User:GW-Wiking

Build Storage
=Monk=

hero|general

This build concentrates on the excellent party-healing abilities of the Monk elite skill Light of Deliverance. Using additional skills from the Protection Prayers and other Healing Prayers line skills, an extremely efficient and dependable party healer is created.

Equipment

 * Any armor can be used with this build, providing it has maximum AL. However, most healers prefer the extra energy gained from the use of Radiant Insignias.
 * Runes of Minor Divine Favor, Superior Vigor, Minor Protection Prayers, Superior Healing Prayers.

Usage

 * Heal single targets with Orison of Healing and Dwayna's Kiss. Keep in mind each spell's bonus healing effects.
 * Targets taking damage should be enchanted with Shield of Absorption.
 * Cast Protective Spirit on targets taking high spike damage.
 * Spam Light of Deliverance when your entire party is taking damage. Note that the Divine Favor bonus will only be applied onto you.
 * Remove harmful conditions with Dismiss Condition, Mend Condition, or Mend Ailment.
 * Use Holy Veil, Smite Hex, or Remove Hex to remove Hexes.
 * Revive fallen party members with Rebirth. Note that this should not be used in-battle, as you should focus on healing your party.

Variants

 * The most common variant would be to include Healing Seed in the build.
 * Take Reversal of Fortune for a fast heal and damage reduction.
 * For a different type of hex removal, consider replacing Holy Veil with Smite Hex or Remove Hex.
 * You may also wish to use a different form of condition removal, by replacing Dismiss Condition with Mend Condition or Mend Ailment.
 * Rebirth, while the most commonly used and recommended skill for resurrection in PvE, is definitely not core to this build's functionality. Feel free to replace it with any of the forementioned variants, or with another resurrection skill like Restore Life, Resurrection Chant, Resurrect, or even a Resurrection Signet.
 * Words of Comfort can also be utilized with this build.
 * Signet of Devotion if experiencing energy management problems.
 * If you're taking high-energy cost variants, consider switching to the Elementalist secondary profession and take Glyph of Lesser Energy.

Attributes and skills

 * *  The above attributes are a good baseline to work with and can be adjusted as playstyle/preference allows. 

Hard interrupts (Prophecies/Nightfall):

Daze with cover conditions (Factions):

Spamming (Prophecies):


 * Optional skill slot can include: Concussion Shot, Pin Down, Screaming Shot, Hunter's Shot, Throw Dirt, Serpent's Quickness, Seeking Arrows, Needling Shot (works great with the dazed effect from Broad Head Arrow) or Antidote Signet (or any condition removal skill from another profession).

Equipment

 * Any armor can be used though Druid's is best if energy is lacking.
 * A Recurve Bow is best for interrupting in general with the faster flight time though others can be used in combination with Read the Wind.
 * A Shortbow or Flatbow is recommended if you are in need of a faster firing weapon to interrupt more often (when target is dazed or using Choking Gas for example) or just as a switchout weapon.
 * For any build that inflicts a condition (like dazed or poison) a bow string of it's respective condition (like silencing or poisonous) is suggested to lengthen the desired condition.

Usage

 * The function of these builds depends heavily on the party and environment, and thus the player should be observing his team as well as the enemy the first few moments.
 * If the team seems to be lacking the healing power needed, one should go for interrupting high-damage enemy spells/skills first.
 * If the team seems to be lacking sheer power, go for healers first.
 * If the party is in need of specific enemies interrupted be aware of any targets being called or requested by your team leader.


 * After using the build for a while and getting more comfortable with interrupting, all of the above points should be able to be achieved with the use of Distracting Shot. Disabling an enemy healer's main heal (knowledge of common skill recharges always helps) while also taking care of long-casting spells (perfect example: Meteor Shower or resurrection skills) is the main idea of these builds.
 * Often if you daze a target that is being attacked by others you can then interrupt a second target with your remaining hard interrupts (Savage/Distracting Shot).
 * Dazing a caster boss will often shorten the time the condition lasts but will spell doom for this enemy as they usually will only have spells and will be defeated with minor to no resistance while this effect is in place. As monk bosses in PvE seem to take the longest to defeat this condition can save the party a lot of time and effort in the long run if prepared for it though it is more frequently removed in certain areas, cover conditions can help prevent this.
 * If using Choking Gas and Practiced Stance it's often a good idea to bring an IAS as you want to fire as often as possible with every shot being a potential interrupt. This will also interrupt in a small area and interrupt while blinded (as the gas does the interrupting and not you hitting the target) but it will not interrupt non-spell skills, thus a minimum of one other hard interrupt is recommended to be brought along.

Counters

 * Any standard melee/ranger counters such as blindness, on attack/hit hexes, and/or evasion/blocking (though variants listed below can counter all of these downfalls).
 * Energy denial.

Variants
Optional skills: 
 * Hunter's Shot/Screaming Shot for a cover condition or added degen.
 * Concussion Shot for an additional spell interrupt or daze effect.
 * Pin Down to help land Broad Head Arrow, prevent the target from fleeing, or a cover condition.
 * Throw Dirt to blind melee foes that find their way to you or those in trouble near you.
 * Antidote Signet primarily to remove blindness (unless using the Choking Gas variant, then it isn't needed) though at times to remove poison and disease as well. It can also be replaced by secondary profession skills (like Mending Touch or Remedy Signet).
 * Serpent's Quickness to rapidly have interrupts/daze attacks available.
 * Seeking Arrows to hit an enemy that is evading/blocking your attacks.

