Curse

Maugrim · Mar 15, 2005, 04:19 AM // 04:19

Hey, here's my anti-warrior build if I'm a mesmer. Critiques are what I'm looking for here, so help me out.

Fast Casting: 1
Domination Magic: 10
Inspiration Magic: 10
Air Magic: 11
Skills:
1 Mind Wrack- (5,1,5) For 20 seconds, if target foe's energy is zero, that foe takes 94 damage and Mind Wrack ends.
2) Energy Burn- (10,2,20) Target foe loses 9 energy and takes 8 damage for each point of energy lost.
3 Shatter Enchantment- (15,1,25) Remove an enchantment from target foe. If an enchantment is removed, that foe takes 83 damage.
4 Energy Drain(elite) - (5,2,20) Steal 17 energy from target foe.
5 Ether Feast- (5,2,8) Target foe loses 5 energy. You are healed 23 for each point of energy lost.
6 Ether Lord- (10,2,20) You lose all energy. For 9 seconds, target foe suffers energy degeneration of 3 and you experience energy regeneration of 3.
7 Lightning Strike- (5,1,5) Strike target foe for 38 lightning damage.
8 Blinding Flash- (15,1,4) Target enemy is blinded for 9 seconds.

Plan of attack: First warrior I see that I believe to be a tank, I'll slap Mind Wrack. I'll Follow that up with Energy Burn, followed by an Energy Drain to hopefully take his energy to 0 and deal around 166 damage. Then if an enchantment is on him, tear it away with Shatter Enchantment and then use Mind Wrack again with Ether Lord. If I want, I'll throw in my lightning spells to blind and do damage, then continue with Mind Wrack and the energy leeching skills.

Concerns about my build are: Is Air Magic worth putting 11 into if I have 2 skills? Will Ether Lord be that helpful? I have only Ether Feast as a heal.

Thanks for the help.

Joysze · Mar 15, 2005, 05:13 AM // 05:13

I would replace Ether Lord with one of these since you're building an anti-warrior. Unfortunately, the mesmer doesn't have a lot of life leeching skills. Will you be travelling with a monk?

Empathy (availability)
Description: For 8-18 seconds, whenever target foe attacks, that foe takes 3-25 damage.

Soothing Images (availability)
Description: For 8-18 seconds, target foe cannot gain adrenaline.

Maugrim · Mar 15, 2005, 12:19 PM // 12:19

I'll consider that and yes I'll be traveling with a monk. But unfortunately he doesn't do quick heals, he just likes to slap 4 enchants on people and maintain them.

Kha · Mar 15, 2005, 05:20 PM // 17:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joysze

I would replace Ether Lord with one of these since you're building an anti-warrior. Unfortunately, the mesmer doesn't have a lot of life leeching skills. Will you be travelling with a monk?

Empathy (availability)
Description: For 8-18 seconds, whenever target foe attacks, that foe takes 3-25 damage.

I agree completely. You already have a lot of skills to drain the energy. I'm not a big fan of Ether Lord anyways, and the other skills seem to show a much better balance with eachother. And Empathy will be a big help.

11 or maybe even 10 will be a good amount of pts in Air Magic. 2 skills seems the average amount in one attribute that people use, so I don't think it will be a problem. And Lightning Strike and Mind Wrack will work very well together with low energy cost and fairly quick recharge time.

Once you try it out you will really know where its strengths and weaknesses are.

torry · Mar 15, 2005, 05:22 PM // 17:22

Why dont you bring this one;

Sympathetic Visage (availability) (Enchantment)
For 16 seconds, whenever target ally is hit by a melee attack, all nearby enemies lose all adrenaline and 3 energy.
Casting cost: 10 energy
Casting time: 1 sec
Recharge time: 30 sec
Relevant attribute: Illusion Magic

It is however Illusion

Mar 15, 2005, 09:34 PM // 21:34

Hey... I'm new to guru but definately not to GW. I've been building for a lil while and mesmers are my fav. Here's what i suggest. Why not throw this in (With sympathetic visage...great skill and Empathy is a great discouraging agent against warriors and rangers alike!)

Shame
Description For 4-9 seconds, the next time target foe casts a spell on an ally, the spell fails and you steal 5-12 Energy from that foe, and Shame ends.
Energy Cost 10
Casting Time 2 seconds
Recharge Time 30 seconds
Skill Type Hex
Linked Attribute Domination Magic

Before anyone starts blasting me for suggesting a skill which is activated by a spell hear me out... Most common tank out there is the War/Monk (or at lesat from what I've seen). Even those that aren't monks are a casters of some sort and are usually brought along as a secondary for the spells they bring, to either enchance/hex. And even tho warriors have very little energy they seem to always be casting something every once and a while. It won't take long for you to see his casting pattern (does he heal often? is he hexing?buffing?) and this can be a great shutdown to all of those not to mention it will set off mind wrack repeatedly (assuming you will be keeping it on him often).

