Guild Wars 2 Mesmer Beginner’s Guide

Guild Wars 2 Mesmer Beginner’s Guide by Xovian

::Contents::
-Introduction to Boot camp
-Profession Abilities
-Primary Hand Weapons
i. 2hd Weapons
ii. 1hd Weapons
-Off-hand weapons
-Healing Skills
-Utility Skill Types
-Traits
-Final Words

Introduction

Attention!!

So you’ve read a bit about the Scholar Profession of Mesmer and you think you got what it takes to be one of the best do you? Well sit down troop and listen up, this job isn’t for some namby pamby little do nothing who don’t know their scepter from a hole in the barn.

It’s my job to whip you little hellions into shape and throw you onto the battlefield ready to go and with a mission in your hearts. There will be no crying, there will be no complaining, and there will be no ogling that pretty girl next to you. That goes for the girls in here too!! I do not care if you are male/female, human, furry, got horns, purr, cough up hairballs, have floppy ears, big noses, fell off a cherry tree, puked out from a root or you ate dirt from the play ground in your homeland. Do I make myself clear?!! You have all decided to make this your profession by your own choice, and I’m going to give you the information to help you succeed. Your job is not to die for your cause, but to make the enemy die for theirs!

Now if you don’t love annoying the hell outa your enemies nine ways to Sunday then you my friend are in the wrong profession. It’s what we do and we are damn good at it. So no feeling sorry for the poor sap who just fell at your feet because they couldn’t tell what was going on from all these Clones and Phantasm running around. Just bare in mind you can have only THREE total illusions (Clones and Phantasm are both considered Illusions) out at a time, and making more just banishes the first one you made of the initial three. So don’t be wasting your illusions or you’re gonna find yourself taking a dirt nap.

Now that we’ve cleared that up, lets get down to the basics.

Profession Abilities

First up are some of our: profession abilities that will unlock as you level or in the case of the PvP environment will already be available to you. These abilities are unique to us Mesmer’s.

First up are Clones. These clones are not your twin sister that was spit out a few minutes after you at birth. These clones are a magical manifestation of our power and they will use the same abilities as we do with just as much effect as we do in certain situations. These Clones not only look exactly like us, they will even carry our names. This way the enemy will know exactly which one of us killed them, and that’s a good thing! Another thing to keep in mind are that clones may be referred to as illusions, which they are, they just happen to be very painful ones. One final note about clones: Unless a skill states other wise, the clone will have the same weapon you are currently using, and is true among all skills, although it is not the same for traits. BWE3 Note: Clones were doing little to no actual damage, but were able to grab NPC agro more easily then BWE1. Because of this clones are still useful, but only as a defensive measure. Clones do apply conditions or other secondary effects, so bare this in mind depending on weapon choices and appropriate abilities.

Our second most basic ability are our Phantasms. These are very different from Clones, although they are also considered Illusions. They will not share our name, thus many of us may consider them to be a lesser in the grand scheme of things. Do not be fooled by this misconception. While a Phantasm may not look or even act exactly as we do, they are no less powerful when used at the right time. They can poke and prod with the best of them and many of them tend to use annoying effects which we love to do, because we can! Generally speaking Phantasm will do more damage and have more health then Clones, though if either are targeted, it’s not likely to make much of a difference. BWE3 Note: Due to the changes to clones, phantasms also saw a change. They now do more damage per hit then they use to. They also seem to have more base hits points compared to BWE1. Phantasms are the way to go in PvE due to them actually contributing decent damage.

Now, the final part of our profession abilities is Shredding or Shattering the Illusions. This my little recruits is our bread and butter ability. And you can take it to the bank its as much fun as it sounds, and just as painful. Not only is it just devious and mean, it’s also something that we get to do that will annoy the hell out of your foe(s). We learn 4 ways to shatter, the first Mind Wrack does damage. Many of you men can attest to what it feels like to be “Wracked” in the groin. This ability is no different in that it causes lots of damage and lots of pain.

