Mevelios.4809

Rifle as a support weapon is something we already suspected; three weeks before the beta to see how it'll really work! I'd bet on it having blast finisher(s). One of the new relics heals on them, and ethereal blast combos (chaos storm/feedback/null field) provides chaos armor in its radius. Considering the update preview I wouldn't be surprised!

I'm always using it, simple as that. Thing is, since meta builds are tested on idle golems while your interrupts can only be triggered against an active target to get your actual numbers, idle testing isnt' relevant - hence since PoF, I'm just a laughingstock by the "metametameta" crowd. It takes a lot of practice too - landing well your interrupts isn't something you happen to master in just an hour or two. It's a heavily proactive build which puts the mirage's mechanics to work intensively, so it won't be enjoyable for everyone. You can expect an output largely comparable to the ordinary GS power builds, hence: you better be some intense melee fan like me to put hours into mastering it. Still, oh dear, what fun if (like me) you can't stand being a sitting duck just channeling constantly its autoattack! 😆 Note that it doesn't leave much room for error, for the sake of your output; most of your damages may not come from breaking mirage mirrors or triggering Sand shards at the end of your dodge, but both still imply being in melee - together they still provide 5 to 10% of your damages. Targets making you walk away will obviously hinder that, so it's really hard to measure well. Be sure of one thing: you may not necessarily hit the top dps spot, but you won't be competing with the healers for dealing damages!

Sure, here goes one! I basically gave it berserker gear, but you can mix & match the equipment bonuses, weapons/relic in use, runes and sigils depending your preferences. Most of it are the ordinary picks for any direct damage dealer. Dodging hits and removes boons, dazing causes a lot of vulnerability (+triggers your extra 0.5% damages per stack so it's a litteral 12% increased damages for you during 5 secs), the sword clones remove boons & keep stacking more vulnerability, then the offhand can vary depending your needs or preferences: the sword offhand is the go-to single target damage dealer thanks to its phantasm on low CD +successful block if you have the opportunity to land it (remember it generates a clone on success or may serve as an emergency daze); the focus, well, we all know how useful it can prove; the shield is my preference over multitarget contexts (the phantasms on both blocks blow up into an AoE) however the Tides of time do not trigger Dazzling (maybe because both stuns forth & back would be capable of causing too easily 10 stacks over multiple targets - otherwise it's a bug); finally the pistol can be a pick if you'd rather use Duelist's discipline over Phantasmal fury to frequently reset its phantasm, a valid strategy to bring out more damages from that weapon. Note that you'd better hold back on the Magic bullet sadly, since you may end up reducing its CD which is a bit counterproductive when it's the phantasm you want for more single-target damages (for phantasms, the swordsman is still stronger than the duelist). It's fun to pew-pew-pew so much but slash-slash-slash remains more effective. Then you can also opt out of the dueling spec to pick chaos, giving up some damage for better defense & access to Chaotic interruption (which can let you bet on fewer weapon skills in use to reset as often as possible blurred frenzy and any phantasm). Regarding utilities, with all the boon ripping the Phantasmal disenchanter is really strong. Crystal sands isn't really powerful as-is but contributes to clone production thanks to Self-deception and the sword ambush afterwards (+extra damages on shattering the Mirage mirror) to make it a decently damaging utility, though extremely precise. Finally, the Mantra of pain can serve as an extra damage dealing option (and small self-might buffing tool during iframes or when away from your target), but can largely be replaced with any option you fancy: Mirage advance then return can generate two clones and produce a little direct damage while saving up your endurance if you wanted an approach skill. Largely inefficient though, and no leap finisher on it so you won't even have the opportunity to get an armor out of it. Sand through glass as a stunbreaker, extra dodge option, and a mirage mirror. I usually combine it to a Jaunt back in place for easy clone production without spending more than the dodge time away from my target, but it's largely overkill regarding clones - with the rest of the options, my shatters usually can't keep up even under alacrity. Feedback & Null field can provide projectile protection for the former, boon/condition removal for the latter while both are ethereal field to trigger your leap finishers and get a chaos armor for a bit of extra survivability (don't expect much from it, but it's there). Arcane thievery works well in condition-intense environments for your survival, while stealing your target's boons to make way for your phantasmal disenchanter or your extra damages against boonless targets. Mimic may also find room if you'd rather reset immediately the disenchanter itself or crystal sands for some reason. The Phantasmal defender can work against multiple targets to take some pressure off you, but it's more of an open world thing. Finally, you can also use Mantra of distraction for more interrupts (the preparation also reducing Diversion's CD when you're not hitting something). I just can't get enough of this build and have fun since PoF with it!

