PVE Mesmers?

Avarre

Avarre

Bubblegum Patrol

Join Date: Dec 2005

Singapore Armed Forces

That doesn't count, it was an all mesmer trip and I was tank

I'm talking about when in normal groups!

Evilsod

Evilsod

Banned

Join Date: Mar 2006

England

Lievs Death Squad [LDS]

I know, i'd just found that picture and wanted to use it

But yeah, in normal groups your best just sticking to mesmer, splashing out 6-8 levels on another classes skills is hardly worth what your losing from sticking it entirely into Mesmer. I suppose there are odd exceptions like Faintheartedness or Parasitic Bond, but those 2 are very limited. /Mo is good for res, not healing (unless your playing the healer monk )

Inspirational Muse

Inspirational Muse

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Sep 2005

Legends of the Forgotten

Me/E

I find it to be incredibly annoying that when someone is looking for 1 more member for a mission, I get uninvited when I try to join.

Again, Mesmers are totally misunderstood. People don't care about a class that isn't cookie-cutter DPS, tank, or healer. Yet people fail to realize that the Mesmer can outshine some classes in DPS with the right skills. Yes, monsters are stupid in PvE, making Empathy and Backfire godly. I employ shatter hex to turn my allies into living pipebombs.

Honestly, the mesmer is the only reason why I play guild wars. And I'm not exaggerating that ONE bit. I knew before I was even going to get guild wars that I wanted to be a mesmer. There's something incredibly empowering and gratifying about totally disrupting and shattering an opponents will and then riverdancing over their dead body

trueheart78

Pre-Searing Cadet

Join Date: May 2006

Me/Mo

I'm feeling the mesmer's burden as well It's amazing at the higher levels (namely abaddon's mouth or groups for UW, etc) how much more difficult it is to get a group. Everyone seems to be picky, and for some reason, knowing what I can perform as a mesmer, it's even more irritating. My henchmen know where to find me, and have been a great asset to my missions.

One thing that groups do not realize is the power mesmer's have to keep the monk alive. I enjoy my basic group build (clumsiness, ineptitude, sv, backfire, arcande conundrum, cof) and it works wonders when the monk is getting hammered by the white mantle or other notorius melee. Ineptitude is like insurance that the monk is gonna stay alive for at least another ten seconds, especially when they get really mobbed and I cast sv on them

I agree with the above poster, I don't play gw for anything but a mesmer. Just too much fun. Some think powergaming or 55 monk farming is alot of fun, kudos to them. Me, I rather enjoy controlling the environment, and if I die, it's usually to my own stupidity (note: no shatter hex when there's conjure phantasm mobs about...)

Eaimirth Etaivella

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Aug 2005

Seekers of the Apocalypse

E/

Well I for one LIKE wastrel's worry. Here's why.
It goes well with interrupting
-short cast time; allows you to watch while dealing damage to a target
It is a cover hex
-Slam on empathy followed by WW while waiting for an interrupt; if another character attempts to dispell empathy; no damage done.
It is actually very good damage/cast time ratio
-1/8th of a second cast, for an unconditional (assuming you interrupt whatever) 64 damage...not bad considering 64x8=512damage per second that you are actually doing something.
It has a low investment
-Sure its not a backfire damage to energy ratio; but its not bad either. 64x3=192 which is very good actually. A backfire will hit for 147 per spell for 10 seconds; so if they only cast one spell WW is actually better.
It is the boss/wurm killer
-Many disregard it as only a skill for this in Tyria; its not only for this. It is just exceptionally good at this; like diversion on those aoe spamming wurms (only use for diversion imo... but thats another subject. Avarre has her WW hate I have my diversion hate...)
It is the spammable mesmer skill
-Low recharge, low energy, fast cast time. If you need to kill a target, you use this skill with interrupts. Mobs in PvE don't spam skills that often, using this coupled with interrupts are a win/win. Add high armor on these targets and its a very, very good skill.

WW FTW =D

Contessa

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Mar 2006

I could easily maneuver around the explorable area in ring of fire with my mesmer while people at ember camp were whining "It's impossible out there. Those flesh golems will kill you in two seconds. Where are all the monk?" I did the spiteful spirit combo mentioned below and got to the boatman to take you to the next town in about 10 minutes.