Our second way to shatter illusions is to use our illusion to confuse our enemy with a Cry of Frustration. You may be thinking to yourself wasn’t that the job of our illusions in the first place. Well you’d be only partly right. Yes they do have a good chance of confusing the player if they aren’t paying attention, however they are not under the magical effect of confuse by the illusions alone. So drill that into your little brains that being confused and being under the effect of confusion are two different ball games. They both mess with the opponents head, and that’s what we want.

Our third way of shattering our illusions is to daze our target(s) with Diversion. You may be asking yourself what in the nine hells is “Daze”. Daze is pretty simple troop, it interrupts people from trying to attack you and keeps them from doing any of their special abilities for a very short time. While the time isn’t always enough of a time to let you escape, it may give you enough time to finish them off so they can’t heal or some other such nuisance when trying to down your foe. This skill should be used with proper timing for it’s best effect, and not just whilly nilly, as you’ll have wasted your illusions and a potential quick victory.

Our final way of shattering our Illusions is Distortion. Distortion is a key shattering ability and is the last of the line we can learn. This skill is a awesome skill when used correctly and can save you from becoming another stain on the street. Those of you who plan to get up close and personal with your foes and use swords, you better pay attention here. This skill can and WILL keep you alive long enough to figure out a plan of action or just to delay long enough for another skills use to become ready. Simply put this skill makes you invincible for a set amount of time based on the number of illusions you shatter. You heard right, we don’t have to be afraid of getting up close and persona even in the face of a monsters most vicious attacks. We can avoid the damage out right for a short time. It also makes for a great tool in a tactical retreat, especially when some yahoo decides they want to keep trying to kick you in the butt as you are trying to get out of dodge.

Shattering Illusions is our bread and butter skill along with creating Illusions, use em, love em, live by em!! You use em right, and they will never let you down. Think about what you’re doing and be aware of your surroundings and they will help you get to where ever it is you want to go.

Primary Hand weapons.

First up is the Staff.
The staff is our long range weapon of choice, especially those of you who fancy yourself as some kind of wanna be sniper. It has the longest range up to 1200. Yes the staff will help you reach out and touch someone. It is the tool of choice for those who are too scared to get up close and personal so they can smell their foes bad breath, before they kill them. Saves on lots of breath mints that way, kill em and be done with em I always say. This weapon is a two handed weapon so there is no off hand use for the Staff, but you will still have 5 abilities once fully unlocked. Eventually, with out fail, an enemy will make their way to you to try and bash your face in. The staff gives you the tools to make the enemy fail at their task of closing in on you.

When you need to keep distance the staff gives you many options for maintaining damage, primarily with the main attack of Winds of Chaos. This staff attack gives you and your allies buffs also called boons, and your enemies debuffs which are called conditions. If left unhindered, and allowed to use this ability continuously, you’ll be able to stack a variety of boons for your allies and conditions on your foe.

Feigned Escape creates a Clone not to be confused with a Phantasm, that will attack your enemy in your place as you roll out of the way, and will continue to cast Winds of Chaos. Now you may note that the monsters and especially players will not always be fooled by such a clone and still come after you, and that’s perfectly acceptable. This allows us to start setting up combo’s and of course setting up for some of our ultimate abilities of shattering the illusions for various effects including damage. BWE3 had the change in place to “teleport” you back a specific distance instead of rolling backwards.

