PvE skill abuse = excessive widespread use???

Gill Halendt

Gill Halendt

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Mar 2008

Quote:
Originally Posted by ogre_jd View Post
I dunno. I find that my SoS spirits (and Bloodsong, the only other offensive spirit I use regularly) more often than not attack what I'm attacking (which is not always the closest since I tend to go for Rits, Monks and Eleis, in that order, first) if I start wanding (*not* spellcasting at) my target before they've chosen their own, which they usually seem to take a second or two to do after summoning or after their current target has died.

Probably just be a matter of subjective perception, of course, but that's how it seems to me...
I've noticed a similar behaviour as well. Namely, all my spirits sometimes targeting healers even if they're quite far away. I usually summon my spirits out of the enemies' aggro bubble (and then cast Summon Spirits to place them where I want), so they usually don't start attacking unless I either wand enemies or hex them with Painful Bond. So this is probably what's causing it, sometimes happens even with minions, but I believe it's just a matter of luck most of the times.

silicagel

Academy Page

Join Date: Feb 2006

haha

W/

Quote:
Originally Posted by doomfodder View Post
I've been thinking about what ANET considers SKILL ABUSE in PvE...

I remember when Ursan got nerfed, it was because "everyone" was using it to play the HM high end areas (widespread use). I also note that the recently buffed selfless spirit was just NERFED because almost EVERY monk would load it in their bar for HM high end areas (widespread use).
In some cases, devs will buff a skill to ridiculous status.. i.e. primal rage with 33% ims and 4 sec recharge, palm strike with high armor ignoring damage/ 15 seconds of cripple / 4 sec recharge, wastrel's collapse with a short recharge, etc. Selfless spirit was damn near maintainable and far preferable to a pvp/pve elite like healer's covenant which serves nearly the same purpose. Selfless spirit even made boon prot with divine boon a viable way to heal in high end pve areas. I'm sure they wanted to improve the skill and make it more viable, but also keep it balanced. Like the aformentioned skills, after it became wide spread, they nerfed it back a little to reasonable status.

I'd have to say ursan was nerfed for different reasons, because it was never buffed and used for a relatively long period of time the way it was pre-nerf.

I liked it because anyone could put ursan on their bar and be effective, but I get the sense it wasn't being used the way the devs intended it to be used and made a mockery of coveted elite areas like DoA... then again, permasins do that too.

ogre_jd

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Feb 2008

Canadia

W/

Quote:
Originally Posted by silicagel View Post
'd have to say ursan was nerfed for different reasons, because it was never buffed and used for a relatively long period of time the way it was pre-nerf.

I liked it because anyone could put ursan on their bar and be effective, but I get the sense it wasn't being used the way the devs intended it to be used and made a mockery of coveted elite areas like DoA... then again, permasins do that too.
Bored, so I figure I might as well point out, as I sometimes do, that Ursan Blessing was only nerfed just enough to put a crimp on the 6 Ursan, 2 Monk (or was it 5 & 3?) teams. It is still a very powerful skill and worth having on your bar. Its 60s duration is more than enough for most battles and the fact that you have to wait 60s after it ends for it to recharge is more than made up for, unlike in the old days, by having full (barring any Mesmer foes around, of course) Energy to play with.

Redvex

Redvex

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Nov 2006

R/

As i seen there's not SoS Uw/Fow/Doa/deep/urgoz Speed Clear.
So i don't think it would be nerfed.
In anycase there's a tons of unused elite and normal skills that need to be reworked.
I don't want a easy pve game but a VARIOUS game.

Rocky Raccoon

Rocky Raccoon

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Jan 2007

Massachusetts, USA

Guardians of the Cosmos

R/Mo

After reading this thread i might just get my mule rit out and use him.

Zera Fang

Zera Fang

Academy Page

Join Date: Jan 2006

New Mexico

N/Mo

Quote:
Originally Posted by silicagel View Post
In some cases, devs will buff a skill to ridiculous status.. i.e. primal rage with 33% ims and 4 sec recharge, palm strike with high armor ignoring damage/ 15 seconds of cripple / 4 sec recharge, wastrel's collapse with a short recharge, etc. Selfless spirit was damn near maintainable and far preferable to a pvp/pve elite like healer's covenant which serves nearly the same purpose. Selfless spirit even made boon prot with divine boon a viable way to heal in high end pve areas. I'm sure they wanted to improve the skill and make it more viable, but also keep it balanced. Like the aformentioned skills, after it became wide spread, they nerfed it back a little to reasonable status.
-Shakes- They didn't nerf it back a reasonable amount at all, the skill is now worse than what it started as. At least how it was previously it gave a monk a period of time during pressure that they could spam 5 energy skills for free allowing their energy bar to recover for a bit. Now, the only advantage is that it doesn't have the conditional ending, which any GOOD monk shouldn't have to worry about anyway because they're in the back lines completely out of aggro. Anet did a horrible thing by buffing it in the first place and did an inexcusable thing by nerfing it recently. It just shows that anet doesn't know what the hell they're doing, they'll just nerf whatever the majority of the people play at any given time just to watch the QQ storms.

