Mesmer Basics
Ensign
In an ongoing effort to make these forums as useful as possible, we've decided to re-vamp our profession guides and knowledge bases.
In addition to needed help with our profession overviews, we're looking to create a build FAQ in this forum for new users. This should outline the common builds in a class, what works, what doesn't, and generally just go over the material that everyone should know before diving into the forum proper. For this, we need your help.
As the title suggests, this thread is for the basics of the Mesmer, and the various ways to play one. To flesh this out, we need generic Mesmer builds of all types, as well as class specific questions about skill interactions. While I'm going to try and lay out a skeleton myself, any help fleshing out the content would be appreciated. So if you have a question about how the Mesmer works, know of a common build that everyone should be familar with, or have any suggestions for our profession overviews, please post them here.
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Basic builds:
Domination and a Resbot
Mesmer/Monk
Domination 11, +3 Rune, +1 Hat
Inspiration 11, +1 Rune
Fast Casting 8, +1 Rune
Healing 3
Backfire
Diversion
Shame
Power Leak
Power Drain
Energy Drain
Convert Hexes
Restore Life
Legacy of Morello
Mesmer/Necromancer
Arcane Conundrum
Power Block
Power Leak
Power Spike
Power Drain
(someone else finish this)
The Illusionary Weaponry Build Has Not Been Done to Death
Mesmer/Warrior
Illusion 12, +3 Rune, +1 Hat
Fast Casting 9, +1 Rune
Tactics 9
Illusionary Weaponry
Imagined Burden
Arcane Conundrum
Distortion
Sprint
Flurry
Distracting Blow
Savage Slash
Mesmers aren't as obvious as other classes - what else can be considered 'textbook'? Interrupt spammer?
Peace,
-CxE
In addition to needed help with our profession overviews, we're looking to create a build FAQ in this forum for new users. This should outline the common builds in a class, what works, what doesn't, and generally just go over the material that everyone should know before diving into the forum proper. For this, we need your help.
As the title suggests, this thread is for the basics of the Mesmer, and the various ways to play one. To flesh this out, we need generic Mesmer builds of all types, as well as class specific questions about skill interactions. While I'm going to try and lay out a skeleton myself, any help fleshing out the content would be appreciated. So if you have a question about how the Mesmer works, know of a common build that everyone should be familar with, or have any suggestions for our profession overviews, please post them here.
---
Basic builds:
Domination and a Resbot
Mesmer/Monk
Domination 11, +3 Rune, +1 Hat
Inspiration 11, +1 Rune
Fast Casting 8, +1 Rune
Healing 3
Backfire
Diversion
Shame
Power Leak
Power Drain
Energy Drain
Convert Hexes
Restore Life
Legacy of Morello
Mesmer/Necromancer
Arcane Conundrum
Power Block
Power Leak
Power Spike
Power Drain
(someone else finish this)
The Illusionary Weaponry Build Has Not Been Done to Death
Mesmer/Warrior
Illusion 12, +3 Rune, +1 Hat
Fast Casting 9, +1 Rune
Tactics 9
Illusionary Weaponry
Imagined Burden
Arcane Conundrum
Distortion
Sprint
Flurry
Distracting Blow
Savage Slash
Mesmers aren't as obvious as other classes - what else can be considered 'textbook'? Interrupt spammer?
Peace,
-CxE
Sausaletus Rex
Interrupt spammer, yeah. Energy denial with Energy Drain/Inspiration. Hex/Enchantment removal, maybe. Probably an Illusion build with some Warrior hate. Something with Wastrel's+Mind Wrack+Ether Lord+Conjure Phantasm at least as a warning to folks...
BlackArrow
Can I play to the secondary in here?
Illusion of Warrior Hate
Elementalist/Mesmer
Illusion Magic 11 +3 Rune +1 Hat
Energy Storage 10
Air Magic 10
Clumsiness
Ineptitude
Conjure Phantasm
Pantom Pain
Sympathetic Visage
Soothing Images
Enervating Charge
Lightning Orb
Illusion of Warrior Hate
Elementalist/Mesmer
Illusion Magic 11 +3 Rune +1 Hat
Energy Storage 10
Air Magic 10
Clumsiness
Ineptitude
Conjure Phantasm
Pantom Pain
Sympathetic Visage
Soothing Images
Enervating Charge
Lightning Orb
Vindexus
How about a Mind Wrack build? I don't have one ready, but I'm sure someone can post one.
walder
Quote:
Originally Posted by Vindexus
How about a Mind Wrack build? I don't have one ready, but I'm sure someone can post one.
Don't let Blackace see that post...
http://www.guild-hall.net/forum/show...ght=Mind+Wrack
http://www.guild-hall.net/forum/show...ght=Mind+Wrack
Ensign
Yeah, I went back and forth on Restore Life / Resurrect last night, and gave up with Resurrect and Healing typed in there. I thought better of recommending resurrect to someone this morning.
A Mind Wrack build probably belongs, because this is a selection of *popular* strategies, not neccessarily *good* strategies. Basically we just want to rehash what has been said with a build so everyone has a starting point. That said, there's no way I'm going to design a Mind Wrack build - I'll leave that to someone else.
Peace,
-CxE
A Mind Wrack build probably belongs, because this is a selection of *popular* strategies, not neccessarily *good* strategies. Basically we just want to rehash what has been said with a build so everyone has a starting point. That said, there's no way I'm going to design a Mind Wrack build - I'll leave that to someone else.
Peace,
-CxE
TheNug
a build i made for pvp. tried to make a well rounded mesmer build.
inspiration - 10+2
domination - 11+1
illusion - 10+2
1 ) backfire - For 10 seconds, whenever target foe casts a spell, that foe takes 35-119 damage.
