That Crazy Sunspear Dervish Skill

Voltar

Voltar

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: May 2006

My dog let's me crash at her place.

POB

R/

first of all, don't flame me for letting the cat out of the bag. cats hate being in bags anyway and they'll eventually rip a hole if necessary.

now that the metaphor is all done with, is this skill intended to maintain a constant avatar-state? when i read it last night, that was the first thing i thought to try...which i did...and it worked. anet was so intent on ensuring that things like serpent's quickness and the mesmer stuff (echoing and arcane elite-doubling) did not affect the dervish elite form skills that when i read the skill that recharges, "all other dervish skills," i assumed that anet intended for it to affect forms. maybe anet wants people to use them more in pve?

regardless, i'd like to know anet's thinking before i save this template with that skill and the corresponding sin skill. if anet gives the thumbs-up, i will forever leave that chick d/a with both because the numbers i see when i use them together fall somewhere between an [skill]order of undeath[/skill] mm and a sv necro on shiro during impossible odds. btw, guru, i would love the ability to:
skill /skill critter skills. mostly because shiro's face is so grody on impossible odds.

??Ripskin

??Ripskin

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jul 2006

Mo/

ummm... what?
I can't even read this, I have no idea what the dude is talking about.

notskorn

notskorn

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Oct 2006

Clan Roxor

W/E

Yes of course it was meant to maintain the forms indefinitely.

Its not overpowered because its pve only and the fact that its broken only makes the game more fun for everybody.

XvArchonvX

XvArchonvX

Forge Runner

Join Date: Nov 2005

R/

Elite Avatar + Eterna Aura + Critical Agility is truly an awesome force. While I am happy for Dervish to get this excellent buff in PvE, but it's just a shame that some other professions got kinda left in the dust.

Gli

Forge Runner

Join Date: Nov 2005

Wait, let me fire my triple arrow... argh too late you killed them all.

Coridan

Coridan

Forge Runner

Join Date: Jun 2006

US

Old Married Gamers {OMG}

W/

Agreed ....its a shame that the warriors PvE skill blows...both the cheap cyclone axe rip and the armor boost to a party....while nice to have an adrenline type attack that works like cyclone its a bogus attempt...and the 100 + armor only affects other party members....so now a warrior has to take 2 armor shouts one for himself and one for the group since they no longer stack...this must be bash a warrior week at Anet

Guardian of the Light

Guardian of the Light

Forge Runner

Join Date: Sep 2005

Radicals Against Tyrants

W/

Well in PvE avatars aren't dependable because about half the time their down but now we can count on Dwanya as our heal or Balthazar as our armor buff.

Doesn't seem overpowered because well look at A Dervish with constant Avatar of Balthazar against a warrior with Defy Pain and For great Justice (to help maintain it)

Warrior:
80 Base + 20 (Default Physical resistance/Sentinel Insigina for ele damage) + 20 for defy Pain. = 120 armor vs all +extra health.

Dervish:
70 Base + 10(Blessed Insigina) + 40 (Avatar of Balthazar) = 120 Armor + Speed boost

So really there isn't anything wrong with it in PvE.

Voltar

Voltar

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: May 2006

My dog let's me crash at her place.

POB

R/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gli
Wait, let me fire my triple arrow... argh too late you killed them all.
i'm a ranger primary
it's like the elite dual shot. i'm going to play the crap out of ab to see if it's worth something yet with a decent level in luxon (what...30% damage reduction?) to see if my:
[skill]burning arrow[/skill][skill]troll unguent[/skill][skill]distracting shot[/skill][skill]whirling defense[/skill][skill]pin down[/skill][skill]needling shot[/skill][skill]read the wind[/skill][skill]throw dirt[/skill] toolbar needs to change to:
[skill]burning arrow[/skill][skill]troll unguent[/skill][skill]distracting shot[/skill][skill]whirling defense[/skill][skill]pin down[/skill][skill]needling shot[/skill][skill]read the wind[/skill](crazy-triple-shot luxon move).

