User:Xasxas256/Builds

This E/Me build is designed to run out of the west exit of Droknar's Forge, up the hill, into the cave and kill the 7 of so Mountain Trolls up there. This build isn't just to kill that one mob, it can kill other stuff too! I just happen to be using it for that purpose at the moment, you know log on, do that a couple of time (ie about 20 odd troll kills) then I do whatever I actually logged on to do. It's just a nice easy way to kill a large group of high level guys quickly, kinda like buying a lottery ticket when I log on.

Also I hate writing CSS, it sucks.

Archived builds section
Index:

E

* E/Me Continual Energy Nuker * E/Mo Protective Bond Prodigy * E/W Earth Hammer Spiker * E/any Titan Farmer

M

* Me/N Warrior's Bane * Me/any Anti Assault Mesmer * Me/any Echo Echo Spammer * Me/any Energy Denial * Me/any Powerblock Mesmer * Mo/Me Boon Prot Healer * Mo/Me Tombs Ruins Inspirational Healer * Mo/Me Unyielding PvE Monk * Mo/R Symbiote * Mo/W Monk of Victory * Mo/any Protective Spirit Healer

N

* N/E Blood Spike Elementalist * N/E Renewal Minion Master * N/Mo Blood Spike Monk * N/Mo Blood Spike Necro * N/Mo Minion Meister * N/Mo Post-26th April Update Minion Master * N/R Minion Master * N/W Blood Spike Warrior * N/any Leeching Necro

R

* R/Me Chaos Ranger * R/Me Interrupt Ranger * R/Me Monk Disrupt * R/Me Weariness Ranger * R/Mo General Trapping Ranger * R/N Melandru's Toucher * R/N Touch Ranger PvE * R/W Bunny Thumper * R/W Constant Stance Slasher * Rt/N Explosive Creation

T

* Team - Minion Factory * Team - VIMWAY * Team - W/Me Icy Dragon Sword Farming

W

* W/E Brick Wall * W/E Cyclonic Burster * W/Me IW Warrior * W/Mo Holy Smiter * W/Mo Solo Farmer * W/N "Victory is Mine!" Warrior * W/N Lone Ganksman

E/Me Continual Energy Nuker
This build is a PvE-oriented elementalist build designed to deliver a steady output of medium to high damage for any period of time.

Usage

 * Keep Fire Attunement and Mantra of Recall active at all times.
 * Use Glyph of Lesser Energy before casting either Rodgorts or Meteor Shower, as recharge permits.
 * There is no problem in spamming Meteor Shower, because the exhaustion will have worn off after 30 seconds, and the recharge of Meteor Shower is 60 seconds.
 * Don't cast Rodgorts and Immolate on top of each other, but alternate a Fireball in between to get the maximum out of the burning durations.

Variations

 * Incendiary Bonds can act as a poor mans Rodgorts, and Mantra of Recall may be replaced with Elemental Attunement for even better energy management -- but both EA and Fire Attunement are very vulnerable to enchantment removal (thus putting all your eggs in one basket), whereas Mantra of Recall provides energy if it's removed.
 * For more versatility, while sacrificing a little energy management, consider replacing Glyph of Lesser Energy with a hex or enchantment-removal skill such as Inspired Hex or Inspired Enchantment. You could even throw in Aura of Restoration instead for a little self-healing, if desired.

E/Mo Protective Bond Prodigy
This build has only been tested so far in the arenas. It is most likely not a serious build for GvG, but who knows, someone might be able to make it viable there. The whole point of the build is to use Protective Bond on your teammates, and keep your energy up with Ether Prodigy. This being the case, it is most certainly an anti-spiker build, with minimal other healing abilities. The weapon can have nearly any mods, but it should have at least the Enchanting mod. Any max armor will do, and you should have a Superior Rune of Energy Storage.

Usage

 * Cast Protective Bond on your allies.
 * Shortly before fighting, cast Vigorous Spirit, Guardian, or Aegis. Don't overcast, as you want to keep energy in reserve for Protective Bond.
 * Just stay alive.
 * When your energy starts to get below 40, cast Ether Prodigy. Ether Prodigy will compensate for the energy lost due to Protective Bonds. Cast Vigorous Spirit on yourself right after Ether Prodigy, to act as a cover and to power Contemplation of Purity.
 * Occasionally, you may have too much energy, which is bad because it will turn into damage when Ether Prodigy ends. Try to maintain about 40 energy, by casting more spells.
 * In a pinch, cast the expensive spells to bring energy down before Ether Prodigy ends.
 * You can use Contemplation of Purity to end Ether Prodigy early, but you'll still take damage.
 * If you start get targeted, run for it. You are fragile and cannot handle being the focus, unless another Monk heals you.
 * Because this build can't heal much on its own, another Monk on your team is almost a necessity. But this build will make life much easier for other monks.
 * Watch your maintained enchantments, especially the Protective Bonds. Beware enemy enchantment removal.

Editing E/W Earth Hammer Spiker
The Earth Hammer Spiker is designed to deal a large amount of spike damage. It primarily shines in the Random Arena where fewer opponents strip enchantments. This build combines melee and magical damage, so it is not vulnerable to solely anti-melee or solely anti-caster shutdowns.

Equipment

 * Battlemage's Armor or Archmage's Armor would probably be your best choices for armor.
 * A Heavy hammer of Enchanting, with a hammer of Fortitude on swap.
 * The best Vigor rune possible, but no other major or superior runes (health is at a premium).

Usage

 * Maintain Armor of Earth, as you will be a very squishy target without it.
 * Use Staggering Blow against warriors, rangers and assassins, and follow up with Stoning. The duration of the weakness from Staggering Blow is enough for at least two knockdowns with Stoning. As Armor of Earth slows you down, you have to depend more on disabling your opponent than in kiting.
 * Backbreaker, Crushing Blow and Aftershock, in that sequence, is an ideal spike damage combo. It can be followed with Obsidian Flame for some brutal "afterspike".
 * Obsidian Flame is best used against heavily armored targets.

Counters

 * Remove or interrupt Armor of Earth.
 * Use any DoT, armor ignoring, or life stealing skill. This build has no self-healing.
 * Snares are not as essential as Armor of Earth will slow this character down.

Introduction
This build allows the farming of the Earth & Plant Titans outside of Lion's Arch during the quest Defend North Kryta Province. The basic skills are utilized for all Earth & Plant Titans, Rotting Titan with the use of Interrupts. The variable Skills shorten the process or help to kill the Rotting Titan. This build needs no special secondary profession, even superior runes are not needed for success.

Skills

 * Aftershock
 * Earth Attunement
 * Earthquake
 * Kinetic Armor
 * Stone Daggers
 * Ether Renewal
 * Aura of Restoration


 * variable Crystal Wave
 * variable Armor of Earth
 * variable Interrupts

Attributes

 * Earth Magic: 12+1+3
 * Energy Storage: 12+1
 * variable

Unspent Attribute Points: 6

Equipment
You will encounter nearly all kinds of elemental damage and health degen. It doesn't matter what kind of armor bonus your armor provides. Using a superior rune for Earth Magic boosts your damage output, but is not necessary, just like a minor rune for Energy Storage.

An earth staff of Enchanting with 20% chance of faster Earth recharge and casting is the best choice through the usage of many enchantments.

Using the build
Leave Lion's Arch with the quest Defend North Kryta Province enabled.

There are different kind of enemy groups. They will mostly consist of 3 Titans, the combinations vary. Try to concentrate on those groups, or smaller ones, first. Cast Earth Attunement, Aura of Restoration, then Kinetic Armor. Select your target, approach and use Stone Daggers. Get closer and use Earthquake followed by Aftershock. Try to cast Stone Daggers every 3-4 seconds. This is important, since an interrupt might kill your kinetic armor, leaving you without any defense. Earth Attunement can be used as an instant cast, if kinetic armor is already vanishing. Spam Stone Daggers, while Aftershock and Earthquake recharge. Ether Renewal helps to keep your energy and health up. Cast it and a series of Stone Daggers to refill your pool. Don't forget to renew your enchantments. Earth Attunement fully recharged is the signal.

Crystal Wave can be used before the Earthquake-Aftershock-combo. The AoE will scatter the enemies, so use Crystal Wave first. Some areas in North Kryta Province have very narrow passages. The Titans will stop their escape, if they hit a wall. So try to trap them between you and a wall.

Armor of Earth helps for groups, larger then 4. Their damage output is too high to counter it with Kinetic Armor and Ether Renewal only.

Interrupts are additional help, but not needed if you focus on smaller Titans.

In certain areas, groups up to 8 Titans may spawn. For instance, 3 areas are near or at the beach, 3 others in the swamp. If so, run to avoid nearly certain death. Sometimes, it is possible to trigger just a part of the group. Step back, handle the group, then trigger the remaining Titans.

A few patrols share the same lane. They will follow you, if you attack. Lead them to a safe place, kill them and move on to the next patrol. Otherwise, you might face up to 2 more Titan groups.

Enemy notes
Wind Born Titan:

These are no real danger.

Water Born Titan:

These will cast Maelstrom, one of the biggest threats. Avoid it at all costs. Try to dodge the Shard Storm. If a group consist of one Water Born Titan, select him so you know what he is doing. If there are more then one, watch the casting animation of Maelstrom. It is a small blue ball, rising from the Titan's feet. Groups consisting of more then 2 Water Born Titans are very rare.

Earth Born Titan:

Their Ward Against Elements is annoying. Aggroing them out of the ward can be effective.

Wild Growth:

Trigger the Spike Trap. Stone Daggers interrupt their attempts to lay it again.

Rotting Titan:

Killing them is a very slow process. You need to equip an Interrupt with a recharge time shorter than 10 seconds or his Lingering Curse will steal your Enchantments.

Editing Me/any Anti Assault Mesmer
The Anti Assault Mesmer is designed to shutdown melee opponents such as warriors and assassins.

Equipment

 * Use a 20/20 Domination Magic staff.

Usage notes

 * Target one opponent at a time.
 * Apply hexes in any preferred order, but use Conjure Phantasm as the cover hex.

