What is the best Mesmer build ?

[Age.4190]

Lie the title say .What is it as I am so used to GW Mesmers not GW2 Mesmers .What is the best in traits ?I use a great sword as well as wand and off hand .

[Justine.6351]

Way too open of a question.

Do you play esurge in gw1 or ineptitude or something else?

[Yoci.2481]

Which game mode are we talking about? Structured PvP? WvW? Open world PvE? Fractals? Raids? Strikes? Since you mention GW1 I would assume PvP.

[Justine.6351]

30 minutes ago, Yoci.2481 said:

Which game mode are we talking about? Structured PvP? WvW? Open world PvE? Fractals? Raids? Strikes? Since you mention GW1 I would assume PvP.

Lol nah on gw1 pvp.

[Mell.4873]

Mesmer is a confusing bag of worms, until you play it for 300 hours you wont understand the true beauty of the class.

Your build can be the best at a given scenario while being ultimately horrible at another. Virtuoso has amazing condition DPS but if you try solo OW champions you will drop dead.

Edited August 29, 2022 by Mell.4873

[Avion Blade.4869]

Mesmer is not about the build, it is about the mindset. 

 

Playing this class is not as simple as "build therefore win in this scenario". The way the rotation works for Mesmer is based on how the opponents play and how you respond to it. Your job is to misdirect the opponent and lure them into your liking.

 

You are playing an illusionist, so it is good to think like one.

Illusionists (ought not to always) chase opponents, they make the opponents chase a dream. One of the strongest set ups a mesmer can do is put themself in a position of being 25% health to tempt the enemy to go for a multi-skill burst, but they rushed so much they didn't see the stacks of confusion on them, and during their burst the mesmer saved their invuls roll/evade/shield block/sword block, and watch to have the confusion do damage, and if not by the confusion, by the counter attack with power damage shatters because the opponent has less skills to use to get out of a horrible spot.

Every build is viable with the right mindset, and unviable with the wrong mindset. 

Engage when you should, and disengage when you should. 

 

Pick any weapon set you like, and any skillset you like, but ask these questions:

- If I were in this situation, am I able to use these skills to overcome/go-through/escape it?
- If I bursted everything, am I able to recover from a long cool-down wait?

- Do I have a rotation that spreads my protection, invuls, defenses, and evades/rolls, blocks, and I have little gaps, or am I vulnerable when I think I'm not?
- Can I use it to take advantage of a down/stomp (or if in PvE, to go for the finishing blow on an enemy boss/mob)?

- And finally, if my opponent did this, am I able to do this in response? 

Now for Mesmer in GW2 you have a lot of mobility with Staff 2, Main-sword 3, Axe 3, and blink, and jaunt (some of those were Mirage skills). Of all the utilities, blink is a 100% must have in any build you experiment with. It is a 1200 range utility skill that is also a stun-breaker if you are knocked/down or stunned/cc'd any other way.

 

 

Example, I have a build where anyone that jumps on me from cloak, I have an AOE blind ready (staff 4), or I'm used to pressing F3 (diversion to daze), or just blinking away, because the mindset was already trained with the build to react quickly and to be used to such an engagement. I only use Evade if all other defense options are exhausted or cleansing the condi is worth it, or that the evade is the best option in the given scenario.

 

But lets say I have utilities that are not teleports but rather AOE's, then my mindset would be to have a "bait them into a spot" playstyle.

But with teleport skills, I have a "be here and there and have them chase me, don't chase them" mindset.

 

Anyways, that is how I think, good luck with finding your build! Everyone will have "their build that works best for them", and it will peak in performance here and there, and decrease in effectiveness here and there, from balance patch to balance patch; but you will find, "your build", soon enough that is viable and can compete out there. Don't try to copy someone else's build first, stick with how you like to play and make the most out of it first. (I learned this).

---

In short, you need to suffer a lot through trial and error to learn how to suffer little.

 

And don't worry about balance patches, any unfavorable balance patch can be mitigated by altering some armor/trinket stats here and there, maybe swapping out a certain type for another, while not touching your build skills/traits at all.

