User:Trick/Saved Builds/Team Farming

Overview
This party consists of:
 * 3 / Recall Warriors
 * 3 / Heavy Nukers
 * 2 / Utility Necromancers
 * 4 / Heal party monk

Attributes and Skills
Note: Your stats can be modded to more once you get there by putting on superior runes such as superior smiting and superior protection to get 16 smite and 12 prot

General Idea
The primary concern, and what makes farming in this area of the PvE metagame unique, is the monster stance fingers of chaos which has varying effects on PC's depending on their class and subclass. This skill can, however, be exploited by carefully designing your team to avoid most of its ill effects which is what makes this team build workable.

The 5 man base team consists of:

Note - Under no circumstances is it acceptable to bring any character with a monk subclass as they are effectively unbondable. This is due to Fingers of Chaos.
 * One wards tank or stance tank, W/E or W/Me respectively.
 * One healing monk, usually Mo/N or Mo/Me.
 * A minion master, N/Me.
 * One SS necromancer N/Me.
 * One Bonder monk with Life Barrier, Mo/Me.

Warrior
There are varying versions of a tanking warrior each with its own advantages and disadvantages, subclasses to avoid are necromancer, ranger and monk. These classes will provide no tangible benefit to a team’s tank and are consequently poor choices. The W/N will cause all foes with fingers of chaos active to lose a hex whenever they strike the tank which can, in some cases, render the spiteful spirit necromancer totally obsolete. The W/R will always be struck when attacked by fingers of chaos and therefore evasion is useless and since most ranger skills reduce damage via evasion this build is simply not feasible here. The W/Mo is completely useless in this area, they cannot enchant themselves reliably because of fingers of chaos so the primary self heals used by a W/Mo, mending and healing breeze, are totally useless. Furthermore the bonder will be unable to keep bonds active for very long on a W/Mo as well which will severely decrease the tanks longevity.

Good choices for the warrior's subclass are elementalist and mesmer. W/Es should bring wards such as ward against melee and ward against elements. As an elementalist you will be interrupted whenever struck by a monster with fingers of chaos so bringing glyph of concentration is a must as well. Mesmer warriors should bring mantra of flame to help handle the fire damage common in this area. Distortion is almost completely unworkable here as the combined energy loss from distortion and fear me will be quite high. Physical resistance can be used to great effect, however, it will become less useful in the later stages of the run when fire damage and physical damage are encountered at the same time. Despite this draw back it is highly useful for levels one and two, where physical damage and elemental damage are encountered separately.

Lastly the warrior is the teams source of wurm siege interruption via distracting blow but this requires only an open skill slot and no specific secondary or attribute allotment. The recharge on distracting blow is fast enough a warrior can effectively shut down a single siege wurm making life easier on the rest of the party. Another prime target for this skill is meteor shower.

Healing Monk
The most common monk build is a pure spot healing monk, a Mo/Me or Mo/N.

There are two kinds of mesmer enemies in this area, interrupt/shatter and energy denial, and an ideal build would account for both. While the Mo/N has excellent energy management with offering of blood the Mo/Me can benefit from mantra of resolve and mantra of recall effectively ignoring both types of mesmer.

The primary healing target of the monk is the party's necromancers as they will be dealing the party's damage and are least able to defend themselves. The warrior is completely non-essential once a minion army has been formed but is still very useful in helping to manage aggro and should therefore be kept alive if possible but not at the expense of a necromancer. The bonder, who should be positioned just within spell range of the healing monk and a complete aggro circle away from any foes, is the lowest healing priority as they will be taking very little damage. If some enemies manage to break the front line and attack the bonder keeping the bonder over 50% hp is a must but this occurrence is a rarity. Since no member of the party will be attacking directly, for the most part, hex removal is largely optional. As a Mo/Me, however, inspired hex provides modest energy boosts and can be very useful when/if mantra of recall is shattered or rent unexpectedly.

Minion Master
The minion masters role in this party is to provide a wall of expendable allies that prevent monsters access to the party proper. Secondary roles include massive AoE damage and energy for the spiteful spirit necromancer. The best mix of blocking and damage is bone minions and death nova which provide AoE damage, poison damage over time, and vast numbers. As an added bonus minions spawn in pairs and die fairly quickly and will provided both necromancers with additional energy via soul reaping. Another perk of this build is that enemies will often cast rend enchantments or shatter enchantment on bone minions enchanted with death nova which means there are fewer bonds for the bonder to replace.

In other areas popular minion builds focus on fiends but these are a poor choice in this area as they afford the team no body blocking and are difficult to keep alive due to massive AoE spikes common in this area. By designing your minions to die you exploit this fact and in many cases the minion master can take out entire groups at once from a single enemy cast of energy surge, wurm siege, meteor shower, or fireball.

During combat the minion master will be animating bone minions and enchanting them with death nova non-stop so soul reaping of 10 is a near must. Mantra of resolve is also a near must due to the large number of interrupters present in this area; nothing is more annoying than watching 25 energy disappear when an animate spell is interrupted. Minion heals are used primarily at the onset of combat to help insure minions reach their targets alive and following combat to ensure they survive the trip to the next group of potential corpses.

The only draw back to this build is it contains no direct combat damage and when there are no bodies there is little the minion master can do to help the team. To help cover this weakness and to add a useful elite skill blood is power is added so that when no bodies are available the minion master can provided the spiteful spirit necromancer, healing monk, and bonder with energy. This can also be used mid-combat when not enough minions are dying to sustain the spiteful spirit necromancers energy reserves. Finally this skill also decreases the down time for the bonder when reapplying bonds between levels.

Spiteful Spirit Necromancer
The spiteful spirit necromancer is the group's main damage source and as such should have curses at 16 and use arcane echo with spiteful spirit followed by desecrate enchantments for AoE damage and extra damage boosts on the Terrorweb Dryders who use enchantments. Soul reaping is also essential but, due to the specific minion master build in use, 10 is enough. It can be adjusted to 11 or 12 depending on preference. It is essential that enough attribute points be left over to use awaken the blood and blood ritual with reasonable durations as well as mantra of resolve with a reasonable duration and manageable energy loss, probably 4 or 5 energy.

In addition to dealing direct damage the spiteful spirit necromancer provides defense and combat support. Enfeebling blood can be used to great effect against the mobs of grasps of insanity making them much easier to handle. Blood ritual is for use exclusively on the minion master immediately following combat. This helps insure that the minion army stays sizable and that no corpses go unused. If the monk requires energy mid combat it should be supplied by the minion master, not the spiteful spirit necromancer. There are a few reasons for this, blood is power makes for a much better mid combat energy boost than blood ritual, the spiteful spirit necromancer is likely to have awaken the blood active, and the minion master is better able to self heal via taste of death.

Common spiteful spirit builds include spinal shivers for interruption but this is largely unnecessary here. Spinal shivers is arguably the best single target shutdown in the game interrupting everything whenever cold damage is used. In this area, however, there are no monk bosses, or monks of any kind for that matter, and therefore shutting down a single target completely is not necessary. The only reason to consider it is to shutdown Chaos wurms and this can be done more efficiently by a warrior with distracting blow freeing up skill bar space for tasks that can only be accomplished by the necromancer.

On a side note, you should Arcane Echo Desecrate Enchantments while fighting the Siege Wurms, as they won't take any damage from Spiteful Spirit, since they shouldn't be attacking due to interruption.

Bonder
The bonding monk's primary job is to protect the party. Life Barrier, Life Bond, Balthazar's Spirit, Mantra of Inscriptions and Blessed Signet make up the core of the build and some variations exist on what additional skills to bring.

Playing a bonder is relatively simple, apply bonds, put the mantra on up, cast blessed signet every time it recharges, and repeat. While playing the most important thing to watch for is fallen bonds but determining which bond was removed can be difficult. Fortunately with practice it becomes easier and easier to determine whose bond was removed. Reapplying bonds can be risky mid-battle, approaching enemies has a funny way of making them attack you, so watch your step. Most of the bonder’s time will be spent on the extreme back line of the party, as far away from combat as possible, while still providing the healing monk with whatever healing support you can muster while maintaining bonds.

Life Barrier should be applied to the entire party to halve damage from Fireball spikes and Balthazar's Spirit should be used on the bonder. Life Bond should be applied with the following priority, tank, spiteful spirit necromancer, minion master, and finally healing monk until the bonders upkeep limit is reached, which will vary depending on the exact attribute set up and equipment in use.

If the bonder can keep more than these 9 enchantments up, which is entirely possible, other upkeep enchantments can be added to help provide healing for the group and as cover enchantments. Some options include using Balthazar's Spirit on the warrior as well as the bonder and adding Watchful Spirit on top of the other enchants to as many party members as possible. Life Attunement is also a possibility for the warrior as they will be dealing little to no damage in combat and for the monk for the same reason. Vital Blessing is another possibility and can provide team members with an extra 200+ hp in emergencies but Watchful Spirit provides a similar level of healing without the added complication of characters dying if the enchantment is stripped, rent, or simply removed.

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.

Overview
This team consists of:
 * 2 / Tanks
 * 1 / Spirit Ritualist
 * 1 / Spiteful Spirit Necromancer
 * 2 / Healer Monks

Build Concept

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

Barrage Rangers
Variations: The purpose of the pets is to tank for the group (at least until the minion master raises a sizeable 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.
 * A very viable variant is to change one's secondary profession to Paragon. This way, you will not lose enchantments when hit by a foe under Fingers of Chaos. In addition to this, you can still have unlimited resurrects with Signet of Return.

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

For additional information, see .



The DoA Balanced team build is a build designed to conquer all of the Domain of Anguish (DoA). It is a balanced build that relies on the tried and true formula of a warrior tank, elementalists nuking and monks keeping the team alive.

This build can complete all the 4 areas in the Domain of Anguish: City of Torc'qua, Stygian Veil, Ravenheart Gloom and The Foundry of Failed Creations. The same concept build can be used to defeat Mallyx the Unyielding in the Ebony Citadel of Mallyx with modifications to the damage dealers. The specific steps to use the build in each area are discussed below.

Conquering the DoA in sequence is done in the order: City -> Veil -> Gloom -> Foundry. This has the benefit that the chests at the end of each area would increasingly yield more gems. The City chest will yield one Margonite Gemstone for each party member, the Stygian Chest would yield two Stygian Gemstones, the Ravenheart Chest would yield three Torment Gemstones and finally, the Foundry Chest would yield four Titan Gemstones.

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 as follows:
 * An Obsidian Flesh tank draws aggro and tries to hold it.
 * Three Searing Flames nukers take out the targets.
 * A Necromancer-Ranger who provides an added punch with Spiteful Spirit and maintains two helpful ranger spirits.
 * Two healer monks keep the tank alive and catch any damage that strays towards the elementalists.
 * One bonder maintains all bonds on the tank and some bonds on the nukers to prevent massive spikes.

The Obsidian Flesh Tank
The Obsidian Flesh tank can be done in many ways. This includes a Warrior/Elementalist, Elementalist/Mesmer as well as other builds. The warrior provides the safest approach as their typical armor is 115 vs Physical and 95 vs Elemental damage without using a single skill. That being said, any of the other builds can be even more successful with enough skill and experience in the Domain of Anguish. Find other proposed tanking builds in the variants section.

Usage:
 * The tank will be heavily bonded. As such he/she will only be receiving partial damage at all times.
 * The tank will have Balthazar's Spirit on which will allow for constant casting of all Earth Magic spells.
 * When going into a group of foes, it is best not to use Obsidian Flesh or Dolyak Signet as they will slow down your approach. Instead ask for Spell Breaker from a monk.
 * When pulling a group of foes, it is actually useful to invoke Obsidian Flesh as you pull foes into the tanking spot as moving slower than computer controlled foes will make them follow you as far as they could as opposed to running at normal speed.
 * Use Stoneflesh Aura as often as possible. It will make you take zero damage from nearly all attacks and spells.
 * Use Dolyak Signet to buff up your armor when facing foes that deal large amounts of damage such as the Tortureweb Dryders and the Stygian Brutes.
 * Use Glyph of Concentration to avoid having any of your spells interrupted. Use Wary Stance to protect the glyph if you expect physical interrupts from attack skills such as Savage Shot from the Spirit Tormentors and Disrupting Throw from the Sanity Tormentors.
 * The optional slot can be:
 * Ward Against Foes or Grasping Earth when the elementalists start dropping their nukes to snare foes long enough to take them out before aggro breaks.
 * Lightbringer's Gaze: To add some offensive punch to this very defensive build and provide an interrupt.

