Gap Closing & You

[ovinnik.9216]

Apologies if this topic is needlessly ignorant. What I would like to talk about here is something I notice every time I use melee weapons on my Mesmer, which is (almost) always. Ridiculously enough, the Mesmer is advertised as a fairly mobile class -- and it is, in some ways. In others? Perhaps less than it could be.

 

To get to the point: A vital part of fluid melee combat has, to me, always been a somewhat reliable access to a gap closer. Neither the Mesmer nor the Chronomancer seem to offer many consistent options in that regard while primarily relying on a sword as their main hand weapon. (Actual DPS, such as it is, is no concern of mine in this particular context.) Possible options, as perceived, are listed below. Correct and/or improve them, by all means -- I'm curious about your thoughts.

 

* Blink: Not targeted, but sufficiently reliable. Its utility slot is often occupied by other skills, however.

* Sword#3: Summons a clone that is, in essence, often unwanted, but of some use to Chronomancers. As a gap closer, the range of the initial skill feels rather short-ish.

* Weapon Swap: Open with a ranged weapon and swap to melee when appropriate. Works, but ranged weapons aren't always desired. Besides, this is no gap closer.

* Phantasms: Let them do the work while you catch up to your target. Not a gap closer.

* Whatever the Mirage may bring, which doesn't improve the other two specs.

 

What am I missing?

[zealex.9410]

You are missing mirage. Which does improve upon both core mesmer and chrono in mobility and gap closers.

[Bod.8261]

> @ovinnik.9216 said:

> Whatever the Mirage may bring, which doesn't improve the other two specs.

 

> @zealex.9410 said:

> You are missing mirage. Which does improve upon both core mesmer and chrono in mobility and gap closers.

 

What are we talking about here: PvP or PvE?

In PvE: What do you need a gap closer for? You will be summoning phantasms while running to the boss.

In PvP: Blink is stapled onto every build. Almost everyone is running sword. Staff 2 can also be used to gain distance (needs a quick turn).

[KalasDelRio.8921]

If you're looking for mobility as a Mesmer, play as a Mirage. Use utilities such as Blink, Mirage Advance & Illusionary Ambush. Run Sword+ Focus and try to build for as much Vigor/Endurance regen as possible. (Energy Sigil/Stamina Sigil) Frenzy Sigil is great for the Alacrity and run Orrian Truffle and Meat Stew for food.

 

Dodging gives you Superspeed but also changes your Sword 1 to a leap that can be used 3 times in a row (Dodge 1, Dodge 2, Distortion Shatter). (Note: If you get the rotation right and use another shatter, you can leap up to 5 times in a row)

Blink is an obvious choice but you can mostly save it for emergencies or for disengaging, since your other 2 utils allow for excellent mobility during a fight.

Temporal Curtain for Swift or the pull.

Illusionary Swap for the Leap/Immob.

 

With a bit of practice, you can pretty much outrun or hunt down any other class whilst also constantly darting around the battlefield, dodging direct damage and clearing condi's at the same time.

[OriOri.8724]

Concerning base mesmer only,:

 

* Sword 3

* Blink, positional teleport with a huge distance. Its incredible, and on a low CD too

* Phase Retreat (Staff 2). If you have about face keybound in a good place, you can about face - PR - about face in order to use it to travel forward. Plus, its low base CD (which can be traited twice mind you) makes it a great tool for getting out of AoEs.

 

To me that's a good list for core mesmer. Its robust, Sword or staff is used in almost every single build, allowing for you to almost guarantee having at least one of these on your bar regardless of situation. Could we have more? Yea, but I don't see why we need more on core mesmer honestly.

[takatsu.9416]

Well, the playstyle of Mesmer hasn't been to stick to target constantly in melee range - Mirage does that well. Mesmer has been about mobility but not necessarily gap closing. You're talking about for example, Chrono F5 + clone, phantasm, stealthing to enemy, melee burst, pop back out combos, sometimes you get a whole player down just from that alone plus the double phantasm summon, double shatters, etc. It seems like Mesmer playstyle has been about avoiding damage, and disengaging. Keep in mind, part of our gap closers is simply our clones and phantasms going to our target, while we don't necessarily have to be there all the time.

 

Personally, I play a pretty melee style Chrono, and don't really have problems doing that. My clones and phantasms can go ahead of me and I can rely on positioning and avoiding damage. I have CC and I can hold a position in melee.

 

Basically, I think gap closers in the traditional form is not necessarily Mesmer playstyle. Play a thief or warrior if you want melee gap closing and whacking the target. Or Mirage which puts an opposite spin on Mesmer and makes it like a thief

 

[ovinnik.9216]

Thanks for your replies. As suspected, the Mirage sounds like a go-to spec for the style of play I asked about. I don't care all that much for some of its features (or non-features), and thus was generally more interested in talking about options for the core Mesmer and Chronomancer. I can, however, see the general appeal.

 

> @Bod.8261 said:

> What are we talking about here: PvP or PvE?

 

I'm more interested in the PvE aspect, as PvP builds tend to be somewhat more ... personalised, I think. Perhaps that's different around here.

 

> @OriOri.8724 said:

> Concerning base mesmer only,:

>

> * Sword 3

> * Blink, positional teleport with a huge distance. Its incredible, and on a low CD too

> * Phase Retreat (Staff 2). If you have about face keybound in a good place, you can about face - PR - about face in order to use it to travel forward. Plus, its low base CD (which can be traited twice mind you) makes it a great tool for getting out of AoEs.

 

I suppose that to me, it feels like only Sword#3 is a constant among Mesmer mobility skills. The only one that's rarely replaced, basically. Maybe everything boils down to me finding it clunky to use? I'm not sure. Perhaps I'm simply less familiar with the skill than I should be. Staff#2 is an interesting option -- I shall look into it more.

 

> @takatsu.9416 said:

> It seems like Mesmer playstyle has been about avoiding damage, and disengaging. Keep in mind, part of our gap closers is simply our clones and phantasms going to our target, while we don't necessarily have to be there all the time.

 

True, I have a similar impression, which is why I also listed phantasms in the OP. I agree that gap closing doesn't seem particularly vital for the Mesmer and that its strengths lie in different areas, but I also don't think that they should be in any way detrimental to a melee spec, no matter its basis. I didn't quite view this as a question of identity, but perhaps it is, after all?

[OriOri.8724]

Staff 2 is a very strong skill imo. Does no damage, but its a short CD blink that allows for amazing positioning ability. It also is very easy shatter fodder, on top of synergizing with mesmer combo fields for extra chaos armor.