Mesmer allows me to spread my points around and still stay very potent.

The skill Spirit Shackles is going to be mainly used to take shut down Ranger who do not have the adrenalin advantage of Warriors.

Diversion, Power Block, Power Drain, and Power Leak will allow me to give most casters nightmares, though I plan to concentrate on the Monks as much as possible.

Inspired Hex and Ether Feast are there to give my group’s healer a bit of a break.


Now the biggest decision I had to make was between going primary Mesmer or Elementalist. The Elementalist has a much larger energy pool and access to such wonderful skills as Aura of Restoration and Ether Renewal, but the Mesmer has a very important advantage in that he can get his spells off about 30% faster. In my opinion that advantage is much more important for a disruptor build.

Now I may have made the wrong choice in my skill selection as well as in the selection of my primary profession, but then I guess that is why I'm posting this. Any and all suggestions are more then welcome. And guys... make it quick, the BWE is going to start in like 8 hours or so.

Ditch fast casting and go for energy storange (ele primary) instead. You'll be a lot better off with tons more energy than being able to cast already fast spells slightly faster. The only really slow one there is 3 seconds - that's definatly not worth 11 in FC.

As for your elementalist side, the easiest way to render a warrior completely useless to stay away from them. Ice spells are perfect for snaring warriors. Blindness is fairly good also though. I'd say it's more up for prefurance.

I am being really stubborn about this Mesmer Primary thing and Weezer you are not the first person to tell me that I should just go Ele. I guess I need to play the build a bit and if I see that my energy supply really needs a boost then I'll go Ele/Mes.

I am not making this decision in ignorance on a theoretical lvl, as I do realize that due to the .75 sec aftercast animation, the lower cast time spells get diminishing returns from FC. However, I do not have any real in-game experience with FC as of right now. Perhaps out of this ignorance I maintain that this small decrease in cast time will give me a competitive edge as a disruptor.

P.S.- Do any of you see any improvements that could be made as far as the cast selection?

I think you are right to go Mesmer primary for fast casting, specially with interrupt based skills.

Only change I would recommend for GvG type games is swapping air magic for water magic and taking blurred vision (I think it is) basically deals a blind aoe style. That is a very powerful build, and if my guild wasnt playing a group build this push, I would always want someone playing that almost exact build.

Note: You can possibly switch inspired hex with inspired enchantment to be more of a threat to your opponents.

Blurred Vision (availability) (Hex)
For 8-18 seconds, target foe and nearby foes are hexed with Blurred Vision. While hexed, those foes have a 50% chance to miss with attacks.
Casting cost: 15 energy
Casting time: 1 sec
Recharge time: 20 sec
Relevant attribute: Water Magic

Great spell, but I'll tell you why I chose Blinding Flash.
1. 4 sec recast timer vs the 20 sec on Blurred Vision
2. Blind is 90% miss chance vs the 50% on Blurred Vision
3. And most importantly Blinded is a condition and not a hex, meaning that very few people will be able to take it off.

As far as Inspired Hex and Inspired Enchantment, that will mostly depend on what my group brings with them. I took Hex as a default due to its higher energy yield but I will switch it out as needed.

Condition removal is much more common and easy to use than Hex removal. I'd go so far as to say that you can expect a given hex to stick, while conditions tend to fall off quickly to the various Mends.

Peace,
-CxE

Ensign are you suggesting that I go with Blurred Vision over Blinding Flash?

And on another note, what are you still doing up? You should be resting up for the next 72 sleepless hours.

I would probably second Weezers suggestion and say to go ele/mes. More beneficial I think.

As far as Blurred Vision vs. Blinding Flash, I rather dislike the 20 sec recharge, but I know that as a healer, I was using Mend Condition a lot(with high Divine Favor, it's a heal as well) I wasnt using Remove hex nearly as much as Condition removers. Personally, I wouldnt use Blinding Flash, not worth 15 energy just to have it get removed right away. If you do chose to use Blurred Vision, time it right...

why dont u put in epidemic along with blinding flash? might as well take more advantage into that 15 energy and blind effect. As for which skill to replace? It is up to you, personally I would take out spirit shackle... With blinding flash dealing with the ranger, I really dont care if they got 100 energy.

Whichever one has a higher attribute. 50% miss chance is still pretty nasty. Blinding Flash just chews through energy. Unless you're going for a dedicated Orbbot, I'd just use water and Blurred Vision.


Unlike many other people on this forum, I'm not so obsessed with a video game that I'm going to destroy my sleep schedule in order to squeeze in a few more hours of gaming. In fact I'm hoping to get out on Sunday and spend the afternoon in the sun with some friends. Sure, this game is good and all, and I'll probably log 30+ hours over the course of the weekend, but c'mon people, priorities.

Peace,
-CxE