Avatar of Balthazar

~ Dan ~

Forge Runner

Join Date: Dec 2006

D/

http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...php?t=10204939

Quote:
Balthazar: Solo-capping shrines, snaring, off-tanking (WoW term but it fits here too) and holy damage. Holy damage conversion good against many undead and some necromancers who use that extra holy damage insignia. Decent versus other tanks and Dervishes.
-PvP Capability: Decent
-PvE Capability: Better
Quote:
Balthazar: Bunch of weak buffs, hobbled together to form a weak elite. No real use, apart from flagging someone as an idiot.
-PvP Capability: None
-PvE Capability: Shit
Quote: What i propose we do with the skill:

http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...php?t=10204521

Quote: Balthazar is useless. To the max. Quote: AoB is good for pve only. Quote: AoB=worst avatar for general use Quote: Yet sill in pve AoB is good for people who wanna tank without having to put out too much effort.
Quote:
Balthazar, on the other hand, provides a small benefit that is useful in almost all situations.
Quote:
Balthazar's great for running places
Quote:
there aren't any circumstances which it is useful.
Quote:
It's a bunch of weak, half-assed, unfocussed buffs rolled into a truly subpar elite.
Quote:
It's certainly inferior to the other avatars
Quote: Or, in less, yet harsher words... "a bunch of weak buffs hobbled together to form a weak elite".

Seriously, there's nothing that Balthazar does that's worth wasting your elite on - especially when you could be spamming Eviscerate whilst being immortal, or just plain pwning face.

... Dervs have really kick ass elites. People who consider AoB even remotely worthwhile in the face of Mel or Reaper's need removing from the gene pool, for the sake of humanity.

boarderx

boarderx

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Feb 2007

[PIG]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Celestial Beaver
It isn't a good elite option for new players, since new players can cap all elite Forms by the time ethey get to Balthazar, along with some non-form elites. Why encourage new players to use a bad skill while they learn how to create builds?...it'll just set them into a downward spiral of bad choices imo. Dude, i know its not a great skill at all, but im talking about players that dont understand much about the game, and just spam skills cuz they are on their skill bar, not everyone is born able to figure out RPG games quckly, this is a skill where you dont do as much in game but theyll like it cuz it looks cool and runs fast and give them more survivability, im not trying to encourage the use of the skill, im simply saying its a skill that new players like to use.

anyway, im in the same boat as you, im not a fan of the skill, lol.
If you can achieve the same results with a non elite skill of the same profession then it is a bad skill. By that rationale AoB fails on every account.

Alot of threads i see, containing the skill Avatar Of Balthazar quickly turn into a sole debate of that skill. This is an attempt from me to gather all the points for / against that people wish to make into one thread.

So:

Discuss [skill]Avatar Of Balthazar[/skill] !!

Cebe

Cebe

The 5th Celestial Boss

Join Date: Jul 2006

Inverness, Scotland

The Cult of Scaro [WHO]

E/

As far as I can see, the ONLY thing that makes this skill even remotely special is the +40 armor. The Holy Damage conversion can be achieved with Aura of Holy Might or Heart of Holy Flame, neither of which are elite. The speed boost? Who really needs a speed boost that much in PvE, especially when you compare it with the effects of other avatars, such as the Health and Condition Immunity of Melandru, the extra energy and +damage from Lyssa and the self healing and hex removal from Dwayna. The speed boost really doesn't come close to the effects of the other avatars since it can be easily enough recreated by using non-elite skills. The armor is the only thing which makes this skill stand out, and not by much since conviction can give you an extra 24 armor anyway if you really want it that bad.

In short:

+40 Armor = "meh" at best.
33% Speed Boost = why? If I was taking a skill to let me do something 33% faster, it would be Heart of Fury for the IAS.
Elite holy damage conversion < non-elite holy damage conversion.

glountz

glountz

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Nov 2005

W/Mo

Buff AoB!
Avatar of Balthazar (E)
25 NRJ 2 cast 30 recharge 120 disable
For 15-74 seconds, you move and attack 25% faster, and gain +10...34...42 armor.

Dervish RaO FTW!

Perfected Shadow

Perfected Shadow

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Jun 2006

Zul'Aman

Umes Uranger U[bot]

Quote:
Originally Posted by glountz
Buff AoB!
Avatar of Balthazar (E)
25 NRJ 2 cast 30 recharge 120 disable
For 15-74 seconds, you move and attack 25% faster, and gain +10...34...42 armor.

