Mesmer Elite Spec - Oneiromancer

Oneiromancers are mesmers who've learned their way around the realm of dreams. This may lull you into the false notion that they're all sparkles, butterflies, and niceness. Sparkles and butterflies? Yes. Nice? No. Oneiromancers are terrible to behold. Efficient killers, they use their mental magic to put foes to sleep. From there, they torment their victim from their dreams and abuse this vulnerable state to line up deadly attacks. They turn your dreams into nightmares and feed off of your happy thoughts until there's nothing left and you succumb. Dreams can be very real.

The Oneiromancer is a medium range class that focuses on putting enemies in vulnerable situations, and feeding off their vulnerability as well as boons to strengthen themselves and assassinate their foes, all in a fanciful bag of uniqueness and oddity. They function primarily as ranged burst damage dealers whose unique strength is their unique control effects, which they heavily rely on to allow their burst in the first place. They lack support and mobility, and aren't strong in defense either. They do however have options for personal utility as well as the option to copy boons from foes to themselves. Oneiromancers' illusions become images summoned directly into their foes' minds, becoming Figments. Figments function as tools for psychological torment instead of deception, and appear different to the mesmer as ethereal dream like entities.

They bring a new dynamic status effect to the game with their ability to make foes fall Asleep. Sleep prevents using skills and movement, and cannot be stun broken, however, it's always prefaced by the enemy being Drowsy. Drowsiness does nothing itself, but can be removed though stun breaking or dodging to avoid falling Alseep. When a Sleeping target suffers a direct attack from the mesmer, they are Woken Up and Sleep is removed. Sleeping and Drowsy targets can't gain Drowsiness from the same source until free from Drowsiness or Sleep from that source. Stability blocks Sleep, but not Drowsiness. Drowsiness and Sleep both affect break bar targets, but only Sleep deals break bar damage. Even though enemies with break bars aren't knocked out by Sleep, the effect is still removed and they are still Woken Up by direct attacks from the Mesmer. Figments can only be shattered while their targets are asleep, using new empowered Dream Shatters.

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Mechanic: Dream ShattersOneiromancers insert their illusions into the dreams of their victims, instead becoming Figments that wreak havoc on their subconscious mind. Oneiromancers don't rely on deception, and their Figments don't look identical to them, instead becoming odd and ethereal entities that can only be shattered while their target is asleep. Aside from this, Oneiromancers lose Distortion. However, the effects their Figments have when shattered are greatly increased. Figments' attacks are mental, and don't wake sleeping targets. Dream Shatters however, do.

Skill 1: Lull -
30s recharge, 900 range, missileCast an ethereal curse that swaps Figments' targeting to the target and makes them Drowsy for 1.75 seconds before falling Asleep for 1.5 seconds. (Master of Fragmentation: causes slow for 1.75 seconds.)

Skill 2: Dream Wrack -20s rechargeYour Figments torment a foe from their dreams, dealing damage to a sleeping target and applying 2 confusion for 4s per Figment shattered. (Master of Fragmentation: higher Crit chance.)

Skill 3: Dream Thief -
25s rechargeYour Figments siphon happiness from your sleeping target's dreams, copying 2 boons - or granting you 5 might for 3s if they have no boons - and inflicting 1s of Weakness per Figment shattered. (Master of Fragmentation: copies 3 boons per Figment.)

Skill 4: Bad Dream -
35s rechargeYour Figments become nightmares, fearing foes for 0.5 seconds and applying 5 vulnerability for 10s per Figment shattered. (Master of Fragmentation: applies 2 torment for 4 seconds per Figment.)

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Weapon: Shortbow

Skill 1: Flutter Shot -900 range, missileFire 2 bolts, applying 3s of vulnerability. Fire a 3rd arrow when attacking a confused enemy.

Skill 2: Wake-up Call -8s recharge, 900 range, missileFire 3 missiles, plus one for every existing Figment, inflicting confusion for 3s per missile and summoning a Figment. Targeting an enemy that can't use skills at the moment causes all missiles to critically strike.

