User:Ruse

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Contents

[edit] Purpose

This is simply a personal archive of what I find personally useful/find interesting/would like to play with.

[edit] Trade Contracts

I decided the link list of trade contract quests took an awful lot of effort to see which quests were done and what was even required. So, I created this handy checklist. Feel free to swipe it for your own page.

[edit] Trade Contract Checklist

Image:Checked_Box.JPG Rally the Princes [2 awarded]

Requirements:

  • Moddok Crevice (mission)

Obtained From:

  • Kuwame in Wehhan Terraces


Image:Checked_Box.JPG Interception

Requirements:

Obtained From:

  • Commander Tamnod in Dzagonur Bastion


Image:Checked_Box.JPG Population Control

Requirements:

  • Interception

Obtained From:

  • Prince Ahmtur the Mighty in the Citadel of Dzagon (Wilderness of Bahdza)


Image:Checked_Box.JPG Guard Rescue

Requirements:

  • Population Control

Obtained From:

  • Prince Ahmtur the Mighty in the Citadel of Dzagon (Wilderness of Bahdza)


Image:Checked_Box.JPG Extinction

Requirements:

  • Guard Rescue

Obtained From:

  • Lieutenant Murunda in Dzagonur Bastion


Image:Checked_Box.JPG A Sound of Ancient Horns

Requirements:

  • Dasha Vestibule (Mission) or Dzagonur Bastion (Mission)

Obtained From:

  • Lieutenant Murunda in Dzagonur Bastion


Image:Checked_Box.JPG Destroy the Harpies

Requirements:

  • Dasha Vestibule (Mission) or Dzagonur Bastion (Mission)

Obtained From:

  • Lieutenant Murunda in Dzagonur Bastion


Image:Checked_Box.JPG The Hanging Gardener

Requirements:

  • none

Obtained From:

  • Gardener Pohsin in Vehtendi Valley


Image:Checked_Box.JPG Scorched Earth

Requirements:

  • Goren

Obtained From:

  • Prince Bokka the Magnificent in the Resplendent Makuun


Image:Checked_Box.JPG Worst. Performance. Ever.

Requirements:

  • Norgu

Obtained From:

  • Prince Bokka the Magnificent in the Resplendent Makuun


Image:Checked_Box.JPG The Show Must Go On

Requirements:

  • Norgu
  • Worst. Performance. Ever.

Obtained From:

  • Prince Bokka the Magnificent in the Resplendent Makuun


Image:Checked_Box.JPG Summertime for Bokka

Requirements:

  • Norgu
  • The Show Must Go On

Obtained From:

  • Prince Bokka the Magnificent in the Resplendent Makuun


Image:Check_Box.JPG Valley of the Rifts

Requirements:

  • Goren
  • Scorched Earth

Obtained From:

  • Prince Bokka the Magnificent in the Resplendent Makuun


Image:Check_Box.JPG In Defense of Theatre [Difficulty: Master]

Requirements:

  • Goren
  • Valley of the Rifts

Obtained From:

  • Royal Finance Minister Oloda in Honur Hill


Image:Checked_Box.JPG Botanical Research

Requirements:

  • Tahlkora [unless Abaddon's Gate mission is complete]
  • Garden of Seborhin

Obtained From:

  • Librarian Kahnu in the Halls of Chokhin


Image:Checked_Box.JPG Plague of Frogs

Requirements:

  • Tahlkora [unless Abaddon's Gate mission is complete]
  • Garden of Seborhin

Obtained From:

  • Horticulturist Hinon in Garden of Seborhin


Image:Check_Box.JPG Which Way Did He Go?

Requirements:

  • Tahlkora [unless Abaddon's Gate mission is complete]
  • Garden of Seborhin

Obtained From:

  • Horticulturist Hinon in Garden of Seborhin


Image:Check_Box.JPG Gift Of The Djinn [2 awarded]

Requirements:

  • Dasha Vestibule (Mission)

Obtained From:

  • Library Envoy Chukeht in Mihanu Township


Image:Checked_Box.JPG Data Mining

Requirements:

  • Master of Whispers

Obtained From:

  • Belgun the Quarry Master in the Vehjin Mines [[Map]]


Image:Checked_Box.JPG To The Rescue

Requirements:

  • Master of Whispers
  • Data Mining

Obtained From:

  • Belgun the Quarry Master in the Vehjin Mines [[Map]]


Image:Checked_Box.JPG Coffer of Joko

Requirements:

  • Master of Whispers
  • To The Rescue

Obtained From:

  • Belgun the Quarry Master in the Vehjin Mines [[Map]]


Image:Checked_Box.JPG Puzzling Parchment

Requirements:

  • Tahlkora
  • Coffer of Joko
  • Garden of Seborhin

Obtained From:

  • Belgun the Quarry Master in the Vehjin Mines [[Map]]


Image:Checked_Box.JPG Garden Chores

Requirements:

  • Tahlkora
  • Puzzling Parchment
  • Garden of Seborhin

Obtained From:

  • Hedge Wizard Mabai in the Garden of Seborhin [Harbinger of Nightfall location]


Image:Checked_Box.JPG One Man's Dream

Requirements:

  • Tahlkora
  • Garden Chores
  • Garden of Seborhin

Obtained From:

  • Hedge Wizard Mabai in the Garden of Seborhin [Harbinger of Nightfall location]


Image:Check_Box.JPG Protect The Learned

Requirements:

Obtained From:

  • Kachok in Halls of Chokhin

[edit] Individual Builds

These builds have been archived due to the impending build wipe. I neither created nor laid out any of these builds.

[edit] A/E Green Farmer [PvE]

This build utilizes the elite Shadow Arts skill Shadow Form and the earth magic skill Sliver Armor to quickly take down bosses that are accompanied by medium/large mobs to efficiently farm their green items.

[edit] Attributes and skills

AssassinElementalistAssassin / Elementalist Attribute Rank
Shadow Arts 12 + 1 + 3
Earth Magic 12
Air Magic 3
Shadow Form

Shadow Form

Glyph of Elemental Power

Glyph of Elemental Power

Sliver Armor

Sliver Armor

Shock

Shock

Aftershock

Aftershock

Death's Charge

Death's Charge

Dark Escape

Dark Escape

Dash

Dash

[edit] Equipment

[edit] Usage

[edit] Counters

  • When Sliver Armor deals only half damage to bosses will also end your run.

[edit] Variants

[edit] Notes

  • This build was originally posted at GuildWars Guru and GWOnline.
  • Sometimes the skill Sliver Armor may start hitting other enemies instead of the boss.
  • Ranger bosses often cannot be killed because of their elemental resistance.

[edit] List of soloable bosses

Total Number of Soloable Bosses: 107

  • Please add info of the level of difficulty for each boss (Very Easy, Easy, Medium, Hard and Very Hard) also add the location where the boss is, for easier preview.
[edit] Prophecies

2 Current Bosses

[edit] Factions

47 Current Bosses

[edit] Nightfall

57 Current Bosses

  • Kourna
    • Sunward Marches:(Consider getting the +1 earth magic blessing from the Melandru's shrine outside Dajkah Inlet. Although it is not necessary.)
    • Marga Coast:
      • WarriorChor the Bladed - Very Easy/Easy (Just aggro the group of Mirage Ibogas near him and try not to be interrupted while casting shadow form. Cast Sliver Armor when he uses Frenzy)
      • AssassinLunto Sharpfoot - Medium/Hard (You must pull him towards the mirage ilbogas and then usually only 1 of his monks will come and then its easy. but you want to be beside the monk when you activate sliver so when he uses shadowmeld sliver armor is still targeting him. then it will be Easy/Medium)
      • ElementalistBosun Mohrti - Medium/Hard (Aggro the insects nearby and Frigid skales and snare with Caltrops.)
      • DervishBubahl Icehands - Medium (Aggro nearby insects, snare with Caltrops, and heal with Feigned Neutrality)
      • MonkChidehkir, Light of the Blind - Easy/Medium (Aggro nearby Kournan patrol)
      • MesmerNeoli the Contagious - Hard/Very Hard (Clear out Kuskale lashers first with sliver armour, this may take quite a few runs, high dp.)
    • The Floodplain of Mahnkelon:
    • Arkjok Ward:
      • WarriorOnwan, Lord of the Ntouka - Medium (Leave from command post and follow river into lake),(bring fiegned nurality as a cover over slither armor and shadow form)
      • NecromancerModti Darkflower - Easy/Medium (Killing him is Very Easy, but the run is a bit heavy)
      • RitualistLieutenant Kayin - Very Easy (Just aggro one other group, and he goes down in roughly 10 seconds)
      • Paragon Eshau Longspear - Easy/Medium (You need to aggro the group of Mandragors behind him. Rezone if that party has a Mandragor Imp in it.)
      • Mesmer Captain Chichor - Easy/Medium (Approach the small base from the north, and wait for him to patrol outwards.)
    • Dejarin Estate:
    • Barbarous Shore:
      • Paragon Lieutenant Shagu: - Medium (You must aggro nearby enemies. If you do this, and silver armor keep targeting him, he will be down in few seconds.)
    • Bahdok Caverns:
      • ParagonWandalz the Angry - Medium/Hard (The hardest part about this boss is getting to him. You need to learn the hiding spots on the map, as the spawns in this particular area are quite massive to be running around by yourself. You'll want to keep the original build intact, and use speed buffs across the bridge. Once across, glyph, death's charge, and sliver armor, he goes down rather quick. Throw a shock and aftershock in there to see it go a little faster.)
    • Jahai Bluffs:
      • To Be Added...
    • Turai's Procession:
      • ElementalistKorr, Living Flame - Medium/Hard (Don't lure the nearby water djinn, Sliver armor will target them instead)
      • MonkChiossen, Soothing Breeze - Medium/Hard (The Rampaging Ntouka make this hard, use Feigned Neutrality as the Rampaging Ntouka run towards you and it will strip Feign Neutrality instead of Sliver Armor or even worse, Shadow Form. Aggro the nearby hekets to the north of Chiossen's group. Pack Obsidian Flame and Aftershock to speed up the killing.)
  • Realm of Torment - (Lightbringer title in this area will alter effectiveness.)
    • Nightfallen Jahai
    • Domain of Pain
      • DervishFahralon the Zealous - Easy/Medium (Before entering battle, try using Dark Escape to minimize the damage taken from AoE and Dreadful Pain.)
    • Domain of Fear
      • ParagonShrieker of Dread - Hard (you'll need to aggro several (ideally 3) patrols to take him down; wait for them to converge). Also watch out for the Death Nova when killed.
      • ElementalistStorm of Anguish - Medium (Difficult to get to, try to slip between the two first mobs, lure another mob for easy kill)
    • Depths of Madness
      • WarriorReaper of Agony - Medium (Time your run when he has moved near the two groups of Margonites)
      • AssassinRavager of Dreams - Very Hard (Approach from the north, and pull 2-3 groups along with the boss group, 4+ Lightbringer rank reccomended.)
      • MonkTopo the Protector - Hard/Very Hard (Aggro once, run, and wait for him to fully summon his army, (about a minute), then shadow form in for a rather easy kill, due to the surronding groups of graven monoliths.)
      • NecromancerMaster of Misery - Hard/Very Hard (Pull together groups, beware of scythe attacks and death novas, armor of earth, obsidian flame, feigned neutrality all are good to have.)
      • RitualistConsort of Ruin - Hard/Very Hard (Pull groups, and make sure it targets him and it will be easy, minions and blades of torment make this tough.)

[edit] See also

[edit] A/Me Fever Outbreak [PvE, AB]

The Fever Outbreak assassin is built for dealing with a large amount of targets. Likewise, it excels in a PvE and AB environment where the sheer amount of players and NPCs usually make Sins underpowered to deal with all the targets, so the Fever Outbreak assassin attempts to solve this by the use of the Mesmer elite Fevered Dreams to spread four potent conditions amid a large area of targets, while also hitting the primary target very hard. Likewise, it can also solo cap shrines, which sins also have problems doing in a speedy manner. The initial build is aimed at teams with a dedicated healer. If you do not have one, variants exist to cope.

[edit] Attributes and Skills

AssassinMesmerAssassin / Mesmer Attribute Rank
Dagger Mastery 12 + 1 + 2
Critical Strikes 12 + 1
Illusion Magic 3
Fevered Dreams

Fevered Dreams

Black Mantis Thrust

Black Mantis Thrust

Black Lotus Strike

Black Lotus Strike

Black Spider Strike

Black Spider Strike

Twisting Fangs

Twisting Fangs

Optional

Optional

Optional

Optional

Optional

Optional

  • To fill in the Optional slots, look in the Variants section for many different uses for this build.
  • If you don't have a dedicated healer, drop Critical Strikes down to 10 and put 8 points in Shadow Arts.

[edit] Equipment

  • Armor: Radiant Armor with Runes of Attunement.
  • Weapons: Poisonous PvP Dagger of Fortitude with a 15% Modifier vs Hexed opponents. It is suggested however you bring along a Cripple, Deepwound, and Zealous Dagger set as well, using them as the situations call for it.

[edit] Usage

  • Select a target, hopefully one in the center of a large collection of foes. The area radius of Fevered Dreams is extremely large, so you can even pick an outlining foe and still possibly affect everyone. Now, hex your target with Fevered Dreams. Hit them with Black Mantis Thrust to slow them down, followed with Black Lotus Strike to give you energy for Black Spider Strike and Twisting Fangs. Everyone in the area should now be crippled, bleeding, poisoned, and suffering from a deep wound.
  • Note, this build is very flexible in relation to combo attack order. You can fire off all three of your attacks at any time except Twisting Fangs, which HAS to follow an Off-Hand attack.

[edit] Counters

  • Hex removal before the combo can be carried out. However, Fevered Dreams only has a 10 second recharge.
  • General other standard anti-melee counters can pose problems.

[edit] Variants

  • If you wish to have a consistent tanking ability in PvE, add in Critical Eye and Critical Defenses. You can even further drop Black Lotus Strike, put 8 + 1 points in Shadow Art by lowering Dagger Mastery to 10 and add in Way of Perfection. The energy gain from Critical Eye should cover you. If you decide you don't need crippling, you can always replace Black Mantis Thrust for something else of use to you, such as Blinding Powder, which can be shot off after your first off-hand attack without disrupting Twisting Fangs.
  • For Optional: Movement skills to close upon your target, such as Dash, Dark Escape, Shadow of Haste or Shadow Walk which will allow you to automatically teleport back after fulfilling your combo if you bring a secondary stance, like Deadly Paradox which will cut down the recharge on a healing spell, such as Feigned Neutrality.
  • For Optional: Defensive skills, such as Signet of Malice which will clear you of conditions given the sheer many of them you'll spread around. Or Blinding Powder which can act in a defensive capacity with Fevered Dreams, blinding everyone in the area for 10 seconds with a 20 second recharge, which is considerably useful. Heart of Shadow, Feigned Neutrality, and Shadow Refuge will heal you.
  • For Optional: Offensive skills, for even more of an edge in killing your target. Interruptions such as Disrupting Dagger or Web of Disruption which will also count as a cover hex or all around hex so you can carry out your combo might be useful. Expunge Enchantments is even possible to deal with generally unkillable 'Mystic Regeneration' tanks which are common in AB.
  • If blocking foes become a problem consider using Way of the Fox to hit with all of the combo (at 5 shadow arts your next 3 attacks are unblockable and at 8 the next 4).

[edit] Fever Outbreak PvE

Fevered Dreams

Fevered Dreams

Black Mantis Thrust

Black Mantis Thrust

Black Spider Strike

Black Spider Strike

Twisting Fangs

Twisting Fangs

Signet of Malice

Signet of Malice

Critical Eye

Critical Eye

Critical Defenses

Critical Defenses

Way of Perfection

Way of Perfection

[edit] Notes

  • This build is incredibly useful when used in conjunction with other builds that utilize dangerous conditions, specifically burning, daze, and blind. Teamed up with a Temple Strike sin for example and a barrage ranger or dervish that will 'hit' everyone while dazed, you can wipe out mobs very quickly if planned correctly.

[edit] A/any Critical Fox [PvE, AB, PvE hero]

This PvE build is built around the Assassin's primary attribute, Critical Strikes. Using Way of the Assassin and Critical Eye to raise your chance of a critical hit to about a 77% chance per hit, and Critical Defenses for a near-permanent 75% chance to block, nearly every hit you land will net you +4 energy. Using a skill chain of unblockable attack skills, you can be sure to consistently get your damage through.

[edit] Attributes and Skills

AssassinAssassin / Any Attribute Rank
Critical Strikes 12 + 1
Dagger Mastery 11 + 1 + 2
Shadow Arts 6 + 1
Shroud of Distress

Shroud of Distress

Golden Fox Strike

Golden Fox Strike

Fox Fangs

Fox Fangs

Nine Tail Strike

Nine Tail Strike

Way of the Assassin

Way of the Assassin

Critical Defenses

Critical Defenses

Shadow Refuge

Shadow Refuge

optional

optional

  • Your optional slot is quite flexible, but there are a few especially good options, most of which will be based on your setting (PvE or AB).
  • Resurrection Signet is obviously an important choice in PvE, but near-useless in AB.
  • Way of Perfection is useful as a long-term heal, and can serve to keep Way of the Assassin active (the downside is the short duration and small heals at lower levels of Shadow Arts).
  • Critical Eye will grant a huge boost to energy-management, not to mention the sizable extra Critical Hit chance.
  • Siphon Speed is a huge boon in AB especially, allowing you to chase down other Assassins and force one-on-one fights (which is an optimal situation for this build in many cases).
  • Expunge Enchantments is a very useful enchantment removal skill, which will serve well in AB (though not so useful in PvE). Especially deadly against Elementalist Tanking builds and 55 Monks.
  • If survival is an issue, you can go A/D and switch Shadow Arts for Earth Prayers (see Variants, below). The A/D variant loses a bit of the original build's flexibility, but more then makes up for it in pure staying power.

