Illusion doubts

[KeoLegend.5132]

This is gonna be long, but will help lots of new mesmers like me. Here we go:

Im runing Power Mesmer/Chrono DPS, basicaly using 3 iSwordsman and hitting Sword 1 and 2. As long as the damage is good, im fairly new and rather slow-reacted on melee fights, so not always Sword2 can save me from a hard hit damage. So here its the doubts:

1. Can i use Sword4 to block an Attack? But will it completely destroys a hard portion of my dps due killing a iSword with 25% damage boost?

2. I like the ideia to use Shield after 3 iSwordsmans up because Shield5 is a nice damage boost, plus Shield4 is an awesome block. Problem is... does it always spawns 1 or 2 iAvengers, so i get to lose 2 iSwordsman?

3. Is there a way to block while mantaining those 3 iSwordsman? specially Sword4, since it spawns a freaking CLONE...

4. So, if all those blocking skills "kills" my iSwordsman, doesnt it make it very counter-intuitive and makes me rely only on Sword2 and Dodge for evades? Is there another way or other skills to use for a more evade uptime without sacrificing my ilusions?

[FaboBabo.3581]

Welcome to Mesmer. (:U're doing everything right. "illusions" are the problem.

[Cyninja.2954]

@KeoLegend.5132 said:This is gonna be long, but will help lots of new mesmers like me. Here we go:

Im runing Power Mesmer/Chrono DPS, basicaly using 3 iSwordsman and hitting Sword 1 and 2. As long as the damage is good, im fairly new and rather slow-reacted on melee fights, so not always Sword2 can save me from a hard hit damage. So here its the doubts:

1. Can i use Sword4 to block an Attack? But will it completely destroys a hard portion of my dps due killing a iSword with 25% damage boost?

Summoning any type of illusions (no matter if clone or phantasm will replace the oldest illusion available). The exact priotiry is as follows:1.) summon new illusions until 3 illusions are reached2.) a new clone will always try to replace the oldest clone available, never a phantasm unless (see 3):3.) if caped at 3 illusions (all of them phantasms) a new clone will overwrite the oldest phantasm

To answer your question, yes the new clone from blocking with Sword 4 will replace one of your sword phantasms.

@KeoLegend.5132 said:

2. I like the ideia to use Shield after 3 iSwordsmans up because Shield5 is a nice damage boost, plus Shield4 is an awesome block. Problem is... does it always spawns 1 or 2 iAvengers, so i get to lose 2 iSwordsman?

Shield 4 summons 1 phantasm after it's duration is over. If you successfully blocked with Echo of Memory you can then activate Deja Vu which will summon a second shield phantasm. This is quite useful to get 2 shield phantasms out fast for perma alacrity uptime but will reduce dps when running a power damage build.

@KeoLegend.5132 said:

3. Is there a way to block while mantaining those 3 iSwordsman? specially Sword4, since it spawns a freaking CLONE...

Not with Sword 4 or shield 4.

@KeoLegend.5132 said:

4. So, if all those blocking skills "kills" my iSwordsman, doesnt it make it very counter-intuitive and makes me rely only on Sword2 and Dodge for evades? Is there another way or other skills to use for a more evade uptime without sacrificing my ilusions?

Any skill which provides block or immunity without summoning an illusion such as:

• Well of Precognition
• distortion from F4 (which will shatter all your swordsmen unless you have Chronophantasma meaning you are running chrono as elite)
• distortion from signet use and Domination traits (Blurred Inscriptions)

[KeoLegend.5132]

So at the end of day, if i REALLY need to evade an Attack and cant dodge, Shield 4 is the lowest hit on my personal DPS compared to Sword4 and Shatter?

[Der Buck.5439]

If you have to block with a weapon, I would block with sword, spawn the clone, then replace it with a new sword phantasm. Hope for some might to speed up the phantasm damage boost.

This is if you don’t want the Avengers out, because you will have to lose two sword phantasm before you can replace the Avenger spawned from your block. But with 2 phant and one clone, the clone goes away instead.

[musu.9205]

very counter-intuitiveyou just sum up mesmer designand mirage just add salt on the wound

[Pyroatheist.9031]

You can block with shield 4 and not summon a phantasm by simply having no target selected. This doesn't work with the sword block though, that one automatically summons a clone on the target that was blocked.

[FaboBabo.3581]

@Pyroatheist.9031 said:You can block with shield 4 and not summon a phantasm by simply having no target selected. This doesn't work with the sword block though, that one automatically summons a clone on the target that was blocked.

Good catch, thanks for letting us know (even if this is just a bandaid sadly...)

Edit ; can i detarget the enemy WHILE im blocking ? ( because phantasm spawn after blocking)meaning ; enemy attacks, i start blocking , detarget the enemy, block ends -> no illusion?

[Pyroatheist.9031]

@FaboBabo.3581 said:

@Pyroatheist.9031 said:You can block with shield 4 and not summon a phantasm by simply having no target selected. This doesn't work with the sword block though, that one automatically summons a clone on the target that was blocked.

Good catch, thanks for letting us know (even if this is just a bandaid sadly...)

Edit ; can i detarget the enemy WHILE im blocking ? ( because phantasm spawn after blocking)meaning ; enemy attacks, i start blocking , detarget the enemy, block ends -> no illusion?

I believe you can do that if you have that 'change target while channeling' option enabled.

[musu.9205]

@Pyroatheist.9031 said:You can block with shield 4 and not summon a phantasm by simply having no target selected. This doesn't work with the sword block though, that one automatically summons a clone on the target that was blocked.

jump or jump dodge used to work , but i remember they fixed that .one thing bothers me tho sword block has a weird re-position

[KeoLegend.5132]

So basicaly Mesmer should be played with auto-target off, so you can quickly cancel you target while channeling Shield4

[Lunalight.8120]

You can also block with shield 4 without summoning something by just weapon stowing a few frames before the channel duration ends, saves you the trouble of detargeting/retargeting.

[Daishi.6027]

Think we had a talk a while back pointing out this exact problem and how the 25% phantasm damage increase should be tied to the mesmer not the individual illusion. BTW there are ways around shield block, and sword 4, to stop the summon but it's really not something we should HAVE to play around.

I'm almost starting to wonder if it's at all viable to just throw 3 swordsman on something and stand far back with GS and just Pew Pew + mind stab to not have to worry about popping skills that cut your DPS. (presuming it's realistic for the encounter/boss)

[musu.9205]

@Daishi.6027 said:Think we had a talk a while back pointing out this exact problem and how the 25% phantasm damage increase should be tied to the mesmer not the individual illusion. BTW there are ways around shield block, and sword 4, to stop the summon but it's really not something we should HAVE to play around.

I'm almost starting to wonder if it's at all viable to just throw 3 swordsman on something and stand far back with GS and just Pew Pew + mind stab to not have to worry about popping skills that cut your DPS. (presuming it's realistic for the encounter/boss)

it is viable on boss like deimos if you just do ranged . you can get 17k-19k easily . and in my honest opinion , it is better than condi mirage there(if ranged ) , since you have more utility slot to help with cc and soft cc while mirage does a bit higher dps (if ranged ) but pretty lacking of anything else .