User:Trogam

Characters
Scott Trogam (Ranger) The Big B Healer (Monk) Kenzie Trogam (Rit) The Big B Skewer (Paragon) I Forsaken I (Ele) Diana Naida (Derv) Megan Trogam (Necro) Forsaken Wanderer K E N Z I E
 * PvE
 * PvP

Notable Accomplishments
-Has Tyrian Master Cartographer on Ranger -Seeker of Wisdom on Monk -Has 6 Sets of 15K and 10K armor.
 * Rit: Ancient, Kurzick, FoW
 * Ranger: Druid
 * Paragon: Ancient
 * Monk: Canthian
 * Ele: Ancient

-Has succesfully solo farmed: Dead Swords, Totem Axes, UW, FoW, Wardens, Styigan Gemstone -R5 Hero Title -Over 600,000 Balth Faction -Have defeated a few top 100 guilds in GvG -Most consecutive wins in HA: 8 -Won in Halls 6 times -Held Halls 3 times -Have Defeated Avirica Assassin with the help of, Kitty Likes Coconuts [Wild] -Received the Good Sportsmanship Award for the Celestial Tournament.

Guild
Member of the Forsaken Wanderers. Flag runner

Strange Happenings to My Characters
-Have been Power Blocked by Charr. -Have had Throw Dirt Skull Cracked by a Whiptail Devourer.

Purpose of this Guide
My original intent with this guide was to write down my thoughts, observations, and tips for flag running so my guild mates could see what I thought went on in the mind of a flag runner. I thought maybe I'd write down 5 or 6 tips and that'd be it. Well, after about 90 minutes of writing, and reaching what I thought was the end, I found I had written a lot more than I originally intended. So Instead I decided to turn this into full blown guide to flag running. These are my tips, observations, guidelines, and a whole bunch of other things about flag running. The information here is my opinion about flag running and unless otherwise specified, is my own work.

Misc Info
This guide represents my opinion on flag running, as such, I welcome input and comments. This guide is only cleared to be used on my GuildWiki User page and the Forsaken Wanderer's forums. If for some reason you want to post this guide in your own forum, site, or other location, please leave me a message on my talk page or contact me in game.

Future Plans
I'm planning to revamp the Tip section, and expand it a little bit to have a, "Basic" and "Advanced" tips section. I have come across some interesting tactics used by other runners in high level play, and after trying them myself, I found why they liked using them. I'm need to complete the runner comparison section, the skill section, clean up the equipment section, add a section on dealing with certain circumstances, add a Runner quick start section (Complete with Skill/Equipment Templates so you can grab and go), clean up the general tips section, add a section on guild halls and provide individual tips for each of them, and do other small tweaks to the guide overall.

General Tips
1. Know your bar, and what you can and cannot face off against. Fire or Air Runners can pretty much face off against most threats, enough to driver them off. They lack usually lack a lot of snares of defensive spells, outside of Blinding Flash and Gale. But you can put some high damage out in a short amount of time, forcing an enemy flag runner or gankers out of a base. Water Runners are my personal favorite now. They have snares and blinds. Blurred Vision cannot be mend touched or signet of malaiced away, and freezing gust is one of my all time favorite skills. Depending on your bar determines how you can face off against enemy runners or gankers. Shatterstone runners will provide some decent damage, along with the snares, while Water Trident Eles can keep an enemy snared for 45+ seconds (It takes them 45 seconds to move through you aggro bubble.) Icy Shackle Eles are the most annoying runners you may face though, as the skill itself costs 10 energy, can last up to 10 seconds, and has a 12 second recharge. And if you have an enchant on you (Storm Dijins, Fire Dijins, or Armor of Mist) then you will be slowed for 90% for 10 seconds which allows an enemy to collapse on you. If you have any self heals, then you can face off better and usually fare a bit better, but if you lack any self heals, I mean direct heals like Heal Party and others, not Aegis, then you want to be really careful about who you engage. Monk Runners are not my particular favorite, but when used correctly are effective. Basically, you are a monk with a running skill and maybe a snare. Holy Veil is a must for a runner, since it slows down most snares, sans Gust. However, know when and what to remove. If you go up against an Ele with icy shakles, save your veil for removing Shackles, since it will slow you down the most and it lasts the longest. You can also defend yourself against Gankers pretty decently so long as you use your NPC's which I will go into next.

