Guide:Mesmer

Mesmers are able serve a variety of purposes. In general PvE, it is agreed in the main that mesmer have been dealt the short stack, and mesmer players may find themselves frustrated by lack of quality spells that work well in PvE (PvE only skills have alleviated this problem somewhat). In specialized PvE roles, Mesmers are very capable if interruption, and boss killing or shutdown, but such applications are often limited.
In PvP, however, Mesmers really shine. They are a versatile class that is able to hex opponents, frustrate melee classes, drop enchantments, deny all energy, and stop casting almost completely. This guide should help you get a start on playing Mesmer in Pve and PvP as well as give you a deeper understanding of some Mesmer build concepts.

Playing As A Mesmer

Mesmers are often touted as a harder class to play. Because most Mesmer skills are based on what skills an opponent will be likely using, it is particularly necessary for Mesmers to know their enemies, because their primary function is often to mess with their foes' actions. The best Mesmers must have at an in-depth understanding of the skills commonly used by other classes, and a grasp on how most human players will react to certain situations. It is therefore important to know that most people cast as soon as they stop running (or directly after a KD), most meleers attack through hexes, Resurrection Signets are fired quickly after a death, and human players often run skills on a rudimentary timer (Searing Flames every recharge, or touch skills every 2 seconds). The correct timing of skills is incredibly important, and this brings us to the Mesmer’s Attributes.

Attributes

Fast Casting

"Fast Casting decreases the casting time of your Spells. Additionally, each rank in this attribute decreases your Signet activation times by 3%."

Investing in this primary attribute is wise, as many mesmer skills require hexes to be placed at key moments and the reduction of a 3 second cast time to 1.87 is a welcome benefit. One of the most used mesmer elite skills: Mantra of Recovery, comes from this line, as well as a few other less common elites (Arcane Languor, Stolen Speed) and some skills dealing with signet recharge and activation.

Domination Magic

"No inherent effect. Many Mesmer skills, especially spells which disrupt spell-casting and deal direct damage, become more effective with higher Domination Magic."

Domination Magic is perhaps the most important attribute for Mesmers. This attribute is the reason that spell-casters fear and loathe Mesmers. It is linked to a large number of skills that disrupt the target's actions while dealing damage. One of the most popular of these is Power Spike, which interrupts and deals damage if the target foe is casting a spell thereby serving two purposes.

Most Domination Magic is focused on punishing their foes for taking action. Empathy deals damage on every attack; Guilt steals energy on offensive castings; Backfire deals a great deal of damage on any spell cast. And, a special case; Wastrel's Worry punishes opponents for doing nothing at all.

Illusion Magic

"No inherent effect. Many Mesmer skills, especially spells which deceive your foes and hinder their movement and attacks, become more effective with higher Illusion Magic."

Illusion Magic is a mixed batch of skills, with varied effects. This makes it difficult to give a blanket description for the general effects that all Illusion skills provide. However, Illusion Magic skills generally focus on damage over time through degen, on hindering melee opponents, or on slowing casters.

The most commonly seen type of Illusion Magic is damage over time (DoT) degeneration spells like Conjure Phantasm or Phantom Pain (often on secondary Mesmers). These spells spread pressure throughout opposing teams, and can often overload a monks healing capacity. On a Mesmer with a taste for melee-hate, many skills work against annoying melee classes. Elite skills like Ineptitude and Cripling Anguish can slow or even blind meleers, and other regular skills can force adrenaline/energy loss on attack, cause damage on/interrupt attacks, or slow attack speed.

Another function of the Illusion line with skills such as Frustration, Arcane Conundrum, and the elite Migraine is to slow the casting time of enemy spells by up to 100%, thus making them much easier to interrupt, divert, and otherwise stop.

I final elite of note is Signet of Illusions which allows the next 1...2 spells cast to use the Mesmer's illusion attribute instead of their regular attribute. This gives some access to interesting combinations, and the primary skills of other professions.

Inspiration Magic

"No inherent effect. Many Mesmer skills, especially spells which generate energy and reduce damage, become more effective with higher Inspiration Magic."

