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Event Build: The Mesmer

Tags: #Character Build Thief  #Character Build Illusionist  #Character Build Summoner  #Rank:Event Bloodworks  #Event:Against Type  #MM 2016 Winner 
  • Member
    November 13, 2016

     

     

     

     The Mesmer 

     

     Mesmer [mez-mer]

     Class Type: Illusionist, Spellsword, Thief, Vampire and Bard.

     Inspired by: Mesmer class (Guild Wars), Flynn Rider (Tangled) and Doctor Strange (Marvel).

     For those of you who've been around on the Skyrim Blog Tamriel Vault since late 2012 - late 2014 the build might look a bit familiar. This is because in that time period I had a character build called the Mesmer which was a lot different from the one you're reading now. It was a very basic vampire sneak archer with a bound bow and some skill in alchemy. While many people appreciated it, I wasn't very happy with it so as soon as I was given the opportunity I had it deleted. Fast forward into 2016, after having played a lot of Guild Wars 2 with its Mesmer class and being excited about Marvel's Doctor Strange movie, I thought of a fresh and exciting approach to this old idea of mine. Hence I started a playthrough with the Mesmer 2.0 aiming to play it like an illusionist, a magician, a thief... even someone capable of bending reality itself. The result is a very simple to get into vampire lord crossed with a melee spellsword augmented by frenzy spells, flesh spells, a tiny amount of stealth and ranged conjured atronachs. The truly awesome part of the Mesmer which also made it a bit overpowered in my playthrough experience is that the Vampire Lord Form synergizes perfectly with the dominant melee approach of the build. It also helps a lot that being a stage 4 vampire renders the bane of all melee fighters, which are ice mages, almost completely ineffective. So, let me get right into it and show you what this petty charmer can do!

     

     Gameplay 

            The Mesmer bends the battleground to his will. He quietly approaches enemies only to plan in advance, he distracts them - ideally by making them all gather in one place - then quickly follows with a Flame or Storm Atronach summon and a few silent frenzy casts before jumping in the midst of battle with a conjured sword. Should things get out of hand or a stronger npc be encountered, the Vampire Lord form is the go to life saving and butt kicking option. Add to all this the fun of probability governed reality bending offered by the Wabbajack and you've got one heck of a build! When the Mesmer is not fighting bandits for a bounty, he acts like a spell centered thief who delves into dangerous dungeons or luxurious mansions to steal precious loot and sell it afterwards to the highest bidder. Telekinesis silenced by illusion's Quiet Casting is so useful in such cases. Why sneak my way around dangerous traps or be careful to avoid hostile npcs to phisically reach and steal an item when I can just levitate it down my way without anyone noticing it? The perkspread below may look like the Mesmer needs to reach a high level but in reality the build plays pretty much the same starting with level 10 (the earliest level when you can acquire Vampire Lord) and until maximum level.

     One-Handed

     Tools: Imperial Sword => (as early as the magicka pool allows it) Bound Sword.

     Description: As I said earlier, the Mesmer is a spellsword illusionist melee oriented build. Since most of the spells he uses either boost his defences or control opponents, damage output via swords is the main type of offence. In the beginning of the game I chose to use an Imperial Sword because I roleplayed the Mesmer as a sort of exiled count, a high ranking ladies' man who got caught sleping with someone else's wife. Because of this fact, I envisioned him as having a refined taste in the items he wears or fights with and the Imperial Sword looked stylish enough to me. Once I increased my magicka pool a bit, I started conjuring a bound sword. I think that a bound sword fits this character perfectly because the Mesmer doesn't only create illusions but also bends reality, conjuring things from other realms.

         

     Illusion

     Spells: Fury => Frenzy, (Optional) Fear.

     Description: Illusion is the bread and butter of this build. The Mesmers of the Guild Wars mmo game series are all about using illusion in various and creative ways. Since the Mesmer uses a bit of sneak to plan before engaging combat, I settled for mainly using frenzy spells and, on occasion, fear. Calm spells are a BIG NO because the build would otherwise turn into a game breaking and boring assassin. Frenzy is ideal because the Mesmer on his own in human form, using only a sword to fight, isn't very effective. Hence, frenzy takes away most of the threat allowing him to focus on opponents fighting amongst themselves. In case the health bar drops so low that the Mesmer doesn't have the luxury of waiting to transform into a vampire lord, fear is an excellent life saver.

