Mesmers guild

[RD]

While I don't disagree with the theory behind what you're saying, I really don't see it working very well in practice, at least not very well.

[Alaris]

I think the purpose of all-mesmer groups isn't to do things very well, but to get it done well enough give what you have. Same for the zoo crew, those who complete objectives with as few team members as possible (I forget their name), and other such flavors.

Plus, you learn more on how to play a mesmer when you have literally nothing else to rely on than mesmer skills for the whole team. It forces you to solve issues of healing and tanking with mesmer skills.

[RD]

I guess maybe that'll be the difference between all-mesmer groups in GW2 v. GW1. In GW1 it wasn't about just getting it done with what you have, it was about doing it as well as with a diverse group, to show that mesmers could fill any role and were valuable (since a lot of people wouldn't take mesmers in GW 1 groups, at least not before the revamp).

[Alaris]

I admit that I have not been at all-mesmer outings. I would assume the goals are pretty much the same. It might be better to ask the OP what the intent is though before derailing too much.

[harniq]

I have played GW 2 lol

It's ignorant to say "All classes can tank the same." No they can't. If you think a Mesmer can take a hit as well as a Warrior, you probably haven't tried both classes. Warriors have more armor AND more HP than Mesmers.
Alaris' point about clones is valid, assuming you can keep agro on the clones and can coordinate well enough that all your Mesmers aren't shattering / losing their clones at the same time.

I never said all classes tank the same. I said traditional tanking does no longer exist. Traditional tanking is taking damage, reducing it as much as possible and outhealing what's left. In GW1 and GW2 the correct way is to not get damage in the first place, be it through kiting, dodging, ignoring, blinding, having summons tank or what have you. Basically when you need substantial healing (besides a bit of aoe) you're doing something wrong.

The goal isn't to do it as well as possible but merely to prove it's possible. By imposing limits you force creativity. All-Xis a limit that will result in better players.

[RD]

Okay, that's true for sure.

But I was talking about taking a hit. Like it or not, you're going to get hit. If you mess up and end up in a big AOE, a team of Mesmers could get one-shotted and it's over.
I'm not saying it's IMPOSSIBLE, just that it's not really the same as all-mesmer outings in GW 1.

[Alaris]

Oh yeah, mesmers are certainly fragile. It does make me wonder how exactly they'd go about it. Would they include a melee mesmer? Would they emphasize clones with ranged mesmers? Would they use more defensive skills to hold positions, or more movement and stealth?

[harniq]

Oh yeah, mesmers are certainly fragile. It does make me wonder how exactly they'd go about it. Would they include a melee mesmer? Would they emphasize clones with ranged mesmers? Would they use more defensive skills to hold positions, or more movement and stealth?

I'll give you a little hint. In an all mesmer build it is not required that every player has the same build. Between a team of 5 mesmers, I'm pretty sure everyone will have different weapon sets and skills to cover all possible angles of trouble, probably also using racial skills to great effect.

Your post seems to indicate every mesmer will run the optimal mesmer build. However the real solution is to have a team with the best team build given the class limitation.

[Alaris]

I'll give you a little hint.

Hum yeah sorry, I knew that. I've been in a number of teams where we had a lot of ritualists, and there the solution was to make them different from each other. I could run minions (Rt/N), resto, two kinds of spirit poppers, and if we had more than 4 rits I'd suggest nuke builds for the rest. We did not really have a choice though... we could not spawn multiple copies of the same spirit.

Having different builds is certainly often a good option, but it is not the only option or necessarily the best option. I believe the rit for example was nerfed so a team could not spawn multiple copies of the same spirit... before it was more common to bring several copies of the same build. There are many team builds that emphasize several copies of the same, e.g. savannah heat or searing flames.

It could be possible to make a mesmer team that would be 5 copies of the same (or similar) build, and that might work by abusing a given mechanic. Like bringing only ranged mesmers and abuse the stun/shutdown mechanic so foes can't really damage you. Would it work? It might. And that was the question I was asking.