User:Lotrfish9990

This build uses high damage PBAoE spells, with the added damage bonus from the Lightbringer title, to farm selected groups in Ravenheart Gloom for Torment Gemstones.

Necessities

 * Radiant or Shrouded Armor.
 * 20% enchanting, +5 energy weapon, such as a Totem Axe.
 * +12 energy rec. fire, +15 energy -1 regeneration, +30 health second hand item, such as those exchanged for Jade Bracelets.
 * Lightbringer level 2 or above has been proven to work, Higher is better.

Usage

 * Enter Ravenheart Gloom from the Gate of Anguish. Receive the bounty from the Whispers Informant.
 * Run past the first group of foes with Shadow Form and Dark Escape.
 * Now, near your position is a mob made entirely of spellcasters, lacking a Heart tormentor.
 * Wait for combat between the Shadow Army and the Order of Whispers ends. Get closer to the mixed group.
 * Cast Shadow Form and get into the middle of the enemy group with Shadow Walk.
 * Now, cast Pheonix, Meteor Shower, Bed of Coals, Lava Font, Phoenix and finally Lava Font in that order.
 * Once Shadow Form is about to expire (blinking slowly / quickly) use Dark Escape and run to safety.
 * Once the mixed group has been cleared, repeat the above tactics for the group of six Curse of Darknesses.
 * After that, you may want to attempt an attack on the group containing two Wind of Darknesses and one Scourge of Darkness.
 * If a torment gemstone drops at any time, making a clean escape and retrieving it is always an option.

Counters

 * Heart and Earth tormentors can severely damage, or kill you.

Variants
See Build:A/E UW Farmer for an underworld variant.

Necessities

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Counters

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

Equipment

 * Energy armor (i.e. Radiant or Shrouded Armor)
 * +5 energy, enchanting 20% weapon.
 * Galigord's Stone Staff is a recommended Staff, but any weapon with a max of Enchanting upgrade can be used, and it is preferred as when close combat enemies start to run away, a staff attack will bring them back, something that a totem axe can't do.
 * A Totem Axe along with the Earth Scroll from Collector Ohtah is a good combination which will give more energy than a staff.

Usage

 * Run to the boss using the speed buffs.
 * When you are just out of aggro, activate Shadow Form and use Death's Charge to teleport in. Usually aggroing before teleporting in makes enemies clump together, giving Sliver Armor less of a chance to target the boss.
 * Activate Glyph of Elemental Power, then Sliver Armor. Make sure you are closer to the boss than anything else, or you will not kill it!
 * Use Shock then Aftershock to speed up killing.
 * When the boss has died, activate Shadow Form and use the speed buffs to run away to safety. You can use Shadow Form again since Morale Boosts recharges all skills.

Counters

 * Shadow Form doesn't protect against signets, touch skills and Point Blank Area of Effect damage.


 * When Sliver Armor deals only half damage to bosses will also end your run.

Variants

 * When fighting Warrior bosses such as Sunreach Warmaker, it helps to use Rust so that his Healing Signet takes 3 times as long to cast. To do this, though, you will be required to take one or two points off of Shadow Arts and put them into Water Magic.
 * Shock, Teinai's Wind, Aftershock, Rust, Teinai's Crystals, Crystal Wave, Obsidian Flame and Shadow Refuge may be switched out for other skills, depending on what you are farming.
 * Shock can be switched for other knockdown spells such as Dragon's Stomp for a bit more damage.
 * For people who don't have Prophecies skills unlocked, remember that you can always unlock them in PvP and then buy them at the trainers in Lion's Arch or your Guild Hall, if you have bought a skill trainer that is and assuming that you have a Guild Hall.
 * Caltrops can be useful against bosses who attempt to flee when heavily damaged.
 * Feigned Neutrality is useful against groups which have mobs with touch skills, Signets, and AoE skills and that may penetrate Shadow Form.
 * Exchange Dash for Deadly Paradox for a quicker Shadow Form recharge.
 * Exchange Dash with Shadow of Haste to warp back if necessary and retry the process.

List of soloable bosses
Total Number of Soloable Bosses: 107
 * Please add info of the level of difficulty for each boss (Very Easy, Easy, Medium, Hard and Very Hard) also add the location where the boss is, for easier preview.

Prophecies
2 Current Bosses


 * Crystal Desert
 * Prophet's Path:
 * Kepkhet Marrowfeast - Medium Use the following skill combo to take Kepkhet down: Glyph of Elemental Power, Shadow Form, Death's Charge, Sliver Armor, Obsidian Flame, Teinai's Crystals, Crystal Wave. Bring an interrupt such as Shock, Dragon's Stomp, and Gale to prevent Kepkhet from activating Mark of Protection. Furthermore, when you use Death's Charge to get to Kepkhet, be sure to bring Feigned Neutrality or Shadow Refuge as there are trappers in and around the vicinity of Kepkhet. If Sliver Armor targets another thing, you will die as one of the nearby necromancers will use Well of the Profane.


 * Southern Shiverpeaks
 * Grenth's Footprint:
 * Morgriff Shadestone - Easy

Factions
47 Current Bosses


 * Kaineng City
 * Bukdek Byway:
 * Wing, Three Blade - Medium (This may prove difficult because of the high HP of the boss, lack of mobs and a Rt healing him)
 * Wajjun Bazaar:
 * Lian, Dragon's Petal - Easy/Medium (Switch out Dash for Feigned Neutrality. Use Dark Escape to run past the first and second group of Knights.  Stop before you aggro Lian and make sure you aggro the second group of Knights.  Cast Shadow Form then Death's Charge to her.  Immediately cast Feigned Neutrality.  Wait for her to cast Double Dragon.  Glyph ,Sliver, Shock, then Aftershock.)
 * Sun, the Quivering - Hard/Very Hard (Mobs may appear from the roofs, making the run almost impossible)
 * The Undercity:
 * Chan the Dragon's Blood - Easy/Very Easy (The run is easy if you have Feigned and just use aftershock on him once and then use feigned to heal because of the signets)
 * Mina Shatter Storm - Easy/Very Easy (The run is easy if you have Feigned and just use aftershock on her once and then use feigned to heal because of the signets)
 * Chung, the Attuned - Medium (The run is easy if you have Feigned and just use aftershock on him once and then use feigned to heal because of the signets)
 * Baubao Wavewrath - Medium (The run is easy if you have Feigned and just use aftershock on him once and then use feigned to heal because of the signets)
 * Shenzun Tunnels:
 * Cho, Spirit Empath - Easy/Medium (Bring Feigned Neutrality instead of Dash, come from Nahpui Quarter!!! Cast Feigned Neutrality last, chance monks will heal him, if so run and rezone, the fastest route is to run towards Nahpui Quarter (just a few feet west from Cho) . It will make the run a lot easier and shorter.)
 * Xaquang Skyway:
 * Ghial the Bone Dancer - Easy/Medium (Feigned Neutrality is NOT a neccessity for the run. Beware of the mesmers for they will disrupt your sliver armor TIP: All mesmers interrupt at once, so consider bringing a "scapegoat" spell with a long activation time, such as Dragon Stomp or Obsidian Flame.)
 * Shreader Sharptongue - Very Easy/Easy (Exchange Shock or Aftershock with Shadow Refuge and aggro as many groups as possible for most damage)
 * Ziinfaun Lifeforce - Easy/Medium (Hit Ziinfaun with your weapon to interrupt Ethereal Light)
 * Orosen, Tranquil Acolyte - Hard/Very Hard (When he starts charging for you, use Shadow Form. Run past him just close enough to aggro the group before the next bridge. Death's charge back to him, and Sliver armor.)
 * Sunjiang District (Explorable): (only after the mission)
 * Warrior's Construct - Medium (Pretty hard to get to him)
 * Monk's Construct - Easy/Medium Let the first group go near the boss.
 * Necromancer's Construct - Medium You might encounter problems with keeping sliver armor focused
 * Mesmer's Construct - same as Necromancer's construct. Slightly easier (shorter) run, though.
 * Elemental's Construct - He uses [[Lightning Touch. Consider bringing Feigned Neutrality instead of dash.
 * Raisu Palace:
 * Star Ancient Koosun - Medium/Hard (Depends on conditions of run to the boss, can be done at 60% dp however)
 * Untouched Ancient Ky - Medium
 * Pongmei Valley
 * Xuekao, the Deceptive- Easy/Medium (Be sure to let the Knight Brotherhood kill the Am Fah before you approach the boss, as how the Knights will attack the surrounding Am Fah making for a quick kill with 1-3 possible attackers) ~ The dagger that he drops is really really nice for Assassins using the Vigor Build where you use enchants every 30 sec.
 * Echovald Forest
 * Ferndale:
 * Warden of Saprophytes - Hard (Warden of the Trunks must be removed first, resurrection portal nearby to keep going at it, possible at 60% dp.)
 * Melandru's Hope:
 * Chkkr Locust Lord - Medium/Hard (The most difficult part is to maintain Sliver Armor on the boss)
 * Chkkr Thousand Tail - Hard/Very Hard (Really hard to keep going unless you have a backup for Sliver Armor, as it'll run out to quickly)
 * Morostav Trail:
 * Falaharn Mistwarden - Easy/Medium (Bring Shadow of Haste should the attempt to kill fail and you must retreat).
 * Sunreach Warmaker - Easy/Medium (Bring Shadow of Haste and Rust and if you feel the need, Feigned Neutrality too. Go in first without the boss in your mind, make Falaharn Mistwarden appear. Warp back using a stance. Go in again and aggro every mob, pull Sunreach with staff and cast glyph then sliver then rust, he will go down quickly.)
 * Strongroot Tanglebranch - Medium/Hard (Go around the other way and aggro the nearby kirin and dragon moss and use Rust and Caltrops to subdue him and spam Obsidian Flame to kill him.)
 * Kyril Oathwarden - Medium/Hard (Hard to make sliver armor target kyril; take feigned neutrality to survive traps.)
 * Ritualist's Construct - Easy/Medium (Very few mobs surrounding him, making it harder to kill. Replacing run skills or Shock & Aftershock with Obsidian Flame & Crystal Wave/Teinai's Wave can help overcome this obstacle.)
 * The Eternal Grove (Explorable): (only after the mission)
 * The Scar Eater - Very Easy/Easy (Also a fairly easy boss to practice on, you must follow the 1st group that comes near the shrine, when you get near the boss aggro it and jump near the boss, also a good idea can be to change shock and aftershock for gale and Obsidian Flame)
 * Jayne Forestlight - Easy/Medium (Advisable to bring Shadow of Haste, Watch out for warriors, as they can KD with "None Shall Pass!". If not killed at first attempt, warp back with any stance and retry)
 * Wiseroot Shatterstone - Medium (Silver armor does not tend to stay on him,or will target lately,must aggro both mobs before him and his mob to fully kill)
 * The Time Eater - Easy/Medium (Add skills for more damage because very few mobs are surrounding him.Time for his interruption signet!!!!!)
 * Bramble Everthorn - Easy/Medium (need to aggro 1-2 warden or plant groups to bypass his regen)
 * Mourning Veil Falls:
 * Darkroot Entrop - Easy (Make sure to add some skills to cripple or knockdown, such as Caltrops, as he tends to run at about half health)
 * Milefaun Mindflayer - Easy/Medium (Aggro another group of wardens near, may attract Rt wardens which increase difficulty)
 * Foalcrest Darkwish - Easy/Medium (Aggro the nearby group of Mantises and die yourself; he will make Bone Fiends which give you just enough damage for Sliver Armor.)
 * Xisni Dream Haunt - Easy/Medium (AddTeinai's Crystals, Crystal Wave and Obsidian Flame. Use Shadow of Haste for multiple tries.)
 * Rahse Windcatcher - Easy/Medium (Same build as with Xisni. Walk to pick up the Warden group, hit Glyph of Ele Power, turn around, hit Shadow Form outside his aggro and shadow step. If the wardens follow, he should be dead)


 * Jade Sea
 * Boreas Seabed (Explorable):
 * Sskai, Dragon's Birth - Medium (This may prove difficult because of the high HP of the boss and lack of mobs surrounding him)
 * Gyala Hatchery (Explorable):
 * Reefclaw Ragebound - Medium
 * Maishang Hills:
 * Sessk, Woe Spreader - Very Easy (Best for practice, sometimes hard to target)
 * Sarss, Stormscale - Medium (bring along obsidian flame to spam)
 * Silent Surf:
 * Kenrii Sea Sorrow
 * Assassin's Construct - Easy/Medium (Switch Shock for Stone Daggers and Death's Charge for Obsidian Flame, after you cast Sliver just use stone daggers 2-3 times, then Aftershock, then Obsidian Flame)
 * Rhea's Crater:
 * Onis for Ungues of the Oni - Easy/Medium (The hardest part is getting there, once there it's easy to kill them two/three at a time, just watch out for the Outcast Deathhands, as they WILL end your run!)
 * Mount Qinkai
 * Tomton Spiriteater Very Easy (Bring obsidian Flame with you and aggro all the yetis near)
 * Archipelagos:
 * Ssyn Coiled Grasp - Easy/Medium (Switch out Shock for Obsidian Flame and try to not aggro group next to the bridge.)
 * Ssuns, Blessed of Dwayna - Medium/Hard

Nightfall
57 Current Bosses


 * Kourna
 * Sunward Marches:(Consider getting the +1 earth magic blessing from the Melandru's shrine outside Dajkah Inlet. Although it is not necessary.)
 * Mahto Sharptooth - Very Easy/Easy "The run is sometimes a bit tough." (Despite the temptation, do not aggro the ntouka, spam obsidian flame & shock aftershock combo on him)
 * Birneh Skybringer - Very Easy/Easy (Lots of mobs for Sliver Armor to work)
 * Dabineh Deathbringer - Medium (Switch out shock for Feigned Neutrality. Exit Venta Cemetery.  Head south hugging the wall.  As you get close enough to target him, check for the number of Tusked Howlers nearby.  If there are 2 then rezone.  If there are 3 then count the number of Crested Ntouka Bird.  If there are 3 or 4 then you are in good shape to beat him.  Before you aggro Deathbringer, aggro the Howlers and cast Shadow Form. Next aggro Deathbringer.  Glyph then Sliver, before he gets to you, cast Feigned Neutrality.  Using his Intimidating Aura, you will lose Feigned Neutrality but Sliver Armor will do its job before he can remove another enchantment.)
 * Eshim Mindclouder - Very Easy (Short walk so it is like the Nightfall variant of Sessk, Woe Spreader Consider bringing dancing daggers to spam instead of dash, you will kill much faster)
 * Marga Coast:
 * Chor the Bladed - Very Easy/Easy (Just aggro the group of Mirage Ibogas near him and try not to be interrupted while casting shadow form. Cast Sliver Armor when he uses Frenzy)
 * Lunto Sharpfoot - Medium/Hard (You must pull him towards the mirage ilbogas and then usually only 1 of his monks will come and then its easy. but you want to be beside the monk when you activate sliver so when he uses shadowmeld sliver armor is still targeting him. then it will be Easy/Medium)
 * Bosun Mohrti - Medium/Hard (Aggro the insects nearby and Frigid skales and snare with Caltrops.)
 * Bubahl Icehands - Medium (Aggro nearby insects, snare with Caltrops, and heal with Feigned Neutrality)
 * Chidehkir, Light of the Blind - Easy/Medium (Aggro nearby Kournan patrol)
 * Neoli the Contagious - Hard/Very Hard (Clear out Kuskale lashers first with sliver armour, this may take quite a few runs, high dp.)
 * The Floodplain of Mahnkelon:
 * Zelnehlun Fastfoot - Very Easy/Easy (He is dead in 4 seconds if Sliver Armor targets him)
 * Terob Roundback - Very Easy/Easy
 * Admiral Kaya - Easy/Medium (Wait for the hekets to get near, sometimes there are 2 monks which increases difficulty)
 * Jerneh Nightbringer - Medium/Hard (Bring Feigned Neutrality and use immediately after Sliver Armor to keep health up from Vile Touch)
 * Robah Hardback - Medium/Hard (Bring Feigned Neutrality to survive surrounding mob's vile touch)
 * Buhon Icelord - Medium/Hard
 * Arkjok Ward:
 * Onwan, Lord of the Ntouka - Medium (Leave from command post and follow river into lake),(bring fiegned nurality as a cover over slither armor and shadow form)
 * Modti Darkflower - Easy/Medium (Killing him is Very Easy, but the run is a bit heavy)
 * Lieutenant Kayin - Very Easy (Just aggro one other group, and he goes down in roughly 10 seconds)
 * Eshau Longspear - Easy/Medium (You need to aggro the group of Mandragors behind him. Rezone if that party has a Mandragor Imp in it.)
 * Captain Chichor - Easy/Medium (Approach the small base from the north, and wait for him to patrol outwards.)
 * Dejarin Estate:
 * Major Jeahr - Medium (Approach from Camp Hojanu)
 * Podaltur the Angry - Easy (body blocking during the run to him may be a hassle due to the large amount of hekets on the way)
 * Barbarous Shore:
 * Lieutenant Shagu: - Medium (You must aggro nearby enemies. If you do this, and silver armor keep targeting him, he will be down in few seconds.)
 * Bahdok Caverns:
 * Wandalz the Angry - Medium/Hard (The hardest part about this boss is getting to him. You need to learn the hiding spots on the map, as the spawns in this particular area are quite massive to be running around by yourself. You'll want to keep the original build intact, and use speed buffs across the bridge. Once across, glyph, death's charge, and sliver armor, he goes down rather quick. Throw a shock and aftershock in there to see it go a little faster.)
 * Jahai Bluffs:
 * To Be Added...
 * Turai's Procession:
 * Korr, Living Flame - Medium/Hard (Don't lure the nearby water djinn, Sliver armor will target them instead)
 * Chiossen, Soothing Breeze - Medium/Hard (The Rampaging Ntouka make this hard, use Feigned Neutrality as the Rampaging Ntouka run towards you and it will strip Feign Neutrality instead of Sliver Armor or even worse, Shadow Form. Aggro the nearby hekets to the north of Chiossen's group. Pack Obsidian Flame and Aftershock to speed up the killing.)


 * Vabbi
 * Resplendent Makuun
 * Kormab, Burning Heart - Very Easy/Easy (bring Shadow of Haste instead of dash, Obsidian Flame and Teinai's Crystals instead of Shock and Aftershock. The hardest part is geting there: to behemoths, use Shadow Form and run towards them, while a little bit after their patrol point use Shadow of Haste. Run back, they run like hell, so they will follow. When form is about to end use Dark Escape to warp to a safe place, where they can't get to you. While near the boss use Shadow of Haste for multiple attempts if necessary, it should be dead in the first attempt, if not in the second.)
 * Wilderness of Bahdza:
 * Eshekibeh Longneck - Very Easy/Easy
 * Forum Highlands:
 * Grabthar the Overbearing - Medium (Bring Rust and aggro nearest Skree group)
 * Korshek the Immolated - Easy (Make sure to hit the nearby Whispers Informant for some easy Lightbringer points)
 * Commander Sadi-Belai - Medium/Hard (Aggro Skree group nearest to his group. Shock + Lift Enchantment AFTER he puts Shielding Hands on. Bring Obsidian Flame. Spam as needed)
 * Churahm, Spirit Warrior - Easy/Medium (You may have to use this build to kill some Ethers, which will make the run easier. Another method is to simply shadow step down to the area he is contained in using Deaths Charge. Simply run away after he is dead, by running around the Ethers and up on the ledge again.)
 * The Mirror of Lyss
 * Yammiron, Ether Lord - Medium (Switch Dark Escape with Obsidian Flame to spam)
 * Riktund the Vicious - Medium (aggro the beetles as well, he may kite when close to death, bring along Obs. Flame)
 * Holdings of Chokhin:
 * Banor Greenbranch - Easy/Medium (Bring Lift Enchantment to remove Shield of Regeneration instead of aftershock or deaths charge, need to aggro nearby Beetles)
 * Setikor Fireflower - Easy/Medium (Just switch Dash and Dark Escape for Shadow Refuge and Feigned Neutrality)
 * Tenezel the Quick - Very Easy/Easy (Aggro very nearby Rock/Rain Beetles)
 * Hanchor Trueblade - Easy/Medium (Bring and spam Obsidian Flame when needed. Nearby Skree Griffin can make it troublesome but still easy)
 * Yatendi Canyons:
 * Lieutenant Vanahk - Easy/Medium (Very easy but sliver armor tends to go off to another person.)
 * The Hidden City of Ahdashim
 * Shakor Firespear - Easy/Medium (Surrounding mobs should be aggroed.)
 * Yammirvu, Ether Guardian - Medium/Hard (May have to kill the dimond djinn first, but nearby resurection portal helps. If pulling another group, be sure to shadow form to pull them, or suffer from degen.)
 * Leilon, Tranquil Water - Easy/Medium (Dark escape is reccomended when Death's Charging in.)


 * The Desolation
 * Crystal Overlook
 * To Be Added...
 * Joko's Domain
 * To Be Added...
 * Poisoned Outcrops
 * Fondalz the Spiteful - Hard/Very Hard (Extra groups are not easy to pull together, but you can launch one attack on the boss and his group, flee, and repeat. Deadly Paradox may be useful.)
 * The Alkali Pan
 * To Be Added...
 * The Ruptured Heart
 * Rual, Stealer of Hope - Medium (exchange Dash for Shadow of Haste, Shock for Feigned Neutrality or Shadow Refuge and Aftershock for Obsidian Flame. Use Death's Charge from the top of the hill)
 * Tureksin the Delegator - Medium/Hard (Shadow of Haste instead of Dash in case he isn't the first target of Sliver Armor, Shadow Refuge instead of Shock and Obsidian Flame. Aggro nearby group of margonites and undead.)
 * The Shattered Ravines
 * Dunshek the Purifier - Medium (Pull a second group for a very easy kill.)
 * The Sulfurous Wastes
 * Vahlen the Silent - Easy/Medium (bring Shadow of Haste, you might not get it at first, bring high damage spells, and you might consider in taking Glyph of Concentration. Watch out for Signet of Judgment.)


 * Realm of Torment - (Lightbringer title in this area will alter effectiveness.)
 * Nightfallen Jahai
 * Chimor the Lightblooded - Medium (Nice pair of daggers if you don't have a +Energy/+Enchantment Staff)
 * Onslaught of Terror - Easy (Need to aggro at least one other group, elementalists and mesmers can interrupt/slow, bring Feigned Neutrality)
 * Domain of Pain
 * Fahralon the Zealous - Easy/Medium (Before entering battle, try using Dark Escape to minimize the damage taken from AoE and Dreadful Pain.)
 * Domain of Fear
 * Shrieker of Dread - Hard (you'll need to aggro several (ideally 3) patrols to take him down; wait for them to converge). Also watch out for the Death Nova when killed.
 * Storm of Anguish - Medium (Difficult to get to, try to slip between the two first mobs, lure another mob for easy kill)
 * Depths of Madness
 * Reaper of Agony - Medium (Time your run when he has moved near the two groups of Margonites)
 * Ravager of Dreams - Very Hard (Approach from the north, and pull 2-3 groups along with the boss group, 4+ Lightbringer rank reccomended.)
 * Topo the Protector - Hard/Very Hard (Aggro once, run, and wait for him to fully summon his army, (about a minute), then shadow form in for a rather easy kill, due to the surronding groups of graven monoliths.)
 * Master of Misery - Hard/Very Hard (Pull together groups, beware of scythe attacks and death novas, armor of earth, obsidian flame, feigned neutrality all are good to have.)
 * Consort of Ruin - Hard/Very Hard (Pull groups, and make sure it targets him and it will be easy, minions and blades of torment make this tough.)

Equipment

 * Archmage's Armor
 * Enchantments last 20% longer weapon.
 * Arius' Sai or Chimor's Daggers are recommended Daggers.
 * Galigord's Stone Staff is a recommended Staff.
 * Totem Axe/Rajazan's Fervor + Galigord's Stone Scroll are also recommended. Earth Scrolls with identical stats as Galigord's can be found at Collector Ohtah in the Undercity (5 Plague Idols) or Collector Denos Makaluum in Vasburg Armory (5 Stone Horns). Droajam's Storm is also very similar to Galigord's Stone Scroll (and may be preferable depending on what you are farming).

Usage

 * Run to the boss using Dark Escape.
 * When you are just out of aggro, activate Glyph of Elemental Power,Shadow Form and use Death's Charge to teleport in. Usually aggroing before teleporting in makes enemies clump together, giving Sliver Armor less of a chance to target the boss.
 * Then activate Sliver Armor. Make sure you are closer to the boss than anything else, or you will not kill it! If Sliver Armor ends up targetting the wrong foe, try stepping away and then back to the boss, this will often give you the desired effect.
 * Use Obsidian Flame, Teinai's Crystals then Crystal Wave to speed up killing.
 * Just after the boss is dead, activate Shadow Form and use the speed buffs to run away to safety. You can use Shadow Form again since Morale Boosts recharges all skills.

