When I was checking the equipment of my old toons to see if they are ready for eotn, I realised I never changed their runes and insignia from the limited choices they had during prophesies.
To give and example : My elementalist had minor runes of fire, water, air, earth and energy storage but no vigor at all. My armor was pyromancers before and were converted to insignia. I also have a second set of armour with sup runes for a 55 build. (Most of my characters were set up like this, so I can change between minor and sup runes at will. The others had room for a vigour rune though. :-)
I think I'll be spending some time reequiping them and I'd like people's views on what they consider the best set of insignia/runes for certain professions.
Here is my view :
Most of my builds revolve arround use of one 2 attribute lines (1 + the primary) and some utility functions that either require little or no attributes and might come from my secondary profession. That means I should only have 2 attribute runes and the others can be bonus health or energy.
Runes : I think I'll be using 1 Sup attribute rune, 1 minor primary attribute rune, 1 Sup vigour rune, 2 attunument runes except for my elementalist who has energy storage and should have 2 vitae's instead of attunement. Not sure about warriors, assassins and dervishes who tend to take most damage and might need the extra health, but I'm still inclined to go with more energy for them.
Insignia : I want my insgnia to give me an armour boost depending on a condtition I'm going to be meeting almost all the time. For my Ele and Dervish who are allways enchanted these will be blessed insignia.
For the others I'm not sure though and advice is welcome. My necro for instance usually does curses and has no enchantments on his skillbar. But can he count on monks enchanting him when taking damage ? Blighters or Stalward might be just as interesting or shall I go for radiant ?
I stated interest in the best insignia. I know that the 4 energy or 20 heath won't make much difference in PvE most of the time and staying with a variety of minors linked to each attribute is more flexible. My curses necro with a minor blood rune is not bothered by it, but clearly attunement or vitae would be "better".
Please state your ideas either as general guidelines, generic or profession specific.
Discussion : Best Insignia/Runes for each profession for PvE.
odly
Alperuzi
I just load up Radiant + attunement runes on most of my characters and heroes. IMO energy is the most valuable asset in the game. You are pretty much useless with full health but 3 energy left unless you are relying on adrenal skills.
There are only two exceptions to this, warriors can do with as much armor as possible, making sentinels the better insignia option, and vitae is also as good as attunement. Paragons are similar to this as well.
And rangers, they use stances to survive most of the time, plus you have expertise to save energy therefore making the vitae runes more useful than attunement runes. The ranger insignia line, again IMO, is not as effective as other insignia lines, so anything here will do.
Of course the above is from a PvE POV, in PvP I guess every tiny bit of advantage counts, so can't say much about that.
There are only two exceptions to this, warriors can do with as much armor as possible, making sentinels the better insignia option, and vitae is also as good as attunement. Paragons are similar to this as well.
And rangers, they use stances to survive most of the time, plus you have expertise to save energy therefore making the vitae runes more useful than attunement runes. The ranger insignia line, again IMO, is not as effective as other insignia lines, so anything here will do.
Of course the above is from a PvE POV, in PvP I guess every tiny bit of advantage counts, so can't say much about that.
zwei2stein
It's simple.
Survivor insignia are the way to go.
They are 100% dependable and unconditional.
They help you against being spiked down and give monks titme to react with prot.
They work versus every type of damage.
They actually allow you to afford sup rune.
Only other insignia that are worth using are when they are part of build. Like earth elemental insignia.
When runes to fill unused spots go, again, its health runes.
As far as runes go, only two charactes justify having Sup attribute rune: MM necromancer and someone going 55 hp. Thou, nothing beats having multiple headpieces each with different grade of rune.
Dont use Attunement runes of Radiant insignia, rather get good energy management. Armors with radiants were good in prophecies times where there was no other choice, but game has evolved since.
Survivor insignia are the way to go.
They are 100% dependable and unconditional.
They help you against being spiked down and give monks titme to react with prot.
They work versus every type of damage.
They actually allow you to afford sup rune.
