Curse

llsektorll · Apr 19, 2008, 12:19 AM // 00:19

Okay so you are interested in HA, but your fame isn't really up there. On top of that you're not sure what you are doing wrong and you don't get far.

Well no problem read on for some strategies for every map. Just a note these strategies vary on the type of build you are running. Don't take it as a definitive instructions but instead as guide to the right direction.

Before we get into the whole strategic part of this guide it might be a good idea to refresh on that vocab. The following terms are ones you should familiarize yourself with.

Key Terms:

Hard Res/Rez - A player with a renewable resurrection skill. Ex: Signet of return, Death Pact Signet, Flesh of my Flesh, etc...
Snare - To slow movement via a hex, condition, or ward. Ex: Freezing Gust, Condition: Cripple, Ward Against Foes, etc...
Spike - When a given members of your party all attack one target at the same time. Usually will be called by the party leader where he may say something like this: "Spike this target in 3...2...1. Most expect the skills to be used on one.
Rainbow Spike - This involves many different professions using a variety of skills to spike one target.
Hero - This refers to the ghostly hero.
Kite - This involves the player moving away from AoE or Melee.
40/40 set - This refers to 20% recharge and casting time reduction mod on both the wand and the offhand. Allowing the player to cast 20%*20% faster on some spells.
HB Infuse (infuser) – Healers Boon infuse monk. This build requires a lot of skill as you will be required to think and click very fast to save your allies in under 1 second.
RC – Restore Condition monk. These are the protection prayer’s monks whose elite skill is restore condition.
PD - Usually a interrupt Mesmer with the skill Psychic Distraction to interrupt the Ghostly Hero.
Time Kill - Usually referred to killing off the ghostly hero seconds after the 2 minute ressurection. This will prevent the opposing team's ghostly hero from being resurrected for another 2 minutes and can turn the tides of the match. This term can also be used on oppose team members.
Frontline - Frontline is usually the melee profession. Although some frontlines are relatively weak they are the ones that will push into opposing team to attack them. (Dervishes, Warriors, Assassins, Rangers, any Melee)
Midline - Offensive and defensive team members. These are the team mates that will be another source of damage output or assist on spikes. These could also be the team members that buff the party and provide any form of support to assist the backline in healing. (eles, paragons, rits, necros, mesmers, rangers, any ranged damage dealers)
Backline - These are the healers in the party. Their job is to completely focus in keeping up the team members. (monks)
Gank - To have the intent on attacking one particular team with or without reason.

As of April 09, 2008 the maps for HA are:

Heroes' Ascent (PvP - 1 team)
The Underworld (annihilation - 2 teams)
Fetid River (priest annihilation - 2 teams)
Burial Mounds (priest annihilation - 2 teams)
Unholy Temples (capture the relic - 2 teams)
Forgotten Shrines (control point - 2 teams)
Golden Gates (priest annihilation - 2 teams)
Courtyard (king of the hill - 2-3 teams)
Antechamber (control point - 2 teams)
The Vault (waiting area for the Hall of Heroes - 1 team)
The Hall of Heroes (king of the hill, capture points, or relic run - 2-3 teams)

Strategies for Each Map

The Underworld:

So this map is fairly simple as far as strategy goes. No matter which side you're on you have 3 choices.
Rush other team from the left

Rush other team from the right

Turtle till they come to you

note: Spike teams that do not require line of sight may go up top but this will make you balled up (an easy target for AoE). This might not be a good idea if there are many elementalists on the other team.

What to do if you face the following:
SWAY (spiritway): Rush them before they can set up spirits or traps. Make it a priority to take out Natures Renewal or Tranquility if you are planning on rushing.The map is fairly open so take advantage of this and spread out of AoE (if any) and other than that it is the best team that wins. Note that trapper's and wards are not dependent on the Z-Axis of the game. This means trapping/warding on top of the bridge will affect foes/allies located underneath the bridge.