I'll stick to my vacuum cleaner idea. Absorbs the opponent's magic. Cleans the room. Good multipurpose tool. Pretty sure I'm on to something big!

Since it's my favorite e-spec, I'm pretty confident I can disambiguate a few things about it: Mirage cloak is an offensive tool first to make use of ambush attacks, then with some experience it serves at the same time as a counterattack indeed. Still, you can simply use it as an offensive tool; ambushes vary depending the weapon and give each of them an identity. Sword is the melee counterattacker, but covers more than that - a tool of survival, a great clone summoning ability, and the boon bane. You can pump out a lot of shatter fodder that also builds up vulnerability stacks and rip boons from their targets; you can add an extra dodge ability; you can trigger every interrupt ability in your arsenal. My favorite! Mirage mantle pushes the boon ripping farther but I don't find any use for it in PvE thanks to the clones - I find Desert distortion to be more useful. Dagger is the ranged version of the counterattacker, but hits like a truck. You trade several of the options above to deal heavy direct damages that pierce, while retaining the daze on its ambush to again trigger any interrupt ability you may have. Unlike virtuoso, it can't be relied on as a condi weapon; mirage mantle provides three extra vulnerability stacks on it, which I find so-so considering there already are the stacks from the interrupts. I'd rather use desert distortion to pull off more ambush attacks. Greatsword is rather straightforward - direct damages, end of it. Might & vulnerability stacks to be pulled off from its ambush for self-buffing. Mirage cloak here only works as an offensive tool to pull off the ambush attack as often as possible, which is further reinforced by mirage mantle. Axe works similarly to the historical dueling spec+pistol offhand; a mix of direct & condi damages. Lots of finishers from it and a solid clone summoning; part of the faster-paced weapons that also offers some survivability like the sword (axes of symmetry against blurred frenzy). Mirage mantle is utterly useless in PvE on it. Scepter is a brute when you're the target of attacks, but falls a bit short without enemy attention. Mixes direct & condi damages too at range with a huge potential at generating clones (especially from its counter, the autoattack contributes too). But kitten, it's slow! Fully focused on channeling attacks, though mirage mantle gives quickness on ambush to make it act faster. Finally the staff - the most passive of them, since almost everything relies on its autoattack & ambush. Buffing potential, full focus on condi damages while offering both an ethereal field & finishers. Mirage mantle pushes farther the buffing with alacrity, but takes some careful positioning to be consistent. Desert distortion turns our shatter 4 into an offensive ability, against mirage mantle for some more-or-less handy uses; Dune cloak works well on power builds to rip off boons regardless of the weapon used so the domination spec works its magic, whereas condi builds will favor Infinite horizon; Self-deception will pump out much needed clones, against Riddle of sand which I, uh, personally can't care less about since it's a condi trait when I'd rather bring more clones to cast their ambushes with me on such builds. IMO, it's the most proactive gameplay. Easy to start with, harder to master to find the survivability the e-spec is known for; the effort is worth the reward, despite part of its numbers being hard to evaluate - counters mean facing an active target, not some idle golem. It's mobile and doesn't let up the pressure on its targets, it lets you choose between timing a counter or just going fully on the offensive, and ambushes give more depth to mainhand weapons to further refine your play style; but I'm biased, this is what I enjoy the most since PoF!

