User:Auntmousie964

About Me
I'm a woman in my mid-thirties, comfortably retired thanks to a lucky marriage, which means I get to spend about 2500 hours a year on video games. I live near Portland, Oregon - which is the Food Channel's Delicious Destination of 2006.

About My Characters


Sookie Stackhouse (Necromancer) is my original toon - born 5/27/06. She did a lot of blood magic early on, but eventually got the Minion Master religion. She'll do SS if forced, but prefers having her pet Fleshy around. She also has an actual Pet (Eric Draven the Black Moa) which she drags around when helping noobs. Sookie is a Protector of all three continents, and a Sunspear Castellan. She is pictured wearing Kurzick 15k armor, dyed purple, with a Shing Jea scar pattern. She is often accompanied by her Miniature Necrid Horseman.



Xero Kelvin (Elementalist) is my second-oldest toon - born 5/30/06. Originally conceived as a Water Ele, she nowadays mostly works with fire - but has the skills and the gear to switch to water when it is advantageous to do so. Xero is a Protector of Tyria, and a Sunspear Castellan. She is pictured wearing Canthan 15k armor, dyed red, with a Flame's Eye. She is often accompanied by her Miniature Fungal Wallow.



Mieko Kawazoe (Ranger) is my most accomplished toon. Born 5/30/06 (mere minutes after Xero), she is a Legendary Cartographer and a Legendary Skill Hunter. Since she is also a Protector of three continents, People Know Her. She's a Spearmarshall, and working her way to Legendary status in that department as well. Her pet, Nermal, is a Hearty Stalker. She is pictured wearing partial Ancient (10k) armor, dyed white, with Studded Leather boots and gloves. Appropriatedly for such an accomplished toon, she is often accompanied by Miniature Kuunavang.



Yudon Tonmi (Assassin - as in "you don't own me") is my original Canthan toon. Born 6/5/06, she is now a Protector of Tyria - though not quite yet a protector of Cantha - and also a Sunspear Castellan. She is pictured wearing partial Vabbian (5k jewel) armor, dyed black, with Seitung boots and gloves. She is often accompanied by a Miniature Necrid Horseman.



Youko Kawazoe (Ritualist) was my first native Protector of Cantha. Born 6/6/06 - the Day of the Beast - She favors spirit-spamming build, and is the original Battlebox Ritualist - a build I invented to take advantage of Soul Twisting. She has since gone on to become a Protector of Tyria, and a Sunspear Castellan. She is pictured wearing Kurzick 15k armor dyed black. She is often accompanied by a Miniature Pig.



R.I.P. Perma Pre (Elementalist): A character I created to shepherd guildies through Pre, and then abandoned when I realized that it's only barely worthwhile. Shortly after her deletion, to make room for Lily Hamer, I learned of the Legendary Defender title. I vowed never to delete a character again.



Lily Hamer (Warrior) was the last character I created before the availability of extra character slots. Born 6/10/06, she favors swords, Strength skills, and Sentinel's Armor. She is a Protector of Cantha, and a Sunspear Castellan. She is pictured wearing Ancient (10k) armor dyed black. She is often accompanied by her Miniature Kirin.



Sister Charybdis (Monk) is the identical twin of Sister Scylla, my partner's Monk. Born 7/28/06, she now usually does smiting and lets her heroes do the actual work - but she's not incapable of healing, it just bores her to tears. She is pictured wearing Sunspear 15k armor dyed blue, as does her twin. She is often accompanied by a Miniature Pig.



Marchesa Beatrice (Mesmer) was the last character for which I bought a slot; her creation gave me one each of the Core and Canthan professions. Born 7/31/06, she was well on her way to being a Survivor when the stupid enforced PvP match before the Searing cost her the first death. She has since gone on to be a Protector of Elona as well as of Tyria, and a Sunspear Castellan. She is pictured wearing Rogue's 15k armor dyed black. She is often accompanied by a Miniature Pig.



Aunt Slappy (Dervish) is my original Nightfall character, identical in appearance to the test weekend character "Tampa Rarie". Born 10/28/06, she was the first character of mine to finish Elona. She is a Sunspear Castellan, and now usually runs around in her Melandru suit, thanks to the sunspear skill that recharges it when it's disabled. She is pictured wearing Vabbian (5k jewel) armor, dyed black. She is often accompanied by Miniature Varesh.



Panya Siti (Paragon - literally "Lady Mouse") was also born 10/28/06. She was among the last of my characters to finish Elona, owing to the lack of really useful Paragon elite skills. She is pictured wearing Ancient (10k) armor, dyed black. She is often accompanied by Miniature Varesh.