2. Your NPC's are your friends When dealing with gankers, take into account what the gankers are, where your NPC's are, and what base you are in. Taking Frozen Isle as an example, if you can cut off the gankers from each other, you will have a better chance of killing one or both of them. If you can shut the bottom gate you effectively make the gankers job more difficult if and when your team comes back to collaspe on them. Fall back into your Guild Lord if you find yourself being pushed to far, and keep the knights up as best you can through blinds and heals. Remember, let your teammates know whats in the base, and know who you'll need back. Calling for a monk should only really be a last resort. Calling for a curses necro or warrior/sin/ranger would be a better idea. Know what your teamates are running and know who to call back.

3. Know the Gankers If you find yourself dealing with gankers by yourself, then there are some rules of thumb for the various builds. The most common gankers tend to be Warrior (YAA, Crip Slash, w/Signet of Malace, etc.), Rangers (Interupts, Burning Arrow, Broadhead Arrow, w/mend touch/troll ungent), and assassins (Anything really, but usually horns of the ox w/ degen skills, Twisting Fangs, Falling Spiders). Against Warriors Solo: Stick close to your NPC's, make sure if he's a YAA to stand next to an archer, which can save you some problems later on. Get Blinds and Slows on him as quickly as possible. If you are a monk runner, then heal the guy he is attacking, and be prepared to kite like mad. Against Rangers: Watch your line of sight carefully. Position yourself behind obstructions and do not lead off right away with Blurred Vision or a blind skill. A good ranger will anticapate what is coming and attempt to interupt you. He will likely have both Savage and Distracting shot. Both of which spell gg for you. Against broad head, kite and keep kiting. Against burning arrows, he will expect you to mend touch them away, and try to interrupt it. Kite and remember to cancel skills to force him into using an interrupt. Monks, keep kiting and get the degen off of NPC's. Against Assassins: Your NPC's are your best buddies now. Sins are in, hit hard, and out before you have a chance to react. Since BoA sins have been nerfed, it is unlikely you will run into one while in the course of normal play. But in any case, stick close to your NPC's, because knockdowns (Shove, Shock, Horns of the Ox) will spell a quick demise as the next two skills are going to be falling spiders + twisting fangs. However, these guys are glass cannons, so if you can snare him when he is near a few NPCs, you could probably wipe him out. Monks, prot spirit, guaridian, shielding hands, SoA are your best skills. Deep wounds are also common with Sins, so be ready for that. Against Combinations of Gankers: If its 2v1, (Sin + Ranger, Warrior + Ranger most likely) hang back, and call for help. Make sure that you use your NPC's and cover. Do not try to engage them head on. If you are on Frozen Isle, try to separate them through the use of the levers. Single gankers tend to be more cautious and are not as risky in terms of trying to kill you. But if its 2v1, or even 3v1 you'll need help. Keep an eye of the knights and bodyguard. As long as they can stay up, and your team is pushing the other team out, you don't need much help. But at the same time, depending on your bar, do not hesitate to call for help if they are wiping NPC's. Once again, Kiting, Blinds, Snares, and Self Heals are important to staying alive long enough for a Warrior to get back to help drive them out. If they are retreating, Snare their thief (if applicable) and try and kill that.

4. Flags are important, but do not risk your life to cap one. If your team is getting kills, then you need to ensure that the stand is yours. Getting back rez sigs is a quick way to turn around a match. Do not make unnecessary risks when running flags. If you are going to have to run through the enemy to cap the stand and you are by yourself, DO NOT DO IT! Find a back route, retreat, just do not try to get through. Be aware of how your team is doing. Let the monks know you are coming so they won't be caught off guard when the enemy attempts to spike you. Also, hold off on capping for as long as possible at the start of the match. This will make the match an 8v8 and you can help your team out significantly. Also, unless the leader calls for something else, do not cap first. By letting the other team cap first, you gain an advantage that you can stay with your team longer and make it a 8v7 match.

