New E/Me - countering healing signet? - Guild Wars Forums

Kador · Oct 11, 2009, 10:54 PM // 22:54

I'm new to Guild Wars and just took an Ele/Mes to post searing, currently level 9 and collecting spells and skills.

For the most part I'm not having trouble, except for the occasional npc that spams healing signet. Healing spells are easily countered with backfire, but this doesn't seem to work on healing signet. I've tried interrupting it with power leak and no success there. The only other interruption skill I currently have is lightning javelin, but that didn't seem to work on healing signet either.

What skill that is available early on in post searing Prophecies will let me interrupt or otherwise counter healing signet?

I've read the sticky in the Elementalist forum, done several searches and browsed the wiki but haven't found this issue addressed anywhere.

HawkofStorms · Oct 11, 2009, 11:04 PM // 23:04

Power leak only interrupts spells. Healing signet is a signet, not a spell, so that's why the interrupt works. Lightning javelin only interrupts attacks, again which healing signet is not.

The water magic skill Rust is a good counter to signets. Also, you could try to use knockdown skills like shock.

Kador · Oct 11, 2009, 11:13 PM // 23:13

Thanks. I assumed that was why they weren't working, but I didn't have anything else to try. I'll look for the 2 you mentioned. This is a new account and first time playing through so I don't have many options for skills until I unlock them.

Until then I'll have to remember I've got that stupid fire imp, maybe that will help me overwhelm the healing signet.

stanzhao · Oct 11, 2009, 11:24 PM // 23:24

yeah, pretty much as said above.

some skills will interrupt spells only. so you need to read the descriptions to find out what skills can interrupt spells, signets or both etc.

you have many diff skill types in this game. signets, spells, stances, attack skills... the list goes on.

i wouldnt worry about it too much at the moment, as you said, your new to the game, the learning curve should come naturally as you head into the game and gain more skills and experience etc. just have fun for the moment.

Muwhahahahahaha Ha · Oct 11, 2009, 11:28 PM // 23:28

one that comes to mind( and is pretty useful vs mobs) is cry of frustration it works vs skills, so it works vs anything they use other than auto attacking. if it has a cast time, its possible to hit it with cry of frustration.
good thing is it interrupts foes in the area too(only if the skill you intended to interrupt is interrupted) if you want it via pve, first place to get it is in beetletun, but unlocking it on a pvp char will make it available to any skill trainer.

mistokibbles · Oct 11, 2009, 11:29 PM // 23:29

The Official Guild Wars wiki can really help you out if you don't already use it. While in game, you can type /wiki and your browser will be directed to the wiki or you can type /wiki <topic> and you'll be taken directly to the wiki page on a certain thing. ex: /wiki flare will take you to the wiki's article on the skill flare

Kador · Oct 11, 2009, 11:32 PM // 23:32

I'm not too worried, and seeing as the 2 spells mentioned above won't come any time soon, there's nothing I can do about it.

It's just annoying that I keep running into these healing signet spammers and they take forever to take down, even with a couple henchmen.

Speaking of those 2 skills, they both come from skill vendors. Will I be able to buy them without having unlocked them? So far the only skill vendors I've come across only offer skills that I've previously unlocked via quests. There are no quests listed for Rust or Shock in the GW Wiki.

In response to above, I did check the guild wars wiki, as mentioned in the op.

Rhadamanthys · Oct 11, 2009, 11:49 PM // 23:49

You can also take advantage of these foes using Healing Signets. In normal mode, the casting time is semi-long which means you have a 2 second window of opportunity to spike (do a lot of damage in a short amount of time) the enemy while he has -40 armor. The damage done is almost doubled.

Kador · Oct 11, 2009, 11:53 PM // 23:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rhadamanthys

You can also take advantage of these foes using Healing Signets. In normal mode, the casting time is semi-long which means you have a 2 second window of opportunity to spike (do a lot of damage in a short amount of time) the enemy while he has -40 armor. The damage done is almost doubled.

At only level 8 or 9 even throwing everything at them, the healing signet heals them a significant amount over the damage I was doing. Next time I'll try timing it so I only nuke them during the signet cast and see if that helps.

Thanks everyone for the tips.

Dzjudz · Oct 12, 2009, 12:19 AM // 00:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kador

Will I be able to buy them without having unlocked them?

Yes. Buying a skill at a skill trainer both unlocks it for your account and learns it to the character you bought it with.

