Worst Skill in the Game

Robster Lobster

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Dec 2005

I never really understood the point of Iron Mist (I think, the one that slows them by 90% but makes them immune to all damage bar lightning). In my opinion there aren't enough lightning specific skills to make this worthwhile compared to the water snares.

And I'm not a huge fan of Ice Prison either, the fact that fire damage negates it is annoying, I think it should work like Blurred Vision, allowing it to hit more than one enemy, setting them up for a Maelstrom nuke or something (seeing as a fire nuke would cancel it...).

Prince Zyphr

Prince Zyphr

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Aug 2005

A Place You Aren't

Suppressed Messengers [spam]

throughout my playing days i have found that there is really no such thing as a "worst" skill. Somebody said that peace and harmony needs a bit of a boost, i find it quite helpful in a simple bonding build. i also noticed cleave was quite popular..that disapointed me. cleave with a tigers fury build can dish out some heavy damage. one guy said that veratas aura was useless, not so true. veratas aura is very important in a minion factory hoh build. and even most minion master builds in pve. i saw signet of humlity on there, that was a shock also, in pvp that could possibly disable a persons entire build or just irate the player greatly. rust got some feedback also...rust+used on bonder= not so hot for the bonder. i guess before i drag on for all of eternity i might as well sum up. there is NOT a worst skill in the game, it truly depends on your build and your team and the monsters or other players. There is no worst skill just skills that may need a tune up, maybe some skills are meant for some things people havent discovered yet.

jibikao

jibikao

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Jun 2005

R/

I think we need to make a distinction between the "worst skill in comparison with the skills in the same Skill Line" or the "worst skill(s) in the game, period". There is a huge difference.

For example, Power Shot is not THE WORST skill because it is Ranger's first attack skill that is quite useful for the first 1/4 of the game. But Power Shot is considred "worse" when you have access to other bow skills. Penetrating Attack has less recharge so it is considered "better". Hunter Shot costs less energy and it costs bleeding and some dmg.


My nomination will be Elementalist's Conjures. Those Conjures are the worst skills in the game because:
1.) Conjure does not fit with Elementalists. You lose all enchantments and you need to attack. All those are against Ele's design. Ele has no self heal except for Aura of Restoration (which you need to cast in order to get healed) and Ele benefits more if they cast spells and gain energy back through Attument. All these are against the nature of Conjure. E/W can use Conjure of course but that's more of a "fun" build than the really "competitive" one. Losing enchantments as an Ele is just not safe and Elementalists do get their enchantment stripped all the time (in comparison to ranger/warrior).

2.) +17 "elemental" dmg is nothing to be scared about. It's terrible against warrior/ranger primary and it does not provide the "spike" that most Ele need to kill. Ok...so who can use Conjures.....?

3.) Ranger has Preparations that are not enchantments, cost less energy and benefit them more because Wilderness has Troll Urgent and useful traps. Yes, you can adjust to the point that having Conjure Flame + Kindle Arrow yield a bit more fire dmg (+30 instead of +26) but in my opinions, it's not worth it. You need to invest in Fire which is secondary and it's not like most Rangers can spam fire spells.

As for Warrior, I would go with Strength of Honor for more consistent +8 dmg. The trouble of using secondary enchantment is not just worth it IMO. Oh and you need to have the corresponding Elemental Upgrade so that's another down side.

4.) I understand that not all skills benefit Primary class. A good example will be Necro's Order that don't really benefit them that much but it's very useful in an organized Team. You can't cast Conjure on anybody else!

5.) Conjures require a successful "hit" in order to provide the effect. Since Conjures don't fit well with Ele primary, warrior/ranger would use them. Well, when warrior/ranger get blinded, the effectiveness of Conjure is gone. When the target is under Guardian, defensive stance, you can't land a hit. This is not the major reason why I think Conjures are the worst but it's another reason to show why Conjure's usefulness can be easily replaced in this game, thus serving little purpose.


Overall, I think Conjures need to be upgraded. They are definitely not the "hot" skills in the game.

Akathrielah

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Jul 2005

There really aren't very many horrible skills some are just meant for PvE (Cleave, Protective Bond, Gladiator's Defense).

