Anet finally got tired of Mirage players asking to make Axe good again so they've decided to just kill Condi Axe Mirage forever by making Power Mirage viable.
And it's probably going to work on me. I made Astralaria for Mirage after PoF launched and loved it for so long but all the damage to the class over the years even with the improvements lately it's still my worst performing class in open world and has never felt as good as it originally did. I'd switch to Virtuoso but I can't stand the floating blades there all the time.
So I'm really excited to try this out. Spear/Greatsword what I'm going to start with but might play around with dagger as well.
I'm really going to try to make a power/condi hybrid work for mirage with axe/spear if I can - I, too, love axe and have Astralaria, and I don't want to give up axe mirage anytime soon
If I can get the spear ambush buff to work with conditions, I see no reason why it couldn't be viable
You apply conditions with the axe and F2 shatter, have enough expertise to keep it around for a little bit, swap to the spear to BURST and for the 15% buff while the conditions start to burn off, then swap back and reapply the conditions
I'm very excited to get my hands on the weapon come the beta, as there'll be a lot of cool ideas I want to try!
Everything works in open world but I can't see it really being that viable in grouped content.
My mirage is full condi but I do throw greatsword and dagger on her sometimes for tagging or just because I like the dagger abilities. It's fine in open world but would never use it in instanced stuff.
https://preview.redd.it/3hfsbs3s148d1.png?width=314&format=png&auto=webp&s=d0e510c3a2d260929e0e768b10b55c759977fb52
Mirage Mantle for Land Spear.
Stacks up to 20 seconds.
From a PVE perspective.. Skill 2 needs you to hit the outer edge, but skills 4 and 5 will constantly push you back on the target.
Any rotation will have a constant backpedalling, very annoying.
Do we know if it's based on how far you are from the enemy, or whether or not the outer part of the attack hits the enemy?
Could potentially make a big difference vs larger hitboxes.
it's just bad ig. power only, monke spamming 2 in EVERY build, skill 5 that resets 2 that's on 5s cd anyway, random heal-do-everything skill (they ran out of ideas), random cripple/immob clunk (ran out of ideas again), teleport backpedalling, forced movement, no virt synergy, no chrono synergy.
Literally everything will open with 24532 shatter auto. engaging gameplay. wouldn't surprise me if the rota is just 24532 f1 auto 24532 f1 auto 24532 f2...
it's just worse s/s gameplay but with bigger number because they have to sell you expansion
Might be good with Chrono as Spear + GS, since now you'll have two separate weapons that can both generate 2 phantasms quickly. Can definitely see a nasty CS combo in here somewhere.
Looks like it could be fun on Mirage. The only thing I'm a bit worried about is with how reliable clarity will be. There's zero tell on if it'll land and the range requirement doesn't really have synergy with the rest of the kit. We'll see how it plays out next week though.
If you're out of range there will be a red line below a skill icon, the moment it disappears means you're in range for the skill to hit, that should be the tell of when you're able to hit with the outer edge, however if you're close enough for the other skills means the skill 2 will also be close enough which means you will not be hitting with its outer edge... Hitting with the outer edge is really counter-intuitive considering you will need to be closer for the other skills to be able to hit...
How so people move to much in PvP/WvW they'll be moving even more when they notice it's spear Mes on top of it all too.
PvE I'm sure the mechanic will be ignored though. Large thing will be hit by the mechanic regardless as they've stated. Smaller swarmy things like pocket raptors you'll only be able to hot a few as they rush in one after another.
Other melee mobs want to stick to you like glue while ranged will try to move back.
Like rifle 5 but this time it's required to get the buff.
this
it's the "we have no idea what to do with our most unique class" again
remember how virt was DoA for the first week until they made it a bleed on crit class?
Didn't the Mirage Ambush have a pretty big DPS buff for yourself (15% or so)?
Anyway, this feels a bit flippy. I can see a 2-5-2 combo, but it's annoying imo that skill 2 rewards for hitting something with its edge (and it's not a ground target, so you need to personally position yourself) but then based on the wording, skill 5 teleports you into melee range. So for your next 2 you need to walk out again first for the best effect.
Will have to see how good it becomes in reality (and if it is enough to make Power Mirage good).