Third we have Illusionary Warlock, which creates a Phantasm that goes about doing damage which increases based on the number of debuffs or conditions on the target. We have lots of ways to debuff the target, and I see a few of you grinning in the corner with just what we might accomplish with an ability like this. Yes if we put our devious little minds to work I’m sure many of you will find all sorts of fun ways to debuff your enemy and use this ability to dish out some serious damage. Good thing we have a couple of ways to do such a thing which gives us our next ability:

Chaos Armor. This my little annoying machines of doom is our ability to use when an opponent finely gets up close and personal to us. It will give us boons and the enemies conditions for each time they hit us. Sounds promising doesn’t it. We get to let them hit us and they spell their own doom. Ironic isn’t it. Nothing like the smell of charred goo in the morning from someone who couldn’t figure out attacking us probably wasn’t the brightest thing they could do. Now keep in mind soldier, that this little piece of paradise only lasts 5 seconds, so don’t get too sloppy with your plan to make them rest in peace.

Finally we get to our final staff ability, and that is Chaos Storm, another Boon/Condition that we can use at range. Personally you’d think this might be an earlier ability, but it’s not. I’m not sure why we are forced to learn them in this order, its just how it works, so get use to it and suck it up and drive on troop. Now given once we learn this ability you’ll have two ways to apply debuffs so you can have even more fun with them. Also it will give us another way to make our damage go up with Illusionary Warlock, so don’t forget that.

Next up is the Greatsword.
This weapon is also a 2 handed weapon and it will also probably be one of the first weapons you receive. It also gives full access to 5 abilities just as the staff does, so don’t be trying to add an off hand and prove that you were one of those young ones that ate paint chips off the wall. Use it properly and you’ll go far.

The first ability some might find to be a strange one, and that’s Spatial Surge. Now, just because you have a greatsword doesn’t mean you can’t start a fight from range. This ability has as good of range as the Staff, that being 1200. So use it the way it’s intended and start from range or we’ll all be laughing at you as you get bounced off the wall by some ugly thug with a chip on his shoulder. This ability is continuous beam fired at your foe, and the further you are, the more damage it does. Keep this in mind before you get crazy with your other abilities.

Mirror Blade is the next Greatsword ability you’ll learn. This ability will hit up to three targets and on the final target create a clone. So if you don’t want to attract a lot of attention and face a group VS you scenario, it would be wise to save this ability when your targets aren’t so close together. Bare in mind this ability is not as long ranged as the primary attack with a greatsword and only reaches out to 900. So be aware of it’s limitations while also being aware of it’s reach which could get you into trouble if you are not paying attention.

Next up is Mind Stab. This ability also has the same range as our primary greatsword attack of 1200 and is the go to choice for pulling, with out pulling a group of foes. This ability also applies vulnerability, which weakens the targets armor making them more susceptible to our primary attacks damage. For you new recruits to the profession, be sure to learn how to use this ability for the best effect and be on the look out to refresh it if needed. It’s got a short cooldown and can make a world of difference in a fight especially in group situations on bosses, so don’t forget it.

For the fourth ability we get Phantasm Berserker. While not as flashy as some of our other skills it is still useful for slowing an opponent down by crippling them. With it’s range of 1200, you can also use this ability after you have attacked your target and are moving backwards. Amazingly enough the phantasm will often still hit the foe even vs a moving target. So use this ability to give yourself more time before the big ugly Ettin tries to make you his girl friend for the night. So it might behoove you to make sure you use this weapon skill as needed. It can also be helpful with those tactical retreats, so don’t forget it.

Finally we get to our last Greatsword ability with Illusionary Wave. This ability does a fair shake of damage and also knocks back the target. Any Mesmer that’s using a greatsword, and has mastered all 5 abilities, will show that they have a big tool and that they know how to use it. And after this knockback effect, we’ll prove it to any naysayers. Use this ability to get the foes off you, just keep in mind that it will only effect the enemies that are in front of you. So don’t get too cocky if you get surrounded, or you’ll find yourself on the receiving end of a few clubs and a few late night Ettin jokes at your expense.

Next up we have our first one handed weapon: Scepter.
Something just feels noble about carrying a scepter but don’t let it go to your head or you’ll be buried with it and it probably wont be in some fancy pyramid. Keep in mind that since this weapon is a 1hd weapon you will only be getting 3 abilities from it, but you will also have your choice of an off hand weapon to give the same 5 total weapon abilities.

