User:NightSilva/builds/pvp/team

= Team - Barbed Spears =

{tested-build|HA|TA}

This is a pressure build designed to inflict the maximum damage output of the curse spells Barbs and Mark of Pain with with the use of spears, an IAS, pets, and an orders spell. This build has not been tested thoroughly.

Team Composition
For HA:
 * 3 / RaO Spear Chuckers
 * 1 / Barbed Orders
 * 1 / ZB Protection Monk
 * 1 / LoD Infuser

For GvG, add:
 * 1 / Me/E Expel Dom Mesmer
 * 1 / Rt/A Support Runner

For TA:
 * 2 / RaO Spear Chuckers
 * 1 / Curse Mesmer
 * 1 / ZB Protection Monk

Spear Chucker #3

 * Possible skills for the optional slot:
 * Remedy Signet or Antidote Signet for blindness.
 * Whirling Defense or Predatory Bond for defense.
 * Fertile Season.
 * Predatory Season.

Equipment

 * Beastmaster or Radiant insignia
 * Vampiric spear of Fortitude
 * Zealous spear of Fortitude
 * Shield with health bonuses

Usage

 * Designate a caller.
 * Fling all spears and pets at a target. Use skills accordingly.
 * Switch targets when needed, and in co-ordination with the necromancer's Mark of Pain spell.

Equipment

 * Zealous spear of Enchanting
 * Curses wand with faster casting for curses
 * Curses offhand with fast recharge
 * Radiant insignia

Usage

 * Cast and maintain Awaken the Blood.
 * Co-ordinate Barbs and Mark of Pain with called targets. Cover hexes with Parasitic Bond.
 * Use Order of the Vampire to assist with damage.
 * Use Glyph of Lesser Energy and the zealous spear for energy management

TA Version

 * Use fast recharge weapons for curses.

ZB Protection Monk

 * Mo/A Shadow Arts Zealous Healer

LoD Infuser

 * Skills for the optional slot:
 * Holy Veil
 * Vigorous Spirit

Equipment

 * A Zealous spear is recommended for one of the monks' weapons, not just for energy management, but to assist on the damage of Barbs and Mark of Pain.
 * Wands and offhand for the LoD Infuser, Enchanting weapon and offhand for the ZB Protection Monk.

General Tactics

 * Rush. This build is meant to be aggressive, and requires line of sight for a lot of the damage.  Being swift and aggressive may catch an opponent off guard.
 * Formation: R/P in the front, orders necro close behind, monks in the rear.
 * Use Fertile Season when the opposition is suspected in being a spike team.
 * Use Predatory Season at your own discretion, and only if you think it'll benefit the team.

Counters

 * Mass water or slow hexes.
 * Mass blind.
 * Support shutdown.

Variants

 * Any monks can go with this.
 * A Me/N with fast casting and curses can be used instead of the orders necromancer.

See Also:
Other Monk suggestions: Additions for GvG:
 * R/P Rampaging Spear
 * Mo/Me Diverted Support
 * Mo/A Shadow Arts RC Monk
 * Rt/E Cold Vengeance

= Team - Fear Famine =

{tested-build|HA|PvP team}

This HA team build is designed to shut down your enemy's energy supply and deal tremendous amounts of damage with Famine and Barbs. It consists of:


 * 3 "Fear Me!" Assassins
 * 1 Famine Ranger
 * 1 LoD infuser
 * 1 Prot Monk
 * 1 Barbed Necro
 * 1 SV-AV Support Healer

3 "Fear Me!" Assassins
each assassin can cause approximately -4.5 energy degen in AoE without "For Great Justice!", and slightly less than -9 with it.


 * This assassin is to bring a running skill, such as Dash, for flag or relic running.

Equipment for assassins

 * Radiant armor
 * One set of Furious Daggers of enchanting with +5 energy mod, one set of Vampiric Daggers of Enchanting with +15% damage ^50% health, or +5 energy mod.

