Curse

FaceEraser · Apr 11, 2006, 03:56 AM // 03:56

Ok heres my build(PvP):
1.Power Spike
2.Power Leak
3.Backfire
4.Energy Burn
5.Faintheartedness
6.Whither {E}
7.Parasitic Bond
8.Rez sig

Fast casting: 9
dom magic: 12
Curses: 12

This mesmer doesnt do so well in random arenas, especially without a monk. Im in the process of getting a few of my buddies and playing RA, and i hope he will do better then, but as of now he is not so good. The biggest problem is staying alive. Parasitic bond is my only means of healing and its not too dependable. If a warrior chases me, my only defense is faintheartedness and running. Anyone have any suggestions? (be back to check in 10 minutes)

Murder In China · Apr 11, 2006, 03:58 AM // 03:58

You lack some sort of way to get energy.

Ole Man Bourbon · Apr 11, 2006, 04:02 AM // 04:02

Need to focus your strategy. Mesmers are crappy at being jacks of all trades.

FaceEraser · Apr 11, 2006, 04:12 AM // 04:12

well all my skills are anti caster except faintheartedness and parasitic bond (which i use to heal myself, although its pretty crappy). I guess i can get rid of them if i can replace them with something good.

How do you suppose i get more energy? i was thinking of changing from curses to blood magic, which would provide numerous ways to get more energy.

SnipiousMax · Apr 11, 2006, 05:25 AM // 05:25

I'd look into the inspiration line for energy management. Although I've used just Guilt or Shame with moderate success. They're both from the domination line.

Murder In China · Apr 11, 2006, 05:29 AM // 05:29

Why not go Energy Denial? It works against both Casters, Warriors, and Rangers.

Hella Good · Apr 11, 2006, 07:19 AM // 07:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ole Man Bourbon

Need to focus your strategy. Mesmers are crappy at being jacks of all trades.

QFT. When you play Mes you must choose what exactly you want to focus on. Questions like: Am I going to e-deny? Am I going to shutdown? Am I going to degen? Am I going to interrupt? Am I going to do a Warriors Hate/Bane build? It doesn't work to just pick a few skills from here, pick a few skills from there and leave the rest in the hands of fate. Not with Mes anyway.

Just try to be consistant in your skill choices and make sure you'll have enuf nrg- Mesmer is very nrg intensive. For example, if you going to do e-denial, make sure you have at least 4 nrg drain skills and don't forget to bring Wrack it's invaluable.

sarcasteak · Apr 11, 2006, 07:36 AM // 07:36

In RA, your survival is dependent largely on two factors: the competence of your Monk (if you even have any) and whether the opposing party labels you as a priority target (or finds you the easiest squishy to kill).

So while anti-caster builds are extremely fun (e-denial, shutdown, interrupt) and effective in large-scale battles where multiple healers are present, STRONG warrior hate generally will allow you to survive much longer in 4v4 RA even if enemy warrior(s) wears HoD helmet AND considers you a priority target. For your nrg, at least bring a Drain Enchantment. Inspired Hex can help out, too, but Drain Enchant can almost always be used. If enemies have hex removal, be sure to slap on Conjure Phantasm (or Parasidic Bond) as cover hex when nrg permits. You might also want to bring Cry of Frustration (or Leech Sig if you really have nrg management issues) just to interrupt a crucial Res Sig or Healing Sig.

FaceEraser · Apr 11, 2006, 01:49 PM // 13:49

sorry for late reply...just wokr up didnt check again last night

if i go e-denial do you suggest that i got pure mes and drop the necro part?

Also, what is a shutdown mes?

LouAl · Apr 11, 2006, 07:48 PM // 19:48

for an e-denial you don't have to go pure mes...malaise, wither...necro will work well too.
Edit: I should point out that malaise and wither both end when the target's energy reaches 0 so they aren't useful at keeping someone at 0. IMO they are better at getting someone's energy lowered from max (plus malaise is very spammable if you can keep up with the hlth degen).

My definition of a shutdown mes is one that actively stops their opponents from acting, as opposed to passively stopping them with e-denial. Sutdown will generally use interrupts, diversion, migraine, cunundrum, blackout, etc. Anything that keeps the opponent 'shutdown'...That is my definition anyway, anyone can feel free to correct/clarify this.

Hella Good · Apr 11, 2006, 08:15 PM // 20:15

No 1) E-denial is NOT a purely anti-caster strategy. E-denial works on anything that has energy... that would be everything... Mindwrack e-denial is probably the only universal strategy that Mesmers can employ. And yes, it does hurt warriors and rangers... in fact, mindwrack e-denial is much more damaging versus those classes than versus a spellcaster with a large nrg pool and high regen. Also classic e-denial doesn't involve non-Mesmer skills. The use of such skills is mostly a function of survivability. (For example, I often use Parasitic Bond spam or Heal Sig for their superior healing power to Ether Feast/Illusion of Weakness)

No 2) Shutdown isn't the same as interrupt. Shutdown implies that what you are doing is disabling the skills of your target. Skills include Arcane Thevery, Diversion, Guilt/Shame, Blackout, etc. Shutdown is sometimes hard to play because its actual worth is kind of hard to see but it's nevertheless highly effective versus spellcasters. Diversion and Blackout are probably the two most dispised Mesmer skills by Monks and other casters.