[edit] Equipment

  • Nightstalker's Armor is recommended.
  • Daggers with an "of Enchanting" mod is best, and preferably a "+15% while enchanted" or "+15% while in a stance" mod. Daggers of Xuekao may be the best green daggers for this build.
  • The build's defense is high enough that you'll be able to afford the HP loss from adding Superior runes to the build. A Superior Daggery Mastery can increase both your damage output and your critical hit chance by a small amount. You should always be careful with having too many high-end runes on a single build though, as the health loss might outweigh the offensive boosts.

[edit] Usage

  • The build centers around keeping three key skills up at all times: Shroud of Distress, Critical Defenses, and Way of the Assassin. In the heat of battle, you'll need to remember to check your status bar often, and make sure to keep all your skills up as much as possible.
  • When first initiating battle, activate Shroud of Distress as you charge. Right before you engage, activate Critical Defenses (make sure not to activate this skill too soon, or you run the risk of not getting a critical hit fast enough to recharge it). Once you engage, activate Way of the Assassin. Be careful when first starting this all, as you will lose a pretty sizable chunk of energy. Once you get a few hits in, your energy should recharge quite quickly.
  • Make sure to use your attack chain often, as it will deal a large amount of consistent, unblockable damage thanks to your high critical chance. Keep an eye on your status at all times. When anything starts to run out, make sure to re-activate it right away. Pay special attention to Critical Defenses in particular. When your target dies, make sure to switch to a new target as quickly as possible to keep Critical Defenses up.
  • Shroud of Distress serves two major purposes here; keeping Way of the Assassin active, thanks to its long duration, and also granting you a very sizable amount of evasion when your health gets low. At seven Shadow Arts, it should last for 44 seconds (not counting any bonus from Daggers of Enchanting). This should be more then enough to last the duration of the battle, and the recharge time is one second longer, in case you need to re-activate. With your Enchanting Daggers, you can easily keep it up constantly.
  • Keep in mind that you have an increased chance of a critical hit when attacking lower-level monsters (this increased chance is more easily noticeable when attacking creatures around level 10 or below). Target a nearby spirit or a weaker monster if you're in desperate need of a critical hit (Ritualist Spirits are normally easy to find in AB).
  • When facing foes with Enchantment removal, keep in mind that Critical Defenses will almost always be the first to go, regardless of the order you activate your enchantments. This is because whenever you land a critical hit, Critical Defenses will re-apply itself, thus moving back to the top of the list. If you know that you're going to be losing an enchantment, it's probably a bad idea to get yourself in a fight with another melee character.

[edit] Counters

  • There are a few counters, but most of them are too narrow to consider a real threat. Your main worry is Enchantment removal and the Blind condition. When Blinded, your best bet is to get out of combat. Without a critical hit, you'll lose Critical Defenses and be easy prey for most attacks. Enchantment removal can also get rid of Critical Defenses, but this can normally be fixed by killing whoever is wielding the enchantment removal.

[edit] Variants

  • For superior self-healing and defense, consider going A/D and switching all of your points from Shadow Arts into Earth Prayers. This will allow you to use Vital Boon and Mystic Regeneration (replacing Shadow Refuge and Shroud of Distress). The large Block chance granted by Critical Defenses, in addition to the +9 Health regeneration provided by Mystic Regeneration (at 8 Earth Prayers and with all three enchantments active), should serve to keep you alive for a much greater amount of time and especially against other melee classes (don't forget the +72 maximum health bonus you'll gain from Vital Boon). Your attribute points should be re-ordered, like so:
Attributes and Skills
Critical Strikes 11 + 2
Dagger Mastery 11 + 1 + 2
Earth Prayers 8
Golden Fox Strike Fox Fangs Nine Tail Strike Way of the Assassin Mystic Regeneration Critical Defenses Vital Boon optional
This variant works much better against melee foes than casters, and the quick recharge times on the Dervish enchantments means you don't suffer nearly as much against foes with enchantment removal, as it's not a big deal to simply re-cast one of your cheaper enchantments to keep Way of the Assassin active.
With this setup, you can add yet another good choice for your optional slot; Pious Restoration, which grants you a quick and simple way to deal with Hex skills. Make sure to activate Vital Boon just before though, so you can take full advantage of the large health gain when you remove it. This also reduces the risk of removing Critical Defenses by mistake.


  • If a Dervish secondary isn't what you're looking for, Assassin's Shadow Arts attribute has plenty of tricks to boost your survival even higher. Drop your Critical Strikes attribute down to 11 and add a Major Rune of Critical Strikes (11 + 2), and drop Dagger Mastery down to 10, keeping the current rune and headgear setup (10 + 1 + 2). This will allow you to boost your Shadow Arts attribute all the way up to 10.
Optional Golden Fox Strike Fox Fangs Nine Tail Strike Way of the Assassin Critical Eye Critical Defenses Way of Perfection
You'll need to switch out Shroud of Distress for Way of Perfection, and switch Shadow Refuge for Critical Eye. With your Shadow Arts all the way up at 11 (10 plus the minor rune), Way of Perfection lasts 28 seconds out of the 30 second recharge, and grants a 32-health heal every time you land a critical hit. With Critical Eye as well, you'll gain tons of energy, and everything up and running grants you a massive critical hit chance, which will keep health and energy topped off during nearly any fight. The optional slot can be anything, but preferably you'll want to bring either a resurrection skill (when in a party), Shadow Refuge as an out-of-battle self-heal (just in case), or even Sharpen Daggers to add bleeding to the attack chain. If enemy casters are a problem, you can bring Disrupting Stab or Disrupting Dagger, both of which are nice, easy interrupts skills (D. Stab can also help to start your attack chain, while D. Dagger won't mess up the chain if used halfway through).


  • Going A/E will allow you to replace a skill (preferably Shroud of Distress) with Conjure Flame/Frost/Lightning, which will not only enable Way of the Assassin (thanks to the fact that they're Enchantments with a long duration), but grant an additional +1...17 damage per attack. This of course will require a slight investment into the Fire/Water/Air Magic attribute, and your Daggers will need the corresponding Elemental damage modifier (Fiery/Icy/Shocking).

[edit] Templates

image:skillsdisk.jpg
The Skills Template for this build is:
AHMS3+Zj8cALzMMtXceA6yAA

Below is the skills template for the A/D Variant:

image:skillsdisk.jpg
The Skills Template for this build is:
AnOS3Our4UmZYav4M7dAKeBA


[edit] A/any Death Blossom [PvE]

This is a build designed for fun, as well as PvE damage dealing. It uses degeneration and area-of-effect attacks to take down foes while making use of the Assassin's unique ability to Shadow Step to move in and out of combat.

[edit] Attributes and Skills

AssassinAssassin / Any Attribute Rank
Dagger Mastery 11 + 1 + 2
Critical Strikes 11 + 2
Shadow Arts 8 + 1
Jagged Strike

Jagged Strike

Wild Strike

Wild Strike

Death Blossom

Death Blossom

Moebius Strike

Moebius Strike

Shadow Refuge

Shadow Refuge

Death's Charge

Death's Charge

Return

Return

Generic resurrect

Generic resurrect

  • Users with Nightfall should replace Return with Death's Retreat for added healing.
  • As this is a PvE build, Rebirth would be a good way to fill the 8th slot but non-Monk secondaries can use the Resurrection Signet just fine.

[edit] Equipment

  • Nightstalker's Armor for extra protection.
  • Any Daggers would work, but since Assassins tend to be fragile, consider:
  • For extra damage, you can use Vampiric or Sundering daggers. I prefer Sundering because I don't like to deal with the pip of health degen, which can get worrisome.
  • The best Vigor rune you can afford, a Rune of Major Dagger Mastery, a Rune of Major Critical Strikes, a Rune of Minor Shadow Arts and any other rune you like. I use Vitae.

[edit] Usage

This is a fairly easy build to use. Early on, identify a party member who will likely be staying away from melee (like a Ranger). Remember his location on your party window, since he's going to be the one you shadow step back to when things get nasty.

Let your warriors charge in first, since they're good at it and it makes them happy. It also helps keep the heat off your much more fragile self.

If possible, position yourself so that Death Blossom's AoE will hit several foes. When you can, use Moebius Strike to hit a target with Death Blossom several times.

Keep pressure off your monks by using Shadow Refuge whenever your health begins to get low. You can also use Death's Charge on a healthy foe for an emergency burst of healing.

You are not a tank. Don't be afraid to Return to the back line, heal yourself, and pop right back into combat. Not only does this help keep you alive, but it helps take the pressure off your monks. With practice, you can be a fully self-sufficient damage dealer: use this to your advantage, because if the Monk has to choose between healing you and the tank, he will likely choose the tank.

If you want to be a little more creative and save Death's Charge for when you need healing, you can wait for a Warrior to engage, then use Return on him to enter melee. This lets you save Death's Charge for when you need a quick heal, or for more critical targets.

[edit] Counters

Blindness and spike damage can really hurt this build. A target using a defensive Stance such as Shield Stance can make your attacks hard to chain. Also, keep a watchful eye out for enemies who like to use spells that punish melee attackers.

[edit] E/Me UW Tank [PvE]

This build is born to farm the Underworld with a SS necromancer. It represents a good alternative to the 55hp Invincible Monk because of the better protection against spells, the better supply of energy and the better defense against interruptions. This build uses Stone Striker to convert damage received into Earth Damage, which trigger Mantra of Earth to further reduce the damage and gain large amounts of energy. Kinetic Armor is kept up using Aura of Restoration.

[edit] Attributes and Skills

ElementalistMesmerElementalist / Mesmer Attribute Rank
Energy Storage 6 + 2
Earth Magic 12 + 1 + 2
Inspiration Magic 7
Illusion Magic 9
Kinetic Armor

Kinetic Armor

Stoneflesh Aura

Stoneflesh Aura

Stone Striker

Stone Striker

Mantra of Earth

Mantra of Earth

Obsidian Flesh

Obsidian Flesh

Sympathetic Visage

Sympathetic Visage

Ancestor's Visage

Ancestor's Visage

Aura of Restoration

Aura of Restoration

[edit] Equipment

[edit] Usage

Be careful, before activating Obsidian Flesh a second time you have a gap of 6 sec. during which you are not protected against their spells.

[edit] Counters

  • It is possible for Lingering Curse to remove all of these enchantments and cause the InvinciTank to have a squishy nature and be wiped out instantly. The only monsters that use Lingering Curse are Keeper of Souls, which spawn only if you take the Unwanted Guests quest.

[edit] N/Mo Aataxe/Grasping Darkness Farmer [PvE]

This build is meant to solo farm the Bladed Aatxe in the Underworld for ectos and to solo the Grasping Darkness for gold drops and other rare items.

[edit] Attributes and Skills

NecromancerMonkNecromancer / Monk Attribute Rank
Blood Magic 12 + 1 + 3
Death Magic 0+3
Curses 0+3
Soul Reaping 0+3
Healing Prayers 10
Protection Prayers 8
Protective Spirit

Protective Spirit

Vigorous Spirit

Vigorous Spirit

Spoil Victor

Spoil Victor

Healing Breeze

Healing Breeze

Plague Touch

Plague Touch

Essence Bond

Essence Bond

Balthazar's Spirit

Balthazar's Spirit

Mending

Mending

[edit] Equipment

  • Use cheap radiant armor, or cheap armor that gives you extra energy, and 5 superior runes to bring your health down to 105.
  • Use a sword, or axe with a 20% enchantment mod (this is critical, because vigorous spirit's effect will activate slower with a wand, scythe etc.)
  • The -50 HP grim cesta is also needed for this.

[edit] Usage

Fighting an Aatxe.
Fighting an Aatxe.
Path for aggroing.
Path for aggroing.

[edit] Counters

[edit] Variants

  • Live Vicariously can replace Vigorous Spirit so that your main way of healing can't be interrupted. Note that Live Vicariously provides less hp than Vigorous Spirit.

[edit] Notes


[edit] N/any BiP [PvE]

The BiP necromancer (also known as a battery) is a powerful source of energy for the party using the skill Blood is Power. The core of the build involves using BiP on party members, getting healed (or self-healing) and doing the same over and over.

[edit] Attributes and Skills

NecromancerNecromancer / Any Attribute Rank
Blood Magic 12 + 1 + 3
Soul Reaping 10 + 1
Death Magic 8 + 1
Blood is Power

Blood is Power

Blood Renewal

Blood Renewal

Well of Blood

Well of Blood

Consume Corpse

Consume Corpse

Well of Suffering

Well of Suffering

Blood Ritual

Blood Ritual

Jaundiced Gaze

Jaundiced Gaze

Resurrection Signet

Resurrection Signet

[edit] Equipment

  • Scar Pattern Armor is recommended for energy. Adding Superior Runes to reduce health is an option.
  • Any staff (or wand and focus item combination) that provides +5 Energy and fast recharge and cast time for Blood Magic is optimal. An item which reduces health or one that lengthens enchantments (for Blood Renewal and BiP) can help also.

[edit] Usage

  • Keep Blood Renewal on at all times.
  • Use Blood is Power on any party member you wish to give Energy to.
  • Use Blood Ritual as a cheaper and long-lasting alternative to Blood is Power (as your Energy permits).
  • A good Battery never waits for people to call their Energy. Instead, the bipper should have a plan:
    • Before a fight, the bipper should provide energy to "setup" party members (such as trappers, bonders or ritualists)
    • During a fight, the bipper should bip the healers, then other casters, then frontline attackers in that order of priority.
  • Use wells as Energy and circumstances permit.
  • Use Consume Corpse for energy, healing and/or corpse denial.
  • Having as little maximum health as possible allows the bipper to be extremely effective in doing his/her job, however, this should only be done if the bipper is very good at staying alive. Dying does not really harm the bipper, but having to do without the bipper in the middle of an intense fight is not a good thing for the other party members.

[edit] Variants

The only essential skills of the build are BiP and Blood Renewal. Therefore an endless number of variants (and combinations with other tasks) can be imagined usually at the expense of the attribute points in Death Magic. Some popular alternatives are:

  • Choose Order of Pain to increase the physical damage dealing.
  • Choosing a monk secondary and using Heal Area for self-healing or spamming Heal Party to help with the healing and self heal and also using Protective Spirit to account for the lack of health if you decide to go with lower HP.
  • Choosing an elementalist secondary and using wards to protect the backline of the party.
  • Replace Resurrection Signet with a hard rez when situations/secondary professions permit.

[edit] Templates

image:skillsdisk.jpg
The Skills Template for this build is:
AUNAxFaqcHzBXIGdRnsvCAA

[edit] N/any Minion Master [PvE, Hero, AB, CM]

There are many version of the Minion Master, however, this version unlike many does not use Healing Prayers line, removing any restriction on secondary class. This version is ideal for Sorrow's Furnace farming, Alliance Battles or PvE.

[edit] Attributes and Skills

NecromancerNecromancer / Any Attribute Rank
Death Magic 12 + 1 + 3
Soul Reaping 12 + 1
Blood Magic 3 + 1
Animate Flesh Golem

Animate Flesh Golem

Animate Bone Fiend

Animate Bone Fiend

Animate Shambling Horror

Animate Shambling Horror

Blood of the Master

Blood of the Master

Optional

Optional

Taste of Death

Taste of Death

Dark Bond

Dark Bond

Generic resurrect

Generic resurrect

[edit] Equipment

[edit] Usage

When starting out in a new area or low on minions:

  • Use Rotting Flesh on fleshy foes, preferably on large groups to spread the Disease condition. This is incredibly effective when used in PvE.
  • Create a Flesh Golem with the first dead body to start off.
  • Create other minions depending on your Energy pool.

Once you have a few minions:

  • Create other minions, again, depending on remaining Energy.
  • Use Blood of the Master to keep your minions alive.
  • When without a monk on your team it is perfectly viable to use Taste of Death to keep yourself alive so long as you have Minions to feed off of.
  • When idle, spam Blood of the Master on your minion army and use Taste of Death on a Flesh golem to regain the health lost. Don't forget that it is usually easier to kill off an old Flesh Golem for a new one instead of repeatedly healing one.

This build can happily stay alive by sacrificing a minion with Taste of Death while other minions kill foes, while disease from Rotting Flesh degenerates most foes in PvE when low on minions.

[edit] Variants

  • For the optional slot:
  • Aura of the Lich can be used in place of Animate Flesh Golem to allow more spamming of Blood of the Master, although not advisable when anticipating health degeneration effects. This also makes Blood Renewal useful for self-healing if a higher level Blood Magic is used.
  • Skills such as Putrid Explosion, Deathly Swarm and Bitter Chill can be added to give the Minion Master some direct damage skills that are linked to Death Magic.
  • You can bring Death Nova to make one last final use of a minion that's near death.
  • For more self healing Animate Vampiric Horror can be used in place of Animate Bone Fiend. This allows a more meat-shield like role of the minion master protecting the back line casters. If making this switch, it is a good idea to cast Animate Bone Horror more often due to the recharge time of Animate Vampiric Horror and to refresh your minions. Also great way to gain a positive health gained to sacrificed ratio if enough are summoned.
  • Bring Verata's Aura to reclaim your minions if you die, or possibly to steal minions from monsters who create them. Not many monsters can, however, and the ones that can do not create them nearly as fast as the average Minion Master Necromancer. As such, Verata's Gaze may be a better choice for stealing minions.
  • Infuse Condition in combination with Dark Bond is useful in scenarios where you are being targeted instead of your minions.
  • Skills such as Putrid Explosion will exploit your corpses rendering them useless to a Minion Master. Instead of using Animate Bone Fiend and Dark Bond, try Fetid Ground and Deathly Swarm for damage when you need to kill enemies quickly without minions.
  • You can use Animate Shambling Horror instead of Animate Bone Horror if you have Guild Wars Nightfall. The differences between a Shambling Horror and a Bone Horror, except for the 'skin', include a different attack range from Bone Minions and Vampiric Horrors, and the fact that when a Shambling Horror dies they will immediatly turn into a Jagged Horror, which will cause bleeding with its attacks. Those using Shambling Horror will find a longer recharge time in return for this fact, so faster-recharging summons are advised.
  • Signet of Lost Souls may be an energy management option.
  • Verata's Gaze and Verata's Aura Make excellent AB variant over the Resurrect skills because they allow the Minion Master to steal the enemy minions (Mostly other Flesh Golems or with aura all of the enemy minions). WARNING: Once Verata's Aura is used, especially with re-controlling your army MAINTAIN IT!