Equipment:
 * A sword/axe with +5 Energy and a 20% "of Enchanting" grip. This will give you extra energy and make all the Earth spells last longer on you. Rajazan's Fervor or the Totem Axe make great weapons for this build.
 * A Shield with either +30 Health or +45 while Enchanted is optimal. Also, having a secondary set of Earth Magic based wand and Focus item is optimal for energy. It can also be a 15/-1 set to provide an extra energy boost in times of trouble.
 * Gladiator's Armor or an armor set fully equipped with Radiant Insignia (for the extra energy) is ideal for this build.

The Searing Flames Nukers
The primary damage dealers of this build are two regular Searing Flames nukers and one Freezer:

The Regular Nukers
These elementalists take out foes by spamming Searing Flames and with tactical usage of Meteor Shower.

Usage: Equipment:
 * Wait until all enemy aggro has settled on the tank.
 * Maintain Fire Attunement during a fight.
 * If the foes contain casters you need to take out quickly (enemy monks, mesmers, necromancers and/or elementalists) then use Glyph of Sacrifice followed by Meteor Shower. Then proceed to spam Glyph of Lesser Energy, Searing Flames and Glowing Gaze as they become available.
 * If the foes are mostly melee foes (like all Titans) then inverse the combo. Spam the first four skills on your bar until foes are at half health, then use Meteor Shower to finish them off. In fact, against pure melee foes (Warriors, Dervishes and Assassins), try not to use Meteor Shower altogether.
 * If an ally is killed during battle, use Glyph of Sacrifice and then Resurrection Chant.
 * If the tank gets hexed in certain critical situations, then use Convert Hexes.
 * It's possible to replace Fire Attunement with Essence Bond maintained on the tank.
 * May be good for one (only one needed) of the nukers to replace Convert Hexes or Glyph of Sacrifice with Mark of Rodgort. So for 37 seconds all Searing Flames hits (except first one) will cause damage AND reapply burning at the same time, instead of one SF every 5 seconds doing no damage. Against spell casters, cast Meteor Shower first then Mark of Rodgort. The first and subsequent meteors will apply burning, synergizing with Searing Flames (but remember that meteor shower only has adjacent radius while SF and Mark of Rodgort are "nearby").
 * As elementalists have a large pool of energy, the only real upgrade this build really needs is 20% HSR preferably on both the wand and the focus item. This is to speed up the readiness of Meteor Shower. Using a 20% HCT+HSR wand and focus set will also significantly increase the DPS by speeding up the casting and recharge times of Searing Flames (normally 1 + 2 seconds).
 * A variety of armor choices make sense:
 * An armor set with Radiant Insignia will provide extra energy.
 * An armor set with Stalwart Insignia will provide extra protection against any melee aggro that comes your way.
 * Tempest Armor would provide extra protection as the elementalist will always have at least 2 enchantments on.

The Searing Flames Freezer
This elementalist freezes enemies piled around the tank so that they do not disperse before they are killed.

Usage:
 * Wait until all enemy aggro has settled on the tank.
 * Maintain Fire Attunement during a fight.
 * If the foes contain casters you need to take out quickly (enemy monks, mesmers, necromancers and/or elementalists) then use Glyph of Sacrifice followed by Meteor Shower. Then proceed to spam Glyph of Lesser Energy, Searing Flames and Glowing Gaze as they become available.
 * If the foes are mostly melee foes (like all Titans) then inverse the combo. Spam the first four skills on your bar until foes are at half health, then use Metoer Shower to finish them off. In fact, against pure melee foes (Warriors, Dervishes and Assassins), try not to use Meteor Shower altogether.
 * Cast Deep Freeze to hamper enemy movement until they are taken down. If you drop Meteor Shower on foes, Deep Freeze would be ideal immediately afterwards.
 * It's possible to replace Fire Attunement with Essence Bond maintained on the tank.

Equipment:
 * As elementalists have a large pool of energy, the only real upgrade this build really needs is 20% HSR preferably on both the wand and the focus item. This is to speed up the readiness of Meteor Shower.
 * A variety of armor choices make sense:
 * An armor set with Radiant Insignia will provide extra energy.
 * An armor set with Stalwart Insignia will provide extra protection against any melee aggro that comes your way.
 * Tempest Armor would provide extra protection as the elementalist will always have at least 2 enchantments on.

The Spiteful Spirit Spammer
This high utility necromancer provides pressure by casting Spiteful Spirit on enemies, maintianing useful spirits up during fights, providing other casters with energy and bringing a pet for the Foundry.

Usage:
 * Lay down Edge of Extinction at the start of every fight in a safe spot that keeps all foes in range.
 * Pick your spots... Lay Spiteful Spirit on the foes most likely to trigger it the most. Margonite Anur Vus, Fury Titans, Stygian Horrors and so forth are prime candidates while foes that activate skills slowly like Margonite Anur Tuks or Despair Titans would be poor targets.
 * Cover SS with Reckless Haste. It also enhances the triggering of SS.
 * Spam Desecrate Enchantments as it becomes available. Enemy Dervishes are the best targets for these.
 * Use Blood Ritual on teammates as they need energy.
 * Use Symbiosis only in the Stygian Veil when the tank is pulling groups that may contain Stygian Hungers. It is best when laying it down to put it in a spot to the side of where the tank will hold aggro, not behind. This way it will give the tank the furthest possible coverage.
 * In the Foundry, kill your pet (by moving around) before the entrance to each chamber, and then resurrect it after the chamber is cleared.

Equipment:
 * A Necromancer staff or wand and focus item that provide extra energy as well as halving the spell recharge on Spitefull Spirit are ideal.
 * Cabalist's Armor or an armor set fully equipped with Radiant Insignia (for the extra energy) is ideal for this build.

The Healer's Boon Monk
Place spare points in death magic

Usage:
 * Maintain Healer's Boon on at all times during a battle.
 * Maintain Essence Bond on the tank.
 * Dwayna's Kiss and Ethereal Light are the primary healing skills.
 * Use Heal Party to heal the tank at a distance, or when the party is collectively moving and taking damage from Enduring Torment.
 * Use Healing Seed on the tank and alternate it with the other monk.
 * Use Necrotic Traversal or Consume Corpse to jump outside of rooms as a saftey measure in the Foundry, see the walkthrough below.

Equipment:
 * A perfect Insightful Staff of Enchanting with 20/20 HSR and HCT for Healing Prayers is optimal.
 * Ascetic's Armor or an armor set fully equipped with Radiant Insignia (for the extra energy) is ideal for this build.

The Spell Breaker Monk
Usage:
 * Maintain Essence Bond on the tank and Blessed Aura on yourself.
 * Dwayna's Kiss is the primary healing skill.
 * Use Protective Spirit on any party member other than the tank who begins to draw the attention of foes.
 * Dismiss Condition is primarily for the Prisoners of the Foundry Breakout quest so that they do not become crippled, however, there is disease, Poison, Bleeding and Deep Wound along the way, so feel free to use it as needed. It is also useful as a moderate heal.
 * Cascade Healing Seed on the tank with the other monk.
 * Use Spell Breaker on the tank as he goes in to gather aggro. This will allow the tank to move freely without being slowed by Obsidian Flesh. In any fight that includes spell casters that can jeopardize the tank's enchantments (Margonites, Greater Dream Riders, Anguish Titans, ...) make sure to renew Spell Breaker on the tank every time it recharges.

Equipment:
 * A perfect Insightful Staff of Enchanting with 20/20 HSR and HCT for Healing Prayers is optimal.
 * Ascetic's Armor or an armor set fully equipped with Radiant Insignia (for the extra energy) is ideal for this build.

The Bonder
Usage:
 * Maintain all the bonds above on the tank in order from right (Life Barrier cast first) to left (Vital Blessing cast last).
 * Maintain Balthazar's Spirit on yourself as well.
 * Maintain Life Barrier on the elementalists and (depending on your skill and how comfortable you are with bonding) everyone else.
 * When the party gets to the Prisoners part in the Foundry (see below), you will need to maintain Life Barrier, Life Bond and Vital Blessing on each prisoner as he is being rescued. After the prisoner is taken to safety, you can remove those bonds. Since no fighting takes place during those sequences, you can drop the bonds on the elementalists if you need to.

Equipment:
 * A perfect Insightful Staff of Fortitude with +5 Energy while health is above 50% ("Hale and Hearty" inscription) is optimal.
 * Ascetic's Armor or an armor set fully equipped with Radiant Insignia (for the extra energy) is ideal for this build.
 * Two head pieces, a Defender's head piece with a superior Protection Prayers rune to cast the bonds and then a Prophet's head piece with a superior Divine Favor rune to maintain them.

Tactics
This is a detailed area by area walkthrough:

The City
During the city, there are no major hurdles to be wary of other than the annoying energy denial setting. The environmental effect Repressive Energy along with the skill set of the Margonites makes it harder than usual to manage one's energy. The bonder may need to drop bonds on one of the damage dealers (usually the necromancer).

Tanking and pulling in the City is straightforward and involves pulling and using corners to pile foes in preparation to nuke them. In general, after the tank has pulled foes to a spot, the elementalists should apply Searing Flames pressure on the closes foes until the Margonite Anur Ki steps up to heal them (they like to use Healing Whisper). As soon as that happens, the elementalists should unload a Meteor Shower or two on the Ki until he dies.

After the city has been cleared, the groups that come with Lord Jadoth can each be pulled to the city gate (with the party hiding inside) and then dispatched (while the tank prevents them from coming in by blocking the door way). If any of the groups that accompany Jadoth (Shaunur the Divine's group, Turep, Maker of Orphans' group or Jadoth's group itself) give the tank trouble while pulling them, an elementalist can aggro them through the wall by casting on them. This usually makes them want to go all the way into the city to get to the elementalist.

The Veil
Conquering the Stygian Veil involves four stages:
 * 1) Clearing the initial mobs of monsters at the start of the Breaching the Stygian Veil quest.
 * 2) Clearing the two hills north and south to defeat the two Stygian Underlords and complete the Breaching quest.
 * 3) Killing the four Stygian Lords to complete Brood Wars and cause the Dreadspawn Maw to appear.
 * 4) Destroying the Dreadspawn Maw.

The Initial Assault
For the first part of Breaching the Stygian Veil, the party should first clear the area south of the Acolyte who gives the quest. There is a small bend there that the tank can use for holding mobs. To use this spot, the party needs to clear any casters or rangers in the patrol moving below in the trench. Then they need to clear out the one patrol of Shadow Army that blocks the path leading to the Whispers Acolyte.

The tank should take the quest and back up till all the mobs reach the Acolyte. Spirits should be laid and then the tank should pull all the mobs (by aggroing using his/her bubble, not a bow). There will be three mobs jumbles up together, whenever you clear a mob, another will come from the same hill that the first mob came from, till you see a mixed group of foes. That will signal that there will be no more mobs coming from that hill. If the party is inexperienced, they may want to pull one group at a time using a bow.

Depending on the type of mobs, the party should react accordingly:
 * Groups of Stygian Hungers should be pulled to tank, they will pile themselves around him nicely. Nuke a middle target, freeze them and then finish them off with Searing Flames. Use Spell Breaker or Obsidian Flesh when they are below half health to prevent them from using Grenth's Balance on the tank.
 * Groups of Stygian Brutes or Stygian Horrors do not require Spell Breaker. However, the tank should buff himself up with the Dolyak Signet as soon as he/she gets to their spot as their Physical damage can trickle to the bonder.
 * Groups of Stygian Golems actually benefit from Symbiosis, but not as much as the tank. They are handled like the Horrors and Brutes.
 * Groups of Stygian Fiends are very dangerous. The tank should pull them back using a zig-zag motion till they form a tight ball for the nukers to nuke them. Also, if the tank goes to them in melee range and attacks, they will say on him.
 * Mixed groups will usually have one Fiend and then the rest will be melee. The melee foes should be nuked first and should the Fiend go for the party, containing it should not be a problem.