Counters

 * Shadow Form doesn't protect against signets, touch skills, traps and Area of Effect damage.
 * Chilblains is a highly used skill by enemies which removes Shadow Form.
 * Shadow Form will be removed by foes using Expunge Enchantments.

Variants

 * Obsidian Flame, Teinai's Crystals, Crystal Wave, and Dark Escape may be switched out for other skills, depending on what you are farming.


 * When fighting Warrior bosses, such as Sunreach Warmaker, it helps to use Rust so that their Healing Signet takes 3 times as long to cast. To do this, though, you will be required to take one point off of Energy Storage and put them into Water Magic.


 * Caltrops is useful against bosses who attempt to flee when heavily damaged.


 * Feigned Neutrality and/or Shadow Refuge is useful against groups which have mobs with touch skills which penetrate Shadow Form and is also required for the run to some bosses.


 * You may also use Shock, Aftershock, & Teinai's Crystals in that order. Shock is a great interrupt on many bosses who cast their healing spells first to negate Sliver Armor.


 * Shadow of Haste serves to give you an emergency out and is particularly useful when learning the build, taking the 'error' out of 'trial and error'. This serves particularly well when attempting to master a series of difficult bosses in a single run, such as the monk-mesmer-elementalist-necro constructs in Sunjiang District Explorable.  Be warned - the speed boost offered by the skill makes pulling groups more difficult.


 * See variant Build:E/A Gloom Farmer for farming gemstones in Gloom.

List of soloable bosses
Total Number of Soloable Bosses: 133
 * Please add info of the level of difficulty for each boss (Very Easy, Easy, Medium, Hard and Very Hard).

Prophecies
1 Current Boss

Monk (Mo)

 * Protection Prayers
 * Kepkhet Marrowfeast - Hard (Make sure not to give the scarabs a corpse before kill due to Well of the Profane. Most of the time the area effect of traps placed below Kepkhet kill you, you turn into a peice of toast.) I changed my build for this boss using Shadow Refuge instead of Obsidian Flame. Before attacking the boss I cast Dark Escape (to reduce damage taken in this case) followed by Glyph of Elemental Power and Shadow Form, then use Death's Charge on the boss followed up with Sliver Armor. Then cast Shadow Refuge to neutralize the effects of the traps and start using Teinai's Crystals and Crystal Wave until Kepkhet is dead. Personally I haven't failed farming Kepkhet after this modification. Mark of Protection could still be a problem though. If you also change Crystal Wave and Teinai's Crystals for Shock and Lift Enchantment, you can cast Shock when Kepkhet casts Mark Of Protection. If you interrupt Mark Of Protection, than just continue killing him, but if you are too late (what probably will be the case), you have to cast Lift Enchantment, when Kepkhet is still knocked down. Than Mark Of Protection will be removed and you will have enough time left to kill Kepkhet. Also, make sure that no griffon has aggroed Kepkhet, as it will spawn additional touch necros around her. Also, if you died attempting to kill her, you have to rezone and retry, as additional touch necros from surrounding area will come near her. If you follow up all those tips, Kepkhet will be Easy/Medium.

Factions
52 Current Bosses

Warrior (W)

 * Swordsmanship
 * Sskai, Dragon's Birth - Hard/Very Hard (it may prove difficult because off the boss's high hp )
 * Sun, the Quivering - Hard/Very Hard (Mobs may appear from the roofs, making the run almost impossible)
 * Warrior's Construct - Hard/Very Hard( difficult to run to)
 * Axe Mastery
 * Wing, Three Blade - Hard (Difficult due to the high HP of the boss and the lack of mobs)
 * Hammer Mastery
 * Jayne Forestlight - (drops Hammer)Very Easy/Easy (Wait until the mobs let a clean run, after that get as close as you can to the boss and jump in)
 * Shield
 * Strength
 * Reefclaw Ragebound - Medium (You will need to aggro a nearby group for sufficient Sliver Armor damage)
 * Strongroot Tanglebranch - Easy/Medium (Run south of the Ritualist Construct to get to him. Bring Rust for faster results)
 * Tactics
 * Sunreach Warmaker - Medium/Hard (Can be difficult to get sliver to target Warmaker due to several other melee wardens. Use Rust and Shock on his healing signet.)
 * Geoffer Pain Bringer - Easy/Medium (Run his group into a Naga group aproching from the NW then take him out right after their fight, impossible with Outcast Deathhands around)

Ranger (R)
To Be Added... To Be Added... To Be Added... To Be Added... To Be Added...'
 * Flatbow
 * Hornbow
 * Longbow
 * Recurve Bow
 * Shortbow

Monk (Mo)

 * Divine Favor
 * Untouched Ancient Ky - Hard (Replace one of the Crystal skills with Celestial Storm. Run west past the mob and break aggro. Then return from the west and shadow step in)
 * Ssuns, Blessed of Dwayna - Hard (Running there is hard. Easier to die in Archipelagos outside Luxon Jade Flats as a Kurzik and approach from shrine.)
 * Ziinfaun Lifeforce - Very Easy/Easy (Leave from the Marketplace into Bukdek and go into Xaquang Skyway from there. Bring Feigned Neutrality instead of Crystal Wave)
 * Healing Prayers
 * The Scar Eater - Very Easy/Easy (Also a fairly easy boss to practice on. Once you enter the area, run to the res shrine and wait for the nearest mob to patrol near him then run in and take him down.)
 * Protection Prayers
 * Jayne Forestlight - Very Easy/Easy (Wait until the mobs let a clean run, after that get as close as you can to the boss and jump in)
 * Monk's Construct - Medium/Hard (The first mob may prove very difficult to go near the boss)
 * Smiting Prayers
 * Scourgewind, Elder Guardian - Medium/Hard (Cast Sliver Armor before using Death's Charge, as Signet of Judgment will knock you down)

Necromancer (N)
To Be Added...
 * Soul Reaping
 * Blood Magic
 * Kyril Oathwarden - Medium (Earth Elementalists can kill you with Shockwave)
 * Foalcrest Darkwish - Easy/Medium (Most of the time you can kill him in one shot, but if that doesn't work aggro the nearby group of Mantises and die yourself; he will make Bone Fiends which give you just enough damage for Sliver Armor)
 * Chan the Dragon's Blood - Easy/Very Easy (The run is easy if you have Feigned Neutrality)
 * Death Magic
 * Ghial the Bone Dancer - Hard/Very Hard (With more than 2 rits just pull the group in front of the bridge with you using Feigned Neutrality and no speed buffs.For beginners, bring Dash and Shadow Refuge instead of Obsidian Flame and Crystal Wave. Also, bringing Glyph of Concentration in place of Glyph of Elemental Power is recommended; without it, your Sliver Armor may be interrupted.)
 * Sessk, Woe Spreader - Easy/Medium (Sometimes Sliver Armor targets other enemies, if you bring stone dagger you can kill him in about 5 seconds)
 * Curses
 * Necromancer's Construct

Mesmer (Me)
To Be Added...
 * Fast Casting
 * The Time Eater - Very Easy/Easy (Add skills for more damage because very few mobs are surrounding him)
 * Domination Magic
 * Mesmer's Construct - Hard (The mobs make it very difficult to go near the boss)
 * Milefaun Mindflayer - Medium/Hard (Must be opposite of controlling faction in order resurrect at NW shrine)
 * Mina Shatter Storm -Easy/Medium (Bring Feigned Neutrality in place of Crystal Wave, bring Shock and Aftershock in place of Obsidian Flame and Teinai's Crystals, the run is very long.)
 * Bezzr Wingstorm - Easy/Medium (Bring Shadow of Haste and Dash (to cancel SoH in case you need to try again). Die as a Luxon, you'll respawn near it.  There will be Mantis and Wardens around.  If you time it right, you can make them fight each other then kill the ones remaining.   The mobs that spawn when you attack Bezzr, do have skills that ignore Shadow Form so just cancel SoH and try again.
 * Illusion Magic
 * Kenrii Sea Sorrow
 * Xisni Dream Haunt - Medium/Hard
 * Inspiration Magic

Elementalist (E)
To Be Added...
 * Energy Storage
 * Rahse Windcatcher - Easy
 * Chung, the Attuned - Easy (Long run, use Dark Escape to run past mobs on the way to Undercity)
 * Air Magic
 * Amadis, Wind of the Sea- Medium
 * Fire Magic
 * Star Ancient Koosun - Hard/Very Hard (Speak to Kuunavang for Celestial Storm, bring Shadow Refuge and Dash)
 * Lian, Dragon's Petal- Medium/Hard (Bring Dash insted of Crystal Wave to break first aggros, challenging because of Double Dragon)
 * Water Magic
 * Elemental's Construct - Medium (Use Shadow Form to run to him and hide to rest on southeast corner of his room.)
 * Wiseroot Shatterstone - Medium/Hard (Sliver Armor often will not target him, even if you are closest to him.)
 * Earth Magic

Assassin (A)

 * Piercing damage
 * Assassin's Construct - Easy(Wait until all mobs collect in the middle of the island)
 * Chkkr Locust Lord - Easy/Medium(Sliver Armor often doesn't hit him)
 * Darkroot Entrop - Very Easy/Easy (Pull first mob of Wardens with you)
 * Shreader Sharptongue - Very Easy/Easy (Exchange Teinai's Crystals or Crystal Wave with Shadow Refuge
 * Silent Ancient Onata - Medium/Hard (Add the Special Skill)
 * Xuekao, the Deceptive - Easy (run around the building he is in and approach from ramp. Aggro him and immediatly use Dark Escape and run to the res shrine near by. This will trigger a fight between him and some Jade Brotherhood. After fight immediatly run in and start your sequence. He should fall very easily.)
 * Slashing damage
 * Bramble Everthorn - Easy/Medium (Because of the heals)
 * Onis in Rhea's Crater for Ungues of the Oni - Easy/Medium (The hardest part is getting there, once there it's easy to kill them two/three at a time)
 * Urkal the Ambusher - Very Hard (Sliver Armor almost never targets him - Shadow of Haste variant is highly recommended to give you multiple attempts)

Ritualist (Rt)

 * Spawning Power
 * Cho, Spirit Empath - Easy/Medium (Bring Feigned Neutrality instead of Dash, come from Nahpui Quarter!!! Cast Feigned Neutrality last, once you are already fighting, 50/50 chance monks will heal him, if so run and rezone; the fastest way is to run towards Nahpui Quarter (just a few feet west from Cho). It will make the run a lot easier and shorter.)
 * Ritualist's Construct - Easy/Medium (Near by monk can prove difficult)
 * Tomton Spiriteater - Very Easy/Easy
 * Chkkr Brightclaw - Easy/Medium (Wait for plant mob to run past the pool, when they are clear, sure to aggro enough of the pop-up groups before casting Sliver Armor) The pool gives you 20% longer enchantment because of Blessed Water.
 * Channeling Magic
 * Ssyn Coiled Grasp - Easy/Medium( Silver Armor doesn't always target him, just lose aggro if it doesn't)

To Be Added...
 * Communing
 * Restoration Magic
 * Flower Spiritgarden - Medium/Hard (move in a litte until mobs pop up, you need to time you Shadow Form and Silver Armor wisely, needs some practise)
 * Orosen, Tranquil Acolyte-Medium/Hard (cast Obsidian Flame, Crystal Wave, Teinais Crystals and then Obsidian again (with the other skills applied). Foes can interrupt your skills.Also pull the group that is right up the ramp near him)

Nightfall
80 Current Bosses

Warrior (W)

 * Swordsmanship
 * Reaper of Agony - Medium (Time your run when he has moved near the two groups of Margonites)
 * Axe Mastery
 * Chor the Bladed - Easy (move to that rock on his right and bring the pop-ups to him, don't cast Silver armour until he uses Frenzy, he should die in 5 seconds after that, if he didn't cast frenzy within 4 seconds, just move out to top right, and do it again)
 * Robah Hardback - Medium/Hard
 * Colonel Chaklin- Medium/Hard (Easy to get to,try to aggro as much as you can and avoid disrupts, if you die hope your shadowform is recharged fast and reattack asap if hes halfway or more down in health good chance second shot will finish him
 * Hammer Mastery
 * Grabthar the Overbearing - Medium/Hard (Need to also aggro the nearby harpy group to be successful, if you wait a moment the harpies actually move closer to Grabthars mob) Not much room for error.
 * Riktund the Vicious - Medium/Hard
 * Shield
 * Strength
 * Onwan, Lord of the Ntouka - Easy/Medium (Leave from command post and follow river into lake. Attended to by several Mesmers and route to reach the boss although short has a multitude of creatures)Easiest way to kill is to deaths charge to him then run past him and wait for recharge of skills then get the tusk howlers and boss to theirselves to keep the rampaging nktoukas from stripping your enchants with chilling victory
 * Tactics
 * Mahto Sharptooth - Easy/Medium (Easy to kill a little more difficult to get to)

Ranger (R)
To Be Added...
 * Flatbow
 * Hornbow
 * Colonel Custo - Medium(aggro amount helps its sometimes hard to get as much as you want plus getting sliver armor on him directly can be troublesome to
 * Vah the Crafty - Very Easy/Easy (Wurms make it real easy)
 * Longbow
 * Zelnehlun Fastfoot - Very Easy/Easy (He is dead in 10 seconds if Sliver Armor targets him)
 * Bearer of Misfortune = Very Hard (A long run to get there, kill Word of Madness first, then while within range of Quickening Zephyr, shadow step in and damage him to about 1/3 health, shadow step out, wait for Shadow Form to recharge, then shadow step in again)
 * Recurve Bow
 * Bolten Largebelly - Medium (Can be difficult to target with Sliver Armor)
 * Shortbow
 * Admiral Chiggen - Medium/Hard
 * Tenezel the Quick - Medium

Monk (Mo)

 * Divine Favor
 * Topo the Protector - Hard/Very Hard (Difficult run. Once you get to the temple, refuge in Balthazar's shrine. Get to Topo, let him summon the Graven Monoliths and disappear. Die and go back to him. He won't disappear anymore.)
 * Healing Prayers
 * Chidehkir, Light of the Blind - Medium (Approach from Sunspear Sanctuary. You will need to grab the group of Kournans that patrol around the fort to take him down. Getting sliver to target him with the Kournan Guards on you is a pain).
 * Chiossen, Soothing Breeze - Medium/Hard (The Rampaging Ntouka make this hard, use Feigned Neutrality as the Rampaging Ntouka run towards you and it will strip Feign Neutrality instead of Sliver Armor or even worse, Shadow Form. Aggro the nearby hekets to the east of Chiossen's group. Pack Obsidian Flame and Aftershock to speed up the killing, or Shock and Aftershock to interrupt a heal.)
 * Dunshek the Purifier - Easy/Mediumclear sandgiants before aproach(in wurm), use shock/aftershock combo
 * Hahan, Faithful Protector - Medium/Hard
 * Protection Prayers
 * Commander Sadi-Belai - Medium/Hard (Aggro Skree group nearest to his group. Shock + Lift Enchantment AFTER he puts Shielding Hands on. Bring Obsidian Flame. Spam as needed)
 * Banor Greenbranch - Easy/Medium (Bring Lift Enchantment to remove Shield of Regeneration instead of aftershock or deaths charge, need to aggro nearby Beetles)
 * Smiting Prayers
 * Flame of Fervor - Easy (Wait till the patrol comes in.)
 * Riseh the Harmless - Easy/Medium

Necromancer (N)
To Be Added...
 * Soul Reaping
 * Blood Magic
 * Lieutenant Vanahk - Medium (it is easier if you manage to aggro the previous mob)
 * Death Magic
 * Jerneh Nightbringer - Medium/Hard (When you reach the nearby ressurection shrine, there is a mob ahead of you. It's best to try and avoid them as they are usually filled with Water elementists and Dervishes with alot of aoe damage. If you cannot survive long enought to kill Jereh due to Vile touch and the Dervish Aoe damage, use Dark escape before you shadow step in for half damage)
 * Eshekibeh Longneck - Very Easy/Easy
 * Terob Roundback - Easy/Medium (when the two heket monks are near him it can be hard at times
 * Curses
 * Creo Vulnero - Easy/Medium
 * Fondalz the Spiteful - Medium
 * Modti Darkflower - Easy/Medium (Killing him is Very Easy, but its much easier to reach him if you run through the middle of the map till you reach the second resurrection shrine, only one group of mandragors will be in your aggro on the way to him.)if sucessful he can be killed in 3-4 seconds
 * Master of Misery - Very Hard (Very long and difficult run. Moreover, if you die once it'll be using taste of death on his minions to survive.)
 * Tain the Corrupter - Easy/Medium (Sometimes there's a Paragon in the group which can make it more difficult cause of the shout "Stand your ground")

Mesmer (Me)
To Be Added...
 * Fast Casting
 * Domination Magic
 * Yammiron, Ether Lord - Easy
 * Captain Chichor - Easy (Wait until he crosses the bridge.)
 * Illusion Magic
 * Shepherd of Dementia - Medium/Hard (Aggro the group to the right of him too)
 * Eshim Mindclouder - Very Easy (Short walk and easy to kill, it is like the Factions variant of Sessk, Woe Spreader)
 * Inspiration Magic
 * Neoli the Contagious - Easy/Medium (Must run by a skale lasher group before using Death's Charge. Boss dead very quickly)
 * Makdeh the Aggravating - Easy
 * Rual, Stealer of Hope - Easy

Elementalist (E)

 * Energy Storage
 * Setikor Fireflower - Medium (Beware of the dervishes in his group)
 * Air Magic
 * Birneh Skybringer - Very Easy (Lots of mobs for Sliver Armor to work) great practice one of the easiest to farm
 * Moteh Thundershooter - Hard
 * Fire Magic
 * Korr, Living Flame - Hard (It is easier if you can aggro the nearby group of djinns too.Also,Sliver armor rarely targets Korr,so bringing Shadow of Haste for multiple tries would help.)
 * Korshek the Immolated - Easy (Make sure to hit the nearby Whispers Informant for some easy Lightbringer points)
 * Exuro Flatus - Medium/Hard (Madness Titans will damage you through Shadow Form)
 * Hajkor, Mystic Flame - Easy/Medium (Short run in a wurm, be sure to bring Shadow Refuge to heal Headbutt damage)
 * Kormab, Burning Heart - Easy/Medium (Somewhat of a long run, and you'll probably die at least once due to Death Nova mobs but once there it's easy to kill. Bring Shadow of Haste and Dash in case you need more than one try. If you have finished Population Control, it's easier to start from Dzagonur Bastion.)
 * Water Magic
 * Storm of Anguish - Very Easy/Easy (Environment effect slows cast time)
 * Buhon Icelord - Medium/Hard


 * Earth Magic
 * Hajok Earthguardian (Insect) - Medium/Hard (A difficult run to get towards him, when there it is easy, Lure the nearby Kournans)

Assassin (A)

 * Piercing damage
 * Chimor the Lightblooded - Easy/Medium (Nice pair of daggers if you don't have a +Energy/+Enchantment Staff)
 * Lunto Sharpfoot - Easy/Medium (The only thing is the monk because of her it will take a bit longer to kill him)
 * Ravager of Dreams - Very Hard (Long and difficult run; need good timing to aggro plenty of mobs due to its armor)
 * Slashing damage
 * Admiral Kaya - Medium/hard (Wait for the hekets to get near, sometimes there are 2 monks which increases difficulty)
 * Major Jeahr - Medium (Approach from Camp Hojanu)
 * Hanchor Trueblade - Easy/Medium (Bring and spam Obsidian Flame when needed. Nearby Skree Griffin can make it troublesome but still easy)

Ritualist (Rt)

 * Spawning Power
 * Churahm, Spirit Warrior - Easy/Medium (You may have to use this build to kill some Ethers, which will make the run easier)
 * Channeling Magic
 * Lieutenant Kayin - Very Easy (Just aggro one other group, and he goes down in like 10 seconds)
 * Bohdalz the Furious - Hard/Very Hard (killing him is easy - getting there is hard - maybe consider henchmen for getting to him)
 * Podaltur the Angry - Easy/Medium (body blocking during the run to him may be a hassle due to the large amount of hekets on the way)hard to directly attack when the heket warriors get in the way
 * Shakahm the Summoner - Medium/Hard (Take the path right next to Exuro Flatus. Run past the group of titans and shadows (Preferably not aggroing either group). Clear path except for a Torment Claw. Keep going past the Ressurection shrine until the group of shadows come towards you. Hang out by the Ressurection shrine until they turn back. Follow them. Right outside aggro, highlight Shakahm, hit Dark Escape, Shadow Form, and Death's Charge. Step to him. Use Glyph of Ele Power, Sliver Armor, one of the Crystal's Skills (Teinai's Crystals or Crystal Wave) and spam Obsidian Flame when you can. If he's close to you, it's a much easier kill then if you have to run a decent distance just to Death Charge to him.
 * Communing
 * Consort of Ruin - Hard/Very Hard (Long and difficult run.)
 * Restoration Magic
 * Alem the Unclean - Easy/Medium (Use Shock and Lift Enchantment to remove Shield of Absorption)'''

Dervish (D)

 * Slashing damage
 * Onslaught of Terror - Medium (Need to aggro at least one other group, eles and mesmers can interrupt/slow)
 * Shezel Slowreaper - Medium/Hard (Easy Run, use Dark Escape before you step in to receive half damage from Staggering Force)
 * Vahlen the Silent - Medium (Aggro near by djinn and run to the boss)
 * Fahralon the Zealous - Easy/Medium (will likely need Feigned Neutrality and/or Armor of Earth to stay alive long enough, otherwise easy farm)
 * Marobeh Sharptail - Hard/Very Hard (Kill the 2 groups before him and wait for recharge of shadow form. When at marobeh himself it's hard to get him with your sliver armor but i'ts possible)
 * Corporal Suli-Hard/Very Hard (Run like you would to go to the Ele boss...but run back to get Suli after Shadowform Recharges...this is hard but possible)
 * Earth damage
 * Bubahl Icehands - Hard/Very Hard (His damage ignors Shadow Form and usually does 150+ so add Shadow Refuge, he also runs when he gets low health)

Paragon (P)

 * Spear
 * Spear Mastery
 * Eshau Longspear - Easy/Medium (You need to aggro the group of Mandragors behind him rezone if that party has a Mandragor Imp in it.)
 * Shrieker of Dread - Hard (you'll need to aggro several (ideally 3) patrols to take him down; wait for them to converge). Also watch out for the Death Nova when killed.
 * Pehnsed the Loudmouth - Medium (Very close. Sometimes takes two tries to get him down far enough that the next will kill him)
 * Tureksin the Delegator - Medium ( Tough run, takes practice )
 * Jishol Darksong - Medium (drop Tenai's Crystals for Disrupting Dagger to interrupt his self-heal, and aggro the mob of Cobalt to the south as well. He has a habit of running out of Sliver Armor despite being a melee foe, so be sure to keep tabs on him)
 * Toshau Sharpspear - Easy/Medium (Staggering Force of Enchanted Brambles ignores Shadow Form)
 * Shield
 * Command
 * Lieutenant Shagu - Medium/Hard (Must aggro at least 2 other groups to overcome the healing. Be sure to hit the res shrine just to the south)
 * Briahn the Chosen - Easy (Be sure to use obsidian flame twice, as soon as it recharges. This extra shot should be just enough to overcome the healing)
 * Motivation
 * Wandalz the Angry - Medium/Hard (Killing him is quite easy due to nice aggro, but getting there is quite a pain. Bring Feigned Neutrality for better self heal during the run)

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

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


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

Attributes and Skills

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

Equipment

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

Running

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


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


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


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

Killing

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

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

Shiro Solo

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


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

Other Variants

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


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


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


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

Attributes and Skills

 * With a Lightbringer rank of 4 or below, consider using one of the Variants. See the Discussion for additional ideas.

Equipment

 * Armor
 * Radiant Armor with Attunement Runes where possible (Or equivalent). Ensure that you have at least 90 maximum Energy.


 * Weapons
 * Any single handed weapon with +5 energy and +20% enchantment duration extension. Rajazan's Fervor or the Totem Axe are ideal.
 * A focus with a "Live for Today" inscription (+15 energy, -1 energy degeneration). Chung's Focus is ideal.

Usage

 * Enter Ravenheart Gloom from the Gate of Anguish. Receive the bounty from the Whispers Informant.
 * Run past the first group of foes with Shadow Form and Flame Djinn's Haste up.
 * Now, near your position there are two mobs made entirely of spellcasters:
 * One to the left, composed of a mixed group of spellcasters.
 * One to the right, composed of six Curse of Darknesses.
 * Wait for combat between the Shadow Army and the Order of Whispers ends. Get closer to the mixed group.
 * Cast Shadow Form and get into the middle of the enemy group with Death's Charge.
 * Now attack with all of your AoE spells from left to right.
 * Should any foes attempt to escape, you may either:
 * A - Run away with Flame Djinn's Haste.
 * B - Cast a second Flame Burst.