Skill 3: Dream Eater -20s recharge, 900 range, missileFire a salvo of 5 bolts at your target, plus additional bolts per unique boon on them up to 5 extra, and gain might for 3s per bolt that hits. Summon a Phantasmal Figment that repeats the attack.

Skill 4: Twilight Shower -25s recharge, 900 range, ground target aoeShower the target area in dusk, blinding enemies for 2s with each of 3 pulses over 2s before Dazing for 0.75s and dealing damage on the final hit.

Skill 5: Lullaby -25s recharge, 900 range, missileFire a dreamy curse in a skillshot that makes the first target it hits Drowsy for 2s and weakening for 4s before dealing damage and putting them to sleep for 1.5s.

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Utility Type: Cantrips

Rise and Shine -20s recharge, self targetedHeal yourself and break out of stuns. Heal more and daze nearby foes for 1s if you do.

Drowsing Dust -30s recharge, 900 range, targeted, unblockableDust the target enemy causing them to become Drowsy for 3s, during which they are slowed and made vulnerable over 3s before being put to sleep for 1.75s.

Nightmare -25s recharge, 1500 range, player based aoeDeal damage to all enemies sleeping because of you, inflicting weakness for 3s and 3 torment for 5s, and up to 5 extra stacks per unique boon.

Sleep Walk -25s recharge, self targetedShroud yourself in twilight, gaining stealth and superspeed for 2.5 seconds and gaining 5 might for 5s and 1.5 seconds and chaos armor when revealed. Breaks Stuns.

Dream Feast -18s recharge, 1200 range, targetedConsume up to 6 of a sleeping foe's boons, dealing damage that's increased per unique boon. Lose 2 conditions if at least one boon is consumed, and up to 4 maximum per unique boon consumed. This attack does not Wake the target.

Night Terror -75s recharge, 100 degree cone, 750 range, player based aoeUnleash a wave that fears foes for 1.5s in a cone and applies 5 confusion for 6s, increased per unique boons on affected targets up to an extra 5. Sleeping targets are dealt damage and receive 5 torment for 6s as well.

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Traits:

Minor 1: Dream Reader - Gain access to Dream Shatters and Cantrips, illusions become Figments that no longer look like you and are only shatterable while their target is asleep.

Adept 1: Dream Catcher - Waking a foe grants you 3 might for 5s and mimics 2 of their boons.

Adept 2: Dream Logic - Confuse enemies for 4s per boon copied from them or removed from them.

Adept 3: Narcolepsy - Lull recharges 20% faster if Drowsiness or Sleep is broken and removes 2 boons before putting to sleep.

Minor 2: Dozing- Drowsiness applies 5s of Vulnerability 4 times a second while active, and reduces movement speed by 33%.

Master 1: Lucid Cantrips - Cantrips have 10% reduced recharges. Putting a foe to sleep refunds 15% of the remaining cooldown on your Cantrips.

Master 2: Twilight Aspect - Daze applies weakness and blind for 2s when it expires or is removed. Drowsiness applies this when broken out of.

Master 3: Sleepy Head - Sleep effects last 0.5s longer. Enemies under the effects of sleep gain 4s of confusion every 0.5s.

Minor 3: Rude awakening - Waking a foe Dazes for 0.5s and applies 3 confusion for 4s.

Grandmaster 1: Phantasmagoria - Phantasmal Figments have their attacks refreshed when their target falls asleep. Phantasmal Figments take 25% reduced damage from their targets.

Grandmaster 2: Surrealism - Shortbow Skills have 20% reduced recharges. Flutter Shot confuses Blinded enemies for 1.75s.

Grandmaster 3: Sleep Deprivation - Dream shatters deal extra physical damage over 3s per Figment shattered. Shattering grants 75 ferocity per Figment shattered for 3s.

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Superior Rune of the Oneiromancer:+25 Power+35 Condition Damage+50 Power+65 Condition Damage+100 Power, gain Ferocity equal to 10% of your Power for 3s when you Stun, Daze, or Sleep an enemy.

5/5 Fantastic.

I also have that damn cutscene narration from Witcher 3 for the haunted house story quest stuck in my head when I see the word Oneiromancer... I happened to have a particular save around that point which I must have reloaded dozens of times for one reason or another xD

That's cute and all, but you have to make it work with core mesmer traits and make it useful in all game modes.

