Curse

Valkyries · Aug 03, 2006, 08:20 AM // 08:20

Hey everyone,

I made my very first PVE mesmer. I've been playing the class since the day I started GW but I've only ever played Mesmers in PVP. I am not sure why this exactly is, I've been through the game with my Ritualist, Warrior, and Necro respectivelly but now its time to give a PVE Mesmer a chance and some love.

My question is, what staff do you guys find most effective?

I actually already have the one I am going to use, but I wanted other people's opinion as well.

Ive made the decision to go the Domination Route. Im very acustomed to it, and I love the skill sets that it offers. At least in PVP Anyways, perhaps PVE is much different. We'll get to that shortly. I chose 10/10 for all skills instead of 20/20 for Domination because in my experience Ill always spread out my attributes and skill sets. Mesmers offer SO MUCH with all their attribute lines that I find its very tough to take all from Domination because you will want inspiration, FC, etc.

Do most of you guys run 20/20 staffs for your particlar Mesmer build, or do you run 10/10? I also have the +30 health mod and +5 energy to round it off. Thought that would be a good route to go... Hopefully I made the right choice, staff wasn't exactly cheap but I know I could sell rather easily given the skin (Zodiac) and the fact that its absolutely perfect

Mesmers are such an awesome class in PVP especially and I think the reason I shy'ed away from them so much in PVE is because I thought that it would be very hard to get groups etc. Basically the only thing I really care about is getting lvl 20, and some FoW armor for her so groups wont be a huge issue. Plus Hench > PUGS almost all the time.

So I dont forsee this being a problem anymore.

I believe for my secondary Prof Im going to go with Elementalist. I realize Me/N is an absolutely awesome combination but I already have a N/Me and that is just way too similar for my liking so I figure if I mix it up it would be much more fun to play. Plus I really enjoy Glyph Mesmers, again I don't know how this works in PVE but in PVP its absolutely fantastic.

So just some thoughts on what I think... I'd really like to hear what you guys have to say. I know from my PVP days on this board that the Mesmer community here is the best.

So I know Ill get some good feedback. Remember, Im not new to mesmers, just mesmers in PVE so lets focus our discussion around that. Also if anyone else has any tips or helpful advice please share!

Thanks for reading
Cheers!

Quinn · Aug 03, 2006, 09:51 AM // 09:51

Hey, and welcome to your PvE mesmer

I'm no expert on this, but I'll give you my opinion. I've been playing a PvE mesmer since the start but have hardly done any PvP at all.

I focus on domination. I tend to hench a lot, like you, and domination gives a good amount of damage. Plus I really enjoy the interrupts. I'd suggest not spreading your attributes too much to stay effective.

As a staff I've been using the Willcrusher for a long while now. Especially for the 20 recharge on domination skills which is really useful. Casting time doesn't matter a whole lot for a mesmer with some FC, though I'd like to get a 20/20 domination staff to try. The Reduced Daze on the Willcrusher didn't do much up to now, but the amount of daze-doing skills is steadily increasing with Factions and upcoming Nightfall, so it is actually getting more useful over time

Besides all that, it's a nice light skin.

Valkyries · Aug 03, 2006, 10:11 AM // 10:11

Thanks for the reply Quinn.

Maybe I should have rephrased my "spread out thin" part because of course you can't spread your attributes TOO thin... I meant basically

10 FC
14 Dom
10 Inspiration

Something to that effect (not calculating it is an example, with runes etc).

So I find that the 10/10 staff would be good for the Dom/Ins magic Ill be using. Or maybe thats a question, IF it would be better/more viable :P

Basically, when I do PVP I run something like this. This changes GREATLY on the build, so before anyone posts being like "WTF why would you use that" Its just an example

3-4 Dom Skills
2-3 Ins Skills for Energy Mgmt
1 res
1 Elite (which could be a ton of things depending on the build)

This is what I mean by spread out. If I have 3-3 for Dom/Ins I feel the 10/10 would be better than the 20/20. Yes 20% is awesome but it only affects those skills. I kind of like it effecting ALL my skills... which was why I posted the question.

