How is Mesmer currently? (just returned)

[SourPatchBruhs.5142]

So I just returned and have an 80 Ele and 80 Necro. I’m curious how Mesmer fares currently in the various content. Im thinking about leveling one or boosting one to 80. I’m trying to figure out which I’m going to main going forward. I like the necro better than the ele. It feels like the ele requires much more work for less payoff. I want to do open world, fractals, raids, and sPvP. I will do WvW at some point. I’m on a lower server so going to wait until the alliance stuff is implemented. I don’t mind playing DPS or support, just want to be viable with at least 1 build in every type of content where I don’t feel like I have to play a different character just to be able to do well. I plan on making one to get an idea in the Mist, but that doesn’t help me much PvE wise when it comes to group content or open world. 

[Ombras.2853]

For PvE (Raids, Fractals, Strikes) its one of the best class. Virtuoso has excellent damage and high survivability, Miralac has still the best damage between all the Alac dps specs. Quick Chrono is currently worse than the competitors (qFB, qHarbinger mostly) but in Raids context the Inspiration variant is still extremely important in some wings, and can tank/kite well.

In WvW, large scale, you always want 1/2 Minstrel Chrono in your squad, other than that, it has no other reasons to exist. It’s still very good at roaming, using different specs, but don’t expect to be welcomed by zerging squads.

In PvP, it still has the same issues as ever.

[SourPatchBruhs.5142]

8 minutes ago, Ombras.2853 said:

For PvE (Raids, Fractals, Strikes) its one of the best class. Virtuoso has excellent damage and high survivability, Miralac has still the best damage between all the Alac dps specs. Quick Chrono is currently worse than the competitors (qFB, qHarbinger mostly) but in Raids context the Inspiration variant is still extremely important in some wings, and can tank/kite well.

In WvW, large scale, you always want 1/2 Minstrel Chrono in your squad, other than that, it has no other reasons to exist. It’s still very good at roaming, using different specs, but don’t expect to be welcomed by zerging squads.

In PvP, it still has the same issues as ever.

So basically it’s only viable in PvE other than the Chrono in WvW?

[Urphen.2857]

47 minutes ago, Matt.1938 said:

So basically it’s only viable in PvE other than the Chrono in WvW?

Even in WvW (on our Server) squads prefer everything else before the chrono since this minstrel chrono thing is at this point more e meme then anything else.

In pve for end content Virtuoso is one of the strongest and easiest pve (till anet decides to nerf it like chrono because it get stacked), for solo pve mirage and chrono are strong too.

spvp you have to be rly rly good otherwise every other class played there at the moment do things easier and better than mesmer and will outperform you.

I will say stick to Necro, you will have a better time and enjoy the game more with it.

Edited May 15, 2022 by Urphen.2857

[SourPatchBruhs.5142]

1 minute ago, Urphen.2857 said:

Even in WvW (on our Server) squads prefer everything else before the chrono since this minstrel chrono thing is at this point more e meme then anything else.

In pve for end content Virtuoso is one of the strongest and easiest pve (till anet decides to nerf it like chrono because it get stacked), for solo pve mirage and chrono are strong too.

spvp you have to be rly rly good otherwise every other class played there at the moment do things easier and better than mesmer and will outperform you.

PvE wise, how does Mesmer compare with the necro specs? I don’t mind necessarily swapping and using a specific class in PvP, but looking for a reason to PvE a Mesmer instead of just going full necro if there is a reason at all. 

[Urphen.2857]

11 minutes ago, Matt.1938 said:

PvE wise, how does Mesmer compare with the necro specs? I don’t mind necessarily swapping and using a specific class in PvP, but looking for a reason to PvE a Mesmer instead of just going full necro if there is a reason at all. 

As dps you are the strongest spec with Mesmer/Virtuoso (Condi dps), power isn't that strong and not so easy like Condi virt but still strong.

Alac support with Mirage it's OK and a boon that necro can't give.

Quick support you are the worste spec of all quick giver since you can't like the others press 1 button and give the boon, you have to summon first clones and shatter them.

