Mirage Build Tweak

[Bigpapasmurf.5623]

Hello illusionists,

I have been running this build for a while now and while I highly enjoy it, I feel like there is something missing that can be tweaked just slightly (either sigil or a trait or food or something) so I am looking for more pairs of eyes on this. Weapons and utilities are staying as I have tested various times others and have settled on what I have. I just feel like I can get a better benefit if I changed something small however can't narrow down any 1 thing. Any constructive suggestions are appreciated.

Also...this is for a WvW solo/duo roamer build (maybe small scale but not nearly as often)

ThanksTheRealMC

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?Pi0AEd/lJwkYcsLmJW0XlveA-zVZYBBJOE1gY46Kk2qgATgMDB5nF9MjA-w

[Gryxis.6950]

The rune definitely needs a change. If you really want the 25% movespeed, then the rune of fireworks would pretty much be perfect for this build. If you don't mind having some condition damage, the rune of adventurer has a really strong effect for low cooldown heals (especially since mirages make such a good use of dodges).

Also I do not think the sigil of strength is all that useful on this build. Depending on whether you stay a lot on your greatsword or not you either do not make much use of it, or you should already be able to keep 25 stacks of might (especially if taking the rune of fireworks). I think sigil of energy or sigil of cleansing might be better choices.

I haven't used much mirror as a heal skill so don't take this at face value but considering you already have reflect on dodges, and that false oasis is such a strong heal (probably one of the best heal in the game if you ask me), maybe you should try false oasis to see if it fits better.

It is kinda hard giving you another advice as I don't really know the playstyle of your build (I'm guessing it's a shatter build and you're running axe and illusionary ambush in order to make it easy to hit your shatters) so I don't have any other advice.

[Bigpapasmurf.5623]

Rune choice was purely for the movement speed when i first built this. As you cam see I'm DPS focused. Havent looked into fireworks so I will have a gander at that.

Strength sigil gives me a good amount ifnstacks if might when I ambush on my GS which I try to camp as much as I can due to distance. Axe is when I am ready to do a "Final Smash" lol

I recently swapped to evasion so I may re look at the heal, however without looking iirc Mirror has a lower CD by a decent amount. I'll have another look at False Oasis as I did run that at one point.

I do run a shatter build, focused on smaller but more sustainable bursts. Also focused on clone generation and break target to take some heat off me. Axe is awesome for shatter burst once conditions are right for it (can be very deadly).

I appreciate your input as its given me stuff to look into. Thanks :)

[Gryxis.6950]

To justify why i think false oasis is better, while mirror does have a lower cd by far, the heal from false oasis is twice as strong (about 8.5k with the five pulses), gives vigor which is essential on a mirage and a mirage mirror (so basically a free dodge). Also the cast time is really decent for a heal skill, while mirror takes a while to cast (especially since you have to cast it more often).

[Yoci.2481]

I think traited Mirror is as good as False Oasis but of course you need Chaos line for that.

[Bigpapasmurf.5623]

I'll def give false oasis a shot. Too bad it wasn't a condi cleanse as well lol. My biggest downfall.

[Avion Blade.4869]

Take Mirror with Chaos trait first column low slot. With chaos you have a passive heal if your threshold health hits below 75%, this is re applied again every 15 seconds if you are hit below that same threshold. Now due to the first column low trait selection, your manipulation heal skill mirror has 3 things done for you: Reflect while casting the heal, and a heal with a recharge of 12 seconds instead of 15. On top of that all manipulation skills including the mirror will now give you super speed for 3 seconds, great for kiting or getting out of range.

With this trait selection, blink is reduced to 24 seconds, and the mass invisibility is reduced from 60 to 48 seconds.

False Oasis is good also, but you need to time when you run through your mirage diamond, which is a free evade frame.

Mirror to me is valuable and the chaos trait line is always a must for sustain.

