Where have all the IWs gone?

There used to be loads of them, now I don't see them as often. Spike Rangers seem to be in vogue now evern though they do less damage...

What happened to all those fun loving IWs?

We got hit by Drain/Shatter/Inspired Enchantment, with some NR thrown in for good measure, and we cried.

On the other hand, I have tons of fun running around with IW in the 4v4 random/team arenas.

Yup, I usually bring strip enchantment for that reason. IW usually has to be cast just before entering battle. Right as I see him cast it is when I cast my removal. Now the entire basis of that mesmer's build is screwed up. I love doing that, lol. It's hard to rely on one enchantment in a build.

On another note, whenever I see a me/w, I usually will expect IW. What I don't get is, why be a warrior if you are going to use IW???? Warriors use the attributes, swordsmanship, axe and hammer mastery to do melee damage. The whole point of using IW is so that you don't have to specialize in those areas to do melee damage.

A good IW build is one who uses it secretly. Start out with a want and cast some good hex/degen spells for some initial damage, then as the battle progresses, switch to the sword and cast IW and move in to start ripping them apart unexpectedly.

IWs moved out when NR moved in.

Yeah, the PvE IW mesmer got screwed when they tried to nerf farming by adding more enchantment removal and such to the enemies; the PvP version was screwed with the huge anti-enchantment focus in PvP.