I hope that helps clarify a little.

On another note, for sure the cast time don't matter too much with FC but I find with a Mesmer its never too fast.

Especially with Diversion which is maybe my favorite skill in PVP. I love watching the Monk cringe and either wait 6 seconds or cast knowing they have another minute before that skill will be active.

Wow I love Mesmers... almost forgot HOW MUCH I do!

Quinn · Aug 03, 2006, 11:40 AM // 11:40

Hey Valkyries,

That spreading sounds fine to me. Maybe you want to have more than one weapon, to change with the skills you pick at a certain moment, and let the choice for 20% domination or inspiration recharge or 10% global depend on the actual skills you pick. I would go for the 20% recharge bonus for the skills on your skillbar that have the longest recharge times. And go for 10% global if you really have a lot of different types of skills at some point. I have a 10/10 that I hardly use, but that may just be a matter of taste.

I guess it’s time for me to reveal my killer build

This is very probably not the best someone can come up with, but it’s what I made up myself and what I run most of the time.

Me/R
15 Domination
10 Fast Casting
10 Wilderness Survival

Serpent’s Quickness (Wilderness Survival)
Empathy (Domination)
Energy Surge (Domination, Elite)
Shatter Enchantment (Domination)
Power Spike (Domination)
Complicate (Domination)
Troll Unguent (Wilderness Survival)
Res Sig or Cap Sig

So this build is pretty domination-heavy, hence my love for the 20% domination recharge. Serpent’s Quickness gives a nice recharge bonus and Troll Unguent replaces the pretty crappy mesmer self-heal. For energy management I usually rely on the necro hench that uses Blood Ritual on me

Maybe these choices can inspire you or some other mesmer to create their own preferred setup.

Valkyries · Aug 03, 2006, 11:58 AM // 11:58

Thanks again for the comments Quinn. Very good!

After seeing your build, you are right that is very heavily depending on Dom so I totally see why you are wanting to have the 20% recharge.

I chose the 10% global because I use much more of a mix for skills

Ill show you what I used to run for HA.

10 FC
14 Dom
10 Inspiration

Glyph Of renewal {E}
Diversion (Dom)
Cry of Frustration (Dom)
Power Leak/Shatter Enchant(Dom)
Power Drain (Ins)
Drain Enchantment (Ins)
WildCard (Depending on what the team ran)
Res

So as you can see, I run 1 Elite that isn't either of the Mesmer attributes, 2 Ins, 3 Dom a res and a wild card which could really be anything. It really depends on what my teammates are doing.

Now please note this is HA... and that will greatly change with PVE.... I just wanted to give you an idea what I ran for reference.

So, looking at what I have there, do you agree the global is better or do you think I should re-invest in a 20%

I can always get both as you said, pick up something like a Willcrusher (I like it too btw) and run both. We shall see. For now Ill stick with my pretty Zodiac.

SnipiousMax · Aug 03, 2006, 01:31 PM // 13:31

I have a 20/20 wand + 20/20 offhand combo for both Illusion and Domination. I usually run a Illusion Degen build or a Backfire/Empathy type combo. Since I'm spreading hexes to multiple enemies, I've always found the increased chance for a quick recharge is the handiest mod.

Valkyries · Aug 03, 2006, 01:48 PM // 13:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by SnipiousMax

I have a 20/20 wand + 20/20 offhand combo for both Illusion and Domination. I usually run a Illusion Degen build or a Backfire/Empathy type combo. Since I'm spreading hexes to multiple enemies, I've always found the increased chance for a quick recharge is the handiest mod.

Actually good point!

I think what I'll do is buy a Wand + Nice off hand and then I can swap between the global staff and the two mods... probably my best bet.

Thanks for the comment.

LightningHell · Aug 03, 2006, 02:44 PM // 14:44

I run something like this:

Energy Drain/Mantra of Recovery
Drain Enchantment
Shatter Enchantment/Empathy
Diversion
Cry of Frustration
Shatter Hex
Distortion/Backfire
Rebirth

I use a +5e sword, actually.

