Curse

X morzan the fearless X · Mar 20, 2011, 11:27 AM // 11:27

hey everyone, i'm currently working on my master of the north title. atm im doing dungeons in NM and its going pretty sweet, HM missions are going okay aswell, vanquishes go okay, but i have trouble with bosses sometimes, and i think it should be able to go smoother, as of HM dungeons, im not sure if i could handle em with my team, i was struggling with adding a pic for some reason, but my team is shown in the screenshot in the attachment

any help on how to improve it is welcome

edit: new screen without vent info etc

Olle · Mar 20, 2011, 12:08 PM // 12:08

Should probably take out your vent server and stuff, people might steal it D:

Spiritz · Mar 20, 2011, 12:13 PM // 12:13

At a glance what i could see thats not helping is the following -
You are the only melee chr - i find if im the only melee in my team i get a real hard time from foes as its only me in the way.
You also have 2 heros with 1 or more aoe skills and that will cause foes to split like mad in hm.
Skill changes im not sure - ive not really tried 7 hero setup yet but as a suggestion id drop tahlkora and add another melee hero - you shud be able to survivie easily in most places with the heals off the rit and 1 monk. The extra melee chr can be used upfront with you to take some pressure off you - mq i find at times a bitch if im the only melee as i get touched to death by the wallows but as always im the first in range and first to attack.
Safe method would be to pin ur heros back out of range of foes - get spirits up etc then use ur chr to pull foes to the team and that should help ( warriors do enjoy rushing in so this is often alien to their thinking lol ).

Xenomortis · Mar 20, 2011, 12:29 PM // 12:29

You've got a lot of defense; a Smiter, a Healing Monk and an ER along with minions, spirits and SY to top it off.

My initial thoughts are:
Replace the Searing Flames Ele. A Curses Nec with Mark of Pain, Barbs and either Spiteful Spirit or Pain of Disenchantment will do more than him in Hard Mode. He can also take a second copy of Splinter Weapon and also Ancestor's Rage (both get used on minions as well as you). Other things like Enfeebling Blood also help a bit.
I'd be inclined to remove the Smiter and replace him with a second Rit (SoGM Comm rit); Strength of Honor can go on the SoS Rit (you can afford to lose Spirit Light and PwK, MBAS doesn't need a high Restoration spec - it's good as a cleaning spell).

Small skill alterations would be:
Remove Patient Spirit, Rebirth and Spotless Soul from the Monk; SoA (two copies of this in your team is fine) and Dwayna's Sorrow are pretty good and I'd look to get an extra energy skill in there.
Prots on your MM should be redundant; Fall Back and something like Anthem of Disruption or Never Surrender might be nice.
I prefer Dwayna's Kiss over Shield Guardian on the ER Ele.
Stick Ancestor's Rage on the SoS Rit; you can lose either Spirit Light or PwK (if you take SoH, you lose both; that's is fine.)
I'd like something else on the Panic Bar; even just a simple strip would be nice, over Unnatural Signet or Signet of Disruption - Mirror of Disenchantment is pretty good, or just Drain Enchantment.
Be a Man; take Frenzy over Flail!

I don't know if Healing Burst is better than Word of Healing on a hero; it looks better on paper I think, but heroes don't seem to prioritise it too well. See for yourself how it goes.

If you find yourself dying frequently in vanquishes after following these recommendations, or even just with your initial setup, it's almost certainly down to execution errors, not build choices. Against things that can kill you, flag heroes back a bit and flag them apart. Put Prot Spirit on yourself and even Spirit Bond when you take aggro; it's worth a lot.

S4br3t00th · Mar 20, 2011, 12:38 PM // 12:38

remove. rebirth. from. the. monk. period.
No healer should carry a rez ever(let alone rebirth), with the only debatable exception of UA monks.

that aside, I highly doubt that 2 dedicated healers plus the sos/resto plus "SY!" bring you anything...
I'd replace either the ER prot or the burst healer(on which I'd replace patient by another inspiration spell like waste not) by a curses necro. Give him mark of pain, barbs, enfeebling blood, rip enchantement... elite of choice & maybe another copy of splinter.

The lone SF ele looks useless IMO, especialy in HM... I'd replace it with either an Illusion or keystone mesmer, or an offensive communing spirit spammer

Aeronwen · Mar 20, 2011, 01:44 PM // 13:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by S4br3t00th

remove. rebirth. from. the. monk. period.
No healer should carry a rez ever(let alone rebirth), with the only debatable exception of UA monks.

This ^

Rebirth is a horrible rez in battle, as you are pretty useless for quite a while afterwards. It is quite useful after a near party wipe if the dead team members are in aggro, but in a vq you could just accept the wipe and start again \at the shrine.