Counters

 * This build has no self-healing or sensible energy management. Energy denial works wonders.

Variations

 * All hexes but Ineptitude, Clumsiness and Empathy are optional.

Me/N Warrior's Bane
This mesmer is designed to kill, maim, shutdown, and otherwise utterly annihilate warriors but also works equally well on any class centered around standard attacks.

Usage
Pre-activate Mantra of Persistence before combat. Upon spotting a group of target select a warrior or ranger to destroy. Start by casting Conjure Phantasm and Phantom Pain as they close to melee range. Follow up with Ineptitude to deal near instant spike damage and cause blindness after the foe is blind cast Spirit of Failure. Spirit will trigger nearly every time the foe attempts to attack because the miss chance will stack with, and more importantly trigger on, the miss chance from blindness. Use Soothing Images to shutdown adrenal skills and follow up with clumsiness for additional spike damage on tough targets.

When fighting large groups of foes use Soothing Images, Clumsiness, and Ineptitude on to spike single targets while using Spirit of Failure and Conjure Phantasm on the rest of the groups to keep up energy reserves and degeneration.

Equipment
Like any spell based build this build benefits greatly from chance for fast casts and recharges. The best focus by far for this build is the pre-update version of The Rockmolder with +1 Illusion Magic 20% chance and halves recharge time of spells 20% chance. Use this with Vokur's Cane for extra fast cast and recharge on Illusion Magic skills or with a more general mod like Gorrel's Cane. Some cheaper alternatives include collector items from Cinder Linnwood, Lord Dorn Lendrigen, Sir Pohl Sanbert, Arliss Vaughn, Merin Trollsbane, Hagnon Warblade, and Bariel Darkroot. Good upgrade mods for staves include insightful and hale staff heads as well as +1 to Illusion Magic chance: 20% wraps.

Variations

 * Shatter Delusions can be use with Phantom Pain to inflict a deep wound much faster. This is a good alternative to Soothing Images when fighting groups consisting mostly of Rangers or other non-warrior classes.
 * Price of Failure can be added to this build as well to use with Ineptitude much like Spirit of Failure to add extra damage.
 * Epidemic can be used in this build to spread the Deep Wound from Phantom Pain and Blindness from Ineptitude across groups foes.
 * Leech Signet can be added as an interrupt and prevent warriors and rangers from activating Healing Signet or Troll Unguent. Similarly, in areas with fewer warriors Power Drain can be added to interrupt spells and to replenish energy reserves.  Another similar strategy is to use Shame on a nearby monk before spiking a target.

Me/any Echo Echo Spammer
This is a theoretical build and still needs work choosing the appropriate skills to make it viable in any competitive setting. The whole point of the build is to use Arcane Echo to echo the elite skill Echo, which in turn will echo another skill that you want to spam over and over again. An example is given below.

Diversion Spammer
This variation focuses on spamming Diversion.

Usage
Use Arcane Echo and Echo before combat. Next use whatever skill you want to spam, like Diversion. Use Echo (which is what Arcane Echo turned into), then the skill that replaced the original Echo, and now you have 3 copies of Diversion to spam over and over. Use your other skills for energy management.

Optional changes
Taking the skill Arcane Mimicry can help in this build. If you have another Echo Mesmer on the team, it will allow you to gain another copy of Echo, giving you 4 copies of the skill you intend to spam. Alternatively, it will let you have up to 4 copies of an ally's elite skill.

Discussion
This build is to illustrate the principles behind Echo-Echo. Please make suggestions and alter this article in any way you see fit.

Overview
The Energy Denial Mesmer uses the Mesmer's ability to drain a foe's energy causing major frustration among spell casters, especially those that use spells that require high amounts of energy such as Elementalists. It is a critical part of many GvG and PvP builds.

Equipment

 * Inspiration Recharge Wand
 * 20/20 Domination Focus

Usage

 * Set up with Mind Wrack and Mantra of Inscriptions.
 * Use Drain Enchantment on any called target.
 * Use Energy Burn first if foe is alone, or Energy Surge if the foe is in a group.

Me/any Powerblock Mesmer
The Powerblock Mesmer is a Mesmer build. It is meant for PvE to face casters and is particularily useful in Missions from Droknar's Forge onwards. It can also be used for PvP if the team build requires a strong anti-caster.

Variations:

 * Use Diversion or Energy Burn instead of Cry of Frustration if your team build already includes interrupts.

Usage:

 * Use Arcane Conundrum to increase your chances of success with Power Block. Do not target Protection Monks! Their skills usually cast within 0.5 seconds even when hexed. Especially Curse Necromancers and Fire Elementalists are very easy targets.
 * Use Drain Enchantment on the call, especially when the target is below 80% health.
 * Use Shatter Enchantment as a finish-off for targets below 30% of their health.
 * Use Power Drain and Shame for Energy management and interrupts.
 * Cry of Frustration is your allround interrupt against groups of mobs and non-casters. Reserve for skills like Healing Signet or Troll Unguent.
 * Always be aware of your enemy. Do not use any interrupts on targets with Mantra of Resolve.

Counters:

 * This build is particularily vulnerable to Warriors and Rangers of all kind, apart from Mending Paladins.

Mo/Me Boon Prot Healer
Usually referred to as boon/prot, the boon protection monk uses high Divine Favor and the maintained enchantment Divine Boon in conjunction with Protection Prayers to heal players while reverting damage or removing conditions at the same time. Before the March 2, 2006 update, this build was most commonly run as a Mo/N with the skill Offering of Blood. Since the update, nearly everyone runs Mo/Me instead. The boon protection monk is most popular in Guild vs Guild.

Items

 * Full Ascetic's Armor is recommended.
 * Perfect Insightful Staff of Defense or Insightful Staff of Fortitude.

Usage

 * Make sure Divine Boon is up at all times.
 * Cast Mantra of Recall just before encountering the enemy, as well as any time it goes down.
 * Cast Reversal of Fortune for general-purpose healing
 * Cast Guardian when an ally is being attacked by one or more Warrior or Ranger foes, or to supplement Reversal of Fortune for general-purpose healing.
 * Cast Mend Ailment when an ally - especially a Warrior - has a condition.
 * Cast Protective Spirit when an ally is taking heavy concentrated damage, such as a spike.
 * Cast Holy Veil to remove hexes. It is best to know what hexes are on your allies and which require attention.  Don't forget to cancel the enchantment to actually remove a hex!  Less expirienced players often opt for Remove Hex instead.
 * Cast Drain Enchantment for a quick energy boost while waiting for Mantra of Recall to expire. Try other monks or your party's current target for enemies to drain.

Variants
While by far the most popular build, there are small modifications others use.


 * Some groups will have two or three monks that cycle Aegis.
 * Mend Ailment may be replaced by Mend Condition for the shorter recharge time, at the disadvantage of being unable to remove conditions from yourself.
 * Inspired Hex is occasionally used in place of Holy Veil or another skill for even more energy.
 * Contemplation of Purity may be used instead of Drain Enchantment to purge yourself of conditions and hexes. While at the same time giving you the bonus energy of Mantra of Recall
 * Offering of Blood is sometimes used in lieu of Mantra of Recall, along with the Contemplation of Purity variant described above.
 * Signet of Devotion is used for free heals and to avoid the effects of Soul Leech and Backfire.

Counters

 * Remove Divine Boon with skills such as Shatter Enchantment, Drain Enchantment, and Rend Enchantments. Even though boon can be cast quickly again, it is time and energy wasted, as well as they may not realize it has been removed right away.
 * Energy denial is very effective, as boon protection monks require quite a bit of energy to stay effective. The sheer popularity of boon protection monks in GvG has led to multiple E-Surge Mesmers being very popular as well.  To counter energy loss, monks should practice the skill known as focus swapping.
 * Since the Monk relies on his enchantments, hexing the target with Soul Barbs is highly effective. This way you can reduce the net healing by 15%-30%.
 * Using "Fear Me!" as a warrior when using speed increasing skills can greatly add pressure to a boon/prot, once Divine Boon is removed, keep using fear to stop them being able to recast it.

Related "Boonprot" Builds

 * Mo/R Cupido - a variant using Greater Conflagration and Storm Chaser.
 * - a variant using Melandru's Resilience and Draw Conditions.
 * Mo/N - a variant using the Offering of Blood.

Mo/Me Tombs Ruins Inspirational Healer
The Inspirational Healer is centered around the Elite skill, Energy Drain.

Equipment

 * For a wand, use one with a recharge increase for any skill, such as Gordac's Holy Rod. The same with a held item, use one with a recharge increase for any skill, such as Vokur's Chakram.
 * Go with the Ascetic's Armor.

Usage
The Inspirational Healer is very efficent in its energy management abilities.

Note: Energy gain depends on the target's energy.
 * Cast Mantra of Resolve as soon as you start.
 * When you get down to half energy, cast Energy Tap.
 * If you're nearing empty, cast Energy Drain for a quick boost.
 * In PvE, use the target closest enemy button so you don't pull adds.

Advantages

 * 1) Effective in Ruins of the Tomb of the Primeval Kings.
 * 2) Cannot be shattered as Mantra of Recall
 * 3) Does not drain 20% of your health as Offering of Blood does.
 * 4) This can counter a mesmer's Shame.

Weaknesses

 * 1) Requires you to engage a target, Only useful in-battle.
 * 2) The party could kill the target during the activation of Energy Tap.
 * 3) Energy Drain and Energy Tap are not effective against foes who are low on energy, meaning this build is not suitable when used with an energy denial ally.
 * 4) Not as an effective a healer as a full healing monk.

Variations

 * Drop Mantra of Resolve for Mend Ailment or Remove Hex.

Overview
The Unyielding monk is a support build centered around the Elite skill, Unyielding Aura.

Skill Set

 * Shielding Hands
 * Reversal of Fortune
 * Guardian
 * Aegis
 * Mend Ailment
 * Blessed Signet
 * Divine Boon
 * Unyielding Aura {E}

Equipment
For a wand, use any with a recharge increase, Gordac's Holy Rod is nice if you can get it. The same with a held item, go for one with a recharge such as a Protective Icon.
 * Go with the Ascetic's Armor.

