Why don't mesmers have more support type skills?

Mesmer isn't a support class, simple as that. They have a couple of support skills, and that's all they need.

Mesmers don't kill you, they just make you think that you are dead.

I'll confess, I originally felt no need for a mesmer in PvE. Then a friend of mine made up a mesmer and we teamed for a bit. Ever since, I always grab the mesmer hench when bringing up the ranks. I also tend to notice that I do better when there is a mesmer in the party yet am not able to directly witness the actions of the mesmer performing skills. Although sometimes I can notice it whenever I'm engaging an enemy and I see Meteor Shower charging up, my eyes widen in alarm, I start to panic, and then it stops at 50%.

Slow interrupt

Naaw. Leave them casting Meteor Shower for as long as possible before nailing it in the last second.

Keeps the ele out of action for another 2~3 seconds, always a good thing.

I agree that mesmers aren't a support class, but I still think there's room for them to have one or two more support type skills.

Well ,if its not PvE i guess thats best. But inm PvE i'd rather my skill start recharging sooner so i can can do it again.

In PvP i wouldnt even bother to interrupt meteor shower as i'd just strafe and /laugh

Well, that is kinda the point of MS in PvP. Meteor shower is used in PvP to make people move out of wards (and to kill static spirits/GvG NPCs).

Mesmers arent build for supporting... so why make them that way?

Mesmers don't have support for the same reason that Monks don't do Kung-Fu... this is Guild Wars, not Final Fantasy.

I think Mesmers are fine. People only think they suck because they most likely tried the profession once and failed at it. I take a Mesmer with me wherever I go if I'm going to be rolling with an 8 person party simply because they're very useful in a wide array of situations.

A good Mesmer with a good build can usually turn a target into a pile of mush for the party to stomp on so I guess they are a support profession, but in a different way.

How could anyone not like a well played Mesmer in their group :X

Use a Mesmer henchie ? NEVER!!!

I love my Gwen too much to replace her with a henchie.

And I will take any decent playing mesmer in a party instead of an elementalist.

So you want one or two more support skills on a non-support profession just for the sake of having more support skills? I really don't see where you're coming from. It would help if you had a somewhat constructive reason as to why you believe there should be more support skills on mesmer.

Mesmers are overpowered! Not much can beat them in PvP, if they know what they are facing.
The thing is, as said before. They are Not as overpowered in PvE, But they are very strong, and useful too! People just have to learn to play them.

Mesmer has been my main character for 27 months and nothing can change my love for them.

Best. Post. Ever.

Mesmers can create illusions for enemies but not allies? How about using inspiration to "inspire" hate for the enemy? Wouldn't that make you attack faster or build up more adrenaline? Mesmers could use illusions for positive effect, and I believe that mesmers could've been Paragons, but I guess interrupting is all they'll be good for.

Just take some of the mantras & illusion of ___ skills, and make them 'target ally' instead of just yourself...

...What?
Stop failing.

Do you know anything about mesmers?

I have a nerco, monk and mesmer that finished prophecies (didn't play factions and nightfall cause of other games during that time) but when I got eye of the north recently I've only played my mesmer exclusively. WHY you say? cause they are the best dressed individuals in town! Trying for my norn rank 5 to get my fur lined leather coat for my dude. Yeah, when yer walking around town the ladies don't see your clunky giant armor but they'll notice that dapper well dressed fellow shashaying around.

Look at what the mesmer does well and what, if any, support type skills could be missing from the game. If you can see any correlation then you should at least consider the possibilty


For example, empathy could just as easily be an enchantment that is cast on an ally. Or mesmers could have an enchantment where the next skill an ally uses interrupts, edenies, or strips the enchantment off of an enemy. There could be a defensive domintation enchantment that will interrupt the next hostile spell cast on a targeted ally (the elite version would disable that skill for a few seconds). Their elemental mantras could affect adjacent allies like protector's stance does, it'd be a little overpowered but you get the idea. Some illusion skills might make for cool enchantments as well, for example an enchantment that causes -2 degen to adjacent foes. or causes blindness to everyone who hits that ally in melee.

Yes I do, but energy denial does not help at all in PvE especially in hm where monsters have almost infinite energy, what good can degen do me when I'm fighting a leet boss with 10k hp, Power Block is a good shutdown skill, but other than that I don't see how mesmers are made for PvE. PvP is an entirely different story though.

A well played mesmer is a godsend. They make PvE so much easier. There are a lot of bad mesmers out there though, and people that can't play them say they suck.

sig of illusions will make your mesmer into a extremely verstile killing/healing/support machine.

