Noob to mesmer

[MrRay.3027]

I haven't used that lvl 80 boost yet and I feel it starting to degrade in my inventory. So I wanna start playing mesmer. I don't usually make alts, because I have a problem with deciding what to play. I only play thief (but rarely) and my main is eli. I already have ascended gear for my eli (sinister armor and viper trinkets) so transfering gear won't be a problem, even if I need to change some stats.If anybody would be so kind as to provide some general information for a build that would work for open world and fractals? Or maybe a video? What I see on youtube are generally pvp and wvw builds and guides.I want start with mirage (don't have enough hero points for both elites) since from what I understand it's more dps-ish.

[Bod.8261]

Open world: Play what you want. With ascended Sinister/Viper you'll be well over the intended gear level.Fractals: Don't play condi mirage.

Builds/Rotations:Quantify and Metabattle. Don't be that lazy.

[MrRay.3027]

I'm not lazy, just that those builds (speaking from eli experience) usually don't work with pugs.

[Bod.8261]

@MrRay.3027 said:I'm not lazy, just that those builds (speaking from eli experience) usually don't work with pugs.That's because they are designed for benchmarks and static raid fights.

In a more dynamic environment mesmer doesn't work as well. A lot of the dps comes from phantasms that die with your enemy.Non-phantasm AoE can't compare to the AoE of other classes.

[keyokku.5412]

I'd suggest Chrono to start. If you want a versatile build for group play and solo roam/open world play, chrono is versatile. It can support, it can hold defensive tanky positions, it can also dish out a lot of damage, and it's extremely survivable, with lots of blocks, low cooldowns, aoe, constant shatters, doubling up on phantasm hits, freedom to go power or condi if you choose etc.. Don't underestimate Chrono damage output. Chrono in open world is amazing, you can solo anything. Mirage does feel like a thief but honestly it's DPS isn't so great when compared to top classes and it doesn't offer much to a team. I think it's best for pvp/1v1 dueling personally. I've found that after using mirage for a while, it still has issues with evading accurately in a group of players, in a field of effects and animations, or dealing with many targets. If you really want to stick to playing a thief style evasion and mobility thing, you can do a Mirage, but if you want to try another class and might be playing varied content, Chrono is definitely versatile and in demand.

As for builds, it really depends on what content you're going for. Sinister and Viper is fine. Maybe do some Grieving. there are already a lot of Mirage builds on the forum, take a go through the recent threads, a lot of stuff available, no point in constantly repeating things

[Cyninja.2954]

Or use that condi gear and make a necromancer. Actually boosting a necromancer makes sense since they get rabid gear instead of soldiers (which most classes get). Rabid condi gear is actually useful (unlike soldiers).

Then if you dislike necromancer, use level up scrolls and tomes to powerlevel a mesmer to 80.