Xaylin.1860

Never had that much fun in PvP again 🥺

You mean... aside from making your Ambush skills unblockable everytime you go into stealth close to a target? 🤡

Not too great for Mesmer this time around. I'm interested if Dune Cloak can be worth it for PvP. Although the 2 Clone requirement might kill it from the get go. The one thing that triggered me: Critical Infusion and Desperate Decoy. Yes, a rework of Desperate Decoy was overdue. The trait itself is fine. But the context is ridiculous. Critical Infusion remains the only on Crit Vigor trait that has game mode split, as far as I'm awawre. Maybe it changed (and Guardian will lose its pendant). If Mesmer needed more Vigor via Duelling, adding it to Desperate Decoy just isn't it. It is even worse when you think about who would take this trait. Probably Mirage more so than the other specs. Which got all the core traits nerfed to begin with. And then had Nomads Endurance tuned down as well. Feels kind of rude. 🫣 If the trait is supposed to be used in PvP, make it cast Lesser Decoy or Mirror Images on Heal. Even the original functionality of Escape Artist would have been better although Stealth doesn't really fit Duelling. If it is supposed to be valuable in PvE as well, at least make it grant Endurance instead of Vigor to distinguish it from existing traits.

I personally would have preferred a LB for the before mentioned Bard trope and harp fantasy. Rifle as support weapon still perfectly fits Mesmer theme of atypical weapon use. Could be funny to have a reverse OHK skill to heal up allies. Burst healing is actually what Mesmer lacks when compared to, e.g. Druid. However, I'm hoping for a decent amount of area effects since I don't really like the supportive part of single ally target effects of Specters. Well... that's kinda the definition, though. And something Mesmer doesn't have yet. Based on your recent posts, it will probably just not be for you.

>> Untamed Fart Cloud enters chat. 🤣 Regardless of personal preference when it comes to style and colors, I think it is important to note that all these effects are visual cues for players. Maybe not necessarily required for yourself but for others (e.g. PvP) to enable plays. This also applies to the specific color schemes each class has. I doubt ANet will ever change that.

Funnily enough, Power Virt will probably have an easier time keeping up Chaos Armor thanks to Sword MH/OH if you bring at least some Glamours. Which, of course, doesn't really benefits from the buff while having Chaos Armor active. Still, could be a fun non-meta build. For Condi, I personally don't like any available options/combinations due to how Jagged Mind works (or to say it differently: the total lack of synergies with core Mesmer). Unless you want to drop Jagged Mind and Dagger, you might as well run Condi Mirage (many leaps) or even Chrono if you want to focus on Shattering.

Getting something baseline is not a bonus if the benefit is low or none existant for certain builds (e.g. Confusion via Cry of Pain for Power builds). Chaos Armor itself is fine. But increased condition damage while affected by Chaos Armor is not. Both, increased condition duration or boon duration or both would be more versatile. My other point also remains: Putting Chaos Armor on F2 clearly caters one playstyle while posing a bigger trade off for others. Yes, I agree with this. You have the option to use it more purposefully. But still: Is gaining Chaos Armor and Condition damage on a non Condition build worth potentially wasting Clones/Blades. In many situations it won't. I wonder if this will trigger without Clones. Which would remedy it at least a little bit. Would be worse from a game design perspective though 😜

I don't really like the changes to Minors in Chaos but everything else looks like a win to me at least from a build diversity perspective. I like the changes a lot despite not really enjoying support Mesmer. Especially the changes to Inspiration were desperately needed. While I am disappointed ANet didn't use the opportunity to move at least 1 Utility group related trait out of Inspiration (Signets, Mantras, Glamours), Mesmer will be way better at healing and removing conditions now. Via their class mechanic. That's best that could have happened imho. Regarding Chaos: I do like attaching specific effects to specific Shatters. However, with F2 specifically, we already have plenty modifying traits (Duelling, Illusions). For one, F2 is reaching a "Steal" situation where it could potentially do too many effects at once. Second, this kinda discriminates non Condition Mesmers. We already got Cry of Pain as a Minor trait only catering Condi despite being in a hybrid trait line which I really dislike personally. At least put a more versatile effect on it. Metaphysical Rejuvination in Isolation might be fine. But ANet is really going a bit overboard with those on Heal/Elite effects (e.g. Relics.). Yes, those are better than passive procs. But again: This overloads one single skill. Also, on Heal feels more suitable for Inspiration than Chaos after all. Overall, still positive changes imho. Curious whether Quickness or Alacrity Chrono will mesh better with those.

This anytime. But for some reason they don't seem to like the idea to open up weapon choice for the Alacrity build. Regarding Mirage Mantle... maybe I'm biased. I really dislike it. It just feels underhwelming. I'd love for Mirage Mantle becoming Dune Cloak and Dune Cloak applying boons on Ambush attacks. Yes. Which is why I'm so confused they never tried this route.

I like your new suggestions. Although I'd prefer pulsing Barrier with a bigger chunk at the end. Barrier could actually be an interesting addition to the top row of Inspiration. Fun fact, in case you don't know: It did give Regeneration in the past. Only via Phantasms, though. Was lovely in combination with Chaos.

I am aware of that. I only pointed out that Wells won't be able to compete with other trait combinations when it comes for healing. I didn't say Chrono should have more than 1 Alacrity trait. 😉 Having Alacrity or Quickness on Shield isn't a game changer, sure. But it heavily limits weapon choice for Chronomancer because Shield basically becomes a must have unless you play Chronophantasma. And as you said yourself, in case of Alacrity you are stuck with Wells already.

Considering Kill Shot pierces, I don't really get it. Pick the right tool for the situation at hand. Gun Flame is pretty good without pierce and you can bet on it ANet would nerf other properties if they made it pierce (CC).

