User:Gelbrekt/Heroic Refrain Team/Project Summary

Project Summary

Graph + Concept Idea

Basic idea with the graph: The easiest way of thinking about the graph is that we are comparing two things: (1) A group of level 1 creatures fighting other level 1 creatures [all having level 1 equipment and attributes]. (2) The same thing as in version 1, but all creatures are level 20 with corresponding attributes and levels.

The graph then shows how the skills in the different categories behave between these two examples. The big questions that are being asked are: (1) Assuming that we spectate both of these battles without seeing any health-bars or damage-indicators, will we be able to tell which battle is which for the skill in question? (2) If we see a difference, how big is it?

Category 0: In this category, listing skills with constant damage such as Symbolic Strike, there is a clear win for the lower level player; Assuming 100 health at level 1 and 600 at level 20, the skill will deal 70% of the enemy creature's health bar at level 1, but only abour 12% at level 20; which is why the graph decreases as the level rises [it is not linear, since linear would imply that the skill becomes completely useless eventually, which isn't the case.

Category 1: In this category, the skills simply scale with the level. A very rough but often accurate estimation is that between a low level (around 2-4) and level 20, what will happen is that the following things will increase by a factor of 3-6 :

• The player's health.
• The player's attack damage (against other enemies of the same level)
• A large pool of the player's skills [which is what is referred to as Category 1]. For example, Discord deals 51 damage at Death Magic 4 [obtainable at level 3] while it deals 110 damage at rank 15.

A clear difference between skills inside this category is that they scale in different "speeds"; for example, the damage of Flare starts relatively high at rank 0, but progresses very slow, where the opposite occurs from Fireball. But what all skills in this category have in common is that if you compare the level 1 and level 20 scenarios, you would see no meaningful difference (the only difference being that different skills have different "k"-values for y=kx+m), as the skills grow in power at the same rate as the players health and attack damage.

Category 2: Here we start getting into situations where you WOULD see difference in the lower levels. For example Channeling would do worse in level 1, because it lasts a much shorter duration even though the benefit it gives while active is the same for both battle scenarios. There is a diminishing return in raising the inspiration magic attribute for this skill though. For example, already at rank 3 it lasts 18 seconds and is maintainable. At rank 9 it has been (roughly) doubled to 37 seconds, but it is clear that the skill has NOT become twice as good as a result of this change. The player now has a convenience of not having to refresh the skill as often, but this is a very different change from having a skill that deals damage double its damage amount, or having the duration doubled for a skill which is NOT maintainable such as Aegis.

• A related note here is that many skills which functions like Channeling benefit from Heroic Refrain because they become useful even at very low ranks. For instance, Mystic Regeneration becomes essentially fully useable practically at rank 3 if using HR + GoM, since it then gives +3 regen per enchantment, whichif using 3 enchantments almost reaches the cap of 10. Put more plainly: Some skills can in this way more or less reach their full potential at by investing 5 attribute points into them. (This is discussed more below under "viability of using multiple attributes).

Category 3: Linear improvement, e.g Soul reaping.

Category 4: Expontential improvement. Mirage Cloak, Attuned Was Songkai, Mysticism.

Basic Project Idea

• The basic idea is that while all (or almost all) skills linked to attributes are boosted in some way by Heroic Refrain, not all skills are impacted the same. I would estimate that most skills in the game fall into category 0-2 in the image.
  • Grail of Might (GoM) - The team builds are also based keeping this consumable in mind, because it increases all attribues by 1, further amplifying the whole project idea of looking at skills which are disporportionally affected by attribute incease-effects.
• The Intention with this whole "Heroic Refrain"-project is primarily to identify skills in categories 3 and 4, and then make a build from this, while also taking into consideration a number of other factors, namely:
  • Hero behavior (Link takes you to the wiki page of it). Examples:
    • Skills that require field awareness (e.g removing conditions/hexes, detecting energy bar, etc) are favored.
    • Multitasking - For example, in the Dervish AoD build, the dervish AI is able to protect appropriate allies with Spirit Bond while simultaniously fighting. Similarly, necromancers are able to use offensive skills while healing allies and using Signet of Lost Souls at appropriate times.
    • Recognizing Limitations:
      • Inability to spam skills quickly.
      • Inability to understand complex synergies between skills.
      • Inability to target certain skills effectively (e.g they cannot use Verata's Gaze effectively at all).
  • Essence of Celerity - The team builds assume this is active, since this can influence which skills are good. Examples:
    • Skills like Aegis and Psychic Instability and Aura of Faith get closer to a state where they are possible to maintain.
    • Animate Shambling Horror become more usable as a single skill for a minion master, especially when combining it with Avatar of Dwayna and Spawning Power.
    • Skills that grant energy, such as Aria of Zeal become more useful.
  • General Synergies are of course also relevant to consider in the team builds, such as including Dark Aura [Which is just a Category 1-skill] with Contagion and Masochism [Category 4 skills].

