Curse

Xellos · May 28, 2005, 10:22 PM // 22:22

A pip is 2 regen/degen a second. So the max is 20dps, which is actually really small when compared to things in late game.

Yukito Kunisaki · May 28, 2005, 10:41 PM // 22:41

Yes Xellos we're all aware of that.

However, it's 10dps + other things...

Spiteful Spirit
Backfire
Soul Barbs

Then that inspiration of 8 can be used with either
Ether Lord
Mantra of Recall

This build needs energy and having 8 inpiration total should do something to allieviate the stress. That and a friendly necro who Blood is Power's you for a total of 10 energy regen with Ether Lord

Axehilt · May 29, 2005, 04:11 AM // 04:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rajamic

Since backfire damage is given the moment they begin casting (not when the spell is unloaded), you could then interrupt them, making them eat the backfire and still not accomplish whatever they felt was that important.

As for conjure phantasm, yeah it can do some sizable damage, but the problem is that it does it soooo slowly endgame. In your example, you're talking about not even doing half-health damage on an enemy...over 20 seconds.

And Ether Feast steals only 5, making it weak for energy denial and by endgame weak for self-heal.

Backfire damage isn't done until the spell is complete. They still lose the casting cost if they are spell-interrupted, but they don't take Backfire damage.

I'm not sure of the benefits of Conjure Phantasm in PVP. In PVE however, DoTs can be extremely energy-efficient ways of laying damage on the enemy - even endgame mobs. Spike damage is all well and good, but unless you're very quickly spiking things to death it might not be best. In long battles it really seems beneficial to be energy efficient for your damage spells and then interrupt/Backfire monk mobs to prevent them from countering it (well, generally you'll have both the DoT and the Backfire on the monk mob since you'll be focusing on them first.)

Let's get a little more perspective by comparing Conjure Phantasm alongside some Elementalist nukes:
* At 11 illusion Conjure Phantasm does 110 damage for 10 energy.
* Two 11 fire magic Elementalist Flares do 76 damage for 10 energy.
* A 11 fire magic Meteor does 86 damage for 10 energy (plus a stun effect, but 3-second cast time).
* 11 fire magic Inferno does 92 AOE damage for 10 energy.

Note that Elementalists are designed as a high direct damage class, and each of those spells is affected by armor whereas DoT spells are 100% armor piercing. Certainly it's a disadvantage that the damage doesn't all occur instantly, but there are advantages to DoTs.

At 11 inspiration Ether Feast gives you 115 health for 5 energy. I'd agree that that's a very low end self-heal for the endgame (especially considering 11 inspiration is rather high). Mesmers aren't known for their self-heal capabilities and I'd probably substitute Ether Feast for a damage mitigation skill instead - and let the Monk focus on what he's best at. There's a lot of great damage mitigation skills in the Inspiration tree.

mostro · May 29, 2005, 06:27 AM // 06:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by nostra

Or am I missing the point and backfire is cast just to prevent the target to cast? (personnaly, I am a pvp beginner but do not always notice immediately if I am backfired and could very well cast twice before realizing).

Also, you say that conjure phantasm has crappy damage over time... I did mention I am using it in conjunction with mantra of persistence (although I used the wrong word, sorry for bad translation, but I am sure you understood what I meant). This means that it lasts double time, so about 20 sec... and 10 dam over 20 sec is about 200 hp dam, not bad I think for a spammable spell, no? I also like the fact that, contrary to flares / stone daggers that keep you occupied for a while, conjure phantasm can be used in a hit and run technique...

Given all the above, why should I not use conjure phantasm? Is it because it's considered as a hex and thus easily removable by monks?

nostra

IMHO, there is really no point in stacking migraine and backfire. Like you said, backfire + some chaff enchantments will either kill a monk (if he is stupid enough to cast through it), or prevent him from casting for 10 sec. Why cast migraine on someone who won't cast?

What I like to do is to cast this backfire on one monk and find the second monk, cast migraine, and then hit him with power leak when he tries to cast. Migraine is especially nasty against protection monk since they have a lot of quick casting protection spells; it slows them down to the point where you can actually interrupt those spells (if you feel like it).

Conjure phantasm is actually a good damage from the cost stand point, especially if you use mantra of persistence. The problem is that it does the damage slowly, giving time to the enemy monk to remove it (using remove hex) or just to counter it by using healing breeze/shield of regen.

I would probably use it in the random arena however since there is a chance that the enemy team may not have a monk or bring hex removal.

Yukito Kunisaki · May 29, 2005, 03:04 PM // 15:04

Remove Hex has counters built into this build...

Backfire [owchie]
Soul Barbs [oh yeah use that enchantment yeah

]
And the all important Spiteful Spirit [which when the enemy does mob up occasionally, is downright devastating]

nailing multiple enemies for 26+ dmg multiple times is nightmarish for a healer.