2 ) arcane conundrum - For 6-25 seconds, spells cast by target foe take twice as long to cast.
3 ) power block - If target foe is casting a spell, that spell is interrupted. The interrupted spell and all spells of the same attribute are disabled for 3-13 seconds for that foe. This is an elite skill.
4 ) ether feast - Target foe loses 5 energy. You are healed 8-24 for each point of energy lost.
5 ) power drain - If target foe is casting a spell, the spell is interrupted and you gain 1-25 energy.
6 ) energy burn - Target foe loses 4-9 energy and takes 8 damage for each point of energy lost.
7 ) empathy - For 8-18 seconds, whenever target foe attacks, that foe takes 3-25 damage.
8 ) conjure phantasm - For 2-12 seconds, target foe experiences health degeneration of 5.
inspiration - 10+2
domination - 11+1
illusion - 10+2
1 ) backfire - For 10 seconds, whenever target foe casts a spell, that foe takes 35-119 damage.
2 ) arcane conundrum - For 6-25 seconds, spells cast by target foe take twice as long to cast.
3 ) power block - If target foe is casting a spell, that spell is interrupted. The interrupted spell and all spells of the same attribute are disabled for 3-13 seconds for that foe. This is an elite skill.
4 ) ether feast - Target foe loses 5 energy. You are healed 8-24 for each point of energy lost.
5 ) power drain - If target foe is casting a spell, the spell is interrupted and you gain 1-25 energy.
6 ) energy burn - Target foe loses 4-9 energy and takes 8 damage for each point of energy lost.
7 ) empathy - For 8-18 seconds, whenever target foe attacks, that foe takes 3-25 damage.
8 ) conjure phantasm - For 2-12 seconds, target foe experiences health degeneration of 5.
valorien
regardless of the other skills in a build, which one of these two skills is better/more useful to a party. If it makes any difference I'd rather it help PvP than PvE, but ideally it would be good for both.
Backfire: http://www.guildwarsguru.com/content/backfire-id399.php
or
Chaos Storm: http://www.guildwarsguru.com/content...torm-id401.php
Backfire: http://www.guildwarsguru.com/content/backfire-id399.php
or
Chaos Storm: http://www.guildwarsguru.com/content...torm-id401.php
NiGht_HaWk
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ensign
Legacy of Morello
Mesmer/Necromancer
Arcane Conundrum
Power Block
Power Leak
Power Spike
Power Drain
(someone else finish this) Just to let you know, Power Block and Power Drain are both Elite skills, so you cant have those together.
Mesmer/Necromancer
Arcane Conundrum
Power Block
Power Leak
Power Spike
Power Drain
(someone else finish this) Just to let you know, Power Block and Power Drain are both Elite skills, so you cant have those together.
Ensign
Quote:
Originally Posted by NiGht_HaWk
Just to let you know, Power Block and Power Drain are both Elite skills, so you cant have those together.
You're thinking of Energy Drain.
s4nder
Quote:
Originally Posted by valorien
regardless of the other skills in a build, which one of these two skills is better/more useful to a party. If it makes any difference I'd rather it help PvP than PvE, but ideally it would be good for both.
Backfire: http://www.guildwarsguru.com/content/backfire-id399.php
or
Chaos Storm: http://www.guildwarsguru.com/content...torm-id401.php I've found both to be useful in pve as well as pvp. Backfire is THE anti-caster spell in pvp though, they either die or do nothing. Chaos Storm is quite good too as most of the time the casters just stand there and cast, making for a good DoT with CS. Its area of effect has been increased, too, and sometimes a whole bunch of monsters can be damaged by it.
Sometimes Chaos Storm is quite hard to notice in the heat of battle and I've seen casters go down, unaware of what's killing them. If I were to choose though, I'd pick backfire for pvp and chaos storm for pve.
Backfire: http://www.guildwarsguru.com/content/backfire-id399.php
or
Chaos Storm: http://www.guildwarsguru.com/content...torm-id401.php I've found both to be useful in pve as well as pvp. Backfire is THE anti-caster spell in pvp though, they either die or do nothing. Chaos Storm is quite good too as most of the time the casters just stand there and cast, making for a good DoT with CS. Its area of effect has been increased, too, and sometimes a whole bunch of monsters can be damaged by it.
Sometimes Chaos Storm is quite hard to notice in the heat of battle and I've seen casters go down, unaware of what's killing them. If I were to choose though, I'd pick backfire for pvp and chaos storm for pve.
Nogs
what you guys think about this build (still not sure on how much into each skill i should put) I think its a pretty good anti-melee build
Mesmer/Necro
Rigor Mortis
Price of Failure
Spirit of Failure
Epidemic
Ineptitude
Empathy
Diverson
Etheral Burden
not a bunch of damage, but a lot of not being able to do stuff. And *if* price of failure and spirit of failure stack, then thats 50% chance to miss, thats a lot of damage to them and energy to you.
Mesmer/Necro
Rigor Mortis
Price of Failure
Spirit of Failure
Epidemic
Ineptitude
Empathy
Diverson
Etheral Burden
not a bunch of damage, but a lot of not being able to do stuff. And *if* price of failure and spirit of failure stack, then thats 50% chance to miss, thats a lot of damage to them and energy to you.
seraphesy
I haven't tried PvP but...
