User:Jasminethetender/builds/sin/pveonly

=Dark Shadow Forge Runner= This build enables an Assassin to solo run from Beacon's Perch to Droknar's Forge, and with some modification is suitable for running other areas. Agility and protection skills from the Shadow Arts line, plus the Dervish's anti-knockdown Fleeting Stability enchantment, make this a fragile yet efficient Droknar's Forge runner. This build is even more efficient since the last game update that fixed the "enemies following you forever" bug.

The build takes practice, timing, and knowledge of the whole Droknar's Forge run, particularly Lornar's Pass, in order to successfully complete the run. Overall run times are at least on par with Warrior or Dervish runners. Ultimately, if nothing else, this is a challenging and fun alternative to experienced Drok's runners.

Attributes and Skills

 * Runes can be used to boost Deadly Arts, although it is not necessary.

Equipment

 * Armor: Any armor with +energy mods and attunement runes.  You want your energy as high as possible.
 * Weapons: A perfect Insightful Staff of Enchanting or a Totem Axe with a shield.

Usage
The skill bar above is laid out from left to right in the general order in which to use skills, depending on the situation. Deadly Paradox plus Death's Charge and Dark Escape are the main movement skills. Dark Escape can and should be kept up constantly for 1/2 damage and +25% speed. Dash should be used when Dark Escape fades out to gain as much distance from any enemies following you, especially if you need some extra time to use Signet of Pious Light to end Shadow Form. Death's Charge can be a massive overall speed buff (and self heal) if used efficiently. Almost all healing during the run can be accomplished while still moving.

Normal running sequence:
 * Deadly Paradox -> Death's Charge -> Dark Escape -> Dash -> Deadly Paradox -> Dark Escape.

Anti-knockdown sequence (for wurms and giants):
 * Fleeting Stability -> Deadly Paradox -> Shadow Form -> Death's Charge -> Dark Escape -> Dash -> Deadly Paradox -> Dark Escape.

Healing sequence when Shadow Form begins to fade out:
 * Deadly Paradox -> Signet of Pious Light -> Heart of Shadow -> Dark Escape

Healing sequence when you have a place to rest with no aggro:
 * Fleeting Stability or Heart of Shadow -> Signet of Pious Light -> Signet of Pious Light
 * Repeatedly cast an enchantment and Signet of Pious Light as many times as needed to immediately recharge Signet of Pious Light after each use.

When to use Deadly Paradox:
 * Always before: Dark Escape and Shadow Form.
 * Preferably before: Death's Charge.

When to use Shadow Form:
 * To prevent Ice Imps and Ice Golems from slowing you down with hexes.
 * Near Wurms and Avicara, use Fleeting Stability followed by Shadow Form, to prevent the Avicara from stripping Fleeting Stability.
 * To nullify damage from enemies through intense parts of the run (Tundra Giants, Stone Summit, Avicara), although you can also tank through some enemies with Dark Escape, Heart of Shadow, and Death's Charge.
 * Shadow Form should only be kept up as long as necessary. Disable it with Signet of Pious Light before you encounter Grawl Crones.

Counters

 * Enchantment stripping, mainly from Grawl Crones casting Chilblains. Simply stay out of their range.
 * Conditions will severely hinder your chances of survival in most situations. Try to avoid Pinesoul traps -- NEVER use Death's Charge on a Pinesoul as you will likely teleport into a trap.
 * Dash can also be used to run through Pinesoul traps without triggering them.

Variants

 * Feigned Neutrality can be switched with Signet of Pious Light or Heart of Shadow, giving you an extra self-heal if needed.
 * Vital Boon can be switched with Heart of Shadow, Dash, or Death's Charge for an alternate way of healing when Shadow Form ends. You must cast Vital Boon immediately after using Shadow Form so they end almost simultaneously. Additionally, using Signet of Pious Light to end Vital Boon can give you a massive health boost as soon as Shadow Form ends.