+5e, X/Enchanting (What else? Can't think of anything else.) and a 20/20 Domination (duh) focus.

Themis · Aug 03, 2006, 06:54 PM // 18:54

Generally I always use a 10/10 Gorel's Cane and a Rockmolder (10/10 now...

). If i need some more health i take a 10/10 Illyana's staff instead.

Except:

When i have an illusion/inspi build i take a Vokur's Cane (20/20 illusion) + Rockmokder.

With a pure dom build i prefer a Gorel's + a inscribed Chakram (20/20 dom)
... or a Willcrusher (more fun)

All this might sound a bit complicated, but that's what i prefer. I avoid using double 20/20 cane+chakram, except when i have 2-3 inspiration skills, otherwise too fast recharge is hard on energy.

SnipiousMax · Aug 03, 2006, 07:57 PM // 19:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by Themis

All this might sound a bit complicated, but that's what i prefer. I avoid using double 20/20 cane+chakram, except when i have 2-3 inspiration skills, otherwise too fast recharge is hard on energy.

I almost always use an elite E-Managment from the inspiration line.

Hella Good · Aug 03, 2006, 08:59 PM // 20:59

I haven't even run my PvE Mes through Factiosn yet. I unlocked all the Mesmer elites on the Necro and PvE Necro is 100x easier than PvE Mes. I only made a PvE Mes to prove the point that Mes is viable in PvE and to buy me some cool stuff (like Fissure, items and all). I mostly run a Me/E, so I can unlock Ele skills as I go along. I think FC nuke probably gives you the best chances of finding a group. I mean, there is tons of things you can do but AoE stuff is a bit too important in PvE and Mes are a bit too short on it (Shatter Hex and Cry of Frustration are great PvE skills).

Themis · Aug 03, 2006, 09:22 PM // 21:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by SnipiousMax

I almost always use an elite E-Managment from the inspiration line.

I agree that with E-Drain a 36% recharge is possible. Unfortunately, in my case, i end up finding myself mostly using (or beind asked to use) illusion/dom/fc Elites

(and in some cases, a sec proffession Elite).

Perhaps the standard e-surge build is an exception to this rule, especially with Guilt AND Shame.

LouAl · Aug 03, 2006, 10:36 PM // 22:36

Here is a great weapon set for a Dom/Insp mesmer
Garbok's Cane (20/20 Inspiration) and Domination off-hand from Droknar's (20/20 Domination). There is realy no reason not to have 20% cast/recharge on both lines as your primary set. If they are recharged you don't *always* have to cast them again right away.

That is what I usually carry when I a Dom/Insp build. I also usually carry a second set with Illayna's Staff (for extra energy and health boost), and a third set with Garbok's Cane and the Forgotten Fan (great to switch to when rebirthing someone). I sometimes also have a 4th set with Gorrel's staff for when I get in a pinch and need a quick 60 health.

Hella Good · Aug 03, 2006, 11:46 PM // 23:46

i like 5 nrg wands. plenty of those in factions. i actually think i have one in my stash. ill check and let you know.

Edit:
Yea, I got a gold 10-20, r.10 dom, 9 uni recharge, 5^50 nrg
and a Korvald's Cane
You can have em, just pm me, I don't log in often anymore.

TeeGee · Aug 04, 2006, 08:09 PM // 20:09

As for build - try this in pve - it works for me:

Glyph of renewal - problem of mesmer spells are high recharges
Cry of frustration - awesome interrupts in pve
Power spike - interrupts, does decent damage, low recharge - perfect for pve
Power drain - energy managment
Empathy - glyph it and spread on two warrior/assasin mobs to greatly add to teams dps
Shatter hex - removes hexes and glyphed works as awesome nuking spell
Backfire or Hex breaker or Wards against melee - im not fan of BF so I use hexbreaker. Wards could be helpfull for team.
Rez signet - obvious

It works through most pve areas - does damage and helps with all that nasty casters in cantha. Have fun trying this.