As a R/Me:
 * Any other defensive/running stance to replace Whirling Defense, best option is Dryder's Defenses, as it also gives elemental armor though Lightning Reflexes can boost your interrupt rate temporarily if the target is dazed or if you are using Choking Gas.
 * A running stance to replace a skill for more survivability. Dodge/Zojun's Haste in missions/quests to prevent a wipe or to get to a destination fast or escape if the need arises.
 * Natural Stride can be substituted as a hybrid of a defensive stance and a running stance to get a little of each of the two above options.
 * If attacking a dazed target or using Choking Gas, Needling Shot can often shutdown a target if their health is below 50%, or using an IAS (such as Bestial Fury/Tiger's Fury, Frenzy, Flurry, or others) can increase your interrupt rate.
 * Adding a pet to the build can then activate the interrupts for you from the daze effect (if being used) allowing similar results as above without relying on your party to target either of your two targets (best with Broad Head Arrow or Concussion Shot) or just to add more interrupts on the one dazed target.
 * Bringing hex removal skills can be beneficial if expecting to run into hexes that will hinder you like Empathy.
 * Adding skills like Frustration or Arcane Conundrum can help increase the chance of interrupting with slower cast times from the target or even cause more damage to the target; if not added pressure.
 * Replacing the Elite skill with skills like Migraine or Psychic Instability can severely hamper a caster as well when combined with daze and/or interrupting attacks.
 * Epidemic can help spread conditions like daze, poison, crippled, and bleeding to more than your primary target.
 * Skills like Inspired Hex, Revealed Hex, or Hex Eater Signet can help to remove hexes if you know that you will be frequently encountering hexes that may hinder you in some way without expending much, if any, energy in their use.
 * A Mesmer's repertoire of skills may also add extra interrupting options should your target be obstructed, evading, or otherwise avoiding your interrupts. As these are not typically reduced in cost with ranks of Expertise it is uncommon to have more than one or two Mesmer interrupt skills and more common to use a signet at no cost (like Leech Signet or Signet of Disruption for example).

Interrupts in other builds:
 * It is common to add a few interrupt skills like Distracting Shot and/or Savage Shot (for common examples) to another build to add interruption options. In this case it should be taken into account as to what else one might be doing.  If the user will be spamming other skills or casting long spells the interrupts will not be as useful as the user will be busy and the interrupt skills wasted.  Be sure to plan ahead when adding Interrupt skills to any build so as to make use of them appropriately.
 * Many times it is common to bring along one interrupt skill so as to avoid that one large skill per battle (Giant Stomp, Meteor Shower, Wurm Siege, any kind of resurrect skill, and so on) and it is usually a good idea for such in many a situation as the user will often have a time and place (if not a specific foe/skill) for that skill's use as opposed to being occupied using other skills as above.

See also:
 * Interrupt skills quick reference

=barrage=
 * hero|general|farming

This build is a basic barrage ranger that can be used and modified for many situations and secondary professions, the main goal is to use the common elite skill Barrage so as to synergize with other skills for a better effect or at least other skills that compliment it in it's most common uses. This is most often used to target groups of enemies as well as solo areas with increases to damage output or other effects on each barrage.

Attributes and skills
The base is below but to give a more detailed description of the attributes, the highest score is always in Marksmanship (often maxed at 16 but other times it can be as low as 12 depending on the secondary profession used - see below), 9 or 14 ranks in Expertise to effect 10 energy skills primarily (or 8 or 13 if all skills used are 5 energy), and Wilderness Survival is good at 8 or 10 for the use of Troll Unguent or to switch out for secondary profession skill ranks.


 * *  The above attributes are a good baseline to work with and can be adjusted as playstyle/preference allows. 

 Common Core Barrage baseline:  

Equipment

 * Any armor can be used though Druid's is best if energy is lacking. Scout's is a poor choice as preparations will not be used in a Barrage build.
 * A Flatbow is commonly used in a barrage build provided Favorable Winds is brought as well to lessen the large arrow arc from a Flatbow and to help speed the arrows to their targets. Otherwise, each bow has it's own ups and downs but can be used as preffered.
 * Vampiric or Zealous bow strings are used a lot in Barrage builds as you get multiple hits per shot (provided the build doesn't call for an elemental string) though a Sundering string is a good stand by if you don't want to worry about the degen or makes a good switch out weapon.

Usage

 * The function of a barrage build varies slightly but the overall effect is to do damage to a group of foes with each use. Therefore, attacking the central most target in a group is desired for the best effect rather than the closest.
 * Placement of any spirits before hand is key as they usually increase the damage and speed the arrows fly at. Be sure to place them where they will be effective yet not attacked by enemies.
 * Often, interrupt skills are brought along to take out any big skills or those that might hurt you like Meteor Shower or Resurrect as examples of big skills or Empathy and Spiteful Spirit as examples of skills that can seriously hinder or hurt you. Be aware that you will have to wait for the barrage animation to finish before the interrupt will fire.
 * Some sort of self heal, condition removal (primarily for blindness), or defensive stance is popular as well though not required.

Counters

 * Any standard melee/ranger counters such as blindness, on attack/hit hexes, and/or blocking.
 * Energy denial.

