Asura is the Best Race for Mesmer in Guild Wars 2

After extensive analysis across lore, community perception, and performance data – the asura come out on top as the #1 mesmer race. Their strong magical history combined with the combat enhancement of their Power Surge racial skill give asura mesmers an edge.

An Introduction to Mesmer Gameplay

Before diving into the best races, first let‘s cover some mesmer basics for the uninitiated. Mesmers are masters of manipulation – specializing in sapping away enemy strength through chaos and confusion rather than brute force. They confound foes with an arsenal of hexes, control skills, illusion magic, and burst damage potential.

A good mesmer dictates the flow of battle by hampering enemies and empowering allies. Few professions can match their versatility across all game modes. However, realizing a mesmer‘s full potential requires skillful play – making them one of the more challenging GW2 classes to master.

When played well, mesmers provide game-changing utility through abilities like mass invisibility, portal jumps, enemy skill interrupts, party quickness buffs – and much more. If you crave outsmarting foes rather than overpowering them, mesmer might be the profession for you!

Mesmer Armaments

Mesmers equip light armor to maximize magic potency. They can wield main-hand scepters and swords – paired with off-hand focuses, pistols, or torches. For two-handed options, mesmers dish out damage via staff and greatsword. Underwater, tridents and spears are the tools of choice.

These weapons emphasize disorienting opponents rather than raw damage output. But in the hands of a skilled mesmer, the psychological impact of their weapon skills more than make up any difference.

Determining the Best Races

Now that we‘ve covered mesmer basics – which race makes the ideal illusionist mage? While any race can play mesmer effectively, some racial attributes confer subtle advantages:

Asura Mesmers

For mesmer racials, asura stand tall. Or as tall as 3 foot illusionists can! Through their advanced Magitechology, they edge out other races as top mesmer material.

Lore

Asura are immersed in magic from an early age. Their elite colleges churn out talented mesmers well-versed in mass manipulation magic. Being looked down upon by larger races also breeds asura cunning – a mesmer strong suit.

Racial Skills

The asura racial skill "Power Surge" grants the mesmer an edge in combat. It passively builds charge then unleashes buffs of fury, might, and quickness on demand. This complements mesmer burst potential beautifully.

Community Perception

On sites like Reddit and official forums, player consensus favors asura as the premier mesmeric race. Though subjective, community sentiment speaks volumes.

Asura also have numerical data backing their mesmer potency:

While DPS isn‘t everything, Asuran mesmers reliably benchmark near the top. Combined with strong community sentiment and dominating character creation numbers, the data is clear – asura make exceptional mesmer candidates.

Their innate affinity for magic honed by advanced colleges yields chaos arts of surpassing potency. And their racial quickness buffs passively make them more dangerous illusion casters.

Alternate Races

As discussed earlier, any Tyrian race can produce talented mesmers some boast better synergies through racials and lore:

Humans

Boasting the longest magical legacy of any race, humans offer mesmeric potential nearly on par with asura. Their Prayer to Dwayna heal can provide useful party support as well.

However, they lack asuran mesmeric prestige and versatile Power Surge buffs. But for players favoring human lore and style, hardly any magic acumen is lost playing one.

Sylvari

As plant people awakened with magic, sylvari start with innate attunement. Their heal Seed Turret also grants party regeneration. Combined with the Sylvari affinity for mesmeric mind games, they make great illusion mages in their own right.

Ultimately, sylvari fall just short statistically of matching asuran mesmeric mastery. But the life-born shouldn‘t be discounted – the Dream provides sylvari mesmers unique insights into manipulating emotions.

Other Races

While least common statistically, charr and norn mesmers can find success through cleverness overcoming their race‘s physicality. Just expect to prove yourself more to overcome cultural biases. But exceptions like the norn Fela Brokenaxe demonstrate mesmeric skill transcends size and strength.

Conclusion

I hope this breakdown has illuminated the best mesmer racial choice is asura – backed by lore, community favor, and statistical performance. Their innately high magitech aptitudes perfectly suit manipulating foes on the battlefield.

However, any race can craft chaos with practice. So choose the profession first based on the playstyle you enjoy rather than statistical min/maxing. After all – skill matters far more than your starting race. An cunning charr mesmer can dominate just fine.

But all things being equal, asura have the edge for mastering mesmeric arts. Their advanced magic colleges and versatile Power Surge racial cement them as top contenders. If you relish weaving illusions to control the flow of battle, roll an asura mesmer today!

Q: Can any race be a mesmer?

A: Yes! All Tyrian races produce competent mesmers. Asura have slight statistical advantages but any race works.

Q: What weapons can mesmers equip?

A: Main hand – scepter, sword. Off-hand Focus, pistol, torch. Two-handed staff, greatsword. Spear, trident underwater.

Q: Are mesmers good in all game modes?

A: Yes! Mesmer versatility makes them strong solo, support, or damage roles in PvE, WvW, and PvP.

Q: What armor weight is mesmer?

A: Light armor – maximizes damage/condition potential.

I hope this guide has shed light on the complex, engaging mesmer profession. Let me know in comments if you have any other mesmer questions!