I can't speak for the other combos, but mes/necro is not useless in PvE. I've actually been doing better with my mes/necro since the MM nerf (I don't enjoy my necro anymore). Here are a couple spells I like to mix and match:

Illusion and Blood (degen and slow the enemy):
Ethereal Burden
Crippling Anguish
Clumsiness
Life Siphon
Well of blood/power
Strip enchantment energy: 10 recharge: 20 (I like it better than shatter enchantment energy: 15 recharge: 25)

Domination and Curses (damage and some shut down):
Spiteful Spirit, Empathy, Diversion, Energy Burn, Shatter Hex, Arcane Thievery

A fun combo:
enfeeble (or any condition)
virulence
epidemic
Even with only 2 in curses, there's still plenty of time to use enfeeble as a prep for virulence. You don't need to have death maxed out for virulence to be effective. Thow the rest into your favorite mesmer skills.

I actually found making minions much easier with fast-casting (my poor necro keeps getting interupted in Factions because of the 3 second cast time). I ran something like this earlier and found it pretty easy to solo after buying rogues armor. I used a max damage staff that increased recharge and casting for illusion (Vokar's Staff) and a second weapon set with energy around 70 to switch to towards the end of battle or to finish things off to make more horrors). I just used my staff to wand creatures when my energy was low. By that time I had made enough horrors/fiends to carry me through until I gained some energy.

Ethereal Burden (w/16 in illusion you get 23 energy back. You don't have to wait 10 seconds if you cast it on a spellcaster that removes hexes or on an enemy about to die. If you open with it and then do some hexing, by the time you've laid out your hexes, the energy pops back into your bar)
conjure phantasm
clumsiness (good to cast on any spellcaster so they don't remove your hexes)
crippling anguish
bone horrors
bone fiends
blood of the master
life siphon to heal (I can't remember but it was some healing thing in the last slot).

Inspiration (I like skills that give immediate energy)
energy tap
power drain

Contessa

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Mar 2006

One last thing, to get into a PUG I advertise that I'm a Domination Mesmer LFG. Anyone who knows what that is will take you very fast. If they don't, I found that people will want you just because it sounds like you know your stuff. Maybe it's just a mental thing, but domination sounds good for taking down any enemy.

If that still isn't working, I read up on the quest or mission and form my own group. It's a lot easier to play a mesmer when you take control.

For Abbadon's Mouth I made a group of about 3 rangers, an elementalist, a warrior and a necro (the break down was something like that, it's been awhile). We didn't have a monk so we took the hench. We got through the mission the first time with no problems. I took Well of Blood to help with healing and we did just fine. It may not be a mesmer spell, but all of us have second profession and I found it beneficial to use the strengths of both skill sets.

R_Frost

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Jan 2006

California

Me/

Quote:
Originally Posted by zeroxy
Why not do 1 mesmer with lots of skills and just change the build when you want to?
I saw a guy with 2 level 20 warriors, one W/ME and one W/MO, W/mo for running and w/me for tanking :S.

Apparently he didnt know about the secondary profession changing thing..even after beating the game twice! i have 2 primary monks............one on each account i have. i built the second monk because i was looking to kill time til factions came out. i have one of every primary profession too. 3 of my characters run mesmer secondaries, my necro, ele and assassin. my primary mesmer got through the game as a Me/E which most of the time i used more Ele skills. it wasnt til i was in the southern shiverpeaks til i learned to make better use of the mesmer by playing all mesmer skills. i was the biggest damage dealer in my party when i took my Mesmer/Monk through the defend droks quest. carried echo, archane echo, backfire, shatter hex, smite hex, rebirth, shatter enchantement, cry of frustration. it was quite fun. just let them agro monkey warriors run in to get agro and hexed. then while they are praying the monk will keep them alive im quietly in the back casting my spells watching stuff die and seeing the big damage numbers flashing above the enemy.

Francis Demeules

Francis Demeules

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Jan 2006

Canada, Qc

[Holy]

Me/Mo

Quote:
Originally Posted by Inspirational Muse
Again, Mesmers are totally misunderstood. People don't care about a class that isn't cookie-cutter DPS, tank, or healer. Yet people fail to realize that the Mesmer can outshine some classes in DPS with the right skills. Sad but true for a long time now. You just need a mesmer with the right skills and there you go, you stop complaining about Vizunah Quarter. On what I heard, this mission is now the THK of Cantha. No matter what, mesmers are always welcome in my team when I dont play mine (except some reasons here )

Vincent Ritz

Academy Page

Join Date: Oct 2005

Masters of the Realms

W/Mo

I prefer to go anti caster when I PvE...