Usage of assassins
Keep Locust's fury up. use flurry while attacking. use hexes as needed. use crit defenses if under attack (this can be kept up indefinately if allowed to attack). Use Vampiric daggers while attacking for 10 life stealing per second.

Usage for Ranger
Lay famine down. While it is recharging, keep serpent's quickness on. to prevent interruption of Famine or the Ghostly Hero's Claim Resource, use Song of Concentration. Use pin down to snare targets that an assassin may call.

LoD/infuser/spirit keeper

 * use ritualist skills to help keep famine alive longer. THIS SECONDARY CAN BE CHANGED.
 * Keep Divine intervention recharging as much as possible, so it can power Deny Hexes.

Prot Monk

 * Shield of Regeneration, ZB, or any protection prayers elite of your choice can be used.

Notes pertaining to monks
The prot monk build can be switched out for any other one of your choice. The monks are both to call energy when low so necro can cast blood ritual.

Barbed Necro

 * Either Depravity or Wither can go in theoptional slot.
 * MoF may be replaced with Dark Fury
 * signet of weariness may be replaced with a skill of your choice.

Necro Usage
Barbs and MoF are to be used on an assassin's called target, while the necromancer's own energy denial is to be used on another target (with the exception of Malaise, which may be spammed on an assassin's target to deal 50 damage a casting.) Blood Ritual is to be cast on Monks if they are in need of energy.

SV-AV Support Healer

 * Make sure that your target is under attack from melee foes before casting SV or AV
 * remember to bring a +enchant weapon set.
 * try not to use Wep of warding with visages, due to blocking. this spell may be switched with another weapon spell.
 * Call energy when low for blood ritual.
 * Expel Hexes may be switched with Revealed Hex, and you may put points into inspiration for that. Then switch one of the restoration spells for an elite one.
 * one visage may be switched out for a healing spell, if there are fewer melee users around. Switch points from illusion to spawning power in this case.

Counters

 * Anti-Melee that is not swiftly remedied
 * anti-spirit skills

Notes regarding to obvious weaknesses
Read these notes. they may sway your opinion of this build.

the survival of the famine spirit
Famine does deal damage, but in pulses. The spirit will be alive for at least 10 seconds against the average team, during which it will deal around 100 damage. If not killed, your assassins will destroy the opposing team with pressure.

Lack of damage?
there is a lot of damage in this build apart from famine. barbs adds 32 DPS if the hexed foe is under the attack of a sin, and the sins themselved deal 20-40 dps with high attack and crit rate. (this has been tested and proven). (Wither and) malaise add(s) a decent amount of damage also.

= Team - Fever Strike =

{tested-build|AB|PvP team}

The Fever Strike is an Assassin duo meant to be played together in Alliance Battles. This lone pair of Assassins can cap every shrine, as well as inflict mass conditions on everyone in an area, which is useful for mob confrontations. It is also capable of killing a primary target.

Fevered Dreams Assassin

 * Armor: Radiant Insignias.
 * Weapon: Poisonous Daggers of Fortitude, 15% DMG Vs Hexed Foes.
 * Combo: Target must be hexed. Black Mantis Thrust --> Black Lotus Strike --> Black Spider Strike --> Twisting Fangs. This combo is flexible, and it may be advisable to first use Black Spider Strike --> Twisting Fangs --> Black Lotus Strike --> Black Mantis Thrust if you’re afraid the target might die before the combo is finished. This will allow Fevered Dreams to instantly spread Poison, Bleeding, and Deep Wound. The combo is very flexible, requiring only Twisting Fangs to follow either Black Lotus Strike or Black Spider Strike.

Temple Strike Assassin

 * Armor: Radiant Insignias.
 * Weapon: Zealous Daggers of Fortitude, +5 Energy.
 * Combo: Target must be hexed for Black Lotus. Unsuspecting Strike --> Temple Strike --> Death Blossom --> Black Lotus Strike --> Death Blossom. Due to Death Blossom’s two second recharge, and Black Lotus Strike only needing to hit a hexed target as a qualifier, you can use the dual attack twice in rapid succession. This results in 180 DMG to both the target and everyone adjacent. While Temple Strike is recharging, you are still capable of using Unsuspecting Strike --> Black Lotus Strike --> Death Blossom. If you're concerned about the inital energy investment at the start of the combo to use a Temple Strike, but don't have a full energy bar, you can do Black Lotus Strike strike first, to pay for Unsuspecting Strike and Temple Strike.

