Curse

Toxic RD · Oct 19, 2006, 09:10 PM // 21:10

Has anyone attempted a SS mesmer? I have a level 20 mesmer that i've pored alot of time into, and for him to be more PvE viable i wanted to use him in a SS build when im henching missions and quests, so can anyone out there report their findings on their SS Mesmer?

Phoebe · Oct 19, 2006, 10:49 PM // 22:49

A SS Mesmer is powerful, but it's significantly less powerful than a SS Necro. (Possible energy problems due to the lack of Soul Reaping, less duration (86%) on SS and less damage per trigger (78%), so about 2/3 the damage per cast.)
Fast Casting also doesn't really help this brute force AoEDoT hex.

Toxic RD · Oct 19, 2006, 11:56 PM // 23:56

Then how about dropping some fast cast, and adding some inspiration or domination

Avarre · Oct 20, 2006, 05:57 AM // 05:57

FC isn't that important for SS, as Phoebe said. If you insist on Me/N though...

In the case of situations such as UW, having a +4 spirit of failure is adviseable (alternating with SS) to provide some energy return, and AtB to make up some of the lost damage.

Theoretical UW bar;

SS
Arc Echo
AtB
Reckless Haste
SV
Spirit of Failure
Desc Enchantments
Res Signet

As you're staying back (and hps are not a primary concern), multiple super runes are probably helpful.

holden · Oct 20, 2006, 06:14 PM // 18:14

i ran SS with my mes/necro more than anything in pve. AoE dmg is where it's at in pve.

12 - curses
10 - fast cast
10 - inspiration

arcane echo
SS
reckless haste/enfeebling blood
p bond
inspired hex
power drain
leech sig
res

you'll run out of energy trying to put 4 instances of SS on the mob. so bring energy mgmt.

SS does the dmg so echo it and cover it. bring interrupts because they're useful and p drain and leech sig give back. inspired hex can be drain enchantment/inspired enchantment but they're not nearly as useful as inspired/revealed hex in pve.

i love mesmers. they are far superior to a necro imo. but in pve raw damage is what you need.

Contessa · Oct 21, 2006, 06:15 PM // 18:15

Spiteful Spirit (or any spells) are fun with fast casting. You can quickly get pretty addicted to fast-casting.

High fast-casting is especially fun with ele secondary. You can pretty much machine gun enemies with stone daggers (if you use ele attunement and earth attunement, stone daggers cost only 1 energy to cast).

The faster you get skills out there, the faster the damage happens. Even though you don't get the super-high damage-per-hit by doing SS with a Mesmer primary, you can get spells out there faster and some combos are very effective.

A fun combo is Spiteful Spirit and Empathy (then add other skills depending on your taste). I've used clumsiness, defile enchantments, desecrate enchantments, spirit of failure, diversion.

If you're worried about energy, you can always take some energy management spells or use a second weapon set for spare energy (to use the energy spells or to just keep casting). My second set has 79 energy available for my mesmer. You get the negative 2 pips or regen, so this is used sparingly.

On a side note: I never take reckless haste to the UW. You should consult with your monk before you take it. Some monks depend on getting hit to gain energy and reckless haste will make the enemy miss.

DFORCE · Oct 23, 2006, 09:30 PM // 21:30

What is the machinegunner build? some of my guildies use it, but i never seem to be able to get the build off em

Phoebe · Oct 23, 2006, 09:55 PM // 21:55

Contessa, what do you use as a +15/-1 wand?

Avarre · Oct 24, 2006, 12:34 AM // 00:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by Contessa

On a side note: I never take reckless haste to the UW. You should consult with your monk before you take it. Some monks depend on getting hit to gain energy and reckless haste will make the enemy miss.

A monk can, in theory, tank a single opponent indefinitely. As RH gives a 52% miss at 16, and a decent monk will aggro 8+ enemies typically, I don't see this as a problem.

Effigy · Oct 24, 2006, 12:41 PM // 12:41

A good tank monk will probably have Blessed Signet, as it makes you much more resilient if things don't go exactly according to plan. I always bring it.

just rude · Oct 25, 2006, 05:10 AM // 05:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by Toxic RD

Has anyone attempted a SS mesmer? I have a level 20 mesmer that i've pored alot of time into, and for him to be more PvE viable i wanted to use him in a SS build when im henching missions and quests, so can anyone out there report their findings on their SS Mesmer?

yeah I do it alot with guildies and such. You can fully do as SS Mes, but you have to understand that it will be slower than the best Necro SS's. That being said I have beeen told I'm a better SS than ALOT of random SS's that my SB/55 guys in counter.

The rule is a uber Nec SS is always gonna be better than a uber Mes SS, BUT a shitty Nes SS is not.

I usually run:

ATB
Echo
SS {e}
BR
Pdrain
RH
SV
E-tap

No I never bring a res when I run, as I only run with trusted SB/55's and if you have a regular running mate for the bulls and smites you dont need a rez.

blood 5
curse 12
fc 0
ill 12
insp 9 maybe

if your asking if this is better than the Nec because of the FC its not, but it works anyway, and you dont have to run a toon thru the game.

