Curse

Bylon · Oct 31, 2014, 11:56 PM // 23:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tyran Hellcaster

The bundle is not always up you know, especially during pressure when he drops it to use as a heal. This is when the +20% duration becomes handy.

True, she uses the bundle to heal. But I watched closely and noticed that she prioritize reacquiring the bundle immediately. So the sequence you suggest: drop bundle, BIP, reacquire bundle happens only when PwK is recharging. And by the way... this is a 25 seconds recharge group heal

So, yes, the sequence you suggest happens... when you are out of group heal on the BIPer.
The alternative to benefit from the +20% with your original build is to block PwK (same as you suggest for earthbind), and micro-manage it on heavy fights. That works because anyway group heal is not needed for regular fights.

So that is why, for the BIP, I prefer NOT to use the bundle so that I do always get the 12 sec BIP, and that works like a charm (you should try it!

). IMHO it is an improvement from your original suggestion, because this team build is so good, in fact, group heal is seldom needed: I completed FoW (NM) without having to use group heal on my monk. Most of the time, only the BIPer needs healing. When group heal is needed (Foundry for ex.) as my primary monk leads the team, I simply use my own skills.
Of course, it is a personal choice. If you prefer to put more smite on your monk, and no group heal at all, you might want to have at least 1 group heal somewhere, sacrificing most of the time 2 seconds of BIP.

I do agree Rejuvenation is a bad choice with MM.
Recovery was good though for Foundry (many conditions), otherwise I simply put direct heals for the BIPer.

I did the Foundry simply removing the MM that is close to useless (too many non-fleshy foes, minion-agro, etc...) by my Dervish running Melandru (tank + remove conditions). Sometimes, clinging desperately to a build just makes things harder, whereas you can simplify them! The rest of the team was identical, just gave Splinter to the SoS: it is excellent for a derv, it will do around 1K Dmg on heavy fights for 5 energy.

Otherwise this team build is indeed awesome. The Ebon Citadel was almost as easy as the Stygian Veil, and Mallyx went down in seconds, pinned down by the KDs.

So here are the adjustments:
BIP:
If you might need condition removal:

Code: OAhjQoGYIP3BpZzeyJ8GnVvLGA

At places where there are few conditions:

Code: OAhjQoGYIP3h4ZzeyJ8GnVvLGA
(Wielder's boon syncs well with vital weapon)

Characteristics:
The initial recommendation is:
Blood: 13, Soul: 10, Restoration: 12.
You get that with a single Superior rune.

My recommendation is:
Blood: 13, Soul: 11, Restoration: 12.
You get that with 2 major runes.
Benefits: major runes cost even less, more energy regen, +5 health... every bit counts!

I'll try other runs now, like FoW, UW...

Many thanks.

Tyran Hellcaster · Nov 03, 2014, 12:11 PM // 12:11

You're right that PwK is not needed often because of the build's ability to take the pain.

I find only a few areas can give any resistance, but then they are often very difficult all of a sudden. Foundry third room is the only real iffy place in NM, and in HM its UW and most of DOA.

As for the MM, I stopped running jagged bones and always take aura of the lich now to solve the issue of a lack of corpses.

One trick that I found that seems to allow more pressure to be dealt with is the blocking of the non defensive spirits on the two soul twisters. This frees the charges of soul twisting to be used on shelter/union/displacement.

Taking that even one step further you can also disable displacement as it can eat charges of soul twisting very quick. It's just that when there is a lot of pressure shelter sometimes lives for a second or two and the heroes need to be able to keep casting it.

This all depends on the area ofcourse.

mauirixxx · Nov 04, 2014, 12:37 AM // 00:37

for the life of me I can't figure out the 2nd human skill in rangerway, and the template code is for the spiritnuke human

Is the icon for the 2nd skill the original, that's been changed over the years or something? Looking between the Expertise and Marksmanship skills, I don't see it anywhere :/

**Marty Silverblade** · Nov 04, 2014, 12:40 AM // 00:40

That's Triple Shot, a PvE only skill from the set of Luxon/Kurzick skills.

http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Triple_Shot

mauirixxx · Nov 04, 2014, 12:45 AM // 00:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marty Silverblade

That's Triple Shot, a PvE only skill from the set of Luxon/Kurzick skills.

http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Triple_Shot

haha I literally just came back here to edit my post because I re-read page 2 and read it was triple shot with the Luxon icon - I only have the Kurzick version so the Luxon icon never registered in my head.

thanks!

Eyonn Vespera · Dec 08, 2014, 03:58 PM // 15:58

First of all, this Team Build is stunning - well done, Tyran!

I'm using zealous strings on all Rangers instead of Vampiric, Survivor insignias instead of Radiant and Runes of Vitae on all free slots. Also, BiP Necro has Blood Bond in the absence of the Vampiric strings. Things look pretty balanced here - Rangers are never short on energy, Blood Bond pumps health surprisingly well and the heroes are more resilient. What do you think? Have you ever tried it this way? Is there are loss in DPS in this modified build compared to the original?

Thanks!

Tyran Hellcaster · Dec 09, 2014, 05:39 AM // 05:39

Thanks for your comments!

I agree that Blood bond can be useful in certain situations. If used on multiple targets and your team is suffering degen, for example, then volley can give fairly big heals. Otherwise, in standard situations, mobs kinda drop too quickly to give much benefit from the primary heal. The secondary heal seems slightly more useful on average, but that is mainly to heal minions and pets.

And yeah, I did test zealous initially as that bar is energy intensive. I swayed towards vampiric though, after adding the second sup rune to give 15 expertise. With this you only run dry after several minutes of continuous usage.

The vampiric is there as it produces the highest DPS, being greater than 20/20 sundering, even at 18 marksmanship from expert's dexterity (it has been tested at GTB against the master of damage).

However, zealous indirectly adds more damage by keeping your energy pool topped up in long fights.

So, the most damaging setup boils down to the situation.

Rangerway is meant to keep engagements short (though it does not always happen) and therefore zealous does not shine as much as vampiric in most situations.

In the end, the 5 lifesteal from vampiric is very small compared to the 80-100dmg+ hits your heroes regularly score, so which to choose is largely up to personal preference.