Dervish Rampage Alone FTW! Fixed : )...

Allmightybob

Allmightybob

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Mar 2005

Unless I need to run from point A to point B, it never touches my skill bar.

Ninian_Grace

Ninian_Grace

Academy Page

Join Date: Sep 2007

GWOnline

P/W

its not a bad skill...for running. id did go in my skill bar back when NF was out dervish was ''the shit'' also was AoB. not anymore...

so thats a negative from me.

Str0b0

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Feb 2006

North Carolina

N/Me

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ninian_Grace
its not a bad skill...for running. id did go in my skill bar back when NF was out dervish was ''the shit'' also was AoB. not anymore...

so thats a negative from me. Even back in NF AoB was a crap skill. They haven't really done anything to it since then. It remains a crap skill to this very day and will remain a crap skill forever and ever amen.

Ninian_Grace

Ninian_Grace

Academy Page

Join Date: Sep 2007

GWOnline

P/W

Quote:
Originally Posted by Str0b0
Even back in NF AoB was a crap skill. They haven't really done anything to it since then. It remains a crap skill to this very day and will remain a crap skill forever and ever amen. too bad. Balthazar was the best looking of them all...maybe thats why noobs love the skill so much.

but hell, Anet won't do crap about the skill because it already blows. The moment GW users start to have a little fun with some skill (I.E. There's Nothing To Fear!) they nerf it. find a good, exploitable, build with AoB? Anet will nerf it and will make it blow even more.

boarderx

boarderx

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Feb 2007

[PIG]

oooo, i like the idea of a AoB buff.

but yeah AoB is replacable with other skills, but if your doing a build where holy dmg, added armor and added speed is needed then AOB is a good option.

Honestly though, it is a great skill for new players to use on their bar without having it over powered in the game, but its not like it takes a genius to learn how to utilize better skills. I havnt touched AoB in a long time.

Arkantos

Arkantos

The Greatest

Join Date: Feb 2006

W/

It's crap.

If I wanted to run, I'd much rather use [skill]Shadow Form[/skill].
If I wanted holy damage, I'd run [skill]Heart Of Holy Flame[/skill].

The +40 armor is nice, but why 40 armor?would you want to waste your elite for it?

Tyla

Emo Goth Italics

Join Date: Sep 2006

it IS a very pathetic skill,but some people like style over strength?
(imo it is verryyyyyyyyyyy ugly,but thats my opinion)
but 33% speed boost you get from pious haste
holy damage you get from heart of holy flame
40 armour that can be replaced by enchantments anyway
i mean what've you got out of other skills when you can run a much better elite?

zwei2stein

zwei2stein

Grotto Attendant

Join Date: Jun 2006

Europe

The German Order [GER]

N/

It was decent skill to give low level melloni. Thats it.

Stormlord Alex

Stormlord Alex

Grotto Attendant

Join Date: Dec 2005

Beyond the Forest of Doom, past the Cavern of Agony... on Kitten & Puppy Island

Soul of Melandru [sOm]

W/E

I got Quoted For Truth a grand total of 4 times...
Dan. Cookie. NOW.

Seriously? ... Balth blows. Ohhh yeah.
I'd kill it with Fire, personally...

Avatar of Balthazar
Elite Form
Anyone using this PoS excuse for an elite is instantly booted from the game, has their GW client uninstalled permanently, and is replaced in the party by someone marginally more useful... A level 3 Koss with Frenzy-Healsig.

... I win this thread, right?

draxynnic

draxynnic

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Nov 2005

[CRFH]

Quote:
Originally Posted by boarderx
but yeah AoB is replacable with other skills, but if your doing a build where holy dmg, added armor and added speed is needed then AOB is a good option. By even suggesting that it can be useful for anything at all even with a very big "but", you're probably going to be slammed and labelled as a noob.

On the whole, there are certainly better elites for most situations, once you learn how to make use of the synergies the competition offers. It probably could do with an attack speed buff or some other tweak.

(I must also admit to some amusement at the irony of killing the avatar of the god of fire with fire...)

Coloneh

Coloneh

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Nov 2006

D/W

needs an attack speed boost either instead of the run buff or in addition to it.

jesh

jesh

Forge Runner

Join Date: May 2005

San Diego, CA

Penguin Village

Mo/

I once was playing with some random guy who wanted to cap some elite forms. I helped him cap AoB first, since it was really close to the base and he wanted them all.
To my utter amazement and delight, his first comment on reading the description was:



"Sweet I can spam Frenzy with this!"