+16 illusions + 13 fast casting

Sig of Illusions {E}
Empathy
Backfire
Anguished was lingwah
Auspicious Incantation
Splinter Weapon
Spirit Light
Mend Body & Soul


gg

The mesmer is my favorite class (and I only do PvE). But I must admit, I have always complained of there lack of versatility. I mean, I can make a thoughtful, unique, and effective build, but only if I know exactly what we're up against and only if it doesn't change throughout (like when you vanquish from Yak's Bend to Ascalon and you cannot change your build along the way.) If that's not the case, I must be saddled with a generic build that even then, may not be effective in every situation, especially when some of the skills still need to recharge.

Here's my theory why mesmers lack support type skills. People often forget the original description of the mesmer. It's right there in your Prophecies handbook:
It seems ANet intended the mesmer to have some ally buffs. And the mesmer's theme is that they're actors and entertainers. I'm thinking they were originally supposed to have some "bardic" talents. It makes sense. I mean, what is "Inspiration" magic if the only one it inspires is yourself? Seems a bit odd to me. It's a shame, because I used to play classes on which the mesmer was based in other games. The Enchanter in EverQuest, for example, was almost viewed as a necessity and every group needed one. I suspect the mesmer was made to be similar to such classes, but then upon play testing they realized it was too powerful for PvP. The mesmer is probably the earliest example of PvP balancing gimping PvE gameplay.

In PvE the mesmer is absolutely fantastic at ruining a single boss, but against an army of weaklings, he's just not terribly effective. In fact, the mesmer fairs better in hard mode than in normal mode, since all his skills ignore armour, the enemies live longer, and all the enemies attack faster in hard mode. The mesmer can also be useful when you know *exactly* what you're up against and if that enemy strategy will not change from one area to the next. If that's not the case, you have to rely on your secondary or use a fairly generic build. In the end, unless there's a major boss or a consistent theme to the area, people would rather overlook the mesmer and get something else. And even then, because there's so few mesmers, the more ignorant among us wouldn't even bother with mesmers at all.

I still love playing them. However, when my guild or friends list asks me to join them with something and I offer to bring my mesmer, they usually say "how about your monk?" or "well... could you bring your ranger?"

I don't know how they could give group buffs to a mesmer without making them too strong in PvP however.

You're completely missing my point. From a role playing and somewhat logical point of view, sure you can add more support skills. But from a skill balance point of view, the point of view that matters, it's an unneeded change that could cause balance issues.

Sure it'd be great for every class to be highly versatile, but that's simply not a viable option because of skill balance. For example, I'd love for my monk to actually do damage, but buffing smiting prayers will just turn it into a gimmicky and stupid line.

PvE spells benefit greatly: signet of illusions + arcane echo + ebon vanguard assassin.

Signet of Illusions is a horrible elite; not in itself but due to what it says about ANet and mesmers. One can almost hear the discussion at ANet how to make the nearly useless Illusion line of spells more appealing.

I wouldn't call the Illusion line nearly useless. Really, I wouldn't call a lot of the mesmer skill useless. They just lack versatility in PvE.

But you are absolutely right about Signet of Illusions. It's a band-aid skill.

OMG! EWWWWWWWWWW!

Sorry, if I crush your love for mesmers but mesmers can permanently shut down ONE enemy. high-end pve = 20 enemies with superbuffed attributes (gg anet). If it was only 2 VERY highly dangerous enemies in terms of damage dealt and self-preservation then a mesmer would come in handy. Killing 20 enemies as fast as possible, however is an elementalist's job. Face it PvE is dominated by the trinity. Mesmers are not a PvE class.

Exactly right. That's just why mesmers are not that effective in PvE. Not that they're useless in PvE. Sometimes you absolutely need that one pesky enemy dead to make the rest of the crowd easier. The problem is that the really pesky enemy isn't always there and the mesmer will often be left doing nothing; just killing time until the next worthy target comes by.

What's annoying, is that hexes don't even last as long on most of the bosses these days. Sure, Wastrel's Worry can work better in that situation, but that's a one-trick pony.

What mesmers need is a PvE only skill that makes some of their spells and hexes AoE... But I digress.

Ark, Masa, I see what you two are saying about balance. I don't think a few moderately powered enchantments (nothing uber or imba) would mess up the class balance too much as several classes already have ample ways of dealing with enchantments. Worse comes to pass, enchantment strippers could be cheaper to cast or quicker to recharge to compensate.

Contrary. The fact that Hard Mode mobs live longer is very important in this. The Mesmer can drop a few long debuffs on some mob (and have them be fully effective cos the mob lives longer), then switch target to permanently lock down one caster (monk or ele, whichever is worse, or both, if the player is good.)

That said, the roles of Curse Necros and Mesmers are blurred. Both have long duration debuffs and "punishment" hexes. In theory, Mesmers have an edge because they can interrupt. But Spiteful Spirit = big numbers. Also, interrupting is kinda a full-time job.