Help me Mirage

Heya peoples,

Mirage (mesmer in general) was a class i never thought I would pick up again, however during Beta weekends I fell in love. I was 2v1ing like a champ. Now I am lucky if I win 1v1's with the amount of condi's and range out there. The build I have below is what I currently run now but I don't know if its any good. I personally dont want meta but I believe that I can pump out damage and cleanse some condis (not a lot but some if im smart). Maybe I don't have the right rotation(s) down. Hopefully someone from the mesmer community can help.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vhAQRArf3fnsnBFMjlpBupBMMjlXDDNAkTOCmrghzIw//VAPgA-jVyCAB+o+TTK/+28HynEgwXYAgnAAV7DAhSwX0PQKAI2gB-w

The gear I use is the best I have. I am working on Trailblazers and want full condi (idc about vipers/sinister...etc). I stealth in from torch 4, torch 5, and will ambush from scepter 1, swap to axe, jaunt once/twice, axe 2/3/2, swap to scepter, Illusionary Ambush, ambush scepter, rinse repeat (until I get condis or pewpewd, then I use other utilities)

Thanks in advanced

TheRealMC

Hey there, I like your build.

First thing, when we are talking about PvP and WvW (which I assume since you want to 2v1) you might keep some good skill combinations in mind but overall forget about the concept of a rotation. You will have to adapt and change your strategy along the way and react to what your enemies do. Mesmer is kind of a reactive class, observe your target. Then with the illusions traitline you get some very good shatter buffs and clones generation generally are a good way to 2v1. The larger the enemy group the more likely they will attack your clones so you might want to get some more clone generation. Self deception could be the way to go. Then with traited mirror healing skill you might be interested in the Adventurer rune.

Hey,

Thanks for the input. Maybe t hats why I started sucking at mirage as I have adopted a rotation where before it was mainly reactive. You are right about upping clone generation, however while staying full condi (as in no power/precision), the traitlines I dont need have the good traits for such :p

I appreciate your comment and hope to hear more.

Yeah what Miroe said - don't do this "rotation" thing. Save that for pve.

Just be familiar with things like panic buttons (crucial, eg stun breaks, invuln, evades etc), damage application methods, mobility, engage/disengage/juking/kiting options, any control options, ways of sustaining (involves all of the above) and support if necessary.

Then the key is being flexible enough to use in various combinations depending on the situation ie, you've got to read the situation and adapt. Eg don't brainlessly GS2 blink daze F1 (seriously I find predictable power mesmers way more irritating than any so called "cheese" condi build - I personally believe hybrid/condi mesmer is far more flexible and deceptive than power /rant) or whatever.

Regarding your build - if you get condi burst you're going to have a hard time cleansing. I'd suggest swapping IH for Elusive Mind - you've got enough damage application from all you're weapons and skills that you don't need IH other than for flavour. Elusive Mind is a game changer in wvw and allows you to survive in crazy situations. With traited manipulations seriously consider Adventurer runes - they are amazing with Mirage. I don't get why you're taking PU with only one stealth - BD would be better for shatter synergy. Anyway it seems like a very offensive pure condi tank - not my cup of tea as I think the toughness/vitality doesn't make mesmer more resilient if there's not enough cleanse or active damage avoidance (evades, etc). But if you're having success then carry on. :)

Thanks for the input. Looking at the rune of the Adventurer, I lose a good chunk of condi duration ( thus DPS) to be able to gain more dodges. This is good for Evasive mind, however wouldn't running energy sigils instead work instead or my corruption sigils?

I did notice I only had one stealth so I changed that. I removed arcane thievery, replaced with signet of Midnight to help with condi duration, and a free stealth if needed. Took evasive Mind, however I dont know if I should keep Master of Manipulation, or Descent into Madness. Both do something when I heal and DiM helps when I melee with axe due to the whirl/leap finishers at the expense of a 2s less CD on heal and a 2s reflect on my blink.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vhAQRArf3fnsnBFMjlpBWoBMMjlXDzMFMcqJ+/vCYCENAkTOCA-jFyGABAoE8n9H6R53zm/cR9HcPJAE8EA+Q/ApAgYDG-w

I appreciate your input guys. Never looked into adventure runes as i didnt care about the power. I pasted the updated build.

