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A feminine figure with a sword...could it be a Mesmer?

ArenaNet has revealed seven of eight professions for their sequel Guild Wars 2. With just one reveal left, anticipation has never been greater. I’ve pieced together five major clues left by ArenaNet, and what I’ve found is quite revealing. I’ll first look at the facts, add some suggestive images and comments, and then discuss potential gameplay options that may be offered by the eighth profession.


We know it's from the original Guild Wars.
The original Guild Wars: Prophecies introduced six professions plus two from Guild Wars: Factions and two from Guild Wars: Nightfall:

“We've given hints out, so I think it's safe for me to say that there is one brand new profession and one returning profession yet to be revealed.”
– Eric Flannum

The Engineer was not a part of any Guild Wars campaign or expansion, so the 8th profession will be one we’ve seen before. This really narrows it down, and is our most important clue. With a total of ten professions, we can establish a list and begin the process of elimination:


Tyria:
Guild Wars 2 takes place in Tyria, just like the original Guild Wars: Prophecies. So far four of the original six professions have been confirmed and one has been confirmed to not return. That leaves the presence of the last original profession suspiciously ambiguous.

• Elementalist – Confirmed.
• Warrior – Confirmed.
• Necromancer – Confirmed.
• Ranger – Confirmed.
• Mesmer – A candidate for the 8th profession.
• Monk – ArenaNet has stated that there will be no dedicated healer:


“We're making players more self sufficient, but are also providing appealing ways for them to effortlessly work together to create a more inspired moment-to-moment experience. That is why Guild Wars 2 does not have a dedicated healing class.”
– Jon Peters

The Mesmer was ArenaNets most innovative profession, and is the only class from the original Guild Wars that hasn't been revealed.


Cantha:
If we take a look at the lore, it appears unlikely that Canthans will make an appearance in the initial release of Guild Wars 2.

“When Zhaitan awoke, his fleet of undead corsairs blocked access to Cantha by seizing control of the Strait of Malchor. No contact has been made with the empire for over a hundred years, save for the occasional castaway washing up on the shores of the Tarnished Coast.”

That makes it highly unlikely, although not impossible, that Canthan professions will show up in the initial release. There's also a lot of overlap with existing professions:

• Ritualist – An unlikely candidate. Gameplay using Spirits has been amalgamated by the Engineer in the form of mechanical turrets. Weapon Spells are similar to Spirit Weapons used by the Guardian. There’s also this quote:


“While the engineer can adopt a play style that is superficially similar to the Ritualist, the Engineer is a much more versatile profession.” – Regina Buenaobra

• Assassin – So unlikely I wouldn’t call it a potential candidate. Ambush gameplay using daggers and shadow steps has been incorporated into the Thief.

You could say that trickery was pulled to get the Assassin into Guild Wars 2 as the Thief since they are so similar, and therefore it's possible something similar can be done for the Ritualist. Unfortunately, the Ritualist does not offer any unique gameplay that isn't already seen. That leaves one last continent.


Elona:
The lore describes how contact with Elona has been cut off as well, making it unlikely (albeit not impossible) for an Elonian profession to return:

“Palawa Joko still rules over Elona to this day. The presence of Zhaitan in Orr and Kralkatorrik in the Crystal Desert have cut off almost all communication between Tyria and Elona, the exception being the Order of Whispers, who are able to do so unnoticed.”

Unlike Cantha, there is at least some contact between Elona and Tyria as is evident by the passage of the Order of Whispers. If they can get through, maybe one of the Elonian professions could too.

• Dervish – A potential candidate. We’ve seen some hooded armor but no scythes.
• Paragon – A potential candidate, although their unique team-buffing shouts are already incorporated into all existing Guild Wars 2 professions. Spears do exist, though are currently only known to function underwater.

After scratching seven professions off the list, we’re left with only the Mesmer, Dervish, and the Paragon. Some very optimistic folks might count the Ritualist as a potential fourth, but that class would need some serious redesign to avoid overlap with the Engineer and the Guardian. In fact, any Canthan or Elonian professions would likely end up re-named and revamped, just like how the Assassin turned into the Thief. They’d need an excuse to exist outside of their home continent in addition to gameplay elements that don’t overlap with existing professions.