😳 No, I can only disagree. You've been playing the staff too much, it's the only weapon on mirage that may encourage standing in place for the sake of Mirage mantle. The very principle of mirage cloak replacing the ordinary dodge roll sure is to pull out ambushes, but also to keep acting instead of waiting for the roll to unfold. The sword even makes you jump everywhere thanks to its ambush, the axe keeps you moving while attacking too, the mirage utilities make you move around for three out of the four of them.

That one is simply overperforming, just as Elusive mind used to with its former stunbreak. Frustrating, but honestly fairer towards the whole game, even if there are other builds overperforming as well.

Not sure it would make much of a difference, player effects are a lot more intense; what I'm most sensible to is first the sound annoyance they produce (so much I just mute the game, surely doesn't incite me to purchase one of the music toys eh) second the meaningless visual clutter. Yeah, it may incite other purchases, but c'mon - just give back players the choice!

Make it possible to hide virtuoso's daggers, ranger's pets and all minis regardless of map load; just keep the ranger pets where it's relevant. Now that would reduce the visual AND sound clutter that annoys me the most. Doubt it'll happen - we could hide minis before, now they're imposed.

Indeed; single player games are harder. If you crave a challenge, just ask for a few titles! MMOs have huge fees to keep their services working. They need a comparably huge player base to keep it running, so they can't cater exclusively to the most reactive ones, the most knowledgeable ones, and so on and so forth - whichever name you use pertaining to that umbrella term of "player skill". Hence: you can take off your gear! They didn't fail, they need to consider the largest player base possible. Their very economical model relies on it; this is a business, not a charity.

If I got the idea right, it's the opposition between firebrands not having any benefit from casting the mantra on its own (such as Mantra of potence) against the mesmer actually gaining something out of it (the might stacks from the preparation of Mantra of pain) and a trait that may reinforce them (Restorative mantras). Instead, the firebrand gets a third, more potent cast at the cost of remaining idle for two seconds. There's then indeed the question of whether the benefit is worth the lengthy cast; I'd definitely side with those who think it isn't sadly. They didn't age well IMO over the years.

I'm not denying that; it's true that I didn't detail my idea any farther. It could simply replace another trait rather than this particular one such as Master of manipulation, however I do not have a huge experience of PvP/WvW so I'd rather ask for the opinion of regulars in such content (I'd like such players' insight on this particular subject) whether they find use in it or not. Method of madness seems more popular and I definitely get why since you can already get aegis out of it alongside the rest we know of the Lesser chaos storm; still our manipulation utilities do come handy so I wouldn't blindly ask for the current master of manipulation to be removed. Having both the current & coming forms of Illusionary defense on the same line would be much fairer, otherwise on different lines they could cumulate on the chaos spec and make something excessive. I do find the mechanic interesting (and logical) in itself for the new effect. It fits well the coming return of support mesmer; I'm really having trouble seeing it'll come at the cost of a tanky cumulative option which brings us more or less on par with heavy armor wielders for better melee survival. I could disregard it to solo champions, but much less for the sake of more challenging content while wearing toughness gear (legendary targets & instanced group content) or during meta events in open world, where I can't see a kitten thing with the visual clutter. It's really tied to what I experience in melee and the difference in how long I stay up; being at range is much safer. It's hard indeed, yet I find it fair considering the cumulative opportunity it offers (even on a somewhat average upkeep of three stacks, it's still a reduction close to half of incoming damages, it's already huge). It can easily be compared to the catalyst's Hardened auras, which are a lot easier to maintain (duration renewal at each new stack for max 10s length), however for less effectiveness (max 10% against our hard-to-achieve 25%). Here's the thing (at least my way of using it): I rely on Illusionary defense as some sort of defensive burst (we're used to offensive ones, so here's the opposite) whenever I find myself running low on endurance and want to build it back. That's why I find the way it works fair - a pain to maintain, but the objective isn't so much to keep it up at length; it's to provide an emergency extra defense when all other means are about to miss. An easy way to accumulate such stacks is to link Sand through glass into Jaunt back where you used the evade, so your target doesn't try to follow you. If you already had a clone up (which you definitely should playing this way) with Self-deception active (the whole point of the synergy between these respective traits) while wielding a sword to make use of its ambush attack, you get a full second of evading to generate three stacks, a very welcome help when under high pressure. Mirage advance (which despite its animation is not a leap finisher) & retreat can reliably provide two more, the advance not displacing you randomly around your target - in opposition to Illusionary ambush, though it still generates as many stacks when wielding a sword. Crystal sands does allow two stacks as well, same as the healing False oasis despite a delay. Of course, you can already rely on every Mirage mirror-generating skill for an evened, sustained lower amount of stacks. Still, I keep thinking roles (name them in the ordinary tank/healer/DmgDealer triad on on what's closer to GW2 actual play, with strike DD/condi DD/support) shouldn't be exclusively tied to a single e-spec to allow players to find which form they enjoy the most, so there's more to consider for the sake of synergies with other e-specs. Pulling off all five stacks of defense with chrono is harder for its lower illusion summoning ability, but there are still core clone/phantasm utilities (you don't want the Decoy because of its stealth, yet you still have the Well of precognition generating aegis on each pulse). On the opposite, virtuoso can be even more adept at maintaining all five stacks with its incredible blade output that outshines even the mirage's clones. Really, losing the current illusionary defense is a huge loss IMO for some handy tanky profile that lets you train with guildmates or friends on tougher targets! Maybe it'd even put virtuoso already on par with mirage for soloing big game targets. Gotta test it firsthand now! In real gameplay however, making up an average %reduction as if damages always were incoming linearily is too risky a thing. This is unlike heal or damage averages; here the approach is one of a tank, for whom at the first sign of a heavy blow coming your way when all defenses are down, you simply end up out of the fight and ruin it, if it relied on you enduring the attacks. Hence the possibility of cumulating the effects for a profession you'd otherwise never imagine taking hits! Any boon donkey can indeed provide protection, and with the coming update, so would we. Take away these current defensive stacks, and that's for sure a tanky possibility that'll disappear with it when it could instead replace Master of manipulation - though again, I'd like the input of PvP/WvW regulars, whether they really rely on it or not (since in PvE, we clearly won't even with the coming update)!