First up is Ether Bolt, and a powerful ability it is, even when compared to other primary attacks across all weapons. The reason for this is three fold: Decent range of 900 and every third consecutive strikes produces a clone. It also has an added bonus of applying the confuse effect on the target for 3 seconds. As far as basic attacks go, you really can’t go wrong with this one. Any good Mesmer knows, using abilities isn’t just about how good they seem, but how they can be used in battle. Know its limitations, and learn when to switch to a more practical primary attack as needed. This goes for any weapon, so don’t get caught with your pants down.

Our next skill is Illusionary Counter. This is one of the many BLOCK skills that various professions have. So if you get attacked while this ability is active, a clone will emerge. The down side of the ability is that if you are not attacked, you won’t get a clone so timing with this ability is crucial. Now the upside is that if you don’t get attacked the target will be blinded for 5 seconds. So this can have an upside even when you know you won’t be attacked. This ability can be activated by ranged or by melee attacks, so don’t just sit on it until a melee is in your face, use it against every foe, just be aware that there is a range limit of 900 for both the clone and the blind effect.

Our final Scepter ability is Confusing Images. Don’t let the name fool you as this ability does not make one of the many illusions we have. This ability is a channeled ability that’s excellent for fair damage and keeping a target confused. The effect can stack up to 5 times, and the more stacks there are the more damage it does. So a good ability when you are not the focus of the attacker. The respectable range of 900 and a fair recharge make this skill worth using when you’ve got some breathing room. Don’t start getting lazy with this ability, cause after the effect of confuse wears off, you can bet your enemy is gonna make a bee line straight for you. Nobody likes having their mind toyed with, so you can bet it up that anyone effected is gonna add you to their own personal “butt kicking list” with extreme prejudice.

Next up we have our 1hd Sword .
It is our second and last primary one handed weapon. Unlike the 2hd sword the 1hd sword is for getting up close and personal with your foes. Only one ability is considered ranged out of the three abilities, so keep this in mind of the range limitations if you plan to use this weapon. While it looks great, make sure you are comfortable with the play style, as it is one of the more involved play styles available to the Mesmer. Quick reactions and movement and dodging become a factor more often with this primary then any other. It is not for the faint of heart or the squeamish. So don’t start getting light headed on me when you start seeing blood all over the place, cause some of its probably gonna be your own with this style of sword play.

First of all is our primary attack of Mind Slash. It’s a fairly quick close range 3 hit combo that applies Vulnerability on the third hit. It lasts long enough that you can get up to three of them to stack, though more often then not only 2 will be applied at any one time. It does damage, and is the most basic of close quarter combat skills you have, so learn to use it when ya need it.

Next up is Blurred Frenzy, a high defense and good offensive ability. While it may not deal quite as much damage as Mind Slash, it does have the bonus of giving us distortion for about 3 seconds. So using this when a foe is winding up a big attack can be great for making them waste such an ability. Keep in mind while under the effect of the distortion you are ground locked and will be unable to move. So while it gives good offense and great defense, it does have this one caveat. Time it wisely in melee combat, and you’ll live long enough to tell your tales of heroism.

Finally we get to the final ability of Leap. With this ability you will leap backwards (Roll really) and make a clone that rushes the target for an attack. This is your one ranged ability with a range of 600, it is the highest range you’ll see while wielding a 1hd sword in your primary hand. This make it ideal for setting up clones for shattering and pulling foes from groups on occasion, so use it for best effect. Originally this ability had people leap forward towards the opponent and then let people swap places with a clone that’s summoned, as of open beta weekend this is no longer the case, as it now only does the previous mentioned attack.

