User:Achilles Silverwing

Ranger Builds:

R/Me UW Speed Solo Trap

R/Any General Barrager

R/Any General Interrupter

Elementalist Builds:

E/Any Shockwave Vermin Farmer

E/D Sandstorm Vermin Farmer

E/Mo The Torment Farmer

E/R DoA Tank

Necromancer Builds:

N/Mo Minion Master

Similar with the Shadow prison spike but with a lower spike recharge and longer snare and a higher armor level.

Attributes and Skills

 * Optional: Resurrection Signet or Conjure Frost.

Equipment

 * Rune of Major Dagger Mastery, Rune of Minor Shadow Arts, Rune of Minor Critical Strikes, Highest Vigor Rune available, Rune of Attunment.
 * Armor with Nightstalkers Insignia, Headpiece with +1 Critical Strikes.
 * 15^50 Daggers that deal Slashing Damage.
 * Any Dagger Tang will work.
 * Icy Dagger Tang if you are going to use the Conjure Frost Variation.

Usage

 * Find a foe who has a low Armor Rating.
 * Move into casting Range.
 * Cast Frigid Armor on yourself.
 * Cast Icy Shackles on target foe followed by your attack chain.

Counters

 * Blind
 * Heavy Health Degeneration (Enough to overwhelm Health Regeneration from Shadow Refuge)
 * Enchantment Removal
 * Movement Impairment (Hexes, Cripple, Etc.)

Variants

 * Conjure Frost for Alliance Battles or Ressurection Signet for Random Arenas and/or Team Arenas.

Equipment

 * Shrouded or Radiant Armor
 * Insightful Airstaff of Enchanting with a 5^50 energy inscription

Usage

 * Before entering aggro activate Deadly Paradox.
 * Keep Deadly Paradox up at all times.
 * When attacking the enemy, cast Dancing Daggers, Blinding Surge, and Entangling Asp. Before the conditions are removed, activate Signet of Shadows and Signet of Toxic Shock.
 * Spam Dancing Daggers until the enemy is dead or reuse the combo as the recharge times allow.
 * If you start to die, cast Deadly Paradox then Feigned Neutrality in that order.
 * At the specified attribute distribution (and maximum efficiency), the full combo will deal 315 damage (99+32+94+90), not counting armor penetration, plus 99 more damage for each additional casting of Dancing Daggers.

Counters

 * Excessive condition removal.
 * Avatar of Melandru ignores the degeneration (it doesn't give you immunity specifically, they just don't cause you to suffer the effects of the condition(s))
 * Ignorance shuts down the main offense of this build.

Variants

 * Replace Resurrection Signet with Dark Escape for AB.
 * Signet of Malice can be used for condition removal.

Templates
This build uses Savannah Heat, and 2 other AoE fire spells to apply pressure to the other team and keep them moving, and possibly off a certain target. Also, if a monk is trying to run out of the AoE spells, they are not healing which gives your team a big chance to get a few kills.

Equipment

 * Radiant Insignias and Attunement/Vitae Runes.
 * Insightful PvP Fire Staff of Enchanting.
 * OPTIONAL * 20/20 Wand or Off Hand for better recharge/casting time on the long recharge times of the AoE spells.

Usage
Before you start the fight, cast Fire Attunement, followed by Arcane Echo, Savannah Heat, Gale, and Another Savannah Heat. Use the other two AoE spells when Savannah Heat is recharging. For relic matches in HA, use Flame Djinn's Haste to run the relic.

Counters

 * Interruption
 * Ward of Stability
 * Diversion
 * Daze skills like Awe
 * And all other standard anti-caster tactics

Break
The Air Spiker is an aggressive Air Magic spike damage build. It is commonly used in Guild versus Guild with many others running variants of this build. Air Spikers are common in almost every area of PvP thanks to their high damage output on single targets.

Equipment

 * An Insightful Air Magic staff is the standard suggestion. Runar's Brimstone Staff is excellent.

Note: In a synchronized Air spike team, the 20% chance of faster casting speed weapon mod can give the spike target away. It is imperative in such teams that all spikers hit the target at exactly the same time; therefore, it is best not to use it in such a build.

