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.

No, no it's not.

And it's not like that spell is better against other casters, either, since many spells for them (especially Elementalists) take so long to cast the duration will run out before you exhaust them much even if they cast right through it.

On the post about lightning surge being a waste of elite.. 16 Air magic + lightning surge + orb = dead monk

No, it's 246 damage against 60 armor, not even half the monk's health. And if the monk has played the game much, he'll know to slip in Reversal right before it lands, or remove the hex, or even just run away, since if you run and the Lightning Orb is cast immediately following Surge, it will almost always miss. Which is why the "after 3 seconds" mechanic is broken. It's crazy strong against newbies who don't know what to do about it and near useless against people who do, so it has to be costed against the unrealistic scenario of the target just sitting there waiting for the damage to hit him even though you'll rarely if ever get that in serious PvP play.

Mind Freeze+Malestorm in an ice build=6second shutdown plus damage and further spike potential to kiters. Follow that with Obsidian Flame in hydro/earth builds and somethings goanna die

It's not a great Elite skill, but it has its uses and stands out "enough" to earn an Elite slot...else it would be abused. Increased slow time would increase it's play in builds. Translation: unnerf it Anet!

Now, Mind Burn saw little play on my skillbar when I had my ele(some of that is personal prefference though). neither did Obsidian Flesh; if i'm going to be slowed with each use, I'd rather take Ward against Harm and trust to kites when I have to instead of being "stuck" by my own spell effects when armor ignoring spikes start training on me.

But like I said before: Ether Renewal...why???

Cleave+For Great Justice=1 skill spike for 15 seconds. Not bad, but there are better ways to do it. It earns its {E}, but only because of charge time.

OoB and Glimmering Mark.

I'm still upset about the OoB nerf.

Keystone signet has to have it, untill factions comes out though. When it comes out...well, thats a new story

Hundred blades.
Sure, its not THAT bad, but it merely does a second attack, with no damage boost, and shouldnt be elite. What i say puts it as the worst is the fact that you have to wait until the end of the game to get it, and its too sorry of an attack to have to use your only elite spot IMO

.....Hundred blades has a 100% damage increase, try again, and Hundred blades is a good elite. just that Charge is better.

Keystone signet is far from bad even in Prophecies, I have a few builds that can use it

I got it with relative ease. Get a group willing to work with you the whole time, and you'll be fine. If you don't have it already, I would be happy to help you out.

Warrior: Hundred Blades

Cyclone Axe FTW. Anyone who uses this useless elite has obviously never used an axe.



Elementalist: Ward Against Harm

It's like Ward Against Melee and Ward Against Elements put together, right? No, not really. It provides a measly benefit for your elite slot... Just not worth it. Not even in an area filled with fire damage.



Monk: Unyielding Aura

Sure, it allows you to be a puppet master, but really, who uses it any longer, since it was made to exploit corpses? The only potential use before was in a PvP MM build, but now...



Mesmer: Mantra of Recovery

Keystone Signet gives it a run for it's money, but there are several good signets coming with factions and more destined to arrive with future expansion packs. However... Mantra of Recovery lets you spend tons of energy in order to spend your energy faster! Yeah! Lets do the opposite of what most elites do: energy management!



Necromancer: Grenth's Balance

Lets use my elite slot to accomplish a minor self heal and damage spell! Yeah!



Ranger: Greater Conflagration

This was actually a tough one -- none of the ranger elites are currently completely unusable. (Especially Quick Shot. If you've ever used it, you'd know that the best part about Quick Shot is it's recharge -- and so, with a zealous bow string and 13 expertise you can use Quick Shot to infinitely spam bow attacks, once per second, far faster than any stance or other skill can speed you up.) However, turning everything to fire damage just isn't something that's worth spending your elite on. It's got some uses, unlike some of the other skills on this list, but it's still pretty bad.




Factions Edition!

Warrior: Triple Chop

Although Shove gives it a run for it's money, Triple Chop is just like Hundred Blades: It's utterly useless. Cyclone Axe FTW!



Ranger: Heal As One

Yeah! Lets be bestest buddies with my pet!




Necromancer: Spoil Victor

Hmm, lets see: It has a specific and rare activation and a small effect when it activates... I think we have a winner!