[edit] Notes

  • Death of minions or foes creates a 13 energy gain which is usually more than enough to create new minions.

[edit] Template

image:skillsdisk.jpg
The Skills Template for this build is:
A0MANFbsMFUBQjHqBmoICAA

[edit] See Also

[edit] P/W Party Support [PvE, Hero]

This support Paragon together with the two healer henchman can cover all the defensive needs of the Nightfall campaign. The core of this build can also be used as basis for a PvP motivation Paragon/Warrior.

[edit] Attributes and Skills

ParagonWarriorParagon / Warrior Attribute Rank
Motivation 12 + 1 + 2
Leadership 8 + 2
Spear Mastery 8 + 1
Tactics 7
Signet of Synergy

Signet of Synergy

Mending Refrain

Mending Refrain

Song of Restoration

Song of Restoration

Ballad of Restoration

Ballad of Restoration

Aria of Zeal

Aria of Zeal

"Watch Yourself!"

"Watch Yourself!"

"Shields Up!"

"Shields Up!"

Signet of Return

Signet of Return

[edit] Equipment

You should focus on defense with your gear, since energy is easily managed by staying close to your team.

Armor:

  • Insignias: Centurion's insignia on all armor pieces.
  • Runes: Major Motivation, Major Leadership, Minor Spear Mastery, Vigor (highest possible), and Vitae.

Weapon:

  • Use a spear grip of Defense.
  • Use the inscription "I have the power!" for +5 Energy.
  • Use whichever spearhead will support your skills best -- Furious will allow you to keep "Watch Yourself!" ready to use relatively well even with all the chants and echos that you're casting.

Shield:

  • Use a Shield that requires Motivation.
  • Use a Shield Handle of Fortitude.
  • Use either the inscription "Master of My Domain" for extra Motivation or "Luck of the Draw" for damage reduction.

[edit] Usage

  • This Paragon is very efficient in preventing and healing the damage to the whole team (like AoE spells, generic pressure, and health degeneration of the team). "Shields Up!" is also useful to prevent spike from archers, which is very common in the Nightfall campaign.
  • Using "Watch Yourself!" for energy management lets you easily spam all your other skills except Mending Refrain. However, with your high number of shouts and chants you are able to maintain Mending Refrain on all the members of the team during long fights.

[edit] Counters

  • If you can't acquire adrenaline you can't spam all your skills.
  • Necromancer's Anti-Paragon hexes totally shut down this build.

[edit] Variants

[edit] Notes

  • It was used to reach the title of Indomitable Survivor by playing through all the Nightfall missions using only heroes and henchman.
  • Great against Abaddon itself: the damage he deals is the same type this Paragon heals at best.
image:skillsdisk.jpg
The Skills Template for this build is:
AZQS1VinMKOxYV86mDrh5KvF5NA


[edit] Mo/any Holy Haste LoD healer [PvE]

This PvE monk uses Holy Haste to quickly cast healing spells on party members whenever needed. With Light of Deliverance, this monk becomes more versatile as it can heal the whole party whenever needed and it has the possibility to heal over a very long range.

[edit] Attributes and Skills

MonkMonk / Any Attribute Rank
Healing Prayers 12 + 1 + 3
Divine Favor 12 + 1
Protection Prayers 3 (+ 1)
Ethereal Light

Ethereal Light

Dwayna's Kiss

Dwayna's Kiss

Healing Touch

Healing Touch

Light of Deliverance

Light of Deliverance

Dismiss Condition

Dismiss Condition

Smite Hex

Smite Hex

Holy Haste

Holy Haste

Restore Life

Restore Life

  • Signet of Rejuvenation can be used for better energy management
  • A Hex Removal such as Smite Hex can be brought if some or multiple "critical" hexes are being used in the area

[edit] Equipment

  • Any armor is usable, though for PvE Radiant armor may be best
  • A 20/20 +5energy +30hp healing staff is recommended

[edit] Usage

[edit] Counters

  • Any spell caster counters (daze, backfire, etc.)
  • Scourge Healing can do major damage when being careless with Light of Deliverance

[edit] Variants

  • Orison of Healing can be used instead of Ethereal Light if you get interrupted a lot while using Ethereal Light
  • Words of Comfort can be useful instead of Ethereal Light if many conditions are used in that area
  • Mend Condition can be used instead of Dismiss Condition if you think you don't get conditions yourself or if few enchantments are being used
  • If no conditions are being used in a certain area, consider bringing another healing skill or another hex removal instead of Dismiss Condition
  • Any other hex removal skill such as Remove Hex or Inspired Hex (must become /Me) can be used instead of Smite Hex
  • If no hexes are being used in a certain area, consider bringing another healing skill instead of Smite Hex
  • Signet of Rejuvenation and possibly Signet of Devotion can be used for a better energy management in this build. Replace Dismiss Condition or Smite Hex by one of these signets, depending on what you need most, anti condition or anti hex
  • Resurrection Chant instead of Restore Life for a resurrect from some distance


[edit] Mo/any 55 HP [PvE]

This build can be used in many solo farming areas and does not rely on healing prayers at all. This build can take on any number of monsters as you like without worrying about your health dropping below 55 health. Shield of Absorption reduces damage by 5, and this build has a maximum health of 55. With Protective Spirit, this means that every attack against you will do zero damage. This build will work with Death Penalty and with 1 health (unlike previous Invincible Monk builds). This means that you can tank as many monsters as you want, similar to the old Spirit Bond monk. See the Invincible Monk article for more information on both of these kinds of builds.

[edit] Attributes and Skills

MonkMonk / Any Attribute Rank
Protection Prayers 10 + 1 + 3
Divine Favor 10 + 3
Healing Prayers 0 + 3
Smiting Prayers 11 + 3
Protective Spirit

Protective Spirit

Shield of Absorption

Shield of Absorption

Shield of Judgment

Shield of Judgment

Blessed Signet

Blessed Signet

Optional

Optional

Watchful Spirit

Watchful Spirit

Balthazar's Spirit

Balthazar's Spirit

Blessed Aura

Blessed Aura


  • See the Variants section for some skills to use in the optional slot.

[edit] Equipment

  • Ascetic's Armor for a larger energy pool, with a +1 Protection Prayers scalp design. You will need to upgrade your armor so as to bring your health down to 55 hp (as seen on this section of the Invincible Monk page).
  • Any Sword or Axe of Enchanting. The bonus must be +20%. Also, a +5 Energy modifier (or the inscription "I Have the Power") helps to increase the energy pool even more. The Totem Axe and Rajazan's Fervor are common choices for this. A two-handed weapon cannot be used or your health will be more than 55.
  • A 20/20 Insightful Protection Staff of Enchanting works just as well. Unlike using a sword or axe, the staff will help mitigate an enemy's death. Having 105hp doesn't adversely affect the builds effectiveness.
  • Consider bringing a scalp design that provides a bonus in Divine Favor and/or a staff of Mastery in Divine Favor.

[edit] Usage

  • First cast Watchful Spirit and Balthazar's Spirit. This will provide +2 health regeneration (in case Shield of Absorption slips) and energy management.
  • Then cast Blessed Aura. If you are using a Divine Favor headpiece and/or a staff of Mastery in Divine Favor, equip them now to maximize its effect. Note that if you are using a staff of Mastery, it may take multiple castings for the Divine Favor boost to kick in. Be sure to re-equip the Protection Prayers scalp and your sword/axe/offhand combo after you are satisfied with your cast.
    • Note: These three enchantments can be cast in any order according to preference.
  • After all of the enchantments are cast, head towards your enemies (but see Choosing Enemies, below).
  • Before entering battle cast Protective Spirit and Shield of Absorption. (You should do this no more than two seconds before you do the next step.)
  • Aggro your enemies. You must keep up Shield of Absorption (near-)continuously. Depending on how high your Divine Favor attribute was when you cast Blessed Aura, you can have as little as .5 seconds to recast it - or you may have as many as 1.85 seconds. Note that if you miss a recast by a few seconds, the health regeneration from Watchful Spirit combined with the damage reduction from Protective Spirit will help prevent death, but don't take your time about recasting it. (Be aware that larger mobs mean faster death in this situation.)
  • Use Shield of Judgment for damage. Your enemies should kill themselves by attacking you.
  • Use Blessed Signet for energy management - it can even be used in battle if you have a few seconds to spare.

[edit] Choosing Enemies

Only certain enemies will be effectively damaged by this build. Enemies that are knocked down by Shield of Judgment will scatter; enemies such as hydras cannot be knocked down and therefore will be damaged by this build. Before you use this or any other build with Shield of Judgment to farm monsters, do some research to see if they can be knocked down or not before deciding whether to bring Shield of Judgment.

Also, when considering choosing an area, try to find an area with abundant ranged attackers, such as Ranger or Paragon, who do not flee from damage as melee creatures do. Ice Imps and Siege Ice Golems are good enemies to farm outside Ice Caves of Sorrow.

[edit] Counters

  • Enchantment removal can be deadly if it hits Protective Spirit and/or Shield of Absorption. Because Necromancers and Mesmers have so many skills to do this, avoid them.
  • Major health degeneration will also kill you. Watchful Spirit will counter minor health degeneration, but even that inflicted by Bleeding or Faintheartedness can overwhelm it. Again, avoid places with Necromancers or Mesmers. (Note that minor health degeneration over Watchful Spirit may not necessarily be deadly as you will heal yourself every time you cast a spell on yourself due to the healing bonus from the Divine Favor attribute.)
  • If Shield of Absorption is interrupted, you could be in trouble. You will have to last ten seconds on the health regeneration from Watchful Spirit and the healing boost from casting Protective Spirit on yourself - although Protective Spirit has a five second recharge.

[edit] Variants

  • Watchful Spirit and Balthazar's Spirit can be easily replaced by Mending and Essence Bond, respectively, with absolutely no change in the way the build works. Additionally, either one could fill the optional slot.
  • Healing Breeze or Watchful Healing is useful when killing foes that cause -3 (or greater) health degeneration.
  • Zealot's Fire can provide relatively consistent AoE damage; you must be cautious as to how you time your spells so that there is at least three seconds between each of them, or you will cause your enemies to scatter.
  • If your enemies will scatter from Shield of Judgment (see below), consider bringing another elite or another damaging non-AoE spell instead of it. Spell Breaker is a good choice for defense.
  • Having only 55 max health is not necessary to maintain a nearly invulnerable monk - see the Mo/E SoA Sliver build, and look at the Spirit Bond variant of that build. It can be used to counter health degeneration, and to some extent, life stealing.
  • You may want to ensure survival by using Shielding Hands. Cast it before SoA wears off to stay invulnerable.
  • Additional skills are recommended depending on your secondary profession.

Warrior

Mesmer

Ranger

  • Brambles - for more damage from Shield of Judgment
  • Serpent's Quickness for quicker recharge time on all skills cast while it is active

Necromancer

Dervish

Elementalist

[edit] Notes

  • Like all invincimonk builds, this build will be easier with practice.
  • While this build will work if you are reduced to 1 hp, it will require very quick reflexes to maintain constant coverage from Shield of Absorption.
  • Try not to cast Protective Spirit and Shield of Absorption at about the same time; try to parse them so there is a one second lag between the two so as to phase out the healing from Divine Favor.
  • This build will not make ranged monsters run from you, but melee monsters in groups of 3 or more will run from you.

[edit] Templates

image:skillsdisk.jpg
The Skills Template for this build is:
ADMhbfKUn6xd1gkSAA/D5BAB

[edit] Mo/any WoH [PvE]

A basic healer build, commonly found and used in PvE. Using only five Energy cost healing spells, this build is able to heal efficiently without having to manage Energy all the time, unlike Blessed Light or Boon-Prot style builds. It is suitable and commonly found in 6 to 8 member pick-up groups. This build is extremely flexible, and does not require any specific equipment or secondary class.

[edit] Attributes and Skills

MonkMonk / Any Attribute Rank
Healing Prayers 12 + 1 + 3
Divine Favor 12 + 1
Protection Prayers 3 + 1
Orison of Healing

Orison of Healing

Dwayna's Kiss

Dwayna's Kiss

Word of Healing

Word of Healing

Healing Touch

Healing Touch

Healing Seed

Healing Seed

Optional

Optional

Remove Hex

Remove Hex

Rebirth

Rebirth

[edit] Equipment

  • Any armor is usable with this build, but you may wish to switch to Ascetic's armor for maximum Energy if you're expecting to spam your heals a lot.
  • Any focus and offhand combination, or staff, can work with this build. A 20/20 Focus and Offhand can prove to be valuable, but not required.

[edit] Usage

  • Orison of Healing, Word of Healing, and Dwayna's Kiss are your main heals. Spam them if necessary, but be aware that long periods of heavy healing without pauses can drain you, although not immediately. Note each spell's special effects.
    • Orison of Healing is the most basic heal. Use this one if the target is not affected by Hexes/Enchantments, or if target is above 50% health.
    • Dwayna's Kiss is very efficient at healing targets with Hexes or Enchantments on them. It is generally used on the main tank upon aggroing the next group of enemies, providing Healing Seed has expired or was removed.
    • Word of Healing is your main spike heal. A single cast of this can easily bring a party member from below 50% health to near-full health. Its 4 second recharge is comparitively longer than the recharge of Orison of Healing, so don't waste casting this on a party member above 50% health.
  • Healing Touch is an extremely useful self heal. Use it whenever you think your health is low. If someone in your party has lost quite a bit of health but is not in any particular danger, you may wish to heal them with this skill as well.
  • Use Remove Hex to remove any Hexes that affect your party. But remember: your main job is to keep your party alive. It is often better to let the hex die off itself rather than taking the time and energy to remove it. This should be used against serious hexes, rather than easily spammable ones like Life Siphon
  • Healing Seed and Rebirth are your only skills which cost more than 5 Energy to use, so use them wisely.
  • You should not be resurrecting in-battle with Rebirth. If you want to do so, you may want to switch to Resurrect or Resurrection Chant, or even Restore Life.
  • Healing Seed should be placed on the main tank upon right before they aggro the next group of monsters. It can also be used in-battle to protect a party member under heavy attack/pressure.

[edit] Counters

  • Energy Denial can pose a problem, but is not of immediate threat to this build.
  • Skills that increase recharge time such as Diversion and Distracting Shot can be devastating if more than one primary healing skill is struck by it.
  • If facing large groups of enemies or high-damage dealing enemies, the removal of Healing Seed can mean certain death for a tank, if not covered. This is not a large problem in most areas, though.

[edit] Variants

  • Some skills to consider to place into the optional skill slot:
  • Remove Hex can be replaced by Holy Veil, if you think you will need a cover Enchantment for Healing Seed.
  • Use Smite Hex in place of Remove Hex if you dislike the two-second cast time for Remove Hex, and don't want the awkward double-click removal of Holy Veil.
  • Ethereal Light can be used in place of Orison of Healing if you don't think you will be attacked.
  • Replace Rebirth with an alternate resurrection skill of your choice. You may even want to eliminate Resurrection as a whole.
  • Heal Party is an excellent healing skill, and can be incorporated to this build. However, spamming this can be dangerous to your energy pool. One or two casts can heal your party effectively without putting too much pressure on energy usage.
  • Holy Haste can be used to reduce the cast time of healing prayers if you don't plan on using any enchantments like Healing Breeze.
  • Vigorous Spirit is a good heal over time for other party members, especially tanks. It also synergies well with Dwayna's Kiss.
  • Replace Healing Touch with Signet of Devotion so that you can continue to heal even if you are getting low on energy.

[edit] Template

image:skillsdisk.jpg
The Skills Template for this build is:
ATMRjfDkjMuRNmTAAgWKTA


[edit] R/Mo Basic Runner [PvE]

This is a basic ranger running build, capable of completing all runs from Ascalon to the Crystal Desert, some of the Southern Shiverpeaks runs, most runs in Cantha, and even with a variant for the Droknar's Forge run. The build is also suited for mapping if you are going for the Grand Master Cartographer title.

[edit] Attributes and Skills

RangerMonkRanger / Monk Attribute Rank
Expertise 12 + 1 + 1
Healing Prayers 12
Protection Prayers 3
Escape

Escape

Dodge

Dodge

Zojun's Haste

Zojun's Haste

Heal Area

Heal Area

Restful Breeze

Restful Breeze

Mending Touch

Mending Touch

Holy Veil

Holy Veil

Mending

Mending

[edit] Equipment

[edit] Armor

Note #1: It is possible to mix Druid's Armor for energy with Sentry's Armor for higher armor. Note that the armor bonus is location specific.

Note #2: If you use Sentry's Armor only, it is advised to polish up your energy pool with weapons as explained below.

[edit] Runes

  • Rune of Vigor

[edit] Weapons

  • Any one-handed weapon that increases health, energy and/or lengthens enchantments:
  1. Sword with +5 Energy and +30 hp or +20% Longer Enchantments
  2. Rajazan's Fervor
  3. Totem Axe
  • Any shield with either stance and/or health modifications:
  1. Emboldened Carapace Shield from Hagnon Warblade [Health +60 (while hexed), Received damage -3 (while hexed)] - for hex passages of specific runs.
  2. Grognar's Defender - the Runner's Best Stance Shield Choice.

Note: Of course, you are free to use the collectors' shield versions instead of the Green ones.

  • Fires in the East staff with a +5 energy Staff Head (+18 energy), and either a health or an enchantment lengthening mod.

[edit] Usage

[edit] General

The Running Sequence gives you a constant high speed boost and a high chance to evade missiles, and attacks. Holy Veil against hexes and the healing skills against conditions and degeneration help you survive.

