Curse

firelink · Jan 22, 2011, 03:17 AM // 03:17

I usually run a Imbagon (she is my main).

Me and my buddy (a Dervish) like to vanquish from time to time. I usually run my Imbagon with Spiritway, and he runs his random collection of Dervish skills with a Healer's Boon Monk, a Warder, and another Dervish as a tank.

I was wondering, is his extra healer at all needed or warranted? Are my Imbagon skills and the spiritway healing enough to take out his Monk and substitute it with more damage?

Uriel_Wolfblood · Jan 22, 2011, 03:49 AM // 03:49

Yes. As long as everything is going smoothly between your protection and a spirit healer the party should be fine. I would recomend switching his monk to a smiter with Strength of Honor so he can micro it on himself for even more damage. Ray of Judgment is also very nice when vanquishing since things have such high armor in HM.

Worst case scenario you die a bunch in which case you can just put the healer back on. But protection is much more important in HM than healing if you ask me. I've never needed more than one protector and one healer while the rest of the team concentrates on huge damage (and the occasional mesmer for crowd control/caster shutdown

)

Voodoo Rage · Jan 22, 2011, 06:28 AM // 06:28

I'm realizing more and more on this game that damage > healing almost every time. I would amp up your damage and just see how you do. If you are dying in the first few mobs then you can back off and tweak your builds.

Saru The Boss · Jan 22, 2011, 08:02 AM // 08:02

Soul Twisting Rit> Warder.

Haggis of Doom · Jan 22, 2011, 03:55 PM // 15:55

Depends on which version of Spiritway you're running.

If your SoS is a resto hybrid, your communing rit has ST and Union + Displacement/Shelter (Displacement > Shelter if you are capable of keeping "SY!" up) and your MM has the 3 prots, then you will need minimal defense from the rest of the party.

A warder is a bad choice in most areas. Any melee hero is a bad choice due to the crappy AI. "Tanking" with a melee hero is a nono unless you REALLY know what you're doing - and even then it's probably not the best of ideas.

Considering your primaries, throw on SoH as Uriel suggested. I personally would run an Orders/Curses hero + a para hero (keeps up your AR with Anthem of Flame) to fill the last 2 slots.

Alternatively, if your buddy would rather not micro Mark of Pain, you could throw SoH on the Orders necro and do whatever with the last 2 slots. 2x Fall Back is a nice thing to aim for; no need to put them on Para primaries, but they synergize with you and with Orders, so why not

LifeInfusion · Jan 22, 2011, 04:27 PM // 16:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saru The Boss

Soul Twisting Rit> Warder.

Seconded.

You don't need a monk hero that's healer's boon. Ever. Why? Because Healer's Boon sucks. It's even more so on a hero that doesn't know how to manage energy.

UA on a hero is fantastic, since they can pop UA instantly. Divine healing, heaven's delight are useful and even if they "miss" with it then it's only the equivalent of 7 energy rather than 15. And you don't need to run high attributes in crappy healing prayers, whose sole reason for existing is dwayna's kiss and gift of health. You can slot 8 or 9 Gift of Health +10prot for SoA and Aegis and be done with it, with d-kiss in areas with heavy hexes.

The alternative is Healing burst, which doesn't require them to use it properly since they use it as a spot heal. Slap Healing Burst +d-kiss+ energy management, spot removals that you micro. With an imba in the team things will be pinging your team for about 10 damage so the Healing Burst pressure heal every 4 seconds will be much more useful than a once-every-30-seconds Heal Party (or 12 without Glyph).

I can't recommend Word of Healing in a team with an Imba. It is likely you will never be spiked that hard and if it is a spike it will be armor ignoring so it won't be something Healing Burst+Spirit Light+ Protective was Kaolai can't handle.

How I would do it:
1 Imbagon with Spiritway
1-1 ST rit with Union, shelter, displacement+ armor unfeeling+one offensive spirit microed (Disenchantment is a good choice for your setup) or N/Mo with Protective Spirit + aegis+SoA and minion elite of choice (Jagged Bones or Aura of the Lich)
1-2 SoS rit with Splinter Weapon, Painful Bond, Bloodsong, Spirit Siphon, Protective was Kaolai, Spirit Light + Mend Body and Soul
1-3 N/Rt Healer with Spirit Light and Mend Body and Soul, Protective was Kaolai + Curses stuff like Shadow of Fear, barbs, weaken armor, and enfeebling blood
2 Dervish
2-1 N/Mo Strength of honor with Foul feast or Mo/any Smiter's Boon cleaner with Strength of Honor and Heaven's Delight
2-2 Me/any Panic damage mitigation + enchant removal , Keystone or illusion mesmer in physical heavy areas
2-3 D/N orders or Mo/any with Healing Burst or UA

Panic+ST and Imba are enough to do DoA hard mode so it should be handling every area. I didn't have an Imba and I still steamrolled. Since you are duoing I'd assume it's everything not in Tyria basically (up to Crystal desert is 6 man).

2 physicals carrying the most importance means you need a "cleaner" like a Smiter's Boon monk or N/Mo.

Anything not killing things (or augmenting your ability to do so) is a waste of a slot when you are steamrolling. That means monks.

EDIT: If you mean you run http://www.gwpvx.com/Build:Team_-_Hero_Spiritway

Then I'd have to say I find SoGM to be rather slow on heroes since they can't manage the energy (15 or 25 with only 5 reduction is steep). The only things I run for VQ are ST (every 15 seconds is faster than every 30) and SoS (every 30 seconds). I find SoS is slower than ST because you need to wait for the darn thing to recharge. If it didn't have such fantastic bar compression I'd skip it on a hero.

In general for damage:
You have a few options, a Necro, Mesmer, Monk smiter, Ritualist. Rangers would be viable but you have a Dervish so you have AoE already.

firelink · Jan 22, 2011, 06:44 PM // 18:44

Thanks for the suggestions.

The problem is, I do not want to force my friend into running something. I let him choose whatever he wants to run, and usually I just try to pick up the slack for any deficiencies he brings to the table.

It is usually difficult, because I bring builds that work on synergy, where he usually brings himself and 3 heroes that do not generally work together as much as they are made for general purposes.

I do run a variation of the Hero Spiritway from PvX. On the Minion bomber I took off Shield of Absorption and replaced it with Convert Hexes due to the hex-heavy areas (particularly the desolation) completely shutting me down and my protective abilities (Vocal Minority kills me).

I run the SoS pretty much like that, except for an added rez. The SoGM I run the same with an added rez as well.

Sometimes I bring a Panic Resto instead of one of the above in case I need interrupts and a bit of added protection.

As for the Dervish tank, she actually works very well. I am not sure how, it baffles us when we wipe and she is left sitting there fighting the mob for an extra 5 minutes.

If you guys would be so nice, I would just like suggestions for my Imba and set of Heroes. I do not want to force my friend to run skills he doesn't like. I felt horrible just getting him to run Leech Signet and Power Drain on his casters. The most I would try and get him to do is consider dropping his Monk.