Mesmer, A Confusing Conundrum & Closed Beta [GW2]
The most talked about and most recognized class the Mesmer was revealed by ArenaNet. They kept their promise on topping off the professions before the year was up. Although I am not super familiar with how the classed worked in the original Guild Wars, I am still satisfied by what has become of it. I knew the Mesmer has the unique ability of doing damage to players by throwing debuffs on them that make it so that they hurt themselves when they executed abilities.
That has carried to the Mesmer in Guild Wars 2. They have access to a unique condition that they can place on enemies called Confusion. When placed on an enemy they take damage every time they use one of their abilities. The confusion condition stacks and can do immense damage to enemies who are skill happy.
The Mesmers are a three-part story, they have Illusions, Mantras, and Shatter effects. Illusions allow Mesmers to create a mind trick in the game. They come in two parts, Clones and Phantasms. The clones are the weaker of the two and mimic the Mesmer. They have low health and do little damage, so I am assuming these are best used when you want to distract your opponent for a moment while you set yourself up with something else.
Phantasms are the stronger of the two; they have a specific behavior and carry special illusionary weapons. They also have more health and do more damage. These can be used to add that little extra damage when you can squeeze them into the rotation or at the start of a fight. A good example of Phantasms is in the embedded video below at 2:27.
The Mesmer can create up to three illusions at a time with the oldest one being replaced by the new one. From what I gather, clones for distractions, phantasms for damage.
The next twist in the Mesmer is the ability to shatter your illusions. Each of the abilities has its own effect when the clones are shattered. For example, Mind Wrack clones shatter to deal damage to enemies around them, while the clones of Cry of Frustration spread the confused condition to nearby enemies. From the Reddit AmA, they idea to playing a good Mesmer is utilizing these illusions effectively to set up your shatters.
Finally, the Mesmer has access to Mantras. Mantras are skills that have two phases. The first phase is a long cast time that results in an instant-cast spell replacing your mantra on the skill bar. You have the ability to charge up more than one at any given time and it is important to note that Mantras, once charged up, can be used at anytime even during the spell cast of another ability!
The Mesmer gets a good assortment of weapons. They can main hand a sword and a scepter, and can offhand a pistol, torch, focus and sword. They also have access to a staff and a greatswords. Cannot wait to see what ArenaNet has up their sleeves with the greatsword. Besides the channeled ability I wonder what else Mesmer can do with it.
In the end, I believe to be a good Mesmer you have to learn to use your illusions effectively to confuse your opponents and perhaps even befuddle player characters if you mimic the movements just right. You would also have to learn when and how to use the shattered effects. Combined that with the unique gameplay of the Mesmer, the positional oriented combat of Guild Wars 2 and you can find yourself a fun class to learn and master.
We’ve also learned from the Reddit AmA that ArenaNet is officially extending their closed beta into an invite-only form that extends past friends and family. Not sure how exactly they are going to pick applicants internal however; fingers crossed!