Although I can safely say there are a few skills that leaves a person scratching their head. Otyguh's Cry? Umm... ok. Illusionary Weaponry?... Um yeah *insert enchantment removal here.

zoozoc

zoozoc

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: May 2005

Beaverton/OR

Disciples of Birkler [BIR]

whats really annoying with this thread is someone will state a very good reason for why a certain skill is useful then 2 posts later someone will post about how much this skill sucks without even reading any of the earlier posts.

VGJustice

VGJustice

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Jul 2005

Tyria, cappin' ur bosses

Boston Guild [BG]

R/W

who wants to read 9 pages of "This skill sucks/No it doesn't"? I don't

Lawfer

Lawfer

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Dec 2005

Vital Blessing is very good!!!
in war camp farm was great, the extra 200 hp + endure pain + some +hp weapon or shield will boost ur hp over 1k!!!

Cold

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Dec 2005

UK

Quote:
Originally Posted by Flapper McSparkles
Oh yeah, heal party. 15 energy for a laughable amount of health. I don't feel like making an argument, I just know that I always kick myself when I take it along, because it always ends up being futile. Such a small health gain isn't going to make you not lose if things are going badly. Well, it's a good spell if u r going to Dragon's Lair. Constant health degen on 8ppl is not that easy to heal

Cold

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Dec 2005

UK

Quote:
Originally Posted by Stormbringer
Infuse Health, shit in pve and pvp...Unless some one can explain its use to me
Mend Condition, the TOUCHING version of mend ailment...Stupid..
More will come... Infuse Health can be used to save someone from dying. Instant +300hp heal. And u as a monk always stay away from the battle, right?
I use mend condition a lot (always actually) as it heals. So u get like +80hp heal and 1 condtion is removed. Not bad I'd say.

Cold

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Dec 2005

UK

As I keep thinking about it... Rust can be used against those nasty phantoms with Signet of Midnight.

IMehler

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Jun 2005

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mistress Develion
Vital Blessing FTW at lvl 8 as a prot monk it currently gives me 93 extra life... and thats onlt with my Protection magic at 5

want a useless Monk spell... Heal area... cause most people cant use it correctly and sit their healing everyone including the mob while you whack senselessly away at it are you serious?

heal area is one of the most useful monk skills.

monk stands between elemental and ranger. one heal all are healed.
or monk flees and saves his ass cause he uses hela area.

Cold

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Dec 2005

UK

Quote:
Originally Posted by Entropius
dolyak signet The best farming skill
And the one that keep keg holder alive btw.

Cold

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Dec 2005

UK

Keystone Signet may be used by Mo/Me bonder. Blessed Signet and Leech Signet. It's always nice to interrupt Mark of Protection
And u don't have any other active skills with u anyway.

Cold

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Dec 2005

UK

Quote:
Originally Posted by (reature111
heal area owns if ur party is getting owned and needs to buy time to get away and thin out the hoarde, but that pretty conditional and shouldnt ever happen anyway I use heal area on minions while FA farming

Skuld

Skuld

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Sep 2005

Thousend Tigers Apund Ur Head [Ttgr]

A/

mend condition isnt touch.. you remove a condition and heal for 100hp~ how is that bad? The only disadvantage is its other ally only. My most used skill at times

Hella Good

Hella Good

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Oct 2005

None, free and clear

Quote:
Originally Posted by Akathrielah
Illusionary Weaponry?... Um yeah *insert enchantment removal here. Um... *insert cover up chant here*? IW is one of the best mesmer elites. Rlly is.

Sol_Vie

Sol_Vie

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Aug 2005

Boston, MA

Blood Of Orr [BoO]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Hella Good
Um... *insert cover up chant here*? IW is one of the best mesmer elites. Rlly is. I was about to say the same thing.

rii

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Mar 2005

UK

Has no-one realised that there arent really any actually bad skills? The only ones that are 'bad' are merely relative to something else. Even Cry, it still makes my pet buff 0.o
Conjures should have the 'loose all' thingy taken off. They solved the problem of stacking when they put in 'weilding elemental weapon' so I dont see the problem atm. Atm, its unnecessarily weakened.