Off-Hand Weapons

First up is the 1hd swordfor the off-hand.
The first ability available for the off hand sword is Illusionary Riposte which is very similar to the scepter ability of Illusionary Counter. It is a BLOCK skill that creates a clone on a blocked attack or gives an effect if you are not attacked. Unlike the scepter ability this little skill gives the Mesmer a boon of Retaliation for 5 seconds. The retaliation effect will give you a damage shield that returns a certain amount of damaged based on your current level. As it should be obvious to any good Mesmer since this is a block ability, you are not going to be doing any damage with this ability. However, just because it doesn’t do damage up front doesn’t mean it isn’t worth using. Quite the opposite. For those Mesmer that like to get in the faces of their enemies this skill is likely to see a lot of use indeed, given that it has a fast cooldown.BWE3: saw that this ability was sharing the same cooldown as the scepter block ability (Illusionary Counter), it is unknown if this is intended or not.

Our second off-hand skill with a sword is Illusionary Swordsman. This skill will summon a phantasm and is very useful due to it having high range, that being 1200. The phantasm will attack with a greatsword for moderate damage, which is useful because it will add it’s damage as well as set up for shattering the illusions we have up. Nice to have when you find yourself in a pinch, or in dire need to get some shattering done to save your bacon. This ability has one of the shortest cooldowns for a phantasm ability, so don’t be afraid to use it liberally.

Focus is the next in line for the off-hand weapons. The first unlocked ability is Temporal Curtain. This off-hand skill lets you place a wall that gives you or your team mates swiftness if any of you run through it. Note that swiftness gives you a 33% increase in movement and that the boon does not necessarily apply to only people in your party, but any ally that uses it. This little wall also gives enemies a condition that happen to bumble into it. It will cripple their movement, which lowers their speed by 50%. I’m sure some of you can put your twisted little minds to work on this abilities use in WvW fairly easily. This ability is perfect for stalling your foes, so don’t just laugh off the ability just because it doesn’t do any direct damage.

The second unlocked ability for the Focus is Illusionary Warden. This skill creates a phantasm that throws up a barrier similar to those seen of a guardian. It will protect itself and allies from projectiles. This is quite the handy skill when you have to go in and save some poor soul who bit off more then they could chew. With this you’ll be able to revive a downed ally and continue on with whatever it is you happen to be getting into. Keep in mind the defense of this shield only holds for a limited time, so don’t dilly dally or you’ll be joining the poor sap you were trying to help in the first place.

Next up is the Pistol.
The first ability you’ll unlock with your pistol is Illusionary Duelist. With this little gem of a skill you’ll create a phantasm that goes into rapid fire mode with pistols themselves. It’s truly a site to behold. With a short cooldown and a great range of 1200, there’s almost never a bad time to use it if it’s available. Pretty simple isn’t it? You use it, it creates a phantasm, the phantasm shoots things till it dies or the enemy dies. That’s as simple as it gets folks.

The second unlocked ability for the pistol is Trick Shot. This is one of those skills that you better have a brain before you use it. Now I may be taking it for granted, but if you are coming here to become a Mesmer, then that means you have a brain to start with. If you don’t have a brain, or at least don’t know how to use it, this ability will show just how much of a dim-wit you really are. This ability fires a single shot that hits up to three enemies. The first hit will Stun the first target for 2 seconds. The second hit will Daze the second target for 2 seconds. The third and final hit will hit the final enemy with blind for 5 seconds. So guess what? If you fire this off into a crowd of monsters they are all gonna come by and say hello and try to whack you on the head like a game of whack-a-mole. So be sure of timing a shot like this to where you don’t get yourself surrounded and find yourself in a bad way. Use your head and keep from getting dead, you got me?

Finally we get to the last off-hand weapon the Torch.
The first ability, The Prestige, is great for getting you out of tight spot. It blinds nearby foes for 5 seconds and makes you go invisible for 3 seconds. However when you reappear you will do a local AoE that causes burning for 3 seconds. It isn’t necessarily the best escape mechanic, but it’s highly useful for surprising your target(s), or getting into a better position.

