Guild Wars: Character Profession Primary attribute

[SwissMercenary]

I have to strongly disagree with that.

Soul Reaping is 'uber' in PvE but really underwhelming in PvP.

Just let me put it this way:

Assuming you have 10 in Soul Reaping (massive investment)

In order for you to get 80, just 80 energy from Sould Reaping, 8 people have to die. And you have NO control over when this happens. You're just as likely to have max energy at the time this happens and it'll be wasted.

On the other hand, with 10 in Energy Storage you get a total of 60 energy (70 with an Icon), and are able to use it when you need it. Not when somebody happens to die.

Ahem.

My friend, you are forgetting that necromancers (with an Icon) START with 40 energy.

Energy Storage at 10 only gives a bonus of +30 energy.

And if you are at max energy, when someone is dieing... Either your team is mopping up the two guys that are left... Or something is wrong with your playstyle. Something is REALLY wrong with your playstyle.

And usually, by the time even 4 people have died, the battle has already been decided, and that extra energy is helping very little. It's more important to do as much damage as possible from the start, to take out damage/healing generators from the start. And for that you need burst firepower. And to have burst firepower, you need energy reserves.

Oh, if you are a monk, and 4 people have died, the battle has barely begun...

Note that IF four people have died that the elementalist's burst damage is already gone... And Soul Reaping takes over. I may also add that most battles do last long enough for the elementalist to burn through all their mana, several times... Hence, the +30 energy from their Energy Storage was the only use they got out of it.

But that's not the extrent of the problems with Soul Reaping.  The range is extremely limited (half the minimap), so you don't get energy for those deaths that happen away from your location (when you're on the pedestal in the Tombs, for example).  It's also hard to accumulate a sufficient number of pets in PvP, so you can't really exploit that aspect of Soul Reaping either.
To tie in with the above, the main use for Aura of Restoration is actually not healing ;) .

The range is one of the nuances of using the skill - instead of lamenting on its lack of usefullness, maybe looking over one's battle tactics might help out more?

And I do believe that in the last BWE, the range got a buff.

Using Aura of Restoration (Enchantment), Fire Attunement (Enchantment) and Ether Renewal (Enchantment, Elite) with 10 in energy storage, you'll be gaining 4 energy every time you cast Flare or Stone Daggers.  Witih 1 second cast time and zero recharge time on those spammable skills, you can gain 40 energy in 10 seconds (while, ofcourse, doing damage).

How?  Because this is what  Ether Renewal does:

Ether Renewal {Elite}:
Description: For the next 10 seconds, each time you cast a spell, you gain 1 - 4 energy for each Enchantment on you.
Energy Cost: 10.
Casting Time: 1 second.
Recharge Time: 30 seconds.
Linked Attribute: Energy Storage. Increases energy gained.
Skill Type: Enchantment Spell.
To make this even more powerful, use an Elementalist/Mesmer with Arcane Echo.

Arcane Echo:
Description: If you cast a spell in the next 10 - 32 seconds, Arcane Echo is replaced with that spell for 20 seconds. Arcane Echo ends prematurely if you use a non-spell skill.
Energy Cost: 15.
Casting Time: 2 seconds.
Recharge Time: 30 seconds.
Linked Attribute: Illusion. Increases duration.
Skill Type: Spell.

Echo Ether Renewal (yes, you can echo elite spells) and you have unlimited energy.
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Unfortunately, that plan is based off enchantments - a Rend Enchantments would really throw a monkey wrench into the system. Soul Reaping, on the other hand, is an uncounterable passive bonus.

And if we are talking about: "Which skills emulate primary professions", I can claim that Mantra of Recall = Energy Storage.