Guild Wars

[poleboy]

Complain about Ursan and post sweet mesmer builds here :smallwink:

[Abardam]

Mesmer/Elementalist

Fast Casting 12
Fire Magic 12

Skills:
Ursan Blessing
Optional
Optional
Optional
Optional
Optional
Optional
Optional

Did I do that right

P.S. :smallwink:

[Ranis]

The playerbase on Guild Wars has completely killed what used to be a good game for me. I was in Alpha and Beta for Prophecies and Factions; I came back a few months ago and couldn't believe how bad things had gotten. No wonder they're going to pay-to-play with Guild Wars 2, at least they won't have to cater to the 4-7 year olds who all play the same FREAKING class all of the FREAKING time and....ugh, I could go on, but I'll spare you.

[DemonicAngel]

Who said anything about PtP in GW2?

[Maxymiuk]

Guild Wars 2 (...) will continue the original Guild Wars tradition of no subscription fees.

As for the horrid player base... they're too easy to ignore for me to bother. I just remember to keep the Trade chat turned off in the main cities to avoid being inundated with spam and it becomes really manageable.

As for Mesmer builds... hmm.

Mesmer/Necromancer

Fast Casting 9+1
Domination Magic 12+3
Illusion Magic 8+1
Inspiration Magic 5

Empathy
Necrosis
Conjure Phantasm
Frustration
Power Spike
Power Drain
Backfire
Sunspear Rebirth Signet

Yes, no elites. Between the spammability of Necrosis (special necro sunspear skill - armor-ignoring damage based on your Sunspear rank) and the caster shutdown ability (Backfire for healers, Frustration + Power X for others) I can do both battlefield control and out-DPS anyone but a dedicated fire ele. Most mesmer elites are a bit too gimmicky for my taste anyway. Too situational. Hells, I ran a core skills only build in AB for 3 months and still managed to kick righteous buttock about half the time.

[Zenthar]

As for the horrid player base... they're too easy to ignore for me to bother. I just remember to keep the Trade chat turned off in the main cities to avoid being inundated with spam and it becomes really manageable.

As for Mesmer builds... hmm.

Mesmer/Necromancer

Fast Casting 9+1
Domination Magic 12+3
Illusion Magic 8+1
Inspiration Magic 5

Empathy
Necrosis
Conjure Phantasm
Frustration
Power Spike
Power Drain
Backfire
Sunspear Rebirth Signet

Yes, no elites. Between the spammability of Necrosis (special necro sunspear skill - armor-ignoring damage based on your Sunspear rank) and the caster shutdown ability (Backfire for healers, Frustration + Power X for others) I can do both battlefield control and out-DPS anyone but a dedicated fire ele. Most mesmer elites are a bit too gimmicky for my taste anyway. Too situational. Hells, I ran a core skills only build in AB for 3 months and still managed to kick righteous buttock about half the time.

But there are many builds that could out-DPS yours. If a fire ele can out-dps you, so can many others, considering that fire eles are weaker than some other elementals, like earth and air. But well, some exotic builds can work well. Like when I used to kill 3-4 of the opposite team in a few seconds with my fire ele in random arenas, heh. If they were mostly melee, that is. The build could do the same serious damage to casters too, but they don't usually stick as close to each other.

The tactic is to run ahead before the rest of your team and thus gather the attention of the enemy melee classes. Then you.. kill them.
It's been sometime, but the build went something like this(I stopped playing after the latest expansion came out, so there could be some new skills to include to make it better, and this may be a bit different from the original):