For example F1 has to be a direct damage skill, F3 has to hit 3 targets and F4 has to be a defensive skill, so you can make it reflect projectiles. (Master of Fragmentation).

If I understand it correctly, this spec is all about CC and then bursting an enemy down, potentially being OP for PvP, but what about PvE and specifically bosses with breakbars? A lot of the traits also benefit from foes having boons. This is pretty strong in PvP, where almost everyone has boons active, most classes can't even do anything about it, they just passively gain them through minor traits. In PvE this is different and a lot of traditional enemies don't gain any boons.

Skill 4: Twilight Shower -Shower the target area in dusk, blinding enemies with each pulse before Dazing for 1 second and dealing damage on the final hit.Master 2: Twilight Aspect - Blind foes you weaken. Weaken foes you Daze.You realize how broken this would be with Ineptitude?

Dream Feast - Consume a sleeping foe's boons, gaining health and might and dealing damage and applying confusion that's increased per unique boon consumed.Why is there a second heal ability on a utility slot?

When a Sleeping target uses a stunbreak or suffers a direct attack from the mesmer, they are woken up and Dazed instead for the remaining duration.So my ally can fully damage a sleeping target without them waking up and even if they use a stun break, they have to use another one, so they can attack again?You can chain Lull into Lullaby and then Drowsing Dust and while these skills have a "build-up", you can just let this buildup run while the sleep is active?This would be a fun meta...

@Bod.8261 said:That's cute and all, but you have to make it work with core mesmer traits and make it useful in all game modes.

For example F1 has to be a direct damage skill, F3 has to hit 3 targets and F4 has to be a defensive skill, so you can make it reflect projectiles. (Master of Fragmentation).

If I understand it correctly, this spec is all about CC and then bursting an enemy down, potentially being OP for PvP, but what about PvE and specifically bosses with breakbars? A lot of the traits also benefit from foes having boons. This is pretty strong in PvP, where almost everyone has boons active, most classes can't even do anything about it, they just passively gain them through minor traits. In PvE this is different and a lot of traditional enemies don't gain any boons.

Skill 4: Twilight Shower -Shower the target area in dusk, blinding enemies with each pulse before Dazing for 1 second and dealing damage on the final hit.Master 2: Twilight Aspect - Blind foes you weaken. Weaken foes you Daze.You realize how broken this would be with Ineptitude?

Dream Feast - Consume a sleeping foe's boons, gaining health and might and dealing damage and applying confusion that's increased per unique boon consumed.Why is there a second heal ability on a utility slot?

When a Sleeping target uses a stunbreak or suffers a direct attack from the mesmer, they are woken up and Dazed instead for the remaining duration.So my ally can fully damage a sleeping target without them waking up and even if they use a stun break, they have to use another one, so they can attack again?You can chain Lull into Lullaby and then Drowsing Dust and while these skills have a "build-up", you can just let this buildup run while the sleep is active?This would be a fun meta...

Balance Update

There are SO many reasons why this would be SO insanely and utterly broken.

@ArmageddonAsh.6430 said:There are SO many reasons why this would be SO insanely and utterly broken.Hehe. Good. Don't take balance too seriously this is supposed to be fun. Balance has been specified and updated in areas though.

Balance has been updated and clarified.

Sleep prevents using skills and movement, and cannot be stun broken, however, it's always prefaced by the enemy being Drowsy. Drowsiness does nothing itself, but can be stunbroken to avoid falling Alseep. When a Sleeping target suffers a direct attack from the mesmer, they are Woken Up and Dazed instead for half of the remaining duration. Sleeping targets can't gain Drowsiness from the same source until Sleep is broken. Stability blocks Sleep, but not Drowsiness. Drowsiness and Sleep both affect break bar targets, but only Sleep deals break bar damage. Even though enemies with break bars aren't knocked out by Sleep, the effect is still removed and they are still Woken Up by direct attacks from the Mesmer.

That's suitable for PvE now given some number tweaks, even though it will probably end up being played as a condi-no-shatter-spec again.

