Condi Mirage or Power Chrono for PVE content?

Hey,

I recently started playing GW2 again after I left it for like 2 years and wanted to start with a new character. I've already decided to give Mesmer a try and I like it so far but can't really decide, which build to use. I haven't played a lot back then so I'm only at exotic gear, if that matters.

Now my question is (since I primarily want to focus on damage atm). Is the Condi Mirage or Power Chrono more fit for PVE?PVE includes fractals, dungeons and open world content for me (since I won't be learning raids any time soon).

I'm currently on a Power Chrono build but I'm really interested in Mirage because of their stealth, mobility and the skills in general.What do you think? And do you have any good builds to recommend (maybe including the gear)?

Any help is really appreciated

Hi! Welcome back!

Power chrono is a really strong option right now, and inexpensive to gear. It would be perfect for everything you want to do. However, mirage is also very strong. In PvE, mirage is usually played as a condi build using Viper stats. Viper Mirage is a glass cannon...with a twist. You have medium health paired with light armor and pitiful healing capability on a class that does its best work at melee range. To compensate for this, mirage has exreme active avoidance (i.e. evasion). If you get comfortable with it and start to sharpen up your speed and timing, you will be able to avoid the vast majority of incoming damage. And unlike most classes, dodging actually increases damage output for mirage!

I am currently using this build for open world play:http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vhAQNAnfWnsnBNohFMDupBMMjlVDzfA2AfglRgjTAwcGsceBA-jxxHQBZUJIteCADU53O2fYc6Dmn6PA4UAQGgq1A-e

Here is a sample video of the build in solo play (Path of Fire):

Yeah the mirage build is very strong. If you want even more clone squirting you can go DE too.

The biggest advantage with condi is that it gives you alot of breathing room for avoidance and retargeting foes without instantly dropping your dps. When it comes to soloing groups, that just beats power straight up.

For general use, I've found that the power chrono is much better than condi mirage, particularly for overworld and for fractals. This is for two reasons:

1: The mirage has trouble doing a lot of damage to groups of enemies. Most of the skills are focused on single targets.2: The ramp up can be long. The mirage needs to build clones, then build conditions, and in fractals the enemies will be dead long before this happens.3: In order to do damage, the mirage has to sacrifice nearly all of its utility.

Overall, the chronomancer just has more. It is a better self buffer, it does all of its power damage relatively fast, it has more utility.

I have two sets of Ascended gears, a full Berserker one and a full Viper one. In PvE (overwolrd content/story) I use power Mirage almost exclusively(I enjoy GS), power Chrono is definetely better than Power Mirage but Mirage is more fun to play which is essential for me. For more demanding content like high Fractals and Raids I go with more mainstream stuff.In Fractals I use serker Chrono mostly for the extra cc since it can be really useful in there but condi Mirage can work too without issues.In raids I use Condi Mirage as a DPS role, more expensive to gear since you need Vipers set but it's more forgiving than power chrono and the DPS is similar, also I'm not one for buffing and supporting so support Chrono is out of the picture entirely, I never enjoyed that role.

Overal in PvE anything works but I think that a Mirage with Vipers gives you more options.

@"AliamRationem.5172" said:Hi! Welcome back!

Power chrono is a really strong option right now, and inexpensive to gear. It would be perfect for everything you want to do. However, mirage is also very strong. In PvE, mirage is usually played as a condi build using Viper stats. Viper Mirage is a glass cannon...with a twist. You have medium health paired with light armor and pitiful healing capability on a class that does its best work at melee range. To compensate for this, mirage has exreme active avoidance (i.e. evasion). If you get comfortable with it and start to sharpen up your speed and timing, you will be able to avoid the vast majority of incoming damage. And unlike most classes, dodging actually increases damage output for mirage!

I am currently using this build for open world play:http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vhAQNAnfWnsnBNohFMDupBMMjlVDzfA2AfglRgjTAwcGsceBA-jxxHQBZUJIteCADU53O2fYc6Dmn6PA4UAQGgq1A-e

Here is a sample video of the build in solo play (Path of Fire):

Mirage looks like fun with all the jumping around, though it will probably take some time to get used to.I looked into the Viper gear and saw, that there are no exotic parts obtainable through dungeons.Is there some alternative stat, where I can get the armor and weapons through dungeons? At least, until I've worked my way up to Ascended gear.

