Curse

Nemhy · May 10, 2012, 06:02 AM // 06:02

Hello everyone! I am planning to shoot for getting the 30/50 HoM for GW2. I am planning to roll a Mesmer in GW2 and want his ancestor to be a Mesmer too (for RP reasons and I'm OCD) Does the Mesmer have as big a learning curve as some wikis say? I heard they got buffs not too long ago, so I'm hoping I can go into this and just use Heroes to make up for my shortcomings.

Does it matter that much which campaign I start in? I was told Factions is the fastest leveling but Nightfall actually teaches you the game somewhat.

superraptors · May 10, 2012, 07:15 AM // 07:15

for pve they are easy to use, pretty much a button mashing prof.

for pvp they are harder to use, requires quite a lot of micro manage to shut down enemy players from casting or using skills.

start with prophecies its probably the best tutorial to learn stuff but much more boring.

Nemhy · May 10, 2012, 07:24 AM // 07:24

Wow thanks for the quick reply! Alright if that's the case I'm definitely going Mesmer for PvE! I'll only really PvP after I hit the HoM score I need. Even then I won't really expect to win much against people who have probably played this for years hahaha

Sagittario · May 10, 2012, 08:36 AM // 08:36

I suggest you to start in NightFall, it's much faster, enjoyable and easier.
But you should still make the Tyrian tutorial as well.

And don't be afraid of mesmers, I made one recently and they're highly enjoyable if you get the right build.

Nemhy · May 10, 2012, 08:43 AM // 08:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sagittario

I suggest you to start in NightFall, it's much faster, enjoyable and easier.
But you should still make the Tyrian tutorial as well.

And don't be afraid of mesmers, I made one recently and they're highly enjoyable if you get the right build.

What do you mean the Tyrian Tutorial? Like make a Prophecies character first for the tutorial then just make a Nightfalls char? I never thought of that! What build do you use? I was looking at Illusions and Fevered Dreams builds.

Andemius · May 10, 2012, 08:54 AM // 08:54

I deffinately wouldn't start from NF, the storyline is much more grindy than prophecies. ie, you MUST achive "Xrank" in order to progress.

ESurge and the domination line is nice for PvE, as is Ineptitude from Illusion.

Sagittario · May 10, 2012, 08:59 AM // 08:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nemhy

What do you mean the Tyrian Tutorial? Like make a Prophecies character first for the tutorial then just make a Nightfalls char? I never thought of that! What build do you use? I was looking at Illusions and Fevered Dreams builds.

PM me in game, I'll give you builds + how to use tutorial.
IGN: Sagittario Sidus

----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andemius

I deffinately wouldn't start from NF, the storyline is much more grindy than prophecies. ie, you MUST achive "Xrank" in order to progress.

Not at all, as long as you do quests there's no need to grind. And all new players enjoy doing quest in early parts. You also get heroes, so you aren't dependent on henchmen and other players.

To Nemhy: Start both and then see what you enjoy more.

Nemhy · May 10, 2012, 09:14 AM // 09:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sagittario

PM me in game, I'll give you builds + how to use tutorial.
IGN: Sagittario Sidus

I have to get ready for work in a few but I will throw you a PM later today! Thank you very much for offering to help. =)

Rushin Roulette · May 10, 2012, 10:17 AM // 10:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sagittario

Not at all, as long as you do quests there's no need to grind. And all new players enjoy doing quest in early parts. You also get heroes, so you aren't dependent on henchmen and other players.

To Nemhy: Start both and then see what you enjoy more.

Dont forget though, that a new palyer or new account will not have many skills unlocked. This means that Henchmen will nearly always be better than any hero build the player can put together for a while. This makes the point about starting in NF and having access to Heroes kind of moot.

The only advantage would be that skills for other professions are slightly easier to come by through the hero skill trainer, but this is only a few skills at a time when you really need quite a few to get started in making a team build.

Gruff · May 10, 2012, 11:04 AM // 11:04

The hardest parts of playing Mesmer is what nice armour to wear, what lovely skinned weapons to use and what to name your character.. 6 years in and still no fixed mes name

Sagittario · May 10, 2012, 11:13 AM // 11:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rushin Roulette

Dont forget though, that a new palyer or new account will not have many skills unlocked. This means that Henchmen will nearly always be better than any hero build the player can put together for a while. This makes the point about starting in NF and having access to Heroes kind of moot.

The only advantage would be that skills for other professions are slightly easier to come by through the hero skill trainer, but this is only a few skills at a time when you really need quite a few to get started in making a team build.

For this reason I made an Elonian toon of each proffesion, skipped tutorial, got free skills in Churrhir Fields and deleted the toon.(Takes about 7 min each toon.) This gave me more then enough skills for start. And (according to my experience) heroes have always higher level than henchies in low lvl areas.

Queen Of Recovery · May 10, 2012, 11:48 AM // 11:48

fastest and easiest way to play (in my opinion) is start in factions, go to kaineng, then go to nightfall for your heroes.
factions start is very fast
if you are not a nightfall character you never have to grind in the storyline.

mesmers are quiet easy to use in pve so it wont be difficult.
and if you need skills for your heroes, you can always do some FA to unlock them (if ya got 10 minutes or so)

akelarumi · May 10, 2012, 01:14 PM // 13:14

Mesmer in PvE is reasonable easy as long as you don't go for interupts (mass interupts where you interupt all opponnents are okay, but not single ones). The reason is that you need to know what to interupt AND react in a split second. So that takes some practise. However there are plenty other ways of playing a mesmer succesfull.

