Curse

Sausaletus Rex · Apr 14, 2005, 01:11 AM // 01:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pharalon

Good article Saus. Just a couple of points. Due to its nature, Glyph of Concentration will be consumed on the next skill used (even on an instant attack skill for example), so it can't be pre-loaded as effectively asd the other glyphs.

Right. Any skill will trigger the GoC so unless you're planning on not using skills for a while you can't front-load it. Still, it's got a 2 second recharge so it's not a huge deal. You'll just have to repay the casting and energy costs to use it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pharalon

Also, Expertise effects the cost of all Glyphs. So for an Expertise ranger, they'll cost about 2 energy instead of 5.

Yep. A good point and one I couldn't find a way to just slip in there without going on and on and on about Expertise. I was going to mention it when I posted by Range/Elementalist bild using glyphs.

But it does change the figuring on some things, especially the GLE and GoE as you might imagine. A Ranger with enough Expertise saves up to 13 out of 15 energy with GLE (about .43 energy per second instead of .33 unless you want to go through Ellestar's situation again...) and 18 out of 25 energy (about 1.2EPS) with its big brother. Granted, you have a smaller energy bar than the average primary Elementalist but Expertise helps spread it further with pretty much everything that's not a spell so you get a benefit both from the savings and from the lowered costs.

Spura · Apr 14, 2005, 09:00 AM // 09:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sausaletus Rex

Ether Renewal? Ether Prodigy? Energy Drain? Mantra of Recall? Just about every other one out there? Hell, get out of the elites and even Energy Tap and Power Drain are arguably better.

Ok, I don't play ele primary. So that rules first 2 out. Energy drain? How is energy drain better? I mean sure it works with small spells, but it has enough problems and has same returns at 15 inspiration than GE at 0. First you need to hit a target with 20 energy. And later in fight noone has 20 energy. Some people continuously run at 10 or 5 energy 20 sec into the fight. That is why energy drain and energy tap aren't as hot as they are advertised. And at 11 inspiration return is 17 energy on energy drain and thus not as big as on glyph.

And to use glyph all you need is a 25 energy spell with sufficiently low recharge or a couple of them. Animate comes to mind. With glyph you don't need to spend points, you don't need to spend time getting a target that likely has energy.

Mantra of recall is so bad it makes me laugh. Besides it needs 15 seed energy which is quite a big downside. I mean, how often do you have 15 energy on hands when you need energy?

And power drain isn't that good either. Granted it is good for non-elite, but it requires quick fingers, spellcasting target(not always available, and often requires switching from current target to some spellcaster). And return at 10 or 11 inpisiration isn't much above 20. Power drain has 25 sec recharge.

Despite its shortcomings, glyph is blissfully easy to use, requires no attention, no attribute. Other drains and interrupts require you to get a good target. I'd say GoE, Energy drain and Offering of blood are of equal power.

Scaphism · Apr 14, 2005, 10:02 AM // 10:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spura

Ok, I don't play ele primary. So that rules first 2 out. Energy drain? How is energy drain better? I mean sure it works with small spells, but it has enough problems and has same returns at 15 inspiration than GE at 0. First you need to hit a target with 20 energy. And later in fight noone has 20 energy.

I didn't realize this talk had to be geared towards non-elementalist primaries.
Energy drain is better than just about everything out there because:
1) It's cast time was shifted reduced to 1 second (less with fast cast!)
2) Not only does it net you 10+ energy, it drains that from your enemy- so it's not just a energy management tool, it's a huge swing in your favor in the resource fight.

As for people not having 15 energy to steal, you'll likely notice a lot of people rezzing with lots of energy, or auto-rezzing every 2 minutes and rejoining the fight.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spura

And to use glyph all you need is a 25 energy spell with sufficiently low recharge or a couple of them.

All you need are a handful of useful 25 energy spells? And you're not playing a primary elementalist? So what are you casting?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spura

Animate comes to mind.

Oh and here I thought we were talking about useful spells.
But you did mention you weren't an elementalist primary...so I'm assuming you have soul reaping to give you that boost of energy when something dies, so you'll have enough energy to raise a minion from the fresh corpse?

Mantra of Recal...you're basically right. When you need energy, you don't have 15 energy to spend getting extra energy. But then again, that's why you cast it whenever there's a lull. Still not worth an elite.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spura

And power drain isn't that good either. Granted it is good for non-elite, but it requires quick fingers, spellcasting target...

