Curse

zyar · Jun 10, 2006, 03:15 AM // 03:15

In the past weeks, I've borrowed my friends account and got addicted to GW. Now, I've bought my own copy of the game and wanna go straight to PvP in the random arena. Knowing that most of the premade builds are gimps, let's share you tweaked version of the premades! Preferrably, the swapped-in skills are already available in the templates and does not need to be unlocked =D

zyar · Jun 10, 2006, 03:21 AM // 03:21

Let me get this started with my humble build first.

Tweaked Me/W

Power Drain (interrupt + 21 energy)
Ether Feast (heal 37 x 3, draining 3 EN)
Empathy
Backfire
Shatter Enchantment
Shatter Hex
(Anything, eg. "Watch yourself!")
Resurrention Signet

This is a pretty all-round Mesmer build, without the need to unlock any skills in advance. It has a limited power management skill, limited healing and some counters for both attackers and casters.

Byron · Jun 10, 2006, 07:39 AM // 07:39

Premades are either garbage or missing fundamental skills.

For example, you'll never see a Me/W, unless its that premade build.

If you don't have any skills unlocked, I would suggest biting the bullet and rolling through the prophecies campaign with your profession of choice. Hit all the skill quests to fuel your skill pool. It's fun the first time.

NatalieD · Jun 10, 2006, 08:34 AM // 08:34

Play five minutes of pve with a warrior to unlock Frenzy, Healing Signet, and Resurrection Signet. Use them to replace Mending, Healing Hands, and Restore Life on the paladin premade. Set your attributes to 12+1 Swordsmanship, 10 Tactics, 8 Strength. Remember to cancel Frenzy by activating Sprint if you come under fire at the wrong time.

That's about as good as you can do without spending any significant time on unlocks, I think.

The Real Roy Keane · Jun 10, 2006, 07:44 PM // 19:44

Yes; despite all the hate, the Paladin is the closest to a coherent build out of the premade bunch.

MirageCloud · Jun 10, 2006, 10:52 PM // 22:52

Don't be mean againt the premade builds, if you understand how to use them they are pretty nice. (do add in a res sig though)

Iraqalypse Now · Jun 11, 2006, 03:04 AM // 03:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by MirageCloud

Don't be mean againt the premade builds, if you understand how to use them they are pretty nice. (do add in a res sig though)

All the premades were obsolete about a week after they came out.

Yanman.be · Jun 12, 2006, 02:32 PM // 14:32

The Fang of Melandru has a nice damage combo, if you have factions that is...

If you don't want to bring selfhealing, take out troll ungeunt and swap in Lightning reflexes, in AB, you can take out res for whirling defense, for a 75%evade/block ALL the time

Metanoia · Jun 16, 2006, 12:39 PM // 12:39

Ah... I remember my first pre-made hybrid...

Abominable Snowman with Gale... and 4 Air Magic. ¬_¬
I did have a good first experience though, 11 win-streak with an understanding team. I even got a special mention in the enemy's insults - "Damn crazy hammer-lady". ^_^

Anyway...

Abominable Snowman - 12,500 Faction, but playable at 3,000.

Skills

Devastating Hammer{E}
Mighty Blow --> Crushing Blow**
Heavy Blow
Armor of Mist --> Aftershock**
Frozen Burst --> Frenzy*
Sprint --> Rush**
Healing Signet
Ressurection Signet

*Frenzy, You can unlock this skill with a PvE Warrior in about 2 minutes. It's given to you by your first skill-trainer.
**Crushing Blow, Aftershock, Rush - These skills aren't as readily available through PvE so it'll be faster to unlock them with faction at 1000 each.

Attributes

Hammer Mastery: 16 (12 base +1 helm + 3 superior rune)
Earth Magic: 9
Strength: 4 (3 base +1 minor rune)
Tactics: 10 (9 base +1 minor rune)

The runes are quite expensive, you can get away without them though. Unlock them is the following order.
Minor Hammer Mastery > Major Hammer Mastery > Superior Hammer Mastery > Minor Tactics > Minor Strength
Together, they'll cost you 6500 faction - ouch!

Equipment

Armour: Dwarven Helm (+1 Hammer Mastery), Gladiator's Hauberk (Chest), Gladiator's Leggings, Stoneskin Gauntlets and Knight's Boots.

Weapons: Vampiric PvP Hammer of Fortitude and a Zealous PvP Hammer of Fortitude.

The Vampiric, Zealous and Fortitude weapon mods will set you back 1000 faction each. The Vampiric mod is the most important as it'll be adding damage to your knock-down chains. Just remember, even if you don't have the Zealous mod, you'll still want a non-Vampiric hammer to hold while not attacking.

Tips:

Knock-down combinations...
1) Devastating Blow > Crushing Blow > Heavy Blow > Aftershock
- This is probably the cleanest knock-down chain, the second knock-down lands about .15 seconds after they get up.
2) Frenzy > Devastating Blow > Crushing Blow > Normal Attack > Heavy Blow > Normal Attack > Aftershock
- This gives the target about .5 seconds between knock-downs but deals significantly more damage.