The Two Hills
Starting with the southern hill, the technique should be the same. Spirits get laid down, the tank goes in and gathers several enemies, then brings them back within spirit range and tanks them. The only thing to watch out for is that the Stygian Fiends can cripple the tank and the Horrors can knock him/her down with Bull's Strike. The Healer's Boon monk should use Heal Party to aid the tank at a distance. When pulling the Underlord's group with Water Tormentors, the tank should have Spell Breaker coverage.

The northern hill has pop-ups through out the first half of it. As such, the spirits should be laid outside the hill, the tank should go in till a group starts popping up (the tank should stand still till they all come out of the ground, there is usually 6 monsters). The group will be mixed with at least one Stygian Fiend. There are thre more pop-up groups past the first one. A group around each of the Torment Claws that will spawn near the middle of the hill.

Past those Torment Claws, there should be no hidden groups and the tank should proceed like the first hill, gathering groups and bringing them to spirit range until the other Underlord is killed. The spirits should be constantly moved as the party makes its way deeper into the hill.

The Stygian Lords
There are ways to skip over barriers and so on to get to the Sytgian Lords. This guide will simply tackle the problem straight on.

The party should choose one of the trenches to clear out, the best candidates would be the second trench to the north or south. Either of those trenches leads to a Stygian Lord, and from there on the party can move in a circle to get to the remaining three. The one to the north leads straight to the monk Lord and offers a quick passage to the Gloom.

Each trench will spawn two melee groups as soon as someone is half-way through it. The two groups will rush towards each other (and kill anyone stuck inside) and then will camp on the opposite end of where they spawned. In addition, some Tormentor demons will spawn up top on one or both sides of the hills sandwiching the trench. To avoid surprises, one party member can simply run into the trench to trigger its spawns and then die half way through. The party can then Rebirth that member from atop one of the two hill overlooking the trench. If dying is such a big deal, one Elementalist can go secondary Assassin and bring Recall and use it to leave the trench before the pop-up groups close in on him/her. Also, if the tank is skilled and familiar with the spawns, he/she can take SB, go into the trench and pop up all the pop-ups then go back and tank them at the start of the trench. Bonder must watch that the tank not lose bonds.

Once the trench's spawns are stationary the tank can tackle them under spirit range and the party can destroy the closer melee group then the furhter one as well as the spawns on top of the hills. Once the trench is clear, the party can proceed to the Stygian Lord, kill any patrols roaming around him, and destroy him. From that point on, the party will simply circle around to kill the other three lord (see the walkthrough for the quest Brood Wars for their locations).

Note the following:
 * The first Stygian Lord to the south is a necromancer, there is a patrol that comes in front of him from the east and another from the west. After clearing the eastern patrol, he can be pulled without the western patrol. He is guarded by Tormentor demons.
 * The next one to the east of him is a mesmer. There is a stationary group of Tormentors around him as well as two spawns of Torment Claws.
 * The next one to the northeast is an elementalist. There are two patrols on the way to him and then a large pop-up spawn inside the alcove he is found in. The tank should hold them around the entrance to the alcove so they cannot go around him to the rest of the party. Casters should watch out for Chain Lightning and Sandstorm from the Stygian Lord.
 * The final boss heading northwest from that spot is a smiting monk. Again he is found in an alcove which he can be pulled out of using a long bow. If anyone steps past the entrance of the alcove, a spawn of Stygian Hungers will appear at the entrance. The party should either pull carefully or trigger them on purpose and take them out first.

The Dreadspawn Maw
After the party returns and cashes in the quest Brood Wars, the Dreadspawn Maw will appear immediately behind them. Make sure everyone is out of the center area and safely next to the Acolyte before having ANY party member accept the reward. The Maw will be comprised of six Smothering Tendrils. The objective is to kill all six and their spawns.

For each Tendril, one elementalist should weaken it with Searing Flames and finish him with Meteor Shower, when it is at half health. This elementalist should have Protective Spirit on them by the Spell Breaker monk. Everyone else should move back north where the party originally killed the monsters of the initial assault.

As soon as the Tendril is about to die, the SB monk should leave and join the others. The elementalist should finish off the Tendril and then pull back slowly. As soon as the Tendril dies, numerous Torment Claws will spawn as will as several Stygian creatures. If the Stygian creatures DID see the elementalist, he/she should just pull back slowly and have them kill him/her midway to the party. They should NOT bring them back to the party otherwise the party can wipe after doing so much work. After they kill the elementalist, someone can rebirth him/her and then the tank can pull the spawned groups into spirit range and the party can destroy them.

The party can then proceed to kill all the Torment Claws that spawned (great wanding fun). The same steps should be repeated for each Smothering Tendril.

The Gloom
The Ravenheart Gloom is comprised of three quests plus the final fight against The Greater Darkness.

The Stand-off
The quest To the Rescue! invovles making a stand against a massive horde of demons in the little nook that the whispers followers will be located. The party can choose to run past the first mobs as well as the wandering patrols outside that little nook. Alternatively, the tank can round them up and bring them to corners and the elementalists can nuke from behind the tank.

Once the group gets to the nook (fighting or running), the tank should find the cornerthat leads outside the nook and hold aggro there. Everyone else should stay behind the tank and hug the wall so that foes need to go through him/her to get to them. The Spell Breaker monk must have Blessed Aura on in this part as well as a weapon of Enchanting. It is imperative that the monk and the tank be able to chain Spell Breaker and Obsidian Flesh to prevent the tank from being hexed. Currently, the skill Rending Sweep used by the Earth Tormentors is glitched and will strip the tank of ALL enchantments if the tank is hexed.

With careful and timely casting, constantly staying on the closest target and stepping away when foes try to cast on them, the party should be able to survive the onslaught. When the kills start piling up, EoE will kick in and help out a great deal.

The Rift
After the Rescue is completed, the next quest, The Rifts Between Us, invovles capturing a portal (a Chaos Rift guarded by two Torment Claws) northeast of that alcove. The party can head to the quest marker and find the ridge south and a little east of the quest marker. This ridge should be used by the tank to provide a corner that he/she can hold monsters behind (the party should be below the ridge not above it).

The tank should pull the roaming patrols around the rift and then the stationary group at the rift (without entering the rift's range). After they are cleared, the elementalists should take out the claws.

Once the area is clear, 4 or 5 party members should go in and capture the rift. As soon as they do, a group of Flesh Tormentors will spawn to the west of them and rush to them. They should stand fast until the rift is closed and the quest updates and then start running back south and below the ridge. Do NOT run above the ridge as a group of Earth Tormentors, who can cripple their foes, will spawn there. The Flesh Tormentors will not follow for long and the group can cash the quest and take the next one.

The next quest is trivial compared to this. The tank can simply walk up to the Deathbringer Company and the elementalists can nuke them and freeze them so they don't scatter. With EoE they should wipe fairly quickly.

The Greater Darkness
After the final quest, the Greater Darkness will spawn. The tank should approach with Spell Breaker. This will cause two more of the Darknesses to spawn. The tank should line them up and then the elementalists should take them out. After those three die, a spawn of five more Darknesses will appear. The party should back off and let the tank pile them up into one nice nukable bunch. If they aggroed on some party member in the back, it may be best to simply pull back collectively, break aggro and then send the tank back in anew. After they are piled up and nuked, all five must be killed at the same time, so EoE must be used here.

If the tank had any hexes before they died, this hex needs to be converted or the next spawn of Earth tormentors (30 in total) will destroy the tank. Again, the party should step back and let all the Earth Tormentors settle on the tank (with Buffs, the tank will take 0 damage from them). Once they are piled up, they should be nuked and frozen until EoE takes its course and the whole lot just dies.

1st Chamber
This is the easiest of the four chambers and should be completed without the party having to use the "Necrotic Traversal then Rebirth" trick. However, just to be safe, the necromancer should have his/her pet die outside the first gate. Everyone should take the quest from Captain Jerzah. As soon as everyone is sufficiently deep enough into the room, the gates will lock and a group of Margonite Anurs will spawn at the end of the room.

The Tank should be covered with Spell Breaker and should go in just as the spawn of Margonites is collapsing so as to form a nice ball for Meteor Shower. Remember not to cast anything on the tank while he/she is in their aggro range until all aggro settles on him/her (i.e. their melee attackers all start attacking). As soon as aggro is set, the elementalists should proceed to nuke with Meteor Shower first. When this group is about to die, make sure to save one last Margonite and pull him back to the gate where party came in, then finish him off there. This should ensure that the next spawn of Titans does not aggro the party, or at least aggro only on the tank. After the last Margonite dies, 3 Rage Titans and 3 Despair Titans will show up.

If those Titans spawn ouside of everyone's aggro, then the tank should take another Spell Breaker and go to them. If they spawn within aggro range of the tank then he/she should use Obsidian Flesh and walk to them (to ensure they do not walk to him/her and see other party members behind). Whenever the tank is setting aggro like this, Heal Party should be the only healing used.

These titans will not spawn more titans, however, because they cannot be knocked down, Meteor Shower acts like Fire Storm making them scatter rather quickly. So, try and stick with Searing Flames as much as possible. Finish off the Rage Titans first as they can wipe out the whole party with Earthquake followed by Churning Earth. If things look grim, the Healer's Boon monk should always have his/her finger on the Necrotic Traversal trigger. However, with experience, this group should be easy to take out with no deaths.

Revive the pet then move it to the door of the next chamber and then let it die.

2nd Chamber
This room is nigh impossible to fight in. It is very small and the spawn that appears after the door closes has three Tortureweb Dryders (which can wipe a tightly packed party in 2 spells). The party should hug the left wall and proceed slowly until the spawn appears. As soon as it does, the Spell Breaker monk should throw Spell Breaker followed by Protective Spirit on the Healer's Boon monk and that monk should Necrotic Traversal out of the room and move away from the casting range of the Dryders.

If the spawn did not see them, the party should retreat to the gate quickly, cast Spell Breaker on the tank and have him/her go in and pile aggro on the Margonite monk. If they've been seen, the party should try and take out the Margonite Anur Ki that spawns in this group before wiping as well as any Dryders they can, however, they should also try to die as close as they can to the gate. After the fight is over and all members in the chamber have died, the monk should proceed to rebirth them outside the room leaving the tank.

After the casters have all been resurrected and bonded, one of the elementalists should "Glyph-Sacc Rez" the tank inside the chamber. The tank should come as close as possible to the game and the bonder should careully reapply bonds while the monk heal him/her. The elementalists should be able to nuke the enemy from across the gate and the wall. They should spread apart so that Searing Flames does not damage all of them at the same time.

Sometimes, a foe or two will run off and get stuck on the opposite side of the room. If the party waits for a few minutes, that foe will come back within casting range.

When the chamber is almost cleared, the Spell Breaker monk should cast Spell Breaker on the tank as the second spawn contains a Greater Dream Rider. The second spawn should be cleared in the same manner.

Revive the pet then move it to the door of the next chamber and then let it die.

3rd Chamber
This chamber will spawn all its creatures at the same time (there will be no secondary spawn after the first groups are wiped). There will be four patrols roaming the room (all of which come near the gate, but not all the way). A patrol of 4 Misery Titans, a patrol of 4 Anguish Titans, a patrol of 4 Rage Titans and a patrol of 3 Dryders along with one Rider.

The Titans in this room will exhibit the usual Titan behavior of spawning smaller Titans. There are two spawn chains:
 * Anguish Titan-> Despair Titan -> Fury Titan
 * Misery Titan-> Rage Titan -> Dementia Titan

The Healer's Boon monk should wait outside the gate using Necrotic Traversal. The Tank can try and pull the Misery titans (easiest to take out) and the party can wipe trying to finish them off. After the party is rebirthed on the outside, the tank can proceed to pull group after group, while the elementalists take them out.

Revive the pet then move it to the door of the next chamber and then let it die.

4th Chamber
This chamber will again give the party room to operate. A spawn of Dryders along with a Margonite Anur Ki will spawn at the middle or back of the room. They can be taken out by a frontal assault (tank charge in when they are balled up). Before the last foe dies, the party should pull that foe back to the beginning of the room and finish it off there to be safe. The next spawn will be a large group of Dementia Titans. At this point, the Healer's Boon monks should leave the room to be safe. The party can try and kill them while they are on the tank. If aggro breaks, a wipe + rebirth maybe necessary.

After this group there will be a mixed group with a Margonite Anur Ki, a few Titans and a Dryder. One of the Titans is a special Fury Titan that drops a unique item.