Only other insignia that are worth using are when they are part of build. Like earth elemental insignia.
When runes to fill unused spots go, again, its health runes.
As far as runes go, only two charactes justify having Sup attribute rune: MM necromancer and someone going 55 hp. Thou, nothing beats having multiple headpieces each with different grade of rune.
Dont use Attunement runes of Radiant insignia, rather get good energy management. Armors with radiants were good in prophecies times where there was no other choice, but game has evolved since.
Bryant Again
On my warrior I'm a big fan of the brawler insignia. I think it's awesome but I never really pay attention anymore...
As for Runes for my war I go weapon, tactics, strength, vigor X, then whatever. Probably the one that reduces Blind duration, since there's no greater warrior gimp than not being able to see (not being able to move is a problem as well, but there's no runes preventing that).
Hard for me to say though since I'm PvE.
As for Runes for my war I go weapon, tactics, strength, vigor X, then whatever. Probably the one that reduces Blind duration, since there's no greater warrior gimp than not being able to see (not being able to move is a problem as well, but there's no runes preventing that).
Hard for me to say though since I'm PvE.
Avarre
Quote:
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Originally Posted by zwei2stein
It's simple.
Survivor insignia are the way to go. They are 100% dependable and unconditional. They help you against being spiked down and give monks titme to react with prot. They work versus every type of damage. They actually allow you to afford sup rune. |
The only time something is better than health is when you can get a reliable +conditional armor bonus, and then you have to take into account +dmg skills that ignore it... so health tends to be best.
Stormlord Alex
For my ele? Survivor's all the way.
2 head pieces for each element, one with a Sup rune for maximising damage output in PvE, one with a minor for the rare situations I accrue DP in PvE, and for PvP.
Then sup vigor, minor E-Storage, and Vitae on the rest.
Also, a set of boots with a minor Elemental rune in each, for when I'm running a secondary element.
You really don't need Radiant as an ele. Unless you suck.
2 head pieces for each element, one with a Sup rune for maximising damage output in PvE, one with a minor for the rare situations I accrue DP in PvE, and for PvP.
Then sup vigor, minor E-Storage, and Vitae on the rest.
Also, a set of boots with a minor Elemental rune in each, for when I'm running a secondary element.
You really don't need Radiant as an ele. Unless you suck.
Antheus
Since there's no one rule, and everything is build dependant...
Health should be a priority. The first time this became truly critical was with introduction of DoA. Having ~400 health there means one-hit kill. This thinking transfers well to hard mode as well. With unconditional weapon mods, I prefer to keep health on everything over 530, 550 if possible. 600 wouldn't hurt either.
Everything else... whatever your build requires. Perhaps more energy for casters, an extra minor rune, some specific insignia such as bloodstained....
But health is the way to go without exception. There's more than enough energy management skills, and almost without exception, monks will be protecting you more than any +armor mod can. Exception to this are enchant hostile areas, but those tend to be coupled with high degen, not heavy damage - one more reason for high health.
Also - the only build where I still sup rune in PvE is the MM. All others use exclusively minors, or a single major. The 5 points of damage in a nuker, or 2 points of extra healing won't save you in the long run - but 30-50 extra health will.
Obvious exception to this are builds that rely on certain weird and possibly area-specific traits. For everything else - health first, everything else second.
Health should be a priority. The first time this became truly critical was with introduction of DoA. Having ~400 health there means one-hit kill. This thinking transfers well to hard mode as well. With unconditional weapon mods, I prefer to keep health on everything over 530, 550 if possible. 600 wouldn't hurt either.
Everything else... whatever your build requires. Perhaps more energy for casters, an extra minor rune, some specific insignia such as bloodstained....
But health is the way to go without exception. There's more than enough energy management skills, and almost without exception, monks will be protecting you more than any +armor mod can. Exception to this are enchant hostile areas, but those tend to be coupled with high degen, not heavy damage - one more reason for high health.