E/W

[1] - "None shall pass!" (Shout. All nearby foes that are moving are knocked down. )
[2] - Bed of coals (Spell. Create a Bed of Coals at your location. For 10 seconds, foes standing still near this location are struck for 5...24...29 fire damage each second. Any foe knocked down on the Bed of Coals is set on fire for 3...6...7 seconds.)
[3] - Immolate (Spell. Target foe is struck for 15...51...60 fire damage and is set on fire for 1...3...3 seconds.)´
[4] - Meteor Shower (Spell. Create a Meteor Shower at target foe's location. For 9 seconds, foes adjacent to that location are struck for 7...91...112 fire damage and knocked down every 3 seconds. This Spell causes Exhaustion. )
[5] - Rodgort's Invocation (Spell. Target foe and all nearby foes are struck for 15...99...120 fire damage and set on fire for 1...3...3 seconds. )
[6] - Inferno (Spell. All adjacent foes are struck for 30...114...135 fire damage.)
[7] - Flame Burst (Spell. All nearby foes are struck for 15...99...120 fire damage.)
[8] - Glyph of Sacrifice ( Glyph. For 15 seconds, your next spell casts instantly, but it takes an additional 30 seconds to recharge. )

Okay, I think that's about it. So, as I said, you run ahead of your team (if the enemy team has melee'ers, you don't want mesmers and necros messing with you too much before your team is attacking them), and do /taunt or whatever, and when the enemies are close, you start with [8], and when they are attacking you, you use [4] on your location immediately followed by [2]. Now, the smartest try to run away from you. Some will stay. Both are fine for you. If/when you see someone run away, you use [1]. Then, you start spamming [5], [6] and [7]. So this is how it goes:

They attack you (preferrably two or more, you don't want to waste all this on one guy), you do your thing and the meteors stall falling down. They fall down. They try to get away, you tell them they're not going anywhere (none shall pass). This is when you start using your damage spells, and each of them deals ~120 damage. You get about one or two of these off before they up from your None shall pass! But oh no, when they get up, that's about when the next meteor hits, and they're knocked down again. Oops. You continue your thing. Now, since most characters have about 500 health in GW, you can do the math. Let's say ~150 damage from Bed of Coals (that's if they spend about 3-4 seconds in it). Okie dokie. 150. Then your Meteors. They each do about 120 (your fire elem should be 16). So after a few seconds that's 240 damage. 240 + 150 = 390. Now you hit them with rodgort (125) and inferno (140) and flame burst (125). That's another 390. That's about 800 damage at least, counting the burning. 800 damage in 5-6 seconds max. To everyone around you. The melee classes usually have a good armor, so you'll get about 150 damage taken from the attack, but it still will do the job and kill anyone 95% of the time. If your enemies don't get the hint, hit them with immolate. And remember, you have teammates. They'll finish anyone who isn't dead already.

[poleboy]

The playerbase on Guild Wars has completely killed what used to be a good game for me. I was in Alpha and Beta for Prophecies and Factions; I came back a few months ago and couldn't believe how bad things had gotten. No wonder they're going to pay-to-play with Guild Wars 2, at least they won't have to cater to the 4-7 year olds who all play the same FREAKING class all of the FREAKING time and....ugh, I could go on, but I'll spare you.

There's a pretty simple solution to that. Join a mature guild and turn off general and trade channels. I think all MMO's have those problems.

Maxymuik, is that a PVE build? I'd probably go with migraine instead of conjure phantasm, to make interrupting easier. Shrinking armor can also do pretty much the same for less energy plus adding a condition when it ends. I also prefer Cry of Pain over Necrosis, but that's probably because I loove AOE damage :smallbiggrin:

My mesmer currently uses:

Fast Casting 10
Illusion Magic 12
Inspiration Magic 10

Power Drain
Leech Signet
Shrinking Armor or Conjure Nightmare
Migraine
Wandering Eye or Clumsiness
Clumsiness Signet
Cry of Pain
Some sort of res or another interrupt

[Maxymiuk]

that a PVE build? I'd probably go with migraine instead of conjure phantasm, to make interrupting easier. Shrinking armor can also do pretty much the same for less energy plus adding a condition when it ends. I also prefer Cry of Pain over Necrosis, but that's probably because I loove AOE damage :smallbiggrin:

My mesmer currently uses:

Fast Casting 10
Illusion Magic 12
Inspiration Magic 10

Power Drain
Leech Signet
Shrinking Armor or Conjure Nightmare
Migraine
Wandering Eye or Clumsiness
Clumsiness Signet
Cry of Pain
Some sort of res or another interrupt

Yes, it's a PvE build.