Ranger Spike: Againts ranger spike it is a better idea to go up top and use the corners of the Tripod shaped bridges in the center to defend yourself from incoming arrows. Remember to move on if ranger spike pushes up to you and your team is in the open. Monks might find it favorable to underneath. Remember many teams will not notice you if you are underneath as they may use the compass map to find closest target.

risky: some casters may like to go up top to prevent AoE or melee training. This is made more risky if you are a monk that cannot reach your team because you are out of your casting range.

history: This is one of the few maps that have never been altered or changed since the release of Guild Wars.

Fetid River:

Another map similar to underworld where it is 1v1 but this time with a priest. The priest (as long as it is alive) will resurrect all your allies and the Ghostly Hero every 2 minute.

This map is very open giving you plenty of wide space (given you are not on the bridge) to kite away from AoE.

history: First added on August 2, 2007 and slightly modified on August 16, 2007.

note: Due to the ghostly hero resurrecting every 2 minutes as long as the priest is alive, the spike/tactics caller may find it advantageous to remove some DP (if any) and refreshing resurrection signets by killing the ghostly hero.

Vs Ranger Spike: It is a bad idea to rush into Ranger Spike as you will be very easy targets to pick off. The decreased elevation in the water means rangers will do more damage from above the hill.

Spike teams that do not require line of sight may find it advantageous to go to bridge to the left and spike down opposing team. Remember this is a very tight choke point so it is definitely not a good idea against AoE (area of effect) teams.

Do not go for priest during the start of the match unless you have a very clean uninfusible spike. It is a better idea to DP your opponents and have the healers/prot monks dead before attempting to kill the Priest.

Though a more advanced strategy, it can be noted that many teams use the priests to their advantage. As you will resurrect every 2 minutes. The term "time killing" comes into play. Time killing is when the opposing team will wait on the 2:00 minute resurrection interval mark to kill off someone. This strategy mainly works if you know the "hard res" is dead/disabled.

Other than strategies mentioned this map is similar to what you would do in underworld. Finally, to win you must eliminate the opposing team's players and priest.

Burial Mounds:

history: This map originally was 2 vs 2 vs 2 map, where at any time one team can go to anytime to any of the opposing teams. This map was soon changed to 1v1. Then soon after the map was changed so the other areas are blocked off. This was done to prevent the losing team would run around the huge map and waste time.

This map is very similar to Fetid River. Burial Mounds also has a priest that will resurrect you every two minutes. You may notice a flag and a obelisk. This serves little purpose in this map. The obelisk will do damage the opposing party if you have captured it with your flag.

For this map it is a very good idea to rush the opposing team. This will give plenty of space between your opposing team and your priest. It will make going back and saving the priest easier to notice for your monks.

note: Between the two team lies a bad choke point. Tread cautiously as you will be very easy targets for AoE or even Shockwave spike.

There are many walls to hide behind when facing ranger spike. It will be very advantangous to fight them in the middle, as they will not always have a clear line of sight.

risky: If you are a heavy defensive build you can let other team have your priest and ghostly hero and then start killing them off one by one without them having any chance of getting morale or getting back their resurrection signets.

The strategy to win is to out DP the other team. Once heavily DPed land the final blow by killing the opposing team's priest.

Unholy Temples:

This map is the first relic run map in Hero's Ascent map rotation. To you win your team has to have more relics captured than your opposing team or be the team to capture the relic last.

For pressure teams it may be a good idea to push up pressure them out then run one. The same goes for spike teams.

For teams with strong running capabilities (like runners with hexbreaker) it is a good idea to start running straight off to get the edge.

Remember the ghostly hero and the team will resurrect every 2 minutes at the resurrection shrine. Sway team might find it to their advantage to set up multiple traps on alter and effectively trap bomb the opposing team. But note there is approximately 5 seconds of invincibility when you are first resurrected.

For balance teams this should be the strategy. The two runners should chain run. The RC and any support healer (ex: rit) should be with the runner. The snare (rit/e or e/...etc) should be continuously snaring the opposing teams runner. The HB infuse should be in the middle and be prepared to go back to save the ghostly hero in case he is attacked. The PD or interrupter should be on the opposing team's snarer to ensure your team is effective in running.

Have the most relics captured at the end of 10 minutes to ensure victory. In the case of a tie, as mentioned before, the last team to capture a relic is the winner. In the event no team captures a relic then the match ends in draw and both team loses.

history: This is another map that has stayed the same.

