Condition Alacrity Mirage

May 2023

Condition Alacrity Mirage can provide permanent Alacrity and 25 Might to the party. Along with these boons, it can also provide a small amount of Fury via Winds of Chaos and small amounts of Resolution, Aegis and Swiftness via Method of Madness. It is a build with an interesting rotation and ranged DPS capabilities. Due to the high amount of Confusion it can apply, it is especially effective at fast-attacking bosses like Cairn, Soulless Horror, and Largos Twins.

Generation of Alacrity in this build is tied to the usage of Chaos Vortex which only becomes available after the player gains Mirage Cloak. The amount of Alacrity generated is increased by each active staff clone so that Chaos Vortex should be used with 3 staff clones active for maximum boon generation. Gaining Mirage Cloak is partly tied to dodging which makes Vigor important for this build. Luckily, the build is self-reliant on this matter mainly due to Critical Infusion and Nomad's Endurance. The build also requires permanent Regeneration to reach the required boon duration via Chaotic Persistence. The standard build is not self-sufficient in this matter so you’ll need to rely on someone else granting Regeneration to the subgroup. If there is no other source of Regeneration, Self-Deception can be swapped to Renewing Oasis which will help maintain this boon permanently together with a slightly modified rotation that results in slightly less DPS.

Optimized variant of this build utilizes shatters to achieve maximum damage output while also making the build more bursty due to the confusion spike from Cry of Frustration. Good management of clones is essential to maintain effectiveness while using this variant.

Low intensity variant is a build variant that doesn’t focus on shattering and offers a very simple playstyle while still being very effective. It can generate its own Regeneration while relying on teammates for 100% coverage of Vigor.

Build fundamentals

Ambush and Endurance Management

Mirage uses Endurance as an offensive resource. Whenever you Dodge or pick up a Mirage Mirror (can be created by Crystal Sands or False Oasis), you will gain Mirage Cloak which will give access to the ambush skill Chaos Vortex for you and your clones. Chaos Vortex is your primary source of damage while being the source of Alacrity and Might for your subgroup. Because of this core mechanic the build utilises Energy sigil on both weaponsets to gain access to Chaos Vortex as much as possible. As a general principle you never want to cap on Endurance in this build – this would mean something is wrong with your rotation.

Clones

Clones use your staff auto-attack Winds of Chaos and use a slightly worse version of Chaos Vortex whenever you gain Mirage Cloak. Because of this interaction, not interrupting attack animations of your clones is a major goal of every Mirage build. The rotation will maintain 3 clones most of the time only swaying away from this for shattering Cry of Frustration after which you would want to generate back 3 clones as soon as possible mainly utilising Self-Deception.

You can summon Clones in the following ways:

• Using Phase Retreat,
• Using a Deception skill when you have at least one Clone (False Oasis, Crystal Sands, Jaunt),
• Phantasmal Warlock can generate 2 Clones once the phantasms are done casting. This skill is usually only used in the opener.

Note that summoning a new Clone while already having 3 Clones will destroy the oldest one.

Clones don’t have Quickness which makes their cast times a lot slower than your own. If you don’t give your Clones enough time to finish their attacks between each usage of Chaos Vortex, you can cancel their own usage of Chaos Vortex resulting in a big DPS loss. For Alacrity Condition Mirage using 3 Winds of Chaos between each Chaos Vortex is enough time for your clones to finish their own Chaos Vortex and cast Winds of Chaos once.

A similar issue can occur if you summon a new Clone or shatter your Clones before they have finished casting their Ambush. To avoid this you should never use Jaunt or Phase Retreat right after using Chaos Vortex or cast Phantasmal Warlock without a reason. Make sure to not instantly shatter after using Chaos Vortex.

Rotation Tips

Most of your damage comes from your Clones using Chaos Vortex, Winds of Chaos and inflicting critical hits in the process which will proc the trait Sharper Imagesinflicting Bleeding. Do not underestimate how strong your Clones are and try to always let them finish Winds of Chaos after each Chaos Vortex.

Try to always stay at 3 Clones and avoid summoning extra ones with Jaunt. If you want to use Jaunt offensively, use it to position into a Mirage Mirror created by Crystal Sands or False Oasis.

Make sure to pick up Mirage Mirror created by Crystal Sands and False Oasis. Don’t pick them up while you are using Chaos Vortex. This will immediately start a new Chaos Vortex cast essentially wasting the cast before.

If you don’t need Chaos Storm for CC you can use it off cooldown and replace one Winds of Chaos for it during your loop. It does decent damage and it can proc Chaotic Interruption besides being a really strong combo field for your allies.

Crowd Control

• Chaos Storm
• Diversion
• Signet of Domination

Alternatives

Traits

If you have no Regeneration, you can swap out Self-Deception with Renewing Oasis. You will have to adjust your rotation since it will dramatically reduce your Clone generation. You can follow the same opener but have to delay your Cry of Frustration for when Phantasmal Warlock is back off cooldown. Adjust the shatter combo to the following:

• Phantasmal Warlock Chaos Vortex 3x Winds of Chaos Cry of Frustration Phase Retreat