Curse

tonyh · Nov 25, 2007, 08:42 PM // 20:42

Im posting this in this section because its the only place where i see it being used.

I would just like for someone to explain to me why this is such a widely used skill and how to use it.

I realize that I dont understand game mechanics and that stuff very well but I really dont understand this skill.

Some things I dont understand:
how often do people get knocked down?
is this skill actually energy efficient?
other things that I cant think of right now

on a side note, on a healing monk or heal-prot hybrid monk, are there any viable replacements for cure hex? and other than trhe spotless soul one

Tamuril elansar · Nov 25, 2007, 09:09 PM // 21:09

cuz knockdown is pretty comon and pretty deadly in pvp.

Lorekeeper · Nov 25, 2007, 09:56 PM // 21:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by tonyh

I would just like for someone to explain to me why this is such a widely used skill and how to use it.

why is aura used?

Aura is currently THE best anti-knockdown skill in the game, it costs 5 energy takes 1/4s to cast and on a prot monk or heal/prot hybrid it lasts at least as long as its cooldown time which means you can keep 1 ally immune from knockdowns for an entire match (ignoring enemy attempts to remove the enchantment).

how to use it

Who to cast aura of stability on depends on what opponents you are fighting and on what map you are fighting on. In a straight up 1vs1 fight, Aura of stability generally tends to go on the monks in your team... if you are running a 2 monk backline the aura tends to go on the heal monk because that monk is usually the source of a party heal (party heals being quite useful in HA because of the amount of dmg you will be taking). A good prot monk and a aura of stability enchanted heal monk should do wonders for the right builds.

On relic runs aura of stability is generally used for relic runners to prevent enemy attempts to slow them down or stop them from running relics... most popular methods of stopping or snaring relic runners is by Knockdowns and hexes and sometimes conditions and ward against foes. Aura of stability is an extremely easy way of making your relic runner immune to one of these snare methods.

On capture points aura of stability has less of a pivotal role... since fighting occurs sporadiclly if you are playing it properly... and your monk with aura generally will not be able to be wherever it is needed because of the fact everyone is spread out.

On king of the hill fights, aura of stability has 2 important uses. The first use is to allow the ghostly hero a easier route to the altar... opponents can use snares including knockdowns like gale to delay your ghostly hero from reaching the altar, aura of stability prevent that. Its second use comes in to play when your ghostly hero is attempting to capture the altar... aura of stability will prevent your opponents from knocking your ghost down (kd on ghost while he caps interrupts the capping process - making him start again).

how much of a problem is KD?

KD is used in straight up fights to prevent people from escaping AoE, from casting spells... from kiting... the popular deadly arts SoJ sins pack a string of KD skills which are a nightmare for monks to heal/prot against without some sort of protection against KD. KD is a valuable and integral part of HA strategy in almost all of the maps you will come across... not taking anti kd skills like aura of stability will place you at a distinct disadvantage.

will anti-kd skills help?

see above

why aura of stability?

there are few alternatives as good as aura of stability. Brace yourself requires investment into the command line attribute which requires someone to go /para or para/ and only gives immunity to 1 KD every 12 seconds. Ward of stability requires investment into earth magic from the ele line... and even at 15-16 earth prayers it cannot provide 100% immunity from KD and with a 1second cast can easily be interrupted... not to mention the ward forces you to limit your mobility. Balthazars pendulm is an elite... and gives immunity to 1 KD every 5 seconds it pales in comparison to aura and aura does not tie up your elite slot.

Teh [prefession]-zorz · Nov 26, 2007, 12:25 AM // 00:25

Pretty useful on monks when Assassincasters are common that day, and pretty useful on monks for alter capping, KD on the Ghostly sucks :P

Kyp Jade · Nov 26, 2007, 12:26 AM // 00:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lorekeeper

.....stuff (good stuff tho)....
Balthazars pendulm is an elite... and gives immunity to 1 KD every 5 seconds it pales in comparison to aura and aura does not tie up your elite slot.

And Aura is the way it is and hasnt been nerfed into the ground because?
Its immunity to KD's, its almost required on relic runs, and it blows elite options away.

NoPantsRepublic · Nov 26, 2007, 12:37 AM // 00:37

People didn't use pendulum before gwen was released, your logic is flawed

Lord Mendes · Nov 26, 2007, 12:46 PM // 12:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by NoPantsRepublic

People didn't use pendulum before gwen was released, your logic is flawed

You fail to take into account that pendulum is an elite, and aura isn't. Also, as far as I can remember (though I might be mistaken), pendulum was a 1s cast for a while.
YOUR logic is flawed. Even though both skills have similar effects, they cannot be compared due to the fact that one is an elite.

