Curse

wingedcoyote · May 17, 2005, 07:02 PM // 19:02

If you've noticed my last few threads, I bet I know what you're thinking -- "damn it Coyote, stop playing around with theoretical builds and just pick something to level up!" And you'd be right, except that now I actually have decided on a character (more or less) and am happily burning through quests in Post-Searing. I still love working out possible future builds, though, so here are a couple things I was thinking my current War/Elem might grow into. I'd love some feedback on how well these might work (and whether they're even feasible

).

The Storm Soldier

The Man
- Strength 8+1, Swordsmanship 10+2, Tactics 6, Air Magic 11
- Frenzy, Bonetti's Defense, Conjure Lightning, Glimmering Mark (E), Sever Artery, Gash, Final Thrust, Whirlwind
- Dragon or Gladiator set, maybe Stonefist Gauntlets, Shocking Sword, Storm Artifact

The Plan
1. Identify a group of enemies to attack. Activate Conjure.
2. Run up and engage the baddest bad guy in the bunch. Cast Glimmering Mark on him.
3. Activate Frenzy and hack away. The effects of Mark should run together and continuously Blind everybody near you as long as it lasts. Spam Sever, Gash, Final as adrenaline permits.
4. When Mark is about to run out, switch to Bonetti's Defense. This should keep you safe once the enemies regain their sight, and help build up energy to repeat the cycle.
5. Whirlwind is the odd skill out. I thought it would be nice to add some AoE damage to the AoE blind, but it's hardly vital. It could be switched out for a utility like Sprint or Res Signet with no trouble.

The Clay Berserker

This is a much vaguer idea, and I'm not sure how effective it'll be, but it seems like a lot of fun. The idea is to combine the Clay Soldier defense of warrior armor plus Armor of Earth and maybe a Ward or two, with a heavy hammer-using AoE punch. The attack plan is to run up with defense spells already on, hit Berserker Stance and pummel away until you have ten hits of adrenaline (and 15 energy), then break out Earth Shaker > Aftershock > Belly Smash. Can't use it all that often, but 132 damage plus Blindness is nothing to sneeze at, and you should be pretty hard to hurt in between volleys.

EDIT: Oh, and keep in mind these are only really intended for PvE. Once I hit 20 and start seriously PvPing, I'll probably be looking at transforming into a Water Trident spammer or a Conjure Flame + Mark of Rodgort assassin.

MasterDinadan · May 17, 2005, 09:08 PM // 21:08

I like them a lot!
Do you recommend the use of either of these builds with E/W instead of W/E?
I'm an elementalist primary and nearly ascended... I'm thinking of changing my secondary to warrior after I ascend (it's mesmer right now, but I only use one mesmer skill...)

wingedcoyote · May 18, 2005, 04:12 AM // 04:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by MasterDinadan

I like them a lot!
Do you recommend the use of either of these builds with E/W instead of W/E?
I'm an elementalist primary and nearly ascended... I'm thinking of changing my secondary to warrior after I ascend (it's mesmer right now, but I only use one mesmer skill...)

I've heard of people doing something a lot like my Earth build with an E/W. Stack up those defense spells and you can get very nice defense. Probably better to switch into, though, as I think a close-range Elem would be tricky before getting all the right skills. I was tempted to do it that way myself though, just for the image of the cute little Elementalist girl with a huge hammer.

wingedcoyote · May 27, 2005, 07:15 AM // 07:15

Something occurred to me here -- using Final Thrust in the Storm Soldier build is dumb, because it'll probably drain all my Adren just when I need Bonetti's ready to go. As a replacement I'm thinking about Galrath Slash.