List of skills in the top 3 categories

• Affected ATTRIBUTES (already listed elsewhere):
  • Mysticism
  • Expertise
  • Fast Casting
  • Critical Strikes (Increases percentage crit chance and energy)

Category 4 (Exponential)

Icon	Name	Description						Prof.	Attribute	Campaign
	"Fear Me!"	Shout. (1...12...15 second[s].) You have +5...25...30% chance of a critical hit with melee attacks against stationary foes. Initial effect: nearby foes lose 1...3...4 Energy.	4	0	0	0066		warriora	TacticsZ	Prophecies
	Angelic Protection	Skill. (10 seconds.) Each second that target ally takes damage over 250...130...100, that ally is healed for any damage over that amount. Cannot self target.	0	055	0	03030		paragona	LeadershipZ	Nightfall
	Armor of Earth	Enchantment Spell. (30 seconds.) You have +24...53...60 armor. You move 50...21...14% slower.	0	1010	00.750.75¾	01515		elementalista	Earth MagicZ	Core
	Attuned Was Songkai	Elite Item Spell. (45 seconds.) Your spells and binding rituals cost -5...41...50% of the base Energy.	0	1010	02.002	06060		ritualista	Spawning PowerZ	Factions
	Aura of Faith	Elite Enchantment Spell. (3 seconds.) Target ally gains 50...90...100% more Health when healed and takes 5...41...50% less damage.	0	055	00.250.25¼	0088		monka	Protection PrayersZ	Prophecies
	Contagion	Elite Enchantment Spell. (60 seconds.) Whenever you gain a condition, all foes in the area gain that same condition. You sacrifice 10...6...5% maximum Health each time this happens.	0	055	01.001	02020		necromancera	Death MagicZ	Nightfall
	Critical Eye	Skill. (10...30...35 seconds.) You have +3...13...15% chance to land a critical hit. You gain 1 Energy whenever you land a critical hit.	0	055	0	03030		assassina	Critical StrikesZ	Factions
	Dark Apostasy	Elite Enchantment Spell. (3...14...17 seconds.) Your critical hits remove an enchantment. Removal cost: lose 10...5...4 Energy or Dark Apostasy ends.	0	1010	00.250.25¼	01515		assassina	Critical StrikesZ	Factions
	Ether Renewal	Elite Enchantment Spell. (5...17...20 seconds.) Each time you cast a spell, you gain 1...3...4 Energy and 5...17...20 Health for each enchantment on you.	0	1010	01.001	03030		elementalista	Energy StorageZ	Prophecies
	Expert Focus	Preparation. (24 seconds.) Your bow attack skills cost 1...2...2 less Energy and do +1...8...10 damage.	0	1010	02.002	01212		rangera	ExpertiseZ	Eye of the North
	Gift of Health	Spell. Heals for 15...123...150. Disables your other Healing Prayers skills (10...6...5 seconds). Cannot self-target.	0	055	00.750.75¾	0055		monka	Healing PrayersZ	Factions
	Healer's Covenant	Elite Enchantment Spell. Your Healing Prayers spells cost 1...3...3 less Energy. These spells heal for 25% less.	-1	055	00.250.25¼	0055		monka	Healing PrayersZ	Nightfall
	Mantra of Inscriptions	Stance. (5...21...25 seconds.) Signets you successfully activate while in this stance recharge 10...34...40% faster.	0	1010	0	02020		mesmera	Inspiration MagicZ	Core
	Mantra of Resolve	Stance. (30...78...90 seconds.) Prevents interrupts against you. Prevention cost: lose 10...5...4 Energy or Mantra of Resolve ends.	0	1010	0	02020		mesmera	Inspiration MagicZ	Core