I'm fine with things being imbalanced in favour of the player for PvE, god knows that when monsters can interrupt 1/4 casts just as easily as they can 1 second ones that the player is going to need all the help they can get. And it's PvE! It isn't like the monsters are bitching about certain skills or anything, the Devs should stick to pissing off people in PvP instead of messing with what people find FUN and easy to play in PvE land. The game is supposed to be about fun, right? I think the Devs are starting to lose sight of that idea.

own age myname

own age myname

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Sep 2007

Minnesota

[TAS]

R/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Redvex View Post
As i seen there's not SoS Uw/Fow/Doa/deep/urgoz Speed Clear.
So i don't think it would be nerfed.
In anycase there's a tons of unused elite and normal skills that need to be reworked.
I don't want a easy pve game but a VARIOUS game.
Actually, there is a SoS SC on PvX.

Ccat

Ccat

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Apr 2008

SoS can clear anything. Just not quickly.

im no farmer

Academy Page

Join Date: May 2006

Mo/

Unlike with ursan where everyone ran it and there was no conflict in group but with SoS you cant have multiple bloodsong and other spirits nearby.God forbid if ever anet allowed to have multiple spirits from other players nearby then there would PUGs screaming "forming spirit spamming group.self inite:"

notskorn

notskorn

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Oct 2006

Clan Roxor

W/E

its PvE, its easy no matter what you do, so who cares?

Premium Unleaded

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Aug 2005

Quote:
Originally Posted by im no farmer View Post
Unlike with ursan where everyone ran it and there was no conflict in group but with SoS you cant have multiple bloodsong and other spirits nearby.God forbid if ever anet allowed to have multiple spirits from other players nearby then there would PUGs screaming "forming spirit spamming group.self inite:"
ANet did intend for multiple copies of spirits existing, but then + happened.

AngeliqueSynner

AngeliqueSynner

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Aug 2008

Florida, USA

Sacred Storm [Strm]

N/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Premium Unleaded View Post
ANet did intend for multiple copies of spirits existing, but then + happened.
Fertile season would stack with it's self? O_o¿

Desert Rose

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Sep 2007

Quote:
Originally Posted by AngeliqueSynner View Post
Fertile season would stack with it's self?
Nope, all spirits were been able to stack with themselves once, so people used Oath Shot to bypass the recharge of spirits in order to spam them.
In addition, spirits affected other spirits, so thanks to Fertile Season every spirit had about ~600 health and ~80 armor.

SmokingHotImolation

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Mar 2008

Odense, Denmark

E/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Desert Rose View Post
Yes, a character that can summon 4 meat shields which are half as tough as an avarage caster and deals up to 100 DPS at range, can support your phyicals with splinter weapon, has one of the most powerful e-managment skills in the game and still has a free secondary, 3 free skill slots and 103 free attribute points is absolutly balanced and not even slightly overpowered... NOT.
If you devote your entire bar to spirit spam you can even go up to 150 DPS and 6 meat shields that are tougher than an avarage caster.
?
150 DPS spread around alot of random targets! Its really not that great.
Its a good and viable build for rits, but i dont see it breaking the game in any way. Sure it will probably be what most rits will run from now on, but there will always be cookie cutter builds. Difference is that rits didnt really have a class-specified cookiecutter build before, therefore people see this as sudden excessive widespread use. Truth is its no more excessive and widespread than HB monks, MS/DB/Scythe-sins, Imbagons, DS/SY warriors and the list goes on..

ogre_jd

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Feb 2008

Canadia

W/

Quote:
Originally Posted by SmokingHotImolation View Post
150 DPS spread around alot of random targets! Its really not that great.
Dunno about your spirits, but I've never seen my trio from Signet of Spirts choose different targets, and only rarely does Blood Song (the only other offensive spirit I use with them) choose a different target than the SoSers have. It's nice seeing eight damage numbers (yay, Painful Bond!) going up from the same target in a single wave.