Usage
The Unyielding PvE Monk is very versatile and easy to use:

Note: In PvE, have an ally bring Restore Life or Resurrect.


 * Cast Divine Boon as soon as you start.
 * During battle, wait until the ally has 3/4 HP before you cast Reversal of Fortune
 * Use Aegis, then Blessed Signet to regain some lost energy.
 * If an ally dies, use Unyielding Aura on them.
 * At the end of the battle, let the enchanted ally die by disabling Unyielding Aura, then have the ally with Restore Life bring them back. Allies that die with Unyielding Aura on them do not get a Death Penalty.
 * While you maintain Divine Boon and Unyielding Aura, Blessed Signet will give you +6 energy.
 * If you are under attack use Guardian.

Weaknesses

 * 1) Can be shattered!
 * 2) Casting time of Unyielding Aura can leave teammates vulnerable.
 * 3) You cannot resurrect more than one ally per battle and have enough energy to keep protecting.
 * 4) If you die, people who you have enchanted die also.

Variations

 * Use Healing skills such as Healing Breeze, Orison of Healing, Healing Touch and Heal Other.
 * Drop Mend Ailment for Remove Hex.


 * Only use Healing Prayers (or Protection Prayers) and Divine Favor.
 * Switch out Mend Ailment for Mantra of Inscriptions and increase Inspiration Magic
 * Use a Gordac's Holy Rod and a Vokur's Chakram to have any skill, Fast Cast/Recharge 20% chance.

Overview
This is a monk that uses his abilities to build his teams resiliance with symbiosis

Skill Set

 * Symbiosis
 * Marksman's Wager
 * Tiger's Fury
 * Rebirth
 * Infuse Health
 * Live Vicariously
 * Balthazar's Spirit
 * Vital Blessing

Equipment

 * You need a bow for the energy management part of this build, but don't get the greens. A prefered bow would be a perfect 15^50 Sundering Storm/Longbow of Fortitude
 * Go with the Ascetic's Armor to have a larger energy pool.

Usage
This build is used to create a health buffer against all damage.


 * Start off by casting Balthazar's Spirit if you are going to be pulling hits.
 * Spread around the enchantments till you are at neutral energy regeneration.
 * Make sure that you have enough energy to cast Marksman's Wager
 * Before battle cast Symbiosis far enough away not to be a threat but close enough to the battle that it is not useless.
 * As battle begins, cast more enchantments if you have the energy, and use Balthazar's Spirit and Marksman's Wager with Tiger's Fury  to manage the extra energy degeneration
 * If you have a BiP/Blood Ritual necro, cast a few more enchantments, and make sure he/she knows to keep you charged.
 * After battle or if your energy gets low, cancel all the less important enchants to make sure that you keep the more important ones up.

Advantages

 * Creates an effective health buffer against eoe bomb.
 * Great for pulling hits when a items such as Scepter of Orr are available.
 * Tanks health can easily top 1k.
 * Spike healing is huge.

Weaknesses

 * Disenchant spells are the bane of this build. Especially ones that strip multiple ones and ones that damage as they strip.
 * Killing the spirit kills the health buffer.
 * Killing the Symbiote kills the enchantments.
 * Can’t heal self.

Variations

 * In PvP, you can lose Marksman's Wager and Tiger's Fury for some other healing spells (like self heals).  This also allows for other weapons to be used.  Experiment with it.
 * Replace Rebirth with Resurrection Signet.

Mo/W Monk of Victory
This build follows the typical Boon/Prot Monk template, using "Victory is Mine!" as the elite skill.

Items

 * Common Guild vs Guild weapon Sets for PvP characters.


 * Hale Staff of Fortitude or Hale Staff of Enchanting
 * Focus item with Divine Favor +1
 * Rod of choice
 * Focus Item with +15 energy/-1 Energy Regeneration

Discussion
This build should be teamed with allies that cause lots of conditions in order to be effective. Balanced Stance is used to protect the Monk from common knockdown builds, though, Wary Stance could also be marginally effective in that regard while also adding another source of energy.

Variations
Balanced Stance is the wild card for the most part.
 * Use Bonetti's Defense to block attacks and gain energy.
 * Use "Shields Up!" for a quick and cheap party buff against Ranger spikes (better than Aegis in that regard).

Counters

 * Martyr
 * Enchantment removal
 * Energy Denial

Skills and Attributes:

 * 1) Divine Favor: 10+1
 * 2) Signet of Devotion
 * 3) Protection Prayers 11+2
 * 4) Mark of Protection {E}
 * 5) Reversal of Fortune
 * 6) Protective Spirit
 * 7) Healing Prayers: 10+1
 * 8) Healing Touch
 * 9) Healing Breeze
 * 10) Dwayna's Kiss
 * 11) Restore Life
 * 12) Unassigned: 1

Variations:

 * 1) Mo/any Protecting Healer
 * 2) Replace any non-elite Skill with Divine Boon and use 10+3 Divine Favor
 * 3) For PvP, replace Restore Life with Resurrection Signet

Description:
A Monk that uses Mark Of Protection and medium Divine Healing.

Overview
The Blood Spike Elementalist is a Necromancer PvP Build with some supporting Elementalist skills.

Usage
This build should be used in a team with 6 blood spikers. One player calls a target and all spikers use Shadow Strike on that target. They immediately follow up with Vampiric Gaze. If warriors move in to attack the group, all spikers should cast Unholy Feast. The spikers should take turns casting Mark of Subversion on an enemy monk.

The use of Ward Against Melee and Ward Against Elements should be co-ordinated with another Blood Spike Elementalist so that usage does not overlap.

Check the guide article for further discussion of the usage.

N/E Renewal Minion Master
This minion master variant uses the elite skill Glyph of Renewal to keep up permanent Verata's Sacrifice.

Skill Set
You can swap out the ward for Ward Against Elements if the situation would benefit more from it.

Usage
Raise minions, keep your health up by consuming corpses, and put Ward Against Melee around your fiends allies. Use Glyph of Renewal followed by Verata's Sacrifice every 15 seconds. Use Glyph of Lesser Energy to reduce the cost of raising minions.

Check General minion mastery guide for an in depth discussion of minion usage.

Equipment
Halves skill recharge time on death magic spells is a very useful mod as well as it will enable you to raise minions more often. A truncheon from Arliss Vaughn or Radamon will provide the build with the much needed chance of fast recharge and in the off hand Bortak's Bone Cesta provides a chance for level 19 Bone Fiends as well as a chance to quick cast the animate spell. Another option for the focus would be the focus available from Sir Pohl Sanbert or Volsung Stoneketil which will increase the chance at a fast recharge of animate spells to 36%. Ward Against Melee also has a high recharge time so another possible combination is to use a wand with 20% fast recharge on Earth Magic skills and a Bortak's Bone Cesta would also be a useful combination for this build.

Overview
The Blood Spike Monk is a Necromancer PvP Build with some supporting Monk skills.

Usage
This build should be used in a team with 6 blood spikers. One player calls a target and all spikers use Shadow Strike on that target. They immediately follow up with Vampiric Gaze. If warriors move in to attack the group, all spikers should cast Unholy Feast. The spikers should take turns casting Mark of Subversion on an enemy monk.

Life Bond should be cast on a monk. The use of Aegis should be co-ordinated with another Blood Spike Monk so that usage does not overlap.

Check the guide article for further discussion of the usage.

N/Mo Blood Spike Necro
This PvP build is the main character used in the team build. It centers around using Shadow Strike and Vampiric Gaze for dealing large amounts of coordinated spike damage to a single enemy such that the enemy monks are not fast enough to heal him in time.

Equipment
Typically an Insightful PvP Holy Staff of Enchanting with 20% faster casting of Protection Prayers and 20% chance of half recharge time of protection prayers. Really there is a single rule with the weapons: No items with X% chance of half casting time. If and when it does occur, it messes up the spike and warns the enemy monks of who is being spiked. The insightful and Enchanting mods can be substituted with Hale and Warding mods respectively, though enchanting is highly recommended as a spiker running a protection build.

Mostly scars armor is recommended for the energy bonus. Bonelace can sometimes be useful to your defence, as ranger spikes are popular in PvP. Be sure to use Superior Blood Magic and Minor Soul Reaping, along with (hopefully) a Superior Vigor Rune.

Usage
The usage is obvious. Use Awaken the Blood before entering a battle to help yourself do extra damage to enemies. When the caller of the team calls a spike, spike with the skill the caller calls, usually followed by vampiric gaze. Spiking is the easier part of this build's usage.

Your 3 monk skills you need to use skillfully. Aegis is essential to blood spike teams, as necromancers have low armor levels and are very susceptible to Warriors, especially IWAY Warriors, which are very common in PvP. Generally, 3 members of the blood spike group will be carrying aegis and they will try to "chain" their Aegises, so aegis can be kept up at all times. Aegis is also very helpful when facing ranger spikes teams.

Mark of Protection is an extremely useful Elite skill. When used on a target ally currently under heavy fire and dying rapidly, the enemies will generally not realize what is happening and keep attacking him until his health is full. Protection elites used in Blood Spikes include Mark of Protection, Shield of Deflection, Restore Condition, and (less commonly) Shield of Regeneration. Any of these could replace Mark of Protection on your leader's request.

Reversal of Fortune is just a cheap skill with a fast recharge that can swing up to 116 health your target's way. This can also be replaced with Guardian, Convert Hexes, or Life Bond.

Variations
Only 3 of the 6 spikers in a blood spike have Protection Prayers as their third attribute. The other 3 usually use Healing Prayers. The Healing Prayers set of skills includes Heal Other, Healing Seed, and Heal Party. Elites used on Healing Spikers include Healing Hands (very important), Word of Healing, and Martyr, an unattributed elite skill.

You may also switch out Barbed Signet for Dark Pact. They are both useful, yet Dark Pact has a cast time of 1 second while Barbed Signet has a cast time of 2 seconds.

Overview
A popular version of the many different MM builds, using mostly necromancer primary skills and the monk secondary for continual resses. Designed for use in both PvP and PvE with minor modifications.

