Mesmer



Mesmers are experts in indirect damage and subtle magic, focusing on manipulation of the target to sway the events of battle to their favor. Mesmers are considered by some to be the most unique profession in Guild Wars. The Mesmer is a profession with a steep learning curve; to become a talented mesmer, it is important to know not only your own skills and abilities, but those of every other profession in the game. This is perhaps why a mesmer is generally not chosen to be a player's first character. Mesmers are also one of the least used PvE characters in a game, a topic of which much debate has ensued on forums as to why this should not be true and also the changes required to rectify this. Mesmers are best suited in preventing their opponent from achieving their goals, whether that be to heal, cast spells, or attack. In order to do this they make use of a multitude of spells, hexes and enchantments.

The Mesmer's primary attribute is Fast Casting; it can only be used by a primary Mesmer. Although Fast Casting has limited skills attributed to it, the passive effects of being able to unleash spells at a faster rate than other professions makes it a valuable resource to the mesmer. Illusion skills will change a foe's perception into thinking something is happening that is not real; this can result in damage to the foe (ie. Conjure Phantasm), or a convenient advantage for the Mesmer (ie. Illusion of Weakness). Domination skills alter some aspect of the opponent making them receive damage as a consequence of carrying out a common action, such as attacking or casting a spell. Domination is also the most interrupt-heavy line. Inspiration skills focus on the flow of Energy. This can be in the form of draining a foe's Energy pool or increasing your own. Unlike other professions, such as Elementalists, skills within a Mesmer attribute are not always related. Because skills within an attribute can focus on very different goals, Mesmers will often utilize all four attributes at once.

The patron goddess of mesmers is Lyssa.

The Primary Mesmer's base armor provides low protection, +10 Energy and +2 Energy Recovery. A starting Primary Mesmer can expect to have 30 Maximum Energy and 4 Energy Recovery.

A majority of the mesmer's damage-dealing skills ignore armor, meaning that they will do equal damage to a Warrior with 80AL as to an Elementalist with 60AL.

Mesmers are generally thought of as a PvP oriented character, as opposed as PvE. GvG teams will nearly always have at least one mesmer in their ranks. Also, they are considered the most annoying of all professions in the game - after a monk, a PvP team will generally target the mesmer. Sometimes, the team must target the mesmer before the monk.

Attributes

 * Fast Casting (Primary): Increases the speed with which you can cast spells.
 * Fast Casting skills
 * Domination Magic: No inherent effect.
 * Domination Magic skills
 * Illusion Magic: No inherent effect.
 * Illusion Magic skills
 * Inspiration Magic: No inherent effect.
 * Inspiration Magic skills
 * Unlinked Mesmer Skills

Profession Combinations
see Secondary professions for a Mesmer

Related Articles

 * Skills quick reference
 * Skills by category
 * Stance skills quick reference
 * Mesmer armor
 * Index of Mesmer weapons
 * Effective mesmer guide
 * Mesmer dance information
 * Mesmer quick references (category)

Trivia

 * The Mesmer class is probably a nod to Franz Anton Mesmer, who discovered what he called magnétisme animal and others often called mesmerism.