Does anyone use Ethereal Journey ?

[popps]

I have been wondering for a while now if anyone ever uses the Ethereal Journey spell from spellweaving.

Personally, I find it extremely limited and not much of any practical use.

It is very shortly lived, even at its max span (30 seconds) and has a considerable down timer which makes it not possible to use it chained.

Besides, it cannot be cast while in combat and works only when on foot.

I mean, the limitations are so severe, IMHO, that the spell ends up being pretty much worthless.

So, I was wondering whether anyone might be using and on what occasions, really, given all of these limitations.

Thanks.

 

[Vlaude]

The only spellweaving spells I use are arcane focus, gift of renewal, gift of life, and word of death. I used to use wildfire on occasion but usually just go for earthquake instead for area effect these days. So to answer your question, no I don't use ethereal voyage because I don't find it very useful.

 

[aarons6]

yes with a level 6 focus this spell is very usefull for taming greater dragons..
you can just stand there and try over and over

 

[Storm]

I use it all the time for going through hostile areas and scouting..I think the 30 seconds is ok but its the wait to cast again that I think is to long

 

[WarUltima]

I use it as often as I cast immolating weapon as often as I use Item ID, Taste ID and of course last but not least I use Arms Lore to see the condition of my weapons and armor.

Yea Ethereal Journey should let you mount so you can cast standing in your house which will duplicate your character completely for 5 minutes at 120 skill. At 120 Skill and 6 focus your "mirror" char will last 35 minutes.
The mirrored char will be exactly like the original caster.
But if the mirror character die you will go back to your original character (which in this case you retain everything looted during playing the mirror char but will not lose anything as the "backpack" of the mirrored character instantly pop back to the caster on death.

Of course the mirror char is immune to dismount and can chug off the real characters backpack just like an actual character.

The spell come with a super long cooldown of 6000 second, you know to balance it out, esp. since its so freaking hard to get focus 6, each focus level will reduce the cooldown of the spell by 1000 second, and increase DI by 25, as well as 5 sdi, over the cap.

/signed

 

[Restroom Cowboy]

Works fine, no need for changes. This spell is useful the way it is.

 

[puni666]

Nope I don't use it, but I wish Immolating Weapon was useful and I wish Gift of Life could double up as a resurrection spell . Heck I'd use 4/6 chiv on a red again if I could resurrect with weaving!

 

[covert]

I use it for taming, but not as often as I used to. With the hike in gear amongst other things, I don't really need it anymore.

 

[Restroom Cowboy]

Nope I don't use it, but I wish Immolating Weapon was useful

it is

and I wish Gift of Life could double up as a resurrection spell .

It does

Heck I'd use 4/6 chiv on a red again if I could resurrect with weaving!

You can

 

[puni666]

it is


It does


You can

It's not

Only on yourself and not criminal.

And I meant resurrect another player.

 

[Mervyn]

it doesn't work for me, i still get attacked by monsters i move from one level of a dungeon to another.

 

[Restroom Cowboy]

It's not

hmm...I used to use it myself plenty under the *right conditions*.

Only on yourself and not criminal.

Stop being a bad boy then!

And I meant resurrect another player.

Ahhh...gotcha. Well in its defense it is on its own a very usable tertiary skill!

 

[Storm]

The one thing about gift of life for me is I dont die very often and if I do you can count on that I am in the middle of a lot of stuff and resurrecting where I die is not a good idea.
Now if we could at least move around the screen some it would be much better !!

 

[Restroom Cowboy]

The one thing about gift of life for me is I dont die very often and if I do you can count on that I am in the middle of a lot of stuff and resurrecting where I die is not a good idea.
Now if we could at least move around the screen some it would be much better !!

Aye, what is the timer with a level 6 gift of life...30 minutes?

With regards to moving...I never have an issue with that. Once dead I have enough time to normally move about a screen away before the rez gump comes up.

 

[Storm]

hmm thats weird mine comes up right when I die

 

[AzSel]

If Ethereal Journey could be used while mounted, yea Id use it.

 

[Beastmaster]

hmm thats weird mine comes up right when I die

same here.

I agree we should have the opportunity to move away before ressing.

