The Niche of the Ritualist

I was playing my ritualist today and got to wondering exactly what the niche of the ritualist is. All classes have a niche in pve and pvp- something they do better than all other classes. For example, the warrior is best at dealing damage over long stretches of time; the monk is best at healing and individual protection.

However, despite the ritualist being my main character, I cannot think of what the ritualist does better than all other classes. Sure they can heal and support the monk, but still not as well as another monk could. They can increase damage the party members do through weapon spells, but still not as much support damage as a mesmer or necro can. They can deal lightning damage, but still not as much damage as an elementalist can.

The one niche the ritualist had was party protection and area control. The ritualist like no other class could protect all party members or control an area. Minion masters have minions that had their own ranging ai movements; monks cannot protect everyone at once. The ritualist was an environment controller/terrain holder above all other classes' ability through the use of stationary spirits.

Now the ritualist cannot control an area without difficulty (pve groups lack of pulling also adds to this). The energy demands tend to be too high. The ritualist also cannot protect the party anymore.

While I do enjoy the ritualist's ability to be a jack-of-all-trades, I cannot see what sets them apart from all other classes in a certain regard.

Does the ritualist have anything that exceeds all other classes; does the ritualist have a niche in pve and pvp? Or perhaps, as I often feel, has Anet removed the niche of the ritualist?

Quote: Originally Posted by Xeupo

Quote: Originally Posted by Xeupo

You have an excellent point, Dahnel. I was taking tha versatility for granted I think. I did not think much of being a healer one mission and a channeler the next.

However, what would the general player base consider their niche? That is important to get into groups considering most players do not understand what a ritualist can do.

Quote: Originally Posted by Xeupo

I find that Ritualists are superior to healing groups and protecting groups over the monk. Monk is superior in healing and protecting individuals, but Ritualists do it better in groups.

Healing someone away from the party is better left to the monk, but for those in "the area", Ritualists are awesome.

I think Ritualists and Rangers are tied for the versatility title.

To elaborate on Pick Me's statement above...

I would much rather have a Monk + Ritualist in my group versus having 2 Monks.

Recuperation, Shelter, Union and Displacement are global skills that a Monk just can't compare with. Add to that some of the "free" small heals that a Ritualist can consistently spam out (i.e. Soothing Memories and Mend Body & Soul), and you really look for the monk to specifically focus on massive healing situations (i.e. on the aggro taker of the group).

I would say, previously, a Rit Lord spammer, period. Now they have a lot more versatility, but I still'd prefer Rt/R Rit Lord.

I know I'm flogging a dead horse with this, but in PvE the large majority of people still view rits as healers. Which is fine with me, since healers are always in demand. Going Rt/Me helps maintain energy, going Rt/Mo helps with conditions, so I have no problem adapting along the way.

I've rarely seen groups advertising for a Rit channeler, but I have had them in my groups before, and with the added buff to channeling I hope they find a place so I can try channeling magic out in some missions.

I have not had any problems getting into groups, but I have talked to many other ritualist players that have and wanted some other people's views on this situation. This problem could put off new players to the class. While I do miss being able to ritual lord (the old build) whenever the fancy strikes me, the nerf did allow more versatility and less pigeon holing in groups.

There are many times when I run a restorationalist I found myself as the primary healer because the monk wastes most of their energy keeping everyone exactly at full health. While the ritualist does not have divine favor, it is not a subpar healing class by any means despite what most players think.
Although I do dislike the occassional "entire skill bar recharging" when I am healing a bad pulling group.

Does anyone think the nightfall release with the paragon's protection abilities will render the ritualist the rarest class? (As of now the ritualist is a fairly rare class)

Personally, I feel like a very versatile and powerful priest class.

Way more freedom than most classes have.

Quote: Originally Posted by Xeupo

1. My rit provides me my money reserve.(wich is 0g atm WOOO! i need to farm)
2. spirit bomber if the spirits concentrate is a very high dmg.
3. healing rits are a mix of prot + heal so there as good as a boon prot... i guess
4. ive done fow with me as rit lord + 1 woh healer gg?

Rits are versatile, but they also offer a great deal more than that.

