So, Ritualists in RA...

Sooooooooooo, until I got Nightfall and EotN, and event which occurred about three weeks ago, I was running a fun little Spirit Light Weapon build in RA. Despite it obviously being inferior to any Monk build, it still worked out decently since RA is filled with idiots. However, now I actually have some decent Ritualist elites to play around with; namely Xinrae's Weapon, Weapon of Remedy, and Offering of Spirits. Of course, I could also run something else, like Empathic Removal or Expel Hexes. So, I'm wondering what I should put on my RA Ritualist, now. Obviously, I'm going to have to invest in either Mesmer or Monk for hex removal thanks to every other person I come up against these days being a VoR Mesmer, and I'm pretty sure that Ancestor's Rage and Splinter Weapon are Ritualist staples at this point in both PvE and PvP. Beyond that, I've no idea. I'm thinking of something like:

(Insert Spirit Here)
(Insert Hex Removal Here)
(Insert Resurrection Skill Here)
(Optional)
(Optional)
Mend Body and Soul
Spirit Light
Splinter Weapon

Obviously, for an optional skill Weapon of Warding is always good, but, I'm not sure I can run it without taking Offering of Spirits due to the energy cost. If I do that, though, I'm fairly certain I'll need to cut out either Ancestor's Rage or my hex removal. There's also always Blind Was Mingson, Protective Was Kaolai, or Ancestor's Rage; not to mention the possibility of taking a second spirit along. Regardless, one of my optionals is almost guaranteed to be an Elite, unless I decide to take an Elite hex removal skill. Anyhoo, any help with my bar would be greatly appreciated.

EDIT:

After experimenting with the build Tyla posted a little later in the topic with, I've think this is the optimal build:

Attributes:

Restoration: 12+1+1
Channeling: 12+1
Spawning Power: 3

Skills:

Caretaker's Charge
Channeled Strike
Soothing Memories
Blind Was Mingson
Weapon of Shadow
Weapon of Warding
Holy Veil
Resurrection Signet

i dont care for SW so much in RA. Maybe use a different weapon spell?

Nightmare Weapon is popular. Problem with splinter is if they do not group then it does nothing.

looks like your're set on restoration, but I quite like channeling / resto builds in ra mine is something like

[caretaker's charge][essence strike][bloodsong][weapon of shadow][wielder's boon][ancestor's rage] Random Item spell and a rez

It's pretty versatile providing support and decent damage, weapon of shadow is pretty sexy in ra with all the warriors and rangers running around too.

Caretakers' Charge
Channeled Strike
Weapon of Warding
Weapon of Shadow
Blind Was Mingson
Soothing Memories
-Whatever-
-Whatever-

Quote: Originally Posted by Tyla

Caretakers' Charge
Channeled Strike
Weapon of Warding
Weapon of Shadow
Blind Was Mingson
Soothing Memories
-Whatever-
-Whatever- throw in spirit light and rez, and i'd say your all set

rejuvenation is the best spirit for RA. it has the highest defense and health out of all of them, and will generally last its recharge. bloodsong is also generally a useful spirit even at mid range channeling attributes because nobody seems to go out of their way to attack it like life or preservation (im not quite sure why).

weapon of warding is a staple at this point, and weapon of shadow is always useful if you have the space. blind was mingson is also a very useful skill to have and melds nicely with soothing, as tyla wrote. this is a generally accepted CC build.

personally, i like empathic removal a lot in RA. it does, unfortunately, make MB&S a little redundant, however MB&S is the most versatile heal a rit has and should never leave your bar (like you had).

i like to run channeling @ 13 for essence strike and AR. essence is decent energy which helps because its a lot harder to maintain energy healing compared to a monk. AR is always good, and one of the defining rit skills. splinter isnt that useful in 4v4, and i would suggest just WoW, and maybe WoS. personally i like mingson better than WoS, but you might find otherwise.

overall, the basic makeup you wrote in your first post is what my bar looks like for RA, but usually with 2 spirits (Bsong and Rejuv, sometimes recov). if you play like a monk (shield sets, staggering heals, using weapon spells as prots) its not too difficult to win. play around with some skills, i find that i usually have an optional slot or two that switches every now and then.

swap splinter for warmongers weapon and pray you ave a warrior/assassin, who can use it

I'm greatly, greatly impressed by Tyla's build, since it basically addresses every major problem I've had while running a Rit in RA, mainly, staying useful after my spirit's been killed, thanks to said build's reliance on items instead of spirits, and energy issues. So, now I suppose I've got to figure out which Rez skill I should use and what to put in the optional slot.

