Curse

MelechRic · Jun 14, 2006, 10:29 PM // 22:29

Yeah yeah... Soul Leech... on of the more craptacular elites in my opion. It's a fairly slow cast, easily removed (unless covered) and wears off before it has recharged so you can't dominate a target like you can with other elites. I never brought it out much in any PvP because OoB was so much better in the blood line.

However, recently I've been putting Soul Leech on the bar just for kicks when doing Aspenwood PvP. I have to say I'm thoroughly impressed with how may people cast right through it.

I realize it's a pretty bad subsitute for OoB, but I get bored and like to mix it up.

Lastly, you can use Spoil Victor in place of Soul Leech if you're more inclined to go after warriors/rangers/assassins.

16 Blood
10 Death
10 SR

Soul Leech {E}
Dark Pact
Lifebane Strike/Shadow Strike
Vamp Gaze (optional another Strike)
Life Siphon (for covering... 0pt parasitic bond may be faster)
Well of Blood
Well of Profane (optional... good for luxon necro, use putrid or suffering)
Consume Corspe (optional... I like it for energy management)

Of course you can just switch out Soul Leech for OoB and have a fairly workable blood spiker.

P.S. No claims this is a good build, just something different for me.

xenoranger · Jun 15, 2006, 12:02 AM // 00:02

who said that soul leech was craptastic?

Honestly, I think it's far more valuable than backfire. It may not spike as well, but the HP stealing is nice.

TBird · Jun 15, 2006, 02:34 AM // 02:34

soul leech is one of the skills i use the most it destroys mezmers eles and necros easly at 18 it does 93 I use it in my necro spike its very fun and a quick kill

Ole Man Bourbon · Jun 15, 2006, 05:10 AM // 05:10

Soul Leech can be waited out, problem solved. I agree, it sucks. It's like Backfire, but less damage.

Why not just bring SS to Aspenwood? You can introduce a mass suicide of epic Jonestownesque-proportions with it. Cast it on the Warriors, the Monks, the Rangers, the minions, the NPCs: they'll all ignore it and kill each other. Only problem is people go down too damn fast to get the full effect.

xenoranger · Jun 15, 2006, 11:57 AM // 11:57

Soul Leech is one of many selfpreservation hexes. By no means is it the greatest elite in GW, but it sure does quite a bit for necromancers.

Plus, look at the recharge time. It's 10 seconds of curse & only 5 seconds recharge. You can apply it faster than backfire. With Arcane Echo, it can be used much more effectively.

It's one of those skills that with the right targets, it can be used to shut down a caster. Sure, they can wait it out, but Monks have to heal and elementalists have to cast. Both are pretty much screwed for 10 seconds while it's on them.

Pick Me · Jun 15, 2006, 02:17 PM // 14:17

Description of Soul Leech (e):

Cost: 10 energy
Cast Time: 2 seconds
Recharge Time: 15 seconds
Duration: 10 seconds

For 10 seconds, whenever target foe casts a spell you steal 16 - 67 health from that foe.

Description of Backfire:

Cost: 15 energy
Cast Time: 3 seconds
Recharge Time: 20 seconds
Duration: 10 seconds

For 10 seconds, whenever target foe casts a spell that foe takes 35 - 119 damage.

Is Soul Leech garbage? If it were, why would it be used by those spider creatures in Perdition Rock? This is good for those who don't pay attention, or those who don't seem to care about what happens to them when they cast spells. Soul Leech doesn't seem to do as much damage to the caster, but you must consider that the 50% or so damage that is lost (in comparison to Backfire) is turned into healing for the Necromancer.

Any spell that is conditional does or doesn't do well on its own. Cast Soul Leech, wait 6 seconds, cast Backfire. Guess what, spellcasters either cast through the hexes, or they do nothing for the entire battle. Continue to cast both on the same caster to take them out of action (cast WW on them and see what happens.

)

Conditionary spells work only if target does something (most of them anyway), but WW works if the target does nothing. Force the "damned if you do, damned if you don't" scenario.

MelechRic, your build seems interesting, but Consume corpse is a bit too risky for my liking.

Ventius Hozza · Jun 15, 2006, 02:25 PM // 14:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pick Me

Is Soul Leech garbage? If it were, why would it be used by those spider creatures in Perdition Rock? This is good for those who don't pay attention, or those who don't seem to care about what happens to them when they cast spells. Soul Leech doesn't seem to do as much damage to the caster, but you must consider that the 50% or so damage that is lost (in comparison to Backfire) is turned into healing for the Necromancer.

