The mesmer has always needed more effort and play skill to keep on top of things. dueling and roaming mesmer no doubt is great and has a fun time. With some good builds you could do 1vX pretty decently.
in zergs they feel more like utility bots, but it’s because commanders or the group largely doesn’t prioritize calling out or asking for mesmer skills other than veils etc, mesmers can still do alot of good stuff like insane downing people with reflects in a zerg. But yes it takes a lot of work, and other classes have some important core things they do well which makes mesmer seem like a topping in a zerg setting.
PvE is great fun, easily capable of amazing solo-ing feats or great utility in runs. but don’t compare dps numbers, because obviously warrior for example can pull of high numbers. this is all good and all in pve, but mesmer utility and survivability are essential in a lot of situations. often i find mesmer the last class standing in runs or whatever bc of all the skills mesmers have
all in all mesmers are about skill, both player skill to put in extra effort to stand toe to toe in competitive situations, and class skills that acts as catalysts or changes the tide of the situation. it’s not your direct damage focused or tank class. it has decent damage and survivability, but obviously other classes will pull off better numbers on paper. but i always say, its not about the numbers in real combat