---

I suggest you try a mirage jumper build of mine (very versatile) (two variations)

Name: WvW Roam Mirage Jumper (all-round)

Axe/Sword (yes off-hand sword)Staff (highly important)

Duelist (mid, low, high) (Cloak when hit below 50%, fencer ferocity and reduce sword recharge, and the superiority complex)Chaos (low, low, high) (Manipulation reduce recharge and super speed, staff reduce recharge and armor protection with chaos armor, and chaotic interruption (YOU NEED THIS ONE)Mirage (High, High, Low) (summon a clone for using deception skill when a clone exists, clone's shattered with distortion give you mirage diamonds, and then your boon steal ability after evading) (Your diamonds will buy you time for your mobile utility skills, you have 8 seconds to collect diamonds, wink wink).

Utilities: Mirror Heal Reflection - Ambush, Mirage Advance, Blink, and Jaunt

As far as rune's and sigils go, it is up to you. You will notice there is no condition cleanse here other than jaunt, so therefore, having condi cleanse on weapon swaps due to sigils, or condi transfers from sigils may be good.

Engagement rules: can deal up to a 1v3 with environment support (ledges, obstruction, water-line etc).

Benefits of Build:

• You have cloak
• You have blocks
• You have Staff for personal or ally support
• You have dps from duelist
• you have defense from chaos
• You have a LOT of mobility and target breaking
• you mirror against range (you can exploit this by cancelling the heal and only use the reflection while undergoing a cast, then it only recharges 3 seconds to cast again after cancellation, finish the cast if you want heal and 3 sec super speed.
• You also have your endur regen from vigor due to shatter and also duelist crit vigor grant.
• You have BOON STEALING after your evades, you also have a lot more stealing after collecting your diamonds from distortian.
• In general this is a counter build play with a 3 second cloak lesser/desperate decoy if you get below 50% health.

How to engage:

• Always start with staff, you have the option to kite back right away and apply chaos armor for reduced incoming damage with protection boon bonus from trait.
• Staff 2 then staff three to get your 3 clones up right away.
• Afterwards switch to axe/sword hit sword 5, and then press diversion THEN press mirage ambush. (notice you set up the 12 stack vuln from staff 3)
• Your clones will respawn around your target AND then proceed to run since diversion shatter is queued, and the opponent has lost you, by chance they will be interrupted and also your phantasm is also still on it's way to do melee sword damage with a bonus against stunned opponents with might bonus on you and the fact they are dazed. (due to trait selections)
• Mirage advance to your opponent whenever they are about to hit you with a high dmg shot for the blind, hit axe two, jaunt once on them then axe 3, evade once , and then mirage retreat back. You will still have clones up here.
• At this time your blink should be saved and your mirror heal also, switch back to staff, and let your opponent come to you, when your opponent tries to melee hit staff 5 (SAVE the chaos armor), your opponent may be interrupted or not, but you have aeigis, and retaliation to help you by chance with swiftness also.
• If you ever get hit below 50% and cloak blink away from your target and heal and run away and let the cool-downs come by and the opponent come to you, switch to axe/sword for counter-play.

Rules of engagement:

• General Rule: Always take damage first, and let the enemy waste their bursts on you. You will die initially most of the time but you will eventually learn when to take damage and when to kite.

• Against a dead eye, right after you hear the (ringing sound), cast mirror then cancel, OR spam mirage ambush utility around you. When the dead eye pops up, the auto target will target them THEN you are within range, cast axe three and then cast mirage advance (if they try to cloak, you will still hit them because you casted mirage advance while they were visible, thus you will teleport ON them where they are invisible, and then Jaunt in the same location after landing on them. This may be an exploit but the game mechanics for all classes still targets the opponent when they are cloaked, and the cast follows through if they are visible INTO their cloak.

• Do not overcommit against two-spell breakers (unless you have ledge support and elevation support to blink to and kite around)

• Do not over-commit against two-soulbeasts (unless you are in forest or areas with a lot of obstruction)

• NEVER fight in an open field against more than one opponent.

