Are mesmers meant for combat?

[Caro.2730]

I mean, mesmerism is not exactly a brute force, right? Most of them stay among nobles being all manipulative with politics, well, human mesmers at least. Not many npc mesmers are seen in combat. Sometimes I feel weird being a commander mesmer story wise. It's like, why would anything be afraid of me? I'm a woman in a long dress running around with a rapier, creating illusions to confuse stuff.

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

@"Caro.2730" said:Not many npc mesmers are seen in combat.

From GW2:

• Kasmeer
• Anise
• Jennah, at some points
• High Inquisitor Xera, a raid boss
• Faolain
• Vilnia Shadowsong, evil shaman of Raven
• Gwen Thackeray, The Goremonger, Feared Among All Charr

And from GW1:

• Soldier Kitah of Cantha
• Minister, and former-soldier, Reiko
• Koro Sagewind of the Ebon Vanguard
• GW1 Core Mesmer Henchman 1; #2; #3; and #4
• Dunham
• Factions Mesmer Henchman 1, #2, and #3
• Odurra
• Norgu

All are fairly competent fighters, and are mesmers.

Being in combat doesn't require brute force. Mesmers utilize trickery and mind fucks to break their opponents in the field.

[Kalavier.1097]

Mesmer is not a frontliner, but more of a support/harasser.

We also see in GW2 mesmers in large numbers among White Mantle Forces, and have to deal with a few particular nasty ones in PS and in other areas, like the one risen mesmer or Faolian.

[ugrakarma.9416]

They are made for love my dear.. make love not wars.

[Trise.2865]

Illusion magic is incredibly powerful. Consider Dungeons and Dragons: since early on, arguably one of the most broken offensive spells in the game is Phantasmal Killer, a 4th level Illusion school spell that offers a simple ultimatum to its victims: make the saving throw... or die. No resistances, no amount of HP, or armor can protect them. Overpower it with your will, be hardy enough to endure... or die instantly.

Granted, an insta-kill spell would be obnoxiously broken in this game, even more so than in-context, but that's the sort of power Mesmers wield.

[ZDragon.3046]

All of the mesmers ive seen lore wise not player character wise seem to be very well off in combat situations even if they dont directly pick up a sword and gut someone with it. They can play a major power role on combat situations without ever getting directly face to face.

To be honest with you if i lived in the word of Tyria Jennah would terrify me. Its mind blowing to realize how powerful of a mesmer she really is. Mesmers are literally some of the most potentially overpowered users of magic from a lore perspective and its shown time and time again. cough xera....

I would say with ease that they could be very strong combatants if they really aspired to do so.

[Tremor.7481]

Being good in a fight doesn't seem to be tied to how you do it, and skill and power, even in magic, don't seem to be directly related. Though top mesmers have pulled off impressive non-combat feats of illusion and masking (see, anything Jennah does not directly related to politicking).

Kas is generally considered (in story) pretty good for a mesmer and is more notable for her skill at detecting illusions, dealing with liars and other mesmers, and her own illusions but doesn't seem to be considered one of Dragon Watch's top combatants. This is a guild that is generally considered more than a match for an alerted enemy fortification with even a few members, so that may be seriously relative.

Trahearne, for example, doesn't seem to be THAT powerful a necromancer despite the Firstborn mystique, as opposed to being extremely skilled in detecting and countering Zhaitan's version of his school of magic. There's several times in the story he explicitly relies on the Commander to handle the fighting aspects, or take the lead in a combat situation, and as NPCS go, he's not bad in a scrap.

Tyria's dangerous though, you're outside a city, you're probably fighting at some point.

[Leonidrex.5649]

@Konig Des Todes.2086 said:

@"Caro.2730" said:Not many npc mesmers are seen in combat.

