Mimicking is broken

[Four Oh Four]

Well, since mesmers have a number of skills that steal skills (Inspired Hex, Inspired Enchantment, Arcane Thievery, Arcane Mimicry), I made a themed "mimic" type of mesmer. I just noticed when I used him, though, that the stolen skills suck. Unless you have a matching secondary with properly distributed attribute points, any skill you steal will be at level 0. The Fireball I stole from a Hydra outside Augury Rock only does 7 damage! This seems like a very problematic bug--or, at the least, a game mechanic oversight.

EDIT: A screenshot of said problem:

[Mellorine]

Well, since mesmers have a number of skills that steal skills (Inspired Hex, Inspired Enchantment, Arcane Thievery, Arcane Mimicry), I made a themed "mimic" type of mesmer. I just noticed when I used him, though, that the stolen skills suck. Unless you have a matching secondary with properly distributed attribute points, any skill you steal will be at level 0. The Fireball I stole from a Hydra outside Augury Rock only does 7 damage! This seems like a very problematic bug--or, at the least, a game mechanic oversight.

EDIT: A screenshot of said problem:

i agree, i suggest that the mimicked skil must be the level of the one who it stole it from

[majoho]

I don't agree - that would make the spell WAY too powerfull.

[glittersores]

Wouldn't a monster using fire magic be resistant to it as well? Seems to be the theme with ele mobs... :D

[Saikyo]

At least in the case of Arcane Theivery the point isn't so much to USE their spell back at them but to DENY them the use of that spell. (29 seconds or so at level 12 domination.) If it happens that the spell is from one of your professions and you happen to have attribute points into it all the better.

As for Inspired Hex/Enchantment, I see those more as debuffers for the enemy (Debuf as in removing a positive buf in the case of enchantment). As an added bonus you generally have a net GAIN in your energy when you do cast those spells assuming you put a decent amount into inspiration. The fact that you gain access to the hex/enchantment you removed is just iceing on the cake.

Finally for arcane mimicry, the main purpose of that spell seems to be to copy an elite from an ally who you KNOW has an elite that you can use. If you are a Me/Mo for example and you use the skill on a N/W, it's just as big a waste if the other guy didn't even have an elite. I think to use it effectively you want to coordinate with your allies to see what would be benificial to the group to copy. (I wonder how evil 2 mesmers copying echo from each other would be?...)

[Feynt]

Copying Echo... Off... Oh Mod, brilliant! But would it work...

<scurries off to contemplate a quad Lightning Strike build>

[Lord Gargoyle]

i agree, its some kind of oversight. i would like to link the level of the stolen skill to domination. so when you have 16 dom the stolen skill is the same as the enemies skill level.

[phatdawg]

copying echo...
giving me ideas.
Thanks Saikyo!

[Tsume]

I'd say useing Arcane Mimicry to steal Echo would end up costing way to energy. You have to activate Arcane Mimicry before you can use it (the spell that replaces it that is, by itself it is useless). And if you use it to steal Echo you would then have to activate echo, cast a spell, and then you would have a second skill. By the time you have the second skill to use, you wont have enough energy to use it or any other skills.

Alone they each have uses, but combining them in a non Ele primary would give you energy troubles. Not to say there arent ways of making energy up, there are, and I'm sure some out there can do something interesting with it if they want. But the only reason you would want it is to copy another elite skill. Otherwise you would just be better off taking Echo. But if the elite skill you want to use is a spell you would be better served by just taking the elite skill and Arcane Echo.

[Nobleman Azure]

stealing skills isntthe main point of these mesmer spells

-arcane thievery disables the skill from the opponents skill bar
-arcane mimicry is used for cross-character combos, where 2 characters are made to be partied together because they have skills that would benefit each other
-inspired hex would let you remove a hex AND gain energy, same goes for inspired enchantment, plus you get to use the skill. Love it when i got LT or a second copy of backfire.