Fast Cast Elementalist (Mes / Ele), how do they do? (I'm only at level 18...)
lets say... 12 in Fire, 10 in Fast cast, 8 in Inspiration...
and uses skills like Inferno (PBAoE) ?
because in PvE... this character owns everything... (kills everything super fast)
Fast Cast Elementalist (Mes / Ele), how do they do? (I'm only at level 18...)
lets say... 12 in Fire, 10 in Fast cast, 8 in Inspiration...
and uses skills like Inferno (PBAoE) ?
because in PvE... this character owns everything... (kills everything super fast)
bstripp
Quote:
Originally Posted by BlackArrow
Can I play to the secondary in here?
Illusion of Warrior Hate
Elementalist/Mesmer
Illusion Magic 11 +3 Rune +1 Hat
Energy Storage 10
Air Magic 10
Clumsiness
Ineptitude
Conjure Phantasm
Pantom Pain
Sympathetic Visage
Soothing Images
Enervating Charge
Lightning Orb You can't put a rune on a secondary stat...
Illusion of Warrior Hate
Elementalist/Mesmer
Illusion Magic 11 +3 Rune +1 Hat
Energy Storage 10
Air Magic 10
Clumsiness
Ineptitude
Conjure Phantasm
Pantom Pain
Sympathetic Visage
Soothing Images
Enervating Charge
Lightning Orb You can't put a rune on a secondary stat...
VividDream
I think you could back in the betas and this is a really old post
Guillaume De Sonoma
I am not sure but could you use the water elementalist's ability to stop the enemy from moving and then use conjure phantasm and slowly drain their health. I am very new to the game but would this work well?
kizayaen
I never could figure out why entire threads are so quick to trash Mind Wrack. For some reason nobody ever mentions pairing it with Spirit Shackles. Seems to me that'd be a pretty decent combination.
Spura
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nogs
what you guys think about this build (still not sure on how much into each skill i should put) I think its a pretty good anti-melee build
Mesmer/Necro
Rigor Mortis
Price of Failure
Spirit of Failure
Epidemic
Ineptitude
Empathy
Diverson
Etheral Burden
not a bunch of damage, but a lot of not being able to do stuff. And *if* price of failure and spirit of failure stack, then thats 50% chance to miss, thats a lot of damage to them and energy to you. That's 44% miss chance not 50%.
Mesmer/Necro
Rigor Mortis
Price of Failure
Spirit of Failure
Epidemic
Ineptitude
Empathy
Diverson
Etheral Burden
not a bunch of damage, but a lot of not being able to do stuff. And *if* price of failure and spirit of failure stack, then thats 50% chance to miss, thats a lot of damage to them and energy to you. That's 44% miss chance not 50%.
Spura
Quote:
Originally Posted by VividDream
I think you could back in the betas and this is a really old post
You never could as far as I can remember and that means as far as WPE.
Insomnia
I do have a question considering armor, wich set would you recommend for a normal disruptive mesmer, playing PvP ?
FusionPaladin
anyone got a good memser/ele build
Im pretty sure I want the ele to use only air magic or earth magic
Im a newbie so I need advise
Im pretty sure I want the ele to use only air magic or earth magic
Im a newbie so I need advise
Helderin
As far as I know, Earth Ele skills are all about defense so theyre not gonna help you out too much with the countering tha the mesmer is so good at.
Obsidian Dragon
My current Mesmer build looks like this, and its a real pain for opposing casters. I'll also put my added spells in here that I sometimes use depending on what my group wants.
Dom 10 + 2
Ill 10 + 2
Ins 9 + 2
Death 7
Backfire - Interupt +119 dmg
Conjure Phantasm - 12 sec -5 H degen
Mantra of Persistence - 74 seconds Illusion spells last 79% longer
Migrane - for 25 seconds -3 H degen and spells take 100% longer to cast
Power drain - interupt and I gain 23 energy
Power leak - interupt they lose 22 energy
Power spike - interrupt +86 damage
Phantom pain - H degen -3 for 17 seconds suffers Deep wound lowering max health by 20%
Underlined is affected by the mantra
My extra spells i sometimes take are Rotting Flesh and Epidemic - its just nasty
Dom 10 + 2
Ill 10 + 2
Ins 9 + 2
Death 7
Backfire - Interupt +119 dmg
Conjure Phantasm - 12 sec -5 H degen
Mantra of Persistence - 74 seconds Illusion spells last 79% longer
Migrane - for 25 seconds -3 H degen and spells take 100% longer to cast
Power drain - interupt and I gain 23 energy
Power leak - interupt they lose 22 energy
Power spike - interrupt +86 damage
Phantom pain - H degen -3 for 17 seconds suffers Deep wound lowering max health by 20%
Underlined is affected by the mantra
My extra spells i sometimes take are Rotting Flesh and Epidemic - its just nasty
Bry-Guy
mind wrack build:
12 domination(+headpiece +rune)
11 inspiration(+rune)
6 Fast Casting (+rune)
rest illusion
Arcane Echo
Energy Drain{E}
Energy tap
Mind Wrack
spirit shackles
Backfire
shatter enchantment
power spike
pretty straightforward, will be any casters nightmare, not necessarily worst nightmare, but will give him problems...secondary warrior annoyance with spirit shackles+mind wrack
12 domination(+headpiece +rune)
11 inspiration(+rune)
6 Fast Casting (+rune)
rest illusion
Arcane Echo
Energy Drain{E}
Energy tap
Mind Wrack
spirit shackles
Backfire
shatter enchantment
power spike
pretty straightforward, will be any casters nightmare, not necessarily worst nightmare, but will give him problems...secondary warrior annoyance with spirit shackles+mind wrack
rii
Legacy of Morello
Mesmer/Necromancer
Arcane Conundrum
Power Block
Power Leak
Power Spike
Power Drain
(someone else finish this)
ok, how about
Domination: 11+1
Illusion: 10+2
Inspiration: 10
Power Leak
Power Spike
Power Drain
Mantra of Inscriptions
Leech Signet
Guilt
Shame
Migraine [E]
use mantra/leech to make it only a 25 second cooldown (a bit more like it), and i took out power block, since it defies the point of interruption. Your using their spells against them, so if e.g. you interrupt a healing spell on a monk, then you cant keep interrupting them, they arent doing anything. While this is a more effective shutdown, and you can then work someone else, id rather do it this way . Guilt and Shame for the lazy mans interrupt, and Migraine to replace Conundrum. If you allow them to cast then fail it, they waste more energy which is more efficient on your part.
