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Guild Wars 2 |OT2| Funding An MMO Entirely On Quaggan Backpacks
- Thread starter Teknopathetic
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Oh man, got super busy at work, sorry.
So a lot of helpful Mesmer advice has been given. Definitely agree with the concept that you'll wind up on the ground and have to get a kill from Downed state many times before you reach the late 30s and 40s.
To make leveling easiest on yourself, you'll probably want to go with Staff and Sword/Pistol or Sword/Focus. You can melt stuff with conditions with staff and three clones up; if you don't have it yet, 5 points in Illusions gets you Illusionist's Celerity, which is a trait that absolutely every Mesmer needs. When you get 20 points in Illusions you can get Illusionary Elasticity and make Staff even more effective. Sword has excellent clone production with Illusionary Leap and Blurred Frenzy is one of the absolute best skills in the game, and with the trait Blade Training you can reduce its already laughable cooldown.
Mesmer healing skills suck. Focus on keeping yourself alive by having 3 clones alive as much of the time as possible, and only shatter to kill/end a fight until you're comfortable quickly producing a new batch immediately after shattering.
Important early-game utilities are Decoy, Mirror Images, Blink, Null Field and Feedback. Mantras are very difficult to use without constructing your whole build around them; I don't recommend trying them. The Elite Time Warp will rarely leave your bar in PvE once you unlock it.
As you advance, you want to decide on what kind of build you'll like to have. The two extremes are "Shatter" builds- which barely care about Clones/Phantasms at all, and merely use them as ammunition for constant shattering with as many bonuses to doing so as possible- and "Legion" builds, which treat your summons as valuable allies and a primary source of DPS. But one of the most amazing things about Mesmers is that all kinds of in-between builds are viable as well. I think that all the mesmer weapons are really great. Conventional wisdom is that scepter and torch are underpowered, but I actually like both quite a lot.
See what you like and stick with it- the payoff is absolutely incredible. A skilled Mesmer played at 80 is unlike anything I've experienced in any RPG.
So a lot of helpful Mesmer advice has been given. Definitely agree with the concept that you'll wind up on the ground and have to get a kill from Downed state many times before you reach the late 30s and 40s.
To make leveling easiest on yourself, you'll probably want to go with Staff and Sword/Pistol or Sword/Focus. You can melt stuff with conditions with staff and three clones up; if you don't have it yet, 5 points in Illusions gets you Illusionist's Celerity, which is a trait that absolutely every Mesmer needs. When you get 20 points in Illusions you can get Illusionary Elasticity and make Staff even more effective. Sword has excellent clone production with Illusionary Leap and Blurred Frenzy is one of the absolute best skills in the game, and with the trait Blade Training you can reduce its already laughable cooldown.
Mesmer healing skills suck. Focus on keeping yourself alive by having 3 clones alive as much of the time as possible, and only shatter to kill/end a fight until you're comfortable quickly producing a new batch immediately after shattering.
Important early-game utilities are Decoy, Mirror Images, Blink, Null Field and Feedback. Mantras are very difficult to use without constructing your whole build around them; I don't recommend trying them. The Elite Time Warp will rarely leave your bar in PvE once you unlock it.
As you advance, you want to decide on what kind of build you'll like to have. The two extremes are "Shatter" builds- which barely care about Clones/Phantasms at all, and merely use them as ammunition for constant shattering with as many bonuses to doing so as possible- and "Legion" builds, which treat your summons as valuable allies and a primary source of DPS. But one of the most amazing things about Mesmers is that all kinds of in-between builds are viable as well. I think that all the mesmer weapons are really great. Conventional wisdom is that scepter and torch are underpowered, but I actually like both quite a lot.
See what you like and stick with it- the payoff is absolutely incredible. A skilled Mesmer played at 80 is unlike anything I've experienced in any RPG.
Humans are essentially the villains of Guild Wars 2. This whole Elder Dragon shebang is a misdirect.
It's just like every badly written environmental movie! Humans were the real bad guys all along! This aside, I think we need a Norn/Asura buddy cop arc.
This interpretation is acceptable.