 

[NuSair]

I use it quite a bit actually. It's nice to go through spawn, it is nice to taming, it is nice to retrive a corpse when you died in the middle of heavy spawn.

Pull single creatures.
-Before the fey slaying bow, I would use it to pull the Saytr's from Mel.
-I still use it to grab one or a couple of creatures from a group.

I find it quite a useful spell.

 

[Beastmaster]

I use it all the time for going through hostile areas and scouting..I think the 30 seconds is ok but its the wait to cast again that I think is to long

When I was doing Travesty regularly, I used it all the time to get past all the ninjas to get to the last key area.

 

[popps]

I use it quite a bit actually. It's nice to go through spawn, it is nice to taming, it is nice to retrive a corpse when you died in the middle of heavy spawn.

Pull single creatures.
-Before the fey slaying bow, I would use it to pull the Saytr's from Mel.
-I still use it to grab one or a couple of creatures from a group.

I find it quite a useful spell.

Well, I find the 30 seconds, which is the max possible even with a 6 focus, coupled by the long downtimer, the only walking, all factors that severely limits its usability.

I mean, 30 seconds go away really, really fast, You describe actions which are usually slow like walking to a MoB, attracting its attention, getting them to follow thus walking them into a separate area and blah blah.

Doing all that within 30 seconds and not being able to recast Ethereal Voyage sounds to me quite a difficult thing to get done in the limited time. One risks having the spell end in the middle of a risky area and getting dead for being targeted by all critters there are....

 

[WildWobble]

As a concept etherial voyage is a cool spell but in use it is very limited I much rather use my honor for the same affect and a much longer duration however i have used voyage in the past for things like corpse retrival and tameing. The spell is to short in duration thats the only thing that i dislike! If it was more then one min duration it would be handy.

The cool down is the biggest drawback i find you have to wait for ages to recast! Make the cool down less by your focus level that would be handy at least!

 

[unified]

Poppa, you may want to take a look at your template and adapt one or two skills that will make this spell worthwhile. And, you should especially look at how and when you use it.

I agree with you that the limits make the spell useless by itself. However, I am able to achieve quite a lot by modifying how and when I use Ethereal Journey. I will generally cast it when I recall into an unknown and potentially dangerous area. For example, since Magincia was under seige, I would recall there if I was given a Hag's Quest map there. It was enough time for me to find the imp and recall out. Additionally, I do have the hiding skill, so I can use Ethereal Journey, then hide, rinse and repeat if I have to.

While there are certainly limitations, by design, you can get great uses out of it and any other skills in this game by simply taking a step back and examine effective ways to use them. Any changes to it will certainly cause others to agree with me that it will undermine the efforts of the Hiding/Stealth skills and Honor virtue.

 

[Harlequin]

Yes I use ethereal voyage quite often.

Mostly when recalling into dangerous areas (eg dungeons, and recently the bane invaded towns).

In the prism of light, the duration of ethereal voyage with a lvl 5 focus will just nicely cover a character running from the crystal hydra area, through the crystal vortex area, all the way to the crystal seeker area.

Useful for those times you need to use it only for short periods of time where you don't want to waste a point of honor.

There are ways to remove combat flagging so that you can cast it.

It does have too long of a cool down period though.

 

[NuSair]

I mean, 30 seconds go away really, really fast, You describe actions which are usually slow like walking to a MoB, attracting its attention, getting them to follow thus walking them into a separate area and blah blah.

Doing all that within 30 seconds and not being able to recast Ethereal Voyage sounds to me quite a difficult thing to get done in the limited time. One risks having the spell end in the middle of a risky area and getting dead for being targeted by all critters there are....

I know it sounds like a lot, but honestly, when you are doing it, I find that rarely has the duration been a concern. Granted, I would like the duration longer, but I find it hard to advocate for a longer duration with my experience with it.

Example, as an Archer with the Ironwood Composite Bow (Fey Slayer), while under etheral voyage, you can kill off all 4 Satyr's around Mel and still move back out of her range (if you want) before the timer expires).

I run into the middle of champ spawns from the edges, retrieve a corpse and make it back out before the timer runs out.

While a longer duration would be great/lower recast, I think the spell is fine as it is now.

 

[Restroom Cowboy]

hmm thats weird mine comes up right when I die

Ok, I should never say never...

