7H general HM build for the advanced warrior

This build is for general Hard Mode play: Vanquishing, Missions, ZBounties, Dungeons & FOW. Slight modifications are required for UW, DoA and Slavers!

How to play
You don't need any micro other than flagging heroes behind while aggroing foes to have 'em somewhat close to each other.I suggest pre-casting spirits on the ST for greater survivability.
It appears my test subjects weren't truthful about not flagging heroes around so I removed that line.

Recommended Equipment
Zealous sword, minor weapon rune on yourself & 40/40 set of the attribute of the heroes' elite skill. +armor insignia, Superior Vigor & Vitae runes on empty slots on heroes.
There are crafters for 20/20 Wands & Focii in Vasburg Armory & Leviathan Pits.

Quote: The Build

Warrior - OQASEZKT8VVi7gTNXF9Fzk0k

Swordsmanship: 12+1+1
Strength: 12+1
Sentinel's Insignia on all 5 pieces

Mesmers - OQNEAnwT22MEoBTPcqpjIkBubA - OQNEAnwT22MEOBTPcqpjIkBubA
Variations: Power Drain can be swapped for Auspicious Incantation - it's really great albeit you need to micro it every once in a while as the heroes forget to use it when they're low on energy


Domination: 12+1+2
Fast Casting: 7+2
Inspiration: 9+2
Healing Prayers: 6

Clamor Ritualist - OAWjIohq4OYMv5v0xVONdSTmJA
Variations: Spirit Rift can be replaced with Kaolai if additional redbarring is required & Unnatural Signet -> Signet of Clumsiness - I prefer Unnatural Signet due to it's condition is met easier

Channeling: 11+1+3
Restoration: 10+1
Domination: 10

ST Ritualist - OAWjIogLpOmOrJ2Mca9ecOzkLA
Variations: Signet of Creation -> Signet of Disruption OR Unnatural Signet -> Signet of Clumsiness and keep SoCreation

Communing: 11+1+2
Spawning: 10+2
Domination: 10

Blood Necro - OAhjQwGYoOeNw2gYolcncDzqKA
Variations: SoLS -> MB&S if you face conditions

Blood Magic: 12+1+3
Soul Reaping: 8+1
Restoration: 10

Foc Necros - OAljYkHsZOfiLhLEOYJ2x17qKA - OAljYkHsZO7uLhLEOYJ2xshqKA


Curses: 12+1+3
Soul Reaping: 9+1
Command: 9 A few explanations...
Signets of Rejuvenation on the mesmers: Heals that I couldn't fit on any other hero. Signets because I can't strain the mesmer's energy any further.
Panic: Panic offers Hidden DPS and Protection. Every heal interrupted equals that amount of damage done to the target of the interrupted heal. Same goes for interrupted damage spells. And interruptions mean less healing required by your heroes = more time casting damage spells. Panic is very strong.
Clamor & Spirit Rift: Added AOE on the Splinter&AR bot.
Unnatural Signets: Free Armor-ignoring AOE.
Blood Bond: With the lack of healing in this build Blood Bond certainly carries it's weight as one of the 64 skills. It heals you for a hundred every time a foe hexed by it dies next to you. It's too good to pass on. Plus it serves as an AOE hex for Feasts of Corruption.

Right. I know it's not a good idea for me to play a build and publish it and assume everyone will have similar success rate with it, so I shared the build with several belgian guildmates of mine and they successfully made their way through the labyrinth without getting zapped too much. And believe me, if they're getting results with this build I'm sure you will find this build to be extremely effective in general HM PvE. I accept critique and ideas to replace skill X with skill Y but only from people who have tested this build in more than 1 area.

Go and try it yourself. I'll argue you'll never run anything else (unless ofc you like to play with one hand in a bucket of kfc)

I have a question that's neither a comment nor a critique so you won't need to feel defensive about it: What about this build makes it Warrior main specific?

Wouldn't this be viable with say, a Dervish with 10 Mysticism in it and Vow of Strength?

I'd recommend a Smiting Prayers monk with Ray of Judgment, Smite Hex, Smite Condition, Strength of Honor, and Judge's Insight.

