Curse

Lord Sojar · Apr 15, 2008, 02:01 PM // 14:01

Well everyone, I don't think that the Ascalon Royal Family Masquerade Ball 2008 is going to happen. Why? Well, I don't have much money in game, and the community isn't exactly in a giving state of mind right now, especially with the GW economy the way it current is (Hyper-deflated). Party items are now worth tons of money, and sweets and alcohols are as popular for their respective titles as ever.

So, I propose a different contest. But, the prize you will receive is more real world, and I am sure you guys will love it.

I want you guys to create a custom skill for any character class! You are to post the skill in this thread.

Here are the rules for the skill:

The skill must be semi-balanced (within the realm of possibility)
The skill must either be PvP useable, or PvE only (and being PvE only doesn't mean it should be completely overpowered)
The skill must have a full description, including all effects, activation time (if applicable), recharge (if applicable), adren cost (if applicable), energy cost (if applicable), and disable time (if applicable)
The skill must be a type of skill (Stance, Enchantment, etc)
The skill must have a scale for the attribute including the value at 0, 12, and 15) (example: +1...30...51 damage) or must have a scale relating to the title track (if it is PvE only) with level 0 to max level in that particular title track.

Your chances of winning are increased by doing the following:

Creating a skill icon (art talent is irrelevant, thought that counts)
Unique and Original Name for the skill.

Things you are NOT allowed to do when creating skills:

Create a super imbalanced skill that overshadows all other skills. (if you don't understand this, you probably are not going to win anyways)
Create a new skill type not found in Guild Wars.
Create a new Attribute, Character Type, or Title Track.
Create a new mechanic (example: Evade was removed, you cannot add it back in for your skill)
Break any of the basic core principles of Guild Wars (Example: Warriors cannot wield 2 swords, Elementalists cannot have spawning power, etc)
Invent new weapons for requirement (Example: No guns)
Edit your created skill after the deadline. Doing so will cause immediate disqualification. (You may edit freely until the deadline, see below for more)

Ok, you have the rules. This contest will run until 3PM (EST) on Friday, April 25th, 2008. All posts after that point in time will not be counted.

Additional Thread Rules:

You may NOT use this thread as a +1 post thread.
You may NOT comment negatively on others ideas.
You may post any relevant questions, but do not not post anything off topic.
You may ONLY post ONE and only ONE skill.
You may edit your post until the deadline to change anything you want. You can even redo the skill if you choose, but you must edit the post. If you try and enter more than 1 skill, you are disqualified. Edits include but are not limited to: Skill name, description, damage, energy cost, recharge, skill icon, etc
You MUST follow forum guidelines in regards to image size if posting a skill icon. However, being a skill icon, it shouldn't be large anyways.

EXAMPLE SKILL AND DESCRIPTION

Skill Name: Steel Forge
Skill Type: Enchantment
Attribute: Fire Magic
(European Player) In game name: John Doe

Icon (Optional btw)

Skill Description
Steel Forge
15 Energy, 5 second cast, 60 second recharge.
Enchantment Spell: Your martial weapon is super heated in the forge. For the next 5...47...50 seconds, every time you strike a target foe, that foe begins burning for 1...2...3 seconds. (Failure 7 Fire Magic or less)

Concise Description (optional btw)
Steel Forge
15

5

60

Enchantment Spell (5...50 seconds). Striking target foe causes inflicts burning (1...3 seconds) Failure 7 or less Fire magic.

Upon completion of the contest, I will create a new thread will the skill ideas all organized. In that thread, you can post feedback on each of the skills if you wish, positive and negative. Keep this thread, however, to just skill ideas and comments about your own idea.

Last but not least, you are probably wondering the prize... aren't you? Well of course you are!

The top 25 skills will be chosen. Once the winners are chosen, I will need each of the winners to PM me their primary email address.

I will then send each of you 25 winners an invitation to the Best Buy Private Employee Auctions using my friend invites. This auction site is similar to ebay, but will allow you to bid on items that Best Buy was unable to sell or had overstock on, or were OPEN ITEM returns (the condition of the items is listed on each auction) The site allows proxy bidding, just like ebay. You can find insane deals on this site. THIS IS ONLY AVAILABLE TO CONTINENTAL USA CITIZENS! Sorry to all the Euro and Asian players, but I don't make the rules for the site. However, I may give you a random in game prize for competing in the contest. It won't be a huge amount of money, but it will be something at least. Sorry again, but I cannot control the site.

