Curse

prodrummer0509 · Sep 27, 2005, 07:29 PM // 19:29

I am heading off into Tyria again, this time with a Mesmer. I had a question about the Mesmer's ability to heal, or ability to avoid damage completely. Does anyone have any suggestions on skills or skill combinations that will help out?

-prodrummer0509

P.S. - Go Tennessee! Awesome upset at Tiger Stadium.

Mumblyfish · Sep 27, 2005, 07:45 PM // 19:45

Piss-all on both counts. Ether Feast (Inspiration) is your sole healing ability, Distortion (Illusion) is your sole evasive stance. Both are godawful, and even in PvE using Distortion is just daft. Mesmers aren't healers. Mesmers aren't tanks.

P.S. What?

Sir Skullcrasher · Sep 27, 2005, 07:49 PM // 19:49

Bring a monk or give Gwen bunch of stuffs so that she would follow you and heal you!

I play a level 19 mes/necro and usually, i have to get a monk to come along with me into missions or quests.

ethornber · Sep 27, 2005, 07:49 PM // 19:49

Also Illusion of Weakness, under certain circumstances.

Sigil · Sep 27, 2005, 08:00 PM // 20:00

You'll probably be relying on your secondary for healing/defensive stances. Me/N - blood vamp skills/degen drains, Me/mo - too many to list, Me/w - def stances/shouts, me/r - defense stances, trolls' unguent.

Ether feast is not enough healing, not fast enough, with too long of a recharge.

Distortion is too much energy for 5 seconds alone, but when coupled with Spirit of Failure can be a good energy engine. The downside is that you have to pay attention and renew distortion repeatedly, and as a mesmer your attention is usually demanded elsewhere.

lg5000 · Sep 27, 2005, 11:36 PM // 23:36

Not right at the beginning, but throughout the game, you get different mantras, and while they are rather specific (mantra of earth; mantra of fire.. etc) they do add to your armor quite a bit.

Distortion has a bad side to it, everytime you would be hit, you loose energy... explains why Durnham doesn't do ANYTHING! He's out of energy.

Ether feast becomes rather nice later in the game when you can put attribute points into Inspiration and I take it with me if I don't trust the monk or think it makes a nice addition towards my energy denial set up.

If you're thinking of healing as secondary profession though, I wouldn't really bother. You're helping the team more with 7 mesmer skills than any healing ones. 8th skill is some form of resurect, don't go in a team without the ability to get at least one up after they're dead.

Incidently, I find my mesmer to be much more mobile than my monk, moving out of the way of AoE's helps with general survival.

tastegw · Sep 28, 2005, 12:03 AM // 00:03

inspiration line

so many mantra's to choose from to lower your damage intake. you just gotta bring the right one for the right situation.

Tarot Ribos · Sep 28, 2005, 12:44 AM // 00:44

The best way to avoid getting killed as a mesmer?

Avoid getting hit. Ranged enemies in PvE are quite stupid, so all you have to do is hide behind something. Since you should have damage dealing spells that don't need a direct line of fire, like Conjure Phantasm and/or Energy Burn, etc., you can still take them on. In other words, play smart.

Against Melee enemies or in the event you have nothing to hide behind, bring a henchie. Stephen is always willing to take some damage for you. Or, if you're further in the game... Physical/Elemental Resistence, anyone? With decent Inspiration magic, it can last for a while with little drawback. +40 armor is a LOT. On top of that, use Empathy (AI enemies are so stupid...). You'll deal more damage to them that way than they will to you. If you can... not die... you'll eventually win that war of attrition.

prodrummer0509 · Sep 28, 2005, 02:02 AM // 02:02

Thanks for the input guys, I really do appreciate it. I think in the end I'm going to just rely on teammates, however unsettling that may be.

MuKen · Sep 28, 2005, 02:38 AM // 02:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sigil

You'll probably be relying on your secondary for healing/defensive stances. Me/N - blood vamp skills/degen drains, Me/mo - too many to list, Me/w - def stances/shouts, me/r - defense stances, trolls' unguent.