Equipment
Ideally, you get a Bone Staff from the collector outside of Elona Reach (5 minotaur horns) - Slap on a Perfect Insightful Staff Head for +15 energy total for the staff and Perfect Staff Wrapping of Fortitude for the extra +30 health. The staff - 20% chance to quicken casting times and cooldown times.

Usage
You can insta-heal your undead allies, give them health regen and do armor ignoring damage to enemies while stealing their health to make up slack. Cast Siphon on 2-3 dudes for 4-9 health regen (depends on how many points of blood) so you can spam heals on your Horrors and Fiends.

The idea is to have as many minions as possible, they do the damage for you... you can easily sustain 15 (give or take) minions at once. They just keep rolling.

Overview
Since the 26th April Update, "standard" Minion Master builds became less viable for farming. For those who dont know, heres a quick rundown on the most significant changes:


 * With zero Death Magic, you can only control two minions. That amount increases 1 for each 2 levels in Death Magic (for a maximum of ten minions).


 * Verata's Sacrifice was toned down. It has a 10 second maximum duration, and 60 second recharge, unless you have three minions or less (making it recharge instantly).


 * Blood of the Master: This got worse and better at the same time. You can heal your minions wherever they are (they no longer have to be close to you), the charge time dropped to 2 seconds, and the energy cost dropped to 5.  The effective sacrifice cost increased: you only have to sacrifice 5% health but sacrifice 2% more health for each minion you control. That means 25% sacrifice with a full army of ten minions.


 * This build follows the same principals as a 55 Monk and builds, with a low health, and some sort of high rate health regeneration to keep health up for Blood of the Master.

Armor
Any Necromancer armor may be used, however, it is advisable to use Necromancer Scar Pattern Armor (15k), for their much apreciated energy bonus.

Also, the Minion Master must use at least 4 Superior Runes, dropping his maximum health to 180hp, to make Blood Renewal more effective. Experienced players may use 5 Superior Runes (equaling to 105 maximum health).

Weapons
Any Necromancer weapon may be used, as long as it doesn't give any health bonus. Most MM's use either 20/20 items, such as the ones offered by collectors, or Bortak's Set (especially because of the 20% chance of raising level 19 minions). Ultimately it comes down to personal preference.

Usage
Once you have corpses available, raise your minions, and start a Blood Renewal\Blood of the Master loop. The first will ensure you have enough health for the second. Also, even if you have reached the 10 Minion amount, keep raising them as possible, as they will replace the older ones. Only cast Veratas Sacrifice in situations where you have 3 or less minions, or when you need more healing power for them, or when you need to remove any conditions from your minions. Cast Offering of Blood when you see you are going to run out of energy, obviously (the Blood Renewal\Blood of the Master loop does consume lots of energy). Stick to these guidelines and you will find that maintaining 10 Minions is fairly simple.

With your low health, it is a very good idea to stay well clear from combat, so no heroics. In combat, close in just enough so that your minions spot the enemy and engage, and fall back again. Only close on the combat area again for more minion raising, preferably with Protective Spirit on you.

Another good strategy is to ask your Monk to cast Mending on you. That way you are much more energy free, have an even faster health regeneration, and are able to maintain your minions better while in movement.

Protective Spirit and Deathly Swarm are there for exceptional situations, when you see critters advancing on you, and when you feel confident enough to enter combat, respectively.

Variations

 * Replace Protective Spirit and Deathly Swarm with Animate Bone Horror and Death Nova, for a more agressive build. This can prove more effective in a Barrage/Pet team for ruins of the Tomb of the Primeval Kings, if you can stay away from enemy aggro.


 * Replace Deathly Swarm with Vampiric Gaze for a means of healing yourself fast during combat situations.


 * If you ask your monk for mending, replace Deathly Swarm with Blood Ritual so your monk won't run out of energy.

Overview
This variant of Death Magic necromancers that focus on minion raising is designed to maximize damage in PvE areas where corpses are present but in too few numbers to sustain better damage from a minion bomber build or a Putrid Explosion build. The build is designed to add damage to the group and not to body block or tank but can, however, be adjusted to accommodate such needs.

Equipment
Of the many armor options available to necromancers the mods on Scar Pattern Armor are the most useful. A large energy bar insures you have the energy to cast offensive skill in addition to animating fiends whenever a corpse becomes available.

Halves skill recharge time on death magic spells is a very useful mod as well as it will enable you to keep Verata's Sacrifice more often as well as keeping virulence active on more than one target. A truncheon from Arliss Vaughn or Radamon will provide the build with the much needed chance of fast recharge and in the off hand Bortak's Bone Cesta provides a chance for level 19 Bone Fiends as well as a chance to quick cast the animate spell. Another option for the focus would be the focus available from Sir Pohl Sanbert or Volsung Stoneketil which will increase the chance at a fast recharge of Verata's Sacrifice to 40%. The truncheon can be swapped for an axe or sword with a poisoner's ax haft or sword hilt upgrade, this will lend some additional potency to Virulence. Lastly the staff available from Luven Underwood or Merin Trollsbane upgraded with an insightful staff head and a staff wrapping of +1 Death Magic chance 20% would be an excellent choice as well.

Usage
At the on set of combat use Rotting Flesh on the most common enemy type to spread around disease then follow up quickly with Virulence to stack up a quick 8 degeneration on a single target. As soon as the first target falls begin animating minions and continue to do so as often as possible. After animating a few fiends begin using Verata's Sacrifice as often as possible. Serpent's Quickness should provide a fast recharge on two consecutive castings and by the time the skill has recharged again, assuming no fast recharges, Serpent's Quickness should be available for use again in 2-3 seconds effectively allowing Verata's Sacrifice to be maintained indefinitely. Watch the enemy closesly and animate fiends whenever a new body becomes avalible, remember it is always better to animate a new minion than it is to heal an old one. During battle keep a close eye on your fiends and move between groups to use Blood of the Master whenever a group takes spike damage. Move between battles quickly and keep in mind that the longer a minion is alive the, faster its health degenerates.

Check General minion mastery guide for an indepth discussion of minion usage.

Variations
In areas where body blocking is more important than damage Animate Bone Horror can be added to the build in place of Animate Bone Fiend. Damage output will drop with this configuration but the sustainable number of minions will rise due to the decreased energy demand of Animate Bone Horror.

When using horrors instead of fiends consider replacing rotting flesh with Death Nova to add extra damage and poison foes. Virulence can be replaced in this build by Tainted Flesh and cast on minions and melee fighters in the party. Since Death Nova is poison and Tainted Flesh is disease the degeneration will stack. This build is more reliant on party members to generate the first corpse.

Blood of the Master can be replaced with Healing Spring. Both serve similar functions and each provide their own trade offs Blood of the Master is less energy efficient and requires life sacrifice but provides more effective spike healing. Healing Spring heals for a much greator amount of health overall but requires healing targets to remain in one place, an often difficult task with minions. Since Healing Spring is easily interuptable it's usefulness in combat is further diminshed but if foes are attacking minions and not the master this is not a problem. For the most part this choice is situational and a matter of taste, use whichever skill suits personal play styles best.

For extra damage output, Winnowing is an applicable spirit, adding to the bone fiend's damage output. However, Favorable Winds will not add damage, since the fiend's projectiles are not arrows per se. Winnowing can be used in place of Resurrection Signet while soloing.

Overview
The Blood Spike Warrior is a Necromancer PvP Build with some supporting Warrior skills.

Usage
This build should be used in a team with 6 blood spikers. One player calls a target and all spikers use Shadow Strike on that target. They immediately follow up with Vampiric Gaze. If warriors move in to attack the group, all spikers should cast Unholy Feast. The spikers should take turns casting Mark of Subversion on an enemy monk.

The use of "Charge!" and "Shields Up!" should be co-ordinated with another Blood Spike Warrior to keep them up on the group constantly.

Check the guide article for further discussion of the usage.

Overview
The Leeching Necro is a Necromancer PvE Build that utilizes life stealing skills from the Blood Magic line. It is designed to be independent of the monks in the party by providing its own healing. While not suitable for PvP per se, it can easily be adapted for such a use; see.

Equipment
The following weapons and off-hand items are recommended:
 * 1) Fleshweaver (Staff)
 * 2) Gordac's Hook Blood (Focus Item)
 * 3) Gordac's Needle (Wand)

The spells in this build take just long enough to cast and recharge that additional energy boosts with items are not needed. Plus with the high Soul Reaping you receive more every time something dies.

Basic usage

 * 1) Start with Life Transfer and cover it with Life Siphon. Life Siphon recharges quickly, so even if it is removed, it can be recast to restore the cover on Life Transfer. It can also be maintained on multiple targets.
 * 2) Use Shadow Strike, Barbed Signet, Mark of Subversion and Vampiric Gaze to cause spike damage. Shadow Strike is best used at the beginning, when your target has more than 50% health.
 * 3) Use Strip Enchantment to remove HoT enchantments such as Healing Breeze and Shield of Regeneration.

Variants

 * This build is easily adapted for a battery role. Replace Mark of Subversion with Well of Power or Blood is Power, and Life Transfer with Blood Ritual or Awaken the Blood.
 * If running with a monk or just more gutsy, replace Strip Enchantment with Rend Enchantments for a much more potent enchantment remover, but try not to use it on enemy monks unless you want to lose health as well (although other characters may have monk enchantments anyway).

R/Me Chaos Ranger
This build is theoretical and designed for a balanced GvG team. You must use Druid's Armor and at least a secondary bow. The primary weapon can be whatever is preferred.

Usage
Arcane Mimicry is a powerful key to this build. It should be cast on an ally that has Energy Drain (typically, a Boon/Prot Monk). Cast Chaos Storm or Cry of Frustration on an enemy followed by Energy Drain, Power Drain, Drain Enchantment, or any combination of the three to regain Energy. Next use Serpent's Quikness and then Oath Shot, making sure to target someone you won't miss. Assuming you hit with Oath Shot, all of your skills should now be recharged, and at this point only 5-7 seconds should have passed, depending on how many of your energy management skills you used. If you have over 15 energy or so, you can now start your second itteration of the combo. Serpent's Quickness will cut the recharge of Oath Shot down to 14 seconds, so you should be able to repeat this combo every 14 seconds or so. When Arcane Mimicry has expired, it should get recharged by one of your Oath Shots so you can cast it again almost immediately. Try to time your Energy Drains so that you can get two castings of it before Arcane Mimicry expires. The more frequently you cast Energy Drain the better. The three energy management skills should give sufficient enough energy to cast both Chaos Storm and Cry of Frustration in the 14 second window while Oath Shot is recharging.

