Guild Wars 2

I’ve played mesmer since lauch and I seriously haven’t really touched at all at the off-hand sword. in PvP the swordsman is so easy to evade as it hits only once. The block/daze is pretty good but it is very easy to miss your targets with it. Also the after-cast is pretty long. Pistol 5 is easier to land IMO especially at long range, staff 5 or focus pull is AoE. Are there any builds that utilize this weapon to its fullest potential?

Not sure what game format you’re referring to, but have a look at this PvP/WvW build: Phantasmic Interruptions. This build uses GS/Sw-Sw primarily, but the build works well with GS/Staff or GS/Sw-F and is currently making it’s mark on the PvP meta.

For PvE, the off-hand sword is popular, especially in dungeons. Check out this site for more information on the meta dungeon builds: http://gw2dungeons.net/

For PvE the Sword already beats out the Pistol because the damage is higher and the Phantasm is only marginally worse at staying alive. Plus casting it counts as a leap finisher for you while each leap it does counts as a leap finisher for itself (this is amazing with Poison fields to keep up Weakness!).

For PvP, the same upsides apply but ofc as you say the defensiveness of the block is somewhat lost (though the damage spike is amazing), and Pistol Trick Shot is just much much easier to utilize.

So really, consider Pistol and Sword roughly equal. Even across game modes. Biggest issue of the Pistol is that it’s trait occupies the same slot as DE, and that’s a tough sell no matter how you look at it.