Accessible Condition Virtuoso

Using both of your Dagger skills will be an increase to your damage and by association survivability. Both skills will trigger to inflict Bleeding and generate Blades faster.

• 2 will generate an additional Blade every time it is used since the Clone will automatically be converted to a Blade.
• 3 is a Ground-Targeted skill that will hit multiple times, generating multiple stacks of Bleeding.

Using these skills, you will stock Blades faster so you can use more Bladesongs. Make sure to see Additional Bladesongs below for suggestions on spending those extra Blades.

Pistol will provide fast firing ranged skills that will provide easy Defiance Break.

• 4 is the Phantasm skill which is also a Projectile Finishers 20% of the time.
• 5 will apply stacks of Confusion and Daze to your target.

Torch will provide the most Condition Damage of the three options.

• 4 is an instant cast skill which applies Burning while Removing a Condition. Be warned, the skill will also Stealth you so you will need to queue another skill immediately or else stop attacking for 3 seconds.
• 5 is the Phantasm skill, applying Burning, Confusion and a small amount of Daze.

Focus provides great utility and sizable damage.

• 4 is a Ground-Targeted skill that will provide Swiftness to your party, but when used again shortly after will perform which will pull targets together. As most of your attacks Pierce, targets clumped together will allow you to apply more Bleeding.
• 5 is the Phantasm skill which will Block projectiles and provide a massive 13 Whirl Finishers.

A final note, many skills including most Phantasms generate additional bonuses when used in an Ethereal Field. Of note, Projectile Finishers and Whirl Finishers will apply stacks of Confusion when used in an Ethereal Field.

With a dedicated healer in your party, you often do not need the sustain from , so you can instead use it offensively thanks to ! This trait causes your healing skills to generate an Ethereal Field, and when combined with reseting your Phantasm skills leads to the simple and effective "Signet of Ether Combo":

• Phantasm Skill Phantasm Skill

To maximize your damage, the slightly more complicated version using Torch and Focus will lead to the highest payoff:

1. Torch 4 Weapon Swap
2. Focus 5 Focus 5
3. Weapon Swap when available.
4. Repeat when is available.

Your three additional Bladesongs are all quite useful! Each will provide Stability as well as Torment in to other effects:

• F3 will provide up to 250 Defiance Break via Daze.
• F4 will make you Invulnerable for up to nearly 4 seconds via Distortion. It is worth saving Blades for this if you know a tricky mechanic is coming up.
• F5 is a short ranged option that will hit up to 6 times applying stacks of Torment and Bleeding for each hit. It is great to used when stacked on a target.

You can always hold onto your Blades if F1 or F2 are about to be available, a utility option, or you can reset all of your Bladesongs by using . This can be very useful for longer fights when you do not need to swap the skill out for a different utility.

Each of your Signets provides a passive effect as well as an active effect. While the active effect is on Cooldown, the passive effect will be disabled. Understanding the effects of your default skills will help improve your overall performance.

• provides passive healing for each Blade you create. If you already have 5 Blades you cannot create another one, so wont gain passive Healing. Make sure to use your Bladesongs! When activated, the signet will provide a bigger Heal but will also reset your Phantasm skills and cast a . This skill provides random boons, conditions, and a small amount of Defiance Break.
• passively generate a Blade at a slow rate. When active, it will reset all of Bladesongs. Do not hesitate to use this effect if needed. If you need to swap out a Utility skill, this should be the one you switch out first.
• passively increases your Condition Damage. When activated it will provide decent Defiance Break at a long Cooldown. Only use this in an emergency.
• passivley increases your Condition Duration. Its active effect is a Stun Break and should only be used in emergencies.
• passively reduces the duration of hard control effects. The active effect provides a massive 600 Defiance Break and is the main reason you take this skill.

One of the advantages of playing a Mesmer is the variety of utility available. Swap out as appropriate for each encounter to help the squad. Some important suggestions to know:

• is a great skill for providing more Defiance Break and damage. If you find yourself not needing to active , consider taking this skill by default instead and using it when available.
• is a Ground-Targeted skill that will Reflect Projectiles.
• is useful for squad mobility.

You can also swap out your Elite Skill to if you do not need the extra Defiance Break. This skill provides a massive amount of damage over 10 hits which will be enough to generate 2 Blades.