Curse

Yunas Ele · Jun 29, 2006, 03:17 AM // 03:17

Okay, so I'm a newb at TA but I have an urge to play some team arenas so I got brainstorming on builds. Here is what I have come up with. I'm sure there are some more than obvious flaws in it since I'm a TA noob, so I'd greatly appreciate any comments and suggestions.

Ranger Spike #1
Ranger/Necromancer

Expertise: 14 (12+2)
Marksmanship: 16 (12+4)
Blood Magic: 3

Dual Shot (Ranger other)
Shoot two arrows simultaneously at target foe. These arrows deal 25% less damage.
Energy:4.4 Cast:0 Recharge:5

Marauder's Shot (Marksmanship)
If Marauder's Shot hits, you strike for 37 damage and all your non-attack skills are disabled for 5 seconds.
Energy:4.4 Cast:0 Recharge:6

Savage Shot (Marksmanship)
If Savage Shot hits, your target's action is interrupted. If that action was a Spell, you strike for 29 damage.
Energy:4.4 Cast:0.5 Recharge:5

Read the Wind (Marksmanship)
For 24 seconds, your arrows move twice as fast and deal 10 extra damage.
Energy:2.2 Cast:2 Recharge:12

Favorable Winds (Marksmanship)
Create a level 11 Spirit. For creatures within its range, arrows move twice as fast as normal and strike for +6 damage. This Spirit dies after 158 seconds.
Energy:2.2 Cast:5 Recharge:60

Blood is Power [Elite] (Blood Magic)
Sacrifice 33% max Health. For 10 seconds, target other ally gains +4 Energy regeneration.
Energy:5 Cast:0.25 Recharge:0

Strip Enchantment (Blood Magic)
Remove one Enchantment from target foe. If an Enchantment is removed, you gain 48 Health.
Energy:10 Cast:1 Recharge:20

Resurrection Signet ()
Resurrect target party member. That party member is returned to life with 100% Health and 25% Energy. You may use this Signet only once per mission.
Energy:0 Cast:3 Recharge:0

Ranger Spike #2
Ranger/Mesmer

Expertise: 14 (12+2)
Wilderness Survival: 3 (2+1)
Marksmanship: 16 (12+4)
Inspiration Magic: 2

Dual Shot (Ranger other)
Shoot two arrows simultaneously at target foe. These arrows deal 25% less damage.
Energy:4.4 Cast:0 Recharge:5

Marauder's Shot (Marksmanship)
If Marauder's Shot hits, you strike for 30 damage and all your non-attack skills are disabled for 5 seconds.
Energy:4.4 Cast:0 Recharge:6

Savage Shot (Marksmanship)
If Savage Shot hits, your target's action is interrupted. If that action was a Spell, you strike for 25 damage.
Energy:4.4 Cast:0.5 Recharge:5

Read the Wind (Marksmanship)
For 24 seconds, your arrows move twice as fast and deal 9 extra damage.
Energy:2.2 Cast:2 Recharge:12

Drain Enchantment (Inspiration Magic)
Remove an Enchantment from target foe. If an Enchantment is removed, you gain 12 Energy.
Energy:10 Cast:1 Recharge:25

Expel Hexes [Elite] (Mesmer other)
Remove up to 2 Hexes from target ally.
Energy:5 Cast:1 Recharge:8

Winnowing (Wilderness Survival)
Create a level 3 Spirit. For creatures within its range, creatures take 4 additional damage whenever they take physical damage. This Spirit dies after 54 seconds.
Energy:2.2 Cast:5 Recharge:60

Resurrection Signet ()
Resurrect target party member. That party member is returned to life with 100% Health and 25% Energy. You may use this Signet only once per mission.
Energy:0 Cast:3 Recharge:0

Ranger Spiker #3
Ranger/Monk

Expertise: 14 (12+2)
Wilderness Survival: 3 (2+1)
Marksmanship: 16 (12+4)
Protection Prayers: 2

Dual Shot (Ranger other)
Shoot two arrows simultaneously at target foe. These arrows deal 25% less damage.
Energy:4.4 Cast:0 Recharge:5

Marauder's Shot (Marksmanship)
If Marauder's Shot hits, you strike for 30 damage and all your non-attack skills are disabled for 5 seconds.
Energy:4.4 Cast:0 Recharge:6

Savage Shot (Marksmanship)
If Savage Shot hits, your target's action is interrupted. If that action was a Spell, you strike for 25 damage.
Energy:4.4 Cast:0.5 Recharge:5