The perdition rock dryders are hardly a challenge...

And, It's not enough healing for one person to stay alive on (maybe if it were spammable, like 2 sec recharge, etc then it would be useful), nor is it as much per second that a monk dishes out... so... it's not good for solo or for teamplay and its elite. This points to me a garbage skill.

And to the OP: Soul Leech works in Aspenwood because who cares if they die? No DP ressing, as long as they get the skill chain off (they probably don't have any self-heals anyway) they get ressed, run back to the same place and try to avoid you a little bit... try it in GvG and people will laugh at you as they iHex with the thought in mind (ooh, 80hp noes *monk casts RoF ~+100hp*)

TBird · Jun 15, 2006, 07:31 PM // 19:31

soul leech is good on people who dont know its there it does damage at 18 and with some other blood spike spells it drops people quick then i pull up a well to help the others. Sure it might not kill them but it will weaken them and kill them with other spells

MelechRic · Jun 15, 2006, 08:08 PM // 20:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by TBird

soul leech is good on people who dont know its there it does damage at 18 and with some other blood spike spells it drops people quick then i pull up a well to help the others. Sure it might not kill them but it will weaken them and kill them with other spells

This confirms what I've observed about lower-end PvP like Aspenwood and RA/TA. People that don't know about this hex get owned by it. However, if your enemy's ignorance is part of your strategy... be prepared to get owned.

That said... it's still fun to mix it up with this skill. That's what makes places like Aspenwood worth going to... the huge number of unsuspecting customers.

Pick Me · Jun 15, 2006, 08:20 PM // 20:20

Cast Soul Leech + Parastic Bond + WW

Removing a hex will remove WW or Parastic Bond, Soul Leech activates.

If caster does nothing, WW kicks in and Parastic Bond continues to eat life. If caster uses a signet or other skill, Parastic Bond still eats at life (laughable yes, but its still there).

I would rather have skills that attack everyone than as specific type (like casters or warriors).

No one in PvP would ever cast 1 spell and leave the target to its own devices. Layers on layers of spells are usually cast, remove any potential threat, a player at 1% health can be a threat as a player at 100% health. Damage by skill or spell isn't affected by someone's health (except sacrifices

)

TGgold · Jun 15, 2006, 08:30 PM // 20:30

If anything...this spell is good simply because it bypasses Prot Spirit. Assuming you can catch a boon-prot in the middle of a spam, if should be decent. Should. Hypothetically speaking >_>

Jetdoc · Jun 15, 2006, 09:37 PM // 21:37

Soul Leech is, to me, a compromise between Spiteful Spirit and Life Transfer.

It penalizes casters for using skills, but doesn't damage as much as SS.

It provides health by stealing it from enemies over time, but not as much as Life Transfer.

So, in the end, it's a compromise between the two. To me, I'd rather have either SS or Life Transfer on my bar and use other skills to fill the gap, instead of using Soul Leech.

TwinRaven · Jun 16, 2006, 02:40 AM // 02:40

Soul Leach...tic tic...Backfire....tic tic....Mark of Subversion....BOOM! dead caster...

Avarre · Jun 16, 2006, 02:45 AM // 02:45

1 cop = entire above post neutralized.

Carinae · Jun 16, 2006, 04:57 AM // 04:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by Avarre

1 cop = entire above post neutralized.

Damn that cop!

lol

Maybe in PvP, but that combo does wonders in FoW!

Turbo Wombat · Jun 16, 2006, 04:59 AM // 04:59

While it maye not be the greatest skill in the game, it works wonders on a panicing prot monk.

Pick Me · Jun 16, 2006, 03:03 PM // 15:03

What if someone casted:

SS+Backfire+Arcane conundrum on monk? Monk takes twice as long to cast CoP, then mesmer casts Power Spike. Will that work?

Jetdoc · Jun 16, 2006, 03:09 PM // 15:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by Avarre

1 cop = entire above post neutralized.

Just add Diversion to the mix to fix that.

Avarre · Jun 16, 2006, 03:23 PM // 15:23

If you add diversion, they aren't going to cast most likely, and then your nice 3 punishing spells are all wasted (since they would have done nothing with diversion anyways!)

Quote:

SS+Backfire+Arcane conundrum on monk? Monk takes twice as long to cast CoP, then mesmer casts Power Spike. Will that work?

cop is a skill, not a spell, unaffected by migrane/conundrum.

Carinae · Jun 16, 2006, 04:12 PM // 16:12

Actually, CoP is only going to remove one hex, so just keep covering it with PB.

SL , PB, MoS, PB, BF, PB