From GW2:

• Kasmeer
• Anise
• Jennah, at some points
• High Inquisitor Xera,
  a raid boss
• Faolain
• Vilnia Shadowsong, evil shaman of Raven
• Gwen Thackeray, The Goremonger, Feared Among All Charr

And from GW1:

• Soldier Kitah of Cantha
• Minister, and former-soldier, Reiko
• Koro Sagewind of the Ebon Vanguard
• GW1 Core Mesmer Henchman 1
  ;
  #2
  ;
  #3
  ; and
  #4
• Dunham
• Factions Mesmer Henchman 1
  ,
  #2
  , and
  #3
• Odurra
• Norgu

All are fairly competent fighters, and are mesmers.

Being in combat doesn't require brute force. Mesmers utilize trickery and mind kitten to break their opponents in the field.

not everyone has to fight with an axe to be a fighter, immagine having competent mesmer prtal entire army into enemy capital. why siege if you can just blink inside and open the gates? or mass invis and assassinate the king.

[draxynnic.3719]

@"Caro.2730" said:I mean, mesmerism is not exactly a brute force, right? Most of them stay among nobles being all manipulative with politics, well, human mesmers at least. Not many npc mesmers are seen in combat. Sometimes I feel weird being a commander mesmer story wise. It's like, why would anything be afraid of me? I'm a woman in a long dress running around with a rapier, creating illusions to confuse stuff.

People have already commented at how dangerous illusions can be - especially since, in the context of phantasms in particular, an "illusion" might not be a mere figment, but a semi-real or entirely real construct of magic linked to the mind of the target (but still, in many case, able to hurt other targets). Mesmerism is also far more than just illusions, but covers pretty much everything that doesn't fit into one of the other magical professions. The likes of Chaos Storm and Spatial Surge, for instance, aren't simple illusions, but instead blasting the enemy with magical energy at sufficient concentrations that it is a brute force.

One also shouldn't underestimate the effect of confusion and misdirection on a battlefield.

@"Tremor.7481" said:Being good in a fight doesn't seem to be tied to how you do it, and skill and power, even in magic, don't seem to be directly related. Though top mesmers have pulled off impressive non-combat feats of illusion and masking (see, anything Jennah does not directly related to politicking).

Kas is generally considered (in story) pretty good for a mesmer and is more notable for her skill at detecting illusions, dealing with liars and other mesmers, and her own illusions but doesn't seem to be considered one of Dragon Watch's top combatants. This is a guild that is generally considered more than a match for an alerted enemy fortification with even a few members, so that may be seriously relative.

Trahearne, for example, doesn't seem to be THAT powerful a necromancer despite the Firstborn mystique, as opposed to being extremely skilled in detecting and countering Zhaitan's version of his school of magic. There's several times in the story he explicitly relies on the Commander to handle the fighting aspects, or take the lead in a combat situation, and as NPCS go, he's not bad in a scrap.

Tyria's dangerous though, you're outside a city, you're probably fighting at some point.

I think "it's relative" and "as NPCs go" is probably accurate. Zojja comments in Season 2 that the Commander represents enough fighting power to be roughly a match for Eir, Zojja, and Logan put together. And that's three of Tyria's greatest heroes combined.

Kasmeer clearly does have some significant power behind her, as did Trahearne. They're clearly a long way ahead of the average Pact soldier which, in turn, is probably a step up from the average Seraph, Warden, or charr soldier. It's just that when compared to the PC in story instances (which is where the PC is most unambiguously the Dragonslayer and not some random Pact soldier or adventurer) nearly anyone is going to look weak.

[Ultramex.1506]

Same for Thief, you think they are not dangerous and not for combat but think again when they stab you in the back from shadow .

[Tremor.7481]

@draxynnic.3719 said:Mesmerism is also far more than just illusions, but covers pretty much everything that doesn't fit into one of the other magical professions. The likes of Chaos Storm and Spatial Surge, for instance, aren't simple illusions, but instead blasting the enemy with magical energy at sufficient concentrations that it is a brute force.