 * Once the mixed group has been cleared, repeat the above tactics for the group of six Curse of Darknesses.

Counters

 * Heart Tormentor
 * Earth Tormentor

Other Farmable areas
The quest Battle of Turai's Procession (see the discussion of this article for details)

Variants
Under Lightbringer Rank 4, see the discussion of this article.

Screenshots
Screenshot 1 Screenshot 2

Video 2

The Underworld Vengeful Farmer build can be used to farm the Bladed Aatxe, Grasping Darknesses and Smite Crawlers. It mainly uses the Item Spell Vengeful Was Khanhei(VWK) to preserve health and damage all attacking opponents.

Equipment

 * Tempest Armor(armor + 10 while affected by an Enchantment Spell) with two Runes of Attunement and a Major/Superior Vigor Rune.
 * Galigord's Stone Staff or a Ritualistic Ghostly Staff as energy management is rather hard.
 * A Longbow.

Fighting Aatxes and Nightmares

 * When entering the Underworld, do not take Clear the Chamber from the Lost Soul straight away.
 * Go to a nearby group of Bladed Aatxe and aggro only the Aatxe that is patrolling. If the patrolling Aatxe is stuck in a mob of stationary Aatxes, lure them, and run to where the farthest NPC stands. By running this far you should break aggro of the stationary ones. Should a Dying Nightmare pop up during the proccess, hide behind that NPC. Now, the NPC in front of you will effectively body-block the following Aatxe, giving you enough time to kill the Nightmare and cast your enchantments.
 * Cast Earth Attunement, Kinetic Armor, Glyph of Lesser Energy, Armor of Earth and Stoneflesh Aura in this order.
 * Use Glyph of Concentration before the fight and cast Vengeful Was Khanhei as the Aatxe begins hitting you.
 * While fighting, cast Glyph of Concentration followed by Stoneflesh Aura, and Glyph of Lesser Energy followed by Armor of Earth. This skill combo should allow you to maintain your energy without getting interrupted and to keep your energy at an acceptable level. Also, Savage Slash, their only interrupt, has a recharge of 20 seconds. If you notice your foes had just used this skill, you may cast your spells without GoC to further save on energy.
 * When VWK is not active, cast Vengeful Weapon to maintain your health at near full level. Whatever you do, do not try to spam it as you will find yourself low on energy very fast.
 * Do not forget to maintain Kinetic Armor. Time your Vengeful Weapon to keep it up.
 * After taking out one group of enemies scout the nearby area for any Dying Nightmares.
 * When you are finished eliminating all the Aatxe in the chamber take the quest from the Lost Soul.

Fighting Darknesses

 * Grasping Darknesses are incredible anti-casters and can take you down very easily.
 * You will only need Armor of Earth and Stoneflesh Aura for this as keeping up Kinetic Armor will be harsh on your energy pool.
 * Always use Glyph of Concentration before applying your enchantments, then quickly use VwK to try and avoid interruption.
 * When VwK is not active, try kiting around in circles to prevent their adrenaline gain as much as possible.
 * Do not give up even if their "Fear Me!" drains your energy to zero. Kite around until your energy recovers to 5. Cast Glyph of Lesser Energy followed by VwK, Followed by Armor of Earth.
 * After Dealing with the Darknesses exit the chamber to the north and proceed to the Ice Wastes.

Fighting Smites

 * You will find two groups of two Bladed Aatxe each and one of Grasping Darknesses and possibly a Dying Nightmare. Avoid them completely by luring the first group of Aatxe and running past them, without aggroing, to reach the second.
 * These are the last Aatxe you will see, now your primary foes are the Smite Crawlers. As Smite Crawlers only do about 50 to 60 damage, you will not need to maintain Kinetic Armor here either. What will pose a threat here are the Coldfire Nights (see Variants section of this article) that patrol the area and the Dying Nightmares that may appear out of nowhere.
 * Simply use VWK and Vengeful Weapon here to finish off the groups of Smite Crawlers.

Counters

 * Failure to maintain Kinetic Armor, Armor of Earth and Stoneflesh Aura while fighting the Aatxe.
 * Interruptions.
 * Strip of enchantments at inopportune times.
 * Overuse of energy and energy denial.

Variants

 * The same build is possible with a Ritualist primary. Even with low Earth Magic, you still take zero damage from the Aatxes when all your enchantments are up. Although this can kill foes quite faster than an E/Rt, the lower energy pool and shorter duration of Stoneflesh Aura makes the run more difficult. A 20% enchant mod is a must for this variant. Note that Armor of Earth significantly slows your movement, thus should not be used when aggroing the first mob of Aatxes. You may fail to shelter behind the NPC with your slowness.

Equipment

 * Any maximum armor will do, although Tempest Armor or Battlemage's Armor are best.
 * A weapon with a maximum Staff Wrapping Of Enchanting is suggested, Galigord's Stone Staff is perfect for this build.
 * Totem Axe or Rajazan's Fervor and earth offhand such as Hajok's Prism or Galigord's Stone Scroll

Usage

 * Upon entering Xaquang Skyway, head northwest to the Vermin.
 * Keep Earth Attunement and Aura of Restoration up at all times.
 * Try to take on the Vermin 2-3 groups at a time for the easiest battles.
 * As they're charging towards you, make sure to use Ward of Stability before they get to you, followed by Armor of Earth.
 * As soon as they've all gathered around you, use Sliver Armor.
 * Cast Aftershock, Teinai's Crystals and Shockwave. Recast as they recharge.
 * If the fight lasts too long you may lose Ward of Stability, recast as soon as possible.

Tips on killing Shreader Sharptongue:
 * Watch the movement of the groups of Vermin, you'll notice their pattern is counter-clockwise.
 * Select Shreader so Sliver Armor has more chance of targeting him.
 * Wait on the bridge until Shreader and his group are closest to the bridge. Aggro him and run some ways back on the bridge.
 * Cast your anti-Knockdown, which ever one you have, then cast Sliver Armor. Additional casts after Sliver Armor may stop it from targeting Shreader, so try not to cast your other offensive spells until he's below 50% health.
 * If you get into health problems, spam your spells to gain health from Aura of Restoration.

Variants

 * Replace Armor of Earth with Stoneflesh Aura, this way you'll only lose health due to degeneration, and of course the attacks of the boss.
 * An E/Mo can replace Earth Attunement with Balthazar's Spirit or/and Essence Bond for slightly better energy management (when tanking large groups of vermin). Healing Breeze may also be a useful skill for an E/Mo.
 * Crystal Wave can be used in place of Aftershock.
 * Sandstorm is another effective way of killing instead of Shockwave if you have not yet capped it. You may need to wand the vermin back to you if they start to run, but the high damage should kill them before that.
 * This build can be used to farm Pongmei Valley if Ward of Stability is switched for Ward Against Melee.

Videos

 * Original Build Setup - YouTube
 * Stoneflesh Aura Variant Setup - YouTube
 * Obsidian Flesh Variant Setup - YouTube

Templates
This build was designed to farm the Vermin outside Senji's Corner in Xaquang Skyway. With the use of the Monk's armor-ignoring damage skills from the Smiting Prayers line, you are able to deal damage to multiple foes simultaneously. Protection Prayers and Earth Prayers skills are used to defend yourself from the enemy attacks.

Equipment

 * Max Radiant Armor with the above mentioned runes. Basically your normal prot gear, the minor smiting rune isn't even needed.
 * Whatever you want of enchanting. I prefer a staff of enchanting so I can do some additional damage myself. Another weapon of enchanting will also work but does less damage.

Usage

 * Maintain Blessed Aura, Balthazar's Spirit, and Essence Bond at all times.
 * Gather as many vermin as you feel like, you can tank an infinite number if used right.
 * Keep Fleeting Stability and Shield of Absorption up at all times, I find it smart to follow SoA with FS.
 * Use Mystic Regeneration to counter the health degen of the vermin.
 * Use Shield of Judgment to damage the vermin, follow it up with Balthazar's Aura. The knockdown for SoJ will allow BA to deal lots of damage without scattering the vermin. attack a vermin at all times so it keeps attacking you. Shreader should always be taken down first.

Counters

 * No real threats from Vermin, but Jade Brotherhood may be able to kill you.

Equipment

 * Any 20% of Enchanting, preferably with extra energy. A Totem Axe or Rajazan's Fervor is ideal.
 * The off-hand item is the -50 Grim Cesta obtained via the Cities of Ascalon quest.
 * Ascetic's Armor offers the most energy which is beneficial to this build, all armor pieces have to have Monk superior runes: one of each with one extra to bring your health down to 105 (this doesn’t include health deduction with the -50 Grim Cesta). Keep in mind that you don't need high armor for the build, so any Ascetic's with maximum energy will do.

Usage

 * Cast the first 4 enchantments before the fight. You won't have any energy regeneration, so use Blessed Signet to regain energy out of combat.
 * Before aggroing mobs, cast Protective Spirit. You should not need Healing Breeze unless you have more than 3 foes that cannot be knocked down (such as hydras), or 5 that can be knocked down (such as forgotten).
 * The energy gained from Essence Bond and Balthazar's Spirit should be more than enough for all situations.
 * Blessed Aura and your weapon of Enchanting will prolong your Shield of Judgment, which is your core offensive spell.
 * The build is most successful against melee attackers and is least successful against spell casters (especially Mesmers). To use it for farming, find an area with a heavy concentration of melee attackers (such as the Blessed Griffons in Snake Dance or the Hydras in Skyward Reach) and take them on.

List of Soloable Bosses

Wajjun Bazaar
 * Lian, Dragon's Petal - (aggro as many as possible for energy benefit)Instead of Essense Bond bring Zealot's Fire for additional damage.

Variants

 * Monk
 * Replace Essence Bond with Zealot's Fire for more damage output. See the notes on casting in succession to avoid breaking aggro.
 * Replace Blessed Aura with Smite for more firepower. Note that if you are used to Blessed Aura, then getting used to the decidedly shorter durations of Healing Breeze, Protective Spirit and Shield of Judgment will take some time.
 * Replace Essence Bond with Strength of Honor while using a melee weapon to do more Damage.
 * Replace Essence Bond with Symbol of Wrath and use it right after Shield of Judgment tends to kill Mountain Trolls with one round of Shield of Judgment.
 * Replace Healing Breeze with Shield of Absorption for 0 damage (With Totem Axe and Blessed Aura, Shield of Absorption will come back soon enough to recast before it ends.
 * Use Watchful Spirit for more regeneration
 * Warrior, secondary
 * Replace Essence Bond with Bonetti's Defense for an excellent energy providing skill, though dodging will reduce the DPS average.
 * Replace Essence Bond with Balanced Stance to protect yourself against knockdowns, such as Meteor casted by Hydras. This will make Hydra-Farming a lot easier.
 * Replace Essence Bond with Dolyak Signet to securely eliminate knockdowns from monsters such as Tundra Giants
 * Elementalist, secondary
 * Replace Essence Bond with Aftershock. This works fine with the knockdown provided by Shield of Judgment and does not break aggro like Zealot's Fire.
 * Replace Shield of Judgment with Glyph of Renewal and use Sliver Armor for damage.
 * Replace Essence Bond with Bed of Coals.
 * Necromancer, secondary
 * Replace Essence Bond with Suffering. Use this after Shield of Judgment, when the enemy(s) are knocked down because of its 2 second cast time it's easier to interrupt. For large mobs, cast it into the center of the group.
 * Mesmer secondary, you could do one or more of the following:
 * Replace Essence Bond with Channeling to gain tons of energy from crowding foes (this works well in conjunction with Zealot's Fire).
 * Replace Blessed Aura with Arcane Echo to lengthen the effect of Shield of Judgment.
 * Replace Essence Bond with Mantra of Resolve against enemies with interrupts. This can be useful against Titans and Mountain Trolls.
 * Replace Balthazar's Spirit with Sympathetic Visage. This will deplete enemies' energy and cause spellcasting monsters such as Hydras to attack you more once they no longer have the energy to power their spells.
 * Ranger, secondary
 * Replace Essence Bond with Serpent's Quickness for back to back Shield of Judgment casting.
 * Replace Blessed Signet with Brambles to add damage and inflict bleeding when enemies are knocked down by Shield of Judgment. Remember that Brambles is Factions only.
 * Dervish, secondary
 * Mystic Regeneration based:


 * Benefits - more points in Divine Favor and Smiting Prayers means Shield of Judgment does more damage for a longer time. Mystic Regeneration is far better than Healing Breeze (0.25 cast, up to +16 health regen for 24 sec).
 * Replace Watchful Spirit with Mending if you don't have WS.
 * Replace Watchful Spirit with Fleeting Stability if getting knocked down is a problem ("only" get max +14 health regen though). Suggested: Protection Prayers at 9 and Earth Prayers at 6 for longer Fleeting Stability.
 * Additional equipment: a wand + the Grim Cesta in another weapon set. If an enemy runs away, switch to wand, attack it then switch back to usual set. Unless the AI has changed, it should run back to attack you.
 * Mystic Regeneration for healing.

Counters

 * Enchantment removal
 * Interrupting
 * The dazed condition
 * Life stealing
 * Degeneration
 * Shroud of Silence

Equipment

 * Ascetic's Armor for a larger energy pool, with a +1 Smiting Prayers scalp design. You will need to upgrade your armor so as to bring your health down to 55 hp (as seen on this section of the Invincible Monk page).


 * Any Axe of Enchanting. The bonus must be +20%. Also, a +5 Energy modifier (or the inscription "I Have the Power") helps to increase the energy pool even more. The Totem Axe is a good choice for this. A two-handed weapon cannot be used or your health will be more than 55.


 * Consider bringing a scalp design that provides a bonus in Divine Favor and/or a staff of Mastery in Divine Favor.

Usage

 * First cast Blessed Aura. If you are using a Divine Favor headpiece and/or a staff of Mastery in Divine Favor, equip them now to maximize its effect. Note that if you are using a staff of Mastery, it may take multiple castings for the Divine Favor boost to kick in. Be sure to re-equip the Smiting Prayers scalp and your axe/offhand combo after you are satisfied with your cast.


 * Then cast Strength of Honor and Balthazar's Spirit. This will provide you with added melee damage, Adrenaline for your Lacerating Chop, and help your energy management.

Note: These three enchantments can be cast in any order according to preference.


 * After all of the enchantments are cast, head towards your enemies (but see Choosing Enemies, below).


 * Before entering battle cast Protective Spirit and Shield of Absorption. (You should do this no more than two seconds before you do the next step.)


 * Aggro your enemies. You must keep up Shield of Absorption (near-)continuously. Depending on how high your Divine Favor attribute was when you cast Blessed Aura, you can have as little as .5 seconds to recast it - or you may have as many as 1.85 seconds. Note that if you miss a recast by a few seconds, the health gained from the Divine Favor Attribute alone and combined with the damage reduction from Protective Spirit will help prevent death, but don't take your time about recasting it. (Be aware that larger mobs mean faster death in this situation.)


 * Use Shield of Judgment for damage and Knockdown.


 * Use Lacerating Chop and Cyclone Axe for damage. The steady supply of Adrenaline should help recharge your Lacerating Chop fast and if you pair it with the Knockdown effect of Shield of Judgment your target will start to bleed. A good strategy is cycling your targets for the Lacerating Chop thus getting more to suffer from Bleeding. Use the Cyclone Axe as long as your energy management is comfortable to strike all adjacent opponents.


 * Cycling targets is in generel a good idea - the longer you have the more enemies the better is your energy management and the adrenaline gain on which your Lacerating Chop thrives.

Counters

 * Enchantment removal can be deadly if it hits Protective Spirit and/or Shield of Absorption. Because Necromancers and Mesmers have so many skills to do this, avoid them.


 * Most health degeneration will also kill you as you only have the raw Divine Favor Attribute as your healing. Again, avoid places with Necromancers or Mesmers. (Note that minor health degeneration may not necessarily be deadly as you will heal yourself every time you cast a spell on yourself due to the healing bonus from the Divine Favor attribute.)


 * If Shield of Absorption is interrupted, you could be in trouble. You will have to last ten seconds with only the healing boost from casting Protective Spirit on yourself - although Protective Spirit has a five second recharge.

Variants

 * Healing Breeze is useful when killing foes that cause -3 (or greater) health degeneration.


 * Zealot's Fire can provide relatively consistent AoE damage; you must be cautious as to how you time your spells so that there is at least three seconds between each of them, or you will cause your enemies to scatter.


 * Consider bringing Judge's Insight if farming undead, but beware that it can strain your energy management.


 * Consider changing the Axe skills to something causing various Conditions or one causing Interrupt to make you better suited at farming bosses. If centering on bosses, as oppossed to a mass of enemies, it might also be an idea to trade the Shield of Judgment in for another elite. Either an aggressive one to increase your damage or something to protect you from the bosses skills or spells. It doesn't really matter about the adrenaline cost, as your adrenaline is virtually infinite.

Warrior
 * Bonetti's Defense - for energy and +75% chance to block attacks, making you more resistant to melee interrupts such as Savage Slash.
 * Balanced Stance - to resist knockdowns and therefore some interruptions

Choosing Enemies
Only certain enemies will be effectively damaged by this build. Enemies that are knocked down by Shield of Judgment are preferred even if they do scatter; enemies such as the Mountain Trolls at Talus Chute can be knocked down and therefore will be vulnerable to this build. It is also possible to take out a range of other groups in the Chute including the Blessed Griffons, the Azure Shadows and any group of Tengu as long as they have no Avicara Guile as they can strip your enchantments.

Before you use this or any other build with Shield of Judgment to farm monsters, do some research to see if they can be knocked down or not. Shield of Judgment can cause scatter but the use of melee damage might be off-setting. And the added DPS of this build decreases the problem of scattering as they often die before getting away, or at least that they do not have to attack you to receive damage as with the builds depending on the Shield of Judgment alone. Your axe is your main damage dealer.

This build is also useful, and somewhat faster than less aggressive 55hp builds, on those monster that cannot be knocked down, but you'll forego the Bleeding and might consider another Adrenaline Axe Mastery skill in place of Lacerating Chop.

Also, when considering choosing an area, try to find an area with abundant melee attackers, who will be drawn close to your and the range of your axe.

Equipment

 * +5 energy Wand or Sword and any collectors Curses offhand.
 * Wicked Scar Pattern (Curses +1).
 * Superior Curses Rune.

Usage
The usage is very simple.
 * Find the boss, cast Mantra of Resolve and pull him out.
 * Try to cast Signet of Midnight before his first attack. Normally he will hit you once before you can blind him and you should survive it.
 * Now cast the 3 failure hexes, start with Spirit of Failure to start getting energy right away.
 * Follow with Price of Failure which will deal 32 damage on each attack attempt.
 * And finally finish with Reckless Haste to speed up killing. This hex will also keep us safe with 52% chance to miss.
 * The total hit rate, factoring in all miss rates, is 2.7% for any melee boss.
 * Now cast Ignorance to disable Healing Signet.
 * And now cast Conjure Nightmare to add some final fun with -8 Health degeneration.
 * Cast Parasitic Bond as soon as possible as it will heal you only after 20 seconds.
 * Recast Signet of Midnight, Ignorance and Reckless Haste as soon as they are ready to cast, they are the key skills in this build.
 * Recast Conjure Nightmare and Price of Failure with Spirit of Failure as soon as their effect ends.

Variants

 * If you feel safe and don't need healing you can exchange Parasitic Bond for Empathy or Suffering.
 * If you feel you don't need protection against interrupts you can exchange Mantra of Resolve for Enfeebling Touch it will lower damage you receive from attacks and speed up killing. You can also exchange Mantra of Resolve with Mantra of Inscriptions to speed up recharge time of Signet of Midnight.
 * You can also replace Ignorance with a damage-dealing hex when the boss doesn't use Healing Signet.
 * Replace Parasitic Bond and Conjure Nightmare with Empathy and Vampiric Touch or Vampiric Bite. Move your attribute points from Illusion Magic to Blood Magic. You get a more immediate life steal skill in exchange for no degen on your target; but requires more careful energy use.
 * Chkkr Locust Lord farming: replace Mantra of Resolve and Ignorance for Spirit Shackles and Drain Enchantment (or Shatter Enchantment) to get rid of his Shadow Refuge or his Locust's Fury. Mind Wrack can also be used instead of Drain Enchantment.

Counters

 * Even though the hit rate of the boss does become 2.7%, if you are really unlucky, you may still die if the boss get some hits through between the time your hexes has worn off and before you get to replace them (most notably Reckless Haste).

Equipment

 * Armor:
 * Tormentor's Armor
 * Weapons:
 * The Nightbringer or Ghial's Staff can work quite well.

Usage
In order to properly use this build most effectively, you will need to learn how and when to properly cast. The basic principle is to cast Enfeeble on a target, followed by Virulence, and Epidemic to spread the -8 health degeneration to the surrounding creatures, all the while keeping your armor up with Physical Resistance, and occasionally leeching some life by using Oppressive Gaze. With this build you will be able to farm groupings of 10+ without triggering scatter, meaning that you will be able to farm large groups without getting some to pull off as with builds that use AoE to farm large groups of creatures. Oppressive Gaze will occasionally scatter these creatures, but in some cases it is necessary to do so in order to stay alive. Channeling will be used as a tool for energy-management, and Shadow of Fear is used to slow down enemy attacks so that Blood Renewal can keep your health increasing.

Counters

 * Interrupts. Mountain Trolls especially slow down the process (and occasionally kill you) when they manage to interrupt you with Disrupting Chop. Putting time between Enfeeble and Virulence usually helps, and keeping Shadow of Fear on creatures will also decrease their disruption rate.

Variants

 * For some creatures, Sympathetic Visage and Ancestor's Visage may be necessary to decrease skill usage.
 * For further Variants, consult this thread

Video
A youtube video showing the build in action.

This build is intended for quick and direct farming of bosses. It relies on the normal 55 standard and very high health regeneration for healing and damage reduction. Essence Bond and Balthazar's Spirit provide energy for the consistent spamming of regeneration skills. The main damage comes from Spoil Victor and possibly one Touch Attack. This build allows the user to charge directly for the boss monster and ignore the boss's mob.

Equipment

 * Each of your armor pieces need to have a superior attribute Rune. This will lower your base Health to 105. (The only required type is blood, but 5 are necessary to hit 105 health.)
 * It is a good idea to bring a second set of armor. This will allow you to adjust your health manually based on any Death Penalty you might accumulate.
 * Any +5 energy/20% longer enchanting sword/axe such as Rajazan's Fervor or Totem Axe.
 * The -50hp Grim Cesta from the Cities of Ascalon quest. (This is not required if you don't mind dying once and using a -20 offhand to hit 13hp. This will work better in most cases.)
 * For 13hp build, any -20hp offhand (preferably +12 energy). (Life is Pain Inscriptions help with this.)
 * If you have any +hp offhands they could also be useful if any DP is accumulated.

Usage

 * Cast your four maintained enchantments when entering the explorable area. Try to allow full energy regeneration after each one until you're used to an area.
 * As you approach your target cast Protective Spirit and Healing Breeze.
 * Target the boss monster and cast Spoil Victor.
 * Get as much aggro as possible from the boss's mob of monsters.
 * Begin using Vampiric Touch on the boss
 * After any touch attempt refresh either Healing Breeze or Protective Spirit. Alternate the refresh between the two.
 * Having the touches interrupted is not an issue. They have a fast refresh time.
 * Refreshing Healing Breeze and Protective Spirit early is ideal when facing a boss whose mob has interrupt capability. If they are interrupted this is less problematic as they'll likely refresh before they expire.
 * To keep melee foes from fleeing, keep hitting them with your axe or sword.

Counters

 * Enchantment stripping spells such as Chilblains, Lingering Curse, Well of the Profane, Gaze of Contempt, Rend Enchantments, Strip Enchantment, Inspired Enchantment, Dark Apostasy, Shatter Enchantment, or Expunge Enchantments.
 * Life Steal attacks will bypass the protection offered from Protective Spirit. This will usually kill you.

Variants

 * Consider using Blood of the Aggressor instead of Vampiric Touch for lesser energy use and damage from a distance (safer against interrupts from warriors or rangers). Vampiric Touch is sometimes impossible to use in areas where there's a lot of energy degeneration such as Domain of Secrets.
 * Some groups apply more degen than you can handle, in this case replace Vampiric Touch with either Life Siphon or Blood Renewal. Life Siphon is better for groups without a lot of interrupts, while Blood Renewal has a faster cast time, and the sacrifice will be healed before you notice it most of the time.
 * Another skill you may consider in replacing Vampiric Touch is Wallow's Bite or Touch of Agony. With only 5 energy cost and 3 sec recharge time, you can definitely spam this skill to speed up killing.  The 10% life sacrifice is hardly noticeable.  A good example would be the case of farming Wing's Axe.  If you encounter a mesmer with two ritualists, it's almost impossible to kill her with just Spoil Victor as she strips off hexes the moment you put it on her.  Not to mention she strips off hexes from the her party too.
 * Replacing Watchful Spirit with Vigorous Spirit and Vampiric Touch with Plague Touch opens up a lot of possibilities. Vigorous Spirit maybe be used as a cover enchantment versus enchantment removal or a cheaper heal than Healing Breeze when down to one or two attackers. When using Vigorous Spirit as a cover, it's usually best to cast Protective Spirit, then Vigorous Spirit, then Healing Breeze immediately before attacking the target mesmer or necro (Kournan Seers are one example of where this works very well). Plague Touch is useful to remove conditions such as Dazed from the Grasping Darknesses in the Underworld, or Deep Wound when fighting Stoneaxe Hekets while farming greens like the Eye of Argon and Balthazar's Fury though removing Deep Wound isn't always a good idea, since you end up taking less damage which makes you harder to kill.