Variants

 * Support or damage enhancing skills often brought from the ranger skill line may include but are not limited to:
 * Throw Dirt as an emergency skill to blind foes attacking you or your allies.
 * Winnowing to add 4 damage to each arrow.
 * Conflagration to change your bow's damage type to fire damage.
 * Winter to change any elemental damage to cold damage.

Barrage/Pet Variant


 * Adding a pet to the build with then turn you into what is referred to as a B/P ranger. Pet attacks will not slow your rate of fire as they are all shouts.  Often, a team will consist mostly of these creating a pet wall and multiple barragers, or just have one around.  Multiple variants can be found for this at.

R/Warrior

 * Attributes levels usually are in Tactics and at around 8-9 ranks should do it in most cases.
 * Shouts can be used without interrupting the fire rate flow thus making them useful and often charged with the high adrenaline gain from barrage if they are adrenaline based.
 * "Watch Yourself!" charges quickly and can increase the party's AL without any cast time. This also combines well with Soldier's Defense.
 * "Fear Me!" can be used repeatedly to reduce the enemy's energy levels though this typically has a minor effect if any on an enemy's seemingly limitless energy pool.
 * "Shields Up!" can be used to reduce the damage your party members take from projectiles.


 * Healing Signet can be used as an alternate, energy free, though risky heal.
 * Protector's Defense can be used to help those near you as you often will not move while barraging.

R/Monk
Solo Vigorous Barrager

Use: Cast and maintain Live Vicariously. Before battle put up Symbiosis to gain the extra health it offers from enchantments. When entering a battle, cast Vigorous Spirit. When enemies start to pile up, use Barrage to take full advantage of the healing provided by a vampiric bow, Live Vicariously, and Vigorous Spirit.

Other skills:
 * Attributes levels usually are in Healing Prayers, Smiting Prayers, Protection Prayers, or none at all depending on what is taken/used and typically at around 8-9 ranks in only one of those areas should do it in most cases. Ranks in Wilderness Survival are usually sacrificed as healing from Trolls Unguent is often replaced with other skills.  If Symbiosis is used just use whatever remaining ranks are left but no more than 8-9 ranks in Beastmastery at most.
 * Live Vicariously will return health to you for every creature hit which can be up to 6 per Barrage. Commonly used for soloing areas.
 * Vigorous Spirit will behave similar to Live Vicariously but without the drain on energy regen.
 * Single target heal spells or healing enchantments can replace Troll Unguent as a self heal that can also be used on others. Healing Touch is an example skill that can be used as it's cost is reduced with ranks of expertise though it gains no benefit from Divine Favor with a Ranger primary.
 * Judge's Insight to add Armor penetration to each arrow and typically defeat masses of the undead or others weak to holy damage.
 * Mending Touch to remove blindness or other conditions.
 * Watchful Spirit will sap your energy regen but provide +2 health regen with no needed attribute points spent.
 * Renew Life and Restore Life's costs are reduced by ranks in expertise making them decent resurrects to exchange for the Resurrect Signet. Otherwise, there are plenty of reusable resurrection skills in the monks repertoire.
 * Balthazar's Spirit or Essence Bond are usually used when soloing as you will be the sole recipient of damage and will often return massive amounts of energy.
 * Hex removal skills like Smite Hex or Holy Veil can help eliminate damage from on attack/hit hexes like Spiteful Spirit, Empathy, or others.
 * Symbiosis can be useful if using multiple enchants on yourself or others in your party.

R/Necromancer

 * Attribute level of Death Magic, Blood Magic, or Curses is usually at around 8-9 ranks in most cases if at all.
 * Many skills can be used to replace a self heal that either give you health, steal health, or exploit a corpse for health.
 * Order of Pain will help add damage to every attack but for a very limited time. This is best left to another party member (who can also use Order of the Vampire) that can achieve higher attribute levels as it will slow your rate of fire and eat up your energy if you cast it.
 * Mark of Pain may cause scatter but can be most useful in narrow passages.
 * Plague Touch's cost is reduced with ranks of expertise and can be used to transfer any conditions from yourself with limited success as it is restricted to touch range.
 * Many Necromancer skills can benefit a Barrager but usually they need to be cast by another party member that is dedicated to that role.

R/Mesmer

 * Attribute level of Inspiration Magic, Domination Magic, or Illusion Magic is usually at around 8-9 ranks in most cases if at all.
 * Interrupts like Leech Signet can be used to add to or replace bow interrupts.
 * Hex removal skills are available like Hex Breaker or Inspired Hex.
 * Distortion can be used with limited results as a temporary defensive stance.
 * Energy management skills are available mostly from the Inspiration line.
 * Ether Feast can be used as a self heal.
 * Elemental Resistance, Physical Resistance, or any of the mantras can be used as a replacement for a defensive stance depending on the areas you may be in.
 * Arcane Mimicry can be used to make use of another party member's Elite skill in combination with yours without spending any attribute points in a Mesmer attribute line.

R/Elementalist
Fiery Barrager

Use: Use the Glyph to reduce spell costs and cast Conjure Flame on yourself and Mark of Rodgort on your central most target. Fire a fiery bow using Barrage and you can keep the hexed targets burning. Some may prefer to use Fire Attunement instead of the Glyph to reduce energy costs.

