User:The Gates Assassin/Utility

Concept 1: An effect you gain from utility is generally good. An effect you gain directly is generally bad.
In Guild Wars there are a few select things that you can gain in multiple ways. A couple are of those are healing, defense, energy management and damage. If you want defense in your build elementalist, you could take. It does give high defense, + 60~ armor can make 100 damage go down to about 25~. It lasts pretty long as well. However, you could also take, which snares enemies so you can run away, or prevent them from getting to a specific object or ally, or simply snare them for your melee or you to kill. So which do you take?

The best choice would be Freezing Gust. Why? Well let's look at the downsides and upsides of each:

Armor of Earth:

Pros:
 * High defense
 * Long lasting
 * Easy to use

Cons:
 * You move slower, thus easier to hit
 * Easily stripped
 * Only helps you
 * Not spammable

Freezing Gust

Pros:
 * Can snare melee from hitting you or other allies
 * Can snare enemies to prevent flag/relic running
 * Can deal some decent damage
 * Spammable
 * Can snare enemies to allow allies to kill

Cons:
 * Difficult to use properly (Including it's secondary effect)

So, what makes Freezing Gust better? It has utility, and Armor of Earth does not. While Armor of Earth can only do one thing, protect you, Freezing Gust can do that, and more. What's the difference? Look at the bold words: One is easier to use than the other. One requires that you are proactive instead of reactive. One requires looking at the field. One requires coordination. But in the end, that skill grants you more and better effects. 60 armor does reduce melee damage to about 25% (Correct me, I know I'm wrong), however Freezing Gust can reduce melee damage to nothing.

In short, utility is better than direct effects

Noticing utility in builds
I'm sure a lot of people have heard the old Guild Wars saying: "A good player could beat a bad player if they both had the same build, armor and attributes." Well, how? What does the good player know that the other player doesn't by reading the skills? Well beyond basic battle tactics, many people tend to skip over some inherent utility in their builds. Let's look at some builds:

Tell me now, is there any utility in this build?

[build prof=a/e dagger=11+1+1 crit=10+1 air=10][Way of the Assassin][Golden Phoenix Strike][Horns of the Ox][Falling Lotus Strike][Twisting Fangs][Storm Djinn's Haste][Conjure Lightning][res sig][/build]

Answer: Yes, 3 of them.


 * 1) I call this natural damage utility: "If someone is dead, they can't kill you." By having a spike build, you have utility in that you can take out any player in the field in a few seconds. How does it keep you alive? They are dead, they can't kill you. How does it help your team? They are dead. Simple concept.
 * 2) I call this IMS utility: "If you can't catch me, you can't kill me." Any time you see IMS in a build, you have utility. You could have 7 dual attacks and an IMS, and that build has utility. Why? IMS naturally has a lot of different things it can do for you. Obviously, it can get you from point A to point B faster, which is helpful in AB, CM, HA and GvG. It allows you catch enemies, especially midline and backline characters since they tend to not have IMS. It also allows for my favorite tactic: Running away. Again: "If you can't catch me, you can't kill me." or "Fucking noob runner."
 * 3) I call this KD utility: "If you're on your ass, you can't kill me." Any knockdown you have is a defensive utility. If someone can't use 95% of all skills in the game and can't move, they definitely can't kill you. The only skills they can use are shouts and some instant cast skills, none of which deal damage directly. This is also the best snare in the game hands down: They can't move. This also has another function many people skip over: It interrupts people. All that for 5 energy, and it's pretty easy to get out (2nd move in your chain)

So, even in a build which seems to have NO utility, this actually has a decent amount. Granted it is hard to use it effectively, but isn't that my point? This build is a killing MACHINE. I use it all the time, it's one of my favorite builds. So instead of a build that has 1 or 2 skills that give direct defense, this build has defense built into it which takes skill to use. Great build <3.

Let's look at another similar build: How many different utilities are there?

[build prof=assas/dervi dagger=11+1+1 critic=12+1 windpr=6 deadly=2+1][golden phoenix strike][trampling ox][falling spider][Blades of Steel][Impale][whirling charge][grenths grasp][resurrection signet][/build]

Answer: 4

Instead of copy pasting from above, this has IMS utility, KD utility and natural damage utility. The new one is very common and I have already discussed it in the first article: Snaring utility. ''"If you can't catch me, you can't kill me." ''only this time they are slower than normal, not you being faster than normal. Snaring allows you both defense yourself by keeping the enemy away from you, and allows you to easily kill enemies that run away. So what's the difference between snaring utility and KD utility? Snaring utility lasts longer and is less effective, KD utility is shorter and is more effective. All in all, both are great to have.

Now for the pinnacle of utility =D. Cripshot.