 

So dps wise virt is a bit stronger as Condi and much stronger as power than necro.

Support wise necro is now better with Heal Scourge as a hard carry and quick harbi.

Quick chrono gets more and more pushed to a niche role from anet, but as a Tank its still a good choice.

So the reason to swap to mesmer in pve would be when you need a alac support or you want a safer Tank (end game)

[Ombras.2853]

3 hours ago, Matt.1938 said:

So basically it’s only viable in PvE other than the Chrono in WvW?

In WvW roaming you have plenty of very good builds for Mesmer, and a lot of diversity. If you are interested only in the zerging part, sadly you don’t have other options. You can play Power Boon Strip Virtuoso and it will be “okayish” cuz of it being a Mesmer (pulls, Domination traits to strip boons + Null Field) but you’d better run Power Scourge, by miles.

In sPvP, Necro is still one of - if not the - best spec overall. Harbinger and Core are very good options for newcomers, and not difficult to pilot at all.

My suggestion is to gear both, to be honest. They are both light armor (easy to get one set of legendary, now or later) and they mostly cover what the other spec lacks.

[Ombras.2853]

3 hours ago, Urphen.2857 said:

Even in WvW (on our Server) squads prefer everything else before the chrono since this minstrel chrono thing is at this point more e meme then anything else.

 

That’s not true, absolutely not. You want support Chrono in very few numbers, this is a thing and I agree, cuz having too many in squad makes you lose tons and tons of dps. But it’s still best boonstrip and best pull available in WvW, bar none, plus the usual Veil/Portal provider.
The only thing is, if you are a random player joining a group, I would highly recommend to choose something else, cuz people on voice are the ones they make Chrono shine. If you are not on voice, just don’t.

 

[Urphen.2857]

30 minutes ago, Ombras.2853 said:

That’s not true, absolutely not. You want support Chrono in very few numbers, this is a thing and I agree, cuz having too many in squad makes you lose tons and tons of dps. But it’s still best boonstrip and best pull available in WvW, bar none, plus the usual Veil/Portal provider.
The only thing is, if you are a random player joining a group, I would highly recommend to choose something else, cuz people on voice are the ones they make Chrono shine. If you are not on voice, just don’t.

 

That's why I said on our Server because you don't see there much chronos and necro is preferred over mesmer and being a veil bot with a pull is nothing I consider as a must have, so yeah good ones can make it shine but I don't saw much mesmer pre EoD.

[SourPatchBruhs.5142]

6 hours ago, Ombras.2853 said:

My suggestion is to gear both, to be honest. They are both light armor (easy to get one set of legendary, now or later) and they mostly cover what the other spec lacks.

I actually love this idea especially since I have an ele too. Would just have to do several weapons across the 3 characters. Have a few main questions: 

1) with the gear presets, will it auto swap the stats on the legendaries? Like if I use berserker on necro, and I swap over to the Mesmer and the Mesmer build uses something else will it auto swap off the berserker stats to what the build for the Mesmer uses?

2) how do I go about making the legendaries? Whenever I try to find a straightforward guide it seems super convoluted and I get lost. 

3) Currently I’m doing open world and sPvP mostly. Haven’t gotten into dungeons, fractals, etc.. With what you know, are there specific use cases when you’d use one or the other? Open world is the big one since I’ve been doing world bosses, hero points, and general map completion. Does Mesmer or Necro either one out perform the other or is there a reason I should specifically use one or the other in my case?

Edited May 15, 2022 by Matt.1938

[Certero.2594]

42 minutes ago, Matt.1938 said:

I actually love this idea especially since I have an ele too. Would just have to do several weapons across the 3 characters. Have a few main questions: 

1) with the gear presets, will it auto swap the stats on the legendaries? Like if I use berserker on necro, and I swap over to the Mesmer and the Mesmer build uses something else will it auto swap off the berserker stats to what the build for the Mesmer uses?

2) how do I go about making the legendaries? Whenever I try to find a straightforward guide it seems super convoluted and I get lost. 