Other Skills:
 * Attribute level of Fire Magic, Water Magic, or Earth Magic usually start at around 8 to as high as 12 ranks in most cases if at all.
 * Any Conjure skill with the appropriate bow string can add damage to each barrage.
 * Stone Striker should NOT be used, as it will convert your attacks to earth damage, which will mean that your attacks will no longer trigger Conjure Flame or Mark of Rodgort, even if you have a fire bow, as Stone Striker overrides the normal damage type.
 * If you wish to still have the benefits of a Vampiric, Zealous, or Sundering bowstring, you must bring Conflagration to convert your arrows to fire, so they can still trigger Conjure Flame and Mark of Rodgort.
 * Multiple Earth Magic or Water Magic skills can be used for defensive options such as Stoneflesh Aura, Armor of Frost, or many of the different Wards.
 * Though less popular and very energy intensive, Glyph of Lesser Energy and Meteor Shower (which causes exhaustion) can be used together to add repeated damage and knock downs on your targets, preventing them from escaping your Barrage area.
 * Similar to the Meteor Shower combo, Deep Freeze can be used for a large slow down effect on your foes and no exhaustion though this is uncommon as well.
 * If using 2 or more enchantments on yourself Symbiosis becomes a viable option as listed under R/Mo above.

R/Assassin

 * Attribute level of Deadly Arts or Shadow Arts is usually at around 8-9 ranks in most cases if at all.
 * Caltrops can be used to slow your targets though it requires a closer range.
 * Shadow Refuge makes a good self heal.
 * Viper's Defense and other stances can be used for defensive options.
 * Way of Perfection can add healing with high ranks in Marksmanship and a lot of targets with minimal energy spent (similar to Vigorous Spirit as seen above but relies on criticals for health return) though it performs best if there is a Paragon in your party using "Go for the Eyes!" to drastically increase chances of critical hits.

R/Ritualist
Splinter Barrager

Use: Same as the usual barrage build but cast Splinter Weapon on yourself (or allies as time allows) and be sure to target a group of foes. Recast as needed and as foes are available. Especially good in tight passages.

Other Skills:
 * Attribute level of Channeling Magic, Restoration Magic, or Communing is usually at around 8 to as high as 12 ranks in most cases if at all and often means the reduction of ranks in Marksmanship though only slightly.
 * Nightmare Weapon can be useful for stealing health on up to 3 enemies hit per casting.
 * Wailing Weapon can add interruption to a mass of attacking foes for the entire duration.
 * Warmonger's Weapon can add interruption to a mass of non-attacking foes for the entire duration.
 * Brutal Weapon can add damage to every arrow provided they aren't enchanted. This can be very tricky as many healers will enchant the entire group or those damaged and may ruin this weapon spell unintentionally.
 * Guided Weapon can make your Barrages unblockable.
 * Vital Weapon can add to your maximum health and others in the party.
 * Wielder's Boon can be a useful self heal if under a Weapon Spell effect.
 * Spirit Rift can be used as a spiking skill add-on if timed properly and especially effective when combined with Splinter Weapon. Cast Splinter Weapon, Spirit Rift, then Barrage and it all hits about the same time.  Drawbacks include energy cost, casting time, and the enemy may move from where the Spirit Rift appears.


 * Spirits: Often a R/Rt may also bring a spirit to add more damage or healing as the case may allow (also taking advantage of the cost reduction Expertise allows) though this rarely will enhance Barrage in any way but simply takes advantage of the party make-up. Expendable spirits (like Life or Destruction that give an effect when they expire) tend to make a good defensive "shield" of sorts to hide behind should you come under attack as well.  The most commonly brought are:
 * Recuperation to add health regen in spirit range to all things friendly - especially good for groups with multiple pets, minions, and/or large groups of players and/or friendly NPC's.
 * Life to add cheap healing in spirit range to all things friendly and a "shield".
 * Destruction to add cheap damage in spirit range to all things unfriendly and a "shield".
 * Bloodsong to add a cheap attacker and possible "shield" that can steal health though less common.
 * Pain to add a cheap attacker and possible "shield" that does a little more damage than Bloodsong but can't heal itself though also less common.

R/Paragon
'''"Go for the Eyes!" Barrager

Use: Same as the usual barrage build but spam "Go for the Eyes!" and "Find Their Weakness!" together as they charge to do critical hits to your targets and deep wound to one of your targets as well as add crits to the targets of those in your party that are effected. "Find Their Weakness!" only affects one ally and the first critical hit though so it is usually the skill to change out for others listed below.

Other Skills:
 * Attribute level of Command or Motivation is usually at around 8-9 ranks in most cases if at all.
 * Shouts can be used without interrupting the fire rate flow thus making them useful and often charged with the high adrenaline gain from barrage if they are adrenaline based.
 * "Never Give Up!" can add energy to an unhealthy party.
 * "Never Surrender!" to add health regen to an unhealthy party.
 * "Stand Your Ground!" to add armor to your party while not moving.


 * Many motivation skills can be used for party health, energy, defense and more though they don't benefit more from use with barrage unless adrenal based.
 * Anthem of Envy can add some minor damage at the easy cost of adrenaline.
 * Bladeturn Refrain can be used to add defense to yourself or others and last a long time if using other chants or shouts allowing you to cover the party or at least multiple members.
 * Song of Concentration and Hexbreaker Aria can both be charged quickly though will slow you down with the long cast times.  They will still benefit the group with less interruption or hex removal though.
 * Chorus of Restoration or Energizing Chorus can be quickly charged and used for energy or health management on yourself or others that meet the conditions.
 * Remedy Signet is a good condition removal skill.