I'm all for this set up but not necessarily agree with all of your suggestion - although they are not bad per se. But there are bigger issues you don't really address. First, the biggest issue with support Mesmer I see is with Inspiration, not Chrono. Inspiration is overloaded with Utility centered traits with a weird combination of traits that are either niche at best or completely useless. Additionally, trait placement is a mess (similar effects competing with each other directly or synergies not being realized). Still, you will have to go Inspiration for support considering the next best pick - Chaos for Boons - actually offers very few supportive options aside from raw stats. I feel that ANet should work on this first but it might be too much to ask. Second, as already mentioned, Wells and the trait are just bad in too many situations due to the delayed effect. This COULD be mitigated if the final effect was also (or only) triggered around the Mesmer but this might lead to Scourge-like balancing issues. In the end, ditching the "delayed effect theme" for Chrono Wells in general would be more reasonable. Third, two GMs centered around 1 OH weapon... I just can't. Almost as bad as the creation of Alacrity Mirage. When talking about Chrono traits more specifically, I think it is important to point out that Chronophantasma actually is the most powerful pick for healing when combined with Inspiration. Personally, I don't mind this. But it makes the roles of the trait rows a bit more blurred unless you made Chronophantasma the dedicated healing and Alacrity trait. For Improved Alacrity, I'd rather see a small heal or Regen on Alacrity application than healing power. HP is a bad stat overall and Inspiration already covers it quite well. The next best pick would be outgoing healing but I think small heals would be more interesting to play around. Especially since Mesmer/Chrono doesn't really have great burst heals which is where outgoing healing shines most.

Oh dear... but yes. 😆 [Edit]: There actually is a pretty nice blowtorch skin. Just not a big fan of OH Torch for Engi because OH Pistol already kinda covers it.

So a kinetic GS or a Gun Axe is fine? Why would those weapons not work in a similar way? Both Staff and Scepter could work as lightning rods or simply stun batons. Warhorns relate to sound and soundwaves, think Dredge. And while it's not my favourite pick either, something similar could be cooked up about Fokus as well. In the end a Fokus is just a conduit of sorts. That being said, I wanted MH Mace for core. That ship has sailed.

What's the issue for you here? The taking Scepter for condi or taking Scepter for the full benefit of the trait? Or that it's a GM? I assume it's wanting the Confusion without playing Scepter? Yes, that's a drawback. Aside from that, it's probably a win for any other build. It would be a balanced choice between the GMs, improve that specific trait and potentially add something in the Minor slot that is more valuable for a larger variety of builds. Cry of Pain is just wasted for anything but Condi builds which is very bad considering Illusions being a hybrid traitline.

I always have to roll my eyes (right back into my skull) when Warriors complain about Martial Cadence. Even the old version was more appealing than what CI is right now. I really miss a nice interrupt/lockdown PvP build.

It doesn't have to be that complicated. Merge it with Cry of Pain (by also adding the duration increase to scepter skills) to give Illusions a condi focussed GM and then add a more versatile Minor that isn't useless for anyone not playing Condi 😉

Arguable sums it up quite well. Yes, there are outliers and the gap between support builds probably still needs work. But the expectations what a support build should be able to achieve seems a bit of a reach. Two important aspects for overall class balance that have been pretty much ignored and thererore, at least in my opinion, make the initial assessment skewed: Warrior and Ranger are in a special situation due to Quickness/Alacrity being in core (which Dadnir touched on). And some specs like Chronomancer and Mirage might not be as limited in Utilities but are always stuck with the same weapon. Yes, specific effects being linked to specific Utilities (and therefore roles) limits build diversity for those roles. However, as long as those Utilities aren't mandatory for other roles, I don't believe such a set up to be fundamentally wrong.

How does it matter for PD or MD that Aegis serves other purposes? My point is: the patch didn't change anything relevant for those because Mesmer already had enough access to blocks. Their performance won't be better than before. BI = Blurred Inscriptions MoM = Master of Manipulation MD = Mental Defense. Now, if you are talking about burst rotation... if you have to wait for MD to get off cooldown, that's quite a slow rotation...

That's some dodgy math in your calculations 😜 But yes... dodges on Mirage aren't as oppressive as people make it seem. The issues lie elsewhere. Not only with BI and Desert Distortion by the way. Mirrors from Deception cause similar balancing issues and the duality of Mirage Cloak being the only access to Ambushes is problematic as well.

From this perspective the last patch didn't do anything beneficial for MD at all. Yes, there are additional sources of Aegis but Mesmers already had enough sources to trigger the trait to begin with. The ICD also kills this trait for anything PvP. The idea behind PD and MD is interesting. But their current implementation is gimmicky at best and the recent patch didn't change that. Additionally, for group scenarios you're probably better off just taking BI (or MoM). I personally don't get the point of this thread, sorry.

I partly disagree on this. Stability is an issue in large scale, encounters with environmental hazards or in narrow spaces. In small encounters or if there is space to kite Mesmers might have a better time at recharging than Firebrands. Not that it mattered too much as long as Firebrands have their strong effect on the final charge, meaning, the punishment of long charging is less meaningful. This aside, I generally believe that current Mantras are just too similar to Shouts. Even more so since Shouts keep receiving charges as well. There should be differences. But there got to be a pay-off as well, of course. Another thing I've been wondering... why now? Just for the Lols? In the past changes to Utility groups happened alongside the development of new elites. Sure, this is speculation. But maybe we will get another Mantra user in the future?

While I agree, Blink has been a Mesmer staple and probably is the most used Stunbreaker for the class overall. It will still be used without the CD reduction.

I'd prefer being called an e(x)otic dancer. 😏 Let's say it this way: Most Mesmer changes, even the positive ones and buffs, probably won't matter too much or at all in the bigger picture while critical issues remain ignored.