Ether feast is not enough healing, not fast enough, with too long of a recharge.

I disagree with the idea that ether feast is a poorer self-heal than troll unguent.

They cost the same, but at att 12 troll unguent gives you 160 health over 10 seconds, whereas ether feast gives you 120 health immediately and can be used every 8 seconds, with the added benefit of taking 5 energy away from someone else. This already seems comparable in total benefit/deficit to your team and opposing team, if not slightly favoring ether feast.

Also, being a regen is a disadvantage to troll unguent since if you already have other regens in place, and this puts you over the 10 cap, you'll be losing out. For example, if you're in trouble and you troll unguent and a monk puts healing breeze on you, then you won't get the full benefit of both heals.

octaviancmb · Sep 28, 2005, 05:01 AM // 05:01

To survive PvE as a Mesmer primary you have to not only carry the right skills for your area, but also understand something important about enemy AI. If you use a snare on an enemy in PvE, that enemy will automatically target the nearest ally. (There is a reason they give you a snare so early in your career as a Mesmer.)

Although it is true that Inspiration Magic shines as a Mesmer defensive attribute, the other skill lines (aside from Fast Casting) provide some limited defences, too. Domination Magic is the weakest defensive attribute, but it gives you Hex Breaker for protection against hexing enemies. Guilt, too, can come in handy to keep you (or your allies) alive a little longer, and it's linked to Domination.

Illusion provides you several means of survival: Clumsiness, Crippling Anguish, Distortion, Etheral Burden, Illusion of Haste, Illusion of Weakness, Imagined Burden, Ineptitude, Soothing Images, and Sympathetic Visage. Sure these aren't Protective Spirit or Healing Seed, but they work in the right circumstances.

Also, don't neglect the +40 armor you can get against elemental or physical damage from Inspiration. That's a very large boost to your armor for a minimal cost against the damage type of your choice. It comes with (perhaps too steep) a price (reduced armor against the other damage type), but when you need it, it saves you.

If none of this suits you, you always have your secondary profession to shore up weaknesses.

Good luck with your Mesmer,

cmb

twicky_kid · Sep 28, 2005, 05:29 AM // 05:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mumblyfish

Piss-all on both counts. Ether Feast (Inspiration) is your sole healing ability, Distortion (Illusion) is your sole evasive stance. Both are godawful, and even in PvE using Distortion is just daft. Mesmers aren't healers. Mesmers aren't tanks.

P.S. What?

distortion is very strong if used right. is use it with price of failure to gain 4 energy each time they miss me. warriors and rangers can't touch me.

Bingley Joe · Sep 28, 2005, 05:43 AM // 05:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by prodrummer0509

Thanks for the input guys, I really do appreciate it. I think in the end I'm going to just rely on teammates, however unsettling that may be.

But the beauty is that if you play your Mesmer well, you'll be making it MUCH easier for your teammates to kill things

Dumeka · Sep 28, 2005, 06:46 AM // 06:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by sir skulkcrasher

Bring a monk or give Gwen bunch of stuffs so that she would follow you and heal you!

I play a level 19 mes/necro and usually, i have to get a monk to come along with me into missions or quests.

Gwen will heal you only by playing her Flute after you gave her a new one!

aeronox · Sep 28, 2005, 06:55 AM // 06:55

if you want to survive and not rely on a monk, bring distortion, ether feast and inspired hex/shatter hex. these three are a mainstay of my PvE mesmer, and keep me alive longer than everyone, except W/Mo. Put Illusion up just enough that you lose 2 energy per hit with Distortion, and if you carry a few other inspiration spells or guilt/shame, energy isn't an issue.
75% chance to evade has saved me from melee classes many, many times, and at some points like Ice Caves I've 'tanked' 3-5 mantle knights at once, and stay alive without help from monk.

After using Distortion + Empathy for the Doppelganger, it (distortion) hasn't left my skillset. And in PvP, well, it's funny until the warrior uses anti-evade attacks, but a good laugh nonetheless

Anyway, it's an emergency evade skill - don't use it like Dunham.

