User talk:Entropy/skills/Shield of Faith

So if (at 15 Healing Prayers) I had this, Burning, and Healing Breeze, would my total regeneration be +7, +10, or would it depend on the order in which the effects were applied? --Emelend 21:41, 16 April 2007 (CDT)

Order does not matter, thankfully!


 * A SoF, Burning, HB: Shield of Faith blocks the first -5 degen from Burning, leaving a net -2. Then Healing Breeze kicks in, giving +9 regen. So your net total is +7.
 * B SoF, HB, Burning: You have +9 regeneration and then Burning hits for -7. SoF will block the first -5, so your net is +7.
 * C Burning, SoF, HB: Burning gives you -7 and SoF blocks -5 of that. You have -2, HB kicks in for +9, net is +7.
 * D Burning, HB, SoF: Burning gives -7 and HB nulls all of that, for total +2. Shield of Faith gets put on. Even though you are not "below 0 regen", you still have a real -7 degen on you. -5 gets nulled, and you get net +7.
 * E HB, Burning, SoF: Healing Breeze gives you +9, Burning nulls -7 of that, so you have +2. SoF comes and even though technically you are in regen, you also have that degen of Burning, -5 gets nulled. Net +7.
 * F HB, SoF, Burning: +9 from HB, SoF is on, then it nulls -5 of the Burning, and -2 is left. Net is +7.

Hope that helps... (T/C) 00:34, 18 April 2007 (CDT)

Lol, this skill is more cruel than unyielding aura. - Skakid9090 17:34, 18 April 2007 (CDT)


 * Cruel? It doesn't kill you automagically :\ Still you are right, pulling it off at a crucial time would be bad. Smack you with -5 degen and 200+ damage with a simple double-click, yay! [[Image:Entropy Sig.jpg]] (T/C) 20:27, 18 April 2007 (CDT)


 * I know I'd abuse it in PUGs =) - Skakid9090 20:54, 18 April 2007 (CDT)


 * I can see it now.


 * You FDS Conjure-Warrior nOOb, I said stay AWAY from the Armageddon Lord! *remove SoF*
 * AArghhh -7 degen from Burning, Frenzy-Healsig and 300+ damage from Flame Burst! *diez*
 * Lolzors PWN'T! Hey Dunkoro, rez him with Unyielding Aura! *the party walks over the center of the Bloodstone*
 * Let Him Die!
 * Aaarrgh *diez*
 * Undead Lich: Lolz! [[Image:Entropy Sig.jpg]] (T/C) 21:01, 18 April 2007 (CDT)

Oh, another question. I know it is just semantics, but does the description really have to say "If Shield of Faith is ended prematurely"? Seeing how it is a maintained enchantment, wouldn't it would always end prematurely when it ends?

... Unless of course death counts otherwise. Which brings up another question. Does this function like Divine Intervention as well? --Emelend 02:52, 19 April 2007 (CDT)


 * ...Wow! I can't believe I overlooked that. Good catch... >.> Fixing. Oh, and what did you mean about Divine Intervention exactly? That spell will "cheat" you from one death when Health reaches 0. SoF doesn't quite do that. If you have SoF on, and you're hit by a Base Defender for 1000+ damage, you will still be utterly annihlated. SoF can only block up to about 300 tops. Once that limit is passed, just like with Reversal of Fortune, damage occurs as normal. Divine Intervention works similar to Reversal of Damage, in that it totally prevents the death, no matter how hard-hit your final blow was. SoF doesn't do that. If it did, it really would be overpowered. As it is, I might tool around with the numbers a bit, but it is so-so on the balance scale. Divine Favor linkage makes it only good on a Monk; high cost and long cast time make it non-spammable. You and the target get back a little Health and Energy when it ends, so that its large cost doesn't go totally to waste if, say, you walked into Well of the Profane or whatever. That little refund still isn't enough to make it not cost-prohibitive, though. Can be applied once or twice in PvP under normal circumstances, more with faster-casting mods/skills...in PvE I'd rather use Life Bond + Life Barrier in a bigger party since they are not so costly and a small breach can be quickly repaired. This, not so much. You'd need Blessed Signet to get you above 25 energy, and then you are vulnerable while casting. So it is hard for large-scale Bonding. [[Image:Entropy Sig.jpg]] (T/C) 21:29, 19 April 2007 (CDT)
 * The Divine Intervention question stemmed from the fact that dying would end the enchantment, thereby healing you. I don't know how exactly the GW code would handle a situation like that, but I'm thinking it would probably apply the death before the healing. --Emelend 02:21, 20 April 2007 (CDT)
 * Well you know, the Dervish Mysticism healing on enchant-end-on-death doesn't save you either. I get what you mean, though, so thanks for pointing it out...I hadn't thought about that at all. Nope, this won't save a death, only the Interventions can do that. [[Image:Entropy Sig.jpg]] (T/C) 16:27, 21 April 2007 (CDT)

