I think I understand your first question.. as in can I use a spell to lower the casting cost/increase damage/etc. of some type of spell. The answer is yes.. and certain combos work out better than others. Probably it's more like this.. you can cast elemental weakness on the enemy then cast your fire/ice/water/lightening attack which will do more damage. You can also use spells from other classes (if you have them) that can reduce the casting time or recharge time of your attack spells. Many combos are possible and some work better than others. Second question: Yes. Some spells will fail 50% or more if you don't have 7 attribute points in that spells' common group. Control animal might fail on higher level creatures 50% or more of the time unless you have at least 7 pts in the "Nature Lore" subclass of the Ranger. **That is not accurate but you get the point.
From what I'm learning in PvP (on a good team) is that the fastest (best organized) teams seem to win. When I'm on a team that singles out a character for elimination take 'em down. Generally some people go for the monk because they might have Rez. My PvP character is using a Rez signet so I'm generally not the first one targeted. However, I don't understand why but sometimes some really tough opponents zero in on me in the back. I know I'm weaker then they are but perhaps not as weak as they think. If I could poison and life syphon.. they'd be in trouble.
So far the best match we've had was a Paladin on our team ended up rezzing the whole team for a victory. That match lasted almost 7 minutes. Most battles are over in 4 minutes or less. As I've played for the last day.. I've noticed some bad signs when you spawn in a new team.
1.) If they start doing stupid emotes like: dancing, jumping, waving etc. They are generally not team players and are the first to get killed. I was even on a team with a monk that could rez but he didn't rez a single player. Tried to do it all on his own. The PvP matches are totally a team effort. You can have maybe one weak link.. but if the other team is 1/2 trying.. 2 weak team players will do you in for sure.
2.) I think the longest winning streak we've had was 6.. maybe 7. If the other team is waiting (or continously trying to flank your team) on the map for you.. it's probably a bad sign. Those are generally more experienced teams or team members. Your team needs to stick together but *ALWAYS* watch out for the Elementalist's Fire Storm spell and other area effect spells. The team that stopped us had a ranger that could do poison arrows.. and he stood on the top of a bridge to shoot farther and picked off the magic users behind the line. Of course he singled me out twice. I was rezzed once but as soon as I got up he hit me again with poison and that was it.
3.) If they have a clan extension in their name at the end.. and all of your team is basically in a clan. Your chances of winning are pretty good or at least putting up a fight. Not many clanners go at it on their own. Some even try to take charge of the group right before we engage. I always tell the team before we start,"I can rez one of you one time per game." Someone usually says,"Ok.. save that for the Monk." I don't always agree with that because if the monk is busy.. and we're fighting with 3 players.. that's not good. Usually I rez the first to fall, especially if they are close by me.



