Curse

Francis Crawford · Dec 31, 2006, 08:56 PM // 20:56

My wife and I want to build a B/P team out of heroes, to try at least Tombs. She'll presumably bring her ranger, and I'll certainly bring my necro. Any thoughts on the builds? Some of my early ideas are:

1. I would probably trust a hero to spam Order of the Vampire. But I don't want to give an AI two sac skills, so no Blood Ritual.

2. I don't know whether I trust a hero necro to do his main job and also cast Heal Party as needed. He could easily spend his energy on the Heal Party inappropriately.

3. So I'm wondering whether to bring the orders necro at all, and also wondering whether to bring two monks.

4. I tend to set up my hero monks with the two standard Inspiration interrupts. Are these consistently useful in Tombs, or are there big zones with either no enemy spells or just fast casting ones?

5. Absent weapon-swapping, I'm not sure giving a vampiric or zealous weapon to a hero is a great idea. On the other hand, I wouldn't be surprised if they manage to regen their energy between fights anyway ...

6. Does A/R crit barrage work in Tombs, or is there too much enchantment stripping? If so, the bowstring issue is solved for the Zenmais (barbed).

7. Uh, this is embarrassing, but I've never played a ranger past Sardelac -- which of the five bow types are good ones to use in this build?

8. If Heal Party is so popular in the standard build, does that mean there should be a Light of Deliverance monk? My first reflex for a hero is Word of Deliverance. Second choice is Zealous Benediction and gnashing my teeth as Tahlkora casts it on allies with >50% health.

9. Jagged Bones isn't an option. Given that, what's the best choice for MM elite? Wiki just says Fleshy. My necro hasn't capped Reapers Mark either, but that one is more within reach. Tainted Flesh would be a very easy cap.

Horible · Dec 31, 2006, 10:10 PM // 22:10

i think that 4 rangers (longbow + vamp)
1 necro (you)((orders))
1 necro (hero)((fleshy MM))
1 monk (hero)((ZB))
1 monk (hero)((LoD))

just my .02 cents

Horible

arcmaster23 · Dec 31, 2006, 10:45 PM // 22:45

You do know you can hold down shift and click on the heroes skills to disable them from casting/using them, then simply click on them when you want them to cast/use them. You just target a party member then click the disabled skill...the hero will us it only when you click it.

This method can also be used for bonding to keep the heroes from canceling enchantments.

Marverick · Dec 31, 2006, 11:05 PM // 23:05

WoH > ZB for heroes, since ZB just makes them bleed energy so fast. Also fleshies suck.. use AotL and Mystic Regeneration for your MM. He will never sac himself dead even if he wanted to.

I'm not sure if the AI spams barrage properly. Was doing Abaddon's Gate bonus this morning, and the Crag Behemoths seem to use Barrage once, then wait 5 seconds and use it again.

Flatbow > Longbow for Barrage if FW is active. Although disable the spirit since heroes will randomnly spam it. Use vamp if your hero has 13 or more in expertise, otherwise use zealous.

Francis Crawford · Dec 31, 2006, 11:31 PM // 23:31

Thanks, guys.

1. I haven't tested vampiric weapons on heroes personally, but my wife reports it tends to go very badly. The heroes are constantly degenning, of course, and evidently the monks don't do much about it.

Zealous might be less bad, however. The problem there should be limited to the fact that there's a permanent 1 pip energy regen loss because the heroes don't swap weapons. I don't know whether in the natural pacing of Tombs that matters much. (Certainly if one adds time to the needed pause between battles that's not totally great for the minions ...)

2. AotL is not an attractive option if I use my primary necro as the MM. I haven't gotten him past Ember Light Camp. It's an option as a hero skill, of course, if I use my primary character as an Orders necro.

3. I've thought it might be amusing to have an MM bond -- with Dark Bond on himself -- but I've never tested it.

4. I don't want to have to cast too many hero skills, or indeed keep too many hero skillbars open. I'll have enough trouble worrying about my own job, although that's less of an issue if I'm MMing then if I'm playing the unfamiliar-to-be blood line.

Francis Crawford · Dec 31, 2006, 11:32 PM // 23:32

Oh yeah -- I have a couple of actual zealous shortbows, one of them green. How much would I be giving up just using them?

RebelHero · Jan 01, 2007, 02:04 AM // 02:04

Heroes do use Barrage. But when only one enemy is left they dont use it anymore, or when they are only hitting one enemy.

Mesmer in Need · Jan 02, 2007, 09:15 AM // 09:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Horible

just my .02 cents

Horible

your .02 cents?
god you are cheap.

flipfly2004 · Jan 02, 2007, 01:37 PM // 13:37

this is my funbuild:

me r/mo
acolyet jin
margrid the syl
all B/P's

olias: mm with pet or zenmai as crit B/P