Having 2 monks seems to be the requirement these days, but many times a rit makes more sense than a 2nd monk.

The nice thing about rits are their weapon spells. While they can't be stacked (AGH!), they also don't interfere with the monk spells. If 2 monks cast reversal of fortune on a single character, there isn't a benefit outside of the divine favor bonus heal. One of the spells simply replaces the other. However, if a monk casts reversal of fortune, and a rit casts vengeful weapon...well, benefits are very noticeable.

Recuperation is still one of the best skills in the game, even after the nerf. The spirit pain is also a fantastic spell, and gives the rit the ability to create a backwall of damage dealers for the group.
Vengeful weapon is simply amazing.
Mind body and soul...decent heal WITH the ability to remove 1 condition!
Doom...nasty, nasty spell.

There are so many nice skills...and yet everyone plays a piece of crap assassin. Rits are rare..almost as rare as mesmers. It's a real shame...mesmers and rits are very, very balanced. Yet everyone plays assassins, rangers and necros instead.

Wait until the Paragon goes live. Rits and mesmers may only be seen as secondary classes then.

95% of the people do *NOT* realize how godly Rits are at healing.

Let's take a look.

Assuming that the Resto Rit is decently good, casts Recuperation, stands next to it, and holds Attunded was Songkai:

1. Vengeful Weapon - Reversal of Fortune + Lifesteal
2. Mend Body and Soul - Orison of Healing with 8 or so DF bonus + Mend Ailment
3. Recuperation - Constant +3 HP regen, nuf said
4. Soothing Memories - If you are holding Attuned was Songkai, this is a free heal that costs 0 energy
5. Resilient Weapon - Mend Body and Soul on CD? No problem. Slap this on a hex or conditioned ally and he will be very happy, +24 armor, +5 regen.
6. Weapon of Warding - Monk getting dominated? Melee taking too much dmg? Slap this on, regen and 50% to block.

I won't even go into further detail, but I will say this. Seeing as I Monk and Rit alot, I can tell you, for PvP, Monks can counter spikes better than Rits, but they cannot offer group stability as well as a Rit. For PvE, 1 Rit will always do better than 1 Monk in a team.

Because of Attunded was Songkai. We will never run out of energy, and we can keep multiple people safe at the same time. Sure Monks have heal party, but that's a 15 energy spell without any other benefit besides HP. Rits will never waste mana on overhealing allies, but using Heal Party will almost always guanratee an overheal on at least 1 person unless the group took some type of AoE degen or damage.


EDIT: By the way, holding ashes and weapon spells cannot be dispelled, which enchantments can be stripped.

Quote: Originally Posted by Dahnel

Quote: Originally Posted by Xeupo

i hope so. Rits are still my favorite class. at least untill the druid class comes out =)

they arn't super good at much but they're one of the rarest classes now.
i always havea weakness for underused and preaciated classes.

It's funny, I love playing my ritualist, but it's still hard to find one. I was lucky when I did Raisu Palace, I paired up with a rit who did the Rit Lord build, while I went half spirit spam and half restore.

The only profession I don't really have a desire to create in PvE is a mesmer. I absolutely love playing a mesmer in PvP, but I can't get into it for PvE. I've created 3 mesmers so far, 2 in Prophecies 1 in Factions. The farthest I got in Tyria was Gates of Kryta, and in Cantha I didn't even leave Shing Jea. Deleted all 3 attempts.

Maybe in Nightfall...

Agreed, a restoration rit and a monk is better than two monks.

People who say restoration rits are just not-as-good monks are either not playing them right, or have never played with someone who is playing them right, or are just repeating "conventional wisdom".

Resilient Weapon is the single most underrated skill in the game. In PVE hexes and conditions are extremely common, so it almost always works. With 16 restoration it gives +6 health regen and 24 armor for 21 seconds. Thats a lot of protection and 21 seconds is a long time. And since the skill balance you can keep Recuperation up constantly at 16 restoration, with no break. Huge.

A couple of days ago I was on a FOW run with my rit, and the monk had to go afk for 20 minutes to eat. Kept the whole party up myself during that period.

When it comes to PVE healing at least, rits rock. One of these days I might try Channeling too, but for now I'm having too much fun with Restoration.