Mirage noob questions

[JekaPro.4391]

So I tried various builds is spvp to understand whom I wanna be. And ofc I came up with decision to be condi or hybrid mirage. Seems right to become cyberathletic. Also I'm super interested in WvW smallscale fights and roaming. 
Questions:

1. Best equipment stats? Trailblazer/dire/viper/celestial 
Currently thinking to mix celestial with viper.

2. What has higher pvp potential power, condi or hybrid mirage?

3. Are Greatsword power builds viable in spvp and WvW?

[Masteis.9720]

1- It depends.

WvW: I prefer to play with Power GS Mirage build when zerging. But while roaming, I switch to Trailblazer Axe Mirage.

Fractals & Open World: I prefer Viper stats to maximize DPS(Axe build). For tagging, GS is the best ofc.

Solo Open World: Trailblazer(Staff build)

 

2- I prefer Carrion stats for PvP. Hybrid seemed always better to me. But there are some Power Sword builds that looks viable. 

 

3- Yes. I do not play GS in sPvP but it works very well in WvW. If you want to play a power build in sPvP, I think Sword builds are quite good especially in sPvP.

[Curunen.8729]

Really depends how you want to play because many possibilities.

 

In some brief testing of different options in wvw I currently settled on this last night after defeating a couple of condi mirages despite playing pretty chaotically (been a long time since having played): http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?Pi0Ac+ZlJkwuybSJNogmZoWsP/PXA-zVRYVhnN6myIzUt3qy1TQA/tUlZF-w (Edit for updated gw2skills.net).

 

It's not optimal by far, but it suits my playstyle best because despite power nerfs on axe and staff, F1 is on a low cooldown with alacrity. Taking EM frees up utility slots so I can use blink/IA/StG - again simply because aesthetically I enjoy those abilities. Yes, Signet of Illusions and Desert Distortion is simply better for multiple reasons, but I find signets boring to use, and don't enjoy that gimmick.

 

I tried other stats - eg cele/viper, more condi leaning with malign infusions and other utility enhancement, tb+rabid, even full cele. Ultimately I like mostly cele because of concentration/expertise, and then whatever else to buff up the power/condi - grieving is nice for the F1 and other crits. Anticipating some new stats with EoD in any case.

 

Main internal debate has been IH+utility cleanse vs EM+freedom of all other skills. For the former, things like Arcane Thievery are amazing on low cooldown with alacrity - but personally not like having restriction of range, los, and target when kitten hits the fan and you need to remove condi right now. It's a great skill though if you like the associated playstyle. Mantra is... ok... but of course all mantras suck right now. Null Field is not great since losing protection on all sources of chaos aura (before it was nice with additional leaps etc to get high uptime of chaos aura). Also thought about trying passive condi duration reduction via regen, -25% on runes and -20% on food, to free up having to take much cleanse, but dodge food is mandatory IMO - the loss of endurance regen rate is huge without that food.

 

On the flipside, while IH clone ambushes put out a TON of condi on staff, I find that as shattering more often for burst, that normal staff auto is still putting a decent amount of confusion. Adding to this that the player generates the boons on staff now so small point of requiring clones to be ambushing as well. And with the torment change plus lack of easy way to prevent opponent movement in this build, find axe clone ambush to be not as beneficial. EM on the other hand is just ridiculously good cleanse. Boring uninspired trait design for sure, but good cleanse and allows freedom to pick any skills you want.

 

Heal is interesting - tried both FO and Mirror - pros and cons for each. Vigour on FO is amazing as is the mirror spawn, and I experimented with a few different rune options as the endurance refill from adventurer not really necessary in that case because it is kind of overkill in such short duration when you get vigour and the mirror spawn (eg tried things like antitoxin, leadership among others). But the heal itself of FO I find really weak - even with alacrity I just don't like the downtime between the weak ~6.5k total heals.

 

Mirror on the other hand has better healing, and alacrity brings the recharge very low (depending how much alacrity you generate). I find the reflect to be great, as well as the short burst of superspeed. The main downside to Mirror is the cast time - is quite exposed, and also have to be careful timing if covering with dodge so the ambush window doesn't expire (eg if in staff end up losing opportunity for alacrity). And sure, adventurer rune is only proccing every other heal - would be nice if they could bring the pvp version of 25 endurance and 10s icd instead of 50 endurance and 20s icd - but I find that is nice to have especially at the start of a fight.

 

Small notes - tried Blinding Dissipation vs Evasive Mirror - really could go either way. Evasive Mirror is stupid design now with the 10s icd making it effectively rng after the first proc in a fight (good luck keeping track of when it will proc next). But equally I wasn't finding BD that useful, already having blind of staff 4 and torch 4. BD obviously better if taking Ineptitude, but I still prefer DE for clone generation for shatters. Edit - forgot to add, one major point against Evasive Mirror is random reflect can kitten with torch 4 stealth causing reveal. This is very annoying when it happens and certainly in favour of taking BD. At least Mirror heal can be controlled so not to reflect breaking stealth at the wrong time.

