User:Lotrfish/team

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.

55/Famine
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.

55/SS UW
A modern 55/SS pair for farming. The build is based on an Invincible Monk tank and a modified 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 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

55/SS FoW


The FoW 55/SS team build is a 2-player farming build designed to conquer many parts of the the Fissure of Woe, one of the richest areas in the game. The build is based on an invincible monk (55 monk) doing all the tanking and gathering of targets and an Echo SS Nuker to dish out all the damage in the form of the elite hex, Spiteful Spirit.

This build can be used to farm the area outside the Tower of Courage, the Great Battle Field, the Fissure Shore and the Spider Cave quite efficiently.

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.

Barage/Pet Team
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.

Dual City of Torc'qua Farmer
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.

Lutgardis Fast Faction Farmer
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.

UW Ranger Trap Team
This build is designed to farm the Underworld with a team made of two trapping rangers. Its originality comes from the use of Echo to duplicate Dust Trap, as well as the Nightfall skill Trapper's Speed. The idea is to lay down just as few traps as you need to kill the group you are going to pull, and for that, Dust Trap is the best as it deals the most damage.

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.
 * colspan=4 style="background: ;"|
 * [[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.
 * colspan=4 style="background: ;"|
 * colspan=4 style="background: ;"|
 * colspan=4 style="background: ;"|

Elementalist

 * [[Image:Bed of Coals.jpg|25px]] Bed of Coals || Fire Magic || - || Additional damage and burning to the traps.
 * colspan=4 style="background: ;"|
 * colspan=4 style="background: ;"|
 * colspan=4 style="background: ;"|

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.
 * colspan=4 style="background: ;"|
 * colspan=4 style="background: ;"|
 * colspan=4 style="background: ;"|

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.
 * colspan=4 style="background: ;"|
 * [[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.
 * colspan=4 style="background: ;"|
 * [[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.
 * colspan=4 style="background: ;"|
 * colspan=4 style="background: ;"|

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
 * colspan=4 style="background: ;"|
 * colspan=4 style="background: ;"|

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.
 * colspan=4 style="background: ;"|
 * [[Image:Tripwire.jpg|25px]] Tripwire || Wilderness Survival || || This is another trap usable instead of one of the regular ones.
 * colspan=4 style="background: ;"|
 * colspan=4 style="background: ;"|
 * colspan=4 style="background: ;"|

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.
 * colspan=4 style="background: ;"|
 * colspan=4 style="background: ;"|
 * colspan=4 style="background: ;"|

Assassin

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

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