Mirror Image

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

Background

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

The following is a very quick summary. See the Mirror Image rune effects page for a more thorough description of rune effects, or any of the individual rune pages for numbers, screenshots, blue quotes, and much more.

Name	Level	Description

<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

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.

Appearance

Mirror Image animation sequence in the BlizzCon 2008 Demo.

Synergies

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

Name	Level	Description

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

Development

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

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

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.

In Other Games

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

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

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

• 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

• BlizzCon 2008 Wizard Gameplay Report
• BlizzCon 2009 Full Wizard Skill Trees
• Zediono's translation of JudgeHype's pre-beta report — IncGamers 1st Aug 2011
• Silva's Wizard Runestone Effects — IncGamers 5th Sep 2011
• Wizard Active Skills — Blizzard's Official Diablo III Site

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer primary

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer secondary

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer corpses

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer bloodandbone

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer reanimation

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer curses