Divine Ashes · Oct 12, 2009, 01:18 AM // 01:18

Leech sig is a good option, though the first you can get it is North Kryta Province (once your each Lion's Arch). By then, you'll probably not encounter many enemies with Heal Sig, though, and also by the the healing won't be nearly as significant...

s t e e · Oct 12, 2009, 01:43 AM // 01:43

Use this It answer every1s guild wars questions.

Shayne Hawke · Oct 12, 2009, 01:47 AM // 01:47

If you can't kill something that has Heal Sig, you either didn't kill the healers or aren't dealing enough damage in the first place.

moriz · Oct 12, 2009, 01:57 AM // 01:57

healing signet is one of those skills that's been way overbuffed over the course of the game. at only 3 tactics, it heals for a whooping 100 health on a 4 sec recharge. that's pretty impressive, and is not surprising that the OP cannot blast his way through it.

to put it into perspective, it used to heal only 40 hp at zero tactics. now it heals 80 at zero tactics.

Zodiac Meteor · Oct 12, 2009, 03:00 AM // 03:00

What element are you using?
For super spike damage, add some lightning attribute spells. Even at a low level you can do +150 to them while casting Healing Signet.
What kind of foes are you fighting?

Edit: I can lend a hand to get you farther into the game. Whisper Zodiac Ele and I'll see if I can come help.

Marverick · Oct 12, 2009, 03:08 AM // 03:08

If you have access to Factions, Icy Prism allows you to interrupt and disable it.

Alternatively you could use a /Me interrupt but the signet will be back online in 4s.

Alternatively you could use Meteor, but you'll have to know when foes use healing signet (AI uses it when below a certain hp so watch for that) and activate it before the foe uses healing signet. The KD will interrupt it and the large damage with -40 armor will take away a good chunk of its health so you should be able to kill it then. Combining this with a /Me interrupt is probably the best.

Zodiac Meteor · Oct 12, 2009, 03:14 AM // 03:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marverick

Alternatively you could use Meteor.

He won't have a huge energy pool to keep using that on recharge.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moriz

It was buffed.

I remember when this happened. The reason was to have it in GvG splits and a great spell for newer players. Didn't even cross my mind that it would drastically affect monster NPC's.

Kador · Oct 12, 2009, 07:04 AM // 07:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zodiac Meteor

What element are you using?
For super spike damage, add some lightning attribute spells. Even at a low level you can do +150 to them while casting Healing Signet.
What kind of foes are you fighting?

At the time it was a level 8 E/Me with 7 or 8 points in Fire and 3 in Energy Storage, with maybe 1 in Air. I don't have any high damage lightning skills unlocked yet.

The first time I encountered this was just outside of Piken Outpost. I don't recall the exact quest but there was a level 10 Charr Captain right outside the outpost that took forever to kill because of the HS spamming. At the time I had to go back in town and add a Mage henchman for some extra firepower to finally kill him. Encountered 1 or 2 more enemies in The Breach I believe that used a lot of Healing Signet, I think one of them was a higher level gargoyle.

I'm now almost level 11 with more skills so hopefully it won't be an issue any more, though I have yet to encounter any of the skills mentioned in this thread.

I have Factions and Nightfall and just got EoTN, yet to be installed, but I would prefer to play through Prophecies before I start any of the expansions. Or at least wait until the normal time to access Eye of the North content.

Horace Slughorn · Oct 12, 2009, 10:39 AM // 10:39

Hey I'm gathering that you are trying to take on these monsters solo or with few henchmen allies. I would suggest always loading up a full party of henchmen as it will make getting through enemy mobs much faster, though you will receive slightly less cash from drops overall.

I agree that you should play through prophecies first, it is a great tutorial, has lots of free skill quests and in my opinion has the most engaging story line.

It seems like a lot to take in, but in a little while you'll look back on these days and laugh because these things will come naturally to you. Keep playing and having fun

Kendil · Oct 12, 2009, 11:48 AM // 11:48

As Slughorn said, always have a full party (exept for farming purpouses, which you can't do yet), as the areas is designed for full partys.

If you have 3 damage dealers (in the party of 4, as your current party cap is) you should outdamage any healing skill, maybe it'll take some time on monk bosses or mobs with multiple monks, especially healing sig, as it lowers the casters armor.

