Chaos Vortex

Ambush. Release a vortex of chaos energy that inflicts damaging conditions on foes. Allies near you gain boons. Clones using this attack grant their boons around you instead of themselves. — In-game description

Chaos Vortex

Profession

Mesmer (skill list)

Specialization

Mirage

Weapon

Staff

Type

Ambush

Game link

API

40184

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Chaos Vortex

Ambush. Release a vortex of chaos energy that inflicts damaging conditions on foes. Allies near you gain boons. Clones using this attack grant their boons around you instead of themselves.

 Damage: 242 (0.6)^?

 Player Torment (10s): 220 Damage, 318 Damage if Foe Is Stationary

 Clone Torment (4s): 88 Damage, 127 Damage if Foe Is Stationary

 Player Confusion (10s): 183 Damage, 16 Damage on Skill Use

 Clone Confusion (3s): 55 Damage, 16 Damage on Skill Use

 Player Bleeding (10s): 220 Damage

 Clone Bleeding (4s): 88 Damage

₂ Might (15s): 60 Condition Damage, 60 Power

 Might (8s): 30 Condition Damage, 30 Power

 Fury (10.5½s): +25% Critical Chance

 Fury (10.5½s): +20% Critical Chance

 Number of Targets: 5

 Ally Boon Radius: 480

 Range: 1,200

— In-game description

Related traits

Illusions

• Malicious Sorcery — Confusion you inflict has increased duration. When you dodge an attack, inflict confusion on your attacker.

Mirage

• Riddle of Sand — When entering combat, your first Ambush attack applies confusion. This ability refreshes when you use a Shatter skill.
• Mirage Mantle — Ambush skills you use grant boons to nearby allies.

Notes

• Boons are applied near the mesmer only, not near clones.

Version history

For a detailed skill history, see here.

Patch	Changes
June 24, 2025	Increased the boon radius from 360 to 480. Increased the player condition duration from 8 seconds to 10 seconds in PvE only.
July 18, 2023	This skill no longer applies alacrity and now applies fury to nearby allies.
June 27, 2023	Reduced clone bleeding and torment duration from 8 seconds to 4 seconds.
May 02, 2023	Reduced duration of alacrity granted by clones from 1 second to 0.5 seconds in PvE only.
November 29, 2022	Clones using this skill will now grant the same boons in an area of effect around the mesmer instead of around the clones themselves. Reduced alacrity duration from 2.5 seconds to 1 second. Reduced might stacks from 8 to 2.
February 28, 2022	End of Dragons release: Maximum targets reduced from 10 to 5.
October 05, 2021	Fixed a bug in which alacrity was being granted in a circle around the targeted enemy rather than around the casting mesmer.
September 21, 2021	Targeting for the boons provided by this skill will now prioritize party members and then squad members in the area before enhancing other players. This skill now additionally draws a thin circle on the ground visible by allies for 1 second, making it easier to gauge distance and positioning for granting boons to allies.
June 08, 2021	When cast by a clone, the duration of the applied confusion condition has been reduced from 8 seconds to 3 seconds in PvE only.
May 25, 2021	Reduced alacrity applied to nearby allies from 3 seconds to 2.5 seconds in PvE only.
May 12, 2021	Fixed an issue in which this skill applied more might than intended in PvP and WvW.
May 11, 2021	The projectile now only strikes enemies. Up to 10 nearby allies gain boons. The boons gained are now might (8 stacks, 15-second duration in PvE; 4 stacks, 6-second duration in PvP and WvW) and alacrity (3-second duration). (Note: Boons are applied near the mesmer only, not near clones.)
July 07, 2020	Increased the number of targets from 5 to 10.
December 03, 2019	Reduced bleed duration from 8 seconds to 4 seconds in PvP only. Reduced burn duration from 2 seconds to 1 second in PvP only. Reduced torment duration from 8 seconds to 4 seconds in PvP only.
December 11, 2018	The might granted by this skill has been changed from 3 stacks for 8 seconds to 2 stacks for 15 seconds.
March 27, 2018	Fixed a bug that caused the projectile fired by this skill to have inconsistent interactions with reflection skills.
February 08, 2018	Readjusted condition application on this skill to apply 1 stack of bleeding for 8 seconds, 1 stack of burning for 2 seconds, and 1 stack of torment for 8 seconds. Fixed a bug that allowed this attack to hit the same target multiple times.
February 07, 2018	Instead of inflicting vulnerability, this attack now inflicts 1 stack of torment for 5 seconds.
December 12, 2017	This skill now attempts to face the selected target before firing when it's targeted on foes beside or behind the caster.
November 07, 2017	Increased projectile speed by 25%. Increased projectile damage by 20%. Removed confusion and torment conditions. This skill now inflicts bleeding (2 stacks for 6 seconds), burning (1 stack for 3 seconds), and vulnerability (3 stacks for 5 seconds).
September 22, 2017	Path of Fire release: Chaos Vortex has been added to the game.