Curse

Darkpower Alchemist · Jan 20, 2006, 03:46 AM // 03:46

SS is definitely one spell that I consider when you think of power.True power is shown when your enemy kills himself for you!

Josh · Jan 20, 2006, 01:24 PM // 13:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charcoal Ann

this skill is very annoying in FoW. it renders my warrior ineffective (don't attack with spiteful on). i still take dmg because no matter how much i say it the other warrior/s will always continue hacking away with this curse on.

against sword and axe warrios it is devestating. with 12 on curses it will deal almost 400dmg if it is not removed (of course the warrior needs to keep attacking). that is 400 to all around the cursed one too. the purpose of this skill is not to damage monks. it is to make them hard pushed to keep up. only one spell is doing 800 dmg (in PvP, thanks to focusing fire

). the rest of your team is free to act as normal.

i agree. this would be instadeath to IWAY. the damage against the cursed one would be around 5-6 hundred. they already have loads of necro spells on them (order and such) so they may not notice it

. and they are all bunched.

Desecrate Enchantments, Spiteful Spirit {E}, Mark of Pain, Suffering and 2 Trappers.

Over-Kill on IWAY.

xenoranger · Jan 20, 2006, 07:13 PM // 19:13

K.. here's what I find works best (from experience).

I use SS instead of Empathy. Not only does it hurt the attacker, but it also penalizes hordes. It's horrible to use on monks. B/c I started as a N/Me, I learned to mix this with other skills to keep an enemy from casting.

If PvE, use backfire to suppress the casting frequency of an enemy, then use SS to punish them for attacking physcially. Best enemies (I find) to use SS on are Azure shadows b/c of their tendancy toward physical striking over casting.

In PvP, I find using SS on W works best.Although, I keep Parasitic Bond equipped as a cover hex. I rarely see monks with Convert Hexes in PvP. In PvP, I never use SS on a caster b/c it's just not very effective.

Although it may seem like a good idea, never use SS and Mark of Pain on the same enemy. From experience I find that you waste mana because MoP is only good if the enemy is receiving damange and SS is only good if the enemy is dealing damage. What I do is use SS on an enemy prone to frequent physical attacks, then use MoP on the guy next to him. Although it'll kill the guy with SS quicker, you also have to spend less time focussing on the enemy you just used SS on b/c MoP on the guy next to him will be dealing (probably) more damage than a direct attack.

Avoid using SS on enemies with:

Shadow of Fear/Faintheartedness
Seems like a good idea to slow down the attack speed, but SS is only activated when the enemy attacks.
Any other Skill that slows their attack rate

Use SS with foes hexed by:

Soul Barbs
As soon as the hex is in place, Soul Barbs is activated which deals immediate damage
Parasitic bond
Although it degens, it's better used as a cover hex to prevent removal of SS
Insidious Parasite
Only if you're low on energy, but it improves your resilliance during attacks if you're the one on the receiving end. Also helps kill single enemy a little quicker.
Awaken Blood
Face it... a +2 to curses is always welcome, and using this before you use SS will make it a little stronger

Big_Iron · Jan 23, 2006, 01:06 AM // 01:06

Nice little guide xenoranger.

I love SS. My little Necro was a girl without a purpose until I discovered what the SS craze was all about. I maxed out her curses to 16, got her new scar armor and got her Villnar's Staff. She now dishes out massive damage. I love her!

xenoranger · Jan 23, 2006, 04:04 PM // 16:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by WoodyDotNet

Nice little guide xenoranger.

Thanks

Quote:

Originally Posted by WoodyDotNet

I love SS. My little Necro was a girl without a purpose until I discovered what the SS craze was all about. I maxed out her curses to 16, got her new scar armor and got her Villnar's Staff. She now dishes out massive damage. I love her!

I found that SS is also a great skill to keep on an MM. When I MM, I used SS to ensure quicker kills. People say you need some type of energy stealing ability, but with SS, Curses @ 10+, and Soul Reaping @ 7+, I almost never run outta energy.

Side tracking a little... It's too bad they don't have any Minion Elites... but I will say that SS is one of the most useful Necro Skills.

ramma77 · Jan 23, 2006, 04:26 PM // 16:26

I loooove SS. But i think its gonna get nerfed as it is too overused now and it is way too powerful. Probably a longer recharge time. And possibly a reduction in damage. I dont want it to happen but it will.

In tombs it east IWAY and TF warriors for breakfast. Another nice little trick is to put it on a pet or a ghostly hero. Takes monks a few seconds to realise what is going on.

