Sniping Mesmer - Greatsword / Longsword *

I've been thinking about posting my build for some time so I thought I'd throw in my 2 cents about mesmer.

This builds goal is to put a player into a downed state from range as fast as possible. It does this by focusing on 4 bonus'; Power, Precision, Critical Damage, and Damage % increase. All of these complement each other.  

I put 30 into Domination for:

Mental Torment - Mind Wrack causes 20% more damage.

Greatsword Training - +50 power while wielding a greatsword. Reduces CD by 20% on GS abilities.

Harmonius Mantras - Mantras can be activated 3 times before needing to be channeled.

30 in Dueling for:

Blade Training - +50 precision while wielding spear or long sword. Reduces CD by 20% on Spear and LS abilities.

Deceptive Evasion - Create a clone when you dodge.

Empowering Mantras - 4% more damage for each readied mantra. 

and 10 into Illusion for: 

Compounding Power - 3% more damage for each illusion.

I use full berserker's gears as I figure distance is all I need to avoid damage. 

My utilities are : Recovery, Resolve, Concentration, Pain (16% more damage and Pain helps you spike)

My Elite is : Time Warp

For items I use full berserkers and for weapons I'll have 1 GS to build up Bloodlust stacks then swap to a GS with a Sigil of Fire. The longsword has Quickness and the offhand always has 5% damage. The offhand changes depending on what I am doing. WvWvW I'll use focus to pull foes and for speed buff. sPvP I'll use a Torch for stealth. PvE farming I'll use another longsword for the block and extra phantasm. 

Also remember to use food that boosts damage as it complements the build better than most. I figure this is the most damaging mesmer build out there. 

Thanks for sharing. I was wondering about your build after partying with you a few times over the last few says. Too bad my mez is only lvl 23. At least I have a plan for her growth now. What areas would you recommend placing trait pts into first as she levels up?

hang in there at low lvl mesmer is a pain and feels weak , esp watching other classes at your lvl soloing 3 + mob nonstop with ease . I know i was frusated. at around 30 it picks up a little but really starts to shine at lvl 40 and higher . good luck Jhcinsc

It so much better at 30....just saying lol Had a hard time getting her to 30 but now that she's over 30 its much better, just gotta stick with it, do some crafting, personal story, etc.... to get the xp. Maybe do prissy's map completion since she's doing low level zones would help :)

» Edited on: 2012-12-24 10:17:59

That is an interesting build. Had been wondering how effective speccing for that specific partial mantra build would work out.

I second the earlier comments. Because all of the pieces of the build are complementary it won't initially feel very good, but once it gets rolling you'll be able to clear mobs by about the time they reach you. I have heard that leveling in WvWvW is easy, but for that I would recommend a staff build that lets you tag a lot of enemies and still frees up stats and utilities for survival abilities; then follow a friendly zerg around. I might've also noted that timing the opening volley can work to your advantage since the 2 skill has a slow projectile speed and 4 has a half second windup. So you can hit 2 then 4 then 1 and pain then Mind Wrack and have them all hit virtually simultaneously. Add Time Warp and silliness happens.

I can't seem to find a reliable source of AoE damage for the mesmer, i am so use to just dropping cluster bombs with my thief which does 2~5k guaranteed AoE damage where I aim it at, and multiple of them in a row.. So far my only solution to mesmer AoE dmg is: 1. shatter with mind wrack ( no idea how big the AoE really is, its pretty random depending on where the clones shatter too ) 2. that long cd chaos storm -_-.. or the tiny mind stab from GS 3. wait for my clones to get killed and apply some random conditions to nearby foes ( and this is ONLY if it happens to be bleed that was applied out of 3 choices in total ) 4. phantasms from either the great sword or focus.. 5. insert a sigil of fire to get some extra aoe in there any insights?

Thanks for the advice. I enjoy the mez; unfortunately I love my other professions too. LoL. I'll eventually get her up high enough to start to really come into her own.

A pretty significant AOE that i love on my mesmer is Feedback (traited to cause 5 secs of confusion when enemies enter or leave it). Put it on a clump of enemies and watch the numbers. But i do have a confusion build so this might not work for you.

@ solarity hmm i've actually heard of that once somewhere else too, must be a very significant source then, do you know if the confusion stacks up if they continue to stand in the bubble?

@Susulemon No it doesn't. And if they don't leave the bubble they wont get confused...they have to either enter or leave the outer ring. It does so well cause lots getting confused and lots of people stay in it and are getting their projectiles reflected back. I wish it stayed up longer but it's pretty powerful so I can see why not. Not one thing is as powerful as an Ele Meteor Shower. But all of them together do well. Like on a bridge, Warden, Berserker, Feedback, and the other AOE's add up. We also have lots of Glamour fields which will cause that same 5 secs of confusion if traited. Like Null Field, Portal, etc.

