Curse

Miss Persephone · Jul 24, 2007, 06:34 PM // 18:34

It's difficult to assess these skills, as we don't know how smart and powerful the new monsters are going to be compared to what we've faced previously.

I'm paticularly interested in the mesmer skills being a mesmer fan, and I loved the two recent pve only mesmer skills, so here is my take on the mes skills:

Aneurysm
Spell. Target foe regains all Energy. For each point of Energy gained in this way, that foe takes 1...3...3 damage.

E-Denial has never been a great idea against monsters up to now, with the exception of the powerful SV/AV tank + famine. It takes too long, and you often have no idea what e-regen or e-pool the AI is working with. In the current game, I would say this skill is pretty useless. However, if we have much longer, more drawn-out fights in GW:EN, this may prove useful. Certainly, on an ele monster with a large pool of energy, this can do some very nice armor ignoring damage.

Power Lock
Spell. If target foe is casting a Spell, that Spell is interrupted and disabled for an additional 1...13...16 seconds.

Like a mixture of Diversion and Power Block (E). I would still be much more inclined to use diversion, as it doesn't require an interupt and disables for much longer. Energy cost and recharge time are the same, casting time being what sets them apart. An interesting skill which I would like to use on heroes but would hesitate to take on my own bar.

Signet of Distraction
Signet. If target foe is casting a Spell, that Spell is interrupted and disabled for 1...3...4 seconds for each Signet you have equipped.

This really needs a signet heavy build to be worth taking, at least 4 signets IMO. I still don't see enough other signet skills to make this worthwhile.

Calculated Risk
Hex Spell. For 5...17...20 seconds, target foe has a 50% chance to miss with attacks but does +25...13...10 damage.

The poor cousin of Reckless Haste, which I would be much more inclined to use, as it is AoE. Different profession, I know, but an SS necro is already much more desirable than most mesmers. Not a skill I would use.

Confusing Images
Hex Spell. For 6 seconds, the next spell cast by target and all adjacent foes takes 45...121...140% longer to cast

Very similar to arcane conundrum. Only lasts half as long as arcane conundrum, but has half the energy cost and half the casting time. Spellcasters generally don't bunch up, and if I've never used arcane conundrum, I doubt I will ever use this. It could be used nicely with cry of pain, if cry of pain was reduced to a 10e cost.

Shrinking Armor
Hex Spell. For 10 seconds, target foe suffers from -1...3...3 Health degeneration. When this Hex ends, that foe has Cracked Armor for 5...17...20 seconds.

Mesmers have armor ignoring damage already, so cracked armor is rather pointless. I would much rather take images of remorse, which has the same energy cost and degen, but has the bonus of damage if foe is attacking.

Sum of All Fears
Hex Spell. For 5...25...30 seconds, target foe moves, attacks, and casts Spells 20% slower.

The potential to be a nice skill, I like the fact that it slows everything. Duration of 32s at 16 illusion is a bit overkill; most foes die much quicker than that, and those that don't are generally bosses with half hex duration. Not sure its worth spending 10e on.

Wandering Eye
Hex Spell. For 4...9...10 seconds, the next time target foe attacks, that attack is interrupted and all nearby foes take 10...46...55 damage

Love this one. Similar to clumsiness but with AoE added. The damage isn't a lot, but its armor ignoring and the recharge time of 8s makes this a skill I would definitely consider taking.

Signet of Recall
Signet. You lose all Energy. For 10 seconds, you have -4 Energy regeneration. When this effect ends, you gain 13...19...20 Energy

I've thought long and hard about this one, and I can't see any real use for it. Fine, you use it when low on energy to get a little energy spike...but what do you do for those 10 seconds with no energy regen? Even though ether signet has twice the recharge time, I would take it over this any day. It seems much more a PvP skill than a PvE one.

Waste Not, Want Not
Spell. If target foe is not casting a Spell or attacking, you gain 1...13...16 Energy.

Could be nice, as it still triggers if AI is using a skill other than a spell I would assume. Low e-cost, so I'd consider bringing it.

Overall, not paticularly overwhelmed. I'm only likely to use 1 of these skills, and I doubt very much it will make mesmers any more wanted in teams. Cry of Pain and Ether Nightmare were great steps in the right direction, so I was hoping for a bit more direct damage output opportunities. However, looking forward to getting the chance to try out some new builds with these skills.

fleshvirus · Jul 24, 2007, 10:38 PM // 22:38

Mine review on Ele.

