Curse

Azile · Sep 30, 2006, 12:33 AM // 00:33

So I used to play WoW. And trust me, I KNOW you guys don't want to hear this but you'll be pleased to know that I quit that excuse of a game which I surprisingly payed for a very long time. It's too much work and not enough reward. So I decided to start playing Guild Wars again and its still awesome, but anyway back to my newbish questions.

I've always loved Mesmer, but is the Mesmer a better primary or secondary? I'd like to think primary so I can get a hold of the elite skills. Now... I know you all have heard this question before and your all pretty much sick of it, but here goes:

What is (if not the best) a good class to go with being a Mesmer (Either primary or secondary)?

Take your time. Also you should know that I am looking for a PvP or Hybrid build. I don't want a full PvE build. Thanks for writing, if you do choose to.

[Right now I'm playing a Me/N, and it seems ok, but I know there has to be better out there, and I used to play a R/Me some time ago till level 19 and I enjoyed it. Me/Mo or Me/E looks pretty good right now and Ill stick with my Me/N until further notice]

HolyHawk · Sep 30, 2006, 12:55 AM // 00:55

I have the following definition of a mesmer, primary mesmer: toy with your target. I play one, most of the time, and I can say it's worth the status, it's powerfull, it's trick and it's hard to play at the start. Keep in mind that you can do anything and everything with a mesmer.

Mesmer secondaries are used mostly (there are exceptions), for energy management. They are also good but you can't play a x/me with mesmer skills so well like if you were a me/x.

In pvp terms, mesmers can have most of the classes as secondaries; you wont see me/w so often, even less me/r, but any other caster class you will see often as their secondary. Which one is the best is strongly questionable: me/n for hex heavy builds, extra covers, degeneration, etc; me/e for some dmg spells, warding support, glyph usage; me/mo for fast casting support, condition relief or quick hard ressing; me/a for stances, additional shutdown, self defense; me/rt I've used a few, restoration line seems to be usefull for them. The paragon and dervish new classes I haven't had the time to test properly.

To be honest, in order to choose a good secondary, you must learn and know every single other profession skills. That's a requirement for being a mesmer, especially if you are doing dmg mitigation rather than doing dmg itself, so you must know where you can use your skills.

Hella Good · Sep 30, 2006, 01:03 AM // 01:03

Me/N is your best bet because of the great synergy of the 2 professions. N/Me is a good alterantive as well and you are more likely to get groups that way, since with a N primary you can MM and SS. Mo and E are also good 2ndaires, plus you can fast res, or fast spike. W and Sin are good 2ndaries for IWeaponry. Sins also have some wonderful survival skills that come in very handy on a Me. Rit is unimpressive as 2ndary and R is plain horrible.

Azile · Sep 30, 2006, 01:07 AM // 01:07

Thank you guys very much, I've decided to go with Me/N with Domination and Curses. My only question is; at level 20 what skill points do you recommend putting in each stat? Also; is fast casting worth a skill point?

Franco · Sep 30, 2006, 01:14 AM // 01:14

Migraine (e)
Power spike
Cry of frustration
Conjure phantasm
Power drain
leech signet
Drain Enchantment or reveal hex
Ressurection Signet

12+3+1 Illusion
8+1 Domination
8+1 Fast Casting
7+1 Inspiriation

Try that.

Azile · Sep 30, 2006, 01:15 AM // 01:15

Thanks Franco! Other suggestions are more than welcome!

Redfeather1975 · Sep 30, 2006, 01:17 AM // 01:17

A good rule to keep in mind is if you are not relying on higher than lvl 12 in mesmer attributes and you don't use a playstyle that requires fast casting it's quite possible that you won't be happy with a mesmer as a primary profession.
If you want to try many ME/any professions then it's best to make PVP character's and see what you like.
Fast Casting is one of the most subtle primary attributes in the game. Just wanted to make sure you considered how much you want to be a mesmer.

Also, Hella Good is right in that a Rit secondary for a mesmer is very lack luster in potential. I've been messing around with it for a few days now and can't find anything impressive about such a combination.

Hella Good · Sep 30, 2006, 01:19 AM // 01:19

FC is wonderful, altho you will hear all kinds of opinions on it. It's best to keep your FC at about 7-9, it's where you gain the biggest output for the points you put in it. Domination and Curses is kind of a strange combo. Not that it cannot work but I personally prefer Illusion/Curses (wonderful skill synergy) or Domination/Blood (again great synergy). There is certain builds like Frags that combine Illusion and Death Magic (I also run Illusion + Death Magic on my Ne/M MM- I love Conjure Phantasm as a damage dealer).

And you need to play around with the breakpoints of the skills if you are trying to figure out where to put your attributes. I can tell you that much: a lot of Domination skills break at 14 and often times there is little point in going beyond that, a lot of hexes in Blood and Curses break at 12, and Illusion is really good at 15-16, Inspiration often times breaks at 10, Death Magic is generally not worth investing a lot of points on a Me primary. But it depend on what build you're running.

Edit: Avarre had the staple PvE skills here somewhere. Basically:

Cry
Shatter Hex
Empathy
Backfire
Conjure Phantasm
IoRemorse
Ineptitude
Clumsiness

Claudia Starlight · Sep 30, 2006, 01:51 AM // 01:51

Also remember that fast casting has diminishing returns!
So i guess you should never put more than 7-9 points on it... except if you wanna fully utilize FC spells... which aren't much anyway imo

It's great though, i mean, my Ele's secondary is a mesmer and i tried making her a chaos mage and i was like "whoa she's so SLOW..."

