Imaginary Axes

Ambush. [sic]Release phantasmal axes that seek out the nearest target after a short delay. — In-game description

Imaginary Axes

Profession

Mesmer (skill list)

Specialization

Mirage

Weapon

Main hand axe

Type

Ambush

Game link

API

44321

“

0.5½  1  

Imaginary Axes

Ambush. [sic]Release phantasmal axes that seek out the nearest target after a short delay.

 Damage (2x): 366 (1.0)^?

 Seek Range: 480

₃ Player Torment (30.5½s): 231 Damage, 334 Damage if Foe Is Stationary

 Player Torment (8s): 176 Damage, 254 Damage if Foe Is Stationary

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

 Clone Torment (2s): 44 Damage, 64 Damage if Foe Is Stationary

 Range: 200

— In-game description

Related traits

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

• An axe that hits a target during the delay will not seek that target.
• As this is an ambush skill, you must be under the effects of Mirage Cloak to cast it.
• This skill will automatically activate while auto-attacking if Mirage Cloak is used during the activation time of Lacerating Chop or Ethereal Chop.

Anomaly:

The axe auto-attack chain resets if Imaginary Axes is cast inside an enemy's hitbox.

Version history

For a detailed skill history, see here.

Patch	Changes
April 14, 2026	Reduced the clone torment duration from 6 seconds to 4 seconds in PvE only.
August 19, 2025	Reduced the player torment duration from 6 seconds to 3.5 seconds and increased the clone torment duration from 3.5 seconds to 6 seconds in PvE only.
June 24, 2025	Increased the player torment duration from 4 seconds to 6 seconds in PvE only.
June 25, 2024	Increased the torment duration from 4 seconds to 8 seconds in PvP and WvW.
January 30, 2024	Reduced the clone torment duration from 4 seconds to 3.5 seconds in PvE only.
July 20, 2023	Fixed a bug that caused clones to apply more torment than intended.
June 27, 2023	Reduced clone torment duration from 4 seconds to 2 seconds in PvP and WvW.
December 13, 2022	Fixed an issue that caused Mirrored Axes to prevent Imaginary Axes from activating.
March 05, 2019	Reduced the amount of torment stacks applied in PvP and WvW from 3 to 1. This skill can no longer be used on targets behind the mesmer.
July 10, 2018	Inflicted torment duration has been reduced from 5 seconds to 4 seconds.
May 08, 2018	The torment duration of this skill is no longer split between game modes and will now use the higher 5-second duration in all modes.
February 08, 2018	Now applies torment instead of confusion. Previous durations unchanged.
February 06, 2018	The confusion aspect of this skill has been split, and the confusion duration has been reduced from 5 seconds to 3 seconds in PvP and WvW only.
December 12, 2017	Increased confusion stacks from player to 3 Increased confusion duration to 5 seconds for both player and clone attacks
November 28, 2017	This skill will no longer hit the same target twice with the same axe.
November 07, 2017	Increased seek distance for the follow-up attack by 20%. Increased stacks of confusion for the player version of this skill from 1 to 2 (clones still apply 1 stack). Increased damage by 20%. This skill no longer requires you to face your target.
September 22, 2017	Path of Fire release: Imaginary Axes has been added to the game.

Trivia

• The skill name is a wordplay on imaginary axis (a mathematical concept), and the plural of axis (a homograph for the plural of axe).