Earthen Shackles
Seriously overpowered. *cough* Mark of rodgort and fire damage togheter.

Magnetic Surge
so 10 recharge and 10 energy? Dervishes are DOOMED!

Ward of Weariness
WHAT?

Energy Blast
Ouch!

Glyph of immolation
since it allows any spell to cause burning. Would Steam work with it?

Glowing Ice
No comments on this one

Slippery Ground
Interesting

Winter's Embrace
Just remove the hex and Molest your oppenent

bhavv · Jul 25, 2007, 12:06 AM // 00:06

My new LoD monk bar:

Words of Comfort
Dwaynas Kiss
Healing Ribbon/Patient spirit
Lod
Cure Hex
Spotless Mind
Spotless Soul
Channeling

Pretty damn decent, hurry up and give me these skills now

Because of cure hex though, shouldnt reverse hex be reduced to 5 e? Maybe make it 12 r as well for balance.

I wonder what would happen with an E/Me using winters embrace + Hex breaker lol. Damage yourself? Would be a nice way to use it though, or even just pre-veil then use it.

Melody Cross · Jul 25, 2007, 12:33 AM // 00:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by bhavv

Because of cure hex though, shouldnt reverse hex be reduced to 5 e? Maybe make it 12 r as well for balance.

/signed

I'd rather have Reverse hex 5/1/12 than 10/0.25/10 anyday tbh. I know the argument is that you get hex removal and an RoF, but this is basically Hex removal and an Elight. (Though, tbh, I'd rather all monk hex removals were 5/1/8

)

bhavv · Jul 25, 2007, 02:02 AM // 02:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by Melody Cross

(Though, tbh, I'd rather all monk hex removals were 5/1/8

)

10 seconds would balance out hex spam Imo, especially with Cure hex + spotless mind on the same bar.

AlienFromBeyond · Jul 25, 2007, 02:22 AM // 02:22

Man, Cure Hex will be awesome on my Tahlkora if the heal isn't affected by Healer's Covenant, on account of it being a conditional heal. Healing Ribbon should be good too, as hopefully only the heal on the main target will be affected. In PvE, nearby distance isn't all that far, and considering that stuff will occasionally slip by, it's nice having a multi-heal.

fleshvirus · Jul 25, 2007, 02:45 AM // 02:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by fleshvirus

Elementalist

Earthen Shackles
Seriously overpowered. *cough* Mark of rodgort and fire damage togheter.

Magnetic Surge
so 10 recharge and 10 energy? Dervishes are DOOMED!

Ward of Weariness
WHAT?

Energy Blast
Ouch!

Glyph of immolation
since it allows any spell to cause burning. Would Steam work with it?

Glowing Ice
No comments on this one

Slippery Ground
Interesting

Winter's Embrace
Just remove the hex and Molest your oppenent

Ritualist

Agony
Seems powerful

Weapon of Aggression
thats one great weapon spell

Ghostly Weapon
theres nothing to say about that

Sundering Weapon
not bad

Mending Grip
Like a reversed Weapon of remedy. Lol

Pure Was Li Ming
wonderful

Rejuvenation
non-elite version of Preservation i guess

Spiritleech Aura
not bad, but i wouldnt bother to leech mine important spirits

Energetic Was Lee Sa
I just cant say No to this wonderful skill

Weapon of Renewal
sweet!

noocoo · Jul 25, 2007, 01:15 PM // 13:15

Frankly, Dervish doesn't need those new scythe skills. They already have enough ones.

It just wastes new skill slots imo...

Cebe · Jul 25, 2007, 01:49 PM // 13:49

Some of the skills aeem to be skills made for the sake of making skills. Ones which strike me as this in particular are some of the Mesmer skills, particularly the signet which gives -4 energy regen. Also the Dervish scythe attacks...they don't need more. A lot of warrior skills seem like they've been done before, although Grapple does look nice.

Some skills seem way overpowered and I'm sure they will be "dealt" with efficiently and quickly once wammos realise mending can't get around them in PvP.

Lastly, I would have thought the more sensible approach to GW:EN skills would be to apportion the 100 skills across the professions depending on how many skills the profession had already. For instance. Warrior, Neco, Ele, Ranger, Monk and Mesmers gain 5 skills each, Rits and Sins gain 10 skills each, with Dervish and Paragons gaining 25 skills each.