Ether feast can heal ~100 with decent inspiration, but you'd want some fast casting as it has a long cast time. I take it whenever I can't trust the monk's abilities.

Inspired Hex, I use primarily to get energy ~ the removal of the hex is a nice bonus. It depends on my build though.

Sigil · Sep 28, 2005, 12:57 PM // 12:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by MuKen

I disagree with the idea that ether feast is a poorer self-heal than troll unguent.

They cost the same, but at att 12 troll unguent gives you 160 health over 10 seconds, whereas ether feast gives you 120 health immediately and can be used every 8 seconds, with the added benefit of taking 5 energy away from someone else. This already seems comparable in total benefit/deficit to your team and opposing team, if not slightly favoring ether feast.

Also, being a regen is a disadvantage to troll unguent since if you already have other regens in place, and this puts you over the 10 cap, you'll be losing out. For example, if you're in trouble and you troll unguent and a monk puts healing breeze on you, then you won't get the full benefit of both heals.

I'm not a huge fan of troll's unguent either, but in my experience it is more effective than ether feast in pve. I went through most of pve with henchies because wasting time waiting for a semi-intelligent group just wasn't worth it, and with henchies the regen is mostly to buy you time for your hench healer to heal. If you hit ether feast and the hench healer hits you, chances are you just overhealed so you don't get the full benefit of the ether feast. Further, with regen healing, I can cast early and mitigate ongoing damage. Troll's Unguent's other big advantage is that it isn't an enchantment, so when healing breeze is a shatter death-trap, unguent is still viable. Finally, considering the prevalence of mob condition/degen and no condition removal skills on henchies, a little over regen doesn't hurt.

Again, this is not to say troll's unguent is great, it is just better than ether feast with henchies in pve imo. If you start talking about human companions or pvp, choose the skill that best suits your group build.

Numa Pompilius · Sep 28, 2005, 02:32 PM // 14:32

IMO Ether Feast is pretty useless after pre-searing. If you ever find yourself in a situation where you're taking serious damage and Alesia or human healer can't heal you, Ether Feasts max 130 points of healing wont save you. During the two seconds you stand still, totally defenseless, casting, you likely take as much damage or more, and then there's an 8 second cooldown.

Distortion: a skill which gives 75% chance of evasion for 5 seconds, each evasion costs 1-3 energy. Great stuff.

Mumblyfish at the beginning of this thread is 100% right, IMO - the self-healing & tank-ability of Mesmers are godawful. Any mesmer is wise to rely on his secondary skills for either.
Oh, and they have no speedbuff either.

tomcruisejr · Sep 28, 2005, 06:09 PM // 18:09

think twice before casting an ether feast on an enchanted warrior or warrior/elementalist.

Brand Oathbow · Sep 28, 2005, 07:32 PM // 19:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by Numa Pompilius

IMO Ether Feast is pretty useless after pre-searing. If you ever find yourself in a situation where you're taking serious damage and Alesia or human healer can't heal you, Ether Feasts max 130 points of healing wont save you. During the two seconds you stand still, totally defenseless, casting, you likely take as much damage or more, and then there's an 8 second cooldown.

Distortion: a skill which gives 75% chance of evasion for 5 seconds, each evasion costs 1-3 energy. Great stuff.

Mumblyfish at the beginning of this thread is 100% right, IMO - the self-healing & tank-ability of Mesmers are godawful. Any mesmer is wise to rely on his secondary skills for either.
Oh, and they have no speedbuff either.

Illusion of Haste works pretty well for a speed buff. I generally prefer other skills for running, but in areas where the mobs use crippling attacks it can be a big help (i.e. Bergen to ToA).

Arcanis the Omnipotent · Sep 28, 2005, 07:43 PM // 19:43

One thing I failed to see mentioned, and I'm curious as to why... Physical Resistance is a great spell if you are absolutely forced to take damage.