Physical resistance Question

Ok, so outside of farming this skill never really sees much use from the mesmer bars I have seen. But I was just looking at it a bit further.

Let's say you are running 12 insp and 12+1+1 attribute of your choice. (then like 3 fast casting if you wanna be technical)

The damage from elements is only increased by a 14 armor decrease, while physical damage is Halved!

Equip yourself with a +7 vs elements staff or something, this would only be -7 armor vs elements.

Wouldn't it then be worth it to bring this skill to ease up some healing from your monks/necros/rits? Or is the -7 armor still too much. :/

I mean, if you wanted to bring a defensive skill, it lasts a very long time, and most mesmers don't bring a stance. 10 energy every 78 seconds sounds pretty good to me.

normally I bring a shield and wand anyways so I would be having +8 armor.

yes yes yes we all know of the extremely popular damage reduction builds.

But for a minute lets all pretend we are just putting together a guild pug for some missions and you're guilds monks are still learning.

Dark Escape has more bang for your buck. -7AR if I read the table correctly would give you a ~13% damage increase as a caster. Doesn't seem like much but in HM where eles already hit very hard that will add up.

true....

Well looking at a different thing. If you happen to be E/Me or Me/e (most likely the latter). What about Stone striker + elemental resistance. No - armor penalty for constant halved damage, and if you so choose, + earth AL shield. Giving you +40+8+10(58) armor vs anything cept armor ignoring damage?

*edit* screw that. If you are using earth magic you might as well use armor of earth instead of 2 skills.

Well I spose these skills are still only good for farming :/

If you go that route ajc2123 then run Stone Striker + Mantra of Earth terra style and skip the shield. 14 spec is a 48% damage reduction that doubles as energy management, it's a win-win.

Yeah I figured that after i typed this. I can't think and farm at the same time lol (tryin to get some ranger tomes/event items)

Spose it was just some fleeting hope I had.

The problem i personally see with it, is that your almost never gonna be running 12 insipiration.

I use lyssa's aura to power my illusion spamming and i only put enough points into it to get +3 regen , which is at 8 inspiration.

I see the point you are trying to make and agree with it,most me/x x/me dont take a stance anyways so why not take this one to help your defense,the problem with this skill I think is,it has a downside, and if you just glimpse over it (which is what most people do), the downside can seem pretty heavy.Which after really looking at it, you would realize its not anywhere near that bad of a downside.

Back in the day before the gave the AI a better brain, I used to use elemental resistance on my "tank" , I just get a +physical upgrade on my sword/axe and get a rune for more armor and there basically was no downside at all.

In most cases I would prefer mantra of earth/flame/frost/etc though, The damage reduction is not near resistance's reduction, but the energy gain is much more useful.

maybe they should change the resistances.

for 60 seconds you gain + 3...40...53 armor against physical damage. Each time you take elemental damage the foe dealing that damage gains 3...1 energy.

The downside isn't directly drastic or bad for you.

Yeah, the problem with my suggestion is that it was BELOW other subpar builds. I don't mind running anything that's not the best, but when it becomes below good, it tends to not see action on my bar.

Why use physical resistance when eles in HM can already 1 shot people, why use elemental + stone striker when you can use ONE enchantment to get the same armor, or mantra + stone striker for energy management.

I see the error in my ways lol.

I don't think you are wrong.It's just that imo the players in general don't like, things they have to figure out.They rather have you gain X power, instead of you gain X power when you do Z and you gain A when you do B.

As example of how I also choose the less better option of the choices, I still refuse to play with the PVE only skills in most cases, the only ones i use are the sunspear/factions ones.

I hate the idea of these skills.

I never said make the whole party take it. Just the one mesmer (me). Making EVERYONE take it would just be silly and limiting.

The prolem is that those options are not in your bar/inv and we are talking here about a build for oneself an its skills , playing with H/H or not. Also , faith will bring you treason , i never trust 100% someone or a hero and depending of what you are going to play as a mesmer and WHERE , those stances are a really , really addition.

Mantras are really good sometimes and Elemental Resistance helps a lot for melee chars (that already have some kind of +X vs phys armor and or weapon) to stand initial damage while pulling or balling mobs. Just pack candies for IAS+IMS and that stance becomes a great addition.

Anomaly: Like cracked armor, this skill will not reduce your armor rating below 60. If you're not running armor boosting insignia or using a defensive set, this skill has no drawbacks at all. This also means you don't need high inspiration. At 8 insp it already lasts more than a minute, and it gives +40 armor at any rank. Thanks for bringing this skill to my attention, it's gonna be on my mesmer from now on (at least, until anet fixes it).

1. Mesmers should not be taking hits.

2. If you want to mitigate damage as a mesmer, use a mandragor build so that the damage is mitigated for everyone, not just you.

or throw on a shield with "like a rolling stone" (or at least I think that is it's name) for an extra +10 v. earth to help out with those noob monks...(on a side note...one of the best things that helped me learn to monk was to do stuff that's hard don't make it to easy on them or they will think they are good...and when you stop protecting yourself they will end up still thinking they are good and blaming the people they are monking for)

WHOA! how did I miss that! Now I DO want to take it everywhere I go XD...That or elemental resistance depending on the area.

I WOULD bring it in PvP....but a smart warrior/any martial class, will just switch weapons to an elemental weapon if he sees me use it, rendering my defense useless.

Questions go in the Q&A section, as suggested by the name, Questions and Answers.

I know the wiki has been wrong a couple of time before ( teh official too I think), can anyone confirm this?

Scrimmage testing time =)

Anomaly is correct! Testing done with 12 Fire Magic, 9 Inspiration Magic, and no equipment-armor modifiers.