——————-
- Armor (gwmeg4a) -
——————-

In general, Mesmer armor appears stylish, and in some cases risque and alluring
on the female side.  However, Mesmer “armor” is not very protective, similar to
the sets worn by Monks and Elementalists.  You aren’t going to be a frontline
tank with just your armor (although skills such as Physical Resistance can give
you a surprising edge in this regard).

Body Armor Sets
===============

Stylish Set
———–
The Stylish armor set has no bonuses or penalties.  It is generally cheaper in
materials than the other armor sets, but there’s no reason to get this armor
unless you receive it from a collector (practically free!) or you can’t afford
the other sets.

Enchanter’s Set
—————
The Enchanter’s Set gives bonus energy, which is always a great benefit, making
the Enchanter’s Set often the set of choice for many Mesmers.

Rogue’s Set
———–
The Rogue’s Armor set provides an additional +10 AL vs. Physical damage, at the
cost of some Energy.  It is probably the best set for a Me/W who is intending
to do a lot of melee fighting, but not a great choice for other Mesmers because
of the Energy hit.

Noble/Performer’s/Virtuoso’s Set
——————————–
All of these armors give a bonus +15 Armor Level when casting spells.  While the
extra armor level is appreciated, the condition for gaining it is not as
frequent as needed during most combats.  Still, it’s better than no bonuses.

Oddly enough, the bonus Armor Level for casting is a global protection as long
as you have at least one piece of this set.  Thus, for optimal protection, you
could wear one piece of this set and combine it with other sets, and still have
the maximum +15 AL against all attacks and Elemental spells.

Headgear
========
Each Mesmer mask offers a bonus to a different Mesmer attribute.  The Sleek
Mask, for example, adds +1 to Fast Casting.  In general, it is wise to choose
a mask that gives a bonus to your highest attribute, or the attribute that is
used most frequently in your character.

List of Masks:
Animal Mask    +1 bonus to Inspiration Magic
Costume Mask   +1 bonus to Illusion Magic
Discreet Mask  No bonus
Imposing Mask  +1 bonus to Domination Magic
Sleek Mask     +1 bonus to Fast Casting

Runes
=====
Mesmer Runes can be socketed in Mesmer Armor (and as a side note, you can ONLY
use runes of your primary class/armor).  A Minor Rune increases a skill by one,
a Major Rune increases a skill by two and subtracts -50 from maximum health,
and a Superior Rune increases a skill by three and subtracts -75 from maximum
health.  In general, it’s NOT a good idea to stack multiple Major/Superior
runes, as it will make your character too fragile for combat.  Stick with a
single Major/Superior rune for your character, if at all.

Runes that modify the same attribute do NOT stack.  Only the highest bonus
applies.  Thus, you won’t gain more than a +1 bonus from having two identical
Minor runes, nor will you get a +3 to an attribute from having a Major and a
Minor rune for that attribute.

Runes can be used (similar to Masks) to increase your attributes above the
in-game limit of 12, and can also be used to offset points from an attribute
at the high end.  Due to diminishing returns and the exorbitant cost of an
attribute above 8, the points saved by using runes can easily shore up the
points in other attributes, especially secondary class attributes.

There is no reason NOT to use Minor runes for all of the Mesmer attributes that
you are using, so be sure to seek out and collect the Minor runes that you
need.  I find that most Minor runes go for 100-300 gold in-game from sellers.

Also, be sure to invest in a Vigor rune of some sort (which can be used by all
classes).  A Minor Rune of vigor gives +30 to maximum health, a Major Rune of
Vigor gives +41 to maximum health, and a Superior Rune of Vigor gives +50 to
maximum health.  Not only can these runes offset your health loss from Major/
Superior runes, but they provide more survivability and staying power for your
Mesmer.

———————
- Weapons (gwmeg4b) -
———————

Cane/Staff Damage Equations
===========================
This is based on the excellent work done by SonOfRah, but it is subject to
change.  This information is accurate and tested as of June 2005.  For a more
detailed look at damage, check out SonOfRah’s guide at:
http://www.gwonline.net/page.php?p=157

The basic equation for Cane/Staff Damage is as follows:
Actual Damage = (Base Damage) x (Bonuses) x (Character Level vs. Armor Level)

The Base Damage is picked from the effective damage range of the cane/staff.
For a max damage cane/staff, this range is between 11-22. Actual damage for the
attack is based on a complex equation, but a couple of general rules apply:
* Each character level offsets 3 points of Armor Level.  You have a “baseline”
  value of 3 times your Character Level.  If this value is equal to the AL of
  your target, then you do 100% damage, the full damage of your weapon.
* Every 40 points of Baseline value above the Armor Level of the target doubles
  your damage.  Every 40 points of Baseline value below the Armor Level of the
  target halves the damage.  For example, Healing Signet causes one to take
  double damage because it reduces armor level by 40.
* Damage from Canes and Staves are NOT linked to any attribute.  They are based
  solely on character level.

