What Mirage Elite Utility Skills Do you Enjoy?

[Jalad Lantana.3027]

What Mirage Elite Utility Skill are your favorites or do you like to break out just for fun?  If a Norn, do you prefer any of the Norn Elite skills?

 

I am enjoying my NornStaff Mirage in casual open world, but can't seem to decide which elite utility skill to use.

 

Thanks.😀

Edited February 25, 2023 by Jalad Lantana.3027
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[Moradorin.6217]

3 hours ago, Jalad Lantana.3027 said:

What Mirage Elite Utility Skill are your favorites or do you like to break out just for fun?  If a Norn, do you prefer any of the Norn Elite skills?

 

I am enjoying my NornStaff Mirage in casual open world, but can't seem to decide which elite utility skill to use.

 

Thanks.😀

I would say that staff Mirage should only ever use Jaunt. Every other elite would detract significantly from its function. Using a "deception" skill such as jaunt is how staff mirage cranks out clones. That is you generate a 1st clone with phase retreat, then generate more clones either with the phant skill or jaunt. WHen the phant skill is on cooldown or you want to make clones early to get a shatter off before the phants convert to clones you will use jaunt typically. I get the impression that you have maybe not looked at how staff Mirage is usually played and are just having fun in which case anything that makes you happy is fine. However, if you want to know what works well on Mirage as an elite skill its Jaunt, pretty much always and only jaunt. The one acception I can think of is mass-invis but that would ONLY for a moment when you have need of stealth and no other class is around that is better at it like thief or engi.

 

Edited February 25, 2023 by Moradorin.6217

[Gaiawolf.8261]

3 hours ago, Moradorin.6217 said:

I would say that staff Mirage should only ever use Jaunt. Every other elite would detract significantly from its function. Using a "deception" skill such as jaunt is how staff mirage cranks out clones. That is you generate a 1st clone with phase retreat, then generate more clones either with the phant skill or jaunt. WHen the phant skill is on cooldown or you want to make clones early to get a shatter off before the phants convert to clones you will use jaunt typically. I get the impression that you have maybe not looked at how staff Mirage is usually played and are just having fun in which case anything that makes you happy is fine. However, if you want to know what works well on Mirage as an elite skill its Jaunt, pretty much always and only jaunt. The one acception I can think of is mass-invis but that would ONLY for a moment when you have need of stealth and no other class is around that is better at it like thief or engi.

 

Not all staff mirages use Self-Deception. Renewing Oasis is very popular too, which opens the door for other elites. Mass Invis is awesome for group movement, and Time Warp kicks kitten against bosses. Unlike what Sammy Haggar says about rocking, there is more than one way to play. Jaunt is always a good option and very versatile tho.

[Waffles.5632]

Jaunt can be used deceptively well, especially with mirrors. However time warp looks fun now that it's been buffed.

In pvp mass invis/moa are very very cool, but also niche. Same with PvE.

So for me it would be toss up between jaunt and time warp!

[Moradorin.6217]

6 hours ago, Gaiawolf.8261 said:

Not all staff mirages use Self-Deception. Renewing Oasis is very popular too, which opens the door for other elites. Mass Invis is awesome for group movement, and Time Warp kicks kitten against bosses. Unlike what Sammy Haggar says about rocking, there is more than one way to play. Jaunt is always a good option and very versatile tho.

True enough. I overlooked that Timewarp has been buffed recently. It was not worth considering for so long I didnt give it, well, consideration. lol. I would still say jaunt is probably the way to go, however, seeing as I have not tried the new timewarp I would say just try them both. Mass invis I would generally not take unless you specifically need group stealth from a Mesmer. For stuff like that I usually try to just swap it in for the bit I need it then swap back to jaunt, esp in pve. In wvw it can serve a purpose depending your build.

[Waffles.5632]

2 hours ago, Moradorin.6217 said:

True enough. I overlooked that Timewarp has been buffed recently. It was not worth considering for so long I didnt give it, well, consideration. lol. I would still say jaunt is probably the way to go, however, seeing as I have not tried the new timewarp I would say just try them both. Mass invis I would generally not take unless you specifically need group stealth from a Mesmer. For stuff like that I usually try to just swap it in for the bit I need it then swap back to jaunt, esp in pve. In wvw it can serve a purpose depending your build.

Do not sleep on new time warp! It's pretty effective when used right. Idk about pvp/wvw, but in pve it feels very impactful now at least. Jaunt probably edges out though because it's 3 ammo, it's up more, and it's condi cleanse so like if you're soloing in pof or something and get crippled for 10,000 minutes, jaunt will be a life saver if you have no other condi cleanse.

I mean I can't speak for anyone else, but for me, anytime I get crippled or whatever by enemy monsters I just lose it. That's why jaunt always gonna have a place in my heart lol.

[Curunen.8729]

Jaunt is all the fun in its non-nerfed form (unlike wvw...)

Sand through Glass is a personal favourite and makes up for no directional dodge.

IA is overkill in pve unless for fun - sure it's great to have but it's so easy to get endless mirage cloak that I prefer feedback with staff/axe (for pistol phantasm, and other leaps/finishers).

Blink is too useful everywhere to fit anything else.

Mirage Advance has a nice animation but not the most useful thing. And crystal sands is... ok, but I'm never short of cloak, and prefer sand through glass.

False oasis is solid enough.

[GutterRat.1269]

Mass Invis since the dawn of time. Everything else is a downgrade in WvW roaming.

[Terrorhuz.4695]

Everything about mirage utilities is so good, I love the design choices they made. Except the crystal shards, I guess, but the utilities+elites are so thematically nice.