 

Of course, IH with trailblazer etc is better - but I don't enjoy that as much (love the clone ambush visuals, but don't like lack of decent F1). And as mentioned above, SoI with Desert Distortion is also better. Probably also Pistol is better.

 

In any case, major skill split nerfs will be incoming for staff ambush/auto confusion spam I reckon, so that could impact on certain decision making (maybe IH becomes mandatory again for sufficient damage).

 

Probably not going to test much further until a couple of week's time as quite busy irl, and may find the need to change the build a lot.

Edited May 23, 2021 by Curunen.8729

[JekaPro.4391]

very informative, got many aswers ty much 😄

[Ronald McDonald.8165]

1. For WvW trailblazer is the best for condi builds 

2. There are no hybrid builds, you either are condi or glass cannon power build. They both excel in different areas but condi is better all around.

3. It depends what you mean by viable. For PvP sure you can play it, it’s going to take a ton of practice, and you’ll have to put in twice the effort for the same reward as everyone else. But some comps you’ll hard feed against pretty much no matter what.

In WvW many people are terrible and you can one shot em.

Edited May 13, 2021 by Ronald McDonald.8165

[JekaPro.4391]

19 hours ago, Ronald McDonald.8165 said:

1. For WvW trailblazer is the best for condi builds 

2. There are no hybrid builds, you either are condi or glass cannon power build. They both excel in different areas but condi is better all around.

3. It depends what you mean by viable. For PvP sure you can play it, it’s going to take a ton of practice, and you’ll have to put in twice the effort for the same reward as everyone else. But some comps you’ll hard feed against pretty much no matter what.

In WvW many people are terrible and you can one shot em.

viper is top dps build at the moment, and its hybrid

[Ronald McDonald.8165]

1 hour ago, JekaPro.4391 said:

viper is top dps build at the moment, and its hybrid

Viper is the top DPS build for PvE for condition builds. Armor having power on it as well as condition does not make it “hybrid”. There is more to a build than armor. The overwhelming majority of damage using Viper’s and these builds comes from conditions. The reason you use Vipers and not Trailblazers in raids or high level fractals is because you have a dedicated support and the survivability stats aren’t necessary. 

[JekaPro.4391]

4 hours ago, Ronald McDonald.8165 said:

Viper is the top DPS build for PvE for condition builds. Armor having power on it as well as condition does not make it “hybrid”. There is more to a build than armor. The overwhelming majority of damage using Viper’s and these builds comes from conditions. The reason you use Vipers and not Trailblazers in raids or high level fractals is because you have a dedicated support and the survivability stats aren’t necessary. 

HYBRID = power dmg+condi

everything that give bonuses to both damage types is hybrid

[Ronald McDonald.8165]

5 hours ago, JekaPro.4391 said:

HYBRID = power dmg+condi

everything that give bonuses to both damage types is hybrid

Literally not a single person uses that terminology in this manner when discussing this game. A Mirage using Viper's armor is a condi Mirage. Not a single Mirage in PvP with a Carrion amulet equipped says they are a hybrid Mirage, they are a condi Mirage. You can argue semantics with me and give yourself a pat on the back if you'd like and think you achieved something. Or you can try to take people's advice. 

 

Now a player who is debating between Trailblazer and Vipers or a mix, isn't thinking of it in terms of how much power damage they are getting. They are contemplating survivability vs damage in general. It is a juggle determining the proper trade-off between the two and it often comes down to build and individual playstyle. People usually experiment and find a mix they like. 

 

Edited May 14, 2021 by Ronald McDonald.8165

[Salt Mode.3780]

actually for WvW celestial set is actually very good for hybrid mirage. Boon duration + condi duration adding on the alacrity and might stacks given to mirage you can def dish out both condi and power dmg with added tankiness.

the buff on celestial set made nearly every class able to use it and abuse the extra added stats.

Edited May 15, 2021 by Salt Mode.3780

[JekaPro.4391]

2 hours ago, Salt Mode.3780 said:

actually for WvW celestial set is actually very good for hybrid mirage. Boon duration + condi duration adding on the alacrity and might stacks given to mirage you can def dish out both condi and power dmg with added tankiness.

the buff on celestial set made nearly every class able to use it and abuse the extra added stats.

I'm thinking about celestial or trailblazer. Both seem decent.

[Curunen.8729]

It's worth noting the modifiers to power and condi damage in combat.

 

Within a very short time you can build 10+ might, very high regen uptime, vigour, and with chaotic potency - boosting to over 2.4k+ power and 1.7k+ condi. More if taking into account staff clone auto bounces, F1 might from Bountiful Disillusionment, nevermind BL bloodlust, objectives, or allies/other situation to build higher might.

 

Also with regen boosts to over 50% boon and condi duration which is nice for the boon synergy.

 

The tradeoff is not having access to instant high damage without a few moment's setup, so I think that's kind of fair tbh.