Squall ASF
Member
Hello friend, welcome to the fantastic class of Mesmer
By far the safest weapon to use when you're first starting out is the staff. It is known as a defensive weapon though it has nice offensive potential later on if you trait for it. In the meantime, I'd say GS and Staff should be your starting weapons until you get a bit more powerful and skillful with the Mesmer play style. Sword and off hand is definitely the way to go when you get to upper levels but for now, GS and Staff will give you ranged abilities so you can keep your distance while at a fragile low level.
There are several viable build types that you've probably already read about. The two most popular are Shatter builds and Phantasm builds. If you think you will go the shatter route, you can start shattering your clones right off the bat to get the technique down but you may also find it more useful to keep your illusions out to distract enemy attention and gain up on an enemy early on. Until you tap some of the useful traits, you'll have limited power to begin with and it will take a bit longer to take foes down solo compared to some of the other classes. Take heart as I did it solo and it's very doable, just take your time and develop techniques that work for you. I'm keeping the builds portion here brief because you really don't have to decide until you have enough trait points to shape your build, traits are the heart of it.
As for traits, I don't care who you are, what build you want, what weapons you use, no exception put the first five points into Illusions for the amazing minor trait. It will allow you to use ALL illusion skills more often (so both clones and phantasms). After that, I recommend Dueling as it will give you the most bang for your buck the first 20 pts in a trait line between the sharper images minor trait and the clone on dodge major trait (space the name at the moment). You'll be able to get the clone on dodge trait at lvl 40 and it's the primary reason people say that Mesmer is rough until 40, that trait can be a game changer depending on your build but is definitely extremely useful when you first hit 40. In the meantime, the Dueling line increases your max precision and crit damage which IMO are the most important stats for a Mesmer. You'll likely have a healthy dose of Power because of stat combinations on armor and weapons, etc. but Precision should be the largest focus as Mesmers are built to be a crit machine rather than raw power. Your phantasms will take on your base stats so just imagine the potential damage output from the ones that do several hits in one attack like iWarden or iDuelist when you have high critical chance and damage. Now the one exception to this is if you want to go full condition build where you can take condition damage over crit damage and you'd benefit from points in the Domination line for the increase in condition duration. If your going Shatter or Phantasm build though, focus on your precision and crit stats for equipment. Once you have lots of trait points to play with, you need to decide what you want your build to be and that will dictate how you spend the rest of your points. If you choose the Phantasm build like me, you need to go heavy into Inspiration but if you go Shatter, you need to go heavy into Illusions. You'll figure out what play style you prefer by the time you reach the level where you have points to play with. Reading the all the traits will show you how they harmonize together and you'll be able to discern which way you want to go.
When you get to a higher level, I'd be happy to discuss weapons again and what traits work really well with a specific weapon. I'm getting long winded so I'll shut up now haha
NameGenerated
Who paid you to grab Dr. Pavel?
I joined the guild and played for 2 hours wondering why 30+ people were on and nobody said a word. Didn't realized you had to hit "represent" lol.
Since we set up the Treasure Trove for the Transfer Fund, we inadvertently locked withdraws from the tabs members are usually able to withdraw from. We'll fix this ASAP (I'm waiting for a GM to get on so we can work out the permissions without any foul ups) and have bank access open for everyone again. I apologize for the error, I should be on for most of the night so whisper me directly (at Professor Retro) if there's something you want and I will mail it.
Yeah, when I invite people, I always tell them that. One of the downsides of having multiple guilds is that you have to specify which guild you want to be in. Sorry about that =\
Yeah, when I invite people, I always tell them that. One of the downsides of having multiple guilds is that you have to specify which guild you want to be in. Sorry about that =\
NobleXenon
Member
I think they should redo the whole stats thing. I would rename the "Unused Upgrade Slot" to "Unused Upgrade Suffix Slot." I'm not sure if this the way currently, but these slots should only be found on Greens, Rares, and Exotics. They should then add an "Intermediate Slot" for Rares and Exotics that boosts utility stats, such as magic find, gold find, karma gain, and guild influence gain, and surveying boost. The game already has the prefix stats, such as Carrion, Berserker's, Cleric's, etc; but need to add more types.
