PvE Warding

I've played very sub-optimal warding builds a few times in Canthan PvE, and discovered two things:

1. They rock (no pun intended).
2. It's easy to get them accepted by a party (Factions is having huge benefits to the appreciation of earth elementalists).

So what would be a good warding build, and how should it be played?

Here's what I think so far.

Ward Against Melee -- huge. All the casters should stand in it at all times.
Ward Against Elements -- not nearly as good as Ward Against Melee, but still highly worthwhile against mixed mobs.
Ward Against Foes -- I just don't get it. Yes, kiting can be good. But if Ward of Melee is down, I don't know of many mobs where Ward Against Foes would seem to make that much difference.
Ward of Stability -- obviously, very situational. Vs. the Jade Brotherhood just to protect against Dragon Stomp? I don't think so. Fighting to Drok's? Yeah, I'm packing it.
Stone Daggers -- if you're going to have Earth Magic high, take it. It's your main offense in this build.

Now, that can be pretty much it. 2-3 wards, Stone Daggers, 1-2 energy management, Aura, rez, and you're at 6-8 skills already. If interrupts are an issue, bring Mantra of Resolve. Or you can bring something like Extinguish -- one of those monk-relieving skills for the high-energy elementalist to help out with, and not really demanding the investment of attribute points. Heal Party is another option, I guess, although then you start compromising on Earth Magic and/or energy.

I don't like Armor of Earth or Kinetic Armor nearly as well in a group as I do solo; both seem to be better if you can dictate the tempo of play. On the other hand, they are great skills; so maybe you can bring one and only have it up part of the time. Kinetic could actually be a kind of cover enchantment, along with Aura, if you're running dual attunements.

Thoughts?

i do notice that ward against melee help out alot during battles in faction. I always bring it if i dont need to cap an elite. Very helpful skill.

I do the same. When capping skills, running from town to town, I always bring my wards. Henchies are my best friends.

In Prophecies, in my experiences of being a PuG warder, you have to capitalize all your letters and say "STAY IN THAT WARD, DAMNIT!" every four seconds...and still, they run around like headless chickens.

I don't know about the general intelligence of PuGs in Factions, so...

@LightingHell:

Is the same... same old story.
"I am warder please, stay inside my wards."
But no... they still run like headless chickens.

We need something more powerful than that, more akin to the monks' "If you don't stay near me, I can't heal you"

I like to run 13 in earth and 13 in water with the rest in energy storage just to take ward against harm, its pretty effective.

I just take Ether Prodigy. Mainly because I know the PvE monks are generally incompetent. The ones I am forced to play with, anyways.

I just do ward against harm. Due to that it protect from all attack except armor ignoring, which is something all ward can't do against anyway. While blurred vision can take the place of ward against melee, but even better, it work against ranger as well.

Not only that, mael storm and deep freeze/ice spike also add offensive value for many situations. And your energy will be fine with water attunement alone, if you know how to manage it.

Water is the way to go for me.

The only reason I would go earth for ward is for ward of stablitity in massive KD area (we all know where), but that can be avoided.

Quote: Originally Posted by LightningHell

Quote: Originally Posted by IllusiveMind

Actually, since they can't read anything but caps, I say:

"ZOMG STAY IN THE CIRCLE!"

Usually without the ZOMG.

Lol. I have been playing wardrer for months before factions even came out. It is really nice they finally get some appreciation.

Most PLAYERS don't have trouble staying in wards when needed. Henches on the other hand, suck at that.

Btw, ward vs. harm is better than ward vs, elements, if you can afford the elite slot. Why? Because it is blanket reduction on all armor-factoring attacks, not just elemental damage.

Sad part is people still like nuking for PUGs so I usually run with 11 earth and 15 fire for PUGS (fireball, met shower, +wards) or 16 earth 11 water (wards) when with myself + henches.

I'm struggling to see how Ward Against Harm could be a great choice.

Ward Against Melee plus Ward Against Elements would seem to, taken together, be a little better, and an energy elite doubles your available energy. So going with the energy elite also doubles the energy that you don't spend on warding.

I guess there's the matter of having more room on the skillbar. Hmm. I guess that could arise if you're out skill capping ...

I started using Ward Against Melee with my Mo/E when factions came out. It has saved me a lot of stress when fighting the various "gangs"

Being a more defensive player by nature, it was wards that made me finally switch my ele from cookie cutter nuker to kickass warding geomancer.

Quote: Originally Posted by Francis Crawford

I find an Energy elite more useful, that's all.

being a warder is boring as hell. yeah its nice to help out the team, etc...but the #1 reason i play is for fun, and warding is not fun

Quote: Originally Posted by Vermilion Okeanos

Quote: Originally Posted by The Great Al