A Mesmer who doesn't know how to do "The Portal Thing"

I am a level 30 mesmer and I don't know how to do "The Portal Thing".  It is embarrassing when I'm asked to set up a portal. 

What skill(s) do I need?

Please provide a step by step proceedure for establishing a Portal.

edit: bah, hang on, I'll get back to this later.

» Edited on: 2012-12-31 09:13:03

The portal is a utility it is in the 2nd or 3rd teir in order to get it. it looks like a purple/pink explosion. don't mistake it for blink. In order to use your portal you need to set it in you hotbar and activate it once to set one side of the portal then move to another location and set it again to drop the other side. Other user will then be able to take the portal without walking but there is a max of 20 uses for every portal made. This includes both ends. There is also a range on the portals you make you will need to play with that as you go but if they are too far apart the portal will look active but no one can use it.

» Edited on: 2012-12-31 09:34:08

List of common things people ask a mesmer to create portals for (others please add to this list): A mesmer who can get to one end of a tricky jumping area or puzzle can set up a portal on either end so others can get to the other side. I am asked to do this frequently, for example, in the colossus fractal where there are some semi-tricky jumping puzzles to get to each new level. A mesmer drops one end of a portal, stealths past a difficult area or nasty group of mobs, and drops a portal on the other side in order to save time/bypass obstacles. General fast travel for various reasons across various areas. World PvP tricky business: 1) A large group is hiding behind some rocks or whatever and a mesmer drops a portal at their feet, runs out into the open and in the middle of an enemy camp, and quickly drops the other end before he is killed so the hidden party can pop up and ambush the enemy. 2) When a fort or tower or whatever is about to be taken over, a mesmer hides inside, sets up a portal, tries to run/jump outside quickly without dying, and setting up the other end for a group to bypass taking down the wall and quickly reclaim the goal.

Another instance is for portals would be to move golems around because of how slow they move. In this case there would be a few mezmors chaining portals for fast traveling. Also within WvWvW either just for you or a small team you can set a portal before you head into a fight and use it as an escape when you feel you are losing the fight an need to retreat. Just make sure it is far enough away you can get your heal back and head right back into the fight.

Thanks a lot. I'll give it a try, better to know how it goes before I need it. From using Portals that others have placed I always thought they were time based, but now I know they are usage based as far as duration goes. Finally I'll be able to do what Mesmers are known for.

» Edited on: 2012-12-31 10:27:44

The limit on the number of uses is from a recent patch. It used to be unlimited.

There is still a time limit they have 60 second if only a couple people use it. And you can wait a little bit before opening the other side but I think that is limited as well.

Tips for portals. 1. It is a 6 skill point ability. 2. Zoom in all the way on your mini map radar. from where to drop it to just beyond the edge of your mini map is the exact range of the portal. 3. If your going to be portaling it is suggested you have a few stealth abilties, such as #4 on torch, decoy, viel, mass invisibility. 4. Be tremendously patient and learn to accept failure. Usually 1 out of 4 portals will have something go wrong with it, whether its being out of range, the wrong spot, or just that you get killed before you can put down the exit. You HAVE to learn to accept failure :) 5. Have fun.

Need to get to that hard to get to Vista? Feet blistering from all the fruitless jumping?? For 40 rubles, the use of this lovely portal can be YOURS!! Act now, this offer will only last a few seconds longer! Oh, you missed that jump and are reconsidering my offer? Very well. Please wait for cooldown.

If you need more info, have a chat with Solarity or Charlatan, I am sure they wouldn't mind showing you :)

I make extensive use of portals when doing jumping puzzles. If I fall I can portal back to where I just was so I do not have to do all of what came before again.

Sorry, I was going to post a URL to read, but after re-reading it after I posted it, I decided it was junk, so removed it. Basically, Portal is a utility skill that has 2 parts: Entry portal and Exit portal. Both have time limits, distance limits and recently changed to allow a max of 20 players to use it. Skill: Portal Entre Entry portal = 60s duration Exit portal = 20s duration Distance = what SuperHeroGeorge said. Duration: The exit portal does not extend the duration of the entry portal, so you have roughly 40s of portal duration. Its plenty of time if your users are standing on the portal, but not much time if they are not near it. Temporal Enchanter, a Master trait (IX) in the Inspiration line, will extend the portal timers. The cooldown for Portal Entre is 72s (recently increased). Various tricks to safely make a portal are use of Temporal Curtain (for speed), invisible skills such as The Prestige (Torch), utilities such as Decoy, Veil, and the elite skill: Mass Invisibility. Blink is another very useful skill, especially in WvW when you have to survive massive AOE barrage at an entry point and are able to blink past it without harm. Its tricky, as mentioned above, expect to fail a lot, especially while learning, as it is a high risk, high reward maneuver. When someone asks you to do portals, let them know that you are just learning and it may not work, especially due to your low level. At 30 you most likely do not have access to all of the skills that would help make portal bombing successful.

I'm glad someone asked...hesitant to play my mesmer in organized events because my not being very adept at the mechanics in WvW.

You don't have to do the Portal thing if you don't want. Just say "no" if you're not comfortable with it. When I run my Mesmer, sometimes I will, sometimes I won't.