They should also have a hidden infusion slot for Exotic body armor that could give additional Divinity-like stat gains including agony resistance. They should take the design from GW1 and have "Spectral Essence," whether acquired from Living Story or crafted using mist essence and apply it to the armor. This way they never have to create a separate tier of new body armor for five races plus three class types.
A lot of what was said feels like what I've read before, which is good since it gives me a good direction and perspective on Mesmer. I respecced and went 5 points into illusion and haven't put points elsewhere. I still cannot decide how I want to go with my Mesmer just yet. I feel like I should take some short videos of how I tend to play naturally(with a little guidance) and post 'em as subject matter. As for builds I've seen...
And this: https://forum-en.guildwars2.com/forum/professions/mesmer/Lazy-Kai-s-Guide-to-PvE-Leveling-Guide
Two links, three different builds. Lazy Kai's build intrigued me since, well, I can be lazy. It sounds close-ish to the "Illusion Army" build seen in the reddit post Lone_Prodigy linked(Thanks!), but does anyone have any extended opinions on them? I know it'll come down more to my personal style of play, and I'd try them all if respeccing my traits didn't break the bank.
Also, I appreciate all the effort that's been put forth in giving me feedback. Thanks guys (and girls?)
Jest Chillin
Member
Don't worry too much about respec's. Everytime you get a new skillbook (which you'll need to unlock the next Tier in your trees) it's use will automatically respec you. So unless you absolutely can't progress at all.. try to scrap by with whatever your spec is until you reach the book. Saves you some cash in the long run.
Oh, nice. I didn't know that, but now I know and knowing is half the battle.
Used that build on my mesmer to level it up, levels went by pretty fast.
So the new Crab Toss minigame is tied in with the duration of the Southsun Living Story arc and therefore is temporary. However, it will have unique rewards tied to it.
https://forum-en.guildwars2.com/forum/livingworld/southsun/Crab-Tossing-A-new-mini-game/1990613
http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/...iah-Cartwright-on-The-Secret-of-Southsun.html
https://forum-en.guildwars2.com/forum/livingworld/southsun/Crab-Tossing-A-new-mini-game/1990613
http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/...iah-Cartwright-on-The-Secret-of-Southsun.html
Came home to a powered-down, severely overheating PC. Everything was completely stable last night. No idea what broke the camel's back while I was at work today, but my PC is completely out of commission for the moment. Gonna be replacing fans at the least. Fun times to be sure!
Just went out and grabbed my laptop from work so I should still be able to kinda play this weekend. I'm downloading the updates now. Man what an unexpected bummer.
Geflato, if nobody's invited you by the time I get on I will be happy to.
Just went out and grabbed my laptop from work so I should still be able to kinda play this weekend. I'm downloading the updates now. Man what an unexpected bummer.
Geflato, if nobody's invited you by the time I get on I will be happy to.
turn your PC off at night!
You want to avoid doing that. The more you turn it off the more wear and tear you put on it when every part has to spin back up. It's better to keep your PC on 24/7 than to turn it off and back on each day. If you can afford the power bill and the noise/light isn't an issue, then keep it on.
Jest Chillin
Member
Yup. My high school computer teacher told me the same thing. He taught classes on building PC's as well as IT stuff like Cisco certification prep classes. He also said that your PC pulls more power per month from shut downs and start ups than it does if you leave it on.
Good stuff. I'm excited to get on to the next arc.
Noisy Ninj4
Member
Mesmer is a lot of fun. It starts picking up and coming together around level 25.
So since the patch Anet has buffed the mobs in the Shelter Camp tunnel DEs to the point of absurdity:
- The Champion Wraith that occasionally spawns is virtually impossible to kill and capable of wiping entire zergs over and over with its AOE lifesteal.
- The Champion Chickens shoot eggs with no discernible animation which one shot you no matter how much HP you have.
- Some of the spiders (that spawn in packs of 20) drop no loot whatsoever.
Also has anyone successfully done Grenth since the patch?
- The Champion Wraith that occasionally spawns is virtually impossible to kill and capable of wiping entire zergs over and over with its AOE lifesteal.
- The Champion Chickens shoot eggs with no discernible animation which one shot you no matter how much HP you have.