• Against core thief, you want to let them come to you, while they are cloak, and wait for them to hit you below 50%. Blink away, and use mirror heal. Wait 3 seconds and then drop staff 5 on yourself, after staff 5, staff 4, switch to axe/sword and wait for their next attack after 2-3 seconds, sword 4

• After blocking hit daze right awawy to interrupt, axe two then jaunt axe three then CONFUSION shatter

• Since thieves rely on active skill activiation, confusion will help you, and torment from axe will also help.

---

Gear - Full Celestial everything for versatility

Gear - Full Viper for Burst hit and run play: (SWITCH MIRAGE THIRD COLUMN TRAIT FROM LOW TO HIGH)

(Staff two, staff three, staff five on enemey, mirage ambush utility skill, then hit daze, mirage advance utility skill , axe two, evade while axe two hit sword five, jaunt, then axe three sword 4 twice (for 2 second daze), then axe 2, then hit confusion, then mirage retreat, jaunt again (axe three again after cool down), power shatter, then switch back to staff apply chaos armor, staff two away, then blink away then mirror cast. get out of there and run away. By this time your opponent should be down (if the chaotic interruption daze works out). Wait until out of combat, come back with warclaw and end the down (if you have warclaw downing upgrade)

Videos: I have none i don't have equipment to record, but this build is super fun. Just remember when to fight and when not to.

IF you want cloak variants, swith chaos trait third column, high to mid (for extended duration of cloak and boon accumulation while cloak), change blink to decoy, change jaunt to mass invisibility. MI will have 48 sec CD instead of 60 CD.

I follow the rule that one of your utility skills need to match your ultimate. If I am using blink, I should use jaunt (for telly), if I am using decoy, i should use mass invisibility. I also follow the rule, that you should run two- of the same type of utilities (if you have one signet, have two, one manipulation, have two, one glamour, have two) and traits support the utility, and weapons enhance the utility.

If you struggle with condition, sacrifice duelist and switch to inspiration (low-mid-high) and make your MIrage trait line (High, High, High) with inspiration fights will take a bit longer, but you will not die to conditions. Against condi, you want to remove their endurance for your burst, so make sure you shatter distortion while your clones are near THEN Burst. You will run through the diamonds and give them weakness so they cant evade and dodge roll as much.

[Avion Blade.4869]

Another helpful tip: Whenever you use staff 2, and staff three, and then use the ambush utility, drop staff 5 on active clone. Take advantage of the deception if they mistake your clone as you thinking you are trying to defend yourself by dropping the ring but really its a clone inside the ring and not you.

Another thing you want to realize is this: With ambush, wherever your location is, a clone will replace you in that location, (and with a trait), YOU will respawn around. So, the opponent will still see a mesmer in the same spot you were replaced with (only if the trait is active).

[Bigpapasmurf.5623]

@Avion Blade.4869 said:Take Mirror with Chaos trait first column low slot. With chaos you have a passive heal if your threshold health hits below 75%, this is re applied again every 15 seconds if you are hit below that same threshold. Now due to the first column low trait selection, your manipulation heal skill mirror has 3 things done for you: Reflect while casting the heal, and a heal with a recharge of 12 seconds instead of 15. On top of that all manipulation skills including the mirror will now give you super speed for 3 seconds, great for kiting or getting out of range.

With this trait selection, blink is reduced to 24 seconds, and the mass invisibility is reduced from 60 to 48 seconds.

False Oasis is good also, but you need to time when you run through your mirage diamond, which is a free evade frame.

Mirror to me is valuable and the chaos trait line is always a must for sustain.

