Monk mirror image wields axe and bow?

Why does monk mirror image wield axe and bow?

It's one thing to make a task challenging. It's another to warp the ArenaNet system of characters and combat to do make a task nearly impossible.

I run a healing monk. Imagine my surprise to find the "mirror image" of my all Divine/Healing Monk was an battleaxe/longbow wielding berzerker who looks like "Venom" and also happens to who cast all my holy spells as well as I do.

If you take a look in the player areas, you will find you already have a dreadfully tough time getting people to play monk characters. Getting them to play healer monks is even more difficult. Putting a razor-wire covered barrier surrounded by mines immediately before Ascension for charaters like mine who are willing to run around diving and dodging playing a non-combat role in a combat-oriented game is completely counter-intuitive. If you want to make sure you have nothing but Warrior/Monks running around in your Post-Ascension areas, keep doing silly things like giving huge advantages to heavily-armed characters in your content.

So... are you going to fix this quickly, or should we all quit trying to play anything but Warrior/Monks?

I believed they mapped out the Monk profession quite well. Never in a game I have played has a monk been able to do so much damage instead of just sit back and just cast a tick heal every now and then. A smite/healing monk is probably one of the funnest characters you can play, in my opinion. You can heal and do pretty nice ammount of damage to contribute to the party damage output. I do believe every class has spells to heal themselves, however, its not a direct heal like monks. If you want your character to be self-sufficient like a W/Mo, quit complaining and find a new build.

I was partied with a Mo/something (I think Elementalist) in a PvP match, once. After everyone in our party died, he says in group chat "Watch this, Ill show you a true Smiting monk". He took off running to build up power, and then when they all surrounded him, he took out 3 out of the 4 of them before they were able to take him out, and the last person alive had half of his life.

Monks can be one of the deadliest characters in the game.

I managed to beat my mirror using my healing monk. It's difficult, but certainly possible.

re: that smiting monk, sounds like zealot's fire was employed.

I didn't see a word about a "Defeat Venom" quest. This is the defeat "mirror-image" quest. If you can show me a single monk character played by a single ArenaNet/NCSoft customer that is capable of wielding a bow or axe, I'll withdraw the point....

...humdeedumdeedum...

...still waiting...

Gee... you can't, can you? Why... because there are no monks that can wield axes or bows.

Also... I do not run a smite monk. I run a healing monk. I've been told I have that option. I've been told by a whole lot of game promotional material that I'm supposed to be able to run a healing-focused monk. Let my "mirror-image" be forced to come out with the same whimpy holy wand I'm stuck with.

While that part was fun, he is correct in stating this. A mirror image is supposed to be you exactly. I know I don't have a bow, but my e/me mirror image did. All the spells he did to me did significantly more than the ones I did to him. I know that it's just to make things more challenging, but then perhaps call it something else besides a mirror image.

Yes, but all that is for balance. You see, you have brain, your mirror image does not. Thus, in order to make the competition fair, they have to buff the mirror a bit =P. So change your build around a bit to beat it. Changing your build is a big part of this game, and later on you'll probably be doing that a lot in the last missions/underworld/fissure/pvp

I am having a difficult time "Overthehill," trying to figure out, if when you say you are a healing monk, you mean you didn't accept any of the protection or smiting skills of the Monk profession, and also didn't take a second profession?

If, in fact, that is the case, you might want to rethink your character. You are saying that only warrior monks (W/MO) could fair well against the mirror image that you faced. But, what about a Monk/Warrior, Monk/Elementalist, Monk/Necromancer, or Monk/Mesmer.

You certainly, were given multiple, (and have many future opportunities) to take a second profession, and even change your second profession. Are you not blaming the Devs for the inadequacy of your own earlier decisions, which you have the fullest capability of taking compensurate steps to change?

I posted how a monk/anything can beat his mirror.
http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...ghlight=mirror
It does involve changing your attrib to smite and divine favor, which you should already have as a healing monk, so the only change would be adding to smite.
Thats how you can beat it. If you're saying you're too stubborn to try a different build to beat one facet of the game and then chnge right back to straight up healer, then I'm sorry, I can't help you dude.

the hell they can't. it's called a secondary profession.