Equipment
Armor:
 * Scar Pattern Armor or Cabalist's Armor type (if you have Guild Wars Factions) because they offer the most energy required for the build.
 * All armor pieces must have Necromancer superior runes: a Superior Death Magic is recommended but not compulsory. Aim for the cheapest runes.

Weapons:
 * Totem Axe for the energy and the +20% length of enchantments
 * To solo the Underworld you will need a max damage Truncheon such as the one from Uderit Ignis, or, if you have Factions, a Wailing Wand from Gertrud or Telamon.
 * The off-hand item is the Cities of Ascalon quest reward -50HP Grim Cesta

Usage
The process of this build is basically the same as the old one. Cast Essence Bond, Balthazar's Spirit, and Mending Before battle and let your energy recharge. As you aggro your target cast Protective Spirit and Healing Breeze. Once your target attacks cast Spiteful Spirit and shortly after, Rotting Flesh. If the target group is large enough they will start taking turns attacking. Once a body is available cast Well of Suffering. Remember to keep up the enchantments.

Counters

 * Any enchantment removal will most likely kill you.
 * Conditions also pose a threat to any 55. Stack too many and you will negate your health regeneration.
 * Death penalty will majorly mess you up.
 * Be very careful of interrupting attacks from warriors, an example is Mountain Trolls' Disrupting Chop. This is especially dangerous as it adds 20 second cool down to the recharge of the affected spell, if this hits on Protective Spirit or Healing Breeze it can leave you dead in seconds.

Variants

 * Well of the Profane may replace Well of Suffering to hinder enchantment reliant attacks
 * Guardian may be advisable for attacking a large group at one time. The AI still has everyone attack at once and then after some time (Undetermined) they break up
 * The use of Putrid Explosion may be helpful in certain situations.
 * Necrotic Traversal is an energy friendly alternative to Well of Suffering

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

 * Enter the Underworld
 * Aggro the Bladed Aatxe group on the left, or right, and run in the opposite direction to the opposite corner.
 * 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.
 * 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.
 * Cast Vigorous Spirit before you aggro the group of Bladed Aatxe, now use Protective Spirit, target a Bladed Aatxe and use Spoil Victor
 * 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.
 * 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.
 * 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.
 * 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).
 * Take the quest after the Bladed Aatxe on the right and left are killed.
 * Use steps 2-9 for the Grasping Darkness
 * 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.
 * 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 interrupted. Note that Live Vicariously provides less hp than Vigorous Spirit.

Equipment

 * High-energy armor is preferable, though not required.
 * Vanahk's Staff or other Blood weaponry for recharge (or +1 to Blood Magic).

Usage
There are three parts to using this build properly:
 * Killing Maddened Spirits outside of the wurm.
 * Killing Lost Souls outside of the wurm.
 * Using your Junundu wurm effectively.

Maddened Spirits
Maddened Spirits are invulnerable to damage, hexes, and conditions. They are not, however, invulnerable to direct life stealing.

Wait for a single Maddened Spirit to approach you. Hit it with Vampiric Gaze, then hit Blood Renewal and "Can't Touch This!" as it closes in. Immediately start spamming Blood of the Aggressor, Blood Drinker, and Vampiric Gaze as they recharge. As soon as the Maddened Spirit loses more than 50% of its health, hit Signet of Lost Souls and resume spamming. You might also want to hit a nearby Infestation with Life Transfer for healing instead of Blood Renewal - if it's been wanded a few times you'll also get the Soul Reaping bonus.

With practice, you should be able to kill the Maddened Spirits before "Can't Touch This!" expires. However, if it doesn't look like this will happen, run from the Maddened Spirit beforehand. When you have enough energy, reapply "Can't Touch This!", hit the spirit with Signet of Lost Souls to regain a bit more energy, and resume spamming your life stealing skills.

As soon as the spirit dies, hit a nearby Infestation with Life Transfer and wand it to heal up while regenning your energy. Make sure to use Signet of Lost Souls on the Infestation once it gets under half health to help regen energy. Kill one or two Infestations while waiting for the next spirit to arrive, but make sure not to spend much energy on them - you'll want full health and energy for the next Maddened Spirit.

Once you get your score around 100, the spirits will begin spawning quite a bit more quickly. If you get behind and are about to get two of them attacking you, run to the Wurm Spoor and enter your Junundu wurm. If you can hit "Can't Touch This!" just before entry, you'll be protected for a bit as you get inside the wurm.

Lost Souls
Most Lost Souls spawn in locations where they are easy enough to just smack with the wurm. Junundu Bite does the trick in one shot, and you can get the extra heal if you use Junundu Tunnel to race up to them.

A few of the Lost Souls are on rocky terrain, however, so the wurm is useless. Get well ahead of the Maddened Spirits and exit the wurm. If any Maddened Spirits are nearby when you exit, immediately hit "Can't Touch This!" then "Fall Back!" and run towards the Lost Soul. Run as far as you can with "Fall Back!", past the Lost Soul if possible, but not out of casting range from it. Hit it with Life Transfer, then continue running to the next Wurm Spoor, using "Fall Back!" when available. At 16 Blood Magic, Life Transfer will kill the Lost Soul by itself. As you approach the next Wurm Spoor, use "Can't Touch This!" to protect your transition as you jump back into the wurm and race off.

Wurm Usage
For the most part, the basics of Junundu usage are described in the Remains of Sahlahja and the Junundu article. Here's a few additional pointers specifically for this farm:


 * "Can't Touch This!" protects you from Maddened Strike while entering a wurm, and in fact continues protecting you while in the wurm until its normal expiration time. Use it any time you're entering a wurm with Maddened Spirits on your tail.


 * To heal, get well ahead of any Maddened Spirits and use Junundu Tunnel. Find an Infestation you can reach while Junundu Tunnel is active, and use Junundu Bite. This will knock down the Infestation prior to the bite, thus netting you 500 health.  If you have enough time, use Junundu Feast to aquire an additional skill.  If you get really low, exit the wurm in a safe location and run to the nearest Wurm Spoor to get a new one.


 * Kill Infestations as described any chance you get, and make sure to use Junundu Feast if it's ready after the kill. If you happen to get Blinding Breath, you're ready to take on an entire mob of Maddened Spirits.  Get well ahead of the Maddened Spirits, find a Greater Infestation, and kill it quickly.  Then just spam Blinding Breath once the Maddened Spirits are in range until they die.  If you start with full health, killing 4 or 5 Maddened Spirits this way is fairly easy. For extra healing after the fight, use Junundu Wail if nothing else is around.

Counters

 * Death from lag/rubber banding can be extremely frustrating, especially if you get blocked in a doorway and it doesn't register locally. If you notice you are taking hits with no Maddened Spirits near, try running the opposite direction until the server and client resynch.  Another way to resynch is to type /stuck.


 * If you are going for a high score, realize that normal biological processes may be your worst enemy later on. Plan ahead.

Variants

 * If using purely to kill Maddened Spirits, and you don't care about killing Lost Souls at all, replace Life Transfer with Ravenous Gaze. Try to keep your health just below 50% between Maddened Spirits through sacrificing so you can use Ravenous Gaze as an opening attack to get the most out of it.


 * Another method is to remove Blood Drinker and Replace with Song of Power, then remove Life Transfer and replace with Vampiric Spirit. This will allow you to steal an additional 41 health every time you cast a spell.  Then if your energy gets to low, use "Fall Back!" followed by Song of Power.  I suggest taking Soul Reaping down to 5 + 1 for this build and placing those extra points into Motivation however since Song of Power will offset the decreased energy gain in between spirits.

Equipment

 * You'll need one high-health set of armor and weapons and one 55 set (see Invincible Monk for details on 55 equipment).

Usage

 * When you enter the Stygian Veil, there is a mob in the trench immediately to your right (S-SE) that may be (mostly) killed easily for fun and profit and to get the first few no-drops out of the way. If you get a great drop from these, use Consume Corpse and retrieve it.  This will end this farming run.  Watch out for the patrol - particularly the Mind Tormentors and Water Tormentors that often spawn will hurt.


 * Head East, dodging the nasty Shadow patrols. Talk to the Whispers Informant to receive Anguish Hunt.  Then talk to the Adept of Whispers, take the Breaching the Stygian Veil quest, and immediately run NE along the wall above the Dreadspawn Maw.  Wait for three mobs of six Stygian Hungers to gather around the Adept of Whispers.


 * Carefully run along the wall to the lower area around the Dreadspawn Maw - there's just enough room to get down there from either side without aggro'ing any of the groups.

Now the fun begins....

Part 1 - The Hunger Mobs

 * Stygian Hungers are touch/AoE necros with Grenth's Balance as their elite. Switch to your 55 health setup to counter Grenth's Balance. Repeat the following:


 * Use 'c' to select the nearest target - make sure it is in one of the side mobs - save the center mob for last.
 * Cast Suffering.
 * Run away around the Dreadspawn Maw using a running skill until aggro is broken. Occasionally, this will be difficult. Do not stop running until aggro is broken.
 * Make sure you have the nearest target of the same mob, and cast Desecrate Enchantments. The Hungers use Dark Aura, making this do a decent amount of damage to the mob.
 * Run away and break aggro.
 * Nearest target, cast Feast of Corruption.
 * Run away.
 * Go back to the first step, and repeat until their health is low.


 * You really want to finish them off with Feast of Corruption or Desecrate Enchantments. If you let them degen to death while you're not in the area, you may not get any drops.  They should be in an easily killable range with either skill once their health bar is into the 'Lvl' text.  If you are using your 55 armor, then all can be killed simultaneously.


 * When a mob dies, it will be replaced by another one from a spawn point behind the gates the first three mobs came from. You have a lot of time to run around the Dreadspawn Maw to lose aggro from the other two mobs, but do try to avoid aggro'ing the new one.

Part 2 - The Brute Mobs

 * Stygian Brutes are hammer warriors. While facing them, you can switch to your high-health armor if you wish, but you're still probably dead if they actually hit you.  Use the same techniques as on the Stygian Hungers, except only cast Desecrate Enchantments when you have energy to burn, as it is considerably less cost-effective for damaging the Brutes.


 * [[image:Stygian_fiends_path.jpg|frame|Path to run away from Fiends]]

Part 3 - The Fiend Mobs

 * Stygian Fiends are rangers with Crippling Shot, Choking Gas, and other fun skills to mutilate necromancers with. Once again, you really don't want to get hit by these.  Unfortunately, if they even shoot at you and miss, Demonic Miasma will make it hurt. Use the high-health armor when dealing with these, as you're likely to at least be *missed* by a barrage or two of arrows.


 * Once again, hit and run. If possible, run up the nearby hill while running away to minimize any height-advantage and additional range the Fiends may get.  See the highlighted path in the map:


 * [[image:Stygian_muddy_placement.jpg|frame|Placement of Muddy Terrain for Eastern mobs]]

Part 4 - The Golem Mobs

 * Stygian Golems are Dervish beasts which use Harrier's Haste to catch up with you. It's almost impossible to reliably lose them with just running skills.  The trick here is to circle around the mob and plant Muddy Terrain *behind* the mob, to the NE of the Adept of Whispers (center point on the map to the right).  Then head back down below and do the following:


 * Cast Suffering
 * Run away (use a running skill just before leaving Muddy Terrain's area of effect).
 * Wait for mob to resettle.
 * Cast Feast of Corruption.
 * Run away and wait for mob to resettle.
 * Cast Suffering
 * Run away until you lose aggro, then head back and drop another Muddy Terrain spirit at the spot on the map.
 * Rinse, repeat.


 * It works best if you trigger your running skill just prior to leaving the area under the effect of Muddy Terrain. This makes you go fast while the Golems are still stuck trudging along. If the spirit is correctly placed, they'll give up before getting out of its range.

Part 5 - The Horror Mobs

 * Stygian Horrors are warriors which, similar to the Stygian Golems, use Bull's Charge to speed them on their way to killing you. Use the same technique with Muddy Terrain to kill these as used for Stygian Golems.


 * [[image:Stygian_muddy_placement2.jpg|frame|Placement of Muddy Terrain for Western mobs]]

Part 6 - The Mixed Mobs

 * The last mob of each of the three sets has all of the Stygian Demons in it. You'll need to use the high-health armor to deal with the Fiends and use the Muddy Terrain technique (See the map images for placement for Eastern and Western mobs).  Unfortunately, that means you're unlikely to kill them all simultaneously.  Once the Stygian Hungers are the only ones left, switch back to your 55 armor for the final kills.

Part 7 - How do I get my drops?!?!

 * Once you've killed all the mobs, the area around the Adept will be safe. However, it's easy enough to pick up valuable drops long before that point, either directly after killing one set or not.


 * If you've just killed a set, then run away *without* using a running skill. Go around the Dreadspawn Maw with the remaining two mobs trailing behind you. Just as you cross the halfway-around point, hit your running skills and head for your most valuable drops.  If done correctly, you can pick up one or two items, then run away without being hit and be able to continue the farm if desired.


 * This will most likely not work if a mob of Fiends, Golems, or Horrors is present - only make hoover runs with Brutes and Hungers around. Look at the table showing the order of the mobs in Breaching the Stygian Veil to figure out your best kill order to get drops.


 * If you haven't just killed a set, just aggro them with Suffering and run around the Maw as described above.

Variants
A N/A using Deadly Paradox Shadow of Haste Dark Escape and Dash and 12 Shadow Arts instead of the ranger skills and Wilderness Survival. The strategy is very much the same except for the running away part. For that you activate Deadly Paradox then Shadow of Haste, run in, cast your spell(s), then use Dash to cancel out Shadow of Haste. This will teleport you back to the place where you used Shadow of Haste and you can proceed to run using Dark Escape if needed. For a more indepth guide to this version see here.

Counters

 * Everything in this area hits hard. Getting hit once is likely to produce a Necromancer-shaped corpse.  Try to avoid getting hit.

Equipment
((+3-Scythe Mastery Rune)) ((+3-Earth Prayer Rune)) ((+3-Mysticism Rune)) ((+3-Rune(Your Choice)) ((+3-Rune(Your Choice))
 * Rune's

((Radiant Insignia (x5) for more energy (*But not necessary*))
 * Insignia's


 * Any kind of armor other than armor with the survivor insignia or health boosting runes will do, as long as it has a total of 5 superior runes on. Note that armor level does not matter for this build, so a set of armor purchased in Kamadan will serve this builds purposes just fine.
 * A customized Scythe with a "Guided by Fate"/"Strength and Honor"/"To the Pain!" inscription. A scythe grip of Enchanting and a Sundering or Zealous scythe snathe can make things easier.
 * A Zealous scythe is recommended while facing only one foe; if you don't use one you may not gain enough energy to recast all 3 enchantments. Note that energy mangement when facing a single foe may become easier by dropping Balthazar's Spirit and Essence Bond.
 * Dwayna's Grace, Lyssa's Bedlam, Scythe of Corruption, or Suli's Scythe would work well for this build. The Soulbreaker also works.

Usage
Whenever you enter an explorable area cast Balthazar's Spirit and Essence Bond and wait for your energy to regen. Before approaching the monster(s) you want to kill, cast the first 3 skills on your bar. Aggro the monster(s) and keep your enchantments up while spamming your attack skills. If you're having trouble staying alive, consider deliberately getting yourself killed; the resultant Death Penalty will lower your health and therefore make the build more effective.

Mystic Regeneration is quite effective at keeping your health up, however enemies with fast attack speed or powerful health degen spells can render it useless. Try not to face your target alone, make sure he has company. When you aggro a group, make sure they are more or less mobbed up. With the help of Mystic Vigor, you will gain about 25 health each hit; with 3 targets in one hit you will gain 75 health per hit. With fast attacks and the assistance of Mystic Regeneration, you should survive quite easily.

Mystic Vigor is your anti-spike skill. When you get spiked, it should only take one hit from you while enchanted with Mystic Vigor to bring your health back up.

When there are only 1 or 2 enemies left, it's useful to just use Mystic Vigor instead of Mystic Regeneration, to conserve energy.

For some bosses, it is more effective to insert Mirage Cloak into the build instead of Eremite's Attack, to help counter the onslaught of melee attackers. This variation can often be used without having to harvest Death Penalty first, and also gives nice AoE damage. Note, however, that Mirage Cloak will lower the effectiveness of Balthazar's Spirit and Essence Bond, so don't attempt to use it unless you have a zealous scythe equipped.

Counters

 * Blind
 * Weakness
 * Blurred Vision
 * Enchantment removal
 * Avatar of Grenth
 * Health Degeneration exceeding 20 pips
 * Health Stealing
 * Energy Denial (Spirit Shackles)
 * Chilblains this skill can ruin many of your farming runs

Variants
Replace Reaper's Sweep with Wounding Strike.

Replace Reaper's Sweep with Arcane Zeal if you are having trouble with energy management.

Replace Reaper's Sweep with Mystic Twister.

Replace Eremite's Attack or Mystic Sweep for Fleeting Stability to counter knock down.

Replace Eremite's Attack or Mystic Sweep for Heart of Holy Flame when fighting undead for double damage.

Replace Reaper's Sweep with any form except for Avatar of Melandru, which gives +100 health boost. Avatar of Balthazar and Avatar of Dwayna are particularly useful here; the former with its armor boost(doesn't matter due to Protective Spirit) and armor-penetrating damage; the latter with its hex removal and healing, which can negate the need for Mystic Vigor. Avatar of Lyssa works wonders against Mage Bosses, as they are constantly casting spells on you, you dish out +38 damage on a target that is casting a spell.(Remember you will only have about a minute to kill each group, however, if you rely on a form to make the build work.)

Replace Mystic Regeneration with Healing Breeze and take healing prayers instead of earth prayers. Not as effective, but works if you haven't come far enough in the Nightfall campaign to get Mystic Regeneration, unlock Mystic Regeneration with Balthazar Faction, then buy it off the skill trainer.

Equipment
(Earth Prayers needs to hit 13 in order for Mystic Regeneration to hit +4 which is imperative when fighting Shreader)
 * Scythe of Enchanting
 * Runes need not be adhered to strictly as long as you hit the breakpoints

Usage
The maintained enchantments and Conviction can be kept up indefinetly with no consideration as they do not waste activation time. Mystic Regeneration should be kept up for healing, as should Fleeting Stability (although you might not need to refresh it while fighting the smaller groups if the mob is about to die anyway). Vow of Strength should be kept up for increasing your damage. While the defensive mechanism of Mirage Cloak is unneccesary, the bonus damage could help, so keep it up as well, just remember not to renew until it expires so damage takes effect. Also, you might want to cast this last so you don't have to wait for energy as the blocking can sometimes slow down your energy gain. Mystic Vigor is optional, but can give you a larger margin of error against Shreader Sharptongue's group.

While fighting, you might want to reposition so all three of your aggroed foes are damaged. Though this is unnceccesary, it will speed up the run. While fighting Shreader Sharptongue, simply target him first and deal with the rest.

This build can also be used to farm bosses or other areas, especially ones where knock down is used.

Variants

 * Reaper's Sweep, Wild Blow and Mystic Sweep may be used to replace Vow of Strength, Mirage Cloak, Mystic Vigor, or Conviction while dealing with bosses or fewer foes to give higher output.
 * If a warrior secondary is used, Bonnetti's Defense may be used for energy and Faithful Intervention could be added to trigger Mystic Regeneration or Vigor. Similarily, Flail and "Watch Yourself!" could both improve the run-speed seeing as they both have no activation time or energy cost, making it more effective against a single foe.
 * Sympathetic and/or Ancestor's Visage can be used in areas with interruption. Zealous Vow can then be used for energy management.

Templates
To be added.

Equipment

 * Full Druid's Armor or equivalent in function
 * Two Runes of Attunement
 * The best Rune of Vigor you can afford (but at least a major)
 * Any staff with 15 or 20 energy bonus with + 7 armor against physical damage
 * For extra protection when pulling you could take a replacement armor piece for one of those with a superior rune in it and a staff with +60hp. This will allow you to survive two hits from a Bladed Aatxe.

Usage
This build is for experienced trappers who want more challenge and get all the loot for themselves. It is hard at first but with practice, becomes pretty easy to handle. The idea of the build is to keep the mobs on the Dust Traps for their full activation time. This is difficult as AoE damage causes the enemy mobs to flee.
 * First, choose your trapping spot near an angle or any small confined space (e.g. in the Chamber, just under the stairs, close to the walls). You will want the mobs to be blocked by the walls when they try to flee the AoE damages. Once you've got the trapping spot, put down Energizing Wind and Quickening Zephyr just around the corner/angle, not too close to the wall (about the distance of activation of a trap).
 * Start Arcane Echo and during its activation use Serpent's Quickness so that you have the stance before the casting of Arcane Echo finishes. Then use Echo, Dust Trap, Echo (copied with Arcane Echo), Dust Trap (copied with Echo), and Dust Trap (copied with Echo copied with Arcane Echo).
 * Walk backwards a couple of steps, keeping clear from the wall(always about the distance of activation of a trap) and put down Barbed Trap. As soon as the Dust Traps have recharged, lay them down and keep SQ up (usually wears off at the end of the 5th Dust Trap, so recast) and spam Barbed Trap when possible.
 * After the 7th Dust Trap, the spirits will end. Wait a couple of seconds for EW to recharge, put down EW and renew SQ. Then use Echo, Dust Trap, and the echoed Dust Trap. Keep the Barbed Trap that has recharged unused for your own safety.
 * Now you can go pull the mobs. Hit Whirling Defense during aggro and run towards the spirit and stay put behind it. Usually Aaxtes will focus on it instead of you. Meanwhile they will take all the damage waves from the 9 Dust Traps as they try to flee through the walls.
 * The usage of the build can be summed up with the following sequences (skills numbered from 1 to 8 from left to right):
 * Laying down the spirits, the 3 Dust Traps and 1 Barbed Trap: 1, 2, 7, 4 + 3, 5, 6, 4, 5, 4 (3 is to be cast during activation time of 4)
 * Laying down 4 other Dust Traps and 2 Barbed Traps: 7, 6, 5, 4 + 3, 7, 6 (with good timing you can renew SQ when 4 starts)
 * Laying down a spirit and 2 Dust Traps and Barbed before pulling: 1 + 3, 7, 5, 6, 5

Counters

 * The main flaw of the build is lack of self healing. Surviving in emergency situations and during pulling is possible with Whirling Defense, Barbed Trap, and clever movement.
 * Whirling Defense will prevent most of the hits from foes. However Aatxes hit hard, so don't try to pull them from too far away or you'll have a greater risk to get hit and the traps set might start to go off on their own.
 * When the enemy mob survives the initial traps, run away, put down Barbed Trap, lure the surviving enemies into it, and run far away from them. They should lose aggro.
 * When Smites or Coldfire Nights survive, just run away from them until they break aggro.
 * Coldfire Nights are the hardest mob to kill with this build. Avoiding them is the best tactic. If you can't, lay down your spirits far behind the trapping spot, and trap in multiple spots. 3 Dust Traps, step back a bit, Barbed Trap, step back, Dust Traps, etc... This is to ensure that when the Coldfires run after you they will activate all the traps on the way. To keep them in the traps, you can hit Whirling Defense and come into aggro distance so that the survivors focus on you and stay in the traps.

Variants

 * You could replace Serpent's Quickness with Trapper's Speed. However, it seems that the benefit of SQ is much better as it can also be maintained during the whole trapping process.
 * Replacing Whirling Defense with Flame Trap allows for quicker takedowns, and results in health degeneration on the Aatxes. The only drawback is its harder to pull, so use this variant at your own risk.

Templates
This is a build designed for Totem Axe farming which utilizes the Ranger's superior speed skills to run past foes. When necessary, Apply Poison or Kindle Arrows skills are used to dish out large amounts of damage to quickly eliminate foes you must defeat.

Attributes and Skills
Escape can be replaced with Natural Stride, in case you either haven't capped Escape, or would prefer to use a different Elite. If you don't have access to Nightfall skills, Storm Chaser or Whirling Defense could also work.

Equipment
Armor - Any max set of armor will do. Druid's Armor is preferred due to the extra energy it provides. Most of the damage you will take while Totem Axe farming is a result of degeneration, which is not affected by armor.

Weapons - You MUST have a longbow or a flatbow. Bows with Poisonous and Fiery bow strings are handy but not necessary.