Largest run 3 ectos each=6.
Best drop for me 3 ectos in one group.
avg 2-4

I hear nightfalls Obsidian armor is going to be over the top for Paragons and Dervishes. Get yours right away to be the first, drive those ecto prices up NOW!

Edit: Reckless Haste rules, the miss factor is not counted in the caculation for SS, so you get x% more dmg. It destroys, DO IT.

Two April Mornings · Oct 25, 2006, 05:38 AM // 05:38

I SS mesmer with 55 monks quite often. Its hard to get into a PuG though, just because they assume you will not be good enough.

SS mesmers are also just fun to play in regular PVE, the Me/N combo is what many of us mesmers started out as. I know I did and I'm pretty sure Avarre did too. But yeah, you will be doing great if you can use an original Me/N to PVE with henchies.

Avarre · Oct 25, 2006, 08:12 AM // 08:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by Two April Mornings

I know I did and I'm pretty sure Avarre did too.

That's correct.

Quote:

Originally Posted by just rude

No I never bring a res when I run, as I only run with trusted SB/55's and if you have a regular running mate for the bulls and smites you dont need a rez.

If you're running with trusted and experienced monks, why BR? Swap for spirit of failure, in my opinion.

Contessa · Oct 25, 2006, 09:01 AM // 09:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phoebe

Contessa, what do you use as a +15/-1 wand?

I use a collector's wand. There's one for dom and one for illusion. They aren't max damage but they give you a huge pool of energy with a +27 energy offhand. I have it available in my second weapon set for emergencies or to finish creatures off at the end of a battle.

Contessa · Oct 25, 2006, 09:24 AM // 09:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Avarre

A monk can, in theory, tank a single opponent indefinitely. As RH gives a 52% miss at 16, and a decent monk will aggro 8+ enemies typically, I don't see this as a problem.

If you insist on taking Reckless Haste to the UW I suggest you use it wisely and consult with your monk. I find other skills more useful in the UW, but do what works for you and your team. That's most important.

It has been my experience that decent, in fact, excellent monks have not wanted me to take reckless haste.

I don't play a monk, but from what I can understand it's really bad to cast reckless haste in some places. I did see places where the monk had to tank 3 aataxes as a nightmare popped up. Ideally a monk should tank a bunch of monsters at once, but in reality, things don't always go ideally. It's sometimes better to knock out a small group before going to the next large group.

Avarre · Oct 25, 2006, 10:12 AM // 10:12

A monk, facing a single enemy, will never run out of energy. The reasons for this are blessed signet, bonetti's defence, or the fact that simply being hit and having very long enchant time make it unnecessary (vs one aatxe, breeze isn't needed either). There is no situation when it is truly inferior to use RH, speaking from both a tank's and a SS necro's point of view, as it vastly increases the speed of killing.

If you can tank one monster indefinitely, two with RH is the same result. One with RH would cause, by sword attack speed, one hit per 2.66 seconds (approximation). A monk protective spirit can last 28.25 seconds (18 seconds base x 1.2 from ench mod x 1.37 blessed aura). In this time, you would likely be struck 11 times (11 energy), not to mention that RH is not always up, it is down for a short period in which you are hit approximately 4 times. That means, without blessed or bonetti's, with reckless haste, for some reason tanking only ONE aatxe, you would not die.

A monk that cannot handle tanking a small group of RH'ed monsters falls into the same category as one that requires BR in my opinion - weak.

Telcontar of Gondor · Oct 25, 2006, 12:00 PM // 12:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by Contessa

It has been my experience that decent, in fact, excellent monks have not wanted me to take reckless haste.

I find that statement vastly ironic

I don't consider myself an excellent monk by a long shot, but I've never had a single energy problem tanking UW as a 55, and my necros always bring RH.

As for SS mesmers: sure, it works. But I'd much prefer a SS necro, because they're simply superior.

BrutusV · Oct 26, 2006, 06:05 PM // 18:05

Fast casting makes everything better IMO

I use Me/N SS usually in missions. And if there's a MM around this is what I use:
- Rez sig
- SS
- Defile enchant
- Desecrate enchant
- Barbs
- Ether feast
- Ether signet
- Energy tap

You burn your energy like crazy but it's manageable with ether signet and energy tap. I find it a lot of fun because I can spam skills all day pretty much.

With the update to AoE not sure this will still work... Can't wait to get home and find out.

Arcanis the Omnipotent · Oct 26, 2006, 06:27 PM // 18:27

Poor SS... now it wont be a clinch pin build anymore.

Wouldnt it be amazing if people formed PVE groups...and let people use whatever build they want instead of set builds?

Wow...

Avarre · Oct 27, 2006, 12:17 AM // 00:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arcanis the Omnipotent

Wouldnt it be amazing if people formed PVE groups...and let people use whatever build they want instead of set builds?

It's a brave new world out there

I can still remember the time when people pugged UW, so it won't be too odd for me, at least.