You're acting like 1 of those elitist tools you get who form groups who insists the ONLY way to do ANYTHING in this game is by using this EXACT build.
Erm ... actually, I used to be
Around halfway through factions I used to ask for specific builds when forming groups all the time, and when people ran what I asked, we won easily.
Its a lot better now though because I can set up my builds however I like with 7 heroes.
I also tried a couple of vanqs using nothing but core skills, and one hero of each primary class plus two monks, and it was still a lot better than most pug groups:
http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/8708/gw057v.jpg
Actually I'm going to try that in FoW next for fun.
Then again, dont forget that the only reason this bickering started off is because you think that ellys are squishy, and rangers > all, which if you've actually played through the game as much as you say you have you should know is completely untrue.
Elly's were used as tanks since the start of GW with Obsidian Flesh, and the only reason I was discussing builds to try and keep myself alive such as prot bonding were because I was trying for survivor, though I lost my progress when I tried running invoke. If I want to get survivor easilly without dying, all I have to do is run an obsi flesh tank (not very useful to the whole group), or an ER protter (much more useful). But I get bored of running the same build for every run and am trying different skillbars each time I repeat FoW. It doesnt matter if I die because I can just farm punchout later on after I am done with my obby armor.
So long as your definition of 'the best' is the same as 'the fastest' there is no point continuing this discussion.
That doesn't mean to say I can't still enjoy playing it. Speed is not important.
You can play the game however you want if you are playing alone, but if you join someone elses group you should always be prepared to run the build that the person making the group wants. I always did this without complaining, whatever the group I join wants me do, they get.
Simply running a build that you find fun isnt always helpful to everyone else in the group, and most people who play GW find winning fun, not losing, hence why a lot of people are very picky about builds, especially before we had access to heroes.
IMO 'best' in GW PVE = Most DPS and damage mitigation possible in a team build. The faster stuff is dying, and the less damage it does to your team, the better.
Maybe have another look. Thunderclap is NOT an attack skill. It deals damage but more importantly deals AoE Dazed. If i cared solely about its damage i'd be using Invoke or just Elemental Attunement and spamming everything.
Its a completely terrible waste of an elite skill, when you can use this instead if you want AoE daze:
http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Technobabble
Or simply use either, or both of:
http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Panic
http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Psychic_Instability
Also Elemental Attunement would be useless in most of the game because it would get stripped. Invoke and Searing Flames are the Ellys strongest elites, and they are still a lot weaker than what the other classes have available.
I've never seen anyone in the GW community using, nor suggest using thunderclap on an elly in PVE, its a terrible skill compared to what else you can put in your elite slot. Also running both thunderclap + fevered dreams is completely overkill just for dazed, and it does nothing against physical attackers. Two elite slots wasted on something that could be a lot better, and a job that can be handled by a single mesmer.
Monks do not run out of energy 'very fast' unless you fail at setting them up. Mine work fine with mostly 5e skills and Power Drain+Ether Signet. Your reliance on infinite energy builds for healing says a lot about your playstyle.
You really cant be playing a lot of higher end content tbh:
Since mesmer is my only character
.....
1. Mesmer e-management skills are not good. This is shocking to some, but I don't use any mesmer e-gain on heroes. I prefer to use Blood Ritual and BiP. Current mesmer meta regarding e-management is pure theorycrafting by people who don't have a lot of experience with mesmers, or people who only use 1 mesmer in their team. Both WNWN and Power Drain are situational skills that will not trigger instantly on recharge, and will not always be successful. If you divide practical recharge by the number of max e-gain possible, decreased by occasional failures, energy gain will not be impressive at all. It's only theoretically impressive when energy spike from PDrain is seen.
Ether Signet is a horrible energy management skill, it has a 45 second cooldown! Mesmer skills for energy management simply cannot bring a monk up to the same healing potential as either Necromancers or Elementalists have. I really dont get why you have such a problem with elly or necro heroes tbh, just about the entire GW community recommends using them or ritualists for healing in HM PVE instead of monks. Non player monks (heroes or henchmen) are terrible at sustaining a group as well as a necro or elly healer player or hero can. Player monks are great, but in a very short and limited supply, and hero monks are worse than ellys, necros, or rits for healing. They WILL reach 0 energy mid battle, and when they do they can no longer heal.
No I just happened to be using full team setups that can be found on PvXwiki labelled as 'EZ Mode PvE'.