I use Frustration to slow down enemy casting. Sure, it's only a 50% slowdown compared to Migraine's 100%, but I tend to have good enough reflexes to still catch most spells, and the extra damage is always nice. Conjure Phantasm is there mostly due to its fast cast time - I use it as the trigger for Necrosis.
The entire build is mostly the result of NF and its introduction of well-organized enemy mobs. My typical tactic is to throw a "fire and forget" hex (Empathy or Backfire) at one enemy, and then focus on another with Frustration+Power X or Phantasm+Necrosis, depending on type.

If I wanted to go AoE I'd probably couple Cry of Pain with Energy Surge, but I actually find that to be the less effective tactic - the fire ele can do the same thing much quicker, plus he has the energy to burn.

RE Zenthar: I was talking about PvE in terms of DPS, and I'm counting in the damage from letting enemies damage themselves as well. I'll admit that PvP builds, especially the ones that rely on going nova, are going to be better than mine, but then, for PvP I use a completely different build with a completely different purpose.

[poleboy]

Yes, it's a PvE build.

I use Frustration to slow down enemy casting. Sure, it's only a 50% slowdown compared to Migraine's 100%, but I tend to have good enough reflexes to still catch most spells, and the extra damage is always nice. Conjure Phantasm is there mostly due to its fast cast time - I use it as the trigger for Necrosis.


I should probably pick up frustration then. I don't really have the killer reflexes it takes to interrupt a good monk, but it sounds pretty neat. I mostly run Proph/Core/GWEN skills right now.
Conjure phantasm is 1 sec activation no? That's the same for Shrinking Armor and Conjure Nightmares too. If it's just a trigger hex, I think you could do just as well with Shrinking Armor for half the energy. It's capped at 10 secs though.

I still think you should pick up an elite, even if you don't like Migraine. Power Flux, Power Block or Power Leech are all neat interrupts with extra goodness that could easily replace Power Spike or Power Drain in your build.

[Maxymiuk]

I should probably pick up frustration then. I don't really have the killer reflexes it takes to interrupt a good monk, but it sounds pretty neat.

Nobody has the reflexes to interrupt a monk. I should know, since I play one as often (if not more) as the mesmer. A monk you hit with Backfire (140 armor ignoring damage at Domination Magic 15) and watch them kill themselves as they throw out heals left and right.


Conjure phantasm is 1 sec activation no? That's the same for Shrinking Armor and Conjure Nightmares too. If it's just a trigger hex, I think you could do just as well with Shrinking Armor for half the energy. It's capped at 10 secs though.

Conjure Nightmares has a rather prohibitive energy cost though. On the other hand, 10 secs is usually enough for me to kill anyone, so I'll try Shrinking Armor. Thanks.


I still think you should pick up an elite, even if you don't like Migraine. Power Flux, Power Block or Power Leech are all neat interrupts with extra goodness that could easily replace Power Spike or Power Drain in your build.

I'll confess that my aversion to Migraine is mainly due to the fact that it's the only elite you ever see mesmers use in Alliance Battles. The. Only. One. To this date I have run into a single PvP mesmer build that tried something different - a rather excellent energy denial build based around Energy Surge and Energy Burn that rendered my Bonder monk completely useless in under five seconds. As for the other elites... *shrug* I guess I just like the joy of knowing I can do as good a job as anyone else without relying on some gold-framed skill. :smallcool:

[Abardam]

Nobody has the reflexes to interrupt a monk. I should know, since I play one as often (if not more) as the mesmer. A monk you hit with Backfire (140 armor ignoring damage at Domination Magic 15) and watch them kill themselves as they throw out heals left and right.Funnily enough, I know a guy who likes to interrupt Reversal of Fortune.

I don't think most monks would be stupid enough to cast while Backfired, though.

[poleboy]

Funnily enough, I know a guy who likes to interrupt Reversal of Fortune.

I don't think most monks would be stupid enough to cast while Backfired, though.