5. Flags are important, but team survival is even more so. While you are at the flag stand, try and stay for as long as possible to assist your team, but do not stay too long. Some times for maps that are good to know, Uncharted Isle: Reach the land outside of your gate with more than 30 seconds until enemy morale boost in order to make it in time and give yourself time to deal with an enemy runner trying to slow you. Isle of Jade: it takes 1:04 to run from the Bridge on the side of the flag stand, to your flag, through the teleporter, through the coral, and up to the flag stand. I know this because I made the mistake of waiting until 1:04 to go back for a flag. Isle of jade, your best bet is to leave for a flag at about 1:30 on enemy morale. Imperial Isle: You have to deal with traps on this map, and enemy gankers trying to stop you through teleporters or gankers. Gauge what you can do safely, and act accordingly, even if that means running back through the traps to go through your back line to reach the stand. It takes a little longer, but it can save you a lot of hassle.

6. Know when to pass of the flag. If you are getting body blocked like there is no t-mrw, call out for a flag pass off. Thats where a person on your team stands as close as possible to you and you spike the drop and him picking it up. The target closet item key is Semi-Colon (Wink So if you are the guy picking up the flag, ensure that you are ready to pick it up. I have a few tips for countering enemy flag runners below.

7. If you are duel running, make sure you let the other runner know when he needs to go get the next flag.

8. You are part of the team. What skills you bring to the match need to not only help yourself, but synergize well with the team as a whole. Skills that help the main team like Heal Party, Aegis, Convert Hexes, Heals, Slows, Snares, can help relieve pressure off of the main team. Remember, your job title may be "Flag Runner," But you need to work with the rest of the team in order to achieve victory.

9. Leave an extra flag lying around in case your team starts to push the enemy. I prefer to leave an extra flag stand near the flag stand behind an obstruction, or just in general somewhere outside of my base. I do not like taking a flag into the enemy's base because if you get killed, the other team pushes, you are sewered. Though it is a matter of personal preference.

10. Switching weapons or picking up an enemy flag/repair kit will cause you to drop your flag.

11. Don't always return the enemy flag right away. If it is just after a rez time, go ahead and return it. It will cost them anywhere from 0:45 to 1:30 to bring a new flag out. That will almost always ensure a morale boost. If you are pushing the enemy back and their flagger gets killed, DO NOT RETURN! Make note of where the flag dropped, and camp it for a bit until the enemy is pushed back far enough. When inside the enemy base, keep an eye on the back door (if there is one) and be ready to snag their flag again, costing them another 30+ seconds to go back into the base and retrieve a new one. A flag runner will then either do one of three things if he sees you camping a flag: 1. Run at you an attempt to return it. 2. Retreat back into his base. 3. Call for help. I prefer running at the person or calling for help, as this will force the flag back into my base where I can keep an eye on it. However, leaving a flag there will allow you to move more quickly, so it really comes down to what is best for the situation, use your gut.

12. If you are capping the stand and you see the enemy flag lying on the ground, wait to return it. Camp it for a bit until you see the enemy flag runner. You give yourself an additional 20-30 seconds by camping it, and waiting to return it. If you return it right away, that sends up a red flag to the enemy that someone is outside of the base (Capping the stand is to) but also it means that the enemy flagger knows to head directly to his or her base to retrieve a new flag. By waiting to return it, you force a game of chicken with the flag and you could possibly bring back more of the enemy team that gives your guys breathing room. The more you can mess up an enemy teams movements by doing stuff like not returning a flag until you see an enemy, will help you achieve victory!

13. Stay Away from obstructions that may block off one side of you. Do not run close to a wall when there are enemies around, try and stay as much in the open as you possibly can. This will give you more avenues of escape.

