Curse

Xpl0iter · Sep 14, 2006, 10:00 AM // 10:00

Ether Prodigy: increased damage per Energy to 3.

Well, need i say any thing more?
What do you guys think?

LightningHell · Sep 14, 2006, 10:18 AM // 10:18

I don't really care for the damage previously, I won't now. I just want the energy.

Vladmir Mironov · Sep 14, 2006, 10:28 AM // 10:28

The amazing regeneration is well worth the damage taken when it's all over with.

Xpl0iter · Sep 14, 2006, 10:44 AM // 10:44

i still dont see how it was not hurting before with damage 2x of energy and exhaustion though.
an ele with 70 + energy x 3 = 210 dmg. since its enchantment, if taken off, i think it will be doing same ?

LightningHell · Sep 14, 2006, 10:57 AM // 10:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xpl0iter

i still dont see how it was not hurting before with damage 2x of energy and exhaustion though.
an ele with 70 + energy x 3 = 210 dmg. since its enchantment, if taken off, i think it will be doing same ?

You think we'd actually let our energy go so high, given such energy regeneration and the after-effect?

Xpl0iter · Sep 14, 2006, 11:19 AM // 11:19

70 for an ele is nothing with weapons included.
if ele didn't need such big pool to do any thing, then there was no point for ES at first place.

unholy guardian · Sep 14, 2006, 02:32 PM // 14:32

kind of scared me when saw the update :P lol i probably will end up suiciding once or twice before i adjust

joncoish · Sep 14, 2006, 03:04 PM // 15:04

I kind of understand what lightning hell means here. In the course of a fight your energy will probably get pretty low, and if you use ether prodigy you can spam spells pretty much indefinitely without your energy getting any lower. But the energy isn't really going to be getting higher either, so you're spamming the spells no problem, but keeping the total energy at a low point and relying on the regen to keep enough there to cast the spells. If you do that, when ether prodigy ends it's not going to be so much damage to you. I think ether prodigy is amazing energy management, even with the damage and exhaustion. I find the exhaustion is usually mostly gone by the time ether prodigy ends anyway, and if you use it like I've said in this post, the damage isn't going to be that significant. But, I still don't really see why it would need even more nerfing. I think the damage as it was and exhaustion on an energy management spell are enough negatives.

Master Fuhon · Sep 14, 2006, 05:34 PM // 17:34

Using a 25 energy spell, and saying you have quick reflexes on the spell cast, your energy would hit around 34 a split second before the cast; perfect timing for a mesmer removal sometime during the cast. For those not understanding the damage numbers, that's 75-100 damage before casting a 25 energy spell. Original numbers were from 50-68. Obviously the damage now scales much higher assuming you let it.

I have to think that some of the enchantment recharge changes were aimed towards the classic two monk backline, which depends very heavily on the Heal Parties, Blinds, and Crowd Snares fueled by Ether Prodigy. It will just be a matter of whether teams decide it is worth running mesmers (which has always been a good idea) and focusing on ripping the ele (which also already work). Sometimes a change so subtle can draw more attention to the penalties of using a skill to the general population.

I always wanted to see something closer to what was done with the Rit Lord. Nerf the top skill, and fix the lesser ones that get used with it. Well, we have a nerf to the top skill, and buffs to some pretty deadly spiking damage skills.

Mouse at Large · Sep 14, 2006, 06:02 PM // 18:02

I'm really curious about this buff to "spiking damage skills" i.e. the mind line skills. Just how do you suppose they are going to gain in popularity?

First off, they are elites, therefore forcing you to drop an e-management or other elite to fit them in.

Secondly, unless the mind spells conditions stack (and I don't think they do, but stand to be corrected), only the first striker in a mind spell spiking steup will apply the secondary condition e.g the burning effect.

Thirdly and finally Obsidian Flame anyone - armour ignoring and non-elite?

Can't really see what the big fuss is all about......

Ensign · Sep 14, 2006, 07:26 PM // 19:26

The change to Ether Prodigy punishes people harder for not knowing how to use the skill. If you're taking 210 off of Ether Prodigy expiring with you at 70 energy you're not using it very well. If you're playing a character with Prodigy you want to ride it, and ride it low. Cast it at low energy, and cast your spells shortly after you've gotten the energy to again - when playing at my best, I always felt like I needed to be casting faster anyway and never had a problem spending mana. You don't want to cast it early unless you're about to get really spammy, because you expect to be near zero when it expires. I rarely go above 25 current energy when playing a Prodigy character - yes, I focus swap to cast 95% of my Deep Freezes. If a Prodigy is about to pop and my energy is high, I just fire off a Heal Party to top everyone off. Hence I rarely took more than 30 in any meaningful situation from Prodigy, which would be 45 now. Whatever.