OR

Temple Strike Assassin Var 2

 * Armor: Radiant Insignias.
 * Weapon: Zealous Daggers of Fortitude, +5 Energy.
 * Combo: Unsuspecting Strike --> Temple Strike --> Death Blossom (can stop here or continue with)--> Leaping Mantis Sting --> Wild Strike --> Death Blossom (can stop here or continue with --> Unsuspecting Strike OR Leaping Mantis Sting --> Wild Strike --> Death Blossom (etc.) This variant is more low energy oriented and flexible in spamming attacks (once everyone is suffering from multiple conditions and deepwound, this is useful for mowing down players), while still carrying along an anti-kite cripple in case it has to engage in solo play. However, if you are less concerned with pure DPS during battle and more about a damage to energy ratio, try replacing Wild Strike with Jungle Strike.

Shrine Capping
These two Assassins can cap every shrine without fear of death, if done properly. First, the Fevered Dreams Assassin will call out a target, and use Fevered Dreams on said target. Then, both Assassins Shadow Walk to the NPC. If two NPCS are present, it does not matter who is called out. If three NPCS are present, the target should be the middle one. This will ensue that Death Blossom will hit the two NPCS on the sides. Then, when the middle NPC drops, both Assassins attack opposing targets to keep them from casting while dazed. On the warrior shrine, this is done differently. The Assassins will have 10 seconds of blind to allow them to concentrate damage, overwhelming one Warrior at a time. If one of the Assassins begins to take too much damage, activate Deadly Paradox to cancel Shadow Walk’s stance, teleporting you to safety. Then take advantage of the shortened recharge time to cast Feigned Neutrality.

PvP Tactics

 * The Fevered Dreams Assassin should select primary targets. The consideration of primary targets and how to deal with them are as follows in order of priority:
 * 1) Healers: Dedicated healers should be wiped out first. If the Monk is using Guardian on themself, or a defensive stance, wait till the Monk recasts Guardian. Quickly cast Fevered Dreams on a foe standing near the Monk, then hit this target hard. The Monk will also receive the plethora of conditions in the process. Then switch over and proceed to pound on the Monk to interrupt his heals while dazed, until dead. This tactic can be used on well trained Monks, once you come across them, a general rarity in AB. To avoid the problem of hex removal, be sure to wait till the Temple Strike sin is already on the monk. The TS Sin will withold using Temple Strike until Fevered Dreams is applied, being sure to daze and keep the monk from removing it.
 * 2) Minion Masters: Killing a Minion Master with a considerable number of minions can throw a whole mob out of whack with the masterless undead. The Assassins will normally have the damage to do this, but things like Infuse Condition and Dark Bond can cause problems. Dark Bond can usually be beaten through sheer damage, but the target needs to remain dazed to ensure they can't heal. The Sins may also incur heavy damage by doing this, but Shadow Walk should ensure a quick entry and escape to survive.
 * 3) Necromancers, Mesmers, Air Elementalists, Water Elementalists: Due to their equipped anti-melee hexes (and blind in the case of Air Elementalists) taking these out first is suggested.
 * 4) High damage squishy players: This means other Assassins and Elementalists.
 * 5) The location of the target in relation to other characters. Going for a target that is in the middle of a mob of players will ensue that the whole mob is crippled, bleeding, poisoned, blinded, dazed, and suffering from a deep wound.


 * Chasing targets can be done by first using either Fevered Dreams or Shadowy Burden. In either case, use Shadow Walk --> Black Mantis Thrust to cripple the target; however Shadow Walk can be avoided on Shadowy Burden.


