Is this for PvP or PvE? For PvP, I would keep Domination and scrap Illusions. Domination is great for stacking vulnerability, which gives you stronger duelling and burst in PvP, but in PvE, unless you’re solo, whatever you’re fighting will likely have 25 stacks of vulnerability on it by default from the other players. Domination also has some neat interactions with interrupts and boon stripping, which both don’t mean much in PvE. I would take Mental Anguish over Imagined Burden if you’re taking the trait line in PvP, or Power Block if you’re taking a bunch of interrupts (it has amazing synergy with Mantra of Distraction).
If it’s PvE, you can drop Domination and go for Illusions. The main reason for Illusions is the reduced cooldowns. You get to cast phantasms more, you get to use your shatters (especially Continuum Split) more often… it’s super handy, especially in a group situation which is where Mesmer’s support tools really shine.
One thing… if this is for PvE, you may want to consider dropping mantras once you get Chronomancer. Chronomancer’s wells, with the exception of Well of Precognition which is beyond useless since its nerf, are just excellent. If you eventually set up your build for quickness sharing, then there won’t be much space for mantras (except maybe the heal mantra) either way. For solo PvE, mantras are passable, but I personally find them rather tedious and clunky to use in long fights. It’s up to you, though.
As for whether to use shield or not, it really boils down to what kind of content you’re playing. I find shield great for dealing with large groups of trash mobs. It’s also hands down the best support off-hand that Mesmer has access to, since it enables you to maintain permanent alacrity uptime for yourself and your group. Sword off-hand is the most reliable single target DPS that Mesmer has access to, thanks to its phantasm, and I use it when I’m pugging fractals/dungeons or when I’m soloing any kind of difficult content.
Hope that helped.