R/Dervish

 * Attribute level of Earth Prayers or Wind Prayers is usually at around 8-9 ranks in most cases if at all.
 * Dust Cloak or Staggering Force can be used to change your weapon damage type to earth damage.(do not use if you are working with an orders necromancer)
 * Heart of Holy Flame can be used to change your weapon damage type to holy damage.(do not use if you are working with an orders necromancer)
 * Grenth's Fingers can be used to change your weapon damage type to cold damage.(do not use if you are working with an orders necromancer)
 * Zealous Renewal can be used for energy management.
 * Harrier's Grasp to cripple your targets.
 * Harrier's Haste may add some damage to moving foes but works better with Harrier's Grasp.

Barrage in other primary professions:

 * Barrage isn't limited to Ranger primaries and other professions can make good use of the skill. Many will make good use of their primary attribute skill line in combination which Ranger's can't (at least not as effectively with zero ranks).

See also:

=touch=

tested-build|RA|AB|CM|general|hero

A Touch Ranger makes use of a ranger's durability in getting close to his opponents and "touch" skills from the necromancer's arsenal to steal his opponents' health. This build uses a high rank in Expertise to reduce the energy cost of the key skills Vampiric Bite and Vampiric Touch. link title

Equipment

 * Druid's Armor, With Rune of Superior Vigor and Rune of Superior Expertise
 * Weapons (one of the following)
 * A +5 energy axe/sword of shelter/defense/fortitude and a Blood Knife from Attendant Nashu or Jahn Pitz.
 * A Blood Magic wand such as the one available from Karl Jakobs and Blood Magic focus such as the one available from Volsung Stoneketil.
 * A +energy weapon set with otherwise same stats as the above.
 * Milthuran's Staff for more energy

Usage

 * Get close to your target and spam Vampiric Bite and Vampiric Touch.
 * Use Dodge to chase down kiting targets and avoid attacks that can be harmful to the build (such as crippling attacks).
 * Use Whirling Defense or Throw Dirt when targeted by warriors, rangers or assassins. This is not only important for avoiding the damage, but also the harmful conditions like crippling and Deep Wound.
 * Use Offering of Blood when you can get the full benefit of the energy gain and you are not taking too much damage. Use it as often as it recharges if you can.

Counters

 * Use anti-spammer strategies, such as Diversion or Distracting Shot.
 * As the ranger needs to get within touch range, just stay away from them. Use any combination of snares, kiting and knockdowns to achieve this.
 * The life stolen per second is not enough to overcome focused damage and health degeneration. However condition based degeneration won't work as they just use Plague Touch to pass it on.
 * Signet of Humility, Arcane Thievery or Arcane Larceny can be used to shut down Offering of Blood, which is crucial for the build. When used in combination with even mild energy denial such as Energy Burn, the ranger will soon be out of energy.
 * Blackout is devastating to touchers.
 * "Can't Touch This!" will cause touch skills to fail, but this is not overly destructive and will only waste the touch ranger 2-10 energy.
 * Tease will cause the recharge of all the touch skills used in the build to increase by a certain percent, decreasing the overall DPS of the build.
 * It may be wise for users of this build to bring a melee weapon (such as a sword) as a counter-counter, since Tease ends if the target hits the caster (who will have to be within touch range to cast it in the first place)
 * Because the build relies on two skills spammed consecutively, enemies with interrupts can easily time their interrupts.
 * It looks like a toucher is easy to stop. However one on one (in most cases even 2 or 3 on one) with the touch ranger at full energy it's not as easy. The only realistic way to stop him is using hex based snares, Diversion, heavy energy denial or out healing him until he runs out of energy.

Variants

 * Verata's Aura can take control of all minions around for a medium-short amount of time. Highly useful for AB.
 * Frozen Soil can be hidden on the Touch Ranger skill-bar, and when used intelligently, can be a devastating skill in TA, and especially RA. This requires the extra skill points to be put into Wilderness Survival. This can easily replace Throw Dirt.
 * Barbed Signet can replace Resurrection Signet in AB, giving the Touch Ranger a secondary distance attack to compliment Vampiric Gaze.
 * Signet of Agony and Distracting Shot with a barbed bow to replace Throw Dirt and Whirling Defense gives the build an interrupt and the ability to inflict 44 second bleeding (significant damage over time.) You can still have Blood weaponry as a secondary set.
 * Blood Ritual is useful especially in a team situation as it is affected by expertise and gives an energy gain. Similarily, a group of touch rangers could be effective using Blood is Power and Blood Ritual on each other.
 * Zojun's Haste, paired with Dodge, gives an almost nonstop speed boost and protection against rangers. This is a good replacement for Resurrection Signet in AB.
 * Blood Renewal makes a good self heal if used properly.
 * Strip Enchantment in place of Resurrection Signet for Alliance Battles or 8-Team Competitive Missions such as The Jade Quarry and Fort Aspenwood, where Resurrection Signets are useless.
 * Use the 6 left-over attribute points and put them into Wilderness Survival, then using Serpent's Quickness as a way to increase pressure on your target.
 * Touch of Agony and/or Wallow's Bite should not be overlooked.
 * For players who only own Factions, a spare points Melandru's Shot could be used, with Vampiric Bite and Wallow's Bite as the damage. This will be less effective and conditional to enemies faced, however.
 * Storm Chaser instead of Dodge can help with energy management, but is generally not as useful.
 * In Alliance Battles, Resurrection Signet may be replaced with Awaken the Blood for more powerful touch attacks.

