Curse

Lux Aeterna · Mar 06, 2009, 04:31 AM // 04:31

Lately I've been giving out builds to newbs in AB...

Like today I had a Mo/R with [Shield of Judgment][Karei's Healing Circle][Heal Other][Healing Breeze][Healing ribbon][Heal Party], and I gave him my cookiecutter WoH build. When the match started we immediately stomped a balanced Kurzick party in 4v4... he liked the build, despite being newby and wanting to switch [Holy Veil] for [Healing Breeze].

My free handout monk build is this:

[Patient Spirit][Word of Healing][Dismiss Condition][Signet of Rejuvenation][Holy Veil][Guardian][Return][Dark Escape]

That's basically *the* WoH build for AB right now... it can be changed a bit but is generally a HUGE improvement over whatever random heal other/ words of comfort build a newbie has.

I've also given away the turret build
[Burning Arrow][Savage Shot][Distracting Shot][Hunter's Shot][Flail][Read the Wind][Lightning Reflexes][Dodge]
and the cookiecutter shock axe
[Primal Rage][Rush][Dismember][Disrupting Chop][Body Blow][Bull's Strike][Shock][Lion's Comfort]

Obviously I need to change both of those since the SAD UNFORTUNATE primal rage/flail nerfs. Will probably make a set of newbie handout builds later on.

Does anybody else do this? Since I've started giving away builds and spending time helping people, I've noticed that my parties win 4v4 almost every single time. This may be part of the reason it's mostly been on ancestral/grenz etc and almost always goes back to grenz after saltspray.

I tried giving some guy zkeys to make a decent build and switch to kurzick, but eventually it turned out he was just begging me for cash for his 75k armor.

This reminds me of in Neverwinter Nights, when I used to write "book" items with pages of newbie build/ item creation tutorials.

Thoughts ? I'd love it if people posted some more builds for me to pass out. I need a nuker, a bonder, a new ranger, etc. Also if anyone had a [Peace and Harmony] build that'd be incredible because I like it when monks use that spell...

eldrethv · Mar 06, 2009, 04:50 AM // 04:50

http://pvx.wikia.com/wiki/Build:Mo/E...d_Harmony_Prot

^^

Marverick · Mar 06, 2009, 05:00 AM // 05:00

frenzy turret ftw?

[Expert Focus][Melandru's Shot][Penetrating Attack][Sundering Attack][Frenzy][Rush][Savage Shot][Distracting Shot]

hmm maybe

[Burning Arrow][Hunter's Shot][Savage Shot][Distracting Shot][Lightning Reflexes][Expert Focus][Weapon of Aggression][Resurrection Signet] ditch the res for antidote sig or something in AB

Daisuko · Mar 06, 2009, 05:00 AM // 05:00

yeah, except the turret ranger build just got nerfed hard, since flail is 1s now. So that was pretty worthless.

Prage got nerfed too, though not as hard.

Lux Aeterna · Mar 06, 2009, 05:10 AM // 05:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daisuko

yeah, except the turret ranger build just got nerfed hard, since flail is 1s now. So that was pretty worthless.

Prage got nerfed too, though not as hard.

Yep, I'll switch Flail for mending touch or something else on the ranger.

Still deciding whether to keep using PR ... I tried charging strike for an extra attack / maintainable 33% sprint skill (very VERY useful), and liked it but the bar feels weird and there's always evisc/ dev hammer (dev hammer is excellent).

I might also try an eviscerate build with whirling axe substituted, and capped warrior's endurance for an experiment.

Daisuko · Mar 06, 2009, 05:19 AM // 05:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lux Aeterna

Yep, I'll switch Flail for mending touch or something else on the ranger.

Still deciding whether to keep using PR ... I tried charging strike for an extra attack / maintainable 33% sprint skill (very VERY useful), and liked it but the bar feels weird and there's always evisc/ dev hammer (dev hammer is excellent).

I might also try an eviscerate build with whirling axe substituted, and capped warrior's endurance for an experiment.

personally I favor erf shakurr over dev. one more adrenaline and KD's adjacent foes, useful in AB 'cause people are scrubs and stand next to eachother.

tmakinen · Mar 06, 2009, 05:59 AM // 05:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lux Aeterna

I need a nuker

Here are a couple of good builds for ele:

[build name="Battlemage" prof=E/P fire=12+1+1 energy=8+1 water=5+1 command=9][Glyph of Immolation][Mind Blast][Steam][Slippery Ground][Searing Heat][Teinai's Heat]["Fall Back!"][Fire Attunement][/build]

[build name="Bunker Buster" prof=E/P fire=12+1+1 energy=9+1 command=9][Glyph of Lesser Energy][Rodgort's Invocation][Glowing Gaze][Savannah Heat][Searing Heat][Teinai's Heat]["Fall Back!"][Fire Attunement][/build]

The first is geared towards PvP skirmishes with point pressure, blind and KD, the second is preferred when attacking deep, to quickly wipe fort defenses.

