your top ten skills?

here are my top ten favorite skills to use and be used on.

#1) maelstrom, this is a really annoying and deadly skill to be caught inside of. it can really break down a caster.

#2) I Will Avenge You! this skill cant be used very often, and useually when you use it your team is loosing, but its fun as hell. you get 10 seconds for each dead ally of + health regain and faster attack speed. if you go in with a bunch of "weak" pets on your team, you can really benifit from this skill. also, the riverside mantle use this and if your just standing by 6 mantle corpse and 6 more mantle come to close, you better run, cause now those new mantle will have 60 seconds of good health regain and faster attack speed that you cannot debuff off them.

#3) backfire. this is a timing skill and really great when combo'd with other skills like scourge healing. this can be a really good way to kill a life drained monk.

#4) scourge healing. dont even need to explain this one. it lasts for 30 seconds and deals nice damage for a really high total damage output. only downside is that it can be easily removed.

#5) barbed trap, imo this should be the elite trap cause i think its better than spike trap. but this skill offers 3 things direct damage and 2 conditions (cripple and bleeding) with some good combos like Fragility, you can get a really good damage output from this.

#6) word of healing. pure life saver and great energy management heal skill.

#7) Spiteful Spirit. this is somewhat like backfire but on a larger scale.
it deals less damage but it deals that damage not only from the target casting a spell, but if that target clicks to attack or uses any skill. and it deals this damage to all nearby foes aswell, with a lasting time that lasts longer than the recharge time, it would make a great skill to carry along into your team build.

#8) Gladiator's Defense. this is one good block/evade stance. doesnt have that 60 second recharge time and it is a damage dealer to the melee foe. this will give you plenty of time to heal/buff yourself or even run away if needed from those pesky warriors.

#9) water trident. really good knockdown skill for those annoying running foe. cheap to cast, and fast to recharge, you cant go wrong with this one.

#10)Life Transfer . this elite has 2 uses. one is to just cast a dot skill that has good negative pips on the enemy and the other is simply to help heal yourself. or to do both at the same time hehe

so whats your favorite skills?

I second Backfire as one of the most favorite skill that I use on pyromancers (it amazes me how quick they drop when they don't know that it is on) But since I've not played a total big amount of time. Backfire is the one that I've only really liked because I haven't played with the rest.

I don't know much skills yet, but out of the skills I have used my fav has to be the Necro's..I forgot what it was called. It steals health from dead bodies.

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My top 2:

1. Final Thrust

2. Maelstrom

Meh, I'll bite.

10). Rend Enchantments. Give me a call when there's a viable alternative.

9). Debilitating Shot. Want to know how to shut down a Monk no matter what? Take away all his energy and watch him squirm.

8). Power Leak. It's even more fun when you interrupt him in the process of wrecking his energy.

7). Energy Drain. But not quite as absurd as just taking a bunch of it for yourself in one huge energy swing.

6). Chain Lightning. It's like Lightning Orb, except it hits instantly and automatically. Plus two more targets.

5). Serpent's Quickness. Getting around fundamental skill constraints cheaply and cheaply? Sign me up. Would be higher except for:

4). Tiger's Fury. Attack speed buffs are good, I hear.

3). Frenzy. Especially when they're cheap, last a while, and let you kill Monks in seven seconds flat.

2). Life Bond. I can't imagine a build without these at this point - it's damage reduction and energy generation in one convenient package. Oh, and it scales up with the number of players.

1). Quickening Zephyr. Because it's the fuel that makes degenerate combos run.


Honorable mention: Tainted Flesh, Unnatural Signet.

Peace,
-CxE

1. iron mist
2. Desecration
3. Malaise
4. iron mist
5. Price of Failure
6.Watch Yourself
7.iron mist
8.wary stance
9.life siphon
10.iron mist

1. flare
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10. Unnatural Signet
You just cant beat em.

Uhh... here goes!

1 - Pin Down
2 - Arcane Conundrum
3 - Backfire
4 - Shield of Judgement
5 - Hunter's Shot
6 - Judge's Insight
7 - Favorable Winds
8 - Distracting Shot
9 - Melandru's Arrows
10-Final Thrust

In no particular order,

1.Eviscerate
2.Lightning Orb
3.Glimmering Mark
4.Apply Poison
5.Backfire
6.Cyclone Axe
7.Final Thrust
8.Armor of Earth
9.Hundred Blades
10.Signet of Judgement

I want in on the fun!

10. Disrupting Chop- at 4A I put you on my monk with 0 in axes. Disruption is something we should all learn to love. Free disruption, even more so.
9. Energy Drain- Sickeningly good, and now it's even better with a 1s cast time. Don't have an elite in mind yet? Pick me!
8.Barbed Trap -Fun to use, even funnier when someone runs into it and dies!
7. Healing Seed- Uber healing hands in an AOE? Not elite? Sign me up!
6. Debilitating Shot- crippling energy degen + normal damage. I love thee.
5. Gale- Exhaustion is a non factor. 3s ranged knockdown is too much fun.
4. Watch Yourself- An MVP from Ascalon all through the Shiverpeaks. Every group should have this on their march to the Arch.
3. Rend Enchantments- There's really no other choice here, but I love Rending someone and watching them drop.
2. Life Bond- I too cannot imagine a build without it at this point.
1. Shielding Hands- The lesser-known, hotter cousin of Healing Hands, you make me happy when skies are grey. This is a pet skill of mine, it gets far too little love.