Template
=Necro= =MM monk=

tested-build|hero|general

The Minion Master PvE build centers on creating and maintaining an army of minions. See the General minion mastery guide for in-depth discussion.

Attributes and Skills

 * See Variants for possible skills for the optional slot.
 * Karei's Healing Circle is the Factions equivalent skill for Heal Area.
 * The skill set presented here is an example. No claims are made to its supremacy.

Equipment

 * Bloodstained Boots or Insignia are a must. Other than that, any Necromancer armor is fine, although Minion Master insignia is preferred.
 * A staff or weapon/focus set that halves recharge and casting time of Death Magic is advisable. Ghial's Staff or The Nightbringer work great.
 * See the Equipment section of the General minion mastery guide for more options.

Usage

 * As soon as corpses are available, start by raising a Flesh Golem, then Bone Fiends. If you are low on energy or are waiting for Animate Bone Fiend to recharge, raise up some Bone Horrors. Summon new minions during battle if needed.
 * Use Dark Bond to mitigate damage, if you expect to be in a vulnerable position.
 * Use Blood of the Master and/or Heal Area to keep your minions alive.

Counters

 * An enemy with Diversion will screw you up if it gets used on Blood of the Master.
 * A good mesmer could mess you up when you try to summon minions.
 * Another necromancer may get to corpses before you do, which will leave you with a lack of corpses.
 * A mesmer with Conjure Phantasm or Conjure Nightmare will kill you pretty fast if you don't have a hex remover.
 * See also the Opposing forces section of the General minion mastery guide.

Variants

 * Some find the extra healing provided by Heal Area unnecessary. This gives the Minion Master more choices in selecting a secondary profession. Also, the points put into Healing Prayers can be used in other attributes.
 * Aura of the Lich can be used in place of Animate Flesh Golem to allow more spamming of Blood of the Master, although not advisable when anticipating health degeneration effects. This also makes Blood Renewal useful for self-healing if Blood Magic is used.
 * Taste of Death can be used in place of Dark Bond healing.
 * Skills such as Rotting Flesh, Putrid Explosion, Deathly Swarm and Bitter Chill can be added to give the Minion Master some direct damage skills that are linked to Death Magic.
 * You can bring Death Nova to make one last final use of a minion that's near death.
 * For more self healing Animate Vampiric Horror can be used in place of Animate Bone Fiend. This allows a more meat-shield like role of the minion master protecting the back line casters. If making this switch, it is a good idea to cast Animate Bone Horror more often due to the recharge time of Animate Vampiric Horror and to refresh your minions.
 * Fill the optional slot with Verata's Aura to reclaim your minions if you die, or possibly to steal minions from monsters who create them. Not many monsters can, however, and the ones that can do not create them nearly as fast as the average Minion Master Necromancer. As such, Verata's Gaze may be a better choice for stealing minions.
 * Infuse Condition in combination with Dark Bond is useful in scenarios where you are being targeted instead of your minions.
 * Some like to bring other healing skills such as Healing Breeze or Blood Renewal to offset the sacrifice damage suffered by using Blood of the Master.
 * Rebirth can be replaced by the resurrection skill of your choice.
 * Skills such as Putrid Explosion will exploit your corpses rendering them useless to a Minion Master. Instead of using Animate Bone Fiend and Dark Bond, try Fetid Ground and Deathly Swarm for damage when you need to kill enemies quickly without enemies.
 * You can use Animate Shambling Horror instead of Animate Bone Horror if you have Guild Wars Nightfall. The differences between a Shambling Horror and a Bone Horror, except for the 'skin', include a different attack range from Bone Minions and Vampiric Horrors, and the fact that when a Shambling Horror dies they will immediatly turn into a Jagged Horror, which will cause bleeding with its attacks. Those using Shambling Horror will find a longer recharge time in return for this fact, so faster-recharging summons are advised.
 * Using Dwayna's Sorrow on your minions can provide numerous, cheap heals for your entire party.
 * Signet of Lost Souls may be an energy management option.


 * If you consider the healing from Heal Area unnecessary, replace it with a Death Magic spell such as Deathly Swarm, Bitter Chill or any other high damage Death Magic spell.

Equipment

 * Minion Master's Armor or Cabalist's Armor.
 * Bloodstained Boots
 * Any 20/20 Bone Staff, Ghial's Staff, Woe Spreader or The Nightbringer

Usage
When starting out in a new area or low on minions:
 * Use Rotting Flesh on fleshy foes, preferably on large groups to spread the Disease condition. This is incredibly effective when used in PvE.
 * Create a Flesh Golem with the first dead body to start off.
 * Create other minions depending on your Energy pool.

Once you have a few minions: This build can happily stay alive by sacrificing a minion with Taste of Death while other minions kill foes, while disease from Rotting Flesh degenerates most foes in PvE when low on minions.
 * Create other minions, again, depending on remaining Energy.
 * Use Blood of the Master to keep your minions alive.
 * When without a monk on your team it is perfectly viable to use Taste of Death to keep yourself alive so long as you have Minions to feed off of.
 * When idle, spam Blood of the Master on your minion army and use Taste of Death on a Flesh golem to regain the health lost. Don't forget that it is usually easier to kill off an old Flesh Golem for a new one instead of repeatedly healing one.

