Counter Productive?

[HBTD]

I've noticed something recently and was wondering if anyone else had, or if I was just crazy. I recently forked over the goods and gold in Lions Arch to get my Mesmer a set of Courtly Armor. The additional stat on this, for those who don't know, is that each piece gives +15 armor while casting. Sounds great for a primarily casting profession, right? Here's the catch. Mesmer primaries get the ability of fast casting, meaning less time spent between hitting the number on the keyboard and the monster (or player) feeling the effect. So, now I have skill points invested in the ability to spend less time casting, but armor that is primarily useful while I'm in the act of casting. And, since Mesmers can't come close to Elementalists in terms of amount of energy or Necromancers in terms of energy recovery, it's not like spamming hex's or enchantments is an option.

This isn't meant to be taken as a complaint, as I do realize that I can just wear other armor. But doesn't this seem just a little counter productive?

[Nobleman Azure]

Not really, the armor's purpose is to protect you while you need to do your work; this doesnt mean that you should just stand there and take hits.

By all means run when you arent casting, and when you need to cast, even if it only takes a bit of time at least you are protected while doing so, then you can continue running.

Also this armor is built for mesmers because there exists builds for mesmers that do not ever stop casting even with fastcasting attributes because of the ability to regain and steal mana.

My point is, you dont want to be just standing there even if you have +15 AL bonus all the time, extra armor does not excuse you from running and doing what you must to reduce the damage taken.