As an example:

Microsoft XBOX 360 Premium Game Console
Current bid: $185.01
Bids: 5 bids
Buy it Now:
$266.21
Shipping & Handling: $19.99 (within the continental USA only)

There are many items that are WELL BELOW MSRP. This auction site will allow you to purchase all kinds of goodies for ridiculous prices.

So, Good Luck everyone!

EDIT:

And the winners are!!!! (Italicized names have received their invite/in game prize)

Elia - Spirit of Decomposition
zwei2stein - "Expoit" (very unique, love it)
Q221- Aura of Incompetence
Lexxguard- Animate Divine Horror
MarlinBackna- Soul Battery
Draikin- Dispel Hexes (this was honestly one of my favorites!)
Nevin- Lion's Roar
windtalker- Thespian's Balance
aurorascion- Raging Seraphim
MoriaOrc- Mantra of Bewilderment
Zhang Zyria- Thunderstorm (OMG, another counter to shouts and chants. I LOVE IT)
Rich_Izy- Droning Strike (it might be a bit too powerful, but you created great lore for it. A+)
Melkorium- Implode (great skill!)
Rye- Feeding Frenzy
PerrinDB- Animate Zealous Horror
Painbringer- Master of Misery (love the name, pretty nicely balanced)
the ruloes- "I Will Catch You!" (Interesting concept, and shadow step for Paragons is very unique)
XrunehunterX- Devastating Assault (you put a lot of though into the skill, and it actually is more balanced then it appears to be)
Joju- Instictive Flurry (corrected spelling for you, but very cool Beast Mastery elite)
Koricen- "Shut the %$&# Up!" (cute skill, and another viable counter for shouts and chants)
A Leprechaun- "Give Me Strength!" (cool skill, balanced nicely with no attack skill bit)
krypt1200- Expunge Hexes (very well balanced, love it)
ValaOfTheFens- Grenth's Hourglass
Milea- Summon Angorodon
RiceCream- Enduring Spirit (obs flame spam = fun, but being an enchant, easily countered, nice work)

Mr. G · Apr 15, 2008, 02:25 PM // 14:25

Im gunna enter but the prize seems a little redundant to me

Quote:

(within the continental USA only)

Dam there goes a majority of the world (not that its within your control hehe)

But I always love a good contest, especially something creative

Lord Sojar · Apr 15, 2008, 02:28 PM // 14:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. G

Im gunna enter but the pize seems a little redundant to me

Dam there goes a majority of the world (not that its within your control hehe)

Well, that is true. Of course, they could always have a friend in US ship the item to them. I didn't really notice that.

I tried. I still hope people get those creative juices moving though. We could see some cool skills if people put on their thinking caps and follow the rules.

Rift · Apr 15, 2008, 02:48 PM // 14:48

"I Am Canadian"

Shout. The next 1..3..4 US-only contests will also apply to you. If you activate this skill while you are drunk, you gain +2..4..6 Health regeneration.

Skill Icon:

Lord Sojar · Apr 15, 2008, 02:56 PM // 14:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rift

"I Am Canadian"

Shout. The next 1..3..4 US-only contests will also apply to you. If you activate this skill while you are drunk, you gain +2..4..6 Health regeneration.

Skill Icon:

Cute. You could actually change the first part to be realistic, otherwise, that is pretty creative, lol. Canadian Paragons ftw?

Like I added into the contest, I will give out in game prizes to the non continental US entrants. I am really trying here guys... Just have fun with this. I will make it worth your time.

Felixious · Apr 15, 2008, 03:01 PM // 15:01

Home Territory: Europe

----------
Swordsman's Stance (Normal Swordsmanship skill).
Energy: 5 Recharge: 25
Stance. For 4... 12... 20 seconds, All of your Swordsmanship attack skills deal + 2... 8... 16 Damage.
If you're under effects of a shout while activating this skill, attack skills recharge 33% faster.
---------

I'd love to have something like this in the Swordsmanship-attribute, it would make us warriors a little more powerful when pressuring, it'd also work nicely with skills sucha as Hundred Blades, which doesnt actually inflict any extra damage.

Great competition, and good luck all.