It makes your melee damage huge.

Lex: It's viable with a Dervish or any X/D X/W with Hundred Blades or VoS. But it's easier to say it's for warrior than any 100b variant.
Shane: Tested with Mo/Rt with ROJ, Melee buffs, Splinter, AR instead of the Clamor & I've tested with 2 ROJ monks instead of ST & Clamor but the ritualists outclass the ROJ alternative. There's nothing that's unclear to me about it. ROJ causes unwanted scatter most of the time, plus the melee damage you get doesn't really matter as the general damage is high.

I played with 2 melee support monks for years so I'm aware that it makes my damage "huge" (although you can achieve this by using the user interface scaler, too) I'm confident when I say you can easily drop the melee support when you play this build. Trust me, you don't need SOH or JI.

Quote: Originally Posted by ShaneOfMach

I'd recommend a Smiting Prayers monk with Ray of Judgment, Smite Hex, Smite Condition, Strength of Honor, and Judge's Insight.

It makes your melee damage huge. JI changes your damage type to holy.

Smite Hex and Condition would be mostly redundant with 2 copies of Shatter Hex and MBaS.

RoJ is nice but most of the heroes have AoE damage elites anyway.

SoH would be good, but if it doesn't fit, it doesn't fit. The point is to ball everything up and nuke it in one go so provided there's enough damage it shouldn't matter too much.

To start: build looks really great, i will definitely give this 7H build a try.

I know u don't take critiques unless i tested your build but i just want you to explain your choices actually.

May i ask why you take Clamor of Souls instead of SoS. I understand it's great e-management and adds some AoE damage. To me this AoE dmg seems rather small since it isn't armor ignoring. And i would think Spirith Siphon provides all the energy you need. Although there isn't something like to much energy so i guess it isn't bad.

And about rip enchantment on one of the FoC necro's. You already got 2 drain enchantments and it's not a bad thing if there still remain some enchantments on the foes since this triggers extra damage from unnatural signet and defile- and desecrate enchantments. I would say enfeebling blood fits in nicely there.

Quote: Originally Posted by Cors Seel

Would this work on a DB spam sin with SY! aswell?

Surely it will work. But you won't get everything out of the Marks of Pain with a DB assassin.

I could always try running that bar on a sin, looks like fun to play.

I am the strongest -> ebon battle standard of honor, you seem to have the energy, and it will enormously buff your sword aoe...

EBSoH is very powerful, but it's down to personal preference. I like IATS as it's instant.

Those builds seem to work very well, when I see EFGJack in a thread it's a quality seal. I'm gonna try them as soon as possible on my SY derv. May I ask what are the slight changes you make for harder areas?

If you are in enchantment heavy areas, wouldn't PoD be more suitable over FoC+Rip?
And no adrenaline boosts?

Quote: Originally Posted by EFGJack

Looks like everything has a self-heal ^^

@Xeno; why does he need adren boost with Hundred Blades?

Quote: Originally Posted by HigherMinion

@Xeno; why does he need adren boost with Hundred Blades? S&M Slash and Whirlwind Attack are adrenal skills.
He has FGJ, but if he could squeeze in Dark Fury or something, he could cycle those two continuously.

@Scratchdude - I'll edit the changes to the OP at a later time
@Xeno - Can't fit adrenaline boosts without heavily modifying the hero. I believe FGJ is more than enough
@Jeydra - I don't believe Raisu speedclears are the pinnacle of end-game PvE, but I assume with all skips and max micro you could squeeze a sub 8-mins clear if you get lucky with spawns and that monsters don't bodyblock M&T too much. Not going to bother trying, though.

Does Barbed Signet really pull it's weight? Or is it just an energy issue?

Quote: Originally Posted by Xenomortis

Does Barbed Signet really pull it's weight? Or is it just an energy issue? There aren't many alternatives in the blood magic line. It's Barbed Signet & Opressive Gaze against additional heals against adrenaline boosts against vampiric swarm & dark pact. I find the current bar to be the most satisfying from all the possible variations.