It’s a “scholar” profession.
Cloth armor and spellcasting? Well, so much for a Paragon.

“We won't tell which classes are still to come. But well, one will wear light and one will wear medium armor, I can tell you that much.”
– Jon Peters

Jon peters said that shortly before the Engineer – a medium armor class – was revealed, so scratch that off the list. That leaves the 8th profession wearing light armor. This brings our list down to only two: the last profession is either a Mesmer or a Dervish, who are both cloth-armored spellcasters from Guild Wars. Now it gets interesting!

Lore strongly suggests a Mesmer.
The Mesmer is one of the three spellcasters mentioned in the novels Ghosts of Ascalon and Edge of Destiny, which detail events leading up to the Guild Wars 2 storyline. The other two spellcasters are the Elementalist and the Necromancer, which have already been confirmed. Here are some quotes from the latest book:

A Charr legionnaire whipped his head back forth, eyes blazing. “What sort of sorcery was that?”
“My type of sorcery,” came a voice high above, “mesmerism.” – From Edge of Destiny, page 404.

If that’s not convincing, how about a direct reference?

Dyland looked from his brother to the queen. “your Majesty, is he under a charm of some sort?”
Jennah shook her head.
“A charm?” Logan asked.
“Our queen is a Mesmer of extraordinary power,” Dylan said to Logan. “It’s how she spoke to the whole stadium just now. I thought perhaps she had cast some strange glamour upon you to make you gabble so stupidly. Apparently, though, you come by it naturally.” – From Edge of Destiny, page 178.

So Mesmers not only exist, but one of them is an important queen. Queen Jennah is the Queen of Kryta, Regent of Ascalon, presides over the human race in her palace within Divinity’s Reach, and she’s definitely a Mesmer. There’s a powerful Dervish character too: Dhuum, the former god of death. Unfortunately, Grenth put that guy to sleep 250 years before the events in Guild Wars 2. Now, existing in the lore doesn’t confirm the Mesmer or the Dervish as a playable profession…but what if I could prove to you that Mesmers were already in the game?

Mesmer skills spotted!
In the Norn capital city of Hoelbrak, statues mention the names of heroes. One of them mentions a enemy Mesmer:


The Wikipedia entry for the Mesmer states that, "Mesmers are seen throughout Tyria, including Ascalonian Ghosts encountered in the Ascalon Catacombs and a few iconic NPCs such as Queen Jennah and Countess Anise." So Mesmer NPCs are in the game, and they use Mesmer skills on you. How's that for convincing? Here’s a video of the Ascalon Catacombs from user GWAnnja showing Ascalon Ghosts using skills from all the original Guild Wars: Prophecies professions, including Mesmer:


It’s possible that the Mesmer-like skills are monster-only skills, because such skills do exist; however, the skills used by other Ascalon Ghosts within the Catacombs are already available to players. The Ascalonian Warrior uses Sever Artery, for example, while the Ascalonian Ranger uses Poison Arrow. Furthermore, the Ascalonian Mesmer skills follow the same purple color scheme associated with Mesmers in the Guild Wars universe. Their spell effects even incorporate purple butterflies that match the Purple Fan Lady concept art.

Could these skills be a preview of what’s to come?

Could this be a literal conjured phantasm?

This purple electricity doesn't match the Elementalist.

These purple butterflies are seen in Mesmer spells.

The "Purple Fan Lady" concept art resembles a Mesmer.

Official quotes point to a Mesmer-like profession.
Our list of ten went down to two: either the Mesmer or the Dervish. I haven’t been able to disprove the Dervish, but there is overwhelming evidence that suggests a type of Mesmer does exist. If you’re having doubts that the Mesmer skills I showed you won’t have anything to do with a playable profession, consider the follow quotes suggesting what the 8th profession will offer:

"What we've said at some point is people who enjoy that [Mesmer] play-style will be happy, but no more than that."
– Jon Peters.

“The people expect a lot and we know that many enjoy mind tricks and aspects like that. And we'll quite certainly not disappoint those people.”
– Jon Peters.

“People will, who play a Ritualist or a Mesmer or a Necromancer or any of the old, old characters, will feel like they have a home somewhere in Guild Wars 2.”
– Jeff Grub.

