Guardian vs Distortion

d3kst3r

d3kst3r

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Jan 2006

Brisbane, Australia

Of the two highly spammable evasion skills, I'm still trying to decide which is better. Although Guardian costs a 1 time fee of 5 mana, it only gives you around a 50% chance to evade whereas Distortion costs 5 mana plus 1 mana each evasion however has 75% chance of evasion.
Out of the two, which one is better and why?

arredondo

arredondo

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: May 2005

No contest, Distortion wins easily. The only advantage Guardian has is that it always costs 5E per cast while Distortion can cost on average a total 6-11 depending on your stats and if something whiffs through it.

Distortion still comes out on top because to get a 50% reduction from Guardian, you need L15 Protection, and that's still not as good as 75% of Distortion at any level. Also, Guardian is a 1 second spell cast, which is vulnerable to interrupts and requires one to stop moving to use it.

Distortion is a stance, and the main reason you want protection from either skill is because you are under physical attack... you don't WANT to stop moving. With Distortion as a stance, you can even turn it on while you are in the middle of, say, a 2 second cast and you're protected decently from extra pain or physical interrupts. It also allows a kiter to run much, much easier and safer because you never have to stop moving.

Lastly, you can't judge the two without commenting on Distortion's awesome sound effects every time you turn it on... WrrrWrrrWrrrWrrr! That ends the competiton right there, at least it did until the latest patch screwed up the sound effects.

d3kst3r

d3kst3r

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Jan 2006

Brisbane, Australia

Then again Guardian costs 5E at any level wheras Distortion costs 5E+x(2E) in most cases and can also make a cover hex. Monks using Guardian also gain the benefit of Divine Favor and Guardian can be cast on team mates whereas Distortion can only be used on the caster. Since Guardian is an Enchantment, it can be used to cover another one or in conjunction with Contemplation of Purity.

art_

art_

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Dec 2005

Quote:
Originally Posted by arredondo

Lastly, you can't judge the two without commenting on Distortion's awesome sound effects every time you turn it on... WrrrWrrrWrrrWrrr! That ends the competiton right there arredondo sums up the issue perfectly.

arredondo

arredondo

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: May 2005

Quote:
Originally Posted by d3kst3r
Then again Guardian costs 5E at any level wheras Distortion costs 5E+x(2E) in most cases and can also make a cover hex. Monks using Guardian also gain the benefit of Divine Favor and Guardian can be cast on team mates whereas Distortion can only be used on the caster. Since Guardian is an Enchantment, it can be used to cover another one or in conjunction with Contemplation of Purity. I mentioned the energy advantage for Guardian. The Divine Favor health bonus is indeed pretty good I'll admit. As for being able to cast it on a teammate, I don't like other people so it doesn't matter to me.

In the end, I'd say Guardian is better for a Monk's skill bar, Distortion is better for any one else.

Inureface

Inureface

Banned

Join Date: Nov 2005

Asian in Lousiana

The Endbringers

R/Me

Guardian is just asking for a concussion shot or power leak. Its very predictable on stupid monks because you just count 5 seconds then fire off an interupt and almost every time it'll hit. Besides, 1 sec casting time means 1 second of you standing there while that warrior is smashing you.