Thoughts/suggestions about the updated build? I want to keep malice as the extra damage is nice.

Yes you ought to run double energy sigils anyway - it's always good on mesmer in many cases- core/chrono/mirage. Energy/cleansing is a very useful sigil set.

Edit - if you're taking Descent Into Madness then take False Oasis. If taking Master of Manipulations then take Mirror heal. I wouldn't mix and match those tbh as the synergies for each are strong.

I must be tired or something but I do not see the synergy in false oasis and DiM. Master of Manip and mirror heal is a given, and as far as I can see, healing in melee with axe will benefit with DiM. I apologize if im just begin stupid, I am just trying to better understand

@Bigpapasmurf.5623 said:I must be tired or something but I do not see the synergy in false oasis and DiM. Master of Manip and mirror heal is a given, and as far as I can see, healing in melee with axe will benefit with DiM. I apologize if im just begin stupid, I am just trying to better understand

False Oasis drops the mirror in chaos storm which is nice if you want to drop it and stay in the vicinity.

In any case I believe master of manipulaiton is better even if you're only running mirror heal and blink (and even better if taking arcane thievery too). :) A free dodge (adventurer runes) every 12s is great.

I will try both and go to adventurer runes (thank god I only have exo dire gear...i love those runes so salvage ftw lol) see which works better for my playstyle. I will still appreciate any other suggestions/comments and I really appreciate your assistance Curunen.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vhAQNAW3fnsnBFMjlpBOqBMMjlXDDNAkTeOmrgZwIw//VATgA-jFyCQB9T9HKcRAQpSwJ8AAAwRAoiK/2z+DvQ3ApAqSDG-w

I’ve taken the liberty of putting a build up for you above. I would honestly rate staff as better than running sceptre and torch as your offhand especially if you’re already using torch as your offhand. It offers really good kiting potential with phase retreat, a source of aegis from the chaos storm as well as daze (usually should use this on yourself defensively) and the chaos armour is OK I guess. It also does decent condition damage if you’re forced onto it for a while and has a longer range.

As mentioned above double energy is always good for getting a handle on builds and classes, more so mirage because it has so much linked to dodging. Likewise I would recommend the endurance regen food over the koi cakes after the nerf, getting more dodges to funnel into ambush skills. I personally would recommend sword for the ambush leap as it allows insane disengage but you say you don’t want to run meta so we will stick with axe. I will however say that elusive mind blows any and all other options out of the water and sends it into space to suffocate, I cannot ever emphasise how overpowered this trait is and I really would not recommend learning to mirage without it. If you are a veteran mesmer player who knows all the little nuances of the class then infinite horizon would be worth using but as you are not as experienced I really would recommend elusive mind until you get experience on the class and can avoid steal with just dodge/distortion.

In terms of gear, grab winter berries with your character and alts and turn them into trailblazer trinkets, rings, etc, it won’t take more than a week I think to fully deck yourself out. In terms of armour, you can get exotic trailblazer from the desert reward track chests, WvW armour from tickets, even HoT story contains an armour box where you can select trailblazer armour (create character, tome to 80, run story to the one before final fight, delete character) so there are a lot of sources for armour already.

Runes, there’s a few options, you can add tormenting or perplexity if you have the gold or sprockets for them and they will increase damage. Your current option adds a lot of duration which is alright but you don’t want to go overboard on the duration as many will cleanse before you get the benefit of 50% condition duration. I personally like traveler runes as you get 10% duration, 15% boon duration for that chaos line and 25% movement speed and without sword you will be slow.

