Curse

Redfeather1975 · Oct 11, 2006, 03:54 PM // 15:54

I'm starting to lean more towards Hella's Savant stance, stance. LOL
The more builds I mess around with the more practical and foolproof +10 armour just by clicking into a stance feels. I'm gonna play around with Savant's exclusively for a while to see if it's right for me.

LouAl · Oct 12, 2006, 11:12 PM // 23:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by Effigy

I think a lot of people misunderstand how energy bonuses work. Additional max energy only actually provides you will more current energy at the start of the fight; in PvE where fights are generally short and followed by considerable downtime, that bonus is fairly useful. The only other benefit to having high max energy is if you return to your max frequently during a fight, since you can't gain energy past your maximum.

The more important factor in determining how often you can cast is your energy management, in this case mostly skills from the Inspiration line. If you make good use of these skills, you can actually cast more on a character with 25 energy than on one with 50 energy but without emanagement. As Hella was explaining, the energy bonus from Enchanter's armor isn't that big of a deal when you use Inspiration skills and focus swap when you need a higher max energy. Of course, in PvE the margin of error is pretty wide. You probably wouldn't even notice much difference if you switched to the basic Mesmer armor with no bonuses. In PvP, efficiency becomes a higher priority and there I'd take added defense over a little extra max energy anyday.

That is true, but only part of the situation. First off, you can't say that 25e is better with good e-mgmt than 50 with no e-mgmt because you are making the assumption that the person with 50 would think that they don't need e-mgmt because they have 50 energy. Sort of circular, I know, but think about it, Ele's have e-storage and they always bring e-mgmt skills. I don't know many ele's that sya "well, I got 100 energy. I guess there is no need for Ele Attune/Ether Prod/whatever." Sure there are some, but they are idiots. More energy is always better unless you are getting e-denial hate. If more energy isn't always better, why don't you play a warrior primary? You can get the awesome armor and a smokin' huge energy pool (~25), which should be enough as long as you are using good e-mgmt (that last bit was a little over the top, I know, but I think the point is still valid).

With a higher energy pool you can cast that one more spell at the beginning, or end depending on how you look at it, but you also have more margin for using your e-management spells. I am not saying that enchanters is the perfect armor, far from it, but it is better in my experience to use an e-management spell as soon as I can so that it can start its recharge cycle and keep me going better. So, when I wear enchanters the point where I can use an e-management spell comes sooner than if I am wearing Virt, Rogue, Savant, whatever.

So...my pick on armor, take whatever fits your build/play style best - just be aware of its limitations. I have personally used all of them, with the exception of Masqueraders, and been pleased with the results.

Effigy · Oct 12, 2006, 11:24 PM // 23:24

You make a valid point. I didn't mean to imply that you have to choose either high max energy or energy management skills. My point was to dispel the seemingly common misconception that having higher max means you can cast more. Yes, full Enchanter's allows you to cast more...one more, that is, and only one more 5e skill at that. Beyond that one extra cast, your ability to cast frequently depends on the actual emanagement skills you bring, not how big your pool is.

Of course, having a larger energy pool is always a good thing. The question is, "At what cost?" Personally, I don't think it's worth sacrificing survivability for a higher max energy in most situations. This is, of course, largely a matter of personal preference. I just prefer to be safe rather than sorry, so to speak. I feel I get more mileage out of having higher defense, but your mileage may vary.

LouAl · Oct 13, 2006, 01:14 AM // 01:14

I think you are entirely correct, it is all about risk/reward, what you get out of the armor.

I personally think that the biggest advantage with the enchanter armor is your energy pool is larger so when you e-drain/ench-drain/insp-hex/etc you have more room to work with and you can do it sooner in a fight without losing the energy gain benefits of the spell (generally because I have a little more energy so I cast a little more at the beginning to free up space so that I can start the e-mgmt, which usually has other benefits also, sooner so that I can start its recharge so that I can...). It does, however, come with the price tag of lower armor which is something I can't always live with.

btw Effigy, I am glad you didn't think that I was being rude. I also think that you phrased the entire game of GW in one little statement...

"At what cost?" Everything in the game revolves around that question.
Maybe I should change my guild to At What Cost? [Risk]

Effigy · Oct 13, 2006, 02:11 AM // 02:11

You touched on the real benefit to having a larger energy pool. Casting one extra spell at the beginning of a fight is largely irrelevant. The main advantage is having a larger pool to refill with your emanagement skills. I believe Ensign wrote an article explaining this in-depth; you may already be familiar with it, but if not it's a good read.

Guild Wars certainly is all about costs and benefits. This is the beauty of the game...there's no "right" way to play it. The only "bad" strategy is one that's not well thought-out in terms of its strengths versus its weaknesses.

Quote:

Originally Posted by LouAl

Maybe I should change my guild to At What Cost? [Risk]

I had a chuckle over this one.

|pyro| · Oct 14, 2006, 10:19 PM // 22:19

I created a new mesmer because I decided I will start pvping, she i PvE created because armors look better and you can swap them.

So if i got it right.
1. Enchanter's for general purpuse in PvE.

2. Rogue's for general purpuse in PvP.

3. And if I'll be running any build in which my main energy managment skill will be Mantra of Recall I should consider Charlatan's armor?

4. And if I will use any build in which I will be using mesmer stances for defense such as Distortion or for prolonged hex lasting I should consider Savant's? Like when I'm a target of a spike or an attack I activate Distortion get + 10 AL and 75% to evade + I kite?

Would be glad if someone can comfirm it or corret m if im wrong.

Hella Good · Oct 14, 2006, 11:19 PM // 23:19

1. Ench is fine for PvE

2. Different people have different opinions about what goes in PvP. Bottom line is what you feel most comfortable with. But Ench armor has too low AL for PvP purposes. Anything that gives you more armor or more health is a viable alternative. You pick and choose depending on your playstyle.

|pyro| · Oct 14, 2006, 11:57 PM // 23:57

I'll just go with Rogue then, depending on my build ill chose the armor then.

hazmat · Oct 16, 2006, 02:37 AM // 02:37

Well this thread was heading in the right direction for awhile with effigy and louAI..

The armour functions you choose is very situational to the type of build that you're running and where you're running it, PvE/RA/TA/GvG/HA. There aren't any hard and fast rules. To say one isn't suited to pvp is completely incorrect and isn't helping to provide a constructive conversation. It doesn't make it true by saying it five times.