Also - the only build where I still sup rune in PvE is the MM. All others use exclusively minors, or a single major. The 5 points of damage in a nuker, or 2 points of extra healing won't save you in the long run - but 30-50 extra health will.
Obvious exception to this are builds that rely on certain weird and possibly area-specific traits. For everything else - health first, everything else second.
Divinus Stella
Monk/Derv/Ele = Blessed
Necro = Tormentors or Radiant, depends on the build and situation.
Paragon = Centurion
Mesmer = entirely depends on the build
Warrior = Sentinel/Dreadnought
Ritualist = build dependant, but you dont wanna be stuck at 60AL while holding an item.
Overall your better with an easy conditonal armor bonus than a health boost, i really see no argument for health in PvE since theres no dangerous spike potential and DP should never stack up above 15%, even then you have stacks of items dedicated to DP removal if your in a tight spot.
As for runes you dont really need superiors on a lot of professions, fire elementalists are best with a superior but its entirely choice, aslong as your health doesnt fall below 455 with a decent armor level of 70-80 your fine.
Necro = Tormentors or Radiant, depends on the build and situation.
Paragon = Centurion
Mesmer = entirely depends on the build
Warrior = Sentinel/Dreadnought
Ritualist = build dependant, but you dont wanna be stuck at 60AL while holding an item.
Overall your better with an easy conditonal armor bonus than a health boost, i really see no argument for health in PvE since theres no dangerous spike potential and DP should never stack up above 15%, even then you have stacks of items dedicated to DP removal if your in a tight spot.
As for runes you dont really need superiors on a lot of professions, fire elementalists are best with a superior but its entirely choice, aslong as your health doesnt fall below 455 with a decent armor level of 70-80 your fine.
ValaOfTheFens
The insignia depend on what you want to do and you play style. I've found that more that 2 Sup Runes before level 20 is bad. The other day I had Melonni at under 200 health!! My Necro, which is my main toon, has 2 Radiant sets(Curses and 55) and 1 completely weird set(MM). Her MM armor has 3 MM insignia, 1 Survivor insignia, and 1 Bloodstained insignia. I made MM armor b/c I used to think you could MM anything. *lol* 
Tijger
Hmm...I have pondered this as well especially for my warrior char.
Currently I'm at 590hp/515hp (sup weapon rune) standard without Survivor insignia's but with all Dreadnoughts to basically make me AL90 + 10 vs physical.
I have wondered if full survivor would be worth it, basically the choice is between +10 AL or 40hp, not sure which is more effective though.
Currently I'm at 590hp/515hp (sup weapon rune) standard without Survivor insignia's but with all Dreadnoughts to basically make me AL90 + 10 vs physical.
I have wondered if full survivor would be worth it, basically the choice is between +10 AL or 40hp, not sure which is more effective though.
makosi
Each of the following have max vigor rune affordable - Superior because it's so comparatively inexpensive than in the past.
Ele: Blessed. My ele uses attunements 99% of the time. I use one superior rune for the head-piece, minor energy storage and 2 Viate runes.
Ranger: Superior rune on the relevent head-piece with 5 Radiant insignias, minor expertise and 2 Attunement runes.
Warrior: Survivor insignias, superior head-piece, minor strength + tactics, 1 Vitae rune.
Monk: I struggled to deice on monk insignias so I chose a mixutre of Survivor and Blessed.
Necro: Radiant all the way with Attunement runesand minor Soul Reaping. Superior runes on head pieces.
Mesmer: I chose radiant whereas Survivor is probably best. Mesmer-specific insignias aren't great.
Ele: Blessed. My ele uses attunements 99% of the time. I use one superior rune for the head-piece, minor energy storage and 2 Viate runes.
Ranger: Superior rune on the relevent head-piece with 5 Radiant insignias, minor expertise and 2 Attunement runes.
Warrior: Survivor insignias, superior head-piece, minor strength + tactics, 1 Vitae rune.
Monk: I struggled to deice on monk insignias so I chose a mixutre of Survivor and Blessed.
Necro: Radiant all the way with Attunement runesand minor Soul Reaping. Superior runes on head pieces.