Max Dom
high fast cast + inspiration

I use these skills for anti mage classes (everything but W, R, and A)

Empathy (something to do when there's no spell based classes)
Backfire
Overload (OMG this is such a wonderful new skill)
Cry of Frustration
Power Spike
Power Drain
Drain Enchant
Res sig

I basically hide in the back row and keep a sharp eye out for casters.

I gotta give my 2 cents on Overload, as it is one of the better new skills for a caster killer: 5 energy, 1/4 sec cast time, and 5 second recharge. This skill can be used well with both backfire and interrupts: Backfire alone deals excellent damage to casters as we all know, but Overload adds even more and doesn't interrupt, so catching a monk who's casting orison with backfire on them does massive damage... of course if you're fortunate enough to catch a caster in a 3 second or longer (2 seconds if you're good), you can throw in overload, and then interrupt too! I can't tell you how many times in Cantha my mesmer abused the necromancer afflicteds when they tried to raise minions... I'd throw out overload, then hit a power spike, then wait a bit, overload again on their next attempt at their overly slow spells, then CoF, and so on... the fact that it's so cheap and has great recharge makes it a wonderful and well needed bread and butter skill for an interrupter mesmer like myself. (*whew* that's more like my 20 bucks than 2 cents )

well, I for one will be roaming cantha with my Me/N for quite some time... look me up...

Seduction Ritz, 20 Me/N.

Vincent Ritz

Academy Page

Join Date: Oct 2005

Masters of the Realms

W/Mo

Quote:
Originally Posted by Francis Demeules
Sad but true for a long time now. You just need a mesmer with the right skills and there you go, you stop complaining about Vizunah Quarter. On what I heard, this mission is now the THK of Cantha. No matter what, mesmers are always welcome in my team when I dont play mine (except some reasons here ) OMG so true that mission was INSANE, thank god you got to fight in 2 groups of 8 and had a monk and ritualist AI to help... but still that fight just never seemed to end! But a couple of minion masters and a few good monks and it's a cakewalk.

shoot n loot

Academy Page

Join Date: Mar 2006

FL

[Nova]

R/Me

Quote:
Originally Posted by Francis Demeules
Sad but true for a long time now. You just need a mesmer with the right skills and there you go, you stop complaining about Vizunah Quarter. On what I heard, this mission is now the THK of Cantha. No matter what, mesmers are always welcome in my team when I dont play mine (except some reasons here ) on the visunah thing, ive done it 4 or 5 times on various characters, and well the mission is easy as shit, the only reason ud even think of classifying it with that beast would be glitches and ~gasp~ you have to rely on other ppl not in ur group OMG~! .. its relaly not that bad of a mission

Francis Demeules

Francis Demeules

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Jan 2006

Canada, Qc

[Holy]

Me/Mo

Quote:
Originally Posted by shoot n loot
on the visunah thing, ive done it 4 or 5 times on various characters, and well the mission is easy as shit, the only reason ud even think of classifying it with that beast would be glitches and ~gasp~ you have to rely on other ppl not in ur group OMG~! .. its relaly not that bad of a mission I know, I finished 2 times now but failed 10 000x by pugs from the other teams (rage quit too). I know some ppl dont know how to do this mission. I understand that. But man, quit in the middle of the mission only bc I play with Henchies or they said "Eh? Mesmer? Hugh! They stink in this mission!" (Got one and finish with this team too)? Yeah, that sucks. Players must know how affective they are. Its a good point that I want to see.

Evilsod

Evilsod

Banned

Join Date: Mar 2006

England

Lievs Death Squad [LDS]

I just love Thunderkeep on my mesmer. I always play with Clumsitude, Phantasm and Phantom there, can't be arsed to branch into Domination.

Its always funny to see your other team members try and kill a Jade or Mursaat alone, and getting the shit kicked out of them. After the mursaat boss has attacked i spend most of my time outside the keep soloing Jades and Mursaat who come alone at me. Hell even my monk can solo 2 Jades at once, the warriors just get owned and are always too far away to be healed.

