Talk:Protective Bond

'a bug could crop up in its use that would crash Anet servers' <- So, did it get fixed yet? Revert it then. The new AoE-resistant AI can screw up any farmer abuse nowadays... right? Saph 20:18, 1 August 2007 (UTC)
 * It didnt get fixed Anti Oath 23:03, 14 August 2007 (UTC)

Would this work stacked with Ranger's Storm Chaser and Greater Conflagration? Azo 11:50, 12 October 2007 (UTC)

Something is not making sense. If this skill would crash the servers than why not change it and besides whoever this Izzy guy is already changed almost all of the paragon elites to the point where they are no longer valuable so why not change this skill function or something?William Wallace 02:03, 11 April 2008 (UTC)
 * The "crash A-Nets servers" excuse is complete bullshit. Izzy is just scared of nerfing things when they need it. Besides, fixing skills he's broken would require him to do his job. We shouldn't expect him to do that. 72.81.247.139 14:59, 3 August 2008 (UTC)
 * If they fixed this skill to not blow up servers i doubt it would get reverted to it's previous state, such a shame too it was great for idle farmers like me :p but i must admit it does need reverting... T1Cybernetic 15:51, 4 August 2008 (UTC)
 * User_talk:Isaiah_Cartwright/Izzy_Talk_Archive_1 you can read all about it there. It's pretty easy to understand that this skill couldn't exist the way it did because of what he explains there. 122.104.161.96 16:39, 17 August 2008 (UTC)
 * We all have opinions on why that skill was changed, we can both agree on that! But i do not agree it was server crashes and bugs with a single skill that caused the skill to be reworked and many people believe the same thing. In my opinion it was changed because it was the single most overpowered skill in the game (at the time) many pvp builds that came from using this skill were not fun to play against, more recently in alliance battles there were/are crazy 55/105hp monks using protective spirit in the same kind of way they used to with this skill and it is just as bad today trying to fight someone using a shadow form build (luckily that was changed) and then not to mention pve farming builds, i must admit i have tried many pvp and pve builds using this skill when it was possible to reduce it to 1 energy loss and they were very effective at what they were designed for, all in all in my opinion it was changed because it was overpowered. T1Cybernetic 10:58, 18 August 2008 (UTC)

this skill reduces dmg more than protective spirit correct?
well protective spirit reduces dmg to 10%,while the bond reduces it to 5%,so lets say u got 100hp,spirit reduces dmg to 10 per hit,bond reduces it to 5 per hit?lol,just wanted to understand,because some rumors say bond reduces dmg less --The preceding unsigned comment was added by 74.186.169.130 (talk).
 * so why isnt it used in the 55? -Lt Death 04:09, 4 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Because of "or the Spell ends." --Xer 05:32, 9 January 2008 (UTC)
 * i dont see what "rumors" ur talking about, the fact that 5% of ur max health is less than 10% is indisputable 76.98.149.51 19:31, 13 June 2008 (UTC)
 * I lol'd at this. | 72 {U|T|C} - 01:11, 13 September 2009 (UTC)
 * I am still loling LOL... T1Cybernetic [[File:User T1Cybernetic Glob of Ectoplasm.png]] 14:48, 13 September 2009 (UTC)

Use on high armor characters?
Wouldnt this skill be more useful on characters with higher armor to prevent spikes? Im talking like vs Lightning orb or armor ignoring dmg like energy surge. A character with ~100-140 armor and 500 health could find this enchant on them just a way to counter high dmg spikes. When i was working on my survivor mesmer and soloing hydras with devona,cynn,mhenlo on that one quest from augury rock i used this spell to protect myself from meteor with great effect.

Suggested changes: --Justice 18:28, 19 February 2008 (UTC)
 * make it 1/4 to 1 second cast
 * drop it to 5e
 * Increase recharge 30 seconds and have it give 1-10health every time it doesnt reduce dmg

Then it would have no downside -.- 82.95.65.117 08:34, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

so if this skill makes ur energy drop below 0 does it end?
justr a question24.22.235.171 00:28, 18 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Yes unfortunate too as it was a great skill :( T1Cybernetic 10:07, 18 May 2008 (UTC)
 * more questions which could be answered by reading the skill description eh? 76.98.149.51 19:33, 13 June 2008 (UTC)