 * Tag Teaming is an important tactic that can be used to deal with multiple players and to mitigate damage. If one of the Assassins is taking much damage, they can start to run away from the point where Shadow Walk was used while the other Assassin beats up on the chasing enemy. Once the injured Assassin reaches a threshold, they can use Deadly Paradox and shadow step back. The other Assassin will start to be the target of damage. This sin can fight it out longer until s/he starts taking too much damage, and then Deadly Paradox. While this is going on, the first sin that retreated is healed up by now, and can Shadow Walk back in to fight a second time. This is a repeatable skirmishing effect, which can be utilized to slow down a larger force or a single target if both Sins have taken too much damage. It can also allow one of the Sins to survive if targeted by a Shadow Prison Burst Assassin. Said targeted Assassin should teleport away by targeting another foe and using Shadow Walk, while the non-targeted Assassin kills the Shadow Burster. If no other foes exist to be targeted, just turtling with Feigned Neutrality while the other Assassin kills is suggested.


 * Stances, enchantments, and other abilities that block an Assassins combo can be overcome by attacking some other foe standing nearby, for example a NPC. This will ensure that the high priority target is still inflicted with the seven conditions.


 * Solo play is possible while separated, but it is highly suggested both Assassins stay together. Accidental deaths will happen and separate players, so both Asassins are built to be able to operate alone as well. Both can still snare and hex to allow their full combos. This is not the case with the Temple Strike sin var 2, which can still snare, but doesn't need to hex.

Team Selection
These two Assassins can operate just fine by themselves. However, when selecting a team to play it doesn’t hurt to have a primary healer or a nuker. The nuker will have an easier time with the area-wide cripple.

= Team - HA Burst Of Heat =

{tested-build|PvP team|HA}

This build is a common Heroes Ascent build, utilizing the highly offensive capabilities of Assassins and Elementalists to destroy opposing teams. '''This Build is still under development, you can help on fulfilling it. See Talk page for more information.'''

ZB Prot

 * See for more details.

LoD/Infuser

 * Let the ZB Monk know you are infusing so they can get restore your health with Zealous Benediction.

BoA Sins (x2)
See for more details.

SH Elementalist

 * See.
 * Flame Djinn's Haste is for relic running.

Water Elementalist

 * Blurred Vision should be kept on opposing Assassins and Warriors as much as possible.
 * There are many variants which drop the water Elementalist for another character. See Replace Water Elementalist section.

Usage

 * The BoA Assassin(s) should select a target and alert the team to be ready to spike.
 * Have the Second BoA Assassin attack the team's other monk should they have one during the spike.
 * During the spike itself the Assassins should unleash their combo while the SH Ele uses Gale and SH to unleash massive damage while keeping the monk on the ground.
 * When not spiking, the SH Ele should be using Immolate, Glowing Gaze, and Meteor to harass the other team with periodic bursts of damage and burning.
 * The water elementalist should be constantly hammering other weapon based classes with Blurred Vision,Water Trident,Freezing Gust etc...
 * The two eles can also coordinate a pressure spike of their own. The Water Elementalist can cast Deep Freeze on a group of clumped foes, while the fire ele uses Savannah Heat to unleash a massive amount of damage upon them.

Variants
Here are some major variants listed. However remember that you can consider this build as a meta build. Any variant of your own may work too. Stay creative. For more variants see the.

Variants for BoA Sin's build

 * Drop Expose Defenses for Feigned Neutrality if you are not confident in your monks.
 * Dropping Shadow Prison and Feigned Neutrality for Assassin's Promise and Dark Prison will allow you to use the combo again faster. However be aware that if there is no hexer in the team you will not be able to use the combo for 45s if you fail to kill the target (hex requirements on Off-Hand Attacks).
 * NB : Do not use this variant in the "two spiking teams" variant because it will kill all the syncronisation of the team (If you fail to kill a target without the help of Savannah Heat or if you run out of energy when Savannah Heat is ready).