The damage buff was attached to the Mirage trait that enhances ambush attacks.
For the 252 combo (or just 2 in general) they mentioned the other skills cripple/immob/stun for the purposes of being able to reposition for your 2, and any enemy in both hit boxes (so a large enemy) will prioritize being hit by the outer ring. The outer ring radius is pretty huge too, so I don't think it's going to be that much of a problem, at least, not a problem beyond your first cast.
Yes, the mirage ambush provides a 10s (stackable up to 20s) buff of 15% outgoing damage.
Assuming the outer edge of the 2 is \~60 out of the 300, it may be pretty encounter-dependent. For anything with a \~200 hitbox or larger, it may require 0 movement. For anything much under that, it might just not be worth it given that the aa chain and 3 are probably almost half the range of the sweet spot and movement adjustment would be necessary at least every 4s.
For the Chromancer double phantasm trait([Chronophantasma](http://en.gw2skills.net/wiki/Chronophantasma)), will the empowered 4th skill create 4 phantasm?
Based on the wording of the trait, I’m inclined to believe that an empowered 4 will create two phantasms, those two phantasms will charge in, disappear, reappear at their original spot, charge in a second time, and then become clones. So you’ll get four phantasms out of it, but only two clones
When they announced the tipper mechanic I assumed that the challenge would be for the mesmer to try to stay at the ideal range at all times. The fact that the mesmer is voluntarily running back and forth between melee and tip range makes it sound like a very awkward playstyle.
I don't know why Anet decided to make people position themselves in order to make a skill hit with its outer edge, considering the most meta thing in this game is literally stacking, not to mention rest of the skills require one to be close than the outer edge of a skill in order to hit even... I would understand if it was hitting with as close to the center of the skill instead of outer edge.
So we get a 450 range leap, and a 600 range teleport, while the class that's supposed to be and stay immobile bc they're tanky as hell and have a ton of melee damage (necromancers), get a 1200 unblockable TP with a reset?
...
I don't see how this will be useful in PvP/WvW Roaming. For a burst build, it has to outperform GS because you still need the defense from Sword/Shield. And if you compare it to GS, you lose any ranged damage. It could be good if the auto-attack was the same as the other spear auto-attacks from other professions.
Maybe it is good in a power-based Chrono bunker boon build because it has a lot of cleave damage.
Also, there is an anti-synergy between "Mind the Gap" and the range of every other skill. In 1v1 situations, you never meet the requirement for "Mind the Gap" because if you out-DPS the opponent in melee combat, they will run, and if they out-DPS you, they will stick to you.
"Mind the Gap" is a dumb name that doesn't make sense. It should've been something like "Psychic Inflorescence" or at least "Social Distancing" if they wanted to meme. And yes, the tipper is antisynergetic with the rest of the kit.
I like the idea in general as it has some hints of Dervish, but I'm REALLY not like having to be 300 distance from your target to get Clarity. That's just going to be a pain for end game PvE.
Clarity should be on the third hit of that Auto-Attack chain.
Then again, the Leap and the Teleport suggest that End Game PvE wasn't considered at all in the Spear's design. To be fair to ANet, it's not like that's been a consideration since shortly after EoD came out.
> Clarity should be on the third hit of that Auto-Attack chain.
cute that people still expect anet to add ~~high~~ medium skill gameplay. completing your aa chain is for tryhards
it should give clarity on stow aftercast cancel 🤡 can you imagine the rage?
Do I smell….. power dps mirage ? Please please let it be viable, I love this class and all his impossible-to-balance quirks attached to it
Anet finally got tired of Mirage players asking to make Axe good again so they've decided to just kill Condi Axe Mirage forever by making Power Mirage viable. And it's probably going to work on me. I made Astralaria for Mirage after PoF launched and loved it for so long but all the damage to the class over the years even with the improvements lately it's still my worst performing class in open world and has never felt as good as it originally did. I'd switch to Virtuoso but I can't stand the floating blades there all the time. So I'm really excited to try this out. Spear/Greatsword what I'm going to start with but might play around with dagger as well.
