User:Defiant Elements/Saving Vetted PvE Paragon Builds

= P/D Nightfall Hybrid Spiker = Using Paragon's energy management and critical hit capabilites, the P/D Nightfall Hybrid Spiker allows you to deal critical hits with a scythe, one of the more deadly weapons in Guild Wars.

Equipment

 * Any max armor, Vigor/Vitae Runes if possible, Centurion Insignias as Aggressive Refrain should always be active.
 * Zealous Scythe for battles, have an energy set ready for emergency Aggressive Refrain.

Usage

 * Activate Aggressive Refrain just before entering battle.
 * After a few hits, activate "Go for the Eyes!", and immediately use Reaper's Sweep.
 * If the hit was critical, the damage will be outrageous. Follow up with Eremite's Attack as to not give your enemy a chance to heal.
 * When affected by weakness or blindness, use Remedy Signet.
 * When running particularly low on health, use Victorious Sweep.

Counters

 * Anti-shout skills.
 * Energy denial.
 * Unluckiness (80% chance to hit critical with Reaper's Sweep.)
 * Kiting.

Variants
Suggested variant:
 * Blazing Finale. Exchange for either signet, definitely helps add cumulative damage to all adjacent targets.
 * Burning Refrain. Works similiar like Burning Finale except it can be recycle forever. This requires extra energy or else you won't able to chain with Aggressive Refrain

Usage
Use Agressive Refain before battle and keep it up with Anthem of Flame. Once in battle, cast Serpents Quickness followed by Focused Anger and repeat as necessary. Proceed to spam "Go for the Eyes!" and Anthem of Flame.

Variants
Any skills from the three attribute lines this build uses can be used in place of Vicious Attack and Spear of Lightning as long as they require no activation time as you will want to spend as much time as possible attacking to build adrenaline.

However adding other adrenal skills is not recommended since it will add to the recharge time of "Go for the Eyes!"

Attributes and Skills

 * You can lower the Leadership attribute in favor for more Command but keep at least 12 for a 3 second burning effect from Blazing Finale.

Equipment

 * Centurion's armor since you will be under the effects of Aggressive Refrain. Any Command requirement shield.
 * Any 15^50 axe. Tanzit's Cleaver works well.
 * A Minor Rune of Leadership can be used if you prefer more health.

Usage

 * Cast Aggressive Refrain before entering combat.
 * Cast Focused Anger when possible and refresh whenever it recharges.
 * Cast Blazing Finale when possible and refresh whenever it expires.
 * Use "Go for the Eyes" to maintain energy levels, set enemies on fire, and refresh Aggressive Refrain.
 * Spam your attack skills.
 * Once you get going, there shouldn't be any energy issues unless you run into some counters (or stray too far from your party). If the mob is near-finished, try keeping "Go for the Eyes!" charged so you can use it to refresh Aggressive Refrain while moving to a new mob.

Counters
Blindness, adrenaline denial, anti-melee spells.

= P/W Party Support = This support Paragon together with the two healer henchman can cover all the defensive needs of the Nightfall campaign. The core of this build can also be used as basis for a PvP motivation Paragon/Warrior.

Usage

 * This Paragon is very efficient in preventing and healing the damage to the whole team (like AoE spells, generic pressure, and health degeneration of the team). "Shields Up!" is also useful to prevent spike from archers, which is very common in the Nightfall campaign.
 * Using "Watch Yourself!" for energy management you can easily spam all your other skills except Mending Refrain. However, with your high number of shouts and chants you are able to maintain Mending Refrain on all the members of the team during long fights.

Counters

 * If you can't acquire adrenaline you can't spam all your skills.
 * Necromancer's Anti-Paragon hexes totally shut down this build.

Variants

 * Replace Signet of Synergy with Spear of Lightning.
 * You may prefer to use another elite in some areas of PvE.
 * You can replace Signet of Return with another resurrection skill, or even with Lightbringer's Gaze when you need it. Like a monk, using this build you will not have time to resurrect while in combat.
 * Mending Refrain can be replaced by Finale of Restoration.

Equipment

 * Armor with Radiant Insignias
 * Axe with either a Sundering or Vampiric Mod, and a Command Shield

Usage

 * Cast Aggressive Refrain at the beginning of combat, and recast it if it expires.
 * Cast Blazing Finale on yourself and other melee units, if applicable.
 * Cast Anthem of Flame for the positive Energy gain, the refreshment of Aggressive Refrain when out of combat, and the Burning.
 * Use Triple Chop and Cyclone Axe when fighting groups to quickly charge Adrenaline.
 * Use "Go for the Eyes!" whenever it is available, which will generate massive Energy for the Paragon, dramatically increase the damage of all melee units, and quickly trigger Blazing Finale.
 * Keep "They're on Fire!" constantly on the party.