[edit] Running Sequence

  • Use Dodge, Zojun's Haste and Escape for a constant speed boost.
  • Only Dodge and Zojun's Haste boost your speed to 33%, whereas Escape only provides you with 25%.
  • Use Escape to avoid mass damage as it provides a 75% chance to avoid attacks. It also protects from knockdown from melee attackers.

Note #1: Dodge and Zojun's Haste only evade missile attacks.

Note #2: Avoid knockdown if possible.

[edit] Healing

  • Cast Mending when entering a new area.
  • Use Restful Breeze before engaging large damage dealing mobs. Remember to activate run skills first.
  • Use Heal Area when taking large amounts of damage and when you are in need of instant healing. Be aware of your energy level.

Note: There are enemies which strip enchantments such as Stone Summit Heretics or Avicara Guile. You have to decide then which enchantment (Holy Veil or Mending) you want to use as cover, and which you do not want get stripped right away. Cast the cover enchantment that you want to get stripped last. Pay attention to Chilblains which mostly strips two enchantments.

[edit] Variants

[edit] General

  • Use Storm Chaser to regain energy when running through elemental damage dealing mobs.
  • Use Troll Unguent instead of Healing Breeze for lower energy cost. Remember to set points into Wilderness Survival.
  • Use Smite Hex instead of Holy Veil.
  • Use Smite Hex instead of Purge Conditions or Heal Area for a second hex remover.

[edit] Bold Forge Runner

Dodge Zojun's Haste Escape Healing Breeze Purge Conditions Smite Hex Holy Veil Mending

The Bold Forge Runner variant can be used to solo-run Droknar Forge. It is highly reliable and you will notice that it is easier to run Lornar's Pass with, actually. Snake Dance and its Tundra Giants need a bit practice, though. Below are specific Ranger hints for this run:

Note #1: It is advised to use a weapon with 20% longer enchantments for the sake of Healing Breeze.

Note #2: Mend Ailment can replace Purge Conditions for countering two or more Barbed Traps. Crippled will always hit you last.

[edit] Worm Tunnel
  • Cast Mending, and Holy Veil (in this order). You don't want the Avicaras to strip Mending right away. Holy Veil represents a cover enchantment here (unlike later).
  • Use Healing Breeze before and during encountering dangerous situation, such as a run-through.
  • Use Zojun's Haste and Dodge to outrun the worm(s).
  • Use Escape when expecting mass damage from attacks, especially in melee by groups of Avicaras. It helps you survive grave danger situation by evading most attacks.
[edit] Worm Path
  • Use Healing Breeze after you got knocked-down by the worm(s) and when he is just outside your aggro bubble. This helps to avoid interruption again. Recast Mending on you between knockdowns, in case it got stripped through Chilblains. Without Mending in coordination with HB you might get into trouble regarding your health.
  • Use Escape for running through the groups of Grawls and when you get slowed down by hexes and take attack damage from melee.
[edit] Dreadnought's Drift
  • Cast Holy Veil, and Mending (in this order). This time Mending is the cover enchantment for Holy Veil due to the high risk of encountering Heretics.
  • Lose aggro and regenerate before encountering the Tundra Giants.
  • Use Healing Breeze and Escape before running through groups of Giants. Make use of a Stance Shield here.

Note: When HB fades out, and after a Giant Stomp recast it as often as needed. Mending and HB should keep you alive without problems.

Attention: When Stone Summit Heretic(s) and Ice Golem(s) get spawned and you cannot avoid them, immediately run back and rezone. Reasons: 1) Two different slow-down spells (Crippling Anguish & Deep Freeze), 2) covered with different hex-spells 3) accompanied by Gnashers & companions 4) with a Tundra Giant group to be passed at full health with Healing Breeze, and fully recharged Escape only. Smite Hex and Holy Veil will not make you survive this - no matter how high your running level is.

[edit] Snake Dance
  • Try to only aggro one group of Giants at a time.
  • Aggro them before running through to make them stomp before your run-through comes.
  • Use Healing Breeze as often as possible between stomps. The chances for an interrupt between two stomps are low.

[edit] SB Ranger Runner

Dodge Zojun's Haste Storm Chaser Healing Breeze Purge Conditions Spell Breaker Holy Veil Mending

The variant SB Ranger Runner is optimal for solo-running Copperhammer Mines -> Iron Mines of Moladune and vice versa as ranger. Spell Breaker lasts long enough to overcome the Mesmer spawns at the hardest parts of the run. The success rate with this build is very high.

Note: A weapon with 20% longer Enchantments is a must.

  • Activate Holy Veil as Mending coverage, and as additional hex remover when Spell Breaker wears out.
  • Follow the main ranger running principles listed above.

Note #1: It is known that bosses will still follow you, especially when running the route in a reversed way. This is the point where Holy Veil is of good use to get rid of the last hex-spell being a slow-downer if a Mesmer boss, or Golem boss got spawned.

Note #2: Mend Ailment can replace Purge Conditions for countering multiple traps. Downside is the longer casting time, and that you cannot clean up from all conditions at a time.

[edit] Notes

[edit] Possible Routes

Listed below are all the possible high-level routes that this build and its variants can be run with:

[edit] Prophecies
  1. Beacon's Perch -> Camp Rankor -> Droknar's Forge
  2. Camp Rankor -> Deldrimor War Camp -> Granite Citadel -> Copperhammer Mines Using henchmen as cannon fodder is important on most parts of this trip.
  3. Copperhammer Mines -> Iron Mines of Moladune and reversed.
  4. Iron Mines of Moladune -> Marhan's Grotto -> Thunderhead Keep
  5. Elona Reach (Mission) + bonus


[edit] R/any General Barrage [PvE]

This build is a basic barrage ranger that can be used and modified for many situations and secondary professions, the main goal is to use the common elite skill Barrage so as to synergize with other skills for a better effect or at least other skills that compliment it in its most common uses. This is most often used to target groups of enemies as well as solo areas with increases to damage output or other effects on each barrage.

[edit] Attributes and skills

The base is below but to give a more detailed description of the attributes, the highest score is always in Marksmanship (often maxed at 16 but other times it can be as low as 12 depending on the secondary profession used - see below), 9 or 14 ranks in Expertise to effect 10 energy skills primarily (or 8 or 13 if all skills used are 5 energy), and Wilderness Survival is good at 8 or 10 for the use of Troll Unguent or to switch out for secondary profession skill ranks.

RangerRanger / Any Attribute Rank
Expertise 8-12 + 1 or + 2
Marksmanship 8-12 + 1 + 1-3
Others 0-12
*The above attributes are a good baseline to work with and can be adjusted as playstyle/preference allows.

Common Core Barrage baseline:

Barrage

Barrage

Distracting Shot

Distracting Shot

Savage Shot

Savage Shot

Antidote Signet

Antidote Signet

Favorable Winds

Favorable Winds

Whirling Defense

Whirling Defense

Troll Unguent

Troll Unguent

Generic resurrect

Generic resurrect

[edit] Equipment

  • Any armor can be used though Druid's is best if energy is lacking. Scout's is a poor choice as preparations will not be used in a Barrage build.
  • A Flatbow is commonly used in a barrage build provided Favorable Winds is brought as well to lessen the large arrow arc from a Flatbow and to help speed the arrows to their targets. Otherwise, each bow has it's own ups and downs but can be used as preffered.
  • Vampiric or Zealous bow strings are used a lot in Barrage builds as you get multiple hits per shot (provided the build doesn't call for an elemental string) though a Sundering string is a good stand by if you don't want to worry about the degen or makes a good switch out weapon.

[edit] Usage

  • The function of a barrage build varies slightly but the overall effect is to do damage to a group of foes with each use. Therefore, attacking the central most target in a group is desired for the best effect rather than the closest.
  • Placement of any spirits before hand is key as they usually increase the damage and speed the arrows fly at. Be sure to place them where they will be effective yet not attacked by enemies.
  • Often, interrupt skills are brought along to take out any big skills or those that might hurt you like Meteor Shower or Resurrect as examples of big skills or Empathy and Spiteful Spirit as examples of skills that can seriously hinder or hurt you. Be aware that you will have to wait for the barrage animation to finish before the interrupt will fire.
  • Some sort of self heal, condition removal (primarily for blindness), or defensive stance is popular as well though not required.

[edit] Counters

  • Any standard melee/ranger counters such as blindness, on attack/hit hexes, and/or blocking.
  • Energy denial.

[edit] Variants

  • Support or damage enhancing skills often brought from the ranger skill line may include but are not limited to:

Barrage/Pet Variant

Barrage Distracting Shot Comfort Animal Charm Animal Favorable Winds Whirling Defense Troll Unguent Generic resurrect
  • Adding a pet to the build with then turn you into what is referred to as a B/P ranger. Pet attacks will not slow your rate of fire as they are all shouts. Often, a team will consist mostly of these creating a pet wall and multiple barragers, or just have one around. Multiple variants can be found for this at Build:Team - Barrage/Pet (Tomb Ruins).

[edit] Variants with Secondary Professions

[edit] R/Warrior

  • Attributes levels usually are in Tactics and at around 8-9 ranks should do it in most cases.
  • Shouts can be used without interrupting the fire rate flow thus making them useful and often charged with the high adrenaline gain from barrage if they are adrenaline based.
  • "Watch Yourself!" charges quickly and can increase the party's AL without any cast time. This also combines well with Soldier's Defense.
  • "Fear Me!" can be used repeatedly to reduce the enemy's energy levels though this typically has a minor effect if any on an enemy's seemingly limitless energy pool.
  • "Shields Up!" can be used to reduce the damage your party members take from projectiles.
  • Healing Signet can be used as an alternate, energy free, though risky heal.
  • Protector's Defense can be used to help those near you as you often will not move while barraging.

[edit] R/Monk

Solo Vigorous Barrager

Barrage Distracting Shot Vigorous Spirit Live Vicariously Favorable Winds Whirling Defense Symbiosis Generic resurrect

Use: Cast and maintain Live Vicariously. Before battle put up Symbiosis to gain the extra health it offers from enchantments. When entering a battle, cast Vigorous Spirit. When enemies start to pile up, use Barrage to take full advantage of the healing provided by a vampiric bow, Live Vicariously, and Vigorous Spirit.

Other skills:

  • Attributes levels usually are in Healing Prayers, Smiting Prayers, Protection Prayers, or none at all depending on what is taken/used and typically at around 8-9 ranks in only one of those areas should do it in most cases. Ranks in Wilderness Survival are usually sacrificed as healing from Trolls Unguent is often replaced with other skills. If Symbiosis is used just use whatever remaining ranks are left but no more than 8-9 ranks in Beastmastery at most.
  • Live Vicariously will return health to you for every creature hit which can be up to 6 per Barrage. Commonly used for soloing areas.
  • Vigorous Spirit will behave similar to Live Vicariously but without the drain on energy regen.
  • Single target heal spells or healing enchantments can replace Troll Unguent as a self heal that can also be used on others. Healing Touch is an example skill that can be used as it's cost is reduced with ranks of expertise though it gains no benefit from Divine Favor with a Ranger primary.
  • Judge's Insight to add Armor penetration to each arrow and typically defeat masses of the undead or others weak to holy damage.
  • Mending Touch to remove blindness or other conditions.
  • Watchful Spirit will sap your energy regen but provide +2 health regen with no needed attribute points spent.
  • Renew Life and Restore Life's costs are reduced by ranks in expertise making them decent resurrects to exchange for the Resurrect Signet. Otherwise, there are plenty of reusable resurrection skills in the monks repertoire.
  • Balthazar's Spirit or Essence Bond are usually used when soloing as you will be the sole recipient of damage and will often return massive amounts of energy.
  • Hex removal skills like Smite Hex or Holy Veil can help eliminate damage from on attack/hit hexes like Spiteful Spirit, Empathy, or others.
  • Symbiosis can be useful if using multiple enchants on yourself or others in your party.

[edit] R/Necromancer

  • Attribute level of Death Magic, Blood Magic, or Curses is usually at around 8-9 ranks in most cases if at all.
  • Many skills can be used to replace a self heal that either give you health, steal health, or exploit a corpse for health.
  • Order of Pain will help add damage to every attack but for a very limited time. This is best left to another party member (who can also use Order of the Vampire) that can achieve higher attribute levels as it will slow your rate of fire and eat up your energy if you cast it.
  • Mark of Pain may cause scatter but can be most useful in narrow passages.
  • Plague Touch's cost is reduced with ranks of expertise and can be used to transfer any conditions from yourself with limited success as it is restricted to touch range.
  • Many Necromancer skills can benefit a Barrager but usually they need to be cast by another party member that is dedicated to that role.

[edit] R/Mesmer


[edit] R/Elementalist

Fiery Barrager

Barrage Glyph of Lesser Energy Mark of Rodgort Conjure Flame Favorable Winds Whirling Defense Troll Unguent Generic resurrect

Use: Use the Glyph to reduce spell costs and cast Conjure Flame on yourself and Mark of Rodgort on your central most target. Fire a fiery bow using Barrage and you can keep the hexed targets burning. Some may prefer to use Fire Attunement instead of the Glyph to reduce energy costs.

Other Skills:

  • Attribute level of Fire Magic, Water Magic, or Earth Magic usually start at around 8 to as high as 12 ranks in most cases if at all.
  • Any Conjure skill with the appropriate bow string can add damage to each barrage.
  • Stone Striker should NOT be used, as it will convert your attacks to earth damage, which will mean that your attacks will no longer trigger Conjure Flame or Mark of Rodgort, even if you have a fire bow, as Stone Striker overrides the normal damage type.
  • If you wish to still have the benefits of a Vampiric, Zealous, or Sundering bowstring, you must bring Conflagration to convert your arrows to fire, so they can still trigger Conjure Flame and Mark of Rodgort.
  • Multiple Earth Magic or Water Magic skills can be used for defensive options such as Stoneflesh Aura, Armor of Frost, or many of the different Wards.
  • Though less popular and very energy intensive, Glyph of Lesser Energy and Meteor Shower (which causes exhaustion) can be used together to add repeated damage and knock downs on your targets, preventing them from escaping your Barrage area.
  • Similar to the Meteor Shower combo, Deep Freeze can be used for a large slow down effect on your foes and no exhaustion though this is uncommon as well.
  • If using 2 or more enchantments on yourself Symbiosis becomes a viable option as listed under R/Mo above.

[edit] R/Assassin

  • Attribute level of Deadly Arts or Shadow Arts is usually at around 8-9 ranks in most cases if at all.
  • Caltrops can be used to slow your targets though it requires a closer range.
  • Shadow Refuge makes a good self heal.
  • Viper's Defense and other stances can be used for defensive options.
  • Way of Perfection can add healing with high ranks in Marksmanship and a lot of targets with minimal energy spent (similar to Vigorous Spirit as seen above but relies on criticals for health return) though it performs best if there is a Paragon in your party using "Go for the Eyes!" to drastically increase chances of critical hits.

[edit] R/Ritualist

Splinter Barrager

Barrage Distracting Shot Savage Shot Splinter Weapon Favorable Winds Whirling Defense Troll Unguent Generic resurrect

Use: Same as the usual barrage build but cast Splinter Weapon on yourself (or allies as time allows) and be sure to target a group of foes. Recast as needed and as foes are available. Especially good in tight passages.

Other Skills:

  • Attribute level of Channeling Magic, Restoration Magic, or Communing is usually at around 8 to as high as 12 ranks in most cases if at all and often means the reduction of ranks in Marksmanship though only slightly.
  • Nightmare Weapon can be useful for stealing health on up to 3 enemies hit per casting.
  • Wailing Weapon can add interruption to a mass of attacking foes for the entire duration.
  • Warmonger's Weapon can add interruption to a mass of non-attacking foes for the entire duration.
  • Brutal Weapon can add damage to every arrow provided they aren't enchanted. This can be very tricky as many healers will enchant the entire group or those damaged and may ruin this weapon spell unintentionally.
  • Guided Weapon can make your Barrages unblockable.
  • Vital Weapon can add to your maximum health and others in the party.
  • Wielder's Boon can be a useful self heal if under a Weapon Spell effect.
  • Spirit Rift can be used as a spiking skill add-on if timed properly and especially effective when combined with Splinter Weapon. Cast Splinter Weapon, Spirit Rift, then Barrage and it all hits about the same time. Drawbacks include energy cost, casting time, and the enemy may move from where the Spirit Rift appears.
  • Spirits: Often a R/Rt may also bring a spirit to add more damage or healing as the case may allow (also taking advantage of the cost reduction Expertise allows) though this rarely will enhance Barrage in any way but simply takes advantage of the party make-up. Expendable spirits (like Life or Destruction that give an effect when they expire) tend to make a good defensive "shield" of sorts to hide behind should you come under attack as well. The most commonly brought are:
  • Recuperation to add health regen in spirit range to all things friendly - especially good for groups with multiple pets, minions, and/or large groups of players and/or friendly NPC's.
  • Life to add cheap healing in spirit range to all things friendly and a "shield".
  • Destruction to add cheap damage in spirit range to all things unfriendly and a "shield".
  • Bloodsong to add a cheap attacker and possible "shield" that can steal health though less common.
  • Pain to add a cheap attacker and possible "shield" that does a little more damage than Bloodsong but can't heal itself though also less common.

[edit] R/Paragon

"Go for the Eyes!" Barrager

Barrage Distracting Shot Savage Shot "Go for the Eyes!" "Find Their Weakness!" Favorable Winds Whirling Defense Generic resurrect

Use: Same as the usual barrage build but spam "Go for the Eyes!" and "Find Their Weakness!" together as they charge to do critical hits to your targets and deep wound to one of your targets as well as add crits to the targets of those in your party that are effected. "Find Their Weakness!" only affects one ally and the first critical hit though so it is usually the skill to change out for others listed below.

