Newbie question: Mirage and dodge roll (solo PvE adventuring)

[ZioGio.9102]

My understanding is that Mirage replaces the dodge roll with ambush.  So how does a Mirage Mesmer dodge out of AoE attacks or through obstacles?  Do they depend on the Mirage Shadowstep utilities to replace dodge roll?  Thanks!

Edited August 22, 2022 by ZioGio.9102
Specified PvE

[Nash.2681]

To keep it short- when "dodging" as a Mirage, you still get the evade frame, your character just won't automatically change position. For that, you have to manually move (WASD). 

[ZioGio.9102]

43 minutes ago, Nash.2681 said:

To keep it short- when "dodging" as a Mirage, you still get the evade frame, your character just won't automatically change position. For that, you have to manually move (WASD). 

Thanks, Nash.  Just so I fully understand, when I "dodge" as a Mirage the avatar blurs for a second and that's the evade window, right?  So, I can still evade, I just don't move.  Good to know.  Thanks!

[Nash.2681]

Correct, you evade but don't move unless you walk in any direction at the same time.

[Veprovina.4876]

If you time it right you won't have to move anywhere. That makes it great for staying in melee range ao you can keep attacking.

But if you need to move, you can. 

Also, you have jaunt and illusionary ambush plus mirrors so you can mix and match to get out of trouble.

[Moradorin.6217]

4 hours ago, ZioGio.9102 said:

Thanks, Nash.  Just so I fully understand, when I "dodge" as a Mirage the avatar blurs for a second and that's the evade window, right?  So, I can still evade, I just don't move.  Good to know.  Thanks!

Yea its changed a bit over time. iirc originally Mirage got super speed or a component baked into the Mirage cloak effect that made you move faster which compensated for the lack of movement that is baked into a normal dodge. Since Mirage can also counter attack while in dodge (evade frames) people complained about it allot in pvp and the speed component got nerfed a few times as I recall. It gets a little more complicated when you start to add consideration for CC effects since the ambush damage off clones still activates if the Mirage happens to also be Stuned/CCed during the same attack that was "dodged(evaded)". This is what caused the devs to do what many consider to be the lazy dead end route of removing a dodge from Mirage in pvp/wvw. A better solution may have been to alter how MC works and or change how ambush damage works by either sourcing it from the player or another way to stop the clone ambush damage when the player would be unable to attack normally.

 

The movement is a double edged blade sorta. I mean its good some times when you wana dodge in place for ambush damage and it sucks when you need to cross a ground AoE because you move slowly compared to normal dodge roll during your evade frames and you cannot dodge backwards for instance to get rear distance as a Mirage you would need to rotate 180 deg then move forward or end up backpeddaling which is VERY slow. (keep in mind many Mesmer weapons/effects require you face the opponent to work also).

Edited August 22, 2022 by Moradorin.6217

[Mell.4873]

9 hours ago, ZioGio.9102 said:

My understanding is that Mirage replaces the dodge roll with ambush.  So how does a Mirage Mesmer dodge out of AoE attacks or through obstacles?  Do they depend on the Mirage Shadowstep utilities to replace dodge roll?  Thanks!

Juant: Shadowstep to a targeted location and confuse nearby foes.
This is what you use to dodge, your real dodge is used to trigger Ambush's so you don't want to use it for anything other than that.

Axe skills Lingering Thoughts (2) and Axes of Symmetry (3), can also be used to dodge:

1. Lingering Thoughts: You can use this to dodge Cleaves
2. Axes of Symmetry: Has evade frames and can be used to reassign clones or close distances

The golden rule here is you should never dodge with Mirage to reposition, rather dodge to Ambush/block