If DPS is too high to your taste, walk into a raid naked? Problem fixed! Maybe you'll even find a hidden achievement. I mean, nothing prevents anyone finding the game too easy to impose a handicap on themselves! Harder with a group, but pretty sure you can find some challenge-starved players and ask them to do the same. Makes for some content to show when advertising your guild!

Though I'm not targeting that specific boon, we agree on this point - I find it disturbing as well that it's tied to having chaos armor, especially (in my view) considering the discrepancies in access to it between weapons. Maybe I wasn't clear enough: they're cumulative. Protection & Illusionary defense can work hand in hand for a massive damage reduction, hence my part about reducing the attractiveness of melee weapons by removing it. It's a pain to maintain since duration of all stacks doesn't reset on acquiring a new one, still the benefit is simply colossal when you're not sitting at 1200 range but prefer bringing the fight close & personal like me. You can endure hits as well as heavy armor wielders. Most builds will indeed be able to maintain two, occasionally three stacks at most; it's still a nice reduction for any mesmer willing to play in melee despite its light armor, and as a mirage main, obviously Self-deception works wonders with it. Deceptive evasion is still an option for others, but remains the most handy for a mirage for a far higher survivability against bosses, legendaries, or champions to fight on your own. If you know what you're doing, you can make some tanky, unkillable mirage if you want to (more than ordinary). That's why it's a huge loss for me; all users regardless of specs can benefit from it, but a mirage with high toughness can focus attention of bosses/legendaries and so on to assist friends or guildmates learning the ropes on some activities. Without it I wouldn't be as confident jumping into melee as I do currently!