---

I suggest you try a mirage jumper build of mine (very versatile) (two variations)

Name: WvW Roam Mirage Jumper (all-round)

Axe/Sword (yes off-hand sword)Staff (highly important)

Duelist (mid, low, high) (Cloak when hit below 50%, fencer ferocity and reduce sword recharge, and the superiority complex)Chaos (low, low, high) (Manipulation reduce recharge and super speed, staff reduce recharge and armor protection with chaos armor, and chaotic interruption (YOU NEED THIS ONE)Mirage (High, High, Low) (summon a clone for using deception skill when a clone exists, clone's shattered with distortion give you mirage diamonds, and then your boon steal ability after evading)

Utilities: Mirror Heal Reflection - Ambush, Mirage Advance, Blink, and Jaunt

As far as rune's and sigils go, it is up to you. You will notice there is no condition cleanse here other than jaunt, so therefore, having condi cleanse on weapon swaps due to sigils, or condi transfers from sigils may be good.

Engagement rules: can deal up to a 1v3 with environment support (ledges, obstruction, water-line etc).

Benefits of Build:

• You have cloak
• You have blocks
• You have Staff for personal or ally support
• You have dps from duelist
• you have defense from chaos
• you mirror against range (you can exploit this by cancelling the heal and only use the reflection while undergoing a cast, then it only recharges 3 seconds to cast again after cancellation, finish the cast if you want heal and 3 sec super speed.

How to engage:

• Always start with staff, you have the option to kite back right away and apply chaos armor for reduced incoming damage with protection boon bonus from trait.
• Staff 2 then staff three to get your 3 clones up right away.
• Afterwards switch to axe/sword hit sword 5, and then press diversion THEN press mirage ambush. (notice you set up the 12 stack vuln from staff 2)
• Your clones will respawn around your target AND then proceed to run since diversion shatter is queued, and the opponent has lost you, by chance they will be interrupted and also your phantasm is also still on it's way to do melee sword damage with a bonus against stunned opponents with might bonus on you and the fact they are dazed. (due to trait selections)
• Mirage advance to your opponent whenever they are about to hit you with a high dmg shot for the blind, hit axe two, jaunt once on them then axe 3, evade once , and then mirage retreat back. You will still have clones up here.
• At this time your blink should be saved and your mirror heal also, switch back to staff, and let your opponent come to you, when your opponent tries to melee hit staff 5 (SAVE the chaos armor), your opponent may be interrupted or not, but you have aeigis, and retaliation to help you by chance with swiftness also.
• If you ever get hit below 50% and cloak blink away from your target and heal and run away and let the cool-downs come by and the opponent come to you, switch to axe/sword for counter-play.

Rules of engagement:

• General Rule: Always take damage first, and let the enemy waste their bursts on you. You will die initially most of the time but you will eventually learn when to take damage and when to kite.

• Against a dead eye, right after you hear the (ringing sound), cast mirror then cancel, OR spam mirage ambush utility around you. When the dead eye pops up, the auto target will target them THEN you are within range, cast axe three and then cast mirage advance (if they try to cloak, you will still hit them because you casted mirage advance while they were visible, thus you will teleport ON them where they are invisible, and then Jaunt in the same location after landing on them. This may be an exploit but the game mechanics for all classes still targets the opponent when they are cloaked, and the cast follows through if they are visible INTO their cloak.

• Do not overcommit against two-spell breakers (unless you have ledge support and elevation support to blink to and kite around)

• Do not over-commit against two-soulbeasts (unless you are in forest or areas with a lot of obstruction)

• NEVER fight in an open field against more than one opponent.

• Against core thief, you want to let them come to you, while they are cloak, and wait for them to hit you below 50%. Blink away, and use mirror heal. Wait 3 seconds and then drop staff 5 on yourself, after staff 5, staff 4, switch to axe/sword and wait for their next attack after 2-3 seconds, sword 4

• After blocking hit daze right awawy to interrupt, axe two then jaunt axe three then CONFUSION shatter

• Since thieves rely on active skill activiation, confusion will help you, and torment from axe will also help.