A shield or other off-hand item with a defensive bonus is recommended for the run.

Usage


Start in Ventari's Refuge. If you have brought a shield and one handed weapon equip them and head into Ettin's Back. Cycle the speed stances repeatedly. You will have a constant speed boost along with a high block bonus. Head south towards Reed Bog. Along the way you will encounter some fire traps and possible bleeding from Hunter's Shot. If you are hurt badly keep moving until you have broken aggro or built up about 3/4 aggro bubble distance. Use Troll Unguent and keep moving.
 * Ventari's Refuge

Procede as before constantly using your three run buffs to rush past foes. When you are speeding through the area, the Trolls and Spiders are not able to attack effectively. If you see a large group of foes ahead, find a safe place and wait until your faster run skills recharge so that you can use them again.
 * Reed Bog

When you have reached the southern-most part of your run there is a fork where you can go left (west) or right (northwest). The path to the right is usually easier since there are fewer Trolls. The Scarabs that pop out of the ground are only a problem if they are able to pin you - they use melee attacks and can only really damage you with Vampiric Touch. There are a few Spiders near the entrance to The Falls but you should be able to breeze past them. Even if they hit you with Pin Down keep moving since the duration of the Crippled condition is short-lived.

Now you have to deal with massive amounts of Maguuma Spiders. Luckily they don't do much damage and all your stances provide a hefty block bonus against their ranged attacks. If you get into trouble because of Pin Down or simply being poisoned for long durations, use Troll Unguent, but maintain your stances at ALL times, even if not moving. The Spiders are a pain but they seldom chase you very far and often by the time they have descended from the trees and activated Apply Poison you are almost out of range. The Spiders' spawn pattern is relatively consistent in The Falls, so find an area where they are not present and take a break to recharge.
 * The Falls

Once you are past the Spiders you are faced with Jungle Trolls. The path is sometimes narrow here and a couple of Trolls often block the way. In order to get some clear space on the path, activate dodge and run towards the Trolls, then back up slowly so they will follow you. This should separate them, creating some space so you can run past. If necessary, activate Zojun's Haste on the way. If the Trolls pin you, you are dead. Even with the 75% attack Block provided by Escape, their Power Attack is lethal.

Once past the Trolls you will face Jungle Skale. The Skale are not really much of a threat because your Troll Unguent will offset Rotting Flesh (Disease). However there is a tendency for one or two Skale to constantly follow you which can be a real pain - even fatal if they follow you right up to the Wind Riders. Make sure there aren't any Trolls around, activate Apply Poison as needed and using the tab key hit several skale with Poison; use "shift/tab" to go back to the first one and restart the loop. Groups of 5 will be dead in around a minute and a half or less. Use Troll Unguent whenever you go below 3/4 health and slowly work your way through the Skale. Make sure you take out the patrols, especially before you get to the Wind Riders because you have to run from them.

Once you find a Root Behemoth make sure you attack it from higher or equal elevation - higher is preferable. (Being at a higher elevation than your target increases the range of your arrows; at a lower elevation your range is shortened.) The longbow or flatbow lets you attack the Root Behemoth without aggroing the Life Pods that are hiding there. Use Apply Poison to cause health degeneration on the Root Behemoth.

Next, creep forward slowly to aggro the Life Pods. The Pods will spring up one at a time if you're lucky. Hit a Pod once and try to pull it about half an aggro bubble away. Attack it using your two interrupt skills to interrupt Orison of Healing. If your poison is still active use it on lone pods. When Apply Poison runs out or if it is already exhausted use Kindle Arrows to do a massive amount of damage to the pods. (If two or more are aggroed don't use poison because they will use Mend Condition and with their other heals you won't be able to kill them.) If you get 2 or 3 aggroed try to lure them down hill as one will follow close and the other 2 will sit back and shoot at you, try to put as much distance as you can from the shooting ones and kill the on thats closest this is so the others can't heal the one your attacking. Then one of the others will get close to you and you can repeat this process until they are dead.

Keep moving through the area, using Troll Unguent as needed and picking up loot after ALL Life Pods are dead. If you run in to pick up your Totem Axe before you have killed the Pods you'll often aggro 3 of them. It's tempting to just run in and get the Axe but you may lose the rest of the run because Life Pods will often follow long distances.

When you get to an area with Wind Riders your strategy changes. Wind Riders have an interrupt (Cry of Frustration) that can affect non-spell skills. They also have Conjure Phantasm. This means that you will be constantly losing health while fighting them and everything you do will be subject to interruption. The solution is to try to pull them away from their group and kill them one at a time. Use Apply Poison while well outside of aggro range. Then move close but not quite into bow range. Use Troll Unguent and then attack one and only one Wind Rider. Hit it a few times to get its health low then run away using your stances and let the poison kill it. After you have broken aggro, immediately use Troll Unguent to ensure that you don't die. Repeat this process until the group of Wind Riders is dead. This is by far the hardest part of this run and takes a lot of patience to figure out. Don't get frustrated if you die. You may either continue the run (Candy Canes help) or restart.

Counters
This is the one thing you do not want to happen. Trolls can kill you with relative ease as soon as you stop moving with speed. As discussed above, it is sometimes necessary to get them out of your path. Also, the Scarabs can pin you if you are not paying attention. They spring up out of the ground and if you use the keyboard to move past them you often get hung up on them. If you click to move you need to keep clicking to make the game update its path so you can go around the new Scarabs.
 * Getting Pinned.

Troll Unguent is an incredibly useful skill because it cannot be removed once it has been activated (except by the user's death). The drawback is that it has a 3 second casting time which means it is easy to interrupt. Wind Riders are capable of interrupting it and are more than capable of killing you.
 * Interrupts.

Variants

 * If you don't have Escape you can substitute Storm Chaser. The drawback is that Storm Chaser doesn't include attack evasion so you will get Crippled more often when facing spiders.
 * If you have a Monk as your second profession consider bringing Purge Conditions or Mending Touch instead of one of your interrupts. This allows you to remove a Crippled condition if necessary.  Bring a skill that removes all Conditions because otherwise just Poison will be removed, and it will be reapplied almost instantly.
 * If you have a bow with a Fiery bow string you can use Ignite Arrows instead of Kindle Arrows. The important difference between these two skills in this setting is that Kindle Arrows changes the arrow's base damage from Physical damage to Fire damage.  Ignite Arrows keeps the base damage as Physical, but the Fiery bow string converts the base damage to fire damage.
 * If you have Factions, drop Savage Shot for Needling Shot as the RBs will die much faster once they get below 50%.
 * If you have Nightfall, drop Distracting Shot for Forked Arrow to kill the Life Pods faster with Kindle Arrows going. (Use Forked Arrow and Savage Shot quickly to spike a single Life Pod)
 * If you have Warrior as secondary, you can add the remaining points into Tactics and drop Escape for "Shields Up!". And then you can drop Kindle Arrows for Burning Arrow to add -10 degeneration to your target, if used together with Apply Poison (providing your Elite skill slot is open).
 * Natural Stride can be used instead of Escape in order to give you the ability to use another elite skill. Due to Natural Stride's much shorter duration and recharge, you'll need to use your stances in this order: Natural Stride > Dodge > Natural Stride > Zojun's Haste. This will allow you to keep your stances up consistently. (recommended for ALL who have all 3 campaigns)

Equipment

 * The Rotwing Recurve Bow is nice for the extra 5 energy.
 * Alternatively, you can use a firestaff with +15 energy and swap distracting shot for Inferno or any other skill you might see fitting.

Usage
The only difference in this variant is the ability to kill the Life Pods faster. As they take double fire damage, they will be dead very quickly. Aggroing only 2 Life Pods is recommended, but 3 is possible. When you use your fire skills, use Phoenix first then Flame Burst. Make sure the life pods are as close to each other as possible.

Templates
R/Mo

R/E Variant

The R/any Solo Desert Trapper can be used to farm slowly but surely in the Crystal Desert. Its main purpose is to gather collectable drops, which can often be traded for decent weapons. Of course, a fair amount of keys, gold, and gold items can be found as well.

Equipment

 * Druid's Armor.
 * A Flatbow or Longbow.
 * A Recurve Bow or Composite Bow.
 * Poisonous bow strings work very well.

Usage
See General Guidelines.

General Guidelines

 * Use the Flatbow or Longbow to lure your enemies onto the traps and use the Recurve Bow or Composite Bow when firing Poison Arrow.
 * Always activate Serpent's Quickness before laying traps. Lay them in this order: Dust Trap, Barbed Trap, Flame Trap. You should be able to lay down two sets of traps just as Serpent's Quickness ends. It's safe to lay a third set afterwards, as well, but any more and you run the risk of letting some traps self-detonate before any enemies reach them.
 * Dust Trap causes Blindness, allowing you to set more traps right under the enemy if needed.
 * Lay down a Spirit of Toxicity somewhere in the area but far enough away that it won't get attacked. In times of trouble, you can always run past it and let the enemies kill it instead of attacking you. Make sure Serpent's Quickness is up first; the recharge time is quite long.
 * You can out-regen the damage of most but not all monsters with Troll Unguent - it's usually safe to cast it before activating Storm Chaser and running away.

The following can be farmed in Diviner's Ascent, leave from Elona Reach:


 * Sand Drakes (Topaz Crest) - Approach these and stop just short of aggro range. Activate Serpent's Quickness and lay double sets of traps. Now, shoot off a Poison Arrow to each Drake and back up - let the Drakes run over your traps. They should be dead, if not, the degen will soon kill them. Sometimes Drakes are linked in aggro but are spread far apart - watch the radar carefully for any incoming Drakes. It can mess up your trapping badly if one or two don't hit the traps at the same time as the others. In this case it is best to pull a retreat or out-regen them with Troll Unguent and Poison Arrow.


 * Rockshot Devourers (Bleached Carapace) - These are annoying, because they are also trappers and they carry Distracting Shot, but mostly because they tend to pop up at the most inopportunate moments. Follow a similar procedure as with Drakes, but keep a farther distance between you and the Devourers so as to avoid accidentally aggroing them prematurely. Once your traps are set, hit them with Poison Arrow and run slowly back to your traps. Devourers are less pull-friendly than Drakes so you'll have to give them more time. Do not try to set any more traps unless you are sure the Devourers are blind. It often takes two or more rounds of traps to kill Devourers, so you may wish to simply pick them off with hit-and-run Poison Arrows. A good counter-tactic to Distracting Shot is to start activating Troll Unguent and immediately cancel it by moving - the Devourers will use Distracting Shot and waste it. With a 10 second recharge, you have plenty of time to cast Troll Unguent in peace.

The following can be farmed in Skyward Reach, leave from Augury Rock:


 * Hydra (Dessicated Hydra Claw) - They are very dangerous to farm with this build, but it can still be done. Lay traps safely away from them and then use Poison Arrow. They will always use Meteor or Fireball, so immediately use Storm Chaser and run away. They should still follow. Lead them over the traps - this will cause Crippled. Now it's just a matter of waiting for degen and dodging Fireballs. Don't try to take on more than two at once.


 * Storm Kin (Shriveled Eye) - More dangerous than most but safer than Hydras. Follow the usual procedures, and you should be fine. Counter Conjure Phantasm with Troll Unguent.

The following can be farmed in The Scar, leave from Thirsty River:


 * Dune Burrower (Dune Burrower Jaw) - These are stationary, so with the Flatbow or Longbow you can sometimes take them out without any opposition (try to get a height advantage). Otherwise, just hit them with Poison Arrow and move outside their range. They will try to counter with Healing Spring, just shoot them to disrupt it. There will always be Jade Scarab and/or Rock-Eater Scarab buried nearby, so it may be wise to take them out first.


 * Jade Scarab and Rock-Eater Scarab (Jade Mandible) - These are more fragile than the other monsters and are often killed with the first sets of traps, so treat them like Sand Drakes. Remember that Jade Scarab carry Plague Touch, so try to not let them get within melee range. If they do, though, use Troll Unguent to counter the degeneration.


 * Sand Giant (Massive Jawbone) - These have Plague Touch and are more sturdy than Jade Scarab, so they are a bit tough. They also knockdown with Giant Stomp occasionally. However they are fairly slow so you can generally use hit-and-run tactics after the first wave of traps. They also rely on self-caused Conditions and Plague Touch to transfer them - Crippled from Barbed Trap is very potent against them.

The following can be farmed in Prophet's Path, leave from Augury Rock:


 * Desert Griffon (Iridescent Griffon Wing)- Requires a lot of patience, they use "I Will Survive!" to counter your Conditions. They are often more trouble than they are worth, but if you really need those Griffon Wings this build is a surefire way to get them...eventually. There are of course much more effective Tanking builds that have been made for Griffons especially, but this build can still do them.


 * Minotaur (Minotaur Horn) - These are easy. Follow the same procedure as Drakes, but remember that Minotaurs often run in a patrol route rather than lazing around in one spot.


 * Marrow Scarab and Scarab Nest Builder - for some reason neither of these drop any Collectible Drop, don't bother trying to kill them if you don't have to. They are hard to kill, anyways...Marrow Scarab will use Plague Touch and Virulence to devastating effect, and Scarab Nest Builder have Distracting Shot ready to interrupt Troll Unguent, as well as being Trappers themselves. In the event that comflict is unavoidable, lay down three or even four sets of traps to eliminate the Marrow Scarabs in one go. But stay out of Touch range!


 * Salving Cactus (Spiny Seed) - While it can be hard to find them, they are very easy to farm. They don't move much and always cast Holy Wrath first - so start off with Dust Trap to blind them. After that you can finish them off any way you choose. Note, there are always one or two of these outside Heroes' Audience, beware the Sand Elementals though.

Notes on other creatures:


 * Sand Wurm (Bleached Shell) - Good luck finding one, and good luck soloing it. Not recommended, but it could be done.


 * Enchanted (Forgotten Seal) - They are immune to Poison and Bleeding and can't be farmed with this build.


 * Sand Elemental (Encrusted Lodestone) - Like Enchanted, these are immune to Poison and Bleeding and thus can't be farmed. Besides that, they are very dangerous.

Counters

 * Blind to some extent, though with Antidote Signet or another remedy (see Variants) this is no problem.
 * Crippled, though no monsters in the Desert inflict this condition except the Barbed Traps of Scarab Nest Builders.
 * Sudden spike damage, such as what occurs when facing Sand Elementals. Always use Storm Chaser and run away when in danger!

Variants

 * Oath Shot, Spike Trap, or Trapper's Focus could be used instead of Poison Arrow for a purely Trapping build, though it plays a bit differently from the Posion Arrow one.
 * For farming Minotaurs, Throw Dirt can be a viable skill to replace Toxicity. It will let you set more traps instead of having to run away.
 * Antidote Signet, Mending Touch (R/Mo), and Remedy Signet (R/P) are also excellent skills to consider bringing along. In the event you step on a Dust Trap or Barbed Trap, these will let you counter them effectively. However, this is not too common an occurance, and generally bringing Toxicity will yield a better net effectiveness.
 * Natural Stride is a viable alternative running skill to Storm Chaser if you're not facing enemies that use Hexes.
 * Trapper's Speed is a good skill to consider bringing instead of Toxicity. Activate it just before Serpent's Quickness expires.

This is a very effective build for farming Ancient Armor Remnants at the Remains of Sahlahja Challenge Mission, by killing Maddened Spirits and Infestations outside the Wurm.

Equipment

 * Armor - Maximum energy Armor
 * Weapons - Doesn't matter much. Any staff or wand in the restoration or channeling attributes should do the trick.

Usage
Do not get into wurm. Camp near first maddened strike location (but not TOO near). Cast Bloodsong. Attack nearby infestations, using essence strike and gaze from beyond and the occasional wanding. Wait for Maddened Spirit to appear. Hit "Can't Touch This", followed by vengeful weapon. As spirit starts attacking you, put vengeful was khanhei up. Spam vengeful weapon a few more times. When maddened spirit dies, you can siphon your bloodsong then recast it at a different location, still within the first area - do not touch the yellow sand :). Clean nearby infestations. Etc. Notice that, strictly speaking, you only need to recast Bloodsong every three spirits, more or less (they seem to spawn within 30 seconds of each other), but it's not recommended to wait that long. Being caught without bloodsong will drain your energy (since you must spam vengeful much more), so recast it every two maddeneds.

Counters

 * Be careful not to be caught off-guard killing infestations and forget to use "Can't Touch This". If you eventually get bored, hop on the wurm and do it the old-fashioned way.
 * Getting your Bloodsong killed is a nuisance, but not a fatal one (for the Ritualist - for the more fragile P/Rt version it is dangerous) - spam vengeful weapon until it's dead and recast it. Maddened Spirits will usually come for you, not the spirit, unless the spirit is a much more convenient target. Therefore, the best position for you is to stand between Bloodsong (a mere step away will do) and the incoming Maddened Spirit, or exactly on the same spot (if you just cast it, for example).

Variants

 * You can switch around a few skills, the only essential skills are Can't Touch, bloodsong and vengeful spells. This configuration means you can kill nearby infestations quickly and always replenish energy for quick maddened killing.
 * A P/Rt variant is possible, but it's much more complicated to use. Here is the skill bar for it: Can't Touch This, Vengeful Was Khanhei, Vengeful Weapon, Nightmare Weapon, Essence Strike, Go For the Eyes!, Spirit Siphon, Bloodsong. Attributes: Command 10 (headgear+superior), Leadership 4 (Major), Restoration 11, Channeling 12. Use a zealous spear and max energy armor with attunement runes. When Maddened arrives, use can't touch and vengeful was khanhei as he gets closer. Use vengeful weapon once. When Khanhei starts blinking, cast Nightmare Weapon and start attacking the maddened spirit when khanhei's effects ends. Use all your energy management skills whenever possible and attack nearby infestations to regain energy (go for the eyes is there for energy management - 2 energy per use). Remember you can attack maddened spirit with essence and your zealous spear - even though it does no damage, you still gain the energy. It's complicated, but doable - don't forget to always recast bloodsong after every 2 maddened spirits - being caught without it will probably be fatal.

Equipment

 * Radiant or Survivor armor
 * A +5 energy axe of Fortitude with a req 9 Tactics shield of Fortitude with -5 20%. Totem Axe works just fine.
 * The Headpiece should have +1 Channeling Magic with a Superior Rune of Channeling Magic.
 * Three armor pieces should have a Rune of Attunement.
 * One armor piece should have the highest possible vigor rune.

Usage

 * Cast Splinter Weapon and Cruel Was Daoshen before you aggro a mob.
 * Aggro the mob and activate Gladiator's Defense.
 * Use Cruel Was Daoshen again, Ancestor's Rage, drop the ashes, and use Cyclone Axe.
 * When using this build, use the attack chain as fast as possible, or the enemies will flee. Usually, they won't flee if you do this fast enough.
 * Use Healing Signet to restore your health after having killed a mob. Do not use this while in combat!

Variants

 * Bonetti's Defense can be replaced with Enraging Charge if you are having trouble running to the Smite Crawlers.
 * Replace Sprint with Spirit Rift if you don't need a running skill.
 * Replace Bonetti's Defense or Healing Signet for Defensive Stance.

The Underworld

 * Take the quest Clear the Chamber.
 * Pull each mob of Grasping Darknesses one by one using sprint.
 * Use the damage chain to kill the Grasping Darknesses.
 * When you have killed three groups, use sprint and enraging charge (if you are bringing it) to get to the Ice Wastes.
 * When you are there, kill each Smite Crawler group one by one. Each group should die pretty quickly.
 * Avoid Coldfire Night patrols.

Video

 * The Smite Run (Slight variant)
 * Smite Crawlers

The build is based on an Invincible Monk tank and a Famine-SV-AV ranger.

Build Concept
While there are a lot of differences that affect tactics, this team works in a very similar way to Build:Team - 55/SS;
 * The 55 monk attracts a group of enemies, and tanks them.
 * The ranger deals damage with the elite Nature Ritual - Famine, which hurts anyone whose energy reaches 0, and cast Sympathetic Visage and its duplicate Ancestor's Visage on the monk, to get the melee mobs attacking him down to 0 energy over and over again.

A major advantage of this build, is that it lets rangers, a profession which is less wanted as farmer, take a part in duo UW farming, make some money and gain xp. It could also be a nice way for a ranger to cap a Black Widow himself, with help from only one other player. Note that with groups bigger than 3, an AoE effect triggers, making some of the group to spread, while 3 will remain still fighting.

Famine now causes enemies to scatter, with careful aggro-management an SS is faster.

Famine-AV-SV Ranger
Usage:
 * Patience and good timing are the most important aspects of success. Give the 55 monk room to operate and round up and gather aggro. Following closely will only result in breaking up aggro and making fights longer.
 * Lay down Famine.
 * While the monk is gathering the mobs, wield a bow and be ready to kill or interrupt any Dying Nightmares.
 * Once the enemies are gathered around the monk, cast Sympathetic Visage on the monk. Once SV is half way through its recharge cycle, cast AV, and so on.
 * While waiting, you can use Apply Poison, and fire an arrow at each enemy.
 * As long as you have a group of enemies, do not hurt any of them in any way except through Famine and even poison spreading, since they all contribute to each other's downfall, and losing one will slow the killing of the rest.
 * Casters can be carefully taken care of with Images of Remorse and poison.

Equipment:
 * A sword or axe Of Enchanting. The Totem Axe and Rajazan's Fervor are ideal. Another option is Vokur's Cane for the fast recharge.
 * a 20/20 Jeweled Chakram from Arliss Vaughn or Dauv Merishahl.
 * A fast-shooting bow for Savage Shot and Apply Poison.
 * Druid's Armor.

Variations:
 * Replace one of the interrupts with EoE, Conjure Phantasm, or Charm Animal in case you plan to charm a pet spider.

The Invincible Monk (55)
Usage:
 * Cast the 4 enchantments on the right of the skill bar at the beginning. Note that you will have 0 energy regeneration. Use Blessed Signet to recharge to at least above 25 so you can cast Protective Spirit and then Spell Breaker before Bladed Aatxes interrupt.
 * In situations where there are no enemy mesmers, the approach is to put Protective Spirit on and engage. With 4 pips of health regeneration from Mending, you should not need Healing Breeze until you are tanking a lot of foes or are bleeding from the Bladed Aatxes.
 * The Energy from Essence Bond and Balthazar's Spirit should be more than enough for all situations; use Blessed Signet to gain energy if needed.
 * Use Spell Breaker to deflect enchantment removal, or prevent initial spells while you approach.
 * The bigger the aggro (the rounded up enemy group) the better. If the monk is a secondary warrior, they can take up to 14/15 foes at a time.
 * If there are ranged spell-casters (Terrorweb Dryders or Coldfire Nights), try and find a nearby group of melee attackers to take to them. This is much faster (and safer energy-wise) than having the ranger try to kill them off with just poison and degen.

Equipment:
 * A sword or axe Of Enchanting. The Totem Axe and Rajazan's Fervor are ideal.
 * A longbow/flatbow to pull Smite Crawlers from groups of Coldfire Nights.
 * The Cities of Ascalon -50 Cesta.
 * Any AL Ascetic's Armor, with 5 monk superior runes (one of each kind plus any other).

Variations:
 * Replace Blessed Aura with "Fear Me!" to speed up the process or keep Blessed Aura for extra safety.
 * Replace Essence bond with Bonetti's Defense (Balthazar's Spirit gives you adrenaline, or you can attack too)

Variations

 * Change the 55 monk in ways described in Invincible Monk.
 * Replace the R/Me with a Me/R. this would probably go a bit slower, but, as noted under Build Concept, it might be a good way for mesmers to take part in UW farming, and get XP and skillpoints.
 * If the Mo/Me has an available slot on their skill bar, Spirit Shackles can be used to take down groups of Coldfire Nights without bunching a group of Smite Crawlers around them.

This is a dual farming build that uses a 55 monk to tank and a ranger for support and damage which is designed primarily for farming specific portions of the Underworld. This is a modification to the original 55/Famine build which overcomes AI changes from the Nightfall Update.

Ranger Equipment

 * Any max armor will be sufficient. Druid's Armor is recommended
 * Any weapon will be sufficient but a staff with +20 energy can be useful, as well as a zero or low requirement bow.

General Ranger Usage
At the beginning of the run, cast Essence Bond, Succor, and Balthazar's Spirit on the 55 monk. Let the monk draw aggro and Essence Bond will replenish your energy. Cast Famine and Edge of Extinction well outside of the monk's aggro circle (Spirit range is a little over twice the radius of your aggro circle). The best placement location is 2 times the radius of the aggro circle, as creatures will scatter off the monk into a circle about 3/4 of an aggro circle away from the monk. Be sure not to draw aggro from creatures the monk is tanking, the monk can die any number of times without ruining the run, but if the ranger dies, the run is over. If you do draw aggro, activate Whirling Defense and attempt to bring the enemies back to the monk or flee to break aggro.

