I love my Mesmies, A Mesmar apreciation Thread.

- Not only can Mesmers interrupt, they can do one better - prevent the spell from casting in the first place. Backfire does this, with the help of a recent AI update, monsters don't cast through Backfire, resulting in 10 seconds of inactivity. Blackout does a similar thing - it disables an enemy unconditionally for 6-7 seconds. And with Diversion, a Mesmer can catch 1/4-1/2 second casts which only an extremely skilled/lucky Ranger can interrupt (Reversal of Fortune comes to mind), not only that, Diversion disables the skill for almost a minute and is spammable. So where's all this useful? Monks and Monk bosses mostly. Sure, you can power through them with pure damage, but I bet a good Mesmer can make the battle much, much easier.

- As for damage, a Mesmer's damage output can compare with that of a Warrior's/Ranger's. Let's clear something up first, W's/R's attack skills ignore armor (i.e. attack deals +x damage) but normal unaided attacks don't, while every Mesmer skill ignores armor. This becomes important in later parts of the game, against heavily-armored level 24+, where physical attacks do a laughable amount of damage. This is where the Mesmer shines.

Empathy, first of all, the staple of the Mesmer diet, deals around 30 damage (armor ignoring of course) at whatever speed the target attacks. This is probably the easiest to compare with a Warrior's damage output. Given that a warrior and a target enemy attacks at the same speed, the warrior will have to out-do 30 damage per hit (on average) to deal more than Empathy. For my experiences, that seems about right in the latter parts of the game, taking attack skills into account. Even if a warrior can do twice that (likely vs lower-armored foes), don't forget a Mesmer can maintain Empathy on two foes at once, while simultaneously doing the things listed below...

Shatter Hex is not only hex removal, but does a huge amount of damage when it's used. What about Smite Hex? Smite Hex is linked to Smiting Prayers, and unless the caster is playing a Smiter, don't expect SH to do much other than remove a hex (not to mention the inferior recharge).

Energy Surge is a wonderful skill. Though the energy it denies is unimportant in PvE, the damage it does isn't. Enemy casters tend to clump up together, so you can expect Surge to do many hundred points of damage whenever it's cast.

Wastrel's Worry tears through bosses like no other skill - 60 damage every ~2 seconds. With some energy management, this can be maintained indefinitely.

- Regarding Enchantment removal - Mark of Protection and Aura of Faith. These are the two main enchants which demands to be shattered immediately. And Mandy Memory, as you implied, there aren't that many enchantments that need removing in PvE (which I agree with), why bring Order of Apostasy? Surely that's overkill (with Apostasy being an elite, and uses 25e for a 5 sec cast)?

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thanks.

Hmm.. you were thinking of cry of frustration or leach sig?

I play both ranger and mesmer, and while I interupt better with my mesmer, the fact that the recharge time is lousy and I can't interupt rangers/warriors on a constant basis is rather annoying. At least the ranger skills recharge faster.

Monsters shouldnt survive 10 seconds.

Lol. What's wrong with smiting prayers? Most pve monks I know bring a smite skill or 2. Boon, rof, and guardian will breeze you through most places with no energy management. Bonding will get you through the really tuff ones. Either way thats a lot of slots open and no real need for energy management, might as well smite.

I would probably not bring the order in pve...but then again, factions could bring in new problems.

Lol...forgot about that sig...do people actually use that?

Leech sig is very nice... fits better in PvP though.

I farmed Queen (near Augury) with my guildies, grabbed my mesmer and killed Kepkhet Marrowfeast (the monk queen) in 10 - 15 sec. Arcane Conundrum + Power Block ftw!

Yeah, it's not really the first one, indeed. But I guess as a class that grew into the game accompanied by constant "You're useless" and "No, we really don't need you in our group" comments coming from the other classes, I guess we developed some "Mesmer Pride" in the process.

It doesn't hurt to show it every now and then.