I have yet to think of a better use for it. They should buff Frenzy to -40 armor instead of double damage.
I have to completely agree with the other posters who've been QFT at the top.
Conviction+Aura of Holy Might > AoB
I like the idea of RoA... but instead make it 33% for both, or even 40 or 50. Then take off the extra armor and make it: "Enemies who attack you while in this form are set on fire for 0..3 seconds."

:EDIT:
Or.. make it adjacent allies!


Avatar of Balthazar [E]
15 energy, 2 sec cast, 30 recharge, 120 disable
"For 15-74 seconds, you and all adjacent allies move and attack 25% faster. Whenever you take damage, this form deals 0-15% back to the source."

Darkside

Darkside

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Dec 2006

Chantry of Secrets

[Angl]

D/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Coloneh
needs an attack speed boost either instead of the run buff or in addition to it. That would be cool. I'd probably be more tempted to use Balthazar if it had 33% IAS.

Anyway, here's my opinion on AoB...

I've been playing a dervish for about 10 months and in that time I haven't really used AoB that often. I've used it when people want a run since the 33% run speed is nice...and I have used it a few times when people wanted me to tank since +40 is nice. A lot of people here have snuffed at it but I do notice I take quite a bit less damage with the +40 armor boost. The holy damage is also nice in areas with lots of undead and just in general since a lot of monsters are not resistant to it. Yes you can get holy damage from other skills but with AoB it's always there without having to activate another skill which is nice.

So that's all great stuff unfortunately for AoB you can get a decent armor boost from Conviction or from Great Dwarven Armor. You can get holy damage from Aura of Holy Might or Heart of Holy Flame. Dervish's also have access to a lot of speed boost skills in the wind prayer line...so if you really wanna run faster you can always do that. (personally I don't care how fast I walk/run). That is what kills Balthazar. You can get all the bonuses using other skills...without wasting an elite spot.

Lyssa has damage to foes activating skills and big + to energy. No combination of skills can do that. Making Lyssa unique.

Melandru has condition immunity and +100 to life. Again making this avatar special.

Dwayna has self heal on attack as well as hex removal all in one package making her a great choice as well.

Grenth I don't have much to say about he is pretty useless in PVE.

In closing I just wanna say that Avatar of Balthazar doesn't suck. I always see everyone bashing the skill and it's not that bad. It's just that the other avatars are most useful to build a character around.

boarderx

boarderx

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Feb 2007

[PIG]

Quote:
Originally Posted by draxynnic
By even suggesting that it can be useful for anything at all even with a very big "but", you're probably going to be slammed and labelled as a noob. all i said is that its an option, lol. its a good elite option for new players, combining skills to get the same results can be a pain to new players...to NEW PLAYERS, lol.

believe it or not new players can have trouble understanding how to combine skils

Anyway, back on topic, AoB need a buff cuz its a crap skill, i used to love it in FOW but replaced it after i learned more about the derv

Cebe

Cebe

The 5th Celestial Boss

Join Date: Jul 2006

Inverness, Scotland

The Cult of Scaro [WHO]

E/

Quote:
Originally Posted by boarderx
all i said is that its an option, lol. its a good elite option for new players, combining skills to get the same results can be a pain to new players...to NEW PLAYERS, lol.

believe it or not new players can have trouble understanding how to combine skils. It isn't a good elite option for new players, since new players can cap all elite Forms by the time ethey get to Balthazar, along with some non-form elites. Why encourage new players to use a bad skill while they learn how to create builds?...it'll just set them into a downward spiral of bad choices imo.

Str0b0

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Feb 2006

North Carolina

N/Me

Quote:
Originally Posted by Darkside
In closing I just wanna say that Avatar of Balthazar doesn't suck. I always see everyone bashing the skill and it's not that bad. It's just that the other avatars are most useful to build a character around. Ok I already went over this in the other thread but apparently it bears repeating here. If a skill is worse than the alternatives then that makes that skill a bad skill. Worse than the alternatives means it is inferior and inferior = bad. It is not possible to defend AoB by saying, "It's not bad just the other skills of the same type are better." That means it is BAD. It's not rocket science. It is simple English.

