In view of posts like this one, this one and this one, I think it's time people on both sides of the issue backed their opinions up with deeds.
I believe Discord is generally subpar, but if someone can prove S/D/M to be the fastest I'm open to changing my mind. I'd need evidence to do that, however. So I'm challenging all the Spiritway + Discordway + Mesway users to a time trial. Terms as follows:
1. You use 2 Rits, 3 Necros at least two with Discord, and 2 Mesmers. Beyond that, exact builds are up to you. You can use a ST Rit if you want, or SoGM; you can use Panic or Ineptitude or Extend Conditions or Lyssa's Aura or whatever as long as you have two Mesmers. I'll use whatever I want, and although right now I don't have finalized builds for general use, I'm very unlikely to use more than 2 Necros, or more than one Discord (if I even use one Discord). Chances are also good I'll use an Elementalist hero with an elite other than Ether Renewal, just to see the reactions of some players I won't name.
2. You choose the area. It must be in HM and 8-man (here Unwaking Waters and similar missions count as 16-man), but beyond that you can choose whatever. I'd prefer something other than a vanquish, since chasing down stray mobs is incredibly annoying, and I'd prefer something to which you can go into at once, so no Duncan HM or Mallyx HM or similar. Try to pick an area that favours S/D/M. If you have no preference I suggest Bogroot Growths, which has oodles of bodies and quite a few physicals to go around.
3. No consumables of any kind.
4. No Shadow Form, Vow of Silence or Obsidian Flesh. Especially Shadow Form. I'm not interested in builds where you run past the entire first level of a dungeon, for example.
5. If you believe I spec too much against a particular area, I'm happy to repeat the test using the same builds for a second area of your choice (that is, we test the builds against two areas, not just one).
I'll be using an Elementalist primary. If times from a previous time trial thread are anything to go by, melee primaries should be marginally faster (primary class advantage), so if you can use a caster - but if not, whatever. Take the /age at the end of the mission, vanquish, dungeon, ZBounty, etc. You don't have to have all the bars viewable if you want to keep your bars secret, but you should have the party window open for verification.
Anyone care to try?
J