I think considering mesmerism as 'master of illusion magic' is a lie mesmers (who have their own secret society and we probably should be more worried about that) propagate to make themselves look less dangerous - given Chaos Storm or their portal abilities, 'Distortion' is probably a better name for their school; playing with both minds and physics.

The White Mantle, secretive as they are, seems to be one of the few opposing organizations with a large body of combat casters that are more often mesmers than elementalists (the Orders' average magic-user on the street seems to have spec'd Air) but that could be the result of their training focus.

@draxynnic.3719 said:It's just that when compared to the PC in story instances (which is where the PC is most unambiguously the Dragonslayer and not some random Pact soldier or adventurer) nearly anyone is going to look weak.

Also worth keeping in mind. The Commander's combat abilities are almost precognitive regardless of profession.

[draxynnic.3719]

@Tremor.7481 said:

@draxynnic.3719 said:Mesmerism is also far more than just illusions, but covers pretty much everything that doesn't fit into one of the other magical professions. The likes of Chaos Storm and Spatial Surge, for instance, aren't simple illusions, but instead blasting the enemy with magical energy at sufficient concentrations that it

is

a brute force.

I think considering mesmerism as 'master of illusion magic' is a lie mesmers (who have their own secret society and we probably should be more worried about that) propagate to make themselves look less dangerous - given Chaos Storm or their portal abilities, 'Distortion' is probably a better name for their school; playing with both minds and physics.

The White Mantle, secretive as they are, seems to be one of the few opposing organizations with a large body of combat casters that are more often mesmers than elementalists (the Orders' average magic-user on the street seems to have spec'd Air) but that could be the result of their training focus.

Well, they are masters of illusion and misdirection. Nobody said that moniker couldn't ITSELF be a misdirection...

The White Mantle possibly have the most prominent use of mesmers, but they seem to be common among enemy former human factions as well, such as Orrian Risen (Ravagers, and Eyes of Zhaitan seem to have mesmer-like abilities) and Ascalonian Ghosts (Enchanters). Exceptions are the outlaws, such as Bandits (probably because the skilled magic-users are mostly drawn into the White Mantle proper) and Separatists (harder to justify, since mesmerism would be really useful for what they're doing - maybe their mesmers are too valuable to risk in operations that don't require them? Or maybe their lack of mesmers is the work of the Mesmer Collective?).

There certainly are generic mesmers among the Pact in the core content, although now you mention it, I haven't noticed it in more recent content. (That said, for all that Dragonfall was intended as a Pact operation, there were few actual Pact members there.)

[sokeenoppa.5384]

Xera.. that lady knows how to fight.

[Kalavier.1097]

@draxynnic.3719 said:The White Mantle possibly have the most prominent use of mesmers, but they seem to be common among enemy former human factions as well, such as Orrian Risen (Ravagers, and Eyes of Zhaitan seem to have mesmer-like abilities) and Ascalonian Ghosts (Enchanters). Exceptions are the outlaws, such as Bandits (probably because the skilled magic-users are mostly drawn into the White Mantle proper) and Separatists (harder to justify, since mesmerism would be really useful for what they're doing - maybe their mesmers are too valuable to risk in operations that don't require them? Or maybe their lack of mesmers is the work of the Mesmer Collective?).

There certainly are generic mesmers among the Pact in the core content, although now you mention it, I haven't noticed it in more recent content. (That said, for all that Dragonfall was intended as a Pact operation, there were few actual Pact members there.)

The mesmer collective, as we know it seems to be less of a controlling group for all mesmers, but an elite club of mesmers. There is a line where the commander (If mesmer, I forget if it's order related too) mentions the reason they've never received an invitiaton to the collective is probably because they've never really stayed at one location for long recently, so they never got the sponsorship.

Dragonfall was a very mixed forces operation. Pact people are more among the Mist Wardens though. Rytlock and Logan have a group of pact people with them while going to the Mist warden camp. They also provide the helicopters and airships (some of them).