Mesmer/Necromancer
Arcane Conundrum
Power Block
Power Leak
Power Spike
Power Drain
(someone else finish this)
ok, how about
Domination: 11+1
Illusion: 10+2
Inspiration: 10
Power Leak
Power Spike
Power Drain
Mantra of Inscriptions
Leech Signet
Guilt
Shame
Migraine [E]
use mantra/leech to make it only a 25 second cooldown (a bit more like it), and i took out power block, since it defies the point of interruption. Your using their spells against them, so if e.g. you interrupt a healing spell on a monk, then you cant keep interrupting them, they arent doing anything. While this is a more effective shutdown, and you can then work someone else, id rather do it this way . Guilt and Shame for the lazy mans interrupt, and Migraine to replace Conundrum. If you allow them to cast then fail it, they waste more energy which is more efficient on your part.
Epinephrine
Hey all, looking for advice on interrupts. Currently playing around with a Mesmer, domination build so far. Thinking of trying to end up in Inspiration/Domination/Fast Cast as an anti-caster essentially. My problems so far are:
It can be hard to hit one second spells - does this just take practice? Sometimes I seem to be able to nail 3-4 in a row, other times I am a fraction of a second late everytime - is this simply me varying in my responsiveness or is it a ping/lag issue?
Trying to hit Vampiric Touch and Soul Feast off Moss Spiders at the moment is frustrating - Vampiric is a 3/4 second casting, I don't know if I have ever hit it. 2 second spells are easy, and I seem to be able to hit heals pretty easily but Conjure Phantasm I find tough to interrupt; are the creatures that cast Mesmer spells using fast casting or is it my imagination?
Finally, for PvP, do you use hexes? Which ones? I think Backfire seems like a waste of casting time and energy given that it just gets removed immediately. Arcane Conundrum would be incredibly handy, but stikes me the same way; Diversion I could see being a more useful Backfire, in that if the player is casting when Backfire resolves they take damage and call for a hex removal, while if Diversion resolves while they are casting they lose that skill for most of a minute. Shame and Guilt both look good, as they are cheap (as they can pay for themselves) and are fire-and-forget-a-bit spells; if they are removed it's not that bad, as you didn't watse 15 energy and 3 seconds, if they succeed they may pay for themselves while countering a spell for you - on the plus side, they drain your opponent of energy when they resolve; the corollary being that if the player has no energy it nets nothing, right? In that way I like Leech Signet and Power Drain as they magically create energy - you can count on the energy boost from them while you cannot count on the others. Just looking for advice from the skilled mesmers out there for a fairly new one interested in the interrupt game.
It seems there are a lot of anti-synergies in the mesmer; Backfire doesn't mix with interrupts, as you want them to succeed in casting for backfire and the interrupts oppose that; energy draining spells are handy but unlikely to net you any energy after the first few castings, as your opponents might well be reduced to casting when they hit 5 energy, making the 3 second energy tap break even at best. Energy Burn is a nice spell in theory, damage while removing energy, but again, you'll be hitting pretty small bits of energy most likely, right? If you wait till the enemy has 8 energy back so you can do (for example) 64 damage you are risking them casting 5 cost spells, if you use it early you trade 10 of your energy for 3 of theirs and some piddly damage. Signet of Weariness causes a group of foes to lose energy, this seems great for an energy denial build, but how near is "nearby"? Any advice is appreciated.
It can be hard to hit one second spells - does this just take practice? Sometimes I seem to be able to nail 3-4 in a row, other times I am a fraction of a second late everytime - is this simply me varying in my responsiveness or is it a ping/lag issue?
Trying to hit Vampiric Touch and Soul Feast off Moss Spiders at the moment is frustrating - Vampiric is a 3/4 second casting, I don't know if I have ever hit it. 2 second spells are easy, and I seem to be able to hit heals pretty easily but Conjure Phantasm I find tough to interrupt; are the creatures that cast Mesmer spells using fast casting or is it my imagination?
Finally, for PvP, do you use hexes? Which ones? I think Backfire seems like a waste of casting time and energy given that it just gets removed immediately. Arcane Conundrum would be incredibly handy, but stikes me the same way; Diversion I could see being a more useful Backfire, in that if the player is casting when Backfire resolves they take damage and call for a hex removal, while if Diversion resolves while they are casting they lose that skill for most of a minute. Shame and Guilt both look good, as they are cheap (as they can pay for themselves) and are fire-and-forget-a-bit spells; if they are removed it's not that bad, as you didn't watse 15 energy and 3 seconds, if they succeed they may pay for themselves while countering a spell for you - on the plus side, they drain your opponent of energy when they resolve; the corollary being that if the player has no energy it nets nothing, right? In that way I like Leech Signet and Power Drain as they magically create energy - you can count on the energy boost from them while you cannot count on the others. Just looking for advice from the skilled mesmers out there for a fairly new one interested in the interrupt game.