Louisa the Poisoner (Ranger) is named for the Tanith Lee character and book. Born 10/28/06, she was the first of my Nightfall characters to travel to Cantha - because no ranger should have to live without Broadhead Arrow. Her pet is a Hearty Crocodile named Amos Moses. She is pictured wearing Ancient (10k) armor, dyed black. She is often accompanied by a miniature Gray Giant.



Ivy Tamwoode (Warrior) is named similarly to the character Ivy Tamwood from the Dead Witch Walking series. Botn 3/7/07, she is my youngest toon in terms of real time, but since she is a Legendary Defender of Ascalon, she is also my oldest in terms of hours played - at over a thousand. She is also a Protector of Tyria. Her pet, Psycho Kitty (a Hearty Stalker), has been with her from the beginning. In contrast to Lily Hamer, Ivy favors axes and Tactics. She is pictured wearing 15k Charr Hide armor, dyed white. She has two Charr Bags that she kept from pre-searing Ascalon, and is often accompanied by a Miniature Charr Shaman.

My Builds
I put my Battlebox Ritualist build here before the purge. ---

The Battlebox Spirit Spammer is designed to quick-cast several Binding Rituals, then follow them up with Painful Bond to increase their lethality. It is intended as a PvE primary build.

Attributes and Skills

 * Communing and Channeling should both be as high as possible - choose runes based on your confidence level. I put Channeling in the top spot because of the increased effects of Painful Bond and Warmonger's Weapon, and because the life-stealing effect of Bloodsong is less vulnerable to damage reduction than the damage of Pain.


 * Depending on the monsters you face, you may wish to bring other spirits in place of Dissonance, Restoration, or indeed anything past Painful Bond. In many areas Shadowsong is a helpful thing to have.  The build as presented here is my general-purpose construction.


 * For a Factions-only variant, bring Brutal Weapon in place of Warmonger's Weapon and Boon of Creation in place of Wielder's Strike.


 * If interrupts are not needed, replace Dissonance with Anguish and Warmonger's Weapon with Splinter Weapon, which has the added advantage of a very long duration that enhances the "prepare outside of combat" aspect of the build.

Equipment

 * Armor: Halcyon's armor or Radiant insignia.
 * Weapons: Ideally, Wayward Wand (Channeling-based) and Kayin's Focus. Energy management is important but not crucial.

Usage
This build depends on the fact that Anguished Was Lingwah is NOT a Binding Ritual, and hence does not trigger the benefit of Soul Twisting. Thus, it is possible to essentially pre-cast two offensive spirits outside of combat, and place them quickly when combat begins. Since most of the skill recharge time happens between combats, the build is essentially combat-ready at any time.

When you first step out into the environment, cast Bloodsong. Immediately target the resulting Spirit of Bloodsong and cast Soul Twisting, followed by Anguished Was Lingwah. You should be able to carry the ashes into your first combat - if not, it will be recharged, so just cast it again.

Proceed to wherever you intend to plant your spirits for battle. When you are ready to fight, drop Lingwah's Ashes and cast Dissonance, then Bloodsong. You will have a Spirit of Pain instantly, a Spirit of Dissonance two seconds later, and a Spirit of Bloodsong three seconds after that. Pick a central target for Painful Bond, then cast Warmonger's Weapon and start picking on enemy spellcasters. Use Wielder's Strike if you need a damage spike, and Restoration if your side looks like they might be in trouble (or especially if it looks like you may die yourself).

Dissonance usually won't last the whole combat, but the instant recharge feature of Soul Twisting allows you to re-cast it immediately when it dies. With practice you can target it with Soul Twisting and kill it before it dies, then re-cast it quickly and keep it perpetually charged.

For smaller battles, you can skip Dissonance entirely and just cast Bloodsong; Soul Twisting will reduce the casting time to one second, meaning your two spirits are up before your enemies can muster a response.

After a combat ends, target any allied spirit and re-cast Soul Twisting, then Anguished Was Lingwah. You're ready to go again!

Counters

 * AoE damage can quickly take your spirits down. To counteract this, move around a little between spirits.  It will take a little extra time but nothing close to the normal casting time of Binding Rituals.


 * Binding Rituals can be interrupted. The spirit conjured by Anguished Was Lingwah is unaffected, but the other two can be blocked by timely interrupts.  Fortunately, whichever spirit you summon first gets an instant recharge, so whoever interrupts you had better be prepared to do it more than once.

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