Guild Wars 2

I bought the expansion and redeemed the code, but still unable to use the shield (im mesmer) or unlock the new skills.. what am I missing here? sorry if this is a dumb question

You need to train the elite spec before you can use it, just like you have to train other specialization lines.

Go to the training tab of the Hero panel. Elite specs are at the bottom of the list. You only need the bare minimum to unlock the Shield for use, but you’ll need to fully train it if you want all the traits and utilities as well.

Once you train it, you also need to equip it. In the Build panel, you have to slot Chronomancer into the bottom your 3 chosen trait trees (elite specs can ONLY go in the bottom).

Yep I ran into this on my necro that I rushed to 80 before the xpac. I horded all the skill points I could and only developed the lines that I used. I ended up having to blow my stash of points to get to reaper.