14. At VoD, the only way to survive an entire team of archers, knights, and the bodyguard is by hitting your speed boost before you are in ranger of the archers, and if you are at 0 DP or 10% morale. Otherwise, you will die. I have tested this through the course of normal play.

15. Use gust on enemy flaggers and players on the Ice, it is quite fun!

These are all observations and tips, and things I do when I run flags. Saying that flag running is brainless (or any position for that matter) means that they do not fully understand a position. To quote Safety who quotes a QQ member, "Every time you push a skill, do so with meaning. Do not just sit there and pound skills. Make sure that your move will threaten the enemy in some way." For runners, knowing when to run, snare, and blind will help you out a lot.

General Information
The first thing to remember about equipment is that while running, you won't be able to use your weapon sets. In addition, switching your weapon set while holding a flag will cause you to drop the flag, and that can be a very bad thing. I'm going to present a couple different ideas for armor and weapons in the following section and they are again my opinion, as well as things I have seen other flag runners do as well as from talking with other flag runners.

Energy and Health
The general idea here is to give yourself enough health to survive, while at the same time provide you with some extra energy should you be caught in a tight spot and unable to drop the flag. I find this particular setup to be useful for the most occaisans, especially for non-Ele runners.


 * Radiant Insignia On Head and Gloves.
 * Survivor Insignia on Chest, Legs, and Feet.
 * Major Rune on the headpiece.
 * Sup Vigor On Chest
 * Minor Runes where applicable
 * Vitae runes after you have all the others runes you need, maybe one rune of attunement.

Health
The Idea here is that you give yourself as much health as possible. For Ele runners, energy is not much of a problem, so they can pretty much spam skills without much problem.


 * Health on everything.
 * Major Rune on the headpiece.
 * Sup Vigor On Chest
 * Minor Runes where applicable
 * Vitae runes after you have all the others runes you need, maybe one rune of attunement.

Weapon Sets
Again, there are some different ideas for different runners about what they prefer, but I'm going to list what I think every runner should have and then list the information about the other slots.

Must Have Weapon Sets
Low Energy Set/Utility Set You'll want a One Handed Weapon (Axe, Sword, Or Spear) with the 15%/-5 Inscription. You can put whatever you want for the head/hilt, for the grip, either +20% Enchant or +30 health. I prefer the Enchant due to the shield I will be using. You will want to use any shield with a +30 Grip and then the "Swift as the Wind" inscription (Crippled duration is reduced by 20%.) The reason I use the "Swift" inscription is quite simple. On certain maps, and as well as against NPC's and other runners, you might hit a situation where you are constantly getting crippled and speed is key. Taking for example the Burning Isle map. With any speed boost (Except dash) it will take you approximately 3 Burning/Crippling Cycles to get out of the lava pits leading to the flag stand. By using the "Swift" inscription, you cut it down to 2 Crippling Cycles, and 3 Burning Cycles. This also helps while retreating because you are able to cross the lava more quickly and provide more help to your team mates. In addition, melee characters will also become crippled and begin to lag behind you as you are able to cross the lava more quickly. Now, you can bring two shields one with the "Swift" inscription and one with another one in case you don't get burning or you don't have to worry about getting crippled, but in general this one little preparation can cut down on your running time and get you out of sticky situations.
 * Primary Weapon
 * Offhand

High Energy Set A wand with the +15/-1 Energy boost. A offhand of your choice with +15/-1 Energy Boost. Notes: I use a high energy set because there are times in which either I have to start spamming heal parties and I'm having some energy problems, or I'm low on energy and I need to get off one spell to finish someone off. Switching to my highi energy set to cast one spell, then switching back to the regular energy set almost immeditily. Staying in a high energy set for to long is dangerous. Primally because if you die in the high energy set, your going to come up in that set and have less energy to start with.
 * Primary Weapon
 * Offhand