I'm pretty sure he meant AI controlled monks. Backfire isn't very good in PVP unless you have a couple other hexes to cover it. And even then, you're usually better off interrupting. Also, the guy who interrupts RoF is a robot. Better kill him before he decides to harvest your organs for bio-fuel. Seriously, no human can interrupt a 3/4 sec cast spell every time. Also, why waste an interrupt on a 2 sec recharge spell :smallconfused:

EDIT: I just realized it's a 1/4 sec cast spell. After your friend is dead, I suggest you pour burning acid over the remains so he doesn't come back as some sort of robotic undead vampire.

As for Migraine, there's a reason it's overused I guess. It's a reasonably cheap spell that puts a lot of pressure on any caster, while not requiring any maintenance. And mayeb this is just me, but if I interrupt something with less than 2 secs casting time, it's usually more luck than skill. Unless you are completely lag-free at all times and your computer runs GW perfectly, something to slow down casting is hard to go without. I also think there are too many trash mesmer elites that either burn your energy too fast, or does almost the same as a non-elite, just slightly cheaper or with less recharge.

[Zenthar]

I'm pretty sure he meant AI controlled monks. Backfire isn't very good in PVP unless you have a couple other hexes to cover it. And even then, you're usually better off interrupting. Also, the guy who interrupts RoF is a robot. Better kill him before he decides to harvest your organs for bio-fuel. Seriously, no human can interrupt a 3/4 sec cast spell every time. Also, why waste an interrupt on a 2 sec recharge spell :smallconfused:

EDIT: I just realized it's a 1/4 sec cast spell. After your friend is dead, I suggest you pour burning acid over the remains so he doesn't come back as some sort of robotic undead vampire.

As for Migraine, there's a reason it's overused I guess. It's a reasonably cheap spell that puts a lot of pressure on any caster, while not requiring any maintenance. And mayeb this is just me, but if I interrupt something with less than 2 secs casting time, it's usually more luck than skill. Unless you are completely lag-free at all times and your computer runs GW perfectly, something to slow down casting is hard to go without. I also think there are too many trash mesmer elites that either burn your energy too fast, or does almost the same as a non-elite, just slightly cheaper or with less recharge.

Well, a human can have reflexes of 0.09, ( average is 0.25-0.30 ), add the ping, lag of the mouse/keyboard and lag of the screen to it, the casting duration of an interrupt spell and you'll have your answer if it's possible!

[Zenthar]

I'm pretty sure he meant AI controlled monks. Backfire isn't very good in PVP unless you have a couple other hexes to cover it. And even then, you're usually better off interrupting. Also, the guy who interrupts RoF is a robot. Better kill him before he decides to harvest your organs for bio-fuel. Seriously, no human can interrupt a 3/4 sec cast spell every time. Also, why waste an interrupt on a 2 sec recharge spell :smallconfused:

EDIT: I just realized it's a 1/4 sec cast spell. After your friend is dead, I suggest you pour burning acid over the remains so he doesn't come back as some sort of robotic undead vampire.

As for Migraine, there's a reason it's overused I guess. It's a reasonably cheap spell that puts a lot of pressure on any caster, while not requiring any maintenance. And mayeb this is just me, but if I interrupt something with less than 2 secs casting time, it's usually more luck than skill. Unless you are completely lag-free at all times and your computer runs GW perfectly, something to slow down casting is hard to go without. I also think there are too many trash mesmer elites that either burn your energy too fast, or does almost the same as a non-elite, just slightly cheaper or with less recharge.

Well, a human can have reflexes of 0.09, ( average is 0.25-0.30 ), add the ping, lag of the mouse/keyboard and lag of the screen to it, the casting duration of an interrupt spell and you'll have your answer if it's possible!

[Penguinizer]

A decent mesmer/necromancer build I try out in pvp at times is:

Fast Casting: 8+2
Illusion:11+2
Curses: the rest of your points
Inspiration: Alternatively, you can also put some in this.

