Mirage is a criminally under-appreciated character in Apex Legends, and he can be monumentally effective in the right hands (and the right situation). Mirage is the master of sleight-of-hand tricks, and with some creativity, he can keep enemies looking the wrong direction all the way up until he puts the final touches on a victory. He’s one of the most unique characters in the game, and that’s likely why many players don’t seem to utilize him to his fullest.
Let’s take a look at some tips for getting the most out of Mirage on the battlefield, and a gander at some good team compositions that can massively benefit from a Mirage:
10 LEAD THE EYE
Mirage has a fantastic ability to lead an enemy’s eye. Though this may not seem too impactful, this can go a long way in keeping an enemy on their backfoot, unsure of exactly what’s happening.
A lot of engagements in Apex come down to which team is fighting with the most confidence; one way to keep the enemy shooting without confidence is forcing them to wonder if what they’re shooting is flesh-and-blood or something else entirely. Make them look one way, and you go the other; it’s the oldest trick in the book, and it still works beautifully.
9 A GREAT ESCAPE
Tacking onto the last point, leading an enemy’s eye in the wrong direction doesn’t always have to be used in an aggressive way; sometimes, it’s the only way to get out of a bad situation. There are always going to be those unwinnable fights in Apex, but that doesn’t mean that’s where the story needs to end.
Lead an enemy in one direction while you high-tail it in the other, and you might just have a chance to get out of dodge.
8 FINDING THE ENEMY
Every once in a while, it’s going to be unclear where an enemy is. In these situations, give an enemy exactly what they’re looking for: an easy target. Throw out a tantalizing decoy, and watch an enemy fall right into the trap.
They shoot the decoy, and your entire team gets an indicator showing exactly where the enemy is. The more intel you have, the more likely your team is to come up with a plan that’ll work.
7 RIGHT UNDER THEIR NOSE
Mirage’s ultimate ability turns him nigh-on invisible while flooding the immediate area in decoys. While these decoys aren’t going to be of any use in fooling enemies into thinking it’s actually you standing there, they can create enough visual confusion to make them lose track of you, especially considering the fact you’re almost invisible.
Though you can’t do much of anything while invisible, you can go back to normal at the push of a button. Use the opportunity to get within easy killing distance of a blissfully unaware enemy, and then wipe them from the planet.
6 WHICH ONE IS HE?
There are some situations in Apex where you’re going to be standing still, whether that’s when you’re looting an enemy’s deathbox or surveying an area. Mirage’s decoy is going to stop wherever you were aiming when you activated it, so why not make things a bit more difficult on an enemy that just might have you in their crosshairs?
Throw a decoy up right beside you in the same position you’re in, either crouching or standing, and your enemy is going to have a fifty-fifty chance on whether what they hit is really you or not.
5 TESTING THE WATERS
Sometimes, you’re not going to be sure if the coast is clear. The hairs on the back of your neck are standing up, and in these situations, you know what they say: better safe than sorry. Send a decoy into (or out of) that door, or out from behind the rock, or wherever you find yourself, and wait to see if the decoy meets a gruesome end or not.
In the long run, this is going to save you more times than you can count.
4 LONG-RANGE
The great thing about Mirage is that he can be used to great effect in a variety of playstyles. Players who prefer to take their shots from range can create a confusing scenario for rival snipers, making it difficult to tell which target to hit until you’ve (hopefully) already hit that headshot.
Alternately, you can send the decoy running at an enemy, forcing them to pull out their close-range weapon for what they assume is going to be a close-range fight. They shoot the decoy while you’re lining up a shot from outside their weapons’ range, and they feel like a fool while you put them six feet under.
3 CLOSE-RANGE
Or, Mirage can be used to in close-range, making enemies turn the wrong direction while you close the gap and get into the perfect position with that Peacekeeper. Especially in a final-fight scenario where the enemy is already hopped-up on adrenaline, sending a decoy from one side of a rock at an enemy while you run around the other half a second later can make a world of difference in that short time-to-kill it takes to win the fight.
That millisecond the enemy hesitates or takes a look in the wrong direction can mean the difference between first and second place.
2 OCTANE, WRAITH, MIRAGE
A really fun, high-octane (pun intended) team composition is going to bring a Mirage, along with an Octane and a Wraith. The idea here is Mirage leading the enemy in the wrong direction, while Octane and/or Wraith can be setting up Jump Pads and/or Portals to get your entire team on top of an enemy that is absolutely not expecting it.
This is going to require a full team of people perfectly comfortable with a fast and aggressive approach, but with the right lineup of teammates, it can be a real wrecking-crew.
1 BANGALORE, BLOODHOUND/CAUSTIC, MIRAGE
Mirage is already going to create quite a bit of confusion for the enemy, but it doesn’t have to stop there. Bangalore can create even more confusion with her smoke, and then either a Caustic can be brought along to create even more visual confusion, or Bloodhound can be brought for the benefit of seeing through the smoke.
Whole areas will render the enemy blind, decoys are going to be running through the smoke, all the while your team is getting the perfect position to pounce.
NEXT: Apex Legends: 10 Little-Known Facts About The Protector, Gibraltar