Other Skills:

  • Attribute level of Command or Motivation is usually at around 8-9 ranks in most cases if at all.
  • Shouts can be used without interrupting the fire rate flow thus making them useful and often charged with the high adrenaline gain from barrage if they are adrenaline based.
  • Many motivation skills can be used for party health, energy, defense and more though they don't benefit more from use with barrage unless adrenal based.
  • Anthem of Envy can add some minor damage at the easy cost of adrenaline.
  • Bladeturn Refrain can be used to add defense to yourself or others and last a long time if using other chants or shouts allowing you to cover the party or at least multiple members.
  • Song of Concentration and Hexbreaker Aria can both be charged quickly though will slow you down with the long cast times. They will still benefit the group with less interruption or hex removal though.
  • Chorus of Restoration or Energizing Chorus can be quickly charged and used for energy or health management on yourself or others that meet the conditions.
  • Remedy Signet is a good condition removal skill.

[edit] R/Dervish

[edit] Barrage in other primary professions:

  • Barrage isn't limited to Ranger primaries and other professions can make good use of the skill. Many will make good use of their primary attribute skill line in combination which Ranger's can't (at least not as effectively with zero ranks).



[edit] R/any Needler [PvE]

The Prepared Needle Ranger uses Read the Wind and Prepared Shot to increase damage per hit as well as supply an endless flow of energy for Needling Shot.

[edit] Attributes and Skills

RangerRanger / Any Attribute Rank
Marksmanship 12 + 1 + 3
Wilderness Survival 10 + 1
Expertise 8 + 1
Prepared Shot

Prepared Shot

Needling Shot

Needling Shot

Marauder's Shot

Marauder's Shot

Distracting Shot

Distracting Shot

Read the Wind

Read the Wind

Natural Stride

Natural Stride

Troll Unguent

Troll Unguent

Generic resurrect

Generic resurrect

[edit] Equipment

  • Armor with Radiant Insignias and a max health rune and a Rune of Attunement.
  • Vampiric Recurve Bow of Fortitude and/or Vampiric Longbow of Fortitude.

[edit] Usage

[edit] Counters

  • Blind, if you can't see you can't hit.

[edit] Variants

[edit] Notes

  • A Vampiric bow is ideal for the increased damage per hit, but a Sundering Bow is also sufficient.
  • This build works well with a supporting Necromancer who uses Order of the Vampire, or a Paragon using "Go for the Eyes!". If GFTE is on you, be sure to use Marauder's Shot or Keen Arrow as your next shot.
  • All skills in this build have low energy costs after the effects of Expertise, and have fairly short recharge times; this allows for no energy problems as well as increased effectiveness.
  • In PvE, this build can be extremely effective against bosses with high health counts, as they often will not be able to heal above 50% when they get to that point, allowing the Prepared Needler to Needling Shot the boss to death.

[edit] Rt/Mo Burst Healer [PvE]

This build takes advantage of the fact that Weapon Spells and Ritualist Urns may not be removed like Enchantments can, and uses that advantage to heal allies.

[edit] Attributes and Skills

RitualistMonkRitualist / Monk Attribute Rank
Healing Prayers 10
Protection Prayers 1
Restoration Magic 11 + 1
Spawning Power 10 + 1 + 3
Attuned Was Songkai

Attuned Was Songkai

Heal Party

Heal Party

Remove Hex

Remove Hex

Extinguish

Extinguish

Soothing Memories

Soothing Memories

Vengeful Weapon

Vengeful Weapon

Weapon of Warding

Weapon of Warding

Resurrection Chant

Resurrection Chant

[edit] Equipment

  • Full Halcyon armor set for Extra Energy.

[edit] Usage

  • With Attuned was Songkai at High Spawning Power, the cost of Heal Party and Extinguish is nearly halved. With 14 Spawning Power, 15 energy spells are only 8 energy, 10 energy spells cost 5, and 5 energy spells cost 3.
  • Soothing Memories costs no energy if you have the Attuned was Songkai.
  • Heal Party should be used when everyone has a bit of damage but has not been hurt enough to warrant a casting of Soothing memories.
  • Vengeful Weapon is basically Reversal of Damage with no means of stripping it. It costs 3 energy when you have the Ashes.
  • Weapon of Warding is used when there is a hazard of Warriors, Assassins, and Rangers. It should be used sparingly because of the cast time.
  • Remove Hex and Resilient Weapon are used as safety skills for when hexes come that are extremely harmful, such as Spiteful Spirit, Backfire, Empathy, Diversion, etc.

[edit] Counters

  • High levels of Degeneration.
  • Lack of protection versus high-damage hits.
  • Energy Denial.
  • 15 second downtime when the spells are full cost, meaning heal party and Extinguish cannot be used effectively during those times.

[edit] Variants

If enchantment removal is not an issue:


[edit] Rt/any Ritual Lord [PvE, TA]

Through spamming protective spirits, the Ritual Lord is designed to greatly reduce damage dealt to the team.

[edit] Attributes and Skills

RitualistRitualist / Any Attribute Rank
Spawning Power 12 + 1 + 3
Communing 12 + 1
Ritual Lord

Ritual Lord

Boon of Creation

Boon of Creation

Shelter

Shelter

Union

Union

Displacement

Displacement

Optional

Optional

Optional

Optional

Flesh of My Flesh

Flesh of My Flesh

[edit] Usage

  • Stand as far away from combat as your spirits can be and still affect allies.
  • Use Boon of Creation for Energy management. Cast it first, then begin casting Shelter.
  • Activate Ritual Lord during shelter. Like a stance, it has zero casting time so it can be cast during other skills.
  • Invoke Displacement then Union.
  • Be sure to constantly refresh Boon of Creation and Ritual Lord.
  • Typically, Displacement will run out fairly quickly, at which time Union will start eroding. Before Union runs out, your Displacement should be recharged and ready. Invoke it as soon as it becomes ready again.
  • For the duration of the battle, try to balance Union and Displacement so that at least one of them is in effect, while always maintaining Shelter. This will make healing extremely easy.

The end result of this build is that the party will almost always take no more than 30-38 Damage Per Hit and will avoid most attacks.

  • In Alliance Battles and certain missions (Amatz Basin, etc.), the effects are even better. All 3 spirits affect allies, as opposed to only party members. Thus, even 1 Ritual Lord can turn the tide of battle.

[edit] Counters

  • Removing Boon of Creation will greatly reduce the energy management within this build.
  • Likewise, any energy denial skills can greatly impact the build's effectiveness.
  • If targeted, the build will usually die quickly as it does not have attack or healing skills.
  • Interrupts while creating the spirits will force the player to wait the full length of recharge time.

[edit] Variants

There are two optional slots in the skill bar. These can be filled as follows:

Suggested as a near must have for one of the optional slots. This is not a universal opinion, but should be considered. It will go a long way towards shutting down Adrenaline users.
Pointless in PvE, excellent in PvP. A flat-out damage reduction to give more protection than any amount of Armor. Not always effective.
So-So in PvE, great in PvP. Can't go wrong with additional Armor and Energy, although you lose any Fast Casting/Recharge mods on your weapon.
Overpowered in PvE, excellent in PvP. This far outstrips Heal Party. Chances are, Shelter won't die before it recharges. Feast of Souls can therefore be cast to give the party a strong heal. Used early it will give the party a very strong Heal.
Good in PvE, good in PvP. Gives Union and Displacement a helping hand before they die.
Protects caster and caster's spirits from melee attackers that try to bring them down.
By using two Superior Runes, one each of Communing and Spawning Power, and a Minor Rune of Channeling Magic and putting Communing and Spawning Power at 14, you can put 11 into Channeling Magic and use this skill for much more efficient energy management. Great for PvE, if you stay out of aggro range. Dangerous in PvP because of much lower health.
If your secondary class is Mesmer, put 3 into Inspiration. Not needed in PvE, but you may want it for PvP. Binding Rituals are not spells, so there are less interrupting skills to affect them, but interruptions will not trigger Ritual Lord's Recharge reduction, thus, it's really bad to be interrupted. Don't worry about the low Rank: There will be Energy to spare if Boon of Creation is managed properly.
A longer lasting, cheaper variant of Mantra of Resolve. Only stops one interrupt per cast however.
Many teams (most notably IWAY) prefer to have one Frozen Soil-spirit carried by the Ritual Lord, to prevent enemies from reviving dead teammates. This requires Ranger as secondary profession.


[edit] Rt/any Spiritual Assassin [AB, CM, RA]

The Spirit of the Assassin build is a heavy pressure build meant to combine the power of Spirit's Strength with the speed and spammability of dagger attacks. This build is primarily designed for the Random Arenas, but can be adapted for other areas of PvP.

[edit] Attributes and Skills

RitualistAssassinRitualist / Assassin Attribute Rank
Spawning Power 10 + 1 + 3
Dagger Mastery 12
Communing 4 + 1
Shadow Arts 7
Golden Fox Strike

Golden Fox Strike

Fox Fangs

Fox Fangs

Nine Tail Strike

Nine Tail Strike

Feigned Neutrality

Feigned Neutrality

Vital Weapon

Vital Weapon

Sight Beyond Sight

Sight Beyond Sight

Spirit's Strength

Spirit's Strength

Resurrection Signet

Resurrection Signet

[edit] Equipment

  • Halcyon's Armor or armor with Radiant Insignia to have additional energy for the combos. Alternatively, a Blessed Insignia could be used for additional armor while enchanted, or a Ghost Forge Insignia could be used for additional armor with a weapon spell. The Ghost Forge Insignia has the advantage of relying on weapon spells which can not be removed.
  • Zealous daggers of Enchanting are preferred to help offset some of the costs of the skills.
  • The best Vigor Rune available to help offset the Superior Rune and increase overall survival.

[edit] Usage

  • Before engaging in combat, activate Spirit's Strength and follow up with Vital Weapon.
  • Proceed to attack your chosen target with your attack chain. As long as you are enchanted these attacks should rarely miss (they cannot be blocked or evaded).
  • In between chains continue pressure with normal attacks. The damage will still be notable, these attacks are susceptible to evasion and blocking skills though.
  • If you are ever blinded, activate Sight Beyond Sight to quickly cancel the blind effect and prevent future applications for 20 seconds. Alternatively, if you suspect blinding from your target apply the skill before engaging your target.
  • When a target dies, or when you need to heal activate Feigned Neutrality and proceed to move away from combat. At 7 seconds it should be enough for a notable heal and the +80 armor should minimize any incoming damage. Be careful not to use any other skills or attack while this skill is active.

[edit] Notes

  • The damage output is a respectable 38-48 base Damage per attack with damage reaching closer to 80-100 during the attack chain or crits.
  • This build offsets most traditional counters to pressure builds by removing, blocking, and blind from the mix.

[edit] Counters

  • As this build is a pressure build, Weakness will lower the overall damage, lessening the impact of the pressure. Though the effect of this would be minimal as it would only affect base weapon damage and lower attributes by 1.
  • Relying on an enchantment for the additional damage, the build is susceptible to enchantment removal. If such techniques are suspected it is advisable to use sight beyond sight as a cover enchantment. Alternately you could lay Feigned Neutrality on before coming within casting range so that will get stripped instead.
  • This build lacks speed boosts and snares making it extremely susceptible to kiting. The Major Variant listed can overcome this somewhat by adding a snare or speed boost to the optional slot.

[edit] Major Variants

RitualistAssassinRitualist / Assassin Attribute Rank
Spawning Power 8 + 1 + 3
Dagger Mastery 12
Communing 2 + 1
Shadow Arts 10
Golden Phoenix Strike

Golden Phoenix Strike

Horns of the Ox

Horns of the Ox

Optional

Optional

Feigned Neutrality

Feigned Neutrality

Vital Weapon

Vital Weapon

Sight Beyond Sight

Sight Beyond Sight

Spirit's Strength

Spirit's Strength

Resurrection Signet

Resurrection Signet

  • This variation attempts to capture the strengths of the main build while removing several weaknesses. The overall +Damage from Spirits strength drops a bit in favor of a more variable combo. Additionally the optional slot can be used on the ever popular Falling Spider, OR a speed boost. This will allow for either a spike or an increase in pressure.
  • Consider using Deadly Paradox in the optional slot; this would allow more frequent use of Feigned Neutrality.
  • However by doing so you lose your unblockable attacks.

[edit] Minor Variants

  • Other weapon skills can also be effective, more notable ones are Resilient Weapon, and Weapon of Warding, although the higher cost, and lower duration means you are more susceptible to running out of energy.
  • In Alliance Battle and Competitive Mission battles, the Resurrection Signet can be removed and replaced with another skill. Dark Escape is suggested as it can be used before feigned neutrality to greatly increase the survivability of the build.
  • You can also put the 7 points from shadow arts into deadly arts. Then you can use Impale as extra "unblockable" damage (and deep wound) or Siphon Speed to counter kiting. Both of these skills significantly improve your offensive power. However this makes you reliant on others to keep you alive.


[edit] W/N The Quiverer [PvE]

A Factions PvE sword build designed for lots of damage, without the drawback of having to charge up lots of adrenaline as in Final Thrust based builds. Quivering Blade allows you to deal lots of damage without a huge adrenaline requirement, and Plague Touch takes advantage of Quivering Blade's second function. This build works well against casters, causing the Dazed condition and interrupting quickly with Distracting Blow if needed.

[edit] Attributes and Skills

WarriorNecromancerWarrior / Necromancer Attribute Rank
Swordsmanship 12 + 1 + 1
Strength 3
Tactics 12 + 1
Quivering Blade

Quivering Blade

Distracting Blow

Distracting Blow

Sever Artery

Sever Artery

Gash

Gash

Optional

Optional

Plague Touch

Plague Touch

Healing Signet

Healing Signet

Resurrection Signet

Resurrection Signet

[edit] Equipment

[edit] Usage

  • Upon entering battle, begin building adrenaline.
  • Don't stay on a target if he gets enchanted by skills like Protective Spirit or Guardian.
  • Use Quivering Blade, Sever Artery and Gash.
  • Use Plague Touch to transfer any conditions you receive, including the possible dazed from Quivering Blade.
  • Weapons:
    • Use your Vampiric weapon for general use.
    • Use your Ebon weapon to bypass enemy warriors' resistance to physical damage.
    • Use your Zealous weapon when there are lots of incoming conditions to keep up energy.
  • Of course, use Resurrection Signet to resurrect dead party members.

[edit] Variants

  • For the optional slot use:
    • Sprint for chasing kiters.
    • Flail for building adrenaline faster.
    • Tiger Stance for building adrenaline faster, without loss of hit strength.

[edit] Templates

image:skillsdisk.jpg
The Skills Template for this build is:
ABNRUpcFF+uo8LADA0kAQAA

[edit] W/Rt AoE Splinter [PvE]

The W/Rt AoE Splinter is a PvE build geared towards dealing large amounts of AoE damage.

[edit] Attributes and Skills

WarriorRitualistWarrior / Ritualist Attribute Rank
Axe Mastery 12 + 1 + 1
Channeling Magic 10
Strength 8 + 1
Tactics 2 + 1
Triple Chop

Triple Chop

Cyclone Axe

Cyclone Axe

Executioner's Strike

Executioner's Strike

Flail

Flail

Lion's Comfort

Lion's Comfort

Rush

Rush

Splinter Weapon

Splinter Weapon

Flesh of My Flesh

Flesh of My Flesh

[edit] Equipment

[edit] Usage

[edit] Counters

  • General Anti-Melee
  • General Anti-Spam

[edit] Variants

[edit] Sword Variant

Hundred Blades

Hundred Blades

Sun and Moon Slash

Sun and Moon Slash

Sever Artery

Sever Artery

Gash

Gash

Flail

Flail

Lion's Comfort

Lion's Comfort

Splinter Weapon

Splinter Weapon

Flesh of My Flesh

Flesh of My Flesh

[edit] Team Builds

These builds have been archived due to the impending build wipe. I neither created nor laid out any of these builds.

[edit] Shadow Flame [PvE]

The Shadow Flame Build is designed primarily for fighting in the Domain of Anguish. It uses the incredible damage abilities of the PBAoE Fire Magic skills to do as much damage possible over a short time, while Shadow Form is used to keep the casters safe from harm.

[edit] Overview

This party consists of:

  • 6 Elementalist/Assassin Shadow Flames
  • 1 Ritualist/Assassin Shelter Lord
  • 1 Monk/Paragon LoD Support

[edit] Membership

[edit] E/A Shadow Flame

ElementalistAssassinElementalist / Assassin Attribute Rank
Fire Magic 12 + 3 + 1
Energy Storage 3 + 3
Shadow Arts 12
Deadly Paradox

Deadly Paradox

Shadow Form

Shadow Form

Recall

Recall

Flame Burst

Flame Burst

Liquid Flame

Liquid Flame

Inferno

Inferno

Flare

Flare

Fire Attunement

Fire Attunement

[edit] Usage

Cast Recall on the Monk. Then cast Deadly Paradox followed by Shadow Form, and then rush your target. When attacking, rush your target until you are adjacent to them. Start off with Inferno, followed by Flame Burst and so on, spamming spells as they become available. Using this order you are likely to get off 2 Infernos and 2 Flame Bursts per attack, if not more. It is key that all Elementalists focus on the same target, so someone should be responsible for calling targets.

[edit] Special Note

You need to know your enemies. Some will carry spells that can strip enchantments indirectly. For these targets it is advised that you stay as far away from them as possible while using Flare to indirectly spike them. Then move in to finish off the rest of the mob when it is safe.

[edit] Equipment

You'll want the highest energy equipment available to you. A sword with a +5 energy mod and a 20% enchant mod and an offhand with a +12 energy mod are good choices, as the sword will automatically cause you to move to adjacent range when you attack.

[edit] Rt/A Shelter Lord

RitualistAssassinRitualist / Assassin Attribute Rank
Communing 12 + 3 + 1
Spawning Power 12 + 3
Recall

Recall

Soul Twisting

Soul Twisting

Shelter

Shelter

Mighty Was Vorizun

Mighty Was Vorizun

Signet of Binding

Signet of Binding

Boon of Creation

Boon of Creation

Destruction

Destruction

Signet of Creation

Signet of Creation

[edit] Usage

The one and only purpose of the Ritualist is to ensure that Shelter stays up. Use Soul Twisting on your other spirits to ensure that Shelter stays up. Shelter is the teams insurance policy against PBAoE spells.