Mesmer: I chose radiant whereas Survivor is probably best. Mesmer-specific insignias aren't great.
Bryant Again
Makosi makes a pretty good point about Sup. runes and headpieces. I always put my Sup. runes on headpieces that have the same attribute, so I can change my build easily while only having to switch one piece of armor (and not cramping up mah style).
Prof Of Black
Radiant for all imo.
That +35 hp isnt that good IMO; dont flame kthxbai
~Prof.
That +35 hp isnt that good IMO; dont flame kthxbai
~Prof.
makosi
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Prof Of Black
Radiant for all imo.
That +35 hp isnt that good IMO; dont flame kthxbai ~Prof. |
makosi
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Prof Of Black
Radiant for all imo.
That +35 hp isnt that good IMO; dont flame kthxbai ~Prof. |
Remmy
I've been debating this same question of late but more from a Hero perspective than my own characters. In addition to OP's discussion, do you use the same or different insginia/rune combos on Heroes?
Yichi
Quote:
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Originally Posted by zwei2stein
It's simple.
Survivor insignia are the way to go. They are 100% dependable and unconditional. They help you against being spiked down and give monks titme to react with prot. They work versus every type of damage. They actually allow you to afford sup rune. Only other insignia that are worth using are when they are part of build. Like earth elemental insignia. When runes to fill unused spots go, again, its health runes. As far as runes go, only two charactes justify having Sup attribute rune: MM necromancer and someone going 55 hp. Thou, nothing beats having multiple headpieces each with different grade of rune. Dont use Attunement runes of Radiant insignia, rather get good energy management. Armors with radiants were good in prophecies times where there was no other choice, but game has evolved since. |
Vermilion Okeanos
In PvE, monsters tend to attack the lowest HP/armor target when they do have the chance to pick. So that need to be taken into consideration as well.
I believe lower hp are chosen by monsters over lower armor. However, armor rating doesn't change much, while health change all the time due to DP. The reason someone who died first, often will die again is purely because monsters all target him/her as priority for the lower hp (doing stupid things aside).
I believe lower hp are chosen by monsters over lower armor. However, armor rating doesn't change much, while health change all the time due to DP. The reason someone who died first, often will die again is purely because monsters all target him/her as priority for the lower hp (doing stupid things aside).
MithranArkanere
This is GW. There is not 'best' there is 'best suited for'.
Boops
Minor Energy Storage is a waste imo.
Avarre
The only useful thing about Radiant is you can sell it to buy inscriptions that don't suck. There are very, very, very few cases where an extra few energy on your cap make any difference - your energy consumption and management remain the same, so all it does is add more time until you have no energy and terrible ways to get it back. On the other hand, survivor can save you in cases, and conditional armor (area/build dependent) can reduce overall pressure.
The only case ever to use radiant is if you need to get off a specific chain nonstop, such as a SS UW necro, or if other inscriptions are irrelevant (55 monks).
The only case ever to use radiant is if you need to get off a specific chain nonstop, such as a SS UW necro, or if other inscriptions are irrelevant (55 monks).
fenix
Warrior: Survivor
Monk: Survivor
Ele: Survivor
Necro: Survivor
Mesmer: Survivor
Ranger: Radiant
Paragon: Centurion
Assassin: Survivor
Rit: Survivor
Dervish: Survivor
See a pattern?
Health > Energy. So throw on a Vitae or 2 as well. And less sups = better. I use minors almost all the time, and I must say, ~640hp owns.
Monk: Survivor
Ele: Survivor
Necro: Survivor
Mesmer: Survivor
Ranger: Radiant
Paragon: Centurion
Assassin: Survivor
Rit: Survivor
Dervish: Survivor
See a pattern?
Health > Energy. So throw on a Vitae or 2 as well. And less sups = better. I use minors almost all the time, and I must say, ~640hp owns.
Racthoh
Survivor on everything, only toon I run a superior on is my warrior but I have a helm swap to a minor in case of DP.