According to the site: Disrupting Chop

Melee Attack, 0en - 0cast - 6adrenaline

I didn't use axes besides PVE this BWE, so I'm not sure if they changed it. Can you confirm Scaphism?

Obviously I'm biased towards Nec's and Ele's and energy management :P

10 Final Thrust - Just a fun skill. BAM!! and see their health drop.
9 Vengeance - Quick "finish the enemy off" rez
8 Charm Animal - Having a pet is nice
7 Live Vicariously - Fun for Necro/Monk life sac builds.
6 Glyph of Lesser Energy - Solid energy management
5 Channeling: Energy steal is fun
4 Aura of Restoration - Heal me for casting? Cool!
3 Vampiric Gaze: Solid skill. Not overly powerful or anthing but works well with life sacrifice builds.
2 Water Trident - Good damage and knockdown...Sign me up!
1 Offering of Blood - My favorite skill in the game. With maxed blood magic this will net you 20 energy that can pay for 2 Vampiric Gaze which more than make up for the life loss.

Perhaps I should have been more clear.

Disrupting Chop used to cost only 4 adrenaline.
It has since been changed to 6 adrenaline.

However, it still makes my top 10 list, it just went down a couple of spots.

Life bond/essence bond absolutely top the chart right now, they need to be changed as its totally imbalancing if put together properly. I really like maelstrom as well, although its considerably weaker now. Rend is good (only option), armor of earth is very good, same with the water armors. Can't think of anything else now... but yeah, MUST change life bond by release.

Is the idea to use LIFO (last in first out) so you cast Essence bond first and then life bond? In that, you redirct damage (life bond) and then recharge energy (essence bond).

Is it possible to cast Essence Bond, then Life Bond, and then Life Barrier?

Lastly, would a RA/Mo be capable of using this combo given its energy limitations?

I've only really put time into Necro's and Elementalists....and I like these

1-Deathly Swarm
2-Life Transfer
3-Tainted Flesh
4-Verata's Sacrifice
5-AfterShock
6-Inferno
7-Shadow of Fear
8-Price of Failure
9-Charm Animal
10-Flare

1.Life Transfer
2.Life Siphon
3.Shadow Strike
4.Reserect
5.Healing Breeze
6.Deatly Swarm
7.Rotting Flesh
8.Vile Touch
9.Heal Area
10.Animate Bone Fiend
As u can tell i am a Ranger Mesmer! And that is why these are my fav spells

wow
theres a lot of good skills out there
but coming towards my builds id hve to say...

10. life siphon
9. fragility
8. hunters shot
7. word of healing
6. shielding hands
5. backbreaker
4. shield of deflection
3. water trident
2. shield of judgement
1. life transfer

If you dont have rend you havent played competitive PvP

1.Rend Enchantments (haha, crazy monk slaughter)
2.Soul Leech (dito)
3.Backfire (dito)
4.Gash (haha, monk less health healing stuff)
5.Sprint/Storm Chaser (haha, crazy monk chasedown)
6.Tainted Flesh (haha, crazy warrior degen death fun)
7.Final Thrust (haha, crazy unenchanted monk damage)
8.Melandru's Resilience (haha, silly mesmers)
9.Energy Drain (haha, more for me, less for you)
10."Fear Me" (hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha gives everyone laughs)

Ownage :
1)Life Transfer
2)Life Siphon
3)Conjure Phantasm
4)Phantom Pain
5)Rotting Flesh
6)Shadow Strike
7)Awaken The Blood
8)Demonic Flesh
9)Deathly Swarm
10)Animate Bone Horror
These spells can own in the right hands .

News flash Dot spells add at most 20 dps

news flash this is a fav skills list not a build list.

I love Victory Is Mine! and Oath shot.

Shield of judgement saved me so many times as a monk last beta....

In no particular order...

Incindiary Arrows
Escape
Whirling Defense
Favourable Winds
Throw Dirt
Power Spike
Conjure Phantasm
Fragility
Distracting Shot
Poison Arrow

They're all from Ranger/Mesmer cause that is my favorite combo.

1) Energy Drain
2) Inspired Hex
3) Power Drain
4) Faintheartedness
5) Suffering
6) Rotting Flesh
7) Well of Suffering
8) Ward Against Melee
9) Water Trident
10) Maelstrom

This list is more PvE-centric and skills I just plain like.

In random order:

Victory is Mine!
Obsidian Flame
Energy Drain
Barrage
Punishing Shot
Mark of Protection
Rend Enchantments
Oath Shot
Ether Renewal
Thunderclap

(Remember, favorite, not most effective. )

ah yes, throw dirt is fun too. i just got one question about it.

well, actually its casting action. does your char actually bend over and pick up that dirt? lol that would be cool if it did.