So they stop casting completely now? They always use to just totally spam attacks while suffering from it then stop the moment it would kill them, they even use to cancel the skill if it would cause them to die.
Works on Skeleton Ether Breakers like nothing else
*Backfire*
*Casts 1. SV 2. E-Surge 3. Interrupt or Shatter*
Ends up with 441 health less than it started with.

As or enchantment removal, if your playing interrupt surely you Mark of Protection shouldn't get cast in the first place?

I do love to see peoples reactions in FoW when my mesmer solos Wurms in about 30 seconds when it takes the entire team 5x that. Wastrels Worry ftw (can kill the monk boss with it too aslong as you bring Power Block).

I've never really seen a use for Leech Signet in PvE. I always pick Power Drain over it since its long cooldown is really wasted if you just interrupt Healing Signet or somet.

Games should be fun too. If you think only the easiest and the most effective methods against PvE enemies, mesmers are not for you. Mesmers in PvE are like tutorial for PvP. When you want to be a good mesmer, you must understand how different skills work and what other differences each profession have. Also you must pay attention, be patience and see the situation as whole. I enjoy playing PvE mesmer because you actually have to think a bit before doing anything.

Mesmers should never focus to called target if there is other targets too. Pick your own targets and interrupt their strongest spells, then pick another target and repeat. Remember what skills they have and what recharge times are. That way you can prevent a lot of damage and weaken next targets.

Wastrel's Worry is a nice skill against bosses. Over 60 points armor ignoring damage per 1.5 seconds and it costs just 5 energy. It will work for against some other targets too like certain wurms and ether seals. WW will not end prematurely when target uses a skill if it gets interrupted.

When mesmer is operating in common party, others will not modify their builds or strategy to match a bit new situation where all enemy spells will never land. That will reduce mesmer's potential. So they are indeed a special profession which need awareness from others a lot more than any other character. I would say mesmers are for experienced players and need experienced party members to work at maximum power.

Mandy i seriously think you need to play Mesmer more, in general, PvP and high level areas. Just because none of there skills have fancy animation like SS or Meteor Shower doesn't mean they aren't killing things.

I just did Thunderkeep again for the hell of it on my mesmer and i'm pretty certain the entire team blamed the ele for that huge chunk of health that kept dissapearing from Jades/Mursaat the moment they attacked (Ineptitude+Clumsiness).

I hardly see saying Mesmers don't have a res a reason they suck. No profession but Monk (and soon Rit) have a res.

In FoW you see mesmers work more than you think. Did you ever wonder why that Shadow Monk decided to stop casting? Or Why that other Shadow keeps losing lots of health after each spell?
Probably not, you probably put it down to the ele and necro, or perhaps it was your own fearsome visage causing it to stop casting in terror

Power Block and Backfire > Monks (PvE)

I agree with most of what's been said here. I play a slightly odd mesmer i.e. an ele primary with an all mesmer skillbar apart from Aura of Restoration

It works well, and I've had no real problems with PUGs as long as I explain my setup up-front. The only time it was mentioned was in a FoW party where after about 1 hours play with perhaps 1 or 2 deaths (not mine) I got the comment "FFS - our ele is a mesmer!!!!"

Nevermind the versatility of the Mesmer. Casters, even bosses, go down fast, and four different mesmers will have used 4 different skillsets to do it. I don't blame Mandy for not liking Mesmers. Some people just need the order of a cookie cutter build. I'll admit that when it comes time to make a party, I try and take Mesmers, Necros and Rangers because back in the day when all people wanted were paladins, elmos and monks, it really pissed me off.

Can we stop using the crap that is Backfire as an argument for Mesmers? It is worthless against bosses and would be equally as worthless if the AI had actual AI.

Enchantment removal is not only a Mesmer field of play, Necros can, and usually do, remove any bothersome enchantment(s). Its not much of a solid argument to say that Mesmers rock because of this.