Attributes and skills

 * Also, you really only may ever need one running skill, but bring both just in case you can't get to the RH (Regen Health) spot before it ends.
 * If you have Nightfall you can choose to bring Deadly Paradox and drop the rest of your unused attribute points into Deadly Arts

Equipment
Any dagger with a dagger Handle of Enchanting (Preferably 19-20%)
 * Weapons

Usage


You'll start out by taking the quest from Scoutmaster Arne at the first PoI (Point of Interest, marked by the white numbers (refer to the map I've made to the right on this page)). From there you will slowly make your way over to the first SF (Shadow Form, marked by the green numbers). From there, cast Shadow Form immediately followed by either Dark Escape or Storm Chaser. Before Shadow Form runs out (which should be 24 seconds after you cast it) get to the first RH (Regen Health, marked by the red numbers). Regen your health with Troll Unguent and Shadow Refuge (not at the same time) and start to make your way to the second SF. On your way to the second SF, at PoI 2, you might notice two red dots on your compass running across your route. Just wait at PoI 2 until they pass and then continue on to SF 2. Continue this pattern till you reach RH 4. Now, it's not really rare that a group of Undergrowth and Stone Kirins will pass by at the third PoI so be careful and watch your aggro circle! They will make their way up the stairs and will be out of your hair soon. :) Also, you may need to climb a few steps of the same stairs to reach the quest star but you won't be in any enemy's aggro circle.  Slowly continue on with the same pattern being careful not to aggro everything in your path.  :)  Now you'll reach RH point 8 and the final PoI! Congrats! Claim your 400 Kurzick faction, 150 gold, and 2K XP!

Attributes and Skills

 * Optional: Dash or another running skill
 * Optional: Shadow Refuge or another healing skill

Equipment

 * Nightstalker's Legs and Chest
 * Daggers of Xuekao work very well here, any longbow

Usage
Exit Lutgardis Conservatory into Melandru's Hope and talk to the Kurzick Priest to get the Blessing of the Kurzicks. Run a bit north of Chkkr Locust Lord, avoiding aggroing creatures. If you do aggro any creatures, use Dash to get them away from you. If there are mantises surrounding Chkkr, wait until they move away, if they don't, start again. Use your longbow to lure him out, and when he is inside of your aggro bubble run north so no mantis will interfere with your farming. Then use Critical Eye, Palm Strike and Blinding Powder as quick as you can. Follow up with Horns of the Ox, Falling Spider and Critical Defenses. Keep using the dagger combo until Blinding Powder recharges. Blinding Powder and Critical Defenses take priority, so whenever they are recharged use them as quick as you can. Keep critical eye up at all times. The bleeding and the poison will negate the healing from Shadow Refuge. He will soon be dead.

If Critical Defenses runs out, run around Chkkr Locust Lord until Critical Defenses or Blinding Powder recharge. He might run back to his island whilst running around him - if this happens just run towards him and he'll start attacking you again.

Variants

 * Fill the optional slot with whatever you like, Dash works well, or another running skill depending on your secondary profession (Sprint, Windborne Speed etc.)
 * You can replace Palm Strike with Golden Phoenix Strike. This enables you to use a different Elite.
 * An A/W variant can be made by replacing Horns of the Ox, Falling Spider, and Twisting Fangs with Golden Lotus Strike, Wild Strike, and Wild Blow. Way of Perfection would be placed into the optional slot.
 * Note that Wild Blow recharges fast enough to keep up Critical Defenses, but you have to watch it.

=Chkkr Farmer= The A/Any Chkkr Farmer uses Critical Defenses combined with Moebius Strike and dual attacks to maintain a constant physical defense, while dealing more DPS than many other builds.

This build is used to farm EVERY variety of Chkkr bosses in the factions campaign. This includes the Locust Lord, Thousand Tail, Ironclaw, and Brightclaw. It is also capable of soloing any other boss that deals physical damage and is able to be pulled away from surrounding mobs, including Shiro Tagachi in both campaigns.


 * This is also a great all-around PvE build for Assassins due to the low recharge time, high attack power, and fantastic e-management. It is also very versatile and you can edit it in many ways to your own style.

Attributes and Skills

 * Shadow Refuge or Dark Escape can be switched out for Way of Perfection or a different healing skill.
 * Feigned Neutrality can be used for PvE areas where in battle heals aren't as neccessary.
 * There are many useful variants posted below, this is a very versatile build that you can shape to your own style.

Equipment

 * Any Max Armor, try to get energy as high as possible and at least 400hp.
 * Zealous daggers of Enchanting with +15% damage while enchanted are ideal here.
 * Also bring a longbow of some sort for pulling some of the bosses away from mobs.

Running

 * To Chkkr Locust Lord:
 * Run normally north until you can go east to enter the lagoon area, wait for mantises to move away before you run.
 * Activate Dark Escape and run quickly to the clear area to the north of Chkkr, be very careful not to aggro the small groups!
 * Equip your bow and be patient while you wait for the mantises to move away from Chkkr, then fire and pull back.
 * Move behind the large tree stump that is sticking out of the water to avoid aggroing any mantises and begin killing.


