Guardian's Sphere

[Danter]

<DIV>One of our level 50 class defining abilites is Guardian's Sphere:</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> <DIV>52% to intercept all physical damage on group members.  On a successful intercept, caster takes 92% of damage, group member takes 0. (Adept I)</DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I have yet to find a situation (hypothetical or real) in which I would want to use this ability.  This has to be, bar none, the worst ability in the game.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Let's look at other the other abilities fighters get at 50:  </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2><FONT color=#ffffff><B><SPAN></SPAN></B></FONT></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2><FONT color=#ffffff><B><SPAN>Guardian Sphere</SPAN></B><SPAN> </SPAN></FONT></FONT></DIV> <DIV> <P><SPAN><FONT size=2><FONT color=#ffffff>Guardian</FONT></FONT></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN><FONT size=2><FONT color=#ffffff>50</FONT></FONT></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN><FONT size=2><FONT color=#ffffff>Guardian Sphere</FONT></FONT></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN><FONT size=2><FONT color=#ffffff>Allows the guardian to protect the entire group, sometimes absorbing all the damage a group member would otherwise take.</FONT></FONT></SPAN></P> <P><B><SPAN><FONT size=2><FONT color=#ffffff>Rampage</FONT></FONT></SPAN></B></P> <P><SPAN><FONT size=2><FONT color=#ffffff>Berserker</FONT></FONT></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN><FONT size=2><FONT color=#ffffff>50</FONT></FONT></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN><FONT size=2><FONT color=#ffffff>Rampage</FONT></FONT></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN><FONT size=2><FONT color=#ffffff>Rampage allows the berserker to attack all nearby enemies whenever you attack. This effect can trigger up to 10 times.</FONT></FONT></SPAN></P> <P><B><SPAN><FONT size=2><FONT color=#ffffff>Decree</FONT></FONT></SPAN></B></P> <P><SPAN><FONT size=2><FONT color=#ffffff>Paladin</FONT></FONT></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN><FONT size=2><FONT color=#ffffff>50</FONT></FONT></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN><FONT size=2><FONT color=#ffffff>Decree</FONT></FONT></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN><FONT size=2><FONT color=#ffffff>Deals instant divine damage and interrupts the target and surrounding encounter members.</FONT></FONT></SPAN></P> <P><B><SPAN><FONT size=2><FONT color=#ffffff>Despoiling Mist</FONT></FONT></SPAN></B></P> <P><SPAN><FONT size=2><FONT color=#ffffff>Shadowknight</FONT></FONT></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN><FONT size=2><FONT color=#ffffff>50</FONT></FONT></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN><FONT size=2><FONT color=#ffffff>Despoiling Mist</FONT></FONT></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN><FONT size=2><FONT color=#ffffff>Decreases Armor Class on the target and surrounding encounter members within the area of effect</FONT></FONT></SPAN></P> <P><B><SPAN><FONT size=2><FONT color=#ffffff>Silent Palm</FONT></FONT></SPAN></B></P> <P><SPAN><FONT size=2><FONT color=#ffffff>Monk</FONT></FONT></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN><FONT size=2><FONT color=#ffffff>50</FONT></FONT></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN><FONT size=2><FONT color=#ffffff>Silent Palm</FONT></FONT></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN><FONT size=2><FONT color=#ffffff>A powerful attack that stifles the target for a short duration. Every time the target takes damage, there is a small chance the stifle effect will break early.</FONT></FONT></SPAN></P> <P><FONT size=2><FONT color=#ffffff><B><SPAN>Bruiser</SPAN></B><SPAN> </SPAN></FONT></FONT></P> <P><SPAN><FONT size=2><FONT color=#ffffff>Bruiser</FONT></FONT></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN><FONT size=2><FONT color=#ffffff>50</FONT></FONT></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN><FONT size=2><FONT color=#ffffff>Savage Blows</FONT></FONT></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN><FONT size=2><FONT color=#ffffff>A series of quick attacks that strike all nearby enemies. If one of these attacks misses on a target, the successive ones will miss automatically on that target.</FONT></FONT></SPAN></P> <P> </P> <P>Moorgard says, "In the level 50 abilities, guardians again get something that protects their group. All other classes get some kind of attack."</P></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>This is supposed to be a great skill for us, but why the hell would anyone ever use it?  52% to intercept physical damage and lasts for 36s?  You've got to be [expletive ninja'd by Faarbot]ing kidding me.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>If the mob stays on me, when the hell is another group member ever going to take physical damage?  Casters/priests are out of range, so they'll never get hit.  Scouts/fighters are behind the mob.  They shouldn't get hit in the first place and even if they did, the way healers are setup, they'd prefer to have damage evenly spread out where they can use a group heal rather than taking a huge damage spike on the MT.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Also, if a mob had a point blank aoe that did physical damage (none do as far as I know), the damage spike the MT would take if this proc'd would be insane and imediately drop him.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Moorgard, since you claim this spell is great utility, please tell us why we should use this "great utility"?</DIV> <P>Message Edited by Danterus on <SPAN class=date_text>09-24-2005</SPAN><SPAN class=time_text>05:43 PM</SPAN></P><p>Message Edited by Danterus on <span class=date_text>09-24-2005</span> <span class=time_text>05:43 PM</span>

