Power Block Mesmer.

[Smart College Boy.3249]

Okay, first off I haven't started any WvW or PvP content, but if PvE is any indication..... how in god's name do you guys consistently interrupt? I'm lucky if I get one interrupt off in 5+ attempts on NPCs. Are player caster animations easier to see in PvP? I know full well power block mesmer is not for PvE, but I'm trying to get used to playing it before I try it in PvP. 

Am I wasting my time? Should I go back to my easier to play chronomancer build focused on phantasms and stealth? It's easier to play, but I don't necessarily want easy. I want something effective and that spec lacks the mobility I want.

 

This is the spec I'm using for the power block mesmer. I chose the axe over the sword because I always have problems positioning with the sword. 

 

Build Editor - Gw2Skills.Net

Edited May 21, 2022 by Smart College Boy.3249

[Smart College Boy.3249]

And one other comment.

 

Can the staff ambush skill be interrupted? And if you are interrupted casting ambush, does that lock you out of the entire staff 1 skill or just ambush?

[Smart College Boy.3249]

And yet another question!

 

If you are using two of the same weapons such as staff / staff and get locked out of a skill on your first staff. Will that same skill be locked out on the second staff if you switch to it?

 

Okay, cancel this last question. Someone answered it in Lion's Arch chat. The skill will be locked out of both of the weapons.

Edited May 22, 2022 by Smart College Boy.3249
Answered in Lion's Arch

[Smart College Boy.3249]

After playing it a bit in PvE, I came to the conclusion it's not fun to play the interrupt spec because the game has no cast bars and the animations of NPCS (and probably players) are constantly being blocked by stupid damage numbers.

 

I could eventually adust to the lack of cast bars, but the animations being blocked by a bunch of damage numbers is seriously irritating. 

 

I guess I'll stick with my chrono build for the time being. 

[agrippastrilemma.8741]

Put on small interface size and learn to anticipate actions i.e. don't just react, predict when the opponent is going to heal for example and make yourself ready (mentally and putting your finger on the button). Helps to have low ping, high fps, and a good mantra keybind (side mouse button the best, something like E or F or V or C is second best).

[Tseison.4659]

Hey!! So, knowing when to interrupt is more so predicting someone’s playstyle, knowing each profession/elite spec and what they’re capable of and anticipating what skill they’re about to use in their rotation. In WvW a lot of players tend to be predictable in that sense which makes it easy for me to use Mantra of Distraction. But I usually aim to interrupt when you notice them using their heal skill. 
 

Trying to interrupt when you’re up against a boon blob for example in WvW is sort of pointless because of all the stability, aegis, blocks and evasions but in scenarios when you’re either 1v1, roaming or in PvP, just practise in anticipating the players actions. Interrupt builds aren’t for everyone though so don’t stress about it 😄

[Smart College Boy.3249]

Thanks for all the advice.

 

But I decided to avoid playing the interrupt spec. If the game had cast bars or an easier way to tell what's going on I'd stick with it. Maybe in the future if and when I become more knowledgeable of class mechanics in PvP, I'll go back to the interrupt spec. But for now I'll stick with one of my two noob specs. Both have their weaknesses. The mirage spec without interrupt will be weak against ranged classes and the chrono build will have less mobility. I'll have to decide between those two. So far the chrono one is ahead.

[Justine.6351]

I mostly just interrupt any action and hope for the best. People tend to use their "big skills" first and work their way down to ones they don't want to use. I also use runes of the air and mantra of healing so that if they get on top of me I pop the shocking aura and stun them. If it's an evading and/or channeled attack shocking aura will interrupt them. I also use the domination trait that boon strips with shatters, over quickness on interrupt, as you need boon removal. No point in quickness on interrupt if they have stability and/or protection. Use sigil of draining for some sustain and a little more damage.

The reason it's "harder" to get interrupts in pve is because foes are very slow, they don't que skills.

[Waffles.5632]

Prediction based specs, like Mesmer Power Block, work better the more mechanical and game knowledge you acquire. Steep uphill battle at first, but then it kinda flips and the struggle pays off. So you have the right idea, it's best to avoid the spec for now, keep it in back pocket, and revisit later when you are more experienced and used to gw2.

 

I do not say this with any negativity, rather it is what I had to do. I really only focused on pvp, but I would play Mirage, and if any spec really messed up my day, I would track down the build and fiddle around with it on my own, in pvp and pve. Doing that let me get better knowledge/experience of what other classes have to do etc. You know, just develop a general feeling and flow.

Every single time I did that, when I went back on Mesmer, I was that much better. Consistent and noticeable improvement.

 

Some specific tips though :

-Don't go axe if you want to focus on shutdown/CC/Power Block. You need sword. No compromises in that regard. Sword ambush is a leaping AOE daze, don't spam any button while you're in the air, you have to press it, then legit just take ur hand off keyboard, and it will land much more accurately. It is bugged, I want anet to fix it dearly, but it is what we got. You are looking at ~80% accuracy, or rather, about 20% of the time you use it, it will miss for "Reasons". To guarantee a hit tho, make it point blank.

 

-For PvE vs PvP, Power Block is only useful in PvP imho, as the trait you can pick in PvE, Vicious Expression, is infinitely more valuable. With that trait, every time you and your sword clones ambush, each of you will be removing 2 boons. 8 boon strip every dodge long as 3 clones are up, and this is infinite lol, so it's better boonstrip than really just about any class I imagine. Enemies in EoD can cast both protection, and resolution on themselves, which, other classes can't deal with as easily, but for Mirage it's as simple as dodging and using an ambush.

 

-The major hit of sword auto is the last attack, it's a thrust. It is also a boonstrip, however, if there are no boons to strip, it instead does huge bonus damage, more than the first two auto's combined. You never want to miss this if possible. It's a lot of your damage. In PvP it's not really as crucial to land except on downed bodies for cleave or something.