As for equipment - there is nor reason for additional fastcasting with mesmer (and all that interrupts in skillbar), but mesmer spells has high recharges so i use +5energy^50/20% faster recharge wand and +30hp/20% recharge focus for domination magic.

Solar_Takfar · Aug 04, 2006, 08:14 PM // 20:14

I just started my own PvE mesmer, too (and a PvE monk, and a PvE ele. extra char slots FTW!). As I tried to decide what second class to use, I initially thought about Ele, since skills from both sinergize quite well... But decide to forgo it, because I was just starting a primary ele too, so I wanted something different. I considered Me/N, but I already have a N/Me. So I settled for Me/R, for something different. Decided to go Domination for damage, Inspiration for e-management and selfheals, and Beast mastery, just for the heck of it (it sounded fun to have a mesmer being followed by a giant pink chicken - I'll probably drop it later on).

So far, it does feel a bit more tricky to damage enemies with Me than with the Ele, for instance, even with the added pet damage. The skill bar also seems a bit short for all the stuff I want to use (anti-melee dom, anti-caster dom, self-heal insp, nrg mang insp, comfort animal, charm animal, rez sig: just one slot left! I'll probably take an interrupt, which leaves no room for a pet attacks, for instance). I considered going wilderness survival for the self-heal, but I figured FC won't help with troll ung, since it's a skill, not a spell, right... o well.

Bottomline is, it's a challenging choice, I'm having fun so far (lv6, just arrived in old ascalon), and then there's the added bonus that female mesmers have the sexiest outfits in the game

lightblade · Aug 06, 2006, 10:44 AM // 10:44

I like 20/20 wand/focus too!

Too bad there's non that have this kind of effect AND look good the same time

Almighty Bob · Aug 06, 2006, 01:09 PM // 13:09

For PvE, pure domination is the way to go.

13 Fast Casting
16 Domination

Energy Surge (E)
Energy Burn
Empathy
Backfire
Chaos Storm
Shatter Enchant/Hex
Guilt/Shame
Rez Sig

The idea here is pretty obvious. Just wipe people out. This build also works rather well in PvP. I've used it to great effect in Alliance Battles before. Granted, it also helps that people will cast/slash through the hexes in AB, but still. Start with energy Surge and Burn to get some early damage in- try to use these first as not only are enemies more likely to be grouped together, but they also are more likely to have energy to burn (literally ^_^). Chaos Storm should be saved for if a Warrior decides to attack you- cast it when he is right in front of you, and he will break aggro to get out of the AoE. Empathy/Backfire should go on their respective targets. Guilt/Shame for interrupt, energy denial, and energy management. Shatter Hex does more damage to more people, but Shatter Enchantment has the added bonus of turning Monk enchantments against their targets. If you don't need the rez sig (if you have a party with enough rez or are in AB) then bring both guilt and shame- never can have enough energy.

I've used this build many a time in many a situation, and it does good, consistent damage. The best part of the build is that none of the damage it does can be reduced by armor. If your energy burn will do 80 damage, it'll do 80 damage. The major negative aspect is that nearly all of the damage relies on a condition being met. No energy? No Burn or Surge. No attacking? No empathy. No enchantments? No Shatter. And so on. This is a minor issue, however, as there will be plenty of everything around. Also make sure to change your build as the area dictates. It will tax your energy at times, and the recharges will catch up with you, but pick your targets well, and by the time you run out of spells, the earliest ones will be charged again.

Shanaeri Rynale · Aug 06, 2006, 02:23 PM // 14:23

IMHO, for PvE, when not playing pure interupter a fast cast of about 9 is ok. After 9/10 one starts seeing dimishing returns. I would put more into another line than going to 10+ in FC. Buy a second set of gloves for example, and put a major/Sup fast cast on it, then armor swap in the rare occasions you may need a 10+FC, then switch back to your normal config.

see http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Fast_Casting for FC tables.