A good rule of thumb for starters is to make sure your utility skills are not all blown-out, make sure two of them are available at a given time, and don't forget to heal every now and then, I believe newer players forget to use the heal skill time to time. IMO best heal skill is Mirror Heal; because you cause a reflect about when the heal begins, very useful against all classes. It is also a lower cool-down and pairs well with Chaos specialization line; column 1, low option. Thus, you can see my mindset focuses on "versatility".

 

Remember, take your weapons that you like, and the skills that you like, and imagine every scenario you can possibly encounter, and the ones you don't want to encounter, and ask yourself what you could do if the scenarios you like or don't like pop up, and how you can turn it to your favor. Build your mindset first, before the build is built. That is how the best build, is built; for you.

Edited August 30, 2022 by Avion Blade.4869

[Justine.6351]

8 hours ago, Avion Blade.4869 said:

Mesmer is not about the build, it is about the mindset. 

 

Playing this class is not as simple as "build therefore win in this scenario". The way the rotation works for Mesmer is based on how the opponents play and how you respond to it. Your job is to misdirect the opponent and lure them into your liking.

 

You are playing an illusionist, so it is good to think like one.

Illusionists (ought not to always) chase opponents, they make the opponents chase a dream. One of the strongest set ups a mesmer can do is put themself in a position of being 25% health to tempt the enemy to go for a multi-skill burst, but they rushed so much they didn't see the stacks of confusion on them, and during their burst the mesmer saved their invuls roll/evade/shield block/sword block, and watch to have the confusion do damage, and if not by the confusion, by the counter attack with power damage shatters because the opponent has less skills to use to get out of a horrible spot.

Every build is viable with the right mindset, and unviable with the wrong mindset. 

Engage when you should, and disengage when you should. 

 

Pick any weapon set you like, and any skillset you like, but ask these questions:

- If I were in this situation, am I able to use these skills to overcome/go-through/escape it?
- If I bursted everything, am I able to recover from a long cool-down wait?

- Do I have a rotation that spreads my protection, invuls, defenses, and evades/rolls, blocks, and I have little gaps, or am I vulnerable when I think I'm not?
- Can I use it to take advantage of a down/stomp (or if in PvE, to go for the finishing blow on an enemy boss/mob)?

- And finally, if my opponent did this, am I able to do this in response? 

Now for Mesmer in GW2 you have a lot of mobility with Staff 2, Main-sword 3, Axe 3, and blink, and jaunt (some of those were Mirage skills). Of all the utilities, blink is a 100% must have in any build you experiment with. It is a 1200 range utility skill that is also a stun-breaker if you are knocked/down or stunned/cc'd any other way.

 

 

Example, I have a build where anyone that jumps on me from cloak, I have an AOE blind ready (staff 4), or I'm used to pressing F3 (diversion to daze), or just blinking away, because the mindset was already trained with the build to react quickly and to be used to such an engagement. I only use Evade if all other defense options are exhausted or cleansing the condi is worth it, or that the evade is the best option in the given scenario.

 

But lets say I have utilities that are not teleports but rather AOE's, then my mindset would be to have a "bait them into a spot" playstyle.

But with teleport skills, I have a "be here and there and have them chase me, don't chase them" mindset.

 

Anyways, that is how I think, good luck with finding your build! Everyone will have "their build that works best for them", and it will peak in performance here and there, and decrease in effectiveness here and there, from balance patch to balance patch; but you will find, "your build", soon enough that is viable and can compete out there. Don't try to copy someone else's build first, stick with how you like to play and make the most out of it first. (I learned this).

---

In short, you need to suffer a lot through trial and error to learn how to suffer little.

 

And don't worry about balance patches, any unfavorable balance patch can be mitigated by altering some armor/trinket stats here and there, maybe swapping out a certain type for another, while not touching your build skills/traits at all.

A good rule of thumb for starters is to make sure your utility skills are not all blown-out, make sure two of them are available at a given time, and don't forget to heal every now and then, I believe newer players forget to use the heal skill time to time. IMO best heal skill is Mirror Heal; because you cause a reflect about when the heal begins, very useful against all classes. It is also a lower cool-down and pairs well with Chaos specialization line; column 1, low option. Thus, you can see my mindset focuses on "versatility".