       

     Conjuration

     Spells: Bound Sword, Familiar => Flame Atronach => Storm Atronach, (Optional) Arvak.

     Description: I divided the use of conjuration into two categories: bound weapon and atronachs. Since the Mesmer's main form of melee damage output is by sword, the bound sword is a no brainer. On the other hand, there's the atronachs. Again, since the Mesmer lacks any direct form of ranged offence in human form, I had to use the ranged atronachs: Flame and Storm. These guys provide excellent cover fire and help a lot with mitigating damage. Also, once Quiet Casting is perked, the Mesmer can use these summons to create distractions while sneaking around or lure groups of npcs into a single location for a well placed frenzy spell. How you start a fight can seriously affect the length of it. Just watch me in the gameplay video below applying this technique to rapidly wipe out an entire camp of Forsworn. 

        

     Vampirism

     Spells / Powers: Vampire Lord, Drain Life (VL form), Vampiric Grip, Bats.

     Description: Until I played this character build, I have not used the vampire lord form too much. Man did I miss out on some great stuff all these years. Vampire lord along with its powers is so awesome! In the Mesmer's case, it complements the human form very nice. The Mesmer normally lacks healing and direct ranged offence capabilities but this is exactly what the vampire lord provides. Is a big chunck of the health bar missing? Turn into a vampire and bombard your opponent with Drain Life. Is your opponent a ranged fighter sitting on a hard to get to spot? Use Vampiric Grip! Toss that npc in the air like a rag doll! Throw him in a ravine! Let gravity do its work! Use Bats to get close and personal then use your savage talons. If you feel lazy though, use Drain Life for its ranged capability.

       

     Alteration

     Spells: Flesh spells, Detect Life / Dead, Telekinesis.

     Description: I think the most useful thing to use from the alteration spell arsenal was telekinesis. Once I perked Quiet Casting, stealing stuff while hidden became much more easier. If the item was sitting on top of a pressure plate or locked inside a cage, this spell was quite useful! I chose to wear mixed armor and because of this I didn't have too much protection, hence why I used flesh spells a lot. The awesome thing is that if my flesh spell remained active after transforming into a vampire lord, my Mesmer would benefit from the Mage Armor perks. Yes, for those of you who do not know yet, while in vampire lord form (or werewolf's beast form for that matter) the overall armor rating is null, unaffected by a flesh spell that is. So Mage Armor can work its magic. I call this the Flesh Beast Exploit!

       

     Thievery, Eloquence & Equipment

     Tools: Wabbajack, Vokun, Gauldur Amulet, Royal Vampire Armor, Vampire Gauntlets & Boots, (Optional) Skeleton Key.

     Description: The Mesmer is a thief at heart and he will use his shady skills - sneak, pickpocket, lockpicking, even speech - to further his greedy needs. Plus, how is he going to sell all the stolen loot without the Fence perk? As far as equipment goes, I had a lot of fun with the Wabbajack. The staff fits the character build because of its probability to alter the reality of things. Sometimes you might turn your opponent into a chicken, other times it might be a dremora. It all depends on your luck, but in the end it can all lead to some hilarious scenarios. Furthermore I chose to acquire Vokun since the mask reduces the cost of some of the Mesmer's core skills and decided to stick with the vampire armor for its stylish look. Optionally, I think keeping the Skeleton Key for a while might be a good fit for the character's greediness.

     
     Character Customization 
     
    Race: Imperial. I consider Imperial to be the ideal race for this greedy character.

    Standing Stone: Mage => Lord. I gues any of the three starting stones could work in the beginning but, overall the Mesmer focuses on magic: illusion, conjuration and alteration. Once you're comfortable with your skill levels, switch to the Lord Stone for damage protection.

    Stats: 3 Magicka | 3 Health | 2 Stamina. Based on the stats distribution, the Mesmer can be considered a Jack-of-all Trades. The build invests into various skills from all the three archetypes.

    Shouts: Aura Whisper, Throw Voice, Bend Will, Disarm, Dismay. Aura Whisper helps with planning ahead in a dungeon in which you can't see in the next room without being detected. Throw Voice is an awesome distraction. Bend Will fits the theme of illusionism. Disarm and Dismay prove convenient in various situations.