I'd suggest you go to EotN and NF when you get the chance to do so (when you reach LA), just to the beginning, so you can pick up a few heroes, they will really help you out since henchmen have pretty lame builds.
And to pick up skills from the other campaigns that you want, factions is a good option, as you'll get to kaineng (whatever spelling

), the skill trainer there has a lot of skills to offer.

Just to make sure you know it, focus on one attribute line (like fire magic) + e storage, and use skills from those lines. I'd suggest fire magic as there are som great AoE damage dealing skills there.

Oct 11, 2009, 10:54 PM // 22:54	#1
Kador Frost Gate Guardian Join Date: Oct 2009	New E/Me - countering healing signet? I'm new to Guild Wars and just took an Ele/Mes to post searing, currently level 9 and collecting spells and skills. For the most part I'm not having trouble, except for the occasional npc that spams healing signet. Healing spells are easily countered with backfire, but this doesn't seem to work on healing signet. I've tried interrupting it with power leak and no success there. The only other interruption skill I currently have is lightning javelin, but that didn't seem to work on healing signet either. What skill that is available early on in post searing Prophecies will let me interrupt or otherwise counter healing signet? I've read the sticky in the Elementalist forum, done several searches and browsed the wiki but haven't found this issue addressed anywhere.

Oct 11, 2009, 11:13 PM // 23:13	#3
Kador Frost Gate Guardian Join Date: Oct 2009	Thanks. I assumed that was why they weren't working, but I didn't have anything else to try. I'll look for the 2 you mentioned. This is a new account and first time playing through so I don't have many options for skills until I unlock them. Until then I'll have to remember I've got that stupid fire imp, maybe that will help me overwhelm the healing signet. Last edited by Kador; Oct 11, 2009 at 11:16 PM // 23:16..

Oct 11, 2009, 11:28 PM // 23:28	#5
Muwhahahahahaha Ha Academy Page Join Date: Apr 2009 Profession: A/	one that comes to mind( and is pretty useful vs mobs) is cry of frustration it works vs skills, so it works vs anything they use other than auto attacking. if it has a cast time, its possible to hit it with cry of frustration. good thing is it interrupts foes in the area too(only if the skill you intended to interrupt is interrupted) if you want it via pve, first place to get it is in beetletun, but unlocking it on a pvp char will make it available to any skill trainer. Last edited by Muwhahahahahaha Ha; Oct 11, 2009 at 11:30 PM // 23:30.. Reason: spelling erros -_-

Oct 12, 2009, 03:00 AM // 03:00	#15
Zodiac Meteor Imma Firin Mah Rojway! Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: At the Mac Store laughing at people that walk out with anything. Profession: E/Mo	What element are you using? For super spike damage, add some lightning attribute spells. Even at a low level you can do +150 to them while casting Healing Signet. What kind of foes are you fighting? Edit: I can lend a hand to get you farther into the game. Whisper Zodiac Ele and I'll see if I can come help. Last edited by Zodiac Meteor; Oct 12, 2009 at 03:04 AM // 03:04..

Oct 12, 2009, 11:48 AM // 11:48	#20
Kendil Krytan Explorer Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Sweden	As Slughorn said, always have a full party (exept for farming purpouses, which you can't do yet), as the areas is designed for full partys. If you have 3 damage dealers (in the party of 4, as your current party cap is) you should outdamage any healing skill, maybe it'll take some time on monk bosses or mobs with multiple monks, especially healing sig, as it lowers the casters armor. I'd suggest you go to EotN and NF when you get the chance to do so (when you reach LA), just to the beginning, so you can pick up a few heroes, they will really help you out since henchmen have pretty lame builds. And to pick up skills from the other campaigns that you want, factions is a good option, as you'll get to kaineng (whatever spelling), the skill trainer there has a lot of skills to offer. Just to make sure you know it, focus on one attribute line (like fire magic) + e storage, and use skills from those lines. I'd suggest fire magic as there are som great AoE damage dealing skills there.

Oct 11, 2009, 11:04 PM // 23:04	#2
HawkofStorms Hall Hero Join Date: Aug 2005 Profession: E/	Power leak only interrupts spells. Healing signet is a signet, not a spell, so that's why the interrupt works. Lightning javelin only interrupts attacks, again which healing signet is not. The water magic skill Rust is a good counter to signets. Also, you could try to use knockdown skills like shock.