Francis Demeules

Francis Demeules

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Jan 2006

Canada, Qc

[Holy]

Me/Mo

The problem with THK is they some who always try to do a group of "ITP" (Invincible Trio Professions). I still dont get it te effectivness if its their 100x they try do this one . Same thing in Vizunah. But with another problem with it and I will answer: Assassins aren't TANK! STOP MENDING YOURSELF!

MasterDinadan

MasterDinadan

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: May 2005

The Zaishen Force

Me/E

Alright! I'm glad to see that everyone likes PVE Mesmers. Even if a lot of people won't appreciate what I am able to add to a group, it shows that there are people out there that knows what mesmers are all about! Just gotta find the right ones

I gave up on my Canthan mesmer... simply because of the fact that I didn't like playing a female character, and the male Canthan mesmers are utterly hideous...

I rolled a Tyrian mesmer last night (the handsome fellow on my avatar) and picked necro as my secondary. I'm somewhat pleased with the combination. I just got out of pre-searing, so if anyone wants to team up for some low level Ascalon questing, I'm up for it!

Eaimirth Etaivella

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Aug 2005

Seekers of the Apocalypse

E/

As do tank
Wars use frenzy in pve
Fast cast nukers are the "best" mesmer
Ranger pets own
Healing breeze is a good skill
Mending is a better skill
Meteor shower is the best skill

...I hate pve pugs

Francis Demeules

Francis Demeules

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Jan 2006

Canada, Qc

[Holy]

Me/Mo

Quote:
Originally Posted by Eaimirth Etaivella
As do tank
Wars use frenzy in pve
Fast cast nukers are the "best" mesmer
Ranger pets own
Healing breeze is a good skill
Mending is a better skill
Meteor shower is the best skill

...I hate pve pugs Lol. Who loves them anyway?
There are 2 missions where pugs are assembled anyway: THK and Vizu. You arrive one of this area and BAM! Explosion of pugs out the box. Take a mesmer in team. You pass, thinking they're good and its a miracle (not thinking about mesmer thought ). C'mon, the Invincible Trio has been nerfed for a long time. It time to change your strategy in team and try other profession.

In my word, long live PvE Mesmers

Theos

Theos

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Jul 2005

River Dancing

Eternal Treachery [TimE]

Me/E

I personally like running around with a golem at the moment. I want to set up a build that will weild the awesome power of my Crab! But first I need to find heal as one XD

R_Frost

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Jan 2006

California

Me/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Francis Demeules
Lol. Who loves them anyway?
There are 2 missions where pugs are assembled anyway: THK and Vizu. You arrive one of this area and BAM! Explosion of pugs out the box. Take a mesmer in team. You pass, thinking they're good and its a miracle (not thinking about mesmer thought ). C'mon, the Invincible Trio has been nerfed for a long time. It time to change your strategy in team and try other profession.

In my word, long live PvE Mesmers u bring up a good idea. anyone want to try a all mesmer group for the Vizunah square mission? i did it for the first time last night with my monk, we got to the end and died because it turned into chaos with everyone going there own separate directions instead of staying together like we had up to that point. when i play my monk, thats probably the biggest thing i hate when the group gets so spread out im running back and forth just to get close enough to toss in a token heal when most of the time i would just rather let them die for being stupid. im going to get my Mesmer over to Cantha and to the first mission point tonight then ill be ready.

Eaimirth Etaivella

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Aug 2005

Seekers of the Apocalypse

E/

You know...Esurge spike might not be that bad in pve with say...8 mesmers?
8x80=640=all enamies within the area dead

Francis Demeules

Francis Demeules

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Jan 2006

Canada, Qc

[Holy]

Me/Mo

Quote:
Originally Posted by Eaimirth Etaivella
You know...Esurge spike might not be that bad in pve with say...8 mesmers?
8x80=640=all enamies within the area dead They must have over 80 energy thought. Afflicted Warrior have 25-35 energy each.

gragman

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Apr 2006

[Oous]

A/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Francis Demeules
They must have over 80 energy thought. Afflicted Warrior have 25-35 energy each. 64 Energy Francis, with the skill balance its now 8 energy loss @ 10hp per energy

Still doesn't change the fact that Warriors only have 25-35 energy though

But to counter that - you just have to ensure you target the casters - as the E-Surge only draws energy from the target IIRC.

Quote: "Target foe loses 3-8 Energy. For each point of Energy lost, that foe and all foes in the area take 10 damage."

In theory then, you could E-Surge the mobs to death, as long as they are close enough together.