It seems there are a lot of anti-synergies in the mesmer; Backfire doesn't mix with interrupts, as you want them to succeed in casting for backfire and the interrupts oppose that; energy draining spells are handy but unlikely to net you any energy after the first few castings, as your opponents might well be reduced to casting when they hit 5 energy, making the 3 second energy tap break even at best. Energy Burn is a nice spell in theory, damage while removing energy, but again, you'll be hitting pretty small bits of energy most likely, right? If you wait till the enemy has 8 energy back so you can do (for example) 64 damage you are risking them casting 5 cost spells, if you use it early you trade 10 of your energy for 3 of theirs and some piddly damage. Signet of Weariness causes a group of foes to lose energy, this seems great for an energy denial build, but how near is "nearby"? Any advice is appreciated.
rii
as a mesmer your looking to take down more than one person. half the opposition are caster classes, and most groups dont take more than one mesmer :S, so your looking to dish it out of a wide basis. Hexes like backfire are therefore useful, since once youve cast it and a blanket hex you can move on. Mind wrack is a good one, it lasts 20 seconds, is cheap, spammable, short casting time, and its always a possibility youll do some damage if the target screws up.
The interrupts are more for your 'primary' target. I usually put backfire/wrack on a monk, emapthy/wrack on a warrior, then focus on an ele for the interrupts. If i ever bother to unlock some necro skills in pve, ill find mark of subversion and put that on their other monk. Then the ele. Your problem with timing may have a problem depending on how you look for the cast. If you select a target, then look underneath their health bar for when it says a spell, then cast the interrupt, you may miss. i find that the icon fades in and out as the spell is cast, in fact ressurects sometimes last for up to four seconds after they were cast :S. So use that as a guide, then watch the character on screen to look for the animation. Short spells arent worth it. Unless your really confindent, or youve just drained their energy and are looking to seal the deal with a power leak, wait for the big spells. Theres no point in interupting vampiric touch, something like fire storm or meteor shower is what your after. Since then, you are actually shutting the foe down. If he cant do his big nukes, then he cant do anything much, whereas if a monk gets interrupted they are soon back on their feet.
Thats why i go for ele, its the path less trodden, but i think the hexes are more effective at whutting down spammers, but interrupts are for the big ones. Whatsmore, a monk has to cast, an ele can just wait for the backfire to run out and nail you after.
Nearby is about the size of a melee of 3-4. Enough to have an impact, but your not going to hit their entire team . You also want to shift targets with your energy drains. Casters are the obvious targets, but occasionally you might want to hit a warrior. a loss of 15 energy to a 70 energy ele might not dent him, but a loss of 15 energy to a 25 warrior will make a difference, since most warriors carry something energy based, and their regen is horrible.
Its all a lot to focs on, but mesmer is a class played on their feet. Lots of targets, lots of oppurtunities.
The interrupts are more for your 'primary' target. I usually put backfire/wrack on a monk, emapthy/wrack on a warrior, then focus on an ele for the interrupts. If i ever bother to unlock some necro skills in pve, ill find mark of subversion and put that on their other monk. Then the ele. Your problem with timing may have a problem depending on how you look for the cast. If you select a target, then look underneath their health bar for when it says a spell, then cast the interrupt, you may miss. i find that the icon fades in and out as the spell is cast, in fact ressurects sometimes last for up to four seconds after they were cast :S. So use that as a guide, then watch the character on screen to look for the animation. Short spells arent worth it. Unless your really confindent, or youve just drained their energy and are looking to seal the deal with a power leak, wait for the big spells. Theres no point in interupting vampiric touch, something like fire storm or meteor shower is what your after. Since then, you are actually shutting the foe down. If he cant do his big nukes, then he cant do anything much, whereas if a monk gets interrupted they are soon back on their feet.
Thats why i go for ele, its the path less trodden, but i think the hexes are more effective at whutting down spammers, but interrupts are for the big ones. Whatsmore, a monk has to cast, an ele can just wait for the backfire to run out and nail you after.
Nearby is about the size of a melee of 3-4. Enough to have an impact, but your not going to hit their entire team . You also want to shift targets with your energy drains. Casters are the obvious targets, but occasionally you might want to hit a warrior. a loss of 15 energy to a 70 energy ele might not dent him, but a loss of 15 energy to a 25 warrior will make a difference, since most warriors carry something energy based, and their regen is horrible.
Its all a lot to focs on, but mesmer is a class played on their feet. Lots of targets, lots of oppurtunities.
Epinephrine
Right, thanks for the response; I guess I didn't want to wait for an easy target spell with a power leak, as if I hit the first 5 cost 1 second casting spell I shut down that one and 4 others by the energy loss, but since the timing is pretty tough on the 1 second spells it might be best to wait for the longer spell.
Here's a few more questions about interactions between spells:
Does Guilt/Shame counter the spell at the beginning of casting or at the end (resolution?); i.e. does it waste the casting time as well as the energy? If at the beginning that's fine, if at the end, does it allow the spell to "trigger" in essence, then counter it, or does it counter it before the spell is "cast"? This is important in how it mixes with other hexes like Backfire and Diversion, which I believe require the spell to be "cast", and Wastrel's Worry for example, which would end if the spell was "used".
For Wastrel's Worry, is "using" a skill simply selecting it to trigger, so that you have begun "using" it, or must it successfully finish? (Yes, I know the opinion of the experts is that this skill is a piece of garbage, but both mindwrack and Wastrel's worry are potentially buffer hexes to prevent another hex being stripped - Wastrel's .25 second casting time means that you can insert wastrel's worry when you see a remove hex popping up, or simply follow the first hex (backfire?) with a wastrel's worry before they can even think to remove a hex, then if they do they get the wrong one. If they don't and the person doesn't cast anything the backfire is working as suppression and the wastrel's deals some damage. Mesmers don't have a lot of 5 cost hexes.)