Meh, it's done now, and the skills aren't too bad as it stands. Nice to see some damage in the Energy Storage line, although I'm sure that damage will be decreased pretty rapidly. Heaven forbid Eles gain access to more armor ignoring damage than they already have.

__________________________________________________ ________________________

On another note:
What happens to elite skills? I know there are none in GW:EN but I would be very surprised if there were no bosses...where would the fun be? I hope it's possible to cap any elite across all 3 games in GW:EN (Providing you own it's "home" campaign)...It will make the game a lot more interesting if all the monsters can use any elite and non-elite skill from any of the 3 previous games.

Sli Ander · Jul 25, 2007, 02:18 PM // 14:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by Miss Persephone

Shrinking Armor
Hex Spell. For 10 seconds, target foe suffers from -1...3...3 Health degeneration. When this Hex ends, that foe has Cracked Armor for 5...17...20 seconds.

Mesmers have armor ignoring damage already, so cracked armor is rather pointless. I would much rather take images of remorse, which has the same energy cost and degen, but has the bonus of damage if foe is attacking.

Only thing is that no profession that can take advantage of cracked armor, can actually inflict it. It'll be good to bring this if you're with a team smart enough to take advantage of it.

Quote:

Waste Not, Want Not
Spell. If target foe is not casting a Spell or attacking, you gain 1...13...16 Energy.

Could be nice, as it still triggers if AI is using a skill other than a spell I would assume. Low e-cost, so I'd consider bringing it.

I'm mildly obsessed with finding a use for pacifism and Amity (often touted by some as utterly useless skills). I wouldn't know the best spell to shut down a caster type(I presume blackout or backfire would at least give them enough pause to let you slip in this spell), but at 0 Protection prayers Pacifism will stop attacks for 8 seconds. This is, of course, if they don't get it removed or take damage. But do you think it would give enough of a pause(say on a warrior that's nagging you) to let you use Waste Not, Want Not?

Would be interesting...
But that's just my two cents

Silas Verdeii · Jul 25, 2007, 04:16 PM // 16:16

Overall I must say I'm really impressed with the skills. I don't like all of them but there's a good chunk that are new and different enough to keep me interested. lots of comments however since i primarily play ranger I thought i'd just comment on those skills, for what it's worth.

Ranger skills:

Feral Affression - I really like this skill it would really bring the pet back into the game for me. I often prefer to just buff up my pet and let him go to work rather than have specifically timed pet attacks, so this makes me happy

Companionship - could be an interesting replacement for self heal on a beast-master build - would allow more pet heals without totally leaving yourself vulnerable. what would happen if the pet is dead here?

Expert focus - i think the energy reduction of expertise makes this one a bit redundant

Body Shot - could be neat if there was a way to apply cracked armor as a ranger but is less useful

Disrupting Shot - doesn't really stand out amongst other interupts

Rapid fire - faster attack is always good, but with nothing else as bonus i probably wouldn't use it often

Sloth Hunter's Shot - I think this would be an awesome first strike spike. couple this with poison and follow with burning arrow and their hurting pretty fast pretty quick

Volley - a non-elite barrage option should make builds a bit more creative. Because of the only 3 shot factor I doubt though that it would get used much more than double shot because of the loss of preparation. I'd prefer to take away the added damage bonus and enable preparations

Piercing Trap - once again the prevalence of cracked armor would effect the usefulness of this skill though i really don't think it is much of an improvement over other traps

Poison Tip Signet - I often use poison as a ranger and really like some of the potential with this skill. it would be great if the number of attacks increased as well maybe to 2 or 3 with higher wilderness survival, but if that makes it too powerful i'm happy with it as is

Bargamer · Jul 26, 2007, 06:34 AM // 06:34

Awaken the Blood, Chilblains, Ang's Gaze... I could see it. Put a couple more Hexes on there and you might have something going. Granted, I don't play a Blood/Curses Necro myself, but you could replace Chilblains with Signet of Agony or even Blood Drinker, if you wanted to stay in Blood.