Weapon swaps > Radiant. Press of a button and your energy jumps by 30.
Weapon swaps > Radiant. Press of a button and your energy jumps by 30.
SpeedyKQ
For insignias, I go all radiant all the time, except blessed for my ele and tormentor's for my necro. Those two professions have fewer energy problems.
For runes, yeah, usually a superior on the headpiece, a minor in the primary attribute, maybe one other minor depending on the build, a superior vigor, and fill in the rest with attunement.
For runes, yeah, usually a superior on the headpiece, a minor in the primary attribute, maybe one other minor depending on the build, a superior vigor, and fill in the rest with attunement.
Seef II
Survivor ftw. Nothing better than being the monk that's not targeted, living the easy life while your counterpart with the superior has to kite.
Alleji
Never use radiant insignia or health runes. Maximum energy is useless beyond first 30 seconds of a fight. What matters is energy management and runes don't provide you with that.
So go with vitae and either +HP insignia or +armor/condition if you know you're always going to meet that condition. (i.e. blessed insignia for ele, because you'll always have attune up)
So go with vitae and either +HP insignia or +armor/condition if you know you're always going to meet that condition. (i.e. blessed insignia for ele, because you'll always have attune up)
HawkofStorms
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Boops
Minor Energy Storage is a waste imo.
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Minor Energy Storage is a non-stacking attunement rune. I don't think I've met many eles who don't have one. If prices at the trader are a guideline, its clearly popular.
Boops
Quote:
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Originally Posted by HawkofStorms
Lol. Don't forget that the +3 energy makes it superior to attunement runes, as well as boosting your energy storage attributes.
Minor Energy Storage is a non-stacking attunement rune. I don't think I've met many eles who don't have one. If prices at the trader are a guideline, its clearly popular. |
Longasc
I like to use the following runes, mostly for heroes, for my own toons I have multiple different sets but mostly similar preferences
Rangers: Beastmaster (they are mostly B/P)
Elementalist: Hydromancer or Survivor (my own Ele uses Blessed) + 2x Vitae
Monks: Survivor
Warriors: Brawler or Dreadnaught
Dervish: Blessed
Paragon: Centurion
Assassin: Nightstalker
Ritualist: Radiant
Necro: Radiant for Curses, MM for Minion Masters. All get Bloodstained Boots.
Mesmers: Radiant for my own, Prodigy's for my Heroes, as I do not use them at all.
Rangers: Beastmaster (they are mostly B/P)
Elementalist: Hydromancer or Survivor (my own Ele uses Blessed) + 2x Vitae
Monks: Survivor
Warriors: Brawler or Dreadnaught
Dervish: Blessed
Paragon: Centurion
Assassin: Nightstalker
Ritualist: Radiant
Necro: Radiant for Curses, MM for Minion Masters. All get Bloodstained Boots.
Mesmers: Radiant for my own, Prodigy's for my Heroes, as I do not use them at all.
Hobbs
I was gonna have radiant on my monk as just 5 more energy can allow you to heal a party member that is on the brink of death up to a reasonable amount, then I noticed that this would leave me with <500 health which imo is a big no no on any profession so I went for survivor 
. My warrior uses all survivor, minor strength+tactics, sup absoption, sup vigor and a minor rune in the head for the atrribute i'm playing except I use a major when i'm playing axe, I dunno why it's just alway been like that 
Coraline Jones
I don't understand this hate toward Radiant insignia. The way that I see it is, it depends on both the build that you're running and your profession.
If you're an elementalist, an extra +8 energy isn't very helpful since they have Energy Storage and several Attunements and Glyphs (and even Elites) that can help with energy recovery. But if you're a warrior running an energy-dependant axe build, it could be pretty useful as +8 energy is a 40% increase. I mean, not everybody is going to have access to a Zealous mod.
Any insignia that you use can work well depending on the situation. For instance, most people think that "Hydromancer" insignia is worthless, but I used them on my heroes as cheap temporary upgrades, and I was surprised that enemy casters really did target them less frequently due to the inherent +10 to +25 bonus armor vs. elemental damage.