    What to do: I roleplayed the Mesmer as a charming greedy character. I tried to save every damsel in distress that I could find. I delved into all the dungeons and ruins in hopes of stealing loot and selling it afterwards for big money. I took care of all the tavern bounties. I became a full time member of the Bards College since bards can be quite mesmerizing with words. I joined the Thieves Guild to steal all the loot that I could find. And finally later on I also became a part of the Dark Brotherhood.

     
     
     
     Closing Notes 

           I hope you enjoyed reading my Mesmer. If you have any question regarding the build, please post it as a comment and I will do my best to answer. Bear in mind that I have no drawing skills. I just know a bit of photoshop, therefore I want to credit the original artists responsible for the objects found in all these pictures. If you like the art I used, please visit every link found below and if possible show your support to these artists by liking / commenting on their work. Without them, my content would be just a big wall of text.
    • http://orangeguy1.deviantart.com/art/Nethermancer-Wizard-585595831
    • http://www.sketchite.com/laugh-now-cry-later-tattoo/cy1tZWRpYS1jYWNoZS1hazAqcGluaW1nKmNvbXw3MzZ4fDE5fDI4fGU3fDE5MjhlNzc0NjU2YmMwZjhkZTcxYzhkNTIzMzVhMzBiKmpwZw_cGl4Z29vZCpjb218ZHJhd2luZ3Mtb2Ytc21pbGUtbm93LWNyeS1sYXRlci1mYWNlcypodG1s/
    • http://kejablank.deviantart.com/art/Garrett-Thief-441849929
    • http://abz-j-harding.deviantart.com/art/Dr-Strange-504103231
    • http://andantonius.deviantart.com/art/Arcane-Armor-469747489
      

    If you want to check out my Fallout 4 character builds, click on any of the posters below!

          

          

    If you want to check out my Skyrim character builds, click on any of the posters below! 

        

          

        

           

  • November 13, 2016

    A lovely start to the event, Noodles. Beautiful display and yes on the use of Vokun. I will be using that in the Starved down the road. An underated mask. I am very happy also that this is a no-crafting build. Not that I mind crafting, but very good to see you take advantage of ingame equipment.

     

  • Member
    November 13, 2016

    Brilliant work Noodles! It was worth the wait.

  • Member
    November 13, 2016

    I've finally updated all the posters on my other builds with the link to this one. Phew!

  • Member
    November 13, 2016

    Lissette Long-Chapper said:

    A lovely start to the event, Noodles. Beautiful display and yes on the use of Vokun. I will be using that in the Starved down the road. An underated mask. I am very happy also that this is a no-crafting build. Not that I mind crafting, but very good to see you take advantage of ingame equipment.

     

    Thanks! Lately I'm kind of going back to basics with my builds. I only use crafting if I really need to. Plus, Vokun is the best mask for an illusionist! :D

  • Member
    November 13, 2016

    Elyrius said:

    Brilliant work Noodles! It was worth the wait.

    Thanks man! :)

  • Member
    November 13, 2016

    Truly an excellent way to get this event going. The art is fantastic, the character build is great, and the writing is spot on. And an actual USE for the VL form! That's so rare! Great stuff.

  • Member
    November 13, 2016

    You probably don't need me to tell you, but this build is the STUFF! Everytime I see 'Illusion' on a perk spread, I get a bit wary (gets too OP too quickly), but you handle that perfectly. And you can't go wrong with Illusion, Alteration, and Conjuration for a rogue spellsword.

    I've been anticipating this build, and you don't disappoint. If I get the DLC, this will be the first Vampire Lord Form build I play... without a doubt :D

  • November 14, 2016

    Short, sweet and kicking arse! I like the approach of magic using thief, quite a lot. Reminds me of the old days back in Oblivion or Morrowind. Spell-Lock build, hmmm... Anyway, kickass build, Jon Noodles. :)

  • Member
    November 14, 2016

    Achloryn said:

    Truly an excellent way to get this event going. The art is fantastic, the character build is great, and the writing is spot on. And an actual USE for the VL form! That's so rare! Great stuff.

    Thanks! :D