For PvP I still think this is broken. Few classes have that many stun-breaks and you have a short window to use it. Once you're hit by sleep, it's pretty much over.Lull can be affected by 2 traits, bringing it down to only 13 seconds recharge, along with a possible 15 seconds Lullaby. That is more than enough opportunities for a fellow roamer to burst a helpless target. Even in a 1v1 you can let conditions tick, let figments attack or shatter them for free damage.

Even if you heavily increased these recharges (think of Diversions 38s für Lull, 35+ für Lullaby and remove Drowsing Dust), the mechanic itself is still broken and the purpose of the spec would be lost to an extent.Maybe change the effect to a kind of daydream that does not CC the target at all, but still opens them to shatters and other burst combos? This way the spec could be mechanicely the same in PvE and PvP.

@Bod.8261 said:

Sleep prevents using skills and movement, and cannot be stun broken, however, it's always prefaced by the enemy being Drowsy. Drowsiness does nothing itself, but can be stunbroken to avoid falling Alseep. When a Sleeping target suffers a direct attack from the mesmer, they are Woken Up and Dazed instead for half of the remaining duration. Sleeping targets can't gain Drowsiness from the same source until Sleep is broken. Stability blocks Sleep, but not Drowsiness. Drowsiness and Sleep both affect break bar targets, but only Sleep deals break bar damage. Even though enemies with break bars aren't knocked out by Sleep, the effect is still removed and they are still Woken Up by direct attacks from the Mesmer.

What if dodge rolling also removed Drowsiness?Sleep is a difficult effect to work with in games. Usually it's either a stun but worse, since it breaks if they take damage from any source, or something like the new champion coming to League where it's broken, but deals damage. Since the Oneiromancer is so heavily based around putting to sleep and waking foes up, if it were damage from any source it would be annoying as all hell and would warrant buffs to the length of the sleep and would probably be really dissatisfying for the mesmer. Even if being woken up by allies triggered the appropriate traits it would still be pretty lame to be using your control to line up your burst, but for it to be broken by Zerg and AOEs.

Here's the edit Im thinking. Drowsiness prefaces sleep and can be broken by stunbreak or dodge rolling to avoid sleep, sleep in an unbreakable stun that's broken if the sleeping target takes direct damage from the mesmer. Move some trait functionality around and create a trait that makes sleep apply a very brief Daze when broken. Probably on a minor. Additionally, extend recharge on Lull and give it a projectile that can be dodged or blocked or even reflected. Lullaby can get a few seconds tacked on too and instead Drowsing Dust becomes a single target instant Drowsiness into Sleep spell that has a longer drowsiness period, but no projectile. Also, the Oneiromancer totally relies on Sleep in every aspect. It's the main draw to the class over strictly damage. If they take all 3 abilities and try to put you to sleep, and you break every one through 2 dodges and a stunbreak, that's it. Drowsy and Asleep would be very loud visually and you have at least 1.5 seconds every time to notice the effect on you and use your dodge or Stunbreak to get out. If you don't then you deserve to be put to sleep. If Sleep wasn't you have more options to proactively avoid the stun, and the stun can't last an entire combo from the Mesmer, however once it's on you it can't be broken. That's not too broken as a mechanic in my eyes. Sleep is probably less of an offence than signet of Domination. The fact you can have three is mute now considering you can have no stun breaks but still be capable of avoiding 2 through dodges, or all of them if you have other blocks, evades, and deflects or 1 stunbreak which you'll likely have. Lullaby can be avoided simply by moving around since it's a skillshot. There's plenty of counter play to sleep to avoid the lack of ability to be broken by anything but the mesmer, which they almost certainly will before it can even be considered a CC.

Balance has been updated and clarified and the Superior Rune of the Oneiromamcer has been added.

Overall, I feel this is a fun direction for an Elite Spec. One thing I could see needing fixed is having the shatters work for Master of Fragmentation. You could have the "order" of the shatters changed, such that Lull is the replacement for Misdirection and so forth.