There was a huge and heated topic on almost the exact same topic not that long ago. The question was whether Bonus Armor or Bonus Health mods on weapons were better. This became a source of endless debate and actually it's still not resolved. The pricing on mods suggests that Health is more important, but this elevated price is probably due to people trying to counter the health sacrifice from using Superior Runes, and not so much about getting lots of health. Keep in mind that in really hard areas (or Hard Mode), it doesn't really matter what your health is, as you're going to need excellent Protection Prayers covering you since the +35 health will barely cover a single sword strike from a boss monster.
My recommendation is... Well, you know your build. What seems to be the problem? If you're having energy problems, maybe Radiant isn't so bad. If you're constantly getting aggro (and you're not tanking), then maybe Blessed might get some monsters off you. Are you getting hit a lot by degen damage mostly? Survivor will raise your health pool giving you several more seconds of life.
If you're an elementalist, an extra +8 energy isn't very helpful since they have Energy Storage and several Attunements and Glyphs (and even Elites) that can help with energy recovery. But if you're a warrior running an energy-dependant axe build, it could be pretty useful as +8 energy is a 40% increase. I mean, not everybody is going to have access to a Zealous mod.
Any insignia that you use can work well depending on the situation. For instance, most people think that "Hydromancer" insignia is worthless, but I used them on my heroes as cheap temporary upgrades, and I was surprised that enemy casters really did target them less frequently due to the inherent +10 to +25 bonus armor vs. elemental damage.
There was a huge and heated topic on almost the exact same topic not that long ago. The question was whether Bonus Armor or Bonus Health mods on weapons were better. This became a source of endless debate and actually it's still not resolved. The pricing on mods suggests that Health is more important, but this elevated price is probably due to people trying to counter the health sacrifice from using Superior Runes, and not so much about getting lots of health. Keep in mind that in really hard areas (or Hard Mode), it doesn't really matter what your health is, as you're going to need excellent Protection Prayers covering you since the +35 health will barely cover a single sword strike from a boss monster.
My recommendation is... Well, you know your build. What seems to be the problem? If you're having energy problems, maybe Radiant isn't so bad. If you're constantly getting aggro (and you're not tanking), then maybe Blessed might get some monsters off you. Are you getting hit a lot by degen damage mostly? Survivor will raise your health pool giving you several more seconds of life.
Tarus From Taros
Just curious if all the pro-survivor people agree to use this on Hero's?
MithranArkanere
3 radiant(+1 energy each) + 2 energy: One more use of a 5 energy skill healing.
That's more than 25 energy Survivors provide.
You have to think forward.
That's more than 25 energy Survivors provide.
You have to think forward.
Tarus From Taros
Quote:
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Originally Posted by MithranArkanere
3 radiant(+1 energy each) + 2 energy: One more use of a 5 energy skill healing.
That's more than 25 energy Survivors provide. You have to think forward. |
Now for argumentative sake let's assume you have the popular rune/insignia setup here.
Runes:1 Vigor,1 Attribute,1 Primary Attribute and 2 of Attune or Vitae.
Insignias: Full Radiant or Survivor.
That equates to: 12 Energy Vs. 60HP.
From a Monk's perspective I would much rather have all my Hero casters have that extra energy Vs health because I know the odds of me being able to keep them up are extremely good. If they die then it's probably for the best because at that point the entire party is exhausted of energy and the waiting time for an ele to regain energy vs health is a big difference. I'm the type who likes to go through things as efficiently as possible.
Keep in mind that I'm simply using Myself (as a monk) and my Hero's (all casters) as an example here. If my party is about to be worked I really don't think the extra 60HP is going to make a difference because the casters probably won't have enough time to throw off enough spells(due to lack of energy) in the time period to kill all the enemies before the extra 60HP is negated by their deaths.
