Hi! Hello! Good day!
I recently returned to Guild Wars after a long hiatus. I stopped playing around the Factions era -- I would argue that my dislike of the Factions campaign is what drove me away -- and decided to check back in to see what had changed. Not only was I pleasantly surprised by the Nightfall campaign but I also greatly enjoy the new Dervish class, which operates as a high-damage melee class similar to the Assassin without being as... gimmicky.
Something that I have noticed since my return is that melee classes have a lot of "spoilers" in PvP. It seems that Blind and Weakness are thrown around liberally and often stacked with hexes that make attacking dangerous or impossible. This is further compounded by the fact that everyone runs some stance that has a 75% chance to block with a 100% up-time.
Now, I can handle the stances easily enough because I run Wild Blow as a standard attack (it's great burst), but the conditions and hexes are a bit more troubling as it does not seem that the Dervish has much in the way of cleanup. I do not like being completely dependent on another player to remove both types of afflictions and deal with stances; I would like to be able to manage two of the three in most PvP situations. Ideally I would have a good solution for dealing with stances and conditions and leave the hex removal to a teammate.
I have one other problem: I seem to get my enchantments stripped a lot. I don't mean just one, I mean all of them, all at once. I remember enchantment removal as being somewhat difficult when I was last here, but now in many PvP situations it seems that the very first thing to happen as a fight is joined is my Enchantments just... vanish. It even happens in Random Arenas! Can someone clue me into what is going on, and how I can defend against it?
Yes, yes, "Search" and "Wiki" and "Google" and so forth... I've tried all that already and just feel more confused than I was before. I have resorted now to soliciting help from the community. Please bear in mind that I haven't played in a long time.
Thanks in advance!
Dealing with melee hate.
Tiresias
-Lotus-
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tiresias
I do not like being completely dependent on another player to remove both types of afflictions and deal with stances;
then play a monk. All classes depend on each other, this is a team game.
as for then enchantments... removal has become much more common since the introduction the the dervish, most characters have some enchantment removal. the solution is to not rely on enchantments. In PvP the only one you REALLY need is heart of fury, apart from that most things can come in the forms of attack skills or stances.
as for then enchantments... removal has become much more common since the introduction the the dervish, most characters have some enchantment removal. the solution is to not rely on enchantments. In PvP the only one you REALLY need is heart of fury, apart from that most things can come in the forms of attack skills or stances.
Aida
As far as dealing with cleanup you can go D/Mo and bring mending touch for removing blind and weakness in one shot along side something like holy veil for removing hexes as soon as they are put on you, unfortunately you cannot do this while going /W for wild blow but you can check in the wind prayers line for a pretty decent hex removal although it requires enchants to work. Now for your enchants beeing removed that quickly the opposing side has probably got someone running rend enchantments or gaze of contempt the first removes 6+ enchants the latter removes all enchants if your above 50% health. hope this helped some.
turbo234
You must just really be unlucky. Most casters seem to have anti casting builds for healers now. Ocassionally I would run into a blinding surge ele or maybe one or two hexes that hurt me but being overrun with hexes and conditions sounds like bad luck.
If you really want to deal with them i would say use Avatar of Dwayna. One of my favorite skills, removes hexes and heals you. Then all you have to deal with is conditions really.
And 100/75 blocking huh? i would imagine you are trying to fight a monk when this happens because they tend to bring one or two defensive skills almost always disciplined stance and either shield bash or another stance. Wild blow should take care of that no problem.
As to the enchant stripping? Probably someone using rend enchants if you're getting them all removed. The skill has been seeing more play recently so it wouldn't be all that uncommon to see.
If you really want to deal with them i would say use Avatar of Dwayna. One of my favorite skills, removes hexes and heals you. Then all you have to deal with is conditions really.
And 100/75 blocking huh? i would imagine you are trying to fight a monk when this happens because they tend to bring one or two defensive skills almost always disciplined stance and either shield bash or another stance. Wild blow should take care of that no problem.
