Curse

Eldoth Cruinne · Jul 10, 2006, 03:00 AM // 03:00

Table of Contents:

Summary
Purpose
Important Note
Profession
Attribute Setup
Armor Setup
Weapons
Core Skills
Optional Skill Slot Loadouts
Option 1: "Energy Management"
Option 2: "I'm too one sided, what other roles can I play?"
Option 3: "Self Defense Skills"
Option 4: "PuG teamates keep killing my condition speader too fast!"
Option 5: "Various other things that might help"

Extremely Useful Team Combos
Conclusion

Summary: Use the Mesmer elite "Fevered Dreams" to transmit deep wound and burning (and any other conditions your teammates provide) to a wide area.

Purpose: Mesmers are still looked down upon by most PvE players. This is because mesmers have few, if any, "flash skills." This build provides the "flash" while allowing people with a greater understanding of game mechanics to utilize this strategy to it's fullest potential.

Important Note: Fevered Dreams can only be found in off of a Dryder boss named "Plexus Shadowhook" in the Prophecies mission "Abaddon's Mouth."

Profession: Me/E

Attribute Setup:
Fire Magic-8 Minimum (for 3 sec burn) to 12
Illusion-Max (for 21 sec deep wound)
Fast Casting-Leftovers (3+1 to 8+1)

Armor Setup: You are going to need energy if your team requires you to execute the same condition spreading combo without outside assistance. I recommend +energy chest & leggings, 1 piece of Virtuoso's armor (if it still provides global +15 AL while casting spells), and 1 piece of +HP armor (the +5 HP can be the difference between the AI choosing you or some other caster to attack if all else is equal).

Weapons: +5 energy while above 50% HP Fire elemental wand (your choice of 10% unconditional spell recharge/casting or 20% to fire spell recharge/casting) The energy is much more important than the fire recharge/casting improvement due to the 1 second cast and 5 second recharge of Mark of Rodgort. Optimally, a +5 energy, +20% (Illusion) cast/recharge would be used. Good luck finding that. Fire and illusion are not combined in any popular builds I know of (and thus if a gold wand was found, it would probably be sold to a merchant). Alternatively, the +5 energy wand from Wain Hughes outside of Nolani Academy could be used to close the gap in between "Fevered Dreams Burn Cycles." (Hint: Don't use the 10% miss chance one). More on that in the Core Skills---Usage section.

Now to the discussion of optimal offhand foci for this build. A 20/20 Illusion offhand should suffice. Really. That's all I have to say on the subject. Moving on...

Skill Setup:

Core Skills
1.) Fevered Dreams-

10e-2c-10r

Elite Hex Spell. For 10...22 seconds, whenever target foe suffers from a new Condition, all foes in the area suffer from that Condition as well.

2.) Phantom Pain-

10e-2c-15r

Hex Spell. For 10 seconds, target foe suffers Health degeneration of 1...3. When Phantom Pain ends, that foe suffers a Deep Wound, lowering that foe's maximum Health by 20% for 5...17 seconds.

3.) Shatter Delusions-

5e-1/4c-10r

Spell. Remove one Mesmer "Hex" from target foe, that foe takes 15...63 damage.

4.) Mark of Rodgort-

25e-1c-5r

For 8...18 seconds, whenever target foe is struck for fire damage, that foe is set on fire for 1...3 seconds.

Usage:

1.) Cast (and call) Fevered Dreams on a backline target that _should_ live longer than the rest (I suggest rangers as a prime target).

2.) Apply Phantom Pain-Shatter Delusion Combo on same target. Now all foes in an area have deep wound for 21 secs.

3.) Cast Mark of Rodgort of same target. Begin wanding target with any fire element wand. 3 secs of burning apply to all targets in the area (aka a lot larger than a meteor shower area). If you are a pyromaniac, admire the flames. Fevered Dreams only applies _NEW_ conditions, so any fire element hits while burning will _NOT_ reset the 3 second burn duration. Luckily, if you are constantly wanding the target, there should only be a .5 second delay between burn cycles at most (barring any large movements or skill activation on the mesmer's part that would disrupt the 1.75 refire rate on wands).

