What are the reasons to play Mirage over (sword) Weaver?

[MagicMan.4586]

I am a (sword) Weaver main and I am looking for a new main that could actually satisfy my want for a fast-paced, high risk - high reward, flexible profession that has a useful niche for all game modes, and I think Mirage or Chronomancer may actually fulfill all of these. But before committing to that spec, what are the pros and cons of playing a Mirage over Weaver?

Before someone else argues that Weaver should already fulfill all of those:My issue with Sword Weaver is that, while it is also fast-paced and somewhat flexible it is hardly an optimal spec for any game mode, and if you're going to compare it to other classes it's not at all a "high risk-high reward" spec, it's all just high risk and okay reward, since I am already running a full Sword glass cannon build and rotation with 11.6k hp without dying too much, yet I am still not outdps'ing a meta spec'd DH or a Mirage (that seems to me has a much simpler rotation with less risk or better survivability), so basically, I am switching out of (sword) Weaver because it just doesn't feel as rewarding as I think it should (especially for sPvP) and I hope it's not going to be the same with Mirage.

[reikken.4961]

well one upshot to mirage is it's a lot better at pvpI wouldn't say it's high risk, however. you uncountably many defensive tools

[AliamRationem.5172]

I agree with reikken.4961, mirage is not exactly "high risk" as you have access to tons of evasion as well as stealth, teleports, blocks, and invulns. The only thing you don't have with mirage is strong healing and condi cleanse, which you don't really need due to your other defensive tools. Having said that, the damage is strong and I don't consider the damage rotation itself complex at all.

I'm mostly a solo player, so I don't have much to show in terms of videos of group play. But I did put this video together tonight for use in another thread. Unfortunately, it shows % damage rather than DPS, but in such a small squad with negligible support and a focus on CC and survival (swapping out to staff for extra evades, phase retreat, chaos storm, etc.) I'd guess somewhere in the 8-10k range. The main thing this video shows is how elusive mirage is, able to hang in at melee range against a very disruptive boss.

[Shoridan.2569]

As someone who did just that - moved from hybrid sword weaver to hybrid/condi mirage I can give you my input. Just note that due to lack of time I am pretty much a solo player doing mostly open world stuff and the occasional low tier fractals.

Mirage pros:

• Easier rotation to achieve similar or higher dps.
• Far easier to survive, as people mentioned above - mirage clone build has a metric ton of evades hidden in it, and of course the clones get some agro away from you.
• Range flexibility - weaver sword is an awesome weapon and I fell in love with the way it makes the weaver flow, but you are limited to pretty much melee. Some encounters (like some PoF bounties) make melee life a living hell, which drops your dps or downs you easily.
• Mesmer group support (portal, stealth, reflects, etc...) is very useful even on mirage, although you give up dps for it.

Weaver pros:

• Boons, boons, boons! I miss arcana trait line. Perma swiftness, protection and insane might and fury stacking with fire fields and blast finishers.
• The sword is an awesome weapon. Fire and water fields, blast finishers, evades, boons, both power and condi damage. The mirage axe pales in comparison. In fact I do not think any weapon in the game can compare (especially on the fun part).
• The looks of fire, earth, water and lightning smashing your enemies is very appealing. Pick mirage and you are stuck with pink/purple butterflies that look like they can tickle someone to death. You need to like the style to truly enjoy it.
• Mobility - while mirage can be super mobile (double teles with mimic, superspeed and swiftness, portal) it requires changing util skills, traits and weapons. In other words: pain in the ass. Mounts help a bit, but not in all situations, so you either waste time switching stuff or "running" really slow.

I'm sure there's more but that is mostly what comes to mind.

[Galahad.7386]

I was maining Tempest during HoT and was excited for sword weaver when PoF was announced. However, weaver(sword) doesn't clicked for me.

I can't really point out objectively the pros and cons as I have my biases as to how I play my toons. Mirage(axe, torch/sword) give me more control as to where my toon goes, e.g. I want to go to right but I'm far left, jaunts and axe 2 and now I'm in the position, Oh wait I moved to far from target! axe 3 and now I'm back on track.

Weaver(sword) has this kind of potential but for me, I need to actually be careful with all my position to actually navigate and move around my target.

In short, Mirage gives more control over my toon than Weaver(sword) at least for me.

[Shoridan.2569]

@Galahad.7386 said:I was maining Tempest during HoT and was excited for sword weaver when PoF was announced. However, weaver(sword) doesn't clicked for me.

I can't really point out objectively the pros and cons as I have my biases as to how I play my toons. Mirage(axe, torch/sword) give me more control as to where my toon goes, e.g. I want to go to right but I'm far left, jaunts and axe 2 and now I'm in the position, Oh wait I moved to far from target! axe 3 and now I'm back on track.

Weaver(sword) has this kind of potential but for me, I need to actually be careful with all my position to actually navigate and move around my target.

In short, Mirage gives more control over my toon than Weaver(sword) at least for me.

This is a matter of personal taste, so there is no disagreeing. I do find the opposite to work for me though. Jaunt is almost always available, but the range is quite low, so it only helps me fine tune when I am already more or less in position. Axe 2 is also good, but can easily get you in trouble if you are not careful (falling off, swinging into attacks, agroing other mobs, etc...).Axe 3 is a great gap closer, but you never know where you will end up (and bug reports suggest it can get you stuck in texture or drop you off a cliff), and the cooldown is not too short. It is also good for dps so is usually on cooldown unless you predict needing it.

Weaver has sword air 2, and you know exactly where you will land (long cooldown though), fire 2 is short ranged but you once again know where you will be plus a fire field and relatively short cooldown. If you also use a dagger (focus does not work much for me) then air 4 is also very useful.Something about the way sword/dagger plays on weaver just feels right. Mirage also has a similar feeling for me, it is sort of less cool and flowy, but more flexible and confusing - which is why I main mirage for now.

[Nepster.4275]

If i were in your place i would wait till the balance patch comes out. And if it hits mirage too hard i think its pointless to play it but ofc is you are a diehard mesmer lover than you will not move from it but yeah.And as the above ppl said Mirage has a ton of evades so even if its a light armor class you can survive longer thanks to your build(clones) and weapons(axe 3 is an evade too) plus when you dodge you get Protection. And as in PvP mirage is not a high risk-high reward class you can just go in with any of your skills but i prefer Mirage Advance use your axe and dodge to create clones and use all your shater skills , and if you are in danger just use Mirage Retreat and run away.