As to the enchant stripping? Probably someone using rend enchants if you're getting them all removed. The skill has been seeing more play recently so it wouldn't be all that uncommon to see.
X Cytherea X
[harrier's haste][wounding strike][lyssa's assault][victorious sweep][zealous sweep][holy veil][mending touch][resurrection signet]
[harrier's haste][reaper's sweep][banishing strike][victorious sweep][zealous sweep][remove hex][mending touch][resurrection signet]
run these in RA. big damage, hex/cond removal.
dont hit targets with stances. or if you see a stance, switch target.
[harrier's haste][reaper's sweep][banishing strike][victorious sweep][zealous sweep][remove hex][mending touch][resurrection signet]
run these in RA. big damage, hex/cond removal.
dont hit targets with stances. or if you see a stance, switch target.
Tyla
Self-dependency only goes so far. Placing limitations on yourself kills your damage.
Also, Cytherea, I heavily recommend using an IAS with that. Too much "big domage attok" and too little "compile the damage".
Also, Cytherea, I heavily recommend using an IAS with that. Too much "big domage attok" and too little "compile the damage".
Tiresias
There are so few ways to remove stances in the game that I think I might have to stay with /W for Wild Blow. Honestly, since my TA group is a melee spike and the other spiker is an Assassin. Thus the ability to set up a spike with a Wild Blow just after the target uses a stance is pretty much essential, especially when trying to kill a Mo/W. Simply ignoring stance-spamming targets is usually not an option.
I will give Pious Restoration another turn, as I do tend to like the Wind Prayers utility -- something afforded to me since I am more "conditions and utility" rather than outright damage. I have tried it in the past and found it unwieldy, though that's probably more my problem than that of the skill itself.
I get the point on leaving conditions to the Monk. Good bit of advice there.
I'll also have to give those RA builds a try. I like the first build, though I am likely to drop one of the Scythe attacks for a bit of utility. I never before noticed that Victorious Sweep is only +9 damage shy of Reaper's Sweep despite having half the cooldown...
By the way, how do you more experienced Dervishes feel about using a single +2 rune in PvP? I noticed that they reduced the HP cost to -35... thereby rendering my entire array of old -50 runes useless as they were NOT updated! /nerdrage
I will give Pious Restoration another turn, as I do tend to like the Wind Prayers utility -- something afforded to me since I am more "conditions and utility" rather than outright damage. I have tried it in the past and found it unwieldy, though that's probably more my problem than that of the skill itself.
I get the point on leaving conditions to the Monk. Good bit of advice there.
I'll also have to give those RA builds a try. I like the first build, though I am likely to drop one of the Scythe attacks for a bit of utility. I never before noticed that Victorious Sweep is only +9 damage shy of Reaper's Sweep despite having half the cooldown...
By the way, how do you more experienced Dervishes feel about using a single +2 rune in PvP? I noticed that they reduced the HP cost to -35... thereby rendering my entire array of old -50 runes useless as they were NOT updated! /nerdrage
Tiresias
Quote:
Originally Posted by Darkside
Having said that, my main role is NOT as core damage. Sure, I deal damage also, but I am primarily tasked with spreading conditions and stance canceling for the spike. It is a role that Dervishes seem to fill well, since if the opposing team makes the mistake of bunching up I can hit a lot of them with Deep Wound, Bleeding, and Crippled.
OK, so I need a stance canceler. Easy enough: Wild Blow. I guess that locks me into focusing on removing hexes from myself since I cannot find a method for a Dervish to remove conditions as a D/W. Is that a pretty accurate statement?
Tyla
You know, the Monk shouldn't be the only person handling the party.
Have you thought about rethinking your entire build and placing utility in it?
Have you thought about rethinking your entire build and placing utility in it?
Bobby2
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tiresias
Quote: Originally Posted by Tiresias
The other members of the group have to be able to deal with "showstopper" hate (Blind, Empathy, Weakness, Spoil Victor, etc) while still filling their roles.
Then why are you bothering with bringing a Monk?Quote: Originally Posted by Tiresias
Having said that, my main role is NOT as core damage.
Untrue.Quote:
