closetojack

I agree, not a huge fan of the Tap/Hold idea because there's no way that would be healthy for the game unless they change the numbers quite a bit. First thing people would do is find a way to stay in Damage Mode as long as possible and survive only with mods. I think it's fine to let Mirage keep her super high damage, but the only thing keeping it in check right now is how inconsistent it is. It needs to be an active ability that you either have to earn or time somehow (like my idea) or that throtles itself (like your Pendulum idea). Speaking of which, I think that would be a nice opportunity to have a special UI element for Mirage that shows the pendulum swing and which mode she's in. Not sure if it would be the best idea (even my idea I'm not sure would work without proper testing) but it would be a way for the ability to "balance itself", so to speak. I just think there should still be a way for the player to influence the pendulum swings, even if its in the form of an Augment -- for example, one that extends the duration of the next pendulum swing for every kill you get inbetween. You'd be able to keep high damage for longer, but you'd have to work for it in a mission with high enemy density (like Steel Path), where that would be most welcome anyway. Just brainstorm here, I think it's also a very neat idea.

REWORK IDEA - A way to make Eclipse more active while giving Mirage more control and reliability When you press Eclipse, Mirage instantly gains her full Damage Reduction value for 8 seconds (scales with duration), but once that duration expires the DR will slowly decrease over time down to a minimum of 50%. Even when the ability reaches the minimum it does not turn off.* Pressing the ability button again at any point will get rid of the Damage Reduction entirely and replace it with the Damage Bonus, which will also retain its full effect for 8 seconds (scales with duration), and then also slowly decrease over time down to a minimum of 50%. It also does not turn off. This will ensure Mirage has to stay active with to retain her Damage Reduction or Damage Bonus, but also gives her control and reliability on those effects. On less demanding content you can be more relaxed with your inputs, which on higher levels you might want to switch more often for high damage burst windows or for consistent survivability. Regardless of how you're playing, you will almost ALWAYS have some amount of DR or DMG bonus, but you have to keep using the ability to keep its max potential. *You can hold the ability key to turn it off entirely should you desire FLAIR (OPTIONAL): Mirage performs a quick cast animation during every switch -- one for dmg bonus, and a different one for DR. The animation does not lock her in place anymore. REASONING: The 8 seconds duration might seem low, but this is just an idea to ensure you need to build some Duration as well as Strength for a more comfy build, though you have the option to go full Strength if you want absurdly high burst damage windows and you're fine with that. You'd be switching back and forth a lot and the different animations would help you remember which mode you're in during gameplay. As for Helminth, this would help ensure whatever frame you put it on requires Strength + Duration, and has a reasonable energy economy because of the need to constantly use the ability to refresh the buffs, so not everyone would be a good fit. This fixes the potential balance problem that simply changing the mechanic to a "Tap/Hold" would cause. Finally, I am assuming some numbers tweaks to Mirage's absurdly high damage output, especially with how easy it is to get more Strength nowadays. Number tweaks aside though, he foundation of the idea is there. EDIT (something I forgot to mention): You might notice that in this idea there is the option to simply double tap the ability button to switch forms twice and just stay in whichever mode you want. I consider this a good thing. You need to spend energy (and a very small portion of real life effort and time) to retain your buff at full power, which you should be allowed to do if you have enough energy to sustain it -- or if you happen to need one more than the other at any given point. BUT I believe this would only be necessary if you're using poorly modded weaponry or playing at very high Steel Path levels (perhaps a Circuit run with sub optimal weapons). Most weapons can already handle content and Mirage's numbers are absurdly high. Keep in mind you'd keep your full power buff for at least 8 seconds (+ modded duration) and then it would SLOWLY decrease, not instantly. This is also a way to ensure the Helminth variant isn't too crazy. You can put this in another frame, but they'd need Strength to see good benefits, Duration to keep the buff for longer, and Efficiency to be able to tap or double-tap as needed. If you can find a way for another frame to do that, sure, why not. I just designed the ability very busy on purpose because it's made FOR MIRAGE, so it doesn't fit other frames' playstyles on purpose.