User:Nova/Cryonics

The Cryogenic Nuker relies on the Necromancer skill Spinal Shivers and powerful Water Magic spells to completely devastate the enemy, and suppressing most (if not all) casting from your victim. The Cryogenic Nuker works best in PvP, especially Team Arenas, where battles are shorter and not as energy-consuming.

Equipment

 * Radiant Armor, with a Rune of Vigor and 2 Runes of Attunement.
 * PvP Water Wand of Memory with the "Hale and Hearty" Inscription
 * PvP Frost Artifact of Aptitude with the "Live for Today" Inscription

Usage

 * Before the battle, cast Water Attunement followed by Aura of Restoration as a cover-up.
 * Select an important enemy spellcaster. Stay back, and when they get close, use Spinal Shivers, immediately followed by Shard Storm, Maelstrom, Water Trident, Ice Spikes, and another Water Trident.
 * Shard Storm is to act like a snare for Maelstrom. However, the target often still walks away from the range of Maelstrom. This is your opportunity to hit them with Water Trident.
 * Continue hitting them with Water Trident, Shard Storm, and Ice Spikes, as well as with your wand. Renew Spinal Shivers if needed, and always follow it with a cover hex, such as Shard Storm or Ice Spikes.
 * Try to chain the skills Shard Storm and Maelstrom if you have the energy.
 * If Melee attackers target you, use Ice Spikes to snare all of them, run for a little bit, and then use Water Trident to knock one down. They should lose interest.

Counters

 * Spikes and focused fire from ranged opponents. This build has little defense.
 * Heavy Hex removal. The danger is the removal of Spinal Shivers. Although Spinal Shivers is your main casting suppressant, Maelstrom, chained with Ice Spikes or Deep Freeze, can still act as an interrupt. The reason for Spinal Shivers is to stop any defensive casting from the target while you hit it with nukes. You still have a chance to kill the target without Spinal Shivers if you're quick enough.
 * Interrupts.
 * Energy Denial, especially from Mesmers, or in the form of Quickening Zephyr.
 * Mantra of Resolve will effectively ruin all interrupting. However, again, if you nuke the target fast enough, you may deplete their energy supply, which can be just as effective as interrupts.
 * Stone Striker and similar skills.

Variants

 * Using Armor of Mist or Armor of Frost can effectively increase your durability.
 * Swirling Aura can protect against Rangers' Interrupts.
 * Replace Water Trident with Mist Form for additional defense. In this case, consider replacing Aura of Restoration with Conjure Frost as an interrupt.
 * Replace Shard Storm with Mind Freeze and Water Trident with Ice Spear. This can also act as a Factions variant, although Factions has many other skills that could be used. This build is meant for Prophecies PvP Characters.
 * Shivers of Dread can replace Spinal Shivers.
 * In Alliance Battles, replace Resurrection Signet with Glyph of Lesser Energy for Energy management, Verata's Aura to wreak havoc for Minion Masters, or any other spell variant listed here.
 * Replace Shard Storm with Deep Freeze for a huge snare if you have the energy, or Ice Prison in TA (since you know no-one else will use Fire Damage).
 * You may wish to switch out Shard Storm for one of the defensive skills listed above, and use Ice Spikes as your priming snare.
 * If there is heavy Hex removal, replace Shard Storm with Parasitic Bond for a longer and quickly recharging cover hex.