[Tremor.7481]

I do apologize, I remember a couple high-ranking Mesmers in the Pact, but generally seem to see lightning or fire versus purple mind-beams, could just be self-reinforcing (Not always a lot of time to see what the NPCs are doing as I save their hide)

Has anyone ever noted the human prospensity for mesmer magic in-universe? A lot of people seem (often Rytlock, at length) seem annoyed by mesmerism versus necessarily concerned but not necessarily linked to humans.

I wonder if the human war record of the last century brought down mesmer's reputation to be considered 'less' of a combat discipline.

[whoeverxwins.1279]

@"Tremor.7481" said:I do apologize, I remember a couple high-ranking Mesmers in the Pact, but generally seem to see lightning or fire versus purple mind-beams, could just be self-reinforcing (Not always a lot of time to see what the NPCs are doing as I save their hide)

Has anyone ever noted the human prospensity for mesmer magic in-universe? A lot of people seem (often Rytlock, at length) seem annoyed by mesmerism versus necessarily concerned but not necessarily linked to humans.

I wonder if the human war record of the last century brought down mesmer's reputation to be considered 'less' of a combat discipline.

Rytlock, at least, has the charr prejudice against mages in general because of the Flame legeion. "Mesmers, worse than elementalists." In the new season (excuse me, Saga), Flame legion cubs talk about the other legions being afraid of magic, and maybe being able to teach them how to fight with magic.

[Daniel Handler.4816]

@"Tremor.7481" said:I do apologize, I remember a couple high-ranking Mesmers in the Pact, but generally seem to see lightning or fire versus purple mind-beams, could just be self-reinforcing (Not always a lot of time to see what the NPCs are doing as I save their hide)

Has anyone ever noted the human prospensity for mesmer magic in-universe? A lot of people seem (often Rytlock, at length) seem annoyed by mesmerism versus necessarily concerned but not necessarily linked to humans.

I wonder if the human war record of the last century brought down mesmer's reputation to be considered 'less' of a combat discipline.

Not an innate propensity. The concept is just shoved in their faces.

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Lyssa is one of six gods worshipped by many humans. And she is explicitly associated with illusions and beauty. (and also water but that isn't shown much). She has her own sector and shrine in their capital city, her https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Lyssa%27s_Reliquary is full of mesmer-esque phenomena, and her scriptures seem to hint humans believed she invented mesmer magic.

As for mesmer reputation. The full extent of their abilities is kept under wraps by the mesmer collective. It is not in their interest to kill openly. Especially when many are members of nobility.

[Daniel Handler.4816]

@"Tremor.7481"

This is a taste of mesmer combat if it weren't a secret.

And people in PvP think mesmer has no counterplay. Imagine if they could do that. Had illusions that were only visible to the target. And could teleport people into places without visiting them first. And how terrified people would be of Jennah if it was widespread knowledge.

Also remember that elite specs are relatively recent inventions.

[Daniel Handler.4816]

@Trise.2865 said:Illusion magic is incredibly powerful. Consider Dungeons and Dragons: since early on, arguably one of the most broken offensive spells in the game is Phantasmal Killer, a 4th level Illusion school spell that offers a simple ultimatum to its victims: make the saving throw... or die. No resistances, no amount of HP, or armor can protect them. Overpower it with your will, be hardy enough to endure... or die instantly.

Granted, an insta-kill spell would be obnoxiously broken in this game, even more so than in-context, but that's the sort of power Mesmers wield.

You are thinking of 3.5. In 5e they get a save each turn. Hp can protect them from dying instantly. And psychic damage can be resisted. These are best seen in their version of a revenant which can fail the save for the spells entire duration and even with perfect damage rolls will not die.

That being said you are correct that some Mesmer can instantly kill people. Like Jennah has shown.

