Worst Elite Skill

illusion of haste isnt elite

new ele elite second wind - read that bad boy... lmao

I like how ele energy options pretty much have to be elites and often have to cause exhaustion. Like the 2 new ones. OK...

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The only reason UW trapping groups work as well as they do is because of spike trap! It hols then there long enough to kill them. Otherwise, you would have to lay down atleast twice as many traps.

Quickshot (Ranger spike team can use Punishing now and Read the Wind + Favorable Wind)

Skull CRAP

I was trying to think of a use for keystone signet, couldn't really find one, but then I thought maybe there is one...

say you're using up some skills that have a long recharge time, and you have a couple of signets also, use them, then hit keystone signet. For some of the skills that have long recharge times, would the disabling part in a way shorten the recharge times if they're really long? Or would it just stack on to skills that are already recharging? Does anyone know what I'm trying to get at? lol

Not true at all. Spike trap is so not necessary for UW. I can't count the number of times I've cleared UW without a single person using spike trap in the group. It took no more time than usual. It took no more traps than usual. We laid traps till QZ wore off then did two more sets afterwards, which I understand is pretty standard timing. There really shouldn't be a significant amount of time between them hitting the traps and them dieing either if everyone has 16 WS. It should be more or less instantaneous which again makes spike trap's snaring and knockdown effects pretty pointless in my opinion. I think that when the trapper build was being concieved they took it because it was the only elite trap. This was back when everyone assumed that a damage dealing elite must be good. Then it just kind of hung around. Still this is only my opinion on this. The fact remains though that it is not necessary for UW and my continued success with 4 and three man groups is testament to this. I'm sure others could tell you about successful trap groups without spike trap as well.

Cleave is pretty good in PvE. Better than Eviscerate in PvE.

Plague Signet

escape

i see escape used alot in the runner builds in random arenas... rangers with a skill bar full of running, evasion and healing skills. no offensive strategy.... got rather annoying.

If the non-Signet skills are already recharging at greater than or equal to Keystone's blackout, it has no effect on them whatsoever. If they are recharging at less than, then their recharge is replaced with the Keystone Signet blackout time. There's enough new signets that Keystone might be workable now, but I didn't have time to try it out.

Everybody seems to be baggin on Keystone sig. I say ney ney.

Keystone is part of a very nice energy denial build:

Mantra of Inscriptions
Sig of Weariness
Sig of Humility
Keystone Signet {E}
Energy Burn
Mind Wrack
FLEX
Res

14 Dom
14 Inspiration
7 Fast Cast

Thats 5-6 Weariness per minute and 3 energy burns - awesome aoe energy denial. Plus full time humilty. Nice damage from Mind Wrack + Burn. GG Monks?

O course you are recasting Weariness and Humility during the keystome downtime - so its no bid deal.

Plus, you have plenty of energy with this build, allowing you to do something expensive with your flex slot.


PS - I think Skull Crack is the worst elite. 10 adrenaline and it's still super-conditional???

Ya, I just tried it, it doesn't work the way I was thinking. Guess I never thought about e-denial too much with the keystone signet, hmm. Thanks for the info.

Second Wind needed exhuastion for Balance reasons - because it is bar-none the skill that can give you back the MOST energy per casting.

Normal Ele's can rack up 1-2 hits of Exhaustion or more on their way to draining their energy. So by the time they need energy, they've lost sometimes upto 30 energy to exhaustion, so Second Wind puts them right back on their feet, giving them that huge number of energy back.

If it itself didnt cuase exhuastion You'd be able to spam it every 5 secs and get HUGE amounts of energy almost for free. It'd be nerfed TO cuase exhaustion within an hour of factions release...

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I'll use this thread to tell my least favorite and favorite NEW elite for each class:

Warrior:
BAD: Didnt get an awful elite this chapter. But if I had to pick..probably Enraged Smash, even though its good..its hammer...that doesnt knockdown..so noone will use it :\
GOOD: Auspicious Parry. Great adrenaline booster.

Ranger:
BAD: Would have been Glass Arrows if the Duration wasnt so pleasing. But I'm going to have to go with Archer's Signet. Not a bad elite. But its limited to where it can be used.
GOOD: Melandru's Shot. A good all propose elite for a ranger. Good dmg modifier, and better energy mangement. Good if you are going to be slamming down some high cost bow attacks for awhile.

Monk:
BAD: Ethereal Light. Not that its a bad amount of healing with good cost and recharge, but theres NO reason for the "easily interuptable" part...
GOOD: Healing Light. This is why...This skill heals as much of E.Light, but has a POSITIVE secondary effect instead of a negative one.....Color me confused... But either way, this can cost you next to nothing to cast.

Necromancer:
BAD: Discord. Not a huge amount of dmg...for rediculous situation cost. Not horrible because its nearly spammable, but that situation cost...
GOOD: Wail of Doom. AT its minimal its a Necromancer's first real interuption that interupts anything unlike most mesmer ones. It its most...hit almost any warrior or ranger with it and laugh at them for up to 21 secs.

Mesmer:
BAD: Arcane Languor. Nice idea for a skill, but its duration makes it useless. 5 sec max duration. You can wait 5 secs out...no problem. Even if you do hit ONE spell with this, exhuastion isnt going to kill anyone, not even a monk.
GOOD: Alot. But Expel Hexes is good for multiple classes to use with /me.

Too tired to mention Ele...Eles usualyl use energy management for elite anyway.

I have actually been trapping for a long time, and I dont think anyone can deny that spike trap is useful. It does more damage than barbed trap, costs less under normal circumstances (without EW), and provides an interrupt (albeit slow) by knockdown. Very useful in recovering from botched coldfire attempts if you are with a less experienced group.

Poison Arrow = 5 Mana

Apply Poison= 15 mana

Wow, apply poison is cheaper...

Or maybe I got a the mana cost mixed up? If so, can someone tell me so I know that I flamed someone for nothing. Or maybe you are thinking of it as an over time thing, as apply poison works for a period of time, and poison arrow works for only one shot. If that is the case, then you are right, apply poison is cheaper.

Poison Arrow = 1 shot

Apply Poison = about 10 shots

Wow, apply poison lasts 10 times as long...

tough posion arrow got its uses as you can use a preperation like kindle arrows for it which you cant with apply poison

Oh it has it's uses but it is not necessary nor is it the only reason that UW trap groups work. However the aggravation of getting it versus the limited utility of it make it one of the worst elites ever in my opinion.

Heh, read that as Arcane Liquor...

MES: Arcane Langour
Totally right about arcane langour, i tried and tried to make it work, i thought, yeah exsaution on a monk yeh thats gonna screw him hard, i even used archane echo, but any monk with a brain will wait a small period of 5 seconds out, and even if he manages to cast 1 spell and happens to be exsausted, woop de doo, i think blackout does a better job.

ELE: Energy Boon
this skill blowz

to get the same effect as Ether Prodigy you would have to spam Energy Boon 3x, which would totally own you big time.

Amity is a great skill. Maybe not in PvE or Random Arena (dumb people wanding warrior with Amity on them) but its pretty good for Team Arena and other uses. Nothing funnier than a warrior standing there looking at you for 21 seconds.

I personally don't think any of the elites are bad. They all have some uses, some more than others. You have to remember that no Elite is -that- good. You can't say that its a "Waste of a Skill Slot" when it fits what you're trying to accomplish.

With Expertice that is more like 7. Most anyone using Poison Arrow will already have high Expertice. It is, however, saving a preparation that you could use -with- your poison skill.