Optional skill slots left: 4

Optional Skill Skill Slot Loadouts: So you too can be unique while following a cookie cutter build :-)

Option 1: "Energy Management"
50 energy used in under 5 seconds? That's sounds pretty harsh without some BiP lovin'. The following options do not require any extra attribute point investment unless otherwise noted:

1.) Glyph of Lesser Energy-

5e-1c-30r

Your next Spell costs 15 less Energy to cast.

Provides slightly under 1 pip of equivalent energy regen if used as soon as it is recharged. I would cast it just before Mark of Rodgort, but that does provide an extra second of vunerability for Fevered Dreams to be removed. Perhaps it would be best if the combo goes like so...Fevered, Phantom, Glyph of Lesser Energy, Mark, Shatter Delusions, (wand). Most forms of hex removal will splatter deep wound all over when Fevered Dreams is up in this case. See guildwarswiki.com article on Phantom Pain for even more in depth explaination (yes, I will spare you this one time).

2.) Fire Attunement-

10e-2c-45r

For 36...55 seconds, you are attuned to Fire. You gain 30% of the Energy cost of the Spell each time you use Fire Magic.

Should be precast before battle to get full effect. You are reinbursed for 7 energy everytime you cast Mark of Rodgort (30% rounded down). Hopefully, you should only have to cast Mark 1 time every battle, but sometimes the Fevered/Marked target gets killed too fast (so don't choose the monk or other important caster that the group should target first).

Option 2: "I'm too one sided, what other roles can I play?"
The title says it all...if all else fails, you can do this if you somehow get foiled executing this combo. Again, these options require a minimum of attribute point diversification unless otherwise noted:

1.) Power Return-

5e-1/4c-7r

Spell. If target foe is casting a Spell, that Spell is interrupted and target foe gains 10...6 Energy.

Cheap, quick recharging interrupt. A bad choice to use vs. quick recharging spells (Orison of Healing, Heal Other) unless that spell was going to do something truly important (like save an enemy from getting spiked down). Very useful vs. long charging important spells (Divine Spirit, Meteor Shower). Did I mention you don't need to spend attribute points for it to be effective?

2.) Ressurection Signet:

0e-3c-0r

Resurrect target party member. That party member is returned to life with 100% Health and 25% Energy. This signet recharges when you gain a morale boost.

Everytime I decide to be greedy and not bring one, everyone else dies except me, and I get cursed for not bringing one. So unless you absolutely need one other skill, just suck it up and bring one just in case.

Option 3: "Self Defense Skills"
An all out offensive caster with zero defensive skills makes baby Jesus cry. It also makes Monks cry too. So help out the poor monks out and kite, keep your nose clean, and bring some defense skill "just in case."

1.) Illusion of Weakness-

10e-2c-30r

Enchantment Spell. You lose 50...202 health. Illusion of Weakness ends if damage drops your health below 25% of your maximum. When Illusion of Weakness ends, you gain 50...202 health.

Use it before battle, then heal up. Just when the monk thinks he's lost you, your health spikes up and gives him/her the opportunity to heal you. Will still provide healing if shattered.

2.) Sympathetic Visage/Ancestor's Visage-

10e-1c-30r

Enchantment Spell. For 8...18 seconds, whenever target ally is hit by a melee attack, all nearby foes lose all adrenaline and 3 energy.

A bit overkill if placed on yourself (and do you really want to get hit by an Bladed Ataxe or Abyssal even with a normal attack?), but you can cast it on your tank and make his/her job much easier. Might need to be crosslisted under "I'm too one sided..."

Option 4: "PuG teamates keep killing my condition speader too fast!"
Here is an interesting solution for use in uninitiated PuGs which requires a modest diversification of attribute points:

1.) Iron Mist:

10e-2c-30r

For 5...15 seconds, target foe moves 90% slower than normal. That foe gains immunity to damage from all sources except lightning.