Mesmer: Recurring Insanity

Well, lets see: Medium energy cost, high recharge time, a small amount of degen over a medium duration... but look! It can be kept up indefinitely!




Elementalist: Ride the Lightning

Medium energy cost, high recharge, medium damage, a very bad side effect, and oh look! Exhaustion. Beautiful.




Monk: Ray of Judgement

High energy cost, high recharge, medium AoE damage, and a very bad side effect, but look, it hoses MM's!




Assassin: Seeping Wound

Hey, I know, lets add a measly amount of degen with my elite! But, of course, this degen won't exist unless the opponent is bleeding or poison. Because it'd be broken if it weren't for that clause. Yeah.




Ritualist: Preservation

A three second casting time spirit that, four seconds after you summon it, starts healing nearby allies completely at random, just doesn't cut it. If only it could summon a healer henchie, though...

Sigh, learn to be a warrior outside PvE before talking. Sure Eviscerate and Charge are the best, but Triple chop and Hundred blades are far from bad.

Cyclone axe is massivly horrible in PvP, I actually laugh out loud when I see someone run it in PvP.

That one made me chuckle a little. Remember far back, probably before you knew what PvP ment, W/E were rampant. Destryoing everything. With what skill? GALE! What does Gale do? EXHAUSTION. This skill is by no means bad, I think it is you who is bad.

Nice try though.

This one get's my vote. Most Preps (at least the useful ones) are 24 sec duration with a 12 sec recharge. So um....what does this stance do then?

I agree, just run Incindiary AND Choking gas. Even though both skills are not that great.

Right. It's a 10 second shutdown if you have only one monk that can't remove a hex on himself during the 4 second Maelstrom cast...and I'm sure your Hydro/Earth build is just awesome without a way to mitigate that exhaustion...

Mind Freeze is crappy because it deals crappy damage, it's a conditional snare, AND it causes exhaustion. Almost always, a skill that does too much does nothing well.

Cleave + FGJ = 1.5 strikes of adrenaline for a 4 strike skill. If anyone gets 'spiked' by this elite combo, then there's only one option - uninstall.

The 'blind' elites seem to be the worst - Glimmering Mark and Signet of Midnight. In Mark you have a skill that's has no use anywhere in the game, and in Signet of Midnight you have a skill that's been basically balanced for Competition Arenas. At least with Practiced Stance you can combine with Choking Gas for a viable AoE interrupt, but when Signet of Midnight + Plague Touch is your elite combo...

Would you guys mind posting what the effect of the spells are when you post them? It just makes it so I don't have to run to guildwiki everytime a new spell is mentioned. Thanks!

I got a long series of absolutely rancid PUGs 27 of them to be exact. Can't get past THK otherwise I'm fairly certain I could cap it with nothing but henchies. 27 THK failures is frustrating. I wish they had left the elites spread out more. I'd love the help though and appreciate the offer. I have a day off tomorrow so maybe if I can catch you around then.

Hundred Blades strikes everything twice, thats twice as much adrenal than cyclone axe can muster if you know how to position for hundredblades.

vs 5 foes? Galrath, Final, HB, Galrath, Final combo strike you as useless?

Signet of Midnight is a 15 seconds being blind and 15 seconds of recharge. You can use it right after it finishes. Off course Plague Touch and Epidemic with it is a great combo against warriors and assassins.

Keystone Signet is not very useful, for now, but with the new skills in Factions, this one will get, at least, a place in GW.

Incediary Arrow, already use it and love it (dont care about recharge and duration). Again, when Faction comes out, mix it with needle arrows.

My vote goes for Practiced Stance. Except PS+ Chocking Gas, I think its useless for the others.

Ok, If you read my post a few pages back I think it was, I'd liek to fix an error I think I made. I was reading off a list of elites on GuidWiki, and one skill at that time was I think mistakingly called an elite when it isnt one. Without the actual skills in the game at the priest to check it with you can see where the mistake came from.

Thank you.


As for Practiced Stance. There are a few more non-elite preps that would benefit from it in Factions, but all in all it would be much more effective as a non-elite so you could use it with Inced. arrows or Trappers Focus/etc.