- Author
Posted March 25, 2019
Mechanics:
A core part of your Mesmer’s damage comes from their Phantasms. Phantasms deal significant amounts of damage, and become Clones when they complete their attacks, or are interrupted; Clones themselves form another core of the Mesmer’s damage profile. As such, having a second set of weapons to weapon swap into allows your Mesmer to generate more Phantasms.
As mentioned, Clones are another important mechanic of the profession. A Mesmer can have up to three Clones at a time, indicated by the pink pips above the Skill Bar. Clones are generated by certain weapon attacks, such as Mirror Blade and Illusionary Leap, as well as Skills like Mirror Images. When Phantasms disappear, they also leave behind a Clone. Clones have very little health, deal next to no direct damage, but can still apply Conditions (including ones that deal damage over time), and be Shattered for a burst of area of effect damage.
Learn to use Diversion (F3; Unlocked at level 15) and Distortion (F4; Unlocked at level 19), and learn to not be stingy with them. Of all the lessons I’ve learned playing a Mesmer, this was the biggest hump I had to overcome. Even with no clones out, these two Shatter skills can either interrupt, or even negate an incoming attack, thus allowing precious time to heal, and reposition.
Leveling Builds:
Power
!
! Power-based builds mainly use Sword/Sword and a choice of Focus, Pistol, or Greatsword. Look for equipment that gives Power, Precision, and Ferocity (e.g. Mighty, and Berserker).!! They rely on Phantasms as their main damage source. Hence, you’ll want to use Phantasms from both sets of weapons, e.g. Phantasmal Swordsman and Phantasmal Berserker, as well as the two Phantasm skills, i.e. Phantasmal Defender and Phantasmal Disenchanter, as much as possible.!! For this purpose, the very first Skill I unlock would be Signet of Ether. It’s a great big heal, and more importantly, it resets the cooldown on all Phantasm abilities, thereby allowing my Mesmer to put out more damage in hopes of ending the encounter quicker.!! I then pick up the two Phantasm skills in Illusion Training. Both deal a good amount of damage, and provides some additional utility where needed, e.g. Phantasmal Defender will force enemies around it to attack the Phantasm (which would further increase its damage), and Phantasmal Disenchanter removes Boons with its bouncing projectile.!! The third Skill slot it fairly open, although I always loved to have Feedback with me while leveling. Feedback puts a dome on an area that reflects projectiles. This is useful for many situations throughout your leveling process.!! When you’re ready to start unlocking Specializations (beginning from Level 21), the first I would recommend unlocking would be Illusions. Spend Hero Points to unlock up until Phantasmal Force, and leave the rest for later. In general, it lowers the cooldown of your Shatter skills (Master of Misdirection), which as mentioned above, provides some additional damage, as well as survivability. In addition, the Compounding Power minor trait gives some additional damage each time your Mesmer some additional damage each time they create a Phantasm or Clone, while Phantasmal Force is a very reliable source of Might, which then feeds into your Phantasm damage along with any additional stacks of Might you generate with Mirror Blade or the melee portion of Phantasmal Swordsman.!! By the time the second Specialization slot is available at level 45, your character should have more gear with Precision and Ferocity. This is when we will leverage on Critical Damage further with the Dueling Specialization, maximizing our use of traits like Critical Infusion and Superiority Complex. Again, unlock up until Superiority Complex, and skip the final two for now.!! The third Specialization slot opens up at level 71, and just about the time your character would be making their way into Orr. You could go all out and opt for more damage through the Domination line, or pick up a little extra sustain through the Inspiration Specialization. For the latter option, we would gain access to a lot of additional healing through Restorative Illusions and Healing Prism, as well as much needed Condition Cleanse from Mender’s Purity and Sympathetic Visage. As a small bonus, Mental Defense gives you an extra Phantasmal Defender, which helps with crowd control, damage output, and Clone generation.
