Curse

Warskull · Sep 05, 2005, 06:24 AM // 06:24

Least useful skills in PvE:

Ele: Rust, Signets are rather rare in PvE however rust has its occasional uses
Mesmer: Signet of Weariness, PvE monsters have extremely high energy regen. I have never seen them run dry or ever seen a dent made in their casting with energy drain.
Monk: This is a hard one. Amity, good luck finding a PvE group that will not break it within 2 seconds. Not worth an elite slot in PvE.
Necro: Malaise, PvE again with the crazy energy regen
Ranger: Frozen Soil, very few enemies rez in PvE and in all cases an interrupt is better. This is a PvP skill
Warrior: "Fear Me!" PvE monsters and energy regen once more

warped314 · Sep 05, 2005, 03:50 PM // 15:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vermilion Okeanos

hamstring

being able to slice someone and immediately cripple them on the first attack without any adrenaline is a pretty big deal in some tight pvp situations.

Most of the skills you people think are useless do have their place in some unique builds, the exception being otyugh's cry.

Charcoal Ann · Sep 05, 2005, 04:06 PM // 16:06

hamstring could be used in PvE in conjunction with spells that have additional effects on foes suffering from a condition.
Fragility + lotta hamstring aint too bad.
pers'nally i rather like Flare. it provides more umph! than your wand and can be used just as often.

Mercury Angel · Sep 05, 2005, 04:43 PM // 16:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by Warskull

Mesmer: Signet of Weariness, PvE monsters have extremely high energy regen. I have never seen them run dry or ever seen a dent made in their casting with energy drain.

Of course not, one spell isn't going to sap a target dry.

However, going through this much effort is a bit overkill.

Both of the damage numbers on the screenshots are from Energy Burn, which show just how much energy they had at the time of casting. (0 on the thorn stalker = no energy. 24 on Gambol Headrainer = 3 energy, except he was just starting to cast Energy Drain and would have refilled >.<)

And no, I don't normally run around at any time with that skill bar o_O This was just to see if monsters ever really ran out of energy.

Edit: By the way, Spirit Shackles works wonders against a monster's energy pool. Not enough energy = hit with wand. Hit with wand = Energy loss. Energy Loss = Not enough energy. It's a vicious cycle they're not smart enough to break. Spirit Shackles also has a short recharge and long duration, making it useable against bosses, if energy denial is your thing.

Warskull · Sep 05, 2005, 06:20 PM // 18:20

That was your entire skill bar to drain those guys down. Hence why signet of weariness is the least useful mesmer PvE skill. You gain something from tap and drain.

Just curious how many casts did it take to get those guys down to 0 and how quickly did they recover (without shackles)? It looks like you put -5 degen on them and nailed them with quite a few energy drainers. Unfortunately not a sound build for general PvE. Good to know they eventually run dry, but I know from general play casting 2-3 energy drains really don't put much of a dent in monster casting. Spirit shackles seems to be the key.

Mercury Angel · Sep 05, 2005, 11:47 PM // 23:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by Warskull

Just curious how many casts did it take to get those guys down to 0 and how quickly did they recover (without shackles)? It looks like you put -5 degen on them and nailed them with quite a few energy drainers. Unfortunately not a sound build for general PvE. Good to know they eventually run dry, but I know from general play casting 2-3 energy drains really don't put much of a dent in monster casting. Spirit shackles seems to be the key.

I didn't say I disagreed, and unfortunately, the screenshot is a bit dated. My mesmer has since been deleted as a PvE character, and is only resurrected as a PvP. I couldn't say how long it took to drain them.
[On a side note- Mind wrack is just there for feedback on the energy drains. When the animation for damage triggers, I know it's activated.]

Anyway, they recover pretty fast, unfortunately (Look at Life Pods; They suffer 10 energy loss every time you hit them with Holy Wrath on, yet they manage to toss out the occasional heal o_O). Particularly bosses.
Energy draining normal monsters is quite silly and impractical, as you could just nuke them instead. Signet of Weariness's benefit is that it has a large AoE. However, as I'd just said, energy draining normal monsters is silly. As a single drain on a boss, it recharges too slow to be any good, and the amount is standard for domination drains.