Variations

 * Use Shatter Hex or Shatter Enchantment instead of Cry of Frustration.
 * Use Determined Shot instead of Serpent's Quickness. (Note: this is much harder to use effectively than Serpent's Quickness, however, if you are skilled enough, it is a much better choice.)
 * Use Leech Signet instead of Power Drain.
 * Try mimicing a Mesmer elite other than Energy Drain with Arcane Mimicry.

Counters

 * Anything that will make you miss with Oath Shot.

Introduction
Interrupt Rangers are highly effective against builds with moderate casting times. This build can be especially effective in disabling an opposing team's Monk.

Equipment

 * A set of Druid's Armor and a Hunter's Mask.
 * Use a Shortbow to Interrupt faster.

Usage

 * Maintain Favorable Winds for increased damage and decreased flight time.
 * Cast Arcane Conundrum on a Caster and follow-up with a Concussion Shot.
 * Save Distracting Shot for Skills and Savage Shot for Spells.

Variants

 * Use Broad Head Arrow to daze spellcasters and possibly interrupt spells.

Overview
This Interrupt build is based on the combo of Migraine and Concussion Shot to shutdown enemy casters.

Usage

 * 1) Prepare Read the Wind to boost your arrow speed.
 * 2) Cast Migraine and shoot Concussion Shot to pressure casters into casting 4x as long.
 * 3) * Use plain attacks with Dazed and your arrows will interrupt with each hit.
 * 4) Cast Conjure Phantasm on other targets while you shoot the Dazed target.
 * 5) Use Distortion while using Resurrection Signet and facing Warriors.

Weaknesses

 * 1) Targets who use stances to evade your arrows.
 * 2) Hex Breaker or a Hex remover.
 * 3) A different enemy who removes dazed from your target.

R/Me Weariness Ranger
The Weariness Ranger is an oddball energy denial build. It is well suited for the Team Arenas or the Global Tournament where players are often found close together. It is somewhat less useful in GvG, where front and backlines tend to be more clearly defined, and proper positioning for Signet of Weariness is hard to achieve.

Usage
Your primary targets are rangers and energy using warriors, preferably warriors who are ganging up on your monks. The skill usage order is: Try to use Signet of Weariness against clumped opponents. One round of this will leave a warrior completely drained of energy and a ranger almost useless. Use Mind Wrack to reap the benefits of energy denial and to know when the target(s) have been fully drained.
 * 1) Mantra of Signets
 * 2) Signet of Weariness (*)
 * 3) Signet of Weariness
 * 4) Debilitating Shot
 * 5) Oath Shot

Use Blackout to shut down important targets such as protection monks before a spike.

Variants
The optional slot allows this build to be instantiated in a number of different scenarios.


 * Distracting Shot or Savage Shot (redistribute attribute points to have at least 9+1 in Marksmanship) for interrupts
 * Determined Shot to be shot at an obstructed foe so that Oath Shot is recharged. (No extra points in Marksmanship are needed.)
 * Throw Dirt on warriors. They will not have the energy to remove the blindness themselves. This is very effective against hammer-wielding W/Ns (eg. W/N Mighty Crushing Hammer).
 * Whirling Defense to increase durability
 * Dodge for flag running
 * Quickening Zephyr to add to the energy denial flavor (redistribute attribute points to have 5+1 in Wilderness Survival)
 * Serpent's Quickness to speed up the recharge of Oath Shot.

Counters and Criticism

 * This build is a one trick pony. It is not well suited for ganking in split teams, as it has a terrible damage output.
 * The step marked (*) above is key. If the chain is interrupted there, then the energy denial is countered for at least another 20 seconds (recharge time of Oath Shot).

Equipment
Any staff will do, Milius' Pillar and similar are good choices for their 15 energy and 30 health, but the best would be the quest reward staff from the Fires in the East quest, with a perfect Insightful Head and a perfect Staff Wrapping of Fortiude. It is helpful to take 2 pieces of armor: one with a superior expertise rune and one with a minor one incase you build up death penalty.

Strategy

 * Remember to try and stay un-noticed since traps are relatively easy to interrupt. Whirling Defense is a good skill to help prevent interruption.


 * Using dust trap first is generally the best strategy as then your nearby enemies are blinded and cannot stop you from laying more traps.

Variation

 * Replace Spike Trap with Oath Shot
 * Replace Serpent's Quickness with Dryder's Defenses
 * R/Me Replace Whirling Defense with Mantra of Resolve

R/N Melandru's Toucher
The Melandru's Toucher use the ranger's resilience to get close to his opponents, steal their health, and deal a large amount of armor ignoring damage. However, unlike a touch focused build, this build adds the usual ranger staples of interruption and trapping.

This build is designed for the Team Arenas.

Equipment
Use an insightful blood staff when using the touch skills and trapping, but switch to a recurve bow for Distracting Shot

Usage

 * Get close to your target and use Signet of Agony and Melandru's Resilience. This will give you a long lasting additional pip of energy regeneration.
 * Spam Touch of Agony and Vampiric Touch on your selected target
 * Use Throw Dirt if targeted by warriors, and Barbed Trap to snare them if you need to flee.

Counters

 * Use any anti-spammer strategy, such as Blackout or Diversion
 * Snare the ranger and run away.

Variants

 * Bring a running skill such as Storm Chaser to chase down kiting foes or run away. Keep in mind that Melandru's Resilience is also a stance.
 * Replace Distracting Shot with Apply Poison and use a sword or axe instead of a bow.
 * Replace Barbed Trap with Troll Unguent or a Nature Ritual in the Wilderness Survival line.

R/N Touch Ranger PvE
ATouch Ranger makes use of a ranger's durability in getting close to his opponents, and uses the "touch" skills from the necromancer's arsenal to steal his opponents' health and deal a large amount of armor ignoring damage. Because the touch skills are not spells, the ranger primary attribute of Expertise helps to reduce their cost greatly(at 16 Expertise, Vampiric Touch is reduced from a cost of 15 energy to a cost of 5 energy). While originally designed for PvP play, this build is a version adapted for PvE players. Besides being able to deal direct damage, this build can make a very effective tank due to a large number of defensive skills and a fairly effective self heal.

Usage

 * Use Druids armor for the extra energy, and use the best vigor rune you can get.
 * For weaponry, a bow is not needed. Use a +10 energy staff, preferably with a +5 insightful Staff Head and a Staff Wrapping of Defense or of Fortitude. Helpful mods would be faster cast/recharge time of Blood Magic skills. Kole's Torment is an effective choice. The quest reward staff from Fires in the East with a perfect insightful head can give an even bigger energy boost.
 * Get close to your target(ideally warriors or rangers, as your attacks bypass their higher armor level, and your stances will keep you well protected) and spam Vampiric Touch and Touch of Agony.
 * Use Throw Dirt and your stances to avoid taking physical damage.
 * Use Escape to chase down fleeing targets or to make a quick escape if the battle turns against you.
 * Use Plague Touch if afflicted with a condition.
 * As all your attacks are classified as skills, you can attack without fear even if hexed with Backfire, Empathy, Clumsiness, Ineptitude, Guilt, or similar hexes. Likewise, you will not miss with your touch skills even if suffering from blindness, and your attacks cannot be evaded or blocked with stances such as Escape or Shield Stance.

Counters

 * This build can be severely hurt by Blackout, Diversion, or Distracting Shot.
 * Being afflicted with Cripple can severely reduce your effectiveness, though if an enemy is nearby you can try to give him the condition via Plague Touch.
 * Spiteful Spirit can hurt you, though if you are careful and limit your attacks to Vampiric Touch/Vampiric Bite, your self healing will usually more than make up for the damage dealt.

Variants
Optional skills:
 * Barbed Signet or Wallow's Bite for an additional attack skill.
 * Vampiric Bite to supplement Vampiric Touch.
 * Dryder's Defenses to give you yet another defensive stance.
 * Dark Aura to deal additional damage from Touch of Agony.
 * Awaken the Blood to deal additional damage with the touch skills.
 * Troll Unguent for an additional self-heal.
 * Dodge, Zojun's Haste, or Storm Chaser for an additional running skill.
 * A Factions only character can use this same build by replacing Vampiric Touch with Vampiric Bite, and replacing Touch of Agony with Wallow's Bite.

Overview
A PvP R/W build using Tiger's Fury to speed up hammer knockdowns, pet attacks, and interrupts in general. The build can be used in PvE as well, as long as the player is aware of it's strengths and limitations and plays to them accordingly.

Equipment
Standard PvP hammer is decent, but Zealous weapons are preferable for providing energy. Switch into a non-Zealous weapon when not actively swinging to keep up energy generation.

Usage notes
Play style is important for this build. As with any knockdown or interrupt based build, timing is essential.

Pet damage is secondary to Hammer damage, but worthwhile. Pure damage output can be increased by switching into different Pet attacks at the cost of disabling / interrupting.

Tiger's Fury is essential for increasing the slow attack rates of hammers. Frenzy usually not a meaningfully better option, because you will have enough energy to use Tiger's Fury to avoid risking Frenzy.

Variations

 * This can be run as a W/R build instead, focusing on higher hammer damage output by replacing Expertise with Strength. This is a wildly different build, but the Beast Mastery skills remain vital for augmenting the Hammer attacks.
 * Backbreaker could be replaced with Ferocious Strike (Ferocious Strike doesn’t interrupt, but gains adrenaline and provides the Bunny Thumper with damaging pet attack).
 * Disrupting Lunge could be replaced with Comfort Animal (Comfort Animal is usually taken if Ferocious Strike is taken, but it is still optional in either case as this build should be able to do reasonable damage even with all skills disabled and with a dead pet.)

