Need some input on how this is possible?

[DeceiverX.8361]

@"BlueMelody.6398" said:This mesmer may or may not be using macros, but one very good mesmer admitted to using macros (which he learned from his mentor, apparently), and claims that all the good mesmers he knows use macros.

It's very obvious when mesmers are using macros and when they aren't. The good ones aren't so much fast as they are unpredictable which is why they're good in the first place.If they try the same exact combo twice in a row with perfect speed odds are they're using a macro because no smart player does that unless there's an obvious opening.

And to be honest, it's really not uncommon from a lot of "skilled" players; it's happened coming from a number of prominent thief and FA ele players as well and it was pretty obvious when they were doing it.

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As for the OP, mesmer F4 gives invuln even with no clones with increased duration scaling with clones, and mirage can evade while CC'ed untraited so it doesn't actually matter if you CC them. The class possesses the highest innate burst damage in the game (without investment from traits/gear) via Mind Wrack which was why their DPS numbers in PvE were always low; with high AoE burst damage came low need for high sustained damage. A ton of skills give ranged clone generation, many of which with no tell, so it's always important to be mindful you'll need to dodge a burst at any time.

Mesmer's burst is also often coordinated with multiple zero-animation skills like Mantras which can proc fire/air sigils, too.

Stealth is probably coming from OH torch which is usually paired with MH sword to provide an additional immunity and heavy mobility with MH sword ambush on mirage. Many also choose to run Decoy.

There aren't really any good answers to playing into mesmer as a ranger outside from abusing your own stealth via smokescale and longbow 3 while also utilizing immunities like Signet of Stone to deny its burst and Siamoth Soulbeast Beast Mode active. If you play soulbeast, you can opt for Sic 'Em as an offensive utility to force reveal and buff your damage pretty dramatically against them for the next several seconds.

Generally speaking, Mirage is really overpowered by design in 1v1 in the right hands and very few builds in general can really punish it if it's played well. It sounds like there may be a bit of a skill disparity here and you might need to play mesmer to better understand its strengths and weaknesses, but otherwise there's a huge complaint thread about the state of mesmer right now in the PvP formats for a good reason.

[Oogabooga.3812]

Here's a guess as to what happened:

You knocked him back and did rapid fire, so he mitigated that with Distortion, which brought up the "invulnerable" text,He then dodged to create a clone (Deceptive Evasion), used Illusionary Ambush to get to you, which created an additional clone with Self-Deception. Shattered with Mind Wrack.Assuming he was using axe, Lingering Thoughts (axe #2), another Deceptive Evasion, and then Axes of symmetry (axe #3) made all clones surround you and break your targeting, leaving you in perfect position for a massive shatter, either Cry of Frustration if you saw a lot of condis placed on you or Diversion if you got interrupted and dazed.

The 3rd phantasm/clone is probably coming from his off-hand weapon, most likely a torch for stealth.

If this is how it played out, it probably wasn't a macro. There aren't many buttons to push for this sequence, and it is very humanly possible to do so quickly.

The sword skills that he switched to do immobilize (Illusionary Leap followed immediately with Swap) and rapid attacks (Blurred Frenzy); he is watching for you to dodge twice to lay in that burst.

A big help in surviving a clone army heading your way for a shatter is to dodge through them, not backwards. You'll have a better chance of dodging all of them that way. If you've survived the 2nd army, the shatter skills on Mesmer will be on cooldown, so that is the time to turn on him.

To survive against the 3 rapid bursts, you need to utilize damage mitigation or delay that isn't one of your endurance dodges. Hunter's Shot on anything, be it ambients, neutrals, clones, or the enemy; timing your Serpent Strike or Stalker's Strike when you see the burst coming. If you've traited Stoneform and it triggers, then you'd better be attacking with everything, since that is probably your last line of defense and your weapon set doesn't let you run away.