There are numerous other threads regarding this exact same topic. I would post them here for you, but since you couldnt do the search in the first place, I wont.

I beat the mirror as mo/me

I dont have any points in smite skills

was only specced in Healing/Divine and Inspiration
(didnt bring my mesmer skills with me)


I used only my wand, Balthazar's Sprit and Divine Boon

i did the same as Ninna, athough im a mo/n... you have to be CREATIVE thats the #1 thing about this game.. you have hundreds of skills... learn them all if you cant, not just ones that fit exactly what your "set" character will do... there will be plenty of times when you need to change things around, such as with the mirrior image.. being a healing monk you brought along alot of healing spells, consequently, he uses them better.. and yet all you can do is complain like a baby.. if you can not be botherd to a) search for references to this topic b) effectively change skills according to the situation or c) play this game without giving a crap fit and complain to everyone like a baby, please do everyone a favor and delete the game, along with every other one you own, go sit yourself in a corner and cry about it.

Couldnt have said it better myself.

Wow, way to rack up epoints.

Have you honestly been only using a Holy Rods the whole game? If you haven't though far enough outside the box to try other weapons on your char, I doubt you have the ablity to devise a way to beat your Mirror Image.

Others have done it. I plan to do it with me E/Mo like they did.

They can't if they don't have the proper secondary profession, huh?

What part of the phrase "mirror image" do you not understand?

If someone has a warrior secondary, they are using warrior skills to used an axe. If they have ranger secondary, they are using ranger skills to use a bow.

NOBODY uses monk skills to use either a axe or a bow. NO MONK could ever use BOTH no matter what their secondary is. The mirror image uses both effectively. I try to use a sword or bow... I hit for the infamous "3."

A MIRROR IMAGE of my character would also hit for 3 with an axe or bow.

I designed a character an MMORPG for TEAM play in a GUILD in PvE and PvP in a game called GUILD WARS. I did not design a solo character to play a MORTAL COMBAT video game with no team interaction.

My character was designed just fine for the game we are supposed to be playing. Nobody told me that after doing pretty well in the ascension missions I would run into a concrete wall that has all the multi-player charm of your average PACMAN machine.

There's lot's of weapon choices for people who want to play Monks that are not counted on to be healers. If you want your friends to be able to count on your heals being worth a crud, you specialize in healing, which is what I did.

You must play one of those "charming fellows" that spams the missions cities "monk LFG 4 mission"... then once the mission starts, you charge straight into combat AND THEN tell everyone in the group you aren't a healer monk after there's a pile of dead bodies that were expecting heals that you were too busy swing a sword to bother doing.

Fighting monks are fine IF you tell everyone BEFORE you group that you don't pay attention to healing.

The mirror is for many people one big problem. One of the main reasons is the Axe and the Bow the mirror uses.
The thing is not a mirror at all except for skills and ?maybe? energy/hitpoints/armor.

The mirror is not casual gamer friendly, sometimes you read guides of mirror battles that look like a war report o.O. "i did this spell and then that skill and then i used this and that weapon combo etc".

The "mirror" is hitting me for 65-80 damage with both a bow and ax when I average 15-20 with a top staff. That's not a minor little discrepancy. That 3 to 4 times the damage I do with a weapon + having the same spells.

Some of the most hardcore gamers around, that have been addicted to MMORPGS for years that are running Monks are requiring 2-3 days to get through this one fight. That's not a challenge. That's a a brick wall. When John Q. Public hits that brickwall with no aid from friends available for days because of the silliness of making the brick wall a solo play brick wall, Old John's gonna switch games and not buy the next expansion.

Well its hard to give you advice about beating your mirror when you haven't told anyone what your secondary is. You dont need to be a warrior to beat your mirror, you dont even need to have attack skills. My roommate plays a pure healing monk/mes and he took his mirror in under an hour without taking a single direct damage skill.