» Edited on: 2012-12-25 10:23:33

I do feel like AoE is critical in WvWvW setting because of density, being able to take out siege and players when attacking from below a wall, but this build just doesn't do it like other classes / builds can. In addition to the other skills / traits mentioned the GS 3 skill does a small AoE, 5 is an AoE knockback, and 4 does an AoE when it spins. If your in a really nasty pinch then switching to LS has a melee sized AoE for every skill (including the 3's restrain condition). This comes in handy if you happen to see an enemy portal pop up close by. You can switch to LS and begin button mashing to get huge damage on the zerg. Unfortunately, you'll likely die soon after, but it will take some momentum out of their offensive if a few players dodge back as soon as they portal in. The other AoE is the Sigil of Flame, which I initially underestimated. When it procs (which is every few seconds) you'll get a huge AoE that hits for about 1.5K with this build. Although I love defending fortifications with this sigil, I also have to consider that I am not really getting any kills from that AoE. At best I am encouraging them to dodge back and use a heal.

Shatter builds make for horrible AOE builds, especially since clone death traits don't affect shatters. If you want to AOE, then trait all of the "clones die and do XXX to surrounding" traits, then never shatter them. Just keep creating new ones, by the dodge clone trait and all of your other clone creation methods. That creates about the best AOE you'll squeeze out of a Mesmer. GS3 just sucks, don't bother wasting the global CD. Phantasms are really not a good thing to use, especially the defensive ones, but GS2 and GS4 will be very useful. That's why many run Staff, because Staff constantly creates clones. My issue with that, is those clones are usually not near anyone, whereas GS2 and GS4 put illusions right at target. (iBerserker usually gets wrecked quickly, its the one phantasm you do want to use with a "suicide build".) Not to mention your LS clone will run to target, you can swap with it, then cycle it destroy it, etc. Unfortunately, its not controlled AOE, but it can make a large WvW fight very much painful for the enemy, even if they're spread out over a large area. In PvE, I'd never run a "suicide build", although you maybe could make it work.

» Edited on: 2012-12-26 05:12:46

You mean scepter constantly creates clones. Lots of people run staff for the extra bounce attacks, the chaos storm, and the synergy with the clone/phantasm summon for pve damage against mobs where you can stack conditions and let the phantasm do lots of damage - plus the recharge for them is low so you can churn shatters.

Staff #2 creates a clone and has a pretty short cd.

LOL yea, my bad, I was thinking Staff2, got it confused with Scep1. Right now I run GS and Scepter/Focus, the intent was a Shatter Confusion build built around GS & Scepter/Focus, but I even asked on the forums and no one had any input on how I should gear and trait one. Not to mention its weak in PvE due to issues with short confusion stack duration and how slowly NPCs use skills that trigger its damage. TBH, I'm thinking a glass cannon GS & LS/XX Shatter build. like posted here, will be my better option for both WvW and PvE.

» Edited on: 2012-12-26 14:41:01

I see GS3 as a niche ability. You shouldn't use it unless either no other skill can reach where you want to put it or your going to hit 3+ targets with it and 2 and 4 are on cd. Today I tried to sub out the LS for Staff in WvWvW thinking that a majority of the staff skills don't really benefit from high condition damage (1 has burning and bleeding 4 has confusion and 5 has poison but can be used defensively for buffs). The damage output is a lot lower but I like being able to switch to another weapon set and blow all the abilities then recharge mantras before swapping to GS again. Staff2 adds an escape mechanism that the build really wants. Overall I don't know how I feel about it.

GS and Staff are a very viable, and popular, weapon combo, especially if you like to stay at range. My problem, is that melee weapons will not fit my playstyle, since I dodge and move all the time. I don't want the enemy knowing which image of me is the real one, and its sort of obvious when you're beating on them and spamming your skills. That's why I wanted to find a build that fit GS and Scepter/Focus. Sure, I could cookie cutter a GS/Staff build and be quite effective, but I believe in the awesome power of Confusion debuffs in WvWvW. I've seen a lot of thiefs pop put of stealth in a downed state, and that's just being in crappy level 68 green gear. Bunker guards go ERMAHGERD! as they slowly kill themselves. I once took on one + supply camp guards, by myself and survived for about 10m. Several players ran into help me and died to the guy and the guards, while I just did the dance and stayed alive until I finally ran out of luck and had everything on CD at once. At several points, I had his health down to 10%, but he'd back off to middle of camp and heal up. So I know I can build this thing and it will work, but its also being viable in PVE that I'm stuck on. I'm thinking I may just have to go with 2 Trait builds and several weapons, then try to find a armor set that will work for both.

I'm running a dodge build that uses GS and Scepter/Sword and it has been quite lovely. My current trait choices maximize both damage and survivability for PvE. Here's what it looks like: Domination - 15 Dueling - 30 chaos - 0 Inspiration - 0 Illusions - 25 GS Build: http://www.gw2build.com/builds/simulator.php#1.8.12.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.180.186.184.183.204.2.2.44.528.0.0.544.541.550.0.0.0.0.0.0.590.594.0.15.30.0.0.25 Scepter/Sword Build: http://www.gw2build.com/builds/simulator.php#1.8.2.0.14.0.0.0.0.0.180.186.184.183.204.2.2.44.528.0.0.544.541.550.0.0.0.0.0.0.590.594.0.15.30.0.0.25