Edit: here's a relatively safe build for a beginner elementalist (now with the buffed AoR):

[build name="Basic SF" prof=E/D fire=12+1+1 energy=10+1 earthpray=8][Glyph of Lesser Energy][Searing Flames][Glowing Gaze][Meteor][Flame Djinn's Haste][Mystic Regeneration][Aura of Restoration][Fire Attunement][/build]

You can change Mystic Regen to Armor of Sanctity (nice synergy with SF), Conviction, Mirage Cloak or even Aura of Thorns according to taste. Considering the available healing from AoR maybe Conviction should be the primary alternative: +24AL from Conviction, +10AL from Blessed insignia and +8AL from the shield combining to a total of 102AL means that you're not that squishy any more

Lux Aeterna · Mar 06, 2009, 06:20 AM // 06:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daisuko

personally I favor erf shakurr over dev. one more adrenaline and KD's adjacent foes, useful in AB 'cause people are scrubs and stand next to eachother.

Actually it's almost 2 more adrenaline since dev is 6.25... I got earthshaker but I think I still like dev better because the weakness is a major melee shutdown (ie rush back to your backline, dev hammer enemy sin, rush back to enemy caster). Then again I ran into an earthshaker war and found it extremely annoying ....

Ever used enraged smash ?

Here's my initial charging strike build
[charging strike][agonizing chop][dismember][frenzy][rush][bull's strike][shock][conjure lightning]
It out DPS'ed my PR shock axe and has a SWEET sprint skill (great for not getting run down by mobs/ KD lock sins), but it's very very energy intensive. May try a warrior's endurance build.

TYVM for the ele builds, but have you got anything than an average newb could use? Like "hey this is a pretty good fire build"? I like eles quite a bit because not only do they clear shrines, but they can do a large amount of damage to a party's hp...

I was trying to help a rit healer with his build (I really like rit healers/spikers), but lagged out.

AntmanA · Mar 06, 2009, 07:22 AM // 07:22

Also, [devistating hammer] is great when used with [bulls strike] and [heavy blow] fr knocklock...

I run like this...

[bulls strike][devistating hammer][crushing blow][heavy blow][flail][enraged charge][rush][lions comfort] Works a charm if you catch a guy kiting and bulls him, then when he gets up a dev hammer sorts him out, crushing for DW, then heavy blow is normally the killer last blow. If heavy dosn't kill, I normally bulls as soon as he gets up, 9/10 they trying to kite at that point and bulls gets em for the kill...

TheodenKing · Mar 06, 2009, 03:39 PM // 15:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lux Aeterna

I tried giving some guy zkeys to make a decent build and switch to kurzick, but eventually it turned out he was just begging me for cash for his 75k armor.

wtf is wrong with you, dude?

Necromas · Mar 06, 2009, 04:22 PM // 16:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by AntmanA

I run like this...

[bulls strike][devastating hammer][crushing blow][heavy blow][flail][enraging charge][rush][lions comfort]

Fixed spelling errors in skill names.

Vir Leto · Mar 06, 2009, 04:53 PM // 16:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheodenKing

wtf is wrong with you, dude?

Yes, WTF is wrong with you OP, not carring about pixels and acctualy trying to help out a begginer. FFS, didn't you know MMO's are only about self-intrest, greed and e-peen? OMG, didn't you receive the memo?

/sarcasm off

@ OP

I applaud your initiative, I personally never had the will or the patience to explain builds to begginers in AB. If you are looking for more informaiton regarding AB builds I suggest taking a look here as well: http://pvx.wikia.com/wiki/Category:G...king_AB_builds
That should contain more then enough info for begginers, after they grasp the basics they will be able to make their own builds.

Syntonic · Mar 07, 2009, 08:30 AM // 08:30

Well, it's pretty obvious that giving away money as an incentive to do something isn't always the best way to accomplish your goal. The people who are willing to work with you will do so willingly without much coercion.

As for explaining builds and ABing with people, there was a time where me and a few friends took the time to go through bars, ping new ones etc. even for AB. It made setting up quite a long process actually but I'm not sure it really amounted much since most of the time, we never did AB with that particular person again. I'm not sure we made much of a difference because of this since they'll probably be back to their original build once they join up with PUGs. These days, I normally do not spend as much time setting up for AB - as long as the bar isn't totally out there, I'll probably click the enter button unless we are looking for something specific. This normally isn't the case unless we are looking for frontline. Unfortunately, even being selective about the bar doesn't mean we'll like the play style of the person. I just don't get some of the directions people choose when leading in AB at times among many other things. I'm sure certain people feel the same about me as well.

As for builds, most are available on PvX wiki with notes talking about variants but I suppose that doesn't really take in account what is easiest to play. I wouldn't expect a person to cancel stance well when they've never heard of it.

MasterSasori · Mar 07, 2009, 09:26 AM // 09:26

As great as this sounds, it would be much easier to just refer them to PvX. If he/she is willing to listen, then great. If not, let them find out the hard way.

Giving out free bars is a great idea, but priority lies in encouraging him or her to always seek for self-improvement in terms of player skills and bar skills. It is far more beneficial and practical in the long run.

Alleji · Mar 07, 2009, 11:34 PM // 23:34

I don't generally force bars on people, but when once in a while someone asks me for a build, I'm happy to help.

Yeah, forcing a crapmonk to change to standard WoH might be great for your team, for winning, and especially for him, but problem is, 95% of crapmonks won't listen, so I just find it easier to not bother. On the rare occasions when I'm playing srsbizness AB (attacking ancestral), I'll look for people with good bars if I don't have a full friendlist team. Otherwise, /care.