If a monk is rezzing someone then things are not going well and he isnt healing the rest of the team.

As the others have said your team is over heavy on healing and you would find things die quicker and therefore you take less damage if you had more damage in the team.

C4stor · Mar 20, 2011, 02:43 PM // 14:43

Just a simple thing : give decent stuff and runes to your hero. They should go around 600hp/45 mana, 480hp dunkoro and 33mp tahlkora are a bit underpar right now.

I would aslo recommend a more offensive setup, by switching 1 healer to a midline utility : necros, mesmers (ineptitude is nice)

I'm not a big fan of SF, and less of a single SF, so I would siwtch that too, again nec and mes come to mind, a ranger can be fun and decent too. A second roj can be nice in some areas (shards of orr e.)

Good luck, have fun !

X morzan the fearless X · Mar 20, 2011, 03:38 PM // 15:38

i'm kinda tempted to throw a dervish in my team....any suggestions on what to leave out of my team, and what kind of derv to run?

i was thinking of the new setup maybe being something like...

SoS
panic
ER protter
the smiter( replace RoJ with emphatetic removal)
the derv
MM
cultist fervor's order's nec with a dip in curses

i cant help to feel like it doenst have nuff healzz

edit: the derv could also be another warr, maybe earth shaker hero?

Nilator · Mar 20, 2011, 04:23 PM // 16:23

I'm not big on rebirth.

I find that heroes try to cast it as soon as someone dies.
This would be a problem because you might have both your heroes cast it at the same time(thus rendering them useless for that amount of time) and run one or both of them out of energy.

I run a pretty defensive build(2 discord heals + me UA healing + 2 minion masters + spirits) and I can steam roll through anything without having someone come close to dying(in HM ofc).

Illusiona · Mar 20, 2011, 04:49 PM // 16:49

Not a fan of Aura of the Lich on a hero, they tend to use it as soon as one or two foes are killed, not utilizing the usefulness. I'd go for Jagged Bones.

And a hero SoS is even worse, they use it at the worst of times, and can't take the spirit with them. I'd say, make Razah a Xinrae rit, specialized in weapon spells.

Have Gwen pack Flesh of my Flesh, it will be a lightning fast rez due to her Fast Casting attribute. Mesmers are the ones to carry rez skills imo

X morzan the fearless X · Mar 20, 2011, 06:13 PM // 18:13

first of all, thanks everyone for your replies, ive read em all and this is what my team looks like after some adjusments( see pic in attachment). As you will notice, i only have 6 heros..this is because im at an impasse on what to add as 7th, i was thinking maybe an earth shaker warr, a derv, maybe a commandagon or a soul twisting rit...but i just cant decide... any intakes on this? and on the team ofc

thanks in advance

Illusiona · Mar 20, 2011, 06:49 PM // 18:49

Add an Explosive Rit MM bomber with restoration magic . Jagged Bones, Animate Bone minions, Explosive Growth, Boon Of Creation, Life, Signet of Creation, Spirit's Gift.

This will provide a LOT of fire power, as well as party wide heals. Growth, Boon and Spirit's all trigger on creation of a jagged horror from JB, and they will count double for the twin zombies.

If you bring a healer that packs Dwayna's Sorrow, you will have party wide healing upon creation and death of minions

This works very well in combination with another minion master, my Olias always teams with razah, using Order of Undeath, Shambling Horror, Bone Fiend, Angorodon's Gaze, Feast for the Dead, Death Nova, Foul Feast, Signet of Lost Souls

Another 'double team' i find useful; Standard searing flames ele right next to a "The Power is Yours" echo spamming para with "They're on Fire" , Blazing Finale, Finale of Restoration, Glowing signet and what else you want up there. This will give great damage reduction plus the e-management from TPiY, useful especially in HM.

Adding a RoJ monk to work with this is also a good idea.

Elfblade · Mar 20, 2011, 10:33 PM // 22:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by Illusiona

And a hero SoS is even worse, they use it at the worst of times, and can't take the spirit with them. I'd say, make Razah a Xinrae rit, specialized in weapon spells.

SoS is perfect for heroes because you just activate it before the fight and they will recast if the spirits die.an SOS rt allows for a lot of utility with good emanagement. While you propose a xinrae ritualist which is a lot worse for damage and the healing is unnecesarry( Xinrae will overide the splinter weapon, which is a bad thing)

about the explosive growth mm, its a choice but i prefer necro mm's due to utility. the heals and explosive growth dmg are negligible as they are cast at corpses. (plus you waste an RT hero if you dont have mercenary heroes)

Tip: i would fit strength and honor somewhere as you are a warrior and you benefit from it.

btw: we cant see your xandra on your latest attachment