To get farther into the details, I'd classify the different e-specs as follows for novice-friendly use: virtuoso > mirage > chrono. It takes some getting used to with chronomancer for its wells and their delayed activation, the continuum split and the management of illusions for your shatter skills, so I'd put it as the least friendly. Virtuoso as the easiest to get used to simply because there are no clones, they're stored on you as blades to feed your bladesongs; mirage in-between, because your illusions summoning potential is higher than chrono, the skills do not take as much time as the chrono's wells to trigger, but you may want to keep clones around to feed your debuffs. Finally if we're adding core mesmer to the list, I'd put it between mirage & chrono - but you're missing on such utilities that it's rather something to consider after acquiring experience with the class. When opposing power & condition builds, power builds are easier to manage for a novice rather than condition ones because of how clones work. They're capable of spreading a weaker version of your conditions on auto-attacks, so you won't be willing to shatter them blindly unless there's a real interest; for power builds, only sword wielders may want to keep them around a bit to feed the vulnerability stacks or rid their target of boons. Otherwise, power builds only use clones as shatter fodder. For having fun, only you can tell - @Roadkizzle.2157 finds mirage boring after one year playing, I've been enjoying it the most out of our e-specs since its release five years and a half ago. Keep looking for hero points to try as many options as possible! Chrono & virtuoso alter their shatter options to stay closer to core mesmer gameplay, mirage disregards it to alter its dodges and keep acting (instead of the rolling animation), allowing special attacks in the meantime depending which weapon you're using. Maybe that'll help you have an idea of what you'd favor over the others! In the variety of possible gameplays, I'd classify mirage as the most varied, chrono as the least. The mirage's ambushes (see the link above) and Mirage mantle allow a large variety of possibilities, not necessarily the most efficient, but clearly with the most choices possible IMO for the sake of your fun. Chronomancer is quite the opposite since all wells are power-based skills and often is hard-pressed to keep up with its ability to provide precious boons (quickness and alacrity), which is understandable though considering how powerful they are. Virtuoso in-between as there are fewer opportunities than mirage to match your favorite specialisations, but clearly more than chronomancer!

Virtuoso's a safe pick indeed. If you play it as a condition damage dealer, Jagged mind and Bloodsong work well together, even moreso with the dueling spec for Sharper images, Master fencer and Duelist's discipline (if you fancy the pistol) on the offensive side, with your choice amongst other dueling traits for the defensive side. Add the illusion spec and you can safely recover a fair amount of health while dishing out as much condition damage as you can! The power side can hit hard too, going down the domination (for Egotism & Vicious expression) & dueling (for Superiority complex) specs. The dagger anyway is a ranged weapon, so you have the safety from playing at range; and if you don't feel confident, you can rely on the inspiration spec to have better self-healing (especially for the power build). You can mix & match skills and traits depending your needs, so feel free to experiment!

They do care, unless it's a happy (and huge) coincidence so much of the ideas we mentioned in the linked topics were pushed for the next update. It doesn't prevent playing any current build we may have, besides a tanky one. The new compounding power is fine with me, it brings in line the bonus with its power-based counterpart. The coming Illusionary membrane change I'm more doubtful about; I imagine it'll rather be a flat stat gain instead of the former 10% condi damage (basically both traits simply exchange the nature of their bonuses) which is fine for my personal use, but the real issue IMO after some thought is tying it to having the chaos armor. The staff will be in an even better position than it already is against other condi weapons, the axe being the only one providing a leap finisher (so you still need to source the ethereal field somehow, against the staff's fourth skill & chaos storm+phase retreat); even moreso for the mirage e-spec which will happily jaunt in any ethereal field. I worry a bit this will drive us down a single path to play - virtuoso may compete, but even if it does the staff may completely overshadow every other condi weapon.

