Curse

Darkrouge101 · Jul 30, 2005, 07:20 AM // 07:20

Just thought I'd post this to see what you guys think of it. I'm not going to post an exact step-by-step strategy for this, because there are too many variables... here is just a brief explanation.

There is no specific team build or setup for this strategy, which is why I think it's pretty cool.... Except for at least one Full Protection monk.

Basically, here's how combat runs down:
Your team (Preferrably with several monks or monk subclasses) places whatever protections/preparations they need and charges the enemy group. This works best if you spearhead a warrior or two, to bring enemy focus onto that one guy. As you charge the enemy team (if they spread out, the better), have a healing monk cast healing seed on someone in the group (stay close together!). As you reach the enemy, have one person cast amity, backed up with Pacifism on whoever spreads out from the main group.

Now, this won't prevent the enemies from using skills, so you'll have to be johnny on the spot with knockdown skills/spells. This will effectively take out any warriors, rangers, and any other physical combatants for a short time. The object of this isn't to completely disable the enemy (as that would be effing hard), but more to give you the appropriate time to take out their monk(s). Having more than one person with Amity/Pacifism is better, so they can counter any enemy Martyr or anti-hex spells.

The healing seed with assist with any area damage spells that they might have, and by taking out the physical combatants for a while, your casters have time to place some heavy damage on a single target.

After the monks are taken down, it's basically easy sailing from there. If a warrior charges your group and tries to attack, amity will bring him down for about 20+ seconds (or 30 seconds if you have 50%+ enchantment length) which spells disaster for the enemy team. Against area spells from elementalists you have the healing seed, which will significantly reduce damage to your team, and give your Healers and easier time keeping everyone alive.

This is a great backup to any Protection monk, ESPECIALLY if you have more than one person with the Amity/Pacifism combo. The best way to reduce damage to your team is to prevent the enemy from dealing it out

Any comments/suggestions?

Red Locust · Jul 30, 2005, 07:32 AM // 07:32

This is a decent idea and will work against PuGs, but I'm afraid that more coordinated teams will find this little more than a minor annoyance. A simple hex removal is all it takes.

Darkrouge101 · Jul 30, 2005, 07:41 AM // 07:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by Red Locust

This is a decent idea and will work against PuGs, but I'm afraid that more coordinated teams will find this little more than a minor annoyance. A simple hex removal is all it takes.

What you fail to realize is that Amity is a multi-target spell.... Meaning that all enemies around you are pacified. That's a lot of anti-hexing to do. Not to mention that with two or three of these Amity-pacifism setups in your team, you're going to piss of the anti-hexers.

Even with Nature's renewal, the single target skill setup that your team would have already had will be sufficient in taking out the spirit, and keeping the caster of that spirit stunned (it has a 5 second cast time). Even if they use quickening, your team should already be attuned to stunning that caster while the monk is taken out. If they spam Nature's renewal, then that's good for you, because hexes won't be a problem, so you'll be able to focus fully on soloing out single targets and wiping them out.

rii · Jul 30, 2005, 09:37 AM // 09:37

I used to have an idea of suiciding a monk/mesmer with echoed amity into the front lines, draw a load of attention, a couple of warriors maybe, then amity em. pacify the ranger, it might have been good. However, im too lazy to unlock any of the skills so i still havent tried it.

Darkrouge101 · Jul 30, 2005, 06:14 PM // 18:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by rii

I used to have an idea of suiciding a monk/mesmer with echoed amity into the front lines, draw a load of attention, a couple of warriors maybe, then amity em. pacify the ranger, it might have been good. However, im too lazy to unlock any of the skills so i still havent tried it.

Well it wouldn't be a suicide persay, because once you get Amity and Pacifism up, the only damage coming to you would be from skills, giving the healing monk on your team an easier time of healing. Not to mention, since most fire would be focused on you, the others in your group could work on protecting and healing you.

Darkrouge101 · Jul 30, 2005, 06:30 PM // 18:30

I've found that it's best to couple this Protection monk with a Domination mesmer, that way the monk can take out the physical combatants, while the mesmer can disable any heavy caster on the enemy team.

Another thing i've found useful is to go M/E for the Wards against elemental damage, etc. If you keep your group close together, using healing seed and the wards coupled with Amity/Pacifism... then you're looking at a pretty easy win (except against experienced teams... which are the only battles that really matter :/)

I'm still looking for a way to counter the Nature's renewal junk that people use...

Deathlord · Jul 30, 2005, 06:44 PM // 18:44

I thought amity was a solo hex spell that effect people around it... I don't think it spreads like a disease across therefore only 1 remove hex would do it.

Red Locust · Jul 30, 2005, 07:01 PM // 19:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darkrouge101

What you fail to realize is that Amity is a multi-target spell.... Meaning that all enemies around you are pacified. That's a lot of anti-hexing to do. Not to mention that with two or three of these Amity-pacifism setups in your team, you're going to piss of the anti-hexers.

