Guild Wars: Character Profession Primary attribute

[TriggerHappy]

Ahem.

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

As do Elementalists ...

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

Correct. This fact was not in dispute.

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.

Nah, it just means you're a secondary Mesmer or Ranger and you've filled up your energy pool using the Mesmer drain skills or Marksman's Wager. You might also be BIPed by friendly Necromancers, and have more energy than you know what to do with. Or you're a primary or even secondary Elementalist and have energy constantly availalbe through even 1 point based Ether Renewal.

I wouldn't decide something's wrong with another's playstyle if they're very good at keeping their energy pool filled through inventive use of skills and attributes ;) .

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

If that's 4 people on their side, you're mopping up their Warriors/Rangers. If it's 4 dead on your side, you've lost. Your monk isn't going to get any spells off thanks to enemy Rangers. Certainly no Monk lives for long when I'm playing my Ranger/Elementalist, Ranger/Mesmer or Elementalist/Ranger.

Besides, if you're a Monk, wouldn't Divine Favour or Energy Storage be more useful to you as a prime attribute? Monks are more capable than ANY class out there of abusing Ether Renewal, thanks to their fast cast spells and low cost healing.

Note that IF four people have died that the elementalist's burst damage is already gone... And Soul Reaping takes over.

Why would the Elementalist's burst potential be gone? Using Ether Renewal, Marksman's Wager or Mantra of Recall he's got a 70 energy pool to fill very quickly. Not only does the Elementalist/Mesmer or Elementalist/Ranger have twice the Energy capacity of the Necromancer, but he can fill it quickly (while doing damage), and have 100% control over it.

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.

That's a common mistake. There are so many ways to refill that energy pool quickly. Sometimes so quickly that it screams "unbalanced!" (see Ether Renewal or Mantra of Recall).

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?

If your tactic involves getting in range of a Ranger's flatbow, I don't really want any part of them.

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

Correct, that was the buff. It's now finally half the minimap in range.

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.

Rend Enchantments
Description: Target foe loses 2-8 enchantments. For each Monk enchantment removed, you take 40 damage.
Energy Cost: 10
Activation Time: 3 Seconds.
Recharge Time: 30 Seconds.
Linked Attribute: Curses. Increases enchantments removed.
Skill Type: Spell.

See the highlighted part? That's the reason Rend Enchantements (and other skills like it) was never a real threat to me in any of the PvP matches I've participated in (which is quite a few, over the BWEs). They can't keep up.

More importantly, I can stil fight even without those enchantements. Nor does removing them do any damage to ME. I'll just recast them later and refill my energy. Meanwhile, I'll kill the Necromancer who's cast it on me.

And ofcourse Rend Enchantmenets and other skills like it do nothing to stop the Marksman's Wager (preparation) and Mantra of Recall (stance) refill methods.

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

It's not an either/or choice that you're forced to make. You use Mantra of Recall to fill your 2x energy capacity allowed by Energy Storage ;) . Or atleast that's what Elementalists who wish to keep up their damage output do. The only unfortunate thing is that you must take another stance to be able to use Mantra of Recall. Thankfully, that's a pretty small price to pay for the benefit.

Mantra of Recall, Marksman's Wager and Ether Renewal are all very powerful ways to get much more energy to play with, than the utterly uncontrollable and situational Soul Reaping will ever be capable of.