~ Dan ~

Forge Runner

Join Date: Dec 2006

D/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Str0b0
Ok I already went over this in the other thread but apparently it bears repeating here. That was kinda the reason i made this. Hopefully this thread can make clear to everyone that AoB = crap. So that i can have a link to ping when someone tells me it's good

Saves it spiraling into tons of other threads where [skill]Avatar Of Balthazar[/skill] isn't the center of the topic.

draxynnic

draxynnic

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Nov 2005

[CRFH]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Darkside
So that's all great stuff unfortunately for AoB you can get a decent armor boost from Conviction or from Great Dwarven Armor. You can get holy damage from Aura of Holy Might or Heart of Holy Flame. Dervish's also have access to a lot of speed boost skills in the wind prayer line...so if you really wanna run faster you can always do that. (personally I don't care how fast I walk/run). That is what kills Balthazar. You can get all the bonuses using other skills...without wasting an elite spot. On the other hand, with Balthazar you can get all three without using three slots - and all at the same time, which you can't get by combining Conviction with Pious Haste. It also has a slight armour advantage over Conviction, counterbalanced by not having the other effects of Aura/Heart.

That's where the advantage lies - it's collapsing multiple boosts into one skill (two if you count Eternal Aura to keep it up). You're basically trading your elite slot in order to have up to two extra normal slots. Of course, if you're not using all three boosts, or if you want, say, Holy Might for its other effects, its efficiency drops remarkably - although the holy damage is probably the least important (Balthazar is still provides better armour than Conviction on the armour side, and on the speed side doesn't require Wind Prayers or losing your armour bonus in order to run as the Conviction/Pious Haste combination would require. So by that measure, Balthazar/Eternal Aura is probably better than Conviction/Pious Haste in the same way Energy Drain is better than Energy Tap... although admittedly it's been a long time since I've used EDrain).

Stormlord Alex

Stormlord Alex

Grotto Attendant

Join Date: Dec 2005

Beyond the Forest of Doom, past the Cavern of Agony... on Kitten & Puppy Island

Soul of Melandru [sOm]

W/E

Quote:
Originally Posted by draxynnic
On the other hand, with Balthazar you can get all three without using three slots - and all at the same time, which you can't get by combining Conviction with Pious Haste. It also has a slight armour advantage over Conviction, counterbalanced by not having the other effects of Aura/Heart.

That's where the advantage lies - it's collapsing multiple boosts into one skill (two if you count Eternal Aura to keep it up). You're basically trading your elite slot in order to have up to two extra normal slots. Of course, if you're not using all three boosts, or if you want, say, Holy Might for its other effects, its efficiency drops remarkably - although the holy damage is probably the least important (Balthazar is still provides better armour than Conviction on the armour side, and on the speed side doesn't require Wind Prayers or losing your armour bonus in order to run as the Conviction/Pious Haste combination would require. So by that measure, Balthazar/Eternal Aura is probably better than Conviction/Pious Haste in the same way Energy Drain is better than Energy Tap... although admittedly it's been a long time since I've used EDrain).
Uhh yes AoB does downright suck. Grenth was never conceived as a PvE avatar and it's painfully obvious so saying,"AoB doesn't suck because Grenth sucks worse." isn't a valid position either. I have never advocated that you ned to take several skills to make up for the buffs of AoB. In fact my position has been that of the buffs AoB does give only the armor is remotely useful and even that is usually outclassed by earth prayers skills that are in your bar anyway. I guess though I'll have to break this down again.

The Speed Buff

This is arguably the most useless buff that AoB gives you. I have never in my entire time of playing this game ever needed a speed buff for PvE play, not even for those few missions where you have to catch someone or what have you. The only use for a speed boost in PvE is if you are running someone somewhere and running someone to a location IS NOT PvE. So you can forget about taking any skills to augment your speed because it's a pointless buff.

The Holy Damage
Why? Who cares about holy damage? Undead are not so prevalent in the game that holy damage should be something you are that concerned about. Other than that there is no point in a holy damage conversion. It's easier and more effective to take another avatar like say Lyssa and just put Heart of Holy Flame on there. Sure it can be stripped but even if it is stripped you cause burning at the end. Lyssa+Holy Damage vs undead = much more impressive damage than AoB ever thought about. Granted this is substituting a skill for AoB but the times that you really need holy damage are so few and far between that it barely impacts your bar.