With regards to a Rez, I'm thinking of just sticking with a Resurrection Signet, since I'll likely be targeted first if there's no Monk on my team, and thus won't be able to afford losing half my health to Flesh of My Flesh, which is what I would otherwise use. However, I'm not 100% certain as to if this is the proper decision for RA.

The second skill, though, I've no idea. I'm assuming it would be best as some sort of unlinked skill if not just another Channeling, Restoration, or Spawning Power skill, since I'll want to invest my points in Ritualist attributes exclusively. So, I suppose I'm torn now for my last optional slot between Antidote Signet, Holy Veil, and Remove Hex, though, I'm sure there's a couple skills I'm forgetting.

Did you consider 12 Channeling; 12 Restoration and 3 Inspiration with Inspired Hex as hex removal and extra energy managment?

The main problem for being a resto rit in RA/TA is ene management. I'd like to run a simple Wor weapon build with channeling. I know its not HA, but if the enemy team balls, and there are spirits or pets (very popular recently) in enemy's team, you can easyli get over 5 energy each spell (wor is 5 ene). Also, Wor weapon spell is maybe the only build that doesnt requie a spirit to be good. But its VERY spammable (srsly, you need to spam it for win) and it need to be used properly.

Quote: Originally Posted by Fail

Did you consider 12 Channeling; 12 Restoration and 3 Inspiration with Inspired Hex as hex removal and extra energy managment? I can't say I've tried any skills that belong to an attribute, yet.

Quote: Originally Posted by ele pl

The main problem for being a resto rit in RA/TA is ene management. I'd like to run a simple Wor weapon build with channeling. I know its not HA, but if the enemy team balls, and there are spirits or pets (very popular recently) in enemy's team, you can easyli get over 5 energy each spell (wor is 5 ene). Also, Wor weapon spell is maybe the only build that doesnt requie a spirit to be good. But its VERY spammable (srsly, you need to spam it for win) and it need to be used properly. The only energy management skill on a Fortress Monk is Signet of Rejuvenation, and I myself don't really consider it energy management, although I agree that energy can get a bit painful when it comes to strong usage of Weapon of Warding.

Oh, and a good upside to Revealed Hex is that it also counters Diversion. On use, it doesn't get diverted at all.

BAWWWWWWWWWWW where's Weapon of Remedy.

CC > Remedy!!!!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by Tyla

The only energy management skill on a Fortress Monk is Signet of Rejuvenation, and I myself don't really consider it energy management, although I agree that energy can get a bit painful when it comes to strong usage of Weapon of Warding.

Oh, and a good upside to Revealed Hex is that it also counters Diversion. On use, it doesn't get diverted at all. I suppose I'm just a tad weary of using a hex removal skills that I can only use about every twenty seconds. I mean, I know that Inspired/Revealed Hex is a great skill, but, I'm just not certain if it's the proper choice for the RA environment. I typically stick to Remove Hex since it can be used relatively often, and it doesn't have the maintenance cost Veil has.

Veil can be used pre-game as an upside. For example, You'd want to have it against a VoR Mesmer, or a Mesmer in general for yourself. For melee, it counters crap like Faintheartedness. The upkeep cost is worth it at times, trust me on that.

Quote: Originally Posted by Tyla

Veil can be used pre-game as an upside. For example, You'd want to have it against a VoR Mesmer, or a Mesmer in general for yourself. For melee, it counters crap like Faintheartedness. The upkeep cost is worth it at times, trust me on that. I think my hesitance to use Holy Veil on Ritualists stems from my previous RA Ritualist builds, which were generally energy inefficient, and thus, I needed every pip of energy regen I could get. I can't say I've played with Holy Veil on this build yet, but I suppose now's as good a time as ever to try it, since this build has considerably better energy management.

Add Essence Strike also?

Quote: Originally Posted by Moonlit Azure

Add Essence Strike also? Considering there's no spirit in the build, that would be a negative.