Variants

 * For the optional slot:
 * Deathly Swarm can be used for AoE damage.
 * Take Rotting Flesh to spread degeneration. (NOTE: not recommended against human foes)
 * Use Infuse Condition for the transfer of conditions to your minions.
 * Aura of the Lich can be used in place of Animate Flesh Golem to allow more spamming of Blood of the Master, although not advisable when anticipating health degeneration effects. This also makes Blood Renewal useful for self-healing if a higher level Blood Magic is used.
 * Skills such as Putrid Explosion, Deathly Swarm and Bitter Chill can be added to give the Minion Master some direct damage skills that are linked to Death Magic.
 * You can bring Death Nova to make one last final use of a minion that's near death.
 * For more self healing Animate Vampiric Horror can be used in place of Animate Bone Fiend. This allows a more meat-shield like role of the minion master protecting the back line casters. If making this switch, it is a good idea to cast Animate Bone Horror more often due to the recharge time of Animate Vampiric Horror and to refresh your minions. Also great way to gain a positive health gained to sacrificed ratio if enough are summoned.
 * Bring Verata's Aura to reclaim your minions if you die, or possibly to steal minions from monsters who create them. Not many monsters can, however, and the ones that can do not create them nearly as fast as the average Minion Master Necromancer. As such, Verata's Gaze may be a better choice for stealing minions.
 * Infuse Condition in combination with Dark Bond is useful in scenarios where you are being targeted instead of your minions.
 * Skills such as Putrid Explosion will exploit your corpses rendering them useless to a Minion Master. Instead of using Animate Bone Fiend and Dark Bond, try Fetid Ground and Deathly Swarm for damage when you need to kill enemies quickly without minions.
 * You can use Animate Shambling Horror instead of Animate Bone Horror if you have Guild Wars Nightfall. The differences between a Shambling Horror and a Bone Horror, except for the 'skin', include a different attack range from Bone Minions and Vampiric Horrors, and the fact that when a Shambling Horror dies they will immediatly turn into a Jagged Horror, which will cause bleeding with its attacks. Those using Shambling Horror will find a longer recharge time in return for this fact, so faster-recharging summons are advised.
 * Signet of Lost Souls may be an energy management option.
 * Verata's Gaze and Verata's Aura Make excellent AB variant over the Resurrect skills because they allow the Minion Master to steal the enemy minions (Mostly other Flesh Golems or with aura all of the enemy minions). WARNING: Once Verata's Aura is used, especially with re-controlling your army MAINTAIN IT!

Equipment

 * A mix of Gladiator's Armor and Berserker's Armor is a good combination, or you could go for Dreadnought armor for some more Armor vs Elemental damage.
 * Choose either a Furious or Zealous Axe of Fortitude (Zealous is your energy upkeep for Cyclone Axe).
 * The best Rune of Vigor and Absorption you can get.

Usage
When you encounter enemies, engage them and start building up some adrenaline using "For Great Justice!" and Cyclone Axe. As soon as you have enough adrenaline, use your attack skills (primarily Cleave). If your health is going down use Healing Signet to heal. Use "For Great Justice!" to help regain adrenaline.

Counters

 * Common tank counters:
 * Ward Against Melee
 * Reduced attack speed hexes like Shadow of Fear and Faintheartedness
 * Blindness
 * Damage-on-attack hexes such as Spiteful Spirit and Empathy

Variants

 * Change "Watch Yourself!" for a speed increasing skill such as Rush and Sprint.
 * Switch "For Great Justice!" for an IAS such as Frenzy.

Template
=triple choper=

tested-build|hero|general

This build utilizes the Warrior's Axe Mastery line to deal tremendous damage to adjacent foes, through the use of the elite skill Triple Chop, and its non-elite counterpart, Cyclone Axe. Through these two skills, the user is able to strike multiple foes at once with high damage, resulting in very high adrenaline gain. In combination with skills from the Tactics and Strength line, the user is able to strike quickly, as well as gaining adequate defense for such environments.

Equipment

 * A Zealous Axe should be used to maintain Energy at a suitable level.
 * Runes of Superior Axe Mastery, Superior Vigor, Minor Tactics, Superior Absorption, Minor Strength.
 * Max AL armor with any Insignia can be used, but you may want to use Radiant armor for the extra energy boost.
 * A +1 to Axe Mastery headpiece.

Usage

 * When fighting, be sure to use Triple Chop and Cyclone Axe constantly to maintain a high DPS.
 * Try to fight in the center of a mob, rather than chasing down lone targets, providing that there is no target with very high priority.
 * Avoid chasing targets too far, as it can result in aggroing other, nearby groups, which puts the entire party at risk.
 * Activate Flail for an attack speed boost.
 * "Watch Yourself!" should be spammed constantly to give your entire party an armor boost.
 * Remove enemy Stances with Wild Blow, or for fighting single targets.
 * Disrupting Chop should be used to interrupt long-casting, crucial spells such as Meteor Shower.
 * It should also be used against enemies spamming certain spells, or on enemy healers.
 * Use Healing Signet as a secondary source of healing. Note that you have an Armor penalty while activating this skill, so avoid using it in high-pressure situations.