If its cast on me i will move away from a group and then decide whetehr i should still attack or not. most of the time i just get back to killing and take the damage.

xenoranger · Jan 23, 2006, 08:28 PM // 20:28

Why? You can't Nerf SS. It's like nerfing Empathy. It's powerful, but there are so many drawbacks. I mean.. you can only cast once every 10 seconds. Sure if you have arcane Echo, you can do more, but also consider that it is only in effect while the enemy attacks. Spell Casting is very much an option if you have Empathy or SS on you. In PvE, it does take you a ways, but SS isn't a skill that you can just rely on all the time. It has serious limitation like proximity. Only in hordes is it effective. Also, should you nerf the proximity, think of other skills like Mark of Pain. What you'd be doing is seriously screwing with a combination that punishes stupidity.

Lets see... what do I do when SS is on me?
Hmmm...

Stop Attacking Physically
Notify an anti-hex party member that I have it on me
(if I have hex removal) Remove it myself

There's no way you could really nerf this one. Although it's powerful, it's not absolute.Besides, I've used SS in PvP. People who get it on them suffer, but they don't go down as quick as you would think. I have to tactfully use SS along with other skills to really make it work. An elite, yes. Useful, yes. Powerful... to a point. Absolute... no.

Besides, it only lasts for 18 sec( Prob 20 with runes or Awaken the Blood). Honestly, that's not too bad.

Big_Iron · Jan 23, 2006, 11:00 PM // 23:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by xenoranger

People say you need some type of energy stealing ability, but with SS, Curses @ 10+, and Soul Reaping @ 7+, I almost never run outta energy.

I absolutely agree. I have 10 attrib for Soul Reaping and very rarely run out...even in a big fire fight. In fact, I want want more fighting! More fighting = more deaths = more energy.

xenoranger · Jan 24, 2006, 12:44 AM // 00:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by WoodyDotNet

I absolutely agree. I have 10 attrib for Soul Reaping and very rarely run out...even in a big fire fight. In fact, I want want more fighting! More fighting = more deaths = more energy.

You forgot something...

More Energy = More Minions

Seriously though...
SS may seem unbalanced, but if you look at it in PvP, it's effective, but not effective enough to merit nerfing it.

tafy69 · Jan 24, 2006, 07:15 AM // 07:15

I would caution any teams thinking this skill will save their team from warrior heavy teams. These HoD helms are everywhere.

Kidney Licker · Jan 24, 2006, 08:30 AM // 08:30

SS also triggers when the enemy uses any skill and not just when they are attacking.

I think SS is great for PvE but I hardly ever bring it into PvP, there are better elites IMO. Whenever I get SS on me it doesn't actually stop me casting or activating skills. I just slow down a bit, take the opportunity to take a quick look around at the opposite team. At 37 dam per skill usage its not really the sort of damage that really shuts you down.

Argen · Jan 24, 2006, 08:40 AM // 08:40

I think that SS is a very powerful skill, one of the more useful elites of the game.

In PvE it is far more devastating than in PvP, but with all the noobish (not calling all noobs, but some) IWAY teams out there, its quite effective in many PvP runs as well, it seems no matter what you get one or two IWAY teams that just keep on attacking in the face of SS.

One of the most interesting things I've seen is SS/Echo/Energy + Soul Reaping/SS/Echo on a group of minions... my screen was full of numbers as they critters ceased to be. I feel bad for the MM in the middle of that mess.

xenoranger · Jan 24, 2006, 01:01 PM // 13:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kidney Licker

SS also triggers when the enemy uses any skill and not just when they are attacking.

Are you sure? I've had SS on me and resorted to casting. While casting, I took no damage (99.99% sure of this).

RotteN · Jan 24, 2006, 02:49 PM // 14:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by xenoranger

Are you sure? I've had SS on me and resorted to casting. While casting, I took no damage (99.99% sure of this).

SS triggers on any skill or attack, and i'm 100% sure of that (it got recently fixed to trigger with shouts and stances correctly, activate stance = trigger SS, use a shout = trigger SS, cast a spell = trigger SS, wand/attack = trigger SS, ...)

but that does not make it overpowered, it's an annoyance, but not superduperuber

The First Attacker · Jan 24, 2006, 05:44 PM // 17:44

Simple.... DO NOT USE SS!!!

Why because its the best skill to use ofcourse.

Using one of the other necro skills making level 18 Curse and throwing a thew spitefull spirits on people makes one hell of a difference. All warroirs are just left to stare when cast on.

11/10

Kidney Licker · Jan 25, 2006, 12:08 AM // 00:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by xenoranger

Are you sure? I've had SS on me and resorted to casting. While casting, I took no damage (99.99% sure of this).

Yep. I actually farm in a spot where an (ele) creature only attacks by spamming ele spells. I can see the numbers fly up as they cast the glyths and wards and other spells.

My impression is that casting spells doesn't seem to be considered as an attack so you can cast SS and faint on a pure spell caster without the two conflicting, though I'm not sure if there are many (purely casting) monsters around like that.

xenoranger · Jan 28, 2006, 03:12 PM // 15:12

Yeah, I did go back and check it out.. SS does punish casters. My bad... oh well.