Curse

TCP_Leader · Apr 24, 2005, 06:48 AM // 06:48

well im not planning on basing a build on an instant lvl 20.

Does anyone have some hints for me on what i should be concentrating on during my low level game time? like level 8-15?

I want to be able to heavily drain the enemy and smite the enemy.

any ideas?

Or just hints on how to do well during those low level periods where your character isnt exactly finished?

Scaphism · Apr 24, 2005, 07:47 AM // 07:47

A low level Me/Mo? You're kind of stuck.
First I'd have to ask why you want to be a mesmer primary for PVE. If you want to play a Me/Mo in PvP, I'd probably recommend playing a Mo/Me for PVE and picking up the mesmer skills you want along the way. Divine Favor and Healing have a lot higher value in PVE than Disruption, Caster Shutdown, and Energy Draining.
Here's what I'd put together from a list of begginner Mesmer and Monk skills
(Starter, Ascalon City, and Yak's Bend)

You really have to pick if you want Domination or Illusion early on. Then you have to decide between Healing, Protection, and Smiting. It's really hard to specialize in 3 lines early on, so pick 2 and roll with those.

Healing: Restore Life(Yak's Bend), Heal Other(Ascalon), Healing Hands (Ascalon),
Protection: Mend Ailment(Ascalon), Shielding Hands(Starter), Pacifism(Yak's Bend) if you have decent Fast Cast
Smiting: Strength of Honor (Ascalon), Banish (Ascalon)
Domination: Backfire(Starter),
Illusion: Conjure Phantasm(Starter, drop this at Lion's Arch, if not sooner)

Yeah I'm not very happy with that list myself.
I'd much rather make a monk/mesmer, focus on healing, divine favor, and pick up Channeling in Yak's Bend.

NilePenguin · Apr 24, 2005, 11:14 AM // 11:14

Are primary mesmers really that horrid for PvE? I enjoyed them myself. Then again, I haven't seen any missions past Sanctum Cay.

Scaphism · Apr 24, 2005, 12:27 PM // 12:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by NilePenguin

Are primary mesmers really that horrid for PvE? I enjoyed them myself. Then again, I haven't seen any missions past Sanctum Cay.

Let me put it this way; If you can't make a character work in PVE, you aren't trying hard enough (or you're playing with the wrong group of people.)
Seriously anything works in PVE, even Primary Necros.
That said, the mesmer's primary attribute, Fast Casting, is largely wasted in PVE. Fast Casting doesn't mesh well with interrupts- they already cast in around .25s. What do you need sped up? You can plan for what's coming, you can anticipate, you don't have nearly as much need for fast casting spells.
So your primary really isn't offering any advantage, but that's only part of what hurts mesmers in PVE.
Primary Attributes like Divine Favor and Energy Storage really shine in PVE- Divine Favor is always good, and Energy Storage is great because your gas tank is twice as big as everyone else in the fight. You just unload everything as fast as you can, and if you did a good job, everything is dead. Then you can rest and let all your energy recover. In PVP energy storage is slightly less valuable because you can't wait for all your energy to recharge before you start a fight- the battle is pretty much continuous until one side loses or retreats.

The other reason mesmers are at a loss in PVE:
Mesmers shine at shutting down 2-3 characters, particularly casters.
In PVE, casters aren't that much of a threat. Rangers and warriors have interrupts that can shut down caster mobs pretty efficiently, and deal good damage with better armor at the same time.
You fight far more melee-based mobs in PVE than you do caster types, and Mesmers just don't have that many tools for dealing with Melee attackers.
Empathy, Sympathetic Visage, Soothing Images...Distortion maybe? That's a short list, mainly in Illusion magic, which is far from typical mesmer fare. Those aren't really hard shutdowns either- they don't prevent damage to your team, at least not as well as playing a Pure monk or even a Curses Necromancer or Water/Earth Elementalist could do.

You can make it work, and if your heart is set on playnig a mesmer, then that's what you should try. It's just not ideal.

NilePenguin · Apr 24, 2005, 12:52 PM // 12:52

Well, yes, I will play a primary mesmer in PvE, no matter how badly it works. Playing builds that aren't my favourite is fine in PvP, must sacrifice some fun for the win, but I'm not about to play a primary Monk just for the sake of bad-looking mobs

It was quite effective against the caster mobs, though. Whenever I encountered those, it's simply "You three, take care of the warriors and rangers, I'll handle the casters". Works, but I doubt it'll be that simple in the harder missions.

Heh, I'll just take a useful secondary then, such as a Mesmer/Warrior (IW) or a Me/E (Fast casting is at least of some use there). Should be usable enough for PvE, then I'll switch to a Me/Mo later on to convert it to a usable PvP charcacter.

TCP_Leader · Apr 24, 2005, 04:09 PM // 16:09

Thanks for the help guys, I'm still unsure on my build simply because in my guild I have already set up our four person groups. My group consists of 2 W/MO, one is a suicide monk btw

. The other is a NE/E. I dunno what to do, i hate rangers..... and im not to fond of elementalists because we already have one.