The Real Avalon · Apr 15, 2008, 03:12 PM // 15:12

Avatar of Chuck Norris

Skill details:

Campaign: Core
Profession: None
Attribute: Chuck Norris Title Track
Type: Elite Form

Energy Cost: 10
Recharge: 7200 seconds
Activation Time: 3600 seconds

Full: Strip all skills from all party members and allies in the area.
For 1 second, you roundhouse-kick every foe in the area for 20,000..50,000 damage.

Concise: Everything in the area dies.

Mr. G · Apr 15, 2008, 03:12 PM // 15:12

Actually If i win ive got some US friends that would prob love the prize themselves, so not to bad really....heres my submission then (assassin if you cant tell

) -

Large version of Icon

Details
Shadow Ricochet
10E 1/2 Cast 60R

Elite Enchantment Spell. Shadowstep to Target foe. For 2...4 Seconds Shadow Ricochet will Instantly Recharge on a Duel Attack. This Spell has half normal range. (Shadow Arts)

-------------------
Overpowered perhaps a Little.....It favours Quick attack chains, Perhaps I should lower the duration to only allow really quick chains (none of that "if knocked down" stuff, then again it take the valuable elite spot

Elia · Apr 15, 2008, 03:31 PM // 15:31

Home Territory : Europe

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

Spirit of Decomposition | Energy cost : 10 / Casting Time : 3 / Reload Time : 60
Nature Ritual. Creates a level 1...8...10 (30...54...60 seconds lifespan). Spells that exploit corpses in the range of the spirit take twice as long to cast. Does not affect spirits.
(Attribute : Wilderness Survival)
------------

I'm not good enough to make an icon but I'll try and edit my post.
Good contest. Good luck everyone.

zwei2stein · Apr 15, 2008, 03:33 PM // 15:33

Okay, i will suprise everyone by creating PvE-only skill. Skill that showcases how PvE only skills should have worked:

"Exploit"

Primary attribute linked.
5e, 1/4 cast, 60s recharge, no aftercast.
Spell. Exploit nearest corpse to teleport to its location. That corpse yields collectible drops for 1..X party members and you are dazed for 20 seconds.

(Things not in description: first drop is assigned to you, additional drops are assigned to random party members. If there are more drops than party members they don't occur. If monster has no collectible drops in its loot table, nothing will happen, of course.)

Explanation: Obvious function of this skill is to produce additional loot. To offset the fact this this skill has little in-combat utility, it also provides loot for other party members, making it group-friendly. Another group-friendly thing about this skill is the fact that someone with 4 friends can use this skill to rapidly gain collectors item of his choice. However, given its recharge, it its very suboptimal skill for farming: one drop worth 25gold per minute is not worth downtime (waiting out dazed condition or condition removal occupying slot); corpses disappear fast enough so that it limits usage of this skill to one per group. This skill also limits efectiveness of MM template while giving worthwile reward in return.

Little less obvious use of this skill is to give players of all class combination teleport ability which is useful for some PvE content (a must in urgoz warren for example; some teleporting helps with exploration too.). Better players can replace one of their skills with this one to get additional rewards.

Last, but not least, crafty player can exploit Dazed condition this skill provides with, for example, plague touch for whole 20 seconds of dazed.

Edit: I am not american, so i abstain.

Lord Sojar · Apr 15, 2008, 03:46 PM // 15:46

Wow guys! Great stuff so far. Keep em coming, I want a huge selection of skills, and the devs might see some of these and maybe use basis for GW2 skills.

@Elia: You don't have to make an icon, maybe find a cool image that represents it. Like I said, artistic talent will not play a roll in my judgment.

BladeWind · Apr 15, 2008, 04:15 PM // 16:15

The Ascalon Ball wont be happening , WHAT O_O.

Thats a damn shame.

oh and the skill contest, europe, im out.

Good luck to the contestants!

Kusandaa · Apr 15, 2008, 04:21 PM // 16:21

Canadian here... let's try this...

Animate Stunning Minion (E)

Energy: 15 | Cast time: 3 seconds | Recharge: 15 seconds

Spell. Exploit nearest corpse to create a 1...14...17 Stunning Minion, which dazes its target for 3...8...12 seconds. You can only have one Stunning Minion at a time. (Attribute: Death Magic)

Stunning minions have standard minion health (80 base + 20 per level) and 70AL. They are melee.

-------
We have a bleeding minion, poisoning spells, but necros lack the ability do daze or blind. So I went with daze. The reason why it's elite is because if there are too many, such as Flesh Golem, it's going to be fairly imbalanced.