3-cheers for most people not knowing how to play ranger and mesmer in pvp (now the most over-powered 2 classes in the game...shhhhhhhhhhh)

Jaythen Tyradel

Jaythen Tyradel

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Apr 2005

Quote:
Originally Posted by XvArchonvX
Elite Avatar + Eterna Aura + Critical Agility is truly an awesome force. While I am happy for Dervish to get this excellent buff in PvE, but it's just a shame that some other professions got kinda left in the dust.
Agree..very fun way to vanquish an area.

Gli

Forge Runner

Join Date: Nov 2005

Quote:
Originally Posted by Voltar
i'm a ranger primary
My main is a ranger as well. I'm playing HM exclusively, most of the time with one or two guildies and an abundance of heroes. I only play controling builds. The paragon sunspear skill serves me much better than any of the two ranger PvE skills would. I'd never waste a slot on a pet in HM and no amount of arrows I shoot weighs in for the kind of damage the heroes pull off.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Voltar
3-cheers for most people not knowing how to play ranger and mesmer in pvp (now the most over-powered 2 classes in the game...shhhhhhhhhhh)
You're not really suggesting using a PvE-only skill in PvP, are you? That would be... cheating wouldn't it?

Narcism

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Feb 2005

Ottawa, ON, Canada

Mostly Harmless

W/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Coridan
Agreed ....its a shame that the warriors PvE skill blows...both the cheap cyclone axe rip and the armor boost to a party....
Use Whirlwind Attack with a Scythe...

LifeInfusion

LifeInfusion

Grotto Attendant

Join Date: May 2005

in the midline

E/Mo

Quote:
Originally Posted by Guardian of the Light
Warrior:
80 Base + 20 (Default Physical resistance/Sentinel Insigina for ele damage) + 20 for defy Pain. = 120 armor vs all +extra health.

Dervish:
70 Base + 10(Blessed Insigina) + 40 (Avatar of Balthazar) = 120 Armor + Speed boost
A. You forgot about the warrior's SHIELD. Shame on you.
B. No self respecting warrior brings Defy Pain.

EDIT:
To contribute more to the topic, I must add:
How does having forms all the time lead to massive imbalance? In hard mode it won't matter what form you bring because the mobs hit for around 150 damage if you have 60 armor. That +40 form Avatar of Balthazar will seem not to be so much anymore.

XvArchonvX

XvArchonvX

Forge Runner

Join Date: Nov 2005

R/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Narcism
Use Whirlwind Attack with a Scythe...
Whirlwind has next to nothing for a damage bonus and a scythe will do AoE damage anyways. Why would anyone ever take this over Critical Agility???

Navaros

Forge Runner

Join Date: Apr 2005

Mo/Me

Aren't there enough posts calling for unnecessary nerfs in the other threads about these skills?

Why does Dervish get it's own special "nerf the Derv skill" thread yet the other skills that are even more powerful than the Derv one don't have them, like monk. I'd say that's pretty unfair, especially since the monk Sunspear skill is way more powerful than the Derv one.

There is nothing at all overpowered about having unlimited forms for Derv in PVE. You can already do that anyhow by waiting for it to recharge after killing a mob. All this skill does is take out the waiting tedium.

Additionately, as stated in another thread, this skill actually makes Avatar of Grenth usable, which thanks to PVP-based nerfs, it was not.

Voltar

Voltar

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: May 2006

My dog let's me crash at her place.

POB

R/

Quote:
Originally Posted by XvArchonvX
it's just a shame that some other professions got kinda left in the dust.
check them all out, brother (or sister)
there's some good crap all over the place. check out the luxon ele skill with the sunspear ele skill with [skill]glyph of elemental power[/skill]

i made an sf build with those 3 and creamed myself without even testing it (meteor shower was over 500 damage) though i haven't tested to see if the luxon and goep stack (though i wouldn't see why not).

my bro who likes his ele and rit best was indiffeferent to the ele stuff but freaked out over the rit stuff (luxon + sunspear). find the goods for each class and eat them up. chances are this is an eesy-weensy taste of gw:en (why else would they be introducing pve-only skills now?). i'm guessing that they don't want to make the pve-only skills in gw:en, "make a joke out of hard mode," and are testing some ideas out now. those skills are also as likely to enhance the, "inherent properties," of each class.

