N/Rt or Me/Rt?

Bloodborn

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Jul 2007

I'm wanting to make a somewhat "group support" character for PvE but I can't decide what to go with. I want moderate offense (primarily through passive means like Empathy, Spiteful Spirit, etc) while being able to reduce/heal the damage my group takes through other means(Dulled Weapon, Union, Vengeful Weapon, Soothing Memories, etc) on the side.

The problem is I can't decide what class combo to go with. I do know of a few attribute skills I'm interested in, however.

Necromancer

-Soul Reaping is just great for energy so a good reason to pick up Necro Primary.
-Spiteful Spirit, Reckless Haste, Price of Failure are all three great passive damage dealers.

Mesmer

-Inspiration is nice for energy management in Mantra of Recall, Channeling, hex/enchantment removal and specific Mantras when necessary.
-Backfire, Empathy, Guilt, and Shame are all nice and more situationally potent than Spiteful Spirit, though the cooldowns do suck. Echo can be used to doublecast any of them though.

So it's between those two as primaries, but now to decide on which secondary Ritualism attribute to go with...

In Communing Dulled Weapon, Pain, Union, and Vital Weapon all look interesting. Restoration sports Vengeful Weapon(I love this skill for some reason), Protective Was Kaolai, Soothing Memories, and Weapon of Warding.

Can anyone help me decide? My gut tells me to go Necro/Rit, but I figured I'd ask about Mesmer. I'm totally in the dark if I should do Communing or Restoration.

Thanks!

TabascoSauce

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Jan 2007

Virginia, US

TFgt

W/Me

Everything I am going to say is merely my opinion, and definitely you should play your characters as you want - so just take this as a suggestion.

I have a lot of time as a Ritualist, and I believe they are the best class hands down to run around in the game with hench/heroes. If you have the time to plant union/restoration/pain/shadowsong/anguish down, then your DPS will be off the charts and your party will take little damage. I can do things with my Rit that I cannot do with any other character.

As a secondary, they are much less capable - simply because the spirit health bonus from spawning makes a big difference, particularly in union/displacement/shelter. That and the skills that go with it are particularly relevant to Rits.

The ritualist is not a good secondary as a result. A great combo I'd like to suggest is Rit/Paragon, particularly for the shouts and chants to further blunt incoming damage.

Thanks!
TabascoSauce

Dr Strangelove

Dr Strangelove

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Dec 2005

Wasting away again in Margaritaville

[HOTR]

It's a pretty decent secondary to N/Rt, since they get the full SR bonus from their spirits now. However, that's almost completely defensive (all restoration).

If you want defensive and offensive skills in one class, just roll a rit.

There is no reason that I can think of to go Me/Rt. All you really gain is fast casting, and rit spells cast fast enough already.

Div

Div

I like yumy food!

Join Date: Jan 2006

Where I can eat yumy food

Dead Alley [dR]

Mo/R

N/Rt for great energy off spirits while being able to do whatever you want with your necro primary

street peddler

street peddler

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Apr 2007

only reason to go me/rt would be fast casting, and that's really only for the already speedy resses the rit has. Necros have soul reaping so they get tons of energy from their own spirits.

John Panda

John Panda

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Mar 2007

in my house

The Arctic Maruarders [TAM]

A/

one of my guildies is a leet rit.. she does mantra of recovery spiking
me/rt it works great too. makes good use of the spirit rift nerf

Coloneh

Coloneh

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Nov 2006

D/W

N/Rt. mesmer is absolutely useless.

margretli

margretli

Academy Page

Join Date: Nov 2005

N/W

I started my necro as a n/rit. It's great for support. I always find it distracting to try to be offensive and defensive at the same time while I'm a necro. If you are interested in being a necro, the rit secondary is great. If you are thinking of using mostly rit skill, then roll a primary rit.

I'm curious to know why you are not even considering a primary rit? From my experience as a rit, this profession is the best at being defensive while still provides offensive power. With attacking spirits, you can do a significant amount of damage, and weapon spells and such are great for defense.