Curse

Arcador · Jul 14, 2005, 08:14 AM // 08:14

There was a topic about the useless skills, so I decided to make one for the underused skills. Type the skill and why you think that way, while others will try to convince you the opposite (and we will exchange ideas which is cool).
Basicly many skills are bad in some situations but verry effective in other, althou I think some of them got a FAR more disadvantages than pluses.

I play primary Ranger so I've spoted those for me:

-dodge. Only 5 secs. 30 sec cooldown. Gives somekind as arrow deflection. There are far more good expertiese AND wilderness skills for evasion/defense and for running. Well the skills is good if you put no pts in it's atribute cuz it is always 5 secs, BUT expertise is ranger primary skill so... It gives 33% speed boost while others only 25% but I think it is not that good. I try to use it in pvp but I got far better ressults with Escape/Whriling def/Evasion/Dryaders def/Stormchaser.

I use it for runner build - where I got 3 run stances to reach certan location in PvE

-Power shot. Well it can give up to 18,19 dmg (even 20), but hey, hunter's shot gives with 5 less dmg, costs 5 less mana, got 1 sec shorter cooldong and can deliver bleeding. Determination shot gives 3 less dmg, it is also 5 mana and if you see enemy using evasion - you can recharge your skill. It's only drawback is the 10 sec cooldown.

Share your oppinions.

heist23 · Jul 14, 2005, 08:23 AM // 08:23

i like using power shot because aside from precision shot, it's the most powerful bow attack i know of. that's my opinion.

i don't know of any underused skills as of yet.

Zeru · Jul 14, 2005, 08:28 AM // 08:28

Iron Mist and the whole water skill line. Gogo snares

OneArmedScissor · Jul 14, 2005, 10:05 AM // 10:05

Penetrating Shot> Power Shot

Wings of Illusion · Jul 14, 2005, 10:57 AM // 10:57

Every skill has its use in its own little build. The underused skills are just, well, underused. Dodge is nice early on seeing as how you get Escape later on. Stormchaser may make you faster BUT it has no arrow defense or any defense for that matter.

Power shot is simply just more damage.

Wings of Illusion · Jul 14, 2005, 10:58 AM // 10:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by OneArmedScissor

Penetrating Shot> Power Shot

i agree 100%. penetrating shot may dot deliver alot of +damage but the pentration makes it do more damage.

Mumblyfish · Jul 14, 2005, 11:09 AM // 11:09

Underused? My vote goes to Concussion Shot. It's right up there with the very best Marksmanship skills (and not even an Elite), yet I've not once seen a Ranger use it. It's one single skill that can cause an early death for any caster unlucky enough to be caught by it. Of course, Dazed is prone to being removed by on-the-ball Monks, but if your other interrupters are any cop that should be a non-issue.

rotor · Jul 14, 2005, 11:44 AM // 11:44

Underused ... here are a few of my favorite underused spells but vital

Monk

Mend Ailment Remove one "Condition" from target other ally. That ally is healed for 5-57 points for each remaining condition.

I have seen this spell heal for +100 plus what ever level of divine flavor you have (2 conditions on ally) for only 5 energy.

Aegis For 5-10 seconds, all party members have a 50% chance to block attacks.

Protective Spirit For 5-19 seconds, target ally cannot lose more than 10% health due to damage from a single attack or spell.

Necro

Well of Blood Exploit target corpse to create a well of blood at its location. For 8-18 seconds, allies in that area receive health regeneration of 1-5.

Well of Power {Elite} Exploit target corpse to create a well of power at that location. For 8-18 seconds, allies within 39' of the Well of Power gain health regeneration of 1-5 and energy regeneration of 2.

Your party's monk will love you for these

Ranger

Antidote Signet Cleanse yourself of Poison, Disease, and Blindness.

You can't count on hench or monk to get rid of blindness fast enought or have enought energy for it.

Comfort Animal You heal your animal companion for 20-87 points. If your animal companion is dead, it is resurrected with 10-48% health, and all your skills are disabled for 8 seconds.

If you bring a pet you are responsible for its health and resurrection.

spikydude · Jul 14, 2005, 01:52 PM // 13:52

I dunno, I use Aegis alot

Storn · Jul 14, 2005, 02:09 PM // 14:09

I used to use Aegis a lot, til I deleted that monk character and built another... right now, 2nd monk is not up to the point where Aegis is found.

I wanna use the Mend Ailment and Remove Hex and stuff like that. but in actual combat, I find them problematic. The recharge time on those skills tends to be hefty. It is easier to throw a Healing Breeze... or Orison of Healing or Dwayna's Kiss and for 5 pts and much faster recovery times, offset the problem. When I've carried Mend Ailment or any of the "cure" skills, I've used it, but the mob of bad guys just attack again with "ailment" and put it right back on. Then I see my poor tank, Blind or Poisoned and my recharge is slowly...oh so... slowly coming along. I end up throwing a quick Heal on him anyways.

Blood Necros: Shadow Strike. by itself it looks like a poor substitute for Vampire Gaze. But in combo with Vampire Gaze, you fire off the SS first, so it ddoes more dmg... then fire of Shadow Bane, then Vampire Gaze to heal yourself a bit. It is a fast combo of moves... and it can bring down a baddie to half allowing a quick kill from your tanks.

epiK^ · Jul 14, 2005, 02:12 PM // 14:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by rotor

I have seen this spell heal for +100 plus what ever level of divine flavor you have (2 conditions on ally) for only 5 energy.

Hmm, divine flavor must be something only the black monks get eh? Gotta have some soul for divine flavor.

Skills that are underused are that way because they are not as diverse as the other more popular skills. Skills with very specific roles are used less often because its more intelligent to put skills in your bar that help you be prepared for any type of situation.

