[PFS] Mesmerist Idea (Advice / Verbal abuse welcome)

[Koujow]

About a few weeks ago, I saw a rather beautiful picture on deviantart and upon seeing it, knew I must create this character for PFS. ( This is the image, in case you too want to be inspired. ) I have been working on a few ideas and the one that I have decided to take a shot at is a Mesmerist who is focused almost exclusively on debuffs. Basically, the first round of combat would be Dazzling Display (followed up with the swift action Hypnotic Stare on whatever looks scariest). Assuming I pass (Intimidate checks aren't really that hard to make, I have discovered), then generally most things have a -2 to most rolls for at least a round, with something scary suffering -4 to a Will save (which hopefully a fellow Pathfinder will use to their advantage, assuming I myself won't be able to take advantage of next round). Following round could be used targeting that scary guy with some Save or Suck, another Dazzling Display or making use of a whip to either disarm or trip. I am a bit uncertain as to which I would want to focus in and I have seen plenty of people claim that both maneuvers are kind of worthless. You can't disarm a lot of threats and after a certain level, a lot of enemies have flight, so tripping becomes a lot less useful. I am also a bit concerned about the 3/4's BAB limiting the usefulness of said maneuvers, (even if a whip grants +2 to disarm checks).

So basically, tl;dr version:
-Does the initial concept seem logical (Mesmerist that focuses almost exclusively on debuffing)
-Does specializing in either trip and/or disarm actually help the PFS party?
-Is the Whip Mastery feat chain worth it?
-Should I multiclass into anything to help grab feats or boost abilities? (Mysterious Avenger Swashbuckler comes to mind and changes the focus of the class from Str to Dex.)
-Are there any feats/traits/equipment that I don't know of or overlooked that really assist this concept?

Thematic stuff that most people won't care about but I do

Spoiler:

I haven't sat down to flesh this out a whole ton, but the basic background is the character was born to the owner of a traveling circus and she has trained with many of the people, including the Ring Master (her father) and the Dire Lion Tamer (the show's main event). She would have a few thematic skills to emphasize her background (Perform: Oratory to get the crowd excited, Handle Animal for making animals do tricks, etc.) and maybe a trait, although I haven't seen one that fits the background yet. Unknown to her or the other performers, her father had obtained some relic that caught the attention of the Aspis Consortium and during a show, the Aspis tampered with the Dire Lion (illusion spell or dominate animal or whatever) and it attacked and injured several people. In the confusion, the Aspis took the artifact. The circus was dismantled and without a home, she wanted revenge on the Aspis. She approached the Pathfinders, known opponents of the Aspis, explained her situation and offered them the artifact if they helped her retrieve it and get justice for her friends.

[Koujow]

So, I did a bit of debating (with myself) and figured that the build would require at least 1 level of Mysterious Avenger Swashbuckler, since Weapon Focus needs BAB +1 and if I wanted to go with Dazzling Display, it would probably be better to start out with that in the beginning. If I went with a pure Mesmerist build, I wasn't sure what to grab off the top of my head for that first level. Combat Expertise? (Eww.) Granted, if I did go trip or disarm, I would need to take it eventually. Or if I went with Vexing Daredevil Mesmerist, I would be able to Dazzling Feint to do either maneuver safely .

I also debated taking a two level dip into Swashbuckler instead of one. My BAB would end up being the same by the end, but I would also grab Charmed Life, which is pretty fancy, but it would reduce the Mesmerist's already slow magic progression.

These are the silly ideas I have for what is probably a terrible idea. :D