Curse

Dr Strangelove · Nov 27, 2006, 09:21 PM // 21:21

Meteor Shower initially became popular because it didn't trigger AoE panic after the first AoE nerf. Almost every elementalist designed to AoE would sit around and echo this all day long and watch happily as moron monsters stood in it.

Now, they'll pretty much flee from anything whenever they want. Is there any point in messing around with meteor shower anymore? It has a huge energy cost, ridiculous casting time and recharge, and a tiny, tiny AoE. It only deals 119 * 3 = 357 damage over 9 seconds. Heck, gimpy old firestorm can deal 31*10= 310 damage, and can be cast twice as often.

There are so many better AoE options now, namely Searing Flames and Sandstorm that there hardly seems to be a reason to drag out tired old MS.

Francis Crawford · Nov 27, 2006, 09:33 PM // 21:33

I can't imagine why one would use Meteor Shower unless the knockdown aspect was important.

BoredJoe · Nov 27, 2006, 11:05 PM // 23:05

I find it's a useful non-elite and yeah nice for the knockdown.

crucifix · Nov 27, 2006, 11:30 PM // 23:30

In pve, MS is a slight useless due to the much more appealing (searing, hell savannah heat even) skills out there. The elite used on an MS nuker is either echo of GoR. Ill admit that MS was decent damage, but the aoe nerf combined with the absolute craptacular damage comparison makes it a slight garbage in most applications.

IMO: there are much better choices to fill ms's slot.

Ensign · Nov 28, 2006, 12:01 AM // 00:01

Archers stand in it still.

Otherwise, no, not really.

Peace,
-CxE

majeh456 · Nov 28, 2006, 02:06 AM // 02:06

It's only good for steam rolling IMO

Thom Bangalter · Nov 28, 2006, 04:17 AM // 04:17

I run it in pve, but that's just because I'm already running The Ensign Tested, Gold Trim approved glyph of sacrifice next to rez chant, and I can't think of that much else I could put in that slot in pve.

But in pvp; no, it sucks.

bungusmaximus · Nov 28, 2006, 08:36 AM // 08:36

I mostly find a hell of a lot of use to it, take echo meteor shower to consulate docks (early NF mission) and fire away. No-one will spike you down anymore I can tell you that :P
I always run heavy nukes in PvE and it works like a charm, you just have to think where/when to use them. Hell I did the 'liberate koss from the kournans' mission with 1 nuker, a ranger hero and Dunkoro+Tahlkora. Turned all kournans into spare-ribs in a breese

LightningHell · Nov 28, 2006, 08:56 AM // 08:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by bungusmaximus

I mostly find a hell of a lot of use to it, take echo meteor shower to embassy docks (early NF mission) and fire away. No-one will spike you down anymore I can tell you that :P
I always run heavy nukes in PvE and it works like a charm, you just have to think where/when to use them. Hell I did the 'liberate koss from the kournans' mission with 1 nuker, a ranger hero and Dunkoro+Tahlkora. Turned all kournans into spare-ribs in a breese

You mean Consulate Docks? That's just about the only place I can think of myself using Meteor Shower, btw.

The quest where you liberate Koss is a breeze anyway. It's hardly anything to boast over. I've done it with only my paragon as a damage-dealing character - I turned Sousuke into Prodigy HP-spammer (which he isn't very good at).

bungusmaximus · Nov 28, 2006, 09:13 AM // 09:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by LightningHell

You mean Consulate Docks? That's just about the only place I can think of myself using Meteor Shower, btw.

The quest where you liberate Koss is a breeze anyway. It's hardly anything to boast over. I've done it with only my paragon as a damage-dealing character - I turned Sousuke into Prodigy HP-spammer (which he isn't very good at).

Afflicted aren't too fond of it either, i had fun doing vizunah square with my ele. Am Fah are easily wiped by it as well. Jade Brotherhood mages hate it too. Kaineng city is heaven for a nuker. I agree with you though that it isn't useful in every situation but I use MS quite often with much success. When half the mob is knocked down pressure is greatly reduced, if I can't reach the caster backline of a mob i always use MS to make them stop casting. Of course every player is more comfortable with one skill then with another, but for me, meteor shower FTW

Lord Dobo · Nov 28, 2006, 09:19 AM // 09:19

In PvP, no, not at all.

But in PvE, very much so, you just have to pick your targets well. Most of the time you can get your enemies to bunch up by sending in a hero and withdrawing them back to your lines. Then you let your heros run to the front of the aggro circle and let them take the first few interupts while you single out either the monks, elementalists, mesmers, or paragons. After those first couple of seconds the enemies have generally used up their interrupts or are busy with frontline targets, because in general I find no problem with the 2.5 or 5 second cast (depends on if you hit your 20%). The next spell is preferably another layer of AoE, because they generally have a 2-3 second casting time and will therefore not actually go off until the first meteor hits and does it's knockdown. Because the damage hasn't started, the enemy AI hasn't reacted. You can then follow up with a fireball or a third AoE because the enemy is still at this point getting up and you will catch most of them in the hit on their charge out. I find that they will often times stick around for another meteor, allowing for the layered AoE to be taking effect. Alternatly, or in addition to, an earth elementalist in the area (a hero in my games) equipped with aftershock can take advantage of the situation by unleashing additional damage on the knocked down foes at the exact same time that layered AoE is starting, or possibly even the fireball damage. If you happen to be in the area, I recommend dropping the one second casting time spell, Bed of Coals. Not only does it layer on even more damage, but the knockdown from the meteor will catch them on fire for quite a while, more than most other spells allow. AoE seems like a waste of time, but if you try it out, you'll find that most groups will receive at least three hits, usually making up for the loss of the later damage as it is generally comparable to your basic fireball strike, though a little less at times. If you catch an enemy starting to activate a skill, they generally will stay throughout the casting time, taking those seconds of damage at least. One last thing, Spell Breaker is a plan hinderer but nothing more. Just interupt your cast (suck up the energy loss, no use crying about it) and recast quickly at a target near the monk. The knock down and all of the AoE still effect the monk. Follow all of that damage with a quick spike by your team (Obsidian Flame works great here to finish off most foes) and you've generally taken the bite out of your enemy, the rest is just mop up. Vow of Silence that dervishes run around with can be handled in the same way, but you need to make sure the spell sticks, so root your team in place if you can while the first knock down occurs, you should have already gone to a second AoE, and layer that quick third spell, Bed of Coals right on him to get him on the run. His vow of silence doesn't last long and you've not wasted a spell as long as he had a non-dervish enemy near him.