Forgotten Shrines:

This is a map that is very similar to Allliance Battles. The object is the score as many points as possible before the timer runs out. Each shrine you have captured gives you one point. Unlike Alliance Battles a kill does not give you a point.

I will quote wiki because my strategy for this is identical to the one already mentioned.

Quote:

Originally Posted by http://guildwars.wikia.com/wiki/Forgotten_Shrines

The most common strategy on this map is for one player (usually the Protection Monk) to take the Ghostly Hero and capture the bottom most shrine on your team's side. Because the Ghost counts as four players, he is very valuable.

The caller takes some of the damage dealers with him up to the top shrine to battle the enemy team. Because of the layout of the map, at the opening of a match, this is the first point of contention (each teams usually begins by capping their own side). Usually, another monk (the Infuser) will join them.

The rest of the team captures the middle shrine. Occasionally, if your team has a snare, that person will be sent instead to harass the enemy team's Ghost. Preventing their Ghost from getting to new capture points can slow them down considerably.

At the beginning of the match, the caller will usually tell the team (usually by number) which shrines they are going to. This splitting of the team tends to last the whole match. When each teammate sticks to their original split group, the entire team moves efficiently.

This is one of the most common splits used on this map. However, changing your strategy can frequently surprise the enemy team.

Golden Gates:

This is the first map of the out of the underworld-esque region and start looking golden.

history: This map was previously known as Dark Chambers.

This map is another 1 vs 1 map with priests. Most teams at the start of this map will take the route to the right by opening the gate, ignoring each other and going straight for opposing team's priest. This is known as Priest Swapping. It is commonly understood and accepted that everyone will do this at the start of the match. This significantly shortens he match length by denying the opposing team auto resurrection every 2 minutes.

note: It is very important you take the ghostly hero with you. When you priest swap the opposing team will leave your ghostly hero alive and kill him when needed. Since you swapped priests the positioning will have switched to where you cannot reach your ghostly hero to save him.

After the priest swap there is usually some downtime where both teams are on opposite ends of the map separated by the bridge. If you fall into this situation it may be favorable to lure the opposing team out and use your AoE to your advantage. If they have many elementalists it will be favorable to go around the map to face them head on instead of going through the choke point on the bridge.

There are a few places to hide behind in this open map if you are facing ranger spike. Use it to your advantage.

Asides from those notes this is a fairly simple map. The best team will come out the winner. It is a great map for ranger spike as it is very open and it is a great map for hex pressure as there is a lot of room to kite.

The Courtyard

The courtyard will be your first 1v1v1 match (some cases it is a 1v1). The Red, Blue and Yellow teams start from opposite ends of the map. Every 30 somewhat seconds your ghostly hero holds the center alter after capping it nets your team 1 point. The team with the most points (or the most recent team to get a point in the event of the tie wins).

This map has a priest that will resurrect your ghostly hero and your team mates in the event of a death. Because the priest being far away and the time constraint, it highly unlikely that any opposing team will kill your priest.

When you start you should try to be the first one to reach the center alter to cap it. It's not a problem if you are not the first team to reach there but it will significantly help your team if you cap the alter first.

Your team will be given three choices when you start. Either go left, right, or through the center. Although not the case before, going through the center seems the least favorable as it takes more time.

Depending on your team's color one side either the left or the right side is shorter distance. Here is the break down of which way to go depend on your color:
Red Team should go right at start

Blue Team should go left at start

Yellow Team can pick either side. It is the same distance.

note: A more advanced tactic if you are the red or blue team is make the snarer in your team go up and slow down opposing team's ghostly hero. This does not work if you are on the yellow team because you will not go down the stairs on the northern part of the map.

note: In the event of a 1v1 match it is VERY important to capture the alter first. Get your Ghostly Hero up there as soon as possible. During this time your interupter to watch the opposing team's snarer. Your Song of Concentration needs to be built quickly. The remainder of your team including your snare can go body-block the opposing team's ghostly hero. Preferably on the stairs.

