Guild Wars 2

So far as I’ve seen, there is a general dislike for Torch #5, Phantasmal Mage. I’m only done limited testing, but I’m wondering why exactly do people not like this Phantasm?

the confusion stacks it puts down don’t last long enough, and compared to other phantasms it deals pitiful damage.

It’s only real use is retaliation but running other traits and skills such as the CoF granting retaliation work MUCH better for that purpose.

The only thing I use with them is the fact I can stand in them for regeneration, but I could do that duelists, disenchanters, and others that fight at range

Most ppl who use tortch use it for a stealth and aoe burn, the phantasm is at best a shatter fodder. In a condition spec with scepter and tortch as 2 nd setup you play 90% generaly with staff, switch for a 5 stack confusion, mabye a block and the stealth, after its eather throw image and back to staff or ignore image and back to staff.

/Osicat

tru that most ppl use torch for “The Prestige” ability
rly nice one .. 2* blast finisher aoe blind + burn and invis on top of that
but iMage itself is good in 1v1 situations when u need to keep constant pressure
confusion + retaliation can be deadly if enemy just spam abilities wo thinking
so iMage can slow down their effort

cheers Xixsa

Yea, but iMage is still one slow bastid. That’s his main problem. Hell, slow down the retal a bit and speed up the confusion. That and some Scepter love’d make that combo real worthwhile.

I’ll say it would be nice if the iMage shared your condition duration boosters.

That said I think a lot of the hate is generated out of ignorance. I think the major complaint is the lengthy cooldown on the summon, coupled with the slow phantasm attack rate. HOWEVER (<- big however) I believe this is due to a wonky scale in the balance/mechanics department. In a PvP situation you’re going to use it for the instant 3 stacks and + shatter (most likely). However if you actually sit down and get 3 iMage’s out on, say, a champion or major boss you’ll quickly see what a set of 3 iMages spamming their attack can do. With NPC’s that have crazy attack rates, with little to no effort you can have constant, instant stacks of confusion up. They make bleeds and burning damage look like confetti at a childs birthday party. The thing is, it takes a little bit to get your 3 iMages up, but once they’re up they’re away. The trouble is if you were to reduce the CD’s etc to a comfortable level for your average PvP’r, you’re looking at some serious balance issues. So WTF do you do with that?

As is, at least for me, my build, and what I do, it’s a powerful addition to the arsenal. So I have to conclude to your question that the number 1 reason for general iMage hate is ignorance. That said, there’s some valid concerns out there, but those have to be weighed by reality. iMage is powerful technically speaking, but the counter balance to that power is insanely bad mechanical setup.

As condition build, i believe confusion is more than solid condition. iMage, is source of confusion.
Together with other skills, such as field combo to let party do physical projectile, plus, in pve, asuran Pain inverter, plus scepters skill3 of course… there is up to 15+ stacks of confusion stackable in over avarage number of seconds
Its all about great timing. When to pop iMage, how many secs wait till refresh with another skill…… As great illusionist, you definitely want to focus when fighting.

I tried to run him for a while, but as others have said, the damage is lacking, and confusion is a bit iffy in PvE. Against some enemies, it will often do no damage at all, against a couple it is amazing, but usually you get one hit from the confusion on PM.

When I ran it, I would summon him, let him attack once and use shatter for more confusion. I personally like to keep phantasms though, so I switched out, it just wasn’t my style.

I would like to see torch buffed a bit. Scepter as well.

iMage is trash. Retaliation is decent, but you can get that from other sources much more reliably and for a longer duration. High CD shatter fodder at best.

@Ross Biddle:

Disdaining a weapon skill that is only really useful for champs and major bosses is not ignorance; it’s a valid complaint. Such niche usefulness is OK for a few utility skills at best (like Illusion of Life), but for a weapon skill it’s just bad design.

Gaiawolf.8261:

@Ross Biddle:

Disdaining a weapon skill that is only really useful for champs and major bosses is not ignorance; it’s a valid complaint. Such niche usefulness is OK for a few utility skills at best (like Illusion of Life), but for a weapon skill it’s just bad design.

Which is fine it it were true. Keeping the iMage UP for trash mobs is what’s unlikely productive. That doesn’t detract from it’s initial 3 stacks + shatter though. If we’re looking at the trash mob though, regardless of build, whether you’re using an iMage, iZerker, or iDuelist, you’re going to take that trash mob out with the initial cast/attack + shatter anyway. So we’ve wandered into irrelevance as to an opposing argument now.

It’s ridiculously powerful against champs and major bosses. It only adds to the power of confusion in PvP situations. And it’s par for the course against regular mobs as with any weapon in the mesmers arsenal. If there’s a problem here it’s not that iMage falls into a nitch. Rather that players have a nitch approach to their play, and they cant squeeze the iMage into what alternative they’ve figured out.

Show me a build that can’t be written off with the word “nitch” and I’ll bake you a pie.