Mesmer
Empathy
I've always felt that this curse works by making you feel hurt that you are attempting to put on your enemy. As it is an illusion and not a real returning-of-damage, the damage taken by the hexed is constant (this explains why it doesn't vary in-game) and occurs even if you miss with your attacks.
Compare this to say, Retribution, which will return actual damage to the attacker, and is a function of how much the attacker actually hurts you for.
Conjure Phantasm
Everyone knows that this is a straight health degeneration hex, but I've never heard speculation on how it does it. Judging from the name and the icon, it probably makes the hexed think that there is ghost so frightening, it actually starts to scare him to death. While this may sound like nonsense, it has been documented that the extreme stress put on the body by a state of alarm and fear is quite detrimental, and can cause damage to not just your psyche, but your body as well.
Spirit of Failure
This one I feel makes the hexed miss 1/4 of the time because it causes him to lose confidence in his abilities. You're basically causing him to choke by making it clear that you take joy in seeing him fail, which also explains the energy gain. Kind of how opposing basketball fans can "make" players miss their free-throws.
Distortion
I have always wanted the activation animation to match what I understand this skill does: it causes you to appear blurry and smeared out to your attacker. As clear cut as that is, I still cannot imagine why you would lose energy whenever the attacker misses.
Blackout
I read Blackout as the actual forgetting of skills, albeit for a very short time. I used to think that it caused a sort of temporary amnesia, complete with your target forgetting who he is and what he does, but that would only make sense if all his attributes went down to zero as well. I have since abandoned that interpretation and left it at the forgetting of his skills.|||Quote:
Distortion
I have always wanted the activation animation to match what I understand this skill does: it causes you to appear blurry and smeared out to your attacker. As clear cut as that is, I still cannot imagine why you would lose energy whenever the attacker misses.
Distortion would seem to apply distorting reality. As it lies in the Illusion attribute however it only appears to Distort reality instead just creating illusions of your character which make him hard to hit.
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Blackout
I read Blackout as the actual forgetting of skills, albeit for a very short time. I used to think that it caused a sort of temporary amnesia, complete with your target forgetting who he is and what he does, but that would only make sense if all his attributes went down to zero as well. I have since abandoned that interpretation and left it at the forgetting of his skills.
Blackouts amongst grad students, for example, are quite common. People become overly pressurized (mostly during exams) and temporarily forget all their training and knowledge; it's quite literally called a blackout. They still know who they are and where they are (otherwise the blackout would end as the stress would be lifted together with the exam related pressure) though, which would be your surroundings and attributes.
(I'm not sure most skills could be explained this way, but I enjoyed the brain teaser so consider this my .02)|||If Distortion produces the illusion of reality distorted, then it could be anything on the part of the affected subject that causes the energy drain. They could be under the mindset that gravity has increased, forcing them to focus more to move, and making them expend energy, or the area around them is melting, producing mental stress creating a slow degeneration of energy.
What I find most interesting is that, despite the attempts at explaining how the skills work from a lore perspective being done before, it always seems to occur along the Mesmer line of skills.
Nonetheless, your ideas appear plausible enough.|||Quote:
What I find most interesting is that, despite the attempts at explaining how the skills work from a lore perspective being done before, it always seems to occur along the Mesmer line of skills.
I've noticed that too. I would have to conclude that is because the Mesmer skills are the least self-explanatory, thus lending themselves to interpretation and discussion.
I like bringing up the Elementalist's Meteor. My friend insists that when the spell is cast, the Elementalist is literally manipulating the orbit of a passing meteor, and causing it to come crashing down on his foe. I, on the other hand, rather believe that the meteor is magically conjured up out of earth and fire high about the target's head, then simply allowed to drop. Being a magical object, it does not leave a crater, and can be used in caves or dungeons.
My friend counters that even deep underground, a big enough meteor can be brought down from space that will penetrate the earth until it hits its target, and it's size varies depending on the penetration needed.
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Nonetheless, your ideas appear plausible enough.
Thank you! That was my main fear: that my proposals would be rejected outright for lack of plausibility (or lack of "coolness"). :)|||Quote:
I've noticed that too. I would have to conclude that is because the Mesmer skills are the least self-explanatory, thus lending themselves to interpretation and discussion.
I like bringing up the Elementalist's Meteor. My friend insists that when the spell is cast, the Elementalist is literally manipulating the orbit of a passing meteor, and causing it to come crashing down on his foe. I, on the other hand, rather believe that the meteor is magically conjured up out of earth and fire high about the target's head, then simply allowed to drop. Being a magical object, it does not leave a crater, and can be used in caves or dungeons.