Variants for SH Elementalist's build

 * Drop Immolate and Glowing Gaze for Teinai's Heat and Searing Heat for more AoE damage.
 * Use Hex Breaker to counter speed down hexes during a relic run.

An SS/Warder :

 * This build focuses on a more defensive role, generally replacing the water elementalist.
 * Be careful to not overexhaust yourself with Gale.
 * Also beware of the pros and cons of wards, if your casters are bunched up within the wards, they may be vulnerable to various AoEs, Meteor Shower,Savannah Heat ect...

Another SH Elementalist (two spiking teams variant) :
This variants relies on two spiking teams. The teams are 1 BoA Sin and 1 SH Nuker.

Usage

 * Each spiking team choose a target. Generally the two monks.
 * The Sin Shadow Step to target casting Shadow Prison. Sin should call Shadow Prison for coordination with the SH.
 * The SH Elementalist cast Savannah Heat and Gale on the target.
 * If the target is not already dead, team finish to kill him with dagues attacks and Fire Magic Spells.
 * Switch target. Even if Gale can help, knocking down target for 2s, team would better not use the Shadow Prison + Savannah Heat combo again until those skills are both recharged. Communication is vital.

Attributes and Skills
Player Grenth's Dervish a.k.a. the runner.(You/ Melonni)

Optional-
 * Aura of Thorns + Mystic Vigor, allows for some decent self healing along with Victorious Sweep to solo efficiently.
 * Heart of Fury + Faithful Intervention are good options here.

(Talkora/Dunkoro)

(Norgu)

(You/Melonni)

Usage
*Tip* Keep Vigorous Spirit on your monk if it is being pressured.
 * Turn off Restore Condition against Searing Flames. If your monk isn’t wasting energy on Restore Condition every 2 seconds, this build will do well.  If you leave Restore Condition on, the battle will become much, much harder.
 * Against heavy melee pressure, use lock target with the ebon Dervish.
 * Use your heroes to run a split. Force cast imbue health, lock target melee with Melonni.  Make sure prot spirit is cast on who ever is being pressured. Let your heroes wipe if it means you can cap all the flags early on. Being down 3 points means little.
 * When it is imperative, make sure Melonni is using Ebon Dust Aura at all times.
 * Micro managing is important and it is what wins games.
 * This might be more superstition than anything, but some players believe that heroes on aggressive mode target anything while heroes on guard assist you. Keep the Mesmer on guard while you are running to keep him from running off and getting killed and make sure he is on aggressive while you are fighting so he will spread the interrupts. It might also be a good idea to lock the mesmer's target on the monk that way you can be sure to disable it.

Equipment
Weapons:
 * Ebon mod on Melonni.
 * 20% enchantment mod on both of the dervishes. (Increases the duration of ebon aura and aura of thorns to 36 seconds and mystic regen. to 24)

Variants
Feel free to play around with the Mesmer. Many variations there. Others:
 * Psychic Instability + Ether Phantom on the Mesmer would probably work very well. A two-monk backline with a Blighter is very common, but this Mesmer build is more effective. The reliability of Power Block against SF builds, which are very common, is nice.  AI is stupid, so won't reliably cover hexes, and will cast Psychic Instability on warriors as often as monks unless you lock target, but constant knockdowns puts a lot of pressure.
 * The interrupts aren't core to the build. On the non-Mesmers, they primarily function as free energy management. If you want to run less interrupts, drop Leech Signet for something else as Leech Signet will not always be used on spells so its function as energy management is limited.  Power Drain is an excellent spell, the energy it returns is fantastic.
 * You can easily drop Ebon Dust Aura from the Dervish build for something else. That said, dealing with heavy melee pressure will be MUCH harder.  Other good elites are a second Grenth, Melandru to run wearing strike, or the DW inflicting scythe attacks of your choice (wounding > reapers imo).  Use Dervishes for melee pressure.  Heroes often bunch up, making scythes with their AoE attacks very effective.