If planning to go for HoM points I would suggest start in prophecy's so you get the intro part of the story line. but don't leave the area. There is a title for your HoM to get to lvl 20 without leaving the prophecy's tutorial. Though that title gets a bit boring to do, it is best to start a second character and let that start in either nightfall or factions. As you see above opinions differ wich is preferable. So I'll state my pro's and cons:

Factions: Very easy and quick to get to max lvl 20 (my record is from 0 to 20 in little over 2 hours). Also very quick access to max armour, weapons and also eye of the north heroes. The downside however is that the learning curve is steep. meaning you get little time to play the game. I have been helping new people in the game for several years now and my experience is that those who started in factions need the most guidance (wich is not a problem, just to point out that people tend to miss things).

Nightfall: You learn to play the game at a steady curve. Cause heroes where introduced with Nightfall, that includes lesson bout how to use them. The introduction is however a bit lengthier and have some signs of grind in it. Not too big but still.

The reason I don't advice to start your main character in prophecy's is that the learning curve is huge!. It takes bout 3/4th of the game to reach max lvl and outposts where there is max armour for sale (and prophecy's is longer then the other campaigns).

When you get level 20 (well actually when youy hit lvl 10, but it is recommended to wait till lvl 20 and the game forces that kinda on you) you can go to other campagins btw. so you won't miss a thing except introduction quests (and the introduction area in prophecy's).

Anyways, Welcome to GuildWars!

ogre_jd · May 10, 2012, 02:02 PM // 14:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andemius

I deffinately wouldn't start from NF, the storyline is much more grindy than prophecies. ie, you MUST achive "Xrank" in order to progress.

Eh. That's not a big deal as long as you remember to take bounties as you pass the shrines. (especially once you've become familiar with the area and can hit the shrines in the optimum orders with the least amount of combat. Might be a little tiresome at first, but eventually becomes habit.

As for the Mesmer issue, make sure to bring some interrupts as soon as you can manage, and then use them as much as possible right off the bat for practice, even if you plan to eventually use the standard area hex (usually Panic) + Cry of Pain for AoE damage combo (since that generally contains at least Cry of Frustration for an interrupt & AoE damage).

roses are blue · May 10, 2012, 02:23 PM // 14:23

There is a grain of truth to mesmers being harder to play. They are harder to play well.
It helps to know the game and what you are facing in each encounter. I can look at a group of monsters and know what profession each monster is by the name and the art style. I may also know what skills they have and which is the deadliest/most annoying to my group. Then I can use my mesmer skills to maximum effect. For example, some skills inflict blindness, which is great to use on enemy warriors so that their attacks miss. It will not do much against an enemy spell caster.

Start out playing an elementalist, they are spell casters also, but focus more on direct damage. Most elementalist spells are direct damage. Most mesmer spells are indirect damage or conditional damage. Get a feel for the game, then create a mesmer. It may also save some regrets later, in regard to name choice, character gender, and appearance. Personal example: I made my first character as a roleplaying one with a difficult to spell name, which I now regret. Other players regret looking at the extreme hairstyle/color that they gave their character as the style got old fast.

moldmaker · May 10, 2012, 04:41 PM // 16:41

All learning curves are easy to do one step at a time.
If I was you I would start off with just four slots filled. After you get used to that, put another skill in.
I would start off with the concept such as one attribute specialty just to see what they are about:

domination- damage your enemies

illusion- hinder their movement, attacks, and ability to cast spells.

inspiration.which steal Energy from enemies, remove enchantments, and prevent damage.

(ty wiki)
remember you want to keep fast cast attributes 13 and above

good luck

Dar Drakor · May 10, 2012, 10:36 PM // 22:36

Check out all the builds of various professios to see what you picture yourself long term to want to do. I personally would not choose Mesmer if you've never played before.

Minorin · May 11, 2012, 07:47 AM // 07:47

INEPTITUDE BUILD! Illusion is literally the most AoE intense build out there. You can consistently push 100 AoE dps, while blinding and interupting enemies. Arcane Conundrum also helps you shut down enemy casters. OP build is OP.

Tess80 · May 11, 2012, 09:57 AM // 09:57

Learning curve and difficulties are very different for the 3 campaigns.
- Prohecies starts as the easiest with a long starter area, but turns to be more and more difficult towards the end.
- Factions has little in the way of teaching the game and gets more difficult very quickly, but stays steady in difficulty after awhile, probably making it the easiest campaign to finish.
- Nightfall is a bit of a combination of the two. The tutorial isn't as lengthy, but still better than factions. After awhile, there is a noticeable increase in difficulty though.

For a first character, I'd recommend starting in Nightfall or Prophecies as they will make you feel less overwhelmed. Personally, I recommend nightfall for it's heroes and fast access to a secondary profession changer. Nightfall also has a special skill that you can get very quickly, which will make any mesmer very happy (Cry of Pain).

As for lines, generally Domination Magic consists of direct damage and caster shutdown. Illusion Magic is more subtle, dealing less direct damage but often hindring foes in a different way, and are often focussed against physical attackers. Inspiration Magic is a utility line, offering mostly energy management skills as well as the only direct selfheal mesmers have. Fast Casting has little in the way of skills, but has a strong passive effect. Usually, mesmers invest a lot in either Domination or Illusion, and then divine the remaining points between Inspiration to manage energy and Fast Casting for the passive effect.

Cuilan · May 11, 2012, 04:21 PM // 16:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by akelarumi

Mesmer in PvE is reasonable easy as long as you don't go for interupts (mass interupts where you interupt all opponnents are okay, but not single ones).

But single ones include Power Drain and Leech Signet for energy management.