Curse

reaper with no name · Jan 14, 2010, 07:18 PM // 19:18

And this is what I was thinking build-wise:

Assassin's Promise
Auspicious Incantation
Arcane Echo
Ebon Vanguard Assassin Support
Wandering Eye
Clumsiness
"Finish Him!"
Epidemic

Illusion 12+1+1
Deadly 10
FC 8+1
Inspiration 3+1

It's basically a bastardization of this and this, combining the AoE of the former with the sin summon spam of the latter. However, I'm not sure about the energy costs. Is this manageable energy-wise? If not, how can I improve it?

Cuilan · Jan 14, 2010, 08:10 PM // 20:10

You can keep By Ural's Hammer up with AP. You can't always cast Epidemic because the enemy may die from Finish Him.

Tharg · Jan 14, 2010, 08:31 PM // 20:31

I am putting a mesmer though the campaigns as well - almost there. I was thinking something like this:

Deadly arts 12
Fast casting 8 + 1
Domination 10 + 1 + 1

AP
YMLAD
Wastrel's Demise
Wastrel's Worry (or replace with something more spammable like Overload)
Epidemic
Unnatural Signet
Vanguard Sniper (*)
Finish Him

These are all very fast casts and Fast Casting brings AP dow to a 2/3 casting time.

AP gives you 17 energy back and without Vanguard Sniper Support, the energy cost is 30.

(*) You can actually take out Vanguard Sniper Support and add an interrupt:
Cry of Frustration or Power Spike

The Josip · Jan 14, 2010, 09:18 PM // 21:18

WW is what you use against bosses but otherwise no. Try Abbadon with WW, just spam the skill on recharge (keep clicking as soon as possible). Awesome damage.

maxxfury · Jan 16, 2010, 09:16 AM // 09:16

Epi+fh! all that takes is timing to learn when you cast it and you hit it a good % of the time! Tho im not sure its worth the slot all the time.

Cuilan · Jan 19, 2010, 07:00 PM // 19:00

So, reaper with no name, how's your mesmer coming? Have you ever used one in PvE before? Made any discoveries or want someone to play with?

reaper with no name · Jan 21, 2010, 08:06 PM // 20:06

Well, I'm still on Istan (I probably made her at one of the worst possible times), and it'll be a while yet before I can really see if my build will work (still don't know about the energy). Until I get more of the correct skills, I'm just making do with the CoP and Necrosis.

reaper with no name · Jan 30, 2010, 08:01 PM // 20:01

All right, well, after crunching a bunch of numbers, I came to the conclusion that my build needs some work.

The two primary issues are energy and speed. It needs a lot more energy management to work. Another problem is that if the build can't get through the combo quickly enough, the target will die, AP will recharge, and the later skills will be meaningless, since I'd be better served by spamming more assassins than by casting some AoEs.

The solution to the first problem is obviously more energy management. The latter problem requires faster spell-casting. Of course, FC doesn't affect aftercast delay, so it just makes the FC requirement even higher.

I did a lot of fiddling and number crunching, and this is what I came up with:

Mindbender
Assassin's Promise
Auspicious Incantation
Arcane Echo
Ebon Vanguard Assassin Support
Clumsiness
Wandering Eye
Ether Signet

Illusion 10+1+1
Deadly 9
Inspiration 7+1
FC 10+1

Supposedly, MB and FC stack, so together I should be able to get 31.5% cast times.

Time---Action---Energy
0------N/A------42
1.35---MB-------39.68333333
2.325--AP-------35.98333333
3.375--AI--------32.38333333
4.725--AE-------42
5.775--EVAS-----33.4
6.825--EVAS-----24.8
8.175--Clum-----16.6
9.525--WE-------8.4
10.945-ES-------25.29333334
?------AP ends--39.29333334 + ?

Which should be just enough to keep the combo going easily. I'll probably have to bring a low-energy set to switch to when using ether signet, but that shouldn't be a problem.

BaconSoda · Feb 11, 2010, 02:31 AM // 02:31

Mesmers are nice. What I usually use in PvE is one of the following:

Illusion Magic: 16
Inspiration Magic: 11
Fast Casting: 9

Wandering Eye
Clumsiness
Ether Phantom
Ebon Vanguard Assassin/Sniper Support/Cry of Pain
Ebon Vanguard Standard of Wisdom (for other people, like Nukers

)
Auspicious Incantation/Power Drain
Lyssa's Aura
Res of your choice

Wandering Eye and Clumsiness honestly recharge fast enough. Put on Ether Phantom and give a little degen and you can supplement the damage of other people rather well. Could probably be optimized, though.

Also:

Domination Magic: 16
Inspiration Magic: 11
Fast Casting: 9

Wastrel's Worry
Visions of Regret
Shatter Hex/Interrupt of your choice
Mistrust
Ether Phantom
Interrupt of your choice/Drain Enchantment/Shatter Enchantment
Auspicious Incantation
Res of your choice

Basic thing, really. A couple AoEs, Wastrel's Worry to deal high damage to bosses, and if there are a lot of hexes, some nice damage and heavy energy management. Again, could use some optimization, but, I have fun.

Really, as long as you have fun with the class, that's that matters. Optimized or not, as long as you get a smile, it's worthwhile.