Running guide

What Is It?
Running, sometimes referred to as ferrying, is the practice of quickly taking an entire party of characters from one explorable area to the next, often to reach a specific town, outpost or mission. This practice is extremely popular in Prophecies, where there are little to no restrictions in entering an outpost. Factions runs are much less common, as many towns and outposts can only be accessed via a specific quest or mission; in Nightfall, a fair handful of missions and towns can be accessed ahead of the game storyline, but these missions cannot be started without a properly updated Quest Log. Regardless of a character's level or current quest, he or she can freely purchase new skills and craft new armor sets once the outpost has been reached, making this practice common among some low-level players.

Running can also refer to a player rushing a party through a mission or quest.

Purpose
A running build has two fuctions to accomplish.
 * To stay alive and,
 * To get to the target location as fast as possible.

Being Fast
Any profession can go fast thruogh the use of increase movement skills and consumables such as Birthday cupcakes, rock candy, and Essence of Celerity. An example might be Dwarven Stability with Dash and red rock candy. Any profesion can use this and without the use of Atribute points and six skill slots for staying alive. However there are more practical ways to go fast.

Staying Alive
There is more to consider than healing alone. Condition/hex removal, spell/disenchantment protection, knockdown protection are all important to a run build.

Choosing Your Skills
Common running classes are the Warrior, Ranger, Assassin and Dervish. A typical running build will contain one or more speed buffs, such as the Warrior's Sprint or the Ranger's Escape, and a healing skill and condition removal, often taken from a secondary profession such as Monk. While classes such as the Ranger or Warrior will also often include a Hex removal skill, the Assassin and the Dervish have the advantage of avoiding enemy spellcasters altogether, by use of Shadow Form or Vow of Silence.

While many destinations can be reached with a generic skill set-up, runs that involve areas such as the Southern Shiverpeaks, notorious for knockdowns, snares and large amounts of foes, frequently have their own unique build suggestions. When preparing for a run, remember to keep in mind the terrain and enemies you will be encountering. If mobs include heavy conditioning, bring along Mending Touch or Purge Signet, or a skill to counter health degeneration, such as Troll Unguent or Feigned Neutrality. If you expect to encounter many hexes, use Holy Veil before reaching casting range of your enemies, or Pious Restoration if you are employing multiple enchantments. Fleeting Stability and "Brace Yourself!" can prevent knockdown, as do several PvE skills.

PvXwiki contains a number of tested running builds, both for generic use and specific purposes.

Profession Tips
Warrior runners can maintain a reliable speed boost by alternating "Charge!" with Sprint. Because "Charge!" is a Shout, as opposed to a Stance, it can be combined with stances such as Balanced Stance, to prevent knockdown, or Conviction, a Dervish stance that grants increased armor or health regeneration.

Ranger runners can maintain a constant 33% speed increase by chaining Escape, Dodge and Zojun's Haste. While this would preclude any defensive stances being used, remember that Escape offers a high chance of blocking incoming attacks (melee and projectile), and Dodge and Zojun's Haste can block incoming projectiles. The Ranger can also use Shouts or Enchantments for increased survivability.

Assassin runners have at their disposal the Elite enchantment Shadow Form, rendering the Assassin unable to be targeted by spells or attacks. While this skill is tied to Shadow Arts, and is therefore usable by any character with Assassin as their primary or secondary profession, the brief duration and drastic health loss means this skill must be used with care. Assassins frequently employ Shadow Arts Runes to increase the enchantment's duration.

Dervish runners often use either the Avatar of Balthazar or Vow of Silence as their Elite skill. The Avatar offers a permanent speed boost and armor gain, and coupled with Eternal Aura can be maintained indefinitely. Vow of Silence renders the user unable to cast spells, or to be targeted by them. As neither of these skills are Stances, they can be coupled with a number of beneficial running stances, both from the Dervish skill family and from other professions.

When selecting your skills, keep in mind that many times you will be activating those skills while within range of enemy mobs. For that reason, Shouts and Stances are often superior to their Enchantment counterparts, as they cannot be interrupted, and have no activation time. While Armor of Mist lasts longer than Sprint and includes a generous armor increase, it requires runners to stop and cast it for one full second plus aftercast delay, which could allow monsters to close in on them.

Learning from others
Often the best way to learn is to have an experienced runner teach you, or to watch him successfully complete a run. This can be achieved by running alongside the experienced runner, or simply dying and observing the runner as he continues. If you choose the former method, be sure to check with the runner first! An additional player can draw extra aggro that could kill even the most practiced runner.

If the runner does not wish to have you run with him, dying offers a convenient way to watch the runner and see what he does. Simply click on the surviving runner's name in the Party List and observe. You will be able see what skills he is using, and when he uses them, giving you an idea of what will be expected of you when it's your turn to run.