Guild Wars Guru

Backfire in PvE

1 pages • Page 1
E
Eaimirth Etaivella
Jungle Guide
• #1
I will cut to the point rather quickly.
Has anyone else noticed that in PvE when enamies are hexed with backfire and are low hp they will self cancel the spell that would cause their death at the last instant? I have noticed this [trait] on a few shadow elementalists and ice imps to be predominant and am curious if anyone has noticed the same behavior.
sno
sno
Look into the Eye.
• #2
Yep, I've noticed it, the AI is much better than it used to be
Avarre
Avarre
Bubblegum Patrol
• #3
This has been around since the aoe update practically

They'll cancel quite a few of their spells, which is awesome occasionally when an inbound nuke gets cut.

Now see the light and add backfire to your list of 'good pve spells' like I told you too
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Eaimirth Etaivella
Jungle Guide
• #4
Pfft avarre it has always been on my list; I just perfer powerspike although I occasionally take both (which is just about the only time I will take backfire =p)

Good pve spell list
E Bond
E surge
E drain
E tap
E feast
E mpathy
Shatter hex
Cry of frustration
P spike
P block
Backfire
Wastrel's Worry (depends on zone)
Arcane theivory/diversion (depends on zone)
.cont
Avarre
Avarre
Bubblegum Patrol
• #5
Quote: Originally Posted by Eaimirth Etaivella
Good pve spell list
E Bond [Is ok.. I guess]
E surge [No. You are not an ele, and 4d/s is not worth elite]
E drain [Drain is cool]
E tap [Tap is not so cool]
E feast [Prefer monks to heal, never needed this]
E mpathy [Awesome]
Shatter hex [Also awesome]
Cry of frustration [Awesome the third]
P spike [Not bad but don't like it that much]
P block [Mobs aren't supposed to stay alive that long. prefer Leech]
Backfire [<3]
Wastrel's Worry (depends on zone) [I haet u]
Arcane theivory/diversion (depends on zone) [Diversion ain't bad]
.cont Commented
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Eaimirth Etaivella
Jungle Guide
• #6
Recommented ^^
Quote: Originally Posted by Eaimirth Etaivella
Originally Posted by Eaimirth Etaivella
Good pve spell list
E Bond [Is ok.. I guess] Sole energy management in my fow build =p
E surge [No. You are not an ele, and 4d/s is not worth elite] (absolutely right this is better than 99% of the ele damage spells *rofl*) useful in 4 man mesmer fow groups for faster than imaginable kills (5 sec group gone)
E drain [Drain is cool] Yep
E tap [Tap is not so cool] Its cool in pugs
E feast [Prefer monks to heal, never needed this] very cool in pugs
E mpathy [Awesome] yep
Shatter hex [Also awesome] beyond awesome
Cry of frustration [Awesome the third] yeppers
P spike [Not bad but don't like it that much] 2nd step of shadow monk kill
P block [Mobs aren't supposed to stay alive that long. prefer Leech] pug arcane echo shadow monk kill (groups of 2)
Backfire [<3]
Wastrel's Worry (depends on zone) [I haet u] fri-ends four-eva~
Arcane theivory/diversion (depends on zone) [Diversion ain't bad] true but I don't like it
.cont I can't believe I forgot A. Echo ='(
Avarre
Avarre
Bubblegum Patrol
• #7
Play an ele if you want to echo surge

Dealing 160 damage does not make 'faster than imagineable kills' it just shows 'I'm a pink elementalist!'

Echo block is 45 energy for 2 monks... realistically they'll be dead very soon as well. Prefer backfire on one, interrupt second. Diversion is only for monk bosses like Willa and Josso.. Shadow monks should be killed by the other 7 people in the team, your job is to stop some of the healing so that its negligible... hell with most teams, backfire on one is enough to smash through it.
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Eaimirth Etaivella
Jungle Guide
• #8
Faster than imaginable kills=2 mesmers
both with arcane mimic/arcane echo
Both with arcane echo
Both with Cry of Frustration
Both with shatter hex

E surge x4=360
Shatter hex x2=240
Cry of frustrationx2 =88
360+240+88 within the area=faster than imaginable kills 588 damage in 3.5seconds~(waits to see the day ss will top it)

Wait till you see the pugs these days; had a warrior the other day running frenzy in fow as the main tank and then arguing with me and the monks why he shouldn't use it. Heal area when storming the forge is evil; even with backfire it poses problems. Problem is even with shatter hex, shatter enchantment, power spike, cry of f, and a backfire placed on the monk afterwards: the standard pug cannot finish them off.

Complete agreement on the usefull(*cough*useless*cough*)ness of diversion =p I would still use theivory; but thats just me spiting diversion.
Avarre
Avarre
Bubblegum Patrol
• #9
Thievery can miss. You might steal Willa's draw condition, and then have to wait to get it back... also it disables for less time.

Nobody said surge didn't do much... just that it's a horrible misapplication of your capabilities. There really isn't anything to say except that surge in PvE is boiling you down to a less interesting elementalist, with a 50-80s cooldown.
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Eaimirth Etaivella
Jungle Guide
• #10
Its what our guild uses to kill fow =/ We usally do it 5 man and use mimicary as it can steal ss if we get to areas where enamies are more grouped out~Elementalists cannot lay on the damage like surge can due to mob movement such as aoe nerf (even chaining fireballs can cause it >.>) and cannot do the damage.

No one said that it was a super skill: its just the best skill under the circumstances.
K
Komier Varen
Pre-Searing Cadet
• #11
I'm a new mesmer (only lvl 12 but enjoying it so far) and i have noticed, in the factions area the mobs seem to actually learn from their experience also.

For example, i land backfire as the mob is casting, it casts, takes the dmg but then doesnt cast again for maybe 30 seconds, like they afraid of getting whacked again . If you don't put backfire on they cast continously. And sometimes if you land it before they start casting they won't cast, or cancel the spell just after they start.

Much more intelligent A.I.