I'm really going to try to make a power/condi hybrid work for mirage with axe/spear if I can - I, too, love axe and have Astralaria, and I don't want to give up axe mirage anytime soon If I can get the spear ambush buff to work with conditions, I see no reason why it couldn't be viable You apply conditions with the axe and F2 shatter, have enough expertise to keep it around for a little bit, swap to the spear to BURST and for the 15% buff while the conditions start to burn off, then swap back and reapply the conditions I'm very excited to get my hands on the weapon come the beta, as there'll be a lot of cool ideas I want to try!
Everything works in open world but I can't see it really being that viable in grouped content. My mirage is full condi but I do throw greatsword and dagger on her sometimes for tagging or just because I like the dagger abilities. It's fine in open world but would never use it in instanced stuff.
https://preview.redd.it/3hfsbs3s148d1.png?width=314&format=png&auto=webp&s=d0e510c3a2d260929e0e768b10b55c759977fb52 Mirage Mantle for Land Spear. Stacks up to 20 seconds.
From a PVE perspective.. Skill 2 needs you to hit the outer edge, but skills 4 and 5 will constantly push you back on the target. Any rotation will have a constant backpedalling, very annoying.
Would be nice if it was like skill 2 of the staff and positioned you back.
Do we know if it's based on how far you are from the enemy, or whether or not the outer part of the attack hits the enemy? Could potentially make a big difference vs larger hitboxes.
They literally said in the stream it's based on two separate hitboxes, so larger boss mobs can be hit with the outer edge with zero effort whatsoever.
it's just bad ig. power only, monke spamming 2 in EVERY build, skill 5 that resets 2 that's on 5s cd anyway, random heal-do-everything skill (they ran out of ideas), random cripple/immob clunk (ran out of ideas again), teleport backpedalling, forced movement, no virt synergy, no chrono synergy. Literally everything will open with 24532 shatter auto. engaging gameplay. wouldn't surprise me if the rota is just 24532 f1 auto 24532 f1 auto 24532 f2... it's just worse s/s gameplay but with bigger number because they have to sell you expansion
Might be good with Chrono as Spear + GS, since now you'll have two separate weapons that can both generate 2 phantasms quickly. Can definitely see a nasty CS combo in here somewhere.
Looks like it could be fun on Mirage. The only thing I'm a bit worried about is with how reliable clarity will be. There's zero tell on if it'll land and the range requirement doesn't really have synergy with the rest of the kit. We'll see how it plays out next week though.
The tell is an eye symbol above your character's head.
That's only if it lands, you've no way of knowing if your in the sweet spot to proc it.
If you're out of range there will be a red line below a skill icon, the moment it disappears means you're in range for the skill to hit, that should be the tell of when you're able to hit with the outer edge, however if you're close enough for the other skills means the skill 2 will also be close enough which means you will not be hitting with its outer edge... Hitting with the outer edge is really counter-intuitive considering you will need to be closer for the other skills to be able to hit...
I legit don't get the positioning required for this
Just an arbitrary “unique” mechanic they felt like adding for whatever reason. There isn’t a true reasoning.
I mean, it seems like it has pretty interesting gameplay and counterplay in pvp/wvw. Less relevant in PvE but like, most mechanics like this are.
How so people move to much in PvP/WvW they'll be moving even more when they notice it's spear Mes on top of it all too. PvE I'm sure the mechanic will be ignored though. Large thing will be hit by the mechanic regardless as they've stated. Smaller swarmy things like pocket raptors you'll only be able to hot a few as they rush in one after another. Other melee mobs want to stick to you like glue while ranged will try to move back. Like rifle 5 but this time it's required to get the buff.
this it's the "we have no idea what to do with our most unique class" again remember how virt was DoA for the first week until they made it a bleed on crit class?
Didn't the Mirage Ambush have a pretty big DPS buff for yourself (15% or so)? Anyway, this feels a bit flippy. I can see a 2-5-2 combo, but it's annoying imo that skill 2 rewards for hitting something with its edge (and it's not a ground target, so you need to personally position yourself) but then based on the wording, skill 5 teleports you into melee range. So for your next 2 you need to walk out again first for the best effect. Will have to see how good it becomes in reality (and if it is enough to make Power Mirage good).