Where mesmers do shine, damage wise, which alot of people seem to really overlook as they focus on "omgzors its teh backfire!", is to make enemies either hopelessly "mana screwed" or punished for doing anything malicious to the mesmer's team. From this you get Empathy, Shatter Hex, Guilt, Ineptitude, and so on.

And then ofcourse we have the good old "In Interupt All Your Actions" line. Can't help but laugh when a monster curses

Thanks, Pills.

Of all my characters, I would say my mesmer is the one I am most fond of.

Do we really have to debate on this? Mesmers are great, that's all there is to it.

I think that a Mesmer played by a skilled player is one of the most formidable foes in PvP. They can do some serious damage to ALL classes. Depending on the build a mesmer can absolutely fry any other class.

One of the things I like to do for newbie/lowbie mesmers is give them any "unwanted" mesmer green items I happen to have. I find that this makes them really happy and encourages playing of the class. I've made some really good PvE mesmer friends this way.

I find if somewhat Ironic how a MesmEr appreaciation thread has the class' spelling wrong, makes you think the poster didn't care about mesmer so much as to spell it right

Anyway, I'm quite torn as to either make a ritualist or a mesmer as the final char I'm gonna make in factions. Necro and assassin I'm definitely gonna make(i dunno why I'm making an assassin, other than it'd be cool to have one) and Ritualist looks like it has quite the potential. Mesmers I though is very effective, and that it could be great to play one.

powerblock FTW!!!! just owns monks, as they cant heal for 13+ seconds.

How can you say the female mesmer is the best looking character in the game. They look like they are running around in underwear they picked up at Victoria's Secret.

However that aside they have awesome skills.

Hm, mesmers aren't the greatest of pve classes to be sure... why do you need to interrupt things, edrain them or whatever when you can kill them pretty easily anyway becauce the pve mobs are so brain dead.

Mesmers are really much more suited for pvp, where they do in fact rock a significant amount because some human monks will actually kite and heal unlike the ones in pve

You know what this site needs? A "How mesmers are god's gift to Guild Wars" guide.

I don't think anyone's claiming that Mesmers are "god's gift to GW." The point of this thread is about enlightening people on the qualities and usefulness of the mesmer class.

Last night a couple of guildies and I hooked up with some other folks for a Forgemaster run in FoW. 2 Mesmers, 2 Eles, 2 monks, 1 Warrior, & 1 Necro. - We tore through everything down there. It was a full team effort where each one of us took care of specific things - One Mesmer geared up to deal with casters, the other melee types. The Tank did the book trick and the Ele's had fun with MS, the Monks did their healing/prot. things and the Necro kept everyone in the energy and hit 'em with SS. - Fun times, fun tmes indeed!

Before I go into my love for mesmers, I'd just like to say this is wrong--lol.

Someone said ranger interrupts do more damage than mesmer. [email protected]
Mesmers are extremely FUN and useful. They put bosses to shame. They put regular monsters to uber shame.
Using a mesmer is far different from any other class in this game, and that is probably why I like them the best. Totally different style of playing.
Someone said mesmer chicks are the hottest. I will have to say "Nay" to you friend :P. Too classy for my type. The hair styles, outfits, and if you use a mask on your female..ew. *coughmymesmerismaleandapimpcough*
I won't say mesmers are the best class. I find gw quite balanced; every profession plays their role. I will say they are better at destroying casters, effective anywhere, and do it all in a more tactical method (generally).

Ranger interupts do deal more damage than a mesmer's interupts, atleast my mesmer does not have two skills that recharge in 8 seconds, deal +20 damage, and interupt, does yours? Power Spike deals omg! 106 damage, Punishing Shot and Savage Shot each deal 50+ and recharge in half the time. I'd dare say a ranger deals more damage, but Mesmers aren't made for that so its understandable...

Alot of the Mesmer I see in PvE, usually when I am on my mesmer, still have this habit of throwing Backfire on bosses as if it were the almighty big stick of TR. Ya... I cry when I see that.