Nearly all of the time I use it during large events...it is during these that I have time to get away and the gump comes up. This morning when alone I used it just to check for myself and the gump came up right away. My apologies, and I hope this avoids any confusion.

 

[popps]

There are ways to remove combat flagging so that you can cast it.

I tried hiding but it did not remove the combat flagging.
What are these ways that remove the flagging and allow for the spell to be cast ?

Thank you for providing the answer if you feel like (sorry for the extra wording, but since I was blamed of not being thankfull to replies, readers will be reading this advance "thanks disclaimer" a whole lot in my posts....).

 

[Harlequin]

Ok, I should never say never...

Nearly all of the time I use it during large events...it is during these that I have time to get away and the gump comes up. This morning when alone I used it just to check for myself and the gump came up right away. My apologies, and I hope this avoids any confusion.

When using the EC, I find that if I start running as soon as I die, I will be able to move away before the rez gump comes up.

When using the CC, I need to wait for a bit for the screen to go grey before I start running. Most of the times I can get away, but sometimes it either lags or I screw up, then I need to wait for the area to clear up before I click on the gump to rez. Worst situation is the mobs don't move away, then I cancel the gump to prevent being rez killed, and run to find healers. Sucks to waste the rez, but better than dying again.

 

[Harlequin]

I tried hiding but it did not remove the combat flagging.
What are these ways that remove the flagging and allow for the spell to be cast ?

Thank you for providing the answer if you feel like (sorry for the extra wording, but since I was blamed of not being thankfull to replies, readers will be reading this advance "thanks disclaimer" a whole lot in my posts....).

One way is to simply ensure the mob has something else to aggro before hiding. Elemental summons work great for this. Pixies not so well, they die too fast in heavy spawns, but takes too long to timeout if they don't get damaged. Remember to put the summon btwn the mob and yourself before invis/hide.

As to thanking someone after they have helped, it's not simply the thanking, the point is mainly to acknowledge/feedback you confirm/appreciate the help others have given.

 

[Gheed]

I used it just tonight to get my Olmecian Access Orb Very handy

 

[Farsight]

It's a very handy spell indeed in the right hands.

Especially in:
Shimmering Effusion dungeon
Paroxysmus Palace
Travesty's Lair
Certain events (i.e. the Casca rescue for the most clear, but not most recent, example)
Recovering bodies without having to worry about building honor
Looking silly.

 

[popps]

As to thanking someone after they have helped, it's not simply the thanking, the point is mainly to acknowledge/feedback you confirm/appreciate the help others have given.

When it looks necessary because something is not clear or there is further questioning I can understand posting again, but when there is no need to further the talking wouldn't this extra posting, multiplied by the many cases there could be, just simply add other stress to the Forums' servers/bandwidth and archives, with many more posts than needed ?

Also the search function, one thing is looking through X posts, another is looking through Y posts....

I mean, if there is a need to post to add something to the discussion that is very welcomed but if that is only to thank again or just to acknowledge reading the answer, when it was already thanked in advance, I wonder whether the extra stress to the servers could not be spared.

Just points of views, I guess.

Anyways, I read your answer and I thank you again for that.

 

[popps]

.......then I need to wait for the area to clear up before I click on the gump to rez.

I have been in such situations and I experienced that if the wait for the area to clear is too long, besides the risk that once own body decays, the gump "expires"....

That is, the gump with the buttons is all there, but if a player waits too long to press the button to rez, it will not work. This makes things even worse because the player wastes time in the hope that the area clears up, then the gump no longer works, the player has no time left before the corpse decays to rez again and retrieve one's own belongings........

Personally, I think that this spell should allow for the ghost to walk away even with the gump up so as to avoid being rez killed.

I mean, what is the point of a positive spell for rezzing when it causes rez killing ??

At the very least, one should be able to bind together Gift of Life and Ethereal Journey in case of death so that once rezzed, Ethereal Journey comes up by default, automatically, before one is rez killed..... This would allow to retrieve items and walk away to regroup for further fighting.

 

[Harlequin]

I have been in such situations and I experienced that if the wait for the area to clear is too long, besides the risk that once own body decays, the gump "expires"....

