Curse

Guild Wars Guru · Sep 04, 2005, 12:00 PM // 12:00

You can view this database entry at: http://www.guildwarsguru.com/skill/350-distortion/.
You may add your comments in this thread.

Eilana Sakage · Sep 04, 2005, 12:00 PM // 12:00

I've always been wondering the "or" conditions of alot of spells.

It says "you lose 3-1 Energy or Distortion ends."

I'm assuming from the reverse progression of the energy from 3 to 1 it means that whenever you evade an attack, you will lose 3-1 energy, every single successful evade for 5 seconds.

If you don't have energy to consume, distortion will end prematurely.

THIS is what I'm assuming...alot of spells have the or condition and it never has been clarified at least from what I've seen.

Mind Wallaby · Sep 04, 2005, 06:49 PM // 18:49

You're correct. If you don't have enough energy to pay the cost, then the stance ends.

Labrie · Sep 11, 2005, 03:56 AM // 03:56

I see alot of mesmers use this in PvP, which actually works against them if they're getting pounded on by a warrior, because he can shut them down by constantly attacking them. Even if it is only 1 energy they're losing, it adds up with the costs of whatever other spells their casting.

arredondo · Sep 11, 2005, 04:24 AM // 04:24

Wrong. Mesmers have two additional tools called feet. A kiting Mesmer using -1E Distortion can run for hours vs. Warriors who aren't set up well. 65 minutes is my record vs. three of them when I was bored once. I've even lasted a long time typing /sit, spamming Distortion, and watching how long it took for them to finally end it. Add Sympathetic Visage as your enchant, and you can last even longer.

Labrie · Sep 11, 2005, 07:20 PM // 19:20

Thing is, I use a knock down warrior with Bull's Strike, I think the longest I've seen a mesmer run from me with distortion is 30 seconds at most, then his energy gets drained and I knock him down as he runs away. Crushing Blow + Holy Strike = Dead.

rii · Sep 11, 2005, 08:13 PM // 20:13

Well he did say badly prepared warriors. Probably one of the better dodges out there if you can fuel it, but in 4v4 its hard to, and not really worth it. Suppose it would be a nice stance cancel if a me/w got it into them to use frenzy.

arredondo · Sep 11, 2005, 11:00 PM // 23:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by Labrie

Thing is, I use a knock down warrior with Bull's Strike, I think the longest I've seen a mesmer run from me with distortion is 30 seconds at most, then his energy gets drained and I knock him down as he runs away. Crushing Blow + Holy Strike = Dead.

Wrong again. Distortion lasts 5 seconds for a 5E cost, and with a -1E per whiff. you EARN .5 energy each time you dodge one blow as you're running. Since a kiting Distorter isn't spending energy for anything else, you can last a looooooooooong time kiting and Distorting Warriors or Rangers who are not set up in other ways to stop you. It's even a viable strat with -2E a whiff for most agile Mesmers.

- Bull's Strike ftw? Not a chance. You have barely a 25% chance that it'll even connect through Distortion. Tha doesn't even take into account that when one sees you activate it, they can stop on a dime to avoid the small chance of getting knocked down.

- Let's say BS connects (as it will at times)... Crushing Blow ftw? Negative. Even when knocked down (BS, Gale, etc.) Distortion is fully functional. All your carefully constructed knocked down combos are very likely to whiff, whiff, whiff.

- Holy Strike? That's actually a good question. It's a skill that has to touch, so this is the only time I'll join you in foruim theory by saying it SHOULD whiff often as well. I'm not sure though but will find out.

I've gone against enough Warriors of all types to know that the only ones that consistently kill me in Distortion with their native skill sets are those using unevadable skills like Wild Blow, Pure Strike, and Irresistable Blow. And even THAT only works if I'm not packing Ether Feast (+125 every 8 seconds with -5E drain to enemy) or if I'm not focused on energy drain in general. All those unevadable attacks need energy to work, so constant E.Drain or E.Tap with Ether Feast as I Distort+kite keeps them near 0E as I get health back.

Of course I can't always bring those skills, so kite+Distort works against 80% of the Warriors just fine. Unless I decide to solo kill them instead.

Mind Wallaby · Sep 11, 2005, 11:04 PM // 23:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by arredondo

- Holy Strike? That's actually a good question. It's a skill that has to touch, so this is the only time I'll join you in foruim theory by saying it SHOULD whiff often as well. I'm not sure though but will find out.

Holy Strike should be unaffected by Evade. It's simply a touch-range skill (like Vampiric Touch) with no weapon attack component that can be avoided.

arredondo · Sep 11, 2005, 11:08 PM // 23:08

Touching can be viewed as a 'melee' action of sorts as it requires physical contact with a 'weapon' (the finger) to its target. It makes more since that it would whiff under Distortion since its dodge affects physical contact with objects and projectile casts. I'll try and test it in the near future.

Mind Wallaby · Sep 11, 2005, 11:43 PM // 23:43

"Touch" is a range and not an action. Touch range skills are like ranged skills except their range is very short. At any rate, Distortion's description says you have a 75% chance to evade attacks.

Just to be complete, though, I tried Distortion against the Blessed Griffons outside Camp Rankor. I evaded 0/10 Holy Strikes (if there were n griffons I would eat n Holy Strikes, and I didn't stick around long enough for them to use Holy Strike twice). The chance of this happening if Distortion had 75% chance to Evade Holy Strike is about 1 in a million, so it's safe to say it doesn't work.

arredondo · Sep 12, 2005, 03:57 AM // 03:57

I see. Thanks for checking it out.

What if... · Jan 14, 2006, 02:26 PM // 14:26

Well, if you have some points in Inspiration, you can combo this with spirit of failure for fuel.

Murder In China · Jan 17, 2006, 05:47 AM // 05:47

This skill is nice to have on a flag runner.

Arcane Barra · Feb 05, 2006, 01:34 AM // 01:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by What if...

Well, if you have some points in Inspiration, you can combo this with spirit of failure for fuel.

Excellent combo. Everytime they attack you lose and gain energy at the same time.