+15 -1 Energy Items

Are these items worth using to manage energy? An intuitive way to use them might be beginning a battle with the +15 energy item equipped, go through your first sequence of spells (I imagine a Rit or Ele nuking, SS necro spamming SS, Reckless Haste, etc) then switching to a regular +4 regen set after this initial barrage? I know it is definitely not necessary, I have fine energy management without it, but does it really help you cast a larger number of expensive skills and then switch out to faster regen effectively? What are your thoughts?

One thing to keep in mind... if you start with +15 (total 60) energy, cast your way to zero and switch offhands, you are now at -15 energy and need to wait for that to recover before you even see a pip of positive blue.

That can feel like a long wait.

They are good for a character that uses a high cost combo of some sort. For example I like to use it on my Necro when I'm going with a SS/curse spreading role. It gives you plenty of energy to do arcane echo + SS + SS + reckless haste + whatever other curses you want to spread out. Also if you bring interrupts for utility in PvE as I often do, it gives you the energy needed for the interrupts after your initial combo. However, it seems to work a little better on a Necro because of soul reaping. I couldn't see the benefit of using one on a monk or elementalist.

I prefer the other way around.

I have a +15 -1 E set to use in a pinch if my normal set happens to be depleted and I absolutly need to get a cast off. Energy regen is so slow as it is.

I have a wand tha is +15 -1 and an offhand that is +27 -1, when you meet the EStorage Attribure requirement. So yeah, Its a good amount of energy to use in an emergency.

o_O based on my experiences with it I've never seen anyone -start- with the high energy set up....

If you're an ele and need to start off with this because you're initial energy pool is too low.... you should definately consider re-vamping your bar.

If you -did- manage to blow 80+ energy in spells all at once early in the match and then switched to a +4 regen set your energy would be at -15, not 0 meaning you would have to wait while your energy not only regenerates to 0 energy, but then raises enough to actually use another spell..... -LOTS- of un-necessary downtime.


Genereally a 15 -1 is used on monks (or other casters), who pull it out in nasty situations.

In PvP a good monk usually runs 3-4 energy sets, a low-set, a mid-set, and a high-set. Low-set usually starts you off with 35 energy, the mid-set gives you about 50-55, and the high set should give you upwards 70 energy.

The reason for this is due to emergencies and mesmers.... If a monk encounters an e-denial mesmer, he's going to have his energy drained rather quickly. Therefore he uses his low-set so the mesmer can only burn the energy he has available to him, so even if a mesmer burns off all his energy when it's at about 35, he can easily switch to his mid-set or high-set and cast a spell or two before reverting to his low-set. It's called hiding energ, and if a mesmer can't burn that energy, it gives you -that- much more energy to cast with.

Hope my response was randomly associated with this thread, even in some ambiguous way ^_^

As far as PvP goes, yeah you wouldn't want to run it as your regular energy set. But in PvE you don't have to worry about intelligent e-denial ruining your day most of the time

I used to use a +15/-1 wand and offhand on my MM and have a pool of around 75 energy and it worked well with the old soul reaping. Doesn't work as well with the new soul reaping update. My monk has a set too, only use it in dire circumstances.

I used to use them, now I prefer to keep as much energy regen as possible.

before the soul reaping nerf, necros use +15/-1 for the boost of energy to ensure a deadly combo that would at least kill 1 or 2 enemies quickly, with the soul reaping yielding a good energy return. Now it's a little harder...

Yeah I meant this for general PvE, I should have mentioned that. I had heard about the use of +15 in a pinch in PvP, but was wondering about starting off with the set for a spike/chain you couldn't do otherwise. Thanks for the advice, I didn't know that upon switch I could go into negative energy.

Yeah, sorry about the 'pvp' tangent

Negative energy also applies to Rits and their Item spells. For example, if you're a rit and have about 50 energy and use all of it, then use Generous was Tsungrai or another item spell that doesn't give you energy, you'll have negative energy... and negative energy is not pretty V_V

Same usage in PvE and in PvP. When healing or doing something else, swap for emergency cast. (the last needed HP, infuse(Yes I use infuse in PvE ) or getting that res spell off as fast as possible etc.).

On the contrary, you use these near the end of the battle.

Infusing in PvE is leet, at least when you infuse in PvE the monsters don't say "OMG GET HIM! HE -JUST- INFUSED" on their AI vent and all :P

Stil use it on my necro, but not in pvp.

A Ritualist (and good friend of mine) in my guild uses both a +15/-1 wand AND offhand to great effect. I was skeptical when he told me about it at first, but I've played with him, and he seems to never run out of energy. It all depends on smart use of skills and energy management. Ritualists have a few good energy management skills, so he benefits more from the increased pool of energy than the extra two pips of regen.

Of course, this isn't for everyone or every build. For example, I don't see an Elementalist needing all that extra energy. A PvE monk could do with ONE, and Mesmers have such great energy management skills that using two might be a waste.

I used to use it for me necro. Had two sets, one for curses, the other for death. Pretty much it was Awaken the Blood, Arcane Echo, SS, SS, Reckless Haste, SS, SS (as they recharge). Count that up, that's alot of energy. The Death was for MM'ing, which could also be very energy intensive (Bone Fiends). The extra 30 energy given by these items were very useful to offset it. Then Soul Reaping would replenish you as things started to die. With the SR change, yeah, not so useful any more.

I use the +15/-1 energy items on my mesmer, I never have to swap because I always bring energy management skills on my bar.

I used to use a +15/-1 wand and focus in the second weapon slots on my Boon Prot back when I was big into AB for when I was in a pinch and needed a larger energy pool. I only used it for emergencies, and most times it never came to that, but when I did need them, they helped a lot.

I used to use this constantly on my monk right back when I first started playing and I never ran out of energy at all, the -1 regen didn't seem to alter my play to the extent of worry. Now though with the help of insignia armour I find 55 energy more than enough on monk so I just tend to stick to the normal items/weapons.