Ice Spikes vs Shard Storm

Ice Spikes - (hex)Target and nearby foes are struck for 10-70 cold damage and are slowed for 2-5 seconds. (15 energy, 2 sec casting, 15 sec recharge)

Shard Storm - (spell)This projectile strikes for 10-70 damage and slows the target's movement for 2-5 seconds. (10 energy, 1 sec casting, 10 sec cooldown)

Which of these skills is more efficient and better to use? The damage and slowdown time is the same at level 12 Water Magic, but Ice Spikes costs more energy, takes longer to cast and recharge, plus it's a hex and can be removed. Normally Shard Storm would be the easy choice but the AoE slowdown from Ice Spikes looks great.

Is the AoE slowdown enough to choose Spikes over Storm or is the 5 extra energy, 1 sec extra casting time, and 5 sec extra recharge enough to choose Stomr instead? Should I even worry about the Ice Spikes hex being removed since its a low priority hex? Does the decision depend on my build?

There's another important distinction - Ice Spikes *always* hits your target, while Shard Storm is a projectile that can easily miss a moving foe.

If you're interested in the snare, Ice Spikes is better on those grounds - it casts a bit slower, but it's reliable, and sometimes you get the added bonus of catching someone else. Shard Storm is more of a single target nuke - 70 damage on a one second cast time is pretty good, something to slip in there with Water Trident when you're focusing someone.

It's important to remember that the actual snare from each of these is pretty short. They'll buy you a few seconds but not much more. Sometimes that's all you need, but sometimes it just isn't enough. Look at Deep Freeze or Frozen Burst if you're looking for something to seriously snare an opponent.

Peace,
-CxE

Actually, both are hexes. That being said, the fact that they can be removed is actually good, because it means that you can intercept remove hexes with them.

As for picking between them, depends on what you are using it for. I generally prefer shard storm due to its decent DPS, but its not particularly good for snaring.

GWOnline lists Shard Storm as a Hex, but Guru and Knight's Templar list it as a spell. Which one is it?

It's a Hex, and the skills page has been updated to say so. Sorry about the confusion.

The damage on both of these is instant, and caused by a spell. The slowing effect is a hex for both skills(along with all other water magic spells that slow your target).