	Mark of Insecurity	Elite Hex Spell. (5...21...25 seconds.) Causes 1...3...3 Health degeneration. Enchantments and stances expire 30...70...80% faster on target foe. Disables your non-Assassin skills (10 seconds).	0	055	01.001	01010		assassina	Deadly ArtsZ	Nightfall
	Meditation	Enchantment Spell. (20 seconds.) Lose all adrenaline. Gain 1...3...4 Energy whenever an enchantment on you ends.	0	1010	00.250.25¼	02020		dervisha	MysticismZ	Nightfall
	Mirage Cloak	Flash Enchantment Spell. (1...6...7 second[s].) You have 40...72...80% chance to block. Initial Effect: deals 10...34...40 earth damage to nearby foes.	0	1010	0	01010		dervisha	Earth PrayersZ	Nightfall
	Order of Apostasy	Elite Enchantment Spell. Enchants all party members (5 seconds). These party members remove one enchantment when they deal physical damage. Removal cost: for each Monk enchantment, you lose 25...17...15% maximum Health.	0	2525	02.002	0		necromancera	CursesZ	Factions
	Protective Bond	Enchantment Spell. Target ally cannot lose more than 5% max Health from a single attack or spell. Each time damage is reduced you lose 6...4...3 Energy or this spell ends.	-1	1010	02.002	0		monka	Protection PrayersZ	Prophecies
	Rend Enchantments	Spell. Removes 5...8...9 enchantments from target foe. Removal cost: you lose 55...31...25 Health for each Monk enchantment removed.	0	055	02.002	02020		necromancera	CursesZ	Core
	Renewing Memories	Enchantment Spell. (5...17...20 seconds.) Your weapon and item spells cost 5...29...35% less Energy. No effect unless holding an item.	0	055	01.001	02020		ritualista	Spawning PowerZ	Nightfall
	Ritual Lord	Elite Skill. (5...29...35 seconds.) You have +2...4...4 to all Ritualist attributes for your next skill. If that skill is a Binding Ritual, it recharges 10...50...60% faster and Ritual Lord recharges instantly.	}2%	0	0	04545		ritualista	Spawning PowerZ	Factions
	Signet of Binding	Signet. You lose 200...80...50 Health. Gain control of target enemy-controlled spirit. 50% failure chance unless Spawning Power 5 or more.	0	0	02.002	01515		ritualista	Spawning PowerZ	Nightfall
	Sliver Armor	Enchantment Spell. (5...10...11 seconds.) You have 25...45...50% chance to block. Deals 5...29...35 earth damage to one nearby foe whenever you are the target of a hostile spell or attack.	0	1010	01.001	03030		elementalista	Earth MagicZ	Factions
	Symbolic Posture	Stance. (5...17...20 seconds.) Your next signet recharges 20...68...80% faster.	0	1010	0	02020		mesmera	Fast CastingZ	Nightfall
	Way of the Master	Enchantment Spell. (60 seconds.) While holding a non-dagger weapon, you have +3...27...33% chance to land a critical hit.	0	055	00.250.25¼	03030		assassina	Critical StrikesZ	Eye of the North
	Weapon of Fury	Elite Weapon Spell. (5...17...20 seconds.) 5...41...50% more adrenaline gain and +1 Energy whenever target ally hits with an attack.	0	055	01.001	0088		ritualista	Channeling MagicZ	Nightfall
	Withdraw Hexes	Elite Spell. Removes all hexes. Also affects adjacent allies. Removal cost: +20...8...5 seconds recharge for each hex removed.	0	1515	01.001	0055		monka	Divine FavorZ	Factions