Frenzy & Rush...
You can only have one stance active at a time. Use Frenzy when your targets aren't fleeing to build adrenaline faster and cause more damage. Be careful not to enter Frenzy without Rush ready to cancel incase you start taking damage.

Healing Signet...
Try not to leave self-healing until the last minute. Top your hitpoints up whenever you have the time. Try to avoid using it when taking excessive damage, it's usually better to back off a little before attempting to heal. Healing Signet can be cancelled by ordering your character to move while they're casting, this can be used to avoid taking double damage if you see a nasty spell or interrupt heading your way.

Ressurection Signet...
Generally it's best to ressurect allies as soon as they die. Don't give the enemy the advantage of extra players a second longer than you can.

NatalieD · Jun 17, 2006, 12:18 AM // 00:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by Metanoia

Knock-down combinations...
1) Devastating Blow > Crushing Blow > Heavy Blow > Aftershock
- This is probably the cleanest knock-down chain, the second knock-down lands about .15 seconds after they get up.

More like .5 seconds. Plenty of time for a boon prot to use Reversal of Fortune or Contemplation of Purity. CoP is especially bad for you since it might remove the weakness and nullify the whole rest of the combo.

I would switch Heavy Blow and Aftershock for Hammer Bash and Irresistible Blow, if I were running a build like this.

Robster Lobster · Jun 17, 2006, 01:19 AM // 01:19

Use the trapper build premade and farm faction in the Zaishen Challenge place. You can get 1k a day in a few minutes, which isn't bad for getting some unlocks. And trapper groups are very common.

And if anyone asks why you aren't using spike trap or whatever other traps you're missing, just tell them it's bloody soloable so why are they even looking for a group in the first place.

And if you get enough faction you can solo most groups yourself with

R/

12+1+3 Wilderness Survival
12+3 Expertise
3+3 Beast Mastery

Spike trap
Flame Trap
Barbed Trap
Dust Trap
Serpents Quickness
Energising Winds
Quickening Zephyr

Just put down spirits and stay in the same spot spamming traps with SQ up.

Only use that for farming faction for decent unlocks though, I'd really advise not even trying to use it for PvP.

Metanoia · Jun 17, 2006, 01:19 PM // 13:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by NatalieD

More like .5 seconds. Plenty of time for a boon prot to use Reversal of Fortune or Contemplation of Purity. CoP is especially bad for you since it might remove the weakness and nullify the whole rest of the combo.

I would switch Heavy Blow and Aftershock for Hammer Bash and Irresistible Blow, if I were running a build like this.

.3, actually. My bad. It does vary slightly depending on how far they've kited since your attack animation started, too (which actually makes it a cleaner chain).

The reason for not just using Back-Breaker, Hammer Bash, Bull's Strike etc. was to try and use as many of the original skills as possible. I might as well point out that I'd use Eviscerate/Exicutioner's Strike/Bull's Strike/Rush instead of Sever/Gash/Final Thrust/Sprint on a "repaired" Paladin, too. That's my excuse atleast, and I'm sticking to it. >:]

NatalieD · Jun 18, 2006, 01:45 AM // 01:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by Metanoia

The reason for not just using Back-Breaker, Hammer Bash, Bull's Strike etc. was to try and use as many of the original skills as possible. I might as well point out that I'd use Eviscerate/Exicutioner's Strike/Bull's Strike/Rush instead of Sever/Gash/Final Thrust/Sprint on a "repaired" Paladin, too. That's my excuse atleast, and I'm sticking to it. >:]

Oops. Forgot the point of the thread.

dansamy · Jun 18, 2006, 01:56 AM // 01:56

Modding the Fi Boon Healer into a (barely) viable Boon Prot:

Ditch:
Infuse Health
Healing Touch
Heal Other
Orison
Dwayna's Kiss

Sub in:
Reversal of Fortune
Mend Ailment/Mend Condition
Guardian
Contemplation of Purity
Prot Spirit

This is reasonably playable after unlocking 5 skills for a total of 5,000 faction. Alternatively, you can take a PvE monk through the pre-searing training quests which will give you RoF at least. (Can't recall when/where I got Prot Spirit in PvE, sorry mate.) You can also unlock 3 runes and 2 staff upgrades for another 5,000 faction and play for quite a while with a very basic build. It's how I got faction on my second account.

(Please note that Remove Hex isn't the most efficient, best hex removal in the game but the point is to keep as much of the original skill bar as possible.)

zyar · Jun 21, 2006, 01:21 AM // 01:21

This build requires you to unlock 3 necromancer skills in pre-searing tutorial area first, which probably will take you 0.5 to 1 hour.

Conjure Phantasm (illusion)
Life Siphon (blood)
Vamp Gaze (blood)
Blood Renewal (blood)
Soothing Images (illusion)
Ineptitude* (illusion)
Ethereal Burden (illusion)
Resurrection Signet

Choose one warrior, Ethereal Burden. Choose one ranger, Ineptitude. Start blood renewal, then spam Life Siphon -> Conjure Phantasm -> Vamp Gaze. If a warrior is already attacking, use Soothing Images (which is the most useless skill here).

Tested this build in random arena yesterday, good utility and survival.