[edit] Mo/P LoD Support

MonkParagonMonk / Paragon Attribute Rank
Motivation 12
Healing Prayers 12 + 3 + 1
Light of Deliverance

Light of Deliverance

Healing Ring

Healing Ring

Rebirth

Rebirth

Aria of Zeal

Aria of Zeal

Heal Area

Heal Area

Heal Party

Heal Party

Leader's Zeal

Leader's Zeal

Song of Power

Song of Power

[edit] Usage

The job of the Monk is to heal the team with Light of Deliverance while staying far away from battle and acting as an anchor for the rest of the team to Recall to. Upon return of the team the monk can use the rest of his skills to quickly restore everyone to full health and energy to get ready for an attack.

[edit] Entire Build Usage

All players cast Recall on the Monk. The Ritualist places Shelter a proper distance from the intended mob and uses skills to maintain Shelter continually. The Elementalist all cast Deadly Paradox followed by Shadow Form and then rush the intended target. Very few spells can penetrate Shadow Form and those that do will be caught by Shelter. The Monk meanwhile uses Light of Deliverance to heal his team while staying far away from battle.

[edit] Variants

In certain areas, mainly Stygian Veil, it is advisable for one or two of the elementalists to bring Deep Freeze as a way to pin down PBAoE and touch enemies so that the team can kill them at a distance without risk of them getting too close.


[edit] DoA Balanced Team [PvE]

The DoA Balanced team in the Stygian Veil... Monsters pummeled by Meteor Shower and Searing Flames and unable to flee because of Deep Freeze.
The DoA Balanced team in the Stygian Veil... Monsters pummeled by Meteor Shower and Searing Flames and unable to flee because of Deep Freeze.
The grand prize of a 4 area run... 4 Titan Gemstones for every party member.
The grand prize of a 4 area run... 4 Titan Gemstones for every party member.

The DoA Balanced team build is a build designed to conquer all of the Domain of Anguish (DoA). It is a balanced build that relies on the tried and true formula of a warrior tank, elementalists nuking and monks keeping the team alive.

This build can complete all the 4 areas in the Domain of Anguish: City of Torc'qua, Stygian Veil, Ravenheart Gloom and The Foundry of Failed Creations. The same concept build can be used to defeat Mallyx the Unyielding in the Ebony Citadel of Mallyx with modifications to the damage dealers. The specific steps to use the build in each area are discussed below.

Conquering the DoA in sequence is done in the order: City -> Veil -> Gloom -> Foundry. This has the benefit that the chests at the end of each area would increasingly yield more gems. The City chest will yield one Margonite Gemstone for each party member, the Stygian Chest would yield two Stygian Gemstones, the Ravenheart Chest would yield three Torment Gemstones and finally, the Foundry Chest would yield four Titan Gemstones.

[edit] Build Concept

While there are different tactics for different situations (explained below, in the tactics section), the general outline of how this team works is as follows:

[edit] Build Details

[edit] The Obsidian Flesh Tank

The Obsidian Flesh tank can be done in many ways. This includes a Warrior/Elementalist, Elementalist/Mesmer as well as other builds. The warrior provides the safest approach as their typical armor is 115 vs Physical and 95 vs Elemental damage without using a single skill. That being said, any of the other builds can be even more successful with enough skill and experience in the Domain of Anguish. Find other proposed tanking builds in the variants section.

WarriorElementalistWarrior / Elementalist Attribute Rank
Earth Magic 12
Strength 12 + 3 + 1
Tactics 3 + 1
Signet of Stamina

Signet of Stamina

Endure Pain

Endure Pain

Obsidian Flesh

Obsidian Flesh

Dolyak Signet

Dolyak Signet

Stoneflesh Aura

Stoneflesh Aura

Wary Stance

Wary Stance

Glyph of Concentration

Glyph of Concentration

Optional

Optional

Usage:

  • The tank will be heavily bonded. As such he/she will only be receiving partial damage at all times.
  • The tank will have Balthazar's Spirit on which will allow for constant casting of all Earth Magic spells.
  • When going into a group of foes, it is best not to use Obsidian Flesh or Dolyak Signet as they will slow down your approach. Instead ask for Spell Breaker from a monk.
  • When pulling a group of foes, it is actually useful to invoke Obsidian Flesh as you pull foes into the tanking spot as moving slower than computer controlled foes will make them follow you as far as they could as opposed to running at normal speed.
  • Use Stoneflesh Aura as often as possible. It will make you take zero damage from nearly all attacks and spells.
  • Use Dolyak Signet to buff up your armor when facing foes that deal large amounts of damage such as the Tortureweb Dryders and the Stygian Brutes.
  • Use Glyph of Concentration to avoid having any of your spells interrupted. Use Wary Stance to protect the glyph if you expect physical interrupts from attack skills such as Savage Shot from the Spirit Tormentors and Disrupting Throw from the Sanity Tormentors.
  • The optional slot can be:

Equipment:

  • A sword/axe with +5 Energy and a 20% "of Enchanting" grip. This will give you extra energy and make all the Earth spells last longer on you. Rajazan's Fervor or the Totem Axe make great weapons for this build.
  • A Shield with either +30 Health or +45 while Enchanted is optimal. Also, having a secondary set of Earth Magic based wand and Focus item is optimal for energy. It can also be a 15/-1 set to provide an extra energy boost in times of trouble.
  • Gladiator's Armor or an armor set fully equipped with Radiant Insignia (for the extra energy) is ideal for this build.

[edit] The Searing Flames Nukers

The primary damage dealers of this build are two regular Searing Flames nukers and one Freezer:

[edit] The Regular Nukers

These elementalists take out foes by spamming Searing Flames and with tactical usage of Meteor Shower.

ElementalistMonkElementalist / Monk Attribute Rank
Energy Storage 12 + 1
Fire Magic 12 + 3 + 1
Healing Prayers 3
Searing Flames

Searing Flames

Glowing Gaze

Glowing Gaze

Glyph of Lesser Energy

Glyph of Lesser Energy

Meteor Shower

Meteor Shower

Glyph of Sacrifice

Glyph of Sacrifice

Convert Hexes

Convert Hexes

Fire Attunement

Fire Attunement

Resurrection Chant

Resurrection Chant

Usage:

Equipment:

  • As elementalists have a large pool of energy, the only real upgrade this build really needs is 20% HSR preferably on both the wand and the focus item. This is to speed up the readiness of Meteor Shower. Using a 20% HCT+HSR wand and focus set will also significantly increase the DPS by speeding up the casting and recharge times of Searing Flames (normally 1 + 2 seconds).
  • A variety of armor choices make sense:
    • An armor set with Radiant Insignia will provide extra energy.
    • An armor set with Stalwart Insignia will provide extra protection against any melee aggro that comes your way.
    • Tempest Armor would provide extra protection as the elementalist will always have at least 2 enchantments on.
[edit] The Searing Flames Freezer

This elementalist freezes enemies piled around the tank so that they do not disperse before they are killed.

ElementalistMonkElementalist / Monk Attribute Rank
Energy Storage 12 + 1
Fire Magic 12 + 3 + 1
Water Magic 3
Deep Freeze

Deep Freeze

Searing Flames

Searing Flames

Glowing Gaze

Glowing Gaze

Glyph of Lesser Energy

Glyph of Lesser Energy

Meteor Shower

Meteor Shower

Glyph of Sacrifice

Glyph of Sacrifice

Fire Attunement

Fire Attunement

Resurrect

Resurrect

Usage:

Equipment:

  • As elementalists have a large pool of energy, the only real upgrade this build really needs is 20% HSR preferably on both the wand and the focus item. This is to speed up the readiness of Meteor Shower.
  • A variety of armor choices make sense:
    • An armor set with Radiant Insignia will provide extra energy.
    • An armor set with Stalwart Insignia will provide extra protection against any melee aggro that comes your way.
    • Tempest Armor would provide extra protection as the elementalist will always have at least 2 enchantments on.

[edit] The Spiteful Spirit Spammer

This high utility necromancer provides pressure by casting Spiteful Spirit on enemies, maintianing useful spirits up during fights, providing other casters with energy and bringing a pet for the Foundry.

NecromancerRangerNecromancer / Ranger Attribute Rank
Beast Mastery 10
Blood Magic 2 + 1
Curses 12 + 3 + 1
Soul Reaping 8 + 1
Spiteful Spirit

Spiteful Spirit

Reckless Haste

Reckless Haste

Desecrate Enchantments

Desecrate Enchantments

Blood Ritual

Blood Ritual

Edge of Extinction

Edge of Extinction

Symbiosis

Symbiosis

Comfort Animal

Comfort Animal

Charm Animal

Charm Animal

Usage:

  • Lay down Edge of Extinction at the start of every fight in a safe spot that keeps all foes in range.
  • Pick your spots... Lay Spiteful Spirit on the foes most likely to trigger it the most. Margonite Anur Vus, Fury Titans, Stygian Horrors and so forth are prime candidates while foes that activate skills slowly like Margonite Anur Tuks or Despair Titans would be poor targets.
  • Cover SS with Reckless Haste. It also enhances the triggering of SS.
  • Spam Desecrate Enchantments as it becomes available. Enemy Dervishes are the best targets for these.
  • Use Blood Ritual on teammates as they need energy.
  • Use Symbiosis only in the Stygian Veil when the tank is pulling groups that may contain Stygian Hungers. It is best when laying it down to put it in a spot to the side of where the tank will hold aggro, not behind. This way it will give the tank the furthest possible coverage.
  • In the Foundry, kill your pet (by moving around) before the entrance to each chamber, and then resurrect it after the chamber is cleared.

Equipment:

  • A Necromancer staff or wand and focus item that provide extra energy as well as halving the spell recharge on Spitefull Spirit are ideal.
  • Cabalist's Armor or an armor set fully equipped with Radiant Insignia (for the extra energy) is ideal for this build.

[edit] The Healer's Boon Monk

MonkNecromancerMonk / Necromancer Attribute Rank
Divine Favor 12 + 1
Healing Prayers 12 + 3 + 1

Place spare points in death magic

Dwayna's Kiss

Dwayna's Kiss

Healing Seed

Healing Seed

Heal Party

Heal Party

Ethereal Light

Ethereal Light

Healer's Boon

Healer's Boon

Necrotic Traversal

Necrotic Traversal

Essence Bond

Essence Bond

Rebirth

Rebirth

Usage:

Equipment:

  • A perfect Insightful Staff of Enchanting with 20/20 HSR and HCT for Healing Prayers is optimal.
  • Ascetic's Armor or an armor set fully equipped with Radiant Insignia (for the extra energy) is ideal for this build.

[edit] The Spell Breaker Monk

MonkMonk / Any Attribute Rank
Divine Favor 12 + 3 + 1
Healing Prayers 10 + 1
Protection Prayers 8 + 1
Dwayna's Kiss

Dwayna's Kiss

Healing Seed

Healing Seed

Protective Spirit

Protective Spirit

Spell Breaker

Spell Breaker

Dismiss Condition

Dismiss Condition

Blessed Aura

Blessed Aura

Essence Bond

Essence Bond

Rebirth

Rebirth

Usage:

Equipment:

  • A perfect Insightful Staff of Enchanting with 20/20 HSR and HCT for Healing Prayers is optimal.
  • Ascetic's Armor or an armor set fully equipped with Radiant Insignia (for the extra energy) is ideal for this build.

[edit] The Bonder

MonkMesmerMonk / Mesmer Attribute Rank
Divine Favor 10 + 3
Inspiration Magic 10
Protection Prayers 11 + 3 + 1
Blessed Signet

Blessed Signet

Mantra of Inscriptions

Mantra of Inscriptions

Vital Blessing

Vital Blessing

Life Attunement

Life Attunement

Balthazar's Spirit

Balthazar's Spirit

Life Bond

Life Bond

Life Barrier

Life Barrier

Rebirth

Rebirth

Usage:

  • Maintain all the bonds above on the tank in order from right (Life Barrier cast first) to left (Vital Blessing cast last).
  • Maintain Balthazar's Spirit on yourself as well.
  • Maintain Life Barrier on the elementalists and (depending on your skill and how comfortable you are with bonding) everyone else.
  • When the party gets to the Prisoners part in the Foundry (see below), you will need to maintain Life Barrier, Life Bond and Vital Blessing on each prisoner as he is being rescued. After the prisoner is taken to safety, you can remove those bonds. Since no fighting takes place during those sequences, you can drop the bonds on the elementalists if you need to.

Equipment:

[edit] Tactics

This is a detailed area by area walkthrough:

[edit] The City

During the city, there are no major hurdles to be wary of other than the annoying energy denial setting. The environmental effect Repressive Energy along with the skill set of the Margonites makes it harder than usual to manage one's energy. The bonder may need to drop bonds on one of the damage dealers (usually the necromancer).

Tanking and pulling in the City is straightforward and involves pulling and using corners to pile foes in preparation to nuke them. In general, after the tank has pulled foes to a spot, the elementalists should apply Searing Flames pressure on the closest foes until the Margonite Anur Ki steps up to heal them (they like to use Healing Whisper). As soon as that happens, the elementalists should unload a Meteor Shower or two on the Ki until he dies.

After the city has been cleared, the groups that come with Lord Jadoth can each be pulled to the city gate (with the party hiding inside) and then dispatched (while the tank prevents them from coming in by blocking the door way). If any of the groups that accompany Jadoth (Shaunur the Divine's group, Turep, Maker of Orphans' group or Jadoth's group itself) give the tank trouble while pulling them, an elementalist can aggro them through the wall by casting on them. This usually makes them want to go all the way into the city to get to the elementalist.

[edit] The Veil

Conquering the Stygian Veil involves four stages:

  1. Clearing the initial mobs of monsters at the start of the Breaching the Stygian Veil quest.
  2. Clearing the two hills north and south to defeat the two Stygian Underlords and complete the Breaching quest.
  3. Killing the four Stygian Lords to complete Brood Wars and cause the Dreadspawn Maw to appear.
  4. Destroying the Dreadspawn Maw.
[edit] The Initial Assault

For the first part of Breaching the Stygian Veil, the party should first clear the area south of the Acolyte who gives the quest. There is a small bend there that the tank can use for holding mobs. To use this spot, the party needs to clear any casters or rangers in the patrol moving below in the trench. Then they need to clear out the one patrol of Shadow Army that blocks the path leading to the Whispers Acolyte.

The tank should take the quest and back up till all the mobs reach the Acolyte. Spirits should be laid and then the tank should pull all the mobs (by aggroing using his/her bubble, not a bow). There will be three mobs jumbles up together, whenever you clear a mob, another will come from the same hill that the first mob came from, till you see a mixed group of foes. That will signal that there will be no more mobs coming from that hill. If the party is inexperienced, they may want to pull one group at a time using a bow.

Depending on the type of mobs, the party should react accordingly:

  • Groups of Stygian Hungers should be pulled to tank, they will pile themselves around him nicely. Nuke a middle target, freeze them and then finish them off with Searing Flames. Use Spell Breaker or Obsidian Flesh when they are below half health to prevent them from using Grenth's Balance on the tank.
  • Groups of Stygian Brutes or Stygian Horrors do not require Spell Breaker. However, the tank should buff himself up with the Dolyak Signet as soon as he/she gets to their spot as their Physical damage can trickle to the bonder.
  • Groups of Stygian Golems actually benefit from Symbiosis, but not as much as the tank. They are handled like the Horrors and Brutes.
  • Groups of Stygian Fiends are very dangerous. The tank should pull them back using a zig-zag motion till they form a tight ball for the nukers to nuke them. Also, if the tank goes to them in melee range and attacks, they will say on him.
  • Mixed groups will usually have one Fiend and then the rest will be melee. The melee foes should be nuked first and should the Fiend go for the party , containing it should not be a problem.
[edit] The Two Hills

Starting with the southern hill, the technique should be the same. Spirits get laid down, the tank goes in and gathers several enemies, then brings them back within spirit range and tanks them. The only thing to watch out for is that the Stygian Fiends can cripple the tank and the Horrors can knock him/her down with Bull's Strike. The Healer's Boon monk should use Heal Party to aid the tank at a distance. When pulling the Underlord's group with Water Tormentors, the tank should have Spell Breaker coverage.

The northern hill has pop-ups through out the first half of it. As such, the spirits should be laid outside the hill, the tank should go in till a group starts popping up (the tank should stand still till they all come out of the ground, there is usually 6 monsters). The group will be mixed with at least one Stygian Fiend. There are thre more pop-up groups past the first one. A group around each of the Torment Claws that will spawn near the middle of the hill.

Past those Torment Claws, there should be no hidden groups and the tank should proceed like the first hill, gathering groups and bringing them to spirit range until the other Underlord is killed. The spirits should be constantly moved as the party makes its way deeper into the hill.

[edit] The Stygian Lords

There are ways to skip over barriers and so on to get to the Sytgian Lords. This guide will simply tackle the problem straight on.

The party should choose one of the trenches to clear out, the best candidates would be the second trench to the north or south. Either of those trenches leads to a Stygian Lord, and from there on the party can move in a circle to get to the remaining three. The one to the north leads straight to the monk Lord and offers a quick passage to the Gloom.

Each trench will spawn two melee groups as soon as someone is half-way through it. The two groups will rush towards each other (and kill anyone stuck inside) and then will camp on the opposite end of where they spawned. In addition, some Tormentor demons will spawn up top on one or both sides of the hills sandwiching the trench. To avoid surprises, one party member can simply run into the trench to trigger its spawns and then die half way through. The party can then Rebirth that member from atop one of the two hill overlooking the trench. If dying is such a big deal, one Elementalist can go secondary Assassin and bring Recall and use it to leave the trench before the pop-up groups close in on him/her. Also, if the tank is skilled and familiar with the spawns, he/she can take SB, go into the trench and pop up all the pop-ups then go back and tank them at the start of the trench. Bonder must watch that the tank not lose bonds.