[Shizzirri]

<DIV>I agree 100% this is by far the worst way you can possibly protect your group which is apparently our job, they're better off giving us a spell that instantly kills us and gives the mage we're trying to save a 30% chance to live if you survive the encounter in 10 seconds or less.</DIV>

[Xibi]

Agreed.  Right now its better to actually let adds hit other people.  Since mitigation doesn't seem to matter much, no one really dies that quickly (including mages / scouts).  However if the guard takes all the damage... call for mayday.

[TunaBoo]

yah its a total [Removed for Content].. needs to proc a deaggro or taunt or something to be veen remotely useful vs blues. <div></div>

[HOGn]

<P>/agree</P> <P>I have used it a few times and I would have to agree its pretty much usless.  You have to be facing the person your putting it on also, so lets say an add gets loose on a caster/healer while we are tanking or even MA we are up close to the mobs by the time we notice caster/healer is taking damage we have to stop fighting run over to caster/healer (which are allways away from the fighting and in the back doing their thing) taking dmg and make sure we are facing the person then cast it.  LOL by this time caster/healer is toast.  Nice way to blow out lvl 50 spell SOE.</P>

[Shizzirri]

<P>For kicks I popped it today when I missed an ae taunt and the mage got aggro on another group...</P> <P>I lost 40% of my health on a group of 4 melee green (level 47) heroic mobs...</P>

[Krooner]

<P>The Only situation that I have used it in was in the infernal forge.</P> <P>Our weaponssmith was only level 44.  We had 2 guardians in the raid.  My job was to guard the smith.  The only reason I used it was because Sentry would not stack with any other spell.  It was my job to keep the adds off him and intercept damage while he forged.</P> <P>Other than that one miniscule tiny portion of the game.... Its been a waste of hotbar space.</P> <P> </P>

[Kell]

<DIV>I prefer to think of it as Guardian Fear....for the sphincter tightening effect it has on me when I use it.  Now that my hit points are basically the same as everyone elses, it  can be suicidal to use this.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>It seems like this was intended as an off tank ability.....you know to keep the monks and bruisers alive. :smileyindifferent:</DIV>

[MountainFl]

<DIV>I used it 1 time. After I was killed and the group wiped, the ability went in the trash.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

[Arpophyllum]

<P>That whole line of spells is like a suicide pact: 'Here, let me put this on you.....okay, now when you get aggro, I'll die first, then when you still have aggro, you'll die, too! Won't that be fun????'</P> <P>I'd rather have a version of the pre-LU13 Entrench/Anchor pulling spell. Otherwise, I'd like a way remove the Intervene/Guardian Sphere line of spells from my spell book.</P>

[Balmore]