sometimes anet goes from being, "profoundly competent," to straight-up giving me, "warm fuzzies," all over the place.

matter of fact, i now want to work for anet. my degree (9 credits shy) is a BM in music composition. i would be prepared to enter MIDI for jeremy irons and will submit mp3's of my use of aforementioned MIDI with my own compositions to elaborate on my ability to make MIDI sound like real instruments. anet seems like a bunch of great people to work with and i will quit my current job to work in sound/music for anet ([email protected]). that's my editorial on the last patch.

end

of

story.

Curse You

Curse You

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Apr 2006

South Pole

The Magus Order

N/Mo

Quote:
Originally Posted by XvArchonvX
Whirlwind has next to nothing for a damage bonus and a scythe will do AoE damage anyways. Why would anyone ever take this over Critical Agility???
Why not take both? Just use a Peppermint Scythe.

GloryFox

GloryFox

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Jan 2006

Good ol' USA, where everyone else wants to be

Now Plays World of Warcraft on Whisperwind

The new Sunspear skill for the Dervish was exactly what the class needed for PvE. Yes the skill is totally out of balance for PvP but we are not speaking of PvP are we?

Skills like Avatar of Genth were usually ignored in PvE due to short durations compared to other Avatar options available. Wind Prayers desperately needed another AoE enchant that did damage, and some builds were impractical due to recharge times for some dervish PvP balance build issues.

I like the damage also in comparison to other options yes its 100 damage at rank 10 but the damage is not that overwhelming and only 40 more than other Mysticism skills at level 16.

I'm sure the big bad monsters will have a way of hitting back in Hard Mode.

Guardian of the Light

Guardian of the Light

Forge Runner

Join Date: Sep 2005

Radicals Against Tyrants

W/

Quote:
Originally Posted by LifeInfusion
A. You forgot about the warrior's SHIELD. Shame on you.
B. No self respecting warrior brings Defy Pain.

EDIT:
To contribute more to the topic, I must add:
How does having forms all the time lead to massive imbalance? In hard mode it won't matter what form you bring because the mobs hit for around 150 damage if you have 60 armor. That +40 form Avatar of Balthazar will seem not to be so much anymore.
A: DOH!!! Sry I forgot however really it just helps my arguement,

B: That was the only skill I could really compare it to, dolyak signet reduces speed but it's non-elite and Watch yourself doesn't add enough armor at low tactics.


Anyways this update provided good skills for Assassins, Dervishs and Paragons so really the only thing I have to complain about is the fact that maybe mesmer could have they're skills a little better.

Solar Light

Solar Light

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: May 2006

Teutonic Warriors {TW}

Mo/

the sunspear monk skill is not overpowered, you would reliabily need to cast it on a ally that has tons of things hitting them at a constant basis, which doesnt work well since enemys tend to switch targets often, plus, the party healing is wasted unless the party is taking damage overall, like degen or enemys spreading pressure, which means one persons not getting hit enough to exploit seed of life.

its only reallly exploitable on a tank ( partys health is already fine for the most part of the tank has the aggro, or a bonder (anyone can figure this out) and the bonders only really useable in areas that dont have enough enchant stripping to threaten the bond integrety overall.

Du Kor

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Mar 2007

Order of the Silver Dragons

W/

Nice that the dervish got a big boost in fun playability, More of the avatars, more damage. Sounds like fun. Lets see what my warriror got: i can buff the dervish next to me even more.

-Byron-

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: May 2006

CA

None

P/W

Have you seen the paragon skill? A defensive Paragon + 2 monks + SF eles will absolute decimate anything in pve.

IMO, paragons got the best of the new update by far.