Usage

 * Cast Air Attunement immediately before an encounter and remember to keep it up.
 * Choose a target in sync with your party's plan and try to take it out.
 * Use your spiking skills in the order of how fast they recharge, Lightning Strike and Orb can be spammed indefinitely since their recharge is only 5 seconds each.
 * Use Gale to control events around your party. If the spike target is running away, you can pin him down with Gale long enough to finish him off with Lightning Orb. If the target is using a long casting self heal like Troll Unguent or Healing Signet, use it as an interrupt. If an enemy is harassing your monk, use it on the enemy to give your monk a breather.
 * Use Glyph of Lesser Energy to save energy on Lightning Orb and Blinding Flash.
 * Use Blinding Flash to shut down enemy non-spellcasters.
 * Air Spells are cheap and fast to recharge, so in general, being interrupted is not a big issue. Beware of Distracting Shot and Diversion however. Also, a well-placed Backfire can kill you in a matter of seconds.

Variants

 * Replace Invoke Lightning with Lightning Surge, and use it immediately before Lightning Orb for a massive 200 damage spike.
 * Also for PvP, consider mesmer as a secondary profession and bring Shatter Enchantment or Drain Enchantment to make your spikes more effective, especially to counter skills that reduce your damage like Protective Spirit and Feigned Neutrality.
 * Aura of Restoration can be used especially in RA as a self-heal and cover Enchantment for Air Attunement.
 * Windborne Speed and Storm Djinn's Haste can be used for a speed boost. This is especially useful in Competitive Missions.
 * Invoke Lightning can be replaced with Mind Shock. This allows for a Knockdown.
 * Vigorous Spirit can be used in conjunction with Aura of Restoration for decent healing whenever you cast your spells.

Break
This Build uses Water Magic hexes to remove enchantments, and then spike using Vapor Blade and Shatterstone, while still being able to heal with Shadow Arts.

Equipment

 * 20/20 Water Staff with energy +5^50 inscription is recommended.

Usage

 * Start the build with Water Attunement to keep your energy up. Pick your target, then cast your hexes, use Signet of Twilight to remove any enchantments on them. Hit them with Shatterstone and Vapor Blade in quick succesion. Use Feigned Neutrality if you need healing, then pick your next target and repeat.

Counters

 * Hex removal will stop you from removing their enchantments.
 * Energy denial or interrupts.

Variants

 * If you are entering a battle where you are certain to have monks, Feigned Neutrality can be substituted for Glyph of Elemental Power, or another Damage skill to increase your spike capacity.
 * Deadly Paradox is a good addition to help with enchantment removal and healing.

Break
A build using energy denial to shut down opponents, while dealing damage in the process.

Equipment

 * Scar Pattern or Radiant Armor, with best Vigor rune possible.
 * The Stonereaper (or Similiar Staff}
 * Wayward Wand (Curses) and Villnar's Glove

Usage

 * Choose a Target.
 * Cast Wither -> Malaise -> Mind Wrack -> Parasitic Bond.
 * Cast Wither on other Casters.
 * Cast Ether Phantom -> Drain Delusions.
 * Spam Wastrel's Worry.
 * Repeat as energy levels permit.

Variants

 * Shatter Delusions for more damage instead of energy drain.
 * Power Leak can be used to expedite energy denial.
 * Signet of Humility and Shame can be used to counter enemy hex removal.
 * Diversion could be taken to shut down an opponent further, and synergizes well with Wastrel's Worry.
 * Signet of Lost Souls could be used if you run into problems with health/energy management, or other skills from the Inspiration Magic line.

Depravity Variant
For greater e-denial, but less pressure

Counters

 * Dazed.
 * Melee attention.
 * Ironically, energy denial can weaken this build.

Break
This farming build is designed to farm the boss Cultist Rajazan to get his sword, Rajazan's Fervor.

Equipment

 * Infiltrator's Armor.
 * 3 neccessary Weapon Sets:
 * A pair of 15^50 sundering or vampiric daggers.
 * One longbow.
 * Any one-handed weapon of Fortitude and a shield with health bonuses in stance. The Crimson Carapace Shield from Lord Dorn Lendrigen is a good choice.