Hinder your teammates efforts to kill the said creature by using this spell. This is the brute force method of making your team comply with your strategy. I suggesting attempting to explain what is going on to them first, but when all else fails...

Option 5: "Various other things that might help"
I've written a bit much, so I will keep this section as brief as possible so that you know I'm thinking of various other skill options.

1.) Gale--->Ash Blast- A serious investment in attribute points and energy for a short duration area blind.

2.) Spirit of Failure- A medium investment in attribute points for an alternative in energy management skills. Need to use with someone else that is spreading blind to be remotely effective. Also note the painful 3 second cast time.

3.) Accumulated Pain- A generally more expensive way to deliver deep wound when you take into account the cost of Fevered + X (hex spell) + Accumulated Pain. Arcane Conundrum might be an expensive but reasonable choice if you want to help the ranger hit a caster target with Concussion Shot.

4.) Arcane Echo- 2 Copies of Fevered Dreams? Cool if you don't want to put all of your eggs in one basket. Might be hard to let your teammates know who is the secondary Typhoid Mary...but you can hit the back and front row if you have the energy...or a coordinated partner or two...

Extremely Useful Team Combos: Just in case I haven't piqued your interest already...

1.) Broadhead Arrow Ranger: Ranger can preemptively Pin Down the intended target (or ensure a hit) with or without Fevered Dreams on yet. As soon as Fevered Dreams Lands, the dazed condition applies for 21 secs (or longer with silencing bow) to all foes in an area. A nice improvement over the Broadhead/Epidemic Ranger. Don't like being just a Broadhead Arrow ranger? Hire Daeman (Interrupt Henchman) and be a R/Me. Now you can still have your precious Barrage and just use Arcane Mimicry to steal Daeman's Broadhead Arrow elite. Fun trick.

2.) Blinding Flash Air Spiker: Flash the Fevered target and optionally put Spirit of Failure on them. Energy to sustain multiple flashes will blind all targets in the area permanently. A very nice defensive measure that can be applied again and again in spite of condition removal (short of Martyr).

3.) Virulence Necromancer: One of my favorites. Hits Virulence as soon as he/she sees the grey down arrow from deep wound on the fevered target. 13+ seconds of Poison, Disease, and Weakness result. Add Signet of Agony + Plague Sending to add 25 seconds of bleeding to the mix. At this point you've maxed out at -10 degen to all targets in the area + weakness...A Mark of Rodgort is overkill at this point. In addition, you can try a N/Me, adding Illusion of Haste + Plague Sending to Cripple everyone in sight. With such long durations on the conditions caused by a Virulence Necromancer, you don't even need to keep the Fevered Target alive to do a copious amount of damage + crippling their offensive capabilities.

4.) Assassin w/Temple Strike or at least Twisting Fangs- Plenty of conditions here, just get in, condition like mad, zip out, just like they are supposed to...minus the killing part, they might get upset about the "don't kill the Fevered Target until last" clause.

Conclusion

Lots of different classes can contribute to horribly maiming/weakening the PvE mobs. Alone the "Fevered Flames" Mesmer can apply a long lasting deep wound and burning to all enemies in the area. The sheer size of the "in the area" is used to devestating effect in crowded areas (Vizunah Square and Challenge Missions most notably). Please note that Bleeding, Poison, and Disease do not apply to non-fleshy creatures (Undead and certain constructs).

Hopefully this build, or a variant of it will end the mistaken notion that mesmers aren't cut out for PvE.

Note: I'll try to clean this guide/build up when I get the chance...I'll be away from my gaming computer for the next week, so don't be suprised if I don't respond until Saturday/Sunday. Until then, good luck making the journey to Abaddon's Mouth!

Pick Me · Jul 10, 2006, 02:38 PM // 14:38

Fevered Dreams does not have a big radius.

But it is bigger than Epidemic

Where is Fragility?

The more hexes and conditions applied, the more often you will start to see Draw Conditions and CoP and smite hex. Oops, you see them already.

Extingush will become more popular when elementalists continue to use burning as a way of health degen.