I can't think of ten, but here goes:

1-Pin Down. Must have for a ranger.
2-Throw dirt. Yeah, it's kinda silly, but it's an AoE that blinds people. And it's awesome sauce for large clumpings of enemies.
3-Rend. This sarcastic explanation isn't necessary for anyone who has ever played anything warrior.
4-Meteor Storm. Supression++. Good for chokepoints.
5-Healing Seed. Yay for having your enemies heal. Good for energy management.
6-Barbed Trap. Whee for fun stuff.

Honorable Mention - Punishing Shot. Good damage. Interrupts.
*Shurg*

1. Amnity
2. Arcane Echo
3. Fertile Season
4. Energy Drain
5. Healing Seed
6. Heal Other
7. Backfire
8. Illusionary Weaponary
9. Dwaynas Kiss
10. Life Bond

Also: Light of Dwayna, Protective Bond, Barrage, Blackout, Rend Enchantments, Order of the Vampire, Arcane Mimicry....

top ten skills? hmm.. this is tough tbh, but here is my shortlist:

1. Powerblock (when used with skill 2)

2. Arcane Conundrum - comboed with 1, you can shut down all healing magic spells on a monk with ease.

3. Power Drain - for fuelling eruption, as most of our GvG enemies discovered

4. Word of Healing - simply one of the best spam heals in the game.

5. Ward Against Melee - sod off warrior trains!

6. Blood is Power - awesome, simply awesome.

7. Water Trident - a wonderful spammable snare (ish)

8. Eruption - getting warrior trained? blind em all after using ward to survive

9. Vengeance - best Res for PvP and GvG in my opinion, as long as you can recharge it quicker in some way (lots of options)

10. The Conjure <insert element here> spells, or rather, it would be if they didnt nerf it by requiring hilts. Hence, my tenth favourite skill is the humble sever artery, as its one of the most commonly used, and with good reason - its v. good for its costs, and is one of the most efficient skills in terms of that.

1) Illusionary Weapons. I remember when this baby used to do 40 damage a swing. Damn that was good...and coupled with an Un-nerfed Tiger's Fury...it did 45 armor ignoring, constant DPS. Now its been whipped like a spoilt child, but people who complain about their ranger/mes not standing up against warriors are missing the point entirely...nailing warriors was never the most attractive aspect here. Right now, its one of the few skills that dramatically changes the game...an offensive mesmer/warrior?...it has to be IW. It has the power to make every swing 100% armor ignoring, with near immunity to anti-melee hexes...as well as the various abuses...such as making disruption skills do AoE damage. Problem is...you have to commit to it and build yourself around it, if Anet ever decide to make enchantment stripping useable, this skill will go downhill fast...but as it is, I don't feel too exposed using it.

2) Arcane Echo. Basically...make any spell you want fire twice as fast?...double your potential DPS?...wtf?! Whats not to like? Oh yeah...you can also use it to kick out hilarious spike damage. Who the hell wants the lightning orb/lightning surge combo when you can have Arcane Echo/Lightning orb and a free elite skill? I suppose I should give Echo an honorable mention as well...its an excellent skill, but because its elite, the impact isn't quite so noticeable...plus you have:

3) Fertile Season. Oh...noes... This'd make number one if it wasn't the most singular abusive, bugged, imbalanced skill in the game. Who the hell wants to fight in a battle where NOBODY can win?...In Hall of Heroes...apparently, its deadly. Sure you can't use it to technically win a fight...but its not like you're about to lose with 20,000 health and 200 armor. Thinking about this skill makes my manliness shrivel...something needs to be done about it fast. But for now, if you wanna win and don't mind how...consider abusing this.

4) Amity. Hohoho...its AoE...its an Interupt...its a shutdown...it lasts 18 seconds...it works for all attacks...its fast casting...its christmas all over again.

5) Energy Drain. Hrm...you take 13 energy...they lose 18 energy. All in the blink of an eye. To be honest this is one of these skills where execution is key. 18 energy to an elementalist dosen't mean much, but when applied to a warrior monk, it means instant shutdown...this is exactly why energy drain is elite while energy tap is on the skill bar of sissies. Also combo it up with other energy lock skills to take advantage of the instant action.

6) Arcane mimicry:
Would you like to have two elite skills?
Would you like to cast an elite twice as fast?
Would you like to be able to choose from 7 other skills depending on the situation?
if your answer was yes to any of the above...this is a nice skill. Its a bit hard and a bit wearisome to implement...and to be honest I'm not sure how great it is in practise...but just by looking at it on paper theres nothing not to like here. Besides, the ability to have 2 elite skills opens up some DEADLY combos...remember one reason elite skills were created was to nerf overpowered combos. Except...you may enjoy them in all their glory using this skill.

7) Life Bond. I'm lazy...so I will simply quote ensign:

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