Counters

 * Blind can be troublesome, if not removed properly.
 * Hexes which deal damage on attacking or on hitting can be devastating, since you're constantly striking multiple targets.
 * Diversion can greatly reduce your damage capability if not avoided.

Variants

 * Other types of IAS such as Tiger Stance and Burst of Aggression may be used in place of Flail, if you think the speed penalty is a problem.
 * Bonetti's Defense can be useful for tanking, and is quickly charged through your attacks.
 * You may want to replace Disrupting Chop with Distracting Blow for a faster interrupt, at the expense of an adrenaline-based interrupt.
 * "Retreat!" can be useful for cases where the party gets overwhelmed.
 * In places where stance removal or interrupts aren't entirely necessary, fit in an attack such as Executioner's Strike or Dismember.
 * Replace Healing Signet with Lion's Comfort for a faster heal, at the expense of recharge time and Adrenaline cost.
 * If you think you'll need a speed-enhancing stance, or a cancel for Flail, consider taking Rush or Enraging Charge.
 * With a monk secondary vigorous spirit can be used for a good heal when sufficient aggro is taken.
 * With a Necromancer secondary. Plague Touch can be used to deal with conditions and add extra damage.

Templates
= Dervish = =obsidian=

tested-build|general|

This build is a more effective variant of the Obsidian Tank. The advantage of using a dervish is that a dervish can use mysticism to upkeep all of his enchants, without having to worry about running out of energy, and can maintain constant health regeneration, which is the bane of the warrior variant.

Attributes and Skills

 * The optional slot may be filled by:
 * Grasping Earth,
 * Lightbringer's Gaze or,
 * Ward Against Foes
 * Glyph of Elemental Power
 * Fleeting Stability


 * Sunspear Rebirth Signet may replace the Resurrection Signet.
 * For more experienced teams, you may wish to replace the Resurrection Signet altogether, in which case Conviction is recommended.

Equipment

 * Radiant insignias on all armor pieces.
 * Any +5 energy weapon of enchanting such as the Totem Axe and Rajazan's Fervor.
 * An Earth Focus, with +health and +armor while enchanted mods, or a HSR mod, such as Hajok's Prism.
 * For more experienced players, the Aegis of Augh is definitely the way to go.

Usage
Upkeep Stoneflesh Aura, Mystic Regeneration, and Vital Boon. Cast Obsidian Flesh whenever it's charged. If you start taking an excessive amount of damage while Obsidian Flesh is down, cast Armor of Earth. If you're having some trouble with interrupts, use Glyph of Concentration, immediately followed by Stoneflesh Aura and Obsidian Flesh.

Counters

 * Non-Spell Enchantment removal
 * Interrupts
 * Dazed

Attributes and Skills
OR

Equipment

 * For the armor, this build requires a good amount of energy, so any radiant armor would help. Also, if blind becomes a problem, consider attaching a blindness duration reduction rune.
 * A Zealous scythe of Enchanting +20% with a +15% dmg while enchanted inscription is ideal.
 * If you are set up properly, you will have at least 500 health (with a minor rune of vigor) and 35 energy (without the avatar). If you feel that you don't need the zealous scythe, you may trade it in for a sundering one.

Usage
Before going into battle, cast Avatar of Lyssa then Watchful Intervention and then Heart of Fury. Pick out a target (prime targets for this build are Necromancers, Mesmers, Elementalists, Ritualists, Rangers, and Assassins), and attack. Spam the four attack skills in order, chaining one after the other in succession. Wild Blow recharges once for every two times each other attack skill recharges, so you can chain those while waiting.

If you are in a battle long enough for the Avatar of Lyssa to wear off, you will still do quite a bit of damage, so conserve your energy and use the attack skills when necessary. Also, if you need health, recast Watchful Intervention whenever it's not on you.

Counters
Counters to this build are your usual anti-melee incidents, but mostly blind.

Variants
Heal Variant.

Replace Watchful Intervention, Resurrection Signet,and/or Wild Blow or Protector's Strike with Mystic Regeneration and Mystic Vigor

Speed Variant.

This build can be customized depending on your tastes. If you want to have a speed boost, put in Sprint and take out the ressurection signet if you don't need it. You can also put your remaining attribute points into Wind Prayers and use Harrier's Haste. Or even then replace Heart of Fury with Whirling Charge.

Other Variant.

If you want more health, put in Mystic Vigor, which would give you lots of health with the maxed attack speed. If you want, you can take out Wild Blow if you need the ressurection signet, and in that case you can use Rush as a speed boost too as you won't be losing your adrenaline.

Energy Variant.

If you are concerned about energy usage, you can replace one of the attack skills or the ressurection signet with Zealous Renewal for a great energy gain after the enchantment ends.

Masters Videos
Here are videos of the build being used against every Nameless Master.


 * Watch Master of Axes
 * Master of Enchantments (You may watch how Protective Spirit hurts, but not too badly)
 * Master of Energy Denial
 * Master of Hammers
 * Master of Healing
 * Master of Hexes
 * Master of Lighting
 * Master of Spirits
 * Master of Survival

This was all done in a row, with no retries (besides Master of Enchantments because I gave up prematurely the first time, so I only tried him twice in total).

Template
Original

Healing