Running to Rajazan

 * Leave Harvest Temple into the Unwaking Waters (Explorable) while wielding the weapon set with health bonuses.
 * Dash down the stairs until you have only a little space between you and the first group of Shiro'ken.
 * Cast Troll Unguent; while doing so the first patrol will come up into your aggro circle, immediately activate Storm Chaser and rush past them. Do not engage the melee Shiro'ken.
 * As you approach the second group, be careful not to be body blocked.
 * As you approach the third group, your Storm Chaser will be about to end. As soon as it ends, activate Dark Escape and run past the next two groups.
 * After Dark Escape ends, activate Dash to finally shake all the Shiro'ken groups off.
 * Take the lower path until you reach a group consisting of 3 Creeping Carp. Run past them with Storm Chaser while under Troll Unguent. You may find it useful to use Dash, then immediately use another stance, so as not to get that stance ended by the Carps' Wild Strike.
 * Follow the path as described on the map (take the path immediately to the left). If you time everything correctly, the Kraken Spawn will not be in your path.
 * If Outcast Assassins appear, activate Dark Escape and run past, they probably won't even move if you do this. If you're still under Siphon Speed from the Creeping Carp (which is likely), Dash should be able to break their aggro. Beware, if Siphon Speed runs out while you are NOT in a speed-enhancing stance, they will run after you from beyond the aggro bubble.
 * Follow the path north until you approach the next group of Shiro'ken. Run towards them until they start moving, then immediately stop and apply Troll Unguent. The Shiro'ken will enter your aggro circle just as you finish casting Troll Unguent. Activate Storm Chaser and run past this group and the next group.
 * The final group of Shiro'ken will appear in front of you. Run past them with Dark Escape. If you time it right, no enemies will be at the right wall''. Occasionally, there will be a group of 3 Creeping Carp here, which makes things a lot more difficult. Try to run past them without aggroing the dangerous Saltspray Dragons and their boss. Use all your stances here, it'll help to avoid a group of enemies in the next area.
 * Hug the right wall from this point, and you should get into range of Cultist Rajazan without encountering any enemies. (You can get past the Saltspray Dragons by hugging the wall.) If you timed everything right, you should encounter Rajazan's group at the same time as, or slightly before, a pack of 3 Creeping Carp from the left. Activate Dark Escape (which should be ready by now) and run past Rajazan and the Carp. Do not run near any Outcast Assassins: they will use Leaping Mantis Sting and cripple you, wasting your run.
 * Run to the very end of the path. Use Storm Chaser as soon as Dark Escape ends to shake off any enemies that still follow you.

Running Notes

 * A single Carp often follows you at the end. Stand at the westernmost point where you can't walk any further. It will come very close to you, often use a last skill and then retreat. Don't attack it.
 * Timing is critical. Remember that one death means starting all over again from the Harvest Temple.

Pulling and Killing Rajazan
Now it is time to kill Rajazan. Equip your longbow.


 * Attack Rajazan with your bow and immediately retreat to the west with Storm Chaser. This is neccessary to make him use Cultist's Fervor so he is enchanted.
 * As soon as you shake off your pursuers, hurry back and attack Rajazan again.
 * Then run to the west again without any speed enhancing stances. If everything goes right, the Outcasts will retreat. When they do, stop walking; Rajazan will come alone. If the Outcasts don't break off, activate Storm Chaser or Dark Escape!
 * If he has a staff in his hands, walk towards him until he equips his sword and slowly pull him backwards.
 * Killing him is the easiest part. Take out your daggers and use your first 3 skills regularly and use Troll Unguent whenever it is ready. Rajazan will soon be below 50% health.
 * When his health is <50%, repeatedly use Moebius Strike and Death Blossom (while remembering to stay under Troll Unguent).

Notes on pulling
Several factors will determine how easily Rajazan is pulled.
 * If Rajazan is wielding his staff, he will be harder to pull than if he is wielding a sword.
 * If Rajazan is on the western side before the group, he will be easier to pull than if he is on the eastern side, behind the Outcasts.
 * Pulling him alone can really be tedious but don't give up!
 * Sometimes, outcasts will follow you even with Storm Chaser. Try to run in circles with speed enhancing stances, as shown in the adjoining picture.
 * Often, simply using Dash after pulling Rajazan the first time is enough to ensure that you are not followed.
 * The perfect run time from Harvest Temple to Rajazan is approximately 2 minutes and 30 seconds, this should ensure that the runner avoids unnecessary and sometimes fatal groups.

