A little help here

Anyways after playing guild wars for nearly a year I'm considering making a mesmer and would like some helpfulness for someone new to the class and somewhat ignorant of its abilitys and maybe throw in a build that would do well in ascalon and/or shiverpeak arena

The Mesmer is a wonderful profession. The mesmer can do massive health degeneration (Conjure Phantasm + Phantom Pain), can cause damage if someone is inflicted with a condition (Fragility), cause people to either stop their actions or suffer the consequences (Empathy or Backfire). The mesmer is a conditional character, some (about just less than half) require your foe to do something or nothing at all. Spells like Backfire (target foe casts a spell will suffer damage), Empathy (target foe attacks will suffer damage), Clumsiness (target foe tries to attack is interupted and suffers damage), etc.

Can interupt spellcasters from the spell they are casting (Power Spike - causes damage, Power Leak - enemy loses more energy, etc.) And they have one spell that activates if the enemy does nothing at all (Wastle's Worry).

There are many builds on this forum, look at them. As you know there are no elites until you get to the desert, so any elite you see on these forums (like Echo, Mantra of Recall, etc.), ignore and pick another skill.

Northern Shiverpeaks and Ascolon - good spells are backfire, empathy and Conjure Phantasm.

Cry of Frustration is awesome, get it when you can.

Inspiration Magic will get you your energy back quickly, and is the best energy management skill tree in the game (well its the only energy management skill tree in the game)

The only problem is you won't be invited (or asked for) into any PUGs. If a party says, anyone self invite, do so. You most likely won't find any group asking for a Mesmer.

Enjoy the wonders of the Mesmer Profession.