---

Gear - Full Celestial everything for versatility

Gear - Full Viper for Burst hit and run play: (SWITCH MIRAGE THIRD COLUMN TRAIT FROM LOW TO HIGH)

(Staff two, staff three, staff five on enemey, mirage ambush utility skill, then hit daze, mirage advance utility skill , axe two, evade while axe two hit sword five, jaunt, then axe three sword 4 twice (for 2 second daze), then axe 2, then hit confusion, then mirage retreat, jaunt again (axe three again after cool down), power shatter, then switch back to staff apply chaos armor, staff two away, then blink away then mirror cast. get out of there and run away. By this time your opponent should be down (if the chaotic interruption daze works out). Wait until out of combat, come back with warclaw and end the down (if you have warclaw downing upgrade)

Videos: I have none i don't have equipment to record, but this build is super fun. Just remember when to fight and when not to.

IF you want cloak variants, swith chaos trait third column, high to mid (for extended duration of cloak), change blink to decoy, change jaunt to mass invisibility.

If you struggle with condition, sacrifice duelist and switch to inspiration (low-mid-high) and make your MIrage trait line (High, High, High) with inspiration fights will take a bit longer, but you will not die to conditions. Against condi, you want to remove their endurance for your burst, so make sure you shatter distortion while your clones are near THEN Burst.

Def some good advice/pointers here. In terms of weapons, I am pretty set with what I have due to my playstyle, but I appreciate your build idea. I swapped to Firework runes (not cheap holy money) and aside from noticing extra boons every 20 seconds in combat, nothing overly noticable (although those boons mean extra damage which is nice).

In terms of engagement, it would be hard for me not to jump into an outnumbered fight (even a 2v1) as thats how I like to test myself and my build. I may use one of my free toon slots to make another Mirage to try your build as there are parts of it I like (one being that it doesnt seem meta, which I love unique builds)

I do miss Mirror as I have been using false oasis to give it a fair try (and using the reflect on dodge trait, however having a reflect when I need it in between the dodge's trait CD would be nice). Still tweaking my build for the heal. Timing the diamond shatter on the heal has been a challenge. I do like that it heals more tho.

Condi is what it is. I have gotten used to having condi's as my weakness and try to stay ranged/mobile fighting scourges and such. Condi mirages I need to focus on mobility over cleanse as if I can down them first, im golden.

[Avion Blade.4869]

Oh i definitely agree with you, take what you like and leave out what isn't compatible with your play-style. For a 2v1, cloak is important. However my experience is, due to the sentry and tower anti-cloak mechanics in WvW, i find myself being hindered by using cloak and would like mobility.

Ironically, burst is not advisable if in 2v1, but rather do this: axe three, ambush, and mirage advance alternately against your foes. one time you are here, the other there, the other over there. You are jumping over one. AND the best part is to time them right when you are about to get hit.

Torch is great, but sometimes i really need that block (with a counter power damage from sword), and sword five is sexy beautiful with that might bonus. On top I forgot to say to add the sigil of might on your axe, of sigil of strength? it will give you might on crit hit. After the block a clone spawns on the enemy after a counter-hit, then I can daze for a chaotic interrupt and you axe 3 on them, really great to buy time and close gaps.

Celestial gear is beautiful because opponents will think you are glass cannon. However, wherever the opponent's stats are focused, you will win in the other aspects. The fun part is winning a battle of attrition, AND because you extend the fight, and this is WvW on sPvP chances of allies coming to help is increased. With staff you can help support.

The downside to the build, is the standardized shatter cool-downs do not have reduction from illusions trait since you are not using it, which means shatter conservation is a must. Use distortion not when you are about to die, but when you have 50% health, its a good balanced tip if you don't know when to use it optimally.

Since this is somewhat hybrid, you are adept at fighting condi-cleansers, or power-tank/or power precisioners.

[Bigpapasmurf.5623]

Its been years since I thoerycrafted anything with celestial gear (pre HoT). May need to re-look at it.