@Dondagora.9645 said:Overall, I feel this is a fun direction for an Elite Spec. One thing I could see needing fixed is having the shatters work for Master of Fragmentation. You could have the "order" of the shatters changed, such that Lull is the replacement for Misdirection and so forth.

The plan was always that master of misdirection would affect the dream shatters differently. I put Lull as f1 since it's like the shade summon for the scourge. It's not a shatter itself but you use it to enable Shatters.

I hope the next elite finally reworks shatters into something else. Maybe even a fast casting line.

@R E F L H E X.8413 said:I hope the next elite finally reworks shatters into something else. Maybe even a fast casting line.

That could be interesting. I just went for a way to change the illusion and shatter mechanic to match both the theme and gameplay niche of the Oneiromancer.

I like this idea of lulling people to sleep, do you think an interesting mechanic would be a stacking effect which pushes them closer to sleep each time you daze a foe (similar to a Deadshot building up hatred you build up drowsiness). Nice theme and idea.

So your figments do no damage to a woken target- do they just disappear or do they stand around picking their noses whilst waiting for their target to fall asleep again? Also, if a sleeping target is woken when the mes does direct damage, what is the mes doing when their target is asleep- waiting for their cd's? I think i like the idea, but it seems to draw a lot of inspiration from pokemon (looking at you, gengar).Finally, there doesn't seem to be much survivability- no distort, only 1 condi clear and only 2.5 sec of superspeed (10% uptime) no get-me-out-of-here skills/traits etc. Sounds like necro ^^

@Funky.4861 said:So your figments do no damage to a woken target- do they just disappear or do they stand around picking their noses whilst waiting for their target to fall asleep again? Also, if a sleeping target is woken when the mes does direct damage, what is the mes doing when their target is asleep- waiting for their cd's? I think i like the idea, but it seems to draw a lot of inspiration from pokemon (looking at you, gengar).Finally, there doesn't seem to be much survivability- no distort, only 1 condi clear and only 2.5 sec of superspeed (10% uptime) no get-me-out-of-here skills/traits etc. Sounds like necro ^^

Figments and Phantasmal Figments attack normally while their target is awake, but they can only be shattered while their target is asleep.

When the memser's target is asleep the mesmer would ideally be waiting for sleep related traits like Sleepy Head to take maximum effect before waking, waiting for a cd to come up, or even just closing / creating distance.

The idea was that mesmers lost out on a lot of personal defense with becoming Oneiromancers. They have more to do with the opponents mind than visual distortions that would help with evasion. With the amount of disables, condis, burst damage, and boon copying or self might application they would lose things like blocks and Distortion as a trade off. Their personal defense is their CC, and being able to grab protection, resistance, and stability from enemies. Other than that their "defense" is being able to kill you rather quickly from a CCd state, being able to readily combo you from Sleep. Sleep Walk was an exception, and often would be used to engage due to its might application. The spec is assassin like in nature.

Small Balance Update.

Like the idea, but I dislike the shortbow as the weapon and it overall needs to be looked over again to balance alongside our core traits..

@Tseison.4659 said:Like the idea, but I dislike the shortbow as the weapon and it overall needs to be looked over again to balance alongside our core traits..

Would've done longbow if there wasn't a short bow skin called the dreamer. I was sort of obligated to use it, but I wanted longbow.

Balance update.

Interesting concept, it would be hell to balance to be sure.

Also either bow works imo, even without the dreamer, and after the bow phantasms in the reliquary of Lyssa, I do hope the next mesmer elite is an archer.

Hmm. Fun concept if it was in another game, but I can't get behind the functionality once it's put in context. The spec doesn't seem to account for existing traits, or even all game modes, and is simply not possible to balance. There's no middle ground on this, when most of the skills are only useful when used in conjunction with an overpowered amount of crowd-control. Tame the cc to any respectable level, and the rest of the build falls flat.

Thematic note: mesmer illusions are already figments planted in the enemy's imagination. That's why they disappear when the enemy dies. I don't see a real mechanical change to illusions themselves spelled out, so the rename and aesthetic change seems unnecessary.

I see the work and vision you put in this, and it seems really neat at first glance. Keep trying. Just remember to zoom out and put everything in context.