Last but not least we have Illusionary Mage. This skill creates a phantasm that will confuse enemies for 9 seconds and give you and your allies retaliation for 3 seconds. This is a great control skill due to the initial length of the confuse put upon a target. When fighting a group of monster or VS other players using this ability can temporarily remove the biggest threat from the equation, because you force the target to either stop attacking, or attack and take damage themselves. The more stacks of confusion applied the more damage they will take per skill use. It also has the side bonus of reversing movement control, so instead of running toward you like they think, they will run away from you.

In this lesson I’ll not be covering the submerged water only weapons. You’ll either use them or you’ll avoid situations so you don’t have to. There’s really not much in the way of choice with these since you can only use two weapons which is for weapon swapping as needed. They are also both 2hd weapons so you’ll easily be able to see what these do for yourself, as you unlock the abilities. I do recommend you spend at least the time to unlock all of their abilities so you don’t get caught with your pants down when a specific task is set before you that needs it.

And this is it for the weapons. You may be thinking, “Well what is the best weapon choices?” The answer is fairly simply but complex at the same time. Every Mesmer must come to terms with how they fight, their own style and what they like best. Any given weapon combination, or sets of weapon swaps will have its limitations and strengths. No one weapon set up is going to be perfect for every situation you come across. I’d advise any Mesmer who considers themselves to be worth their salt, to master all the weapons so you can pick and choose the best time to bring them out. This could be because you face a specific boss, another profession or anything else that can happen in such a large world. If you take nothing else from me, I do think you’ll find it a wise choice to learn and master all your skills so you don’t end up taking constant dirt naps. Adapt and overcome is the name of the game here, if you can’t adapt to the way of life as the Mesmer profession gives, you will die, and you will die a lot.

Healing Skills

Mesmer Healing these skills are what help you recover your life after taking a beating by whatever foe is in front of you. They all have cooldowns, so don’t be afraid to use them when you need them, and be wary of just holding onto them for emergencies, because by then it will probably be too late for these heals to save you alone.

The first healing spell you’ll have as a Mesmer is Ether Feast. This heal will give you more healing based on how many Illusions you have up at the time. So try to have as many Illusions up as you can afford before triggering this ability, or you’ll loose some of it’s healing potential.

The second healing ability to choose from is Mirror. This ability will reflect long range attacks for a short time as well as heal you of damage. This healing skill can be useful in WvW because of all the ranged attacks you’re likely to face.

Finally you have Mantra of Healing. MoH is a charge spell, meaning that you have to precast it before its condition can actually be used. Do not be dissuaded and ignore the potential of this healing spell as it can be more beneficial then other healing spells depending on which traits you use with it. See the Mantra section below to get a bit more explanation of how Mantras work.

Utility Skills
Since this is the basic course, I will not be overwhelming you with all the descriptions of each skill in this vast section. However, I will discuss the difference in the types of utility skills available to you. They are: Illusion, Glamor, Manipulation, Mantra, and Signet. BWE3 Note: It should be noted that the tier system is now in effect so you will have to unlock a set of skills in order to unlock others further down the list. Anet has already said they will be retuning the Mesmer based on this global profession change, because their tier abilities do not fit into this new system as easily as some other professions.

Illusion as you’ve probably already guessed deals exclusively with the two sub-types of Illusion. Utility Illusions will summon the appropriate sub-type of illusion: Clone or Phantasm. These skills are useful for creating and deploying out multiple Illusions quickly, and they can be combined in various ways for a variety of effects, including the ability to shatter them. These can be combined with the weapons skills to keep almost an endless supply of illusions up. Just don’t forget that we are limited to only having 3 total illusions up at one time. There are two skills for each subtype.

Glamor skills make a ground based AoE effect based on a target location that you have to set up. These affects range from giving friendly players invisibility, creating an area of protection, or transporting people to various locales. Generally speaking, a Mesmer will want to learn these even if they are not necessarily planning to use their effects all the time. They give added functionality and utility to the profession and is their primary purpose. There are five different skills under this ability type.