@"AliamRationem.5172" said:Hi! Welcome back!

Power chrono is a really strong option right now, and inexpensive to gear. It would be perfect for everything you want to do. However, mirage is also very strong. In PvE, mirage is usually played as a condi build using Viper stats. Viper Mirage is a glass cannon...with a twist. You have medium health paired with light armor and pitiful healing capability on a class that does its best work at melee range. To compensate for this, mirage has exreme active avoidance (i.e. evasion). If you get comfortable with it and start to sharpen up your speed and timing, you will be able to avoid the vast majority of incoming damage. And unlike most classes, dodging actually increases damage output for mirage!

I am currently using this build for open world play:http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vhAQNAnfWnsnBNohFMDupBMMjlVDzfA2AfglRgjTAwcGsceBA-jxxHQBZUJIteCADU53O2fYc6Dmn6PA4UAQGgq1A-e

Here is a sample video of the build in solo play (Path of Fire):

Thanks for this build. I really enjoy playing it. It has brought back a lot of mesmer pve fun for me.

I really like Viper Mirage personally. The mobility that Mirage offers is amazing. What others have said is true, it's slower to ramp damage in on groups and gauntlets and it's limited on utility. Very nice on single targets or groups with higher health pools though. You can stay on target for quite a long time with all of your 'dodges', which also increase your condi stacks. Since Clones apply a lot of the conditions you can keep damage up when you personally need to move off target. The trickiest part about max damage with Mirage is the 'dodge' mechanic, you never want your energy to cap, you want to dodge after a full auto attack sequence and you have to know when to hold energy for dodging incoming attacks. With the right trait you can almost instantly have three clones on the field. The build is dependent on Sigil of Energy/weapon swap and Bowl of Orrian Truffle and Meat Stew for max energy/dodge usage. I like Mirage for DPS in Fractals and the limited raiding I've had time for.

For groups of low hp mobs you can use Torch and Axe2 to hit multiples. I prefer Power Chrono for open world 'trash' mobs and large squad events but for vets and champs Mirage is great. Axe3 re-targets your clones so if you can load up a vet/champ with condi you can easily retarget to another without losing clones and dps up time (cept for condi ramp) when it's getting close to dead. Mirage is OK for groups if you go in with Torch and spam Axe2. Jaunt also applies some damage while you get a short teleport and condi clear, such a good elite skill, probably my favorite in the game.

Chrono brings more boons, utility and can hit hard fast.Mirage brings mobility, evasion and strong dps up time.

If you want mobility and dps for Mesmer definitely give Mirage a good try!

@Masaru.1345 said:Mirage looks like fun with all the jumping around, though it will probably take some time to get used to.I looked into the Viper gear and saw, that there are no exotic parts obtainable through dungeons.Is there some alternative stat, where I can get the armor and weapons through dungeons? At least, until I've worked my way up to Ascended gear.

I love Mirage mostly for all the jumping around ;) I can't play classes without mobility now, on principal.

Viper gear comes from HoT content and Living World Season 3 maps. There really isn't an alternative that is as effective as Viper AFAIK. The condition duration on the gear is helpful. You can run mostly anything though for open world PvE.

Prolly want to start off as Power Chrono as you work to Viper gear.

@Bloodgruve.6038 said:

@Masaru.1345 said:Mirage looks like fun with all the jumping around, though it will probably take some time to get used to.I looked into the Viper gear and saw, that there are no exotic parts obtainable through dungeons.Is there some alternative stat, where I can get the armor and weapons through dungeons? At least, until I've worked my way up to Ascended gear.

I had decent success with rabid/carrion gear, slowly replacing it with viper from living world season 3 trinkets, drops, collections and crafting.If nothing else the extra tankiness will help you survive as you get used to the build.Just make sure to get malice signet and runes of trapper/nightmare for decent condi duration.