3) Currently I’m doing open world and sPvP mostly. Haven’t gotten into dungeons, fractals, etc.. With what you know, are there specific use cases when you’d use one or the other? Open world is the big one since I’ve been doing world bosses, hero points, and general map completion. Does Mesmer or Necro either one out perform the other or is there a reason I should specifically use one or the other in my case?

 

1.-Think of legendary gear as an unlimited amount of ascended gear of that type you can pull out of thin air (but only 1 per template per legendary) your legendary chestplate for example will act as a different gear per template, you can change the stat, rune and even transmute the chestplate from mesmer template 1, and you can grab a "new" legendary chestplate for template 2 that will function independently from any other chestplate instance you may have.

Basically a stat selectable ascended you can use on all your characters at any time once per template.

 

2.- Here's a playlist guide per piece, remember not all legendaries use the same method

Spoiler

 

Alternatively there's always the wiki

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Legendary_equipment

 

3.- For open world, anything works. Unless you're trying to solo a difficult challenge by yourself, but both professions work pretty good for all open world content. Necro is more braindead if you just run whatever.

I'd say mesmer is better for zerg content because it has really good tagging capabilities with the mirage greatsword build, but overall both are very solid if you know what you're doing.

For PvP, stick with necro.

 

[SourPatchBruhs.5142]

14 minutes ago, Certero.2594 said:

 

1.-Think of legendary gear as an unlimited amount of ascended gear of that type you can pull out of thin air (but only 1 per template per legendary) your legendary chestplate for example will act as a different gear per template, you can change the stat, rune and even transmute the chestplate from mesmer template 1, and you can grab a "new" legendary chestplate for template 2 that will function independently from any other chestplate instance you may have.

Basically a stat selectable ascended you can use on all your characters at any time once per template.

I’ll probably just stay necro then at least until I start WvW or they buff Mesmer in PvP. Or if I get super bored on necro. 

As far as the legendary piece goes, whenever I swap templates, it uses a transmute item per piece? If so that sucks. So let’s say I have a full legendary set and I have templates saved for reaper, scourge and harbinger and I want to swap specs. Does it cost me anything and/or does one click (the template button) swap it?

Edited May 15, 2022 by Matt.1938

[Certero.2594]

4 minutes ago, Matt.1938 said:

As far as the legendary piece goes, whenever I swap templates, it uses a transmute item per piece? If so that sucks. So let’s say I have a full legendary set and I have templates saved for reaper, scourge and harbinger and I want to swap specs. Does it cost me anything and/or does one click (the template button) swap it?

Legendaries don't require a charge to transmute, is free.

 

Swapping templates you can do it in game right now no problem to test it yourself. Is free. Both gear and build.

[SourPatchBruhs.5142]

1 hour ago, Certero.2594 said:

Legendaries don't require a charge to transmute, is free.

 

Swapping templates you can do it in game right now no problem to test it yourself. Is free. Both gear and build.

So for the gear then, do you have to put it in shared slot? Like how does it know to pull that gear if you have it on another character?

And lets say I use d/d on ele. Would crafting the legendary once allow me to use it for both slots?

Edited May 16, 2022 by Matt.1938

[Oriens.5630]

I think they're saying that a single piece of Legendary gear can have a wide variety of stat sets. So  one GS could have Condi stats or Healing stats etc.

Whether it changes it's own stats automatically when you switch templates I don't know.

Edited May 16, 2022 by Oriens.5630

[Certero.2594]

57 minutes ago, Matt.1938 said:

So for the gear then, do you have to put it in shared slot? Like how does it know to pull that gear if you have it on another character?

And lets say I use d/d on ele. Would crafting the legendary once allow me to use it for both slots?

Here's a very detailed explanation (with visuals) as to how the armory works. It answers your questions and more

Spoiler

 

 

[Urphen.2857]

3 hours ago, Matt.1938 said:

So for the gear then, do you have to put it in shared slot? Like how does it know to pull that gear if you have it on another character?

And lets say I use d/d on ele. Would crafting the legendary once allow me to use it for both slots?