EDIT: On a side note, if you want to use both Mesmer and Necro skills I would highly recommend either the Curse/Illusion approach (Soul Barbs hex spiking, Max degen, Warrior Hate, or a combination of the three), or the Domi/Blood approach (most often Soul Leech/Backfire combo)

FaceEraser · Apr 11, 2006, 10:55 PM // 22:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hella Good

No 1) E-denial is NOT a purely anti-caster strategy. E-denial works on anything that has energy... that would be everything... Mindwrack e-denial is probably the only universal strategy that Mesmers can employ. And yes, it does hurt warriors and rangers... in fact, mindwrack e-denial is much more damaging versus those classes than versus a spellcaster with a large nrg pool and high regen. Also classic e-denial doesn't involve non-Mesmer skills. The use of such skills is mostly a function of survivability. (For example, I often use Parasitic Bond spam or Heal Sig for their superior healing power to Ether Feast/Illusion of Weakness)

No 2) Shutdown isn't the same as interrupt. Shutdown implies that what you are doing is disabling the skills of your target. Skills include Arcane Thevery, Diversion, Guilt/Shame, Blackout, etc. Shutdown is sometimes hard to play because its actual worth is kind of hard to see but it's nevertheless highly effective versus spellcasters. Diversion and Blackout are probably the two most dispised Mesmer skills by Monks and other casters.

EDIT: On a side note, if you want to use both Mesmer and Necro skills I would highly recommend either the Curse/Illusion approach (Soul Barbs hex spiking, Max degen, Warrior Hate, or a combination of the three), or the Domi/Blood approach (most often Soul Leech/Backfire combo)

Thanks, I think im gonna go for the warrior hate cause i have a hard time with teamwork in random arenas (hence the word "random") and e-denial for team arenas where I can get my friends to watch my back. Your advice and everyone elses really helped.

FaceEraser · Apr 11, 2006, 11:12 PM // 23:12

So...how do I get started on this warrior hate buisness?

Run Red Run · Apr 11, 2006, 11:41 PM // 23:41

There are quite a few Warrior-hate options for Mesmers. Most skills are in the Illusion line, such as Clumsiness, Sympathetic Visage, Imagined Burden, etc.

For Damage: things like Empathy or using Spirit Shackles + Mind Wrack will help out with the damage dealing.

Personally, I go Me/N, using Signet of Midnight and Plague Touch as the basis of my anti-warrior build...with Spirit of Failure helping with energy management (Team Arenas).

It's all about personal preference, but definately read through the Illusion line and see what you can put together.

Francis Demeules · Apr 12, 2006, 12:33 AM // 00:33

Ineptitude(E)+Clumsiness for a one swing high dmg and blind for 10 sec

Hella Good · Apr 12, 2006, 01:11 AM // 01:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by Francis Demeules

Ineptitude(E)+Clumsiness for a one swing high dmg and blind for 10 sec

That's what I use. Inepti/Clumsi then stuff like Distortion and/or SV. A few other hexes like Conjure (for fast degen), PhantomP (for the DWound), Faintheartedness (for the degen and slow attack- works nicely on Rangers btw), Spirit of Failure (to get some nrg from blinded foes or foes attacking you while Dist is on), and some general survival stuff. If it's randoms I'd take a Backfire or a Diversion so that you don't feel dumb vs casters.

So yea, balance Inepti + Clumsi + few other hexes + survival and nrg management.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FaceEraser

Thanks, I think im gonna go for the warrior hate cause i have a hard time with teamwork in random arenas (hence the word "random") and e-denial for team arenas where I can get my friends to watch my back. Your advice and everyone elses really helped.

You're very welcome.

Francis Demeules · Apr 12, 2006, 02:19 AM // 02:19

Well, in another way for Warrior Hate combo: Faint+Shadow of Fear. They stack and they do like 75% slower (1 swing/ 7-6 seconds). That make you the time to attack him. Just watch out for Hex remover that's all.

Arcanis the Omnipotent · Apr 12, 2006, 03:13 AM // 03:13

Anti-casting for a Mesmer comes down to two Elites. Pick which ever you want, you're gonna be doing the same thing. Slowing them down, and stopping them dead.

The more popular choice is Migraine. A Migraine Build usually looks something like this:

Migraine {E}
Backfire
Power Drain
Power Spike
Leech Signet Or Power Leak
Shatter, Drain, or Strip Enchantment (up to you)
Shame/Guilt
Rez

You may also want to put in some Necro heals, like the Blood Magic Vampiric line.

The other Anti-Caster style is Power Block

Arcane Conundrum (Slow down for using Block)
Power Block{E}
Arcane Echo (Echo the Power Block to take out two people)
Blackout (and take out a third)
Power Drain
Power Leak
Cry of Fustration
Rez.

Obviously, if you'd rather take the Necro route, you'd be looking at an Spiteful Spirit build.

dgb · Apr 12, 2006, 03:38 AM // 03:38

Wither is a waste of an elite. Any half decent monk, necromancer or mesmer will focus swap it off in about a second. GG, you've spent 10 energy and your elite for something that does nothing. It's more effective on an elementalist , ranger or warrior but really it's an extremely weak elite.

Malaise is ok. Just. Because it's spammable it can perform well depending on what you run against - but it's got all the vulnerabilities of Wither. At least it doesn't burn your elite and cost reasonable energy though.

Murder In China · Apr 12, 2006, 03:40 AM // 03:40

Mind Wrack triggers even if your target has negative energy right? If it doesn then you could add Wither with Mind Wrack to punish them for focus swapping.