The behavior of Armor Level versus Character Level can be modeled with this
equation:
Damage = Base Dmg x 2^{([Level * 3] - Armor Level)/40} x Bonuses

Customization bonuses are multiplied with this along with the Armor Level
calculation. All damage is rounded to the nearest integer.  Mesmer Canes and
Staves all do Chaos damage, and as far as I know, they are not reduced by
Elemental Resistances nor are there vulnerable targets against Chaos damage.

Hit Locations
————-
Guild Wars uses a Hit Location system.  This means that each piece of armor has
a chance of being struck individually, rather than an abstract armor level from
the pieces summed as a whole.  In general, these are the percentages:
* Chest is hit 37.5% of the time.
* Leggings is hit 25% of the time.
* Feet, Gloves, and Head are hit 12.5% of the time.

These percentages are augmented by positioning. I.E. Being above a target will
be more likely to hit the head.  It is said that hitting the head provides an
increased or automatic chance for critical hits, but this has not been
confirmed.

Critical Hits
————-
Critical Hits always do maximum base damage of the weapon.  They also give the
equivalent of -20 Armor Level reduction, increasing your damage by 41.42%.
While the exact percentage of critical hits from a wand/staff aren’t known (as
they are not based on a weapon attribute), it is known that every 5 levels you
are above the target doubles your critical hit chance, and every 5 levels below
a target halves your critical hit chance.

Situational Damage
——————
Attacking from the flanks of a target gives a 5% damage bonus, while attacking
directly behind a target gives a 10% damage bonus.  Also, the opponent will not
get the benefit of a shield when attacked from behind or the flanks.

Attacking from higher ground grants a 15% damage bonus, and increases your
range somewhat.

Attacking from a lower position has a greater likelihood of hitting the legs
and feet.  No damage bonuses are known for this position.  Being lower than
your target reduces your range somewhat.

If an attack is a critical hit, then extra damage from positioning is ignored.

Bonus Damage from Skills
————————
The bonus damage from skills is generally applied AFTER all armor and damage
percentage bonuses from the weapon are calculated into the equation. However,
there are really no skills which do additional cane/staff damage for a Mesmer.

Damage Absorb
————-
Absorption provided from Runes of Absorption, certain item properties (Received
damage -2, for example), and Ascalon/Knight’s armor is directly subtracted from
the damage after all armor and damage percentage bonuses are applied, similar
to the bonus damage done by skills.  When up against non-Warriors, very few
things give a Damage Absorption bonus.  Damage Absorption is mostly in the
realm of primary Warriors, who have Knight’s/Ascalon Armor which gives a -2
Damage Absorb, Absorption runes (from -1 to -3 Damage Absorb), and magical
Damage Absorb mods on shields.  You will usually face between -3 to -8 Damage
Absorb on any particular warrior.  Damage Absorb from a shield applies to all
damage done to the target, even cutting back on damage that ignores armor and
Elemental attacks.

Damage over Time
—————-
The Damage over Time done by Hexes such as Conjure Phantasm are at a rate of -2
Health per second per “pip” of degeneration, up to a maximum of 10 “pips”, or
-20 Health per second.  This is not reduced by armor nor are there any
bonuses/penalties that augment this rate.  Conditions and Hexes stack with each
other but not themselves.  The final Health Degeneration is determined by the
sum of all the Health Regeneration bonuses and the sum of all the Health
Degeneration penalties, so while you cannot go below 10 pips of Health Degen,
you can apply more health degen to offset gains from Healing Breeze, Mending,
etc.

List of Mesmer Hexes that have Health Degeneration
————————————————–
* Conjure Phantasm           -5 pips or -10 Health per second
* Crippling Anguish (Elite)  -1 to -3 pips or -2 to -6 Health per second
* Migraine (Elite)           -1 to -3 pips or -2 to -6 Health per second
* Phantom Pain               -1 to -3 pips or -2 to -6 Health per second

List of Health Degeneration Conditions
————————————–
* Bleeding        -3 pips or -6 Health per second
* Poison/Disease  -4 pips or -8 Health per second
* Burning         -7 pips or -14 Health per second

Getting a good Staff/Wand
=========================
The best staves and wands can be found off of the Crystal Desert and Southern
Shiverpeaks collectors.  A table of many of these can be found in the Collectors
List Appendix [gwmeg9c].  There are no canes or staves that are linked to
Inspiration Magic.

There used to be a +5 Energy sword available at the Henge of Denravi, but this
was removed in the 9/7/05 update.

——————
- Foci (gwmeg4c) -
——————

For those folks who don’t use a Staff, there are many good foci available to
increase your Energy stores.  Most of the Mesmer foci fall into the category of
Inscribed Chalices/Chakrams and Jeweled Chalices/Chakrams.  If you don’t meet
the requirements of the Focus, then it behaves as a “starter” item (+3 to
Energy) of the same type.

Getting a good Focus
====================
The best foci can be found off of the Crystal Desert and Southern Shiverpeaks
collectors.  A table of many of these can be found in the Collectors List
Appendix [gwmeg9c].

There are Energy +10 Foci that can be crafted and bought at the Henge of Denravi
that also give Armor +5.  This is a good additional bonus for Mesmers who find
themselves in melee combat or simply targeted all the time.  An Me/W with this
Focus, Rogue’s Set, and Physical Resistance can take several hits easily in
melee combat.