Skimmer vs Skiff

[TheLadyOfTheRings.9148]

Hey everyone.

As much as I like skiffs, I always find myself using the skimmer whenever I want to traverse water (unless I'm playing with someone else, in that case we'll use the skiff to go together). 

I'm curious as to which one - skimmer or skiff - you use more on water 🙂 

 

[SouthPaw.9705]

Skimmer definitely seems quicker. I haven't upgraded my Skiff traits yet so I'm not sure if it is  any better, but off the bat, I chose Skimmer.

[Farohna.6247]

Skimmer if I'm just zipping about, especially if I'm going to something underwater.  

Skiff if I'm not going anywhere in particular, not going to go underwater, and of course if I plan to stop and fish.

I genuinely like both, and find they often compliment each other...take the skimmer, go to a spot, put down a skiff, switch over.  

 Currently I think I use them about 50/50.

[kharmin.7683]

Pretty much exclusively skimmer.  I don't care for the whole fishing thing, so I never use the skiff. 

[Randulf.7614]

Skiff if I’m not in a hurry. It’s too well implemented and fun to sail not to use it. Or if I’m going with friends, emoting en route

Skimmer is keybound so that’s my go to for getting to an objective quickly, plus it goes underwater to mix it up
 

It’s nice to have choices and having one doesn’t exclude the other 

Edited July 1, 2022 by Randulf.7614

[Tinker.6924]

Skimmer is much, much easier to use.  You can get on and off a skimmer anywhere whereas the skiff limits you where you can get on and off and the anchor adds another step that seems unnecessary.  

 

I do find that the skiff is usable for "water take offs"  with my skyscale.  Normally when I'm swimming I can't mount my skyscale, but I can mount my skiff, and from on a skiff I can mount a skyscale and fly off.

 

I do like fishing with a skiff.  

EDIT: And I always seem to devolve into fun pirate speak when on a Skiff, me hardies.  

Edited July 1, 2022 by EmmetOtter.8542

[Rasimir.6239]

Skiff if I go over long distances with not a lot of manouvering on the way. Skimmer if I go places where I need frequent direction changes or want to go under water.

 

I like both, but the skimmer animations for some reason don't sit well with me. Using it a lot is a sure way to bring on motion sickness. Over long distances the movement of the skiff agrees with me much better, but it doesn't work if I frequently need to change directions.

[Danikat.8537]

I tend to use the skimmer most often because it's more versatile, I can get on before I'm on the water, get off after leaving the water and go underwater if I want to. I do use the skiff (especially now there's a keybinding for it) when I think it's going to be more useful, it's especially nice to be able to place a platform on the water I can then walk around on, but the skimmer is still my default for going over water.

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

For fishing, Skiff; for everything else, Skimmer. 

[Eekasqueak.7850]

Skiff takes a lot longer to take out so I use skimmer more. 

[Jajo.1428]

Skimmer, since it's much more convenient. For skiff one has to be at least somewhat accurately placed (and not in water...) and the way it spawns is almost always perpendicular to the direction one wants to travel.

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

I find Skiff much easier to use in water.  Automatically places you in the Skiff.

[Khisanth.2948]

They also just added keybind for skiff in the most recent patch so summoning it should be easier now.

In terms of speed skiff will probably come out ahead if you get one or both of the jade bot upgrades(mount energy and skiff speed) and had the masteries for it.

[neighto.7386]

Only time I use the skiff as a mode of transportation is when I am fishing... otherwise I always just the skimmer for just getting around..... The wonky layout for the skiff is just annoying to spawn the boat etc... if I am just going from point A to B its easier and quicker to just use my skimmer

[Freya.9075]

Skimmer is faster on short travels. Skiff is faster on long travels with jade bot upgrades. Skiff 3 is pretty fast when you got the speed up 

[notebene.3190]

Skimmer if I'm not fishing.

It just occurred to me it would be pretty cool if there was a way we could hook to a skiff with our glider out and have the skiff pull us around like we were parasailing.

[Randulf.7614]

3 minutes ago, notebene.3190 said:

Skimmer if I'm not fishing.

It just occurred to me it would be pretty cool if there was a way we could hook to a skiff with our glider out and have the skiff pull us around like we were parasailing.

I’m giving you a purple trophy thingy because that is a genius idea

[HnRkLnXqZ.1870]

Skimmer obviously, but I would like to mention two really cool things about the skiff:

If you are new to the game and do not have a flying mount yet, you can summon the skiff while swimming. Then mount up your Springer and jump up a cliff or a higher ledge. This is a great option if you do not have the skimmer yet or the mastery not leveled far enough. Sadly it does not work on sulfur XD.

Decorating (guildhalls) is a lot easier with a skiff, as you do no longer have to create artificial islands to stand on. If you want to decorate something near water, just hop on your skiff and start decorating.

 

[Donari.5237]

7 hours ago, Rasimir.6239 said:

Skiff if I go over long distances with not a lot of manouvering on the way. Skimmer if I go places where I need frequent direction changes or want to go under water.

 

I like both, but the skimmer animations for some reason don't sit well with me. Using it a lot is a sure way to bring on motion sickness. Over long distances the movement of the skiff agrees with me much better, but it doesn't work if I frequently need to change directions.

I hear you on motion sickness.  Have you tried the Synergetics one?  No undulating bits.  (And you surely already know this, but avoid the hummingbird at all costs).

Right now I'm mostly on skiff but that's because I'm mostly spending my time fishing and slowly advancing towards CSAMM.  If travel is the only purpose, the skimmer is nimbler and faster, even though I have a t2 skiff speed enhancement on my fisher.  Like all the other mounts, each one has its strengths and weaknesses and specific uses.

[ReV.6097]

If I'm rushing to get somewhere then skimmer.

If chilling out or just randomly exploring, I'll take Skiff. I like both equally.

[Fwog.9387]

Over long distances the skiff can smoke the skimmer if its maxed out. But outside of that the skimmer can actually turn and easily stop. So it wins out in those cases. 

[Feduddle.5209]

Skimmer. Sadly skiffs are only really needed for fishing. It would be nice if they added more in the game that requires skiffs, as they’re pretty enjoyable. 

[mythical.6315]

Skiff’s only really use is for fishing power stacks. Essentially two out of the five Cantha masteries were for fishing. 

[Forgotten Legend.9281]

i have them both hotkeyed, especially now that fishing, skiff, and waypoint can each have their own hotkey. and like most here, it depends what i'm using it for.

 

skimmer is faster to set up and can be used underwater.

skiff is for fishing and travelling with friends, Roleplaying, and maybe some general meandering.

sometimes i chose based on which skin i want to see at the time: Jade skiff speedboat? check. big sails? check. lightning skimmer? check. chunk of earth skimmer? 

 

TLDR: depends how i feel at the moment.

[AgentMoore.9453]

Skimmer, for sure. It handles better, traverses under and over water, and I can launch from it onto other mounts and back as needed. By comparison, the Skiff is slow, clunky, and I only ever find myself using it for fishing. I thought maybe more people would be using it as a mobile platform, but that doesn't happen because of the way Skiffs are designed (poor visibility, no attacking from on deck, no walking while moving, etc).

What it really feels like is a novelty, like the chairs, balloons, and boomboxes. Fun now and then, but not as useful or fluid as mounts. Without the fishing party buff, I'm not sure that I'd be using the Skiff at all except for where it's mandatory.