The Armor Buff
Sure you get +40 armor which cuts damage by half. That's all fine and dandy but armor doesn't do anything to mitigate degen which can be caused by poison, burning, bleeding, or hexes. all of these things are prevalent in just about every area of the game. I won't even go into the various armor ignoring damages that one encounters in the course of the game. In the end though this is the only remotely worthwhile buff that AoB gives so you are using it for just the +40 armor and in comparison to the other avatars and elite skills at your disposal that's just weak. By and large Mystic Regeneration covers most of the damage you take making the issue of armor a non issue. Since Mystic Regen is in most dervishes bars anyway you're just double covering an already more than effective skill with a crappy elite.

The Conclusion
AoB only gives you one worthwhile buff while the other avatars give you at least two. This makes it an inferior choice in comparison to the other avatar skills. It offers you no damage buffs at all which makes it inferior to the scythe elites. It offers no condition for you to spread around making it inferior to EDA and even Grenth's Grasp. Even without the speed boost VoS makes a better runner because of spell immunity. In fact I would go so far as to say that even Grenth's Grasp is better than AoB because at least it offers a cripple to keep foes in range of your attacks instead of a crappy speed boost that allows you to chase down one foe at a time. AoB is inferior to the other elites and is only better than conviction by a slim margin. What part of that is not flat out bad? It is inferior to every other dervish elite and is so close in effect to a non elite skill that is worth it to take the non elite armor buff and pick another elite. That my friend is a BAD skill.

SpeedyG99

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Oct 2007

Pirates Of The Searing [YoHo]

Mo/E

i honstly think, however hated, AoB is 2nd only to melandru in pve....

BlackSephir

BlackSephir

Forge Runner

Join Date: Nov 2006

A/N

And why is that?
If it's hated and people are saying it's less useful than the others then, well... maybe they have reasons?

Monk of Myrodin

Monk of Myrodin

Academy Page

Join Date: Jun 2007

Mo/

For the most part everyone including me (I prefer Lyssa) here agrees that AoB is not the best avatar to chose for pretty much any situation. Yet I find it funny that any time I take my dervish out in pve and join a group, I am labeld a noob for not taking it because its the, and I quote, "Uber leet avatar that anyone that knows anything about dervishes should know to take." Granted most of the people that have say this have probably never ran a derv. Anyone else get this?

Dr Strangelove

Dr Strangelove

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Dec 2005

Wasting away again in Margaritaville

[HOTR]

It's an elite that essentially does nothing, and it prevents you from taking other dervish elites, which are completely insane.

The reason there's so much hate for it is that everyone and their mother brings it, making PuG dervishes essentially worthless.

iridescentfyre

iridescentfyre

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Mar 2006

W/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Darkside
and how often are you gonna need to be stripping enchantments off a target? Errrm, maybe extremely often in PvP?

Tyla

Emo Goth Italics

Join Date: Sep 2006

Quote:
Originally Posted by Darkside
Even if Grenth had a longer duration I wouldn't run it on my skill bar just to get cold damage and enchantment removal. I'd rather just bring a long a hero with shatter enchantment, Chilblains, etc... it was used ALOT pre-nerf in pvp as far as i knew
but the enchant removal IS so easy to get when shatter enchantment+chilblains cost more energy and longer recharge if you need to enchant remove in succession

Str0b0

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Feb 2006

North Carolina

N/Me

Quote:
Originally Posted by SpeedyG99
i honstly think, however hated, AoB is 2nd only to melandru in pve.... I honestly think you're mistaken. The hierarchy of PvE avatars goes something more like this; Melandru,Lyssa,Dwayna, and then AoB and AoG are ties for fourth place uselessness.

Dr Strangelove

Dr Strangelove

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Dec 2005

Wasting away again in Margaritaville

[HOTR]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Str0b0
I honestly think you're mistaken. The hierarchy of PvE avatars goes something more like this; Melandru,Lyssa,Dwayna, and then AoB and AoG are ties for fourth place uselessness. It's also worth noting that there's a ton of non-avatar elites that also outclass balthazar. (Reaper's sweep anyone?)

Str0b0

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Feb 2006

North Carolina

N/Me

Oh I covered that in my post just a couple of posts up from this. But as far as the avatars goes that hierarchy stands sound I think.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Monk of Myrodin
For the most part everyone including me (I prefer Lyssa) here agrees that AoB is not the best avatar to chose for pretty much any situation. Yet I find it funny that any time I take my dervish out in pve and join a group, I am labeld a noob for not taking it because its the, and I quote, "Uber leet avatar that anyone that knows anything about dervishes should know to take." Granted most of the people that have say this have probably never ran a derv. Anyone else get this? Actually no I never get this. In fact more often than not groups will kick an AoB dervish unless they are just all noobs. Most people prefer to have a Melandru dervish in their group. Very few people know about lyssa's impressive damage.