Skills:
Soul Barbs
Recurring Insecurity (-2 degen)
Parasitic Bond (-1 degen)
Images of Remorse
Conjure Phantasm (-5 degen)
Accumulated Pain, Drain Delusion or Power Drain (if you took Inspiration Magic)
Illusion of Weakness (can be replaced with another skill like energy management)
Rez

[Hadrian_Emrys]

I have half a dozen builds for my mes/mo, but this one has proven itself to be to mesmers what batman is to wizards:


10 Fast Casting
14 Domination
11 Inspiration
Staff grants:
Faster cast for Dom (20%)
Faster cool down for all skills (20%)

Ether Feast
Power Return
Complicate
Cry of Frustration
Empathy
Backfire
Mantra of Recall
Resurrection

The only thing foes can really do safely is stand still or pray I don't notice them when they DO take an action. Before my wreck, my reflexes (combined with a great connection) allowed me to 'rupt anything that wasn't a fast cast instant. I'll admit that spells with less than a 1 second casting time took a LOT of practice to stop with anything close to consitancy though. It was months of effort, and constant training with my guildmates.

[Maxymiuk]

I don't think most monks would be stupid enough to cast while Backfired, though.

You'd be surprised.

Once the heavy stuff starts flying through the air, a monk is usually busier watching the party health bar than his status icons. Given that most monk spells have very fast casting time and short cooldown, a player can throw out 3-4 heals before he notices he's taking damage. And by then it's usually too late.

Alternately, if a monk doe notice he's just been Backfired, he's not throwing any healing around for the next dozen seconds or so. And that's typically enough for the rest of his party to die.

Monk mobs in PvE are actually smarter about that - you'll get them casting one, maybe two spells under Backfire and then they stop and wait for it to run out or till they get de-hexed. But usually at that point the melee gank squad crashes into them.

Regarding interrupting RoF: yup, he's a damned robot. Only way I ever had that interrupted was when I was Dazed and being attacked by two assassins, a ranger, and his pet simultaneously.

[Abardam]

Nah, I think they just stop when it would kill them to cast a spell.

And yeah, he's got like four interrupts, what the heck. But he says it's all about anticipation (i.e. most casters cast right after getting knocked down), timing, and having twitchy fingers.

[Hadrian_Emrys]

It gets your adrenals pumping HARD when you are on 'rupt duty (and wired that way I suppose). During really tense fights, you get that bullet time effect in your head and it gets a LOT easier to gind casters especially under your heel. That being said, I am of the school of thought that some classes are better suited to some people than others. I tend to favor my tank built warrior, twitchy healbot monk, battery/support necro, and my batman mesmer most of all. I am a pitiful elementalist, I can seem to do no right with rangers, and Bawb help me if I'm not still having trouble with getting a feel for some of the newer classes.

[poleboy]

I have half a dozen builds for my mes/mo, but this one has proven itself to be to mesmers what batman is to wizards:


10 Fast Casting
14 Domination
11 Inspiration
Staff grants:
Faster cast for Dom (20%)
Faster cool down for all skills (20%)

Ether Feast
Power Return
Complicate
Cry of Frustration
Empathy
Backfire
Mantra of Recall
Resurrection



That looks very nice. I've been feeling a bit iffy about Power Return, but maybe combined with power drain to outweigh the downside? Complicate is for healing/res signet I assume? It does seem a bit conditional, but I assume this is a PVP build.

[Maxymiuk]

That being said, I am of the school of thought that some classes are better suited to some people than others. I tend to favor my tank built warrior, twitchy healbot monk, battery/support necro, and my batman mesmer most of all. I am a pitiful elementalist, I can seem to do no right with rangers, and Bawb help me if I'm not still having trouble with getting a feel for some of the newer classes.

I agree completely. I'm a monk first, a mesmer second, a ranger third. A necro... I don't like the bother with trying to keep your minions alive and the rest of their skills just don't speak to me. Eles I find, quite frankly, boring to play, and with any melee class I get distracted by how slow the on-duty monk always seems to be with dispensing heals. Ritualists annoy me with the painfully slow spirit summons, and the paragon... I don't know. Guess I just don't care for them enough.

Though I suppose I should attempt to play an assassin seriously one of those days - that's the class I tried out all the way back during the Factions preview event, and I really liked their overall style of "get in, cause a crapton of damage, get out."