After this room is clear, you can proceed to take the quest reward and the next quest from Tekliss. The pet will no longer be needed.

The Great Hall
The name of the game in the Foundry is pulling and aggro control. Because the Foundry is spacious, kiting and breaking aggro if things go bad is quite possible, so there will be no more need for the pet.

As soon as the party goes in, they will see a large Vat to their right with a small gap between it and the wall. That gap will be the focus of all pulling and tanking till that part of the Foundry is cleared. The tank will simply aggro a group and tanks them at the gap so that they are unable to get through the gap and then the nukers can cast on them through the wall.

Past the gap, the party will see 4 large vates in the center of the hall, they should always use those vats for groups that do not pull all the way to the gap. The tank should pull the foes to the vat, the casters should be behind him/her so that the enemies need to go through the tank to get to them and then nuke. The Greater Dream Riders always like to camp on the right side of the tank, as such, if he/she pulls them around a corner where the wall is to the right, they will pile on the tank perfectly.

After all patrols are cleared, the party can attempt to complete the quest. For each prisoner, the bonder will place Life Bond and Life Barrier on that prisoner, and the SB monk will place Spell Breaker on the prisoner and immediately after that, the tank will speak to the prisoner and advance the quest). Then everyone needs to run far away and the prisoner will follow them. If the prisoner is crippled, Dismiss Condition should be used, Heal Party should be used for healing the party as they move. After aggro breaks, everyone should stand still, and the one elementalist (codenamed, the babysitter) should take the prisoner away till the names in the party are all grayed out. This will ensure the prisoner does not follow the party anymore.

The same procedure should be done with the other two prisoners. Captain Valkyss' group should be taken out as they are in the way of future fights. First, the party should run away till the mob stops following. The Captain should be taken away to safety and then the remaining party members should kill off the Dryders and Riders.

After all three prisoners are safe, the tank should advance to the gate to aggro the spawn of The Black Beast of Arrgh. With bonds, the tank should be able to tank him even with 0 attribute points. However, the Beast should first be pulled all the way to where his patrol will follow no more and then fought there so that they do not try and go for party members behind the tank.

After the Beast dies, the quest will be completed and the prisoners will be removed from the party list. The babysitter should cash in the quest to trigger the Fury and come help the party finish off the Black Beast's group. The party can then take on The Fury's group. The tank can keep pulling the Fury's Group back and forth until they find the spot beyond which they will not follow, and then nuke the monks fromt he side first then the Dryder guardians and the Riders. The Fury is actually less of a threat than those Dryders.

Variants

 * One of the Searing Flames nukers can be replaced with Necromancers using Feast of Corruption or a Mesmer using Spiritual Pain to spike. It's usually good to have at least two elementalists with Meteor Shower in the team.
 * The SS Necro can be replaced with a BiP necro carrying the same spirits if the party has energy issues.
 * The tank does not necessarily need to be an Obsidian Flesh warrior. Other tanking builds can be used, as well as non-warrior tanking builds like a continual Shadow Form assassin or an Obsidian Dervish. One such variety uses an elementalist as follows:

Elementalist Tank
This tank is more fragile in terms of vunerability to enchantment removal. However, they have longer more powerful Earth Magic enchantments as well as infinite energy.

Usage:
 * Generally keep up Stone Striker + Mantra of Earth at all times except in select situations. They will provide you with infinite energy.
 * Before a pull, invoke Stoneflesh Aura to take 0 damage from most attacks and go in with Spell Breaker on.
 * While pulling, if met by strong physical damage (such as from the Stygian Brutes), invoke Armor of Earth. because of the lower base armor, the bonder can take significantly more damage through Life Bond than is customary with warrior tanks.
 * If anticipating interruption, use Mantra of Resolve.
 * If dazed or facing heaving interruption, use Glyph of Concentration while under Mantra of Resolve and then cancel Mantra of Resolve with Mantra of Earth.
 * Use Obsidian Flesh when Spell Breaker is about to run out.
 * The optional slot can be:
 * Ward Against Foes or Grasping Earth when the elementalists start dropping their nukes to snare foes long enough to take them out before aggro breaks.
 * Lightbringer's Gaze: To add some offensive punch.
 * Sliver Armor: To help block physical interrupts as well as deal out considerable damage.

Equipment:
 * A sword/axe with +5 Energy and a 20% "of Enchanting" grip. This will give you extra energy and make all the Earth spells last longer on you. Rajazan's Fervor or the Totem Axe make great weapons for this build.
 * A Shield with either +30 Health or +45 while Enchanted helps. However, having an Earth Magic Focus item with 20% chance of halving skill recharge is optimal. It can also be a 15/-1 set to provide an extra energy boost in times of trouble.
 * Geomancer's Armor has great synergy with Stone Striker.

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 for the quest Cities of Ascalon.

Tanking Monk
=600 Monk=

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.

Ice Ranger
Attributes and Skills


 * There are many suggestions for the optional slot
 * Needling Shot to bring a target down once they are below 50% health.
 * Try adding wilderness survival traps to protect the spirits.
 * Antidote Signet or Hex Eater Signet for condition or hex removal.
 * Savage Shot for an interrupt.
 * Pin Down for crippling kitting targets.
 * Favorable Winds for extra damage.
 * Splinter Shot for countering blocking foes.
 * Serpent's Quickness could be used just before casting the spirits and then replaced with Mantra of Frost as soon as the spirits are set.

Equipment
 * Frostbound Armor is recommended.
 * Druid's Armor could be useful for pieces such as arms and feet if you find you are low on energy.
 * Any bow with "Damage +15% (while in a stance)".
 * Note that Elemental Bow Strings are basically useless.

Usage
 * The Ice Rangers' main job is to lay down the spirits. At the beginning of the battle cast Greater Conflagration and Winter near your base. As they recharge space them out along the battle field. When you are not laying down spirits use Kindle Arrows and fire Focused Shot on every other attack. Remember to keep Mantra of Frost on you at all times.

Counters
 * Simply killing the spirits is the best counter.
 * Armor-ignoring damage works just as well against this as normal balanced builds.
 * Removing Mantra of Frost with Wild Strike, Wild Blow or Wild Throw will take away the Ice Ranger's advantage.

Variants
 * Apply Poison instead of Kindle Arrows and a poison bow.
 * Choking Gas could also replace Kindle Arrows for interrupts.
 * Elemental Resistance is not as effective as Mantra of Frost but could be used.
 * Ignite Arrows for AoE damage to replace Kindle Arrows.
 * Read the Wind for extra damage and a replacement for Kindle Arrows.
 * You could add some extra utility with some Inspiration magic skills. However their energy costs must be watched.
 * Using a superior Wilderness Survival rune would help your spirits last longer at the expense of your maximum health

The rest of the team
Builds for various primary professions for the remainder of the team.
 * Note that everyone Must be a mesmer primary or secondary to have Mantra of Frost.
 * Also you should not have other stances in your build. Mantra of Frost is a stance and will be removed if you use another stance.
 * If using Nightfall armor Sentry's Insignia is usually the best choice for armor.

Notable Skills:
 * Dervish - Grenth's Grasp
 * Necromancer - Spinal Shivers / Shivers of Dread
 * Elementalist - Conjure Frost

Warrior
Builds that could be modified for this team
 * Build:W/Me UW Solo
 * Build:W/any Axe Rune Farmer
 * Build:W/any Basic PvE Hammer
 * Build:W/any Cleave PvE Soldier
 * Build:W/any Flailing Dragon
 * Build:W/any Steady Warrior
 * Build:W/any Triple Chop PvE Tank

(Note: It is best to use Dreadnought's or Legionnaire's Armor)

Ranger
Builds that could be modified for this team
 * Build:R/Me Feverish Archer
 * Build:R/Me Fissure Forest Farmer
 * Build:R/any Chkkr Thousand Tail Farmer
 * Build:R/any General Interrupter
 * Build:R/any Tank Master
 * Build:R/any Tank Master

(note: It is best to use Frostbound Armor)

Monk
Builds that could be modified for this team
 * Build:Mo/Me Barrier Bond Monk
 * Build:Mo/Me Blessed Light Bond Monk
 * Build:Mo/Me PvE WoH Monk
 * Build:Mo/Me Elona's Bonder
 * Build:Mo/any Canthan Bonder
 * Build:Mo/any Word of Healing Monk

(Note: Wanderer's Armor Works well)

Necromancer
Builds that could be modified for this team
 * Build:N/Me FoC Spiker
 * Build:N/Me Midnight Solo
 * Build:N/any BiP Necro
 * Build:N/any Icy Blighter
 * Build:N/any Minion Master
 * Build:N/any Aura of the Lich MM
 * Build:N/any Aura of the Lich MM

Mesmer
Builds that could be modified for this team
 * Build:Me/E Flashfire
 * Build:Me/N Incetol Farmer
 * Build:Me/any PvE Domination Mesmer

(Note: It's best to use Savant's Armor)

Elementalist
Builds that could be modified for this team
 * Build:E/Me Echo Nuker
 * Build:E/Me Terra Tank
 * Build:E/Me Underworld Tank
 * Build:E/any Dual Attunement Air Spiker
 * Build:E/any Renewal Nuker
 * Build:E/any Searing Flames Elementalist

(note: It is best to use Hydromancer's Armor)

Assassin
Builds that could be modified for this team
 * Build:A/Me Solo Sin
 * Build:A/any Blind Promises
 * Build:A/any Chkkr Locust Lord Farmer
 * Build:A/any Critical Fox
 * Build:A/any Deadly Promise
 * Build:A/any Shadow Blossom

(note: Armor sets with resistance against specific damage types will not provide a helpful armor bonus.)

Ritualist
Builds that could be modified for this team
 * Build:Rt/Me Painful Echo
 * Build:Rt/Me Vengeful Farmer
 * Build:Rt/any Attuned Restorer
 * Build:Rt/any Continual Channeler
 * Build:Rt/any Ritual Lord
 * Build:Rt/any Spirit Nuker

Paragon
Builds that could be modified for this team
 * Build:P/any Commanding Support

Dervish
Builds that could be modified for this team
 * Build:D/any Mystic Renewal

(Note: It is best to use Windwalker's Armor)



The Foundry Balanced team build is a build designed to conquer all of The Foundry of Failed Creations in the Domain of Anguish. It is a balanced build that relies on the tried and true formula of a warrior tank, elementalists nuking and monks keeping the team alive.

This build can complete the quest The Foundry of Failed Creations, the quest Foundry Breakout and kill The Fury. Incidentally, this same build can actually be used to conquer any of the 3 other areas in the Domain of Anguish with slight modifications.

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 as follows:
 * An Obsidian Flesh tank draws aggro and tries to hold it.
 * Three Searing Flames nukers take out the targets.
 * Two healer monks keep the tank alive and catch any damage that strays towards the elementalists.
 * One bonder maintains all bonds on the tank and some bonds on the nukers to prevent massive spikes.
 * An optional Ranger can use Broad Head Arrow to shut down critical spell-casting foes among the enemy.
 * The party avoids fighting in tight spaces (which the Foundry tries to enforce) by using a pet and the skills Necrotic Traversal or Consume Corpse to have one party member with Rebirth outside the room whenever there is danger.

The Obsidian Flesh Tank
Usage:
 * The tank will be heavily bonded. As such he/she will only be receiving partial damage at all times.
 * The tank will have Balthazar's Spirit on which will allow for constant casting of all Earth Magic spells.
 * When going into a group of foes, it is best not to use Obsidian Flesh or Armor of Earth as they will slow down your approach. Instead ask for Spell Breaker from a monk.
 * When pulling a group of foes, it is actually useful to invoke Obsidian flesh or Armor of Earth as moving slower than computer controlled foes will make them follow you as far as they could as opposed to running at normal speed.
 * Use Stoneflesh Aura as often as possible. It will make you take zero damage from nearly all attacks and spells.
 * Lay down Ward Against Foes when foes around you are near half-health. This will snare them around longer for the elementalists to finish them off.
 * The optional slot can be:
 * Glyph of Concentration: To avoid having any of your spells interrupted.
 * Dolyak Signet: As a massive armor boost. This is not needed, but is useful in situations where, for example, monks go down and you need to stay alive till they are revived.
 * Lightbringer's Gaze: To add some offensive punch to this very defensive build.