Sophitia Leafblade · Jul 26, 2007, 09:58 AM // 09:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by Celestial Beaver

Lastly, I would have thought the more sensible approach to GW:EN skills would be to apportion the 100 skills across the professions depending on how many skills the profession had already. For instance. Warrior, Neco, Ele, Ranger, Monk and Mesmers gain 5 skills each, Rits and Sins gain 10 skills each, with Dervish and Paragons gaining 25 skills each.
__________________________________________________ ________________________

On another note:
What happens to elite skills? I know there are none in GW:EN but I would be very surprised if there were no bosses...where would the fun be? I hope it's possible to cap any elite across all 3 games in GW:EN (Providing you own it's "home" campaign)...It will make the game a lot more interesting if all the monsters can use any elite and non-elite skill from any of the 3 previous games.

I do agree Anet should have really worked more on the non-core professions, i suggested way back they give 25 skills to each of the non core proffessions since they are the professions they really need the most encouragement since as it stands they lack skills compared to the core professions.

Im pretty sure a good proportion of the Bosses in EotN will be using Specialised Monster skills (if u watch the video an example of such is shown) there probbally will be some other normal boss creatures but they probally will just use existing Elites.

Quote:

Originally Posted by noocoo

Frankly, Dervish doesn't need those new scythe skills. They already have enough ones.

It just wastes new skill slots imo...

You can say the same thing about Warriors gaining more attack skills, They have about Twice the amount of attacks and skills than Sins and Dervishes yet no one minds they get more skills

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sli Ander

I'm mildly obsessed with finding a use for pacifism and Amity (often touted by some as utterly useless skills).

Pacifism works great in AB, i cant count the times its saved my behind, or the amount of times it annoyed the hell out of Warriors and Sins who think they can pick on the helpless monk. I normal end up taunting them with emotes just to make my point before making a hasty withdrawal to allies

.

Siva arwen · Jul 26, 2007, 11:31 PM // 23:31

Spotless Soul + Wearying Strike/Wearying Spear = ?

AlienFromBeyond · Jul 26, 2007, 11:50 PM // 23:50

Aneurysm, my anti-Ether Prodigy.

nessarose · Jul 27, 2007, 03:09 AM // 03:09

Assassin Skills

Way of the Master (guess the skill names are being altered and updated as we speak) I like this, as soon as I get my grubby mitts on this skill it's going right into my critical bowman builds and will encourage me to try other weapons too.

Lotus Strike and Falling Lotus Strike Great for energy management from an attribute other than critical strikes which could prove invaluable against Atrophy.

Golden Fang Strike I would like to see the recharge time increased to 8 and X amount of damage added. As much as I love Deep Wound it's not enough to encourage me to use a skill on its own.

Trampling Ox Nice damage output, but do assassins really need another knock down skill?

Sadists Signet Lovely self heal. This has real potential where enchantment stripping is rife AND allows me to shift attributes out of Shadow Arts to play around with some more of the oh so cool Deadly Arts skills.

Shadow Fang Ooooh. So you're giving me a hex to meet the conditions of some of my favourite off-hand attacks, 10 seconds of stabbity fun and then a shadow step back to safety, leaving behind a foe with deep wound? 45 seconds does seem a bit long for a recharge, but then 30 would be too short.

Signet of Deadly Corruption A nice complement to Sadists Signet. These two skills could be great fun in combination.

Vampiric Assault I think I've just found a new dual attack.

Smoke Powder Defense Initially looks very nice, but, just a thought... how about making it an aoe spell and extending the damage reduction to adjacent allies? Perhaps not half damage as that may be a bit overpowered, but 75% damage.

Monk Skills

Smiter's Boon Verrrrry interesting. I'd like to see how this one plays out - I almost never smite so I can't really comment. But perhaps with the new skills that will change.

Cure Hex Great! A Healing Prayers hex removal and cheaper in terms of energy than Protection Prayers hex removals - hoorah for efficiently dealing with hexes.

Healing Ribbon Hmmm... an extended Ethereal Light but it's more expensive in terms of energy and cannot be used on yourself and still has a 1 second casting time. Either reduce the energy, reduce the casting time to 3/4 or allow it to be used on the caster but increase the recharge.

Patient Spirit I can't see myself using this more than the one outing I give it for playtesting. It might be nice in a hero build but I'm much happier using the slot in my skill bar for Seed of Life than I would be for this.

Spotless Mind and Spotless Soul Healing Prayers? I see condition and hex removal or prevention (these seem proactive skills to me as it is a very unfortunate person who has five conditions put on them at the same time). Both of these skills scream Protection Prayers to me.

Aura of Stability Very much a non-elite Balthazar's Pendulum. If this skill was "target ally" and not "target other ally" it would see some real use in running builds.

