[Suggestion] Mirage Advance and Sand Through Glass need improvements.

When Mirage came out, I was pretty excited about the utilities. Illusionary Ambush, Jaunt, Mirage Advance, and Sand Through Glass in particular caught my interest but only half of them performed to my expectations. Jaunt and Mirage Ambush are well executed and exciting skills to use and also have received tweaks (Ambush not porting you off cliffs and Jaunt have a a slight increased distance). However, Sand Through Glass and Mirage Ambush have gotten no changes since their release yet their usage among Mirage players (at least, among all the mesmers I've seen) has seen little to no uses.

Mirage AdvanceAt the very least, I want this skill to be comparative to Blink. I understand that Blink is superior because it has both offensive AND defensive applications while MA was likely intended first as an Offensive teleport with a defensive backup. Moreover, MA has the added advantage of inflicting Blind (which combos with Ineptitude) and Clone Generation (On return, unless traited with Self-Deception). Yet, it bothers me to see that Blink is still a better offensive option.

When compared to its closest cousin, namely Phase Traversal (Shadowstep is more akin to Blink because of its lack of target requirement), Phase Traversal can be used as both an offensive and defensive tool because it has to range check. I understand that PT was not intended to have Defensive applications, as evident by the time when the Devs tried to add a range check to the skill but was received by dissatisfaction until anet decided to revert the change. In order for MA to compete with Blink, this is the quality of life it needs. By removing the range check on Mirage Advance, it can now also be used as a mobility skill while retaining its offensive advantages.

Second, increase the range to 1,200. Even if the range is raised to be on par with Blink, people will still consider Blink as the superior option due to the aforementioned reason of having both defensive and offensive uses. Not requiring a target gives Blink much more flexibility than MA will ever have, thus giving it that extra 300 range will not supersede Blink's position as the de facto movement ability but at least the disparity between the two will be much shorter.

Third, reduce the cast time. 3/4 a second is too long. Because of the long cast time, the skill is too dangerous to use in combat scenarios or for escaping by targetting far enemies because you will mostly likely interrupted before that happens. In the case of Phase Traversal, you are occasionally interrupted trying to escape but the window of opportunity with a 3/4 second is too great. At least put it on par with Phase Traversal since it is meant to be an ELITE utility. (and by that I don't mean it should be objectively better, but some aspects of the skills should be baseline similar. In this case, cast time, range, and technicalities)

Sand Through Glass

This skill has a shorter travel distance compared to Roll For Initiative and Riposting Shadows and the added effect (The summoned Mirage Mirror) is antithetical to the purpose of the Utility itself.

The travel distance should be the same as at least Roll for Initiative . Riposting Shadow is 600 units, Roll for Initiative is about 500+, while Sand Through Glass is only 300 units. To give some context, a typical AOE is usually has a radius of around 240-360 units. Assuming the you are at the center of an AOE, you just barely make it out of the smallest AOE but considering how hitboxes can sometimes be inaccurate due to ping, there is still a chance you will be hit after using Sands Through Glass. While on a 360 radius, you are STILL in the AOE after using STG, completely negating the skill. primary function of the skill; to relocate yourself to a safe location.

Instead of summoning a mirror, just give mirage cloak at the end of the evade, Normally, you are encouraged to pick up Mirage Mirrors to get gain the evade but in order to gain the benefit of the mirror from Sand Through Glass, you need to return to the original position from which you were trying to escape from. The Dev's in their POF Elite spec livestream mentioned how they often combo'd Sand Through Glass with Jaunt to instantly shatter the mirror. But that means you're using a defensive cooldown offensively, and traveling away from the enemy does not contribute to that.Furthermore, if you're trying to gain Mirage Cloak through the summoned mirror to access your Ambush, all Ambush skills are already ranged (except for sword but it's a leap so you'll still hit your target) therefore having the mirror summoned away from you just becomes a detriment altogether. By simply giving the Mesmer the Mirage Cloak, you lose the benefit of the Mirror shattering (which honestly, is quite worthless) and can readily decide to run away or to re-engage after evading.

On Sand Through Glass - I like this skill as it is for the following reasons:

• Can Jaunt or Axe 2 straight back through the mirror being in shorter range.
• Can use the mirror to cover cast a heal etc at the right moment (not always needing the extra evade immediately and having a two part evade can save it for the right time in a fight)
• The audio/visual effect of breaking the mirror with axe 2 after the backwards dodge is for me the most aesthetically satisfying thing in the game, and preserves endurance axe 2 while being able to stay in melee range.

I've roamed with sand through glass in wvw since early this year (after I dropped signet of inspiration), and it's been a clutch stunbreak and lifesaver on many occasions - especially since the EM nerf. I'd go as far as saying it's one of my favourite mesmer utility skills. So overall I like StG as it is and don't want any significant changes.

But if necessary then perhaps it could use slight improvement - I would like to see some thematic defensive addition (with StG being the defensive Deception utility, compared with the other Deception skills), eg giving momentary 1s stealth or target break on the backwards dodge, but that's it (target break would be better so it doesn't conflict with Evasive Mirror which would instantly break the stealth while evading...).

Mirage Advance on the other hand - yeah I agree it doesn't justify a utility slot compared with Illusionary Ambush, so certainly needs some tweaking.