Equipment:
 * A sword/axe with +5 Energy and a 20% "of Enchanting" grip. This will give you extra energy and make all the Earth spells last longer on you. Rajazan's Fervor or the Totem Axe make great weapons for this build.
 * A Shield with either +30 Health or +45 while Enchanted is optimal. Also, having a secondary set of Earth Magic based wand and Focus item is optimal for energy. It can also be a 15/-1 set to provide an extra energy boost in times of trouble.
 * Gladiator's Armor or an armor set fully equipped with Radiant Insignia (for the extra energy) is ideal for this build.

The Searing Flames Nukers
''Note: The remainign 3 attribute points should be placed in Healing Prayers or Protection Prayers based on the type of resurrection skill the elementalist is bringing. See Usage section below.''

Usage:
 * Wait until all enemy aggro has settled on the tank.
 * Maintain Fire Attunement during a fight unless facing the Greater Dream Riders (see tactics below).
 * You will have two combos to invoke during a fight.
 * If the foes contain casters you need to take out quickly (enemy monks, mesmers, necromancers and/or elementalists) then use Glyph of Sacrifice followed by Meteor Shower. Then proceed to spam Glyph of Lesser Energy, Searing Flames, Glowing Gaze and Lightbringer's Gaze as they become available.
 * If the foes are mostly melee foes (like all Titans) then inverse the combo. Spam the first four skills on your bar until foes are at half health, then use Metoer Shower to finish them off. In fact, against pure melee foes (Warriors, Dervishes and Assassins), try not to use Meteor Shower altogether.
 * If your Lightbringer title is less than rank 3, replace Lightbringer's Gaze with Liquid Flame.
 * In the "generic resurrection" slot, each of the three E/Mo nukers must equip a different one of these skills:
 * Rebirth: One elementalist will be in charge of "Glyph-Sac" rebirthing players who in a bad spot inside the foundry itself. This elementialist can also help monks rebirth players through the gate when the party is setting up to fight behind a gate.
 * Resurrection Chant: One elementalist must have this skill. combined with Glyph of Sacrifice, it can bring a player immediately up and at full health. However, it only has half the regular range. This is mainly used to bring up the tank (and the ranger if used) on the other side of the gate.
 * Resurrect: The third elementalist must bring this skill in case the tank dies outside of the range of Resurrection Chant.

Equipment:
 * As elementalists have a large pool of energy, the only real upgrade this build really needs is 20% HSR preferably on both the wand and the focus item. This is to speed up the readiness of Meteor Shower.
 * A variety of armor choices make sense:
 * An armor set with Radiant Insignia will provide extra energy.
 * An armor set with Pyromancer Isnignia will provide extra protection against the Tortureweb Dryders' nukes.
 * An armor set with Stalwart Insignia will provide extra protection against any melee aggro that comes your way.
 * Tempest Armor would provide extra protection as the elementalist will always have at least 2 enchantments on.

The Healer's Boon Monk
Place spare points in death magic

Usage:
 * Maintain Healer's Boon on at all times during a battle.
 * Maintain Essence Bond on the tank.
 * Dwayna's Kiss is the primary healing skill.
 * Healing Touch is for self-healing.
 * Use Heal Party to heal the tank at a distance, or when the party is collectively moving and taking damage from Enduring Torment.
 * Using Healing Seed on the tank and alternate it with the other monk.
 * When the party comes to a room where they will have to fight outside the room (see the tactics below), you will need to run to the gate as soon as it closes and then invoke Necrotic Traversal (or Consume Corpse) and then move away from enemy casting range. If the party has a fighting chance, then assist them with Heal Party.

Equipment:
 * A perfect Insightful Staff of Enchanting with 20/20 HSR and HCT for Healing Prayers is optimal.
 * Ascetic's Armor or an armor set fully equipped with Radiant Insignia (for the extra energy) is ideal for this build.

The Spell Breaker Monk
Usage:
 * Maintain Essence Bond on the tank.
 * Dwayna's Kiss is the primary healing skill.
 * Healing Touch is for self-healing.
 * Use Protective Spirit on any party memeber other than the tank who begins to draw the attention of foes.
 * Dismiss Condition is primarily for the Prisoners of the Foundry Breakout quest so that they do not become crippled, however, there is disease, Poison, Bleeding and Deep Wound aong the way, so feel free to use it as needed.
 * Cascade Healing Seed on the tank with the other monk.
 * Use Spell Breaker on the tank as he goes in to gather aggro. This will allow the tank to move freely without being slowed by Obsidian Flesh.
 * When the party comes to a room where they will have to fight outside the room (see the tactics below), you will need to cast Spell Breaker and Protective Spirit on the Healer's Boon monk to make sure he makes it outside to safety.

Equipment:
 * A perfect Insightful Staff of Enchanting with 20/20 HSR and HCT for Healing Prayers is optimal.
 * Ascetic's Armor or an armor set fully equipped with Radiant Insignia (for the extra energy) is ideal for this build.

The Bonder
Usage:
 * Maintain all the bonds above on the tank in order from right (Life Barrier cast first) to left (Vital Blessing cast last).
 * Maintain Balthazar's Spirit on yourself as well.
 * Maintian Life Barrier on the elementalists and (depending on your skill and how comfortable you are with bonding) everyone else.
 * When the party gets to the Prisoners part, you will need to maintain Life Barrier and Life Bond on each prisoner as he is being rescued. After the prisoner is taken to safety, you can remove those bonds. Since no fighting takes place during those sequences, you can drop the bonds on the elementalists if you need to.

Equipment:
 * A perfect Insightful Staff of Fortitude with +5 Energy while health is above 50% ("Hale and Hearty" inscription) is optimal.
 * Ascetic's Armor or an armor set fully equipped with Radiant Insignia (for the extra energy) is ideal for this build.
 * Two head pieces, a Defender's head piece with a superior Protection Prayers rune to cast the bonds and then a Prophet's head piece with a superior Divine Favor rune to maintain them.

The Ranger or Part-Ranger
This character can either be a full-fledged ranger, or a damage dealing caster (Ritualist, Elementalist, Mesmer, or Necromancer) with ranger as a secondary. This is a possible build for the ranger:

Usage:
 * Lay down Edge of Extinction at the start of every fight in a safe spot that keeps all foes in range.
 * Use Broad Head Arrow and Savage Shot to shut down enemy monks (Margonite Anur Ki) as well as any dangerous casters such as the Margonite Anur Su or the Tortureweb Dryders.
 * Use Apply Poison to apply health degeneration on foes at all time.
 * Your pet is the key to the safety of the group. Before each chamber leading to the foundry itself, you need to walk it to death outside the gate. This way, when the whole party goes in and the gate traps you all inside, the Healer's Boon monk can use it's corpse to leave the room to safety. After a room has been cleared, so not forget to resurrect your pet with Comfort Animal and bring it to the next gate. After the party gets to the foundry itself, you can leave the pet dead.

Equipment:
 * A perfect Silencing Recurve Bow of Fortitude with +5 Energy.
 * Druid's Armor or an armor set fully equipped with Radiant Insignia (for the extra energy) is ideal for this build.

Necromancer Variant
This is a more common variant that just uses the spirits from the ranger profession along with Curses damage abilities.

Usage:
 * Lay down Edge of Extinction at the start of every fight in a safe spot that keeps all foes in range.
 * As soon as the tank brings back foes and is set, use Spiteful Spirit and follow it up with Reckless Haste for constant Damage on foes. Reapply Spiteful Spirit on other foes as it recharges.
 * Spam Desecrate Enchantments and Defile Enchantments as they become available. Stygian Golems are the best targets for these.
 * Use Blood Ritual on teammates as they need energy.
 * Manage the pet as the ranger above.

Tactics
Conquering the Foundry involved clearing the four chambers leading up to the Foundry itself and then clearing it of most monsters to set up the final fight against The Fury. This is a chamber by chamber walkthrough:

1st Chamber
This is the easiest of the four chambers and should be completed without the party having to use the "Necrotic Traversal then Rebirth" trick. However, just to be safe, the ranger should have his pet die outside the first gate. Everyone should take the quest from Captain Jerzah. As soon as everyone is sufficiently deep enough into the room, the gates will lock and a group of Margonite Anurs will spawn at the end of the room.

After everyone has their bonds on. The Tank should be covered with Spell Breaker and should go in just as the spawn of Margonites is collapsing so as to form a nice ball for Meteor Shower. Remember not to cast anything on the tank while he is their aggro range until all aggro settles on him (i.e. their melee attackers all start attacking him). As soon as aggro is set, the elementalists should proceed to nuke with Meteor Shower first. When this group is about to die, make sure to save one last Margonite and pull him back to the gate where party came in, then finish him off there. This should ensure that the next spawn of Titans does not aggro the party, or at least aggro only on the tank. After the last Margonite dies, 3 Rage Titans and 3 Despair Titans will show up.

If those Titans spawn ouside of everyone's aggro, then the tank should take another Spell Breaker and go to them. If they spawn within aggro range of the tank then he/she should use Obsidian Flesh and walk to them (to ensure they do not walk to him/her and see other party members behind). Whenever the tank is setting aggro like this, Heal Party should be the only healing used.

These titans will not spawn more titans, however, because they cannot be knocked down, Meteor Shower acts like Fire Storm making them scatter rather quickly. So, try and stick with Searing Flames as much as possible. Finish off the Rage Titans first as they can wipe out the whole party with Earthquake followed by Churning Earth. If things look grim, the Healer's Boon monk should always have his/her finger on the Necrotic Traversal trigger. However, with experience, this group should be easy to take out with no deaths.

Revive the pet then move it to the door of the next chamber and then let it die.

2nd Chamber
This room is nigh impossible to fight in. It is very small and the spawn that appears after the door closes has three Tortureweb Dryders (which can wipe a tightly packed party in 2 spells). The party should hug the left wall and proceed slowly until the spawn appears. As soon as it does, the Spell Breaker monk should throw Spell Breaker followed by Protective Spirit on the Healer's Boon monk and that monk should Necrotic Traversal out of the room and move away from the casting range of the Dryders.

The Party should try and take out the Margonite Anur Ki that spawns in this group before wiping as well as any Dryders they can, however, they should also try to die as close as they can to the gate. After the fight is over and all members in the chamber have died, the monk should proceed to rebirth them outside the room leaving the warrior and the ranger. Those two must always remain in the room the party is trying to clear out.

After the casters have all been resurrected and bonded, one of the elementalists should "Glyph-Sacc Rez" the tank inside the chamber. The tank should come as close as possible to the game and the bonder should careully reapply bonds while the monk heal him/her. The elementalists should be able to nuke the enemy from across the gate and the wall. They should spread apart so that Searing Flames does not damage all of them at the same time.

Sometimes, a foe or two will run off and get stuck on the opposite side of the room. If the party waits for a few minutes, that foe will come back within casting range. Alternatively, one of the eles could resurrect the ranger inside the room and the ranger can use poison to bring that foe down.

When the chamber is almost cleared, the Spell Breaker monk should cast Spell Breaker on the tank as the second spawn contains a Greater Dream Rider. The second spawn should be cleared in the same manner.

Revive the pet then move it to the door of the next chamber and then let it die.

3rd Chamber
This chamber will spawn all its creatures at the same time (there will be no seondary spawn after the first groups are wiped). There will be four patrols roaming the room (all of which come near the gate, but not all the way). A patrol of 4 Misery Titans, a patrol of 4 Anguish Titans, a patrol of 4 Rage Titans and a patrol of 3 Dryders along with one Rider.

The Titans in this room will exhibit the usual Titan behavior of spawning smaller Titans. There are two spawn chains:
 * Anguish Titan-> Despair Titan -> Fury Titan
 * Misery Titan-> Rage Titan -> Dementia Titan

The Healer's Boon monk should wait outside the gate using Necrotic Traversal. The Tank can try and pull the Misery titans (easiest to take out) and the party can wipe trying to finish them off. Make sure not to stand right next to the gate or the new Titans that spawn from the dead Titans might spawn outside the gate and prevent the Healer's Boon Monk from rebirthing.

After the party is rebirthed on the outside, the tank can proceed to pull group after group, while the elementalists take them out.

Revive the pet then move it to the door of the next chamber and then let it die.