You just have to know that your mirror will do more damage than you, no matter what class you are, and I know they do because I've seen it done with warriors and rangers, and the skills that you may have with an axe or bow, will only make their damage even higher.

The important thing to remember about your mirror is that their AI was written by a drunken chimpanzee, they are not bright. My roommate killed his by casting empathy over and over again and running around kiting while the mirror slowly died.

Every class has a number of ways to beat your mirror, and if you dont want to do it with monk skills, do it with your secondary skills. And if you dont have a secondary, then, umm..... I got nothing, that would just be stupid.

Listen guys i am a level 20 Mo/W and am specialized in Swords. I hit the enemy basicly with a damage 28, if i also put mending and health enchantments in for my own character i can last long in close combat, put in a few smitting prayers and knock the enemy down.

There is no right or wrong its just the way you use the right skills for the right play type.

no way for BRUTE FORCE versus your mirror.
you should cheat him, fool stupid ai.
i beat my n/me mirror @ lvl20 (think easiest task for mesmer), r/ele @ lvl17 and w/mo @ lvl16.
all i can recommend - BE CREATIVE, think before you make build. And dont try bruteforce.. he makes much more damage than you

I am Mo/E with only 5 points in Fire. All other points in Divine, Smite and Heal. I had 47 energy at the time. I carry a gold Holy Rod. Figured out the right combination in 15-20 minutes for my toon.

The mirror will use spells in the bar from left to right. Put the biggest energy drainers from left to right that do the least to help the Mirror and no damage to you. Walk in with the worst piece of crap weapon you can find, once the battle starts switch to your best weapon.

Now, with my build I loaded up with bs energy draining Ele spells. He used them, no energy for the Mirror and I got close and smited the crap out of him with only one spell and a bane signet. When he hits you he drains your energy.

I can,t tell you exactly how to do it as it is slightly different for each build.

http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...ad.php?t=14609





Jana

OvertheHill, you are right. The mirror match can be a very frustrating experience. But quitting the game because of this would be a waste. Take your time, relax, experiment with skills/attributes and you can do it. Even primary monks can beat their mirror. It's a brick wall, but a wall you can smite to death.

Simply put, your mirror is stronger than you. He'll hit for more damage, and he'll outheal you. He has a better armor, and better attributes, and probably more HPs. If you pack 100% useless skills you'll lose the raw damage race, if you equip only healing you won't be able to scratch him, if you equip your best damage skills unwisely, you mirror will exploit them to their full extent and kick you back to the outpost.

However the AI can be tricked quite easily. Try to equip a few skills he'll use from the start and put them in the left slot of your skill bar. Find some skills with long casting time and fast recharge that your mirror won't benefit from. Waste his time and energy, and use yours efficiently. On the contrary, try to make your best skills unavailable to him, either by draining/wasting his energy before he can use them (for spellcasters) or by switching weapons (for warriors/rangers).

pHobac, first of all, I wanted to say you've been very nice to offer help privately. That was very cool of you. It was certainly night and day better than the standard "u suk loozer. i pwn u" comments from the d00dz.

What I needed to point out from your post on the forum is that this notion that the players would be defeating a "dumb" AI with their brain is false. Those that defeated the mirror image quest didn't defeat the AI with their thinking brain. It's all about twitch skills. I want to make clear that I am not calling those who did get through the mirror image quest brainless. I'm certain there are plenty of really brilliant players out there in the group that have gotten by it. However, intellect was not what was used to get through it. Punching a button precisely at the one second mark rather than the 0.95 second mark or the 1.05 second mark does not demonstrate intellectual superiority. It's all twitch skills. I'm sure that there's millions of people out there that have been honing their twitch skills for years/decades on console games that probably cruised through the mirror image quest with little difficulty. Well, the rest of us out here consider the fact that we haven't spent thousands of hours of our lives punching buttons with no human interaction to be a plus. MMORPGs are supposed to for the rest of us who have no intention of ever spending countless hours training twitch skills.