I've found in my play experience when my party is about to be wiped it's due to the lack of energy all around from my Hero's/Hench and not from inept monking/lack of health. Now if you have a poor monk on your team then I guess I see your need for Survivors/Vitae. The best defense is an offense IMO.
Ensign
In general I like +armor more than +health in PvE. Bursts of armor ignoring damage are very rare in PvE, it's almost all big chunks of armor respecting damage from high level foes (against which armor is king) and degen (against which neither is terribly relevant). +health is good stuff to have around if DP starts to accumulate, which is why it's the set of choice if you have only one...however if you have more than one, using a +armor set most of the time is generally better.
On weapons I tend to grab health simply because I don't want to carry a health and an armor version of everything, and even if I did it would be a big pain to reset all my weapon swaps on the fly.
I only touch radiants in a couple of situations; first, on characters with low armor caps that spend their energy in quick bursts (Assassins and, to an extent, Dervishes). Usually you can adjust your play to fit in the normal cap, but sometimes you need to raise the cap a little bit to make it work. Second, when your max energy affects your energy management, either via skills like Mind Blast, Second Wind, or Ether Prism; or via mechanics like Soul Reaping that give energy back in big bursts. Again, most of the time you can adjust in other ways, but raising your energy cap is sometimes the best option.
But usually people use radiants and attunements because they are bad and don't know how to manage their energy at all.
On weapons I tend to grab health simply because I don't want to carry a health and an armor version of everything, and even if I did it would be a big pain to reset all my weapon swaps on the fly.
I only touch radiants in a couple of situations; first, on characters with low armor caps that spend their energy in quick bursts (Assassins and, to an extent, Dervishes). Usually you can adjust your play to fit in the normal cap, but sometimes you need to raise the cap a little bit to make it work. Second, when your max energy affects your energy management, either via skills like Mind Blast, Second Wind, or Ether Prism; or via mechanics like Soul Reaping that give energy back in big bursts. Again, most of the time you can adjust in other ways, but raising your energy cap is sometimes the best option.
But usually people use radiants and attunements because they are bad and don't know how to manage their energy at all.
kazjun
There is no best, it all depends on what you are.
My ranger uses radiants to trap, beastmasters if I'm B/P or thumping or scouts if I've got a prep. Runes varies as well. Trapping I use sup wild, thumping I prefer to use minors etc. It depends on what you do.
I've you're not likely to be in the frontline, radiants are fine. My SS necro who two man's runs radiants cause she'll never be targeted. Except for when I'm drawing out the dying nightmares, so survivor does nothing for me. And if I'm MM, extra health is the last thing you want.
My main warrior runs 630 cause he'll take the brunt of all the spells and attacks when he first engages, so he needs to survive the initial spike. If I know the place is elemental heavy, then it's easier to switch to higher armour, since high armour makes a joke out of most ele damage, more than survivors.
As for heroes, I tend to pick a build for them and max out their armour for that. Olias runs only sup death, minor SR, attunements and MM armour + 1 bloodstained. My margrid runs minor expertise, minor beast then a vigor and two vitae runes with beastmaster armour. Equip them as if you were equipping yourself. Real easy to do too, since you can salvage the runes and insigs at will.
My ranger uses radiants to trap, beastmasters if I'm B/P or thumping or scouts if I've got a prep. Runes varies as well. Trapping I use sup wild, thumping I prefer to use minors etc. It depends on what you do.
I've you're not likely to be in the frontline, radiants are fine. My SS necro who two man's runs radiants cause she'll never be targeted. Except for when I'm drawing out the dying nightmares, so survivor does nothing for me. And if I'm MM, extra health is the last thing you want.
My main warrior runs 630 cause he'll take the brunt of all the spells and attacks when he first engages, so he needs to survive the initial spike. If I know the place is elemental heavy, then it's easier to switch to higher armour, since high armour makes a joke out of most ele damage, more than survivors.