Category 3a (Directly Linear)

• NOTE: ALL energy management skills here where the amount of energy is directly impacted are NOT listed here, as they are all disprop.
• Attributes:
  • Soul Reaping

Icon	Name	Description						Prof.	Attribute	Campaign
	Aegis	Enchantment Spell. Enchants all party members within earshot (5...10...11 seconds). 50% chance to block.	0	1010	02.002	03030		monka	Protection PrayersZ	Core
	Psychic Instability	Elite Spell. Interrupts an action. Interruption effect: if the action is a skill, cause knockdown for 2...4...4 seconds on target foe and all nearby foes. 50% failure chance unless Fast Casting 5 or higher.	0	055	00.250.25¼	01212		mesmera	Fast CastingZ	Factions
	Serpent's Quickness	Stance. (15...27...30 seconds.) Your skills recharge 33% faster. Ends if your Health drops below 50%.	0	055	0	04545		rangera	Wilderness SurvivalZ	Prophecies
	Shield Guardian	Enchantment Spell. (1...3...4 second[s]). Party members in earshot have a 75% chance to block attacks. Block effect: Allies in earshot are healed for 10...34...40, and Shield Guardian ends.	0	055	01.5001.51½	02020		monka	Protection PrayersZ	Factions
	Spotless Mind	Enchantment Spell. (1...12...15 seconds.) Removes a hex every 5 seconds. Cannot self-target.	0	055	00.250.25¼	01212		monka	Healing PrayersZ	Eye of the North
	Spotless Soul	Enchantment Spell. (1...12...15 seconds.) Removes a condition every 3 seconds. Cannot self-target.	0	055	00.250.25¼	01212		monka	Healing PrayersZ	Eye of the North
	Ward Against Melee	Ward Spell. (5...17...20 seconds.) Allies in this ward have a 50% chance to block melee attacks. Allied spirits are not affected.	0	1515	01.001	03030		elementalista	Earth MagicZ	Core
	Whirling Defense	Stance. (8...18...20 seconds.) You have 75% chance to block. Deals 5...10...11 damage to adjacent foes whenever you block a projectile attack.	0	1010	0	06060		rangera	ExpertiseZ	Core

Category 3b (Indirectly linear; Reaches high or max potential at low ranks, opening up for use with very low initial ranks)

• Example: Chilblains maxes out at 2 removed enchantments at 8 Curses. If having 2+1 curses in this team comp, you reach this level. This means that the skill is effectively (almost) fully effective at just 2 curses.

Icon	Name	Description						Prof.	Attribute	Campaign
	"Go for the Eyes!"	Shout. (10 seconds.) Allies in earshot have +30...86...100% to land a critical hit with their next attack.	4	0	0	0		paragona	CommandZ	Nightfall
	Chilblains	Spell. Deals 10...37...44 cold damage to foes in the area around your target; removes 1...2...2 enchantment[s] from these foes. You are Poisoned (10 seconds).	0	2525	02.002	0088		necromancera	CursesZ	Core

Category 2 (exponential, decaying)

• This category is huge. Only listing a few examples here for reference (listing all would be a waste).

Icon	Name	Description						Prof.	Attribute	Campaign
	Channeling	Enchantment Spell. (8...46...56 seconds.) You gain 1 Energy for each foe in the area whenever you cast a spell.	0	055	01.001	01515		mesmera	Inspiration MagicZ	Prophecies
	Weaken Armor	Spell. Also affects adjacent foes. Inflicts Cracked Armor condition (5...17...20 seconds).	0	055	01.001	0055		necromancera	CursesZ	Core

Skills disproportionally affected by HR

• Disprop = The skill or attribute is disproportionally affected by Heroic Refrain (and other attribute-increasing sources). In other words, the power of the skill increases exponentially with your attribute ranks, as opposed to linearly (This is despite the fact that all numbers on all skills in guild wars that are affected by attributes, scale linearly with the attribute rank).

All energy management skills are disprop...

• ...because while your skills increase in POWER from HR, the FREQUENCY in which they can be used increases as you gain more energy from your energy management (keep in mind skill costs in guild wars do not increase with your level, unlike skills in many other games). A good practical example of this phenomenon is a level 5 Necromancer trying to create a minion army with the skill Animate Bone Fiend. He makes one minion, and then is out of energy and Soul Reaping can't do much to help. But at level 20, he can easily create an army while also using multiple other spells such as Death Nova as long as the Soul Reaping triggers frequently enough.

Energy management skills are PARTICULARLY disprop if they trigger on skill activation & their energy gain or cost-reduction scale with the attribute...

• ...assuming it does not have finite triggers, e.g Glyph of Lesser energy. This is because the more energy you have, the more you spend, and the more energy you spend, the more you trigger these energy management skills. This applies both to fixed numbers like Boon of Creation or Cultist's Fervor (because the amount of times you can trigger them increases the more energy you have), and to percentage skills like Attuned Was Songkai (because you can afford using more expensive skills, thus granting more energy).
  • RELATED are skills increasing the duration of certain energy management skills, where the duration increase scale with the attribute. This is in theory just as applicable as reducing the recharge time of energy-skills, however there are not many practical examples here. (Basically the only interesting example I've seen is Blessed Aura combined with Divine Spirit or Air of Enchantment. Remember that this does NOT apply for energy skills that just have an end-effect, such as Arcane Conondrum).