 * To Chkkr Thousand Tail:
 * Move up to where the wardens are and wait until they all form into one small spot.
 * When this happens activate dark escape and run past them to the right to quickly lose aggro.
 * Be careful not to aggro the group coming from the right side of your screen, and wait for all of the mobs to move away.
 * No use in using a bow here since this Chkkr is a ranged boss, so move ahead to killing him.


 * To Chkkr Ironclaw:
 * This is by far the hardest one to do!
 * Run to the southwest, past the mesmer boss Xisni, and keep going until you hit a series of rivers and waterfalls where Chkkr is.
 * Try to avoid aggro as best as you can, its a very hard run, but eventually you can get through the the north of Chkkr.
 * Stay in the wide open area north of him, and shoot him with a bow. The entire group will come, but they SHOULD shake off.
 * Continue to go north until his group leaves, but Chkkr stays following you, now begin killing him.
 * It is very difficult to make this run, and also to get his group to leave without him, just try to be patient.


 * To Chkkr Brightclaw:
 * The run is nothing, just walk out of the Jade Flats and walk to the west.
 * When you approach him be careful, a lot of mantises will spawn when you get too close.
 * To pull him, stand near the top of the stairs and shoot at him, this should cause him to leave his group and come after you.
 * Watch out for the group of stone scale kirin and dragon mosses, for some reason they like to run across the map and kill you when you attack Chkkr...

Killing

 * This is pretty standard for any boss/PvE mob you will face.
 * Activate Critical Defenses as soon as the boss gets close, then use the first attacks.
 * Now just spam Critical Strike when you need to renew Critical Defenses or when you need energy. Otherwise use Death Blossom for damage.
 * Use Shadow Refuge/Way of Perfection as needed to keep up your health, as CD is only a 75% chance to block.

Counters
None. :) At least none on the Chkkr bosses. Unless you end up aggroing other monsters of course. (dreamweavers hurt, the rest are actually killable)

Shiro Solo

 * Heres one more variant I decided to add, its the one I use to SOLO Shiro Tagachi himself at the Gate of Madness. This allows the rest of the team to go ahead and get the bonus without having to worry about him! Its also easy to kill Shiro in Factions with it if you have a few heroes to get past Med. of the Reaper.


 * This build adds in Wild Blow as a quick stance remover that doesn't interrupt the attack chain to easily remove Battle Scars.
 * Here is a VIDEO of me Tanking Shiro Tagachi. -Samurai-JM -
 * The full battle took about 8 minutes, but it was too big for youtube so I had to cut the first half off. The first half of his hp goes down very slowly anyway, and it is basically the first 30 seconds of this part repeated over and over while the team got the bonus.
 * The monk hero is not necessary to do this, I just wanted to be perfectly safe in case I messed up. (and I did while talking to teammates) :)

Other Variants

 * For a much stronger degen/DPS build, maybe for PvP areas, equip fiery daggers and try something like this:


 * For more degenerative build that can easily take on defensive stances, use something like this:


 * For much more of degeneration to counter things like Troll Unguent and Shadow Refuge, try this:


 * Feel free to try out different variations of this and fit it to your own style. Also try to post your own versions on the discussion page to share them with everyone!

Necessities

 * Radiant or Shrouded Armor.
 * 20% enchanting, +5 energy weapon, such as a Totem Axe. Wand or Staff, max damage rec. fire to deal with Dying Nightmares.
 * +12 energy rec. fire focus.

Usage
Walk up and take the quest from the Lost Soul. Watch out for any Dying Nightmare popping up.

Then cast in this order: wait to get max energy back... Then quickly grab one or two groups of graspings and run back. Then cast skills in this order:
 * Fire Attunement
 * Flame Djinn's Haste
 * Shadow Form
 * Glyph of Elemental Power
 * Meteor Shower
 * Bed of Coals
 * Lava Font
 * Flame Djinn's Haste
 * Feigned Neutrality

There should be no survivors amongst the graspings. If they are any graspings remaining, they are at this time fleeing from your AoE damage, so Feigned Neutrality should give you sufficient defense and life back to stay alive in order to recast one or two offensive spells to finish them or wanding them. You have a 24s invulnerability with Shadow Form on for the pull and the killing, so you can take your time to insure your AoE spike.

Another option for the bravest, is to cast Fire Attunement + Shadow Form and to go straight ahead into the big group of graspings, Bladed Aatxes and an eventual Dying Nightmare, and then unleash hell on them, finishing the graspings off with Flame Djinn's Haste and running away with the speed boost after the spike (because the Bladed Aatxes are not really friendy!).