That is, the gump with the buttons is all there, but if a player waits too long to press the button to rez, it will not work. This makes things even worse because the player wastes time in the hope that the area clears up, then the gump no longer works, the player has no time left before the corpse decays to rez again and retrieve one's own belongings........

Personally, I think that this spell should allow for the ghost to walk away even with the gump up so as to avoid being rez killed.

I mean, what is the point of a positive spell for rezzing when it causes rez killing ??

At the very least, one should be able to bind together Gift of Life and Ethereal Journey in case of death so that once rezzed, Ethereal Journey comes up by default, automatically, before one is rez killed..... This would allow to retrieve items and walk away to regroup for further fighting.

After a while, you'd be able to tell if there's a chance the mobs will move away, or if it's better to cancel and find a healer. A lot of the times, you can tell right off that it's a lost cause and it's best to cancel.

But if you ask me, to make it more usable, I'd simply let it give a free use of the sacrifice virtue if you die with
Gift of Life still in effect. Lets you move away safely. And chose when to rez.

 

[Harlequin]

When it looks necessary because something is not clear or there is further questioning I can understand posting again, but when there is no need to further the talking wouldn't this extra posting, multiplied by the many cases there could be, just simply add other stress to the Forums' servers/bandwidth and archives, with many more posts than needed ?

Also the search function, one thing is looking through X posts, another is looking through Y posts....

I mean, if there is a need to post to add something to the discussion that is very welcomed but if that is only to thank again or just to acknowledge reading the answer, when it was already thanked in advance, I wonder whether the extra stress to the servers could not be spared.

Just points of views, I guess.

Anyways, I read your answer and I thank you again for that.

You are welcome, glad I was able to help.

I understand what you mean by plaguing the forums with pointless posts. However, as I've said, it's not so much as receiving thanks, but the feedback/acknowledgment.

Without your feedback, I don't know if I am on the right track and won't learn anything. eg if I was wrong, and the same situation happens again, without being told previously that I was mistaken, I would assume that what I did previously was correct and continue to offer bad advice.

You know the feeling we get when trying to tell the devs something and they do not reply? You don't know if they've read it or not, what they are thinking, or whether they give a rat's ass.

A simple thanks just happens to be the easiest way most of the times to give feedback that says "yes, that works".



As a side note, besides giving/receiving feedback to/from devs, showing appreciation is also very important for the EC modders. They spend their free time to make the gameplay more enjoyable. They have no obligation to do this and their efforts should not be taken for granted. In a way, their motivation is seeing people thank them and telling them they have done a good job and their efforts are appreciated.

And of course, similarly, if there's something wrong, let it be known so that they know and can correct it. Do it in a nice way though, no one likes their efforts to be dissed.

 

[Merion]

It's a nice spell - I use it to get through the ninja-crowded halls of the citadel

 

[Elric_Soban]

i use it to

a) retrieve my corpse in a hostile area
b) to make sure nothing targets me when i toss a net
c) occaisonally to tame

 

[[JD]]

dragon slayer+elemental cold dmg > honor taming

i tried it once or twice, it sucked, i wouldnt bother now

 

[phantus]

Works fine, no need for changes. This spell is useful the way it is.

Very useful.


Edit: The spell, that is.

 

[phantus]

It's a nice spell - I use it to get through the ninja-crowded halls of the citadel

THIS!

 

[G.v.P]

Yes I use ethereal voyage quite often.

You guys are getting soft. OP makes a thread about something that doesn't exist and no one points it out after over 30 posts, hehe j/p.

But yeah, ethereal voyage is great. Depends on the situation, though. Sometimes stealthing is better, like in the Blighted Grove. Other times it's better to honor. But both stealthing and honor require more work. Voyage is a lot easier.

 

[Harlequin]

Yes I use ethereal voyage quite often.

You guys are getting soft. OP makes a thread about something that doesn't exist and no one points it out after over 30 posts, hehe j/p.

But yeah, ethereal voyage is great. Depends on the situation, though. Sometimes stealthing is better, like in the Blighted Grove. Other times it's better to honor. But both stealthing and honor require more work. Voyage is a lot easier.

It was a test! We're trying to see how far it goes before someone points it out,
besides, poster in first reply has already said ethereal voyage