Scepter love idea
Scepter and sword are the only two main hand weapons for the Mesmer and the latter does not need a phantom to meet most players expectations. For phantom builds the phantasmal swordsman, warlock and berserker suffice. As for the shatter builds the clone generation of the scepter is just a small bonus but most players would just use the sword.
What really needs to be done for the scepter is the addition of some form of condition damage to the auto attack so it would work like the condition weapon it should have been.
It’s not a coincidence.
All (ok both) mainhand weapons spawn clones and only clones.
All offhand weapons spawn phantasms and only phantasms.
It’s by design.
However, I do think your suggestion is, in some regard, right on the money. I think the clone should spawn immediately on the #2, regardless of whether or not a block occurs. Or it should spawn on the first hit of the #1 chain, and leave #2 alone. I feel Scepter’s only drawback is it cannot produce a clone immediately with one button press, while all other weapons do have that capability. I understand it’s supposed to be a tradeoff for them spawning on the auto attacks, but being able to control more precisely when I produce clones is a far better mechanic.