Primary Weapon Set A Spear, Axe, or Sword with +5 Energy as the inscription. You can take whatever you want for the head of the weapon (Run Fiery if you are running a mind blast running with Mark of Rodgort) and as the suffix inscription, I prefer to use the +20% Enchantment mod. Some prefer to use +30 Health, but I like the +20% Enchant because then I won't have to hit my running skill as often. This will depend very much on what kind of bar you are running. If you are running a bar that is primarily water magic (5 or more Skills are from the Water line) and the other skills on your bar are all from the same line, or have a short casting time, then I'd go with the inscriptions that give you Halves skill recharge/cast time chance 20% of the items attribute. If your only using 4 skills from your primary line, and you have multiple skills from other lines, then I'd go with the 10% cast/recharge of all spells.
 * Main Weapon
 * Offhand

Health Set I use a staff with +60 Health on it. THe reason being if I have some DP and my health is starting to get low, and I'm spending a lot of time with the main team, then switching to this will give me a boost and usually push my health over 600. But here you want to put a weapon set that can be easily changed around.
 * Main Weapon

General Information
Again, I'm going to present a couple different ideas, (Templates to come later!) My health is usually about 545 when I'm holding flags, because my primary weapon set is a Spear of Enchanting with +5 energy, and a focus for my offhand with no health bonuses either. If I'm picking something up, I don't want to die right after I pick them up. Weapon Set 2: I usually put a +30 +30 Staff on this one for when my DP starts to stack up. Weapon Set 3: High Set, +15/-1 rod, +15/-1 offhand. Weapon Set 4: Spear/Sword/Axe of Enchanting, -5 energy, 20% enchanting, and a shield with a "Swift as the wind" inscprition or -5/20% on it. I stay in this set for almost whole matches when fighting on Burning Isle, or when I face off agaisnt other runners who can cripple me. It also serves as your energy hiding set.

Builds and Skills
Listed below, are the general Builds that are used in running, along with the Primary Attribute used as well as the Elite. I will list the skill lists below these following sections.

E/Mo Runners

 * Water
 * Shatterstone
 * Water Trident
 * Icy Shackles
 * Ether Prodigy


 * Fire
 * Mind Blast


 * Air
 * Blinding Surge
 * Ether Prodigy

E/Rt

 * Restoration
 * Weapon Of Remedy


 * Water, Air
 * Ether Prodigy

Rt/E

 * Restoration
 * Weapon of Remedy

Mo/E

 * Protection
 * Zealous Benediction
 * Shield of Regeneration
 * Shield of Deflection


 * Divine Favor
 * Healers Boon


 * Healing
 * Light Of Deliverance

Those are the most common builds around these days and the ones you are most likely to face off against. The first thing to notice is the fact that all of them are either an Ele primary or Ele Secondary. That is because of the Enchantment based speed boosts which have become more popular, as well as more practical in the game today.

Runner Skills
Below I list the general builds used for each of the Elites. What you'll notice quickly is that the bars don't changer very much within runner skill lines, with the only thing changed is the actual elites. Where I place optional slots, I will list below the skills that can be used there.

E/Mo Bars
Ether Prodigy Runner

Notes: Typically in the Optional slot you want to run a self heal of some kind. Healing Breeze, Restful Breeze are relatively common skill choices. In place of Frozen Burst, you could place Mending Touch but I prefer Ice Spikes thanks to the Extra snare and damage you can get. In pace of armor of mist, you could put Storm Dijon's haste, to give you an almost constant speed boost, but I prefer Armor of Mist because in addition to the speed boost, you also get roughly +24 armor which can prevent damage. Also, you could run Rust in place of Frozen Burst to provide a cheap cover hex for you blinds. This also slows down the casting of signets which can help your interrupters.

Water Trident Runner

Notes: In place of Deep Freeze you could put Ice Spikes or Frozen Burst for slightly less damage and lesser snare time, but they may prove more useful. In the optional slot, you can use Mending Touch, Healing Breeze, etc. Basically you'll want to run some sort of self heal in that slot.