Once you are down near the alter please refer to the Strategies for Holding Alters written further down in the post.

Antechamber

This is map similar to Forgotten Shrines because it also has 5 shrines. Each shrine gives 1 point every 30 seconds. The team with the most points at the end of the match wins. The major difference in this map is instead of the cap points being a triangle this map has arranged them in a straight line.

The strategy for this one is a bit complicated and can vary significantly from build to build. So at the start of the match do the following.
person with AoE speed-buff like "Fall Back!" takes the Ghostly Hero.

One person with a Speed-buff either self-induced or applied must run straight up the staircase on the opposite side from where you start and press the gate switch to the right. (this cannot be targeted you must run up to it)

The rest of the team (4players +2monks) cap the shrine straight in front and once the get is open the go through and cap the center shrine.

Beyond this point the team leader must cap skill fully as the opposing team might snare the ghostly hero or kill him off.

note: Do not focus to much on one shrine as that will allow opposing team to capture other shrines.

The Vault

The vault is the waiting room before Hall of Heroes. It served a greater purpose when hall of heroes were 1v1 match followed by a 1v1v1 match. Now hall of Heroes is only a 1v1v1.

note: You can tell your noob friends there is a glitch on the side of the incline bridge where you can glitch underneath it (a total lie).... then follow him and one man body block him. A cruel joke only good for laughs .

llsektorll · Apr 19, 2008, 12:40 AM // 00:40

The Hall of Heroes

This is the final battle to get the coveted Hall of Heroes chest (maybe a mini ghostly is waiting in there!)

There is a Red, Blue, and Yellow team. The Blue Team is always the holding team and the red and yellow team are the challengers. It is also important to note no one will gain a death penalty from dieing in the Hall of Heroes.

note: guildwars.wikia.org (formerly guildwiki) has the wrong information about the spoils of winning hall of heroes. (maybe because it is maintained by PvEers ). This is what you really get for winning Hall of Heroes:
1 - Very High End Weapon or Flame of Balthazar or a Celestial Sigil

1 - Zaishen Key

The chest drops 2 items for each person upon the person opening the chest. Similar to beating a Hard Mode dungeon and getting two drops.

history: Previously the Hall of Heroes would drop only 2 sigils and random items for only a few members of the team.

There are 3 game types in the Hall of Heroes and I'll give strategies to all of them.
King of the Hill

This is a alter holding map similar to Courtyard. The Blue team will automatically capture the alter first as they are the winning team from the previous round. On tips of how to capture the alter please refer to the "Strategies for Holding Alters" guide below.

Capture Points

This is type of gameplay is similar to Forgotten Shrines. I've seen tons of strategies for this but the most effective is the defensive strategy.

Defensive strategy entails your team keeping your home alter at all times and taking the center alter. It does not matter if you don't take the center alter at first priority should be in keeping your home alter then capping the center alter. If done properly you will take the lead near the end.

Sometimes your team is forced to split as opposing team will try to gank your home alter. To counter this send as many players plus one more to how many they send to your base. So if the blue team sends 2 players to your base you send 3 players back. At all times you have to ensure your ghostly hero is in the center alter with at least one monk. As the ghostly hero counts as 4 people and can easily take the alter by himself.

The alter holding strategies vary from build to build as some builds are more splittable than others, but the defensive strategy should work on all builds.

Murder ball

This is a relic running map and probably requires quite a bit of teamwork to be done right. I will list off what you should do at the start of the match.
one of the players needs to take the ghostly hero and set him up in between your stairs and the later so the Ghostly hero can Distracting-Shot the opposing team's snarer if he attempts to cast snares.

before the bridge opens and the timer starts one person can go down the stairs to the left into the ground below and up the relic from underneath the bridge and bring it back up before the timer starts. This helps speed up the delay of stopping to pick the relic (and the lag-back sometimes caused by it).

The two runners needs to be declared before the match starts. The two runners can either be buffed by another player or have their own run skill.

The Infuse monk should stay near the bottom base of the stairs. The RC should maintain aura of stability on the runner that currently has the relic.

The relic should be cycled by two runners. This means as one is capping the other runner should already be back waiting to pick up and run the next relic.