An assassin with good energy management could still do well with this skill 86.161.95.91 00:24, 10 August 2008 (UTC)
 * no --Anorith [[Image:User Anorith Grenths Grasp.jpg|19px]] Talk 00:49, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

wow Anorith, such a constructive answer. people like you really contribute -.- protective bond + essence bond + lotus strike or forms of passive management ( critical eye and crits, or way of the assassin etc). so an assassin with lots of runes in use, so that they have 500 health, rather than the standard 600, using armour bonuses rather than health bonuses could be getting hit for 25 dmg max using this skill. couple this with way of perfection, and you have an assassin that can tank like crazy. 86.161.95.117 10:13, 11 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Enjoy your blind. Euphoracle 00:57, 16 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Enjoy mending touch 92.16.209.94 18:14, 4 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Enjoy d-shot 66.183.26.96 07:05, 10 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Enjoy mantra of concentration (where the heck are we going with this anyway?) --80.16.169.162 13:10, 13 May 2009 (UTC)

No the whole Assassin idea is just stupid. Why bother forming a build around a useless skill such as this? Shinomori 14:28, 22 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Agree lol... [[Image:User Frvwfr2 signature.jpg|User:Frvwfr2]] frvwfr2  (talk · contributions) 03:40, 11 January 2009 (UTC)
 * The only reason to use this on an assassin is if he's doing Perma-SF (i.e. using a Commando Bonder), and that's only for situations where the enemies can actually damage the tank through Shadow Form. However, even then, it is a second person maintaining Protective Bond rather than the assassin, since A/Mo can't maintain SF without consumables. Blood Red Giant 16:02, 10 March 2009 (UTC)

Stacking (like life bond)
Can you stack this skill with multiple characters, like with life bond, to reduce the energy loss per person (say, from 3 energy on 1 person, to 1 energy on 3) and then use essence bond to recover that energy? Essentially a free 5% prot spirit using 3 monks or something silly like that. Just wondering, not that it would be any use :p. Euphoracle 21:15, 30 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Yeah it says something about that in the notes... T1Cybernetic 21:46, 30 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Didn't even see that. Euphoracle 02:27, 1 October 2008 (UTC)
 * im wondering how did the skill look befor nerf? --The preceding unsigned comment was added by 62.198.195.94 (talk).
 * My guess is that it wouldn't have ended when you ran out of energy... or something similar. --  euphoracle  |  talk  22:27, 11 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Before nerf, this skill didnt make you lose ene on hit at lvl 16 prot prayers.--Ryudo 23:04, 11 November 2008 (UTC)

Energy Loss for Attribute Greater than 19
Does anyone know the energy loss for protective bond at an attribute of 20 or 21? If you're wondering how to achieve such attributes just have the base 12+3+1 attribute +3 from Grail of Might, Candy Corn, and Golden Egg, +1 from Blessing and +1 Prot weapon mod. Unluckily I don't have the candy corn to test this right now. Blood Red Giant 13:27, 12 November 2008 (UTC)
 * If you look at the trend, aside from the first levels, all other energy subtractions remain the same for 5 levels. So by that logic, energy subtractions at level 22 will still be 2, but at level 23 it will be 1.  Though with 12+3+1 +3 + 1 + 1, the best you can hope for is 21.  Just use balthazaar's spirit + essence bond.  --80.16.169.162 15:29, 5 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Or if you think you can manage a build with it, go with Lyssa's Aura then as a Mesmer, put a lot of skill to gain energy like insert any skill that gains energy in the Inspiration lineup, keeping the theme.--ShadowFog 16:42, 25 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Ether Renewal perma ele+Burning speed spam for energy+health--83.82.62.210 11:41, 1 June 2010 (UTC)

Energy loss devision
I am currently testing this skill and found that energy loss division is slightly different then stated in article. "If characters are at differing levels of Protection Prayers, the lowest level is used." I have 2 monks. 1st monk have 12 prot prayers, 2nd 13 prot prayers. According to description both of the monks should lose 2 en on hit. Hovewer, 1st monk lose 2 en, 2nd 1 en. Cast order of bond does not matter.--87.252.227.46 19:41, 16 April 2009 (UTC)
 * Update. I was wrong about cast order. It does matter. 1st monk lose 2en (12 prot), 2nd lose 1 en (13 prot). If I switch cast order then 13 prot monk will lose 2en. Did not check how much lose 12 prot monk.--87.252.227.46 11:28, 18 April 2009 (UTC)

