Check metabattle for our most effective build —- chronophantasm shatter(inspiration/illusion/chrono).
It is a hybrid damage build with focus on condition. The key concept is to keep a high number of illusions to repeatedly shatter and reset cooldowns. All the traits taken have great synergy with illusion generation and shatter.
The other less viable but still decent build(I think) are burst power shatter(domi/inspiration/chrono) and support boon share shatter(chaos/inspiration/chrono).
For the meta build, we are strong against most necro and revenant builds. It has decent sustain to stalemate bruiser builds at least for a reasonably long time. Good enough against D/P thief.
It struggles against Longbow trapper DH, power warrior, staff vault spam thief. These 3 builds have very high burst damage, good condition cleanse, and good clone cleaving.
For strong builds, just check metabattle. I personally think for solo players, power DH and warrior are really strong for their great damage sustain. But in coordinated environment, necro with ele and engi support are the best teamfight carry. Ranger(Druid) is the king in small skirmishes but a bit lacking in teamfight. Mesmer and thief are pretty good solo carry due to mobility but require a bit more skills(both 1v1 mechanical and map awareness).
Mostly the role for mesmer didn’t change compared to your time. You are still mostly a roamer and damage dealer. But compared to old burst power build, the new chronophantasm mesmer has much better 1v1s. However, your damage is lower so it is much harder to do well in small skirmishes. Your burst damage is not that high and because most of your damage is condition so they can be either cleansed or endured through. So there are many bad 2v2 matchups for you. The key to success is a good execution of moa and portal play.