So, yeah, use that AoE monster. Especially with Glyph of Lesser Energy. Free 30 points of energy every 30 seconds, it should be your pre-battle prep spell if you plan a long fight, along with elemental attunment if you've capped it.

Edit: added a line :P

Effendi Westland · Nov 28, 2006, 10:39 AM // 10:39

I've been happely MS nuking since I got that skill o so many months ago. Haven't stopped using it in Nightfall, have not noticed the flee effect at all (more then it was before the Ai change).

Thom Bangalter · Nov 28, 2006, 01:57 PM // 13:57

I did a fow run with some people and I kinda missed it, but we had 3 good warriors and 3 great monks, so It didn't really matter, I just missed the aoe knockdown it provides on stuff. It didn't matter, we get to the forgemaster in half an hour, and I found out the inscribable armor took deldrimor steel ingots. Regardless, most stuff died before I could cast glowing gaze, so it's not all that useful, just get players that aren't bad and you won't need it.

Really, that's the struggle of shower. Unless you're glyph saccing it, the cast time means that if your group is good, most stuff will be dead before you use it.

i Valinor · Nov 28, 2006, 04:36 PM // 16:36

i still pack it alot of the time. its the first thing to go if i need a cap sig, but its become a sometimes skill. i will clear an area when mappign and find i have only used it twice

XvArchonvX · Nov 28, 2006, 07:07 PM // 19:07

Ever since I got SF I just can't go back to any sort of meteor shower nuker build. The KD might be nice, but SF outdamages it easily and is cast/recharged soooo much faster than MS. Since NF I can't help but just see this as an inferior fire magic damage spell regardless of PvP or PvE. I've even vastly outdamaged MS with a Unsteady Ground/Eruption build. The KD is a bit more conditional with that combo, but still works well.

Phades · Nov 29, 2006, 01:49 AM // 01:49

MS helps control the multiple ele groups when you get later into the game, in order to help slow down the deep freeze->ice spikes aoe damage. Its not the skill slot on the bar that wins the fights though. Typically those feel like they reside on other character's bars.

BigDave · Nov 29, 2006, 02:17 AM // 02:17

I still use MS on my nuker build. There's a spare slot or two available after the new SF build is applied so i put MS in there (and arcane echo sometimes) and if i see several beasties clumped nicely or even a boss i'll drop a MS on them without hessitation then spam SF. You can double up your damage for 9 secs with the hits from MS and SF combined, aswell as knock down your targets. If you echo it you can cause some serious disruption and insane damage if you drop it in the right place, which is all part of being a good nuker. Knowing when to cast and more importantly.......when to hold fire.

I keep MS in my build for when i need to cast a long AoE spike. If done properly it'll wipe out entire groups with ease since the healers can't heal that much, that quickly. And it'll interrupt the crap out of anything that doesn't vapourize in the chaos.

pingu666 · Nov 29, 2006, 04:06 AM // 04:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by bungusmaximus

I mostly find a hell of a lot of use to it, take echo meteor shower to consulate docks (early NF mission) and fire away. No-one will spike you down anymore I can tell you that :P
I always run heavy nukes in PvE and it works like a charm, you just have to think where/when to use them. Hell I did the 'liberate koss from the kournans' mission with 1 nuker, a ranger hero and Dunkoro+Tahlkora. Turned all kournans into spare-ribs in a breese

actully, thats not true. i was monkin in that mission with a guild and a ele steps forward, rises into the air (casting MS on a group or rangers up some steps)

2secs later all rangers fire. at the ele. all at the same time. full health to dead instantly

MS has its uses tho. combine with fireball, searing flames etc for some nice spikeish damage

Mesmer in Need · Nov 29, 2006, 04:23 AM // 04:23

my fc nuker uses this all the time. fire atune + GoLE+ ms +rodgerts inv. + fireball = good spike dmg plus you still have energy left over. i use this build in the fow, missions, and ab. works like a charm. my most dmg comes from rodgerts, but i like to use ms for bombing heavily guarded cap points in ab. i dont use it as much otherwise because of the long recast time. but it still does good dmg.

bhavv · Nov 29, 2006, 12:14 PM // 12:14

OMG I lolled so hard when I read this thread title!

Meteor Shower + Glyph of Renewal = Godly! See here:

http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...php?t=10082641

I manage to nuke however many enemies are clumped together to death at once, Renewal>MS>bed of coals>fireball, then pick off the runners with immolate and fireball.

Its the best skill in the game for farming. Nothing does more damage.