Kaname

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Nov 2005

Golden Hunters

W/

No more arguing about the worst skill in the game
Here is it!



and guess who uses it?? go figure...

banned_user

banned_user

Pre-Searing Cadet

Join Date: Oct 2005

Dvine Order of Heroes

N/Mo

I'd have to say mark of pain isn't worthless in PvE, but it still sucks in PvP. also its good for a minion master to have 'casue 5+ bone fiends can really make this a super AOE skill. Its really funny to see the marked enemies buddies try to run a away only to have the mark FOLLOW them. makes a group of monsters pretty unproductive in most cases. Try hitting a group with ignited arrows and this- thier intlegence effectively becomes 0.

leeky baby

leeky baby

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Nov 2005

Surrey University

Starting to play again... need a guild

W/E

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kaname

Elena

Elena

Desert Nomad

Join Date: May 2005

Belgium

Rurik also uses Stormcaller wich halves all Charr health

jibikao

jibikao

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Jun 2005

R/

Quote:
Originally Posted by rii
Has no-one realised that there arent really any actually bad skills? The only ones that are 'bad' are merely relative to something else. Even Cry, it still makes my pet buff 0.o
Conjures should have the 'loose all' thingy taken off. They solved the problem of stacking when they put in 'weilding elemental weapon' so I dont see the problem atm. Atm, its unnecessarily weakened. That's why I picked Conjure as the "worst" skill in the game. It still has its usefulness but I fail to see how that "usefulness" outweighs the negative effects on Ele. Losing Enchantments in the heat of the battle is very dangerous for Ele. Yes, it does save some energy by spaming attacks than 5e spells but like I've said before, casting spells CAN be a good thing for Ele (Aura of Restoration). And as for Ranger and Warrior, I've stated my reasons above.

A lot of skills mentioned in this thread have VERY SPECIFIC use. Rust is completely useless if the target does not use sig but if the target uses sig, it's a GODLY skill.

I chose Conjure because even if the skill has no great positive effect, it does have very negative effect on the one casting it = losing enchantments and very long recharge time. The duration is nice but if you get stripped, you can't use it for a long time. All the negatives seem to pile up higher and higher.

Mosgerion

Mosgerion

Academy Page

Join Date: Oct 2005

E/Me

Glyph of concentration would have to be my vote.

Okay, breakdown:
Glyph of Concentration: 5e, 1s, 2s cooldown.
Your next Spell cannot be interrupted, and ignores the effects of Dazed

Mantra of Resolve: 10e, --, 20s
For 30-78 seconds, you cannot be interrupted, but each time you would have been interrupted, you lose 7-3 Energy or Mantra of Resolve ends.

Glyph cons: Glyph only effects spells, adds one second to every spell you cast with it on, and if the spell isn't interrupted, you've just wasted five energy, which can really add up.

Glyph pros: Unlinked, short cooldown, and a good counter against Dazed. Also, no matter how many interrupts are piled onto the next spell, it keeps going.

Mantra cons: Stance, so you can't take distortion, more energy to cast it. Also, it's linked to inspiration so you'll have to pump a few points to make it useful. Also, if a spell is interrupted multiple times, you'll lose more energy

Mantra pros: It works with all skills, it only drains energy when a skill would be interrupted (Seems as if Lightning Javeling wouldn't work either, since it's any time you would be interrupted) . With a higher Inspiration magic the energy loss outweighs the energy cost of Glyph.

Anyway, my two cents. Someone already posted this, but I'm just throwing my vote with them.

Esuna

Esuna

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Jul 2005

NYC

Squee Squeeeeeeeeeeeeee [yay]

Mo/

Conjure XX is used frequently with Rangers and Warriors to buff their attacks, rather than the eles themselves.

As for the most useless caster skill... I might say Holy Wrath. Losing 10 energy would suck your pool dry - you could deal damage better another way.

Lichtenberg

Lichtenberg

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Sep 2005

Mass Delusion [LARP]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Neutron Star
Dark Fury is a decent skill. It gives ALL your party members one bonus strike of adrenaline on each attack for 5 seconds. Deathly Chill or Verata's Aura have to be the worst necro skills.

Holy Wrath is by far the most useless monk skill.

Signet of Humility is pretty good. Try Ignorance, that's the worst mesmer skill. ive done builds with holy wrath + retribution
66%+33% dmg is also done back to the source
thats 99%
this is good with monk smite builds taht use signets and adren skills

Back From The Dead

Back From The Dead

Pre-Searing Cadet

Join Date: Oct 2005

israhell

:'( none

N/Mo

Elementalist: Rust...for sure...

Mesmer:Keystone Signet...how much signets can u carry? and it disables all the non-signets are disabled for i guess max 5 sec...

Monk: Holy Wrath...10 energy for max 50 dmg? lame!

