Guild Wars 2

Phantasmal Mage scould be combined with Phantasmal Disenchanter to make this phantasm viable and theyr mechanics are cind a similar.

That makes no sense, because the Torch is already strong for condition removal, while our baseline is sorta weak. The Disenchanter is an important Phantasm.

traited torch and they are the same.

Still wouldn’t fix the problem of the torch phantasm not being very good. It can already (when traited) removal condi’s like Carighan said so why combine it with another cleanse?

I actually think the torch isn’t too bad. The idea is good, and if you actually hit multiple targets, and everyone is fighting each other, the total damage is quite ok (scaling is kinda meh but that’s partially a result of just how bad Confusion scales after the nerf unless you stack it high).

What I would maybe change is the reliability of what it does. Increase duration of the Confusion again, decrease stack size. I really liked 10s 1-stack more than 3s 3-stack. Also add +1s to the Retaliation and maybe make it an AE around the target instead of a bouncing chain attack.

Torch in PvP is pretty ok imo. Confusion, damage and retalation. I mean – thats ok.

Torch 5 is terrible. It has a 6 second attack rate. Drop the attack rate to 5 seconds. It should cause 2 seconds of random: {blind, weakness, chill} and 2 seconds of revealed.

Torch 5 is painful IMO, but you put up with it to get Torch 4. The best thing I can say about it is that I have no problem shattering it.

I wish the blast finisher was at the start of the ability instead of the beginning. It would just be easier to time when you want the blast to occur.

Torch is actually a pretty useful weapon when traited for condition removal as it allows for different utility skills / runes. I often catch myself casting iMage at an obstructed target since it will cleanse even if the cast fails.

That about shows how useful the phantasm is without the trait… ^^

Iavra.8510:

Torch is actually a pretty useful weapon when traited for condition removal as it allows for different utility skills / runes. I often catch myself casting iMage at an obstructed target since it will cleanse even if the cast fails.

That about shows how useful the phantasm is without the trait… ^^

That’s a pro tip, but its two cndi’s cleansed off the attacks bounce, and 1 every six seconds on bounce thereafter. That’s 6 condi’s in 24 seconds assuming the mage lives that long.

Mek.2947:

I wish the blast finisher was at the start of the ability instead of the beginning. It would just be easier to time when you want the blast to occur.

It used to be even better than that. before the channeling-change, you would “collect” the blast finisher the moment you vanish, but it goes off when you reappear. Even through a Portal. Pretty nifty.

Just needs to be a base 18-20 sec C/D like every other phant… Even a base 25 like warden would be better

Both Confusion and Retaliation have been nerfed into the ground, so Phantasmal Mage is currently extremely weak.

The trait only makes it so when you cast Phantasmal Mage that it removes a single condition. That is not even close to what the Phantasmal Disenchanter does.

My suggestion would be to either:
1. Change Confusion so that it acts like Torment in that it deals damage every second, but does far more damage if you use an ability.

2. Swap Torment for Confusion for Confusing Images (rename to Tormenting Images) and have the Phantasmal Mage cast that instead of its current attack.

Not gonna lie the the 4 is pretty great. I’m fine with it being the weakest phant just not worthless as a skill.

I still think that Confusion could do with a proper rework where it lasts very briefly (but +100% duration in PvE to account for slow mob attacks, instead of +100% damage), but in turn refreshes duration every time it triggers.
But at the same time, stack no longer increases damage (which is fixed at around current 3-6 stacks), but instead counts charges. So Confusion lasts until either:
1. You do not attack long enough for it to run out, ~3s or so.
2. You expend all the charges.

Likewise I’d give Retaliation a “damage potential”. Refreshing Retal only increases it’s duration to a very short maximum, but it adds the damage to the currently tally of “total retal damage left to deal”. Per attack, retal can deal X damage, and once the pool is expended it ends prematurely.

That way, per-hit damage of Retal would be very high, without increasing total damage. In contrast Confusion would deal average damage but if you don’t pay attention it would deal it for quite a lot of attacks.

Only reason I whip out the Mage for is shatter fodder. It either needs to attack far more often or it needs a better effect to justify both the slow attack speed and long cooldown.