Curse

Zorian Direspell · Jun 14, 2006, 12:15 PM // 12:15

Having three things I wanted to discuss, and being a fan of thread efficiency, I have decided to combine them all into one post ... I hope this won't be unreadably long.

1. Elementalist Improvements - I know there was a thread for it, but it seems to have disappeared ... oh, okay, my eyes got tired of scanning all of the threads.

Anyway, I've been thinking that Elementalist damage may not be such a problem given the conditions it tends to inflict. However, Elementalists could really use non-elite energy regaining skills (as these skills would allow for viable ele-builds using elementalist elites). These skills should be linked to the Energy Storage attribute, so that they wouldn't be element dependent, but they should also be conditional and limited enough that Ether Prodigy remains a favored Elite. Something like the following:

Strategic Energization - Enchantment Spell {e-storage} - 5 - 1/2 -30: The next time a spell of yours deals elemental damage to a hexed foe, you gain 10 ... 20 (25) energy and Strategic Energization ends.

Warder's Boon - Skill {e-storage} - 5 -0 - 45: You gain 8 ... 15 energy for each recharging Ward spell. Warder's Boon causes Exhaustion.

Power Conditioning - Spell {e-storage} - 5 - 2 -20: If target foe is moving slower than normal, you gain 10 ... 15 energy.

This would enable certain builds for Elementalists while allowing them to finally see what those other, non energy restoring elites are all about.

2. Concept Class: Not yet complete, but I wanted to try something different and create a class that was part elementalist, mesmer and monk. This is the skill list thus far:

-----------------------------------------------
Chaos Manipulation: Character's aptitude in causing and controlling disorder. Skills in this line cause enemies to act abnormally and introduce an element of randomness into otherwise predictable results.

Elites (10)
----------------
Strange Omens - 15/2/30 - Elite Enchantment Spell - For the next 10 ... 20 seconds, whever a foe would inflict a condition on you or an ally, that condition is replaced with
another at random. Whenever you or an ally would inflict a condition on a foe, that condition is replaced by one selected at random.

Dizzy Spell - 5/2/10 - Elite Hex Spell - For 5 ... 10 seconds, whenever target foe uses a skill that doesn't target itself, that foe is knocked down. This spell causes Exhaustion.

Chaos Blade - 10/1/30 - Elite Enchantment Spell - For 10 ... 30 seconds, your weapon is replaced with a Chaos Blade. The Chaos Blade is a melee range weapon that deals more damage the higher your Chaos Manipulation attribute is.* Whenever Chaos Blade strikes a foe using a skill, there is a 25% chance that the skill will fail. Skills that fail in this way are fully recharged.

*Unlike Illusionary Weaponry, Chaos Blade deals chaos damage as though it were a regular sword with a chaos damage modifying hilt instead of replacing missed attacks with damage. It is therefore susceptible to Flurry's damage reduction. It's damage never exceeds a max damage sword that measures chaos manipulation as its linked attribute.

Chaos Storm - 10/1/25 - Elite Spell - For 10 seconds, all nearby foes are struck for 10 ... 30 chaos damage. Whenever a foe is struck in this way, there is a 25% ... 50% chance that you will gain 3 energy.

Reverse Vampirism - 10/(1/2)/15 - Elite Enchantment Spell - For 30 seconds, whenever target ally would have health stolen, that ally gains that much health instead and the health stealing foe loses that much.

Warping Ward - 10/1/20 - Elite Ward Spell - Warping Ward covers twice the area of an ordinary ward. For 8 ... 20 seconds, whenever anyone uses a skill in Warping Ward, that person is randomly teleported somewhere within Warping Ward.

Ward of Reversal - 5/(1/2)/15 - Elite Ward Spell - For 1 ... 12 seconds, anyone suffering from health or energy degeneration gains that much in regeneration instead.*

* This will effect foes as well, so it would be best to discuss tactical implementation with your party before bringing it.

