Curse

EFGJack · May 04, 2011, 10:24 AM // 10:24

This build is for general Hard Mode play: Vanquishing, Missions, ZBounties, Dungeons & FOW. Slight modifications are required for UW, DoA and Slavers!

How to play
You don't need any micro other than flagging heroes behind while aggroing foes to have 'em somewhat close to each other.I suggest pre-casting spirits on the ST for greater survivability.
It appears my test subjects weren't truthful about not flagging heroes around so I removed that line.

Recommended Equipment
Zealous sword, minor weapon rune on yourself & 40/40 set of the attribute of the heroes' elite skill. +armor insignia, Superior Vigor & Vitae runes on empty slots on heroes.
There are crafters for 20/20 Wands & Focii in Vasburg Armory & Leviathan Pits.

Quote:

The Build

Warrior - OQASEZKT8VVi7gTNXF9Fzk0k

Swordsmanship: 12+1+1
Strength: 12+1
Sentinel's Insignia on all 5 pieces

Mesmers - OQNEAnwT22MEoBTPcqpjIkBubA - OQNEAnwT22MEOBTPcqpjIkBubA
Variations: Power Drain can be swapped for Auspicious Incantation - it's really great albeit you need to micro it every once in a while as the heroes forget to use it when they're low on energy

Domination: 12+1+2
Fast Casting: 7+2
Inspiration: 9+2
Healing Prayers: 6

Clamor Ritualist - OAWjIohq4OYMv5v0xVONdSTmJA
Variations: Spirit Rift can be replaced with Kaolai if additional redbarring is required & Unnatural Signet -> Signet of Clumsiness - I prefer Unnatural Signet due to it's condition is met easier

Channeling: 11+1+3
Restoration: 10+1
Domination: 10

ST Ritualist - OAWjIogLpOmOrJ2Mca9ecOzkLA
Variations: Signet of Creation -> Signet of Disruption OR Unnatural Signet -> Signet of Clumsiness and keep SoCreation

Communing: 11+1+2
Spawning: 10+2
Domination: 10

Blood Necro - OAhjQwGYoOeNw2gYolcncDzqKA
Variations: SoLS -> MB&S if you face conditions

Blood Magic: 12+1+3
Soul Reaping: 8+1
Restoration: 10

Foc Necros - OAljYkHsZOfiLhLEOYJ2x17qKA - OAljYkHsZO7uLhLEOYJ2xshqKA

Curses: 12+1+3
Soul Reaping: 9+1
Command: 9

A few explanations...
Signets of Rejuvenation on the mesmers: Heals that I couldn't fit on any other hero. Signets because I can't strain the mesmer's energy any further.
Panic: Panic offers Hidden DPS and Protection. Every heal interrupted equals that amount of damage done to the target of the interrupted heal. Same goes for interrupted damage spells. And interruptions mean less healing required by your heroes = more time casting damage spells. Panic is very strong.
Clamor & Spirit Rift: Added AOE on the Splinter&AR bot.
Unnatural Signets: Free Armor-ignoring AOE.
Blood Bond: With the lack of healing in this build Blood Bond certainly carries it's weight as one of the 64 skills. It heals you for a hundred every time a foe hexed by it dies next to you. It's too good to pass on. Plus it serves as an AOE hex for Feasts of Corruption.

Right. I know it's not a good idea for me to play a build and publish it and assume everyone will have similar success rate with it, so I shared the build with several belgian guildmates of mine and they successfully made their way through the labyrinth without getting zapped too much. And believe me, if they're getting results with this build I'm sure you will find this build to be extremely effective in general HM PvE. I accept critique and ideas to replace skill X with skill Y but only from people who have tested this build in more than 1 area.

Go and try it yourself. I'll argue you'll never run anything else (unless ofc you like to play with one hand in a bucket of kfc)

LexTalionis · May 04, 2011, 11:27 AM // 11:27

I have a question that's neither a comment nor a critique so you won't need to feel defensive about it: What about this build makes it Warrior main specific?

Wouldn't this be viable with say, a Dervish with 10 Mysticism in it and Vow of Strength?

ShaneOfMach · May 04, 2011, 11:40 AM // 11:40

I'd recommend a Smiting Prayers monk with Ray of Judgment, Smite Hex, Smite Condition, Strength of Honor, and Judge's Insight.

It makes your melee damage huge.

EFGJack · May 04, 2011, 11:53 AM // 11:53

Lex: It's viable with a Dervish or any X/D X/W with Hundred Blades or VoS. But it's easier to say it's for warrior than any 100b variant.
Shane: Tested with Mo/Rt with ROJ, Melee buffs, Splinter, AR instead of the Clamor & I've tested with 2 ROJ monks instead of ST & Clamor but the ritualists outclass the ROJ alternative. There's nothing that's unclear to me about it. ROJ causes unwanted scatter most of the time, plus the melee damage you get doesn't really matter as the general damage is high.

I played with 2 melee support monks for years so I'm aware that it makes my damage "huge" (although you can achieve this by using the user interface scaler, too) I'm confident when I say you can easily drop the melee support when you play this build. Trust me, you don't need SOH or JI.

**Marty Silverblade** · May 04, 2011, 11:54 AM // 11:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShaneOfMach

I'd recommend a Smiting Prayers monk with Ray of Judgment, Smite Hex, Smite Condition, Strength of Honor, and Judge's Insight.

It makes your melee damage huge.

JI changes your damage type to holy.

Smite Hex and Condition would be mostly redundant with 2 copies of Shatter Hex and MBaS.

RoJ is nice but most of the heroes have AoE damage elites anyway.

SoH would be good, but if it doesn't fit, it doesn't fit. The point is to ball everything up and nuke it in one go so provided there's enough damage it shouldn't matter too much.