Equipment
Perfect Sundering Hammer Haft Perfect Hammer Grip of Fortitude

Usage
Keep Tiger's Fury on at all times. Just keep pummeling at your opponent to charge Backbreaker. Spam Irresistible blow and Predators Pounce. Once Backbreaker full charges, unleash hell by using Backbreaker then Crushing Blow follow it up with Irresistible Blow and Predator's Pounce. For a sure kill, time Backbreaker so that when you use it your opponents health is under 70% then use the combo.

Difference

 * No Interuption skills
 * This build has Healing
 * Predator's Pounce is spammable and removes the need for Comfort Animal with its healing
 * Just one Adrenaline Skill, So you can concetrate on using it.
 * Crushing Blow makes good use of the long knock down

R/W Constant Stance Slasher
The Constant Stance Slasher is centered around the constant use of stances in melee. It is mainly used in the Random Arena.

Equipment
A sword with a 15^50 mod is generally recommended.This could use 15(while in stance) mod too cause it is Constant Stance. A Tactics Shield is necessary for the health and damage reduction bonuses in stance.

A second weapon set with bonuses while hexed is ideal.

The choice of armor is not as important as Expertise counteracts the energy costs significantly.

Usage

 * Rush towards your target with Escape, but be careful not to overextend from your team. If any physical attackers target you, your stances will generally make them switch targets.
 * Keep one stance active during melee. Lightning Reflexes is better for the attack speed boost, and Escape is better for kiting or chasing down fleeing foes. Whirling Defense is best used against ranged attacks.
 * Note that stances will not protect from non-attack sources such as spells.

Counters
Any standard anti-melee strategy works. For instance:
 * Blindness
 * Debuffing hexes such as Faintheartedness that reduce attack speed, or shutdown hexes such as Spiteful Spirit.
 * Wild Blow to end the stances early.

Variants

 * Replace Hamstring with Distracting Blow.

Rt/N Explosive Creation
The Explosive Creation build regularly creates and destroys creatures to deal damage to foes. This build takes advantage of Spawning Power's ability to affect minion creation as well as spirits.

Equipment

 * A staff of Enchanting.
 * Harbinger's Armor since none of the advantages of other armors are being strongly utilized.
 * Best Vigor rune possible and superior Spawning Power. All other minor runes to conserve health.

Usage

 * Keep Boon of Creation and Explosive Growth up.
 * After things start dying, create a Flesh Golem, place Death Nova on it, kill it off with Taste of Death when Animate Flesh Golem has recharged, and repeat.
 * For more damage at the higher cost of energy and corpses, create Bone Minions instead. This doubles the Explosive Growth damage and provides another target for Death Nova. With Boon of Creation, this skill entirely recovers its energy cost upon successful cast.
 * In PvE, if you still have minions before a battle, cast Death Nova on all of them before it begins.

Counters

 * Exploit the corpses with faster-casting Necromancer skills.

Variations

 * Resurrection Signet will usually be better in Random Arenas and Team Arenas than a low Restoration Flesh of My Flesh.
 * Reduce Spawning Power, increase Restoration, and add spirits such as Recuperation to help your teammates and minions last longer.
 * Add quickly recharging spirits such as Destruction and use Rupture Soul, possibly drawing them into position with Draw Spirit allowing you to deal damage on ceation and destruction of the spirit.

Team - Minion Factory
Minion Factory (MF) is a team PvP build based around on the production of minions, preferably bone fiends. The core of a MF team consists of:


 * Two Saccers, who commit suicide to provide corpses.
 * One or two minion masters, who raise minions from these corpses
 * One or two fast-casting mesmer/monks ("rezmer") to resurrect the saccers

The saccers, minion master, and rezmer work together to generate a large number of minions while the party waits to enter a battle.

Saccer
These characters are usually primary or secondary necromancers, bringing:


 * Blood is Power (elite)
 * Signet of Agony
 * Illusion of Weakness if the other profession is mesmer

Wearing a Vampiric weapon and usaully the -50 cesta given as the reward in Cities of Ascalon.

Two saccers are needed, who may also have several superior runes in their armor to help decrease their maximum starting health. Blood is Power has a 33% health sacrifice, which is increased to 50% with Awaken the Blood. Two casts of Blood is Power (usually on the rezmers) are therefore sufficient to commit suicide. Once their corpses have been exploited for minions, the rezmers resurrect them. They have 1 maximum health after DP stacks up so the Vampiric weapon kills them off.

This process can be also done with necromancer/mesmers with an attribute rank of 5 in Illusion Magic. Illusion of Weakness sacrifices 113 health at this rank, which is generally more than the maximum health of a character with five superior runes. Once resurrected, the saccers can use Signet of Agony because it requires no energy and the combined sacrifice and bleeding will kill the saccer.

Once their job is over and the round starts they can swith to a normal weapon set and spam Necromancer skills that would normally require health loss (Like Blood is Power). This is because they have one health, and at one health you do not lose any health when you sacifice. If they die it doesn't matter.

Minion Master
These are always primary Necromancers. The skillset usually is:


 * Animate Bone Horror / Animate Bone Fiend
 * Blood of the Master
 * Verata's Sacrifice
 * Verata's Aura (to quickly reclaim minions if killed)
 * Taste of Death
 * Grenth's Balance (Elite)
 * Dark Bond (a high Blood Magic rank is not needed)

They can use their secondary to help the recharge for Verata's Sacrifice if their is only one minion master (by using Echo or Glyph of Renewal). They go secondary monk for Heal Area otherwise.

If the team has two minion masters, then one summons horrors and the other fiends. Fiends are perhaps more effective because they don't have to chase kiters. The minion masters use Verata's Sacrifice every so often to keep the minions' health degeneration minimal, and Blood of the Master helps the healer heal the minions.

When the battle starts, the minion masters must stay alive. Dark Bond diverts the damage minion masters would take to the minions. They should use Taste of Death for a quick heal in emergencies, and Grenth's Balance for even more dire situations (though it tends to be overkill).

If the minion masters die, they must be resurrected quickly so they can reclaim the masterless minions (who will have turned on the party) with Verata's Aura.

Rezmer
These characters are fast-casting mesmer/monks with:


 * Vengeance
 * Light of Dwayna/Resurrect/Rebirth
 * Heal Area
 * Arcane Echo/Echo (elite)

Restore Life has fallen out of favor because of the buffing of casting times on other resurrections.

A rank of 16 in Fast Casting is ideal, as it halves the time spent on the resurrections. Try to use the echos on the high recharge resurrects because they have the best cast times. You always have a resurrection spell ready to cast with this build.

Healer
The usual skillset is:


 * Heal Area
 * Healing Seed
 * Infuse Health
 * Orison of Healing
 * Divine Intervention
 * Healing Touch
 * Either Martyr or Restore Condition

While out of combat, the healer's main skill is Heal Area to keep the minions alive. In combat, the healer needs to keep the minion masters alive by any means necessary. Healing Seed is used to counter melee pressure, Infuse Health and Divine Intervention for spike damage, and Martyr or Restore Condition for condition spreading attacks.

Spirit Spammer
These members are ranger/necromancer. Their skillset includes:


 * Fertile Season
 * Winnowing/Predatory Season
 * Healing Spring
 * Oath Shot (Elite)

Healing Spring helps with healing the minions out of combat. When the combat starts, the spirit spammer summons his spirits one after the other in a place that is hard to reach. A good example is behind the stairs in the Global Tournament &mdash; the minions will body block it. If the spirits are killed prematurely, Oath Shot should be used to recharge them.

Fertile Season is used to increase minion health and counter the effect of spikes. Winnowing increases minion damage.

Counters

 * Spike damage is generally the best counter to a MF build. Taking out the minion masters makes the now masterless minions turn on the party. Prevent their resurrection with a strategically placed Frozen Soil.
 * The MF team is the most vulnerable at the start of the battle. Rush them.
 * Minions, being undead, take double Holy damage. Send in a well-protected warrior with Balthazar's Aura to thin the minion ranks.
 * All minions are treated as belonging to the same species; Edge of Extinction makes quick work out of them.
 * Another awesome counter is simply a well placed AoE spell like Meteor Shower. Minions are not smart enough to move fast enough so you can destroy the minion masters work in a matter of seconds.
 * MF teams generally have weak protection and hex countering mechanisms. Degen pressure can be very effective once the minion wall is broken.
 * Use Verata's Aura yourself to steal their minions. This is most effective right after the MF minion masters have just used it after being resurrected, as Verata's Aura has a long recharge time. Note, however, that this extremely effective counter against MF has little to no use against any other kind of build, so it may be a wasted skill if MF teams are not popular in the metagame.

Trivia

 * There are second hand reports that this build was created by Isaiah Cartwright, the ArenaNet developer in charge of skill balance for Guild Wars.

Overview
This build is mainly used in Heroes' Ascent to quickly gain fame

VIMWAY, or "Victory is Mine!" "I Will Avenge You!" is a team PvP build. It is a variant of the popular IWAY build. The build consists of trappers and IWAY warriors who support each other while dealing a large amount of damage to the enemy.

Composition
A basic VIMWAY team consists of:
 * Four ranger/warrior trappers
 * Four warrior/rangers with pets

Four Ranger/Warrior Trappers

 * Dust Trap
 * Flame Trap
 * Barbed Trap
 * Healing Spring
 * Quickening Zephyr
 * "Victory is Mine!"
 * Resurrection Signet

Four IWAY Warriors

 * Eviscerate (elite)
 * Executioner's Strike
 * Penetrating Blow
 * "I Will Avenge You!"
 * Charm Animal
 * Tiger's Fury
 * Sprint
 * Resurrection Signet

Usage
The purpose in this build is to do a lot of damage and condition to pressure the opposing team's monks. Both the Ranger/Warriors and Warrior/Rangers utilize their skills to place many conditions on the enemy.

The Ranger/Warriors use "Victory is Mine!" to gain a great amount of health and energy to utilize for their traps and Quickening Zephyr to speed up the recharge times of their skills. They also act as support for the Warrior/Rangers by using Healing Spring.