Legys go to the legendary armory, the item apear only in your equipment tab in the hero panel for all chars that can use the specific armor ot weapon type.

For each template it is like you would have a extra gear/weapon, you can make temp 1 armor with berserker stats and on temp 2 with viper, it switched automatically between the temps dependent on what you choose on stats.

For every slot you need a Legy, that means if you want play dual dagger you need to have 2 legy dagger otherwise you can only equip 1 and for the other slot you need to use a normal weapon.

[Lunia.2736]

Great in PvE
Niche in WvW
Irrelevant in PvP

[katte nici.9483]

16 hours ago, Ombras.2853 said:

In WvW roaming you have plenty of very good builds for Mesmer, and a lot of diversity.

Most other professions have stronger roaming options, the best Mesmer roaming builds get carried by cele stats and lack mobility and disengage.

[Ombras.2853]

41 minutes ago, katte nici.9483 said:

Most other professions have stronger roaming options, the best Mesmer roaming builds get carried by cele stats and lack mobility and disengage.

And here we go with bias again.

”Lack of mobility and disengage” on Mesmer, like… really?

[semak.7481]

2 hours ago, Ombras.2853 said:

And here we go with bias again.

”Lack of mobility and disengage” on Mesmer, like… really?

And whats wrong there? One blink on 35s cd is great mobility in your book? Given your comments, you are trying to convince everyone that mesmer is super great at anything, you need a reality check.

[Ombras.2853]

1 hour ago, semak.7481 said:

And whats wrong there? One blink on 35s cd is great mobility in your book? Given your comments, you are trying to convince everyone that mesmer is super great at anything, you need a reality check.

Yes, you are reading my comments very well 😅

Mesmer has a lot of options to move around and disengage. If there are specs which can do better (and there are) doesn’t mean that on Mesmer you are limited. Quite the contrary. Blink IS a powerful teleport, and you lower the cooldown using Chaos traits. Sword has teleport on all Mesmer specs. Staff has teleport and disengage. Midnight/MassInv are great at disengaging. Pistol stun, GS 3 are great tools to reach the enemy, so is Virtuoso f2 with traits (cripple). Mirage has even more reach on the elite.

Mesmer has a lot of problems, but mobility, reach and disengage ain’t one.

[SourPatchBruhs.5142]

8 hours ago, Lunia.2736 said:

Great in PvE
Niche in WvW
Irrelevant in PvP

This kinda answers it for me. Basically viable in 1/3 types of content sucks. I'm just better off going Necro, I guess. If it outperformed Necro by miles in PvE it would be a bit different, but IMO it doesn't.

[Salt Mode.3780]

I would say any class that has mobility on weapon has the superior mobility which Mesmer no longer really has. Staff is a conditional blink in which a target needs to be there in order for it to work, as well as blink is pretty much a must have for ALL 3 Mesmer specs. There was a time when Mirage had 2 dodges and blink was not required, that was release Mirage with Elusive Mind before it got reworked.

Weapon mobility like Ranger, Warrior, Thief are always going to be superior. A Mesmer can never truly catch up to anyone of those 3 classes in a chase.

I would say scrapper is another one, d/d ele would be another. Essentially any class that has weapon base mobility can outrun Mesmer any day.

[SourPatchBruhs.5142]

33 minutes ago, Salt Mode.3780 said:

I would say any class that has mobility on weapon has the superior mobility which Mesmer no longer really has. Staff is a conditional blink in which a target needs to be there in order for it to work, as well as blink is pretty much a must have for ALL 3 Mesmer specs. There was a time when Mirage had 2 dodges and blink was not required, that was release Mirage with Elusive Mind before it got reworked.

Weapon mobility like Ranger, Warrior, Thief are always going to be superior. A Mesmer can never truly catch up to anyone of those 3 classes in a chase.

I would say scrapper is another one, d/d ele would be another. Essentially any class that has weapon base mobility can outrun Mesmer any day.

Thank you for that explanation. I don’t see anything other than like portal that the Mesmer gives me that the Necromancer wouldn’t in terms of PvE