For Diversion, does the delay in casting a spell interact with other spell recharge effects? If you were to divert a Leech Signet for example (45 second recharge) with a level 12 Diversion (delays recharge 47 seconds) and the mesmer using the signet was running a Mantra of Inscriptions (signets recharge 45% faster) what is the resulting recharge time? Is it 0.55*(45+47) or is it (0.55*45)+47?
Here's a few more questions about interactions between spells:
Does Guilt/Shame counter the spell at the beginning of casting or at the end (resolution?); i.e. does it waste the casting time as well as the energy? If at the beginning that's fine, if at the end, does it allow the spell to "trigger" in essence, then counter it, or does it counter it before the spell is "cast"? This is important in how it mixes with other hexes like Backfire and Diversion, which I believe require the spell to be "cast", and Wastrel's Worry for example, which would end if the spell was "used".
For Wastrel's Worry, is "using" a skill simply selecting it to trigger, so that you have begun "using" it, or must it successfully finish? (Yes, I know the opinion of the experts is that this skill is a piece of garbage, but both mindwrack and Wastrel's worry are potentially buffer hexes to prevent another hex being stripped - Wastrel's .25 second casting time means that you can insert wastrel's worry when you see a remove hex popping up, or simply follow the first hex (backfire?) with a wastrel's worry before they can even think to remove a hex, then if they do they get the wrong one. If they don't and the person doesn't cast anything the backfire is working as suppression and the wastrel's deals some damage. Mesmers don't have a lot of 5 cost hexes.)
For Diversion, does the delay in casting a spell interact with other spell recharge effects? If you were to divert a Leech Signet for example (45 second recharge) with a level 12 Diversion (delays recharge 47 seconds) and the mesmer using the signet was running a Mantra of Inscriptions (signets recharge 45% faster) what is the resulting recharge time? Is it 0.55*(45+47) or is it (0.55*45)+47?
rubics
I've been fiddling with a me/n build and would like some insight into complimentary skills/spells.
The basis of this build is virulence. I just really like that necromancer spell. I am also using plague sending. Next I through in Illusion of Haste w/o any attributes invested in Illusion. Basically I cast Illusion, then send the crippled effect over when it kicks in, and then finish it off with virulence.
The idea between these three is that I'm getting a bit tired of being ganged up on by warriors. This set up lets me run away when I'm getting ganged up on so that I can attack from a distance again. I also like the idea of being able to criple, weaken, and disease someone for 25 pts.
My question is if anyone has any ideas about how to flesh out the other 5 slots. I'm intersted in using ether feast because I feel like I need a little bit of healing ability for staying power. That means investing a bit in inspiration. What would you spend on the other 4 spots?
Thanks.
The basis of this build is virulence. I just really like that necromancer spell. I am also using plague sending. Next I through in Illusion of Haste w/o any attributes invested in Illusion. Basically I cast Illusion, then send the crippled effect over when it kicks in, and then finish it off with virulence.
The idea between these three is that I'm getting a bit tired of being ganged up on by warriors. This set up lets me run away when I'm getting ganged up on so that I can attack from a distance again. I also like the idea of being able to criple, weaken, and disease someone for 25 pts.
My question is if anyone has any ideas about how to flesh out the other 5 slots. I'm intersted in using ether feast because I feel like I need a little bit of healing ability for staying power. That means investing a bit in inspiration. What would you spend on the other 4 spots?
Thanks.
NoseJob
I'm working with a Me/E in PvE and am a little stuck on how to go on.
I use my Mesmer skills to shutdown casters and shatter enchantments and hexes.
My Elementalist skills are a bit harder, I can't seem to decide if I want to go for damage dealing or protection.
Does anyone have a decent build for this? (without the Elite skills please, I'm only lvl16 right now)
Thanks.
I use my Mesmer skills to shutdown casters and shatter enchantments and hexes.
My Elementalist skills are a bit harder, I can't seem to decide if I want to go for damage dealing or protection.
Does anyone have a decent build for this? (without the Elite skills please, I'm only lvl16 right now)
Thanks.
Wizairde
I'm a 20 Mes/Ele, its the only char I've known. I've not really PVP'd with him much.
I think in PVP though, you should play to what you are comfortable with. You could mes/fire but be aware most fire is AE, and players aren't going to stand around in a firestorm or meteor shower.
Look at the role you like to play most, if you want damage (or damage over time) you could do dom/fire (anti caster) or dom/air to pierce armor. If you prefer more supportive go for illusion and earth or water. If you want to ride the fence and do damage (specifically anticaster) and supportive, domination and earth/water might be your mix.
Would like opinions on this thought: Dom/Fire is better anticaster than Dom/Air would be because of the caster's low HP and faster fire dmg (harder to save them). Armor piercing isn't as impt to take air vs casters. Or do I have that all wrong?
I think in PVP though, you should play to what you are comfortable with. You could mes/fire but be aware most fire is AE, and players aren't going to stand around in a firestorm or meteor shower.
Look at the role you like to play most, if you want damage (or damage over time) you could do dom/fire (anti caster) or dom/air to pierce armor. If you prefer more supportive go for illusion and earth or water. If you want to ride the fence and do damage (specifically anticaster) and supportive, domination and earth/water might be your mix.
Would like opinions on this thought: Dom/Fire is better anticaster than Dom/Air would be because of the caster's low HP and faster fire dmg (harder to save them). Armor piercing isn't as impt to take air vs casters. Or do I have that all wrong?
