Curse

Ole Man Bourbon · Jun 02, 2006, 04:50 AM // 04:50

Here's a build I've been running in Arenas in pursuit of Glad title. It's pretty good and a lot of fun. In short, this is a 4-KD and Spike build that revolves around applying Weakness, a low-priority condition, to targets.

Earth Magic: 16
Energy Storage: 7
Hammer Mastery: 11

1. Earthquake (damages and KD's target)
2. Aftershock (when KD'd, damage spikes)
3. Stoning (when Weakened, KD's)
4. Devastating Hammer (Weakens and KD's)
5. Crushing Blow (when KD'd, causes Deep Wound spike)
6. Fierce Blow (when Weakened, KD's)
7. Armor of the Earth (+62 armor, -12% speed)
8. Rez Sig

a. Furious Hammer of Defense/Fortitude/Enchanting
b. PvP Earth Wand and Offhand or Earth Staff

I like to start off with wanding a few times to build some adrenaline. If target looks comfortable being stationary I will march up to him and try to drop the Earthquake + AS chain. If target runs off before AS can be cast, then I save it for later, or go on and cast it if there are enemies in area since it recharges quickly. Now, I switch to Hammer. After making sure that Guardian or some similar skill isn't up on target, I drop the Devastating Hammer + Crushing Blow + Fierce Blow + AS chain. If target is still alive, I cast Stoning for another KD to stop kiting. If AS or Crushing Blow has recharged, I follow with one of those in that order if I am closeby. I cast Armor of the Earth on myself as I see fit (it can be shattered and slows you down, though not by much), and use Stoning for a ranged attack when appropriate.

Strengths: High damage, interrupt build that can shutdown and fatally damage most other builds, including many boon-prot monks. Usually by the time the enemy is low on health, they are being KD'd and can't heal. Versatile in that it can be played in short bursts as caster-only or melee-only to deal with certain hexes (like Backfire) or conditions (like Blind). When Armor of the Earth is up, it's easy and cheap to maintain a global armor level of 127.

Drawbacks: Can be kited if Weakness isn't applied to target, or if Crippled. Good monks can sometimes deal with the earth and hammer damage by using spells like Prot Spirit (since it isn't armor-ignoring, unconditional, or life-stealing type damage--the main issue eles have to deal with) and by spamming dodging skills like Guardian. Also, if Armor of the Earth is removed under pressure, you will take a lot of damage. No self-heal, either.

Really sucks that there's no Conjure Earth skill, but oh well.

LightningHell · Jun 02, 2006, 07:28 AM // 07:28

Let's hope people don't get smart and start prekiting.

prodikal · Jun 03, 2006, 09:14 PM // 21:14

I could SWEAR when I was capping a boss he had the skill conjure earth.

Ole Man Bourbon · Jun 05, 2006, 02:15 AM // 02:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by LightningHell

Let's hope people don't get smart and start prekiting.

Well that's a problem all meleers have, isn't it. Good thing about using an Ele in this instance is that no one ever runs away from Eles--that is until they figure out what you, the Ele, doing, but if you wand them to build adrenaline it should be too late for them to escape the KD chain. Of course, people probably should take the wanding as a giveaway, but will they consistently do that?

LightningHell · Jun 05, 2006, 02:40 AM // 02:40

Well, you're especially vulernable to kiting of any sort.

Oh, and don't you have any E-Management?

And you still don't want to drag to their base. You'd be dead before you got to your target.

remmeh · Jun 05, 2006, 04:44 AM // 04:44

haha not even earth attunement. no self-preservation skills. looks like it'd be good for spiking one target and then running out of energy and proceeding to die.

so you're basically praying to not be targeted first.

Ole Man Bourbon · Jun 05, 2006, 06:13 AM // 06:13

Well, there is Armor of the Earth, and it is a melee build which doesn't use much energy. It's also an Arena build, as I said.

I never said it was great, just pretty good and fun.

LightningHell · Jun 05, 2006, 12:11 PM // 12:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ole Man Bourbon

Well, there is Armor of the Earth, and it is a melee build which doesn't use much energy.

Firstly, it's Armor of Earth. :P

Secondly, that makes it easier for people to kitekitekite away, does it not?

Ole Man Bourbon · Jun 05, 2006, 03:20 PM // 15:20

Yeah, but the -12% speed isn't that much and AotE doesn't ahve to be up all the time. The key though is you can build adrenaline with a wand so all you have to do is hit them once to drop a KD/AS chain--you don't have to hit them nonstop.

This build would work a lot better if a teammate had Ennervating Charge or Enfeeble so that you could consistently KD/snare from range.

Anyway, try it and see. Most people won't be able to kite you enough to stay alive.

LightningHell · Jun 05, 2006, 11:54 PM // 23:54

I've played against these too much previously in RA to know I can kite through that. :P

These are just my opinions.

kilika829 · Jun 08, 2006, 03:32 AM // 03:32

Nice build, but as mentioned above it is prone to kiting as energy exhaustion.

To make those problems slightly less distressing (but not remedied), I would bring Ward Foes/Melee.

Ole Man Bourbon · Jun 08, 2006, 04:09 AM // 04:09

It's far from perfect I know. It can work in that you can catch people off-guard with a quick spike (it's funny dropping someone down to half health with EQ then AS, then busting out the hammer on their ass for the hammer KD chain

), and has decent survivability, but it has the same problem any hammer warrior has in that when it doesn't work, it REALLY doesn't work.

Heh thanks for the replies. I think it's just fun playing an Ele with a hammer. :P

LightningHell · Jun 08, 2006, 04:41 AM // 04:41

The 12% slowing already makes it easy to kite away from, and whenever you see an Elementalist walking near...Shatter Enchantment. Well, whenever you see a non-Flashbot Elementalist, chances are they're this kind of build, or they're dual-Attune Aeromancers.

The reliance on Armor of Earth - and how it works against the build - kills it for me.

Ole Man Bourbon · Jun 08, 2006, 04:54 AM // 04:54

Yeah. I hear ya. As I said, you only want to use the Armor when necessary, like when a W decides he's gonna go toe-to-toe with you. The real problem with the build isn't so much the vulnerablity, which it has, but the inability to do consistent damage.

I don't mean to make it sound like I'm in love with this build, it's just that it's fun in a goofy way and can win for you with a decent monk. . . it's just something different--there are certainly stronger builds out there. But it's funny to make a little teeny female toon and laugh as you blast the crap out of (stupid) people.

Anyhoo, on to other things I suppose. Like my echo-nuking meteor shower Assassin.