Each time the 2nd or 1st runner picks up the relic he should declare it over ventrilo so the RC and the Healer's boon will know who to prioritize their hex removal and condition removal on.

Korean Tactics: No really I played with Koreans that actually do this. This is how it works:
You purposefully cap behind the leading team by usually waiting on the alter till the leading team caps one. This way you won't be on the eyes of both other teams as a potential target to snare because they are leading near the end of the match.

After winning the Party leader's name appears in green text for every player to see all over the world. In the event of majority of the team is made up of players in the same guild then the guild name will be displayed.

Strategies for Holding Alters

Ok so you are either on Courtyard or the Hall of Heroes and you want to secure that victory for your team. Well it doesn't happen by accident work for it and with a little bit of luck you can secure your win against two other teams.

Alter holding purely a timing game. You as the team leader or player should know the following.
Where All 3 team's Ghostly Heroes are

How long till opposing team that is holding the alter gets a point

Is it possible to beat the winning team based on the time remaining.

note: Although rare in 1v1v1 match. If the holding team accumulates 7 points, then the match is considered to be over because given the time remaining no one team can catch up to 7 points.

When you are up there your team should be in one of two "modes." One is Holding Mode and the other is Cap Mode.
Cap mode: Depending on the build most team's try to nuke the alter to spread AoE damage to opposing teams ghostly hero and members forcing the monks to waste their energy then proceeding to spike out the backline. Once the backline is down it is usually safe to get a quick spike on the ghostly hero. So your ghostly hero is up on the alter and you killed the holding team's ghostly hero. This is the time when you would us the skill Song of Concentration (this is to prevent any kind of interrupt skill from affecting the ghostly hero, remember song of concentration will stop any and all interrupts on only one skill). Don't just sit there and let the 3rd team cap before you. Make sure your team is interrupting the other team's ghostly hero to ensure your capture.

risky: More advanced players will use Song of Concentration before the holding team's ghostly hero is down. This works to your advantage as it your song of concentration will have a low chance of being interrupted, but is a double edged sword if you are too early.

note: As a interrupter it is a very good idea to find the opposing team's paragon primary or secondary player to interrupt the opposing team's song of concentration. Although rare some team's take two song of concentrations so it has a much lower chance of being interrupted.

Hold Mode: This is usually something declared over ventrilo as you capture the alter. In hold mode you do the following.
Monks switch their healing style to focus on healing the Ghostly Hero over everyone else.

Ensure defensive support and monks are kept alive.

Ensure defensive support and monks are resurrected ASAP and watch for the 2 minute interval mark as everyone will resurrect on the alter with maximum energy and health.

Melee/damage dealers should spike and kill opposing teams frontline as they will interfere and pressure your team's monks. Midline to should not engage if not needed and take the least amount of damage by kiteing AoE.

If done correctly you should ensure your victory.

warning: The term gank has come out of holding. Sometimes your opposing teams may know each other and help each other to bring an end to your holding. This tactic, though a legitamate strategy, can annoy people as in this case the best team does not win.

Strategies for being a Pro Monk

Okay so you monked in pve and in RA and even in TA, but you have no idea what the HA monks builds are? Not to worry no matter which group you are in the meta monk build is identical no matter which group you are in. There are only rare exceptions that you have to change.

RC Prot
[build prof=Mo/Me ins=6 pro=12 div=11][Reversal of Fortune][Spirit Bond][Restore Condition][Guardian][Shield of Absorption][Holy Veil][Aura of Stability][Channeling][/build]

Spirit bond any player getting spiked
Use restore condition on the HB infuse when he/she draws the conditions off of you, such as dazed
Aura of Stability the runners during running maps
Use shield of absorption/guardian when someone is getting trained
When low on energy channel tank opposing team

HB Infuse
[build prof=Mo/Me ins=6 hea=12 div=11][Infuse Health][Patient Spirit][Dwayna's Kiss][Heal Party][Draw Conditions][Spotless Mind][Healer's Boon][Channeling][/build]

Infuse health allies that are getting spiked
When low on energy channel tank opposing team
Maintain healers boon on yourself use it to cover channeling
Use patient spirit in conjunction with Dwaynas kiss for a large heal if needed

The Art of Channel Tanking:
Channel tanking is very important and asides from reflexes this is what sets a good monk from a great one. So lets answer this simple question: When should I channel tank?
Alter maps. Don't stand on the alter but around it to mitigate damage from AoE

When opposing team is a condi/hex pressure and they are balled up

When you are a infuse monk and the opposing team is a spike team. (remember this only works if Prot is quick with the SB to save you.