[Kalavier.1097]

@Daniel Handler.4816 said:As for mesmer reputation. The full extent of their abilities is kept under wraps by the mesmer collective. It is not in their interest to kill openly. Especially when many are members of nobility.

It has been noted by devs that the SUPER top tier mesmers do have mind control abilities. They just never use it so nobody can know about it, or make a counter.

@Daniel Handler.4816 said:And people in PvP think mesmer has no counterplay. Imagine if they could do that. Had illusions that were only visible to the target. And could teleport people into places without visiting them first. And how terrified people would be of Jennah if it was widespread knowledge.

Also remember that elite specs are relatively recent inventions.

Mesmers creating illusions for a single person is very high level and difficult. Being able to portal without being there has been done before. In heart of thorns we saw Kasmeer creating portals down a cliff for the team, or making portals on the far side/teleporting across gaps.

Honestly, mesmers are pretty scary as is. But Jennah is great with people and PR, and thus is loved. She is not a frontline fighter, she is the queen. I believe she actually brings that up once or twice in the game itself. Her abilities people see tend to be illusions or defensive shields, and only once do I recall her actually being offensive with her abilities, and that is when the White mantle directly assaulted DR and the traitor ministers started trying to kill the loyal ones.

[Daniel Handler.4816]

@Kalavier.1097 said:

@Daniel Handler.4816 said:As for mesmer reputation. The full extent of their abilities is kept under wraps by the mesmer collective. It is not in their interest to kill openly. Especially when many are members of nobility.

It has been noted by devs that the SUPER top tier mesmers do have mind control abilities. They just never use it so nobody can know about it, or make a counter.

@Daniel Handler.4816 said:And people in PvP think mesmer has no counterplay. Imagine if they could do that. Had illusions that were only visible to the target. And could teleport people into places without visiting them first. And how terrified people would be of Jennah if it was widespread knowledge.

Also remember that elite specs are relatively recent inventions.

Mesmers creating illusions for a single person is very high level and difficult. Being able to portal without being there has been done before. In heart of thorns we saw Kasmeer creating portals down a cliff for the team, or making portals on the far side/teleporting across gaps.

Honestly, mesmers are pretty scary as is. But Jennah is great with people and PR, and thus is loved. She is not a frontline fighter, she is the queen. I believe she actually brings that up once or twice in the game itself. Her abilities people see tend to be illusions or defensive shields, and only once do I recall her actually being offensive with her abilities, and that is when the White mantle directly assaulted DR and the traitor ministers started trying to kill the loyal ones.

I know she can do that... That's why I posted a clip of her doing that.

The point is the PC cannot. And mirage and chronomancer are relatively recent inventions. As are weaver and reaper. The perception of soldier vs scholar is not just mechanical. But it should shift when people see non top tier scholars behaving like front liners.

[Kalavier.1097]

@"Daniel Handler.4816" said:The point is the PC cannot. And mirage and chronomancer are relatively recent inventions. As are weaver and reaper. The perception of soldier vs scholar is not just mechanical. But it should shift when people see non top tier scholars behaving like front liners.

Mirage and Weaver are not "recent inventions" Those types of magic use were simply unknown to Kryta, localized to the crystal desert and Elona.

Chronomancer/Reaper we have less information of, but could perhaps be newer styles.

Also "The PC cannot" is perhaps not a very good method of example of what's perhaps typical or possible for mid level spellcasters to do. We are completely limited by gameplay mechanics. It's why for example, we can see an NPC necromancer summon five flesh golems at once, while the PC can only summon a single one. Or Trahearne summoning a small force of varied necromancer minions, while my Minion master necromancer in gameplay can only have one of a type of undead minion, and no more then one outside jagged horrors and the small rat-like minion.

As exampled, Kasmeer can teleport herself over gaps, while the PC mesmer can't actually teleport to someplace they cannot physically walk to due to gameplay mechanics.

edit: I didn't watch the video, because it's 30ish minutes long. A rather long example video to post up. It appears to just be a complete playthrough of that particular instance, so you could've said "As shown by Jennah in X instance."

