Has anyone tried crowd control?

Before guild wars I used to play DAOC. Now the best way to operate in that game was to prevent the bulk of your enemies (in pve or pvp) from attacking or moving while you concentrate on one at a time. In guild wars this is rarely done, usually people just aoe nuke monsters or use different builds and strategies in pvp. Crowd control will not work in the current pvp NR and easy hex removal environment, because any hexes would be removed too quickly to be much use. But in pve (even if it is not necessary) crowd control could be very useful. With skills like amity, pacifism, iron mist, ice prison, and conditions it would not be very difficult to concentrate on one monster at a time while letting the others sit unable to attack or move. Has anyone tried this (at least with melee/ranger mobs) because it could be an effective or at least interesting strategy.

Probably no one tried this, as the rule of thumb with guildwars is not controlling the crowd, but pulling the right mob. You most of the time don't have to fight more than 3 mobs at the time, given a proper puller. So you don't need advanced crowd control.

and the lack of a respawn of monsters really negates having to use crowd control as well.

but a solid backup plan if the pulling gets messed up.

My PvE Me/N never leaves home without Shadow of Fear and Enfeebling Blood. They're definatly worth the skill slots.

Actually, this is a very effective strategy in PvP. A mesmer can effectively shut down two casters without the team having to kill them. You take away a protection monk and monk and you can do away with the rest of the squishies and then it leaves the tanks vunerable. Of course it's a bit more complex then that, but that's the simplified version.

I think you are a bit optimistic regarding the the average GW player. You got to take into account that many don't understand how aggro works, why exactly the aggro circle is drawn on the radar, how you shake unwanted aggro, how you lock aggro to you, etc.

I've found that the more a monk calls out "I'm using Amity on Blah Blah!" the more likely it is that some knucklehead will attack the called target. They see a called target, they press T, Space and there goes your cast. Amity and Pacifism would need the mobs to have a universal "no" symbol over it's head. All skills that can be knocked out with a normal attack / cast need a BIG, FLASHING, GLOWING SYMBOL. And I'm still betting that when it's important to leave something dangerous affected for crowd control... someone will break it.

monkey, i like that idea. post it in sardelac