Manipulation effects how you interact with in your surroundings. It could move you from one point to another instantly, take incoming damage so you can turn it back on your enemy, or give a friendly ally a fighting chance even when they have recently been put in to a downed state. One might say that the manipulation effects could be considered effects of time manipulation as they distort the reality of what is, into something else that is beneficial to the Mesmer and their friends, thus allowing the ability to evade attacks and mislead opponents. There are four skills for this type.

Mantras are skills that requires focusing energy before you are able to use their actual effects. In other words you must “make them ready”, before you can use them. Due to the preplanned nature of this type of effect, the effects are generally more powerful then other utility skills, and will often have shorter total cooldown times. Another upside to these abilities is they can be cast in succession with other abilities and you wont have to wait for their effects to go through any waiting time, as they will be cast instantaneously. There are five skills for the Mantra type.

Signets are unique in that they give a passive boon, and can be activated for a specific effect.You should be mindful that while the signets are not on cooldown they will give their specific boon, however once you make use of the activation skill, the boon will fade until the signet has come off of cooldown once again. For this skill set, balancing the need of the passive boon VS the use of the activated skill becomes very important as both effects are fairly powerful. There are four signet skills in this set to choose from.

Elite Skills are powerful skills that generally have much longer cooldowns then regular utility skills, but their effects tend to last longer then a regular run of the mill skill ability. Currently as of this writing Mesmer’s have access to three profession Elite Skills: Mass invisibility, Time Warp, and Moa Morph. Be aware each race will also have access to Elite Skills, but are generally less effective then profession elite skills.

Mass Invisibility will make you and all friendly allies, including Illusions, with in close proximity invisible for 5 seconds. The invisibility will be broken if you attack however. Very handy to have when setting up surprise attacks or setting up for a group tactical retreat.

Time Warp will grant you and your allies quickness. It should not be underestimated on how useful this skill can be as it makes recharge times of cooldowns recycle twice as fast. It will also double the speed of your currently equipped weapons attack rate, thus a damage output increase for it’s duration of 10 seconds.

Finally we have the Moa Morph which turns a single target into a Moa (a type of bird). This skill has the added effect of completely shutting down a single target from their profession abilities for 10 seconds, as well as interrupting any current skill in progress. They can still attack by using the Moa’s peck attack, but they are far less effective then their profession attacks. When used against pet professions (Necromancer/Ranger), this ability can cause the pets to unsummon, leaving the target with few skills and no pet(s), which will also initiate the cooldown timers for said pets.

Traits

A quick word about traits. Traits will unlock at level 11 for WvW and PvE, and you’ll receive one point for every level thereafter. As this is the basic course, I will not be defining what each one does as you’ll be able to see them as they become unlocked in game, or you can research them on your own with the links below. The Database link will take you directly to the Mesmer traits section so you can see what each does at your leisure. It is up to you to define how you wish to apply your profession, and figure out how you wish to accomplish your goals. This is something that can only be taught by trial and error and research of the mechanics by your own accord. In the game, I highly recommend taking an early trip to “Enter The Mists”, from the character information screen, to play around with this system and to test out everything there to find a style and preference you prefer. BWE#3 Note: Books are now required to unlock the traits, and subsequent higher traits. First tier (and book) allows up to 10 points to be spent. Second book will unlock the next 10 points through the system. Finally the third book is required to gain access to the final 10 points.

Final Words

I hope you’ve learned something here, and it helps to make you understand the basics of this amazing profession better. This profession is not for everyone, as there is a depth to the profession that is easy to understand but only a few will ever truly master. The well of knowledge to unlock all the hidden potential for this profession is vast and limited only by your own imagination.
Good luck and good hunting, may your deeds rend your foes minds asunder.

Dismissed!!