Order of Chaos - 5/1/15 - Elite Enchantment Spell - For 5 seconds, whenever an ally strikes an enchanted foe, that ally steals one of that foe's enchantments. When Order of Chaos ends, you take 50 ... 20 chaos damage.

Spurn Order - 5/(1/2)/10 - Elite Enchantment Spell - For 1 ... 10 seconds, hexes and enchantments that target you fail.

Warp Healing - 5/(1/2)/15 - Elite Hex Spell - For 5 ... 15 seconds, whenever hexed foe is healed, you are healed the same amount. Whenever you are damaged, hexed foe is damaged for the same amount. When Warp Healing ends, you and target hexed foe take 30 ... 120 chaos damage. This spell causes Exhaustion.

Regulars (25)
---------------
Chaos Armor - Enchantment Spell - 10/(1/4)/ 15 - For 30 seconds, whenever an enemy uses a skill against you, there is a 5 ... 10% chance that skill will fail. When Chaos Armor ends, you take 80 ... 40 chaos damage.

Misdirection: Character's aptitude in confusing or beguiling opponents. Skills in this line re-direct the effects of spells and attacks.

Elites (10)
----------------
Spinning World - Elite Hex Spell - 10/2/20- For the next 4 ... 15 seconds, target foe's movement actions are reversed. An attempt by a foe to move forward will
move that foe forward, and an attempt to move backwards will move that foe forwards, etc. Spinning World ends if target foe is knocked down.

Wicked Twist - Elite Enchantment Spell - 5/(1/2)/15 - For the next 5 ... 12 seconds, the next time an enemy spell would deal damage to you, it does that damage instead
to the nearest enemy with the lowest health, and Wicked Twist ends.

The Cruelest Trick - Elite Hex Spell - 20/1/5 - The next time target foe uses a skill, that skill fails and The Cruelest Trick is replaced with that skill for 20 seconds.
Target foe's skill is replaced with The Cruelest Trick until you use stolen skill or 20 seconds expire.

Misstepping Ward - Elite Ward Spell - 15/1/20 - For 8 ... 21 seconds, whenever a foe moving faster than normal passes through Misstepping Ward, that foe is crippled for 1...11
seconds. Whenever a crippled ally enters Misstepping Ward, that ally becomes no longer crippled.

Mind Wounding - Elite Hex Spell - 10/3/30 - For 20 ... 10 seconds, whenever target foe is struck for damage, that foe loses that much energy instead.

Teleport Foe - Elite Enchantment Spell - 5/(1/4)/10 - For the next 3 ... 8 seconds, whenever a foe would strike you with a melee attack, that foe is randomly teleported away from you (maximum distance is edge of the radar).

Reverse the Sword's Bite - Elite Enchantment Spell - 10/2/30 - For the next 10 ... 20 seconds, whenever you would be damaged by a melee attack, you do that much damage to
the attacking foe instead.

The Long Stare - Elite Hex Spell - 5/1/15 - For 5 ... 15 seconds, hexed foe moves 66% slower and takes twice as long to use skills. When you change targets, The Long Stare ends.

Change of Hands - Elite Skill - 10/2/20 - You and target foe exchange weapons* for 6 ... 12 seconds.

* Your weapon stats and your target's weapon stats remain the same, except: the type (sword vs. wand, for example), damage (physical vs. chaos), and amount of damage(15-28 vs. 11-22) change.

Fake Death - Elite Skill - 5/1/45 - For 10 ... 30 seconds, you die, but Fake Death doesn't end. When Fake Death ends, you are restored to life with 25%-75% of your health and
10% - 50% of your energy. If you become the target of a ressurection attempt, that attempt is canceled and Fake Death ends. There is no death penalty incurred when you die under Fake Death.

Regulars (25)
----------------

Pattern Manipulation: Character's aptitude in benefiting from certain foreseen events. Skills in this line produce remarkable effects when certain conditions are met.

