Curse

LightningHell · Jun 09, 2006, 04:40 AM // 04:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by Francis Crawford

No, but it requires energy to cast damaging spells.

And Ether Prodigy also provides that Energy.

Ensign · Jun 09, 2006, 05:23 AM // 05:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by Francis Crawford

I am confiused by one thing, however. It would seem that one could swap weapon sets, then immediately swap back down to have 25ish max energy, and methodically cast 10-15 energy spells (which are the sweet spot of most elementalists' skillbars anyway, especially if exhaustion is an issue, with perhaps the single exception or Rodgort's Invocation).

Yeah, I didn't address it directly, just kinda touched on it. Basically the exhaustion is so bad from working with the third set (+15/-1 x2) that you only have that 25ish energy before you have to swap again, and to get the good results you do have to empty that third set by the end of the 30 seconds. You have to cast immediately after Second Wind resolves, too, or you're wasting energy, so you're not going to be spending a lot of time on the first set. After focus swapping like a fiend, you'll probably be spending roughly even amounts of time on all 3 sets - remember that you're locked onto the worst set for 3 seconds while casting Second Wind - netting you roughly a pip for your trouble. If you're still getting perfect 3rd focus Winds off, you can get a pip over that result, for +3.9 pips net - basically right on par with Prodigy, but taking a whole lot more work than any of these scenarios.

Peace,
-CxE

Francis Crawford · Jun 09, 2006, 06:07 AM // 06:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by LightningHell

And Ether Prodigy also provides that Energy.

Not as much as Dual Attunements do, in the absence of annoyances such as stripping and interrupts.

Ether Prodigy + Attunement vs. Dual Attunements is indeed close, but in the absence of Aura Dual Attunements should still win -- and that's just on a per-minute basis, without considering the huge advantage to Dual Attunements in exploiting your initial store of energy.

LightningHell · Jun 09, 2006, 06:12 AM // 06:12

Quote:

In the absence of

Yes, in the absence of.

TheOneMephisto · Jun 21, 2006, 12:31 AM // 00:31

How often do you face a team with no interrupts or enchant stripping? Almost every warrior, mesmer, most-some necros, even half the monks out there have enchant removals/interrupts.

BaconSoda · Jun 21, 2006, 01:14 AM // 01:14

On the topic of second wind again, (since everything with energy management in the ele section ends up a dual attune v.s. ether prodigy war) I used it in the following build and worked wonderfully, in PvE of course.

Energy Storage 13 (12+1)
Earth Magic 16 (12+3+1)

Stone Daggers
Obsidian Flame
Stoning
Dragon Stomp/E.quake
Churning Earth
Second Wind
Earth Attune
Res

Equiptment: Galigord's Stone Staff

Seeing as how I had half of my bar in exaust most of the time, I gained back half of my energy, with which I threw Stoning, Stone Daggers, and Churning Earth in. When I had reached the halfway point I ceased using my exausting skills, and only used Second Wind, when I pulled back up to 3/4 of my energy without the exaust, I used Obsidian Flame an average of 3 times, and Dragon Stomp once or twice to get the exaustion back for Second Wind. What Second Wind really does (in my opinion) is make exaustion not really an enemy, but an ally in energy management. It also made a great build for my 2nd favorite element (Earth is second only to Water Magics

)

Peewee · Jun 21, 2006, 01:50 AM // 01:50

Ether Prodigy vs Second Wind

Here is the maths i have conducted. Its fairly rough.

First lets assume an elementalist has 80 energy base, when energy storage is added in.

3 nrg regen=1 nrg every 1 sec.

Etherprodigy lasts 15 secs

10 exhuastion (the result of casting one exhuastion causing spell) wears off in 30 seconds.

Ether prodigy gives 2 nrg extra every second for 15 seconds. So in total it gives 30 energy. Taking into accoun initial cast cost thats a net gain of 25 nrg every 30 seconds (assuming you want to remain un-exhuasted)

Second winds calculation is slightly more complicated. The ideal level of exhuastion for second wind is 50%. Assuming the ele has a total energy of 80 then exhuastion must be at 40. This means with second wind you can make 35 energy net gain every 30 seconds.

The last peice of maths is what makes second wind the more attractive on paper. With a +15-1regen wand and focus the elementalists total energy can be increased to approx 110. This means the new optimal exhuastion is at 65. This gives second wind a net gain of 60 every 30 seconds, more than double that of Ether prodigy. However 2 energy regen is lost as a result. 2 nrg regen over 30 seconds equates to a total loss of 20 energy. Subtract that from net gain of 60 and it gives 40 energy every 30 seconds. While 5 more energy every 30 secs may not seem like a large difference it means that total energy while using second wind is 15 higher than it might be otherwise. In addition, where possible the user should be using normal wand and focus for the extra regen, and only switch up when using second wind or requiring the extra energy reserves.

It can be seen that Second Wind actually gives a greater net energy gain than ether prodigy. I will now assess the other advantages and disadvantages of the 2 elites

Prodigy advantages:
1)It allows the user to have a greater total pool of energy
2)Becuase the energy is gained over time it allows the user to use it before energy is required in order to recude the strain from casting high nrg spells.
3)Its relatively easy to use, no focus switcing is required.
4)Relatively difficult to interupt the casting of the spell.
5)Effectiveness is no diminished relating to exhuastion or the current energy level of the user. ie, it is as effective when used at 40 nrg as it is at 5. Second Wind is not.

Second Wind advantages:
1)Actually gives better energy management than Ether Prodigy.
2)While 2 sec cast is long, it cannot be drained/ripped unlike Ether Prodigy.
3)It can be used in quick succesion when required. Ie, 2 sets of 60 energy can be delivered within 5 seconds if needed, at the expense of exhuastion. No additional benefit can be gained from recasting Ether Prodigy after 5 seconds, as the regen will not stack.
4)Second Wind can be used with other enchantments, specifically attunements
5)Second Wind does not cuase damage as direct result of its use.

Really in conclusion there is little to seperate the 2. I think use of either one is down to the preference of the player. Ether Prodigy suffers from the fact it is an enchantment, and is therefore too easily countered. Second Wind by contrast is harder to counter, at least with the current Meta Game (look it up if you dont know) and gives a greater supply of energy in perfect conditions. Second wind suffers becuase conditions arnt always perfect, If played correctly it has the potential to be a better choice, but keeping things simple is often the better way to go. My personal opinion is that many will stick to prodigy, and never learn to use Second Wind. For those that decide to switch to second wind i think in the long run as the develope the skills to use it they will be able to manage their energy much better than Prodigy users.

One final important point before i stop ranting, contary to popular opinion using other exhuastion skills on the same bar as Second Wind hinders not helps energy management. Exhuastion is still not an ally, as suggested above, but rather a dangerous enemy that if manipulated correctly can be beneficial. The idea is to be able to use Second Wind as much as possible, without overdoing exhuastion. While spells causng exhuastion are acceptable until that half way exhuastion point is reached, beyond that spells that cuase exhuastion will hinder energy management.