For skills I put decoy on instead of arcane thievery as arcane thievery tends to not work and the extra stealth gets more use out of PU. It’s also another stunbreak which is nice so you don’t burn a dodge or blink. You also won’t need as many condition cleanses if you have Jaunt and elusive mind as both these will keep you alive vs anything that isn’t scourge and even then you will have a lot of evades and cleanses. Mirror is good against pew pew and DD that want to be smart and interrupt your heal with headshot which is why I left master of manipulation on as a trait (it also gives reduced CD on mass invis when you have to switch elite) however as has been mentioned decent into madness and false oasis is a strong option too.

In terms of game play I can’t help you, I played condi mirage for 30 mins and decided in the time it took to pressure someone I could have killed them 4 times over on power and that condi mirage is worthless at picking on zerglings.

^Definitely listen to that excellent advice.

I realise I should have said that if you take adventurer runes you do need another source of movement speed. The build I use has synergy with signet of inspiration for this, and also because I play hybrid I make full use of the power and condi, but otherwise you will be better off with Traveler as apharma said, for the movement speed.

Or if you're ridiculously rich you can try the writ utility consumables... ;) I seriously wish we could have access to cheaper movement speed consumables from the provisioner for badges - eg 5 badges plus some silver for half an hour of 25% movement speed would be nice.

Ive always stayed away from trav runes as typically they dont offer enough, however I may try them. Already now using double energy runes (not cheap lol) with Malice. I took Decoy and used the siggy of Midnight (still stealth/stun breaker, but with a passive bonus). Imo Scepter Ambush is too good to give up, however I will give staff a fair shot, but I dont expect ill keep it due to the ambush (until anet does something with the staff ambush anyway).

I def like the overall idea that you both are however and have reserved a better part of my rotation (still open up similar with stealth > Torch 5 >Ambush on scepter) rest is play by ear. I tried both Manip trait and DiM and both have their pros. I like the reduced CD on heal with manip, and the field to whirl/leap from Axe thanks to DiM. I will continue to fine tune it to my playstyle and I appreciate it. Only think I need to learn now is to fight vs pewpew (range) classes. :p

Here's the build I use in pvp and wvw.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vhAQRAnf8anELDVLjlpBGMDMMjlXDrsC0bCO+7vCYCENAkTeOA-jZxHQB8rMAAOJAnZ/BA+AAg3RAAA

It has a lot of mobility and target dropping. A/T focus on shattering and condi application (100% confusion duration) and Sw/P focuses on mobility and interruption. Both sets have evades and you have good uptime on vigor through shatters and your heal. Use Juant for Condi removal or for just applying more confusion pressure. You also have Condi removal with dodges and torch 4. I really enjoy this build.

You could drop traveler runes if you really want too but I like the move speed bonus and the Condi duration is nice I guess. Also, I've used both viper and grieving ammys with this build and they do work but having that extra vitality is nice.

if condis are a problem you could slot in mantra of the resolve, with 2 charges you can instantly remove 6 condis ( 3x2) + gives you 2 1/2 seconds of resist when recharged, and with elusive mind dodges break stuns and remove 1 condi which brings your cleanses to 8 + Jaunt ( if you run it ) which removes another 3 which will make you a condi cleanse machine + mobile AF

gear, weapons and traits will determine your damage type, Condi, power, hybrid. celestial is serverly underrated for hybrid when mixed with other gearsets + traveler runes give you movement speed, 10% condi duration, and 15% boon duration + a boost to all stats ( if you're going hybrid )

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vhAQRAsf3cnELDVLjVoBmpBMMjlXDDNAkTeOlJgeD//XAEA-jVyCQBU4kAUFlGJV/AAOCATV9HJ8AA2z+DfRZ2hUCSKgqUWB-w

Mirage Advance > Sword 3 > Sword 2 > Prestige > Phantasmal Mage > Swap > Axe 2 x 2 > Axe 3 > Shatters > Mirage Retreat > Off-hand sword skills or Sword Ambush back in or Jaunt spam on them to burst and stack confusion for the finish.