I do remember some saying at its release that GW2 was getting rid of the ever present triad tank/healer/damage dealer. Maybe that wasn't official marketing (yet I kinda remember the insertion of a heal skill presented as the solution to the healer role through official canals) but I'm pretty sure there were such a saying going around, so I get what @Sansar.1302 refers to. Using more than anything melee weapons, I can assure you there are solutions. The main threat largely comes from ranged attackers you can hardly pay attention to because of their spread, unlike melee enemies; both dueling & chaos specs can help, even if chrono has indeed the least ability (IMO) to endure pressure. I'll disregard chrono traits, if you've been playing mostly that e-spec, you surely know them well enough! Dueling offers vigor on crits, Evasive mirror, or even two blindness sources in the form of Ineptitude and Blinding dissipation (for the latter, I'd rather bet on evasive mirror on this line). Using the shield offers you two blocks for two phantasms that blow themselves up in an AoE with a 10sec frame for use on Déjà vu, while Tides of time can work in pair with Ineptitude after stunning and gets rid of projectiles on its way, offering a longer survival. The sword offhand is a much more offensive option that doesn't really compare on defense against the shield, Illusionary riposte only counters a single attack then leaves a 0.5sec evade frame even if its CD is much faster. I'd resort to a sword on big game hunting; if surrounded by trash mobs however, I'd be more confident wielding a focus to pull several of them, dispatch them quickly, and resort to the Phantasmal warden to cover me from more ranged targets. Chaos resorts rather to buffs. Illusionary defense's my favorite as a mirage when cumulated to protection out of my leap finishers for chaos armor (the Swap after Illusionary leap is one of them), but as a chrono you'd surely have more use for Master of manipulation by including skills such as Mimic (for any utility of your choice) or Arcane thievery if you notice some targets being hard on you with conditions. Blink in a smaller measure as a stunbreak if you're facing targets landing a lot of them; it can also let you reach without delay ranged targets you may find menacing. To stay on the topic of the chaos spec however, Method of madness is a largely valuable choice too - that's a Chaos storm with slightly less power damage (duh) and a shorter poison duration, but you're looking at it defensively as a daze on cast and aegis/resolution rolls - the first line is loaded with valuables. The second is your favorite pick between Chaotic transference (little use without a staff) and Auspicious anguish which you can influence with more ease if you lack tools to get rid of conditions; the third is up to you between CD reductions from interrupts (shield and focus synergy) or stability from shatters, which won't be lost in the coming update. Then you've got the bunch of utilities. Beyond the manipulations above, humor me a bit - there are mantras for dazes, condition cleansing or stab+stunbreak. On a much more active play and disregarding the wells you know well, Feedback can provide extra safety from projectiles and the Phantasmal defender can take some heat off of you. As a chrono you've got access to alacrity, so even lengthy CDs can be shortened, as well as quickness if you want; despite mirage being my favorite, I've spent a fair amount of time playing chrono too, and very rarely have I croaked more than once during story battles (if I did go down). It's not as convenient as an extra health bar or a single instant use offering aegis on top of a healing, but we do have the tools to survive - a bit of observation on your foes will let you quickly identify which ones are the best suited for the situation! And to be on the safe side, I'm using berserker gear, not some combination increasing vitality and/or toughness.

@ShadowKatt.6740 It's hard trying to get through to someone who refuses to listen (or read in this case), so it'll be my last reaction: simply through the new Illusionary inspiration, we'll be getting a 20% healing buff. That's on top of extra sources of protection and regen, including in the chaos spec. If that's taking away our self-sustain, then I'm absolutely disastrous at building my favorite character. You also mentioned you were longing for profession exclusives - that I'll disagree with. That's the best way to go down having only one profile doing a single thing, making potential competitors useless and unwanted. What if it's a role you enjoy, but in its exclusive and single form, you just dislike its gameplay? I'd skip and leave for another game. You want to provide quickness, but dislike the chrono's wells? You can play firebrand. You dislike the chrono's wells but want to provide alacrity? There's the renegade. Back when both buffs were constantly available to the chrono, sure I liked it better but that's already been mentioned by someone else: it was toxic to the game. You play solo so you surely didn't realize it, but back then I'd be pestered (to be polite) anytime I joined a group to switch to chrono. It was just sickening at some point to be constantly told "play this thing so we have fun". That "we" didn't include me. Don't be afraid of change, especially of this one that largely reproduces what we already had, moving it around a bit in each spec while providing new benefits - a real buff. I'm about to lose Illusionary defense in its current form, which I highly value for my survival as a melee mesmer. I'm not turning it into an opportunity for a lengthy rant as if it objectively were a disastrous loss for absolutely every mesmer, because it isn't - simply a shame for melee weapons viability... in MY opinion only, a worry nobody has openly shared so far (unless I missed it). @Roadkizzle.2157 For what we lack in self sustain, we have a lot of dodging/blocking skills spread throughout our weapons, as well as dazes and aegis/stability/stun breaks. Which build were you having trouble with? Surely something can be worked out to make it more resilient, it'd be a nice opportunity to change gears too!