4th Chamber
This chamber will again give the party room to operate. A spawn of Dryders along with a Margonite Anur Ki will spawn at the back of the room. They can be taken out by a frontal assault (tank charge in when they are balled up). Before the last foes dies, the party should pull that foes back to the beginning of the room and finish it off there to be safe. The next spawn will be a large group of Dementia Titans. At this point, the Healer's Boon monks should leave the room to be safe. The party can try and kill them while they are on the tank. If aggro breaks, a wipe + rebirth maybe necessary.

After this group there will be a mixed group with a Margonite Anur Ki, a few Titans and a Dryder. One of the Titans is a special Fury Titan that drops a unique item.

After this room is clear, you can proceed to take the quest reward anf the next quest from Tekliss.

The Foundry
The name of the game in the Foundry is pulling and aggro control. Because the Foundry is spacious, kiting and breaking aggor if things go bad is quite possible, so there will be no more need for the pet.

As soon as the party goes in, they will see a large Vat to their right with a small gap between it and the wall. That gap will be the focus of all pulling and tanking till that part of the Foundry is cleared. The tank will simply aggro a group and tanks them at the gap so that they are unable to get through the gap and then the nukers can cast on them through the wall.

Past the gap, the party will see 4 large vates in the center of the hall, they should always use those vats for groups that do not pull all the way to the gap. The tank should pull the foes to the vat, the casters should be behind him/her so that the enemies need to go through the tank to get to them and then nuke.

Note that the Greater Dream Riders will follow indefinitely. One way to exploit this is to aggro their group (usually patrol with Dryders) and then run off till the Dryders break aggro, and then kill off the Riders who, alone, will not do much damage.

After all patrols are cleared, the party can attempt to complete the quest. For each prisoner, the bonder will place Life Bond and Life Barrier on that prisoner, and the SB monk will place Spell Breaker on the prisoner and immediately after that, the tank will speak to the prisoner and advance the quest). Then everyone needs to run far away and the prisoner will follow them. If the prisoner is crippled, Dismiss Condition should be used, Heal Party should be used for healing the party as they move. After aggro breaks, everyone should stand still, and the ranger should take the prisoner away till the names in the party are all grayed out. This will ensure the prisoner does not follow the party anymore.

The same procedure should be done with the other two prisoners. Captain Valkyss' group should be taken out as they are in the way of future fights. First, the party should run away till only the Riders follow. After they die, the Captain should be taken away to safety and then the remaining party members should kill off the Dryders.

After all three prisoners are safe, the tank should advance to the gate to aggro the spawn of The Black Beast of Arrgh. With bonds, the tank should be able to tank him even with 0 attribute points. However, the Beast should first be pulled all the way to where his patrol will follow no more and then fought there so that they do not try and go for party members behind the tank.

After the Beast dies, the quest will be completed and the prisoners will be removed from the party list. The party can then take on The Fury's group. Once again, they can pull the Guardians of Komalie who look like Dream Riders all the way to the gap and finish them off. After that, they can keep pulling the Fury's Group back and forth until they find the spot beyond which they will not follow, and then nuke the monks first then the Dryder guardians. The Fury is actually less of a threat than those Dryders.

Variants

 * The entire nuking cast can be replaced with Necromancers using Feast of Corruption to spike.
 * The tank does not necessarily need to be an Obsidian Flesh warrior. Other tanking builds can be used, as well as non-warrior tanking builds like a continual Shadow Form assassin or an Obsidian Dervish.

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.

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 as follows:
 * The ranger spirit-spammer lays down Symbiosis and EoE in range of where the tank will will be holding aggro.
 * An Obsidian Flesh tank draws aggro and tries to hold it.
 * Three Searing Flames nukers take out the targets, using snares to keep them in nuking range and relying on EoE and Crippling Shot from the ranger to finish off stragglers.
 * One of the Searing Flames nukers brings Deep Freeze to ensure foes remain in the area of effect of Searing Flames till EoE kicks in. All foes should die after one usage of Meteor Showers by each elementalist along with Searing Flames.
 * Two healer monks keep the tank alive and catch any damage that strays towards the elementalists.
 * One bonder maintains all bonds on the tank and some bonds on the nukers to prevent massive spikes.
 * Using Symbiosis and the various bonds from the bonder as well as the Earth Magic enchantments, the tank can bring his/her health up to 3,000 health. This makes the tank very resilient to the attacks of the Stygian Hungers which are touchers who steal health (i.e. ignore all armor buffs and protective enchantments).

The Obsidian Flesh Tank
Usage:
 * The tank will be heavily bonded. As such he/she will only be receiving partial damage at all times.
 * The tank will have Balthazar's Spirit on which will allow for constant casting of all Earth Magic spells.
 * In the early going, all foes will be melee attackers and rangers, as such, you will not need Obsidian Flesh's protection. You should only use it if in danger of losing enchantments. The main culprits will be Soul Tormentors who use Gaze of Contempt and Water Tormentors who can slow you down significantly.
 * When pulling a group of foes, it is actually useful to invoke Obsidian flesh or Armor of Earth as moving slower than computer controlled foes will make them follow you as far as they could as opposed to running at normal speed.
 * Use Stoneflesh Aura as often as possible. It will make you take zero damage from nearly all attacks and spells.
 * Lay down Ward Against Foes when foes around you are near half-health. This will snare them around longer for the elementalists to finish them off.
 * The optional slot can be:
 * Glyph of Concentration: To avoid having any of your spells interrupted.
 * Dolyak Signet: As a massive armor boost. This is not needed, but is useful in situations where, for example, monks go down and you need to stay alive till they are revived.
 * Lightbringer's Gaze: To add some offensive punch to this very defensive build.

Equipment:
 * A sword/axe with +5 Energy and a 20% "of Enchanting" grip. This will give you extra energy and make all the Earth spells last longer on you. Rajazan's Fervor or the Totem Axe make great weapons for this build.
 * A Shield with either +30 Health or +45 while Enchanted is optimal. Also, having a secondary set of Earth Magic based wand and Focus item is optimal for energy. It can also be a 15/-1 set to provide an extra energy boost in times of trouble.
 * A longbow for pulling.
 * Gladiator's Armor or an armor set fully equipped with Radiant Insignia (for the extra energy) is ideal for this build.

The Searing Flames Nukers
Usage:
 * Wait until all enemy aggro has settled on the tank.
 * Maintain Fire Attunement during a fight.
 * Once aggro is settled on the tank, go in and use Meteor Shower. Try not to use Glyph of Sacrifice if you have it, so as not to increase the cool down between fights.
 * Continue to spam Searing Flames, Glowing Gaze and Lightbringer's Gaze till foes are dead.
 * If your Lightbringer title is less than rank 3, replace Lightbringer's Gaze with Liquid Flame.

Equipment:
 * As elementalists have a large pool of energy, the only real upgrade this build really needs is 20% HSR preferably on both the wand and the focus item. This is to speed up the readiness of Meteor Shower.
 * A variety of armor choices make sense:
 * An armor set with Radiant Insignia will provide extra energy.
 * An armor set with Stalwart Insignia will provide extra protection against any melee aggro that comes your way.
 * Tempest Armor would provide extra protection as the elementalist will always have at least 2 enchantments on.

The Searing Flames Freezer
Nearly identical to the others elementalists, this elementalist simply freezes enemies after a nuke so that they do not disperse before they are killed.

Usage:
 * Wait until all enemy aggro has settled on the tank.
 * Maintain Fire Attunement during a fight.
 * Once aggro is settled on the tank, go in and use Meteor Shower. Try not to use Glyph of Sacrifice if you have it, so as not to increase the cool down between fights.
 * After Meteor Shower, cast Deep Freeze. This will greatly hamper enemy movement until they are taken down.
 * If your Lightbringer title is less than rank 3, replace Lightbringer's Gaze with Liquid Flame.

Equipment:
 * As elementalists have a large pool of energy, the only real upgrade this build really needs is 20% HSR preferably on both the wand and the focus item. This is to speed up the readiness of Meteor Shower.
 * A variety of armor choices make sense:
 * An armor set with Radiant Insignia will provide extra energy.
 * An armor set with Stalwart Insignia will provide extra protection against any melee aggro that comes your way.
 * Tempest Armor would provide extra protection as the elementalist will always have at least 2 enchantments on.

The Healer's Boon Monk
Usage:
 * Maintain Healer's Boon on at all times during a battle.
 * Maintain Essence Bond on the tank.
 * Dwayna's Kiss is the primary healing skill. (This will heal the tank for upward of 500 health)
 * Healing Touch is for self-healing.
 * Use Infuse Health if the tank becomes the victim of Grenth's Balance and loses a large chunk of health.
 * Use Heal Party to heal the tank at a distance, or when the party is collectively moving and taking damage from Enduring Torment.
 * Using Healing Seed on the tank and alternate it with the other monk once the tank sets aggro.

Equipment:
 * A perfect Insightful Staff of Enchanting with 20/20 HSR and HCT for Healing Prayers is optimal.
 * Ascetic's Armor or an armor set fully equipped with Radiant Insignia (for the extra energy) is ideal for this build.

The Spell Breaker Monk
Usage:
 * Maintain Essence Bond on the tank.
 * Dwayna's Kiss is the primary healing skill.
 * Healing Touch is for self-healing.
 * Use Protective Spirit on any party memeber other than the tank who begins to draw the attention of foes.
 * Cascade Healing Seed on the tank with the other monk.
 * Use Spell Breaker on the tank against groups of Sygian Hungers when Meteor Shower starts dropping. This is to prevent them from using Grenth's Balance on him. Their AI is such that they will use it on the target with the highest health (always the tank) when they fall to 1/3 health or so. So, if you SB the tank, you deny them that self healing and prevent a huge spike (if they get GB off, they will steal upward of 1500 health from the tank).

Equipment:
 * A perfect Insightful Staff of Enchanting with 20/20 HSR and HCT for Healing Prayers is optimal.
 * Ascetic's Armor or an armor set fully equipped with Radiant Insignia (for the extra energy) is ideal for this build.

The Bonder
Usage:
 * Maintain all the bonds above on the tank in order from right (Life Barrier cast first) to left (Vital Blessing cast last).
 * Maintain Balthazar's Spirit on yourself as well.
 * Maintian Life Barrier on the elementalists and (depending on your skill and how comfortable you are with bonding) everyone else.

Equipment:
 * A perfect Insightful Staff of Fortitude with +5 Energy while health is above 50% ("Hale and Hearty" inscription) is optimal.
 * Ascetic's Armor or an armor set fully equipped with Radiant Insignia (for the extra energy) is ideal for this build.
 * Two head pieces, a Defender's head piece with a superior Protection Prayers rune to cast the bonds and then a Prophet's head piece with a superior Divine Favor rune to maintain them.

The Necromancer Spirit Spammer
This utility necromancer added nuking with Curses spells, maintianing useful spirits up during fights and providing other casters with energy.

Usage:
 * Lay down Edge of Extinction and Symbiosis at the start of every fight in a safe spot that keeps all foes in range. Ideally, you want the spirit ahead and to the side of where the tank will be stopping so that Symbiosis covers the tank for the greatest possible radius.
 * As soon as the tank brings back foes and is set, use Suffering and follow it up with Feast of Corruption for a significant nuke.
 * Spam Desecrate Enchantments and Defile Enchantments as they become available. Stygian Golems are the best targets for these.
 * Use Blood Ritual on teammates as they need energy.

Equipment:
 * A Necromancer staff or wand and focus item that provide extra energy as well as halving the spell recharge on Feast of Corruption are ideal.
 * Cabalist's Armor or an armor set fully equipped with Radiant Insignia (for the extra energy) is ideal for this build.

Variant:
 * Replace Feast of Corruption and Suffering with Spiteful Spirit (SS) and Reckless Haste. SS has less synergy with groups that are being pummeled by Meteor Shower, but if the fight drags on, SS will produce more damage per second.

Tactics
Conquering the Stygian Veil involves three stages:
 * 1) Clearing the initial mobs of monsters at the start of the Breaching the Stygian Veil quest.
 * 2) Clearing the two hills north and south to defeat the two Stygian Underlords and complete the Breaching quest.
 * 3) Killing the four Stygian Lords to complete Brood Wars and cause the Dreadspawn Maw to appear.
 * 4) Destroying the Dreadspawn Maw.