[Zenthar]

Hehe, all classes have a few exotic builds though, which work completely different than the "normal" ones.

[Hadrian_Emrys]

poleboy:
1: Power Return is cheap and has a fast cooldown, but it gives your target energy. So really, it's the ideal 'rupt for when your foe's skill NEEDS to be stopped, but it must be used wisely. Backfire and Empathy are fun spells to use as a followup to it.
2: Complicate works against all skills but screws signets over as a kicker. So... no attack skills or spells for you AND if it WAS a sig, I hope you didn't need it.

The build is not very conditional at all, and its primary shortcoming is a lack of damage output. Not that big a deal, that's what teammates are for.


Maxymiuk: I had an assassin during the preview, it was unkillable in melee (ranged attackers and spellslinger rocked her hard) but that is as good as I ever got with em. *shrug* I guess the whole bit about having to attack in a pattern out me off. If you miss one attack, the rest of your skillbar is a waste of space. >_<


Zenthar: Like my mes when I switch to sub war. ^_^ Degen and chaos damage flurries eat evasive foes for breakfast.

[Thervold]

I've been trying unsuccessfully to vanquish Poisoned Outcrops and Joko's Domain with just a hero/hench team lead by my warrior. Do any of you have any advice how to deal with those pesky undead groups in HM?

[Flickerdart]

I prefer Paragon as my under-used under-appreciated profession of choice. I love blasting too much to ever do anything aside from Phantasm with a Mesmer. Meanwhile, Anthem of Flame + Zealous Anthem + Barbed Spear is effective enough.

[Hadrian_Emrys]

I never unerstood why one would blast with a mesmer? A DPS build is well and good for a particular task, but why not play a necro or ele for damage dealing? It's what they are there for after all.

[poleboy]

I've been trying unsuccessfully to vanquish Poisoned Outcrops and Joko's Domain with just a hero/hench team lead by my warrior. Do any of you have any advice how to deal with those pesky undead groups in HM?

Use the Junundu? Otherwise, if you can find just one person with good heroes instead of henchmen that helps a lot as well.

[Maxymiuk]

I never unerstood why one would blast with a mesmer? A DPS build is well and good for a particular task, but why not play a necro or ele for damage dealing? It's what they are there for after all.

If you're talking about my particular setup... well, it just sort of happened. It's one of my favorite aspects of Guild Wars, actually - there is no ONE TRUE WAY to make an effective build. This means my characters develop much more organically than in most other MMO's - based on the needs of a particular mission, skill availability, and the synergies I notice.

As I recall, what drew me to the mesmer class in the first place was the potential to be a complete bastard - interrupts, general hexery, and the ability to make the enemy kill themselves. That meant I was naturally drawn to skills such as Empathy, Backfire, Clumsiness, and Power Spike.
If I recall correctly, my build eventually evolved towards three skills I primarily used on meleers (Clumsiness, Conjure Pantasm, Empathy), three that I used on casters (Frustration, Power Spike, Power Drain), a res, and an optional that I'd switch around depending on the particular mission (typically I alternated between Backfire, Energy Tap and Soothing Images).

The problem with this build was, of course, that I burned through energy like an all-night rock concert and had to spend more than half each fight plinking away with that puny staff of mine. I felt that there had to be a way I could contribute more... and the answer came in Necrosis. It was cheap in energy, spammable, and dealt 10 x Sunspear Rank armor ignoring damage. Really, what more could a guy ask for?

The build I've posted at the beginning of this thread is my own approach to being a support caster. It lets me deal high amount of damage to three targets simultaneously - handpicked targets, unrestricted by AoE limitations. It can handle melee grunts, it can shut down casters. While I can't go nova the way an elementalist can, I have the luxury of being able to quickly identify and then destroy the biggest threat in any mob we engage, thus making it possible for the rest of the team to finish the fight much quicker, and with less expenditure of resources (remember kids, the longer the fight goes on, the more frustrated your monk gets trying to keep your sorry butt alive).