Terra Xin · Sep 30, 2006, 02:16 AM // 02:16

Me/N is a good start, because the combination of curses and illusion magic work pretty well together.

And just to note, Mesmer secondary is the most popular secondary class, Monk secondary is also believed to be popular, but they're shunned just as equally. It's because of our ability to, work, with other spellcasting groups that makes us more versatile than a ranger.

Other than that, I think everything that has been said has already been said :P

Franco · Sep 30, 2006, 02:43 AM // 02:43

First build I gave you was more for pvp but here is a pve one I enjoy using.

Ineptitude (e)
Clumsiness
Images of remorse
Conjure phantasm
Reveal hex
Distortion
Ether feast
Energy Tap

9 Fast
16 Illusion
and the rest in inspiration, bout 12

Now if you want to do ME/N

try this

Phantom Pain
Shatter Hex
Fragility
Virulence (e)

Basicly use Phantom pain then shatter hex for deep wound, then fragility, then virulence

spike.

Hella Good · Sep 30, 2006, 02:50 AM // 02:50

Phatom Pain + Shatter Delusions I believe is what you mean

And you put the Frags under PP, so that it spikes for DWound as well.

I personally love combining IoRemorse, Conjure Phantasm, and using PBond as a cover. Also Backfire + Soul Leech. SoFailure, PoFailure. Empathy, IParasite. Many good combos. In PvP the options only get wider and wider having a Me/N.

Oh Epidemic is rly good in PvE.

Azile · Sep 30, 2006, 03:13 AM // 03:13

You guys rock out loud. Thanks for the help, its been very... helpful.

LightningHell · Sep 30, 2006, 05:26 AM // 05:26

Me/E is frequently Domination with Gale and Glyph of Renewal.
Me/Mo is frequently Domination with Draw Conditions and a hard resurrection (usually Resurrection Chant).
Me/N are usually hex stackers.
Me/R are rarely seen, but can be used for Serpent's Quickness to keep your Elite (for Expel Hexes or sth).
Me/W are for IWs, doesn't see a lot more use.
Me/Rt is...err...only thing I can think of is Flesh of my Flesh, but why not go /Mo for that then?
Me/A is...what are you using this for again?

E/Mes (in PvE) frequently use Elementalist spells and Arcane Echo them with Glyph of Renewal (or Echo from Mesmer). Although if you want an elly I suggest E/Mo instead.
Mo/Me is usually a standard healer.
N/Me are also wonderful hex stackers.
R/Me gain Distortion and Blackout, both very useful.
W/Me are usually reserved for Charge Swords (for Hex Breaker)
Rt/Me...err?
A/Me...ERR?

Redfeather1975 · Sep 30, 2006, 05:51 AM // 05:51

I use an Me/Rt now.
I'm a renegade punk. RaWr!

Pat_vaynard · Sep 30, 2006, 08:01 AM // 08:01

If you're planning a PvE mesmer, then by all means run a /Mo secondary until you get far enough into the game to just switch with an NPC. From there I'd say go /N for the curse line, clearly one of the best mesmer combinations. You'll find that a mesmer can play any secondary with a bit of a twist, it's just about your personal preference and flavor of the moment.

Dragannia · Sep 30, 2006, 11:22 AM // 11:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by LightningHell

Me/A is...what are you using this for again?

Shadow Shroud, Dark Escape and to a lesser extent Return. All very useful.

EDIT: Oh, and Aura of Displacement + Blackout.

LightningHell · Sep 30, 2006, 04:31 PM // 16:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dragannia

Shadow Shroud, Dark Escape and to a lesser extent Return. All very useful.

EDIT: Oh, and Aura of Displacement + Blackout.

Nothing to drop Gale-Blackout-Gale for.

Unless you can telekite like a Korean Blessed Light.

Avarre · Oct 01, 2006, 02:40 PM // 14:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dragannia

Shadow Shroud, Dark Escape and to a lesser extent Return. All very useful.

EDIT: Oh, and Aura of Displacement + Blackout.

Me/A is typically used for Flag runner or support ganker, using Dash (buffed!), Recall, even the new shadow of haste. That's only really in GvG though..

I'd have replied earlier, but I was Ip-banned... >.>

Anyways, Hella posted the majority of the good PvE skills. You'll really want to run a practically pure mesmer (the attributes do many different things and can provide attack and defence, so why go to attribs you can't use runes with?), with secondary for minor supports (in PvE, /mo for res).

You can run Dom/Insp, Illu/Insp (attack and insp for energy) or a dom/illu combination with little energy management, but more power in hexes.

Dean Harper · Oct 01, 2006, 05:50 PM // 17:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by Azile

Thank you guys very much, I've decided to go with Me/N with Domination and Curses. My only question is; at level 20 what skill points do you recommend putting in each stat? Also; is fast casting worth a skill point?

Fast Casting is DEFINETALLY WORTH SKILL POINTS!!! Even if all you can put into it is the leftovers of the other attributes, its a great attribute to have to back up your skills. Especially in tight situations. With just that little quicker cast than ur opponent, you can almost always be the victor, even if you have just a little health left. Fast Casting can make all the difference in the world if in a tight situation. It works especially well with a interrupt build. but keep in mind that fast casting isnt really an attribute to go all out in, unless your support for ur team. Make sure that u dont put too many points in it, and as a consequence, make ur main skills less effective. I am overall domination on my mes, so i have 16 in dom, about 10 in inspiration and 7 in fast cast, with runes. I rarely use illusion unless i make an IW build for AB or something like that. But, yeah, Fast Cast is a great attribute to have in the reserve for difficult battles.