Curse

Bargamer · Jul 25, 2008, 04:21 AM // 04:21

Glad to hear this build still has fans, Sante! Feel free to poke me in-game or post questions in this thread.

Some advice: Don't bother with Kamadan, unless you're just doing it to get the Heroes, Spirit's Gift, and Putrid Flesh. Instead, hop from Kaineng Center to Eye of the North. One of the biggest complaints of the build is the need to micro-manage your minions with Death Nova. This has been 150% remedied by Putrid Bile. Once you have Putrid Bile, feel free to play any of the campaigns in any order. If you feel Death Nova MUST be a part of your build, then give it to a Necro Hero when you get one in NF or EOTN.

Bob Grunter · Jul 27, 2008, 11:57 PM // 23:57

i did this when i made my first ritualist, i regret deleting him it was very fun

Bargamer · Jul 28, 2008, 04:47 AM // 04:47

Sante Update: I ran him to EOTN so he could get Putrid Bile. Was easy. Now he doesn't have to bother with Poisonous mods, just an Enchanting Staff and a Death staff or wand/focus. I'm so nice. XD

@Bob: Make another one?

-Makai- · Jul 28, 2008, 10:24 AM // 10:24

Just an update to my status and a brief summary of why I enjoy the build, along with tactics used, etc.:

So far I've greatly been enjoying this build. In an age of cookie-cutter Ursanry, it feels nice to run a bar that employs the original concepts of Guild Wars: creativity, skill and synergy. Ritualist has been my favorite class for several months because of its uniquely weird visual style and excellent synergy between most of its skills. As I previously mentioned, I grew tired of the usual Channeling/Resto hybrid and wanted to try something else. But where was I to go? Communing has been nerfed to oblivion and Spirit's Strength builds, while powerful, have far too many counters. I read your guide long ago, but didn't put much stock into it--I needed a new way to look at it...a fresh start. And so, a couple days ago, I created a new Ritualist for the sheer purpose of trying this build.

I haven't touched another character since.

I love how this build uses the offense/defense dichotomy of the Ritualist, but in a much different way. [Spirit's Gift] is amazing regardless of corpse position; both front and back liners can benefit from it. And, when monsters die near my person, gaining 200hp + 12 energy is a great feeling; losing 2 conditions is just icing on the cake. While [Explosive Growth] is probably the crux of this build, I have slight reservations about it (see below).

My current bar is as follows:

[Animate Bone Minions][Jagged Bones][Putrid Bile][Necrosis][Putrid Flesh][Explosive Growth][Boon of Creation][Spirit's Gift]

[Spirit's Gift] shall never leave this bar. Once I acquire a higher Asuran rank, I will probably replace [Necrosis] with [Pain Inverter], [Mindbender], or an Asuran summon. I never use [Taste of Death] unless I'm fighting human opponents; I find the healing gain from [Boon of Creation] and [Spirit's Gift] to be more than adequate and adjacent AoE disease + poison is pretty sick. I originally used [Death Nova], but passed it on to Olias as per your recommendation. A shame I can't see those yellow numbers, but the tracking/clicking became too much to bear.

I've changed the equipment setup to suit my personal tastes. Instead of using the HCT Wand, I am using an HCR. Because [jagged bones] has a ridiculously long recharge time, I find it helps a great deal. With this build, the only spell that takes long to cast is [animate bone minions], which can be eventually rectified with [Mindbender]. Given the situation, I'll use a Mursaat Staff with the same stats as Droknar's Spawning Staff. I equip the staff before a battle to maintain [explosive growth], [spirit's gift] and [boon of creation], then swap to the wand/focus during the fight.

My current armor setup:

Head: Blessed of Major Spawning Power
Torso: Blessed of Minor Vigor
Hands: Radiant of Attunement
Legs: Blessed of Attunement
Feet: Radiant of Attunement

I've never been a fan of superiors and I find the boost between 15 and 16 Spawning Power to be somewhat minimal. My current setup allows for 55 energy, which I believe is fair enough, especially when [Boon of Creation] comes into play.

Did I mention I love this build?

That being said, I've run into a couple problems with it, though these are largely based on the game's mechanics, not your suggestions.

[Explosive Growth] seems to be a wild card. It either works incredibly well or is dismally unnoticeable. Then again, it's hard to keep track of yellow numbers with blues constantly flying all over the place.