To reiterate, in case my above rant didn't make it clear - I didn't set out to make a DPS mesmer. Once I stopped putzing about on newb island and actually understood the basis of this class, my first and foremost goal became versatility, which I think I've managed to achieve. Next came effectiveness - and the high damage I'm capable of dealing was the consequence of me striving for that goal.


To answer the other part of your question: why not an ele or a necromancer? Because those classes don't do anything for me. Don't get me wrong, I understand their usefulness and the sheer amount of power they can wield if properly built - one of my favorite AB teams was me as a monk, an ele, a necro, and a sin (all custom builds you probably won't find on the PvX Wiki) and we pretty much blazed through everything in our way. But whenever I try to play an elementalist or a necromancer myself, for some reason I simply don't enjoy myself as much as when struggling to keep the rest of the team alive with a monk, or acting the bastard with my mesmer.

In the end, I guess it's purely a matter of preference.

That, and the challenge of making a class do something it wasn't designed for. :smallamused:

[Thervold]

Use the Junundu? Otherwise, if you can find just one person with good heroes instead of henchmen that helps a lot as well.

Thanks for the reply, but there are no Junundo in Poisoned Outcrops and only for half of Joko's Domain. And while having another player with heroes would help, we still need some way to kill those blasted cavaliers and acolytes before they start rezzing. Our attempts with Frozen Soil backfired, as we often died before they did.

And Maxymiuk, it's good to know there are still some mesmers in PvE out there having fun :) Sadly it's the only profession I haven't completed any campaign with (as my mesmer has resorted to being my mule).

[Hadrian_Emrys]

I'm all for the unusual uses for classes and abilities. I just just the impression that you were trying to turn the Mes class into a DPS beast when they are so much smarter than that. :smalltongue:

In any case, if you like Mesmer and Monks, I'd suggest you try a battery build for necromancers. You can drag fights out for freaking ever if you are drip feeding all the casters enough energy that they have more of a problem with cooldowns than energy. With the right heals, you can do almost as well as a monk can with a few of their skills, in terms of maintaining party health so that healers can focus on saving lives. Even better? Said healers can ignore you until you die because you can keep yourself up AND, if you do kick the bucket, you become a more effective character WITH a death penalty. Just be sure to bring a change of clothes when your DP keeps you from being raised. Here's my version of the build:

Soul Reaping 14 (superior rune)
Blood Magic 13 (superior rune)
Healing Magic 9
Death Magic 3 (superior rune)
Curses 3 (superior rune)
(major vigor)

Health: 221
Energy: 45 with 4 regen

Blood Renewal: self heal regen and spike
Mend Ailment: conditions occur more often than hexes
Healing Breeze: targeted heal regen
Heal Area: group heal (especially handy when the support is grouped in back)
Blood is Power: from which all good things come (caster allies will worship you)
Vigorous Spirit: targeted upkeep heal, LONG duration
Well of Blood: AOE heal regen in the middle of combat
Resurrect: what good sub monk DOESN'T have this skill?

Rod: Gold
1/2 spell recharge 10%
1/2 casting time 9%

Idol: Blue
1/2 Blood Magic recharge 20%
1/2 Blood Magic castin time 20%

[Kriel]

Thanks for the reply, but there are no Junundo in Poisoned Outcrops and only for half of Joko's Domain. And while having another player with heroes would help, we still need some way to kill those blasted cavaliers and acolytes before they start rezzing. Our attempts with Frozen Soil backfired, as we often died before they did.

And Maxymiuk, it's good to know there are still some mesmers in PvE out there having fun :) Sadly it's the only profession I haven't completed any campaign with (as my mesmer has resorted to being my mule).

Might I recommend a Mesmer with Psychic Distraction? Granted, it shuts down all your other skills for about 8 seconds, but it has a 2-second recharge time and it disables any skill it interrupts for 12 seconds with 14 Domination Magic.

I also find myself having the most fun as my Mesmer in both PvP and PvE. With so many possible effective builds and ways to make others ragequit from being rendered completely useless (a guilty pleasure of mine :smallbiggrin:), there's not much I don't enjoy about being a Mesmer.