"Not surprisingly, [the eighth profession] is also kind of complex and definitely plays differently than other professions."
– Jon Peters.

“That's... a very interesting question. We have certainly seen a few professions that can fit some of [Mesmer fans’] expectations, but I don't think we have seen the character that would best fit their expectations. ”
– Eric Flannum.

So the eighth and final profession incorporates "mind tricks", "complexity", a "unique play style", and will "please fans of the original Mesmer"...yeap, definitely going to be a Dervish =)


If they do bring back the Mesmer, there's no doubt it's going to be quite different. The style is something I classify as "Catalyst-Debuffer". By that I mean that it plays a support role of disrupting and controlling enemy actions in addition to removing or nullifying enemy spells and buffs in order to maximize the efficiency of allies. That style can still exist in Guild Wars 2.

Hexes:
There are no hexes in Guild Wars 2, only conditions, so unique spell effects like Soothing Images, Migraine, or Diversion won't be possible. At least, not in the conventional way. A lot of hexes can be recreated using existing conditions. Conjure Phantasm, for example, applied health degeneration to a target. In Guild Wars 2, a skill called "Conjure Phantasm" could apply several stacks of Bleeding or Poison to the same effect. Imagined Burden? Inflict a long-lasting Cripple. Blackout? Daze yourself and your target. I think you'll have the basics covered.

Interrupts:
It's been stated that there will be less emphasis on interrupts and ping-based reflex gameplay. That doesn't mean you won't be able to interrupt enemy actions. In fact, we know it's possible to interrupt through the use of Stun, Daze, Knockback, or Knockdown. I'd expect a Mesmer-type class to have more access to these control tools than anyone. Stun locking and control chaining may replace twitch-based play as a form of control.

Energy Denial:
Energy doesn't exist in Guild Wars 2, so good luck with that! There are unique profession-specific resources however, such as the Necromancer's Life Force, the Guardian's Virtues, the Warrior's Adrenaline, and so on. It's possible the Mesmer will be able to interact with those resources in some way. The effect would have to be instant, since there are currently no conditions that affect profession resources.

Do you think there's a chance the 8th profession is something other than a Mesmer? If you think it is a Mesmer, what could it's signature ability be? What kind of skills do you think it would have? Let us know with a reply below!

Thanks for reading.

Im going with mesmer concept but anet has a different goal in mind for this new mesmer like class. I personally think that it would be upsetting to not have mesmers or mesmer like characters in guild wars 2. The provide both offensive and defensive aspects to the game which often turn tides in important matches when this character is utilized correctly or skillfully

Izzy also confirmed that "Blackouts" will be in the game in a PvP interview awhile back (a pretty vague one talking about how it would be 5v5 arena and WvWvW). Obviously things can change or a term can be taken out of context but he did say this after they had determined the 8 professions.

@Siric: Daze already basically covers blackouts. "Daze is an effect caused by some skills which interrupts and prevents the target from using skills for a period of time. " http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Daze

@Damon: I'm not really sure if a dervish qualifies as a "cloth wearing caster", since I know they never actually made an official distinction, but rangers, assassins, and dervishes all fell *between* "heavy armor" (+80 armor) and true "cloth armor" (+60 armor) at +70. I would think they would have to be an adventurer class if they were to transfer over, unless they reworked them pretty heavily to turn them into actual casters instead of melee fighters that happen to have a lot of spells.

I honestly think a ritualist would be more likely than a dervish, only because they'd actually qualify as cloth wearing casters. However, I still think they're highly unlikely, since the engineer already does basically everything rits do in gw1.

Basically IMO it's Mesmer: most likely, by a long shot.

Ritualist and monk: both VERY unlikely, and would need to be almost entirely redesigned to not overlap with the engineer in the rit's case, and not overlap with the guardian OR be a dedicated healer in the monk's case (guardian already stole its protection and smiting prayers roles, even taking some of their skill names, and healing prayers would make it a dedicated healer).

Dervish: IMO even more unlikely than rit and monk. I don't consider them to be a scholar class. They're probably less "scholarly" than the guardian is (mainly melee fighter with a lot of magic-based skills), and that's a soldier class.