Once all the graspings have been eliminated, do the typical run to the smites using Flame Djinn's Haste. You can make a stop just before passing the arch if you have misjudged the path of Bladed Aatxes or graspings and Dying Nightmare patrol. If a Dying Nightmare pops up while you run and follow you, just pull him in a safe place and while going close kill him with a Flame Djinn's Haste burst. Anytime during the run you can use Shadow Form if you find yourself in danger (remind that you should be far from danger at the end of Shadow Form), with a 24s duration time (with a +20% enchanting) you should have plenty of time to reach the smites area.

In order to pull large groups of smites or while waiting before they are all balled up around you, you can start by using Feigned Neutrality to assure some good defense and survival. Then cast the skills:
 * Shadow Form
 * Glyph of Elemental Power
 * Meteor Shower
 * Bed of Coals
 * Lava Font
 * Flame Djinn's Haste
 * Feigned Neutrality (that should be reloaded even if used in the beginning of the pull)

If any smites survives, do the same tactics as stated above for graspings or if anything goes really bad, you still can run away with Flame Djinn's Haste. Keep Fire Attunement up while casting fire spells as it's your only energy managment.

For the Coldfire Nights, your best solution is to avoid them, but if you get caught, this build is safer than any other one, cast Shadow Form and stay far as they use Frozen Burst, the only spell that can hit you through Shadow Form and slow you down. Then hit your running enchantment and go out of their reach.

Counters

 * Bad timing is the only real counter here.
 * Energy Degen
 * Knockdown/Interupt by grasping

=Solo Sin= A devastating build capable of soloing most creatures of FoW and all of the Tomb of the Primeval Kings. This build uses Shadow Form to remain invincible and shadow stepping to avoid danger, while doing large amounts of damage from the Mesmer hex Empathy and condition-inducing dagger attacks.

Equipment

 * Shrouded Armor or Radiant insignias are a must.
 * Because your health does not matter but your energy does, forgo a vigor rune in favor of two attunement runes.
 * Since if you aggro monsters outside of shadow form you will die, armor level is not important. Save money and buy starter level armor.


 * Daggers with a Dagger Handle of Enchanting and either bonus damage when enchanted or bonus energy. The Daggers of Xuekao or Chimor's Daggers or Arius' Sai are ideal.

Usage

 * Activate Shadow of Haste when you have more than one aggro bubble's width between the edge of your aggro bubble and your target.
 * Run close to your target (without aggroing) and cast Arcane Echo. (If this is removed before you go on to the next step, cancel Shadow of Haste with Dark Escape, wait for your skills to recharge, and try again.)
 * Cast Shadow Form and charge into battle.
 * Cast Empathy and follow up with Black Lotus Strike so you have your hex and enough energy; follow up with Black Spider Strike and Twisting Fangs.
 * Once Shadow Form is between one quarter and one third recharged, cast the echoed copy.
 * Shadow of Haste should run out just before the echoed copy of Shadow Form begins to flicker, and Shadow Step you back to your safe zone. If it does not, use Dark Escape to cancel.

Counters

 * If Shadow form or Arcane Echo are interrupted, you will not be able to make the assault, and will most likely die. However, provided you activate the first skills in a safe area, this should never happen
 * Touch skills (such as Vampiric Bite) or PBAoE (such as Symbol of Wrath) that are not affected by Shadow Form
 * Damage skills that affect an ally instead of an enemy (such as Riposte, Shield of Judgment, or Sliver Armor)
 * Enchantment removal that does not target an enemy (such as Chilblains or Expunge Enchantments)

Variants
Variants that do not require Nightfall skills:


 * Replace Black Spider Strike with Golden Phoenix Strike for a spike skill which will recharge quick enough to be used twice in each assault. Note that the loss of degeneration from poision in Black Spider Strike will slow down the build, usually meaning a maximum of one kill in each assault.
 * Replace Black Spider Strike with Repeating Strike for higher damage output. It is important not to spam this skill as energy will be consumed quickly.

Variants that do not require Dark Escape:


 * Replace Dark Escape with Recall.
 * Have a Hero or Henchman as a party member.
 * Cast Recall on the henchman and flag to a safe area.
 * Begin your assault. Recall to the henchman when Shadow Form ends.
 * Be aware that patrolling mobs may enter aggro with your henchman, most likely resulting in your death.
 * Using Recall enables you to drop Shadow of Haste in favour of another attack skill such as Death Blossom.

Videos
Tomb Of The Primeval Kings: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJF1g50scyY

Fissure of Woe Beach: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2ADjYB5A0g

Fissure of Woe Forest of the Wailing Lord: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkULhWSa-gA