In what universe did Power Drain get bad?
And since when hasn't there been at least 1 spellcasting target somewhere when you need it? 4 of the 6 professions in the game have lists full of spells. Unless you're playing a team heavy on rangers and warriors, there are spellcasting targets. Even then, Rangers and Warriors need secondaries.

Finally, if you can't nail people with an 0.25 cast time interrupt and you're playing a mesmer, you need to find a new profession. Sure you wont be nailing Reversal of Fortune with it, but good mesmers will nail Word of Healing. You should aim to be interrupt anything with a 1s cast time or more. That includes Orison, Breeze, and other Monk staples. Necros and Elementalists are far easier to interrupt than monks, but you're probably worrying about them after the monks are down. Remind me what was bad about power drain again?

Glyph of Energy has uses, but it also has drawbacks. It requires a GOOD spell to pair it with (you're using your elite to make a non-elite better), and it adds 1.75s to your cast time, which is 2 wand attacks. I sure hope it's a damn good reason to use it, and not Animate Bone Fiends it's being wasted on.

Sausaletus Rex · Apr 14, 2005, 02:16 PM // 14:16

You underestimate Mantra of Recall. It's probably not worth an elite but it's a bonus 15 energy every 20 seconds no matter what. Now that it's no longer a stance and you can't self cancel it's a lot less useful but as long as you can get it cast you'll have that energy eventually. If you get Rended, for example, you get the energy right then and their. Your opponent can't stop it with focus tricks or draining their own energy or knocking you down or any way else except by interrupting you when you cast it. Skills that are difficult to counter have power that's not to be overlooked. Still, I never said it was good just that I'd run it over Glyph of Energy and not feel bad about it.

As for Power Drain, no, a drooling idiot won't be just able to slap it on their skil bar and use it well. It takes a little bit of timing and a little bit of practice. Not using it because it takes a modicum of skill, though, is a mistake. Note that you don't have to hit someone before they complete that spell. You can strike the aftercast which extends the casting time of all spells and still reap that energy. You won't blow the spell but if you're just using Power Drain for energy management, do you really care? So, your .25 activation interrupt can hit even a .25 cast spell because it's got that .75 aftercast tacked onto it giving you a full second to act. .75 second spells are really 1.5. 1 second spells 1.75. 2 second spells 2.75. And so on. For that matter there are some spells with even *longer* aftercasts than that up to as much as 1.75 seconds, I believe, making them even easier to hit.

Ensign · Apr 14, 2005, 05:35 PM // 17:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sausaletus Rex

You underestimate Mantra of Recall.

Is it better than Energy Drain? No? Then who cares? When you're talking about elites, you can't just look at if a spell is good - it's competiting with every other elite for exactly one skill slot, so if it isn't the best of the best it might as well not even exist.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sausaletus Rex

So, your .25 activation interrupt can hit even a .25 cast spell because it's got that .75 aftercast tacked onto it giving you a full second to act.

Interrupting the aftercast of a spell and still getting the secondary effect is a bug, not a feature. Or should I say, was a bug. It got squashed recently.

Not that this makes interrupts bad or anything, they're still nuts - just a little bit trickier to use.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sausaletus Rex

For that matter there are some spells with even *longer* aftercasts

Since you brought it up, the complete list is:

Aftershock
Crystal Wave
Flame Burst
Frozen Burst
Inferno

Or, simply, the Elementalist PBAoE spells. Each of these has twice the normal spell aftercast, or 1.5 seconds - thus, the spells go off quickly so you can hit things with them, but they still require a significant time commitment to keep people from blowing someone away with PBAoE.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scaphism

In what universe did Power Drain get bad?

The one where Animate Bone Minions is PvP playable.

Duh.

Peace,
-CxE

Sausaletus Rex · Apr 14, 2005, 06:05 PM // 18:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ensign

Is it better than Energy Drain?

In one respect, yes. Energy Drain requires a target with enough energy for you to steal. Mantra of Recall doesn't, you get your energy regardless of whatever else is happening on the battlefield. Yes, Energy Drain is better in many situations but there are reasons to pick Mantra of Recall over it on occassion.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ensign

Interrupting the aftercast of a spell and still getting the secondary effect is a bug, not a feature. Or should I say, was a bug. It got squashed recently.

It's not a bug until they fix it. :P

Sausaletus Rex · Apr 19, 2005, 04:18 AM // 04:18

Lost in the excitement over this little thing we call the last BWE ever, the latest two Spotlights went on. Check out #10 -Shield Bash and #11 - Marksmans Wager and Oath Shot.