Majority of mesmer’s viable builds since release have utilized shatters as the apex of their damage. Those require 2 long cooldowns available on each weapon set to summon a grand total of 2 illusions (outside certain exceptions like +1 clone on sword offhand, or AA on scepter. Both of which are rarely used) If the mesmer runs dueling they also have a clone on a doge roll. Not that many mesmers take dueling right now, since most take insp to deal with condi if their team can’t cover them, and even power mesmers require domination to even do decent damage.
So for max damage mesmer needs to pop a minimum of 5 clone or phant spawning c/ds. Mesmers typically have one primary clone generator and one phantasm per weapon set.
^ all of which btw can be negated by cleave and AoE.
image if condis, or warrior adrenaline bar could just be cleaved down or required specific cooldowns per weapon set. lol
Everything else a mesmer can do with their two remaining attacks is negligible damage wise, and is often CC, or a defensive cooldown. Typically though the damage is easy to out heal regardless of your spec. (well unless you run something completely unviable.)
Now to avoid shatters is like avoiding 100b, the tell is there, you see it coming. Doge into the illusions, and you will mitigate most if not all of the damage. I cannot express how easy this is, and this is like the single most valuable thing that shuts a mesmer down. I have killed my fellow mesmers in moa on different classes just because it’s that simple.
So this means that a mesmer to do max damage has to blow C/Ds on both weapon sets, Plus aided utilities, two shatter cooldowns (one of which is over 30 seconds if domination) and this is all under the context that 1. your clones didn’t die in AoE or Cleave. 2. your opponent didn’t take pressure back. 3. he didn’t just doge the obvious animations. Only to achieve: less damage than a thief with less escape, or DH with less chase, and very little momentum to follow up with, nor the ability to keep yourself a float or pressure if you screwed up or fail to eliminate your target.
Also out side of S1. mes gets easily pushed off points, so it has even less value in certain areas.
tl;dr
There is a large stigma against mesmers and it’s only justification is noob stomping for the bads who get lost in the clones and can’t doge shatters. But fact is if you die 1v1 to a shatter mesmer you got out played. Arguably it was given the tools to outplay you, but you had just as much of a chance if not more, to outplay it. Thus Shatter mesmer condi or otherwise is not OP.
If you want to entertain a discussion of mesmers strength being condi, it is a problem with condi itself not mesmer.
If the team utility is what makes it OP, the context of how mesmer has to fight is justification for it’s strong utility roam.
