Originally Posted by br0thergr1m

I like underdog professions, and I feel that the Rt is the king of being overlooked. Ive been playing it for a few days now, and i can see all of the possiblilites that can come out of this profession. What is a good build for starting out in Factions? What attributes are junk? Is there a build that can be used both stationary and on the move? These guys without a doubt have the coolest looking armor.

Originally Posted by Biostem

I like offense. As such, I went channeling and spawning power. If you want a bit more versatility, go w/ communing. If you want to be a healer/buffer, go w/ restoration.

As far as I'm concerned. here's how I look at it:

Channeling - this is where the majority of you direct damage attacks come from. It is a little light on the actual spirit summons, but has some of the best weapon spells (nightmare weapon & splinter weapon).

Communing - this is the majority of your spirit summons and where most of your utility skills come from. You'll find spirit summons to help block attacks, blind enemies, reduce incoming damage, etc. It's a good attribute line in general, but it really doesn't stand out in any one area.

Restoration - this is where you'll find your healing skills, condition removal, and other healing-oriented skills. Not a bad line, but I don't like being the healer; I usually give my heroes restoration skills as support.

Spawning Power - possibly one of the less useful primary-profession-only attributes, this is where I put any points in that I don't need, or if I want a specific effect. For instance, I used to use the agony spirit binding ritual from the channeling line, but it damages itself to cause the effect. Spawning power gives your spirits more HP, so it's worth investing into it to extend that spirit's life.

IMO, the ritualist allows you to play the roll of nuker, healer, or protection monk depending upon how you spec yourself. Given the right criteria, (holding an item, a spirit in earshot, affected by a weapon spell), you can do a better job than an elementalist or monk. Some may argue this, and there may be certain builds that excel in certain instances, but overall the versatility the ritualist offers is unmatched.

Originally Posted by Biostem

Another big thing to look for are staves that have a "halves casting time of _____ skills", as it will really help w/ those long-casting time binding rituals.

Originally Posted by Toutatis

Bear in mind that binding rituals are not classed as spells by the game mechanics, so a HCT mod needs to be specific to skills and not just spells (though personally, I don't think I've come across any of those yet)

Also, if you plan to use spirits as a ritualist be very careful about where you place them. They're powerful, but very fragile even when you take Spawning Power into account. They also have quite long ranges (attack spirits have longbow range and AoE buff spirits have a huge area of effect, although I can't remember the exact range). Make sure you set down your spirits out of harm's way otherwise they'll be gone very quickly and you'll lose whatever benefits those spirits were giving you.

Also, something that hasn't been noted in this thread about Spawning Power yet: it also makes your weapon spells last longer. If you're going to use a build based on weapon spells, make sure to pump a few points into spawning power so you don't have to recast them as often

Originally Posted by Toutatis

They also have quite long ranges (attack spirits have longbow range and AoE buff spirits have a huge area of effect, although I can't remember the exact range). Make sure you set down your spirits out of harm's way otherwise they'll be gone very quickly and you'll lose whatever benefits those spirits were giving you.