Talk:Persistence of Memory

...or we could just use Mantra of Resolve... Seva 11:18, 25 September 2006 (CDT)
 * Wow, how come there are so many crappy skills in nightfall?-Onlyashadow 11:22, 25 September 2006 (CDT)
 * Bad skills are there so we aren't all using the same build and so people can learn - they won't start from the best builds and go no-where then. They aren't all useless, most ppl thought ignorance and.. other example don't come to mind; were useless but they do have their uses in certain situations &mdash; Skuld 11:51, 25 September 2006 (CDT)

There is no such thing as a bad skill. There are only bad thinkers. (T/C) 12:42, 25 September 2006 (CDT)
 * No, there ARE bad skills, that Anet knows are bad when they make them. There HAS to be bad skills in any game like this, not every skill is awesome for real thoughtout reasons. This "no bad skills" arguement came out with Magic (the card game) years ago, someone asked why some cards are just clearly worse than other cards. The response they gave on their F.A.Q still applys today and applys to any game where there is a base of cards/skills/etc and you use a limited number of them. I'll just paraphrase, but basically the top reasons were: 1) here are bad ones so that newbies can learn they are bad and get good ones instead (adds indirectly to the learning curve), 2) There are ones that are bad, but have "novelty" to them, cards/skills that might not be tournament level, but if you are just playing around with your friends you can make a fun deck/build with them, there are many skills like this in Guild Wars - just to play around in RA with, 3) There are ones that in the designing process SOUND decent but after its balanced, developed and released they actually find out it isn't all that great (related to Guild Wars, I can see where the new E-mangement with signets might SOUND ok on paper...but fail in the actual game). - Former Ruling 18:56, 7 December 2006 (CST)
 * Don't be snide. This skill has clear, mathematically representable weaknesses compared to Mantra of Resolve. Let us begin with qualitative rather than quantitative differences: Mantra of Resolve is a stance, Persistence of Memory is a enchantment. Except in the extremely notable case in which one depends upon another stance such as Distortion, or when one has some skill-specific desire to be under enchantments, an enchantment is somewhat less desirable than a stance, as it may be removed by a wider variety of means and at greater personal expense. Now, the quantitative problem. Persistence of Memory may be seductive because it is in the Fast Casting line, which most Mesmers already use in their builds. However, whereas PoM lasts 17 seconds with 12 Fast Casting, Mantra of Resolve lasts 30 seconds with 0 Inspiration Magic. Now, in a battle scenario. The spell which the two spells in question will be protecting can be any spell, however persumably it will be worth more than 5 energy, as it is unlikely that a caster will invest a minimum of 10 energy to secure their Flare or Wastrel's Worry. The spell cast will be spell "S", its energy cost "E", and its cast time "C". The function "Fc(x)" will represent the fast casting modifier. Let us assume one interrupt, as it is the most flattering to PoM:
 * Mantra of Resolve: Total Energy = 10+E+(10...5); Total Cast Time = Fc(C)
 * Persistence of Memory: Total Energy = 10+2*E; Total Cast Time = Fc(1+C)<T<Fc(1+2*C)
 * (depending, of course, on when the interrupt occurs)
 * Energy-wise, MoR is less than or equal to PoM, when E is greater than or equal to 10, which should be almost always. Casttime-wise, MoR is always shorter. Plus, although I have not tested this, it is highly improbable that this spell will nullify the disabling effects of Psychic Distraction which might give it some practical application which MoR can not match. I am completely open to criticism of my analysis here. Seva 14:04, 25 September 2006 (CDT)
 * Like I said, bad thinkers. This skill is to counter skills like Psychic Distraction and Blackout, not regular interrupts. You can't use your 'flare' or 'wastrels worry' (which are bad examples since they cast almost instantly and have extremely short recharge times anyway) when they are disabled. [[Image:Chuiu Me Icon.png]] (T/C) 14:26, 25 September 2006 (CDT)
 * Is your claim about Blackout and Psychic Distraction proven by test? If so I will concede the value of the skill for that scenario. However, the idea that this skill could counter Blackout does not make any sense given that Blackout "interrupts" via disabling, and the interrupt is a side-effect of that disabling in the event that a spell happens to be in the process of being cast. The possibility of countering Psychic Distraction is more feasible given that an interrupt actually occurs, and that its disabling side-effect which happens to be independent of the interrupt and not dependent on its success. Persistence of Memory, as described, would counter skills which "increase recharge time by X," and have nothing to do with disabling. If PoM invalidates disability, that is highly notable. If it is not confirmed by test, the note you added to the skill description should be removed. Seva 16:12, 25 September 2006 (CDT)
 * While needing another stance, e.g. Distortion, is far more common than you seem to imply, I do agree that in general Mantra of Resolve is far more valuable than Persistence of Memory. To Chuiu: Blackout does not interrupt directly; skill failure due to disable/recharge is merely that. Neoflame 15:49, 25 September 2006 (CDT)
 * I concur. Seva 16:12, 25 September 2006 (CDT)
 * To be honest I didn't test blackout, I thought it interrupted in addition to disabling though. [[Image:Chuiu Me Icon.png]] (T/C) 21:34, 25 September 2006 (CDT)
 * I infer that you have tested Psychic Distraction then? If this skill cancels the 5...11 second disability from Psychic Distraction that should definitely be mentioned specifically, since its a pretty important paradigm shift from recharge time and disable time being independent. I can add it if/when I get your confirmation. Seva 11:12, 26 September 2006 (CDT)
 * Blackout doesn't inerrupt, it just makes the skill fail.-Onlyashadow 13:53, 2 October 2006 (CDT)
 * This skill doesn't stop Psychic Distraction unless it is combined iwht some other anti interupt, as this doens't stop hte interupt, just lets the skill recharge instantly Detraya talk  05:27, 11 October 2006 (CDT)
 * By which logic, it would then defeat the final, and desired, effect of Psychic Distraction, which is to make a skill have a long recharge time, to shut it down for a while. If the skill takes X seconds to recharge (for example Light of Dwayna), and gets interrupted by Psychic Distraction, then the recharge would be X+16 (or whatever the relevant time is). If you are under Persistence of Memory, then the skill would be interrupted, yes, but it would recharge instantly, which would then allow you to cast it again. Against 1 sec cast time skills, this means you can still effectively cast it immediately, and get the desired effect on target ally (or target foe). For longer casting time spells (those of 2 seconds or greater), then the incredibly short recharge of Psychic Distraction would be the winner, as not only would you get interrupted the first time, and lose the energy, you'd also then get interrupted the second time, losing the energy again, and getting the skill disabled for an additional period of time... Personally, I think this skill is more of a counter for Power Block, but only when using a vital skill... - Patch of Celestia 16:30, 22 October 2006 (CDT)