Counters

 * The Grenths dervish is not specifically designed for running nor is this build. It functions as a split build, but it is designed to break through the defense of a split build. Too much defense is very hard to break though. This build will farm faction much faster though than a 2 Monk + Ritualist + Assassin. And the grenths Dervish can solo most solo builds, 1v1 there is always a counter.
 * Heavy Enchant removal will pose a problem. Ebon dust aura is the only defense against grenths dervishes and unfortunately is also an enchantment, easily stripped by the form.
 * Paragon/R-spike; paragon buffs cannot be stripped and are not spells. Ranged pressure cannot be shut down with a scythe the way melee pressure can due to the way AI clumps up.

= Team - HB Spiritual Overload =

{tested-build|PvP team|HB}

The Spiritual Overload team uses Necromancer's Soul Reaping along with various Spirits to provide very high energy management for the necromancers, along with the various benefits and offense from the spirits. The Necromancers tend to play hybrid roles, while the necromancers support the team while attacking the opposing team with either Curses or Channeling Magic.

Example Build

 * There are many variants of a Spirit Spam team, so many in fact that it is not really possible to post an exact build of exactly what skills, attribute, spirits ect...to use.
 * Rather than set an exact team, an example will be given to give the readers of this article an idea as to what to run.

The Player (You)

 * The example give below will be a BoA Assassin, but there are countless variants as to what the player can run.

Suggestions for Variants

 * Curses: Barbs,Soul Barbs,Defile Flesh,Parasitic Bond.
 * Soul Reaping: Icy Veins
 * Blood Magic: Life Siphon,Spoil Victor.
 * Death Magic: Animate Bone Minions,Toxic Chill,Rising Bile.
 * Communing: Dissonance,Disenchantment,Mighty Was Vorizun.
 * Restoration Magic: Preservation,Weapon of Warding,Wielder's Boon,Resilient Weapon,Vengeful Weapon.
 * Channeling Magic: Channeled Strike,Cruel Was Daoshen,Destructive was Glaive,Lamentation,Renewing Surge,Destruction.

Build Usage

 * This is very much a holding build, so you will most likely be holding the center shrine, there are a good deal of things to take into consideration.
 * 1. Examine your opponents team, if the team has an Assassin prepare with Displacement, if they have elementalists SPREAD YOUR HEROES OUT and set up Shelter if you have it.
 * 2. Capping, this is generally the players job, depending on your build you may or may not choose to go after the secondary shrines.
 * 3. Survival, your builds survival may vary, the example build lacks an anti spike. Spirit Transfer helps greatly as a partial infuse health-esque skill, and there should always be plenty of spirits.
 * After you're prepared, set up your spirits. Spirits are the key to this build, spread them out if at all possible. Spirits such as Life and Destruction are very recyclable and restore energy to your necromancer when destroyed/expired.
 * Do your role, choose unprotected targets to attack, or jumbled up heroes to hit with Spirit Rift or whatever AoE spell you may have.
 * A rather aggressive tactic is to wipe the enemy team and rush to the resurrection shrine and set up spirits around it, this build is more successful with this tactic because of its nearly unlimited energy, whereas other builds would eventually run out and have to retreat.

= Team - Nightmare Spike =

{tested-build|PvP team|HA}

The Nightmare Spike team consists of Ritualist/Rangers that use Nightmare Weapon with Bow Attacks to create a Life Stealing Spike, similar to that of previous Blood Magic spike teams.

Usage

 * All Ritualists cast Nightmare Weapon and Kindle arrows before each spike.
 * The caller will then do your standard " 3, 2 , 1 Spike! " via Team Speak or Ventrilo.
 * All Spikers then fire Dual Shot, quickly followed by Distracting Shot for a devastating and virtually irresistible spike.
 * Ritualists should use Natural Stride to kite away from Melee opponents, beware that monks enchantments will end it prematurely.
 * Spirits should be used according to the map, ( Favorable Winds and Bloodsong aside.)
 * For use on the Monk builds go the "See Also" section of this article.

