Curse

Pistachio · Feb 06, 2009, 03:28 AM // 03:28

So.

I literally just watched one Arm of Insanity turn itself into five Arms of Insanity. I was trying to recover two of my teammates who were behind a veritable wall of Madness, Insanity, Corruption, etc. copies and ended up squaring off with a single Arm of Insanity. The story was the same each time. The Insanity would pop Lightning Reflexes, then Call to the Torment and lazily kneel down to invite his buddy. All the while, having lost my two main casters, I didn't have the juice to take this one Insanity down because he was blocking 75% of all attacks against a 6 man team.

Let's take a quick look at Call to the Torment.
"Skill. Creature kneels for 5 seconds and takes double damage. After 5 seconds, a duplicate of the creature is summoned to this location."

Looking past my frustration I do believe I have a valid point. Does it make sense for Lighting Reflexes to be in effect while a character is kneeling? Even in a very basic real world context it just doesn't fly. There were six of us left, and a completely immobile enemy was blocking nearly all of our attacks.

Does anyone else see a balance issue here?

Dmitri3 · Feb 06, 2009, 03:32 AM // 03:32

See no balance issue here at all.

Puebert · Feb 06, 2009, 03:32 AM // 03:32

No, as long as PvE skills exist, PvE will never be balanced.

No issue here.

Pistachio · Feb 06, 2009, 03:44 AM // 03:44

Even beyond what I said earlier, I think it ruins the intent of the skill. It takes away the inherent vulnerability in using it and completely blows the odds that the players will kill the enemy out of proportion.

Alleji · Feb 06, 2009, 04:01 AM // 04:01

[lightbringer's gaze]

MisterB · Feb 06, 2009, 04:03 AM // 04:03

[Wild Blow]
[Wild Throw]
[Wild Strike]
[Whirling Axe]
Use damage other than attacks.
Fail less.

zelgadissan · Feb 06, 2009, 04:07 AM // 04:07

MisterB beat me to it. If you know you're going against them, bring stance removal. Easy peasy.

trankle · Feb 06, 2009, 04:18 AM // 04:18

You have a couple options.

If you're playing with a team that utilizes a mix of attacks and spell damage, the spell damage is completely unaffected by the stance.

If you're playing with a team that utilizes all attack damage, then it would behoove you to bring one of the aforementioned stance ending skills. Alternately, bring a skill like [Rigor Mortis] or [defile defenses].

This really is just an issue of being prepared for the foes you know you'll encounter.

And don't try bringing "it isn't realistic" arguments into this. That's always a losing battle.

Alleji · Feb 06, 2009, 04:36 AM // 04:36

I still don't understand why people don't have lightbringer's gaze equipped in RoT.

It interrupts that shit, you know?

Pistachio · Feb 06, 2009, 04:38 AM // 04:38

I understand there are skills to combat it. I knew that before this thread. That isn't the issue.

I simply don't think the pairing should exist. If you don't agree with me, that's fine. I see it as an imbalance issue, and also see it making no sense. I'm not arguing the game is unrealistic, that would be silly, which is why I said "in a very basic real world context", because this is, after all, a game with a real world base - like nearly every video game ever made.

Dmitri3 · Feb 06, 2009, 04:58 AM // 04:58

Magic doesn't make sense either, let's make it realistic and remove it.

You can't change the skills based on how they're named. For example, how comes I can have Frenzy and Peace and Harmony on me at the same time? ...

No imbalance issue here, your fault you brought all physical team and didn't care to take something against blocking. Call to the Torment is supposed to be powerful, not that it is... it's just supposed to.

P.S. On a side note, you can't interrupt the call.

Shayne Hawke · Feb 06, 2009, 05:01 AM // 05:01

I see no imbalance. An annoyance, yes. I remember having my fair share of troubles with them, especially after I had made a transition from NM play into HM play.

Bring Lightbringer's Gaze or change how you deal with mobs so that you won't have all of your power sapped by the time you're down to dealing with them.

scoopins · Feb 06, 2009, 05:07 AM // 05:07

you'd have no problems with more:

[discord]

Pistachio · Feb 06, 2009, 05:08 AM // 05:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dmitri3

Magic doesn't make sense either, let's make it realistic and remove it.

You can't change the skills on how they're named. For example, how comes I can have Frenzy and Peace and Harmony on me at the same time? ...

You don't understand the thread.

Skill names were never my issue, nor did I ever make an argument for Guild Wars to be realistic. Reread the posts and make another reply if you actually feel like discussing. And read good this time.

MisterB · Feb 06, 2009, 05:13 AM // 05:13

There is no balance issue. It's just a skill combination. A combination with counters. While using Call to Torment, they take double damage. Exploit one of the counters to blocking, and rip them apart in half the time thanks to the damage multiplier.

The whole kneeling while in a stance is not an issue.

Shadowfox1125 · Feb 06, 2009, 05:17 AM // 05:17

So you're suggesting that Call to the Torment is much like a stance and therefore, shouldn't be able to stack with Lightning Reflexes?

Unfortunately, it's a skill. Work your way around it. You should be dealing armor-ignoring damage anyways.

Oh, and to your point that this is "a game with a real world base," you're not dealing with "humans," so who knows. Hell, perhaps while kneeling, he can still block attacks. The creature's blocking attacks, not evading them.

Sora267 · Feb 06, 2009, 05:18 AM // 05:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by scoopins

you'd have no problems with more:

[discord]

...Does anyone else see a huuuuge helping of delicious ironing in that post?

Arkantos · Feb 06, 2009, 05:32 AM // 05:32

There's no balance issue. There are skills to make your attacks unblockable, there are skills to end targets stance, and there are casters. It's PvE, the enemies are going to have the same skills each and every time you fight them. Learn to counter.

Dmitri3 · Feb 06, 2009, 05:39 AM // 05:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pistachio

You don't understand the thread.

Skill names were never my issue, nor did I ever make an argument for Guild Wars to be realistic. Reread the posts and make another reply if you actually feel like discussing. And read good this time.

When you post, especially "PvE is too hard, please make it easier", be ready to face criticism. And yes, you said it doesn't make sense because they're kneeling and using lightening reflexes at the same time, that's a names game.

Take PvE skills if it's a balance issue to you, or better, learn to take advantage of skills, not just mashing attacks fast.

If you're having issues with the area, you could've just asked for advice. You however refused the advice provided here and instead just want Anet to make it a cakewalk for you. In that case, I say: learn to play the game.

**Marty Silverblade** · Feb 06, 2009, 05:56 AM // 05:56

The point of GW is that you have 8 skills on each of your 8 team members.

Is it hard to fit a counter in there somewhere?