I agree with you here

^^Most rangers using interrupts stick to barrage rather than punishing. Savage shot will only do the bonus damage on spells. Distracting deals hardly any damage. Concussion is nothing extra, but I'd say it's their best interrupt *heart*.

I just hate it when an interrupt ranger is in the group with my mesmer. They often don't interrupt more than me, and essentially waste my damage potential with power spike and cry of frustration (you forget about that one)? Large aoe interrupt and damage.

Third reason I hate interrupt rangers in a group with my mesmer, and feel mesmers are better "damage interrupters" is backfire. Savage shot can deal a lot more than power spike over time--sure. But a lot of the spells you don't want to interrupt, because backfire will completely destroy the enemy caster. 147-154 damage per spammed spell by the enemy. Then finish it off with a CoF or Power Spike.

Rangers, get off my mesmer's target

I still believe barrage to be a worthless elite, but let them do as they will. What I showed you was that Rangers have the ability to easily outdamage a mesmer while interupting.

I didn't forget Cry, its just not enough to tip favor toward mesmers Cry is 20 seconds recharge, Spike is 15, 25 energy to use both. Punishing is 8 recharge and Savage is 5, the damage from Cry is easily surmounted by Savage's spamming ability as well as its high damage bonus. Ofcourse you can avoid Ranger attacks so the whole thing becomes very messy.
When you have a ranger in your group call a target, say cntrl + shift + space, and he can get the other available target.

Backfire is a crappy skill, comparing it to Savage is not much of a comparison. Savage is less conditional than backfire, for one the spell HAS to be cast, two backfire is a hex, and three backfire is just damage, savage is an interupt and damage. Applied to a self healing monk Savage will out perform backfire... then again the only place backfire sees use is in PvE... stupid AI makes bad skills good :P

Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?

Why not...backfire is not the shining mesmer skill (must to the disbelief of everyone who has played a mesmer for under 300 hours...)
Lol you think Ele does damage...and that makes baby jesus laugh at you like a little school girl. Compairing anything to an ele is like compairing it to a warrior without skills and armor from henge. Of course he may do a little damage and he has some armor...but he is still pathetic. (Also...meteor shower has the same chance of killing something as like...a helpless little bunny who has no legs.)

And for everyone who says that I need to play mesmer more...Ive played a mesmer in pvp and pve for over 500 hours total.

I'd have to say that most people just don't realize how subtle a mesmer's work is. They do seem to think that the mesmers just stand there and watch. Really though from now on just call every skill you use as a mesmer. This will make people wake up and see that you are useful. I'll take a mesmer over a necro any day. Not always about how fast you can go. I just like to enjoy the game and play, as to which mesmers never complain about the groups they are in. I've found some nice ragequitting necros though, and that I've found makes the game unenjoyable.

I was out with a mesmer this weekend who worked really hard and made a tremendous contribution to the group's success. Because I was playing my ranger, I was behind her most of the time during battle, so I could see what she was doing (I also play a mesmer so I recognized the moves).

OTOH, I took pity on a mesmer for one mission who was running around spamming "Mesmer LFG, please invite me!" After seeing her do this for about ten minutes (I was having a snack while watching), I whispered her that I usually take henchies and she was welcome to come along with me. She accepted, so out we go with four henchies. I'm already laughing as I type this. She aggroed everything in sight. Honestly, she'd see a group, run into the middle of it, get pounded, and die. Thank god I'm Mo secondary and carry rebirth. It was really, really, funny, and I would have finished the mission much quicker and with less grief if I'd just taken all henchies. Great entertainment, though.

Anyway, once we'd finished (yes, we succeeded), she said we had a hard time because we need real ppl in the group. Um, no, I've henched that particular mission a lot, and it's actually one of the easier ones. We could have just done without a tanking mesmer who aggroed every group she came across, that's all. lol.