Near complete reliance on [Animate Bone Minions] means that if it is interrupted, the entire build is seemingly shut down. I realize that by using an HCR instead of an HCT, I leave myself a little more susceptible to interruption, but because of the AI's insane reflexes, this point is somewhat moot. Needless to say, I keep to the back of the party as much as possible.

Well, I guess this summary was less than brief.

Oh, and this was made for Minion Bombers. Time to start hoarding bones.

Bargamer · Jul 28, 2008, 06:31 PM // 18:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sante_Kelm

I've changed the equipment setup to suit my personal tastes.

That's the great thing about this build. It's so flexible and modifiable, you can put almost anything into the optional skill slots, wear whatever you want, and you'll do fine. I admit I haven't looked into any of the Asuran skills except for Pain Inverter, but if you like the way they handle, more power to ya! Personally, I've found success just going with a matching pair of cheapo 20HCT/20HSR Death Wand/Focus. And because I like Superior Runes, Taste of Death is a favored pick.

Yeah, not much you can do about interrupts except for staying in the back and hoping your minions gather more aggro than you. ^^;

What setup do you have for Olias? How is he fully taking advantage of all that Soul Reaping energy you're sending his way? Lemme know when you hit Vizunah Square, you'll want another MM and/or MB along.

Ditto · Aug 01, 2008, 11:53 PM // 23:53

I'm glad I stumbled across this thread. I tried minion bombing once about a year ago but I clearly wasn't ready for such an involved build. Now I'm reading your thread (which you've done an excellent job of keeping up on btw) and thinking "hmm this looks really fun"...thanks

Paul Dawg · Aug 05, 2008, 04:07 PM // 16:07

Well, [necrosis] is an outstanding skill. Why not swap out [putrid flesh] instead? Minions die fast enough that I don't think you need to waste a slot with something that doesn't do much other than kill them.

And you don't need to be very high in Asura rank in order to benefit from [pain inverter]. In other words, you might want to consider putting it in your bar NOW. Pain inverter is murder on AoE specialists even at very low Asura ranks.

I think that bar would rock with [pain inverter] instead of [putrid flesh]. Personally I like to leave the minion skills to heroes, since they can do that stuff much faster than humans, but then you can't take advantage of the ritualist skills that you have on your bar (because Rt/N heroes fail), so your overall idea makes a lot of sense.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sante_Kelm

My current bar is as follows:

[Animate Bone Minions][Jagged Bones][Putrid Bile][Necrosis][Putrid Flesh][Explosive Growth][Boon of Creation][Spirit's Gift]

[Spirit's Gift] shall never leave this bar. Once I acquire a higher Asuran rank, I will probably replace [Necrosis] with [Pain Inverter], [Mindbender], or an Asuran summon.

-Makai- · Aug 05, 2008, 04:56 PM // 16:56

Again, the [putrid flesh] is very situational. I find the -8 AoE Degen (4 disease and 4 poison) to be incredibly helpful against enemies with high defense.

I started using [Pain Inverter] recently. At R4 Asuran, it's pretty good. My only complaint is that it forces me closer to the fray.

Edit: Just used [Pain Inverter] against the Mesmer boss in Bogroot Growths. Consider the skill stapled.

-Makai- · Aug 08, 2008, 12:18 AM // 00:18

Just a bit of an update:

[Reclaim Essence] no longer works on minions.

Bargamer · Aug 08, 2008, 01:57 AM // 01:57

Well, poor us, we lost the option of Reclaim Essence, but gained a better low-Rank Necrosis and Pain Inverter, as well as longer-lasting Ebon Battle Standards! And in the case of Honor's, we also got harder hits against Charr! Ursan Blessing got nerfed badly, which makes the rest of us LOL. Nothing really notable in the Dwarven skills. Trimmed the OPs to reflect the changes, so now we just have to wait for the skill icons to catch up.

Order of Undeath could possibly be better than Signet of Creation/Binding/Ghostly Might put together, if used as a kill-trigger...

Bargamer · Sep 06, 2008, 09:23 PM // 21:23

So, Anet gave us a Dervish Hero. Being as I never bothered to get the Form (or ANY) Elites, I was pretty screwed for MOX builds. But no worries, you don't even have to bring him along for the fetch quests! I Hero/Henched these in one attempt.

What you do need to bring however, are Interrupts, either in the form of Dissonance and/or Wailing Weapon, and/or a Mesmer, Ranger, or Blood Necro. For your Heroes and Henchies, bring some AOE and healing. With POX, the Factions part, I simply took my Minion Bomber. POX really likes to trash on minions with Reactor, so Jagged Bones and Pain Inverter helps a lot. If he manages to kill all your minions in-between Jagged Bones casts, retreat and move on to a group of Jade Brotherhood nearby. He walks really slowly, so you have a few moments to Animate. Then go smack him down some more.