Darkside

Darkside

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Dec 2006

Chantry of Secrets

[Angl]

D/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Str0b0
Uhh yes AoB does downright suck. Grenth was never conceived as a PvE avatar and it's painfully obvious so saying,"AoB doesn't suck because Grenth sucks worse." isn't a valid position either. I have never advocated that you ned to take several skills to make up for the buffs of AoB. In fact my position has been that of the buffs AoB does give only the armor is remotely useful and even that is usually outclassed by earth prayers skills that are in your bar anyway. I guess though I'll have to break this down again.

The Speed Buff

This is arguably the most useless buff that AoB gives you. I have never in my entire time of playing this game ever needed a speed buff for PvE play, not even for those few missions where you have to catch someone or what have you. The only use for a speed boost in PvE is if you are running someone somewhere and running someone to a location IS NOT PvE. So you can forget about taking any skills to augment your speed because it's a pointless buff.

The Holy Damage
Why? Who cares about holy damage? Undead are not so prevalent in the game that holy damage should be something you are that concerned about. Other than that there is no point in a holy damage conversion. It's easier and more effective to take another avatar like say Lyssa and just put Heart of Holy Flame on there. Sure it can be stripped but even if it is stripped you cause burning at the end. Lyssa+Holy Damage vs undead = much more impressive damage than AoB ever thought about. Granted this is substituting a skill for AoB but the times that you really need holy damage are so few and far between that it barely impacts your bar.

The Armor Buff
Sure you get +40 armor which cuts damage by half. That's all fine and dandy but armor doesn't do anything to mitigate degen which can be caused by poison, burning, bleeding, or hexes. all of these things are prevalent in just about every area of the game. I won't even go into the various armor ignoring damages that one encounters in the course of the game. In the end though this is the only remotely worthwhile buff that AoB gives so you are using it for just the +40 armor and in comparison to the other avatars and elite skills at your disposal that's just weak. By and large Mystic Regeneration covers most of the damage you take making the issue of armor a non issue. Since Mystic Regen is in most dervishes bars anyway you're just double covering an already more than effective skill with a crappy elite.

The Conclusion
AoB only gives you one worthwhile buff while the other avatars give you at least two. This makes it an inferior choice in comparison to the other avatar skills. It offers you no damage buffs at all which makes it inferior to the scythe elites. It offers no condition for you to spread around making it inferior to EDA and even Grenth's Grasp. Even without the speed boost VoS makes a better runner because of spell immunity. In fact I would go so far as to say that even Grenth's Grasp is better than AoB because at least it offers a cripple to keep foes in range of your attacks instead of a crappy speed boost that allows you to chase down one foe at a time. AoB is inferior to the other elites and is only better than conviction by a slim margin. What part of that is not flat out bad? It is inferior to every other dervish elite and is so close in effect to a non elite skill that is worth it to take the non elite armor buff and pick another elite. That my friend is a BAD skill.
Yah I'm sure you know exactly what the designers were thinking when they decided what abilities to bestow upon the avatar of grenth. I'm not doubting they had PVP in mind I'm just saying that there is no reason to speculate either way. I never said that AoB doesn't suck because Grenth is worse I was just pointing out that in PVE it's an even more useless avatar yet never gets bashed as bad as AoB.

I'm not sure why you *have to break it down again* my opinion won't change and no matter what you post. Want me to re-post what I already did as well? Lets find out how many times we can re-word our arguments.

I already understand what you're saying and I agree with it for the most part. I just don't think the skill down right sucks and needs to be flushed like a dead fish.

Quote:
Originally Posted by iridescentfyre
Errrm, maybe extremely often in PvP? Yah perhaps you should go back and read my post I was referring to PVE.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Monk of Myrodin
For the most part everyone including me (I prefer Lyssa) here agrees that AoB is not the best avatar to chose for pretty much any situation. Yet I find it funny that any time I take my dervish out in pve and join a group, I am labeld a noob for not taking it because its the, and I quote, "Uber leet avatar that anyone that knows anything about dervishes should know to take." Granted most of the people that have say this have probably never ran a derv. Anyone else get this? I do get comments like that sometimes. Mostly being called a noob for running Lyssa.