before it was nerfed....
what was the description of the skill before it was nerfed? i cant find anything in the page history.......--76.252.230.34 02:38, 17 April 2009 (UTC)
 * I found this from wikia: With 14 protection, the energy loss drops to 2, and at 17, it drops to 1. 85.131.27.57 15:04, 17 April 2009 (UTC)
 * ty mr other ip.--76.252.230.34 23:59, 17 April 2009 (UTC)
 * Exactly. I remember using this skill back in the day, and the trick then was to get protection prayers up to 16, use an offhand with +1/20%, and keep casting and canceling the enchantment until you saw it listing -1 (i.e. until that 20% worked).  That way, with Essence Bond and Balthazar's Spirit, you could actually gain 1 energy each hit.4.88.30.203 07:48, 8 May 2009 (UTC)
 * I used to hate having to try and try and try to get that +1 protection to work before going off to farm but it was the greatest build of it's time, Also a friend of mine still occasionally uses protective bond + blessed signet in his build to smite farm (small groups) with a ss hero with success ;) T1Cybernetic 08:57, 8 May 2009 (UTC)

maintaining it
so this+life bond will reduce the damage to %2,5? also, life bond and prot bond on tank, balth on caster and essence bonds on both targets will make the energy on hit 0 right? --The preceding unsigned comment was added by 81.214.212.57 (talk).

damage of life bond is untyped so wont trigger essence bond --The preceding unsigned comment was added by 82.95.65.117 (talk).

Heroes unable to properly use bug
I've been experimenting with builds involving this skill, but heroes seem to cast and immediately dismiss unless it's barred to AI use and used manually. Which isn't too bad but makes enchantment removal fatal or annoyingly time-consuming. Judging from the behavior, unlike protective spirit, they don't seem to even be trying to use it like a target heal, it's just an occasional energy dump. Seryu 00:09, 9 September 2009 (UTC)
 * Disable and manually apply, like 98% of maintained enchantments. Moo Kitty 00:28, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

New Trivia
Honestly, I don't believe it. Sounds like BS, and came from random IP. Can we get confirmation on the trivia?  Blood Red Giant   Mani Mortus  17:49, 12 May 2010 (UTC)
 * Actually, it's true. That was the name in the beta. — piper doesn't talk 18:04, 12 May 2010 (UTC)
 * Ah, very interesting. :)  Blood Red Giant  [[Image:User Blood Red Giant sig.jpg]]  Mani Mortus  16:37, 13 May 2010 (UTC)
 * http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/guild-wars/560583p2.html references Protective Bond as Mantle of Protection in October of 2004. I agree that trivia edits with no source information are suspect, but it doesn't take much to look with up things like this. (That link is on the first page of results for Google with ' "Mantle of Protection" Guild Wars'.) MA Anathe 16:54, 13 May 2010 (UTC)
 * Pshh, that's what you guys are for :P. But no, in reality, I really appreciate it. My mistake for outright attacking it without first checking on the information (especially via Google). Pardon the excuse, but it's been a bit of an off week.  Blood Red Giant  [[Image:User Blood Red Giant sig.jpg]]  Mani Mortus  23:47, 13 May 2010 (UTC)

Multiple Mind Wrack Triggers
I can't replicate the conditions in which Mind Wrack triggers more than once. Does anyone have more information on this? While unbounded server-crashing chains may be impossible, casting Protective Bond with multiple characters still enables reaching -1 energy per trigger, which can be offset with Balthazar's Spirit. The only difference should be that you're bounded by size of your allies' energy pools, rather than being able to go infinite. However, if you check on the Master of Energy Denial, you'll find that Mind Wrack, Protective Bond, and Balthzar's Spirit don't do anything interesting. You lose 1 energy, trigger Mind Wrack, gain 1 energy, and Mind Wrack ends. I'm curious primarily because I've noted a similar bug with Xinrae's Weapon and simultaneous damage packets, but I've never been able to reproduce it in controlled conditions either. Attacking with a weapon to trigger your own Barbs will sometimes trigger Xinrae's Weapon on that target twice. MA Anathe 00:23, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

Unlocked/Skill Trainer
I've read that unlocked skills are supposed to be available at every skill trainer provided that it is available to that campaign. However, after capturing protective bond from Leaps, I tried to learn it at Lion's Arch and Ascalon City with 2 other characters. I could not find it on the list and end up capturing from Leaps again with those two (I didn't want to wait all the way into the Shiningblade territory) 71.134.121.254 Niaura