Aria Marisel
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wizairde
Would like opinions on this thought: Dom/Fire is better anticaster than Dom/Air would be because of the caster's low HP and faster fire dmg (harder to save them). Armor piercing isn't as impt to take air vs casters. Or do I have that all wrong?
You and I are pretty much in the same boat here. I primarily play a level 20 mesmer/elementalist. And although my experience is limited, I've actually thought some about this and I think you've got it right. I would go with Domination/Fire as my anti-caster combo, as well. Although I don't have a ton of pvp under my belt, when I have tried, I found that dom/fire was the most useful anticaster combo, simply because a powerful blast to any caster is going to hurt him a ton. Fast casting + low hitpoints + heavy damage? Second to losing casting abilities, I would say it was a caster's worst nightmare.
Just my opinion, someone with a little more pvp time might have a better answer for you.
Just my opinion, someone with a little more pvp time might have a better answer for you.
nennafir
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ensign
The Illusionary Weaponry Build Has Not Been Done to Death
Mesmer/Warrior
Illusion 12, +3 Rune, +1 Hat
Fast Casting 9, +1 Rune
Tactics 9
Illusionary Weaponry
Imagined Burden
Arcane Conundrum
Distortion
Sprint
Flurry
Distracting Blow
Savage Slash I like tactics in illus warrior builds, but why did you take 9 tactics here? You have no skills based on tactics listed. They use, respectively:
Illusion
Illusion
Illusion
Illusion
Strength
Unlinked
Unlinked
Sword
As it stands, you should remove the points from tactics and either put more in fast casting or some in sword. I'm just curious... I realize it would be easy to make an illus war build needing tactics, but it seems irrelevant to yours.
Mesmer/Warrior
Illusion 12, +3 Rune, +1 Hat
Fast Casting 9, +1 Rune
Tactics 9
Illusionary Weaponry
Imagined Burden
Arcane Conundrum
Distortion
Sprint
Flurry
Distracting Blow
Savage Slash I like tactics in illus warrior builds, but why did you take 9 tactics here? You have no skills based on tactics listed. They use, respectively:
Illusion
Illusion
Illusion
Illusion
Strength
Unlinked
Unlinked
Sword
As it stands, you should remove the points from tactics and either put more in fast casting or some in sword. I'm just curious... I realize it would be easy to make an illus war build needing tactics, but it seems irrelevant to yours.
Pyrthas
Here's a straightforward PvE build that tends to work pretty well in groups for me. Straight mesmer (monk could give you a better res).
Chaos Storm
Empathy
Backfire
Energy Burn
Energy Drain
Ether Feast
Diversion
Res
Diversion is good for shutting down healers (well, NPC healers, at least). I don't use it much, but it's nice to have when there are multiple healers or when backfire gets removed. I don't remember what I was doing for attributes. Standard domination/inspiration/fast casting should work fine, though. Going with Mind Surge/Energy Tap would probably work fine, too. Chaos Storm sucks, but I don't know what to replace it with, and it can usually get 2-3 enemies and do damage that isn't completely horrible. (Okay, so it's pretty horrible...)
Mesmers aren't great for PvE, but this build has been able to contribute pretty well. At the very least, I tend to notice that mobs die faster when I'm casting, so I'm not totally useless, however hard I try.
Chaos Storm
Empathy
Backfire
Energy Burn
Energy Drain
Ether Feast
Diversion
Res
Diversion is good for shutting down healers (well, NPC healers, at least). I don't use it much, but it's nice to have when there are multiple healers or when backfire gets removed. I don't remember what I was doing for attributes. Standard domination/inspiration/fast casting should work fine, though. Going with Mind Surge/Energy Tap would probably work fine, too. Chaos Storm sucks, but I don't know what to replace it with, and it can usually get 2-3 enemies and do damage that isn't completely horrible. (Okay, so it's pretty horrible...)
Mesmers aren't great for PvE, but this build has been able to contribute pretty well. At the very least, I tend to notice that mobs die faster when I'm casting, so I'm not totally useless, however hard I try.
Jijimuge
Well, to reply to Epinephrine, don't spend too much time trying to interrupt Vampiric Touch....it's not a spell, it's a skill, so no mesmer interrupt (barring Cry of Frustration) will have any chance of interrupting it.
And that also means that it can't, of course, be backfired or the like.
The same goes for
Touch of Agony
Vile Touch
Lightning Touch
Shock
And that also means that it can't, of course, be backfired or the like.
The same goes for
Touch of Agony
Vile Touch
Lightning Touch
Shock
Epinephrine
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jijimuge
Well, to reply to Epinephrine, don't spend too much time trying to interrupt Vampiric Touch....it's not a spell, it's a skill, so no mesmer interrupt (barring Cry of Frustration) will have any chance of interrupting it.
And that also means that it can't, of course, be backfired or the like.
The same goes for
Touch of Agony
Vile Touch
Lightning Touch
Shock Doh! THAT would explain why I am missing the thing. I though tI was just lousy at the timing! Thanks SO much! I have been trying to hit that thing and I was wndering why even on my good days I wasn't hitting it - never thought to check if it was a spell, just assumed because most necro skills are it would be!
And that also means that it can't, of course, be backfired or the like.
The same goes for
Touch of Agony
Vile Touch
Lightning Touch
Shock Doh! THAT would explain why I am missing the thing. I though tI was just lousy at the timing! Thanks SO much! I have been trying to hit that thing and I was wndering why even on my good days I wasn't hitting it - never thought to check if it was a spell, just assumed because most necro skills are it would be!