When the opposing team balls up use defensive wards.

BlueNovember · Apr 19, 2008, 01:33 AM // 01:33

o0 Good overall guide.
Typos:
Your section under "Rainbow Spike" seems to be an amalgamation of many abbreviations.
Plus you imply that anet wiki > guildwiki, which is just lies.

I'd add;
Underworld

Note that you can Rspike (and be Rspiked) through the many of the crenelations in the central mound. Only the buttresses provided a sure block.

Burial Mounds

You didn't mention the flags.
...Good! Seriously. The number of times people run out to cap the flag and make themselves easy spike targets... Yes, it's nice to have, but don't screw up positioning for it.

Unholy

You mentioned time killing of priest in other places, yet did not mention it here. Ghost control can make or break a match. If you lose your ghost after 2 mins you have no further way to score.
If match gets this far, endeavor to kill enemy ghost when there's less than 2 mins to go
If your ghostly has been killed, wait at the res shrine and not his corpse to give him the relic.
Runners should have /stuck in clipboard ready to paste if they become body-blocked. The monk following the runner should try to watch for signs of this.
When running a relic to your ghost, avoid running between the gate-post and the fence enclosing the your team's relic; it's very easily 1 man blody-blocked and a prime cause for rb.
When crossing the bridge remember you can be bodyblocked from above and below, and will trigger traps in a similar fashion.
Monk with the runner should have him pre-veiled. Drop veil and re-apply instantly to remove a hex. Do not drop if veil not recharged.

Courtyard

Red/Blue can sacrifice a player early to almost certainly prevent Blue/Red capping first. When running down your stairs have one person continue straight to the other stairs and body block the ghost there. It's a corner, so very easy to do.
Even if you chose not to do the sacrificial version, you should certainly have 2 people on the other 2 ghostlies, body-blocking at the alter. There's inevitably a foes up, and even without it you can comfortably body block for well over the time it takes your own ghost to cap. Watch for the person controlling hte ghost you are blocking. When he pulls him back strafe round the alter and wait for him to approach again, repeating the block.
The party should be notified as soon as someone sees the holding ghost go down. Ideally some advanced notice so your SoC can charge adrenaline. Caster SoC (E/P) should have a Furious spear for this purpose.

Cap points / HoH Relic

I'd take what you refer to as "Korean tactics" as read. You're not aiming to cap fastest; if you get more than 1 points ahead of the person behind you either the other two teams both fail or you're about to be ganked. Make sure the runners know where the relic will trigger. As a backliner I can't say I know off-hand but I believe it's the 2nd or 3rd step of the alter. If you're 23 23 23 all with relics you want to be ready to cap at the very last second. (Plus your snare needs a slapping )
Personally, I disagree with your Defensive method. I would say to sacrifice your home base if blue is ganking it. The distance to centre->blue is shorter than blue->home (providing you are not blue...) so taking _their_ base instead means you have time to get your full force back to the centre whilst they're still returning. I'd actually do this even when counter-ganking red or yellow. Assuming your team has greater co-ordination, it will likely work in your favour.

Forgotten Shrines and Antechamber deserve their own threads :\
Possibly the most tactical maps to play now that Sacred Temples is removed from rotation.
Snare vs Snare on Forgotten Shrines is complex enough.

