Rt/W - HM vermin farming

When I tried to adapt the 'classic' VwK farming build to reliably farm HM vermin, I noticed the mesmer skills where pretty much obsolete: draining their energy is pointless because when there's 4 or more, they'll run off, regenerate a bit and hit you with Entangling Asp anyway, from a distance. Their damage output isn't phenomenal, so Physical Resistance isn't required either. The only real problem is dealing with the knockdowns. So I came up with something to counter those.

[skill]Resilient Weapon[/skill] [skill]Vengeful was Khanhei[/skill] [skill]Bonetti's Defense[/skill] [skill]Dolyak Signet[/skill] [skill]Wielder's Boon[/skill] [skill]Resilient was Xiko[/skill][skill]Weapon of Shadow[/skill][skill]Balanced Stance[/skill]

Restoration: 12+1+3
Tactics: 12
(Six points unassigned)

Template code: OAGjUxhM5MTMLGfJtEPLmXv5CA

The build doesn't require a lot of energy. I started working on this using my regular armor which has only a single Attunement rune and a Radiant headwrap for a total of 33 while holding an urn. It worked, so I didn't bother tweaking it. Use anything, really anything, for a weaponset. You won't see it in play much because you'll always be holding either Khanhei's or Xiko's dusty remains.

Here's how it works:

Cast Resilient Weapon and wait for your energy to max out, then aggro a group. Cast VwK just before they engage you. From now on, we'll generally be activating our skill from right to left. If we catch the right rhythm, that's all we need to do to kill this group.

After a second or so of being pounded by vermin, activate Balanced Stance. We do this well in advance of the skills we want it to protect from knockdown, so it can start recharging for a possible 2nd use.

When VwK starts flashing, activate Weapon of Shadow and Resilient was Xiko in quick succession. Degeneration won't be more than 1 pip, and blind vermin don't put on much pressure. Now we wait for VwK to recharge. Throw in a Wielder's Boon whenever our health drops a bit.

When VwK is almost ready, activate Dolyak Signet, to protect our next few spells from knockdown. Activate Bonetti's Defense, if you can, after a final Wielder's Boon puts us at full health. It's practically always fully charged at this point from the hits we've been taking. VwK being ready, we can always abort our Bonetti's, but waiting a bit serves two purposes: We're buying time for our other skills to recharge, and when we'll be starting our second cycle at full energy. If some hits start landing and we're getting nervous, screw Bonetti and just hit VwK. Also, if Bonetti somehow didn't charge, activate VwK as soon as the vermin can see again and start hitting us.

When we recast VwK, Xiko will clean up bleeding and poison, but the vermin will have those back on us soon enough, so cast Resilient Weapon to complete the cycle. If there's still living vermin around when VwK starts flashing again, repeat the cycle, starting with Balanced Stance. It should be recharged by now if we activated it at the right time.

This is a very easy build to use, just a keygrinder. Right to left, repeat. If you do it right it works without fail. Word of honor.

And now for the one drawback: It can't deal with Shreader, so stay away from him. I'm working on that. Still, it's a reliable 40 HM vermin run; it pays the bills.

Did I mention there's always 1 and often even 2 chests involved? Bring lockpicks and be sure to scoop up the Celestial loot.

EDIT: Added the template code. Can't believe I forgot that.

just a quick thought, would fleeting stability be better?

yes it would agains ensalping asp but Bonetti's Defence provides u with energy and there no related skill from dervish....maybe if u will take monk hero with balthazars spirit on u and some smite bonds to make it faster

Right, Rt/W was the only way I could make it work energy-wise. Fleeting Stability is an energy hog compared to the two warrior skills, and with no way to make up for it, everything grinds to a halt. Bonetti's is really an amazing skill vs. HM assassins: running it for 1 second often fills up your entire energy bar. Dolyak Signet being completely free also makes it a great skill if you somehow mess up your timing: 8 seconds of uninterrupted casting for 0 energy is a real bargain.