Also, Jennah is, as far as we know, the single most powerful mesmer in Tyria at the moment. So she's leagues ahead of anybody else and isn't a good example of what mesmers can do in combat, and almost all aren't even going to be able to approach her level.

[Daniel Handler.4816]

@Kalavier.1097 said:

@"Daniel Handler.4816" said:The point is the PC cannot. And mirage and chronomancer are relatively recent inventions. As are weaver and reaper. The perception of soldier vs scholar is not just mechanical. But it should shift when people see non top tier scholars behaving like front liners.

Mirage and Weaver are not "recent inventions" Those types of magic use were simply unknown to Kryta, localized to the crystal desert and Elona.

Chronomancer/Reaper we have less information of, but could perhaps be newer styles.

Also "The PC cannot" is perhaps not a very good method of example of what's perhaps typical or possible for mid level spellcasters to do. We are completely limited by gameplay mechanics. It's why for example, we can see an NPC necromancer summon five flesh golems at once, while the PC can only summon a single one. Or Trahearne summoning a small force of varied necromancer minions, while my Minion master necromancer in gameplay can only have one of a type of undead minion, and no more then one

outside jagged horrors and the small rat-like minion.

As exampled, Kasmeer can teleport herself over gaps, while the PC mesmer can't actually teleport to someplace they cannot physically walk to due to gameplay mechanics.

edit: I didn't watch the video, because it's 30ish minutes long. A rather long example video to post up. It appears to just be a complete playthrough of that particular instance, so you could've said "As shown by Jennah in X instance."

Also, Jennah is, as far as we know, the single most powerful mesmer in Tyria at the moment. So she's leagues ahead of anybody else and isn't a good example of what mesmers can do in combat, and almost all aren't even going to be able to approach her level.

The video is linked to start at the moment in question...

Back to the topic mirage and weaver did not exist when we visited Elona in gw1. Hence "relatively recent". And regardless of the PCs abilities the associations remain the same. Mesmers are scholars not soldiers.

When you see better profession distribution in the Vigil, or even among the combat division of the Priory, it will be a sign things have changed further.

The top tier is clearly meant for combat but grunts need to display that more for perceptions in and out of game to change.

[draxynnic.3719]

@Daniel Handler.4816 said:

@"Tremor.7481" said:I do apologize, I remember a couple high-ranking Mesmers in the Pact, but generally seem to see lightning or fire versus purple mind-beams, could just be self-reinforcing (Not always a lot of time to see what the NPCs are doing as I save their hide)

Has anyone ever noted the human prospensity for mesmer magic in-universe? A lot of people seem (often Rytlock, at length) seem annoyed by mesmerism versus necessarily concerned but not necessarily linked to humans.

I wonder if the human war record of the last century brought down mesmer's reputation to be considered 'less' of a combat discipline.

Not an innate propensity. The concept is just shoved in their faces.

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Lyssa

is one of six gods worshipped by many humans. And she is explicitly associated with illusions and beauty. (and also water but that isn't shown much). She has her own sector and shrine in their capital city, her

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Lyssa%27s_Reliquary

is full of mesmer-esque phenomena, and her scriptures seem to hint humans believed she invented mesmer magic.

As for mesmer reputation. The full extent of their abilities is kept under wraps by the mesmer collective. It is not in their interest to kill openly. Especially when many are members of nobility.

Strictly speaking, there's a human god for every magical school, although elementalists were split among four (arguably five in GW2, then maybe four again after Balthazar's fall from grace) and guardians were probably split between Dwayna and Balthazar.

Trying to recall now if there's been any specific mention of humans being mesmer-heavy. I think the observation has been made that Orr was fairly mesmer-heavy, and out-of-game sources have indicated that the Shining Blade is mesmer-heavy.