Elites (10)
----------------
Time Bomb - 15/1/10 - Elite Enchantment Spell - For 5 ... 10 seconds, nothing happens. When Time Bomb ends, all nearby creatures (allies and foes) are dealt 5 .... 20 points of
chaos damage for each second Time Bomb was active. Casting spells renews Time Bomb for 5 seconds.

Distortion Wave - Elite Hex Spell - 5/1/5 - The next time hexed foe evades an attack, all allies gain 50 ... 75% evasion against attacks for 5 ... 10 seconds and Distortion Wave ends.

Pattern Cage - 10/1/20 - Elite Hex Spell - The next time hexed foe attacks, Pattern Cage ends and that foe suffers from weakness for 5 ... 15 seconds. The next time hexed foe casts a spell, Pattern Cage ends and that foe is dazed for 4 .. 8 seconds. When Pattern Cage ends, you take 50 ... 20 chaos damage.

Motion Cage - 10/(1/2)/20 - Elite Hex Spell - Target moving foe stops moving and can not move for 5 ... 15 seconds. This spell causes Exhaustion.

Many Sided Mirror - Elite Stance - 10/0/30 - For 30 ...76 seconds, entering a stance does not end a prior stance. Many Sided Mirror ends if you deal damage.

Order Fate - Elite Enchantment -10/1/45 - For 60 seconds, whenever there is a % chance that a skill you use will have a certain effect, that % chance is doubled.

Spider's Web - Elite Hex Spell - 5/(1/2)/15 - For 5 ... 12 seconds, whenever target foe uses a skill, that skill randomly replaces another skill of that foe's until Spider's Web ends.*
* Spider's Web replaces the skill but does not disable it. The newly replaced skill will be usable as the old skill, which use will replace another skill on the foe's bar. When Spider's Web ends, the replaced skills are returned fully recharged.

Magic Number - Elite Enchantment Spell 5/1/8 - Magic Number lasts two seconds for each ally in your party. When Magic Number ends, you and all nearby allies gain 10 ... 20 health for each second Magic Number was active.

Holding Pattern - Elite Enchantment Spell - 5/(1/4)/30 - For 10 ... 20 seconds, enemy spells and attacks on you fail. When Holding Pattern ends, all spells and damage prevented by Holding Pattern take effect. *

* This includes spells that would strip enchantments. Although it may seem unfair, casting a second holding pattern will not renew the first holding pattern, and any stored enchantment stripping spells will take effect when holding pattern ends. This may have the result of stripping away much needed healing or protective enchantments at the time.

Pattern Mitigation - Elite Skill - 10/0/30 - For 30 seconds, damage dealt to you is converted into the least damaging type.* Damage converted in this way is multiplied by 2.0 ... 1.15.
* According to armor and damage mitigating/armor increasing enchantments and stances.

Regulars (25)
-----------------

Chance Mastery: Primary Attirbute. Each point in Chance Mastery adds a 1.5% chance that an enemy skill targeting you will fail. When an enemy skill targeting you fails, you gain 1 energy for every three ranks in Chance Mastery.

Elites (5)
----------------
Aversion Aura - Elite Enchantment Spell - 10/1/45 - For the next 30 seconds, spells and attacks against you fail and you take 40 ... 15 chaos damage for each spell or attack prevented this way. When Aversion Aura ends, you lose all enchantments.

Increase Odds - Elite Skill - 5/(1/4)/15 - For the next 30 seconds, your Chance Mastery attribute is raised by 2. When Increase Odds ends, one of your skills is disabled at random for 8 ... 4 seconds.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

3. Also on the topic of Elementalists ... I like Sliver Armor. I think SA might be the first in a line of Elementalist spells that provide both a defensive and an offensive benefit. I would be perfectly happy if for now on the elementalist became the defensive/offensive caster class that buffs itself slightly while damaging foes. This would give elementalists a certain degree of survivability not currently present, and help improve the efficiency of the Elementalist's skill bar. I would like to see more skills designed as intelligently as SA.

And yes, looking back on things, I should have put 3 after 1 ... but it would take a bit too much effort to switch now, so there ya go. ;P