The Warrior/Rangers purposely let their charmed pets die in order to utilize the skill "I Will Avenge You!"

Introduction
This is a 3-4 person build designed for farming the Ice Imps in the caves of Mineral Springs. Icy Dragon Swords are sought after, because of the fact that they are always max damage, and always come with the Damage +15% while health above 50% mod. This build is designed to defend against heavy elemental damage, and is of very little use against enemies that use physical attacks and hexes.

Attributes

 * Strength: 10+1+1
 * Tactics: 10+1
 * Swordsmanship: 10+1
 * Inspiration Magic: 5

Unspent Attribute Points: 2

Equipment
Since you will be fighting exclusively cold damage dealing enemies, the ideal weapon would be one that does fire damage. A Fiery Dragon Sword is perfect, but anything with a fiery sword hilt upgrade would be just as good.

1 Defy Pain Warrior
The Defy Pain Warrior is used to concentrate aggro on him and relies on the Charge Warriors to provide him with "Charge!" and "Watch Yourself!".

Attributes

 * Strength: 10+1+1
 * Tactics: 10+1
 * Swordsmanship: 10+1
 * Inspiration Magic: 5

Unspent Attribute Points: 2

Equipment
Since you will be fighting exclusively cold damage dealing enemies, the ideal weapon would be one that does fire damage. A Fiery Dragon Sword is perfect, but anything with a fiery sword hilt upgrade would be just as good.

Tasca's Demise
The run starts from The Granite Citadel, going out into Tasca's Demise. From here, go out, and use "Charge!" to run through the mobs of enemies. When the path forks, take the rightmost fork (keep going straight). Shortly after the path forks, you will arrive at a bridge (Point 1 on map). Run slightly past the bridge, and pay attention to the mob on the bridge. At the time you get there, they should be on the opposite end, or making their way there. If you wait, they will turn around and come back toward you. Once they are off the bridge, run past and go over the bridge. Immediately after crossing the bridge, move to the right side of the path and wait (Point 2 on map). A mob with at least one Siege Ice Golem will come through the pass. Once they have passed, run through and make for the portal to Mineral Springs. Right before the end, if you are unlucky, you cannot avoid aggroing a group that includes several Stone Summit Heretics, who use Crippling Anguish and Conjure Phantasm. One warrior should attack them as a distraction, while the others run past. Be sure to time your run so you do not run into the group that patrols right next to the end.

Mineral Springs
Note that the build does not contain any resses, so once you reach Mineral Springs, dieing group members can not be resurrected!

Once in Mineral Springs, begin by running through the mob of Avicara and take the right fork. From here, the path is relatively linear. Just run through all the mobs, and try to avoid aggravating more than one group at a time. You will eventually reach a resurrection shrine in the eastern end of Mineral Springs (Point 3 on map). Beyond this, there are Tundra Giants. They use Giant Stomp, so you will need to use Balanced Stance before running through. At the top of the hill is an Avicara boss, which should not be too difficult to run past.

Once you arrive at the caves (Point 4 on map), you should stop and assess the situation. There are likely to be one or more groups of Avicara nearby. If you reach the Ice Imps while Avicara are still chasing you, you will die. Pull the closest group of Avicara away from the Ice Imps and kill them (preferably 1 by 1). When the way is cleared, proceed to the cave.

Ice Imp Cave
Before you start attacking, use Elemental Resistance. The Defy Pain Warrior should go in first and concentrate aggro on himself. Once you have reached your first enemy, cast Dolyak Signet, and once you start gaining Adrenaline, use it to keep Defy Pain on. Along with the Ice Imps, there are a few Siege Ice Golems and Mountain Trolls. The Trolls deal physical damage, which your skills are not effective at negating. Worse, the Ice Golems will use Rust, which causes Healing Signet to take 6 seconds to cast. Do not cast Healing Signet while you have Rust on you. Kill the Ice Golems and Trolls before you start attacking the Ice Imps. As long as you pay close attention to your buffs, and heal when needed, even large groups of Ice Imps should give you no trouble.

If after killing all the Ice Imps you do not get an Icy Dragon Sword, do not be disappointed. They do not drop often, and if you get a single one in a run, it was at worst an average run.

Variations
You don't have to use a sword with this build. Axes are very popular because of the higher critical damage and the Penetrating Blow attack. You can use any weapon you want, as long as you take appropriate attack skills for it. This build uses very little energy, so attack skills that use energy such as Power Attack and Desperation Blow would work well. If you use non-adrenal attacks, though, you need to make sure you keep enough energy to maintain Elemental Resistance.

W/E Brick Wall
This is a Warrior/Elementalist build designed to be a powerful tank, so it relies heavily on health and armor boosting skills, while leaving damage dealing to other members of your party.

Armour

 * Any max armour for all but the boots (Warrior Platemail Armor, Warrior Dragon Armor (15k), Warrior Wyvern Armor, Also the new canthan Sentry's armor)
 * Boots from either Warrior Ascended Ascalon Armor or Warrior Knight's Armor
 * Runes:
 * Minor Strength
 * Minor Tactics
 * The best Absorption rune possible
 * The best Vigor rune possible

Weapons

 * Any Sword or Axe, the following enhancements are useful-
 * Any Furious- AND
 * Any -of Defense, -of Shelter, -of Warding OR
 * Any -of Fortitude
 * Any max AL (16) Shield with health or damage reduction enhancements

Attributes

 * Strength- 14 (Helm + Rune of Minor Strength)
 * Divide the rest of the points between Tactics and Earth Magic

You may wonder, why not a major or superior rune in strength? Well, the reduction in HP would pretty much negate the bonus that you would get from Defy Pain and Endure Pain.

Skill Usage

 * Armor of Earth - Try to keep this active constantly, it provides a huge armour bonus.
 * Dolyak Signet- Extra armour, prevents knockdown, and this build isn't exactly trying to run from anything. With 14 strength, you'll have 1 second every 20 seconds without this active if you keep it going.
 * Defy Pain- Extra Armour and HP, suits the Brick Wall strategy perfectly.
 * Endure Pain- Extra HP, not quite as useful as Defy Pain, but the two stack- You can have a whopping 1100+ hp with no problem. Be wary not to let your HP drop below the HP bonus you recieve before it wears out, otherwise it could kill you.
 * Healing Signet- With all the armour that this build has, the reduction in armour while using it shouldn't bother you. Use it when needed.
 * Defensive Stance- Use when you need extra armour, need to block attacks, or when you need to keep yourself from being interrupted to use healing signet.
 * Bonetti's Defense- Use this to block attacks and keep your energy up when you need to. Keep in mind that Dolyak Signet and Healing Signet do not end this or defensive stance.
 * "I Will Survive!"- Use this when you're bombarded with conditions, it'll help you keep your health up. You have no chance of keeping this active constantly, so this could probably be replaced with something else depending on your preferences.

General Strategy
This build isn't trying to do damage. Its trying to absorb almost all of it, and not die. Keep Armor of Earth and Dolyak Signet active constantly and this should absorb most damage in itself, Defy Pain is possible to keep active constantly if you're attacking something, which you should be. Remember, don't worry about doing damage. That can be left to the rest of your party, just try to absorb as much of it as you can.

Cyclonic Burster
This is a W/E PvE-build that combines Warriors Endurance and Cyclone Axe with shortrange AoE skills.

Usage
The Cyclonic Burster is easy to use:
 * 1) Start with Conjure Flame
 * 2) Aggro a mob
 * 3) Cast Warriors Endurance
 * 4) Use Flame Burst
 * 5) Recharge your energy with Cyclone Axe

You can spike with Phoenix and Penetrating Blow and interrupt with Disrupting Chop. If things get nasty use your Dolyak Signet.

Armor & Equipment

 * A Fiery Axe of Defense or of Shelter suites this build best.
 * Bring along a shield with Received damage -2 while enchanted.
 * Go with the Gladiator's Armor for the energy bonus with one Piece of Ascalon Armor or Knight's Armor.
 * Make sure to bring your Longbow for luring.

Variations

 * If you have trouble with your energy management exchange Phoenix with Lava Font and Flame Burst with Inferno.
 * Change Penetrating Blow with Executioner's Strike if you encounter enemies with light Armor.

W/Me IW Warrior
The Illusive Warrior is a versatile PvP build that can deal raw damage as well as baffle and confound foes. Although the Warrior has a low energy supply even at the best of times, with frugal and focused skill use this build can act to shutdown foes, kill them, or protect allies. The versatile nature of this build is particularly attractive for those who like to play warriors and feel like any build other than a Tank is a fifth wheel.

Equipment

 * Gladiator's Armor with an Ascalon Helm. The energy bonus is a necessity for success with this build, and the Ascalon Helm provides +1 to Tactics and reduces damage from attacks.
 * Runes: Minor tactics; Minor Swordsmanship; Minor, Major or Superior Absorption and Vigor.
 * A req. 9 sword.
 * A req. 12 (or less) tactics shield.

Usage
Depending on your foes, try to decide early on which skills you wish to use. Some of the skills have recharge times and energy costs that will quickly become prohibitive if prematurely activated. Fortunately, two or three of these skills can combine to play a very effective support role in your team. The combinations you may most often use will include:
 * Illusionary Weaponry and Deflect Arrows. Used to run past enemy rangers and their crippling bows to attack an enemy squishy.  Deflect Arrows will not end prematurely by your attacks because Illusionary Weaponry does not trigger effects that occur on hit.  If the opponent you are attacking begins to run from you, you should shortly have enough energy for Ethereal Burden - and when that hex ends you will again have enough energy for Illusionary Weaponry.
 * Ethereal Burden and Sympathetic Visage. If you are being tailed by enemy Warriors, cast Ethereal Burden on a nearby enemy spellcaster and Sympathetic Visage on yourself and then attack the spellcaster.  It is quite possible that the warrior will not realise that their attacks are not only draining their own energy but also the energy of their allies.  This is a great tactic for eliminating pestering Monks.  Sympathetic Visage can otherwise be used on any ally who is being targeted by melee attacks as a mild form of reflexive protection.
 * Arcane Conundrum and Savage Slash. Arcane Conundrum makes interruption significantly easier for you and your allies.  Use these skills when you can see a caster dominating the playfield.  Note that Savage Slash will not strike your foe while you are enchanted with Illusionary Weaponry, so be wary when requiring both damage and interruption.

