Power Mirage is awesome

[Iustitian.9176]

The new possibilities for Power Mirages after the 19th March balance update are awesome. 

You can run and port around the battlefield like a ninja or Neo (from the Matrix Movies) ^^

I use this: 

Equipment: All berserker stats with scholar runes, impact and force sigils and the thief relic

Weapons: Dagger/Focus + Greatsword

Skills: False Oasis, Sand through Glass, Illusionary Ambush, Mirror Images and Signet of Humility

Traits: Domination 2/2/1, Dueling 2/2/1, Mirage 1/2/3

What are your thoughts about that? Overpowered or too small in damage?

[ZephidelGRS.9520]

I use dual Swords/Focus for weapon and Illusions instead of Domination. IMO Sword Ambush generates so many Clones that it justifies having an extra F1. Exactly how many, you asked? It’s enough to upkeep Compounding Power constantly at 5 stacks, which is something only Virt could do before. And I know we have had a lot of discussions about how Dagger overshadowed main-hand Sword as a weapon, but I truly believe Mirage Ambush is where main-hand Sword beats Dagger.

But as fun as Sword Mirage goes, it doesn’t bench very  high (yet). I’m sure the constant evasion and dashing/dancing through the battlefield while ripping enemies’ boons apart will have its place somewhere in PvP/WvW, but for instanced PvE it’s not quite viable yet.

 

[Lugh.8470]

7 minutes ago, ZephidelGRS.9520 said:

I use dual Swords/Focus for weapon and Illusions instead of Domination. IMO Sword Ambush generates so many Clones that it justifies having an extra F1. Exactly how many, you asked? It’s enough to upkeep Compounding Power constantly at 5 stacks, which is something only Virt could do before. And I know we have had a lot of discussions about how Dagger overshadowed main-hand Sword as a weapon, but I truly believe Mirage Ambush is where main-hand Sword beats Dagger.

But as fun as Sword Mirage goes, it doesn’t bench very  high (yet). I’m sure the constant evasion and dashing/dancing through the battlefield while ripping enemies’ boons apart will have its place somewhere in PvP/WvW, but for instanced PvE it’s not quite viable yet.

 

aww and I like sword ambush so much in pve, yeah the clone spam shattering is crazy on sword, i was intangible to bosses pretty much, minus one or two occasions, I just used my chrono gear. Easly most fun i had recently, but i felt damage wasn't there 

[Strider.7849]

4 hours ago, Iustitian.9176 said:

The new possibilities for Power Mirages after the 19th March balance update are awesome. 

You can run and port around the battlefield like a ninja or Neo (from the Matrix Movies) ^^

I use this: 

Equipment: All berserker stats with scholar runes, impact and force sigils and the thief relic

Weapons: Dagger/Focus + Greatsword

Skills: False Oasis, Sand through Glass, Illusionary Ambush, Mirror Images and Signet of Humility

Traits: Domination 2/2/1, Dueling 2/2/1, Mirage 1/2/3

What are your thoughts about that? Overpowered or too small in damage?

Don't mean this in a rude way, but looking at the way you built it with full offensive weapon sets, glass stats, and only one hard escape - I thought it wad an open world PvE build. You might be able to kill someone who is not expecting the burst or perhaps didn't see you at all in the middle of a chaotic fight, but a single thief can, and will, ruin your day.

[Terrorhuz.4695]

Domination\dueling\mirage is a fat build now. Plenty of vigor, plenty of fury, I routinely hit 6k/7k gs ambushes, and with sword ambushes I get some of the best movement in the game. If there ever was a time to play power mirage, it is now.

[Wolfofdivinity.6251]

I've been maining power mirage since launch of pof. It was literally a nuclear weapon against zergs and key to our zerg busting success. We used to 10v30 duel some of the bigger clans in obi sanctum...I was responsible for many initial downs. 

 

Then it took a dodge nerf to the knee via incompetent balancing. Glad to hear you pve bois finally get to enjoy it!