The way I see it, the reason is mainly because our mantras date back to the early days of the game, which were playing much slower than nowadays. Firebrand came with PoF and as such is more in line with how the game plays today, hence my remarks why wouldn't I make use of them despite our few sources of quickness. They're less reliable than the Firebrand's considering the huge cost I mentioned above - only our elite skill Time warp can get around these, but 120sec CD so it's rarely available over a lengthy fight. That's mostly out of consideration for a PvE context though; in WvW and in a measure for PvP, concentration/power break and resolve/power cleanse can be powerful tools. Still, since there's that handy tool called "competitive split" , pretty sure something can be cooked up!

Several effects may overlap one another, still firebrand's are more practical to make use of. I only have little experience of WvW so I'd be curious to learn how do you see them entering such competition that one spec would outshine the other, when they can work together in synergy?

Read again my last paragraph above please. The second quote tickled me wrong, but the last paragraph after that disambiguates what's disturbing you since such confusing wording is already present in other professions/e-specs (engineer, renegade, firebrand...).

That's the thing, our mantras do not work the same way: similar cast time but no stronger final charge, one less cast, and effects affecting allies are very limited. Recovery preparation offers a small ally heal, but its skill (power return) doesn't; pain offers a short-lived might, but power spike is rather meant for damage dealers; concentration provides aegis & stability, but power break offers only more stability which is redundant; resolve offers a condi cleanse, but power cleanse does the exact same thing - redundancy again. Distraction/power lock both have zero effect on allies. Firebrand's mantras are tied to the very spec rather than the guardian profession, the very spec known to be reliable in providing quickness to halve these lengthy casts; on our end it's largely limited to chrono, the few other opportunities being tied to domination spec and interrupts (meaningless for a support mesmer), to illusions spec by summoning phantasms (which won't be exactly performing as well as chaos/inspiration so it's unlikely, hence my few remarks above what could work for a core mesmer with a change in the signet of inspiration) or to mirage's mantle requiring wielding a scepter, which has zero support function. I'm not a fan of mantras because of their cast time, but when distancing myself from my personal taste I also don't find it worthwhile considering the effects - maybe resolve/power cleanse if the situation calls for it, but no more! I wouldn't even dare comparing firebrand & mesmer mantras, just looking at Power return against Restoring reprieve says it all - even the modifiers themselves, below 50% hp or not.

C'mon now. Two stacks per warlock, that's 4% for 5 seconds, and it's for a power-based modifier on a condi-based weapon. It's definitely something that could've been removed; grab the domination spec, that's 8 stacks for 8 secs per daze - which you'll land with Chaos storm! Especially if you play solo, you'll get more out of extra confusion stacks. Well, playing solo is not the only way to play mesmer. Several of us are rejoicing over these announced changes, even if some have a few mitigated feelings (including me, over illusionary defense), so yes - there are reasons to keep playing mesmer! It's not as grim as you make it out to be; it's the wording that can be confusing, since several skills refer to "provides X buff to you and nearby allies". Renegade's Heroic command reads the same way, "grant nearby allies might": in practice the renegade itself is included in this, so I highly doubt these traits will exclusively provide their buffs to allies but not to the mesmer.

One more thing I forgot to add regarding the chaos spec: the higher frequency of chaos armor output is likely to allow a longer protection uptime, though conditioned to taking hits. Since the mesmer will likely heal only in close vicinity, Blink could offer some short relief coupled to Master of manipulation before having the time to pump out illusions or shatter them (or prepare mantras for whoever fancies it), which comes in immediate competition with Illusionary defense that's supposed to offer, well, more protection after the update. I won't repeat my reasoning over the loss of that stacking defense for a melee player such as myself, but Mimic also is a manipulation and could find its place on player preference. Choices have to be made, however both cases have their ups and downs!