I'm sure there's a good monk build out there using Fleeting Stability. Great skill if you have unlimited energy. I had to make do with a Rt as primary class though.

possible with warrior as prim though? cuz i dont have a slot for a ritualist

Off topic;

I like rits for anti dgen but cant decide if rit has any powerful attks to use as mo/rit (idea from tengs profile) in hm as 55 or 105 (not sure if idea has been triedd). bk on topic in the nxt post.

interesting idea I mite try it sometime

I think a W/Rt might be able to do it. It will quite a bit slower though, with 12 Restoration instead of 16. Actually, I'll just go and try it with my Rt at Restoration 12. If that works, there's no question a Warrior can do it as well.

As promised, I just tried it at Restoration 12, and I could still kill, though only groups of 3. I ran out of juice against groups of 4, because there's always one not attacking, making it take more time to kill them than the build could sustain. It does take longer, as expected, because you need an extra casting of VwK to finish them off. I'm pretty sure a real warrior could outlast a group of 4 though because of their own inherent strengths.

Observations: VwK, at 29 lifesteal per hit, barely covered the damage taken from their hits, so I needed to cast Wielder's Boon more often. Warrior's better armor will surely compensate for this. Resilient Weapon gives you 1 less pip of regen, which results in 1 more pip of degen from the poison/bleeding combo they stick on you. I could deal with that though, again, by casting more Wielder's Boon.

As a warrior, I'd suggest a few build changes. With enough points in Strength, Dolyak Signet can take care of the knockdowns all by itself, and giving an even better total armor. Balanced Stance will be obsolete, making room for another skill. "I Will Survive!" or Signet of Stamina would be good candidates. With Balanced Stance gone, there's no reason to put a lot of points in Tactics anymore. Maxed Restoration and Strength with the last 6 points in Tactics looks like the way to go to me. Bonetti's will still last 7 seconds at Tactics 4 (assuming a minor rune) and that's longer than I ever keep it running anyway.

I'd suggest a +1/20% Restoration focus as an offhand, btw. The 2 extra points of lifesteal if it fires can't hurt.

I've been running a W/Rt build for a while now and have tried a few different ideas, eventually ending up with this:-

Template Code: OQgiExh8YxIeplB7WJaWMJYA

Restoration: 12
Strength: 12+1+3

I use full Knights armor, with Purity, Restoration, Superior Vigor, Superior Absorption and Superior Strength runes attached and a +1 Strength on the Helm.

I use a Restoration Focus of Memory, with a Hale and Hearty Insignia and a Restoration Focus with HSR and HSC, although the HSR is the important one, this more often than not, gives me a 10 second recharge on VWK.

Use Signet of Stamina all the time as you won't be hitting anything and you will have 772hp, Endure Pain is for emergencies while fighting Shreader, although with practice and lucky HSR's on VWK you will not need it.

Doylak Signet can be kept up at all times. Vengeful Weapon is for finishing of Vermin when they are nearly dead and for helping to kill Shreader, although use it sparingly.

Soothing Memories isn't really needed, but may be usefull fighting Shreader if you get unlucky with the HSR's. Resiliant was Xiko and Generous Was Tsungrai is to lose the conditions and heal between fights.

After you get used to it though you will find you only really need VWK, Vengeful Weapon, Doylak Signet and Signet of Stamina.

I only ever fight single groups of 3 or 4 Vermin at a time, otherwise they just run around like headless chickens and take forever to kill, although if you are having trouble killing Shreader it can help to take his group with another.

hrm real nice, i haven't been on a while to try it. but yeah many thanks for all the info.

ok, just tried and works great, although sometimes i have a problem with shreders group, but hey first time doin it, ill get use to it many thanks again for the builds and tips guys

Yeah just tried it as well. It took a few tries to get it right and I am still not 100% but getting there. Props on the build.

People following this new thread might find the info here to be useful.