[Iustitian.9176]

4 hours ago, Strider.7849 said:

Don't mean this in a rude way, but looking at the way you built it with full offensive weapon sets, glass stats, and only one hard escape - I thought it wad an open world PvE build. You might be able to kill someone who is not expecting the burst or perhaps didn't see you at all in the middle of a chaotic fight, but a single thief can, and will, ruin your day.

Yeah right, it's a PvE build. For WvW/PvP there are some modifications needed. But it's still fun and usable now 🙂

[Mell.4873]

I tried a PvE hybrid with no energy sigil and using Dagger/pistol and Axe/Torch. The interrupts alone reset the pistol skills so much with Chaotic Interruption. 

The other nice thing is shattering triggers ambushes with the new Grandmaster so a nice Axe setup especially with lots of enemies does alot of damage.. 

The energy sigil is a bit redundant now I think. 

[Lugh.8470]

1 hour ago, Mell.4873 said:

I tried a PvE hybrid with no energy sigil and using Dagger/pistol and Axe/Torch. The interrupts alone reset the pistol skills so much with Chaotic Interruption. 

The other nice thing is shattering triggers ambushes with the new Grandmaster so a nice Axe setup especially with lots of enemies does alot of damage.. 

The energy sigil is a bit redundant now I think. 

yeah i noticed that, with someone giving alacrity amount of ambush attacks i got, i realized midway that i had no energy sigil on sword or dagger, wait is condi build also working with shattering now instead of infinite horizon ? (I meant damagewise). what are some good relics ? thief doesn't work to my knowledge, maybe eye of isgarren ? or is it not worth it ?

 

I've been searching constantly if someone did some build videos to see top damage/build but so far nothing.

[Gaiawolf.8261]

On 3/21/2024 at 6:30 AM, Terrorhuz.4695 said:

Domination\dueling\mirage is a fat build now. Plenty of vigor, plenty of fury, I routinely hit 6k/7k gs ambushes, and with sword ambushes I get some of the best movement in the game. If there ever was a time to play power mirage, it is now.

I use a dom/duel/mirage build for WVW, but with cele stats. It's pretty fun. The sw ambush is great with full clones. 

[Mell.4873]

9 hours ago, Lugh.8470 said:

yeah i noticed that, with someone giving alacrity amount of ambush attacks i got, i realized midway that i had no energy sigil on sword or dagger, wait is condi build also working with shattering now instead of infinite horizon ? (I meant damagewise). what are some good relics ? thief doesn't work to my knowledge, maybe eye of isgarren ? or is it not worth it ?

 

I've been searching constantly if someone did some build videos to see top damage/build but so far nothing.

I ended up going full Axe with the new shatter trait to ambush. I put energy sigil back on for now but we shall see.

Fractal relic is what I am currently using. 

[TheAgedGnome.7520]

On 3/21/2024 at 12:06 AM, Iustitian.9176 said:

The new possibilities for Power Mirages after the 19th March balance update are awesome. 

You can run and port around the battlefield like a ninja or Neo (from the Matrix Movies) ^^

I use this: 

Equipment: All berserker stats with scholar runes, impact and force sigils and the thief relic

Weapons: Dagger/Focus + Greatsword

Skills: False Oasis, Sand through Glass, Illusionary Ambush, Mirror Images and Signet of Humility

Traits: Domination 2/2/1, Dueling 2/2/1, Mirage 1/2/3

What are your thoughts about that? Overpowered or too small in damage?

 

Ok, this is pretty fun in OW! Mirage Advance seems kinda fun as a utility instead of Illusionary Ambush, and I generally am using Jaunt instead of the moa signet. I've got Marauder trinkets and Deadeye runes, and it still seems quite potent. Lack of condi cleanse seems the big weak spot.

 

[Terrorhuz.4695]

On 3/21/2024 at 1:38 PM, Wolfofdivinity.6251 said:

I've been maining power mirage since launch of pof. It was literally a nuclear weapon against zergs and key to our zerg busting success.

Zerg vs zerg, you take double mantra gs mirage with every damage trait you can get on mesmer. Charge the mantras, erase the center of mass of the zerg, back off and repeat. People will laugh at you, until they see each of your ambushes hitting for 10k, against multiple targets, and nothing other than blocks can actually prevent it.