Even with Nature's renewal, the single target skill setup that your team would have already had will be sufficient in taking out the spirit, and keeping the caster of that spirit stunned (it has a 5 second cast time). Even if they use quickening, your team should already be attuned to stunning that caster while the monk is taken out. If they spam Nature's renewal, then that's good for you, because hexes won't be a problem, so you'll be able to focus fully on soloing out single targets and wiping them out.

I'm not sure what you're trying to achieve here, but amity is a terrible elite. Unless you get lucky and hit a 5 war 3 mo team, you're gonna have 1 or 2 warriors on you at most, and that's gonna reduce to 1 warrior after they see you use amity once. With a 60 second recharge, you have a skill that's taking up an elite spot and doing nothing for 40-something seconds after every use.

Not to mention that warriors and rangers are the only ones that are even affected by amity/pacifism, and most hex removal is on a shorter recharge time than pacifism/amity. It also pretty much denies you the use of AoE, since you can bet that warrior is sitting next to a targetted ally, just waiting to get hit by something.

Very unreliable strategy.

p.s. yeah, natures renewal chews you up and spits you out, that goes without saying.

Darkrouge101 · Jul 30, 2005, 07:57 PM // 19:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by Red Locust

Very unreliable strategy.

This is not meant as a complete single strategy to win a battle, but to be used in conjunction with other strategies.

The whole point of the Amity/Pacifism setup is not to disable their entire team, but to disable a select few to give you a 2, 3, or even 4 person advantage. With two people running the Amity/Pacifism setup with 50% enchantment mods (not really neccessary), you can constantly have people pacified, even against hexes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Red Locust

It also pretty much denies you the use of AoE, since you can bet that warrior is sitting next to a targetted ally, just waiting to get hit by something.

If you plan this before battle then AoE spells would not be used in your team. There are plenty of single-target spells that do massive damage with a relatively low recharge time (20 seconds or less, which is covered by the Amity/pacifism). With designated targets, these spells in conjunction with amity/pacifism will give you enough time to destroy at least one or two of the enemies, and then you can start the cycle over again.

Yukito Kunisaki · Jul 31, 2005, 06:02 AM // 06:02

Enfeeble
Enfeebling Blood

Faintheartedness
Shadow of Fear

It's not Amity or Pacifism, but they're a more effective shutout to me then those two skills. Both are cheaper in execution and both are non-elite...

But these are just preference I guess.

rii · Jul 31, 2005, 09:23 AM // 09:23

Yeah but amity is much more amusing than those. Best shutdown interrupt 'evar'.

Neo-LD · Jul 31, 2005, 01:51 PM // 13:51

Personally I find signet of midnight more amusing - watching warriors run away from my monk is hilarious.

arredondo · Jul 31, 2005, 06:03 PM // 18:03

To the OP... get used to some people shooting down unique ideas everytime someone posts a decent thought. I think this possibly has some decent potential with a few other ideas I have (but I'm not sure). I'd like to run some tests with you if you ever get a chance... PM me with your IGN.

And even if your idea doesn't pan out over time, I can say one thing about you that I can't for half of the chronic complainers at this site: at least you're trying to give something to the community.

rii · Jul 31, 2005, 06:59 PM // 18:59

....................ftw?

only going off topic for a second, but they arent 'shooting down ideas'. This is what is known as a forum, which means:

"A public meeting place for open discussion" which is the generalised version of the original.

The way you say it is like they get kicks out of telling people how much they suck or something. All they are doing is engaging in 'open discussion', and in this case people say they dont like amity/pacifism.

Chronic complainers? ok, maybe a few people get a bit zealous over certain matters, but thats a rash generalisation.

Amity/Pacifism: A goddam amazing hex with amazing possibilities. There might be a problem at the moment, since the cornerstone of the meta atm is renewal, which strips all hexes. I used pacifism for a long time but in a shutdown mesmer format rather than a prot monk, and it was always the problem that if it got removed, your stood around for a long time with nothing to do. So kudos on realising this and getting all the normal stuff as well. When renewal gets nerfed, (maybe if :/) Ill probably pick it back up.
Perhaps comboed with ele spikes you could go a long way, since as an ele i find a warrior coming up and touching me quite unsettling. Whatsmore, if you can get the shock tactic working, the cooldown of amity would be countered, since the battles over. But thats some lightening strike right there :S

arredondo · Jul 31, 2005, 07:23 PM // 19:23

Some people do get their kicks out of saying something sucks. Be that as it may, it wasn't directed at you. And me saying SOME are chronic complainers is hardly a rash generalization. You call it being zealous... tomato, tomahto.

As to the content of his idea itself, there can be a dozen or so reasons why I think there's potential here (not sure... just speculation right now). I just want to test a few things in a controlled environment. Could it help in this "metagame", that "metagame"... I don't know. His idea sparked a few thoughts of my own and we'll see what becomes of it. Maybe big, maybe small, maybe nothing. It's just that the easiest thing in the world is for some people to completely shoot down an idea because they haven't yet found a use for it.

rii · Jul 31, 2005, 07:27 PM // 19:27

Agreed^^

The meta is basically what is common tactics, so there isnt a 'that meta' and 'other meta', unless i got you wrong.