Mesmer help.

[smoker.6731]

hi, 

 

 i started playing this game as necro and have learned the basics and all. Now, i have decided to start playing/learn mesmer and leveled up character to 80. Now my question was, which elite spec. i should unlock which i could easily solo PvE and using the same build for fractals and raids. 

[AliamRationem.5172]

That's a difficult question because often the build you would use to "easily" solo (as a new player in particular!) PvE looks very different from the build you would use for raids/fractals.  This is because in solo play you have to provide your own healing and boons and, depending upon what you want to solo and how comfortable you are with the spec, you may need to pack extra survival tools into your build as well.

If you want the kind of survival where you can survive practically anything with little or no knowledge of the class, I think condi staff mirage is the only build that fits the bill.  However, it has very poor burst damage and the damage over time, while adequate for completing open world/story content and even soloing champions, is still on the low side.  You'd get better damage out of virtuoso, but if you're at the point where you're facetanking a lot of things that you shouldn't and relying on passive sustain the way you can often do with necro builds, you may find a fractal/raid virtuoso build too flimsy.

Here's a clip of condi staff mirage.  Again, this isn't the build to use in group content.  But it's pretty bulletproof and dead easy to use in solo play.

Edited July 29, 2023 by AliamRationem.5172

[Alsandar.7420]

I’m gonna say Mirage. Staff/staff or greatsword/greatsword. I enjoy both in open world. Greatsword is incredible for meta events and looks really cool. 

Virtuoso is pretty but doesn’t have clones. Clones are so helpful really, because npc’s attack them, not you. I just like clones. That’s why I’m a Mesmer.

Chrono is really cool, especially in competitive content, but it’s much harder. 
 

By the time you master Mirage you’ll be ready to go on a hero point train and unlock the next elite specialization 

 

 

Edited July 30, 2023 by Alsandar.7420

[Blood Red Arachnid.2493]

My recommendation goes to condi virtuoso.  The raid build is here, but it relies on infusions to hit the crit cap.  So, until then, just add more rampager gear until you get to about 60% crit chance without fury.  Another change I would make for most content is to replace Signet of Illusions with Rain of Swords.  Signet of Illusions is only a damage increase if you're buffed up, cleaving, and just ripping things to shreds with your skills.  Rain of Swords does less damage in ideal situations, but more damage in practical situations.  If you want to maintain sustain, keep Signet of the Ether's active up, and you'll have immense self-healing.

It is called condi virtuoso, but in reality it is a hybrid damage build.  It gets my vote for a few reasons.  First, it is pretty simple to play.  Second, it can do almost all of its damage at long ranges.  Third, it's hybrid nature means that it excels in most content.  Fourth, the self-healing is strong enough to let you solo champions.  Finally, the differences between the raid build and the overworld build are minimal.  

[Endaris.1452]

If you're still a new player with a low gold budget, I would suggest looking into chronomancer.

The power variant gears only on core stats which have much better availability than whatever gear you might want for any condition damage based build.

Chrono plows through open world PvE easily and can solve the majority of problems one might encounter in solo play simply by switching out weapons, traits and/or utilities. It is one of the specs that can easily attain high self-quickness, either through Seize the Moment or combining Phantasmal Haste, Persistence of Memory and Bountiful Blade with Greatsword. Your only problem might be fury access on variants that don't take Dueling but that will likely be solved with the upcoming rune rework, allowing you to use the new relic slot as a gap filler for whatever you lack.

What I personally like about power chrono as opposed to any condi mesmer is that in open world stuff actually dies and it dies very quickly. Any condition build will usually kill their enemies well before half of the condi damage on them has ticked and relatively slowly as the damage is backloaded, making it only a good choice if you plan to fight champions on your own as linked by AliamRationem (and that's still not a raid build) as condi generally tends to lose little from running extra survival stats as it only commits 2 stats to damage (unlike 3 for power).

Basically take the Meta raidbuild, for various situations have a focus and shield ready to replace your off-hand sword. Staff and scepter can also be comfy in higher pressure encounters thanks to their defensive value. Illusions for open world if you find yourself lacking quickness and damage, Chaos for stability or stealth action. Dueling for damage and maybe some gimmicks. Domination for clone generation with greatsword and damage (and by extension, quickness and might). Inspiration for condi cleanse and additional healing. There's a lot of mix and match and although this applies to condi mesmers as well, they are less flexible with traits and weapon choices if you want to play around in open world and story.

That being said, just get all of them. By the time you're in raid and strike content, getting the extra HPs to unlock the other especs should be your last problem.

[mikko.4013]

12 hours ago, smoker.6731 said:

i have decided to start playing/learn mesmer and leveled up character to 80. Now my question was, which elite spec. i should unlock which i could easily solo PvE and using the same build for fractals and raids. 

I would suggest condi Virtuoso (though you may want to learn a power class if you want to do CM fractals), because it has a decent burst, good survivability, easy rotation, and the build is "meta" for fractals and raids.

Chrono requires more skills, imho (continuum spli/shift).

Mirage requires more skills too (beware of clone's skill cancelling while you ambush), and rotation is not easy.

[Buran.3796]

For OW PvE celestial Mirage; check vids of Lord Hizen in YT soloing  everything with that build.

For instanced content condition Virtuoso has extremely high damage output, can play at any range and is fairly easy to play, while also being meta. And you can run PvP/roaming builds with the same stats.

What you won't find is a single build to do "everything", since the best solo PvE builds are more tankier but deliver damage at slower pace, and vs humans breakstuns and mobility tricks are more important than learning a skill roatation vs a golem.

[Jitters.9401]

I soloed every 10 hero point challenge with a core mesmer.

I used that "Rabid" gear.  (condition precision toughness)

Staff. ---- Scepter/Torch. 

I think I ran chaos, Illusions, inspiration.... but definitely ran Illusions for the trait "Malicious Sorcery ". 

The quicker attack speed using scepter helps with clone production... and the reduced recharge on scepter skills is a total life saver when it comes to soloing crazy hard content. 

You scepter #2 block for the torment and scepter #3 for confusion. You have a higher frequency of use.

 

I ran tormenting runes. 

Sigils of torment because of the precision on Rabid Gear. 

I was pleased with how good it was.... and like I mentioned.... I soloed every 10 hero point challenge in the game with the build. 

 

[Leonidrex.5649]

Dont listen to most people here, they are 100% clueless giving you dog kitten for fun builds that are painful to look at. kittening tormenting runes staff/staff XDDDDDDDDDDDDDD.
https://snowcrows.com/builds/mesmer/virtuoso/condition-virtuoso
This is the highest bench dps mesmer build, you can use this exact build in fractals too and it will function well in OW. Its also a VERY easy build to boot, you can change utility skills to match the need of raid/fractal. Its boring as kitten tho.

[dead.7638]

No help, only Zul

[Geronmy.3298]

11 hours ago, Leonidrex.5649 said:

Dont listen to most people here, they are 100% clueless giving you dog kitten for fun builds that are painful to look at. kittening tormenting runes staff/staff XDDDDDDDDDDDDDD.
https://snowcrows.com/builds/mesmer/virtuoso/condition-virtuoso
This is the highest bench dps mesmer build, you can use this exact build in fractals too and it will function well in OW. Its also a VERY easy build to boot, you can change utility skills to match the need of raid/fractal. Its boring as kitten tho.

Hey, i use tormenting staff/staff cele Mirage and now i feel offended.

/s.