I do eat huge Prodigy hits from time to time, but that is usually when I'm power-running flags and trying to keep my energy up for flurries of activity when I get to the stand. Then I'll have Prodigy punch me for over a hundred, but I'm usually in the base when that happens so the damage really doesn't matter.

So I kinda like the change - it doesn't affect the good players too much, but the bad players are going to be punching themselves in the face and will have to learn to get better. Can't argue with that.

Of the Mind skills, I'm looking forward to playing a Mind Shocker in Alliance Battles. With Gale you can create a pretty mean knocklock on someone and blow them out with another character supporting. It was a narrow, but effective, small combat character before and this will only help. Mind Burn is a very attractive skill now in a very bad line, and won't be playable because of it - Mind Freeze is cute, but I don't think that it adds anything to a water elementalist that wasn't there already. It's just another snare for your snare lock.

In GvG, I expect people to play Mind Shock for a week or so until they realize it's not Ether Prodigy.

Peace,
-CxE

Draygo Korvan · Sep 14, 2006, 07:39 PM // 19:39

This change does not change anything in GvG, on the most part its slightly more damage during fights and a bunch of damage if your out of a fight where it doesnt matter.

No elementalist I know runs with his energy bar full during a fight.

Trylo · Sep 14, 2006, 10:41 PM // 22:41

if you're an ele and not doing what he said before, im sorry but learn to play. really. i usually play with low energy storage for even a 14 or so long ether prodigy so ican put more att. points in useful places... its even nice to play an ele with 40-50 energy because if youre doing it properly you can always have ether up with 30-40 usuable energy after exhaustion and 10 regen... umm what else do u need exactly?

Master Fuhon · Sep 14, 2006, 11:26 PM // 23:26

I had a point of confustion is my post about using 25 energy spells. The energy cost is charged upon activation, not spell release. So once you press the button the energy is gone, and there is no further regen during the cast. Still, I've always hated that energy costs were charged regardless of spell completion, when you consider that Power Spike/Shame type spells tack on an additional energy loss. So correct that: only taking 75 health hits if you are being predictable with your 25 energy casts.

Not that there are too many good mesmers around to make note of this, most just spam domination spells because they have powerful effects.

ubermancer · Sep 14, 2006, 11:45 PM // 23:45

Boo. I take ~30 damage more.

(and yes, I mean 'boohoo')

Xpl0iter · Sep 15, 2006, 12:53 AM // 00:53

Am working on getting along with this skill again in practice arenas.
Wyour used to having a certain affect caused by a skill, it takes time to adjust. Lets see where things go with this. I suicided once in quite a few tries though. But i am definetly not been spamming it like i used to spam it before.

I am wondering if any other elite or skill is going to get buff in nightfall for eles which is already available to us..

Thom Bangalter · Sep 15, 2006, 10:35 AM // 10:35

Hopefully eles get a huge buff in Factions, perhaps the mind spells were just the start...

on topic, when i'm done with ether prodigy i generally have enough energy to get an orb off or cast it again, so I never take more than 10-30 damage, now 15-45. oh noes!

Zonzai · Sep 19, 2006, 06:55 AM // 06:55

Thom, Hopefully eles will be good at something besides being a flag runner in the next expansion.

OP, I think ele's have been nerfed into one of the weakest classes in the game. Another little nerf stacked up on top of the big ass pile of them that we've been hit with since launch doesn't come as any surprise. Not that this one little skill nerf is really that big of a deal in itself.

I guess my answer is, ele's are so inferior compared to what they once were that nobody really cares anymore except a handful of die hard ele fans such as myself and those that just don't know any better.

And if anybody is going to contest that ele's are not as good as they once were, please feel free to do so as long as we all stay on topic.

Ensign · Sep 19, 2006, 08:31 AM // 08:31

Elementalists are better than they used to be. Ether Prodigy was only 4 pips when the game first came out, and Deep Freeze had a gimpy AoE. The difference is that people have gotten better at the game, and in doing so have realized how gimpy the elementalist is offensively. Back then, no one knew any better, and ran elementalists for 'massive damage'. Now they do know better, and bring more physicals.

Peace,
-CxE

Luciora · Sep 19, 2006, 10:15 AM // 10:15

Played around with Ether Prodigy last week when we went to kill Glint. Took me 10 mins to get used to the effects and then managed to run it quite easily. Spamming skills and keeping your energy around 25 max works well. I'd have to say that this skill isn't really as bad as I first thought it was. Just have to give it a chance.