Sources that decrease the recharge of skills (where the amount of reduction scales with the attribute) are disprop

• This is obviously true for energy management skills. If increased attribute ranks reduce the recharge time of an energy management skill (e.g Drain Delusion on a mesmer that has both Inspiration Magic and Fast Casting increased), both the power and frequency of the energy gains from these skills can be increased.
• This is also true for many other non-energy-management skills with long recharge times [since it fits with the model that the POWER of the skill increases while FREQUENCY in how often it can be applied also increases]. This is true for any skill bar where the recharge times are more limiting than the energy cost.
  • Examples:
    • There are tons of good mesmer examples here (synergizing with Fast Casting, for example Energy Surge, Tease, Wandering Eye and Accumulated Pain; These skills are obviously more limited by their recharge time than their enery cost.
    • Binding Ritual recharge time is reduced by Ritual Lord
    • For complete info, just see this page: Recharge time.

HR opens up for entirely new skill bars (which otherwise wouldn't be viable)...

• ...because if the improved energy management: When you have more energy available due to your energy skills being more efficient, you are able to CHANGE the entire skill bar to something which otherwise would not have been viable.
  • Example: A ranger with no expertise can only have a few cheap skills on his skill bar, and would need several energy management skills to use even a few energy-intense skills such as Savage Shot (or not to mention: Concussion Shot). But at rank 20 Expertise when the cost of his skills are reduced by 80%, he can fill the entire skill bar with expensive skills, and still spam them.
• ...because of the viablity of using many attributes: HR allows you to max out several attributes at the same time, which otherwise would not have been viable. This is because the more attributes points you invest into a particular attribute rank, the more skill points you need, and when you get to high ranks, it becomes very expensive. But with HR (plus the attribute ranks from other sources), you can for example put 4 attributes to rank 9, and then use all of the different available boosters, to end up with 4 attributes at around ranks 18-20, which would be completely unthinkable without these buffs.
  • Example: An assassin with Critical Strikes and Dagger mastery can easily afford to add points into shadow arts (to benefit from Way of Perfection's synergy with high crit) as well as Blood Magic to use Demonic Flesh, since this has good synergy with dagger spammer builds. This would be absolutley ridiculous in normal circumstances, but since he can get 4 attributes to at least rank 18, it becomes potentially viable.

Skills that have multiple features that scale with an attribute AND with each other

• While all skills in guild wars scale LINEARLY with the attribute, some skills have multiple features that scale with the same attribute, that synergize with each other.
  • Examples: Splinter Weapon and Sand Shards increase the amount of damage they deal in ADDITION to the amount of times they can trigger when raising an attribute.

Skills with percentage effects

• Also regarding the linear scaling of all skills, it is important to point out that many skills have percentage effects, causing them to behave exponentially. The most extreme example is perhaps Mirage Cloak: At level 0 it lasts for 1 second and gives you a 40% chance to block attacks, but when maxed, it lasts for 9 seconds and gives you 93% chance to block.

Skills with negative effects that are reduced in severity by HR

• Skills that make you (or a spirit you summon) lose health or energy every time it is triggered, such as Contagion, Protective Bond, or Shelter.
• Minion degeneration is constant despite the fact that the health of minions are increased. Low level minions die very fast from this degen, but high level minions can survive much longer (which also gives AoE healing sources like "Life" more opportunities to heal them and extend the duration further).

Effects that cannot easily be maintained (including not just on self, but on other targets if the skill can target allies OR foes)

• Many skills have a powerful effect which can only be kept active for a relatively short period of time, after which the skill needs to recharge. HR can help to close this gap (sometimes completely, so that the skill is now active all the time). ADDITIONALLY, regarding these skills, there are also a few skill that can EXTEND durations, and this duration increase is empowered by HR. Examples:
  • Aegis -> Protects all allies. The protection it provides is largely proportional to the enemies you face (since it reduces damage by percentage) but also proportional to the attribute rank. At high ranks, it can be kept up at least 3 times as long
  • Psycic Instability -> Knocks enemies down. At high Fast casting ranks, it can be kept up nearly indenfinitely.
  • Weapon of Wardíng -> Many skills (such as this one) are possible to maintain even without the HR boost, but when boosted they become possible to maintain on many targets (especaially in the case of weapon spells, since the duration is increased by 80% if maxed spawning power).