Evilsod

Evilsod

Banned

Join Date: Mar 2006

England

Lievs Death Squad [LDS]

Quote:
Originally Posted by R_Frost
u bring up a good idea. anyone want to try a all mesmer group for the Vizunah square mission? i did it for the first time last night with my monk, we got to the end and died because it turned into chaos with everyone going there own separate directions instead of staying together like we had up to that point. when i play my monk, thats probably the biggest thing i hate when the group gets so spread out im running back and forth just to get close enough to toss in a token heal when most of the time i would just rather let them die for being stupid. im going to get my Mesmer over to Cantha and to the first mission point tonight then ill be ready. Gotta love been a monk, last nights B/P team to FoW where i told them i was finishing my dinner off. So they lure the next group, i just looked up, then went back to eating. 3 of them died but its there own damn fault!

E-surge spikes would never work though sadly. The moment you see a hoarde of 8 mesmers coming towards you (specially if the build is well known) you'd scatter. Would be amusing as hell though vs a Ward team
A group of 8 players stuck in a ward, 1 massive E-surge on the eles and they all drop

Oh you meant PvE Nah still wouldn't, the enemies health is way higher than you could surge away.

R_Frost

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Jan 2006

California

Me/

Quote:
Originally Posted by gragman
Still doesn't change the fact that Warriors only have 25-35 energy though just dump empathy on the low energy enemy first(warriors, assassins, rangers) before e-surging them seeing while your surging them they will be attacking. whatever e-surge cant do empathy will take care of the rest.

Evilsod

Evilsod

Banned

Join Date: Mar 2006

England

Lievs Death Squad [LDS]

Quote:
Originally Posted by R_Frost
just dump empathy on the low energy enemy first(warriors, assassins, rangers) before e-surging them seeing while your surging them they will be attacking. whatever e-surge cant do empathy will take care of the rest. E-surge is a really crappy skill for PvE though... Its just a waste of an elite.

Eaimirth Etaivella

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Aug 2005

Seekers of the Apocalypse

E/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Francis Demeules
They must have over 80 energy thought. Afflicted Warrior have 25-35 energy each. What the hell is with you guys? I never said surge the same target.

Avarre

Avarre

Bubblegum Patrol

Join Date: Dec 2005

Singapore Armed Forces

If you're balling up targets to make the use of elite and timing worth it, you'd be better off playing a different class. Surge is a mighty 4 damage/second, surpassable by presear characters.

Eaimirth Etaivella

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Aug 2005

Seekers of the Apocalypse

E/

Most enamies are balled up to begin with; with surge's large aoe you wouldn't have to bother. I'm not saying other characters couldn't do it better, or that shatter hex couldn't do it better, I'm saying that the skill is overlooked.

Evilsod

Evilsod

Banned

Join Date: Mar 2006

England

Lievs Death Squad [LDS]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Eaimirth Etaivella
Most enamies are balled up to begin with; with surge's large aoe you wouldn't have to bother. I'm not saying other characters couldn't do it better, or that shatter hex couldn't do it better, I'm saying that the skill is overlooked. As what? A primary damage dealing skill? Its main use is to remove energy from a target, the large area damage is merely a bonus. Your not going to kill anyone with it purposely (except possibly the target). It just adds pressure on monks. Specially using Mind Wrack to make Focus Swapping slightly more dangerous.

Eaimirth Etaivella

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Aug 2005

Seekers of the Apocalypse

E/

This is a pve thread heh; what else could I be refering to? I can't possably imagin a mesmer trying to run a monk out of energy without spirit shackles.

Ahh and for "a non-primary damage dealing skill" it does 80 damage, ignores armor, has the 2nd largest aoe in the game, and has a cast time of 1 second due to fast casting. Sure it may not be intended to deal damage, I'm saying that 8 of these firing off at a target area would idealy kill everyone in that area. Would 8 earthquakes be better at this? More than likely yes. Will the surges still kill everything in the area? Also likely yes.

People need to stop thinking what the "primary use" of what a skill is supposed to do, and look at what a skill "can do"
-Was protective spirit supposed to make 55s? No
-Was there supposed to be a MFactory build? No
-Were warriors supposed to run forge? No

All of these cases prove my point I believe, outside the box thinkers are what made these builds/strategies powerful-and unless we consider all possabilities then we are not being wise.