The Initial Assault
For the first part of Breaching the Stygian Veil, the party should all go north of the Acolyte who gives the quest. The tank should take the quest and back up till all mobs reachs the Acolyte. Spirits should be laid and then the tank should pull using the longbow (always hit "C" and shoot the neartest creature). There will be three mobs jumbles up together, whenever you clear a mob, another will come from the same hill that the first mob came from, till you see a mixed group of foes. That will signal that there will be no more mobs coming from that hill.

Depending on the type of mobs, the party should react accordingly:
 * Groups of Stygian Hungers should be pulled to tank, they wil pile themselves around him nicely. Nuke a middle target, freeze them and then finish them off with Searing Flames. Use Spell breaker when they are below half health.
 * Groups of Stygian Brutes or Stygian Horrors do not require Spell Breaker. However, the tank should buff himself up with the Earth Magic spells as their Physical damage can trickle to the bonder.
 * Groups of Stygian Golems actually benefit from Symbiosis, but not as much as the tank. They are handled like the Horrors and Brutes.
 * Groups of Stygian Fiends are very dangerous. The tank should pull them back using a zig-zag motion till they form a tight ball for the nukers to nuke them. Also, if the tank goes to them in melee range and attacks, they will say on him.
 * Mixed groups will usually have one Fiend and then the rest will be melee. The melee foes should be nuked first and should the Fiend go for the party, containing it should not be a problem.

The Two Hills
Starting with the southern hill, the technique should be the same. Spirits get laid down, the tank goes in and gathers several enemies, then brings them back within spirit ranger and tanks them. The only thing to watch out for is that the Stygian Fiends can cripple the tank and the Brutes can knock him/her down with Bull's Strike. The Healer's Boon monk should use Heal Party to aid the tank at a distance. When pulling a group with Water Tormentors, the tank should have Spell Breaker coverage.

The northern hill has pop-ups through out the first half of it. As such, the spirits should be laid outside the hill, the tank should go in till a group starts popping up (the tank should stand still till they all come out of the ground, there is usually 6 monsters). The group will be mixed with at least one Stygian Fiend. There are thre more pop-up groups past the first one. A group around each of the Torment Claws that will spawn near the middle of the hill.

Past those Torment Claws, there should be no hidden groups and the tank should proceed like the first hill, gathering groups and bringing them to spirit range. The spirits should be constantly moved as the party makes its way deeper into the hill.

The Stygian Lords
There are ways to skip over barriers and so on to get to the Sytgian Lords. This guide will simply tackle the problem straight on.

The party should choose one of the trenches to clear out, the best candidates would be the second trench to the north or south. Either of those trenches leads to a Stygian Lord, and from there on the party can move in a circle to get to the remaining three.

Each trench will spawn two melee groups as soon as someone is half-way through it. The two groups will rush towards each other (and kill anyone stuck inside) and then will camp on the opposite end of where they spawned. In addition, some Tormentor demons will spawn up top on one or both sides of the hills sandwiching the trench. To avoid surprises, one party member can simply run into the trench to trigger its spawns and then die half way through. The party can then Rebirth that member from atop one of the two hill overlooking the trench. If dying is such a big deal, one Elementalist can go secondary Assassin and bring Recall and use it to leave the trench before the pop-up groups close in on him/her.

Once the trench's spawns are stationary the tank can tackle them under spirit range and the party can destroy the closer melee group then the furhter one as well as the spawns on top of the hills. Once the trench is clear, the party can proceed to the Stygian Lord, kill any patrols roaming around him, and destroy him. From that point on, the party will simply circle around to kill the other three lord (see the walkthrough for the quest Brood Wars for their locations).

Note the following:
 * The first Stygian Lord to the south is a necromancer, there is a patrol that comes in front of him from the east and another from the west. After clearing the eastern patrol, he can be pulled without the western patrol. He is guarded by Tormentor demons.
 * The next one to the east of him is a mesmer. There is a stationary group of Tormentors around him as well as two spawns of Torment Claws.
 * The next one to the northeast is an elementalist. There are two patrols on the way to him and then a large pop-up spawn inside the alcove he is found in. The tank should hold then around the entrance to the alcove so they cannot go around him to the rest of the party. Casters should watch out for Chain Lightning from the Stygian Lord.
 * The final boss heading northwest from that spot is a smiting monk. Again he is found in an alcove which he can be pulled out of using a long bow. If anyone steps past the entrance of the alcove, a spawn of Stygian Hungers will appear at the entrance. The party should either pull carefully or trigger them on purpose and take them out first.

The Dreadspawn Maw
After the party returns and cashes in the quest Brood Wars, the Dreadspawn Maw will appear immediately behind them. Make sure everyone is out of the center area and safely next to the Acolyte before having ANY party member accept the reward. The Maw will be comprised of six Smothering Tendrils. The objective is to kill all six and their spawns.

For each Tendril, one elementalist will drop Meteor Shower on it, followed by a few Searing Flames casts. this elementalist should have Protective Spirit on them by the Spell Breaker monk. Everyone else should move back north where the party originally killed the monsters of the initial assault.

As soon as the Tendril is about to die, the SB monk should leave and join the others. The elementalist should finish off the Tendril and then pull back slowly. As soon as the Tendril dies, numerous Torment Claws will spawn as will as several Stygian creatures. If the Stygian creatures DID see the elementalist, he/she should just pull back slowly and have them kill him/her midway to the party. They should NOT bring them back to the party othwerwise the party can wipe after doing so much work. After they kill the elementalist, someone can rebirth him/her and then the tank can pull them into spirit range and the party can destroy them.

The party can then proceed to kill all the Torment Claws that spawned (great wanding fun). The same steps should be repeated for each Smothering Tendril.

Variants

 * One or two of the nuking cast can be replaced with Necromancers using Feast of Corruption to spike. The Freezer is vital for keeping all foes in the same AoE of spells. If the tank brings a snare like Grasping Earth, then the entire nuking crew can be replaced with necromancers.
 * The tank does not necessarily need to be an Obsidian Flesh tank. Other tanking builds can be used, as well as non-warrior tanking builds like a continual Shadow Form assassin or an Obsidian Dervish. However, buffing physical armor is important so that no damage goes through to the bonder.
 * The N/R can be switched to Spiteful Spirit or can be switched out for any other profession than can bring the two spirits on the side.

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.



The Urgoz Trapping team is a build designed to clear the way to, and destroy Urgoz inside Urgoz's Warren as quickly as possible while keeping the odds of party failure to a minimum. The core of the build is trapping which is used to damage the large groups of enemies in the warren as well as to keep them off balance. The build relies on Edge of Extinction (or EoE) to destroy Urgoz when the party reaches his inner sanctum.

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 as follows:
 * The team will set its traps and spirits at a good tactical position that does not expose it to moving patrols and allows for retreat. Using line of sight to protect against ranged attacks is always a good strategy if available.
 * A sweeper will go scout and pull the target enemy group back to the traps (usually the trapper with the most experience in the Warren).
 * As the enemy hits the traps. the party will finish them off with nuking and more trapping.
 * During fights, the monks and ritualist try to keep all party members alive.

Build Details
Urgoz's Warren allows for a party of 12 members. However, at its core, this build is composed of 9 members:
 * Three trappers
 * Two nukers
 * Two healers
 * One BiP necromancer
 * One Ritual Lord ritualist

Typically, the final three spots are filled with a backup trapper, a backup nuker and a backup monk. Such redundancy can protect the party from failing due to a team member leaving or getting disconnected.

The Trappers
The core three trappers should serve do three different roles, the fourth one can be a duplicate of either of the last two:

The EoE Trapper
This trapper specializes in bringing the skill Edge of Extinction at the highest possible level (16 Beast Mastery). This means that his/her Wilderness Survival traps (the bulk of the traps) will not be as potent. However, the presence of this trapper makes defeating many of the large groups in the warren much easier, as well as making the defeat of Urgoz himself a walk-in-the-park.

Note: Because of the lower than usual Expertise rank, it's better if this trapper not carry Dust Trap.

Usage:
 * Place EoE and EW (Energizing Wind) at a safe spot that will be within comfortable range of where the traps will be. Using line of sight to protect it from rangers is always a good approach.
 * Trap with the other trappers using Viper's Nest primarily as well as other traps.
 * When enemies are pulled into range use Oath Shot as soon as you can, do not wait till EoE has been killed to recharge it with Oath Shot. This will cause you to have to wait until Oath Shot is recharged to be able to use it again. Instead, adapt the approach of using Oath Shot as soon as you can, not when you have to.
 * During the fight, keep trapping as your energy allows (with Whirling Defenses on), while keeping an eye on EoE and making sure it is always up. It is not recommended that you keep EW up during the fight as it tampers with the recharge time of the skills of other party members.
 * For tips on the final confrontation with Urgoz, see the tactics section below.

Equipment:
 * Druid's Armor is recommended for maximum energy. Tamer's Mask is required to achieve maximum EoE.
 * Carrying a Traveler's Mask with a superior Wilderness Survival rune on it and swapping it with the Tamer's Mask while laying the trappers can help the potency of your traps. Remember to switch back to the Tamer's Mask when laying down the spirits.
 * Any Insightful staff will serve as a good trapping weapon. A staff wrapping of Fortitude is a nice bonus.
 * Any bow to use with Oath Shot to recharge your skills. The best for purposes of accuracy would be a Recurve Bow.

The Pure Trapper
The pure trapper has 16 Wilderness Survival and as such, his/her traps carry maximum potency. He/she is also in charge of laying down Quickening Zephyr (QZ).

Usage:
 * Place QZ at a safe spot that will be withing comfortable range of where the traps will be. Using line of sight to protect it from rangers is always a good approach.
 * Trap with the other trappers using all of your traps. Make sure Dust Traps are especially well spaced to protect your back line from melee attackers.
 * During the fight, keep trapping as your energy allows (with Whirling Defenses on). It is not recommended that you keep QZ up during the fight as it tampers with the energy cost of the skills of other party members.

Equipment:
 * Druid's Armor is recommended for maximum energy. Traveler's Mask is required to achieve maximum trap potency.
 * Any Insightful staff will serve as a good trapping weapon. A staff wrapping of Fortitude is a nice bonus.
 * A bow for pulling is optional.

Variations:
 * This trapper can also bring Healing Spring for to heal himself and his fellow trappers when trapping in health degeneration rooms.

The Hybrid Trapper
The Hybrid trapper has high Wilderness Survival and Beast Mastery to act as a support trapper for the Pure trapper as well as a backup in case the EoE trapper leaves or is disconnected. This is mainly because EoE is such an important component of defeating Urgoz.

Usage & Equipment:
 * Exactly like the Pure Trapper. In addition, a Tamer's Mask in case this trapper is forced to use his/her EoE instead of the main EoE trapper.

The Nukers
The two nukers will have the exact same build and their main focus should be Fire Magic. The build could be any Build:E/any Renewal Nuker build, but for Urgoz, the following basic build seems to work best:

Usage:
 * The main function of the two elementalists is to finish off enemy groups. They must be patient and allow the enemy to fall into the traps. While the ensuing chaos may spoil a perfect nuke, it serves the party better to have enemies scurrying about blinded, burning and crippled.
 * It's best to time the cast of nukes with traps triggering. If enemies are pummeled by Meteor Shower just as they trigger a trap, they will be damaged fully by the trap before they can run off. After a little time and experience the nukers will get the hang of it.
 * Use Breath of Fire wisely. Its primary usage should be to break away melee attackes who wander past the trappers or who arrive late and are not affected by the traps.
 * Glyph of Energy is extremely useful in fighting in areas where the party will be under the effects of Sheer Exhaustion.

Equipment:
 * Battlemage's Armor may provide an extra defensive boost, but any armor works fine.
 * A staff or (Wand and Focus Item combination) that provides +5 Energy and +30 Health as well as faster casting time and skill recharge for Fire Magic would be optimal.

The Healers
The monks in the party should all specialize in Healing Prayers primarily. While other healing builds (such as boon prot) can be just as useful, the heavy presence of mesmers in the final few rooms of the Warren makes builds that rely on Protection Prayers less effective. Such builds tend to rely on enchantments which will be consistently removed by Greater Blood Drinkers and Maddened Mind Wardens. All monks should run a build along these lines:

Usage:
 * Word of Healing is the primary healing skill for other party members and healing touch is the primary healing skill for self-healing.
 * Protective Spirit is mandatory in at least one of the monks in case the Rituliast drops out. Facing the Thorn Wolves without some way to control their spike damage is ill-advised.
 * Heal Party is mandatory for many scenarios in the warren. There are at least two rooms with -15 health degeneration and Heal Party makes operating in those much easier, especially in the presence of the BiP necromancer.
 * Extinguish is extremely useful on the Fire Flower bridge.
 * Use Holy Veil (or any other Hex removal skill) to remove critical hexes from your party, such as Icy Veins and Shroud of Silence.