Break
This build uses high damage PBAoE spells, with the added damage bonus from the Lightbringer title, to farm caster-only groups in Ravenheart Gloom for Torment Gemstones.

Attributes and Skills

 * With a Lightbringer rank of 4 or below, consider using one of the Variants. See the Discussion for additional ideas.

Equipment

 * Armor
 * Radiant Armor with Attunement Runes where possible (Or equivalent). Ensure that you have at least 90 maximum Energy.


 * Weapons
 * Any single handed weapon with +5 energy and +20% enchantment duration extension. Rajazan's Fervor or the Totem Axe are ideal.
 * A focus with a "Live for Today" inscription (+15 energy, -1 energy degeneration). Chung's Focus is ideal.

Usage

 * Enter Ravenheart Gloom from the Gate of Anguish. Receive the bounty from the Whispers Informant.
 * Run past the first group of foes with Shadow Form and Flame Djinn's Haste up.
 * Now, near your position there are two mobs made entirely of spellcasters:
 * One to the left, composed of a mixed group of spellcasters.
 * One to the right, composed of six Curse of Darknesses.
 * Wait for combat between the Shadow Army and the Order of Whispers ends. Get closer to the mixed group.
 * Cast Shadow Form and get into the middle of the enemy group with Death's Charge.
 * Now attack with all of your AoE spells from left to right.
 * Should any foes attempt to escape, you may either:
 * A - Run away with Flame Djinn's Haste.
 * B - Cast a second Flame Burst.


 * Once the mixed group has been cleared, repeat the above tactics for the group of six Curse of Darknesses.

Counters

 * Heart Tormentor
 * Earth Tormentor

Other Farmable areas
The quest Battle of Turai's Procession (see the discussion of this article for details)

Variants
Under Lightbringer Rank 4, see the discussion of this article.

Screenshots
Screenshot 1 Screenshot 2

Video 2

Break
The 55hp Monk is used to solo many popular farming locations containing Griffons, Hydras, Mountain Trolls, and Minotaurs. It is an enchantment heavy build, so it is not suitable for areas with disenchanting mesmers or necromancers.

This build is often called "55 Monk" because of its low health -- only 55 hp. The low health makes Protective Spirit, which limits damage to 10% of a character's maximum health, reduce all received damage to 5hp/hit, which is easily countered by the 8 pips of health regeneration granted by Healing Breeze (16 hp regained every second).

This build no longer works as described because of the Wednesday 25th of October monster AI update, whereby monsters that can be knocked down no longer kill themselves on Shield of Judgment (meaning Hydras can still be farmed with this build for they cannot be knocked down). If you run past the Mountain Trolls in the cave outside Droknar's Forge, use this build to farm the Tundra Giants, be sure to use a skill like Dolyak Signet against them so you can cast your healing skills and Shield of Judgment to prevent them from disrupting you with their stomps. This also works well with Sand Giants  in the Scar area of the Crystal Desert.

It does work in areas such as the zone with Hydras and Griffins outside of the Augury Rock. It is still effective only takes longer. In the Nightfall campaign of Guild wars the build works real well against the groups of  Tusked Hunters and Tusked Howlers outside Yohlon Haven

See the article Invincible Monk for a discussion of the concept of the build.

Equipment

 * Any 20% of Enchanting, preferably with extra energy. A Totem Axe or Rajazan's Fervor is ideal.
 * The off-hand item is the -50 Grim Cesta obtained via the Cities of Ascalon quest.
 * Ascetic's Armor offers the most energy which is beneficial to this build, all armor pieces have to have Monk superior runes: one of each with one extra to bring your health down to 105 (this doesn’t include health deduction with the -50 Grim Cesta). Keep in mind that you don't need high armor for the build, so any Ascetic's with maximum energy will do.