Cors Seel · May 04, 2011, 12:34 PM // 12:34

To start: build looks really great, i will definitely give this 7H build a try.

I know u don't take critiques unless i tested your build but i just want you to explain your choices actually

.

May i ask why you take Clamor of Souls instead of SoS. I understand it's great e-management and adds some AoE damage. To me this AoE dmg seems rather small since it isn't armor ignoring. And i would think Spirith Siphon provides all the energy you need. Although there isn't something like to much energy so i guess it isn't bad.

And about rip enchantment on one of the FoC necro's. You already got 2 drain enchantments and it's not a bad thing if there still remain some enchantments on the foes since this triggers extra damage from unnatural signet and defile- and desecrate enchantments. I would say enfeebling blood fits in nicely there.

EFGJack · May 04, 2011, 12:38 PM // 12:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cors Seel

To start: build looks really great, i will definitely give this 7H build a try.

I know u don't take critiques unless i tested your build but i just want you to explain your choices actually

.

May i ask why you take Clamor of Souls instead of SoS. I understand it's great e-management and adds some AoE damage. To me this AoE dmg seems rather small since it isn't armor ignoring. And i would think Spirith Siphon provides all the energy you need. Although there isn't something like to much energy so i guess it isn't bad.

And about rip enchantment on one of the FoC necro's. You already got 2 drain enchantments and it's not a bad thing if there still remain some enchantments on the foes since this triggers extra damage from unnatural signet and defile- and desecrate enchantments. I would say enfeebling blood fits in nicely there.

I chose clamor over SoS because I wanted to cramp as much aoe on the bar as possible, plus the spirits won't get to shine during general play. and I'm not exactly sure why there is a rip enchantment, I must've been playing on an enchantment heavy zone. You're right - it can be replaced by Enf. Blood, or whatever utility you can get from a Paragon profession. Brain Enchantments are there for mostly for the double purpose - E-management + enchant removal.

And I forgot to mention this build may not be the build for select areas from Factions campaign either.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icf8YQaBiwY This is as much micro as you will ever need with this build. It's poor quality but it should be sensible if you expand the video. no LB title displayed during the recording of the video.

Gard · May 04, 2011, 01:22 PM // 13:22

Would this work on a DB spam sin with SY! aswell?

EFGJack · May 04, 2011, 01:25 PM // 13:25

Surely it will work. But you won't get everything out of the Marks of Pain with a DB assassin.

Gard · May 04, 2011, 01:28 PM // 13:28

I could always try running that bar on a sin, looks like fun to play.

FoxBat · May 04, 2011, 01:28 PM // 13:28

I am the strongest -> ebon battle standard of honor, you seem to have the energy, and it will enormously buff your sword aoe...

EFGJack · May 04, 2011, 01:34 PM // 13:34

EBSoH is very powerful, but it's down to personal preference. I like IATS as it's instant.

scratchdude · May 04, 2011, 02:01 PM // 14:01

Those builds seem to work very well, when I see EFGJack in a thread it's a quality seal. I'm gonna try them as soon as possible on my SY derv. May I ask what are the slight changes you make for harder areas?

Xenomortis · May 04, 2011, 02:10 PM // 14:10

If you are in enchantment heavy areas, wouldn't PoD be more suitable over FoC+Rip?
And no adrenaline boosts?

Jeydra · May 04, 2011, 02:48 PM // 14:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by EFGJack

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icf8YQaBiwY This is as much micro as you will ever need with this build. It's poor quality but it should be sensible if you expand the video. no LB title displayed during the recording of the video.

AoE LOLOLOL AoE !!

It's an impressive video, showing off Warrior-based AoE. Pity I can't have most of those. Perhaps if I could raise a minion army beforehand I might be able to replicate that with GlyphSac Meteor Shower ...

Maybe I should run an ST, but I've usually not found I needed one in general play. Only in places like DoA HM.

How fast does this build clear Raisu? You could stipulate no mob-skipping or no micro if you want, I'll get some times to compare that with (once the Boardwalk closes anyway).

And since I'm not someone who has tested the build in more than 1 area, I'm not going to offer any suggestions (more like I've already offered all the suggestions I could in-game haha)

HigherMinion · May 04, 2011, 02:51 PM // 14:51

Looks like everything has a self-heal ^^

@Xeno; why does he need adren boost with Hundred Blades?

Xenomortis · May 04, 2011, 02:54 PM // 14:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by HigherMinion

@Xeno; why does he need adren boost with Hundred Blades?

S&M Slash and Whirlwind Attack are adrenal skills.
He has FGJ, but if he could squeeze in Dark Fury or something, he could cycle those two continuously.

EFGJack · May 04, 2011, 03:11 PM // 15:11

@Scratchdude - I'll edit the changes to the OP at a later time
@Xeno - Can't fit adrenaline boosts without heavily modifying the hero. I believe FGJ is more than enough
@Jeydra - I don't believe Raisu speedclears are the pinnacle of end-game PvE, but I assume with all skips and max micro you could squeeze a sub 8-mins clear if you get lucky with spawns and that monsters don't bodyblock M&T too much. Not going to bother trying, though.

Xenomortis · May 04, 2011, 03:21 PM // 15:21

Does Barbed Signet really pull it's weight? Or is it just an energy issue?

EFGJack · May 04, 2011, 03:49 PM // 15:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xenomortis

Does Barbed Signet really pull it's weight? Or is it just an energy issue?

There aren't many alternatives in the blood magic line. It's Barbed Signet & Opressive Gaze against additional heals against adrenaline boosts against vampiric swarm & dark pact. I find the current bar to be the most satisfying from all the possible variations.