Mesmerist is one of the occult classes that appeals to me the most, but I'm not really sure what a high-level one looks like. I know it can be built several different ways of course, but let's just go with the archetype of the cunning manipulator who's decent at melee combat and excellent at debuffing enemies. Would it be comparable to a high-level bard of a similar build? I feel like it would be very close.
Wait, is cunning manipulator an archetype from a new book, or are you using the original meaning of archetype?
Anyway, as far as I am aware, the typical melee mesmerist would be focused on one big hit builds. Cause they only get painful stare once- so why not go 2 handed and grab furious focus to make up for the poor attack? Possibly spring attack too if he can swing it, cause hey- he can do his damage and still stay safe in the back line.
Its damage isn't amazing, but it can be a ncie enough chunk that it is worth throwing out every so often after you have cast your spells. Nice for clean up, basically. Or should I say, the big dramatic finishing blows that lets you grab all the credit...?
The vision I have of a melee mesmerist is a false knight- using painful stare to make himself look stronger and more skilled than he is, grabbing a mithral breastplate via armor expert, grabbing a martial weapon through race (half orc is a nice choice- their favored class bonus can further add to painful stare; I like a longswordusing half orc who hides his race). He lies his way into more melee competent parties, adn then lies to convince everyone that he was the one that did everything- even convincing his skilled allies that he was the reason for their success. He ultimately ends up aiming to be a leader for the power and security he can obtain.
A small-sized race can take the Taunt feat, letting them Demoralize with the Bluff skill, instead of Intimidate. You will always make this roll. Then take the Enforcer feat, paired with Weapon Focus (Whip) and Whip Mastery to be able to Demoralize as a Free action after dealing Non-lethal damage from 15' away with your whip. Then at 9th level, take Demoralizing Stare, to make a creature Frightened in one round. By this point, your Stare will be incurring a -3 penalty to Will saves, paired with -2 to all saves, attack rolls, and skill/ability checks. You're also dealing extra Nonlethal damage from Painful stare, and adding at least two other debuffs from Bold stare. With a high BAB, you can try to trip the target after dealing nonlethal damage. Basically, you're a debuff factory, working overtime. This is even before using a single spell!
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Have you seen the Conan movie? Thulsa Doom is a high level Mesmerist.
Have you seen Disney's Aladdin? Jafar is a mid-level Mesmerist.
Really, any main villain who is basically a cult leader with fanatical followers and/or has mind control powers is an excellent Mesmerist inspiration.
On a mechanical level, a high level Mesmerist is sorta an inverted Bard in a lot of ways. A high level Caster Bard is primarily a buffing character with a side of mind control. A high level Mesmerist reverses that, being a mind-control master with a side order of buffing.
He's actually as good or better at bending minds to his will as a full caster, has a bit better chances in physical combat, and has a lot of subsidiary abilities via Touch Treatments and Mesmerist Tricks that alloow party and self buffing and condition removal.
The Master (Roger Delgado) from 70's Doctor Who is another good example.
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If you fail your save, he looks like whatever he wants you to see. :)
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Kilgrave from Jessica Jones
I second Thulsa Doom, actually. That is exactly what my mind jumped to when they released this class. Especially the way that so much of his ability seems to come from his eyes, anyway.