Artificing very much uses the materials that drop off of enemies. I'm a level 237 Artificier. I would know.

I've only done jewel crafting so far. Not really sure why I didn't pick up a second at the same time but at this point it hardly matters, I have so many excess materials it's not even funny. I'm enjoying the crafting a lot though. It's nice actually using some of the items you make. I don't think I ever used a single item I made in WoW crafting.

You're right, it does. Dunno what I was thinking.

Mmmmm I feel sexy after replacing nearly my entire gear lineup with new level 60 stuff for under 5 silver.

Seriously, the prices on the TP are freaking ridiculous lol.

Alright. Guess who just deleted his Charr Mesmer (really, I don't like the mesmers much)

Mesmers are boss

Mesmers require a deceptive mindset. They tank via distraction, really. Staff mesmers are downright scary: you don't know what they'll do, but you know it will be bad (or good, if you are their ally).

With all the random stuff, sometimes even a staff mesmer doesn't know what he'll do

Just hit 60 on my Warrior. I'm trying to farm 16 more PVP emblems tonight to get the 60 shoulders. 229 emblems is a ridiculous amount for one piece of gear.

You know, I didn't really like them either. Maybe they get better at higher levels, but I got tired of feeling like I was just auto-attacking to build up my illusions, so I could blow them up.

The greatsword was the only weapon that really made me feel like I was doing something different, and I still didn't enjoy it all that much.

My major problem is that all the illusions disappear when your target dies. It's especially frustrating during DEs, when a mob is alive long enough to get maybe 1 illusion running before the mob dies, and you have to tab to the next, with no illusions running. I feel like there should be a handful of seconds where your illusions persist without an active attack target before they disappear.