[ROX build;OACjEyiM5QyllTEbYMdTOOLTeTA]
[NOX build;OACjAuiMpR+glTRbZODgXTVTylA]

For the last part, Zinn's Lair, you have to bring MOX, so I just slotted him with some Earth Prayers Enchants, Signet of Pious Light, and a few Scythe Mastery skills, and let him go to town on the mobs. Needless to say, try to have a Necro Hero keep Death Nova on him at all times, to power his Signet of Pious Light. Once you go inside the Lair, located at The Falls in Maguuma Jungle, there are no enemies, so just sit back and read the silly dialogue. The quest chain is not repeatable, so just help out your guildies, or try them again on your other characters.

[MOX build;OgCjkyrM7QCYXgcfcXsXZXiX6XA]

Disclaimer: Since I did them in only one attempt, and you can't easily repeat the quests, these build can be tweaked to be better. Feel free to experiment.

Nightow · Sep 07, 2008, 01:08 AM // 01:08

This is still a work in progress.

Me
[build=OAOj4wiM5Q+gYMriHXUfuEzDJXA]

M.O.X
[build=OgakgUpsKxuEAGzVz1FI5m4W3gAA]
(Yes, Zealous Sweep is a bit much for energy mgmt but you know how heroes can be. >_>)

Kahmu
[build=OgGikysMBgxc1cdBGUIuNuJAAA]

Melonni
[build=OgSjQsqKrOeXDxkw+ifvvh3yLA]

Seems like I still have to fine tune Kahmu as he was having energy issues. =\

spirit of defeat · Sep 07, 2008, 10:53 AM // 10:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nightow

This is still a work in progress.

Me
[build=OAOj4wiM5Q+gYMriHXUfuEzDJXA]

M.O.X
[build=OgakgUpsKxuEAGzVz1FI5m4W3gAA]
(Yes, Zealous Sweep is a bit much for energy mgmt but you know how heroes can be. >_>)

Kahmu
[build=OgGikysMBgxc1cdBGUIuNuJAAA]

Melonni
[build=OgSjQsqKrOeXDxkw+ifvvh3yLA]

Seems like I still have to fine tune Kahmu as he was having energy issues. =\

tThis is quite off topic, and so is my own question
But how do you display the damage you deal?

Nightow · Sep 07, 2008, 11:32 AM // 11:32

http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Master_of_damage

Bargamer · Sep 07, 2008, 04:36 PM // 16:36

All that DPS isn't doing you much good if you're not interrupting the Golem's insta-kills. For the Golem, Knockdown doesn't work as an interrupt, either. And since it's a boss, Conditions and Hexes aren't as effective. I chose to go with an all-caster team, as getting in melee range of these guys is just asking for a beatdown. Let my minions soak up the damage, you know?

ac1inferno · Sep 07, 2008, 04:51 PM // 16:51

Minion bombers are overrated. I'd much rather have a hybrid mark of pain mm.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GuildWiki

Even though it triggers AoE damage scattering, it can have devastating effect in conjunction with a minion master. The numerous attacks from minions can trigger it up to 10 times before the enemy AI decides to scatter.

Nightow · Sep 07, 2008, 04:56 PM // 16:56

Sorry, what I posted was just a general team build. For NOX, I just switched out Kahmu for Margrid the Sly with [Broad head arrow].

Bargamer · Sep 17, 2008, 07:49 PM // 19:49

ac1inferno: I bring a SS Necro, including Mark of Pain, as well as a hybrid AOE MM and a Resto Necro. In my experience, the AI gets confused between the minion-blocking, Death Novas, Mark of Pain AOEs and whatever else that they don't scatter AT ALL before they die.

Master of Damage isn't very good in calculating AOE, so it's really not a reliable indicator of performance for 90% of PVE play.

s s · Sep 30, 2008, 03:00 PM // 15:00

Please, please, please don't be a willy... USE THIS BUILD!!! I tried it a few weeks ago and it is awesome, it deals damage, helps the team and is fun. What more do you want?
Peace out

Bargamer · Nov 07, 2008, 04:22 PM // 16:22

My poor, neglected thread. Poor, neglected Rits. We get no love in these Updates, haha! I was surprised they even bothered to tweak our skills during the Costume Brawl. *Bump.*