Castigation Signet I have no doubt that this will see a lot of use in 55 builds.

Purifying Veil This is so much nicer against conditions than Spotless Soul, if it wasn't a smiting prayers skill it would slot really nicely into a bonder build.

Smite Condition Smite Hex has a brother! Yay!

I don't think I can really add anything to what's already been said about the ranger skills and I'm not even going to try to comment on professions I don't play.

chikorita23 · Jul 27, 2007, 05:14 AM // 05:14

Water Magics: I only like 1 of them, other 2 are craps.... Anet is trying to make other profession using water rather then Water Elementalist themselve.

Glowing Ice:
Very nice! I somehow already expected a "water version Glowing Gaze" I mean this help you gain back energy from Deep Freeze, Shatterstone or whatever water hex you use. Water Magic side never have any spell that make you regain energy (Earth and Fire has it) So it's fair!

Winter's Embrace:
Okay I can only see Assassin using this on a squishy caster target whom can't escape. But they will need 2 slot for it, one teleport and one Winter Embrace.... Otherwise, Anet... I don't think any Water Elementalist will consider sabotage themselve with this skill. My humble suggestion is.... remove the hex on yourself, or make it conditionally such as.... if you're on enchantment, only target touched foe move 90% slower.

Slippery Ground:
Again... Anet is trying to make people other then water ele using it. I imagine an Air Elementalist could abuse it with ele attuntment. But for a Water Ele? And this spell is unlinked it.... (more prove this spell is made for everyone but not Water Ele) I'd say... Add high damage *vapor blade dmg will be nice* on this spell then it will be very worth it!

Air Magic (Glyph of Swiftness):
My guildie suggest this signet could make Water Trident Elite very very deadly.... 200% faster Water Trident speed should be nice humm, this might give Water Ele chances on putting points on Air magic for both Blind spell + Swiftness to make Slippery Ground and Water Trident work nicely.

Sli Ander · Jul 27, 2007, 10:07 AM // 10:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sophitia Leafblade

Pacifism works great in AB, i cant count the times its saved my behind, or the amount of times it annoyed the hell out of Warriors and Sins who think they can pick on the helpless monk. I normal end up taunting them with emotes just to make my point before making a hasty withdrawal to allies

.

Sounds like fun, though I tend to bring Shield of Judgement for the laugh factor when the Assassins pop up. I can't wait to see how these new skills mesh with old ones in situations like these. So many skills are unappreciated because people can't think of ways to use them properly.

But that's just my two cents

Siva arwen · Jul 28, 2007, 12:02 AM // 00:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by nessarose

Assassin Skills
Trampling Ox Nice damage output, but do assassins really need another knock down skill?

Tell me that u r joking right? Do u know how many knock down skills do sin have? and How many times have u seen sin used any of those skills beside a random-knock-down skill, Horns of the Ox, And do u know y this skill, Trampling Ox, exists? Do u know u r going to see this new combo, Hex+BMT+JS+TO+Falling Lotus Strike+TF/etc ? Do u know what u r talking about?

Quote:

Assassin SkillsVampiric Assault I think I've just found a new dual attack.

This Dual atk is not for dagger mastery build but for Deadly art build.

Nuclfus · Jul 28, 2007, 12:13 AM // 00:13

Volley: I'm dumbfounded. I quit using barrage when I got bored with how overpowered it was, so the last thing I thought rangers needed was a non-elite version.

Way of the Master: As if Critical Strikes isn't reason enough already for assassins to replace rangers and warriors in bow/sword builds.

Aneurism: Neat idea, but using it effectively seems like more trouble than it's worth (with no way to tell how much energy your target has). I'll probably set it aside for something more reliable.

Calculated Risk: Does same job as Blurred Vision, but is less energy efficient and the drawback of increased damage.

Shrinking Armor: Completely useless for a class bent on armor-ignoring damage and degen. I guess it's for mesmer secondaries.

Power Lock: Why bother when Distracting Shot costs less energy, recharges faster, and works on non-spells? Mesmers may have the most interrupts, but Rangers will always beat them out with more useful ones.

Signet of Recall: Only one use I can think of, which is if I plan to use a "lose all energy" skill right before it ends. I think I'll stick with my 4 energy regen, thank you.

Overall I feel all the overpowered skills are being given to the professions who need it the least. Not thrilling, but I guess I'll have to ignore them and stick with the skills I already use.