Curse

Csquirrelrun · Jun 08, 2010, 12:42 PM // 12:42

Was playing with an AP EVAS spammer build on my Mesmer using Fragility (for CoP) and Finish Him! when I thought, why not try using Fragility with Virulence? (how novel

)
So this is what I've got atm (could equally work for a N/Me):

<pvxbig>
[build prof=Me/N fas=8+1 ill=12+1+3 ins=10+1][Ether Signet][Phantom Pain][Fragility][Cry of Pain][Virulence][Epidemic]["Finish Him!"][Optional][/build]

Epidemic is still there from when I had points in Death Magic and the conditions lasted longer, but I figure with no points Disease, Poison and Weakness (from Virulence) last only 3 seconds, speeding up the damage spike, so Epidemic could be swapped out. Last slot for self heal or res.
The way I've been using it is with the 3 Necro HM build (admittedly in NM) and it has been working well so far. With Enfeebling Blood being one of the first spells cast by the SS Hero Fragility and Virulence come into play really quickly.

Also, it appears that Jagged Horrors trigger Fragility on every attack, making it even better!

Thoughts? This is new so I haven't played it much yet, but I'm happy so far. Obviously comes unstuck a bit with non-fleshies.

Yuna Matsumarui · Jun 08, 2010, 01:30 PM // 13:30

has been done before, and it's bad.

try looking up 'mandragor in a can', which uses a similar concept.

tbh, you need to do HM in order to get a build called 'good' by others because you can win NM without a build with nothing but henchman (no heroes).

Amy Awien · Jun 08, 2010, 02:12 PM // 14:12

It's only 3 conditions, 60 damage, twice, once every 15 seconds, that's ... 8 HP/s.

And there's the problem that the minion bomber spreads Poison, and the curses necro brings AoE weaken.

mage767 · Jun 08, 2010, 02:47 PM // 14:47

I have been using fragility + fevered dreams on my mesmer for the past 2 years, plus 1-2 necro heroes, 1-2 rit and ER, and rolled through everything in HM (except elite areas but ALL elite dungeons). It's a fun and powerful build.

Csquirrelrun · Jun 09, 2010, 03:05 AM // 03:05

ok <crawls back under rock from whence it came>

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amy Awien

It's only 3 conditions, 60 damage, twice, once every 15 seconds, that's ... 8 HP/s.

Correct me if I'm wrong but, Weakness (SS hench), Bleeding (Jagged Horror), Deep wound (Phantom Pain/Finish Him!), Cracked Armour (Finish Him!), Poison, Disease, is more than 3 conditions. I do get what your saying though with dps.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amy Awien

And there's the problem that the minion bomber spreads Poison, and the curses necro brings AoE weaken.

The AoE weakness is good, it starts the whole thing.

However, upon re-inspection I do realise I'm doubling up on a lot, so Virulence doesn't really add much, and neither does epidemic. Most of the fun happens when I use Finish Him! and the enemy disappears pretty quickly. Thanks, I'll go rustle around for some similar builds and play with them.

JoeGrogan · Jun 17, 2010, 04:54 AM // 04:54

One thing to try is running virulence on your hero with zero or very few points in death magic - that way the conditions trigger twice quickly, while you maybe take epidemic to spread through the fragility hexed mobs.

My guildie (a necro) beat DoA with her using a virulence build and me using fragility AP caller build. She had 40/40 set as well so virulence recharged fast.
Oh forgot to say she had weakness and weaken armour for initial condition.

Xenomortis · Jun 17, 2010, 09:57 AM // 09:57

Use Fevered Dreams.
http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...40&postcount=7

Me/E
FD, Fragility, You Move Like a Dwarf, Ash Blast, Cry of Pain/You Are All Weaklings, Finish Him, Drain Delusions, Energy Tap/GoLE/whatever works for Mesmer energy

Me/Rt (Gaze from Beyond instead of Ash Blast) and Me/N (Enfeeble over Ash Blast - take Cry of Pain) versions work too.
N/Me is very viable and in my view superior - Insane energy from Soul Reaping instead of blind is a worthwhile trade I think.

Fevered Dreams both spreads the large number of conditions and inflicts Dazed.

Some other notes:
Phantom Pain is hopeless next to Finish Him.
Virulence is crap - it only provides one useful condition (weakness) at the cost of an elite and locking you into Me/N - weakness is easy enough to apply and if you want Poison, minions with Death Nova provide (or just take Fetid Ground).
You Move Like a Dwarf is really too good to pass up. Cripple is nice to keep enemies balled up a little bit more, it's also damage and a knockdown.

Weaknesses are:
Mass Condition removal (really rare on the necessary scale)
Decent hex removal (you rely on Fevered Dreams and there's a fair bit that will eat through the single cover)
Caster hate always hurts people trying to cast spells - but you still have the shouts.

An alternative is Extend Conditions - less prone to the annoying hex removal but requires you to take Technobabble to be able to deal with casters.

Since these builds are so self-sufficient you can really afford to change some things with your heroes. A Minion Bomber is always nice, but the Curses necro becomes less useful. You don't need anything he provides any more really and so replacing him with something might be a good idea (an SoS Ritualist is always good)

Kyp Jade · Jun 17, 2010, 11:52 AM // 11:52

Fragility is one of those skills you cant go wrong with if there is any illusion magic user in your build. It wont be hard to make room for a skill slot, and you yourself dont have to have massive conditions to trigger it, some hero or hench ur taking is bound to have at least 1 or two conditions

For 5 energy, getting random aoe, armor ignoring collateral damage is never bad. Even if it is only 19 or 20 at a time.