My friend counters that even deep underground, a big enough meteor can be brought down from space that will penetrate the earth until it hits its target, and it's size varies depending on the penetration needed.
I could see it as being a mixture of both. In the scenarios underground, it is the extraction of earth from the ceiling of the cavern you are in, that is then forced down upon the area around the enemy. In the case of above ground, the animations from a distance display it simply appearing out of the air, not up from the ground or hills nearby. While this may be a simple technicality, taking it into account it seems likely that the Elementalist would compress matter in the area around the enemy's area, increasing the gravitational force there sucking in meteorites from a distance.
At higher attribute levels, they're able to increase this force, applying more damage. This would also apply for the underground scenario, increasing the force with which it is forced down upon the enemy. Completely incomprehensible in our world, perhaps, but magic nearly brought humanity to extinction before the Bloodstones, so I don't invalidate it as an impossibility.
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Thank you! That was my main fear: that my proposals would be rejected outright for lack of plausibility (or lack of "coolness"). :)
While I imagine less intellectual minds would reject these explanations for lack of coolness, I prefer plausibility over fanciful thoughts. And you are welcome.|||Quote:
Conjure Phantasm
Everyone knows that this is a straight health degeneration hex, but I've never heard speculation on how it does it. Judging from the name and the icon, it probably makes the hexed think that there is ghost so frightening, it actually starts to scare him to death. While this may sound like nonsense, it has been documented that the extreme stress put on the body by a state of alarm and fear is quite detrimental, and can cause damage to not just your psyche, but your body as well.
This is similar to Conjure Nightmare. This one conjures a ghost - one that only the target can see - which scares the person. Conjure Nightmare, does a similar but different thing - it conjures the target's worst nightmare. Or so I would presume.
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Spirit of Failure
This one I feel makes the hexed miss 1/4 of the time because it causes him to lose confidence in his abilities. You're basically causing him to choke by making it clear that you take joy in seeing him fail, which also explains the energy gain. Kind of how opposing basketball fans can "make" players miss their free-throws.
I would have to say that Price of Failure acts similarly, however it being a curse and not an illusion, Price of Failure would be more of taunting and getting hurt with each failed hit, while Spirit would be a lack of confidence, as you say.
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Distortion
I have always wanted the activation animation to match what I understand this skill does: it causes you to appear blurry and smeared out to your attacker. As clear cut as that is, I still cannot imagine why you would lose energy whenever the attacker misses.
I think an easier explanation or description would be a wide-spread mirage.
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Blackout
I read Blackout as the actual forgetting of skills, albeit for a very short time. I used to think that it caused a sort of temporary amnesia, complete with your target forgetting who he is and what he does, but that would only make sense if all his attributes went down to zero as well. I have since abandoned that interpretation and left it at the forgetting of his skills.
That sounds like it would be accurate - but it wouldn't be a full time amnesia. Think about times when you go to get an item, like a specific food to eat. But when you get to where said item is, you forget what you were looking for. I would assume it to be the same case.
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I've noticed that too. I would have to conclude that is because the Mesmer skills are the least self-explanatory
I actually find Mesmer skills to be much more explanatory that other skills - such as Necromancer and Ritualist. Mesmer skills are in fact named after emotions in many cases, and their name's meaning is the same as the most common belief of what they do. Distortion distorts, Guilt causes one's enemy to feel guilty. Etc. Etc. Necromancer skills seem to be a bit different, primarily in the curses section. Not because it is hard to say how things are done - but because they are generally all the same acts, just different effects. Ritualists are likewise, they are all the same acts, but different effects. And the question comes into play of "how do ashes do xyz?"
On a general scale, to look at the lore side of skills you have to look at:
Elementalist-animation
Mesmer-name
Necromancer, Ritualist, and Monk-effect
At least, that is my view on it all.|||Thinking of the meteor perspective, what about meteor shower?|||Quote:
Mesmer-name
I've always read that as "someone who mesmerizes", which is what an actor or illusionist does.|||Quote:
I've always read that as "someone who mesmerizes", which is what an actor or illusionist does.
I think you misunderstand. I think you think I mean is in reference to the profession name - what I mean is to understand what mesmer skills do in a lore perspective, you need to look at the name of the skill.|||Good, I did misunderstand you. I was hoping you weren't that dull.
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