User:Quizzical/Hero Builds

I give my heroes the same insignias and runes on all characters, and use about the same builds. Some heroes are used very lightly in hard mode, so I don't list any build for them. While I do tweak builds a lot to fit particular missions, these are my base builds.

Koss
Koss has an axe, but hero warriors aren't meaningfully better than henchman warriors if melee range isn't a problem, and are avoided if melee range is a problem.

Goren
Goren has a hammer, which makes him pretty useless right there.

Jora
Jora has a sword, and isn't used much for the same reasons as Koss.

Margrid the Sly
14 marksmanship, 11 beast mastery, 9 expertise

Sometimes I'll replace Heal as One and Savage Shot by Comfort Animal and either Punishing Shot or Broad Head Arrow. Margrid does decent damage and interruptions, and having a pet get in there and take some hits can fill much of the role of minions, and still be able to leash the pet where minions would be a problem.

Acolyte Jin
14 marksmanship, 11 wilderness survival, 9 expertise

Jin gets used mainly in situations where mobs can't remove conditions and melee is problematic.

Pyre Fierceshot
Anything Pyre can do, Margrid or Jin can do better. That's because I give Pyre whatever ranger gear is leftover after equipping the first two with my best stuff.

Olias
14 curses, 13 soul reaping

Olias is my anti-martial weapon hero, great for interfering with packs of warriors, rangers, assassins, etc. Shadow of Fear may be replaced by Suffering when I want more damage if allowing mobs their normal attack speed is safe.

Master of Whispers
Master of Whispers is my minion master. Minion masters don't fit in a lot of the missions I've done. Even where they kind of fit, minions tend to run off and aggro extra mobs, so I don't use them that much. He's really only seen heavy use in Vizunah Square and The Eternal Grove, both of which have very peculiar requirements that don't lend themselves to general use builds.

Livia
Livia is my blood necro. I haven't yet found a need for a blood necro.

Acolyte Sousuke
Sousuke is my fire elementalist. He gets quite a bit of use in easy mode with a searing flames build, but fire elementalists are pretty useless in most hard mode missions.

Zhed Shadowhoof
14 earth magic, 11 energy storage, 9 water magic (for prismatic insignias)

Sometimes I'll replace one of the wards by Ward Against Elements, or replace Stone Daggers by something else. Zhed is good for harassing packs of mobs, especially slashing the damage of hostile martial weapon users.

Vekk
14 earth magic, 11 energy storage, 9 water magic (for prismatic insignias)

Sometimes I'll replace Ward Against Melee by Eruption or Rust. This is great against fire casters, and has a lot of other skills to interfere with other types of mobs, too. The use is obvious in Hell's Precipice, but Vekk is also effective against afflicted. Conjure Frost is armor-ignoring, so Vekk can still do decent damage in hard mode.

Dunkoro
14 healing prayers, 13 divine favor

Healing monks henchmen are often adequate, so Dunkoro rarely gets used unless I have another player in the group. Cure Hex or Spotless Soul are sometimes dropped in favor of Heal Other.

Tahlkora
14 protection prayers, 13 divine favor

Hex and condition removal are situational, of course, so either may be replaced by Divine Healing when unneeded. Protective Spirit is sometimes replaced by some other protection skill. I may bring Resurrect instead of the signet if the group needs another permanent rez.

Ogden Stonehealer
Ogden is my smiting monk. I don't think I've ever used him.

Norgu
14 domination magic, 11 inspiration magic, 9 fast casting

Energy Surge is often replaced by Power Block, Shatter Storm, or Expel Hexes, depending on the situation. Power Spike is often replaced by Cry of Frustration. With such versatility from alternate skills and lightning-quick AI reflexes, Norgu gets quite a bit of use.

Gwen
Gwen is my illusion mesmer. I've tried to work her into missions at times, but haven't found good situations where she'd be better than Norgu.

Zenmai
Zenmai is my assassin with a shadow arts rune. AI is idiotic about attack chains, so Zenmai doesn't get used in hard mode.

Anton
Anton is my assassin with a deadly arts rune. I don't think I've ever used him, for about the same reasons as Zenmai.

Razah
14 restoration magic, 11 spawning power, 9 communing

Sometimes the communing and spawning attributes are switched. Pain and Union are sometimes replaced by restoration skills such as Rejuvenation or Weapon of Shadow, in which case, I'll go 13 spawning power and drop communing. Razah gets very heavy use, as I like a group to have a restoration ritualist healer in most cases, and most locations don't have a henchman to do the job, and those that do don't have a very good one.

Xandra
Xandra is my channeling ritualist. I don't think I've ever used her.

Melonni
Melonni is my dervish with an earth prayers rune. Without being able to keep avatars up indefinitely via Eternal Aura, hero dervishes are far less effective than players. I may yet find some good uses for Ebon Dust Aura builds, but so far, she's only been for holy damage with Heart of Holy Flame.

Kahmu
Kahmu is my dervish with a wind prayers rune. I don't use wind prayers, so I don't use Kahmu over Melonni.

General Morgahn
Morgahn is my paragon with a motivation rune. There's some good stuff there, and if I had more hero spots, I'd probably bring him quite a bit. Unfortunately, many missions have vital roles to fill, and a paragon usually can't fill them.

Hayda
Hayda is my paragon with a command rune. I'm not sure if I've ever used her.