Read the Wind (Marksmanship)
For 24 seconds, your arrows move twice as fast and deal 9 extra damage.
Energy:4.4 Cast:2 Recharge:12

Frozen Soil (Wilderness Survival)
Create a level 3 Spirit. For creatures within its range, dead creatures cannot be resurrected. This Spirit dies after 42 seconds.
Energy:4.4 Cast:5 Recharge:30

Empathic Removal [Elite] (Monk other)
Elite Spell. You and target other ally lose 1 Condition and 1 Hex.
Energy:5 Cast:1 Recharge:10

Mend Condition (Protection Prayers)
Remove one Condition (Poison, Disease, Blindness, Dazed, Bleeding, Crippled, or Deep Wound) from target other ally. If a Condition is removed, that ally is healed for 14 points.
Energy:5 Cast:0.75 Recharge:2

Resurrection Signet ()
Resurrect target party member. That party member is returned to life with 100% Health and 25% Energy. You may use this Signet only once per mission.
Energy:0 Cast:3 Recharge:0

Boon Prot / Orders
Monk/Necromancer

Divine Favor: 15 (11+4)
Protection Prayers: 11 (10+1)
Blood Magic: 10

Divine Boon (Divine Favor)
While you maintain this Enchantment, whenever you cast a Monk Spell that targets an ally, that ally is healed for 70 points, and you lose 2 Energy.
Energy:5 Cast:0.25 Recharge:1

Offering of Blood [Elite] (Blood Magic)
Sacrifice 20% maximum Health. You gain 16 Energy.
Energy:5 Cast:0.25 Recharge:15

Order of Pain (Blood Magic)
Sacrifice 17% Health. For 5 seconds, whenever a party member hits a foe with physical damage, that party member does an additional 11 damage.
Energy:10 Cast:2 Recharge:0

Reversal of Fortune (Protection Prayers)
For 8 seconds, the next time target ally would take damage, that ally gains that amount of Health instead, maximum 63.
Energy:5 Cast:0.25 Recharge:2

Guardian (Protection Prayers)
For 5 seconds, target ally has a 42% chance to "block" attacks.
Energy:5 Cast:1 Recharge:2

Protective Spirit (Protection Prayers)
For 18 seconds, target ally cannot lose more than 10% max Health due to damage from a single attack or Spell.
Energy:10 Cast:0.25 Recharge:5

Mend Condition (Protection Prayers)
Remove one Condition (Poison, Disease, Blindness, Dazed, Bleeding, Crippled, or Deep Wound) from target other ally. If a Condition is removed, that ally is healed for 53 points.
Energy:5 Cast:0.75 Recharge:2

Contemplation of Purity (Divine Favor)
Lose all Enchantments. For each one lost, you gain 80 Health, lose one Hex, and lose one Condition.
Energy:5 Cast:0.25 Recharge:5

Okay, so heres how I see this going. First, the rangers put up their spirits (Favorable, Winnowing, Frozen) and then read the winds. First they will spike with dual shot and follow up with savage if needed, and then quickly after spike the next target with marauder's and follow up with savage if needed. But due to savage's 5 second recharge, I doubt you will be able to follow up both times. I realize the calling for this will have to be VERY fast. I hope to be able to get 2 spikes off with 1 Order of Pain (lasts 6 seconds with a 20% enchant staff). Then do that again and its GG, all 4 targets are down. Frozen is down so no ressing. With fast calling the games done in 15-20 seconds so they don't even get a chance to pressure you very much.

If a target is enchanted with gaurdian, healing seed or any other skill that will mess up the spike, we can use either strip enchantment or drain enchantment quickly before the spike. The reason for the rangers getting their expertise up to 14 is so that all 10 energy skills now cost 4 energy. So thats 4 energy per spike (or 8 if followed up with savage). But 1 of the rangers has BiP so he can give energy to the monk or other rangers if needed.

Expel Hexes on the second ranger is to provide hex removal since the boon prot can't fit any in. If this isn't enough perhaps the boon prot can drop prot spirit for remove hex.

Now for the last elite, Empathic Removal. This also provides more support hex removal but also condition removal. Before a spike use this on another ally and then you and the other ally are removed of blindness. As for the remaining ranger, the boon prot or this ranger can mend condition them off to removal rangers of blindness before a spike.

Lastly, one flaw I see in this build is lack of corpse controll, but I don't imagine that being a problem in TA. But if it is, Strip Enchantment can be dropped for Consume Corpse.

Edit: Another idea I have is to drop the res sigs for whirling defense since frozen is up, the sigs are useless anyways. This will make the rangers less vunerable but the lack of sigs is pretty risky.

