This is for those having problems in the early levels. Mesmer is one of the more unique class designs, in that they are designed to dodge tank, not mitigate. This means that no matter what "role" you want to play, you must learn to dodge and always be mobile as a Mesmer. A Mesmer that stands still for too long, is a dead Mesmer, be it in PVE or WvWvW.
1-35 build link
Sword/Sword
Staff
Take 10 in Chaos
Take 5 in Illusions
Take 10 in Inspiration
You can also take Dueling to 5 from 35-40, the vigor from crits really does help a lot, but since you do not get that Minor skill until 40, I didn't bother to include it in the build link.
Get the Utilities in the order that I present them. For leveling in PvE there is not much reason to deviate, as a matter of fact, I still use those utilities for level 80 farming. You'll later learn what different utilities to use in dungeons, fractals and WvW.
As I said above, you must learn to Dodge-roll, constantly. You can not spank and tank with a Mesmer. The trick to Mesmer in PvE is, the only way to get them focused on an illusion, is to always be moving and dodging. Make sure you always have 3 illusions active. Do not shatter them at this point, its more beneficial for all 3 to be active. Shatter builds that you read about, are level 80 builds, not leveling builds.
» Edited on: 2013-02-03 20:48:43