Once the trench's spawns are stationary the tank can tackle them under spirit range and the party can destroy the closer melee group then the further one as well as the spawns on top of the hills. Once the trench is clear, the party can proceed to the Stygian Lord, kill any patrols roaming around him, and destroy him. From that point on, the party will simply circle around to kill the other three lord (see the walkthrough for the quest Brood Wars for their locations).

Note the following:

  • The first Stygian Lord to the south is a necromancer, there is a patrol that comes in front of him from the east and another from the west. After clearing the eastern patrol, he can be pulled without the western patrol. He is guarded by Tormentor demons.
  • The next one to the east of him is a mesmer. There is a stationary group of Tormentors around him as well as two spawns of Torment Claws.
  • The next one to the northeast is an elementalist. There are two patrols on the way to him and then a large pop-up spawn inside the alcove he is found in. The tank should hold them around the entrance to the alcove so they cannot go around him to the rest of the party. Casters should watch out for Chain Lightning and Sandstorm from the Stygian Lord.
  • The final boss heading northwest from that spot is a smiting monk. Again he is found in an alcove which he can be pulled out of using a long bow. If anyone steps past the entrance of the alcove, a spawn of Stygian Hungers will appear at the entrance. The party should either pull carefully or trigger them on purpose and take them out first.
[edit] The Dreadspawn Maw

After the party returns and cashes in the quest Brood Wars, the Dreadspawn Maw will appear immediately behind them. Make sure everyone is out of the center area and safely next to the Acolyte before having ANY party member accept the reward. The Maw will be comprised of six Smothering Tendrils. The objective is to kill all six and their spawns.

For each Tendril, one elementalist should weaken it with Searing Flames and finish him with Meteor Shower, when it is at half health. This elementalist should have Protective Spirit on them by the Spell Breaker monk. Everyone else should move back north where the party originally killed the monsters of the initial assault.

As soon as the Tendril is about to die, the SB monk should leave and join the others. The elementalist should finish off the Tendril and then pull back slowly. As soon as the Tendril dies, numerous Torment Claws will spawn as will as several Stygian creatures. If the Stygian creatures DID see the elementalist, he/she should just pull back slowly and have them kill him/her midway to the party. They should NOT bring them back to the party otherwise the party can wipe after doing so much work. After they kill the elementalist, someone can rebirth him/her and then the tank can pull the spawned groups into spirit range and the party can destroy them.

The party can then proceed to kill all the Torment Claws that spawned (great wanding fun). The same steps should be repeated for each Smothering Tendril.

[edit] The Gloom

The Ravenheart Gloom is comprised of three quests plus the final fight against The Greater Darkness.

[edit] The Stand-off

The quest To the Rescue! invovles making a stand against a massive horde of demons in the little nook that the whispers followers will be located. The party can choose to run past the first mobs as well as the wandering patrols outside that little nook. Alternatively, the tank can round them up and bring them to corners and the elementalists can nuke from behind the tank.

Once the group gets to the nook (fighting or running), the tank should find the corner that leads outside the nook and hold aggro there. Everyone else should stay behind the tank and hug the wall so that foes need to go through him/her to get to them. The Spell Breaker monk must have Blessed Aura on in this part as well as a weapon of Enchanting. It is imperative that the monk and the tank be able to chain Spell Breaker and Obsidian Flesh to prevent the tank from being hexed. Currently, the skill Rending Sweep used by the Earth Tormentors is glitched and will strip the tank of ALL enchantments if the tank is hexed.

With careful and timely casting, constantly staying on the closest target and stepping away when foes try to cast on them, the party should be able to survive the onslaught. When the kills start piling up, EoE will kick in and help out a great deal.

[edit] The Rift

After the Rescue is completed, the next quest, The Rifts Between Us, invovles capturing a portal (a Chaos Rift guarded by two Torment Claws) northeast of that alcove. The party can head to the quest marker and find the ridge south and a little east of the quest marker. This ridge should be used by the tank to provide a corner that he/she can hold monsters behind (the party should be below the ridge not above it).

The tank should pull the roaming patrols around the rift and then the stationary group at the rift (without entering the rift's range). After they are cleared, the elementalists should take out the claws.

Once the area is clear, 4 or 5 party members should go in and capture the rift. As soon as they do, a group of Flesh Tormentors will spawn to the west of them and rush to them. They should stand fast until the rift is closed and the quest updates and then start running back south and below the ridge. Do NOT run above the ridge as a group of Earth Tormentors, who can cripple their foes, will spawn there. The Flesh Tormentors will not follow for long and the group can cash the quest and take the next one.

The next quest is trivial compared to this. The tank can simply walk up to the Deathbringer Company and the elementalists can nuke them and freeze them so they don't scatter. With EoE they should wipe fairly quickly.

[edit] ==The Greater Darkness

After the final quest, the Greater Darkness will spawn. The tank should approach with Spell Breaker. This will cause two more of the Darknesses to spawn. The tank should line them up and then the elementalists should take them out. After those three die, a spawn of five more Darknesses will appear. The party should back off and let the tank pile them up into one nice nukable bunch. If they aggroed on some party member in the back, it may be best to simply pull back collectively, break aggro and then send the tank back in anew. After they are piled up and nuked, all five must be killed at the same time, so EoE must be used here.

If the tank had any hexes before they died, this hex needs to be converted or the next spawn of Earth tormentors (30 in total) will destroy the tank. Again, the party should step back and let all the Earth Tormentors settle on the tank (with Buffs, the tank will take 0 damage from them). Once they are piled up, they should be nuked and frozen until EoE takes its course and the whole lot just dies.

[edit] The Foundry

[edit] 1st Chamber

This is the easiest of the four chambers and should be completed without the party having to use the "Necrotic Traversal then Rebirth" trick. However, just to be safe, the necromancer should have his/her pet die outside the first gate. Everyone should take the quest from Captain Jerzah. As soon as everyone is sufficiently deep enough into the room, the gates will lock and a group of Margonite Anurs will spawn at the end of the room.

The Tank should be covered with Spell Breaker and should go in just as the spawn of Margonites is collapsing so as to form a nice ball for Meteor Shower. Remember not to cast anything on the tank while he/she is in their aggro range until all aggro settles on him/her (i.e. their melee attackers all start attacking). As soon as aggro is set, the elementalists should proceed to nuke with Meteor Shower first. When this group is about to die, make sure to save one last Margonite and pull him back to the gate where party came in, then finish him off there. This should ensure that the next spawn of Titans does not aggro the party, or at least aggro only on the tank. After the last Margonite dies, 3 Rage Titans and 3 Despair Titans will show up.

If those Titans spawn ouside of everyone's aggro, then the tank should take another Spell Breaker and go to them. If they spawn within aggro range of the tank then he/she should use Obsidian Flesh and walk to them (to ensure they do not walk to him/her and see other party members behind). Whenever the tank is setting aggro like this, Heal Party should be the only healing used.

These titans will not spawn more titans, however, because they cannot be knocked down, Meteor Shower acts like Fire Storm making them scatter rather quickly. So, try and stick with Searing Flames as much as possible. Finish off the Rage Titans first as they can wipe out the whole party with Earthquake followed by Churning Earth. If things look grim, the Healer's Boon monk should always have his/her finger on the Necrotic Traversal trigger. However, with experience, this group should be easy to take out with no deaths.

Revive the pet then move it to the door of the next chamber and then let it die.

[edit] 2nd Chamber

This room is nigh impossible to fight in. It is very small and the spawn that appears after the door closes has three Tortureweb Dryders (which can wipe a tightly packed party in 2 spells). The party should hug the left wall and proceed slowly until the spawn appears. As soon as it does, the Spell Breaker monk should throw Spell Breaker followed by Protective Spirit on the Healer's Boon monk and that monk should Necrotic Traversal out of the room and move away from the casting range of the Dryders.

If the spawn did not see them, the party should retreat to the gate quickly, cast Spell Breaker on the tank and have him/her go in and pile aggro on the Margonite monk. If they've been seen, the party should try and take out the Margonite Anur Ki that spawns in this group before wiping as well as any Dryders they can, however, they should also try to die as close as they can to the gate. After the fight is over and all members in the chamber have died, the monk should proceed to rebirth them outside the room leaving the tank.

After the casters have all been resurrected and bonded, one of the elementalists should "Glyph-Sacc Rez" the tank inside the chamber. The tank should come as close as possible to the gate and the bonder should careully reapply bonds while the monk heal him/her. The elementalists should be able to nuke the enemy from across the gate and the wall. They should spread apart so that Searing Flames does not damage all of them at the same time.

Sometimes, a foe or two will run off and get stuck on the opposite side of the room. If the party waits for a few minutes, that foe will come back within casting range.

When the chamber is almost cleared, the Spell Breaker monk should cast Spell Breaker on the tank as the second spawn contains a Greater Dream Rider. The second spawn should be cleared in the same manner.

Revive the pet then move it to the door of the next chamber and then let it die.

[edit] 3rd Chamber

This chamber will spawn all its creatures at the same time (there will be no secondary spawn after the first groups are wiped). There will be four patrols roaming the room (all of which come near the gate, but not all the way). A patrol of 4 Misery Titans, a patrol of 4 Anguish Titans, a patrol of 4 Rage Titans and a patrol of 3 Dryders along with one Rider.

The Titans in this room will exhibit the usual Titan behavior of spawning smaller Titans. There are two spawn chains:

The Healer's Boon monk should wait outside the gate using Necrotic Traversal. The Tank can try and pull the Misery titans (easiest to take out) and the party can wipe trying to finish them off. After the party is rebirthed on the outside, the tank can proceed to pull group after group, while the elementalists take them out.

Revive the pet then move it to the door of the next chamber and then let it die.

[edit] 4th Chamber

This chamber will again give the party room to operate. A spawn of Dryders along with a Margonite Anur Ki will spawn at the middle or back of the room. They can be taken out by a frontal assault (tank charge in when they are balled up). Before the last foe dies, the party should pull that foe back to the beginning of the room and finish it off there to be safe. The next spawn will be a large group of Dementia Titans. At this point, the Healer's Boon monks should leave the room to be safe. The party can try and kill them while they are on the tank. If aggro breaks, a wipe + rebirth maybe necessary.

After this group there will be a mixed group with a Margonite Anur Ki, a few Titans and a Dryder. One of the Titans is a special Fury Titan that drops a unique item.

After this room is clear, you can proceed to take the quest reward and the next quest from Tekliss. The pet will no longer be needed.

[edit] The Great Hall

The name of the game in the Foundry is pulling and aggro control. Because the Foundry is spacious, kiting and breaking aggro if things go bad is quite possible, so there will be no more need for the pet.

As soon as the party goes in, they will see a large Vat to their right with a small gap between it and the wall. That gap will be the focus of all pulling and tanking till that part of the Foundry is cleared. The tank will simply aggro a group and tanks them at the gap so that they are unable to get through the gap and then the nukers can cast on them through the wall.

Past the gap, the party will see 4 large vates in the center of the hall, they should always use those vats for groups that do not pull all the way to the gap. The tank should pull the foes to the vat, the casters should be behind him/her so that the enemies need to go through the tank to get to them and then nuke. The Greater Dream Riders always like to camp on the right side of the tank, as such, if he/she pulls them around a corner where the wall is to the right, they will pile on the tank perfectly.

After all patrols are cleared, the party can attempt to complete the quest. For each prisoner, the bonder will place Life Bond and Life Barrier on that prisoner, and the SB monk will place Spell Breaker on the prisoner and immediately after that, the tank will speak to the prisoner and advance the quest). Then everyone needs to run far away and the prisoner will follow them. If the prisoner is crippled, Dismiss Condition should be used, Heal Party should be used for healing the party as they move. After aggro breaks, everyone should stand still, and the one elementalist (codenamed, the babysitter) should take the prisoner away till the names in the party are all grayed out. This will ensure the prisoner does not follow the party anymore.

The same procedure should be done with the other two prisoners. Captain Valkyss' group should be taken out as they are in the way of future fights. First, the party should run away till the mob stops following. The Captain should be taken away to safety and then the remaining party members should kill off the Dryders and Riders.

After all three prisoners are safe, the tank should advance to the gate to aggro the spawn of The Black Beast of Arrgh. With bonds, the tank should be able to tank him even with 0 attribute points. However, the Beast should first be pulled all the way to where his patrol will follow no more and then fought there so that they do not try and go for party members behind the tank.

After the Beast dies, the quest will be completed and the prisoners will be removed from the party list. The babysitter should cash in the quest to trigger the Fury and come help the party finish off the Black Beast's group. The party can then take on The Fury's group. The tank can keep pulling the Fury's Group back and forth until they find the spot beyond which they will not follow, and then nuke the monks from the side first then the Dryder guardians and the Riders. The Fury is actually less of a threat than those Dryders.

[edit] Variants

  • One of the Searing Flames nukers can be replaced with Necromancers using Feast of Corruption or a Mesmer using Spiritual Pain to spike. It's usually good to have at least two elementalists with Meteor Shower in the team.
  • The SS Necro can be replaced with a BiP necro carrying the same spirits if the party has energy issues.
  • The tank does not necessarily need to be an Obsidian Flesh warrior. Other tanking builds can be used, as well as non-warrior tanking builds like a continual Shadow Form assassin or an Obsidian Dervish. One such variety uses an elementalist as follows:

[edit] Elementalist Tank

This tank is more fragile in terms of vunerability to enchantment removal. However, they have longer more powerful Earth Magic enchantments as well as infinite energy.

ElementalistMesmerElementalist / Mesmer Attribute Rank
Earth Magic 12 + 3 + 1
Energy Storage 3 + 1
Inspiration Magic 12
Stone Striker

Stone Striker

Mantra of Earth

Mantra of Earth

Stoneflesh Aura

Stoneflesh Aura

Obsidian Flesh

Obsidian Flesh

Glyph of Concentration

Glyph of Concentration

Armor of Earth

Armor of Earth

Mantra of Resolve

Mantra of Resolve

Optional

Optional

Usage:

  • Generally keep up Stone Striker + Mantra of Earth at all times except in select situations. They will provide you with infinite energy.
  • Before a pull, invoke Stoneflesh Aura to take 0 damage from most attacks and go in with Spell Breaker on.
  • While pulling, if met by strong physical damage (such as from the Stygian Brutes), invoke Armor of Earth. because of the lower base armor, the bonder can take significantly more damage through Life Bond than is customary with warrior tanks.
  • If anticipating interruption, use Mantra of Resolve.
  • If dazed or facing heaving interruption, use Glyph of Concentration while under Mantra of Resolve and then cancel Mantra of Resolve with Mantra of Earth.
  • Use Obsidian Flesh when Spell Breaker is about to run out.
  • The optional slot can be:

Equipment:

  • A sword/axe with +5 Energy and a 20% "of Enchanting" grip. This will give you extra energy and make all the Earth spells last longer on you. Rajazan's Fervor or the Totem Axe make great weapons for this build.
  • A Shield with either +30 Health or +45 while Enchanted helps. However, having an Earth Magic Focus item with 20% chance of halving skill recharge is optimal. It can also be a 15/-1 set to provide an extra energy boost in times of trouble.
  • Geomancer's Armor has great synergy with Stone Striker.

[edit] Notes

  • The monsters in the Stygian Veil have a bad habit of following for a very long time. As such, it is important that the bonder remain out of the aggro range of the party and that no one drags any aggro back to the bonder for any reason (kite around, do not run). The bonder will be the safety valve in case anything goes wrong.
  • Should the inconceivable happen and the tank dies outside of the range of Resurrect in the Foundry, a work around is for the Healer's Boon monk to use Necrotic Traversal on a nearby corpse, if there is one near the gate, and get the tank. The Dryders' corpses never go away until exploited.

[edit] Steel Wall Deep [PvE]

This is a standard 12 member deep group focused on completing the elite mission The Deep safely.

[edit] Overview

This party consists of:

  • 3 Warrior/Assassin Recall Warriors
  • 3 Elementalist/Mesmer Heavy Nukers
  • 2 Necromancer/Mesmer Utility Necromancers
  • 4 Monk/Image:NA-icon-small.png Heal party monk

[edit] Membership

[edit] W/A Recall Warriors

WarriorAssassinWarrior / Assassin Attribute Rank
Strength 11 + 1 + 1
Swordsmanship 10 + 1
Tactics 10 + 1
Sever Artery

Sever Artery

Gash

Gash

Shove

Shove

Riposte

Riposte

Dolyak Signet

Dolyak Signet

Defensive Stance

Defensive Stance

Recall

Recall

Resurrection Signet

Resurrection Signet

Variations:

[edit] E/Me Heavy Nuker

ElementalistMesmerElementalist / Mesmer Attribute Rank
Fire Magic 12 + 3 + 1
Energy Storage 12 + 1
Fireball

Fireball

Rodgort's Invocation

Rodgort's Invocation

Meteor

Meteor

Meteor Shower

Meteor Shower

Arcane Echo

Arcane Echo

Elemental Attunement

Elemental Attunement

Fire Attunement

Fire Attunement

Resurrection Signet

Resurrection Signet

Variations:

See Build:E/Me Heavy Nuker for additional variants. Elemental Attunement is preferred, since it allows faster recovery and longer battles.

  • Replace Resurrection Signet with Sunspear Rebirth Signet, for a better Resurrection skill.

[edit] N/Me Utility Necromancers

NecromancerMesmerNecromancer / Mesmer Attribute Rank
Curses 12 + 3 + 1
Blood Magic 9 + 1
Soul Reaping 9 + 3
Reckless Haste

Reckless Haste

Arcane Echo

Arcane Echo

Spiteful Spirit

Spiteful Spirit

Well of Blood

Well of Blood

Blood Ritual

Blood Ritual

Spinal Shivers

Spinal Shivers

Inspired Enchantment

Inspired Enchantment

Resurrection Signet

Resurrection Signet

This build is very carefully orchestrated; variations are not suggested. When changing this build, be very careful to preserve the full functionality.

Variations:

  • Replace Resurrection Signet with Sunspear Rebirth Signet, for a better Resurrection skill.

