Curse

Northern · Jun 04, 2005, 07:46 PM // 19:46

I enjoyed my Pyromancer very much and now my eye is wavering over to the Geomancer side of the caster equation. SO I have some questions for anyone who has traveled the dusty path.

A. Is it possible to increase knockdown length? It seemed to me that monsters only stayed down for an instant yet I would get laid out for several seconds.

B. How easy is it to pull of the Earthquake + Aftershock combo?

C. Does Kenetic Armor stack with Armor of Earth?

D. How well do stone daggers work compared to other spam skills like Flare?

Maiyn · Jun 05, 2005, 09:36 AM // 09:36

earth magic is sort of weak early on in the game. I find it to be quite effective later on, especially pvp.. I find fire lacks a bit in that area. (still love fire)

I'm still sort of messing around with earth skills so I can't really answer many of your questions. I have found that those faster cast low level spells like flare and what not are just not really worth it, obsidian flame is a really.. really good spell. It just causes bad exhaustion so you have to watch for that.

I've smoked soo many people with that spell. It's marvelous

Narcissus · Jun 05, 2005, 12:52 PM // 12:52

A: Not if you are an Elementalist Primary. I believe there were warrior gauntlets that increased the duration of the knockdown though.

B: Very

C: Yes

D: It's about the same damage wise (minor difference in the daggers's favor). Also it hits twice making it much harder for a target to dodge the attack. The tradeoff (and this is purely in my opinion and experience) is that it feels like there is a slightly longer aftercast that interferes with spamming more than it does for Ice Spear and Flare.

Ishamael Sedai · Jun 05, 2005, 03:41 PM // 15:41

my cousin switched from fire to earth and he is a lot better at pvp. at 16 he packs on over 100 extra armor (i forget the exact number) with two spells. With that armor at 160 and some change I saw him tank two warriors once extremely well. His one spell that ignores armor does over 100 to everyone around him. obsidian flame ignores armor and does 118. he has another spell for those around him that can do well over 100 (sometimes up to 180 within 5 seconds I think).

Northern · Jun 05, 2005, 06:41 PM // 18:41

My goal was to go into PvP with a Geomancer, playing through the campaign with my Pyromancer has left me burnt out. Pun intended.

A shorter knockdown length isn't too important as long as you can still pull off an Aftershock before they get up.

So AoE and Kinetic Armor stack eh? Add in Ward Against Melee or Magnetic Aura and I can pretty much hear warriors weeping from here.

So which secondary proffesion do you think goes well with a Geomancer? My pyro was part monk but the only skill I ever used was a low level healing breeze.

Immortal Flame · Jun 05, 2005, 11:58 PM // 23:58

As an earth elemental in PvP you will most likely be guarding your Mos and trying to draw fire away from other casters due to your high defenses. So, I would recommend Me secondary just to get some extra energy when your low, primary monks will heal much better than you can heal yourself while casting earth spells. Or you could go ranger and lay down traps around your Mos while your there. And this is just a question...is there a conjure earth??

FengShuiBundi · Jun 06, 2005, 01:23 AM // 01:23

Bah! I can't stand how people say earth is only good for defense. Say that to an obsidian flame finishing off monks and mesmers left and right.

I loathe the EQ + AS combo because it's player based aoe, and eles are relatively weak armor wise. Don't count on running in with armor of earth and running out with it alive. It's too much trouble.

Just take earthquake for the aoe knockdown as soon as your team approaches the enemy, and use it wisely from then on. Exhaustion isn't a big deal.

Obsidian Flame FTW. It's so amazing, don't pass up this skill. So it's spammable and has exhaustion, it doesn't mean that you must spam it. It's a great skill to finish off players, and take away life on a tank when 2 rangers on your team can't after one minute.

Stone Daggers = Weak. It's like having a fly run into you every second, annoying, not effective. It begs for a healing seed too.

Stoning is where it's at. Great damage to players, and even better if you use enervating charge (AIR) or enfeeble/enfeebling blood (curses) for weakness. Knockdowns galore.

If you are going dual elements, good luck.
If you are usign curses, be sure to bring along rend enchantments. If you have space, bring mark of pain or another good curse too.

Zealot Dang · Jun 06, 2005, 01:53 AM // 01:53

How easy is it to pull of the Earthquake + Aftershock combo?