Inspiration Magic is a very important attribute for Mesmers. Whereas Domination Magic is focused on disrupting foes and dealing damage, Inspiration Magic is focused on disrupting foes while healing either the Mesmer's health or energy, or simply protecting and healing the Mesmer in various ways. The Inspiration line shines in gaining energy for the caster. An amazing 23 skills (out of 39) help you gain energy in some way. Some simply steal energy from foes. Drain Enchantment, Inspired Enchantment, and Inspired Hex along with the their Factions copies Revealed Enchantment, and Revealed Hex) remove hexes and enchantments and give you energy. Power Draininterrupts a spell and gives you energy. And, several mantras (another Inspiration specialty) give you energy in addition to their myriad effects in defense (see: Mantra of Flame, Physical Resistance, Mantra of Concentration).

Inspiration Magic can be a very powerful attribute, but due to its lack of many skills that actually deal damage, you will be forced to utilize other attributes. Inspiration Magic is best suited as a support attribute, keeping the Mesmer alive while other attributes' skills deal the damage.

Types of Mesmers

PvE

As a mesmer is PvE, your survival is going to be mostly based on exploitation of the computer AI.

• AI ignores elf-damaging hexes
• AI removes hexes as soon as they are sighted (If the enemies are able)
• Most AI enemies attack between castings

Domination Magic

Backfire is the crux of anti-caster PvE Domination mesmer. The AI won't stop casting until doing so would be fatal. Empathy applies in the same way to physical attackers: warriors, rangers and, even more so, assassins. Unlike Backfire, however, the monster will not stop attacking while under this hex. Use Chaos Storm to apply pressure to casters or to disperse monsters due to the AoE damage it does.

Illusion Magic

Use mobs equipped with hex removal skills to your advantage, by casting Phantom Pain or Cracked Armor on targets, as they will always try to remove it, triggering the condition. AI controlled opponents will always attack in-between skills, therefore, Images of Remorse will often do its conditional damage, making it a cheap damage dealer skill and a quickly recharging cover hex.

Inspiration Magic

Often, you'll know what kind of enemies you're going to encounter in advance. When dealing with elemental damage, you should always consider taking the corresponding protection mantra. Which to take is often easily predictable by locations: in the Shiverpeaks] it is clearly best to take Mantra of Frost, while in Charr-heavy areas Mantra of Flame is most useful.

PvP

PvP Mesmers generally utilize either Domination Magic or Illusion Magic with a subset of the most popular Inspiration skills for energy management. Most PvP Mesmers play one of four key roles: shutdown, interruption, hex pressure, or energy denial. They often bring either a utility elite like Hex Eater Vortex or a shutdown or energy denial elite (Mantra of Recovery, and Power Block are often used). Mesmers also typically bring Shatter Enchantment for enchantment removal and damage on a spike.

Shutdown and Interruption Mesmers

Dominations Mesmers in PvP utilize strong interrupts and shutdown hexes to stop opponents from casting them, and forcing heavy penalties such as longer recharges and energy loss with skills like Diversion and Shame. A typical role of the Domination Mesmer is to simply sit on one target (usually a monk, but sometimes a blind-bot or anti-melee necromancer) and stop that target as completely as possible from doing anything. Other Mesmers specializing in interruption often bring the Illusion elite Migraine to slow casting as well as Domination line interrupts to harass and punish as many opposing spell casters as possible.

Hex Pressure Mesmers

Illusion Magic is rare in organized PvP outside of splits in GvG and hex pressure teams. Illusion Mesmers typically use an elite hex and various other hexes to force the collapse of enemy monks as well as punish hexes.

Energy Denial

Mesmers are very powerful when it comes to taking the energy away from a single opponent completely. With skill combos like Ether Phantom and Drain Delusions from the inspiration line, and other skills like Power Leak in the Domination line, Mesmers are often able to keep a target without any energy for the larger part of a match. The Domination elite Panic can also serve in this capacity on hex pressure teams.

Skills

General Mesmer Set

Most Mesmers will do well with a certain set of spells, and though each is more applicable in certain situations, those spells are a Mesmer’s bread and butter.\

Power Block Mantra of Recovery Migraine

3 most common elites, each having differing advantages. Mantra can keep Diversion on one monk almost constantly, Power Block completely shuts down many caster characters, and Migraine as a useful hex and a gate way for interruption.