*phew*... long post... if anyone took the time to read it, again I'd appreciate comments and suggestions. Thanks.

sno · Jun 29, 2006, 07:20 AM // 07:20

I'll let others comment on the rangers, but as for the monk, it's hopeless.

A: OoB is suicidal for a monk in TA, the 20% sac on the #1 target will get him killed more often than not.
B: Prot spirit alone is bordering on too much energy, let alone orders. Assuming the monk will have extra energy to cast orders is foolish at best.
C: Your monk does need hex removal, although it doesn't seem like it. The current TA metagame is filled with hexes.

Also:
Corpse control is not an issue in TA, at all, not even the slightest bit.
I like the dropping res sig idea, this does seem like a rather all-or-nothing build.
Keep in mind that your spike (even if it's perfect) is stoppable by a reversal from a boon prot. I've never lost to ranger spike in TA, ever, even those with "good spikes."

torquemada · Jun 29, 2006, 07:57 AM // 07:57

I agree. OoB is vastly inferor to MoR on boon-prot, especally being primary target and all. Being hit with both e-denial and warrior pressure using OoB IS suicidal. I guess you needed /Ne for OoP but that can be fit on a R/N.

BiP could supply boonprot, however I'd take Drain Enchnantment on boonprot however.

All in all, wouldn't dare to gimmick boon prot that much. And it's a spike build, what can I say...

DieInBasra · Jun 29, 2006, 02:10 PM // 14:10

Quote:

Prot spirit alone is bordering on too much energy, let alone orders. Assuming the monk will have extra energy to cast orders is foolish at best.

He'll have a bip on him more often then not. As for hex removal, you have about 20 hex removals per minute, 26 if empathetic removes two. Not all that shabby. You also have to remeber the rangers will probably deal with conditions and hexes, so that takes another energy load off your monk.

Yunas Ele · Jun 29, 2006, 05:23 PM // 17:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by sno

A: OoB is suicidal for a monk in TA, the 20% sac on the #1 target will get him killed more often than not.

Hmm, true. Perhaps the monk can take life sheath as their elite to help keep themselves alive? The monk will have a constant BiP from the ranger so that will make up for the lack of energy management elite.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sno

B: Prot spirit alone is bordering on too much energy, let alone orders. Assuming the monk will have extra energy to cast orders is foolish at best.

The monk will have a constant bip so I wouldn't worry too much about the orders. Prot spirit can de dropped for a hex removal, perhaps.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sno

C: Your monk does need hex removal, although it doesn't seem like it. The current TA metagame is filled with hexes.

The 2 rangers have hex removal elites, but I guess like mentioned above, drop p-spirit for a hex removal. Also perhaps the ranger with mend condition can drop that for another hex removal.

Quote:

Originally Posted by torquemada

I agree. OoB is vastly inferor to MoR on boon-prot, especally being primary target and all. Being hit with both e-denial and warrior pressure using OoB IS suicidal. I guess you needed /Ne for OoP but that can be fit on a R/N.

BiP could supply boonprot, however I'd take Drain Enchnantment on boonprot however.

The problem with orders on a r/n is that the orders will only affect the other 2 rangers. I was testing it out and if you, yourself, cast OoP and then hit, you will not do the extra damage. The spike itself barely kills, so 1 ranger w/o OoP will make the spike not do enough damage.

Mo/Me seems like a much better option because you get MoR, a much better elite as well as an extra enchant removal, but wheres the orders going to come from?

Well thank you all for the comments, suggestions, etc. Much appreciated.

Ronin Rangerin · Jun 29, 2006, 08:47 PM // 20:47

On a more serious note, ranger spike is hard to make work in ta. Might want to try the "gasp" balance way.

Aug · Jun 29, 2006, 09:05 PM // 21:05

Quote:

Mo/Me seems like a much better option because you get MoR, a much better elite as well as an extra enchant removal, but wheres the orders going to come from?

Why can't the R/N slot it instead of Strip Enchantment? The Monk can take Drain Enchantment as a Me if you really need that enchantment removal skill. Or they can slot Inspired Hex.

The Monk is gonna be the primary target, so it doesn't seem to make sense for them to be saccing health, ever.

Isaac Lunoa · Jun 29, 2006, 10:08 PM // 22:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aug

Why can't the R/N slot it instead of Strip Enchantment? The Monk can take Drain Enchantment as a Me if you really need that enchantment removal skill. Or they can slot Inspired Hex.