Lady Lozza · Aug 07, 2006, 07:19 AM // 07:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by Valkyries

Hey everyone,

Hello, Valkyries!

Quote:

I made my very first PVE mesmer. I've been playing the class since the day I started GW but I've only ever played Mesmers in PVP. I am not sure why this exactly is, I've been through the game with my Ritualist, Warrior, and Necro respectivelly but now its time to give a PVE Mesmer a chance and some love.

My question is, what staff do you guys find most effective?

I actually already have the one I am going to use, but I wanted other people's opinion as well.

Ive made the decision to go the Domination Route. Im very acustomed to it, and I love the skill sets that it offers. At least in PVP Anyways, perhaps PVE is much different. We'll get to that shortly. I chose 10/10 for all skills instead of 20/20 for Domination because in my experience Ill always spread out my attributes and skill sets. Mesmers offer SO MUCH with all their attribute lines that I find its very tough to take all from Domination because you will want inspiration, FC, etc.

Firstly, I advise you to experiment with illusion and inspiration as well

Because mesmers are so versitile in pve, you will never be playing just a single build or single line of builds. Even though it isn't offensive there are times when running a pure, or near pure, Inspiration build is worth it's pixels in gold.

Quote:

Do most of you guys run 20/20 staffs for your particlar Mesmer build, or do you run 10/10? I also have the +30 health mod and +5 energy to round it off. Thought that would be a good route to go... Hopefully I made the right choice, staff wasn't exactly cheap but I know I could sell rather easily given the skin (Zodiac) and the fact that its absolutely perfect

Thankfully green weapons for mesmers are "fairly" cheap. They are also fairly good. Because pve mesmers are versitile, you will want numerous weapons sets.
You have to remember that things like +1 dom. will not be effective if you are running a lot of skills like blackout, where the +1 will not increase the effectivness of the skills at all. However if you are running a shatter build the extra damage can be really nice.

Remember that with FC 20% cast is not really necessary. Yes, sometimes (for a few spells) it is really, really nice, but most of the time it will make very little difference. So if you find a gold with 20% recharge + another random mod, it may be that it is just as useful as a 20/20 or even more so.

Next point, look carefully at your build. If the domination skills you have have a large recharge, and are the "focal" point of the build then you will want a 20 recharge, however if they are not - if you have a bar of mixed skills, with recharges that aren't all that important then you might be better running with 10% all skill lines. Sometimes though, you might find something like the handsmasher useful, it is a dom staff with 20/20 inspiration.

Quote:

Mesmers are such an awesome class in PVP especially and I think the reason I shy'ed away from them so much in PVE is because I thought that it would be very hard to get groups etc. Basically the only thing I really care about is getting lvl 20, and some FoW armor for her so groups wont be a huge issue. Plus Hench > PUGS almost all the time.

So I dont forsee this being a problem anymore.

Mesmers own in Cantha, period. If you have factions, henching any of the areas will not be a problem.

Quote:

I believe for my secondary Prof Im going to go with Elementalist. I realize Me/N is an absolutely awesome combination but I already have a N/Me and that is just way too similar for my liking so I figure if I mix it up it would be much more fun to play. Plus I really enjoy Glyph Mesmers, again I don't know how this works in PVE but in PVP its absolutely fantastic.

In all honesty, 2ndary prof for mesmers don't matter too much. Especially when you can change easily.

Quote:

So just some thoughts on what I think... I'd really like to hear what you guys have to say. I know from my PVP days on this board that the Mesmer community here is the best.

So I know Ill get some good feedback. Remember, Im not new to mesmers, just mesmers in PVE so lets focus our discussion around that. Also if anyone else has any tips or helpful advice please share!

Welcome to the pve mesmer community!
We're a little more inventive than the pvp community, and we argue endlessly over the use of some skills, but because we are all so versitile and flexible (my catchphrase for the day I think...) I doubt you will ever find yourself on the bad side of this little community we have here. Well... not too frequently at any rate