I'd say Ether Lord beats out all other mesmer skills for worst mesmer spell in general (since I'd done them categorically). On a boss, you're looking at 5 seconds of 3 pips of energy. That means you'll steal a whopping 5 energy over time, at the cost of your entire energy pool.

Warskull · Sep 06, 2005, 06:08 AM // 06:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mercury Angel

I'd say Ether Lord beats out all other mesmer skills for worst mesmer spell in general (since I'd done them categorically). On a boss, you're looking at 5 seconds of 3 pips of energy. That means you'll steal a whopping 5 energy over time, at the cost of your entire energy pool.

I am not much of an ether lord fan either and it is a pretty poor skill. It actually is a pretty good canidate for worst memser skill overall. I didn't select for the least useful PvE skill (was considering it though) because if timed perfectly you net roughly 5 energy and theoretically in some odd situation that could be useful. However most of the time it hurts much more than it helps.

John Waffletord · Sep 07, 2005, 03:56 PM // 15:56

Would frozen soil work at Thirsty River?

Mercury Angel · Sep 07, 2005, 05:23 PM // 17:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Waffletord

Would frozen soil work at Thirsty River?

Yes, if in the sense you mean preventing your team from casting resurrection spells. No, if you mean preventing the event-driven 2 minute resurrection cycle. Frozen Soil has almost no applications in PvE, seeing as most monsters can't resurrect.

Aeneador Oree · Sep 07, 2005, 08:47 PM // 20:47

Ranger: Crippling Shot [Elite]

Since the PvP Extreme-weekend, they reduced the crippling duration to 8 seconds (almost half of the original value). Pin Down - a normal skill - has flexible duration depending on your attributes... mine deals crippling for 15 seconds.

CAT · Sep 08, 2005, 01:14 AM // 01:14

Some of the people...

Whoever said divine spirit sucks needs to be shot. Frenzy is a tigers fury alternative and is better IMO as long as monk doesnt suxxor

BerryRacer · Sep 08, 2005, 01:40 AM // 01:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cymmina

Ranger - Frozen Soil

This has absolutely no use in PvE, since there's only 2 mobs in the entire game that can resurrect. One of them is level 2 (and I hope you can kill them in 1 shot by the time you get FS) and the other is a boss with Unyielding Aura.

Also in the bottom of fissure of woe, there are spirit guys who use res sigs on each other ^^

John Waffletord · Sep 09, 2005, 04:18 PM // 16:18

I've seen 2 or 3 different mobs that have rez'ed now in the new update. One had a signet, one used ressurect, and i think one used rebirth.

So frozen soil does have use now in PvE

Third Quarter · Sep 09, 2005, 04:35 PM // 16:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aeneador Oree

Ranger: Crippling Shot [Elite]

Since the PvP Extreme-weekend, they reduced the crippling duration to 8 seconds (almost half of the original value). Pin Down - a normal skill - has flexible duration depending on your attributes... mine deals crippling for 15 seconds.

what?!

a) One second recharge
b) not linked to any attribute. You can bring any old bow and use it to its fullest with 0 marksmanship. (I think Thundercatz put it on a W/R at one point or other)
c) One second recharge
d) It cannot be blocked or evaded by things like Whirling Defense or Aegis.
e) One second recharge

Kampfkeks · Sep 09, 2005, 07:17 PM // 19:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by CAT

Some of the people...

Whoever said divine spirit sucks needs to be shot. Frenzy is a tigers fury alternative and is better IMO as long as monk doesnt suxxor

Tell me why divine spirit is not the "uber suckage" spell. Go on. Costing 10 Energy to start with. During the whole duration you will be hampered by skillrecharge times. Sure the costs are lower but you allready paid a high price to start with and as soon as it wears off... you've got a useless skillslot for another 50 seconds. I sure agree on divine spirit being great...

And about frenzy, if i see a warrior use it in PVE he instantly drops on my healing priority list. If he loves soaking up my energy i love watching him go down, it is as easy as that. This skill has uses in PVP where you can kinda gamble with it, but in PVE the tank WILL get hits.