Variations

 * Rush or Imagined Burden as a replacement for Ethereal Burden. While this variation is not recommended, it helps alleviate the long recharge time/energy cost of Ethereal Burden.  I have found that the energy replenishment of Ethereal Burden makes it a valuable skill and in many situations slowing your foe is better than speeding yourself up (most notably since one slowing spell allows all your allies to catch up with the hexed foe).
 * Distracting Blow replacing Savage Slash. Distracting blow will interrupt adjacent foes, but you will find this benefit rarely comes into play.  Although the skill description for Distracting Blow does not state that this skill needs to hit a foe to interrupt them, my testing indicates that it does not work when enchanted with Illusionary Weaponry.

W/Mo Holy Smiter
This is a spiking build, is excellent for PvE, and can be quite good for PvP depending on the state of the meta game. It focuses on using low-energy Monk smiting skills while benefiting from the high-armor and low-priority of the Warrior class. Weapon, shield, and armor can be whatever is preferred, but make sure to have Stonefist Gauntlets.

Attributes and Skills

 * Note: (A) and (B) are two different skill set-ups.

Usage
The skills can be used in any order, but there are a couple things to look out for. If there are interrupting Rangers on the other team, use "Shields Up!" before using any of the longer casting skills. Try to use Symbol of Wrath around a group of foes. Try to be adjacent to a foe before using Bane Signet and Signet of Judgement so that you can easily follow them up with Holy Strike. Use Smite Hex whenever there's a hex on an ally.

Discussion
This build is great because it is unfazed by blindness, weakness, stances and wards. Most hexes used to counter typical Warrior builds will not effect this build much. All the damage it does is armor-ignoring, it has 3 skills that do area-of-effect damage, and it is low-energy use due to the several signets. It can remove dangerous hexes if it needs to, and it can protect against interrupt Rangers. The main combo of Symbol of Wrath, Signet of Judgement, and Holy Strike will do 135 + 63 + 92 = 290 damage (the full damage will occur if the foe doesn't notice Symbol of Wrath by the time Signet of Judgement is used). After Holy Strike recharges (8 seconds), Bane Signet can be used on an attacking foe followed by Holy Strike, which will do 50 + 92 = 142 damage. There are some long recharge times, but in general, the skills can be spaced out fairly evenly to provide good continuous damage if so desired.

Variations

 * Healing Signet and "Shields Up!" are the two optional skills.
 * Use Banish to provide extra spike damage.
 * Use any defensive stance like Shield Stance to protect against Warrior and Ranger interrupts.
 * Use Scourge Healing to hinder the healing efforts of your foes.

Counters

 * Any skill that hinders signet use (not very common, currently).
 * Interrupts and Knockdowns.

Variants

 * Berserker Stance can be substituted with Sprint or Defensive Stance.
 * Power Attack can be replaced with Endure Pain

Equipment
Armor/Shield - This build does not require the use of Gladiator's armor, but the extra Energy could help. Platemail, Knights, etc. is fine. Ideally, you should use a full set of armor without damage reduction (e.g. Gladiator's armor), and one piece (usually the hands or feet) of armor with reduction (such as Knights or Ascalon). With Bonetti's Defense, energy is not a problem even while maintaining an enchantment and you have two Adrenal skills to back up your energy skills. You usually want to have a max shield with either damage reduction while enchanted or damage reduction while in a stance.

Weapon - Any max damage sword. Preferrably with extra damage while enchanted or in a stance. For upgrades, you want Sword Pommel of Fortitude, one of the following sword hilts: Sundering, Furious, or if you are comfortable with the degen, Vampiric.

Runes - Minor Swordsmanship, Minor Tactics, Major Strength, Major Absorption, Superior Vigor. Placement of the runes does not matter.

Strategy
First thing you want to do is cast Watchful Spirit on yourself. Don't go anywhere else until your energy regenerates. Why Watchful Spirit? You get two pips of health regeneration (that are not dependant on a monk attribute) and also get an easy 30-point heal when you cancel the enchantment. In other words, you get Mending plus a cheap heal and only have to spend one skill slot and no attribute points. Unless you get hit by massive Damage-Over-Time skills, you should never take a whole lot of damage.

Look for creatures that have mostly physical attacks (Stone Summit as long as you take out the casters first and quickly, Griffons, Minotaurs, etc.). When you enter combat, be mindful of the restrictions of your stance skills and try to get as many mobs on you as you can. Hit them first with Disciplined Stance while plinking at one enemy with your sword. Do not use any adrenalin skills until this stance wears off. You can use Power Attack and Deadly Riposte as much as you want. After Disciplined Stance wears off (you have 60 seconds until you can use it again), activiate Gladiator's Defense and use all non-stance skills until your energy runs out. Go with Bonetti's Defense anytime your energy runs too low and your adrenal-based Riposte isn't charging fast enough. Also use Defensive Stance or Berserker Stance if you have them equipped as alternatives. Be careful with Berserker Stance as you will not be blocking any incoming attacks and will not be able to use any skills for the duration of it.

The point to this build is to defend yourself while making melee enemies hurt themselves with Gladiator's Defense, Riposte and Deadly Riposte. Having Power Attack and Berserker Stance will help you mow through casters and rangers. The damage that is done with Gladiator's Defense and the two Riposte skills bypass armor and can really add up. With both Ripostes active, the next attacker will take about 90 damage just for attacking you while all others will take about 29 damage due to Gladiator's Defense. Add to this your Power Attack and your basic attack and you will steadily grind away large groups of enemies at one time. I have personally taken on two groups of Griffons (a total of seven) and three minos and took them all down without hardly taking any damage.

Weaknesses
Your weakness is any Damage-Over-Time skill. You should take out any casters or rangers quick as they can overcome your two pips of regenerating and cause you to waste away really quick. Be smart in your aggro and take Endure Pain or another monk healing spell or enchantment if you need to.

Group Play (PvE, not PvP)
If you have a party that has monks, you can drop the Watchful Spirit for Rebirth as backup resurrection. You can also be the only tank in the party due to your defensive skills and damage ability. With two good monks handling your healing and protection, you are almost invincible against any mob out there as long as you can hold aggro.

Purpose
This Warrior build is centered around "Victory is Mine!".

Usage

 * 1) Use Sever Artery and Gash to cause Bleeding and a Deep Wound.
 * 2) Enter a Balanced Stance to counter the knockdown effect of Desperation Blow and cause an additional condition.
 * 3) Use "Victory is Mine!" to regain lost health and energy as you head to the next target.
 * Use Plague Touch to transfer conditions to target foe.

Weaknesses

 * Skills that remove or transfers conditions.
 * Undead, because they cannot bleed.

Equipment

 * Use Gladiator's Armor for maximum energy.
 * Use the Gladiator's Helm, as it adds +1 energy plus +1 to Tactics.
 * Use one piece of Knight's Armor or Ascalon Armor (most often boots) for absorbtion.
 * Equip various upgrades to lengthen the conditions.

Skill Variations

 * Replace Plague Touch or Healing Signet for Resurrection Signet.

W/N Lone Ganksman
The Lone Ganksman is a build designed for an extreme 7/1 split build for GvG battles.

Usage
This character will make a one man assault on the enemy's base once the majority of the enemy is engaged at the flag stand.


 * Leave one or two enemy archers alive. They will use Pin Down, and you can pass on the long duration crippled condition to enemy warriors attempting to neutralize you.
 * If targeted by a single cripshot ranger, take him down in one-on-one combat. Use Wild Blow to negate the ranger's stances, and Plague Signet to reflect poison and crippling back on him.
 * When approaching the Guild Lord and his Bodyguards, employ a turtling strategy to draw out the AoE spells before closing in. Run away at the first sign of trouble.
 * Never hesitate to use Healing Signet. Spamming it whenever it is recharged is not a bad idea.

Discussion
This character plays perhaps one of the riskiest roles in the team. If even two members of the enemy team return to defend their base, then this character will be forced to retreat. This character banks on the enemy not taking a loner seriously. Luckily, the enemy base is a plentiful source of the crippled condition that can be passed on to pursuers while fleeing. It is generally best to take the quickest route back to the home base instead of running to the flag team. The benefit of having such a weak gank team is a correspondingly strong flag team that should be able to handle a more evenly split enemy flag team with ease.

Ideally, the character will be able to eliminate most of the enemy NPCs by himself, albeit slowly. This build is generally poorly suited for taking the Guild Thief on maps with locked gates because it puts the Thief in too much jeopardy. The usual strategy is to have a support character such as an elementalist bring the Thief to the gate, and then fall back once the Ganksman enters the enemy base. This has the benefit of giving the enemy the mistaken impression of a more traditional 5/3 or 6/2 split, which may cause them to miscalculate and lose the initiative at the stand. However, this build is best suited for the Frozen Isle or the Druid's Isle maps.

Extended Archers are generally no problem for this build, as the combination of bleeding and deep wound overwhelms the healing ability of the Archers' Troll Unguent. Footmen are also easy to handle, though it is very risky to engage them if there are any Bodyguards remaining. The general strategy is to build up adrenaline with a wand on an Archer or Footman, then run in and use Sever Artery and Gash quickly on a Bodyguard before running out again and seeking cover. Two or three of these rounds will be needed per Bodyguard, assuming ideal circumstances (i.e., the enemy does not return to protect its base).

The specific build in this article has no defense against renewable blindness, such as a Blinding Flash spamming elementalist.

Variants

 * Replace Hamstring with Plague Touch to handle condition spammers.
 * Replace Hamstring with Enfeeble to cover the deep wound caused by Gash.
 * Replace Gash with Barbs for additional damage. You may wish to tweak the attribute distribution to have either a 6 or an 8 in Curses
 * Replace Wild Blow with Rigor Mortis in order to be able to cover the reflected conditions on a ranger with Sever Artery and Gash. However, watch out for interruptions!