Now I won't lie, the skill does have its downsides, the recharge on it is a whoping 30secs, and for some that may be enough for them to look elsewhere, but you'll have to consider the tactical advantages it brings aswell.

Its a lil bit out there but... now that i plead my case, what do you guys think?

*Now that i look over the replies no one mentioned energy tap (or did i miss something??). With the warriors already low energy energy tap is almost a must! Look at it this way, with a mind wrack build you will want to bring them down to 0, wait 2 or 3 secs and repeatedly re-active it, and energy tap would more than qualify for the job.

torry · Mar 15, 2005, 10:23 PM // 22:23

I dont like Ether Feast. Time and again those pesky Mesmers will haul themselvs back from the brink of death with it, allowing their monks to come to the rescue.

torry · Mar 15, 2005, 10:24 PM // 22:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by AkUmA

Hey... I'm new to guru but definately not to GW. I've been building for a lil while and mesmers are my fav. Here's what i suggest. Why not throw this in (With sympathetic visage...great skill and Empathy is a great discouraging agent against warriors and rangers alike!)

Shame
Description For 4-9 seconds, the next time target foe casts a spell on an ally, the spell fails and you steal 5-12 Energy from that foe, and Shame ends.
Energy Cost 10
Casting Time 2 seconds
Recharge Time 30 seconds
Skill Type Hex
Linked Attribute Domination Magic
.

30 sec recast is a bit much, if you want to be the active type? I dont know, I dont focus on Mesmers. Just commenting. They have some long recast generally maybe?

Mar 15, 2005, 10:30 PM // 22:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by torry

30 sec recast is a bit much, if you want to be the active type? I dont know, I dont focus on Mesmers. Just commenting. They have some long recast generally maybe?

Absolutely true... But the skill would certainly fill its position in the build. And as some rangers may know there are ways around long recharge skills, that if used effectively can turn this skill into something quite Horrifying.

TheRealDecoy · Mar 15, 2005, 11:16 PM // 23:16

My opinion:
-I'm not sure if energy denial is the best way to go about messing up Warriors. Yes, the fact that they have low energy it's pretty easy to do, but with adren skills energy denial isn't as effective as it is against other professions.
-I agree that you're better off taking Soothing Images or Sympathetic Visage and maybe dropping Ether Lord and/or Mind Wrack.
-I kinda have to question taking Energy Drain as your elite. I'd take Energy Tap, and then take Drain Enchantment instead of Shatter Enchantment. The damage you deal from SE isn't as signifigant as the energy you gain from DE, and this combo also frees up your elite slot for something more fitting for an anti-warrior build.
-It might be worth dropping Domination all togeather from your build, and instead take Illusion. It will allow you to use SI and/or SV more effectively, as well as the other nice hexes in the line. Ineptitude might be worth considering as your elite.
-An air spell that would really fit this build's role would be Enervating Charge since weakness is definatly something that would help you out. Direct damage is something that you should be leaving to your teamates, so I'd drop Lightning Strike. Also, if you take Ineptitude you may or may not want to still carry Blinding Flash. If you don't then I'd suggest taking Gale since with your energy steals you don't need to worry too much about exhaustion.

Hit an enemy Warrior with SI, Ineptitude, and Enervating Charge and you've put a huge hurt on that Warrior's damage output. Targeted Warrior is enchanted with Mending/Conjure? Hit it with a Drain Enchantment for some tasty energy. Priest getting ganged by Warriors? Slap a SV on him to improve his odds.

Anyways, that's my take on the build.

Maugrim · Mar 16, 2005, 12:53 AM // 00:53

Well, that's all great advice and you are all probably wondering why I have so much energy drain since you want to change it (By the way I am a big fan of the Illusion line and really wanted to use Soothing Images). But the reason behind it is because I can basically spam Mind Wrack and I need his energy at 0. To do that, I need a lot of energy stealing skills. Simply put, I don't want the energy that they are giving me when I steal it, I just don't want them to have it so I can Mind Wrack them.

My new build: Mesmer/Necromancer
Attributes:
Fast Casting: 2+1
Domination Magic: 12+2
Inspiration Magic: 10+1
Curses: 8
Skills:
1) Energy Burn- (10,2,20) Target foe loses 10 energy and takes 8 damage for each point of energy lost.
2) Mind Wrack- (5,1,5) For 20 seconds, if target foe's energy is zero, that foe takes 106 damage and Mind Wrack ends.
3) Shatter Enchantment- (15,1,25) Remove an enchantment from target foe. If an enchantment is removed, that foe takes 94 damage.
4) Energy Tap- (5,3,20) Steal 13 energy from target foe.
5) Ether Lord- (10,2,20) You lose all energy. For 9 seconds, target foe suffers energy degeneration of 3 and you experience energy regeneration of 3.
6) Defile Flesh- (10,1,10) Sacrifice 65 health. For 15 seconds, target foe receives only two-thirds benefit from healing.
7) Wither (elite)- (10,2,10) For 21 seconds, target foe suffers health degeneration of 2 and energy degeneration of 2. Wither ends if target foe's energy reaches 0. This is an elite skill.
8) Ether Feast- (5,2,8) Target foe loses 5 energy. You are healed 23 for each point of energy lost.