Diversion Shame

Common Domination shutdown skills to stop monk, and divert spammers.

Shatter Enchantment Drain Enchantment

Most powerful enchantment removal skills, one causes damage while the other restores energy.

Power Drain Leech Signet

All purpose interrupts that also give back energy

Interruption

These are listed from those more useful to those less useful.

Domination

Power Block

Attractive elite that interrupts the spell being cast and disables all spells of the same attribute. Spells disaster for monks.

Power Leak

Useful elite that drains a lot of energy at high Domination levels.

Power Spike

Shortest recharging non-elite interrupt that causes acceptable damage

Power Lock

Basically a non-elite Power Block, excellent for hitting a monks elite (RC or LoD especially)

Signet of Distraction

Free interrupt that adds recharge for equipped signets. Goes well with Res Signet and Leech Signet.

Signet of Disruption

Free weaker version of Power Spike, goes well with Power Flux and Power Leech.

Complicate

Secondary function is basically useless (except against signet fighters...) But, it can serve as a 10e all purpose interrupt.

Cry of Frustration

Powerful if used in a tight group of enemies, but also very expensive for single interrupts.

Psychic Distraction

Disable other skills and take an elite slot in exchange for shortest recharge (2 seconds)

Power Flux

Cause energy degeneration, takes up elite.

Inspiration

Power Drain

Excellent skill with good energy management at relatively low levels of Inspiration.

Leech Signet

Great all purpose interrupt that also gives some energy on spell interrupts.

Power Leech

Elite with one of the strangest icons in the game that serves as an energy stealer, but is easily removed.

Energy Denial

Mesmers have many options for stealing and stopping opponent energy gain. Listed are those most common, and powerful.

Domination Magic

Shame

Steals energy from foes casting a spells on their teammates.

Guilt

Steals energy from foes casting spells on your teammates.

Power Leak

Energy Burn

Forces energy loss and causes damage.

Energy Surge

A Once common elite that forces energy loss and does AoE damage.

Mind Wrack

Does damage when foe's energy reaches zero.

Inspiration

Ether Phantom

Causes energy degeneration of one, and forces energy loss if the hex is removed early.

Drain Delusions

Removes one mesmer hex and steals energy from foe. Excellent combination with Ether Phantom.

Feedback

Removes 1 enchantment and some energy.

Illusion

Sympathetic Visage Ancestor's Visage

Takes all adrenaline and some energy on every attack.

Shutdown

Shutdown is the role Mesmers most often fill, and they have many skills to shutdown any type of attacker. With any shutdown, Wastrel's Worry can be used to punish a player for not using their skills. Casting every 3 seconds, this can often equal or exceed damage caused by Backfire or Empathy, if the target tries to wait it out.

Meleers

Sympathetic Visage Ancestor's Visageor Soothing Images

Deal with Adrenaline-based attackers.

Empathy

Generic melee harassment.

Spirit Shackles

Warriors will often ignore it and be unable to cast non-adrenaline attacks. Assassins will lose attack power and may be unable to finish attack chains. Rangers lose energy needed for their attack skills.

Crippling Anguish Imagined Burden

These and other slowing spells can be used to slow their DPS and flee dangerous situations.

Some melee fighters are also casual casters (spells as support). Examples include the (in)famous W/Mo, most Assassins, and a few popular Ranger builds.

Arcane Thievery Arcane Larceny

Most only carry one of two self-help spells.

Slow Casters

Casters such as elementalists and necromancers who routinely cast spells that take 2 seconds or longer simply beg for punishment. Although general purpose interrupts will work, other spells work especially well on long casters.

Migraine Arcane Conundrum

Double the fun for super long casting times (upwards of 6 seconds on some spells), be sure to cover with something quick and inexpensive.

Overload

Cause damage to casters easily (sometimes even twice) during casting.

Spammers

Those who use a single spell repeatedly or the same set up spells in quick succession (Touchers, Spikes, and Monks) are hurt even more by longer recharges and stiff penalties.

Diversion

A Mesmers best friend, can easily add 40 second recharge to important repeated casting spells

Blackout

Completely stop casting for up to 6 seconds.

Backfire

Punish the unwary spiker with a well timed backfire just before a volley of spells.