[Niskahiki.8674]

Yea very fun class to play against. You can range spike 15k from stealth and 1 shot almost anything unsuspecting or otherwise in WvW. Oh i forgot to mention it has all the utilities of mesmer with invuln spam etc. Very good and balanced class. Meanwhile f.e. DH you have to stand still for 2 skills, place traps only under you and have 2 mobility skills with sword etc. Very fun indeed

[Salt Mode.3780]

I never understood what people meant when they say power mirage is suddenly good. Power mirage has always been a thing since release with the constant nerfs in the past other classes are just simply better with less effort. To say power mirage is now strong after the changes which btw didn't change much to power mirage is just untrue. As far as the new trait, IH is still infinitely better on power builds as having 3 gs clone ambush just does more damage stacking vuln + getting high might stacks than getting ambush after shattering which to me is counterproductive and pointless and the whole point of ambush is to maximize your damage.

Edited March 27 by Salt Mode.3780

[Salt Mode.3780]

On 3/26/2024 at 12:35 PM, Niskahiki.8674 said:

Yea very fun class to play against. You can range spike 15k from stealth and 1 shot almost anything unsuspecting or otherwise in WvW. Oh i forgot to mention it has all the utilities of mesmer with invuln spam etc. Very good and balanced class. Meanwhile f.e. DH you have to stand still for 2 skills, place traps only under you and have 2 mobility skills with sword etc. Very fun indeed

A good DH arguably counters Mirage esp power Mirage, this is a moment of get good moment and it's not even trying to be mean. Traps destroy clones before they can get to the target to actually apply the damage, and if you are having issues with DH just go Willbender as it is one of the most broken specs in WvW to roam. Don't try to make Mirage as some sort of OP class because as stated before, combine all damage mitigation abilities Mirage is actually on the lower end of the spectrum even with this "invuln spam". Again learn the class before making comments like this because it is factually untrue.  

[ZephidelGRS.9520]

2 hours ago, Salt Mode.3780 said:

I never understood what people meant when they say power mirage is suddenly good. Power mirage has always been a thing since release with the constant nerfs in the past other classes are just simply better with less effort. To say power mirage is now strong after the changes which btw didn't change much to power mirage is just untrue. As far as the new trait, IH is still infinitely better on power builds as having 3 gs clone ambush just does more damage stacking vuln + getting high might stacks than getting ambush after shattering which to me is counterproductive and pointless and the whole point of ambush is to maximize your damage.

Because the only serious use of that Greatsword build is farming Mad King labyrinth, which is a once-per-year event. Yes it’s still a very efficient farming build to tag a lot of trash mobs during meta events, but on its own it takes forever to kill a fly. Of course it goes without saying that it’s not a viable build in any instanced content.

When we talk about power Mirage now we meant more the Sword build whose damage got buffed 3x in the same patch, and the one that the new changes have the most synergy with. Sword Clones don’t really do anything, Infinite Horizon only multiplies the boon strip and nothing else (the Clones don’t copy the Ambush’s Clone generation). So they’re just ammo and it’s not counterproductive to Shatter them. 

Sword Ambush itself can generate Clones infinitely as long as you can Ambush, so with more Ambush access via the new Dune Cloak you can keep up a nice little loop of Ambush, get Clones, Ambush again, get Clones again, Ambush again. The damage output of this isn’t half-bad either, a few more tweaks and you could very well see people using it seriously in instanced content. You couldn’t do this before because access to Ambush was limited by your dodges, making your frequency a lot more sparse compared to now.

[GoingMenthol.7281]

I've been trying (and somewhat failing) to make a sword/pistol build to keep interrupting targets to refresh the pistol phantasm with duelists discipline and keep triggering the sigil of severance. Enemies with defiance bars don't trigger the sigil at all (like the test golem when you enable or disable the bar), and trash mobs die too quickly to an ambush or two to make the most of it. DPS isn't where I'd like it to be either. I'm very new to mesmer so I'm probably doing something wrong