Coming back after 5 or so years ...

So when I quit the game 5 or so years ago I had a level 80 mesmer. I am trying to come back to the game. Any recommendations on getting me up to speed? Builds, etc...

Recommendation: Just play :D

If you are just interested in open world and exploration at first I'd say, you can play literally anything. Try to unlock the elite specializations and get used to their mechanics. (Continuum Split for Chrono and Mirage Cloak for Mirage).Sure we can give you a high end build but until you have the gear to play it you'll need another playable variant first.If you post what gear you have on your mesmer I'd be willing to give you some hints on what to play and what not to play.Also useful to know would be if you have any of the elite specs unlocked.

In general you can say that builds depend on the content you want to do. metabattle.com grants you a quick overview of what can be played but the builds there are not the optimal variants sometimes.

If you don't have any of the elite specs unlocked yet, I'd recommend running power mesmer for open world PvE while you unlock them. Probably a build like this. The sigil and runes are pretty budget (but still good) and if you have trouble getting the gear remember you can get named armor and weapons for cheaper than the cost of crafting them.

Then once you unlock the elite specs you can start to experiment with them and look for more "meta" builds. In general, Chronomancer is an offensive support spec, focused on generating boons, while Mirage is a condition damage spec with a focus on elusiveness and mobility.

Have fun! :)

If/when you unlock the elite specs, you might want to check out this thread: https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/discussion/30394/open-world-domination-mirage#latest

As the title suggests, it's focused on open world builds for the Mirage elite spec. You'll see build links, discussion, as well as videos of the builds in action. As Creaitov.6328 notes, Mirage is a condition damage spec (although it can be played with power) with a lot of mobility and evasion. As a result, it's quite strong defensively, but takes longer than a power spec to ramp up damage. This lends itself well to taking down stronger enemies (i.e. champions and even many legendary bosses) that deal a lot of damage and have a lot of health.

@Crumb.9283 said:So when I quit the game 5 or so years ago I had a level 80 mesmer. I am trying to come back to the game. Any recommendations on getting me up to speed? Builds, etc...

I recommend you send your gold & stuff to my mail before you finish the week & leave for another 5 years.

Don't even bother with power Chrono, I would say all the power traits have been nerfed or replaced with a weaker trait. A lot of traits are weak or pointless, look at what they did to blinding dissipation (1 blind every 30sec - via CoF shatter) as opposed to blind on shatter. Shatter play was killed to buff condi skills and latest eliite (Mirage). I recommend going straight to Mirage otherwise you'll quit again out of frustration. Build options are limited except for Mirage. Basically they gave Mes a bunch of great traits and skills, and eventually nerfed them all to uselessness so Mes is a bit of a mess at the moment in PVP, but if you want to PvE then you can get away with anything.

@Crumb.9283 said:So when I quit the game 5 or so years ago I had a level 80 mesmer. I am trying to come back to the game. Any recommendations on getting me up to speed? Builds, etc...

I started with the game about 4.5 years ago, probably around the time you left, and started with Mesmer as the first class.

I will avoid PvP. PvE wise, for open world you have chrono for power and mirage for condi. I think as balance currently stands, Mesmer is one of the best, if not the best class in open world PvE.

Group PvE, same as above, but not as strong. Chrono support is also still viable.

Overall, Mesmer in PvE is pretty good. Surely much better than pre HoT era.

I recommend GW2 meta for detailed builds.