 

Remember, take your weapons that you like, and the skills that you like, and imagine every scenario you can possibly encounter, and the ones you don't want to encounter, and ask yourself what you could do if the scenarios you like or don't like pop up, and how you can turn it to your favor. Build your mindset first, before the build is built. That is how the best build, is built; for you.

I don't disagree with the mindset that the best build is the one you know how to play but you are being overly optimistic.

[Blood Red Arachnid.2493]

There's no "best build."  There's only "best at" builds.  Now, if I were to give a few listings for PVE builds.

 

DPS Chronomancer.  Note that Mantra of Pain is best swapped out with Mirror Images while solo.

Quickness Chrono.  Gives AoE quickness.  Note that it's very similar to the above.  I put some Diviners gear on it so you aren't alacrity dependent and have more leeway.

Condition MIrage.  High DPS build and very mobile.  Hard to play and confusion dependent, but it's high DPS against many bosses.  I just posted the snowcrows build because I have no significant improvements.  Highest damage condition build.

Alacrity Mirage.  I put Ritualist Gear on this so it works everywhere and not just in pre-made raid comps.  Best alacrity application out of the chrono builds.

Power Virtuoso.  Probably the highest damage power build.  It plays differently from the other specs.  

Condition Virtuoso.  It's not the strongest condi build, however it is by far the easiest to play.

Immortal Virtuoso.  This condi build is great if you want to solo champions.  The self-heals on this thing are insane.  

[Mell.4873]

13 hours ago, Avion Blade.4869 said:

Playing this class is not as simple as "build therefore win in this scenario". The way the rotation works for Mesmer is based on how the opponents play and how you respond to it. Your job is to misdirect the opponent and lure them into your liking.

Good breakdown and as a Mesmer arming yourself with multiple builds so can tackle any scenario is the best approach. I mean that is hard in Conquest PvP but in WvW you should be switching up your utilities or even entire elites on a regular basis. I.E. Roaming, Small Zerg, Large Zerg.

2 hours ago, Blood Red Arachnid.2493 said:

There's no "best build."  There's only "best at" builds.  Now, if I were to give a few listings for PVE builds.

Good examples of standard playstyles, I think gear is the most flexible part of building a Mesmer (maybe not Virtuoso though)

Edited August 30, 2022 by Mell.4873

[Age.4190]

On 8/28/2022 at 7:08 PM, Justine.6351 said:

Way too open of a question.

Do you play esurge in gw1 or ineptitude or something else?

No I don't as it is GW2 or I would ask on the Legacy forums and I did say Traits not attribute points .

What is it as I said in my original post ?

[Justine.6351]

6 minutes ago, Age.4190 said:

No I don't as it is GW2 or I would ask on the Legacy forums and I did say Traits not attribute points .

What is it as I said in my original post ?

You said you came from gw mesmer to gw2 mesmer. Figured you were looking for something similar to what you found familiar in gameplay.

[Age.4190]

On 8/30/2022 at 11:06 AM, Blood Red Arachnid.2493 said:

There's no "best build."  There's only "best at" builds.  Now, if I were to give a few listings for PVE builds.

 

DPS Chronomancer.  Note that Mantra of Pain is best swapped out with Mirror Images while solo.

Quickness Chrono.  Gives AoE quickness.  Note that it's very similar to the above.  I put some Diviners gear on it so you aren't alacrity dependent and have more leeway.

Condition MIrage.  High DPS build and very mobile.  Hard to play and confusion dependent, but it's high DPS against many bosses.  I just posted the snowcrows build because I have no significant improvements.  Highest damage condition build.

Alacrity Mirage.  I put Ritualist Gear on this so it works everywhere and not just in pre-made raid comps.  Best alacrity application out of the chrono builds.

Power Virtuoso.  Probably the highest damage power build.  It plays differently from the other specs.  

Condition Virtuoso.  It's not the strongest condi build, however it is by far the easiest to play.

Immortal Virtuoso.  This condi build is great if you want to solo champions.  The self-heals on this thing are insane.  

Thanks for that .

@Justine.6351

Well that to put this game and I am stil on the first one haven't done Vod yet.

Edited August 31, 2022 by Age.4190