If the 55 monk should die use rebirth to teleport their body out of danger. Since the 55 monk will now only have 1 hp, rebirth will not bring them back to life, it will only move their body. Once you have used rebirth to pull their body away from the monsters paths, use Resurrection Chant to bring them back to life and they can use another weapon/armor set to raise their health.

A Note on Ranger Experience Points
You are only eligible for experience points from a creature if that creature considers you a threat before it dies. That means that the ranger will get almost no XP for this run unless he deliberately takes steps to get XP. One method is by bringing the monk into your aggro circle briefly after the monk has obtained aggro but before famine is placed. Another method is by shooting 1 creature from each group with a longbow after the monk has obtained aggro. Either of these actions can result on the ranger obtaining aggro from the group, but this is only a risk with groups larger than three creatures. For groups larger than three creatures, it is usually better for the ranger to simply play safe and not let the monsters see him as an enemy.

Note that this does not effect drops- only XP.

Monk Equipment

 * A customized max damage wand.
 * A +20% Enchantment weapon.
 * The Cities of Ascalon -50 Cesta.
 * Ascetic's Armor, with 5 monk superior runes

General Monk Usage
Cast Blessed Aura and Mending on yourself, ranger will cast Succor, Essence Bond, and Balthazar's Spirit. Cast Mantra of Resolve and Healing Breeze then aggro up to three enemies (any more than three and the build becomes slower). If any nightmares appear quickly cast Spell Breaker on yourself and then wand them. Cast Sympathetic Visage as soon as possible. When Sympathetic Visage begins to end cast Ancestor's Visage (alternate so you always have one or the other on you). Keep Protective Spirit up and use Healing Breeze as need applies. If you aggro more than one group at a time some of the enemies will periodically run away to heal- they will eventually return to your side. When fighting non-melee enemies aggro melee fighters next to them. Generally follow the advice of the 55 Monk Guide.

It helps to keep a +20% enchanting weapon selected when not dealing specifically with Dying Nightmares, switch off to your customized wand for Dying Nightmares.

Counters
Anything that can strip enchantments can result in a quick monk death. Taking too many hits at once can also result in the monk dying. Extremely strong Degen and interrupts can also be a problem. Note that the monk can get up to a full -60% DP with this build and not be in a position to end the run as long as they die in a location where the ranger can successfully Rebirth them to safety, and have non-55 armor they can switch into in slow stages to mitigate DP. Anything that kills the ranger ends the run.

Usage

 * Bladed Aatxe

The monk should engage groups of 3 or less Aatxes at a time, being mindful of Dying Nightmare popups. Casting AV or SV on yourself before engaging will deprive the Aatxes of their interrupt skill. Engaging more than 3 will make killing Aatxes harder due to them running away from the monk to heal. If a ranger obtains aggro from an Aatxe, the monk can help the ranger considerably by putting Protective Spirit on him.

Edge of Extinction is not necessary for small groups, but Apply Poison can shorten the length of combat for small groups.


 * Dying Nightmare

Dying Nightmares will popup in somewhat predictable locations throughout the Underworld and will die in 1 to 3 hits from a customized max wand that does light damage (for which the requirement is met). These are best handled using Spell Breaker before an engagement, where interruption is not a problem. If not killed quickly, interrupted, or guarded against using Spell Breaker, a Dying Nightmare will strip the enchantments off the monk using Rend Enchantments.


 * Grasping Darkness

Grasping Darknesses come in groups of 3 to 4, and will spam Distracting Blow on their first hit. Before engaging, a monk should have AV on them already, or should wait until all of the engaged Grasping Darknesses have used their interrupt. If not subdued with AV, these creatures will quickly drain their opponents energy using "Fear Me!" and will be effective at keeping the monk from using Protective Spirit to keep themselves alive. If properly subdued, and taken in groups of 3 or less, they are trivial. In larger groups, they will break off to heal, and Edge of Extinction works nicely to speed up the combat.


 * Coldfire Night

Generally, a group of Smites should be aggro'ed and then pulled to a group of coldfires so that the Smites attacks can trigger AV/SV and through that Famine. Using Spellbreaker before aggroing the Coldfires will shut them down in the crucial first moments while the Smites are causing the energy drain. They only represent a serious threat to the monk when multiple Maelstroms are hitting thus using up Spirit Bond or helping to out damage Healing Breeze. Edge of Extinction can be useful here, especially when the Coldfires are not all clustered together.


 * Smite Crawler

By themselves, Smite Crawlers have a hard time overpowering Healing Breeze and have no interrupts, so they can easily be tanked. They often come in groups as large as 5 though, and will run off to heal in those cases. Some care should be made with spirit placement. NOTE: When the monk has a death penalty, and health is above 55, their fast attack speed can overcome health regeneration when there are more than 3 crawlers.


 * Terrorweb Dryder

Much like Coldfires, Terrorwebs are best handled with a small group of melee creatures to trigger AV/SV. They are found in groups of 3, but 1 will always run out of immediate range. Once the monk has aggroed the Aatxes to the group of Terrorwebs, and Famine is taking effect, the ranger can help by concentrating on the lone Terrorweb. Once the other 2 Terrorwebs are dead, the monk can bring the surviving Aatxes to the lone Terrorweb for a quick finish.

Groups larger than three (as found in the "Servants of Grenth") quest as given by the reaper of the Icy Veil are not recommended without additional help.

Variants
The ranger can speed up Aatxes by bringing Apply Poison instead of Whirling Defense, a +33% Poisoning bow, and making sure Aatxes stay poisoned. A ranger without such defensive skills should be extra careful about obtaining aggro from large groups.

Mantra of Resolve mitigates risk from interruption either from Bladed Aaxtes or Grasping Darknesss, but Protective Spirit and Healing Breeze may not be sufficient against a large enough group of Smite Crawlers. An experienced 55 will usually have more luck substituting Spirit Bond or Shield of Absorption for Mantra of Resolve, and learning how to time their casting so as to not be interrupted. Essentially the monk can be fully successful with any 55 build that keeps them alive and keeps SV/AV up all the time while they are in combat.

If the Ranger is afraid of aggroing, bringing Dodge, Zojun's Haste, or Natural Stride instead of Whirling Defense.

The Ranger can also be replaced by a Hero.

Build Concept
While there are different tactics for different situations (explained below, in the tactics section), the general outline of how this team works is very similar to most other 55/SS teams:
 * The 55 monk attracts all aggro of the enemies. This includes the important step of taking melee attackers to spell casters and/or ranged attacker whenever possible to allow Spiteful Spirit to kill as many foes simultaneously as possible. Solid lining up of ranged attackers and then solid piling of melee attackers on them are the keys to making this team build effective and successful.
 * The SS necromancer's job is to carefully administer Spiteful Spirit on foes so that as many foes as possible drop at the same time. If the 55 monk does a solid job piling up foes, then Spiteful Spirit placed on two of them can take out the entire group in a matter of seconds.
 * The 55 monk's primary responsibility is to survive. He/she must be accustomed to playing the role of an invincible monk.
 * The SS necromancer is in charge of killing, and must utilize his skills in the way that takes out the most dangerous foes first.
 * In case of aggro breaks the 55 monk needs to cast protective and healing spells on the SS necromancer who then needs to gather the enemies together again.

The Invincible Monk (55)
Usage:
 * Cast Blessed Aura, Mending and Balthazar's Spirit at the beginning. Note that you will have low energy regeneration. Use Blessed Signet to recharge.
 * In situations where there are no enemy mesmers or elementalists, use Protective Spirit and engage. With four pips of health regeneration from Mending you should not need Healing Breeze until you round all foes and they are all hitting you at the same time.
 * The Energy from Balthazar's Spirit should be more than enough for all situations, but use Blessed Signet to fill when it has recharged.
 * Use Spell Breaker to deflect enchantment removal, or prevent initial spells while you approach. When you see a Dying Nightmare pop up in your mini radar, use Spell Breaker immediately to avoid Rend Enchantments. If your enchantments are removed, cast Protective Spirit as fast as you can to avoid death.
 * If the necromancer is attacked, cast Protective Spirit and Healing Breeze on him, so that he will survive when pulling the attackers to you.

Equipment:
 * A sword or axe with an Of Enchanting upgrade. A Totem Axe or Rajazan's Fervor is ideal.
 * The Cities of Ascalon quest reward -50hp Cesta.
 * Ascetic's Armor, with 5 monk superior runes.

Variations:

If you are sure that the SS necro will stay out of harm's way and not die (not likely in a PUG), you can replace Rebirth with one of the following:
 * Bonetti's Defense and use it when encountering large mobs or before using Healing Breeze to help interruption. (Note that it will end upon successful casting.)
 * Essence Bond for better energy management.

Spiteful Spirit Necromancer (SS/SV)

 * Good choices for the Optional skill slots are Blood Ritual, Awaken the Blood, Leech Signet and Desecrate Enchantments/Defile Enchantments. Your monk will love you for the extra energy from Blood Ritual, the extra four damage from Awaken the Blood will add up quick, Leech Signet can be the difference between life and death if your monk misses Spell Breaker on a Dying Nightmare spawn, and Desecrate/Defile Enchantments are great for that last bit of damage needed to kill a group of Smite Crawlers, Coldfire Nights, or Terrorweb Dryders.
 * Insidious Parasite is also useful, only use it to speed up the killing of one foe, and to kill escaping graspings/smites on your own (doing this with smites is pretty dangerous and needs practice. Don't make the monk come to you. You can kill it on your own, if you are in danger however (below 50% health) run to the monk to get breeze and PS.
 * If you use Blood Magic skills move points from Soul Reaping to Blood Magic and take a Blood Magic rune, preferably a superior one.
 * If you do not have access to the Sunspear Rebirth Signet, you can substitute a normal Resurrection Signet instead.
 * A high Soul Reaping is not really needed, it only gives you (near) full energy after the mob is killed. So you can remove ALL points in Soul Reaping (you can keep the minor rune) and use the attribute points to raise your Illusion Magic to 12. This will give you a nine-seconds-lasting Sympathetic Visage or Ancestor's Visage. It will decrease the time that the tank doesn't have SV/AV on him. Now, this advantage might not look so great, but it can prevent the Smite Crawlers to gain energy. So that they won't use Smite Hex on your precious Spiteful Spirit. (This can save a lot of time.)

Usage:
 * Patience and good timing are the most important aspects of success. Give the 55 monk room to operate and round up and gather aggro. Following closely will only result in breaking up aggro and making fights longer. Never move into the aggro range of enemies before they are concentrating on the monk. Most enemy types will also change their target to you if you go closer than the maximum spell casting range.
 * Once the enemies are piled up into one nice pile, proceed to echo and apply Spiteful Spirit and its copy on different foes. Follow it up with Reckless Haste if you have it (which affects an area so you do not need to apply it to more than one foe in the same cluster before the duration wears off). Generally, Warriors and Assassins make the best targets as they attack fast and invoke stances while attacking which only serves to increase the damage SS deals.
 * Maintain Sympathetic Visage or Ancestor's Visage (but rarely/never at the same time) on the monk, especially against Grasping Darknesses (otherwise they will interrupt the tank) and Smite Crawlers (otherwise they will use Smite Hex to remove Spiteful Spirit)
 * Use other damage spells such as Desecrate Enchantments and Defile Enchantments to deal extra damage to speed up the killing. They might also be useful in situations where the enemies break aggro.
 * If you are attacked, pull the attackers to the monk, who should cast Protective Spirit and Healing Breeze on you, so that all enemies will be damaged by the SS. If you act quickly, the enemies will die to the initial SS spells and you won't need to recast it.
 * Bladed Aatxes are pretty easy to kill. Just make sure that any Dying Nightmares are killed as fast as possible, before the Spell Breaker of the 55-monk runs out.
 * With the Grasping Darknesses, make sure that the tank has Sympathetic Visage or Ancestor's Visage on him when possible to prevent the Graspings from interrupting the monk.
 * When fighting Smite Crawlers you need to be more careful and wait for the monk to finish the pull and let the Smites gather around him to prevent aggro change. Cast SV on the monk, wait 9 seconds to let SV lower the energy of the Smites, then cast in the following order: AV on the monk, Arcane Echo, Spiteful Spirit on target 1, Spiteful Spirit on target 2, SV on the monk again, and move away from aggro range if the mob has 4 or 5 smites (they'll come after you). If its a group of 4, cast Insidious Parasite (if you have it) then a cover hex like Reckless Haste or even SS. If it is a group of 5 smites, place two SS's (explained above) then run away until the smites lose aggro. When they are back at the monk, just restart the process.
 * Coldfire Nights are easy to kill if the monk is able to keep them together and you stay out of their aggro when not casting SS on them.

Equipment:
 * A 20/20 weapon set, Ideally, Villnar's Glove and the Wayward Wand of Curses from the Adept of Bone. A curses Wailing Wand is also very useful, it can be obtained from Telamon or Gertrud. This significantly reduces the average recharge time of Spiteful Spirit.
 * High rated Scar or Cabalist's Armor with Runes of Attunement.
 * The Stonereaper also works relatively well with this character.

Variations

 * For Monk variations, see Invincible Monk
 * For Necromancer variations, see Build:N/Me SS Nuker

Build Concept
While there are different tactics for different situations (explained below, in the tactics section), the general outline of how this team works is very similar to most other 55/SS teams:
 * The 55 monk attracts all aggro of the enemies. This includes the important step of taking melee attackers to spell casters and/or ranged attacker whenever possible to allow Spiteful Spirit to kill as many foes simultaneously as possible. Solid lining up of ranged attackers and then solid piling of melee attackers on them are the keys to making this team build effective and successful.
 * The SS necromancer's job is to carefully administer Spiteful Spirit on foes so that as many foes as possible drop at the same time. If the 55 monk does a solid job piling up foes, then Spiteful Spirit placed on two of them can take out the entire group in a matter of seconds.
 * The 55 monk's primary responsibility is to survive. He/she must be accustomed to playing the role of invincible monks because 55ing in the Fissure is a more difficult breed of 55ing than, say, the Crystal Desert. Also, perfecting the timing of using Arcane Echo and Spell Breaker takes time.
 * The SS necromancer is in charge of killing, and must utilize his/her skills in the way that takes out the most dangerous foes first.

The Invincible Monk
Usage:
 * Cast the 4 enchantments on the right of the skill bar at the beginning. Note that you will have 0 energy regen when you put all 4 on, so you will need Blood Ritual from the SS Necro when you are in need of energy.
 * In situations where there are no enemy mesmers, the approach is to put Protective Spirit on and engage. With 4 pips health regeneration from Mending, you should not need Healing Breeze until you round all foes and they are all hitting you at the same time.
 * The Energy from Essence Bond and Balthazar's Spirit should be more than enough for all situations.
 * The combination of Blessed Aura, Arcane Echo, Spell Breaker and a special weapon with "of Enchanting" is to make Spell Breaker (SB) last for over 1 minute. This is needed for cases where spell casters (enemy mesmers and necromancers) can remove enchantments and kill you instantly.
 * To invoke this combination, invoke Arcane Echo first, then Spell Breaker then Protective Spirit and go into the enemy. When Spell Breaker is about 1/3 of the way recharging, invoke the copy held in Arcane Echo's slot (you cannot wait till SB starts flashing because by then the copy in Arcane Echo will have expired). When the echoed SB is about to run out, invoke the original SB which would have recharged. This combination should allow for about 74 seconds of immunity to all spells.
 * To cast the first three spells in the sequence above, the monk needs 40 energy to start. Then he/she needs to go into battle quick so that enemy hits can fill up there energy reserves fast enough so that there is enough energy for the echoed SB to be cast. Timing and measuring all of this takes practice.

Equipment:
 * A sword/axe with at least an 18% enchantment lengthening upgrade on it. This is important to guarantee continuous Spell breaker coverage for over minute against foes that can remove enchantments. Ideally, a +5 energy mod in the sword would also help out a great deal. Rajazan's Fervor, the Totem Axe or the +5 energy Katana available in Divine Path (and upgraded) all make great weapons for this build.
 * The off-hand is not by choice in this build. It has to be the -50 off hand (see Cities of Ascalon).
 * Ascetic's Armor offers the most energy which is beneficial to this build.

SS Necromancer
Usage:
 * Patience and good timing are the most important aspects of success. Give the 55 monk room to operate and round up and gather aggro. This is not like a run in the Underworld where the tanking is more or less straight forward. The monk will need space to move. Following closely will only result in breaking up aggro and making fights longer. Something that can endanger the monk in fights against mesmers/necromancers.
 * Once the enemies are piled up into one nice pile, or as much as the 55 monk can pile them, invoke Awaken the Blood then proceed to echo and apply Spiteful Spirit on foes. Generally, warriors make the best targets as they attack the fastest and invoke stances while attacking which only serves to increase the damage SS deals.
 * If the enemy group contains a monk or more, Sympathetic Visage (and if possible Ancestor's Visage) on the monk and the use of Desecrate Enchantments will facilitate taking them out.

Equipment:
 * Ideally, Villnar's Glove as a focus item and the Wayward Wand (Curses) from the Adept of Bone as a weapon. These combine for a 36% chance to halve the recharge time of Curses (which includes a 4% chance of making it presumably 4 times faster but the recharge time is capped at half). This reduces the average recharge time of Spiteful Spirit to 8.1 seconds compared with 9 seconds with only one fast recharge item or the full 10 seconds with no fast recharge items.
 * Scar Pattern Armor is best for energy.

Tactics
Much of the success of this build relies on reading and responding to certain situations:
 * Shadow Monks: If a group of Shadow Army forces includes Shadow Monks, they can make things difficult with their powerful healing. Their healing will cause mismatches in damage between foes, making Spiteful Spirit less potent, they can also heal allies around them with a powerful Heal Area and worst of all, if a member falls they can resurrect him. In addition, if there is more than one, they can virtually keep their group alive infinitely. Approach: The key to defeating them is to drain their energy with SV much like the Smite Crawlers of the Underworld. The 55 monk needs to pull enemies so that he/she is next to the monk(s) (easily done by simply attacking with the weapon described above) and also so that the other attackers are adjacent to the monk so that SS can work faster.
 * Shadow Mesmers: The greatest threat they pose is Shatter Enchantment which (if it hits Protective Spirit) will instantly kill the 55 monk. Approach: If there is more than one Shadow Mesmer, then it is best to go with the safe approach and echo SB. The monk should try and pile the mesmers, but (as was mentioned above), if the monk keeps moving around a lot to line up foes, he/she may not have enough energy to cast the echoed Spellbreaker. If there is just one Shadow Mesmer, the 55 monk can protect the enchantments by covering Protective Spirit with Healing Breeze. If the Mesmer shatters Breeze, nothing will happen.
 * Skeletal Ether Breakers: They are much like Shadow Mesmers and the worst thing to be feared from them is Shatter Enchantments. When coupled with Skeletal Icehands, the echoed SB approach is the only way to avoid their spells and the Icehands' Maelstrom.
 * Doubter's Dryders: They possess two enchantment removal skills, so Spell Breaker is a must if taking them on. However, an easier approach is for the 55 monk to cast Spell Breaker on the Necro and have him kill the dryder solo.
 * Abyssals: Abyssals are quite brutal for a 55 monk to take on, especially if more than one is attacking. Their attacks can knockdown the monk frequently disrupting Breeze or, worse, Protective Spirit. Approach: The monk can first start off with one Abyssal at a time around the Tower of Courage. Slowly they will be able to time their casts so that they can go through after the knockdowns. If taking on more than one, it's best to move around a bit so that they are all hitting at the same time, this spares the monk the agony of being knocked down mercilessly because if two knockdown attacks hit at the same time, they only knockdown the monk once.
 * Ancient Skales: These are basically a 55 monk's worst nightmare. Their skill set includes the much dreaded Rend Enchantments, health degeneration and life stealing. They will also place a strain on the SS Necro because they will switch targets and place their life draining hexes on him/her too. Approach: Continued SB coverage is necessary to take them on. The Necromancer should always move away after casting on them so that they do not invoke Grenth's Balance on him/her and steal life (their AI is such that they will look for the target with the most health when using that skill, which will not be the 55 monk). Since these skales do not drop Obsidian Shards, perhaps the best approach would be to avoid them completely.

Barrage/Pet (aka b/p, barrageway, petway) is the general appellation of a class of "speed" builds for the ruins of the Tomb of the Primeval Kings.

Overview
This build utilizes the synergy between Barrage, Favorable Winds, and Winnowing to inflict high damage on multiple foes, with a wall of pets and minions to defend the party. This build requires only loose coordination between players, and a large spectrum of variants are viable. Barrage/pet builds are resilient to dropped players, as only two roles, the monk and the minion master, can be said to be essential.

The most common barrage/pet team consists of:
 * 5 Barrage rangers
 * 1 Minion Master
 * 1 Orders Necromancer
 * 1 healing Monk

Membership
This is one of many possible variations. The builds noted below are suitable for pick up groups, but it is by no means definitive. A more complex alternative can be found here.

Barrage Rangers
Variations: The purpose of the pets is to tank for the group (at least until the minion master raises a sizable army) and to provide an endless source of corpses for the minion factory. A dead pet with an exploited corpse serves no purpose, so it is important for the rangers to raise their pets at every opportunity.
 * At least one ranger must carry Favorable Winds (FW). A FW Barrager should replace Troll Unguent with Favorable Winds, and move all points from Wilderness Survival into Expertise.
 * At least one ranger must carry Winnowing (WW/Winn). A Winnowing Barrager should replace Troll Unguent with Winnowing and can lessen ranks in Beast Mastery for higher ranks in Wilderness Survival if they desire a longer lasting spirit with more health.
 * Winter can be used against Terrorweb Dryders and Mark of Rodgort, efficiently preventing it from triggering.
 * Consider using Paragon as a secondary profession. Paragons suffer no ill effects when struck by a foe using Fingers of Chaos, and can carry Signet of Return, a repeatable resurrection skill.
 * Consider using Ritualist as a secondary profession. Splinter Weapon can increase damage significantly without sacrificing orders damage, and Flesh of My Flesh is an effective combat resurrection.

Note: Skill bar blackout time from pet death is reduced by higher ranks in Beast Mastery.

For additional information, see Build:R/any General Barrager.

Minion Master
The purpose of the minion master is to raise a large undead army and keep the attention of the foes. Unlike many other minion builds, the minions here are not intended for pure damage, but rather to body-block the Grasps of Insanity from reaching the ranger line.

Note that this build is not set in stone, and there are nearly as many variants as there are Minion Masters. Keeping this in mind, some minor variants include swapping the skills Rotting Flesh for Dark Bond for a more durable build, swapping Animate Flesh Golem for Jagged Bones for "free" minions, and changing any of the animate skills.

For additional information please see the general minion mastery guide.

Orders Necromancer
The Orders Necromancer doesn't deal direct damage, but drastically increases the effectiveness of the barrage team due to the guaranteed damage of the Order skills. This character should stay well clear of combat; their low health and reliance on enchantments makes them vulnerable targets.

''Note: Well of Blood should only be used in the rare cases where the minion master disconnects. This maybe so rare that you may want to switch out Well of Blood for another skill/spell.''

''Be careful of enchantments. Casting these to try to 'help' the monk out in a pinch can harm a recipent who is down in HP if he is close enough to a Banished Rider with Shatter Enchantment.''

''For additional information please see N/Mo Tombs OoV."

Healing Monk
Any pure healing Monk. Use of enchantments is generally discouraged, due largely to the prevalence of Fingers of Chaos and Shatter Enchantment.

Critical Barrager
In this variant, any number of Rangers can be replaced by Assassin/Rangers, as they can deal greater damage using Sharpen Daggers to cause bleeding and the increased critical hits.

For additional information, See Build:A/R Critical Barrager.

Six Barragers Variant
In this variant, the Orders Necromancer is replaced with a sixth Barrager. All Barragers either use elemental bowstrings, or one Ranger brings Greater Conflagration instead of Barrage. The foes in the Tomb Ruins, being mostly of the Warrior and Mesmer classes, have no additional defenses against elemental damage.

Analysis: An Orders Necromancer with maximum Blood Magic gives a guaranteed damage bonus of 17 (or 19 if aided by Awaken the Blood) per arrow that hits. In the worst case, with each of the five barragers hitting just one target each, this translates to an additional damage output of 85 (or 95) for the team. A sixth Barrager with maximum Marksmanship will do around 40 damage per arrow with an elemental string; he will thus have to hit at least three targets every time to outperform the Orders Necromancer's worst case damage output. In even a slightly better case, where each barrager hits three targets each, the damage output of the Orders Necromancer is 255 (or 285), which is more than the sixth barrager can achieve even if all his six arrows connect. Without an orders necromancer, the team is free to use elemental bowstrings, which increases the damage output of every arrow by around 5-10 points.

It should be noted that Order of the Vampire offsets some of the healing pressure from the Monk, and the Orders Necromancer doubles as a battery for the Monk.

