My happy little Mesmer...

Yep. The mesmer I went through all of RPG land to build. This is him. The guy you see in my character name over there. Yeah.

Stats:
Domination: 12 + 1 Rune + 1 Hat = 14
Inspiration: 10 + 1 rune = 11
Fast Casting: 8 + 1 rune = 9
Health: Somewhere around 550-ish... Major Vigor + Staff upgrades.

Skills:
1) Empathy (19 seconds, 29 damage)
2) Backfire (133 damage)
3) Mind Wrack (85)
4) Shatter Delusions (71)
5) Chaos Storm (switched to Guilt, often, for PvP) (13 damage, 7 energy)
6) Energy Burn (yes, I play this) (10 energy)
7) Ether Feast (because healers are lazy) (23 per point)
8) Energy Drain (Elite) (17 energy)

So... two things going on here. Major hexing to the point that doing anything hurts them, and draining off energy... and then punishing them for not having energy. Against a Warrior, I can nearly be certain to drain off all their energy in on burst, allowing for a Mind Wrack shot. Then I continue to spam Mind Wrack on him, along with whatever energy-draining skills recharge first, and occaisionally Shatter Delusions, if I can't drain the energy off.

I know I'm not using any Superior runes, but that's because I'm not quite sure it's worth losing 75 health off an already-vulnerable caster for a couple (and I do mean a couple) extra points of damage or energy.

Still, I know something's not quite right. Hence I'm posting this. HELP ME!

I've fairly similar attributes! These days (mostly Fissure adventuring) I've been packing (Forgive me if I don't know the names of the powers...):

1) Power leak, I think. It interrupts spells, gives me energy, and costs 5
2) The other Power something. Interrupt spells, does damage, costs 10
3) Cry of Frustration
4) Energy Tap
5) Chaos Storm
6) Energy something (the AoE energy burn) elite
7) Shatter Hex
8) Res signet (can't break the habit)

This is a fairly diverse set up that works great in the Fissure. You can dish out a nice bit of damage (swap out something for archane echo and go to town with chaos storm or shatter hex). For PvE I use a superior domination rune to really crank out the pain. I find that I need the 2 energy gain powers to feed the many 15 energy cost skills.

For PvP I mix in archane conundrum, the elite interrupt that disables skills from one attribute, and blackout. I tend to play with the skills on my skill bar frequently to suit my mood, but these are the skills I generally use.

just your classic shut down mesmer....

Are we suppose to applaud?

Its not really a shutdown mesmer..

I would say go for the superior rune, it adds quite a bit to your variables in skills. It'll put you down in the 480 range but it really doesn't matter that much.

Don't go with superior rune.
My Mesmer uses the exact same attribute set up and it's probably the most optamized attribute skill placement I've came across.
My mesmer has 560 health and 60 or 64 energy (can't remember) with the same attribute set up you use.

Well, if you want to survive as much as possible and are therefore not using superior runes I hope you realize defense/defensive is much better than fortitude/hale.

Quote: just your classic shut down mesmer....

Are we suppose to applaud? Applaud if you want, or don't. I'm not seeking accolades, but rather help on getting this guy even better... well, this is assuming the statement was directed towards me and not Emotis...

Okay. So I think the general agreement is favoring NOT using Superior Domination. That helps quite a bit, since I was on the fence with that.

OAS: How are you getting that much energy out of your mesmer? Staff upgrades or focus item? Because my mesmer's only got 47 energy, and I'd love to have more.

White Designs: The staff upgrades I've got now are just ones I've found. I'll take a look at the armor charts, though, and see to what extent the defensive upgrades would make opposed to the health upgrades.

Thanks for the responses, guys!

Quote: Originally Posted by OneArmedScissor

I'm sure a warrior would outright rip you in half probably without his teammates because, though you're hurting him, his dps isn't dropping. On a warrior who's dps isn't down, he will kill you eventually if you're not careful.

I'd say put some curses in there. They're far more efficient at stopping warriors and rangers than any mesmer skill would be.

Mes/Nec with Domination + Curses has a stronger efficiency than just pure mesmer. A Frenzied warrior standing next to you for 8 swings spamming adrenaline skills will have you pretty much dead in your tracks. Faintheartedness + Enfeeble will ensure that one warrior is tankable, no problem.

Quote: Originally Posted by Yukito Kunisaki

Wow even the most innocent of topics is volatile on the internet!!!! Anyway, I was just running around North Kryta area and the mergoyles reminded me of spirit shackles. That would fit in well with mind wrack.

No, I won't let this topic die! [/spam]

Quote: The original poster might consider swapping some effects around, because of the long cool-down of several of the skills, but it looks good to me, and he certainly won't be waiting as long as the poor Elementalists have to wait on their utterly slow nuking spells down in the FoW. Yeah... the recharge rate of some of these skills is a little rediculous. I've found I'm often left spamming Mind Wrack and Shatter Delusions between recharges. I'll have to take a look to see what other skills recharge at a decent rate.

If I am going PvP, Warriors are a bit of a problem if they decide to attack me. Especially adrenaline-happy warriors. However, as long as the tanks in the party can keep them away, I can make some nice-sized potshots against them. And I can absolutely eat monks with this. I've found for GvG games, when we're facing down 2-3 healing monks, that I'm trusted to take care of one while my teammates take out the other(s). Backfire makes self-healing next to impossible for a monk, and the energy denial/burn effects go right through them.

As for the Spirit Shackles idea... I tried that for a while, but I didn't care for it much. For PvE, it takes too long to cast (I'm impatient, what can I say?), and is often unneccessary. For PvP, the only classes it would really impact are Warriors and Rangers (and only some of those). Everyone else can just spam off their spells... making Shackles meaningless.

Adding in Curses is an idea... but should I really drop the Inspiration line? I'd imagine that would leave me gasping for energy as things drag on. Energy Drain really does make a difference. Still, I like the idea... it just needs more elaboration on how it can fuel itself to me.

Quote: Originally Posted by Tarot Ribos