Odai
As a Necro primary (just switched to Mes) I feel that my responsiblility to support my team by assisting them rather than trying to damage our opponents.
As a Necro my best stuff starts with the drop of the first body so initially I will be trying to disrupt the other sides casters.
Still very new to Mes so I'm still working on these but I probably toss out backfire on the other messer, then a little life syphon and parasite.
Next I'd check our warrior for spells or hexes. I found that I can use rend enchantment on my guy to remove at least one condition placed on him.
If our tanks don't seem to be in trouble I'll toss a couple enfeelements and armor weaknesses on their warriors.
If all is going well I'll see if I can pester their casters a little.
As soon as the first body hits the dirt I'll be in hog heaven!.
Depending on the status of our warriors I'll use the first corpse to screw up anyone that is in toe-to-toe reach of my meat shield. A little well of suffering and mark of pain mught work out rather well. Maybe toss in a rend enhancement or 2 and if nothing else Vampiric gaze to shave a few points off him.
If my tank seems to be lagging I'll use well of blood and another healing spell (I haven;t decided which to use just yet) then bleed the opponents some.
Give me enough bodies and I'll have minions running all over the place with nova attached to them.
Since Necro is far down the list of targets to take out; I generally get ignored so Il can do pretty much what I like.
I have found out that while the really nasty spells, curses and hexes are quite nice I usually don't have all that much time so I stick to the shorter, faster ones.
It all comes down to what you want to do, damage or irritate the heck out of 'em.
MY enemies might not notice if I bleed 'em some with vampiric gaze but I'm fairly certain my running over and poking 'em in the eye with vampiric touch would be!
Let the Rangers and the real Messers beat their monks and casters. I'll help out the tanks and anhyone else needing help. They can even take all the credit.
Just as long as I get the bodies!!!
If you're gonna to hide in the dark You must be discrete about it!
Sorry about the long post but think that people that play Necro to be a nuker are wrong. Necro is fun adding Messer should only add more glee
I wonder if a Messer bleed spell and a necro spell will stack over the maximum of combing the same 2 messer or necro spells?
As a Necro my best stuff starts with the drop of the first body so initially I will be trying to disrupt the other sides casters.
Still very new to Mes so I'm still working on these but I probably toss out backfire on the other messer, then a little life syphon and parasite.
Next I'd check our warrior for spells or hexes. I found that I can use rend enchantment on my guy to remove at least one condition placed on him.
If our tanks don't seem to be in trouble I'll toss a couple enfeelements and armor weaknesses on their warriors.
If all is going well I'll see if I can pester their casters a little.
As soon as the first body hits the dirt I'll be in hog heaven!.
Depending on the status of our warriors I'll use the first corpse to screw up anyone that is in toe-to-toe reach of my meat shield. A little well of suffering and mark of pain mught work out rather well. Maybe toss in a rend enhancement or 2 and if nothing else Vampiric gaze to shave a few points off him.
If my tank seems to be lagging I'll use well of blood and another healing spell (I haven;t decided which to use just yet) then bleed the opponents some.
Give me enough bodies and I'll have minions running all over the place with nova attached to them.
Since Necro is far down the list of targets to take out; I generally get ignored so Il can do pretty much what I like.
I have found out that while the really nasty spells, curses and hexes are quite nice I usually don't have all that much time so I stick to the shorter, faster ones.
It all comes down to what you want to do, damage or irritate the heck out of 'em.
MY enemies might not notice if I bleed 'em some with vampiric gaze but I'm fairly certain my running over and poking 'em in the eye with vampiric touch would be!
Let the Rangers and the real Messers beat their monks and casters. I'll help out the tanks and anhyone else needing help. They can even take all the credit.
Just as long as I get the bodies!!!
If you're gonna to hide in the dark You must be discrete about it!
Sorry about the long post but think that people that play Necro to be a nuker are wrong. Necro is fun adding Messer should only add more glee
I wonder if a Messer bleed spell and a necro spell will stack over the maximum of combing the same 2 messer or necro spells?
Arcanis Imperium
Even though I am far from getting all of my skills and spells, here is what I currently use.
Mesmer/Aeromancer
Backfire
Energy Burn
Arcane Echo
Chaos Storm
Lightning Strike
Lightning Javelin
Lightning Touch
Whirlwind
Mesmer/Aeromancer
Backfire
Energy Burn
Arcane Echo
Chaos Storm
Lightning Strike
Lightning Javelin
Lightning Touch
Whirlwind
Pyrthas
That's a lot of energy to spend on spells without any way to get it back. How do you usually manage? Also, what do you usually echo?
IndyCC
I having trouble with mesmer, maybe someone could point me in the right direction. Starting my third character and decided I want to start unlocking mesmer skills. So I built a mesmer. In pre-searing all you see me do is drop, and that is in pre-searing so that frightens me. Makes me think to gather the mesmer skills I should grab it as a secondary. Esspecially since I'm not hugely impressed by fast casting. PvE I dont see the use of fast casting other than you lose energy really quick. PvP sure ok, you can beat someone to the punch.
So my original problem was gee what do I attach as a secondary to mesmer and I was thinking ranger. Now I'm thinking gee what do I attach as a primary to a mesmer and maybe part of my misunderstanding of mesmer I am thinking elem or war.
Please point out where my logic is lacking so that I feel I can do something with the mesmer effectively thanks.
So my original problem was gee what do I attach as a secondary to mesmer and I was thinking ranger. Now I'm thinking gee what do I attach as a primary to a mesmer and maybe part of my misunderstanding of mesmer I am thinking elem or war.
Please point out where my logic is lacking so that I feel I can do something with the mesmer effectively thanks.