Good guide =)
Disclaimer: Anything I say is more than likely to be inaccurate.

llsektorll · Apr 19, 2008, 01:48 AM // 01:48

i tried to keep it simple as to not overwhelm the noobs..... as for typos i wrote most of it in notepad (there are some copy paste errors that are fixed). I wasn't planning on releasing till more editing but too many people are requesting it.

tw1tchdp · Apr 19, 2008, 07:42 AM // 07:42

dude maybe i will get my rank 1 now, thanks sektor!!!!

evil joo · Apr 19, 2008, 08:56 AM // 08:56

Very nice work bro.

sir hepe · Apr 19, 2008, 10:06 AM // 10:06

Thx alot for this guide. Hope this will help my nub alliance to the art of Heroes Ascent. Good job.

~Sir Hepe

Killed u man · Apr 19, 2008, 10:14 AM // 10:14

VERY nice guide, wish I had such one when I started HA'ing, DAMN YOU, couldn't you make this 2.5 years ago?

Euhm, just one small thing I notice:

Gank Description: You're more often than not attacking a team, for no reason in HoH. E.G. on Cap Points, if 3 teams are fighting, it doesn't matter who you attack, it' s ALL about nuking them off, and if one team just happens to take more AoE damage, well it's not a gank. (Even tough U targetted them more)

Better strategy for "ganking" -purely from a HoH vision-:
Giving up your own win, to make sure another team doesn't win aswell
aka
Giving the win away to the 3th team, and preventing the 2nd team from doing anything

I once got called "ganker" for engaging at a teams base in Cap Points. (It was 9-7-6, we had 6 and we engaged for the team with 9 poins) We capped their base, but they didn't try to retrieve it, because we stayed there. (Like, it's free points, what do they expect us to just "give" away free points? They called us gankers, and went for our base, typed this in all chat: "Blue, we're ganking them back for you, take our base, free win for you"
Sadly enough, the guild was rank 80-ish on ladder (Bspike guild tough) AND running rspike. I'll redirect them to this guide, so they know HOW to react on Cap Points next time

Peace, nice guide...

Horace The Great · Apr 19, 2008, 12:49 PM // 12:49

Didn't read it all yet but looks nice.

Though you might say something about "Korean Tactics." Most good teams know this and so they will pay attention for it.

Also on Hbinfuse bar, it does not have Holy Veil, I don't like

boohoo

Maybe you can write something about Holy Veil vs Spotless. Since being able to preveil is nice for both monks + for runners. And maybe something about cover enchatments as well.

llsektorll · Apr 19, 2008, 01:49 PM // 13:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by Horace The Great

Didn't read it all yet but looks nice.

Though you might say something about "Korean Tactics." Most good teams know this and so they will pay attention for it.

Also on Hbinfuse bar, it does not have Holy Veil, I don't like

boohoo

Maybe you can write something about Holy Veil vs Spotless. Since being able to preveil is nice for both monks + for runners. And maybe something about cover enchatments as well.

in the duration of 12 seconds spotless will take off 3 hexes versus 1 holy veil. Putting this on a runner is a must. Snare hexes are all too common with skills like freezing gust recharging faster than holy veil.

Thanks for the topic ideas.

Horace The Great · Apr 19, 2008, 02:45 PM // 14:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by llsektorll

in the duration of 12 seconds spotless will take off 3 hexes versus 1 holy veil. Putting this on a runner is a must. Snare hexes are all too common with skills like freezing gust recharging faster than holy veil.

Thanks for the topic ideas.

Ye, but still you should have something to controls the snares. So then 2 Holy Veils should be enough. And preveils are always nice vs diversions or shame, espicially on an infuser.

llsektorll · Apr 19, 2008, 04:56 PM // 16:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by Horace The Great

Ye, but still you should have something to controls the snares. So then 2 Holy Veils should be enough. And preveils are always nice vs diversions or shame, espicially on an infuser.

holy viel's uses are limited.... to "pre-veiling" .... with its recharge being similar to other non elite hex removals it stood out because it was a maintainable enchantment. With it still being a 1s cast compared to the 1/4 + 50% boost from HB it becomes evident which is the preferable hex removal when facing migraine hexway.

Diversity is key. The RC has holy veil so it is logical to have the healer monk take spotless mind to gain that extra edge against hexway (although only one spotless mind will only mitigate the pressure a little)

Horace The Great · Apr 19, 2008, 05:45 PM // 17:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by llsektorll

holy viel's uses are limited.... to "pre-veiling" .... with its recharge being similar to other non elite hex removals it stood out because it was a maintainable enchantment. With it still being a 1s cast compared to the 1/4 + 50% boost from HB it becomes evident which is the preferable hex removal when facing migraine hexway.

