Illusionary Magic: Mesmer Updates

Before addressing some of the more notable updates to mesmers, I think I'll begin with a quote from Jon P. off the official forums:

As this was the last profession we got in, you will notice it is probably still the roughest around the edges. We aren’t going to rework how the whole thing works, but you will see him get a lot smoother as we head towards release. This gives you a pretty big insight into our iterative process, but also requires mesmer players to be a bit more patient. The feedback in here has been great so keep it up and we will keep working on improving your profession.

Currently clones live longer but do no damage sans traits. It's likely we will see some of the damage return due to mesmer outcry. They do seem to pick up aggro more often; otherwise they would be useless as anything but shatter bait in PvE. When fighting against other mesmers in PvP, I dropped target on the real mesmer but other players report a different experience. Last beta, mesmers were disappointed that confusion was removed from the scepter's first skill, which is chained; this beta, confusion returned to the final step in the chain. Jon P. also indicated confusion would be balanced differently for PvE and PvP in the future.  Overall, the mesmer is presently in a greater state of flux than other professions.

Obviously the other big change is one that effects all professions: utility skills, elite skills and traits are now tiered. Next week I will focus on advice for the novice mesmer on skill selection as you level up in PvE.