Mirage - Condi DPS

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

Focused on: Condition damage

Designed for: Raids

Expansions required:

Difficulty:

Hard

This build was last updated on September 27, 2023 and is up to date for the October 8, 2024 patch.

Overview

A condition DPS Mirage build. This build provides very high single target damage with the ambush skill Imaginary Axes. It excels against bosses that attack a lot due to a large portion of its damage coming from Confusion. It is also highly survivable and can easily avoid boss attacks because it is in Mirage Cloak for most of its rotation.

Skill Bar

Axe/Torch

Axe/Pistol

Utility

Weapon Variants

• Running a Focus instead of a Torch generates more Confusion if you're able to consistently get the Phantasmal Warden to combo with an ethereal or smoke field. The phantasm will not prioritise your own fields however, so this may be ineffective if your group is dropping a lot of "bad" combo fields (such as light or water fields).
• Staff can replace Torch for more confusion and some ranged damage, while dealing practically the same damage - you want to run Riddle of Sand so that your axe clones are not overwritten.

Skill Variants

• Feedback over Crystal Sands if you need reflects.

Template Code

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Specializations

Trait Variants

• Bountiful Disillusionment if your uptime of Vigor or Regeneration isn't permanent. Use Distortion immediately after another shatter to not waste any clones.
• Riddle of Sand can be taken for slightly more Confusion on bosses that attack frequently (Cairn, Soulless Horror, Twin Largos). Because this means you have less clone generation you will need to delay your phantasm casts to ensure you can quickly get back to three clones after a shatter.

Equipment

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

Pistol
Viper

Sigil

Sigil

Torch
Viper

Sigil

Rune
x6

Infusion
x18

Relic

• Only one axe is required.

Non-SotO Relics

There aren't any reliable core damage relics for mirage, though there are a few options that might be good:

• Relic of the Mirage - depending on the boss, you might be able to trigger this a lot, and it is theoretically stronger than the recommended relic.
• Relic of Durability - Regeneration is very important thanks to Illusionary Membrane and Chaotic Persistence, so this can help with the uptime somewhat.

Consumables

Food

• , , , or ascended alternatives

Utility

• or

Usage

Rotation

Opener

1. The Prestige
2. Phantasmal Mage
3. Dodge and use Imaginary Axes
4. Weapon Swap
5. Phantasmal Duelist
6. Signet of the Ether
7. Jaunt as soon as your first clone appears to generate a second via Self-Deception
8. Lingering Thoughts
9. Jaunt as soon as the clone from Lingering Thoughts appears
10. Dodge and use Imaginary Axes as soon as you reach 3 clones
11. Lingering Thoughts
12. Cry of Frustration and Mind Wrack during Lingering Thoughts - always use Cry of Frustration first and you can skip Mind Wrack if you find it easier as it is a very small DPS increase
13. Crystal Sands and Jaunt to quickly get back to three clones
14. Magic Bullet
15. Phantasmal Duelist
16. Dodge and use Imaginary Axes
17. Axes of Symmetry
18. Lacerating Chop - one auto to give your clones time to finish Axes of Symmetry
19. Dodge and use Imaginary Axes

Rest of the Rotation

After the opener above you want to be dodging as often as you can to trigger Imaginary Axes. Try to complete an auto-attack chain between each cast of Imaginary Axes to ensure that all your clones have time to cast it as well as they probably won't have Quickness.

• Try to cast Cry of Frustration off cooldown, and immediately recover three clones. The best way to do this is to shatter during the cast of Lingering Thoughts and immediately follow up with Crystal Sands or Jaunt.
  • It is worth slightly delaying skills that generate clones in order to guarantee you can get back to three as soon as possible.
• If Cry of Frustration is on cooldown, you can instead use Mind Wrack provided you can get back three clones immediately.
• Use Axes of Symmetry off cooldown, but make sure you have three clones
• Use Phantasmal Duelist, Phantasmal Mage and Magic Bullet off cooldown.
• Use The Prestige off cooldown and be sure to press autoattack immediately to remove your stealth and continue attacking.
• Use Crystal Sands off cooldown. Be mindful of your where you place the Mirage Mirror, as you will want to be able to access them later. The Mirage Mirror spawns in the center of the skill's AoE marker.
• Keep a charge or two of Jaunt for mobility or in case you run out of clones for some reason.

Video example

Video example (Riddle of Sand)

Staxe Rotation

Video example

General Tips

• Dodge as much as possible while leaving yourself endurance to evade attacks. Be sure to only weapon swap when below 50% endurance so as not to waste any of the endurance gained from Sigil of Superior Sigil of Energy.
• Make sure to never break your auto-attack chain that includes: Lacerating Chop, Ethereal Chop and Mirror Strikes.
  • Entering Mirage cloak and casting Imaginary Axes will not interrupt your auto-attack chain
  • All your skills other than Jaunt and shatters will interrupt your auto-attack chain.
• Jaunt can be cast during other skills' channels.
  • Make sure to never use Jaunt during Imaginary Axes and Axes of Symmetry as this will create new clones due to the Self-Deception and will cancel the clones attack.
• Make sure to never Weapon swap during the animation of Imaginary Axes as this will cancel the Ambush attack.
• If your target is about to attack, you can slightly delay Phantasmal Mage or Magic Bullet in order to trigger Chaotic Interruption. This trait will trigger even against foes with defiance bars, provided they are using a skill. The cast time of Phantasmal Mage might make it difficult to time.