Oh and no icon ATM. Have to go and wash dishes now.

Captain Bulldozer · Apr 15, 2008, 04:27 PM // 16:27

Assassin Skill: (non-elite)

Name: Flash Bang
Attribute: Shadow Arts

Cast Time: 3/4 sec
Energy Cost: 10
Recharge time: 20 sec

Text: Skill. Nearby foes are Blinded and Dazed for 4 ... 8 ... 12 seconds. Your other Shadow Arts skills are disabled for 5 seconds.

bobrath · Apr 15, 2008, 04:31 PM // 16:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by zwei2stein

Okay, i will suprise everyone by creating PvE-only skill. Skill that showcases how PvE only skills should have worked:

"Exploit"

Primary attribute linked.
5e, 1/4 cast, 60s recharge, no aftercast.
Spell. Exploit nearest corpse to teleport to its location. That corpse yields collectible drops for 1..X party members and you are dazed for 20 seconds.

Great idea - one suggestion to change it from a spell to just a skill. The idea being to keep its recharge from being shortened based on what item you are carrying. OR just add language to skill that indicates it's recharge can't be shortened.

Q 221 · Apr 15, 2008, 04:36 PM // 16:36

Let's try this:

Aura of Incompetence
Mesmer
Skill
Attribute: Illusion Magic
5 energy
1/2 second cast
15 second recharge

Target ally is blinded for 5 seconds. For 1..4...5 seconds, the next time target ally is hit by an attack, the foe attacking is knocked down and loses 3...10...12 energy.

First of all, just to point out: Ancestor's Visage sets precedent for Mesmers having enchantment skills affecting other allies.

The basic idea behind the skill is to give Mesmers the ability to counter a melee spike, sort of like a reverse Clumsiness, but by forcing a team to switch targets. The 15 sec recharge ensures that it can't be spammed heavily, but still allows the Mesmer to use it fairly often. Blinding the ally ensures that it is not possible to use the skill to create a sort of juggernaut where no one can pressure him because it would open them up to a spike, because a warrior is quite ineffective when he's blind. Condition removal skills are possible, but the short duration should keep that under control. The energy loss seems random, but it is designed to keep an enemy caster from triggering the enchantment with a wand from a safe distance, suffering the knockdown, and allowing the team to continue the spike, as is often done with Reversal of Fortune. The "skill" type is because an enchantment would be too easily removed, where as this is a skill that I want people to be forced to deal with rather than just erase.

Icon is perhaps forthcoming.
EDIT: Icon's up, not amazingly detailed, but I did what I could.

SirSausage · Apr 15, 2008, 04:37 PM // 16:37

Horrifying Roar (Strength)
5e 1s 12s
Elite Shout. If target foe is casting a spell within earshot, that spell is interrupted and that foe and all adjacent foes are dazed for 4...8...10 seconds.
If target foe is suffering from weakness, that foe is knocked down.

Strength | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
Daze duration | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 10 |

Chrono Re delle Ere · Apr 15, 2008, 04:37 PM // 16:37

Aight here is a PvP thought skill (can be used in pve as well); I am from Europe.

Warrior Skill
Smart Speech

Attribute: Unlinked [Campaign: Prophecies]
Requires 6 Adrenaline; Recharge Time: 1 second.
Shout. You surprise caster target foe with a Smart Speech and that foe is Dazed for 2 seconds.

Ya like it? xD

Olim Chill · Apr 15, 2008, 04:47 PM // 16:47

Crawling Bane

Campaign: Core
Profession: Necromancer
Attribute: Soul Reaping
Type: Hex

Energy Cost: 10
Recharge: 6 seconds
Activation Time: 1 second

Full: Target foe is crippled for 5 seconds. When Crawling Bane ends or target foe dies while under its effect, all nearby foes take 30...78...90 shadow damage.

Concise: Make foe gimpy and count to five. If foe dies or hex ends, deal 30...78...90 damage to nearby foes.

Jetdoc · Apr 15, 2008, 04:59 PM // 16:59

Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch

Attribute: Smiting Prayers

10 energy, 3 second cast, 20 second recharge, no aftercast.

Ranged Attack. Lob a holy hand grenade at thy foes. Target and adjacent foes are struck for 30...70...100 holy damage. Rabbits are struck for double damage.

Notes:

3 second cast relates to the preparation time..."First shalt thou take out the Holy Pin, then shalt thou count to three, no more, no less. Three shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out."