Clone Mirage & Fractals

I recently got back into fractals with my clone mirage, and things are going pretty great but I feel like it's a bit harder for me to play it on a few of the fractals. Mostly due to positioning. I read somewhere that power damage reigns supreme in fractals currently but I was wondering if anyone also runs condi mirage (phantasm or clone build) and their experiences, or if anyone has any advice. that would be cool. I'm full viper, with malice/2x energy sigils and full berserker runes so gear isn't an issue.

Power has always been superior in fractals with an organized group, specially Weavers and Tempest defense.

I don't mind Condi classes on my groups but I often avoid mirage altogether because it has lackluster cleave and most fractals require decent cleave.

From a mechanical standpoint there is no reason to play condi in fractals atm. Breakbars make power dps way too good to pass up.Even if u arent running weaver with its amazing modifiers the 50% extra damage from breakbars simply encourages high burst dmg. The recent change to condies also made them weaker in fractals since they lost a bit of burst.

I play Clone and Phantasm Mirage in Fractals and haven't had much trouble reaching 12k without Druid, Chrono, Banners, and Pinpoint Distribution. You'll have to elaborate on what you mean by having trouble with positioning.

@zoomborg.9462 said:From a mechanical standpoint there is no reason to play condi in fractals atm. Breakbars make power dps way too good to pass up.Even if u arent running weaver with its amazing modifiers the 50% extra damage from breakbars simply encourages high burst dmg. The recent change to condies also made them weaker in fractals since they lost a bit of burst.Mirage lost none of their burst from the patch though.

@Ojimaru.8970 said:I play Clone and Phantasm Mirage in Fractals and haven't had much trouble reaching 12k without Druid, Chrono, Banners, and Pinpoint Distribution. You'll have to elaborate on what you mean by having trouble with positioning.

Just the boss being inside AoE fields, making it difficult to get in and do damage or axe 3 placing me inside said fields. Shattered Observatory comes to mind. is 12k good damage? I'm around there on bosses but I suffer pretty hard on trash mobs unless I can get a lot of them burning at the same time.

@Aylaine.1036 said:

@zoomborg.9462 said:From a mechanical standpoint there is no reason to play condi in fractals atm. Breakbars make power dps way too good to pass up.Even if u arent running weaver with its amazing modifiers the 50% extra damage from breakbars simply encourages high burst dmg. The recent change to condies also made them weaker in fractals since they lost a bit of burst.Mirage lost none of their burst from the patch though.

@Ojimaru.8970 said:I play Clone and Phantasm Mirage in Fractals and haven't had much trouble reaching 12k without Druid, Chrono, Banners, and Pinpoint Distribution. You'll have to elaborate on what you mean by having trouble with positioning.

For situations like those, or when there are Toxic Trails, you can use Lingering Thoughts away from the enemy to spawn the first clone, and generate the rest with Self-Deception. As for DPS comparisons, most PUGs I run into hover around 6-8k, with the occasional Pistol-Pistol Daredevil/Deadeye that does 3k DPS. A good Scourge will definitely surpass you in fights with lots of adds, and a good Staff Weaver will, well, do Weaver things.

@Aylaine.1036 said:Just the boss being inside AoE fields, making it difficult to get in and do damage or axe 3 placing me inside said fields. Shattered Observatory comes to mind. is 12k good damage? I'm around there on bosses but I suffer pretty hard on trash mobs unless I can get a lot of them burning at the same time.

You build will be poor against trash mobs, there's no way around that. Its strength is the single-target damage, not the cleave. The target numbers depend heavily on your support. With a meta party, 12k is horrible. Without support it can be decent, depends on the fight.

@Feanor.2358 said:

@Aylaine.1036 said:Just the boss being inside AoE fields, making it difficult to get in and do damage or axe 3 placing me inside said fields. Shattered Observatory comes to mind. is 12k good damage? I'm around there on bosses but I suffer pretty hard on trash mobs unless I can get a lot of them burning at the same time.

Honestly? I play what I wanna play and have fun with it. I've ran Condi Mirage in fractals, even doing it on Nightmare where MAMA drops that aoe death field, but I still just do what I can. To me, I don't put much stock in "Doing as much fucking damage as possible" like everyone seems so hell bent on. I do the mechanics, I survive, and I do damage. Unless you're a part of a speed-run guild, that's all that should be expected.

@Aylaine.1036 said:

@Feanor.2358 said:

@Aylaine.1036 said:Just the boss being inside AoE fields, making it difficult to get in and do damage or axe 3 placing me inside said fields. Shattered Observatory comes to mind. is 12k good damage? I'm around there on bosses but I suffer pretty hard on trash mobs unless I can get a lot of them burning at the same time.

Chrono is completely different build, but yea, it is very useful in high fractals. As for the target vs cleave - depends, but usually target is more important. Low cleave can have you spend more time clearing trash, but it wouldn't matter much in the end I think.

T4s are so easy that you will spend more time culling pubs to get an optimized comp than you save by playing with said optimal comp. Just play whatever you want, but do be aware of where a build's weaknesses are and where it's strengths are. Clone Mirage excels at being highly defensive while still dealing high overall DPS, but does lack in the cleave department which can be valid in certain Fractals. Furthermore, clone Mirage lacks strong range options, which can be valuable to have regardless of how perfect your team plays. End of the day, your mileage may vary.

@"TarkaTarquol.4856" said:Honestly? I play what I wanna play and have fun with it. I've ran Condi Mirage in fractals, even doing it on Nightmare where MAMA drops that aoe death field, but I still just do what I can. To me, I don't put much stock in "Doing as much kitten damage as possible" like everyone seems so hell bent on. I do the mechanics, I survive, and I do damage. Unless you're a part of a speed-run guild, that's all that should be expected.

---->implying that damage is only important when speeding running.

Top kek.

@Ojimaru.8970 said:I play Clone and Phantasm Mirage in Fractals and haven't had much trouble reaching 12k without Druid, Chrono, Banners, and Pinpoint Distribution. You'll have to elaborate on what you mean by having trouble with positioning.

Thats pretty low. My scourge is around 16-21k with just a chrono and druid, and it has a way longer ramp up time than clone mirage.

@FrostDraco.8306 said:

@"TarkaTarquol.4856" said:Honestly? I play what I wanna play and have fun with it. I've ran Condi Mirage in fractals, even doing it on Nightmare where MAMA drops that aoe death field, but I still just do what I can. To me, I don't put much stock in "Doing as much kitten damage as possible" like everyone seems so hell bent on. I do the mechanics, I survive, and I do damage. Unless you're a part of a speed-run guild, that's all that should be expected.

I mostly mean that only focusing on getting those unrealistic numbers isn't necessary unless you're speedrunning. Fractals can be cleared with that 12k dps.

I focus on what is fun, not what is meta.

@Rising Dusk.2408 said:T4s are so easy that you will spend more time culling pubs to get an optimized comp than you save by playing with said optimal comp. Just play whatever you want, but do be aware of where a build's weaknesses are and where it's strengths are. Clone Mirage excels at being highly defensive while still dealing high overall DPS, but does lack in the cleave department which can be valid in certain Fractals. Furthermore, clone Mirage lacks strong range options, which can be valuable to have regardless of how perfect your team plays. End of the day, your mileage may vary.I've had decent luck with Scepter/Greatsword (when its needed) but yeah, I'm starting to get a better idea of where Mirage exceeds and where it doesn't. I'm going to stick with it, get better and just focus on helping others cleave as much as possible. Thanks for the replies everyone. :)