Is there any reason NOT to upgrade your passive skills for PVE?

[noneo]

I run with 4 skills currently, but am considering trying more skills during the respec weekend coming up. I can't comment about that, but I disagree on your "no brainer" list.

Part of the reason you like lightning and gale over heal and timeshift is because you are lvl 15. At those levels, it is okay to one shot single monsters, or scatter monsters around. I also thought the cooldown on timeshift was too high.

Then I got to Kraken Isles, and Nordr, and Shuyal, where tons of monsters actually started trying to kill me. I went insane trying to kill monsters one by one with lightning after scattering them all over the place with gale. It seems I spent more time running (with Gale speed incrase yay! ) than actually fighting.

Then I switched to time clock. I (or a tank) could gather the mobs in one place, drop a fully upgraded clock on them, and blast them from a safe distance. I now have almost 32k kills with just 250 deaths.

I do think heal loses its value at higher levels though. Especially in elites, all the damage is spike damage. There's hardly enough time to worry about getting into a good spot to cast (or charge) heal when you will be dead in 1 more hit if you wait...

Perhaps it was a bit rash to say 'no brainer'. Especially as there is no 'perfect' build, just ones that work the best for each person.

Lightning I rarely use during mobs to be honest. Upon arriving at a group I charge up my fireball, cast that which will burn the mobs in place, then I will charge Gale Force and cast which will freeze them even longer without scattering them around. By the time they get back up, my charged fireball is ready again and that usually takes them all out. I don't even typically click my standard casting (as I have pretty weak weaponry at the moment).

Typically I will use lightning when fighting a mini-boss or boss.

I am fully aware I will blow through pots with a damage pure, but that is my style . I am more of a fast paced gambler than a mage who shoots from a far.

The time clock skill is intriguing to me and will dally with that during a free respec event. What is the cooldown time on it?

[kamikazees]

The time clock skill is intriguing to me and will dally with that during a free respec event. What is the cooldown time on it?

Time clock renders most melee enemies harmless. With the "Freeze Time" upgrade, they simply hold still and wait to die. The clock itself lasts almost as long as the coodown (1 or 2 seconds less). With Fire and Time, you can AOE stun lock enemies. The only ones who can hit you are the ranged ones.

That said, it's not the best boss skill. Bosses run all over the place. There are also a few enemies unaffected by it (the hulking melee dudes in Dead City and bigger hulking dudes in later levels of Shuyal, for example). Ranged enemies can also still shoot you if you are in range.

I've been thinking of giving Gale another go, maybe instead of Fireball. It seems that most warriors and rogues now run with skyward smash and shadow pierce. They zip all over the screen and make me jealous.

It's just so annoying when a mage runs into the middle of my clock and blasts the mobs out of it. Really, Gale is the opposite of Time Clock. It makes everyone move a lot more, while Time Clock makes everyone stop.