Many Mesmer questions - gear / style optimization

[ianervan.7915]

Fellow mesmers,

I'd like to optimize my gear, and I'm also looking for whatever increases fun.Even partial answers would be helpful.

Quick intro for context:I almost only play (power) Mirage these days. No more rolling on the floor is great for my aristocratic-themed character. Ambush on greatsword is great for tagging, and sword ambush adds a lot. I play open PvE and WvW, while PvP only sometimes for dailies. Might try raids.Some of the choices I make are less optimal due to choice of style over min-maxing, but I still want to optimize as much as possible.

Without further ado:

1. I have to select stats on Ascended Banner of the Dauntless Commander. This needs to be permanent, so I need the best choice that works in general. Should prefix be "commander's", or "cavalier's", "berserker's" or something else? Moreover, is there a huge difference between these three; if I decide to choose commander's (for theme purposes) am I crippling myself too much over, say, berserker's?

2. a) GS / sword-sword - for open PvE - what sigils, , runes, traits? When it comes to runes, I would appreciate few choices instead of just one.b) Same thing but for WvW (general purpose; not so much for 1 on 1 obviously).

3. a) GS / sword-pistol - for open PvE - what sigils, , runes, traits?b) Same thing but for WvW (general purpose; not so much for 1 on 1 obviously).

4. If I wanted to build around scepter for small skirmishers or one on one in WvW, what would be optimal gear, other weapons, food..?

5. Best underwater setup for WvW. Yes, you read that correctly. If all I wanted to do was sit in the water like a shark, as long as possible, hunting enemies there, even when outnumbered (hit and run if need be), what gear / traits / sigils / food would you recommend? I'm already using swimming infusion. If the answer is Chrono, what would be the best non-Chrono version?

6. If I wanted a build for nothing else but defending a camp in WvW, what would be the optimal setup (including food)? I don't even need to kill anyone, just survive and prevent camp capture. Is this viable at all? I'm aware that mesmers are not guardians, and I'm aware that tanking isn't really a thing in this game, but I vaguely remember a bunker PvP build back in the day. If I'm in stealth mode, does that allow enemy to capture the camp as if I'm not there? Same thing as before - if Chrono is the answer, what would be the second best option?

7. a) In open PvE, when would you use scepter and when would you use staff, over say greatsword (which is awesome for tagging) or sword? I see that scepter is listed as a good optional weapon in raids, so I take it in open PvE it would be better vs bosses than GS/SW? How big a difference is it anyway, one way or another?b) What would be roughly the optimal setup (weapons, runes, traits..) to do Chak meta, Tarir meta, to kill Doppelganger faster..? To be fair, most of open PvE can be done by pressing "1", so these are just optimization questions.

8. Focus, what is it good for? What does it do better?

9. Are there some (PvE) areas in the game (other than puzzles) that favor a mesmer? Even if it only means portaling others.

10. Opinion on Rune of Speed. I tried this in PvP just to see how it is and.. it's entertaining. Not entirely sold but it's definitely interesting.

Any suggestions on how to make mesmer more fun and effective are welcome.

[Safandula.8723]

For open world chrono would be much better. Dueling+illu for s+fo/s+s for single bosses and dueling+domi for s+fo/gs for better cleave.U pull with focus 4, pop up phantasms > sigil of ether> repeatMirage can work as well, but chrono has 2 times more dmg, and is more interesting to play imo.For skills it would be blink, disenchanter and skill that pop 2 clones - good for bursting.Build suffers from 0 condi cleanses but it faceroll over all open world