Changes: I switched to necro and got Wither (For even more energy degeneration on him). Also from the necro curses, I picked up Defile Flesh, which I think I will benefit from so I can gain it back with Ether Feast (making it a little more valuable). I changed Energy Drain to Tap.

Here's a situation. I'm going to bold the damage that I will be dealing.
First, I spot my warrior prey. Put Mind Wrack on him and follow it up directly after with Energy Tap and then an Energy Burn.This should equal around 186 damage. Now, if I had an energy pool of 40, I'd be close to 33 now. Now would be a great time to use Shatter Enchantment if an enchant is on them. Now the damage total would be close to 280 (over half the normal amount of life). My energy pool is down to 18. I'll cast Defile Flesh and then Ether Lord. When I get 5 energy, I'll Mind Wrack him for a total of 386. Now is a fairly good time to use Ether Feast to keep his energy down and heal yourself while Mind Wrack recharges. When it has, that should be another 106 equalling a total of 492 . Obviously this won't be true with a monk healing him but This shouldn't take more than 25 seconds if everything recharges on time and I cast it when I need to. (I added the original casting times together, and waited for Ether Lord to give me energy regen+3 seconds and waited a small amount for Mind Wrack to recharge+2 seconds and an extra 2 for getting the spells off on time.
If you guys have any more suggestions or really think it's in my best interest to change Ether Lord and other skills, I'd be happy to listen (or read)
Thanks for the help again.

Freyas · Mar 16, 2005, 02:00 AM // 02:00

One thing to watch for- Mind Wrack only works if the target goes from positive energy to 0 energy... so if they are at 0 energy when you cast it, they won't take the damage unless they gain energy and then go back to 0. If you've got Ether Lord or Wither on the warrior, they'll never regain the energy for Mind Wrack to trigger.

For a mesmer build to shutdown a warrior, here's what I'd be likely to pick:

Domination:11
Illusion: 10
Some other line: 10

Empathy
Soothing Images
Energy Burn
Ineptitude{E}
Shatter Enchantment
3 skills from secondary profession or for some other purpose.

Basically, you can shut the warrior down from ever using skills by burning away his energy via Energy Burn(or you can choose something else, obviously), and keeping him from gaining adrenaline via Soothing Images. Empathy and Ineptitude will punish them for attacking, while Ineptitude will blind them if they do attack. Use Shatter enchantment to get rid of any enchantments on them(conjures and such). Without the ability to use skills, being blinded, and taking damage from attacking, that warrior is pretty much out of the game. You've still got 3 skills to use for additional damage, disruption, or support for your team. I'd actually be tempted to make pretty much a pure mesmer(take monk secondary for a fast-cast resurrect), and use some skills like inspired hex to remove hexes from your party members, and if they're mesmer hexes, you're pretty likely to have a high linked attribute for them... allowing you to steal the hex and throw it back out at the other team. Deal additional damage via something like Conjure Phantasm, or bring a useful interrupt like power leak to help shut down enemy healers once you've neutered their warriors.

Epinephrine · Mar 30, 2005, 04:10 PM // 16:10

I think Soothing images is nice, but in the spirit of energy reduction and all I might be tempted to go with Sympathetic Visage instead (as torry mentioned)- granted, it's an enchantment on an ally instead of a hex on the enemy, but it is a faster cast time so you can get it off in a pinch, it drains energy with every hit and empties the adrenaline of others in the area too. I think Freyas is right that stripping enchantments is important, and the empathy thing is a nice way to cause some damage - I think I'd sub in Sympathetic Visage for the Soothing Images and I'd be tempted to add Mind Wrack as you have Energy Burn and Sympathetic Visage in there reducing his energy pool. 2 Skills from another line might be enough, you could use necromancy to get some life gain while dealing damage for example, with Life Siphon and Vampiric Gaze to provide a bit of self heal while killing off the enemy.

WNxTyphoon · Mar 30, 2005, 04:15 PM // 16:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by AkUmA

Absolutely true... But the skill would certainly fill its position in the build. And as some rangers may know there are ways around long recharge skills, that if used effectively can turn this skill into something quite Horrifying.

I'm sure Oath Shot will be nerfed, don't worry

mostro · Mar 30, 2005, 05:23 PM // 17:23

Using mesmer skills to shutdown warriors seems like... a waste to me. If you take mesmer/necro you could use the necor skills shadow of fear+enfeebling blood, or even spiteful spirit.

Spirit shackle is also good if the warrior is using energy build as opposed to adrenaline build. As a bonus it would shutdown rangers pretty good too.

Mar 30, 2005, 05:44 PM // 17:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by mostro

Using mesmer skills to shutdown warriors seems like... a waste to me.

Thats pretty much what it is. But if people want to use it, cant stop them.They just shouldn't expect to live long in competitve PvP