@Kalavier.1097 said:

@draxynnic.3719 said:The White Mantle possibly have the most prominent use of mesmers, but they seem to be common among enemy former human factions as well, such as Orrian Risen (Ravagers, and Eyes of Zhaitan seem to have mesmer-like abilities) and Ascalonian Ghosts (Enchanters). Exceptions are the outlaws, such as Bandits (probably because the skilled magic-users are mostly drawn into the White Mantle proper) and Separatists (harder to justify, since mesmerism would be

really

useful for what they're doing - maybe their mesmers are too valuable to risk in operations that don't require them? Or maybe their lack of mesmers is the work of the Mesmer Collective?).

There certainly are generic mesmers among the Pact in the core content, although now you mention it, I haven't noticed it in more recent content. (That said, for all that Dragonfall was intended as a Pact operation, there were few actual Pact members there.)

The mesmer collective, as we know it seems to be less of a controlling group for all mesmers, but an elite club of mesmers. There is a line where the commander (If mesmer, I forget if it's order related too) mentions the reason they've never received an invitiaton to the collective is probably because they've never really stayed at one location for long recently, so they never got the sponsorship.

Dragonfall was a very mixed forces operation. Pact people are more among the Mist Wardens though. Rytlock and Logan have a group of pact people with them while going to the Mist warden camp. They also provide the helicopters and airships (some of them).

I wouldn't discount the influence that the Mesmer Collective could still wield. For instance, if the important mesmer trainers in Ebonhawke were Collective members, they might steer their trainees away from Separatist thinking and/or refuse to take new trainees who have Separatist leanings... and if they have the right training from the Collective themselves, they might be able to use magic to screen potential trainees in a manner that an elementalist couldn't.

Regarding Dragonfall, I know there was a Pact presence there, but a relatively small one, meaning that you're less likely to see a random purple beam from them than you might in the core zones.

[Daniel Handler.4816]

@draxynnic.3719 said:

@Daniel Handler.4816 said:

@"Tremor.7481" said:I do apologize, I remember a couple high-ranking Mesmers in the Pact, but generally seem to see lightning or fire versus purple mind-beams, could just be self-reinforcing (Not always a lot of time to see what the NPCs are doing as I save their hide)

Has anyone ever noted the human prospensity for mesmer magic in-universe? A lot of people seem (often Rytlock, at length) seem annoyed by mesmerism versus necessarily concerned but not necessarily linked to humans.

I wonder if the human war record of the last century brought down mesmer's reputation to be considered 'less' of a combat discipline.

Not an innate -propensity. The concept is just shoved in their faces.

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Lyssa

is one of six gods worshipped by many humans. And she is explicitly associated with illusions and beauty. (and also water but that isn't shown much). She has her own sector and shrine in their capital city, her

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Lyssa%27s_Reliquary

is full of mesmer-esque phenomena, and her scriptures seem to hint humans believed she invented mesmer magic.

As for mesmer reputation. The full extent of their abilities is kept under wraps by the mesmer collective. It is not in their interest to kill openly. Especially when many are members of nobility.

Strictly speaking, there's a human god for every magical school, although elementalists were split among four (arguably five in GW2, then maybe four again after Balthazar's fall from grace) and guardians were probably split between Dwayna and Balthazar.

Trying to recall now if there's been any specific mention of humans being mesmer-heavy. I

think

the observation has been made that Orr was fairly mesmer-heavy, and out-of-game sources have indicated that the Shining Blade is mesmer-heavy.

There is a god for every magic school. But that discrete characterization doesn't seem to exist within non-human religion and philosophy. The Mind domain/Dream and Raven might be mesmer-esque, but they don't call out illusion magic specifically, abound with purple/magenta, etc. The eternal alchemy is distinguished by static/dynamic/synergistic. And the Charr only seem to care for elementalist or drudic (Olmakhan) magic, if they do at all.