The Monk is gonna be the primary target, so it doesn't seem to make sense for them to be saccing health, ever.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yunas Ele

The problem with orders on a r/n is that the orders will only affect the other 2 rangers. I was testing it out and if you, yourself, cast OoP and then hit, you will not do the extra damage. The spike itself barely kills, so 1 ranger w/o OoP will make the spike not do enough damage.

Owned

>_>

Yunas Ele · Jun 29, 2006, 10:10 PM // 22:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aug

Why can't the R/N slot it instead of Strip Enchantment? The Monk can take Drain Enchantment as a Me if you really need that enchantment removal skill. Or they can slot Inspired Hex.

The Monk is gonna be the primary target, so it doesn't seem to make sense for them to be saccing health, ever.

Oh I completely agree that the monk saccing health is a bad idea. But if the ranger casts OoP, that ranger does not benifit from OoP, only the other 2.

Shortyafter · Jun 29, 2006, 10:22 PM // 22:22

IMO you should drop one of the rangers for a Me/N. Put Phantom Pain/Shatter Delusions on this char, as well as other dom spike skills, and last but not least Order of Pain. This will take a huge load off your monk. I still like the idea of a BiP ranger though, as Punishing Shot is a crap elite for r-spike. Maybe Me/N, R/N BiP/strip, and perhaps an R/Mo with condition/hex removal since you'll have plenty of enchant removal on your dom mesmer.

And if you really need more damage, you can put Vamp Gaze on your OoB monk. It is quite leet. ^^

romO · Jun 29, 2006, 10:24 PM // 22:24

Let's keep this on topic. Any views about this particular build will be taken as criticism, but any bashing due to other circumstances is simply flaming, which has no place here. Criticism is constructive; flaming is not.

Yunas Ele · Jun 29, 2006, 10:44 PM // 22:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shortyafter

IMO you should drop one of the rangers for a Me/N. Put Phantom Pain/Shatter Delusions on this char, as well as other dom spike skills, and last but not least Order of Pain. This will take a huge load off your monk. I still like the idea of a BiP ranger though, as Punishing Shot is a crap elite for r-spike. Maybe Me/N, R/N BiP/strip, and perhaps an R/Mo with condition/hex removal since you'll have plenty of enchant removal on your dom mesmer.

And if you really need more damage, you can put Vamp Gaze on your OoB monk. It is quite leet. ^^

Hmm thats a really good idea. As for the damage though, I found 3 rangers with 16 marks, OoP up were generally able to kill a target but a PP/Shatter should be able to do just as much damage.

However, the biggiest problem I see with this is that now we can only spike every 15 seconds, as opposed to spiking with dual every 7 seconds, and marauder's every 6 seconds (averages out to a spike every 3.5 seconds).

Shortyafter · Jun 29, 2006, 11:12 PM // 23:12

You should be able to spike more than every 15 seconds, just slightly less effectively without the PP/SD. The mesmers bar could look like:

PP, SD, Shatter Enchant, Drain Enchant/Energy Burn, Vamp Gaze, OoP, OoB, Res

Gaze should be a guaranteed slot over Energy Burn because it will be recharged for every spike whereas Energy Burn won't be. Whether or not you bring E-Burn over drain enchant depends on how much enchant removal you think you will need.

You can spike with Shatter Enchant/Gaze/or E-Burn during the times when PP/SD is recharging. If you bring E-Burn you can do E-Burn followed up with Vamp Gaze for 153 damage which is only slightly less than PP/SD. Or you can do Shatter Enchant/Gaze. It will probably be quite energy intensive even with OoB, but BiP will solve that problem.

If you save the PP/SD for the enemy monk then it should be a guaranteed kill, and then you can afford to have less than perfect spikes on other targets.

torquemada · Jun 30, 2006, 07:11 AM // 07:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yunas Ele

.
Mo/Me seems like a much better option because you get MoR, a much better elite as well as an extra enchant removal, but wheres the orders going to come from?

As someone pointed out, spike builds are somewhat harder to pull off in TA, and if you want to equip rspike team with standard buffs you'll find your defense lacking for ie. hex overload or conditon spam, etc. When build adjusting for TA, whenever I try to gimmick it a bit towards bigger spike, I find utility slots lacking. So I still think balanced in TA is way to go.

Since I'm out of comments this early in the morning, all I can say....GL !

EDIT: Since someone mentioned mixed spike with bloodspike (vamp gaze actually), I'd prefer Flashbot spiker with /N secondary (but that's bcoz I dislike bspike...). Also orders would be less effective (2 rangers instead of 3), but damage sources would be more diverse.