- Some of the spiders (that spawn in packs of 20) drop no loot whatsoever.
Also has anyone successfully done Grenth since the patch?
Just a heads up; because the guild bank's permissions are wonky, we had to change the order of things a bit. Lottery deposits now go into the Treasure Trove (Second tab), Immigration donations go to the Deep Cave (Third tab). They are labeled as such in game.
The first tab (Guild Stash) is now open to all players for withdrawl/deposit.
The first tab (Guild Stash) is now open to all players for withdrawl/deposit.
because i finally got enough karma to get my last 2 pieces of grenth armor i'm there quite often.
I've been in 4 sizeable groups since the patch (enough to easily take arah), and all have wiped. I've been checking 3 servers everyday, multiple times a day, to see if the WP in the temple is uncontested and that's NEVER been the case. :/
What about sleep mode?
Does GAF have a guild on the magguma server by chance?
Also, does anyone know a good site for else builds? I can't seem to find one that has more than 1 or 2
Guilds are cross server, and if you are on Magumma you can do practically everything with the guild on SBI by guesting for free. All except wvw.
GAF's neko has an ele guide of sorts. It's kinda of specific for "end-gamey" stuff but figured i should still plug it.
GAF's neko has an ele guide of sorts. It's kinda of specific for "end-gamey" stuff but figured i should still plug it.
Weltall Zero
Member
Ironically, I'm using both right now with my mes, plus a 1H sword; awesome stuff. I really love all mesmer weapons, though; there's no one single one that is not at least "great", and therefore I keep rotating.
The rest of Hawkian's advice matches my thoughts almost to a T, which makes me both much more confident, and also proud that I've more or less "got" the class at level 30.
Hah! You want villanous humans? Try WoW! Not only do they have the biggest jerkass in history as their racial leader, they also look like this:
Seriously, what's with the cleft lip/grimace? It's impossible to make a male human without one!
They also run like they're wearing a full diaper.
While I don't buy the idea that a computer running idle for 12 hours is going to use less energy than when it's under load for a few minutes while booting up the wear and tear part is definitely real. I keep my HTPC on 24/7 but the other desktops are set to go to sleep when idle. I'm less worried about wear since transferring over to SSDs and frankly having the components last a couple weeks more isn't reason enough for me to needlessly burn power 24/7. Heck, my secondary drives end up going to sleep all the time anyways even with the system on it doesn't really affects them. It'll be interesting to see how idle power is affected with Haswell. If they could get system idle power consumption down low enough I'd just keep my machines on but I don't feel we're at that point yet.
How do I go about getting into the GAF guild?
You can post your screenname.#### here or message an officer in game
Katoki
Hawkian
Dhalion
Gojira
others I forget
oktarb
Member
So I picked up my Elementalist last night for a change and ran Molten Facility. Man I was getting dropped left and right. Half the hp as my warrior and wearing magic find gear didn't help. Kinda gets to that earlier point where I felt bad cause I had magic find gear on. Anyway I didn't not like the feeling of going down so much so I repecced.
Enter the Mud Mage. Specced Earth and water. Earth for survival and water for group healing. Kinda love the term. Mud Mage.
I'm just not used to being squishy...
Enter the Mud Mage. Specced Earth and water. Earth for survival and water for group healing. Kinda love the term. Mud Mage.
I'm just not used to being squishy...
Omg who can forget Ashodin? I can invite too (Melisande Storm). Technically Katoki and I are just 'moderators' which means we can invite people.
br0ken_shad0w
Member
The guy who's stolen all the luck from the rest of us.
HappyHunting
Neo Member
So I have gotten a few steps into the Rox and Graham sorylines and I am lovin them so far. I really hope I get enough me time to finish these off along with the dungeon. Thanks for the push Weltall Zero, got me right over the edge.
Mr. Luchador
Member
Human models still look terrible, and often look out of place in screenshots as their super smooth reflective faces stand out far too much. They all look like overgrown pre-teens with silly hair and badly drawn facial hair.
Mr. Luchador
Member
The head doesn't stick out like a sore thumb to you?
This one looks fine as the face is covered.
It sticks out as the part of that image that is not made of black/orange metal or on fire.
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