Originally Posted by moriz

the whole point of rof is to prevent the target from dying in the time it takes to cast your big heal. zb is the big heal that tops up a target's health bar after you've just saved him with rof. please get your skills in the right order.

bodyblocking with 4 people is pointless in TA, because you only have 4 people, and the target you want to block for has to do the blocking, which negates the whole point of trying to block with 4 people to begin with.

Originally Posted by moriz

rof actually "negates" around 116 damage, simply because it turns the next source of damage into a heal. thus, if someone hits you for 50 damage, you are healed for 50 hp instead. that's the equivalent of a 100hp straight heal, which also means that rof will negate the hits from TWO of the spikers.

Originally Posted by moriz

rof actually "negates" around 116 damage, simply because it turns the next source of damage into a heal. thus, if someone hits you for 50 damage, you are healed for 50 hp instead. that's the equivalent of a 100hp straight heal, which also means that rof will negate the hits from TWO of the spikers.

Originally Posted by Jeydra

Hm ... found this thread and having played Shovespike / Gothspike quite a bit myself I thought there're things I should add.

One more thing that counters the spike but is not useful elsewhere - the Paragon's "Can't Touch This!". Another one that helps heal against it is Infuse Health, although of course it's TA and so not of much use. Yet another one that works is Ward of Stability, though using an Elementalist in TA is hard. Of the prots that do work against this spike and are reasonably useful elsewhere there really are only two, Shielding Hands and Shield of Absorption. Both need to be cast after the spike starts or they won't be of much use. SoA if cast on the right target stops the spike almost entirely, pity the 1-second cast though. Shielding Hands may or may not be enough - you typically need to follow up with Word of Healing.

The biggest counters to this spike are Cry of Frustration (it usually takes one failed spike to realize a Mesmer has it) and Grasping Earth (which is pretty much the only AoE snare around that can be used effectively). Icy Shackles is extremely good at catching them; it can be removed but Divert Hexes does cost 10 energy. Another significant counter: Psychic Distraction works on Shove, and then on one of the spike skills.

There are variants of Shovespike that don't include RC or Divert Hexes but instead run one or multiple copies of Empathic Removal, so hopefully there's something to cover Cripple / Grasping Earth with. There are also variants of Shovespike that run Return, although it's still possible to catch them (everyone should contribute by bodyblocking or landing Bull's Strikes, or similar). Finally there are variants of Shovespike that run a single copy of Spirit Bond and forego a Res - probably because Ride The Lightning spike thrashes the build otherwise. In any case catching the Shovespike team is always a challenge.

If a Shovespike team spikes the Monk first they aren't very good. The spike usually cannot be saved by the Monk alone. Therefore a good team will spike the biggest danger first - Fire Elementalists for example, or anyone /E who might be carrying Grasping Earth, Dervishes, and so on.

Good luck beating the build, it's a tough one to crack.



RoF alone isn't enough to stop the spike. Some mathematics on the total spike damage:

Shove - 67
Crushing Blow - random but let's estimate low and guess 50.
6 copies of Stonesoul Strike - 58 * 2 damage each, or 116 damage. There are six copies, which makes 696 damage.

Total = 696 + 67 + 50 + any other hits the Hammer Warrior might make to finish off a target + Deep Wound = 800++ damage with Deep Wound.

With Reversal of Fortune and 13 Divine Favour, you heal:

42 health from Divine Favour.
58 health from the reversed Stonesoul Strike
You negate another 58 damage.

Total = 158.

Total spike damage you take anyway = ~800 + Deep Wound - 158 = ~642 + Deep Wound

This is enough to kill pretty much everyone. Single Reversal of Fortune is not enough to save the spike; you need more (Foul Feast / Draw Conditions the Deep Wound, a fast-cast WoH, etc).