I don't get this, that means combo? like cast at same time or like normal (in order)

Northern · Jun 06, 2005, 04:26 AM // 04:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zealot Dang

How easy is it to pull of the Earthquake + Aftershock combo?

I don't get this, that means combo? like cast at same time or like normal (in order)

"Earthquake - You invoke an earthquake at target foe's location. All foes near this location are knocked down and are struck for 26-85 earth damage. This spell causes exhaustion."

"Aftershock - Nearby enemies are struck for 26-85 damage. Knocked down characters are struck for 10-56 additional damage."

I say Combo because if you can knock them down with Earthquake and then quickly cast Aftershock you can really wrack up the pain. This would be a null point if the enemies could get up before you could cast Aftershock.

Maiyn · Jun 06, 2005, 05:50 AM // 05:50

I find with Elems it's sometimes not even necessary to use their secondary class.

A maxed element with maxed energy storage is much more effective for me.

There are just too many good spells to fill up your bar instead of anything else.

Although I guess the best secondaries would have to be Mo or Mes.. but I just don't use it much

Oracle · Jun 06, 2005, 11:08 AM // 11:08

Like others, I go Pyro in PvE & for farming but in PvP, I love my Geomancer (the Sup Earth rune of course helps).

I find the Geomancer is well suited to PvP and for defending the monk. With 16 in earth, you can continually cast Ward against Melee which is perfect when up against melee attackers. Eruption is also great to use when melee attackers close in (they get blinded after the AOE dmg).

With regard to the EQ+AF combo, I haven't had a great deal of luck with it. I tend to bring Gale (req's 5+ in Air), then use that on the person attacking either me or the monk - it knocks them down for 3 seconds which is easily long enough to then cast Aftershock for the double-whammy - a lot of damage when you have 16 in earth!! This is great in Arena but less efficient in Tombs I've found, though only working on 1 target means it's not massively efficient. I guess if the Monk had Shield of Judgement on him, that could work well in concert with Aftershock if you're standing next to your monk, which I do (that monk elite causes attackers to be knocked down).

Stoning is great, ESP when spammed using Arcane Echo (and if you have another Elem using Enervating Charge, for the knockdowns) - assuming you go El/Me.

Obsidian Flesh (elite) is curious. It makes you untargetable by spellcasters, but on the downside your speed is slowed by 50%. It's useless if you need to run about but the idea is to use it when playing defensively. It's great when faced with other Elems or more especially, Mesmers. I need more practice with it to see how good it really is, but the armour bonus is also good. I don't know how easily it can be removed, presumably not easily if you can't be the target of spells. I also need to compare it with Spellbreaker (elite) which I also have.

All in all, I really do enjoy Geomancers.

DarkAynjil · Jun 06, 2005, 01:35 PM // 13:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by Immortal Flame

As an earth elemental in PvP you will most likely be guarding your Mos and trying to draw fire away from other casters due to your high defenses. So, I would recommend Me secondary just to get some extra energy when your low, primary monks will heal much better than you can heal yourself while casting earth spells. Or you could go ranger and lay down traps around your Mos while your there. And this is just a question...is there a conjure earth??

I tried out a W/E in the BWE with all skills unlocked, and I was putting out some hurt.
I went for Hammer Mastery and Hammer skills (i forget which exactly) counter-blow is great for tanking with an aftershock. you run up to their tank, counter-blow while they attack you with armor of earth on, they get knocked down, you aftershock, etc.
I also went E/W although without strength, you kill a LOT slower. You could do E/Mo (I know, I know... :-)) for protection prayers and also get annoying protection enchantments like mending (3 regen) or Vigorous Spirit (+over a hundred max health) Earth worked really well for me in that BWE. Obsidian Flesh is worth your elite slot, IMO.

Botuist · Jun 17, 2005, 08:32 PM // 20:32

This thread really interests me because I have my E/R up to level 10 and really like the fact that earth is not near as common as the other elements. Now some people may not like the Earthquake+aftershock combo because you have to get close, but I would really like to see a Geomancer build that could pump up defense long enough to pull off that massive dmg combo . . . maybe finish with a Crystal Wave to pierce defenses of those left . . I don't know, I want to respec into E/Me or E/Mo but I am just trying to figure out which would be better for a PBAOE Geomancer that can survive fairly well and dish out the pain.

Lol first post so please excuse my noobness =)

Narcissus · Jun 17, 2005, 10:32 PM // 22:32

If you are worried about sustaining damage for running in. Just lead off with Eruption.