Vulkanyaz · Nov 26, 2007, 02:32 PM // 14:32

wth would you use pendulum anyway? :P

Kyp Jade · Nov 26, 2007, 06:40 PM // 18:40

My problem with aura is that its basically god mode for relic runs. Take a monk (one that knows what the hell to do with holy viel), viel bond and aura spam the runner and outside of ward against foes it becomes very difficult to snare the runner long enough to establish a body block. Before you could always get around brace by having 2 KDs, also a little imbalanced considering how expensive KD's are outside of trident, now you have to take your mesmer with you to establish a block by stripping aura if hes lucky enough to find it not covered, and hes busy interupting thier snares so you can run, so GG.

(on the topic of body blocks, I lol all the time when I obs a team get a runner stuck with 3 body blockers [ie: he rubber bands into the block], but never move to perma block him 3man style and the runner gets away, missed oppurtunities ftw)

Ragnorak · Nov 26, 2007, 09:54 PM // 21:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kyp Jade

My problem with aura is that its basically god mode for relic runs.

QFT. Snaring is becoming significantly harder. A lot of teams run Hexbreaker and have at least 2 Holy Veils meaning a simple Water Ele Hexer can't keep a target still for very long. Cripple is a very weak snare because of how easy conditions are to remove, especially if Cripple is the only condition a team packs. Finally, because of Aura of Stability, knockdown is completely out of the question unless your packing tonnes of enchant removal (and most balanced teams will have it on a mesmer, and during relic runs mesmers are best set on the enemy snarer, so you can run).

The only viable snare is Ward Against Foes, and without a knockdown its hard to get it down unless you run REALLY far ahead. If you cast it as they're running past you, it usually doesnt take any effect until they've run right through it.

NoPantsRepublic · Nov 27, 2007, 04:42 AM // 04:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lord Mendes

You fail to take into account that pendulum is an elite, and aura isn't. Also, as far as I can remember (though I might be mistaken), pendulum was a 1s cast for a while.
YOUR logic is flawed. Even though both skills have similar effects, they cannot be compared due to the fact that one is an elite.

Kyp Jade is comparing pendulum to aura, not I; he stated that aura is so good it removes an elite option, and I simply said that the elite option he mentioned never existed in the first place.

Kyp Jade · Nov 27, 2007, 06:36 PM // 18:36

First of all, I did not mention an elite option, I said that aura is the ONLY option. And tbh its effect is extremly powerful for the cost/recharge/effect that your a nub if you dont take it. It doesnt even take skill to use, its a fire and forget prot. (so much for nerfing passive defense when you introduce a strong skill anet lol)

I was comparing aura to other anti kd options, and before the anti kd options were SO good that you had to take them, brace was just something you fit in if you had a paragon, or u did without. Ward of stability had the same issue with it, if there was room take it, if not meh. I dont even think most people even knew pendulum existed because its so bad.

Now look, at this non elite option, which is fast cast, decent recharge, and can have a 100% duty cycle, and on top of that its in an attribute that everyone brings anyway, so you dont lose anything for it.

KD's are always expensive, just look at recharge and cost of all of them. the only characters that can KD effectivly are hammer warriors, but those are expensive adrenaline skills. A/Mo,s these guys are imba anyway, to bad izzy thinks they are neat and wont nerf them, and water trident, but that takes a little planning to get the full effect, and he cant block by himself anyway, because if someone only sent this guy back to me, monk would keep gust off me and I would just stop runing when I saw him start to cast trident.

NoPantsRepublic · Nov 27, 2007, 11:01 PM // 23:01

Well then all prot is fire and forget, since you prot the target and let the enchantment do the rest of the work... and aura doesn't fall into the passive defense category

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kyp Jade

it blows elite options away.

=/

What else could you mean besides pendulum? steady stance?

Lorekeeper · Nov 28, 2007, 12:06 AM // 00:06

as great aura of stability is... i cant help but remind everyone that it was possible to HA without it prior to GWEN. Aura just makes monking vs heavy KD dependent builds much easier than before... like RaO thumpers. What tends to happen when powerful skills get introduced is that people forget the game existed prior to their introduction... like alot of monks are learning now with the nerf to LoD.

The only build i would admit i might struggle against without aura of stability would be those SoJ sins, but even those can be dealt with by preveiling and removing conditions to prevent deep wounds and dmg from toxic shock. Wont be easy though.

Kyp Jade · Nov 28, 2007, 01:41 AM // 01:41

no, seriously aura is fire and forget, in a 3 monk team, 2 of them will be aura spam losers. 1 will spam on 8, 1 will spam on 7, and they will never ever use it to preprot or anything, its just oh yea im putting this thing there.

NoPantsRepublic · Nov 28, 2007, 07:09 AM // 07:09

alright, I'll concede that aura is a very easy prot to use

Renowned Spartan · Nov 29, 2007, 03:43 PM // 15:43

We did without Aura before, we can do without Aura NOW. Bottom line.

LifesRestorer · Nov 29, 2007, 04:18 PM // 16:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by Renowned Spartan

We did without Aura before, we can do without Aura NOW. Bottom line.

it would certainly make relic running more interesting than OK CAP AFTER HIM!

outside of teams without kds this skill is pretty useless but that doesnt mean it should be overkill when kds are around, amirite?