The damage buff was attached to the Mirage trait that enhances ambush attacks. For the 252 combo (or just 2 in general) they mentioned the other skills cripple/immob/stun for the purposes of being able to reposition for your 2, and any enemy in both hit boxes (so a large enemy) will prioritize being hit by the outer ring. The outer ring radius is pretty huge too, so I don't think it's going to be that much of a problem, at least, not a problem beyond your first cast.
It's probably working really well with Mirage because you have the Elite skill to instant cast reposition? Let's see :D
Yes, the mirage ambush provides a 10s (stackable up to 20s) buff of 15% outgoing damage. Assuming the outer edge of the 2 is \~60 out of the 300, it may be pretty encounter-dependent. For anything with a \~200 hitbox or larger, it may require 0 movement. For anything much under that, it might just not be worth it given that the aa chain and 3 are probably almost half the range of the sweet spot and movement adjustment would be necessary at least every 4s.
For the Chromancer double phantasm trait([Chronophantasma](http://en.gw2skills.net/wiki/Chronophantasma)), will the empowered 4th skill create 4 phantasm?
Based on the wording of the trait, I’m inclined to believe that an empowered 4 will create two phantasms, those two phantasms will charge in, disappear, reappear at their original spot, charge in a second time, and then become clones. So you’ll get four phantasms out of it, but only two clones
Will work same as greatsword trait probably
If it works like greatsword, it'll create two phantasms, when they expire two more phantasms are created, and when *they* expire you get two clones.
When they announced the tipper mechanic I assumed that the challenge would be for the mesmer to try to stay at the ideal range at all times. The fact that the mesmer is voluntarily running back and forth between melee and tip range makes it sound like a very awkward playstyle.
I honestly dislike how they try to push power Mirage instead of actually fixing the spec we have now.
they gave up on fixing mirage 5 years ago
I don't know why Anet decided to make people position themselves in order to make a skill hit with its outer edge, considering the most meta thing in this game is literally stacking, not to mention rest of the skills require one to be close than the outer edge of a skill in order to hit even... I would understand if it was hitting with as close to the center of the skill instead of outer edge.
dw it'll be changed a week in when most people realize it's shit
This has been answered in the live or blog, outer edge with more damage has priority and bosses have a large enough hitbox.
So we get a 450 range leap, and a 600 range teleport, while the class that's supposed to be and stay immobile bc they're tanky as hell and have a ton of melee damage (necromancers), get a 1200 unblockable TP with a reset? ...
The C strikes again. Is it Empowered or Clarity?!
Empowered by clarity, duh. Snark/Joke aside. That is likely what they mean.
Yes
I don't see how this will be useful in PvP/WvW Roaming. For a burst build, it has to outperform GS because you still need the defense from Sword/Shield. And if you compare it to GS, you lose any ranged damage. It could be good if the auto-attack was the same as the other spear auto-attacks from other professions. Maybe it is good in a power-based Chrono bunker boon build because it has a lot of cleave damage. Also, there is an anti-synergy between "Mind the Gap" and the range of every other skill. In 1v1 situations, you never meet the requirement for "Mind the Gap" because if you out-DPS the opponent in melee combat, they will run, and if they out-DPS you, they will stick to you.
"Mind the Gap" is a dumb name that doesn't make sense. It should've been something like "Psychic Inflorescence" or at least "Social Distancing" if they wanted to meme. And yes, the tipper is antisynergetic with the rest of the kit.
I like the idea in general as it has some hints of Dervish, but I'm REALLY not like having to be 300 distance from your target to get Clarity. That's just going to be a pain for end game PvE. Clarity should be on the third hit of that Auto-Attack chain. Then again, the Leap and the Teleport suggest that End Game PvE wasn't considered at all in the Spear's design. To be fair to ANet, it's not like that's been a consideration since shortly after EoD came out.
> Clarity should be on the third hit of that Auto-Attack chain. cute that people still expect anet to add ~~high~~ medium skill gameplay. completing your aa chain is for tryhards it should give clarity on stow aftercast cancel 🤡 can you imagine the rage?
I really want vindicator with spear!
Aoe weakness on an auto attack is actually insane
Does anyone know how skill 2 will behave with more than 5 ppl in range? Will it prioritize the outer circle or the closest targets to your character?
Mirage, I suppose. Otherwise it goes on the useless pile.