As for heroes, I tend to pick a build for them and max out their armour for that. Olias runs only sup death, minor SR, attunements and MM armour + 1 bloodstained. My margrid runs minor expertise, minor beast then a vigor and two vitae runes with beastmaster armour. Equip them as if you were equipping yourself. Real easy to do too, since you can salvage the runes and insigs at will.
zwei2stein
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Tarus From Taros
Just curious if all the pro-survivor people agree to use this on Hero's?
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I would have one hero per class with survivor. Per Ensigns post, survivors wins especially when you cant change armor.
Seccond insignia of choice are +armor with condtions that hero tends to meet most of time.
If i have third hero of class, he becomes specialist and isnignia/runes are dictaded by build. if there is nothing special about him he just gets radiants.
Then, +health insigniaed hero gets most use, followed by +armor insignia one, and radiant one getting no use at all (why did i insignia him actually? nvm.)
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In gwen i noticed way more armor ignoring damage, degen overload and spikes than in other campaigns, making health once again good choice.
doinchi
For my Warrior I go with Brawler's Insignia simply because Warriors are ALWAYS attacking (Unless you've got Empathy on you.). I always run a 14 Swordsmanship build on my war, and I want to have enough points to put into tactics, so a Sentinel's Insignia did not seem like the best choice. Anyways, with some points in tactics, I can get my armour back via stances.
For my Necromancer, I go with Tormentors armour. There are very rarely any smiters worth worrying about as far as I know, so the +70 AL is very useful. I don't go with the Radiant Insignias because Soul Reaping kinda does the job for me since I can kill the enemy without much difficulty. I am also considering undertakers insignia, because you get armour when you need it the most. The lower your HP, the harder it becomes for the enemy to kill you. I think this is especially useful for Saccers and MMs who need armour when their HP is low or when they have lots of minions that they can't afford to lose control off.
For my Necromancer, I go with Tormentors armour. There are very rarely any smiters worth worrying about as far as I know, so the +70 AL is very useful. I don't go with the Radiant Insignias because Soul Reaping kinda does the job for me since I can kill the enemy without much difficulty. I am also considering undertakers insignia, because you get armour when you need it the most. The lower your HP, the harder it becomes for the enemy to kill you. I think this is especially useful for Saccers and MMs who need armour when their HP is low or when they have lots of minions that they can't afford to lose control off.
Redfeather1975
On my mesmer, I always use a sup rune on my headpiece, as I switch headpieces while adventuring depending on if I need higher damage, better mitigation, or better e-management for that particular fight.
So the only consistency I have in gear setup is I will always be carrying 4 headpieces with 4 different sup attribute runes so I always have the option of +4 to a particular attribute I may be using.
BTW, I'm with Ensign that more often mitigation>max health and e-management power>max energy in PVE.
So the only consistency I have in gear setup is I will always be carrying 4 headpieces with 4 different sup attribute runes so I always have the option of +4 to a particular attribute I may be using.
BTW, I'm with Ensign that more often mitigation>max health and e-management power>max energy in PVE.
Racthoh
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Originally Posted by Ensign
Second, when your max energy affects your energy management, either via skills like Mind Blast, Second Wind, or Ether Prism
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I find it unlikely that the extra energy is needed to receive the energy return on Mind Blast in most PvE situations. Any mob containing a physical practically guarentees a lower energy target to hit. In those off instances where the mob is comprised solely of casters it may be a different story, but they're casters so they'll ball up more easily and drop quickly to AoEs anyway. Your pool would regenerate enough before the next grouping.
Ether Prism just screams swap to a high set. Even if you're nearly dry that +30 set is going to make hitting the 50 energy return ceiling a simple chore.
Do elementalists even use Second Wind? You'd have to exhaust yourself quite a bit to get a higer return than Ether Prism, and even then the wait between fights would be atrocious.
I would agree, however, that the above skills would need a higher cap when you're expecting a zone with energy denial and interrupts (which would preventing the returns from an attunement naturally). Granted there may be a factor I am missing here, but from watching my own elementalist hero play a Mind Blast bar he rarely encounters energy issues of his own (the most common being Rodgort's into a Spellbreaker, but a PC wouldn't be so foolish).