Sticking what even those who have been doing console gaming for years consider a difficult straight solo twitch skill test into such a critical central barrier just before Ascension in what is supposed to be a group game defies reason.

I'd have no problem if the mirror image test was a cool side quest that gave a cool looking reward that carried a lot of prestige. The people that are capable of doing the test get bragging rights, and the people that can't beat it, don't. However, the mirror image is the final, central test of Ascension. Giving solo twitch skills such a crucial central feature role in a game that is supposed to be about guilds and multi-player team play again defies reason.

I understand this isn't the point, but if your having problems with your mirror.....Rush em.... Skip the cinematic, and bumrush em. Works everytime for me. Can usually get him down to about 40-50% HP before he even knows whats going on. Cake walk.

Of course your skill selection is going to play a part too.

Did you try what I said Over? I personally guarantee you will beat the mirror using the monk skills I said to use and that in no way is it a twitch skill thing timed to exact seconds. Its simply firing a wnd, using a bane signet, and healing yourself as needed. If you use the link I provided earlier you will not lose. Or maybe you prefer arguing and name calling vs a true solution to beating the mirror. It's up to you.

Well... I shot off my mouth, so if my word is going to be worth anything, I have to publically step up and take my lumps when I was wrong.

This whiney, no-talent, no-skill, not-one-ounce-of-twitch-skill-in-him old fart just beat the mirror image and ascended.

SPOILER ALERT
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My secondary is Mesmer. I only use a few points in Inspiration. I really one use one skill (channeling) regularly right now. I didn't use any mesmer skills as weapons, but they were very important.

I reduced all my mesmer skills and divine, boosted my smite, and used the Bane Signet and Healing Prayers as Jana suggested. I also noticed someone mention starting with a cheapie wand and swapping to a better one. That made me realize the AI checks the weapons that are ready on the Function keys.

So, I cleared out my Storage chest. Started with a water (cold damage) wand set on f3. Put a smite staff on F1 and my trusty holy (fire damage) wand on f2.

Set my skills as follows
1-Fraility
2-Mantra of Frost
3-Mantra of Flame
4-Guardian
5-nothing
6-nothing
7-Bane Signet
8-Healing Breeze

Started out getting hit hard by the initial bane shot and first couple of melee attacks. Got dropped to about half of my hit points. Then the mirror ran himself out of energy with the zeroed mesmer and protection spells. The mirror did use the mantra spells because of the threat of them being on my function keys. It was over in less than two minutes. I never even had to move from the starting point. It wasn't really even close.

So... I guess I'll shut up now.

Do you have any skills to turn this disparity into an advantage? Retribution will turn some of that damage against him. If you use reversal of fortune and a wimpy weapon he will heal you 40+ hps where you will only heal him for 4-5 hps.

You might need some new armor as well, when I fought my mirror he consistently hit me for 33 damage, I made sure reversal could heal me at least that much and it was a very straightforward fight and I had 100% health at the end...

There were some good comments here that I'll have to try. One thing that seems to be over looked is Refund Points. I have a Monk/Ele and I've been trying to beat my mirror for two days now. <sigh>. Now I'm out of Refund Point so I have to go farming until I can collect another 1500 - 2500 xp to re-adjust my skills. Not whining cause I'm sure I'll beat this thing, but, man, it's gonna take me weeks because I'm just a casual player.

My question is, how do you more full time gamers experiment with your builds with so few refund points available to you? For me, changing my build twice uses all my refund points.

EASY WAY for MO/E to beat mirror!!!
(Healing monk, fire elementalist by the way)
Ok you use three and ONLY three skills:
1.Healing breeze: keep it on you AT ALL TIMES. this is your lifeline, it WILL keep you alive for a long time. Mirror will not use it!
2.Fireball: This spell is glitched. When i fought mirror it did a mere 9 or so damage when mirror hit me with it! THIS is YOUR damage spell. You should do 50+ damage PER CAST for best results.
3. Firestorm: DO NOT USE THIS SPELL AT ALL. This spell causes mirror to waste 15 energy and 3 seconds when he casts. Simply run out of the way when hes casting and you shouldnt even get hit once.