<blockquote><hr>Arpophyllum wrote:<P>That whole line of spells is like a suicide pact: 'Here, let me put this on you.....okay, now when you get aggro, I'll die first, then when you still have aggro, you'll die, too! Won't that be fun????'</P> <P>I'd rather have a version of the pre-LU13 Entrench/Anchor pulling spell. Otherwise, I'd like a way remove the Intervene/Guardian Sphere line of spells from my spell book.</P> <hr></blockquote>Man, you're [expletive ninja'd by Faarbot] right. It's just to suicide and not only that... worse than that is the you-will-die-next part. <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[MrMartin]

<P>I almost only use these lines of spells when im off-tank.<BR>And usually only the spells that increase the targets chance to avoid.</P> <P>Sometimes I use them if we have a low lvl member in the group even if im MT.</P> <DIV>I dont have the lvl 50 spell yet but I can defenatly see some practical use for it when<BR>im off-tank.  It will make me take the hits from the adds on casters/healers.<BR>Although it will probably drop me pretty quick if I have it on the MT also, draining important<BR>power from the healers.... ok, the spell sucks. <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /><BR>Change it to another group or AOE taunt on a different timer then the rest, thats what we</DIV> <DIV>really need, right?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Lekoaf of Runnyeye</DIV> <DIV>lvl 37 Guardian</DIV> <DIV>Senior officer of Paragons of Valour.</DIV>

[tsaav]

It needs to be changed to: "Target takes 0% damage, Caster takes 100% of damage Casters mitigation/avoidance/etc are used to calculate damage Every hit transfered procs Holding The Line on attacker from caster" A MUCH COOLER idea is that it should make a sphere that drops over the group and blocks incoming/outgoing attacks for a few seconds. A little "mini-break" for the group and mob. <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> <div></div>

[Ironmeow]

<DIV>i think they think there are too many guardians/fighters so they are nerfing us and giving balance to the other fighters it seems.</DIV>

[Hend]

<P>I think we all have to accept that they're trying to give us a meaningful defensive role when not MT-ing. Being defensive experts, we are given means to intercept and keep the healers and dealers alive long enough for the MT to re-gain agro when he looses it or when adds cause havoc in the ranks. If doing this occassionally means dying for the cause, fine with me.</P> <P>(It even fits well with my interpretation of the word "guardian", i.e., someone who guards, watches over and protects someone else).</P> <P>Since the revamp, most of my grouping has been with better equipped or higher level tanks, so I've been forced to find out how I can make best use of myself as an off-tank, and I must admit I like it as much as I do tanking.</P> <DIV>I'm not saying that I think it was a brilliant idea to try to make all fighters equally good tanks, nor do I say that Sphere is a great spell or that we weren't nerfed beyond recognition in LU#13, but I do think the intentions behind Sphere and other protection/interception abilities are promissing.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The time when all fights were best fought with a single MT keeping agro and being kept alive by a healer while everybody else unloaded all they had, is over, it seems. I, for one, welcome the chance to develop new tactics, but maybe it's because I haven't been on the MMORPG scene long enough to think that the old way is only way. :smileywink:</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Vork, 51 guardian</DIV>

[Shakir10]

<DIV>I have tried using Guardian Sphere many times.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I can say that in all my raiding and all my grouping, Guardian Sphere worked Perfectly 1 time.  I can actually say that of the probobly couple hundred times I have tried using it, it actually did do it's job once and really did protect my group in what you could call an Oh Sheet situation.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>But 1 time in several hundred that it works exactly how you would hope when your entire group is getting it's [expletive ninja'd by Faarbot] beat is not good at all. </DIV>

[CyberV]

My take on all of this is that its just one big SOE conspiracy to have people keeping their accounts open for a dying game! I no longer enjoy playing my lvl 37 Guardian and I pre-ordered DoF! Now I have to start form scratch and make another, lvl him to 45 just so I can play the [expletive ninja'd by Faarbot] the thing! Still would probably get there before my Guardian at lvl 37:smileyvery-happy: