User:GW-Gecko

= Mo/Me Illusionary UW solo =

This build uses a scythe to hit multiple targets and to whittle away the hp of the target opponents. the original build is found here: http://guildwars.gameamp.com/guide/viewGuide/2546.php

Equipment

 * Full Ascetic's armor for a maximal energy pool.
 * 5 Superior runes, at least 1 Superior Protection Prayers and 1 Superior Divine Favor.
 * A Scythe with a 20% enchantment mod with the "I Have The Power" +5 energy inscription or similar bonus.

Usage
This build uses SOA and PS to tank and the Scythe's ability to attack more than one target, even with Illusionary Weaponry.
 * Use the maintained enchantments first. Switch to a +1 Divine Favor head gear when using Blessed Aura and keep using the +1 Protection Prayers head gear for fighting/tanking.
 * Before aggroing, cast PS>AV>SOA (Keep a Visage up at ALL times during an aggro).
 * Take the aggro and watch out for the nightmare. use power return to interrupt the spell cast by it and wand it with a backup staff/wand.
 * If a second nightmare pops, interrupt one and wand the second. if you die from the second nightmare, bad luck and try again.
 * When the aggro is under control and the mob has 0 energy and no adrenaline, cast IW and begin to slash away with the scythe. Make sure you attack the monster in the middle of the mob to hit the two beside it.
 * When dealing with mobs of 4+, just attack the same target until it is dead and the scythe will take care of the surrounding mob. If smites break, they will spam Reversal of Fortune, but DON'T WORRY, they won't be able to keep spamming it long enough to fully heal another smite.
 * If one smite won't die, switch to another smite.
 * Avoid coldfires at all times, this build has no way to kill them as interruption and slow is a pain.
 * You can counter the Dying Nightmares by just aggroing the Aatxe's and running behind the dead spirits the Aatxe won't hit you any more but the Dying Nightmares will use Rend Enchantments so you won't need to worry because the Aatxe's won't be hitting and you will just need to reenchant yourself and kill.

Counters

 * A second nightmare popping up without you noticing.
 * Miscasting SOA, resulting in a death.
 * Bleeding at the beginning as it may degenerate your health quickly at 105 hp.
 * The recent changes to the skills Rend Enchantments and Shield of Absorption may have a significant effect on this builds stability. SoA is now fair game for Bladed Aatxe's interrupts, and Dying Nightmares are even more of a threat now with a 1 second cast time to Rend. More testing will be needed.(I suggest switching soa for Shielding Hands)

Build Concept

 * Compared with the regular 55/Famine team build this is more relaxed.
 * This build makes Fighting Obsidian Behemoths, Terrorweb Dryders and Coldfire Nights Possible.
 * It's handy if you want to clear more of Underworld then just the Crawlers.
 * The idea of using a Mesmer as tank is the advantage of Fast Casting so you can cast inbetween the Maelstroms and Meteor Showers.

= Tanking/Fighting Mesmer =

Attributes and Skills

 * Optional is Images of Remorse. Good to take out the Coldfire Nights.
 * Another option is Persistence of Memory to counter the interrupts.
 * Another option is Shield of Absorption if you plan to tank a lot of mobs at once!

Equipment

 * Any Armorset with Superior Runes to take your HP down to 105.
 * An extra (unruned) armorset to puzzle with. If you die two or three times in a row, you'll have insufficient hp to go on. That's why you need to take another piece of armor.
 * A melee weapon with +5 energy bonus and an enchantment mod(Assassin daggers attack the fastest per second so they are good with IW even if you aren't an Assassin).
 * A wand to wand Dying Nightmares to death.
 * The -50HP Cesta

Usage

 * Before engaging into combat cast Prot Spirit and Sympathetic Visage.
 * If fighting Coldfire Nights or Obsidian Behemoths, cast Illusionary Weaponry.
 * When a Dying Nightmare pops up. Use Power Return if it casts Rend Enchantments and kill it with your wand.
 * When fighting a lot of mobs at once use Healing Breeze.

= Bond Monk =

Attributes and Skills

 * You could switch Choking Gas for Savage Shot if you feel more comfortable with that.

Equipment

 * Any monk armor. Radiant Insignia Preferred.
 * A Longbow. Preferred Req. 8 so you can change Wilderness Survival to 12.

Usage

 * When entering UW, cast Mending, Succor, Watchful Spirit and Essence Bond on the tank.
 * From the moment the tank engages into combat, stay in a safe zone.
 * Use Famine. Put it at 66% of radar distance from the tank. If you put it too close, the mobs will attack it when they scatter. If you put it too far, it won't work at all.
 * When meeting Coldfire Nights, Terrorweb Dryders or Obsidian Behemoths, use Savage Shot/Choking Gas to interrupt respectively Maelstrom, Healing Spring or Meteor Shower.
 * For the rest. Have a glass of whiskey on the rocks.

Counters

 * Dying Nightmares (if more than two).

Attributes and Skills

 * Consider replacing Vigorous Spirit with Suffering so that you can use it as a cover hex and be able to solo the Smite Crawlers.

Equipment

 * Use cheap radiant armor, or cheap armor that gives you extra energy, and 5 superior runes to bring your health down to 105.
 * Use a sword, or axe with a 20% enchantment mod (this is critical, because vigorous spirit's effect will activate slower with a wand, scythe etc.)
 * The -50 HP grim cesta is also needed for this.

Usage

 * 1) Enter the Underworld
 * 2) Aggro the Bladed Aatxe group on the left, or right, and run in the oppisite direction to the oppisite corner.
 * 3) The Bladed Aatxe group should not follow you, but if there was a Dying Nightmare near the Bladed Aatxe group then it should have followed you, cast vigorous spirit and wait for the Dying Nightmare to remove it with Rend Enchantments, now use Protective Spirit and wand the Dying Nightmare to death.
 * 4) Stand in a safe spot, and cast all of your maintained enchantments.  You should have at least 25 energy after the enchantments before you begin to aggro the Bladed Aatxe group.
 * 5) Cast Vigorous Spirit before you aggro the group of Bladed Aatxe, now use Protective Spirit, target a Bladed Aatxe and use Spoil Victor
 * 6) Begin attacking the Bladed Aatxe with your sword or axe. Health gained from Vigorous Spirit should be enough for a group of 2 Bladed Aatxe.
 * 7) Maintain Protective Spirit and Vigorous Spirit while fighting the group.  If you have health problems, and your health stays steady at half full, use Healing Breeze.
 * 8) Apply Spoil Victor to your target(s) when it recharges.  Most of the time 1 cast of Spoil Victor will fully kill a Bladed Aatxe or a Grasping Darkness, but if not recast it.
 * 9) Repeat steps 2-9 for the second Bladed Aatxe group.
 * Kill the Bladed Aatxe groups on the right and left, be sure to also include the lone Bladed Aatxe that walks around to both groups frequently (you can kill the middle group, but if there is a nightmare spawn and you run, the entire group will follow you).
 * 1) Take the quest after the Bladed Aatxe on the right and left are killed.
 * 2) Use steps 2-9 for the Grasping Darkness
 * 3) If dazed use Plague Touch on a Grasping Darkness.
 * Usually the health gained from Vigorous Spirit is enough without Healing Breeze to maintain stably high health against a group of 3 or 4 Grasping Darkness.
 * 1) Continue on through the chamber with in the direction of the Smite Crawlers and you will find more Bladed Aatxe and Grasping Darkness to farm.
 * Be sure not to aggro more than 2-4 groups at a time.

Counters

 * Rend Enchantments from a Dying Nightmare that you did not take action upon when the Dying Nightmare spawned.
 * Interrupt.

Variants

 * Live Vicariously can replace Vigorous Spirit so that your main way of healing can't be interupted. Note that Live Vicariously provide less hp than Vigorous Spirit.

Equipment

 * Scar Pattern Armor or Cabalist's Armor with Bloodstained Boots is recommended.
 * A 20/20 Death Wand with 20/20 Death Offhand.
 * Ghial's Staff, Bortak's Bone Staff, or Woe Spreader are also acceptable choices.

Usage
This build is used to spread out degenerative effects, shutdown prot monks, and deal massive area of effect damage. A basic casting round starts thus:


 * Find a monk or other soft target.
 * Make sure to call your target for the rest of your party members so that they know who to attack.
 * Begin your casting round by starting off with Rotting Flesh followed by Deathly Swarm.
 * End the round by casting Icy Veins on your target. Once the target dies, it will spread area of effect damage to all foes around them. This will put the rest of the cluster (assuming they clustered) near the point of death.
 * Use the fresh body to either restore your hp/energy (Consume Corpse), spread poison to your enemies (Necrotic Traversal), shutdown the protection spammers (Well of the Profane), add more degeneration (Well of Suffering), or put out one more bit of spike damage(Putrid Explosion).
 * Rinse and repeat.

Counters
The main counter for this build would be another necromancer or necromancer secondary that is very good at corpse control or just straight spiking damage. This build's main weakness is no one dying. It relies heavily on people dying for energy and their corpses for most of the skills.

Frostbound Armor/armor vs. cold damage is also another good counter-strategy.

