Though word leaked earlier this week that the final Guild Wars 2 profession revealed would be Mesmer, all we had was a video without any explanation. Today, developer ArenaNet officially unveiled GW2's take on the returning class, with heaps of details and a few screenshots.

The announcement comes just in time as ArenaNet revealed that a closed beta is starting this Friday.

Speaking on a Reddit thread, the developers commented: "We will officially enter Closed Beta Testing this Friday. It will be marked with an increase in our pool of testers." Unfortunately, participants are being told to keep their mouths shut. "To clarify, this phase of testing is still under NDA and is not open to the public. Based on the feedback we get from our current Closed Beta Testing, we will determine the next phases of our beta program in which we will open beta access to more people."

While not all of us can enter the beta, here's more on what to expect from the game's Mesmers. A new core skill is illusions, summonable replicas who come in two flavors--clones and phantasms. Clones are weak carbon copies of the caster, used to deceive enemies, while phantasms are powerful warriors with special skills.

New "shatter" abilities destroy all illusions to cause effects, such as damaging or stunning nearby enemies, creating a protective barrier around the Mesmer, or giving enemies the new "confusion" condition. Specific to the Mesmer, confusion is a stacking condition that damages enemies whenever they activate a skill.

The Mesmer's 'mantra' skills are also reworked, becoming two-stage spells. After a length initial casting time, mantras become insta-cast skills Mesmers can use even while casting another spell. "For example, Mantra of Pain can charge up into an instant-damage power spike that can be used during a channeled spell," ArenaNet says.

Check out the Mesmer page on the GW2 site for the full run-down.