The process:
Apply healing breeze befor entering. Mirror should start shooting you with bow. This is ok! Start by casting fireball, then run around the arena. When healing breeze wears off, reapply. When fireball charges up, fire again! ONLY STOP moving to cast breeze or ball! THis makes mirror's bow inaccurate. Repeat the process until mirror dies!

BTW I notice that refund points are not on the same system as attribute points or skill points. Unless someone knows otherwise I have noticed that just by wandering around killing things, even things that give 0 xp, still add refund points to my character.

When I do a major rebuild, which as a monk primary I switch back and forth a lot, I just wander around for a few and then I have enough points to change back to a previous build.

i understand "mirror image" enough to have managed to beat mine. apparently i'm not the one with difficulty understanding eh?

i've only been playing games for as long as i've been with kizayaen, so i doubt i have "twitch skills" either.

LOL.... Um.... what's this mirror image fight I keep hearing about?? Is it only for Monks? Is it Pre-searing or Post-searing? Everytime I come to these Forums I learn something new.... you guys (and gals) are great, I have asked less questions in the game since I started reading the forums....

ok... heres the easiest way to kill your mirrior if you are part monk..
and heres a tip for all classes: you DO NOT need to fill out your entire skill bar, sometimes its better not to

for the monk, all you need is to up Divine Favor, and have Divine Boon in your skill bar...Divine Boon is an enchantment, which means teh Mirrior will only use it ONCE and never again.. but YOU can cast it multiple times, resulting in alot of healing for yourself, and you can just hit him with the wand/staff/w/e.. i used a staff that does like 11-20 dmg i think and i BARELY crossed the 50 sec mark.. took me lik 57 secs...

Khyron: the Mirror Image is a "quest" you have to do to ascend, after you finish the last Jungle mission (i cant remember the name of it) you head to the crystal desert, where you eventually get to Augury rock, you must do three missions to be able to attempt to "ascend" and then you go and fight your mirror image...

After a few tries I took him out with a pure support monk, at level 18 and crappy gear, with no problems. My spec at the time was something like 11 healing/9 prot/9 divine. I could only hit him for 5 with my wand, so it took around 6~ minutes to kill him. Skills I brought, in order of importance:

1. Healing Breeze - This is your main heal, he won't cast this at all.
2. Reversal of Fortune - Your second heal. He will cast this, but your melee damage is so crappy it isn't that big a deal. He also seems to gain no healing from divine favor, while you do. Still, he spams it, which is what mainly adds to the fight length.
3. Healing Hands - Your third heal, he will cast this on himself. However, you have the option to turn off attack while he does not.
4. Retribution - I don't think he cast this on himself, but it doubled my crappy dps even with 0 smite.
5. Life Attunement - Gimps his melee nicely, and the +heal does nothing for him. He cast this on himself; I didn't cast this at all.

PS: Acolyte’s plan in the post above seems much better.
EDIT: Couldn't remember if I used Reversal or not, but with a 6 min fight, I must have. ><

I wonder if you can fill your bar up with useless enchants/spells with no uses. Like Balthasar's Spirit (what's the point of having mana when you can't use it), remove hex, vigorous spirit? (the enchantment that increases your max hp), mend condition etc etc.

My character is a Necromancer/Monk. Wonder if the mirror takes sacrifice damage etc. Would be funny to give it only sacrifice hp spells, and watch it kill itself from the costs. Does anyone know if this can be done? I guess I should go use the 'search feature'.

-EDIT-
I guess it could be done that way. Someone said dumb ai, and I guess it truely would be dumb if it uses all useless sacrifice skills.

it's been done. you might want to consider making it even easier to kill itself by also using scourge sacrifice. =)

People are probly thinking. Man... what was I thinking when they figured out the easy way around it.