Distracting Shot

I can usually tell when I get off a successful distracting shot as it will stop whatever spell is being cast. I also sometimes see the target knocked down (but just for a blink really). Is this "knock down" thing part of this skill or a display of a successful hit?

Also, many say it is nearly impossible to distract just about anything coming from a monk, which from my experience (or maybe lack of), seems true. Lately though, I have been trying to predict when they cast and send off my distracting shot before I see them start to cast. My confusion is this, I have no idea if this is working. Can you send off distracting shot before a spell is cast and have it be successful?

Thanks - Jim

The knockdown seems to go off regardless of whether you interrupted a skill or not. I have no problems interrupting a monk except for signets - they can be really hard to time right, you almost need to have a bit of prescience.

Yes, you can just throw distracting shots out if you think they are going to be using a skill, and if they do use a skill before it hits, then it will interrupt.

Not really a "knockdown" vs a "knockback". All attack based disrupt spells seem to trigger this animation (disruption chop, distracting blow, etc)

It's all about timing. I personly never have a problem shutting down monks...