Paragon: lol no. heavy armor, way too much overlap with the guardian. If it's a paragon I will print out this post and literally eat my words. And possibly my printer. And my computer...

One of the main the purpose of the mesmer being in GW1 is to defy holy tirinity. Atleast thats how we played it. Certainly not the conventional mesmer like Damon says.But if the mesmer maintains ist identity of being Ati-X class, we need to define what is left behind when tirinity is gone.

Individual differences between the classes? maybe? Players are dependent on eachother not directly but just by beeing there. which equals less interference between interrelations. Class combos? not likely since they will not be the be all end all of the game.
If mesmer(lets say) is able to counter such mage and melee/ranged and if we add the fact that Anet wants every class to be able to fullfill any roll as long as they fit to circumstances, i'd say we need to draw a board.

It has to have
DMG/
survival/
mobility / to some degree

We have every right to consider how its going to be like for the Mesmer in PVP but looking at it from a PVE is more reliable because Anets first agenda is to make the char for PVE and then see if its adaptable to PVP. i think it would be more healty for speculation.thats why its so hard to imagine what would be the signature of the mes. Though definatly more illusions,less domination because that is going to draw the line if mes is going to be way to powerfull or disturbinly weak.
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He mentioned them both exclusively in the article. Blackout could perhaps be an irremovable daze, or a single skill "blackout" think diversion or the thievery. skills

Blackout is actually pretty simple. It would just be a touch-range skill that inflicts Daze on both you and your target. It would be removable, though.

The "Purple Fan Lady" is from this Game Developers Conference. The user "Nox" from conjurephantasm.com added the word "Mesmer" to it to make a wallpaper. He's making the same assumption as everyone else! I stumbled through his blog a lot when piecing this article together. He's got some interesting insight on Mesmer skills:

http://conjurephantasm.com/skills/

I'm really curious about that supposed conjured phantasm from the Catacombs video. What is a Mesmer doing with a pet? Can the pet be attacked or killed? How many pets can they have? Where does it come from? What does it do? Does it move on it's own or does it follow a target?




Also, if you go to the Hall of Monuments Reward Calculator page, you can see what appears to be a male Mesmer and a Mesmer mask. The mask is called the "Heritage Mask" and is part of a reward armor set.

That's one of the things I wanted to add as well.

@Damon: You said "Here’s a video of the Ascalon Catacombs from user GWAnnja showing Ascalon Ghosts using skills from all the original Guild Wars: Prophecies professions, including Mesmer:"
Does that include monk skills? Or were they replicated by monk-esque skills used by other gw2 professions?

I've been thinking it was mesmer since the books.... Now correct me if I'm wrong but in the second book the Queen in which Logan Thackeray pledged his allegiance to is a mesmer.

Lovely article as always, however I disliked the saying It just seemed so.. out of place within an analytical and featured thread in regards of the 8th profession. Nothing here to really ask or add besides that, you did a nice job covering basic knowledge!

@Vince
I was just pulling words from the quotes above that phrase, since those things summarize what ANet has said about the 8th profession. I'll go back and add quotations to emphasize that.

@Travis
Yes, Queen Jennah is a Mesmer and an important human NPC. I talk more about it under the third clue.

@Steve
Good question on the Monk skills. There were definitely Guardian NPCs in there, so I think they took the place of the Monk. I didn't see/read/hear anything that suggested otherwise.

There was a lot of debate on the wiki about blackout as its own effect, and it had its own page for a long time, but the blackout page was eventually deleted when Izzy confirmed in a tweet saying:

"It's not a condition, there is an effect called "Daze" that effectively puts your skills into recharge much like black used to."

Your choice of adjective amuses me.

personally i'd love to see the mesmer come back, as it's one of the most unique and fun to play classes in GW1

although, i have a suspicion they might change it to something like an "illusionist" that manipulates the world around them with ghosts and stuff.. or a "dominatrix" with skills like conjure nightmare and empathy and control things with a kind of "shut down"

Excellent article. I really hope the Mesmer is the 8th class, as it seems to be the poster-child of the Guild Wars franchise. It is quite possibly the most unique and fun to play class I've encountered in an RPG. I feel if they don't include the Mesmer or some Illusionist type of class in the game, a lot of players will feel incredibly let down!