Counters

 * Life Stealing is unblockable damage, but the ritualist are casters and are very fragile.
 * "Shields Up!", Aegis and other standard weapon based counters.

Variants

 * Monks can change to Elementalist secondaries for access to Glyph of Lesser Energy and Aegis.
 * Ritualists can opt for Seeking Arrows to help narrow the margin of failed spikes.
 * The spikers can drop Kindle Arrows for another channeling spike esque spell.
 * Monks can drop channeling, or the entire Mesmer profession, for different utility skills such as Dark Escape, Glyph of Lesser Energy, etc.
 * Lively Was Naomei can be run to pierce through Frozen Soil when needed, additionally Rupture Soul can be brought to get rid of your Spirits (frozen soil in particular) should they become a hinderance.

= Team - Spike Friendly Spikers =

{tested-build|PvP team|TA}

The Spike Friendly Spikers team build uses monk and ritualist skills to counter spikes while using a thumper and anti-caster to kill the other team. This build is designed for team arenas.

Equipment
Any armor and weapons are fine. The monk may want to get a -5 energy melee weapon for focus switching.

Usage
At the beginning of the game, the monk should put life bond on everyone and Balthazar's Spirit on himself. The monk then just uses blessed signet to get his energy up before the start. The ritualist should use ritual lord and boon of creation and cast union then shelter (make sure to do this for addition reduction) in the back. He should then put Shadowsong right next to the monk and rush up to the front line to put Pain and Dissonance up there. He should keep Boon of Creation and Ritual Lord up at all times. Also Shelter should be the biggest priority, it is required to get rid of spikes. The Mesmer should cast his anti-caster spells on the monk and interrupt him. The thumper should daze him then kill him. Once the monk is dead the thumper and anti-caster should just kill everyone else. The Monk during battle should use Reversal of Fortune and Dismiss Condition as the main heals. To counter spikes the monk should use Zealous Benediction. Only use zb when they are below 50 percent health or you will drain your energy.

Counters
Enchantment removal and Searing Flames spike builds can be a pain, but you can still win.

Variants
You could replace the Thumper with a Burst Of Aggression assassin but that is not recommended.

Equipment

 * Druid's Armor, With Rune of Superior Vigor and Rune of Superior Expertise
 * Weapons (one of the following)
 * A +5 energy axe/sword of shelter/defense/fortitude and a Blood Knife from Attendant Nashu or Jahn Pitz.
 * A Blood Magic wand such as the one available from Karl Jakobs and Blood Magic focus such as the one available from Volsung Stoneketil.
 * A +energy weapon set with otherwise same stats as the above.
 * Milthuran's Staff for more energy

Usage

 * Get close to your target and spam Vampiric Bite and Vampiric Touch.
 * Use Dodge to chase down kiting targets and avoid attacks that can be harmful to the build (such as crippling attacks).
 * Use Whirling Defense or Throw Dirt when targeted by warriors, rangers or assassins. This is not only important for avoiding the damage, but also the harmful conditions like crippling and Deep Wound.
 * Use Offering of Blood when you can get the full benefit of the energy gain and you are not taking too much damage. Use it as often as it recharges if you can.

Counters

 * Anti-spammer strategies, such as Diversion or Distracting Shot.
 * As the ranger needs to get within touch range, if their foes are not in range, they cannot attack. This makes any snares or knockdown a problem.
 * The life stolen per second is not enough to overcome focused damage and health degeneration. However condition based degeneration won't work as they just use Plague Touch to pass it on.
 * Signet of Humility, Arcane Thievery or Arcane Larceny can be used to shut down Offering of Blood, which is crucial for the build. When used in combination with even mild energy denial such as Energy Burn, the ranger will soon be out of energy.
 * Blackout is devastating to touchers.
 * "Can't Touch This!" will cause touch skills to fail, but this is not overly destructive and will only waste the touch ranger 2-10 energy.
 * Tease will cause the recharge of all the touch skills used in the build to increase by a certain percent, decreasing the overall DPS of the build.
 * It may be wise for users of this build to bring a melee weapon (such as a sword) as a counter-counter, since Tease ends if the target hits the caster (who will have to be within touch range to cast it in the first place)
 * Because the build relies on two skills spammed consecutively, enemies with interrupts can easily time their interrupts.
 * It looks like a toucher is easy to stop. However one on one (in most cases even 2 or 3 on one) with the touch ranger at full energy it's not as easy. The only realistic way to stop him is using hex based snares, Diversion, heavy energy denial or out healing him until he runs out of energy.