Usage

 * Cast the first 4 enchantments before the fight. You won't have any energy regeneration, so use Blessed Signet to regain energy out of combat.
 * Before aggroing mobs, cast Protective Spirit. You should not need Healing Breeze unless you have more than 3 foes that cannot be knocked down (such as hydras), or 5 that can be knocked down (such as forgotten).
 * The energy gained from Essence Bond and Balthazar's Spirit should be more than enough for all situations.
 * Blessed Aura and your weapon of Enchanting will prolong your Shield of Judgment, which is your core offensive spell.
 * The build is most successful against melee attackers and is least successful against spell casters (especially Mesmers). To use it for farming, find an area with a heavy concentration of melee attackers (such as the Blessed Griffons in Snake Dance or the Hydras in Skyward Reach) and take them on.

List of Soloable Bosses

Wajjun Bazaar
 * Lian, Dragon's Petal - (aggro as many as possible for energy benefit)Instead of Essense Bond bring Zealot's Fire for additional damage.

Variants

 * Monk
 * Replace Essence Bond with Zealot's Fire for more damage output. See the notes on casting in succession to avoid breaking aggro.
 * Replace Blessed Aura with Smite for more firepower. Note that if you are used to Blessed Aura, then getting used to the decidedly shorter durations of Healing Breeze, Protective Spirit and Shield of Judgment will take some time.
 * Replace Essence Bond with Strength of Honor while using a melee weapon to do more Damage.
 * Replace Essence Bond with Symbol of Wrath and use it right after Shield of Judgment tends to kill Mountain Trolls with one round of Shield of Judgment.
 * Replace Healing Breeze with Shield of Absorption for 0 damage (With Totem Axe and Blessed Aura, Shield of Absorption will come back soon enough to recast before it ends.
 * Use Watchful Spirit for more regeneration
 * Warrior, secondary
 * Replace Essence Bond with Bonetti's Defense for an excellent energy providing skill, though dodging will reduce the DPS average.
 * Replace Essence Bond with Balanced Stance to protect yourself against knockdowns, such as Meteor casted by Hydras. This will make Hydra-Farming a lot easier.
 * Replace Essence Bond with Dolyak Signet to securely eliminate knockdowns from monsters such as Tundra Giants
 * Elementalist, secondary
 * Replace Essence Bond with Aftershock. This works fine with the knockdown provided by Shield of Judgment and does not break aggro like Zealot's Fire.
 * Replace Shield of Judgment with Glyph of Renewal and use Sliver Armor for damage.
 * Replace Essence Bond with Bed of Coals.
 * Necromancer, secondary
 * Replace Essence Bond with Suffering. Use this after Shield of Judgment, when the enemy(s) are knocked down because of its 2 second cast time it's easier to interrupt. For large mobs, cast it into the center of the group.
 * Mesmer secondary, you could do one or more of the following:
 * Replace Essence Bond with Channeling to gain tons of energy from crowding foes (this works well in conjunction with Zealot's Fire).
 * Replace Blessed Aura with Arcane Echo to lengthen the effect of Shield of Judgment.
 * Replace Essence Bond with Mantra of Resolve against enemies with interrupts. This can be useful against Titans and Mountain Trolls.
 * Replace Balthazar's Spirit with Sympathetic Visage. This will deplete enemies' energy and cause spellcasting monsters such as Hydras to attack you more once they no longer have the energy to power their spells.
 * Ranger, secondary
 * Replace Essence Bond with Serpent's Quickness for back to back Shield of Judgment casting.
 * Replace Blessed Signet with Brambles to add damage and inflict bleeding when enemies are knocked down by Shield of Judgment. Remember that Brambles is Factions only.
 * Dervish, secondary
 * Mystic Regeneration based:


 * Benefits - more points in Divine Favor and Smiting Prayers means Shield of Judgment does more damage for a longer time. Mystic Regeneration is far better than Healing Breeze (0.25 cast, up to +16 health regen for 24 sec).
 * Replace Watchful Spirit with Mending if you don't have WS.
 * Replace Watchful Spirit with Fleeting Stability if getting knocked down is a problem ("only" get max +14 health regen though). Suggested: Protection Prayers at 9 and Earth Prayers at 6 for longer Fleeting Stability.
 * Additional equipment: a wand + the Grim Cesta in another weapon set. If an enemy runs away, switch to wand, attack it then switch back to usual set. Unless the AI has changed, it should run back to attack you.
 * Mystic Regeneration for healing.

Counters

 * Enchantment removal
 * Interrupting
 * The dazed condition
 * Life stealing
 * Degeneration