Curse

Aiiane · Jun 20, 2006, 11:18 PM // 23:18

First, lets consider a typical pure 1-attribute elementalist, 16 in their elemental skill.
This leaves 13 in energy storage, assuming no other skills specced.

Ether Prodigy:

13 Energy Storage = 18 second base duration = 22 second duration with 20% Enchanting
22 seconds * (6 pips / (3pips*sec)/energy) = 44 energy gained from Prodigy
Net gain = 44 - 5 (cost) = 39 energy net gain over 22 seconds.

Second Wind:

13 Energy Storage = +39 max energy
Assuming a fairly typical staff setup (commonplace, easily attainable), this will give:
20 base + 10 armor + 15 weaponset + 39 ES = 84 max energy.

The "optimal" point to use Second Wind would of course be when your max energy (modified by exhaustion including the exhaustion caused by the current use) is exactly equal to the amount of exhaustion you have, so as to fill up your max energy but not "waste" any gain beyond that.

So for 84 max energy, that would mean you would want to cast Second Wind at 32 points of exhaustion, such that you would then have 42 points of exhaustion for a gain of 42 energy gained. (Due to the 2-second cast time of Second Wind, you may actually want to cast it at 33 points of exhaustion, since 2/3s of a point of exhaustion will work off during the cast time.)

Net gain of 42 - 5 (cost) = 37 energy net gain in a single hit (2 second cast time).

So for the basic "pure" elementalist, there does not seem to be much difference between Second Wind and Ether Prodigy, as far as straight energy gain goes. Note that the duration of ether prodigy does not factor so much into the energy/time due to the assumption that we do not want to put ourselves into an "exhaustion debt" so to speak, and thus this comparison assumes that one would use either skill every 30 seconds. Both can be used more often, with a resulting pool of exhaustion being built up.

Now, let's consider another setup, one perhaps more typical of a GvG elementalist, with 15 of the primary element, 11 energy storage, and 10 of a secondary attribute (such as the popular heal party spec).

Ether Prodigy:

11 Energy Storage = 16 second base duration = 19 second duration with 20% Enchanting
19 seconds * (6 pips / (3pips*sec)/energy) = 38 energy gained from Prodigy
Net gain = 38 - 5 = 33 energy net gain over 19 seconds.

Second Wind:

11 Energy Storage = +33 max energy

20 base + 10 armor + 15 weaponset + 33 ES = 75 max energy

So the optimal point is at 27 points of exhaustion to thus end up having 37 points of exhaustion and gaining 37 energy.
Net gain = 37 - 5 = 32 energy net gain in a single hit (2 second cast time).

Again the results seem to be somewhat comparable.

Each has it's separate upsides and downsides. In a build running other exhaustion spells (notably Gale), I would probably favor Prodigy more due to having less of my "exhaustion buffer" taken up by the bank of exhaustion needed to fully utilize Second Wind. For other builds, it'd take some playing with - for a flagstand elementalist being able to both gain energy in a large hit, as well as not having a strippable enchantment is always a plus. With the potential to use +15/-1 weaponsets for emergencies as well, Second Wind is nearly as versatile as Prodigy. It's probably the only elementalist EM skill that comes near rivaling Prodigy in competative play, not considering Dual Attunements given the various issues that are involved with such, as well as the fact that they only function for elemental lines. However, it doesn't quite measure up to the versatility or net gain of Prodigy in the best of conditions.

I was playing around with these numbers while at work, so if something's wrong feel free to post a correction.

JR · Jun 20, 2006, 11:26 PM // 23:26

Nice work, afraid it doesn't really shake my preference for EProd though.

Ensign · Jun 20, 2006, 11:45 PM // 23:45

Already posted my thoughts on the matter here: http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s....php?t=3052156

Basically Second Wind is unwieldly as hell and has to be used under impossible conditions to reach a theoretical effectiveness equal to Ether Prodigy - Prodigy on the other hand is fairly trivial to reach theoretical effectiveness with. Given all the other drawbacks of Second Wind (have to maintain high exhaustion, long cast time) I don't think the two are even close.

Peace,
-CxE

Aiiane · Jun 20, 2006, 11:56 PM // 23:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ensign

Already posted my thoughts on the matter here: http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s....php?t=3052156

Basically Second Wind is unwieldly as hell and has to be used under impossible conditions to reach a theoretical effectiveness equal to Ether Prodigy - Prodigy on the other hand is fairly trivial to reach theoretical effectiveness with. Given all the other drawbacks of Second Wind (have to maintain high exhaustion, long cast time) I don't think the two are even close.

Peace,
-CxE

Indeed, I generally still prefer Prodigy. However, I would feel safe saying that aside from the dual attunement combo, which isn't nearly as reliable as either Second Wind nor Ether Prodigy, nothing else really comes close.

It's not safe from interrupts, but on the whole the teams that bring enchantment removal usually seem to outnumber the ones which bring numerous interrupts - and prodigy isn't safe from interrupts either.