What's the current Mesmer status?

Hi everyone! Relatively new-ish player here being heavily overwhelmed by the imminent balance update and overall status of the game in general. Having played a few different professions up to 80, I decided to settle on Mesmer as my main and I've been enjoying core Mesmer quite a bit on the road to 80, but now that I'm there and have begun thinking on Elite specs I keep running into a ton of outdated information and possible knee-jerk reactions to the latest balance update which have left me very confused as to the current state of both specs. My focus lies exclusively in PvE, starting with Open World for now but gradually moving into dungeons and, hopefully, fractals and raids before too long. I won't be touching PvP with a 10-foot pole, I'd just like to focus on a profession that would be welcome in any kind of PvE content and a friend is already playing a Soulbeast/Druid.

Basically, I'd appreciate it if anyone could shed some light on the current Mesmer status between its elite specs and, especially, compared to other professions in the game; would it still be a good idea to work towards gearing a support Chrono following the metabattle/snowcrows builds as a baseline or would it be better to go for a power chrono build? And would a condi DPS Axe/torch or Staff Mirage still the best overall go-to build for that spec? I understand that the latest balance update is scheduled to go live sometime today, but I figure knowledgeable players would have more or less an idea as to how these changes will impact the profession as a whole, which is what I'm looking for.

Thanks in advance for any replies!

The current state of Mesmer, let's see...

Core Mesmer is very weak in most situations compared to it's Elite Specialization counterparts, so I'll leave this out.

Boon Chronomancer was my main right before I stopped playing any content in the game, it's still good(far cry from what it used to be) and is probably something I recommend you make as your first priority because of how useful they are in PvE.You should try to get your first gear set as close to 100% boon duration as possible, this is achieved with mixing diviner with berserker/assassin gear, as well as using sigil of concentration; this is good for learning rotations, and when you get flawless with your rotations it's still really great for teammates who are out of position and miss potential boon application.You can mix more berserker/assassin stats into your gear when you feel like you can go for more damage, while still maintaining close to 100% quick/alac on your allies.Boon Chronomancer is very good for you, your teammates, and the game because it makes playing feel smoother, and interesting.Power Chronomancer is still viable, but competing with other DPS classes it isn't the best, difference between power and boon is power just completely focuses on dealing damage itself and doesn't output any boons for allies, and even relies on a Boon Chrono to feel optimal.

Condi Mirage is viable too, it has very high single target damage(damage varies with the target), but also struggles to compete with other DPS classes, and similarly to Power Chrono, it relies on a Boon Chrono to feel optimal.

It saddens me to see that you posted this nearly 3 weeks ago and haven't gotten one reply which only confirms my fears for the state of mesmer, and the health of the game as a whole.

The state is the same as from start of beginning. Nothing change. If u want - u do.dps ? so if u want be in real top raid runs be ready don't have any main and swap dps 4+ times, on one boss necro, second condi mirage, next power holo ant etc.

on fractals - boon ok, for example I dont feel any nerf wiht my rotation, and for sup heal chrno in setup wiht 4 necro present some boost.power dps is ok too, condi ok too, but most pt don't like condi(no matter make real dps or not) and write pdps. And otfen they write dps and mean pdps )

open world ? - anyone is ok u u understand mechanic

@Cuddly.5340 said:It saddens me to see that you posted this nearly 3 weeks ago and haven't gotten one reply which only confirms my fears for the state of mesmer, and the health of the game as a whole.

I actually read the OP when it was first made and bookmarked it which alerted me to replies. :) My long term plan with my lovely mesmer was to build a support chrono, but I got discouraged by the back to back nerfs since last December. Is it still worth gearing and learning for PvE in light of its nerfs and the buffing/emergence of other supports?

Is gameplay concentrated from usein minic+soi in continuim split - yes, nerf preset.If u not have soi in active unititi list at all, and party understant where they should stand - no any nerf, only boost.

I heal tempest, druid, scrouge, or srcapper - mesmer still best supp. Btv about 40% run on cms+t4 I do as chrno wiht tempest heal.