Guess how many this has:

[build prof=range/monk expert=12+1+1 wilder=9+1 marksm=9+1 protec=3][crippling shot][distracting shot][savage shot][apply poison][mending touch][natural stride][troll unguent][resurrection signet][/build]

Answer: 7


 * 1) Snaring Utility. In this build, it's much more obvious, much stronger, and much easier to use. With the ability to help your teammates and yourself survive, along with the ability to help melee kill stuff, this skill alone is a major utility, especially with it's unblockability.
 * 2) Interruption Utility. This is one of the biggest parts of it. Although it isn't immediately obvious, this serves as both offensive and defensive. "If you can't use a skill, you can't kill me." Interrupting key skills like Word of Healing, Guardian, or infuse health if you are godly can help a LOT with killing. Offensive. Interrupting a spike skill, attack skills, and things like diversion can be defensive since you are taking about 100 damage off of a spike, stopping some spikes and keeping the monks free of diversion and other anti-caster skills.
 * 3) Disabling Utility. "If the skill is recharging, you can't kill me with it." Very similar to interruption utility, however if you chance the recharge of aegis from 30 to 50, that's almost a minute where their team is open. Likewise if you disable a spike skill, that's another 20 seconds they can't spike with that. Also interrupting a warrior adrenaline skill prevents them from being able to gain adrenaline for that skill, thus keeping you alive.
 * 4) Removal Utility.  Yes, removing conditions is both offensive and defensive. If you remove blind/weakness from yourself, you become more offensive and can do more for your team. If you remove degeneration conditions or deep wound, you live longer. Mending touch specifically help your team by removing blind so monks don't have to, or keeping people alive during a split etc.
 * 5) IMS Utility. =/ Told you this one already. "If you can't catch me, you can't kill me."
 * 6) Blocking Utility. Blocking can be offensive and defensive in this case. Yes, a defensive effect can be offensive. Apply poison has a 2 second cast time, troll ungent has 3, along with resurrection signet. That is REALLY easy to interrupt. Most skills that will interrupt that will be by physical means, meaning blocking will stop it from interrupting you. If you are able to res an ally because blocking kept it from being interrupted, you gain more party members and more offense. If you are able to get out apply poison, you are able to spread degen, thus increasing offense. Likewise, if you block attacks, you are able to last longer. Offensive and defensive.
 * 7) Healing Utility. Yes, healing, thus staying alive is utility. In this case, having this heal allows you to split off on your own and kill things, which is a huge thing to have. That's offensive. Not dying, that's defensive, if you didn't already guess that.

Now that is a crap load of utility. See if you can find utility in your builds, and find ways to add as much good utility is possible.

Other Examples of Utility
AoE utility

For good players, AoE has multiple uses. If you want to spread out the enemies, out of something like a ward, AoE forces them to do so, thus exposing them for more attacks. More obviously it deal lots of damage and pressure the enemy team. Less obviously you can cause melee to have to leave their targets if their are in AoE. Would you attack a monk if it was sitting in Savannah Heat? Hope not.

Shutdown utility

This is stuff like WoD, Diversion and Shame. If they aren't willing to use their skills, you are being defensive, but if used on a defensive character, you are being offensive.

I'll add more as they come to me.

Concept 2: Using skills that require skill to use well makes you a better and more tactical player
If you have to choose a blocking skill for your monk in RA, you could choose. It effects everyone, and is fairly effective. No thinking needed. Fire and forget. Or you could take, which is equally effective, however it requires you to pay attention to the battle field, know how most melee enemies function and how to spot a good one, and accordingly how to react to one like that. If you take the easy route, Aegis, you are making yourself a worse player. You will begin to pay less attention to what people are doing, where your allies are. Have you ever heard a monk say: "Wo shit when did you leave?" or "I got like all my skills diversioned" or "Didn't see the warrior coming" or "How the fuck am I suppose to catch an instant cast spike?". Answer to all of them is this: '''You are terrible. Pay more attention to the field. ''' Now if you take guardian and slowly develop the skill to use it effectively, you become a better player. Ever hear: "Nice try" or "YOU COULDN'T BE ANY MORE OBVIOUS WITH THOSE SPIKES" or "That spike with heal otherable" or "The war keeps on going to the backline to stay clean and then charges his target, easy catch" Yeah, that's a good fucking monk. That's practice with skills that require you know what you are doing. While you might stink with them at first, you will improve if you work at it and see what you are doing wrong.

Same thing goes for all other utility skills. With the Armor of Earth and Freezing Gust thing. Armor of Earth practically forces you to be a crappy player. "You take less damage and don't have to kite". Well, that's fine for AB and RA, but once you get to higher areas like TA, HA, HB and GvG, that doesn't work anymore. Freezing Gust on the other hand trains you to kite, which in the end is what you want to be doing constantly. 0.0 epiphany! Yes, this game was designed so some skills were training you to be bad where as some which take more work to make work well, train you to be better. =0

In short: It makes you a better player in the end.