Signet of Midnight, Jaunt, Blink or Dodge as needed.

Top notch dueler so far. Super disruptive in zerg flanks and back lines as you can drop a big bomb and bounce out quick. Devastating on point in PvP.

@Bigpapasmurf.5623 said:Ive always stayed away from trav runes as typically they dont offer enough, however I may try them. Already now using double energy runes (not cheap lol) with Malice. I took Decoy and used the siggy of Midnight (still stealth/stun breaker, but with a passive bonus). Imo Scepter Ambush is too good to give up, however I will give staff a fair shot, but I dont expect ill keep it due to the ambush (until anet does something with the staff ambush anyway).

I def like the overall idea that you both are however and have reserved a better part of my rotation (still open up similar with stealth > Torch 5 >Ambush on scepter) rest is play by ear. I tried both Manip trait and DiM and both have their pros. I like the reduced CD on heal with manip, and the field to whirl/leap from Axe thanks to DiM. I will continue to fine tune it to my playstyle and I appreciate it. Only think I need to learn now is to fight vs pewpew (range) classes. :p

Absolutely - while we can all give you bits of advice from our own perspectives, the best way is to iterate towards your own preferred playstyle, whether that only differs by a single skill from someone else, or whether there are some other synergies that fit how you like to play, or your control scheme or whatever. :)

I'm a huge proponent of hybrid mesmer (chrono and mirage) and can often blindly offer advice as such because I love it so much - but I have to recognise that each player has to find their own preference.

@Bigpapasmurf.5623 said:Ive always stayed away from trav runes as typically they dont offer enough, however I may try them. Already now using double energy runes (not cheap lol) with Malice. I took Decoy and used the siggy of Midnight (still stealth/stun breaker, but with a passive bonus). Imo Scepter Ambush is too good to give up, however I will give staff a fair shot, but I dont expect ill keep it due to the ambush (until anet does something with the staff ambush anyway).

I def like the overall idea that you both are however and have reserved a better part of my rotation (still open up similar with stealth > Torch 5 >Ambush on scepter) rest is play by ear. I tried both Manip trait and DiM and both have their pros. I like the reduced CD on heal with manip, and the field to whirl/leap from Axe thanks to DiM. I will continue to fine tune it to my playstyle and I appreciate it. Only think I need to learn now is to fight vs pewpew (range) classes. :p

One of the things I like about staff is that it has a short range teleport that can be used while stunned. I ran an infinite horizon condi build tonight where I burst out confusion and torment with the sceptre ambush and mirror images but without elusive mind I have to be extremely careful about what I stun break and when I use a blink to wait out the stun in a less harmful location. For me that phase retreat saved me half a dozen times tonight especially when I was running from a Zerg at NC (no traveler as I won’t overwrite tormenting runes at this price) as it allowed me to get an extra blink to make up for my otherwise slow movement speed. Other times it saved me by letting me phase retreat back upon or to the side of a push that caught me off guard and chaos storm saved a few others by interrupting stomps.

If you like sceptre you could try running sceptre staff like I did, it’s mostly a range and kite style but if you’re running torch, decoy and signet of midnight you have enough stealth to get out of melee if you need so perhaps think of that. I have a snowfall sigil on mine but really you can go cheap with hydro or geo until you find the play style you like.

For pew pews most I see atm run stone signet and maybe even passive one...which don’t help at all against condi builds. Bait out the cleanse all, because that’s what they all run, and then spike hard, they won’t know the difference between mind wrack and cry of frustration mostly so use mind wrack and a bit of clone application to make them sweat. Then be ready with the 3 clone cry of frustration, ofc use blink or a combo of stealth and jaunt to close the gap, if you find it isn’t as effective as you like another option is sword main hand and run duelling as your 3rd line so you can get ineptitude for confusion on interrupt and use the sword ambush for interrupts and gap closures. You can also take mirror on dodge which is hilarious on a full zerk mirage when they RF.