Fevered Dreams Variant
In this variant, either a Ranger or the Monk brings Fevered Dreams and coordinates with the conditioners in the team to spread conditions around using very effective combinations. One possible combination is Fevered Dreams + Enfeeble + Virulence: all foes in the area become weakened, poisoned and diseased. Another possible combination is a ranger/mesmer using Fevered Dreams on a target, and then adding conditions with Pin Down, Apply Poison and Throw Dirt.

Analysis: While potent, this build takes some coordination between the players, and so is most likely not suitable for loosely organized PUGs.

Minionless Variant
In this variant, the minion master is replaced with a different Death Necromancer build. The plethora of corpses are used for Wells of Suffering and Putrid Explosions instead of the minion factory. This variant depends more heavily on the pets forming a sturdy front line, so it is common to have all Barragers have 8 or 9 in Beast Mastery and bring skills to aid the pets such as Otyugh's Cry, Call of Protection and Symbiosis. The Monk in this variant also tries to keep the pets alive for as long as possible.

Analysis: This variant requires very careful aggro management, and is therefore most likely unusable by PUGs.

Monkless Variant
This variant replaces the healing Monk with a sixth damage dealing character. All healing in the build is done by Predatory Season and the Orders Necromancer who brings Heal Other and Heal Party for emergency healing. Predatory Season makes minions more durable. This variant is essentially a 100% damage-dealing build.

Analysis: This variant is risky, but when correctly executed, can be among the speediest Barrage/Pet variants. Clearing times of 40 minutes or lower are not unheard of.

Paragon Variant
In this variant, a paragon replaces the orders necromancer. Anthem of Flame when combined "They're on Fire!" can both increase damage output and reduce incomming damage. "Incoming!" can further reduce spike damage common at the begining of an engagement, and Song of Restoration can provide some additional healing. "Go for the Eyes!" and "Find Their Weakness!" are especially effective with Critical Barragers.

Historical notes
Historically, the six barrager variant was one of the earliest barrage/pet team compositions. Before Order of the Vampire was modified to make it ineffective together with Order of Pain, the Orders Necromancer was always the clear winner in terms of raw damage output, so the six barrager variant fell into disuse. Its popularity has resurged after a March 2nd 2006 update changed Order of the Vampire, because a well managed six barrager team can match or outperform an Orders Necromancer.

This build is designed to farm the City of Torc'qua with just two people to get Margonite Gemstones and other items.

The Tank
NOTE: The tank must have rank 4 lightbringer or higher or this build will not work.

Equipment

 * A full set of armor with radiant insignias with a superior rune on each.
 * A +5 energy sword or axe with a 20% enchanting mod on it such as a Totem Axe or a Rajazan's Fervor and a grim cesta from the quest Cities of Ascalon.

Equipment

 * A full set of armor with radiant insignias with a rune of superior wilderness survival and any expertise rune.
 * A Insightful Staff of Enchanting with a Hale & Hearty inscription is optimal, but any weapon set will work.

Usage

 * The first thing to do upon entering the city is to cast the 4 enchantments on the tank. During this time, the ranger should be using Blood Ritual on him/her.
 * Within 40 seconds of the first person to enter the area, the ranger should cast Quickening Zephyr followed by Famine behind the gate. NOTE: The ranger should cast the spirit within range of the Margonite Quickening Zephyr. The ranger will continue to use Quickening Zephyr whenever it recharges and Famine whenever it is about to die.
 * The ranger should then use Blood Ritual on the tank until he/she has at least 37 energy.
 * One person must then take the quest The City of Torc'qua from Captain Sulahresh. The participants at this time may also take the Anguish Hunt from the Whispers Informant.
 * The ranger should stay near the gate while the tank moves forward.
 * The tank should have his/her hero window active and being able to easily click on his/her Lightbringer title.
 * The tank should then cast Protective Spirit and Spell Breaker on him/herself and engage the first group of Margonites.
 * The tank should then toggle his/her Lightbringer title on and then quickly off. This will cause a 4...8 damage reduction based on Lightbringer rank. This damage reduction does not last forever and should be reapplied every 15 seconds. NOTE: If the tank is rank 5 or higher Lightbringer, they will not gain energy due to Essence Bond, thus Essence Bond should be replaced with Blessed Signet. See below variant.
 * As soon as the tank has enough energy, he/she should use Healing Breeze.
 * The tank should reapply Healing Breeze, Protective Spirit, and Spell Breaker whenever necessary.
 * The Warrior and Dervish Margonites will then begin to attack the tank in melee.
 * The tank should then begin to use Sympathetic Visage whenever it recharges (which is only 10 seconds because of quickening zephyr). This will drain the energy of the warriors and dervishes relatively quickly. They will begin to take damage from famine, which will cause the enemy monks to heal the melee attackers. Because they use Healing Whisper, they will move closer to the attackers.
 * The tank should then try to get the monks to be very close to each other by pulling the melee attackers. Be sure not to pull backwards as this will allow the Margonites to attack the ranger, which will cause you to fail.
 * The tank should then go into adjacent range of the monks. The dervishes and warriors will follow.
 * The energy should completely drain from the monks and they will stop healing. They will later die due to famine. This will also leave the dervishes and warriors at very low health.
 * Once the monks have died, the other Margonites should be easy to kill using a similar method, although once the dervishes and warriors have died it will be impossible to kill other Margonites because Sympathetic Visage only triggers when you get hit in melee.
 * The tank can pick up his/her loot whenever he/she chooses and can pull the Margonites away so that the ranger can pick up his/her loot.

Variants

 * If the tank has rank 5 or higher Lightbringer, he/she should use a radically different build since he/she will be taking 0 damage from the Margonites. This also allows for a 2 man farm for all of the City of Torc'qua and The Foundry of Failed Creations.  An example of this build would be:


 * The ranger could put some attribute points into Beast Mastery and bring Edge of Extinction to speed up the farming a bit.
 * The ranger could bring Sunspear Rebirth Signet with the small hope that, if the tank dies, he can be resurrected and the build can restart. This is near impossible due to the fact that the Margonites will rush the area before you have time to set up again.
 * The ranger could bring some running stances such as Storm Chaser, Dodge, and Natural Stride to pick up loot.
 * The tank could also be a Mo/W who uses "Fear Me!" to drain energy instead of Sympathetic Visage and uses Balanced Stance or Dolyak Signet to prevent knockdown while using Spell Breaker. The build should be something similar to this:


 * To effectively use this build, it is advisable to set the button to use "Fear Me!" to something easily pushed. This variant of the build only works in the City of Torc'qua or any other place with massive (20 or greater) mobs.  The main advantage to this over the Visage build is that it does not require melee attackers to energy deny.  If you have Lightbringer rank 5 or higher, replace Mending with "For Great Justice!" or Blessed Signet.  Auto-attacking is also a good idea to more quickly gain adrenaline for "Fear Me!".

Equipment

 * Ascalon Monk armor or Shing Jea Ascetic Head Piece, Pants, Feet armor (AL: 15) (Yes I'm right, only take 3 armor pieces)
 * Runes are Minor Protection and Minor Divine Favor on 2/3 armor pieces.
 * Kepkhet's Refuge or a other +15E, +30HP, 20% longer enchantments (For tank and smiter)

Usage

 * Cast all of the bonds on the tanking monk.
 * If you are a bit more experienced already accept the quest immediatly and aggro 2 groups.
 * The bonding monk stays back in the first room when aggroing 2 groups, there can be a cause of aggroing.
 * The tanking monk aggros groups and keeps Spirit Bond and Protective Spirit up while being attacked.
 * Use Spell Breaker if Dying Nightmares pop up.
 * When fighting the Grasping Darkness use Elemental Resistance.

Variants

 * Mantra of Inscriptions instead of Rebirth if tank is very experienced and won't die...
 * The tanking monk can take warrior as a secondary, and replace elemental resistance with Frenzy.

Attributes and Skills

 * Inexperienced players are advised to take Blessed Signet for energy management.
 * More experienced players are advised to take Frenzy (Warrior Secondary).

Equipment

 * Armor with lowest possible AL and a Vigor Rune
 * Any weapon set with 20% longer enchantment mod and additional health

Usage

 * Cast Blessed Aura, Balthazar's Spirit and Essence Bond and maintain them.
 * Use Blessed Signet whenever energy is needed, energy should be around 35 before attempting to engage any monsters.
 * Before entering into battle cast Spell Breaker, Protective Spirit, Spirit Bond and Shield of Absorption. Always keep Protective Spirit and Frenzy (if taking Warrior secondary) on. A second before SoA ends cast Spirit Bond, followed by SoA after another second (to avoid interruption). Repeat cycle until monsters have died.
 * When facing coldfires, only use Protective Spirit and SoA as Spirit Bond will not give you any extra health. It is also recommended to keep spell breaker on as much as possible.

Attributes and Skills

 * The first choice for the optional slot is Blessed Signet.
 * The second choice for the optional slot is Signet of Rage.
 * This build works just as well with Signet of Judgment replacing Shield of Judgment. Since it is a Signet and not a Spell, you can use it with 0 energy, and it will deal damage to multiple targets.

Equipment

 * Any Armor
 * Any weapon set

Usage

 * Cast Vital Blessing, Life Attunement, Holy Wrath and Retribution on 600 monk. Stay back and let the monk do the rest.
 * When facing coldfire nights with 1st optional skills, remove Holy Wrath, use Blessed Signet until there is sufficient energy to cast Shield of Judgment on the teammate. Use Blessed Signet to cast holy wrath again on the tank. Once Shield of Judgment has finished repeat cycle until they are dead.
 * When facing coldfire nights with 2nd optional skills, spam the 3 smiting signets until they are dead.
 * Dying whilst using this build is highly unlikely when properly executed; the smiter should always remain half a minimap distance or more away from the 600 Monk. The 600 Monk should have no problems tanking, but just in case, Rebirth is handy incase any problems should arise.

Hero Variant
This build works well with a Smiter Hero. Usage, armor and skills are identical to the above. Here are some tips:
 * Keep your Hero in Avoid Combat mode at all times.
 * Disable all the hero's enchantments, so they will be maintained.
 * Cast all of the enchantments on yourself, always keep the hero a good distance away from the fight because of monsters who run and heal for a bit. But remember keep within distance of enchantments.
 * When fighting against coldfire nights, keep the hero in Avoid Combat and carry out the cycle chosen above. It can be tricky to control your enchantments and your hero's position.

The Lutgardis FFF (Fast Faction Farming) team is a build designed to perform the quest Securing Echovald Forest in Melandru's Hope as rapidly as possible for the purposes of faction farming. The quest offers 400 Kurzick Faction as a reward and with this build, the Lutgardis run can take 1.5-2 minutes. Which means that 10k Faction (25 runs) would take between 37-50 minutes depending on team skill. This is currently the fastest known way of amassing Kurzick Faction. Teams starting this run form in Lutgardis Conservatory, typically in international districts.

Build Concept
The main concept of the build is to perform the quest before taking it from Scoutmaster Arne. The quest requires players to go near four way points in Melandru's Hope. However, taking it will cause Luxon raiding parties to spawn out of nowhere near those four way points. If players touch these way points then speak to Scoutmaster Arne, then the quest will be immediately updated as being done and they can get the reward.

Since all that is required is to get to those points, the build is based on four runners hitting those spots as quickly as possible then killing themselves (saccing) very fast. The group then resurrects at the door, where Arne is standing, they take the quest, the reward, and exit.

The core build requires 4 runners, however, points can be combined (when there is a shortage of runners) and there is an optional 5th role:
 * Bridge runner: Runs and dies in the middle of the bridge, "br".
 * Mushrooms runner: Runs and dies at the giant mushrooms, "shrooms" / "mu".
 * Stairs runner: Runs and dies at the base of the stairs to the Jade Flats (Kurzick), "st".
 * Shore runner: Runs and dies at the northern shore of the lake, "sh".
 * Door man (optional): A player who speeds up re-entry into Lutgardis for maximum time efficiency.
 * This leaves room for three saccers who just run in and die then collect their reward with everyone else after resurrection.



The Runners
The best combination for running is Assassin/Ranger. While any of the runs can be performed by virtually any profession combination in a variety of creative ways, the A/R combination provides the longest cover from enemy spells and attacks, constant stance running and the fastest deaths at the end of the run. R/A is nearly identical in doing this with the disadvantage of a shorter Shadow Form. W/A suffers from slower speed boosts, but is a more reliable runner due to Endure Pain.

Note: To use Factions-only skills, the ranger can go with 16 Wilderness Survival and Storm Chaser instead of Dodge and Zojun's Haste.

Equipment:
 * Weapon Set 1: A Vampiric Weapon of Enchanting. If the weapon is one-handed, the off-hand could be a Focus Item to provide a little extra energy or a Shield to provide extra armor from hits. The enchanting upgrade makes Shadow Form last 20% longer and the Vampiric upgrade is to prevent health from going back up after Shadow form runs out.
 * Weapon Set 2: A Vampiric One-handed Weapon of Enchanting and the -50 health Grim Cesta.
 * Weapon Set 3 (optional): For inexperienced runners, they may wish to have a set with no Vampiric upgrade to prevent themselves from dying before they want to.

Usage:
 * Invoke running stances one after the other.
 * Use Dash when available, but best to save it when you need to break aggro.
 * Use Shadow Form when approaching Mantis Dreamweavers.
 * Use the two shadow stepping skills (Death's Charge and Dark Prison) to zip faster through enemies while Shadow Form is on.
 * As players get to their spots, their Shadow Form will have worn off (so their health would be around 50), so they switch to the -50 health set to die on the spot.

Useful Skills:
 * Shadow Refuge for healing in case something goes wrong.
 * Heart of Shadow is used by more seasoned runners as a heal and a way to escape imminent death.
 * Shadow of Haste is also very useful in a few spots. It can allow the Stairs runner to combine it with Mushrooms, or the bridge runner to combine bridge with door. It can also allow any runner to return to foes after hitting their way point to die if he/she does not have the propper saccing equipment.
 * Recall if there's a shortage of runners to do shore and mushrooms in one run, by putting recall on the stairs runner and taking the "fast" shore route then canceling it to hop to stairs runner and continue to shrooms.

The Door Man
This may very well be the only Any/Any character in a build on the wiki. All this player has to do is wait by the entrance until the runners hit their spot. They will usually call out to signal completion with:
 * bd: Bridge done.
 * md: Mushrooms done.
 * std: Stairs done.
 * shd: Shore done.
 * ad: All done.

More veteran groups will say nothing and either all hit their spots and die, or the stairs runner (the last to get to their spot if all runners start at the same time) will call their health or their equipment to signal that the stairs are done. Taking the quest early will spawn Luxons by the stair runner (who at this stage will likely have <50 health) and kill him, ruining the run.

As soon as the door man sees that all points are called complete through one of the above means, he/she will take the quest from Arne, immediately take reward then use map travel to return back to Lutgardis Conservatory. Do not just walk through the portal or you will have a very angry team. Once there, the door man will go up right next to the entrance to Melandru's Hope. As soon as the party re-appears in Lutgardis, he/she will rejoin them (by spamming command "/invite [runner name]") then step back into Melandu's Hope. This saves about 10-15 seconds per run.

Running Routes
The four routes pass through few to several groups of Mantis, the Mantis present two dangers:
 * Mantis Dreamweavers will throw Crippling Anguish at a runner and that usually marks the end of the run. If that is not enough, they will quickly have two hexes on their target, then crush them with Accumulated Pain and Fragility.
 * Mantis Hunters start off their attack with Leaping Mantis Sting which will cripple a moving foe. If a Mantis Hunter is about to strike a runner, they should stand still and take the hit as the consquences are very dire if they succeed in crippling the runner. Whether the runner is slowed by crippling or Crippling Anguish, these hunters can very quickly finish them off with Twisting Fangs.

After the runners clear the Mantis, the only danger to look out for is the Dragon Moss. They have powerful elementalist spikes in the form of Arc Lightning and Shatterstone.

The Bridge
The shortest of the four runs, the bridge presents the runner with a short challenge of 3-4 Mantis groups. The runner should run straight up the hill until they are near foes, invoke Shadow Form and just run by them (see the bridge route map). There is little need to shadow step or even use an enchanting upgrade for this run.

The Shore
The easiest run of the four, the shore can be done by simply jogging (with no run skills) to the spot. If the player follows the easy route, they will come across a pair of Mantis just before their way point. If they wait for a few seconds, that patrol will move away clearing the way. Doing this with a run skill on will guarantee death before the last runner (stairs runner) as the player can use that same patrol to die quickly.

To perform the Shore really fast, the alternate route can be taken:
 * As players spawn into Melandru's Hope, they will see a patrol of 2 mantis heading left. Click on them to follow them.
 * As they move, a patrol will come from behind them towards the player.
 * As that patrol nears radar range, the player should invoke Shadow Form, then shadow step to the patrol he/she was following (which would now be behind the incoming patrol), then just run into the water and stay by the cliff until they get to the shore then sacc.

The Mushrooms
One of the harder runs because it requires good timing of skill usage along with enemy movement:
 * The player heads straight to the cliff ahead of him/her using Dark Escape (starting with Dark Escape instead of Storm Chaser is relevant in this run)... As their radar nears that of the two patrols below they invoke Shadow Form and then press C (closest target) and shadow step to that target.
 * They will then wiggle free of those two groups (if for some reason the runner is stuck, they should invoke the other shadow step skill).
 * Head down the slope past one then another group of Mantis.
 * There should be one more group on the slope going upwards. Target this group then invoke the second shadow step (if it was not already used). This group likes to move away from the runner, but they soon meet a group of Dragon Plants and stop.
 * By this time two things are happening:Shadow Form is flashing, and the player is amidst the fight between the Mantis and the Dragon Plants (either side will land a random hit on the player if Shadow form runs out). Hit Dash and follow it with Dark Escape (to half the damage from any attacks).

The Stairs
There are two routes to the stairs, the first is basically straight down the middle and the second is with a slight swerve to the right. The second path is less dangerous as there are fewer groups, the first route is slightly shorter.

Taking the first path down the middle:
 * Start out as the Shore fast run. Follow the same pair and Shadow form at the same time then shadow step past the second group.
 * Head down into the center of the lake, find a group that is in the center and use your second shadow step.
 * As you start clearing the clog of Mantis groups, Shadow Form should be flashing, so hit Dash to make sure you lose all enemies.
 * Continue to the base of the stairs and die there.

Taking the second path:
 * Start out as the mushrooms runner, and use the first shadow step the same way.
 * Head down the slope and head towards the stairs. there should be one or two groups coming towards you.
 * Use Tab till you find a good target and then use your other shadow step skill. Continue as in the first path.

As the stairs is the longest run, and hence the limiting factor on the speed of the run, most groups will expect stair runners to take the second path.

Nightfall Variants

 * For Ranger/Assassins and Assassin/Rangers, Natural Stride is a solid 33% faster running skill.
 * Going Assassin/Elementalist and using Storm Djinn's Haste as the sole running skill (can be maintained indefinitely with 4 pips of energy regeneration and requires a 1/4 second cast).
 * Feigned Neutrality as a self heal should Shadow Form run out at the wrong time.
 * Deadly Paradox to make Shadow Form recharge faster for runners covering more than one spot.

Equipment

 * Full Druid's Armor or equivalent in function.
 * As many Runes of Attunement as you can (up to 3)
 * A Staff of the Forgotten or a similar staff (with at least 15 energy bonus)

Usage
This build requires good coordination between the two players.
 * First, choose the trapping spot.
 * Then, the Mime uses Arcane Mimicry on the Puller to copy his Echo. The Puller must be carefull not to begin the combo before the Mime has copied Echo, so the Mime should Ctrl-click on Arcane Mimicry so that the Puller knows he can begin. Now both trappers have Echo.
 * The main sequence is: Trapper's Speed > Echo > Dust Trap > copy of Dust Trap > Trapper's Speed > Dust Trap > copy of Dust Trap. Just lay down the other traps while both Dust Traps are recharging, and don't forget to always have Trapper's Speed on you before you drop a trap.
 * When each trapper has dropped two series of traps (which makes a total of 8 Dust Traps equaling 8*5*26=1040dmg), the Puller can aggro (don't forget to use Troll Unguent and Whirling Defense to stay alive). The Mime should have finished laying down his second Spike Trap by the time the mobs arrive. He should make a step backwards and hit Whirling Defense.

Tips

 * You don't have to put all the traps on the exact same location. You can spread out a bit to cover a wider area. You'll just have to make sure that when mobs trigger the first trapper's traps, they trigger the second trapper's traps too.
 * Good spots to put traps on are corners. When the puller comes back, chased by mobs, they tend to take the shortest way, thus grinding the wall inside the corner. The Puller should drop his traps right inside the corner, while the Mime should drop his traps a bit farther outwards. This way, you are sure that all of them will be hit by Spike Trap and stay in the Dust Traps for their whole duration.
 * When you trap in an open area, put all your traps on the same spot, except Spike trap. The Mime should place one a bit backwards on the left and another one a bit backwards on the right of the spot where the other traps are. This tactic is meant to counter the AI which makes mobs spread out before engaging you to try to circle you.
 * Sometimes Aatxes won't stay on the traps for the whole duration, so you have basically two solutions:
 * Put a couple more Dust Traps on the trapping spot before pulling them.
 * Active trap them if they survive the initial traps.
 * The first solution is as fast as the second and more reliable, so each trapper should put 5 Dust Traps before the Aatxes are to be pulled.


 * Against Coldfire Nights, you can lay a single series each (for a total of 4 Dust Traps, 2 Barbed Traps, 1 Flame Trap and 1 Spike Trap) on their path, then run backwards. It's generally enough to kill them.
 * Against mobs that chase you from afar, such as the ones you aggroed but didn't manage to kill, just run away until they break aggro, then try to find the exact point where they aggro again. Put a first series of traps just behind that spot, wait, and when the second series is ready, put it down two steps forward. Stay on this spot until the mobs come back at you, then walk two steps backwards to make them trigger the first series of traps.

Variants
The build for trapper 1 can also be used to farm vermins outside Senji's Corner, then replace Resurrection Signet with Ether Signet and put the extra attribute points in inspiration magic and use it the second time you lay the echoed dust trap.
 * Take Tripwire instead of Troll Unguent for the mime. Use it just after the enemies are knocked down for the first time so they will be knocked down again, thus taking even more damage from the Dust Traps.


 * An excellent alternative for Trapper 1 is to run a pure Dust Bomber build, the skills would include Arcane Echo, Echo, Dust Trap, Serpent's Quickness, Ether Signet, Troll Unguent, Whirling Defense, and Sunspear Rebirth Signet. In order for this build to work, you need to have 57 energy exactly, no more no less. Take an end game Nightfall staff with plus 20 energy and set you armor up with Radiant Insignias (don't put one in the head peice), Runes of Attunement, and of course a Vigor of your choice. Your attributes should be as follows:

Inspiration: 6

Expertise: 11+1

Wilderness: 12+3+1

You will run Serpents Quickness+Arcane Echo+Echo+Dust Trap+Echo (from Arcane Echo)+Dust Trap+Dust Trap+Ether Signet

Go through your Dust Traps again once they recharge and if you want you can lay another 4 Dust Traps with just Echo (making sure to use Ether Signet in between skills) to make a grand total of 10 Dust Traps from Trapper 1 alone! If you do 10 Dust Traps, you'll only have a few seconds to pull before they start going off, so I recommend doing 8 until you find your medium.

Counters
This team build will give you a hard time against Terrorweb Dryders, but with proper aggro, it is not impossible to destroy them.

Introduction
The ranger trapper group is one of the most effective ways to farm the Underworld. Trapper groups usually range from 2-5 people. The trappers can be a part of a larger party with a Battery, a Nuker and a 55 monk for example. This larger group isn't necessary as three trappers alone can survive well enough if they know what they are doing. A large trapper group can clear the whole Underworld and complete all of the quests there. The player's skill, loot desires and availability determine the size of groups.

Trappers place traps just outside the aggro range of the enemy. After several traps have been placed a designated "puller" runs around until a sizeable group of enemies is following him. The puller then leads the enemies right into the traps. If done correctly, all the enemies in the pull will be killed by the traps. Besides the great fun derived from the spectacle of flame and magic that will bring any video card to its knees, the loot is the main object of this build.

In a trapper group build there are two types of mini-builds, the aformentioned puller and non-pullers. All members lay down traps and use Nature Rituals. The "puller" has the most dangerous job of the group as he needs to aggro the enemies and lead them to the traps without dying.

How to use the build
There are two different types of mobs which are trapped in two different ways. The first type are the static or little-moving mobs and the second are patrolling groups which patrol a certain path. Experienced trappers will know exactly which groups fall into each category. To eliminate confusion the group should designate a group leader who is experienced and possibly acts as the puller. The leader should designate the spot for traps, start the trapping process and order the puller to aggro the enemies.

Static Enemies
The group leader should begin by moving just outside the aggro circle of the designated enemies. The group, including the puller, should get as close behind the leader as possible. They should never go in front of the leader so that they won't accidentally aggro the mob. The leader should then call the first Nature Ritual, preferably Energizing Wind (Unless he is the puller who has Quickening Zephyr). Other trappers should cast their Nature Rituals immediately after the EW is in effect or immediately after the call if the spirit in question is QZ. Then all members begin to lay their traps. Traps do stack and do not begin to disappear until 90 seconds have passed, so the trappers can lay down multiple sets of traps.

