I started running PTS today to see just how bad the damage truly was, sadly I am a casual player so is my wife and my usual testing methods will have to be changed as she has moved on to... other games that are more friendly to casual players.
With that said this is the very short list (will be updating with more info) I -will- include skills found by the community if the following one condition are met. I may add more, but probably not.
- There is absolutely no reason at all in PvE to slot the skill, slightly disregarding passives. Unless of course that is the only means to trigger the passive. Meaning it has to truly be dead.
Dragonknight (Magic)
Eruption - Lets start by breaking down our first move.
-70% Movement speed: Completely non impact full. As the staggeringly small 5m radius on this ability ensures that nearly every NPC and boss in this game will almost never experience this effect. The longest out of a dozen NPCs ranging from Gargoyles, Spiders, Vampires, Bandits were the spiders at a whopping 2.02 seconds. That was due to it's feeding. It would work to keep reapplying save the very next reason why this skill is dead.
Cost: This move almost cost a staggering 6K! (5670 to be exact) to my recollection outside of purge this is the most expensive move to date. You -are not- spamming this move, nor are you reapplying it- which you will be doing all the time due to it's 5m radius.
DPS: Don't be fooled by it's timer not one thing in this game is going to sit there the entire duration of this ability. There is no way to stun them to ensure it ether. You will not get the entirety of the DPS in the tooltip. It is simply not possible. With that said right now EVERY area of effect I tested parsed higher just because of the cost and radius of the area of effect.
Answer: Slot any other Earthen Heart move for the passives, and -any- other skill in this game will out DPS this move. Due to a combination of factors. Nobody sits there for that long in one area, being one of the most (if not the most) expensive moves in the game. You can find probably a dozen if you reach over class lines that outdo this ability in every possible way.
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Sorcerer (Magic)
Twilight Tormentor - This one is a bit of an easy no brainier. Outside of the ill informed this Skill should not be slotted for any reason what so ever. Lets break it down...
Notes: Unlike literally any other skill in this game this morph -only- does DPS... and takes two skills slots (one on each bar) to achieve this. Add to that it's actually a single target damage move. Combine that with the inner workings of the pet. The fact that it has about a 2.5 ~ 3 second delay per hit. On PTS with testing on a dummy, and considering real world usage this skill achieves the prestigious title of lowest DPS skill in the game by far. As mentioned the sole purpose of this morph was just DPS. It is not only outmatched, but it's outmatched by some base level unmorphed skills in the game. To make matters even worse that was with 99% uptime with curse and special ability. Taking no less then THREE skill slots to achieve and (much to pet haters dismay) the ability does actually have a pretty short rotation. Every 6 seconds curse, then every 12 SP attack.
Does it get any worse? Why yes, yes it does. On top of all that one thing I realized mid testing was the damage falls off! Yes on top of being the lowest possible DPS move in the game, it takes a 53% hit once a target is below 50%. All while earning the very rare and prestigious award to being the skills that can be killed. It does not take hit's like the Clannfear, it tends to remain by your side.
I could go on, but this move should not be slotted for any reason, ever, for any build.
[All other Pets Go Here] - I actually plan to fill out this, but long story short - pets no longer provide enough sustain, they are not even good enough for a supplement to healer. They are some of if not thee worst DPS according to math. These abilities are it folks, if you want something that does worse damage the [X] this is as low as it goes.
Answer: Will probably be the toughest one yet, I've heard people say "well just slot the new dot/s" but that answer falls apart the second you realize that is what everybody else can do. But for now there is nothing for you pet-sorcs. My apologies on ZoS behalf. For now you have to join the masses and learn rotations.
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Templar (Magic)
Dark Flare - This is an interesting one, while it actually got a 4% buff it's actually pretty straight forward.
Notes: - Unlike other abilities you stop to do this one, meaning outside of its extra effects which we will get to in a sec, it's pretty straight forward. Does this move do more damage then [x]? if the answer is no, then there is absolutely no reason to slot it over the other.... and it doesn't. It doesn't do the worst damage but it is far from the best, and you really should be doing anything else. As for the healing debuff that is for PvP. I have never found a use for it, and can be obtained other ways.
This move has earned the "should not be slotted for any reason, ever, for any build" in PvE award.
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Psijic Order
Mend Wounds (All Morphs)
Notes: Due to the nature of targeting in this game it is simply impossible to use this in any reliable way in any shape or form. You going to target your ally in that group of a dozen NPCs? Well, that's not the end of it. It also heals now for just about the worst heal in the game. Not to mention all while dropping your DPS, Tanking, and healing build efficiency in turn.
This move has earned the "should not be slotted for any reason, ever, for any build" in PvE award.
Answer: Well first the way we target has to be fixed, that or as others have pointed out this skill needs an entire rebuild. It's especially bad because it's pretty far down the tree.
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I'd be really interested to see the list you guys have so we could have something for casual players to go to. Also to see just how extensive the dead skill list truly is. I agree that the term "dead" is way overused. That is why I want you to explain why it's dead. I'm not a meta chaser, nor do I care. What I do care is wasted any more time and effort learning skills that are totally encompassed. Thank you.