Necromancer:ill take Malaise cuz getting a 2 hp degeneration really sux...and for what? foe get 2 energy degeneration? extremely lame!

Ranger: i think we all agree that Otyugh's cry is our winner...and u know what...if u even get in a place with 5 animals around u...thier all lvl 5 or less...

Warrior:Frenzy sux...u get duble dmg!!! :@

Rico Carridan

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Aug 2005

Eternal Comrades

E/Mo

Quote:
Originally Posted by Back From The Dead
Necromancer:ill take Malaise cuz getting a 2 hp degeneration really sux...and for what? foe get 2 energy degeneration? extremely lame!
Health degen isn't a big deal for a necro, since you can just parasitic bond or life siphon to cancel it. 2 energy degeneration is significant, especially if combined with panic or wither (that's 4 energy degen). For like 20 seconds!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Back From The Dead
Warrior:Frenzy sux...u get duble dmg!!! :@ A lot of people use frenzy in PvP. You just have to know when to use it, and when to bail out and cancel it with another stance.

Rico

Akhilleus

Akhilleus

Forge Runner

Join Date: Sep 2005

If it aint expensive, it aint worth buyin'.

Leading/Co-leading Bretheren Of Chaos [Dark]

W/Mo

rust=GG to smite-balls.

Katari

Katari

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Aug 2005

Upstate

Me/

I'm shocked that there has been no mention of Aminity, or Florish. How about Mantra of Recovery? Not as bad as Florish, or Aminity, but still rather sucky.

Shield Bash? Not *bad*, but considering all the other options...

Sure, you could use Holy Wraith + Retribution. But you would make for a rather sucky tank in PvE, and in PvP you'd go down fast with only singets as a self-heal.

Everyname Is Taken

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Dec 2005

Just Friends

Otyugh's Cry is by far the worst skill in the game. and even a 50% chance of failure with 4 or less beast mastery.





Quote:
Originally Posted by Rico Carridan
Mesmer: Signet of Humility. Disabling an elite skill is a nice idea, but let's be honest here, you're a mesmer. If you want to disable the enemy's elite skill, use diversion or something. Frankly, I don't think there are any elite skills in the game that are dangerous enough to warrant bringing something like this along. Maybe before ER was nerfed there might have been some advantage to this.

Rico Actually, if your in a degen build, just have the mesmer spam signet of humility on the prot monk the whole time- either taking out martyr or restore.

Lambentviper

Lambentviper

Banned

Join Date: Nov 2005

Noobs Just Took Halls [WTF]

Mo/E

Quote:
Originally Posted by Katari
I'm shocked that there has been no mention of Aminity, or Florish. How about Mantra of Recovery? Not as bad as Florish, or Aminity, but still rather sucky.

Shield Bash? Not *bad*, but considering all the other options...

Sure, you could use Holy Wraith + Retribution. But you would make for a rather sucky tank in PvE, and in PvP you'd go down fast with only singets as a self-heal.
-Amnity is not bad in pvp.
Monks use it on me alot when im a warrior.
and since warriors are usually the last to get targeted, i dont get attacked, leaving me usless for about 20 seconds.
As for an elite, i think its worthless. Why not just use pacifism?

-Flourish is not bad if i am reading it right. All skills recharged and gain energy for each skill that was recharged? Not bad.

-In TA you could get a heal monk to cover your back as you run in with Blathazar's Aura+Symbol of Wrath+Retribution+Run at them+Holy Wrath. Watch them kill themselves.

-and someone mentioned deathly chill as necro's worst skill....i dont see why...its very similair to shadow strike. damage + more damage if they got over half health.

~*~*~Worst Skillzzzzzzzzz~*~*~

Ranger- Otyugh's Cry
Warrior- Victory is mine {E}.
-not as an elite at least, any good monk on your team will remove conditions as they appear.
Mesmer- Illusion of Haste
-33% faster just to become crippled? Bring a second prof with some better speed buffs instead.
Necromancer- not really sure...maybe plague touch. much better cond transfer skills out there.

ill finish later**

swordfisher

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Sep 2005

The thing I really like about this thread is how people put up genuinely good skills as THE WORST IN THE GAME.

Victory is Mine! is not that great, because you really have to build around it- not everyone can benefit from having that on your bar. But Plague Touch? W/N's swear by it. There is never a disadvantage to being able to transfer conditions, and I will not stand idly by while this powerful tool is slandered.