! Power-based builds mainly use Sword/Sword and a choice of Focus, Pistol, or Greatsword. Look for equipment that gives Power, Precision, and Ferocity (e.g. Mighty, and Berserker).!! They rely on Phantasms as their main damage source. Hence, you’ll want to use Phantasms from both sets of weapons, e.g. Phantasmal Swordsman and Phantasmal Berserker, as well as the two Phantasm skills, i.e. Phantasmal Defender and Phantasmal Disenchanter, as much as possible.!! For this purpose, the very first Skill I unlock would be Signet of Ether. It’s a great big heal, and more importantly, it resets the cooldown on all Phantasm abilities, thereby allowing my Mesmer to put out more damage in hopes of ending the encounter quicker.!! I then pick up the two Phantasm skills in Illusion Training. Both deal a good amount of damage, and provides some additional utility where needed, e.g. Phantasmal Defender will force enemies around it to attack the Phantasm (which would further increase its damage), and Phantasmal Disenchanter removes Boons with its bouncing projectile.!! The third Skill slot it fairly open, although I always loved to have Feedback with me while leveling. Feedback puts a dome on an area that reflects projectiles. This is useful for many situations throughout your leveling process.!! When you’re ready to start unlocking Specializations (beginning from Level 21), the first I would recommend unlocking would be Illusions. Spend Hero Points to unlock up until Phantasmal Force, and leave the rest for later. In general, it lowers the cooldown of your Shatter skills (Master of Misdirection), which as mentioned above, provides some additional damage, as well as survivability. In addition, the Compounding Power minor trait gives some additional damage each time your Mesmer some additional damage each time they create a Phantasm or Clone, while Phantasmal Force is a very reliable source of Might, which then feeds into your Phantasm damage along with any additional stacks of Might you generate with Mirror Blade or the melee portion of Phantasmal Swordsman.!! By the time the second Specialization slot is available at level 45, your character should have more gear with Precision and Ferocity. This is when we will leverage on Critical Damage further with the Dueling Specialization, maximizing our use of traits like Critical Infusion and Superiority Complex. Again, unlock up until Superiority Complex, and skip the final two for now.!! The third Specialization slot opens up at level 71, and just about the time your character would be making their way into Orr. You could go all out and opt for more damage through the Domination line, or pick up a little extra sustain through the Inspiration Specialization. For the latter option, we would gain access to a lot of additional healing through Restorative Illusions and Healing Prism, as well as much needed Condition Cleanse from Mender’s Purity and Sympathetic Visage. As a small bonus, Mental Defense gives you an extra Phantasmal Defender, which helps with crowd control, damage output, and Clone generation.Condition Damage
!
! Condition Damage builds for leveling is a little trickier. Your weapons of choice would be the Scepter, accompanied by the Torch and Pistol. (The Staff does generate some Condition Damage, but it’s not at all a good damage weapon.) Look for equipment that gives Condition Damage, Power, and Vitality (e.g. Carrion).!! Unlike Power builds, your Mesmer’s damage would be derived primarily from their Clones applying additional stacks of Torment on the enemy. Look to only use Cry of Frustration (F2) as your main damage Shatter, and be sparing with Mind Wrack (F1) as we want to maintain as many Clones as possible.!! Your priority skills are still Phantasms when they are available, so weapon swap after casting one. Otherwise, look to use Confusing Images (Scepter 3) and The Prestige (Torch 4) when it available. When these four abilities are on cooldown, simply continue auto attacking. Learn to use Illusionary Counter (Scepter 2) and Magic Bullet (Pistol 5) to avoid damage.!! As for unlocks, again we will start with Signet Training. This time, however, we will go all the way to Signet of Midnight for some much needed Expertise to extend the duration of the Conditions the Mesmer applies. On the way, we will also pick up Signet of Domination that gives a decent amount of bonus passive Condition Damage, and also doubles as a Knockdown, where absolutely needed.!! As before, the third Skill slot is flexible, and my preference remains with Feedback.!! The first Specialization would, again, be Illusions. Fully unlock the Specialization to gain access to Malicious Sorcery for a nice boost to the Mesmer’s attack speed (and gathering speed, incidentally!). Additionally, The Pledge and Maim the Disillusioned will help with the build’s otherwise lack of area of effect damage.!! Dueling will be the next Specialization to unlock at level 45, and gives the Mesmer access to Bleeds through Duelist’s Discipline and Sharper Images. Further down the line, the Ineptitude trait adds even more Condition Damage to the Mesmer’s kit, making use of the Blinds from Magic Bullet, The Prestige, and Blinding Dissipation.!! Once more, we will round out the build with Inspiration just when the difficulty jumps as your character enters Orr. 