[poleboy]

Thervold:

Hmm... you can shut down the cavaliers in several ways since they use a signet for ressing... Rust (ele) comes to mind, as well as Complicate (mesmer) and there are probably others. It's pretty easy to completely shut down signets, but most people don't use the skills since they're only useful on a handful of PVE mobs. You'll have to micro-manage your heroes quite a bit if you want them to handle it, so I strongly suggest you find a human ele or mesmer to help you out. The acolytes are mostly a matter of pressure. If you hit them hard enough, they won't try to res. But I agree, those particular groups can be a bitch.

[Ellisthion]

I've been using this Mesmer PvE build for some time, and it seems to work quite well. I've done most of EotN with it.

Cry of Frustration
Cry of Pain
Diversion
Shame
Mistrust
Auspicious Incantation
Drain Enchantment
Mantra of Recovery {E}

[Thervold]

Thanks for the tips. I eventually went with a guild mate ele who kept rust on them while my warrior specialized in knockdowns. It took awhile, but we eventually made it through. I found that the staff from a quest called The Hallowed Point actually helped a lot. When on the ground, it damages foes every few seconds, so I would charge in, drop it, and run out. That led to half of them being damaged (or in the case of that annoying ele boss, killed the other Sandstorm Crags), making it much easier for us to finish them off. Too bad I won't have that when I tackle the last zone in Elona, Joko's Domain.

[bobothegoat]

Regarding interrupting RoF: yup, he's a damned robot. Only way I ever had that interrupted was when I was Dazed and being attacked by two assassins, a ranger, and his pet simultaneously.

RoF (or any other .25s cast) is easy to interrupt if you know what you're doing. The trick is using things like aftercast delay or a kd to time it. Most spells have an aftercast delay of .75s. If you see a monk casting rof right after his prot spirit every time, you can just wait for prot spirit and cast power leak (or whatever) just as the .75s aftercast delay ends and catch the rof right as he casts it.

KDs work off the same principle, and it's something I do on a warrior following shock or bull's strike all the time. After you KD you just have to wait 3 seconds (with stoneskin insignia--casters or sins it's only 2), then activate your interrupt skill and get the rof he will likely try to cast right as he gets up. These tricks don't always work; a lot of the better monks expect it and will just wait a split second before they use the RoF. Most of you won't be facing a top 100 monk, and your average RA monk or brainless pve monster can be beaten by these tricks just about all the time.

A great mesmer (ie, not me) should be able to reflex .75s casts, and a good one should at least be able to get 1s fairly reliably.

[Sewer_Bandito]

*jumps into thread* Hey guys, I recently started laying the game again and was wondering if anyone had good PVE build for a R/N. Thanks in advance.

[TigerHunter]

Are there any free trials offered right now? Because I don't want to pay $60 for a game I might not like.

[Sewer_Bandito]

Are there any free trials offered right now? Because I don't want to pay $60 for a game I might not like.

I have like 12 (4, actually) free trial codes from buying the expansions laying around if you want me to PM you those?

[Thervold]

*jumps into thread* Hey guys, I recently started laying the game again and was wondering if anyone had good PVE build for a R/N. Thanks in advance.

R/N is a typical setup for a touch ranger (a ranger with high expertise and blood and spams Vampiric Touch/Bite, using Offering of Blood when energy runs low). But it can also be used to put Mark of Pain on a foe, allowing your arrows to cause AoE damage. Otherwise, there aren't too many other /N combos with Ranger.

[Sequinox]

I suck at GW, but I love it...

I can't seem to find a build that I'm good at. Right now I'm playing a ranger assassin. Again, I like it, but I suck.

[Thervold]

With practice, you will get better. I remember when the titles first came out, Survivor seemed laughable (get to level 20 without dying). But after a good couple years experience at how to make builds, manage aggro, manage henchmen, how to fight different types of baddies, my ability to stay alive has dramatically improved. I now have two legendary survivors (gain 1,337,500 xp without dying) and can typically do most stuff in normal mode without dying regardless of class. So just keep pushing through the missions, trying out builds, and you'll get better over time.