Inspiration Magic is better than Glphys, use them.

Avarre · Jul 10, 2006, 03:01 PM // 15:01

I've tried it before (as mes and as ele), the overall energy consumption, small range, and relatively minor effect of burning for a little while on a few people kill FD+MoR builds.

Celab · Jul 10, 2006, 04:02 PM // 16:02

Which is why you could have a fire spiker with a mes scondary just tag this along, just to strech a monk out further.

Its also effective in PvP if you use a E/Me for the energy. A good pressure set up, allowing assasins to kill things, and warriors just to provide more pressure. Mix it with a shutdown mesmer... which ofcourse the E/Me can also do because hes wanding everytime after the MoR. with blackout on their monk. Constant black out + large spread burning = depressed monk... you can go through teams quite quickly.

Terra Xin · Jul 10, 2006, 10:43 PM // 22:43

I want anet to have only one definition for 'area' instead of multiple meanings first. Im constantly having to resort to the isle of the nameless.

Ill test this build out in RA, only monks bring hex removals, mesmers barely give it a second thought...

zigzag · Jul 14, 2006, 03:11 AM // 03:11

ok first, go make a pvp char and look at the dummies, it will show how big area is!!!. dreams works allright but you have to play it smart cast it on some1 that wont die to quickly and also thats in the middle of everything. i played for a wile epiedemic with verilence and its worked great most i ever got was 5 people together, with dreams you will be able to get like 4-5 everytime and also maby evern 8 or soemthing.
ADD BLINDING FLASH

also arcane echo energy surge works great too, prob best PVE me build 160 dma to every1 in the area + 3 rooms for other skills mana heal, heath heal, rez, done.

Eaimirth Etaivella · Jul 14, 2006, 04:10 AM // 04:10

Entire guild tried a gvg based on this skill; lost hopelessly (the skill due to us then using it as a fake spike target we were able to win...but thats different)
I don't like this skill; its a hex, its elite, its expensive, its clumbsy, and mesmers only have a single condition that they can give (ignoring the other one which is also elite...)
Basically what I'm trying to say is
Ineptitude + Phantom Pain + Epidemic > Fevored dreams + Phantom Pain
Its more fluid, versital, and to be honest more powerful than the build you have listed. Mesmers do not have great energy management, using elementalist energy management can help in some situations...but does not justify using an over costed skill. Me/R is also a poor choice for giving out conditions while Me/N lacks the power of the pure mesmer for more useful conditions (being that blind>weakness+whatever else virtulence gives...even then we will be using epidemic anyway).

In short fevored dreams finds itself relying on members other than the mesmer to make it more powerful. You need to coordinate your members to attack your hexed target. With epidemic you toggle through the mobs until you find one which just got broad head arrow or your choice of conditions, then epidemic that quickly with its flexible cast time (or nuke it via inept+dw if you want...then epidemic it)

This makes it more clunky (than before) and requires coordination as a group; unfortunatly there are better builds with such coordination that can be played when the next threshold of coordination is reached.

9th Requiem · Jul 14, 2006, 04:36 PM // 16:36

This works much better as a E/Me build (even with high FC, you won't be able to stop hex removal quickly enough, especially against CoP), I've been using it for a while, not in PvP, but in PvE, where it can be pretty handy. Aside from Fevered, PP and Mark, I bring along other Fire skills (Flare and Meteor). Flare spam to trigger Mark is better than continual wanding. This only really works in a hex and condition heavy party, requiring an organisable place, but in any such PvP place you're sure to come up against hex & condition removal. But a simple pairing with a ViM W/R or R/W can work wonders. I wouldn't rely a whole 8-man team on it, but you can give 10 degen with Crippled/Blind/Dazed on all.

zigzag · Jul 15, 2006, 04:12 AM // 04:12

it will work fine in PvE burning deep wound and blind/weekness or every1 in the area( i still prefer echo surge)

lightblade · Jul 18, 2006, 08:01 AM // 08:01

Fevered Dream is bugged I think...

It somehow only transfers one or 2 conditions than it's dispelled