Mirage - Axe Mirage

The community gave this build a rating, making it second-tier: Good

Focused on: Condition damage

Designed for: Open WorldOpen World General and Open World Solo

Expansions required: Heart of Thorns builds

This build was last updated on April 02, 2023 and is up to date for the February 14, 2023 game patch.

Overview

A condition based Mirage open world build that focuses on Confusion Confusion and Torment Torment. Although staff-staff mirage is undoubtedly the best mirage build for open world, axe mirage can potentially do more damage when played in groups providing essential boons.

Axe mirage is very elusive, perhaps even disorienting, and complex, requiring a great deal of learning before it can start to shine.


Template Code

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Skill Bar

Axe/Torch
X/Pistol
Utility


Weapon Variants

  • Focus - Utility offhand; allows you to group mobs.


Skill Variants

Healing Skills

  • - additional mirage cloaks


Utility Skills

and provide the highest damage through their passive effects (you almost never activate them). But they're quite boring and other options can be considered at the expense of damage. Crystal Sands is great for damage but can also be changed if desired.

  • - easier to use than Crystal Sands, but less damage overall. It also retargets your clones, although this generally isn't that useful as this build has high clone generation.
  • - defensive alternative to Crystal Sands
  • - if conditions are a problem.
  • - to reflect projectiles.
  • - can be useful with coordinated groups.


Specializations

  • When fighting bosses or other though enemies where you don't need to be spamming clones so often, you can change your Duelling traits to + for more damage.

Equipment

This set uses the same gear as Build:Mirage - Condi DPS, making it a good option for general PVE.

Head
Viper
Shoulders
Viper
Chest
Viper
Hands
Viper
Legs
Viper
Feet
Viper
Backpiece
Viper
Accessory
Viper
Accessory
Viper
Amulet
Viper
Ring
Viper
Ring
Viper
Axe
Viper
Torch
Viper
Sigil
Sigil
Pistol
Viper
Sigil
Rune
x6
Infusion
x13
Infusion
x5
  • With 13 expertise infusions and condition damage food, this build reches 99,87% condition duration.
    • Infusions are not required for open world. Simply use expertise food like to reach 97,53% condition duration
    • Note that you also need Regeneration Regeneration for , but this build has permanent regeneration thanks to .

Variant Equipment

It is never recommended to replace either of your sigils.


Gear

  • Trailblazer Trailblazer - trades some damage for a massive amount of defense
  • Celestial Celestial - trades damage for defense, retains some strike-base burst compared to Trailblazer

Runes

  • - use 5 of these + 1 Black Diamond as a budget replacement for Nightmare


Consumables

Food
  • Any ascended food is superior to any other food you could use. Steak for power, flatbread for conditions. Budget versions of these foods exist and are acceptable.
  • - farming
  • or - DPS
  • - budget DPS
  • - defense
Utility
  • (and variants) - farming
  • , - dps
  • - dps if using gear with high toughness


Usage

Mirage Cloak

is the profession mechanic of the mirage. Whenever you dodge or pick up a , you enter Mirage Cloak for 0,75 seconds, dodging incoming attacks. You also gain access to Ambush skills for 1,5 seconds, which replace your first weapon skill. Mirage Cloak does not have a cast time, allowing mirages to dodge at any time, such as when casting a skill, when reviving someone, or even during the effects of crowd control.

Clone generation

  • Phantasms become clones after attacking, so and will each summon 1 clone.
  • summons 1 clone when used in melee range, but be mindful of the forced movement, don't charge into enemy AoEs.
  • Dodging while in combat will summon 1 clone at your location that attacks the nearest target due to , and it will immediately use its Ambush skill due to .
  • Since your clones are very important in this build, you can time your dodges to make your clones dodge dangerous attacks thanks to . This trait also stunbreaks your clones when you dodge.

Damage

This build deals damage mainly through Torment Torment, with some Confusion Confusion and Bleeding Bleeding as well. A significant percentage of its damage comes from having clones alive not only because their auto attacks apply conditions just like the mirage's, but also because thanks to they will use their Ambush skills whenever the mirage does, with axe that would be . Strive to having 3 clones up during fights. is the main source of clones, but and phantasms (which become clones after attacking) also help. Use your phantasms off cooldown.

After creating 3 clones, start weaving the ambush attack in between the other skills. It will not interrupt the auto attack chain unless used inside the enemy's hitbox, as this ancient bug yet remains to be fixed. Ideally, you will use Imaginary Axes after every full auto attack chain. Ambush attacks can only be cast inside Mirage Cloak, which is gained when dodging or walking into a Mirage Mirror. Weaponswap whenever your endurance is below 50% to trigger .

Use your shatter to inflict large amounts of damage through Confusion Confusion, but quickly rebuild your 3 clones afterwards. can also be used for damage, particularly if the enemy is about to die. As for and , save them for whenever you need their effects. Alternatively, if you don't need their utility, you can greed damage by using them after your F2 or F1 to trigger and some boons through .


Notes and tips

  • Note that the additional axe from is also triggered with your final auto attack , which also inflicts a large duration of Bleeding Bleeding and Torment Torment. That's why it's so important to try to not interrupt your auto attack chain.
  • Be careful with . Due to , if you dodge while the strike of Axes of Symmetry is happening, you will interrupt your clones who will be forced to cast the ambush skill, and they will not inflict confusion from Axes of Symmetry.
  • is a whirl finisher. It can be used inside ethereal fields (such as from should you use that trait) to inflict a little bit more confusion.
  • You can dodge and enter Mirage Cloak whenever you want. Even while attacking, or while gathering, or reviving an enemy, or while under the effects of crowd control. The same applies to .
  • and are taken for their passive effects. You should only use their active effects on emergencies.


Defense

  • Use to cleanse conditions.
  • Abuse your or for frequent dodges.
  • - can provide a strong stunbreak.
  • You dodge often so use that to your advantage. Your dodges are: , , , going through your , and of course your default evade skill.
  • A good alternative to evade attacks is to teleport out of it by using or .


Crowd Control

  • (as a last resort)


Ratings

This build has a rating of 4 stars based on 1 votes.
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4 stars
Warming Hearth gave this build 4 stars • April 2023
Definitely worse than staff-staff mirage. This is the type of build that you mostly play for flavour. Though it can technically outdps staff-staff when playing in groups that provide you with essential boons, axe mirage is considerably harder to play, doesn't offer any support to nearby allies, and is purely melee which can be a problem sometimes. On the upside, it is even more elusive than staff-staff thanks to axe 3, and has more CC. If you're new to mirage, you should probably start with staff-staff to learn the class, and only consider using axe once you become more comfortable. Both builds share armour and trinkets, so it's easy to swap between them. If I could, I'd give it a 3.75 or so.

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