Everyname Is Taken

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Dec 2005

Just Friends

Victory is Mine is awesome. Expecially for a mo/w when someone on your team is running traps or tainted. Your energy can go from 5 to 50 easy and gain 200+ health. Great skill for the right build.

Lambentviper

Lambentviper

Banned

Join Date: Nov 2005

Noobs Just Took Halls [WTF]

Mo/E

Quote:
Originally Posted by swordfisher
The thing I really like about this thread is how people put up genuinely good skills as THE WORST IN THE GAME.

Victory is Mine! is not that great, because you really have to build around it- not everyone can benefit from having that on your bar. But Plague Touch? W/N's swear by it. There is never a disadvantage to being able to transfer conditions, and I will not stand idly by while this powerful tool is slandered.
i was not slandering the skill. It is useful. But only transfers 1 condition. If you are trapped, or Virlunce-ed (<--??) then thats not really gonna help now is it? Like previously mentioned, there are better condition transfer skills available.

I love Victory is mine!{E} I just dont think it should be an elite...though anet would have to debuff it a little. Like you stated, you would have to build a build around it.

Rico Carridan

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Aug 2005

Eternal Comrades

E/Mo

Quote:
Originally Posted by Lambentviper
-
-Flourish is not bad if i am reading it right. All skills recharged and gain energy for each skill that was recharged? Not bad.
All attack skills are recharged and you gain energy. The problem is, most attack skills recharge very quickly anyway, ie, in less than 20 seconds. If this skill affected spells, it would be amazing, but since it only affects skills, there are only a handful of very specific builds that can take advantage of it.

Quote: Originally Posted by Lambentviper -
Warrior
- Victory is mine {E}.
-not as an elite at least, any good monk on your team will remove conditions as they appear. I think you're reading this wrong. You gain health and energy for nearby enemy conditions, not ally conditions. As mentioned /W secondaries can really take advantage of this, particularly R/W.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Lambentviper
-Necromancer- not really sure...maybe plague touch. much better cond transfer skills out there.

ill finish later** I've got to disagree with you here, plague touch is amazing. Why? Well, first off, it's only 5 energy, and since it is a touch spell, it basically can't be interrupted. Compare this to say plague sending... that's twice the energy, 8 times the casting time, still only one condition. Sure it targets at a distance, and can (in theory) hit multiple targets, but that effect range is very small. Plague touch is great for quickly getting rid of conditions for virtually nothing. Sure, you have to be in touch range, but since most conditions are transferred by touch anyway (warrior skills, mainly), as soon as you get hamstrung, deep wounded, blinded, dazed, you can transfer it back right away. I admit that plague signet is much better, but for a non-elite solution, plague touch can't be beat.

Rico

awesome sauce

awesome sauce

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Dec 2005

worst skill for monk is by far unyielding aura

who would waste their leet on a res that costs 10 energy +-1 health regen, has 45 second recharge, and ends as soon as you die.

this is a horrible skill even if it wasnt leet.

Everyname Is Taken

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Dec 2005

Just Friends

Actually it doesn't end when you die but i have to agree it's still horrible.

Savio

Savio

Teenager with attitude

Join Date: Jul 2005

Fifteen Over Fifty [Rare]

Unyielding Aura, a maintained enchant, stops when the person who casted it dies, which is what he meant I think. (Vengence, the non-elite, is not maintained but ends after 30 seconds.) At any rate, it is possible to use it in specialized builds, such as EoE chains. Or an ultimate res build xD

What's even worse about Flourish is it only works on Energy-based attack skills, not Adrenaline ones. You'd have to build an Energy-based attack Warrior, which is fairly dumb since most practical damage Warrior builds revolve around Adrenaline.

Keystone Signet... that has its place in Signet-heavy builds. Run a search on those.

a cadet

Academy Page

Join Date: Nov 2005

Flourish is also bad because there really isnt much need for it to begin with. If there were, say, 3-4 good attack skills with recharges of ~20 seconds, it would have a use. But as it is, all the attack skills have recharges of approximately 4, 5 seconds, and since flourish itself takes 1 second to cast, its barely useable. If it would at least take 1/4 seconds to cast, or even instantly like a stance, i can see a use but as it is...

Otyughs cry is totally useless in PvE and PvP, everywhere.