Latest revision as of 18:44, 4 July 2012

Mirror Image is a Mastery Wizard skill unlocked at Level 25, creating an illusionary duplicate of the Wizard.

The duplicates have hit points and move around just like the Wizard, casting from the same available skills and creating a useful distraction for the enemies. Their attacks do not deal any damage though, and they are purely tanks/distractions, not offensive weapons.

Background[edit | edit source]

Mirror Image in action.

In order to avoid close combat as much as possible, the Wizard can create duplicates of herself, who will also aggressively attack opponents.

Skill Rune Effects[edit | edit source]

Refer to the Mirror Image rune effects article for thorough descriptions of all five rune effects in this skill, including screenshots, videos, strategy tips, and other related information.

<skill class="Wizard">Mirror Image</skill> <skill class="Wizard" rune="Simulacrum">Mirror Image</skill> <skill class="Wizard" rune="Duplicates">Mirror Image</skill> <skill class="Wizard" rune="Mocking Demise">Mirror Image</skill> <skill class="Wizard" rune="Extension of Will">Mirror Image</skill> <skill class="Wizard" rune="Mirror Mimics">Mirror Image</skill>

Skill Design[edit | edit source]

This skill creates a duplicate of the Wizard that uses Wizard spells to ferociously attack monsters the instant it appears. The Image's spells don't do any damage, so it's more like an animated Decoy than a Shadow Master. But it works like a tank, with monsters attacking the Image if it is closer to them than the Wizard, and as anyone who has played artillery characters knows, a tanking minion (or another player) is beyond value.

Lesser known effects of Mirror Images is that it sheds almost all debuffs, and breaks almost all forms of CC adding to its uses.

• You can break Jailer with this.
• You can be already Frozen and break that with this.
• You can break Nightmarish.
• Will dispel Diablo's Conflagration skill.
• If you have Fracture (db) rune on Teleport (db) that will dispel any mirror images you have up.^[1]

Synergies[edit | edit source]

The following Wizard passives provide a benefit to Mirror Image, runed or not:

<skill class="Wizard">Illusionist</skill> <skill class="Wizard">Critical Mass</skill>

Development[edit | edit source]

Mirror Image was first shown at BlizzCon 2008 when the Wizard was unveiled, where it was at Tier II on the Conjuring Skill Tree. It then spawned five illusion images.

The BlizzCon 2009 version increased illusion health; it seemed likely the number of images probably could be increased through the use of skill runes. Flux found it useful in the right circumstances:[1]

I didn’t use this one very often during play, since the Wizard was powerful enough to slaughter most attackers without needing the assistance, but the few times I did Mirror Image, against big mobs, it worked marvelously. The mirror doesn’t last for very long, usually dying to the monster onslaught, but it didn’t have to. The Wizard has a number of nice AoE spells, even at low levels, and all the MI had to do was provide a focal point for the Fallen or Dark Cultists to swarm around to turn them into fish in a barrel for Arcane Orbs.

Mirror Image was still listed at BlizzCon 2010, but it wasn't one of the Wizard's starting skills. Skill tiers were removed for the July 2011 Press Event, allowing skills to unlock steadily from levels 1 to 30. Consequently, all skill levels were adjusted and Mirror Image became a level 15 skill.

The skill changed visuals at some point late in development where instead of "normal" clones of the Wizard, the Wizard herself and the images took on a metallic sheen, which added visibility in the playing field.

Beta[edit | edit source]

The Diablo III Beta started in September 2011, and while it ran, all of the skills continued to undergo extensive iteration. Skill changes varied from changing the levels the skills are unlocked, to changes in resource cost, damage, and even function. A few skills were removed altogether, and a few new ones were added. Also, the entire skill system received an overhaul with the Beta Patch 13 update in February 2012, with physical runes replaced by rune effects that automatically unlock at various levels for the different skills.

Mirror Image was dropped to level 14 early in the beta. With the Patch 13 changes, it was classified as a Mastery skill and bumped to level 25.

Previous Versions[edit | edit source]

See the Wizard skill archive for more details on previous versions of Mirror Image and other Wizard skills.
Or see Mirror Image (BlizzCon 2008) for the original version of this skill.

Mirror Image animation sequence in the BlizzCon 2008 Demo.

In Other Games[edit | edit source]

Mirror Image is basically a combination of the Assassin skill Shadow Master and the Amazon skill Decoy from Diablo II. The Mirror Image attacks monsters with a variety of skills, like the Shadow Master, but doesn't do any actual damage, like the Decoy.

In PVP[edit | edit source]

Although PVP and Arena play has yet to be released for Diablo III, there are still some things to take into consideration. For Mirror Image, despite whether it is or is not runed, the Collector's Edition wings create a bit of an issue.

Mirror Image and CE Wings.

As seen in the image, only the actual Wizard displays the CE Wings, which are a vanity item from the Collector's Edition, giving away which Wizard is the player.

Media[edit | edit source]

Mirror Image can be seen in action on video here:

• Cinematic: Wizard
• Video: Blizzcon 2010 Rune Effects

You can find pictures in the Diablo III screenshot and picture gallery:

• Diablo III screenshots and pictures
• Mirror Image specific gallery contents

• 

  Current version of Mirror Image.

• 

  Mirror Image shot.

• 

  The Mirror Image animation.

• 

  Mirror Images casting Spectral Blade.

Related Articles[edit | edit source]

• Duplicate Conjuring is a retired skill that provided for more images.
• Conjured Health is a retired skill that gave more health to Mirror Images.
  

Skill runes made both skills obsolete.

References[edit | edit source]