Equipment:
 * Ascetic's Armor is recommended for energy.
 * Any staff (or wand and focus item combination) that provides +5 Energy, +30 Health and fast recharge and cast time for Healing Prayers is optimal.

Variations: There can be many variations for the monk builds as the only essential skills are Heal Party and Protective Spirit. All other skills can be replaced with others in a very flexible manner...
 * Word of Healing can be replaced with Blessed Light or Healing Light.
 * Extinguish can be replaced with Aegis.

The Bipper
The BiP necromancer is the energy source of the party. Without him/her, the run can take an hour longer. The presence of the necro allows the trappers to trap faster, the monks to heal more frequently and the whole party to simply take on bigger groups of enemies. The build is no different that Build:N/any BiP Necro with the addition of a traversal skill for room 3.

Usage:
 * Keep Blood Renewal on at all times.
 * Use Blood is Power on any party member you wish to give Energy to.
 * A good Bipper never waits for people to call their Energy. Instead, the bipper should have a plan:
 * While trapping and setting up for enemies, the bipper should focus on feeding the trappers.
 * During a fight, the bipper should bip the monks, then elementalists, then trappers in that order of priority.
 * Use wells as Energy and circumstances permit.
 * Use Consume Corpse (or Necrotic Traversal) to get on the bridge in room 3.
 * Having as little maximum health as possible allows the bipper to be extremely effective in doing his/her job, however, this should only be done if the bipper is very good at staying alive. Dying does not really harm the bipper, but having to do without the bipper in the middle of an intense fight is not a good thing for the other party members.

Equipment:
 * Scar Pattern Armor is recommended for energy. Adding Superior Runes to reduce health is an option.
 * Any staff (or wand and focus item combination) that provides +5 Energy and fast recharge and cast time for Blood Magic is optimal. An item which reduces health or one that lengthens enchantments (for Blood Renewal and BiP) can help also.

The Ritual Lord
The Ritual Lord ritualist is a Communing-specialized ritualist who maintains 3 very imporant defensive Binding Spirits up. The main objective is to create a spike-free zone for the party to operate in.

Usage:
 * Make sure Boon of Creation and Ritual Lord are on at all time.
 * Extend Spike Trap and Meteor Shower knock down time to 3 seconds with Earthbind.
 * When the rangers are almost done with their traps, the ritualist should setup the spirits. A good spot would be near where the trappers setup EoE.
 * As the spirits die, the ritualist should be constantly replacing them. Beware of interrupts.
 * In any room in which there are Thorn Wolves, it is imperative that the spirits be up and ready when the Wolves approach the party.

Equipment:
 * Halcyon's Armor is recommended for energy.
 * Any staff (or wand and focus item combination) that provides +5 Energy, +30 Health and fast recharge and cast time for Communing is optimal.

Tactics
The build primarily follows the mission walkthrough in the article Urgoz's Warren, the following are tactics specific to this build:

Room 1:
 * The trappers should set the traps where the party spawns, all non-trappers should move back a little bit (to the open gate behind the party). The trappers should make the traps in multiple layers as the Thought Stealers usually precede the Hopping Vampires. When ready, a trapper should move forward to trigger the pop-ups.
 * The party should then bunker down in the corridor. Traps should be set at the end of the corridor while spirits should be placed just around the bend where the party spawned.
 * Pull one or more (if the party is proficient) of the Dredge groups. Trappers should keep their focus on the Maddened Dredge and the Maddened Dredge Savages while the nukers should try and take out the Dredge Gardeners and the Maddened Dredge Seers.
 * For this pull and all future pull, the puller should be a veteran trapper. It is poor pulling to get the enemy group trickling one by one. Instead, the trapper should try and bunch them up (using Whirling Defense to stay alive) so that they approach the traps together. It renders the traps useless (and puts a lot of strain on the monks) to have one enemy come first and set off all the traps and then have the rest of that enemy's group arrive unmolested.
 * After the Dredge patrols are destroyed, kill the Twisted Bark and then set up near the top of the flight of stairs. Pull the Dredge group there.
 * After destroying that group, set the traps at the open gate (without stepping in) and then when ready, step in to bring the two running patrols (one will come from each side). Pull them through the traps and then finish them off. Proceed to kill the Guardian Serpent.

Room 2:
 * Non-trappers should stay outside of the health degeneration effect (roughly where the dark shadow ends). The trappers place their spirits out of degeneration and then setup around the corner. They should proceed to pull the two large Dredge groups and the one Greater Boold Drinker pop up group.
 * The Bipper needs to focus mainly on the monks in this room. They will be spamming Heal Party.
 * The nukers should step in to the degeneration area to nuke and then step out.
 * When the path to the Twisted Bark is clear, the nukers should go in and kill it quickly.
 * Trappers are extremely effective at neutralizing the Greater Blood Drinker in an open battle. Depending on how proficient the party is, they can pop out one or more of the Blood Drinker groups hidden in the room and just take them head on. Using Whirling Defense, exploiting the face that the Blood Drinker use mostly slow casting necromancer skills, and because they like to target softer targets in the back, the trappers will be able to trap almost unmolested under their feet. This will keep the Blood Drinkers off-balance (getting knocked down by Spike Trap, running from AoE trap effects) and will actually make the job of the monks much easier. At this stage of the fight, the Bipper should keep the monks and nukers well-fed.

Room 3:
 * The trappers should trap heavily (and in mutiple layers) at the gate and then just pull both plant groups (the Burning Brushes, Brooding Thorns and Uprooted Malices). Fire nuking and Flame Trap are extremely effective in wiping out these groups.
 * The party should then proceed to all hide under the bridge. Traps will work under the bridge and damage those above it. EoE is very important in quickly taking out the Dredge who are not on the bridge.
 * The bipper should use Consume Corpse to get up on the bridge and open the two locks.

Room 4:
 * Trappers should set their traps at the start of the bridge. The ritualist should set up his/her spirits as closely as possible to the beginning of the bridge to provide protection to the puller as far as possible.
 * A puller should pop the first group of Thorn Wolves (about 1/4 of the way throughthe bridge) and finish them off.
 * Re-stablish traps and spirits then get the second group of wolves. The second group (at the center of the bridge, where the two lamps are) is the hardest to pull, because the puller would be so far from the healers and because the pulling distance is so long that they sometimes do not follow all the way back to the traps. The party should just be patient. Using Recall in this situation greatly helps (see Variations below).
 * After this group is cleared, the party should move up to the two lamps and setup traps and spirits there. The puller should then proceed to pull the third group of wolves (once again, Recall being very useful).
 * Finally, the party should re-establish traps (in two layers) and then the puller should proceed to the end of the bridge where the Vampires and Thought Stealers will pop up. Recall would work perfectly as they will run to the party anyway even if the puller is gone.

Room 5:
 * This area is filled with Thorn Wolf pop-ups and a veteran in the party needs to let them know where to pause for traps at each juncture.
 * At each point, traps should be set up (special emphasis should be made on a few Dust Traps near the casters) and the ritualist spirits have to be up to prevent disaster.
 * Monks should use Hex Breaker (see Variations below) when possible to prevent themselves from getting shrouded. Preventing this hex is much better than trying to remove it while being unable to cast for several seconds.
 * The party will proceed past the left bridge then go right, then straight to the green area, then right and cross a long bridge. At that point they should turn right sharply (passing under the bridge they last crossed) and head straight till they get to the Guardian Serpent. All along this path there are Thorn Wolf pop-ups that need experience to tell where they will appear.

Room 6:
 * One member should wait while the rest of the party should go in, destroy the Twisted Bark (a couple of players staying behind it will prevent it from running the wrong way out of AoE). The bipper can give a little extra boost of energy if needed.
 * After this, the party should destroy the Guardian Serpent, cross the bridge, then signal to the waiting member to catch up to them.

Room 7:
 * The trappers should set traps just before the gate and then pull the large group of plants and take them out.
 * Trap at the gate now and then pull the other group of plants that is near the Guardian Serpent.
 * If the elementalists can damage a Brooding Thorn enough (not a Burning Brush because they will run away and around the back to try and attack) that the Twisted Bark comes to heal it with Healing Touch, then the party can have a shot at killing it without having to fight the Wardens.
 * If this does not work, the trappers should setup past the gate and around the corner to the left (so that the casters are outside of Sheer Exhaustion) and then they should proceed to pull the Warden groups.
 * When fighting the Wardens, it's important to be conscious of spacing and movement. The casters should not stand next to each other (making themselves vulnerable to group interrupttion via Cry of Frustration). The nukers should focus on the Maddened Song Wardens and Maddened Mind Wardens while the trappers should take out the melee wardens.
 * After the Wardens and plants are destroyed, the party should kill the Twisted Bark to be exhaustion-free in the next area.

Room 8:
 * Traps should be laid at the gate (the top of the stairs) and the spirits should be placed around the corner and away from where the party members will be standing, this is to prevent Churning Earth from destroying them.
 * The presence of EoE is extremely useful in wiping out large numbers of Wardens quickly.
 * All party members should be ready to kite to avoid damage from Churning Earth that is cast by Maddened Earth Wardens.
 * After the first few group are pulled to the gate and destroyed, the party can go in and clear the stationary plants. The final two Warden groups will require the same scheme of trapping and pulling.

Room 9:
 * The party should name one party member who will stay behind the gate no matter what transpires. This is to prevent the entire party from stepping past the door during the heat of battle and getting locked in with a few pop-ups of Thorn Wolves. the ideal candidate for this should be the ritualist who will be laying his/her spirits just behind the gate at all times.
 * The trappers should generally use the gate as their trapping point and pull back to it. Occasionally, a few monsters will be stuck or refuse to follow all the way back in which case they can move the traps a little bit ahead (but staying within the range of the protective Binding Spirits).
 * When the door finally opens on the other end, then the full party can advance.

Room 10: Urgoz's Inner Chamber
 * The nukers and trappers should quickly go in and kill the Twisted Bark causing the life degeneration. Monks should spam Heal Party.
 * As Urgoz begins his monologue, trappers should setup in the middle of the bridge and then pull enemies to it.
 * It is advisable to not only destroy the Guardian Serpent in the way, but the one to the left which will be near where EoE will be placed to kill Urgoz.
 * The EoE trapper should go in and to the left away from Urgoz. With experience he/she will know exactly where to place EoE so that Urgoz is in its range. If EoE is placed too close, then Explosive Growths will spawn next to it and destroy it. To check that EoE is in the right place, a party member (preferably armed with Hex Breaker) should run in and stand next to Urgoz and see if EoE is showing up in the Effects Monitor.
 * Once EoE is set up and Urgoz is clearly in its range, the nukers and trappers (other than the EoE trapper) should go in and start attacking him, being mindful not to stand in one spot for more than one skill usage. As soon as his health is down to 90%, EoE will start damaging him with the death of the growths.
 * Once EoE starts kicking in, the nukers and trappers should just run around Urgoz in circles and let the death of the Explosive Growths destroy him. The bipper and the healers should stay on the ramp and spam heal party if needed. In less than a minute, Urgoz will kill himself.

Variations

 * All the party roles above have been listed in a flexible manner without a secondary profession. However, when possible, party members should consider either going with monk as a secondary profession to bring Rebirth for crisis recovery, or to go with mesmer as a secondary profession and bring Hex Breaker which makes surviving in the final battle against Urgoz extremely easy.
 * Monks could experiment with elementalist as a secondary profession to be able to use Glyph of Energy in areas where they are under the influence of Sheer Exhaustion.
 * One of the trappers could bring assassin as a secondary profession and use Recall on a party member before pulling enemies. This is especially useful on the Fire Flower bridge where many pullers die under the pressure of the Fire Flowers and the Thorn Wolves. By canceling Recall, they will be teleported instantly to safety, they can then proceed to pull the Wolves (which would be popped up and visible) using a bow.