Oct 11, 2009, 11:24 PM // 23:24	#4
stanzhao Frost Gate Guardian Join Date: Mar 2008	yeah, pretty much as said above. some skills will interrupt spells only. so you need to read the descriptions to find out what skills can interrupt spells, signets or both etc. you have many diff skill types in this game. signets, spells, stances, attack skills... the list goes on. i wouldnt worry about it too much at the moment, as you said, your new to the game, the learning curve should come naturally as you head into the game and gain more skills and experience etc. just have fun for the moment.

Oct 11, 2009, 11:29 PM // 23:29	#6
mistokibbles Lion's Arch Merchant Join Date: Mar 2008 Profession: N/A	The Official Guild Wars wiki can really help you out if you don't already use it. While in game, you can type /wiki and your browser will be directed to the wiki or you can type /wiki <topic> and you'll be taken directly to the wiki page on a certain thing. ex: /wiki flare will take you to the wiki's article on the skill flare

Oct 11, 2009, 11:32 PM // 23:32	#7
Kador Frost Gate Guardian Join Date: Oct 2009	I'm not too worried, and seeing as the 2 spells mentioned above won't come any time soon, there's nothing I can do about it. It's just annoying that I keep running into these healing signet spammers and they take forever to take down, even with a couple henchmen. Speaking of those 2 skills, they both come from skill vendors. Will I be able to buy them without having unlocked them? So far the only skill vendors I've come across only offer skills that I've previously unlocked via quests. There are no quests listed for Rust or Shock in the GW Wiki. In response to above, I did check the guild wars wiki, as mentioned in the op.

Oct 11, 2009, 11:49 PM // 23:49	#8
Rhadamanthys Academy Page Join Date: May 2005	You can also take advantage of these foes using Healing Signets. In normal mode, the casting time is semi-long which means you have a 2 second window of opportunity to spike (do a lot of damage in a short amount of time) the enemy while he has -40 armor. The damage done is almost doubled.

Oct 12, 2009, 01:18 AM // 01:18	#11
Divine Ashes Wilds Pathfinder Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Chicago Guild: LFG Profession: R/	Leech sig is a good option, though the first you can get it is North Kryta Province (once your each Lion's Arch). By then, you'll probably not encounter many enemies with Heal Sig, though, and also by the the healing won't be nearly as significant...

Oct 12, 2009, 01:43 AM // 01:43	#12
s t e e Frost Gate Guardian Join Date: Apr 2009 Guild: Death By[Emo] Profession: Mo/Me	Use this It answer every1s guild wars questions.

Oct 12, 2009, 01:47 AM // 01:47	#13
Shayne Hawke Departed from Tyria Join Date: May 2007 Guild: Clan Dethryche [dth] Profession: R/	If you can't kill something that has Heal Sig, you either didn't kill the healers or aren't dealing enough damage in the first place.

Oct 12, 2009, 01:57 AM // 01:57	#14
moriz ??ber t??k-n??sh'??n Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Canada Profession: R/	healing signet is one of those skills that's been way overbuffed over the course of the game. at only 3 tactics, it heals for a whooping 100 health on a 4 sec recharge. that's pretty impressive, and is not surprising that the OP cannot blast his way through it. to put it into perspective, it used to heal only 40 hp at zero tactics. now it heals 80 at zero tactics.

Oct 12, 2009, 03:08 AM // 03:08	#16
Marverick Forge Runner Join Date: Aug 2006 Profession: R/	If you have access to Factions, Icy Prism allows you to interrupt and disable it. Alternatively you could use a /Me interrupt but the signet will be back online in 4s. Alternatively you could use Meteor, but you'll have to know when foes use healing signet (AI uses it when below a certain hp so watch for that) and activate it before the foe uses healing signet. The KD will interrupt it and the large damage with -40 armor will take away a good chunk of its health so you should be able to kill it then. Combining this with a /Me interrupt is probably the best.

Oct 12, 2009, 10:39 AM // 10:39	#19
Horace Slughorn Wilds Pathfinder Join Date: Oct 2008 Guild: Experientia Docet [OHX], Trinity of the Ascended [ToA], We Gat Dis [HRUU] Profession: W/	Hey I'm gathering that you are trying to take on these monsters solo or with few henchmen allies. I would suggest always loading up a full party of henchmen as it will make getting through enemy mobs much faster, though you will receive slightly less cash from drops overall. I agree that you should play through prophecies first, it is a great tutorial, has lots of free skill quests and in my opinion has the most engaging story line. It seems like a lot to take in, but in a little while you'll look back on these days and laugh because these things will come naturally to you. Keep playing and having fun