Nullify
Define nullify. Is there any duration asociated with it? Or will it work permanently for the duration of the next degen applied? i.e., if I hit you with immolate, will that alove knock out all the regen? And will it prevent all degen from standing in Swamp Water, indefinitely? --   16:41, 7 June 2007 (CDT)
 * Once you hit the limit on any of the effects, they stop working. To take your examples in order:


 * Hit with Immolate. The -7 degen of Burning will totally remove the "degen nullification" aspect and you'll experience -6...2 degen instead of -7, for whatever duration of Burning Immolate does. The damage from Immolate is like...53 or something...so that will be completely ignored and your Shield will only be able to absorb another 5...120 damage or something like that. I don't know the numbers by heart so sorry for any miscalculations, but you get the point.
 * Swamp Water. Well, if you check out its icon in the upper left hand corner, you will notice that it does have a duration that decreases, but it is continuously renewed instead of being "infinite". So, if you are standing in swamp water and you are enchanted with SoF - for however many seconds Swamp Water effect lasts outside the water itself (ie. how long it takes to wear off) you will experience no degen, and your Shield will have 0...1 "degen pips" left to guard you with. Naturally with 0 pips left, as soon as the Swamp Water duration timer runs out, and if you're still standing in it, it will be reapplied and since you've no "guard pips" left you take the full -3 degen. But let's say you still had one more pip left. Then you would experience -2 degen, and the shield would have no more pips left. After the duration of the Swamp Water effect is up, as before, it is reapplied and and you take -3 as usual.

It is a good question and I am glad you asked, Zerris. Applies to Lava effect also. Those kind of permanent environmental effects are things I had not thought about so it is a good thing to bring it up. As to certain effects which truly have no duration, such as Chalice of Corruption, since it has no duration you get to ignore it infinitely, and if another Shield is cast on you, the counter is renewed...meaning you get the full effects again. :) That's the beauty of the "Prevent the next..." clause.

I am sure there are other exploits and oddities which I am not aware of, so if there is an issue, post it and I'd be glad to answer. (T/C) 18:42, 7 June 2007 (CDT)
 * Questions:


 * Does this nullify the degeneration on a hex? Or prevent it entirely?  Worth noting for skills like Soul Barbs.
 * Also related to Soul Barbs, if you cast this on somebody who has that hex on them, is the damage negated?
 * You get a degen condition (say poison) and SoF nullifies it. You transfer it to a foe with Plague Touch.  Does it give 4 degen or 0 degen?
 * How does this skill work in combination with Reversal of Fortune? Shielding Hands?
 * What about Retribution? Holy Wrath?
 * If you're at negative health (Endure Pain expired) You'd die upon taking damage. Does this skill keep you alive if you're hit?
 * Essence Bond? Is it really 0 damage?
 * That's all for now. --[[image:rollerzerris.jpg|50x19px]]   23:39, 7 June 2007 (CDT)


