Back after 14 month break

I came back to GW2 after a 14 month break. I have two accounts, this one and my main account. I bought the core game but don't have either expansion because neither one has anything I'm interested in. I've always enjoyed phantasm builds but never had any interest in shatter builds. I mostly play solo PvE.

Before I stopped playing a year ago, I deleted all my characters on this account and created two new ones. Upon my return, I created 3 more, one of each class that I like. When I started playing the Mesmer, I had to ask myself, "Why does this class suck so badly?". That's when I noticed that phantasms attack ONCE and then vanish. So it looks like phantasm builds are dead. There IS a condi build that's supposed to be a lot of fun. All I have to do is buy an expansion I have no desire to get and then I can do the kind of things I was able to do previously. Thank you very much Anet. Anyway, I deleted my low level Mesmer on this account and 2 of the 3 on my main account. I would have deleted the third but she had two crafts maxed. Oh well. There are still 4 classes I like.

Why do you keep deleting your characters? That doesn't exactly show stability or any attachment to the game.

This is the first time mesmer can do some solid power dps in pve. So no, you don't need to play condi, you can play power chrono. If you enjoyed summoning 3 phantasms and afking, then I'm afreaid this is no longer possible, but now power chrono has very good damage and phantasms are still a big part of it, even as 2-hit (with Chronophantasma) burst attacks.

@RabbitUp.8294 said:Why do you keep deleting your characters? That doesn't exactly show stability or any attachment to the game.

This is the first time mesmer can do some solid power dps in pve. So no, you don't need to play condi, you can play power chrono. If you enjoyed summoning 3 phantasms and afking, then I'm afreaid this is no longer possible, but now power chrono has very good damage and phantasms are still a big part of it, even as 2-hit (with Chronophantasma) burst attacks.

As I said above, I don't have either expansion and have no desire to. If I was a cynic, I'd say they deliberately messed up the skills and traits to force you to get useable ones in the expansions. I don't feel I should have to buy an expansion to keep a character playable. As for deleting characters, the part of this game I enjoy is leveling characters to level 80. BEING level 80 isn't much fun. Anyway, I have one of each class to level 80 in my main account, even the classes I hate. I don't need any extras. The other two Mesmers were mostly for porting.

@Keegan.2964 said:

@RabbitUp.8294 said:Why do you keep deleting your characters? That doesn't exactly show stability or any attachment to the game.

This is the first time mesmer can do some solid power dps in pve. So no, you don't need to play condi, you can play power chrono. If you enjoyed summoning 3 phantasms and afking, then I'm afreaid this is no longer possible, but now power chrono has very good damage and phantasms are still a big part of it, even as 2-hit (with Chronophantasma) burst attacks.

Mesmer never had good dps, expansion or no expansion. Play Dueling/Illusions/Domination, sword+sword and greatsword, Signet of the Ether, Phantasmal Disenchanter, Mantra of Pain. You will be doing better damage than before, and more importantly, you will have much better burst to finish fights quickly, instead of having to set your phantasms up everytime. I played this after the patch when I rolled a new mesmer, steamrolled all the content 1-80 and HoT while unlocking chrono.

@RabbitUp.8294 said:Mesmer never had good dps, expansion or no expansion. Play Dueling/Illusions/Domination, sword+sword and greatsword, Signet of the Ether, Phantasmal Disenchanter, Mantra of Pain. You will be doing better damage than before, and more importantly, you will have much better burst to finish fights quickly, instead of having to set your phantasms up everytime. I played this after the patch when I rolled a new mesmer, steamrolled all the content 1-80 and HoT while unlocking chrono.

I'll give it a try.