Counters

 * Anti-Shout skills, such as Vocal Minority and Well of Silence.
 * Anti-Melee skills and conditions, such as Reckless Haste and Blind.

Variants

 * Use "Stand Your Ground!" instead of a Resurrection Signet in areas where a resurrection skill is unnecessary (i.e. Alliance Battles).

= P/any FoW Paratrooper = This build utilizes the Paragon's shouts and spear attacks to more effectively farm the beach and cave areas of FoW. Shouts provide unstrippable boosts to movement, armor, health regeneration, and attack speed. The use of spears allows for ranged attacks, increasing versatility in the confines of the area.

Armor

 * 5x Centurion's Insignia
 * Command Crest with a Rune of Superior Command; use while fighting
 * Leadership Crest with a Rune of Superior Leadership; use while running
 * Duplicate armor piece (hands or feet are cheapest) with a Rune of Superior Spear Mastery and a Rune of Vitae
 * Rune of Superior Vigor
 * 2x Rune of Vitae

Weapons

 * Set 1 - Running :::: Spear of Warding (+5 energy, +7 armor vs. elemental), Shield of Valor (+10 armor vs. fire, +60 hp while hexed)
 * Set 2 - Driftwood ::: Fiery Spear of Shelter (15^50, +7 armor vs. physical), Shield of Fortitude (+10 armor vs. slashing, +30 hp)
 * Set 3 - Spiders ::::: Zealous Spear of Shelter (15^50, +7 armor vs. physical), Shield of Fortitude (+10 armor vs. piercing, +30 hp)
 * Set 4 - Pulling :::::: Flatbow

Note: Mods on the Flatbow and the prefix of Spear 1 are not important, though preferably not zealous or vampiric

Usage

 * Enduring Harmony allows you to maintain "Stand Your Ground!", providing a +24 armor bonus and another +10 due to Centurion's Insignia. This skill also makes it possible to use "Lead the Way!" for running, granting a near-constant 25% movement boost (7.5 second duration, 8 second recharge), and extends the +5 health regeneration from "Never Surrender!" to 15 seconds (20 second recharge).


 * Soldier's Fury increases your attack speed by 33% while under the effect of a shout or chant, which is a constant in this build. This IAS allows you to easily build the adrenaline to spam Blazing Spear and finish off with a Deep Wound from Merciless Spear.

If you are not familiar with farming the beach and cave of FoW, it is recommended that you try a warrior build first. Once you know the area and the general idea of the farm, adjusting to this build is simple. To run to the beach, equip Set 1 and your armor piece without the Spear rune. Run with "Lead the Way!", using Enduring Harmony first to provide a near-constant 25% movement boost. Once at the top of the hill overlooking the beach, engage the first group of Snarling Driftwood (using Weapon Set 4 to pull if necessary). Switch to Set 2; the Driftwood are weak against fire damage, while your spear and shield will provide extra damage against their attacks, which are slashing damage. Activate Enduring Harmony, "Stand Your Ground!", and Soldier's Fury. Auto-attack, spamming Blazing Spear as often as adrenaline allows. When your target dips below 50% health use Merciless Spear to inflict a Deep Wound, allowing you to finish it off easily. Whenever you have less than 75% health use "Never Surrender!" for +5 health regeneration - use Leader's Comfort for a stronger heal if necessary. Continue to eliminate the Snarling Driftwood and Doubter's Dryders, using your flatbow in Set 4 to pull any groups near Ancient Skales, who you must avoid entirely. If you do aggro a group of Skales, use "Lead the Way!" and run until you lose all aggro so you can regenerate before proceeding.

When you reach the mouth of the cave, switch to Set 3. Pull the Dryders away from the cave (one at a time, if you are not comfortable with fighting multiple) and kill them - they deal a very small amount of damage with their regular attacks, so save your skills to activate when they cast Wastrel's Worry on you. Once you kill the Dryders, a large mob of Armored Cave Spiders will begin spawning inside the cave entrance. Back away while they spawn, and wait until they have settled down. Then, use your flatbow to pull groups of Spiders (each group consists of 3) - start off with one group at a time, until you feel comfortable enough to take on more. To kill spiders, try to get them to spread out; they use Healing Spring, which will out-heal your damage if they are all together. Make sure you have Set 3 equipped, as it gives armor against the Spiders' piercing damage. Maintain "Stand Your Ground!" and Soldier's Fury like before, using "Never Surrender!" to counter the poison degeneration and Leader's Comfort whenever your health gets to around 50%. Cave Spiders use Melandru's Resilience so don't use your Merciless Spear until they are around 25% health, or you will just be healing them. Once all of the orignal Spiders are dead, continue into the cave. Pull and kill the Dryders - each one will trigger 6 more Spiders - until the cave is cleared.

Note that this is also a good time to open a few chests if you have keys with you. Enduring Harmony, "Lead the Way!", and "Never Surrender!" provide enough of a boost to run through many areas of FoW to find chests.