Mirage Collective Feedback Thread

For the new forums, let's create a new feedback thread. Let's also structure it like this:

Use Bullet Points to sum up main concerns in a broad stroke each. Below each bullet point, you provide any extra details, if necessary. This might help in organizing and understanding the concensus on Mirage's design and balance.

I'll start it off:

• Sword Clones do not trigger Interruption Traits when they interrupt an enemy with their Sword Ambush via Infinite Horizon

To specify, if a sword clone casts its Ambush when it gains Mirage Cloak through the Infinite Horizon Trait (or however else), while you also have Power Block equipped, and it happens to interrupt an enemy through the Ambush's daze, it will not proc Power Block. This is troubling as it really pigeonholes Infinite Horizon, and Mirage as a whole, into Condi Build and cuts off synergy with a large portion of the Core Mesmer.

• Great Sword Ambush does not trigger the GS GM Trait in Domination in any capacity.

Again, to specify, the GS Trait says that Spacial Surge will give Might and all other GS skills will Cripple enemies hit. Well, since the Ambush branches off Spacial Surge, perhaps it can be used to gain more Might than normal since it's hitting three targets? This was wishful thinking, but the answer is no, no might at all. Okay then, perhaps it counts as its own thing, but it's still a GS skill, so of course it should proc Cripple, right? Nope, no Cripple either. Again, another instance of Mirage mechanics not synergizing with Core Mesmer.

Scepter Ambush and Staff Ambush do not face the target on activation, this is especially annoying when you use Illusionary Ambush (which can teleport you facing awy from the target). To remedy this you can extend the window of activation or include a face target aspect.

Mirrors need extended duration (you should not need to burn a dodge to reach a "free" dodge in time).

Dune Cloak needs a radius increase (be a mini sand tornado), "prot on dodge" is a boring trait, the "mirror on shatter" trait is basically an extra dodge which you don't control on a 20sec recharge - awful - rework please (either drop the CD or summon 2 mirrors).

The utilities are a little lackluster because they are pure mobility and competing with Blink. Add some extra effects (something like low duration stealths or condi removal or might/fury).

The heal needs some sort of work, endurance regain or reduction in CD or a "return" flip skill to port back to mirage.

Power Ambushes need some love, Sword currently deals the same damage as the first hit from auto and GS needs a buff too.

Phantasms should get some sort of benefit from Mirage Cloak, not sure what (heard Alacrity and reset attacks but these conflict flavourwise or are strictly OP - Phants attacking on dodge is ludicrous). Perhaps you can give a few stacks of the Illusion trait %damage increase (even if you don't have the trait).

I think most things have been said already really.Mirage needs some bug fixing & balance updates but I feel like Anet already knows a lot of this.

Imo the one thing they really need to work on before Mirage releases is a rework of the Mirage Mirror mechanic.

• Mirage Mirrors & the Mirage elite spec completely contradict eachother, it ruins the whole "deceptive" theme of the spec. (Moving towards a mirror makes it very obvious which the real mesmer is.)
• Mirage Mirrors are very unsatisfying to use. No matter if they get buffed with a duration increase or anything. Nobody likes to run places to make use of a specific mechanic.
• Very unpractical way to gain Mirage Cloak. It's more of a bother than it does us any good.

I was thinking before of a change that instead of having shatters destroy our clones/phantasms they would shatter our mirrors instead, giving us Mirage Cloak & an additional effect around the location of he Mirror depending on the shatter skill used.However I feel like that would resemble Scourge's mechanic a bit too much.

I think the Mirrors should be replaced with another mechanic that grants us more Mirage Cloak.If the devs really wanted to keep the design of the mirrors (they do look good) I think they should have been implemented in a complete diffirent way. Maybe even on the next Mesmer elite spec because it really doesn't fit Mirage imo.

I was looking at how to go about using Axe for PVE, and I feel like clone generation should be moved from Lingering Thoughts and added to Axes of Symmetry. You could also add a mirror spawn (or just make it an evade, which it feels like it should be anyway) to Lingering Thoughts, which would make both skills awesome. If it worked like this, then you could use Lingering Thoughts with Dune Cloak, and not be constantly overwriting your Duelists. Also, making it spawn a mirror would give it an evade that keeps with the theme that seems to be going on with Mirage; it wouldn't be as strong defensively as just making it an evade, but it would give another damage boost instead.

Moving clone gen to Axes of Symmetry makes sense based on how the skill works. You could make it like Ether Clone, but that seems a little too Copy Paste. Even not doing that, the burst of confusion likely more than makes up for the loss of Phantasmal Force stacks, assuming you resummon right away, and you can still use it to switch 2 duelists to a new target and only have to resummon 1.