First of all - nice nickname
Now,
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Originally Posted by Sarasvati
Is that fairly accurate as to how Ritualists play? Summoning immobile spirits dpending on the situation, which sit there and attack, or heal, or charge up to explode, and other stuff?
No, it's not accurate. For the most part, Communing is Ranger attribute line. Not Ritualist one. That's how things are atm. If you like spamming those spirits etc, just make Ranger, go R/Rt, and exploit overpowere expertise attribute. You will do MUCH better than as a Ritualist primary, using those skills. Im talking about damage spirits of course. If you just want to have one, then sure, you can be primary Rt.
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How do Ritualists work in PvP?
They are excellent in PvP.
Also, good thing is that most people think they aint good in PvP, which is something you can use as an advantage. As long as you dont copy the builds of others, you will do great (well, of course, depending on how well you learned Rt hehe).
Oh, and when i say they are excellent in PvP, that includes GvG too.
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I keep getting mixed input on how easy it is to find groups in GW as a Ritualist. Some say they're one of the hardest to find groups with, and some say they are easy to get groups with. Which is true?
Fairly easy. Noobs will not take you in a group as they think Rt's aint as good as <insert whatever>, but Rt is absolutey great in PvE, and blatantly overpowered in some areas. The problem is that whammos dont play Rt's, Rt's are too advanced for a whammo, just as a mesmer is. Still, it's not difficult to find a group, but sometimes be prepared to be a healer (which i find fun as well), because group might need it and there's no monk around.
Overall, Ritualists have insane versatility, one of the best, if not the best. You can be healer, channeler (elemental dmg), dmg spirits (not as good as if u were R/Rt..), defensive spirits (nerfed, but still overpowered in some game areas IMO), MM bomber, melee (Spirit Strenght daggers) and any hybrid of each (Rt's also excel at hybrids, since their primary sucks, but it also isnt needed in most cases).
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I'm wondering what build I should try out first to get me familiar with PvE as I am leveling up
Levelling up is just a process of getting to know profession skills. In low lvl areas, i'd say channeling will do nicer dmg than communing, while communing does better dmg in high-end areas (since it's armor ignoring).
As a general rule of thumb, try to avoid "builds" and always see what fits your playstyle. Quite often this means taking someone elses build and partially (or even completely with time) modify it to suit your needs and playstyle, while maintaining the effectiveness (or increasing it). ¸
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I also like disabling and hampering targets, and being a general pain in the arse support-class.. maybe I should try a Ritualist/Mesmer?
No. Mesmer doesnt really have anything to add to your arsenal. Or, in other words, mesmer will do better what you would do with mesmer skills, since he can use higher attributes than 12 (by adding runes).
Instead, you should work on studying Rt skills and discovering Rt arsenal. Disabling and hampering can does be done in various ways:
1) spirits such as Shadowsong or Dissonance (again, R/Rt is better at this)
2) using weapons such as Warmongers Weapon
3) reducing their dmg output or healing (restoration line)
4) other
In 99% cases, you will use only Ritualist skills. Yes, you absolutely dunnot need secondary profession, especially in PvE. Sometimes, as in GvG, it will be useful that you take a skill from another class, because of a synergy effect with your team build. But that is a specific situation, not a rule.
Think as a Ritualist. Be a better Ritualist, not better mesmer than mesmer itself.
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The only thing I don't know how to do is PLAY as a spirit spammer. Do I just throw pain and union spirits down, buff myself and then cast Painful Bond on targets to pull them?
If you're using defensive spirits such as Displacement Shelter and Union, you need a very specific build which focuses on it. Adding randomly these spirits to some other build will greatly lower the efficiency. Ritualist Lord, Displacement, Shelter, Union (union always casted after shelter), Signet of Creation, Pain, Boon of Creation.... this is approximatelly how defensive spirit spammer would look like in PvE (none in PvP atm, it got nerfed, but it still works in some PvE areas).
Now, if you use dmg spirits (highly effective in PvE, especially in end-game areas), then it's quite simple... you will need to practice spamming spirits, their positioning.. when to cast em, where etc. It's difficult to really explain this (read what Calen said; yes, spirit placement could almost be a science heh. Dont forget that placement depends on the spirits itself; shadowsong might be better far back, so it hits wariors, while dissonance might work better a bit up, so higher chance of hitting casters, etc). Basically, you go communing+channeling this time. Lil bit in spawning but meh not much since spawning is weak and useless, it doesnt help much unless you're using defensive spirits. Anyway, yes, you drop PBond here.
Spread spirits. Dont group spirits.
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Originally Posted by Dodo the Extinct
This is a really bad desicion, because Ritualists are barely ever used in gvg, and because Rt/E basically sucks in PvE when compared to the other professions. My point, is that you should just pick a secondary that excells at PvE, and not one that excells in PvP.
Misconceptions. More and more Rt's are in GvG now. I dont play in top100, but neither do 99% of GWers, and neither will OP play in top100 GvG, at least not for a long time. Outside of top100 GvG, Ritualists are very strong, and as you go down the ladder they become stronger and stronger. Just because most people copy builds, and because Rt's aint used much, doesnt mean they aint good. Im not the only one who used Rt's in GvG builds, hell, lots of em, and absolutely destroyed quite a lot of teams before they knew what hit them.
Ritualists are also overpowered in RA. I got 50 glad points first month of Factions, by playing dmg spirit spammer. I got bored of it, but whenever i go in RA and play something, i see tons of people still didnt learn how to fight against Rt. Which one can use to his advantage.
One other thing - mastering Rt is more difficult than mastering some other classes (namely, ele, whammo, necro...). This is because each set of Rt skills requires a different mindset. You cant put Channeled Strike and Spirit Rift and Gaze/Burn on your skillbar, and use it like you would use Channeled Strike, Gaze, Burn, Essence strike etc. If you take CStrike, Rift and Gaze/Burn, you HAVE to learn how to use these skills properly. Otherwise, by spamming them randomly, your dmg output will fall by 30% or more. I've seen other people using the build, and they have seen me using the same channeling build they tried, and the difference in dmg output and dead bodies was noticable.
It's the same situation with a set of other Rt skills.
Because of all that, the best thing you can do is find someone who is good at Rt, ask him lots of questions, and make him demonstrate it to you if possible. He will explain to you how each skill and set of skills are used. Im not doing that, because i noticed people are ungrateful, and they want to keep using their favorite Mo+E+W setup until chapter10, despite other options being better. Not that i care, less time teaching someone is more time to do smarter things.
Therefore, it is not suprising that Rt isnt as popular. Right now, after all the buffs, Ritualist is very strong. For those who know how to use it. It's not a sub-par class. It's a viable class.
Most guilds make GvG builds in a way: ...let's get monks, runner, ele, warrior... etc, and randomly mix em. Ritualist will not thrive is lottery builds. Ritualist will thrive in well-thought and designed builds, where every skill is there for a reason. No more, no less. Rt builds are not made in a way that many make other profession builds: "ah, use that elite, and just put some typical skills... u know...". They are made like this: "take that, that, that, that that that that and that skill". | | |