Icy Shackles Runner

Notes: For your optional Slot, I'd put in healing breeze or other form of self heal. Because more often than not you'll be dealing with other runners who can hurt you while you are slowing them.

Shatterstone Runner

Notes: This is my current favorite bar. You can swap Frozen Burst for Ice Spikes for some extra damage at a distance, but Frozen burst is really good against Assassians who shadowstep, as well as runners/gankers who run Obsiden Flesh and cannot be targted by spells.

Older Runner Builds
Me/A -Crippling Anguish
 * Illusion

Why this was popular: Solo abilites. By utilzing crippling anguish, clumsiness, and some other choice hexes, a Me/A runner could solo most other people while at the same time be able to escape sticky situations. Since most runners and gankers do not have hex removel, this build based on hexing is quite potent. Why this isn't popular now: It was a strong solo character, but did not bring much to the overall team. Since most teams bring hex removel, and if you are not running a hex build, then the hexes will get removed and you'll proablly get spiked down. The other point is the fact that the running as a Me/A, you had to use Stances for speed boosts. One of the more popular ones was Shadow of Haste (I think) that would give you a 25% speed boost for so many seconds, but you'd return to your original location once the stance ended. ANet nerfed this skill to increase its recharge (or lower its duration) so that you couldn't chain this skill to prevent returning. The other problem ws once this ros up, so did the amount of Warriors Bringing Wild Blow. Once they hit you with wild blow, you'd shadow step back to your original location, dropping the flag where you were hit. This will always remain one of my favorite builds however, because of my ability to stop assassins, rangers, and warriors in their tracks. Strong degen and slowing power made this build an "Oldie but a goodie."

N/A -Tainted Flesh Why People Like This: Added Pressure to the main team. Synergizes really well with the main team. Why this Build is ineffective (In my opinion): Tainted Flesh is only good for your team so as long as you are with them. Also, if you are not careful, if you do not put Tainted Flesh onto more than one teamate, then you threaten to spread diease to the other members of your team, as well as the enemy team. Also, when you are dealig with gankers or other runners, the elite is not that useful. A lot of gankers are eitehr A/? or R/Mo or W/Mo or W/A who all carry some sort of condition removal, (Either Signet of Malaice or Mending Touch.) So therefore, they can simply back off and mending touch or signet the condition away. Conversly, they could hit their running skill and run around your base spreading diease to multiple NPC's, given they all carry some sort of self heal, but the fact that you now have degen getting thrown around can and will cause probelms. In addition, these runners carry no self heal, as well as having a primary attribute that provides bonuses only if things are dying.
 * Death Magic

R/Mo -Crippling Shot Why people like it: One of the original runners in the game. With the ability to snare, degen, an unremovable self heal, and interrupts that don't cause exhaustion, this runner bar was quite potent for a long time. They are probably one of the strongest solo runners in the game. It is also a stance based runner and up until the rise of Wild Blow being used, quite potent. Why it fell out of favor: One of the first things that hurt Crip Shot Runners was the nerf to the skill, makign it cost 15 energy as opposed to 10 energy, which was realtivily minor, but still can be hard if played incorrectly. As the Caster based Runners gained popularity, so did blinds and the ability to act while holding a flag. As well as the fact that mending touch and signet of malice can both remove crip shot even with a cover, this runner began to fall out of favor. In addition, once people learned how to kite and utilize line of sight, you saw a fall off in its usage. It is still one of my old favorites basesd soley on the fact its a Ranger Runner, and I like Rangers.
 * Expertise

Runner Comparisons
Offensive Capabilites, Greatest to Lowest Mind Blast, Air Runner, Shatter Stone, Water Trident, Icy Shakles, WoR, Monk Runner Defensive Capabilites Monk Runner -- WoR -- Water Trident -- Icy Shakles -- Shatter Stone -- Air Runner -- Mind Blast Solo Survival Shatter Stone -- Water Trident -- WoR -- Icy Shakles -- Monk Runner -- Air Runner -- Mind Blast