Diversity is key. The RC has holy veil so it is logical to have the healer monk take spotless mind to gain that extra edge against hexway (although only one spotless mind will only mitigate the pressure a little)

Oke, my last reply to this, otherwise it gets more of a Holy Veil vs spotless thread.

Vs migraine (what I do), I can see when spotless is cast, so I remove it, because of the image it shows. For some hexes you need instant remove because there is no time to wait 5s max. (ex: shame, diversion, snares really important on last relic to have instant remove). So then you can say let the RC preveil the infuser, but most spike (I think) are better to catch with SB then infuse, so then the RC should preveil himself.

Anyway, my point is both skills are oke in different ways. I would like you to write something about that in your guide. About the instant remove, how important that can be and that spotless is fc + more hexes but not instant, and that is can be removed before removing a hex. Also holy veils helps for interupters.

Good guide though, hope I will be able to discuss more things for the guide.

Lorekeeper · Apr 19, 2008, 06:40 PM // 18:40

Nice guide!

Just to add some comments on Veil. I think in light of the rend enchant meta in HA, veil has lost its status as the most useful hex removal. In the past veils were extremely good because they ate up valuable enchant removals like inspired or shatters which could only remove 1 layer of enchants at a time. Preveiling has thus lost its effectiveness against the new Mes/Necs in HA (assuming youre facing ones who know how annoying rend is for monks who try to defend themselves vs mesmers).

Depending on team build, channeling as energy management for monks is far less attractive today vs R/D escapeways than before. If your build can sustain it, gole can sometimes be a far better choice. I dont think many teams in HA are currently running builds that can sustain gole backlines but i think the builds with multiple healers are examples of builds that can.

I think the basic message of my post is that sometimes its fun to analyse what meta is and ask questions about it that might help you to deal with potentially troublesome situations. Alot of HA teams approach the game from inside the box and some fun can be had approaching it from outside from time to time.

yakuza · Apr 19, 2008, 08:07 PM // 20:07

hehe nice guide, i'll have to redirect lots of peeps just to this thread instead of shouting on vent

Ben-A-BoO · Apr 21, 2008, 01:08 AM // 01:08

Isn't this worth a sticky?

Dallcingi · Apr 21, 2008, 02:28 AM // 02:28

Ah this one is useful great work!

Horace The Great · Apr 21, 2008, 12:55 PM // 12:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by timebandit

Isn't this worth a sticky?

Nah, just get it into the arcitles & guides database. I don't get why the other threads are sticky. Except for the HA PuG Organisation Thread.

supa tim · Apr 21, 2008, 10:18 PM // 22:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lorekeeper

Nice guide!

Just to add some comments on Veil. I think in light of the rend enchant meta in HA, veil has lost its status as the most useful hex removal. In the past veils were extremely good because they ate up valuable enchant removals like inspired or shatters which could only remove 1 layer of enchants at a time. Preveiling has thus lost its effectiveness against the new Mes/Necs in HA (assuming youre facing ones who know how annoying rend is for monks who try to defend themselves vs mesmers).

That's why its less attractive to take spottless. Since its short cast the enemy had not enough time to time the enchant removal for channeling/HB

But with the Rend meta like u said (which i agree with), 1 of the advantages of taking spottles over veil is gone.

And besides, spotless vs SS? most hexes last 12 seconds, so after 5 seconds cover hex gets removed, and after reckless (which lasts 12) and after 15 (if enough in healing/+20 enchant set) SS gets removed. so i rly dont think its thats usefull

ontopic: good guide, like it. 2 bad not many people come on the HA forum of GW guru any more

Ben-A-BoO · Apr 21, 2008, 10:49 PM // 22:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by Horace The Great

Nah, just get it into the arcitles & guides database. I don't get why the other threads are sticky. Except for the HA PuG Organisation Thread.

Thanks, that answers my question

To the OP: A nice read, I really enjoyed it.