The group leader should decide when it is time to send the puller into the fray. The puller should typically aggro the enemies 70-80 seconds after the group began trapping. A good way to keep track of time is to use a ritual that you know the duration of. Energizing Wind lasting for 78 seconds or a bit less is a good choice.

To succesfully pull a mob the puller should run towards the enemy and aggro them. Before the monsters get to the puller he should activate a stance to keep him/her alive. After a sufficient number of enemies have been aggroed the puller should run back towards the traps. If the enemies spread too much apart the puller needs to stop for a while and allow the enemies to bunch up. When the puller gets to the traps he should usually keep running until the enemies switch their focus to the spirits or other trappers. After 1-2 seconds the traps activate and hopefully kill the enemies with spectacular visual effects.

The rest of the group continue trapping during the pulling process and even after the initials traps have activated if any enemies remain. If a player takes much damage he should run away from the enemies and use Troll Unguent. If the trapping and pulling were done correctly all the enemies should be killed in the first wave of traps and the ground should be littered with loot.

Patrol Enemies
These types of enemies present a different challenge to the trappers. A puller isn't used. Instead watch the patrolled paths and decide a spot on the route to trap. Begin by casting the rituals out of aggro from the chosen trapping spot. Be sure that the rituals are still close enough for you to gain the benfits of them. The group needs to begin placing traps on a spot on the patrol route just after the mob has passed over it. Continue to place traps until patrol is coming back to your spot. Then the entire group needs to retreat behind the rituals. Do NOT aggro the enemies, because this will disturb their path of movement. If done correctly, the enemy patrol will walk over the traps and die. If any enemies survive the party needs to rush towards them and lay their traps standing beside them. This is called aggressive trapping, which can also be used against any enemies which do not deal a lot of damage and can't interrupt your traps. Using stances to avoid being interrupted will help.

Enemy Notes
Fighting a Smite Crawler the same way as fighting a Coldfire Night can prove to be disastrous. Below are notes on different monsters confronted in the Underworld.

Banished Dream Riders
Banished Dream Riders can be easily pulled to the traps, but be aware of the group of Mindblade Spectres spawning after the kill.

Bladed Aatxes
Bladed Aatxes do extensive damage, killing trappers in 2-3 hits, so make sure to kill them with the initial traps if possible. They tend to run away after the first wave of traps if they survive, so you will have some time to set new traps before they return.

Charged Blacknesses
These elementalist deal heavy damage, so they should be quickly pulled to the traps before they can kill the puller. Remember to set the nature rituals far behind the trapping spot.

Coldfire Nights and Stalking Nights
Coldfire Nights and Stalking Nights are patroling elementalists and it is relatively easy to trap their path. Remember to set the nature rituals far behind the trapping spot.

Dead Collectors and Dead Threshers
These powerful necromancers are hard to pull and deal heavy damage. Better instructions needed.

Dying Nightmares
These creatures can be killed with whatever weapon is equipped, do not waste traps on them. They pose no threat to trappers.

Grasping Darknesses
Grasping Darknesses are quick and can easily surround the puller. They do not deal a lot of damage but drain energy, so the puller could use Storm Chaser instead of Whirling Defense when pulling them. They are weak and easily killed by the initial traps and they tend to stay together when pulled, but if you fail they are really hard to kill with aggressive trapping.

Mindblade Spectres
The Mindblade Spectres might or might not pose much threat to a trapping group, depending on the players skills. They cause heavy -8 health degeneration (Conjure Phantasm: -5, Migraine: -3) which might easily overcome the party if they do not keep Troll Unguent up all the time. Using aggressive trapping with Troll Unguent always up they should fall quickly.

Against a larger group of Mindblades the trappers should set an initial trap, but - unlike usually - the traps should be spread on a wider area, because the Mindblades are harder to pull as a tight group. They are however weak enough to die to a smaller amount of damage and any leftovers are easily killed by agressive trapping.

Obsidian Behemoths
These wurm-like creatures do not move and they use traps themselves. Have the puller set off the traps, then attack with bows and traps after their own traps have been cleared. With their use of Healing Springs, one missed bow attack can foil the gradual weakening, wasting another few minutes wearing them down again. You can also use a pet to set off the traps and one barrager can keep the Behemoths from setting more of them.

Smite Crawlers
Smite Crawlers are quick and numerous creatures that can cause havoc if the first wave of traps does not kill them all as they have many healing and anti-damage spells. Often one of them will stray from the group just before reaching the traps and the puller should react to this.

Terrorweb Dryders
Use Troll Unguent before pulling Terrorweb Dryders as they cause burning. The puller has to wait for them to cast Meteor Showers before they begin to follow him. He should be on constant move, staying in the Terrorwebs aggro range, to dodge the Meteor Showers. Often only two of the three Terrorwebs will die when the initial traps are triggered, but the third one is easily killed by trapping aggressively.

Pros/Cons to trappers

 * Pros
 * Can kill a lot of enemies without engaging in combat
 * Easy if the party size is sufficient
 * Can clear whole of the Underworld
 * Very versatile with the addition of skills from other campaigns
 * Cons
 * Time consuming in smaller groups
 * If a pull fails it could mean doom for the entire group
 * Can get boring after a while especially in larger groups

Attribute Points
The group members assign their attribute points differently depending on their task. Every member has Wilderness Survival maxed out because most of the skills (especially the traps) use it. A lot of points are also assigned to Expertise for energy management. The attribute utilized by the spirit affects the attribute distribution of the player. If a player chooses to use a skill from a secondary profession which benefits from assigning points into the attribute line take this into account too.

The following table assumes that players have level 20 and the extra attribute points gained from quests.

Skills
In the table below are listed the skill sets of the puller and the non-pullers. The Nature Rituals are distributed in a manner described later and the changeable skill slots can have a variety of different skills from any profession. You should discuss your skill choices with the group. Some tasks in the Underworld need specific skills, so make sure that someone in your party equips them if needed.

Nature Rituals
Everyone in the party should bring a Nature Ritual, also called by the name spirit. The Nature Rituals are what make a trapper group so effective, as they allow the players to lay more traps than usually possible and they boost the damage output of the traps. Equip the Nature Rituals in the order listed, one per player (Ie. If you have 3 players, equip only the 3 first). Remember that the puller has to take a ritual which uses Wilderness Survival.

* Do not bring a second QZ if all of your party members have Serpent's Quickness.

Traps
The above skill sets are built presuming that the trappers have access to Prophecies. However if they do not, they need to replace Dust Trap with Viper's Nest. If the trappers have access to both Prophecies and Factions skills they should also include Viper's Nest in the team build. The best person to take Viper's Nest is a trapper with a Beast Mastery spirit as Viper's Nest uses Beast Mastery unlike all of the other traps. Each trapper should usually have 4 traps. Discuss the distribution of traps with your team.

Puller
It is best that your leader acts as the puller if possible, because he should be the most experienced player in the group and there is no need to command the puller to begin. The puller functions just like the normal team members, casting the ritual and laying traps, until the enemies need to be pulled to the traps. He then moves forward to aggro the enemies and uses Whirling Defense to avoid fatal hits. Using a stance which increases movement speed could also be useful against certain mobs, but isn't necessary. A quick heal skill might come in handy. The puller usually regains a good amount of energy during the pull so he can easily continue trapping the enemies if some of them survive the initial traps.

Non-Puller


The "Non-Pullers" can have a bit more varied skillbars. There is rarely a reason to use only ranger skills as skills from other professions can give a huge boost to the efficiency of the party. The most usual secondary is the monk profession as groups like to have a few Rebirths so that the party can be resurrected after fights which do not go as planned. Other professions have their own benefits and uses. Some can increase the damage done by the traps, some can help the players to stay alive, some can help with energy management. You can be very creative with the use of skills as the Underworld contains a large variety of monster types.

Optional skills
Each skill has a marker which shows how useful it is. marked skills are almost a must, marked skills are very nice and good in many situations. Rest of the skills can be useful, but only in certain situations and against certain enemies or the benefit gained is small.

Optional Core skills
The core skills are accessible by everyone. They contain a wide variety of useful skills for the trapper team and most teams contain a few of these skills.

{| width="95%" cellspacing="0" border="1" cellpadding="2" style="background: transparent; border-collapse:collapse;" !width="20%"|Skill!!width="15%"|Attribute!!|/!!width="60%"|Use
 * [[Image:Resurrection Signet.jpg|25px]] Resurrection Signet || - || || Fast resurrection in a tight spot. You should consider bringing permanent resurrection skills if possible.
 * colspan=4 style="background: ;"|
 * colspan=4 style="background: ;"|
 * colspan=4 style="background: ;"|

Ranger

 * [[Image:Barrage.jpg|25px]] Barrage || Marksmanship || - || If the group is going to clear more than just the Labyrinth, Ice Wastes and Forgotten Vale, one ranger could equip Barrage instead of Spike Trap to efficiently interrupt all traps set by the Obsidian Behemoths. This ranger just keeps shooting the Behemoths while the others trap them.
 * [[Image:Charm Animal.jpg|25px]] Charm Animal || Beast Mastery || - || Needed to capture a Black Widow. Very good against Obsidian Behemoths as you can send your pet to trigger their traps before you move to set traps. Bringing Comfort Animal or Revive Animal with is a must as your pet will die often.
 * '''[[Image:Storm Chaser.jpg|25px]] Storm Chaser || Wilderness Survival|| - || Increases the movement speed of the puller against faster enemies and allows him to have more energy to continue trapping after the pull.
 * [[Image:Throw Dirt.jpg|25px]] Throw Dirt || Expertise || - || Good when the initial traps fail, although Dust Trap should have blinded the enemies. One Throw Dirt can blind all enemies and give the trappers a chance to set a few more traps, especially a new Dust Trap. Coordinated use of Dust Traps should render this skill useless.
 * [[Image:Troll Unguent.jpg|25px]] Troll Unguent || Wilderness Survival || || Very useful when the initial traps fail. The best healing skill usable by trappers so you should consider bringing it. It is commonly used before pulling creatures like the Terrorweb Dryders to counter the health degeneration they cause.
 * [[Image:Whirling Defense.jpg|25px]] Whirling Defense || Expertise || || Evasion is as useful to others when the pull doesn't work as it is for the puller when he pulls. Other trappers with WD can also act as replacement pullers if the puller dies.
 * colspan=4 style="background: ;"|
 * [[Image:Throw Dirt.jpg|25px]] Throw Dirt || Expertise || - || Good when the initial traps fail, although Dust Trap should have blinded the enemies. One Throw Dirt can blind all enemies and give the trappers a chance to set a few more traps, especially a new Dust Trap. Coordinated use of Dust Traps should render this skill useless.
 * [[Image:Troll Unguent.jpg|25px]] Troll Unguent || Wilderness Survival || || Very useful when the initial traps fail. The best healing skill usable by trappers so you should consider bringing it. It is commonly used before pulling creatures like the Terrorweb Dryders to counter the health degeneration they cause.
 * [[Image:Whirling Defense.jpg|25px]] Whirling Defense || Expertise || || Evasion is as useful to others when the pull doesn't work as it is for the puller when he pulls. Other trappers with WD can also act as replacement pullers if the puller dies.
 * colspan=4 style="background: ;"|
 * [[Image:Whirling Defense.jpg|25px]] Whirling Defense || Expertise || || Evasion is as useful to others when the pull doesn't work as it is for the puller when he pulls. Other trappers with WD can also act as replacement pullers if the puller dies.
 * colspan=4 style="background: ;"|
 * colspan=4 style="background: ;"|

Monk

 * [[Image:Aegis.jpg|25px]] Aegis || Protection Prayers || - || Good for keeping players alive when the initial traps fail.
 * [[Image:Protective Spirit.jpg|25px]] Protective Spirit || Protection Prayers || || A good skill to keep the puller alive. Be aware of Dying Nightmares if you use this instead of a stance as they remove enchantments. It is best to use this only as an addition, not a replacement.
 * [[Image:Rebirth.jpg|25px]] Rebirth || Protection Prayers || || Permanent resurrection to bring your dead party members back after you have survived a hard situation. Never use this before the enemies are dead or far away. A player or two should bring this. Rebirth also moves the resurrected character to you out of harms way which makes this skill superior to other permanent resurrection skills in a trapper team.
 * colspan=4 style="background: ;"|
 * [[Image:Rebirth.jpg|25px]] Rebirth || Protection Prayers || || Permanent resurrection to bring your dead party members back after you have survived a hard situation. Never use this before the enemies are dead or far away. A player or two should bring this. Rebirth also moves the resurrected character to you out of harms way which makes this skill superior to other permanent resurrection skills in a trapper team.
 * colspan=4 style="background: ;"|
 * colspan=4 style="background: ;"|
 * colspan=4 style="background: ;"|

Necromancer

 * [[Image:Mark of Pain.jpg|25px]] Mark of Pain || Curses || || If cast on one of the enemies prior to the triggering of the traps the other members of the mob receive huge amounts of damage.
 * colspan=4 style="background: ;"|
 * colspan=4 style="background: ;"|
 * colspan=4 style="background: ;"|

Warrior

 * [[Image:"Shields Up!".jpg|25px]] "Shields Up!" || Tactics || - || Good against Obsidian Behemoths to prevent them from interrupting traps and dealing a lot of damage.
 * }
 * }

Optional Prophecies skills
There are only a few Prophecies skills which a trapper group should consider, but especially Serpent's Quickess can be used for a great benefit.

{| width="95%" cellspacing="0" border="1" cellpadding="2" style="background: transparent; border-collapse:collapse;" !width="20%"|Skill!!width="15%"|Attribute!!|/!!width="60%"|Use
 * colspan=4 style="background: ;"|
 * colspan=4 style="background: ;"|

Ranger

 * [[Image:Serpent's Quickness.jpg|25px]] Serpent's Quickness || Wilderness Survival || || Allows you to lay traps faster. SQ is even worthwile when Quickening Zephyr is alive as this adds an extra 33% recharge to the 50% from QZ. Best used when enemies survive the first traps and your QZ is dead. Can also replace the second QZ (In that case every party member needs to bring SQ).
 * colspan=4 style="background: ;"|
 * colspan=4 style="background: ;"|
 * colspan=4 style="background: ;"|

Necromancer

 * [[Image:Blood Ritual.jpg|25px]] Blood Ritual || Blood Magic || - || Helps with energy management. Not needed if the players have the required equipment and Nature Rituals.
 * colspan=4 style="background: ;"|
 * colspan=4 style="background: ;"|
 * colspan=4 style="background: ;"|

Mesmer

 * [[Image:Inspired Hex.jpg|25px]] Inspired Hex || Inspiration Magic || - || Good to remove hexes when fighting against the Mindblades. Also helps with energy management when removing hexes.
 * [[Image:Mantra of Concentration.jpg|25px]] Mantra of Concentration || Inspiration Magic || - || Useful during aggressive trapping as it prevents monsters from interrupting your traps.
 * }
 * [[Image:Mantra of Concentration.jpg|25px]] Mantra of Concentration || Inspiration Magic || - || Useful during aggressive trapping as it prevents monsters from interrupting your traps.
 * }

Optional Factions skills
Especially the new trapping related skills introduced in the Factions campaign create interesting possibilities and can boost the teams damage output.

{| width="95%" cellspacing="0" border="1" cellpadding="2" style="background: transparent; border-collapse:collapse;" !width="20%"|Skill!!width="15%"|Attribute!!|/!!width="60%"|Use
 * colspan=4 style="background: ;"|
 * colspan=4 style="background: ;"|

Ranger

 * [[Image:Trapper's Focus.jpg|25px]] Trapper's Focus || Expertise || - || Some trappers in the group could take TF instead of Spike Trap. TF makes your traps non-easily interruptable so it is very useful during agressive trapping. Consider taking Viper's nest as a fourth trap if you remove Spike Trap.
 * [[Image:Viper's Nest.jpg|25px]] Viper's Nest || Beast Mastery || || Viper's Nest is the only trap using Beast Mastery. It is also the only trap to cause poison, so replacing Barbed or Flame trap on one person with VN would increase damage. Remember to have it on a player who already has points in BM.
 * colspan=4 style="background: ;"|
 * [[Image:Viper's Nest.jpg|25px]] Viper's Nest || Beast Mastery || || Viper's Nest is the only trap using Beast Mastery. It is also the only trap to cause poison, so replacing Barbed or Flame trap on one person with VN would increase damage. Remember to have it on a player who already has points in BM.
 * colspan=4 style="background: ;"|
 * colspan=4 style="background: ;"|

Monk

 * [[Image:Withdraw Hexes.jpg|25px]] Withdraw Hexes || Divine Favor || - || If your group is going to venture to the Chaos Planes, this skill might be taken by one member to remove all hexes cast by the Mindblade Spectres.
 * colspan=4 style="background: ;"|
 * colspan=4 style="background: ;"|
 * colspan=4 style="background: ;"|

Mesmer

 * [[Image:Ether Signet.jpg|25px]] Ether Signet || Inspiration Magic || - || Helps with energy management. Not needed if the players have the required equipment and Nature Rituals.
 * [[Image:Hex Eater Signet.jpg|25px]] Hex Eater Signet || Inspiration Magic || - || Good to remove hexes when fighting against the Mindblades. Also helps with energy management when removing hexes.
 * [[Image:Revealed Hex.jpg|25px]] Revealed Hex || Inspiration Magic || - || Good to remove hexes when fighting against the Mindblades. Also helps with energy management when removing hexes.
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 * [[Image:Revealed Hex.jpg|25px]] Revealed Hex || Inspiration Magic || - || Good to remove hexes when fighting against the Mindblades. Also helps with energy management when removing hexes.
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Elementalist

 * [[Image:Bed of Coals.jpg|25px]] Bed of Coals || Fire Magic || - || Additional damage and burning to the traps.
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Warrior

 * [[Image:Protector's Defense.jpg|25px]] Protector's Defense || Tactics || - || Good to protect team members and prevent interruption of traps after the initial traps fail.
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Assassin

 * colspan=4|Note: Many skills with the Shadow step functionality might have uses in different situations.
 * [[Image:Assassin's Promise.jpg|25px]] Assassin's Promise || Deadly Arts || - || Fast energy gain and trap recharge when target dies. Useful when fighting enemies which can't be pulled in the initial traps as a group. Note that this skill is an elite and will replace Spike Trap.
 * [[Image:Heart of Shadow.jpg|25px]] Heart of Shadow || Shadow Arts || - || Good for the puller when monsters surround him and prevent moving. The random location where you Shadow Step might be an obstacle in which you get stuck permanently.
 * [[Image:Shadow Refuge.jpg|25px]] Shadow Refuge || Shadow Arts || - || A good skill to keep the puller alive. Be aware of Dying Nightmares if you use this instead of a stance as they remove enchantments. It is best to use this only as an addition, not a replacement.
 * [[Image:Viper's Defense.jpg|25px]] Viper's Defense || Shadow Arts || - || Good for the puller when monsters surround him and prevent moving. The random location where you Shadow Step might be an obstacle in which you get stuck permanently.
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 * [[Image:Shadow Refuge.jpg|25px]] Shadow Refuge || Shadow Arts || - || A good skill to keep the puller alive. Be aware of Dying Nightmares if you use this instead of a stance as they remove enchantments. It is best to use this only as an addition, not a replacement.
 * [[Image:Viper's Defense.jpg|25px]] Viper's Defense || Shadow Arts || - || Good for the puller when monsters surround him and prevent moving. The random location where you Shadow Step might be an obstacle in which you get stuck permanently.
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 * [[Image:Viper's Defense.jpg|25px]] Viper's Defense || Shadow Arts || - || Good for the puller when monsters surround him and prevent moving. The random location where you Shadow Step might be an obstacle in which you get stuck permanently.
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Ritualist

 * colspan=4|Note: Many ashes spells might be beneficial if dropped when the initial traps are triggered. Many spirits might be beneficial.
 * [[Image:Spirit Siphon.jpg|25px]] Spirit Siphon || Channeling Magic || - || Helps with energy management. Not needed if the players have the required equipment and Nature Rituals.
 * }
 * [[Image:Spirit Siphon.jpg|25px]] Spirit Siphon || Channeling Magic || - || Helps with energy management. Not needed if the players have the required equipment and Nature Rituals.
 * }

Optional Nightfall skills
A few of the Nightfall skills make good additions to a trapping group.

{| width="95%" cellspacing="0" border="1" cellpadding="2" style="background: transparent; border-collapse:collapse;" !width="20%"|Skill!!width="15%"|Attribute!!|/!!width="60%"|Use
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Ranger

 * [[Image:Smoke Trap.jpg|25px]] Smoke Trap || Wilderness Survival || || Smoke Trap is a low cost trap which causes blindness, but as it is an elite skill you won't be able to use Spike Trap.
 * [[Image:Trapper's Speed.jpg|25px]] Trapper's Speed || Expertise || || Trapper's Speed makes the trapping process faster, but you need to take care of your energy pool.
 * [[Image:Tripwire.jpg|25px]] Tripwire || Wilderness Survival || || This is another trap usable instead of one of the regular ones.
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 * [[Image:Tripwire.jpg|25px]] Tripwire || Wilderness Survival || || This is another trap usable instead of one of the regular ones.
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Warrior

 * [[Image:Signet of Stamina.jpg|25px]] Signet of Stamina || Strength || - || Good for pulling when you are pulling more than 1 group at time and at long range.
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Assassin

 * [[Image:Feigned Neutrality.jpg|25px]] Feigned Neutrality || Shadow Arts || - || Good for pulling because of armor bonus.
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Armor


Due to the high requirement of energy, Druid's Armor is almost a must. Traveller's Mask and a rune of superior Wilderness Survival are required. Minor Marksmansip and Expertise runes and the best possible Vigor rune should also be taken.

''Note: Most pick-up trapping groups won't take trappers without 16 Wilderness Survival. There is a collector's version of the Traveller's Mask that has the same look as a Archer's Mask so just looking at the mask on a character isn't going to tell. The only way to know for sure if another player has 16 wilderness survival is to see their mask in trade although this typically isn't necessary.''

Weapons
Most beginning trappers bring only their usual bow with them, but a trapper doesn't have a high Marksmansip to use a bow. A bow is sometimes used for pulling in PvE, but only if the group doesn't have a real puller who aggroes the enemy mobs. You shouldn't usually change to a bow even when a mob doesn't die to the initial traps, as you will lose the energy bonus from your other equipped items. If you want to use a bow, the best one to use is propably the Candy Cane Bow, beause it has no requirements.

The more important weapon to bring is a staff or wand/off-hand combination. Rangers don't typically use these type of weapons but the benefits of +10 to +15 energy these magic weapons provide are invaluable. These magic weapons don't have to be the most expensive or rarest around. Any weapon that gives the additional energy will help. Doing so increases an average ranger's energy from 32 to 42-47, depending on the weapon.

There are many choices for trapping equipment. Flint's Fleshcleaver and the Handsmasher (and their collector weapon counterparts) make excellent weapons for trappers. Both offer +15 energy and +30 health. Brohn's Staff, Villnar's Staff, and the Willcrusher offer the same boosts, but the price and availability are much more prohibitive than the aforementioned. New options to consider are Milius' Pillar, Wenslauss' Faith, Illyana's Staff and Kole's Torment.

The Fires in the East quest-reward is a staff that provides 13 energy, and can be upgraded with a perfect Insightful Staff Head, for a total of 18 energy, bringing the trapper to a total of 50 energy. Adding a +5 AL or a +30 HP staff wrapping upgrade to this in addition to the head will make this one of the best staves to use.

Trappers with access to the Nightfall campaign may add a 'Hale and Hearty' Inscription and an Insightful Staff Head to an inscribeable staff for a +20 energy staff. Such weapons are available from Nightfall greens as well, such as The Mindclouder or Staff of the Forgotten.

Tips

 * Trap as tightly together as possible without blocking in your puller. The puller should ideally be the one standing just in front of the others.
 * One Dust Trap could be set closer to the enemies than the other traps, so that the monsters are blinded when they get to the group.
 * Non-pullers shouldn't run away from enemies. Instead they should continue laying traps. Of course this doesn't apply against ranged enemies.

Attributes

 * Expertise: 13 (12+1)
 * Marksmanship: 4 (3+1)
 * Wilderness Survival: 16 (12+1+3)

Equipment

 * Illyana's Staff or equivalent
 * Gorrel's Staff or equivalent for main puller
 * Druid's Armor

Attributes

 * Beast Mastery: 6 (5+1)
 * Expertise: 12 (11+1)
 * Marksmanship: 5 (4+1)
 * Wilderness Survival: 16 (12+1+3)

Equipment

 * Illyana's Staff or equivalent
 * Gorrel's Staff or equivalent for main puller
 * Druid's Armor