Variants
Other than listed above, replace Resurrection Signet with a hard rez such as Resurrection Chant or something equivalent depending on your secondary class.

Template
= Me/A Shadow Runner =

This running build uses Illusion of Haste as the speed boost, while using Shadow Form to run past difficult areas with ease, with Arcane Echo to lengthen its duration to allow a longer distance to be run while under its effects. Particularly suitable for running in the Southern Shiverpeaks. Both A/Me or Me/A profession combinations can be used.

Armor

 * Suggested armor pieces:
 * 1) Enchanter's Armor - For better armor (+10), basically you will be under the effects of an enchantment 100% of the time.
 * 2) Charlatan's Armor - For extra energy, number of pieces from this set depending on your preference.

Runes

 * A Major Rune of Illusion Magic would be a good choice giving you 10 + 2 (12), more points in Illusion Magic will only provide a 1~1.2 seconds increase in Illusion of Haste.
 * Alternatively, you may also choose to use a Major Rune instead with Illusion Magic 11 + 1 + 2 (14) with Fast Casting at 6 + 1 (7), trading off a little bit of fast casting for +40 maximum HP while maintaining the same duration for Illusion of Haste.
 * You may use a Minor Rune of Illusion Magic giving 10 + 1 + 1 (12) Illusion Magic, trading off 1~1.2 seconds off duration of Illusion of Haste for +75 maximum HP.

Weapons

 * Any one-handed weapon that increases enchantment duration, preferably with increase to energy too:
 * 1) Rajazan's Fervor
 * 2) Totem Axe
 * 3) Fiery Flame Spitter
 * Any +12 energy focus items with attribute on Illusion Magic or Fast Casting. Examples include:
 * 1) The Rockmolder - Relatively easy to find, and gives 10% chance of half skill recharge for all spells.
 * 2) The Time Eater (focus) - Suitable if you decide to use a Superior Rune of Illusion Magic. Only 9 Fast Casting or more gives you the +12 Energy of this focus.
 * 3) Forgotten Fan - Alternatively, you can also choose to sacrifice 5 maximum energy for +30 maximum HP and +5 armor.

Usage

 * Keep Illusion of Weakness on at all times, especially while Shadow Form is active.
 * Use Illusion of Haste as your main running skill.
 * Whenever possible, use Deadly Paradox before assassin skills to half their recharge times.
 * Feigned Neutrality is your self heal. However don't attempt to make any attacks while you are running.
 * Even though the speed increasing effects of Dark Escape don't stack with Illusion of Haste, it is still useful for cutting your received damage into half while Shadow Form isn't up. This includes armor-ignoring damage such as Azure Shadows' Signet of Judgment.
 * Death's Charge can provide a quick heal and/or an escape from a melee trap.
 * Cast Deadly Paradox -> Arcane Echo -> Shadow Form to run past difficult areas. With the Enchantments last 20% longer upgrade you can use Shadow Form up to 3 times consecutively for a total of 60 seconds.
 * Try to get into a safe zone when Shadow Form expires, if possible.
 * Cast your arcane echoed Shadow Form just before the enchantment or copied skill expires (whichever comes first depending on your weapon mod).
 * Health loss from Shadow Form does not trigger Illusion of Weakness. It will trigger when you receive a non-lethal hit of less than 40 damage. When your final copy of Shadow Form is just about to expire, use Dark Escape to half your received damage then cast Feigned Neutrality to begin healing, this would maximize your survivability and allow Illusion of Weakness to be triggered. (the order is important here because Feigned Neutrality ends if you use a skill)

Possible Routes

 * Southern Shiverpeaks:
 * Camp Rankor -> Deldrimor War Camp -> The Granite Citadel -> Copperhammer Mines -> Iron Mines of Moladune -> Marhan's Grotto -> Thunderhead Keep

Counters
While using Shadow Form, you must beware that...
 * The following monsters can knock you down while you're under the effects of Shadow Form:
 * Wurms, such as Frost Wurm
 * Monsters with Giant Stomp, such as Tundra Giants
 * Azure Shadows with Signet of Judgment
 * Warrior Wardens with "None Shall Pass!"


 * The following monsters uses certain skills that can remove your Shadow Form and put you in grave danger:
 * Monsters with Chilblains, such as Grawl Crone
 * Creeping Carp with Expunge Enchantments

Variants
Inspired Hex can be replaced with: This build could also possibly be run by Assassin primaries too with the same skillset.
 * Dark Prison for an extra teleportation skill
 * Revealed Hex is the same as Inspired Hex
 * Dash for extra speed, and lose any foe fast
 * Arcane Mimicry for a Dual Me/A or A/Me run.

The Skill Template for the Assassin variant: