Ritualists in DoA

I basically need a few good builds and roles and possible party setups for ritualists in the Domain of Anguish. This means all areas, not any gimmicky farm shit. Basically, I'm sick of the metagame in DoA, since my rit has no spots in the tank, 3 ele, 3 monk, necro meta. I need a few good builds and roles so that I can get my ritualist through all the areas and come out with a few gems to boot ^^

we've been trying to implement a rit, and as of yet havent found any suitable role they can play at this time. aside from m/rt to kill mallyx! spirits just get destroyed once down aggro goes ape shit for em. maybe some weapon spell rit! dont know! good luck!

One thing I tried with one of my friends was me spamming Splinter Weapon on a group of barragers. Since we lacked any healer, and we only went in with him, me, and our ranger heroes (who unfortunately don't know how to kite when they're getting destroyed), it didn't work that well, but if you can get with a bunch of humans and some healer, it should be effective (we would have everything almost dead, and then they would kill us off).

The build I used was:
[skill]Arcane Echo[/skill] [skill]Splinter Weapon[/skill] [skill]Wielder's Remedy[/skill] [skill]Wielder's Zeal[/skill] [skill]Nightmare Weapon[/skill] [skill]Mend Body and Soul[/skill] [skill]Lightbringer's Gaze[/skill]

and a res. The attributes were: Resto:10+1, Channeling:11+4, Spawning:10+1. Usage was pretty basic. Keep up Wielder's Remedy and Wielder's Zeal at all times, echo Splinter Weapon and keep it on all members at all times, use Nightmare Weapon and Mend Body and Soul to heal, attack when able with Lightbringer's gaze. Might not have needed to echo Splinter Weapon, but it did speed up the ability to recast it on everyone.

A few people have done it as a Rt/N with battery skills and weapon spells.

The only thing I could think of was a Rit constantly keeping Shelter up, using [skill=text]Soul Twisting[/skill]

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Just a thought and I have not tried this at least with two Ritualists. What about having 2 Ritualists set up as Splinter Barragers attacking with barrage and keeping splinter up all the time on themselves, and 1 Ranger Barrager with Warmongers weapon on him. This weekend I did this with 1 Ritualist Barrager and 1 Ranger Barrager in the Fissure of Woe. I kept Warmonger on the Ranger and Splinter on myself and we cut them to pieces. Poor casters could barely get a spell off. It may not work because the groups in DOA are much harder then in the fissure of woe but the damage output is huge.

i dont think that there will be any use of rt/r barrager 'cos theres no use for r/* barrager in DoA to start with... 75% of the time the team tryes desperately to hide behind some walls/corners/rocks/etc, so u will never have a clear view of ur targets. interrupting mobs isnt a priority, so warmonger barrager is out of question, splinter barrager might have some chance to getting accepted in guild group for farming, but i highly doubt it.
rit lord spirit spammer will be useless i'm afraid, offencive spirits cant attack through walls so... i dunno if its possible but u might as well try to tank with obsidian rit i monked in teams with obsidian dervish tanks, i still prefer w/ele but as long as derv tank was managing aggro evrthing was just fine. if u get the armor with +AR bonus when u have weapon spell on u u'll have the same AR as dervish. u might as well try to talk ur guildies into letting u tank
another option will be rt/n with SS, but u'll need high LB rank to do enough damage. it'll be easier to find a group as SS compare to obsidian rit tank tho

Our party leader was a Ritualist when I was done in DoA a few hours ago in the Veil. We were quite successful, I might add. He basically replaced one of the Eles in the standard "balanced" team. I remembered he had these five skills:
[skill]Arcane Echo[/skill] [skill]Spirit Rift[/skill] [skill]Ancestors' Rage[/skill] [skill]Offering of Spirit[/skill] [skill]Flesh of My Flesh[/skill]

I don't remember the rest of the skills but I do know that he would echo Spirit Rift so can cast it twice, and would cast Ancestor's Rage on the tank on occasion (though I don't know if Spell Breaker or Obsidian Flesh would prevent this). Flesh of My Flesh is a replacement for Resurrection Chant. This is so you can rez a 1hp BiPper, should you have one in your team.

For energy, he would use Offering of Spirit but to avoid sacrificing life, he would stay within earshot of the EoE and Symbiosis spirits that the BiPper maintains ... I think that's how it worked (Personally, I never tried spirit-related skills within earshot of a Ranger's Nature Rituals so I can't be certain if it could work). Although, I'm sure there might be other ways for managing energy for a Ritualist besides begging the BiPper to BiP you. I suppose one way is to bring this skill:

[skill]Essence Strike[/skill]

With Channeling at 16 (12 + 1 + 3), you can get 5 energy back for each charge, assuming you're within the two spirits that the N/R would usually bring.

Fighting Mallyx, however, is a different story. I would imagine you need something like Displacement, Shelter, and Union ... but I wouldn't know since I have yet to fight Mallyx with a Rit, nor have I yet to be placed in a party with a Rit.

Good luck and show them that Rits can be useful for lots of things in DoA.

EDIT: After some further tests, skills like Offering of Spirit and Essence Strike do work in the presence of a Ranger's Nature Rituals. I'm sorry if you already knew this but I was just curious and it definitely works! So as long the Bipper maintains one of the two Spirits AND you are within earshot of them, you can still regain some energy without sacrificing life.

But now if you really want some extra energy at hand, I would recommend Halcyon's Armor (or Radiant Insignias) as well as these experimenting with these two skills:

[skill]Empowerment[/skill] [skill]Mighty was Vorizun[/skill]

The Empowerment spirit should be placed at the same area where the N/R places the two Ranger spirits (assuming the N/R knows for sure that those spirits won't inadvertently aggro anything from behind). However, at 12 Spawning Power, it only lasts for 51 seconds unlike the life of the two Ranger spirits, which is well around 90~120 seconds. Also MwV is a Communing skill. If Communing is set at 3, that only lasts 24 seconds ... that, and you'll be carrying an urn so you won't be able to take advantage of any bonuses from your weapons.

I suppose you could ditch Empowerment and stick with MwV only, and then lower Spawning Power back to 0 since it doesn't make sense to have any points in that attribute if you won't bring spirits with you. And then jack Communing back to 12. That in turn will make MwV last for 51 seconds.

Just some thoughts to throw around here for a possible Channeling build. Good luck with partying up! If you can't get hooked up with some PUGs, then try going with your Alliance or some Guildies. At least they should be more willing to accept a "non-standard" profession into DoA.

Ritualists can't replace Healing Monks?

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Yeah, I was pretty frustrated today trying to get a group in DOA. One helpful guy recommended I just take my Ele or Monk through Nightfall. Screw that. I'll just play LOTR Online for two weeks, and then get my free Razah when the update goes through.

I hear ya, Bargamer. Although I have an Ele up there right now in DoA and have completed the four sections with her, I personally prefer to play as a Rit. Someone suggested I go SS or a BiPper but if he was still in the guild, I'd punch him in the teeth. Those are Necro's jobs and I'd rather utilize the power of a Ritualist than being a Necro-wannabe.

Some also suggested Splinter Weapon but I wouldn't bother because of the following reasons: Your tank rarely attacks-- the purpose of the tank is to gather aggro so it's easier for the nukers and SS to attack them. The tank may equip a longbow or other ranged weapon for the purpose of pulling but that's pretty much it.

Your casters rarely use wand/staff attacks-- most of the time, they're behind walls, rocks, and pillars casting spells, so their usual wand attacks will be obstructed by such things.
However, you could cast this to support the tank since the tank is more likely to be hit with all kinds of conditions (and the occasional hex if Spell Breaker/Obsidian Flesh wears off):

[skill]Resilient Weapon[/skill]

... but I think Healing Breeze is good enough from the SB or HB monk with the addition to the tank's shout: "I Will Survive!", though you can't go wrong with the +24 armor bonus from the Weapon Spell.

This is my skill bar right now, which I intend to experiment with tonight when I head down there with some old friends and guildies (because PUGs don't like experimenting ) --

[skill]Arcane Echo[/skill] [skill]Spirit Rift[/skill] [skill]Ancestors' Rage[/skill] [skill]Spirit Burn[/skill] [skill]Essence Strike[/skill] [skill]Mighty Was Vorizun[/skill] [skill]Offering of Spirit[/skill] [skill]Flesh of my Flesh[/skill]

Attributes:
Channeling: 16 (12 + 1 + 3)
Communing: 13 (12 + 1)
Restoration: 3

I could, however, replace Spirit Burn with Lightbringer's Gaze since my Rit's LB rank is level 4.

Usage: This would replace one of the Eles in the standard "Balanced Team" build. While the tank gathers aggro in a centralized spot, the Rit should cast Mighty Was Vorizun for a good energy boost. Following that, Arcane Echo and then Spirit Rift, and then the echoed Spirit Rift. On occasion, Ancestors' Rage can be casted on a tank. (For quicker access, I reconfigure my keyboard shortcuts so I can press 1 [assuming the Tank is in position 1] and then NUMPAD_3 and then C to target back to an enemy)

For energy management, Offering of Spirit can be used as well as Essence Strike. However, the Rit needs to be within Earshot of EoE and/or Symbiosis, which is normally summoned the N/R Bipper.

Flesh of my Flesh is used to ressurect the the Bipper. Therefore, this person also serves as the second "Chanter", the other one being one of the monks.

It's a build I want to try out tonight since it looks interesting on paper and was partially tested by an old guildie, just without the energy management skills.

Just experimented with it recently and it seems to work for the most part. I could not test it fully because our SB monk decided to be arrogant and bail on us for "being too slow" which seemed like normal speed to me (today's moral: PUGs can be very predictable in a group of Guildies and Alliance members-- in our case for most of our parties, they're the ones to complain about the time to complete the mission instead of actually helping the party) ... but hey! We're a bunch of "Experimentalists" for lack of a better word.

If anyone wants to test it or make improvements to it, then you're more than welcome to do so. Speaking of which, someone in our party suggested to use this skill:

[skill]Renewing Surge[/skill]

That could go in place of Lightbringer's Gaze if you don't like the recharge time that Gaze has, or if your LB rank is low. Just watch your energy as this skill is highly spammable when holding ashes.

Anecdotal information: One thing I have learned when I done this with an Ele is that AoE skills are the key, hence one of the reasons why Searing Flames is rather favorable ... however, Damage-over-Time skills (eg. Meteor Shower) can be troublesome if the Tank forgets to put up a ward or Grasping Earth, or if the Ele forgets to hit the mob with Deep Freeze. If you have only one Ele in your team, make sure he/she takes Deep Freeze instead of Mark of Rodgort. That's what I do if I'm going in with any experimental teams as an Ele since snaring the monsters ensures a safer escape, in the unusual event that aggro scatters off the tank (which theoretically shouldn't happen unless the SB monk is too close to the tank or the Tank decides to load off Sliver Armor).

/EDIT: I also have some screenshots to share:



Sorry for the large images but that's the resolution I usually play at ... Anyway, they're not the best but it gives you a good idea how much damage you'll be doing if enough monsters gather on the Tank. The first image, BTW, was performed with a different party with our usual group of friends but since one of us had to leave because of a "wife issue", we had to resign and go with a second group, in which a couple were PUGs, one was which the SB monk that I mentioned about previously. That and the Tank was bumped down to slot 8 so I had to reconfigure my shortcuts before portalling into the City. Also don't mind the "elves" in the third image ... we do that periodically.

To be honest, the only forms of defense that seem reliable are the bonds, enchantments, and healing from monks. If a Rit is going to do anything, it's going to be blitzing everything with Channeling skills. With that said, if you have the Rit hold the Shard of Brilliance in the Gloom, then you can definitely keep spamming Renewing Charge at a single foe, such as the typical stray Sanity Tormentor, aka "Chicken Tormentor".

Just some notes I would like to add in regards to synergizing with certain teams but ... from what I gather, the "balanced" team is segmented in three parts: 1 Tank, 3 Nukers, 3 Monks. Replacing a Monk with a different profession is very difficult and probably not worth the effort so the Rit would have to either be 1) a Tank, or 2) an AoE Spammer.

"Can a Ritualist Tank?"

There are various skills for a Ritualist that affects AL but like the traditional W/E and D/E Obsidian Tanks, such skills aren't enough and would need some extra assistance from the SB and Bond Monks. I had this totally, whacked-out, 100 percent, UNTESTED build that I have my doubt's in making it work, but heck! If an Ele can tank, then I'm pretty sure other Squishy professions can do the same with similar skills! LOL

[skill]Glyph of Concentration[/skill] [skill]Stoneflesh Aura[/skill] [skill]Obsidian Flesh[/skill] [skill]Armor of Earth[/skill] [skill]Ward Against Foes[/skill] [skill]Protective was Kaolai[/skill] [skill]Resilient Weapon[/skill] [skill]Soothing Memories[/skill]

NOTE: That should be Armor of Earth, NOT Kinetic Armor as the skill icon implies ... looks like these boards goofed up when it came to skill icons.

Restoration Magic: 16 (12 + 1 + 3)
Earth Magic: 12

Armor: Emissary's Armor (+15 AL while affected by Weapon Spell) or Ghost Forge Insignias

I could have also used Mend Body and Soul instead of Soothing Memories, but that might remove a condition that would otherwise negate the requirement for Resilient Weapon to function.

Usage: Similar rules apply to most tanking builds in DoA-- Ask for the usual Bonds and Spellbreaker, gather aggro, and Tank! While Tanking, maintain enchantments and avoid getting Interrupted. In this case, you might want to cast both PwK and Resilient Weapon before gathering aggro since these don't reduce your speed, unlike the AL buffs from the Earth Magic line. The added plus to the Items and Weapon spells is that they aren't vulnerable to enchantment stripping skills. In regards to Resilient Weapon, you may not be Hexed because of Spell Breaker and Obsidian Flesh, but you may still suffer conditions from various melee and ranged attackers so such conditions will trigger the bonuses from Resilient Weapon.

It's just some build I came up with in a matter of a few minutes based on knowledge of the W/E and D/E Obsidian Tank builds. I have my doubts in it working, but if it works then HOT DAMN! LOL!

Personally, I suck at Tanking hence the reason why my Warrior will almost always be a W/Rt for farming UW, but I thought I'd throw in some ideas. Aside from that, I think the experimental Channeling build mentioned a couple posts up would be a better candidate for acceptance amongst other Ritualists looking to party-up in DoA.

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"How about Nuking?"

It's possible for a Ritualist to replace one of the three Elementalists in the metateam build, possibly by using the proposed Channeling build a few posts up. Though one less Elementalist means the lesser efficiency of Searing Flames in synergizing well, the damage can be made up the Rit's Channeling skills. As long aggro remains gathered on the Tank, then AoE skills from the Rit should still be valuable. To recap, this is what I have:

[skill]Arcane Echo[/skill] [skill]Spirit Rift[/skill] [skill]Ancestors' Rage[/skill] [skill]Renewing Surge[/skill] [skill]Essence Strike[/skill] [skill]Mighty was Vorizun[/skill] [skill]Offering of Spirit[/skill] [skill]Flesh of my Flesh[/skill]

Channeling: 16 (12 + 1 + 3)
Communing: 12
Restoration: 3

Equipment: I use a Channeling Staff with HSR and HCT at 20%, a +5 Insightful Staff Head, and a +30 HP Fortitude Staff Wrapping.

Armor: Halcyon's Armor (or Radiant Insignias)

Notes ...

When aggro suddenly breaks ... -- Let's face it! Sometimes, a monster or two will try to squirm around the tank, like a slick Assassin in PvP, and go straight to the casters. In this case, you'll have to spike the wannabe-'Sin before taking out the mob. The typical ele's attack skills for this situation can be cumbersome as they only have Searing Flames and Glowing Gaze and may have to rely on other Eles to spam Searing Flames as well to make SF work effeciently; but as a Ritualist, you can use Renewing Surge (while holding an urn or the Shard of Brilliance in Gloom) as well as Essence Strike to take out the sly creature. In the unusual event that should aggro get out of control (eg. if the tank uses Sliver Armor; or DoT skills, Meteor Shower or Spiteful Spirit, doesn't kill the mob fast enough), retreat as necessary and try again.

My party has one Ele nuker and one SS Necro nuker...-- We have done the City, Foundry, and Veil like this before with only 1 Ele while the other two Eles were replaced with a Ritualist Blitzer and a SS Necro. Again, the Rit's and Ele's AoE skills can come in handy, however, SS can be an issue and may cause aggro to scatter since SS can be considered as Damage-over-Time in certain ways, but because of the ridiculous sizes of the mobs in DoA, SS may actually work well before aggro starts to scatter.

The casters need to Sync-Sac-MS to finish the mob! What now?!-- This situation can happen when there are two Margonite Anur Kis left in the City or Foundry. They are Boon Monks so they can be a real issue. When the party demands Sync-Sac-MS, it translate to the Ritualist as Echo-SpiritRift. Like Meteor Shower, damage doesn't start to occur until a few seconds after the spell has been casted so Spirit Rift's damage can synergize well with the Ele's Meteor Shower for a hefty spike.

Other thoughts-- This Ritualist is intended to play the role of a "Nuker" but does have some Pros and Cons to the traditional Ele-Nuker.

Pros:Heavy AoE Damage from Spirit Rift and Ancestors' Rage, sometimes up in triple digits. Spirit Rift has a short casting and recharge time like Searing Flames. Can take advantage of the N/R's EoE and Symbiosis spirits to manage energy using Offering of Spirit and Essence Strike Flesh of My Flesh can res the 1hp N/R, AND has the range of the standard Ressurect skill (vs. the half-range of Resurrection Chant).
Cons:Secondary is a Mesmer thus cannot use the Monk skill Convert Hexes in hex-heavy places like Gloom. Flesh of my Flesh causes the Rit to lose 1/2 health. Likewise, it also has a 4 second cast time. You cannot Sac-Res since you're not a Secondary Elementalist. There is no Ritualist-equivalent to Meteor Shower, which can be troublesome when a Sac-Sync-MS is in need but finishing the mob can be done with proper coordination. In addition, the team should always have at least one Elementalist with Meteor Shower as the Knockdowns caused by it can interupt the Anur Ki's healing skills. Energy-management can be difficult if there are no allied spirits summoned. Offering of Spirit can still be used but at the cost of 17% HP. Like all Urns, when holding someone's Ashes, you no longer benefit from the bonuses from your weapons. No self-heal. Then again, the three SF nukers don't have self-heals in their proposed "Balanced" builds either. Ancestors' Rage needs to be casted on a teammate, namely the Tank, instead of targeting an enemy. With proper keyboard shortcut coordination, this should not be an issue. ----

There you have it.

When I do eventually finish all four sections with my own Rit, I'll share my experiences, builds, and variations I used and hopefully, a Ritualist will find a place in DoA. ... it may take a while though since most of my group resides in Europe and, being American, it could be difficult trying to find a compatible time for our schedules. That, and we also like to experiment with other builds because let's face it-- The cookie-cutter 1 Tank/3 Nuker/3 Monk/1 Necro team does get a bit boring.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3q8pMx0oTTQ

Xpand, I suppose that could be useful when it comes to solo-ing the Veil with a Splinter-Barrager ... but honestly, I never found a whole lot of enjoyment in farming, whether it's something small as Vermin Hides, or something more valuable like Globs. Or in the case of that video, Stygian Gemstones. It's pretty good though, if you're looking to get some Stygian Gemstones.

Anyway, I went down to the Foundry last night. Almost completed it, too, if it weren't for our bipper and bonder "err 7"-ing on us in the very end. ... but I do have some demonstrative screenshots.


About ~80-84 damage to the Titans when using Spirit Rift and Ancestors' Rage. Nifty!

As I mentioned before, for those who have never been down in DoA, as a spellcaster, you'll be nuking behind walls and pillars so you won't be seeing the monsters face-to-face, unless something crazy happens, like the Tank getting killed.

i posted some splinterbarage build that had GREAT succes in stygian in the elonian forum...

edit: http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...php?t=10122256

use build posted in last(or almost last) post

edit 2: 2nd page, 1 st post, see:
http://gwshack.us/66e6d

and btw, the 2nd rit is wrong, and the 1st rit needs 3 spirits+ painfull bond, and drop the other spells on rit (and marksman) for warmongers wep (cast on ranger)

fire spilinter>barage>splinter>barage all at once, the resulatting spike will do 1400 dmg TWICE(if there are any survivors u might missed them, loooool, noting survives)

and the ranger goes 13 beast, 9 exp,, 12comm(the spirit one), marks is not really needed...

Progress in the City:



In the first picture, I forgot to put up my Lightbringer title so I wasn't doing as much damage like I normally would, but the damage is still significant at 95 damage on a spellcaster Margonite and 67 damage on a Ranger Margonite (because Rangers have +30 AL vs Elemental damage) from a Spirit Rift.

Now at LB Rank 6 (Conquering Commander) , the damage is outrageous! That, and I also had that Lucky Blessing on me (because I was bored during our short snack break and used a couple Lunar Fortunes) ... but I would imagine that at 16 Channeling instead of 17 Channeling, the damage would still be significant.

But after taking down Jadoth and his cohorts, we got ourselves a shiny Margonite Gemstone in the end. In terms of monetary value, it isn't much ... but at least using a Ritualist down here is not as cracked up as lots of others make it out to be.