 * It does not eliminate the hex, no, not like Hex Breaker stance. It's a nullify, not a prevent. So Soul Barbs will still trigger on you. Ofcourse, the damage will be nullified if you still have any "damage nullification" left. Same for if you're the target of Shatter Delusions or such, it'll still work.
 * Good question, try casting Reversal of Damage or Reversal of Fortune or Protective Spirit on someone who has Soul Barbs. Tell me if that prevents the damage or not...if it does, then this will too. If not, then no. I've never actually tested that particular game mechanic...
 * Transferring a condition will still give =4 degen. Why? Because this Enchantment only nullifies degen effects on you. The condition/hex/whatever is still giving -x degen, you're just not experiencing it. So when it is transferred, they get the full effects. Of course, if it is transferred back to you, it'll probably overload your pips, so you suffer degen again because it is as if it was reapplied. On that note, this skill is no defense against a skill like Apply Poison, since that constantly renews the timer and will quickly break your pips.
 * Enchantments go on in order, and usually take effect in that order...but since this one doesn't really end, like a Maintained Enchantment of sorts, it is different. Since it will (usually) nullify any received damage to zero, if you also had RoF on you (doesn't matter if it was first or last), you'd receive the full healing benefit of +74 or whatever RoF gives. Basically, as if you took 0 damage under normal circumstances with RoF on. As to Shielding Hands, it becomes somewhat less useful I guess, but it will still take effect first - it will reduce the damage by 5...16 or whatever, so that it'll take longer to break your Shield of Faith. Note: combining Shield of Faith with Shield of Regeneration, Mark of Protection, or Healing Hands grants near-invincibility without enchant removal. :p
 * Retribution and Holy Wrath become totally useless under SoF since you'd almost always be taking zero damage. Energy loss from Holy Wrath would still occur, but your enemies would be taking only 1 damage or so...(It would be too cheap otherwise)
 * Well...if you are at negative health and you get hit for 0 damage, does it kill you? If so, then yes, you would die. Never been in that circumstance myself so I dunno really...
 * Yes, Essence Bond would still trigger. Like with MoP or RoF, you still take the damage, but it shows up as -0. So yea, Essence Bond would then become like Balthazar's Spirit, or pretty close anyways. BS would still be better overall, however, this skill would make Essence Bond a decent add-on skill for Bonders.

Thanks for these good questions, you're helping to flesh out the skill farther than I ever could have alone. (T/C) 16:27, 9 June 2007 (CDT)
 * The question about it triggering at negative health was meant to ilustrate this difference: Does it take the damage and simply remove it, or does it simultaneously heal for exactly the same amount as the damage taken?  Being healed while below 0 health does kill you, since it rechecks your health and notices "oops, you're dead".  Also, if you take 0 damage, Essense bond won't trigger.  It would only trigger if Guild Wars thought you actually took damage, but decided not to subtract it from your health. --[[image:rollerzerris.jpg|50x19px]]    16:41, 9 June 2007 (CDT)
 * This skill nullifies damage, but it does not heal it. If Reversal of Damage would kill you at negative Health (nullification not healing), then so would SoF. No healing involved whatsoever, so the game can't tell you're dead. As to Essence Bond - O rly? When did it get nerfed? I clearly remember seeing it trigger on zero-damage Flares or such...but that was a long time ago, so I suppose it probably got nerfed when I wasn't looking. Too bad. According to game mechanics, when you take damage under this skill, it is still taken but not subtracted. Like you say, "It would only trigger if Guild Wars thought you actually took damage, but decided not to subtract it from your health." That's what this skill would do. Just like having on Life Barrier and Life Bond and Protective Bond and being hit for low damage...you take -0 damage and Essence Bond triggers...right? [[Image:Entropy Sig.jpg]] (T/C) 16:48, 9 June 2007 (CDT)
 * Nope, it doesn't. Because you took 0 damage, and the game sees that.  What I mean is if you took a fireball to teh face with nothing to protect you.  Then the game glitches and decides to just *ignore* that damage.  You took the damage...  but you lost 0 health.  Thus essense triggers.  But if you take 0 damage straight up, for any reason, it does not.  And yes, it was nerfed a little while back.  Balthazar's works as normal. --[[image:rollerzerris.jpg|50x19px]]    16:54, 9 June 2007 (CDT)
 * Oh okay. In that case, then SoF will indeed protect you even at negative health. And I see what you mean for Essence Bond...odd, that. I guess it would not work with this skill then. :\ [[Image:Entropy Sig.jpg]] (T/C) 16:58, 9 June 2007 (CDT)