ArKaiN

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jan 2007

Lotus Branca[Lbr]

Mo/Me

With the exception of ranger and mesmer, everyone got awesome skills. Have you tried the new cyclone axe in farming? a bunch of "90's" flying around.
Perma avatar is cool, of course. And everyone had thought of it 20 seconds after the update was released -_-

LifeInfusion

LifeInfusion

Grotto Attendant

Join Date: May 2005

in the midline

E/Mo

Quote:
Originally Posted by Du Kor
Nice that the dervish got a big boost in fun playability, More of the avatars, more damage. Sounds like fun. Lets see what my warriror got: i can buff the dervish next to me even more.
armor doesn't stack anymore. Thus Avatar of Balthazar is crap if you have a warrior adding +100 armor, which overrides the +40 from avatar of Balthazar. The only added benefit would be +33% movement speed and holy damage, which can easily be replicated with heart of holy flame and pious haste.

I don't see how a Dervish is suddenly more fun or playable just because you can run avatars. It was an existing facet of the Dervish, the PvE skills just cut down the downtime.

ArKaiN

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jan 2007

Lotus Branca[Lbr]

Mo/Me

Quote:
Originally Posted by LifeInfusion
armor doesn't stack anymore. Thus Avatar of Balthazar is crap if you have a warrior adding +100 armor, which overrides the +40 from avatar of Balthazar. The only added benefit would be +33% movement speed and holy damage, which can easily be replicated with heart of holy flame and pious haste.

I don't see how a Dervish is suddenly more fun or playable just because you can run avatars. It was an existing facet of the Dervish, the PvE skills just cut down the downtime.
the +100 armor skill doesn't affect self.
If you seriously can't see why having the avatars up permanently is really, really powerful, you need to go read what they do.

Voltar

Voltar

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: May 2006

My dog let's me crash at her place.

POB

R/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Solar Light
its only reallly exploitable on a tank
or 55-like buld foir solo-farming...DOH!
oh...wait...was that target other ally? if so then nm...

dargon

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: May 2005

The Seraphim Knights [TSK]

R/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Narcism
Use Whirlwind Attack with a Scythe...
or a hammer It's really not a bad skill at all.

dargon

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: May 2005

The Seraphim Knights [TSK]

R/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Solar Light
the sunspear monk skill is not overpowered, you would reliabily need to cast it on a ally that has tons of things hitting them at a constant basis, which doesnt work well since enemys tend to switch targets often, plus, the party healing is wasted unless the party is taking damage overall, like degen or enemys spreading pressure, which means one persons not getting hit enough to exploit seed of life.

its only reallly exploitable on a tank ( partys health is already fine for the most part of the tank has the aggro, or a bonder (anyone can figure this out) and the bonders only really useable in areas that dont have enough enchant stripping to threaten the bond integrety overall.
Heh, my guild vanquished 3 desolation zones last night (alkali pan, crystal overlook and ruptured heart). When we weren't in worms, our player monk (the others were heroes) was just loving the SS monk skill. He had a blast seeing all the 20's above everyones head as the warrior or my assassin took the brunt of the damage.

Series

Banned

Join Date: Aug 2006

Yes, because having an avatar up for 30 extra seconds is unbelievably overpowered and a +100 armor for all party members plus permanent 30% damage reduction isn't. Seriously, come on. This skill makes avatars like grenth USABLE in PvE without being overpowered in PvP, it is great! I saw several dervs running grenth with this skill recharging it. Good work Anet!

FoxBat

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Apr 2006

Amazon Basin [AB]

Mo/Me

Well, might as well let this stupid exploit out of the bag now.

Use arcane mimicry on someone/hero with Assassin's promise. Then use Assassin's promise effectively, and it will recharge your dervish form. By the time you need to recharge your form again, arcane mimicry will have recharged and you can borrow sin's promise again.

So you could always have infinite avatars... it just got waaay easier now.

Curse You

Curse You

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Apr 2006

South Pole

The Magus Order

N/Mo

Quote:
Originally Posted by ArKaiN
With the exception of ranger and mesmer, everyone got awesome skills. Have you tried the new cyclone axe in farming? a bunch of "90's" flying around.
Perma avatar is cool, of course. And everyone had thought of it 20 seconds after the update was released -_-
You don't think that being able to affect all foes in the area of your target is powerful? If you use Ether Nightmare followed by Cry of Pain, you can get some decent (mesmer-wise) damage.