Prioritising Clones over Phantasms

[Fawkes.2836]

As the title says, with the upcoming release of the Mirage in Path of Fire, I think Arena Net should give us an option to choose which kind of illusions we want to keep if we summon a new one. Before mirage, Phantasms have always been the better choice no matter what. But with the new e-spec and the new ambush skills (and especially with Infinite Horizon) i believe that clones might have a place as well.The build I have in mind focusses mostly on ambushes an clones using the trait Infinite Horizon. In order to be most effective I try to keep three clones up as much as possible. But, since phantasms do not get replaced by clones, I only have to options to use my phantasm skills. Either I do not use them at all, or I have to shatter all my current illusions after using a phantasm to able to summon three new clones. While this technically works, I still think it feels clunky if I only want to use my I-warlock for a single attack and then have to shatter everything because of it.So with the release of the new e-spec it would be great if they gave us a choice to choose which type of illusions we want to keep and which ones should be destroyed if our illusion count is full.And since A-net is able to prioritise phantasms I believe that enabling us to choose the opposite shouldn't be that hard to implement. Anyway, I hope I'm not the only one and I hope Arena Net understands the necessity of such an option.

thanks for reading and feel free to post your opinion regarding this subject.

[Curunen.8729]

For some phantasms (Warden, Zerker and Duelist) it would be better to prioritise them as they have strong effects.

But yeah as someone who plans to use Torch and Staff, I don't want iMage or iWarlock in place of axe and staff clones - would rather they not summon if 3 clones are out.

iMage in particular - untraited it's 30s cooldown for the worst phantasm in the game. Seriously needs updating in any case.

[FaboBabo.3581]

Torch needs love

[Fawkes.2836]

Same for me Curunen, i plan on using axe/torch and staff^^, but that's why i think we should have the option to choose which ones we want to keep, so players using GS and s/f for example could choose phantasms and keep their zerkers and swordsmen, while we could keep our clones after a single attack of my warlock :) I do not want it to be mandatory for Mirage to prioritise clones but to give us the option (as well as base mesmer of course).

[Refia Montes.3205]

Clones are still weak tbh. Even with Infinite Horizon, you'll be better off using Dune Shards+Pistol Phantasms for condi builds.

[Fawkes.2836]

Might be true, but I don't want to because I find using 4 "identic" mesmers more awesome and I shouldn't be punished for doing so.

[FaboBabo.3581]

Gw2 is no wish list

[Curunen.8729]

@Refia Montes.3205 said:Clones are still weak tbh. Even with Infinite Horizon, you'll be better off using Dune Shards+Pistol Phantasms for condi builds.

Depends on game mode and build.

Eg in hybrid (ie viper) the staff clones ambush (together with DE, and might on dodge) can stack a solid amount of might very easily hence way more useful than iwarlock. I'm intending to experiment with this playstyle in wvw because it's fun, and I'm hoping it could be functional in pvp too - though role is currently unclear.

Also it's fun to see 3 axe clones throwing 3 phantasmal axes each on ambush - whether it's as effective as pistol or not.

Sure it might not be the objective best option for high end instanced pve, but personally I don't play raids or t4 fractals.

[Carighan.6758]

A better and more stable fix - IMO - would be to organize our clones vs phantasms like this:

• Phantasms buffed significantly. To not overbuff burst potential, attack cadence buffed, not the per-attack effects. Cooldowns modified, traits adapted.
• All 3 illusion slots are now Clone-only.
• You can only have one Phantasms at once, it has it's own, fourth, illusion bubble which shows a weapon icon in it depending on which phantasm it is (Utility Phantasms display a crossed out boon respectively a small brickwall.

It'd solve a lot of problems, with Mirage, with Phantasms in general, with Clones vs Phantasms overall... yeah.

[Fawkes.2836]

Works for me as well Carighan, I just want to be able to have 3 clones active and still use all of my weapon skills, because not being able to use 1/5th of them or needing to shatter all my illusions seems like a very bad design...