[edit] Mo/Any Heal Party Monk

MonkMonk / Any Attribute Rank
Healing Prayers 12 + 3 + 1
Protection Prayers 6 + 1
Divine Favor 11 + 3
Word of Healing

Word of Healing

Orison of Healing

Orison of Healing

Signet of Rejuvenation

Signet of Rejuvenation

Healing Seed

Healing Seed

Heal Party

Heal Party

Protective Spirit

Protective Spirit

Extinguish

Extinguish

Rebirth

Rebirth

Variations:

[edit] Usage

[edit] Division of labor, the first 5 rooms

This section describes the division and methodology for the first two rooms.

Room and Aspect Membership Assigned
Room 1
Aspect of Soothing
  • WarriorWarrior
  • ElementalistElementalist
  • MonkMonk
Room 2
Aspect of Death
  • NecromancerNecromancer
  • ElementalistElementalist
  • MonkMonk
Room 3
Aspect of Surrender
  • WarriorWarrior
  • ElementalistElementalist
  • Monk Monk
Room 4
Aspect of Exposure
  • WarriorWarrior
  • NecromancerNecromancer
  • MonkMonk
[edit] General Advice

The Darkened Irukandji and the Spirits of Restoration they bind are particularly troublesome in these rooms. Target them first, and attempt to interrupt Restoration if possible. Warriors should be careful when pulling. Pull small groups, and attempt to separate Ripper Carp, as they are easier to kill alone.

[edit] Room 1, Aspect of Soothing

Proceed normally. The Warrior should pull carefully and tank so the Elementalist can bring their skills to bear.

[edit] Room 2, Aspect of Death

Because of the healing penalty and the fact you can not retreat from battle, this group should wait for the other teams to assist. The monk should be casting heal party while the BR necromancer should yield energy for the monk's spells. Heal party will affect all party members in radar so it is possible to heal teammates in rooms 1 and 3.

[edit] Room 3, Aspect of Surrender

The Warrior should proceed first through the teleporter, and make sure there are no foes near the teleport pad. All party members should move to the extended platform to the rear of this room and pull carefully.

[edit] Room 4, Aspect of Exposure

Because of the large size of this room, the spawn should be fairly spread out. The necromancer should place Spinal Shivers on the Manta and eliminate them first, then proceed slowly.

[edit] Room 5, Aspect of Pain

Once Clear, each group should attempt to pull small groups out of this room and into the recently cleared room. Once the larger center room is cleared, the gates into the prior room will open and each group should fall back and assist the other teams.

Once all four teams are freed, approach the Kanaxai Aspect of Pain. Warriors should surround the aspect and attempt to prevent the aspect from moving, while Elementalist and necromancer assault him with damage spells. Monks should cast Protective Spirit to reduce Kanaxai's damage. Use this method to defeat all further aspects.

[edit] Room 6, Aspect of Lethargy

Warriors should line up at the gate to the next room, and block the entrance. Casters should stand clear of the warrior wall.

One warrior should cast recall on a nearby Ally, and proceed into the room and disable the fire flower. Once the flower has been disabled, the warrior should aggro as much of the room as possible, and proceed back to take his place on the wall. release recall if your health drops below 25%, or the room is aggro'd early. Monks should cast heal party as much as possible to heal the warrior while he is gathering aggro. Necromancers should cast Blood Ritual on all monks to counter the cost of heal party.

Once the Leviathans are assembled, warriors should body block, using whatever defensive skills they can, as all casters cast their damage spells. once the assembled leviathans are defeated, proceed into the room and clear any remaining foes, then use the same tactic from above to eliminate the aspect.

All recall warriors should cast recall on a single designated Monk or Elementalist and stand on one of the three pads closest to the gate, with both necromancers on the rear pads. The remaining party should proceed through the now open gate. Warriors should time recall to move together to the same character on the far side of the gate. any warriors without recall should be replaced with Elementalists, as Elementalist can tolerate Death penalty easier then any other member. Once the gate is closed any remaining characters should proceed to the gate and sacrifice or wait to die so they can be rebirthed through the gate.

[edit] Room 7, Aspect of Depletion

Corpse control and heal party are vital in this room, so necromancers should switch from an offense role to a support roll, casting Well of Blood and Blood Ritual as much as possible. Proceed slowly and eliminate one group at a time. Before killing this aspect, be sure to nuke the nightmares behind the gate to the previous room, so they do not follow once the gate is opened.

Use the technique from above to eliminate the aspect.

[edit] Room 8, Aspect of Failure

Use the same "Warrior wall" technique as room 6. Heal Party is even more vital. The warrior should attempt to pull all melee groups.

Once all melee groups are eliminated, all members should proceed into the room. One warrior should take a position under the jade outcropping to hold the attention of the ranger outcasts, while the other party member proceed to the staircase at the end of this room.

It is not necessary to kill this aspect to proceed

[edit] Room 9, Aspect of Shadows

Use the same "Warrior wall" technique. warriors should position themselves at the top left of the stairs. All casters should assemble to the far left, out of the aspect from the previous room. The rightmost warrior should proceed into the room and agitate as many Oni as possible, then return to body blocking.

Do not, under any circumstances, attack the Oni with weapons or wands. Eliminate them with spells ONLY..

The "Warrior wall" should proceed as a unit along the left edge of the room, being careful not to step into range of the Leviathan. Do not kill the Reborn Irukandji, as they can be used as additional body blocking. There are three more Oni spawns before reaching the aspect. Use the same technique from above to eliminate this aspect.

Continue along the edge of the room until you reach the stairs into the next room. there are two additional Oni groups.

[edit] Room 10, Scorpion Aspect

Use the "Warrior wall" technique at the top of the stairs near the left corner. casters should stand behind the corner. Be careful to avoid killing the Reborn Irukandji, as it can be used to control teleporting under the aspect. Agitate as many Oni as possible and eliminate them with spells only. Look to the end of this room, you can clearly see the top of the gate to the next room. this gate will open once all the Oni in this room are defeated.

Once all Oni are defeated, pull as many outcast groups as possible outside the aspect and eliminate them. Next, the entire party should group together tightly and run as a group along the edge to the right into the small haven outside the aspect at the top of the stairs. Continue to pull outcast groups until you feel safe to proceed to the gate at the end of this room.

use the same technique from above to kill this aspect.

[edit] Room 11, Aspect of Fear

All party members should run as a group into the room to the corner at the bottom of the first set of stairs. Quickly position the Monks on the inside, followed by the casters, and lastly the warriors on the outside of the group. Clump together as tightly as possible. Eliminate the nightmares and Oni that attack you, there should be six groups, and it will be very clear when the spawn is finished.

Proceed along this room, using the "Warrior wall" technique at the end of each bridge to trap the Oni and eliminate them. Use the same technique from above to kill this aspect.

[edit] Room 12, Aspect of Depletion

Use the same "Warrior wall" technique at the narrow point between rooms. This wall should be carefully adjusted, as the gap is slightly too large for three warriors to block easily. Should a large number of nightmares escape, fall back and use the bridge to create a new barrier. Proceed around the right or left to the exit of this room.

it is not necessary to kill this aspect to proceed

[edit] Room 13, Aspect of Decay

Proceed carefully through this room. the sweep with the "Warrior wall" technique, as nightmare and Oni pop up groups are common, but small. Eliminate them as quickly as possible. The largest threat from this room is decay from the aspect and the the numerous condition flowers. Monks should use Heal Party and extinguish. the entire party should proceed either right or left. One warrior should go down Each line, disabling condition flowers while the rest of the party fights.

it is not necessary to kill this aspect to proceed

[edit] Room 14, Aspect of Torment

Proceed quickly, but carefully, keeping the warriors in front. Nightmare pop up groups are common, but small, eliminate them as quickly as possible. Use the same technique from above to kill this aspect.

[edit] Kanaxai's Chamber

All three Warriors and one Monk should proceed into this room, while the remaining party stays just outside the aspect. All Monks remaining back should repeatedly cast heal party to ensure all the aspect is countered. Necromancers should concentrate on blood ritual.

Warriors should pull Kanaxai to one side, usually the left, and surround him as far from the center of the chamber as possible. The Monk should use protective spirit on whichever warrior Kanaxai chooses to target. Two warriors should time knockdowns so Kanaxai is knocked down twice in rapid succession. note: monsters are immune to knockdowns while knocked down or standing from knock down, be careful to wait for Kanaxai to stand fully.

Once Kanaxai has been knocked down twice, and two groups of nightmares are spawned, all warriors should release recall and all party members should run out of the room until the nightmares are no longer following. Do not kill any nightmares.

Proceed back into the room to the opposite side, usually right, and prepare to assault Kanaxai. Warriors should pull and surround Kanaxai as far from the nightmares as possible. One Necromancer should constantly use inspired enchantment to remove Kanaxai's refuge, while the remaining necromancer casts blood ritual on the Monks. Monks should be repeatedly casting heal party, and one monk should maintain protective spirit on whichever target Kanaxai is attacking. Once Kanaxai is surrounded, the Elementalists should unleash fire. To return to the deep staging area enter your guild hall then leave.



[edit] Barrage/Pet Tomb of Primeval Kings [PvE]

Barrage Pet Tombs group in action
Barrage Pet Tombs group in action

Barrage/Pet (aka b/p, barrageway, petway) is the general appellation of a class of "speed" builds for the ruins of the Tomb of the Primeval Kings.

[edit] Overview

This build utilizes the synergy between Barrage, Favorable Winds, and Winnowing to inflict high damage on multiple foes, with a wall of pets and minions to defend the party. This build requires only loose coordination between players, and a large spectrum of variants are viable. Barrage/pet builds are resilient to dropped players, as only two roles, the monk and the minion master, can be said to be essential.

The most common barrage/pet team consists of:

[edit] Membership

This is one of many possible variations. The builds noted below are suitable for pick up groups, but it is by no means definitive. A more complex alternative can be found here.

[edit] Barrage Rangers

RangerMonkRanger / Monk Attribute Rank
Marksmanship 12 + 1 + 3
Beast Mastery 8 + 1
Expertise 8 + 1
Wilderness Survival 7 + 1
Barrage

Barrage

Savage Shot

Savage Shot

Distracting Shot

Distracting Shot

Troll Unguent

Troll Unguent

Throw Dirt

Throw Dirt

Charm Animal

Charm Animal

Comfort Animal

Comfort Animal

Rebirth

Rebirth

Variations:

  • At least one ranger must carry Favorable Winds (FW). A FW Barrager should replace Troll Unguent with Favorable Winds, and move all points from Wilderness Survival into Expertise.
  • At least one ranger must carry Winnowing (WW/Winn). A Winnowing Barrager should replace Troll Unguent with Winnowing and can lessen ranks in Beast Mastery for higher ranks in Wilderness Survival if they desire a longer lasting spirit with more health.
  • Winter can be used against Terrorweb Dryders and Mark of Rodgort, efficiently preventing it from triggering.
  • Consider using Paragon as a secondary profession. Paragons suffer no ill effects when struck by a foe using Fingers of Chaos, and can carry Signet of Return, a repeatable resurrection skill.
  • Consider using Ritualist as a secondary profession. Splinter Weapon can increase damage significantly without sacrificing orders damage, and Flesh of My Flesh is an effective combat resurrection.

The purpose of the pets is to tank for the group (at least until the minion master raises a sizable army) and to provide an endless source of corpses for the minion factory. A dead pet with an exploited corpse serves no purpose, so it is important for the rangers to raise their pets at every opportunity.

Note: Skill bar blackout time from pet death is reduced by higher ranks in Beast Mastery.

For additional information, see Build:R/any General Barrager.

[edit] Minion Master

NecromancerMonkNecromancer / Monk Attribute Rank
Death Magic 12 +3 +1
Soul Reaping 12 +1...3
Protection Prayers 3
Rotting Flesh

Rotting Flesh

Blood of the Master

Blood of the Master

Animate Bone Horror

Animate Bone Horror

Animate Vampiric Horror

Animate Vampiric Horror

Animate Flesh Golem

Animate Flesh Golem

Death Nova

Death Nova

Taste of Death

Taste of Death

Rebirth

Rebirth

The purpose of the minion master is to raise a large undead army and keep the attention of the foes. Unlike many other minion builds, the minions here are not intended for pure damage, but rather to body-block the Grasps of Insanity from reaching the ranger line.

Note that this build is not set in stone, and there are nearly as many variants as there are Minion Masters. Keeping this in mind, some minor variants include swapping the skills Rotting Flesh for Dark Bond for a more durable build, swapping Animate Flesh Golem for Jagged Bones for "free" minions, and changing any of the animate skills.

For additional information please see the general minion mastery guide.

[edit] Orders Necromancer

NecromancerMonkNecromancer / Monk Attribute Rank
Blood Magic 12 + 3 + 1
Soul Reaping 10 + 3
Healing Prayers 8
Healing Breeze

Healing Breeze

Order of the Vampire

Order of the Vampire

Awaken the Blood

Awaken the Blood

Well of Blood

Well of Blood

Heal Party

Heal Party

Blood Ritual

Blood Ritual

Mending

Mending

Rebirth

Rebirth

The Orders Necromancer doesn't deal direct damage, but drastically increases the effectiveness of the barrage team due to the guaranteed damage of the Order skills. This character should stay well clear of combat; their low health and reliance on enchantments makes them vulnerable targets.

Note: Well of Blood should only be used in the rare cases where the minion master disconnects. This maybe so rare that you may want to switch out Well of Blood for another skill/spell.

Be careful of enchantments. Casting these to try to 'help' the monk out in a pinch can harm a recipent who is down in HP if he is close enough to a Banished Rider with Shatter Enchantment.

For additional information please see N/Mo Tombs OoV."

[edit] Healing Monk

MonkMonk / Any Attribute Rank
Healing Prayers 12 +3 +1
Divine Favor 12 +3
Protection Prayers 3 +1
Word of Healing

Word of Healing

Orison of Healing

Orison of Healing

Dwayna's Kiss

Dwayna's Kiss

Signet of Rejuvenation

Signet of Rejuvenation

Signet of Devotion

Signet of Devotion

Heal Party

Heal Party

Remove Hex

Remove Hex

Rebirth

Rebirth

Any pure healing Monk. Use of enchantments is generally discouraged, due largely to the prevalence of Fingers of Chaos and Shatter Enchantment.

[edit] Variants and Discussion

[edit] Critical Barrager

In this variant, any number of Rangers can be replaced by Assassin/Rangers, as they can deal greater damage using Sharpen Daggers to cause bleeding and the increased critical hits.

For additional information, See Build:A/R Critical Barrager.

[edit] Six Barragers Variant

In this variant, the Orders Necromancer is replaced with a sixth Barrager. All Barragers either use elemental bowstrings, or one Ranger brings Greater Conflagration instead of Barrage. The foes in the Tomb Ruins, being mostly of the Warrior and Mesmer classes, have no additional defenses against elemental damage.

Analysis: An Orders Necromancer with maximum Blood Magic gives a guaranteed damage bonus of 17 (or 19 if aided by Awaken the Blood) per arrow that hits. In the worst case, with each of the five barragers hitting just one target each, this translates to an additional damage output of 85 (or 95) for the team. A sixth Barrager with maximum Marksmanship will do around 40 damage per arrow with an elemental string; he will thus have to hit at least three targets every time to outperform the Orders Necromancer's worst case damage output. In even a slightly better case, where each barrager hits three targets each, the damage output of the Orders Necromancer is 255 (or 285), which is more than the sixth barrager can achieve even if all his six arrows connect. Without an orders necromancer, the team is free to use elemental bowstrings, which increases the damage output of every arrow by around 5-10 points.

It should be noted that Order of the Vampire offsets some of the healing pressure from the Monk, and the Orders Necromancer doubles as a battery for the Monk.

[edit] Fevered Dreams Variant

In this variant, either a Ranger or the Monk brings Fevered Dreams and coordinates with the conditioners in the team to spread conditions around using very effective combinations. One possible combination is Fevered Dreams + Enfeeble + Virulence: all foes in the area become weakened, poisoned and diseased. Another possible combination is a ranger/mesmer using Fevered Dreams on a target, and then adding conditions with Pin Down, Apply Poison and Throw Dirt.

Analysis: While potent, this build takes some coordination between the players, and so is most likely not suitable for loosely organized PUGs.

[edit] Minionless Variant

In this variant, the minion master is replaced with a different Death Necromancer build. The plethora of corpses are used for Wells of Suffering and Putrid Explosions instead of the minion factory. This variant depends more heavily on the pets forming a sturdy front line, so it is common to have all Barragers have 8 or 9 in Beast Mastery and bring skills to aid the pets such as Otyugh's Cry, Call of Protection and Symbiosis. The Monk in this variant also tries to keep the pets alive for as long as possible.

Analysis: This variant requires very careful aggro management, and is therefore most likely unusable by PUGs.

[edit] Monkless Variant

This variant replaces the healing Monk with a sixth damage dealing character. All healing in the build is done by Predatory Season and the Orders Necromancer who brings Heal Other and Heal Party for emergency healing. Predatory Season makes minions more durable. This variant is essentially a 100% damage-dealing build.

Analysis: This variant is risky, but when correctly executed, can be among the speediest Barrage/Pet variants. Clearing times of 40 minutes or lower are not unheard of.

[edit] Paragon Variant

In this variant, a paragon replaces the orders necromancer. Anthem of Flame when combined "They're on Fire!" can both increase damage output and reduce incomming damage. "Incoming!" can further reduce spike damage common at the begining of an engagement, and Song of Restoration can provide some additional healing. "Go for the Eyes!" and "Find Their Weakness!" are especially effective with Critical Barragers.

[edit] Historical notes

Historically, the six barrager variant was one of the earliest barrage/pet team compositions. Before Order of the Vampire was modified to make it ineffective together with Order of Pain, the Orders Necromancer was always the clear winner in terms of raw damage output, so the six barrager variant fell into disuse. Its popularity has resurged after a March 2nd 2006 update changed Order of the Vampire, because a well managed six barrager team can match or outperform an Orders Necromancer.

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