Variants

 * Signet of Agony and Distracting Shot with a barbed bow to replace Throw Dirt and Whirling Defense gives the build an interrupt and the ability to inflict 44 second bleeding (significant damage over time.) You can still have Blood weaponry as a secondary set.
 * Blood Ritual is useful especially in a team situation as it is affected by expertise and gives an energy gain. Similarily, a group of touch rangers could be effective using Blood is Power and Blood Ritual on each other.
 * Zojun's Haste, paired with Dodge, gives an almost nonstop speed boost and protection against rangers. This is a good replacement for Resurrection Signet in HB.
 * Blood Renewal makes a good self heal if used properly.
 * Use the 6 left-over attribute points and put them into Wilderness Survival, then using Serpent's Quickness as a way to increase pressure on your target.
 * Touch of Agony and/or Wallow's Bite should not be overlooked.
 * For players who only own Factions, a spare points Melandru's Shot could be used, with Vampiric Bite and Wallow's Bite as the damage. This will be less effective and conditional to enemies faced, however.
 * Storm Chaser instead of Dodge can help with energy management, but is generally not as useful.
 * For the optional slot you can take any skill, but I suggest Awaken the Blood.

This toucher build came from

Equipment

 * Any weapon can be used with this build, providing you meet its requirements.
 * As with any caster build, it is preferred that you take a High, Medium, and Low energy set.
 * Recommended upgrades for your weapon include of Enchanting and of Fortitude suffix upgrades, and "I Have the Power!" inscriptions.

Usage

 * Your primary healing skill is Gift of Health. It should be used on targets above 50% Health.
 * Use Reversal of Fortune as an immediate damage prevention, as well as healing, from the next attack.
 * Remove harmful conditions with Dismiss Condition. Note the healing bonus on enchanted targets.
 * Enchant allies with Shield of Absorption for damage reduction.
 * Zealous Benediction should be used to heal targets under 50% Health.
 * Use Glyph of Lesser energy before casting Aegis to reduce its high energy cost.
 * Holy Veil should be used to remove hexes. (cast and remove)
 * Note that using Zealous Benediction on targets below 50% while under the effects of Glyph of Lesser Energy will actually result in net energy gain.

Counters

 * Energy denial, while not as dangerous as it is on other builds, can still pose a problem with this build.
 * Diversion can be particularly devastating, as it can shut down a skill for a long duration.

Variants

 * For a heavier focus on damage mitigation against pressure swap Gift of Health for Shield of Absorption
 * Dismiss Condition can be replaced with another condition removal skill of your choice.
 * As with all Zealous Benediction builds, Purge Signet can be used.
 * Spirit Bond and Protective Spirit are fairly interchangeable.
 * If this is a hero, you might want to replace Holy Veil with Remove Hex or Smite Hex, or some similar hex removal spell.
 * If you're worried about condition/hex counters e.g. snares, I suggest removing 1 of the least useful skills (as in least useful in your view/according to your testing) and take another condition/hex removal speall.

This monk build came from

Notes/Team usage

 * All 3 Touchers attacking the same target at once can be devastating. This could easily overwhelm any monk.
 * In HB I suggest all the res signets are replaced with Awaken the Blood for stronger touch attacks.
 * In HB, while this team is stronger together, splitting them up can be very effective as the rangers' touch skills steal health, thus healing them as well, making them hard to kill.
 * Generally the monk will not have to heal the touchers much, he should mostly watch out for himself. However in the case a toucher's health drops too low, the monk should heal him.