For Example:

I Will Avenge You! - For each dead ally nearby, you gain 10 seconds of increased attack speed and health regeneration +3/+6/+7.

Good skill, but how often do you have dead party members at your side? You certainly don't plan for it.

Another reason for underused skills, which has been touch on in this thread, is the ability to do the same thing with 1 skill that you can do with 2.

For Example:

Eviscerate - If Eviserate hits, you strike for +10/+34/+42 more damage and inflict a Deep Wound, lowering your target's maximum health by 20% for 5/17/21 seconds.

Its basically Dismember and Executioners Strike all rolled up into one attack. The only reason you would use Dismember and Executioners Strike over Eviscerate is if you wanted to save up a elite spot for another skill.

Arturo02 · Jul 14, 2005, 02:24 PM // 14:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by OneArmedScissor

Penetrating Shot> Power Shot

The chicks dig my penetrating shot! har! I just wish my arrows were bigger

epiK^ · Jul 14, 2005, 02:28 PM // 14:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arturo02

The chicks dig my penetrating shot! har! I just wish my arrows were bigger

Everyone knows its not the size of the bow...

Its the Zing! in the string...

The Zip! in the grip...

The shiver in the quiver...

BOOM! <--bomb sound cuz i bombed that one...

Divinitys Creature · Jul 14, 2005, 02:54 PM // 14:54

Actually, you can cast mend ailment on yourself also.

Principa Discordia · Jul 14, 2005, 03:01 PM // 15:01

Thread moved to Arcane Repository (skills discussion).

Yamat · Jul 14, 2005, 03:27 PM // 15:27

Underused, as someone already mentioned, the entire Water spell line...

Mend condition... most monks I've travelled with never remove conditions! Use this with Divine Boon/high divine healing and wow... nice heal and condition gone!

Signet of Devotion... free heal spell for that little top up, or a life saver when you are low on energy.

Third Quarter · Jul 14, 2005, 05:10 PM // 17:10

I use Signet of Devotion whenever I'm healmonking. It's absolutely fantastic for those non-critical heals.

Otyugh's Cry, on the other hand, is never used. Ever. Except in this one retarded pet/smite build I was in awhile ago. (it sucked, don't bother trying it)

Soothing Images doesn't see much use either. Mass adrenaline denial!

Sympathetic Visage is also uncommon, and it really shouldn't be. A single casting can completely neuter a warrior and everyone around him, but it's almost impossible to tell when it's being used against you.

Tourist · Jul 14, 2005, 06:42 PM // 18:42

Mend Ailment belongs on ANY defensive monk build. Fast, cheap, and can even do a bit of healing while it gets rid of all those conditions. I can't even keep track of the number of times my warriors have been left cursing a blue streak over being blinded and none of our healbot monks brought a condition remover. Or the number of times my own healbot monk has been thanked for removing blindness, or poison, or SOME hurtful thing or another.

Signet of Devotion doesn't get a lot of use because it takes so damn long to fire off compared to other heals, and monks already get a pretty good battery of cheap and powerful heals as it is- orison and word of healing in particular. Still, I bring it along sometimes since hey, free healing. And I can use it on myself, unlike a lot of the more powerful heals out there.

As for other unused skills, I dunno, most of the warrior's Tactics lineup is pretty underutilized. With the exception of Charge! and Balanced Stance on lornar's pass-runners, I don't see a lot of use coming out of that entire skillset. Maybe the occassional "Watch Yourself!", but there's a lot more than that out there- "To the Limit!" for some quick adrenaline buildup when you're getting mobbed, Gladiator's Defense is GREAT if you're in the middle of a bunch of enemies and need to block attacks AND keep using skills(and the extra damage is handy, too), "Fear Me!" for a little energy denial...You get the idea. It's not necessarily the most powerful lineup out there, but there's a lot of nifty tricks for a lot of different purposes.

stumpy · Jul 14, 2005, 06:52 PM // 18:52

i use dodge lol ... conditionaly ... meaning I bet warriors 5 Gold per race and toss it in.

i would have to say the most underused skill in the game that I see is knowledge lol. jk ... i would go with something in the tactics line up like deflect arrows or something ... I mean really ... with 600 health and the best armor in the game ... who cares if I hit ya with a measly arrow.

theclam · Jul 14, 2005, 07:14 PM // 19:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by rotor

Monk

Mend Ailment Remove one "Condition" from target other ally. That ally is healed for 5-57 points for each remaining condition.

I have seen this spell heal for +100 plus what ever level of divine flavor you have (2 conditions on ally) for only 5 energy.

Aegis For 5-10 seconds, all party members have a 50% chance to block attacks.

Protective Spirit For 5-19 seconds, target ally cannot lose more than 10% health due to damage from a single attack or spell.

Necro

Well of Blood Exploit target corpse to create a well of blood at its location. For 8-18 seconds, allies in that area receive health regeneration of 1-5.

Well of Power {Elite} Exploit target corpse to create a well of power at that location. For 8-18 seconds, allies within 39' of the Well of Power gain health regeneration of 1-5 and energy regeneration of 2.

I use all of these. Mend Ailment is the best condition removal spell. I always take it in a Divine Boon build. Aegis and Protective Spirit are great in UW, since there are so many mobs that rely on high amounts of physical damage. Well of Blood/Power are great spells that really help out the Monks.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yamat

Mend condition... most monks I've travelled with never remove conditions! Use this with Divine Boon/high divine healing and wow... nice heal and condition gone!

Signet of Devotion... free heal spell for that little top up, or a life saver when you are low on energy.

I prefer Mend Ailment, since I can use it on myself. I don't think I've ever used Mend Condition. I usually use Signet of Devotion. If your group is taking damage slowly, it will save you lots of mana. Plus, 90-100 points of healing is about as good as Orison.