Guild Wars 2

Can anyone explain why you would want to use this skill? It doesn’t seem very useful to me.

It provides 15 seconds of a whole lot more problems to deal with. Could be a game-changer in WvW skirmishes but it is definitely a niche skill.

In the case of a close fight, it allows the chance for a reversal.

In any location where reviving to a waypoint is very inconvenient, but a revival from defeated is more likely, it could let someone at least make a run back to safety / allies. (WvW springs to mind, but certain dungeons could also fit this bill.)

The most important part is “debuff will vanish, if the user kills something within its duration”.

But yeah, other classes have similar effects but WAY less situational.

I run it in Arah explorable, use it on downed people in lupi, they walk outside, come back in while other 4 people can still engage at the boss.

reload.2308:

Can anyone explain why you would want to use this skill? It doesn’t seem very useful to me.

Very situational. Used to think it would be useful in PvP but I was wrong. It’s inferior to the other versions and mesmer can support their team in other ways.

I disagree very much with the negative sentiment in this thread. Imo, the Mesmer is one of the best rezzers in the game, and this skill is part of that. Not only do we have access to invisibility if we need to resurrect an ally, we also have Time Warp for AoE double-speed reviving, and distortion for invulnerability.
Illusion of Life is like whipped cream on top of all this. People forget that it’s an AoE skill with respectable coverage and a fast cast time. In a close PvP match, it can very quickly turn the tide of battle. If an ally (or several) is about to go completely down in a hostile spot, it gives them a chance to escape to a safer location. The only place where I’ve ever encountered issues with people not being able to rally fully is on bosses, and even then, you’ve still likely gotten your group member to safety.

Sajuuk has it spot on. As pointed out earlier too, killing something (anything) removes the debuff, killing blow is not required either so a group can burn down a mob and as long as you helped you should be “cured” of the impending death.

I’ve heard it gives an additional downed penalty when it expires. Is it true?