[apharma.3741]

I'll preface this by saying I think the mirrors mechanic is bad, and I would remove it, so I'll evaluate each one based on no mirror as I would remove it if I could.

False Oasis: Fine but with no mirror I'd want the healing bumped a little or vigor bumped or possibly have the oasis illusion also have you stood by. It would need something without the mirror.
Jaunt: It's not what it once was after nerfs. I would remove the confusion (or skill split so competitive is 1 stack for 1s if PvE needs that damage), keep the token damage so it's not abusable in stealth and reduce the count CD to 25s (or 20s) in competitive.
Crystal Sands: PvE skill, I guess it's fine. Maybe add a confusion explosion instead of the mirror that applies 2 confusion.
Illusionary Ambush: Fine but would like the CD to be 30s then I might consider running it over blink in a deception build as it's not a stunbreak and no guarantee it will port you out of danger.
Mirage Advance: Worse shadowstep. The 3/4s cast time cripples it, reduce to 1/2s at least if not 1/4s. Reduce damage to 1.2.
Sand through Glass: Good skill but I'd remove the mirror and let it cleanse a condition or two.
Self Deception: It's OK, it would be much better if the minor trait granted vigor on illusion summon, something that should have been changed given you don't want to shatter too often in a clone build causing a conflict with the main source of vigor and mechanic.

[phokus.8934]

On 3/27/2023 at 9:06 AM, Terrorhuz.4695 said:

Everything about mirage utilities is so good, I love the design choices they made. Except the crystal shards, I guess, but the utilities+elites are so thematically nice.

Good for pve, maybe.  IA used to be great but then it got hit with an insane 35s cooldown (compared to 20s in pve and it used to be 20s in pvp/wvw).  Right now, every utility for Mirage, other than Jaunt is not good for pvp/wvw.

[Terrorhuz.4695]

7 minutes ago, phokus.8934 said:

Good for pve, maybe.  IA used to be great but then it got hit with an insane 35s cooldown (compared to 20s in pve and it used to be 20s in pvp/wvw).  Right now, every utility for Mirage, other than Jaunt is not good for pvp/wvw.

Was talking about the ideas themselves, balancing of course is trash

[phokus.8934]

28 minutes ago, Terrorhuz.4695 said:

Was talking about the ideas themselves, balancing of course is trash

Agreed.  They're cool as hell abilities but Mesmers are not allowed to have nice things.

[Gaiawolf.8261]

On 3/30/2023 at 6:20 AM, apharma.3741 said:

I'll preface this by saying I think the mirrors mechanic is bad, and I would remove it, so I'll evaluate each one based on no mirror as I would remove it if I could.

What's wrong with the mirrors? They give us more cloak and more ambush opportunities. It's a win-win and a great way to build more strategy into our mobility. 

[apharma.3741]

Mirrors come from either distortion with desert distortion or skills.
For mirrors from distortion, they may be spaced out in a useful manner to use.
Mirrors from skills are usually not in a good place.

Crystal Sands: Disregarding how useless it is in competitive, the mirror is ON your target, which isn't a great place to be usually.
Sands through Glass: YOU ARE EVADING AWAY FROM DANGER. Why on earth would you want the mirror to be where danger was?
False Oasis: Yeah, OK can be alright.
What this leaves is 2/3 skills that generate a mirror, putting it in a bad place. We also end up with desert distortion being utterly absurd with evade output compared to other trait offerings, which is a balancing nightmare, as I pointed out in a post in the return 2nd dodge thread.
They're just not a good mechanic, and I'm not even nitpicking about how you can't tell who's mirror is who's.

[Gaiawolf.8261]

10 hours ago, apharma.3741 said:

Crystal Sands: Disregarding how useless it is in competitive, the mirror is ON your target, which isn't a great place to be usually.
Sands through Glass: YOU ARE EVADING AWAY FROM DANGER. Why on earth would you want the mirror to be where danger was?

I think maybe you just aren't using these skills optimally.

Crystal Sands gives the best placement for melee builds looking to up DPS. Melee builds almost always want to be on their target or they're losing DPS. 

Sand Through Glass can be used at range or in melee to evade an attack and then burst an ambush skill when re-engaging. You can even shadowstep or leap onto your mirror to double-up on another evade while starting a burst. I use this skill in both PVE and WVW. 

 

[Loic.9657]

First of all, ambush skills has been nerfed to the ground by the pathetic balance team, so there is no such thing as a "burst" ambush.

Edited April 3, 2023 by Loic.9657

[Terrorhuz.4695]

On 4/1/2023 at 11:04 PM, apharma.3741 said:

Mirrors come from either distortion with desert distortion or skills.
For mirrors from distortion, they may be spaced out in a useful manner to use.
Mirrors from skills are usually not in a good place.

Crystal Sands: Disregarding how useless it is in competitive, the mirror is ON your target, which isn't a great place to be usually.
Sands through Glass: YOU ARE EVADING AWAY FROM DANGER. Why on earth would you want the mirror to be where danger was?
False Oasis: Yeah, OK can be alright.
What this leaves is 2/3 skills that generate a mirror, putting it in a bad place. We also end up with desert distortion being utterly absurd with evade output compared to other trait offerings, which is a balancing nightmare, as I pointed out in a post in the return 2nd dodge thread.
They're just not a good mechanic, and I'm not even nitpicking about how you can't tell who's mirror is who's.

the mirror themselves should stay because they are cool visuals, but probably with a different effect. Maybe proccing ambush without giving the actual evade, IDK

[chripsy.1027]

He is playing a casual open world build. Why would he be using self deception at the expense of having regeneration up constantly. He would be taking a significant dps loss. You generate clones by using the clones on doge trait for casual open world, along with staff 2 and 3.