Better PUGing by improving your build in 7 steps

Malician

Oak Ridge Boys Fan

Join Date: Jun 2007

E/P

Agreed, esp. re: terrible warrior builds. Ele nukers are the worst, though. I don't need the friggin' damage reduction and the damage itself sucks so bad =//

//AP nuke or sin spam not so bad
///BUT NO-ONE RUNS IT

Arrogant Bastard

Arrogant Bastard

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Aug 2009

Your mom's house

E/

Quote:
Originally Posted by The Josip View Post
Pale shadow of a rit? Yea right, 1% difference is pale shadow. Sounds like someone is scared of competition.

A PuG has absolutely no reason to be nit-picky about 1% of damage, and "same builds" happen rarely. There's always some difference among spirit spammers in my PuG teams.

What you're saying has absolutely no touch with reality, and is no use to this discussion. Using the same logic you're using, A PuG would have absolutely no reason to take some professions AT ALL because others are better. But that's not how most PuGs work, nor is it how I or many of us want PuGs to work.

Yea, by 1%. And before super-buff to Rt spirits recently, Ranger spirit spammer was better. And so what?

E/Mo is better than prot monk, and so what? Do you see PuGs refusing to take prot monks and instead GLF for E/Mos? No.

You mean in this thread?

http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...0&postcount=70

That post is good example of what I'm talking about. Theory only goes so far. You can say someone is a 'pale shadow of a rit', but practice is something totally different. As far as damage, a Rit primary has about a 10% damage advantage:

(Rit= 12 Channeling/9+1 Communing)


(Ele= 12 Channeling/12 Communing)


Spawning power adds some needed durability to spirits when there is AoE damage (or in certain areas where spirits need to tank/stall).

Splinter weapon and GDW widen the gap.

The Josip

The Josip

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Aug 2009

Me/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Arrogant Bastard
Splinter weapon and GDW widen the gap.
As I said, I'm discussing the realities of a PuG team and some are discussing how it would be if two top GvG teams went in PvE and did the mission. When you see PuG spirit spammer with splinter, let me know. I've been in many ZB and ZM PuG teams and the number of those who used splinter was exactly zero.

Also, you're supporting what I said. If primary Rt took Splinter + GDW + Siphon + Painful Bond + possibly rez, that's 4-5 skills right there, which means he will only take 3-4 spirits. Plenty of room for X/Rt to bring his own spirits. And that's what we're debating about: E/Rt vs E/x.

Quote: As far as damage, a Rit primary has about a 10% damage advantage: Sure it has, let's look at it:

Minor runes (which almost everyone uses in HM) give +8 more damage to the Ritualist, every 2 seconds or so (looking at wiki). In other words


Rt damage: 315
E/Rt damage: 307


Try to place the spirits on Isle of Nameless so they don't hit adjacent bags but only master. But really, this is pure math here now: 315 vs 307, using the spirits you took. While I'm always searching for optimal results, I would like +8 damage, or even +1 damage, but this is not the debate of what is ideal - we're talking about PuG teams where you're lucky if no one quits by the end of the mission, and core debate is about E/Rt vs E/x, not Rt vs E/Rt.

Quote:
Spawning power adds some needed durability to spirits when there is AoE damage (or in certain areas where spirits need to tank/stall). We've been through all that in the other thread. Yes.. it adds this and that, which in 99% cases is irrelevant. With 12 Channeling and 12 Communing (plus runes) your Spawning will be at... 3. In a PuG team *I don't want* spirits to tank anything, because to me it's a sign of bad spirit placement. Yes, spirits help sometimes in case of a wipe so some party members can retreat, but in that case I'd prefer you put Flesh of my Flesh or Death Pact on your skillbar. It would help more in PuG team, especially because most don't understand what strategic retreat is.

Arrogant Bastard

Arrogant Bastard

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Aug 2009

Your mom's house

E/

Quote:
Originally Posted by The Josip View Post
As I said, I'm discussing the realities of a PuG team and some are discussing how it would be if two top GvG teams went in PvE and did the mission. When you see PuG spirit spammer with splinter, let me know. I've been in many ZB and ZM PuG teams and the number of those who used splinter was exactly zero.

Sure it has, let's look at it:

Minor runes (which almost everyone uses in HM) give +8 more damage to the Ritualist, every 2 seconds or so (looking at wiki). In other words

Rt damage: 315
E/Rt damage: 307

Try to place the spirits on Isle of Nameless so they don't hit adjacent bags but only master. But really, this is pure math here now: 315 vs 307, using the spirits you took. While I'm always searching for optimal results, I would like +8 damage, or even +1 damage, but this is not the debate of what is ideal - we're talking about PuG teams where you're lucky if no one quits by the end of the mission, and core debate is about E/Rt vs E/x, not Rt vs E/Rt.
If you want to talk numbers:

Rit (12+4 Channeling/9+1 Communing):
34 (x3) SoS
26 Bloodsong
22 Pain
15 (x2 v. hexed) Anguish
21 (x6 spirits) Painful bond
= 306 damage

x/Rit (12 Channeling/12 Communing):
27 (x3) SoS
21 Bloodsong
25 Pain
17 (x2 v. hexed) Anguish
18 (x6 spirits) Painful Bond
= 269 damage

I see no reason not to use a superior rune in pve for casters.

Quote:
Also, you're supporting what I said. If primary Rt took Splinter + GDW + Siphon + Painful Bond + possibly rez, that's 4-5 skills right there, which means he will only take 3-4 spirits. Plenty of room for X/Rt to bring his own spirits. And that's what we're debating about: E/Rt vs E/x. A Rit who takes Splinter and/or GDW will be many times more effective than a x/Rit who does not (given that the team can use thes eskills). Otherwise, the Rit will still do more damage.

Quote:
We've been through all that in the other thread. Yes.. it adds this and that, which in 99% cases is irrelevant. With 12 Channeling and 12 Communing (plus runes) your Spawning will be at... 3. In a PuG team *I don't want* spirits to tank anything, because to me it's a sign of bad spirit placement. Yes, spirits help sometimes in case of a wipe so some party members can retreat, but in that case I'd prefer you put Flesh of my Flesh or Death Pact on your skillbar. It would help more in PuG team, especially because most don't understand what strategic retreat is The setup I posted was 9 Communing, so you are able to spec 8 into spawning.

We did go over this in another thread:

Quote:
16 channeling gives you:

+26 armor ignoring damage per hit (SoS + Bloodsong combined)
+2 damage per hit on painful bond
+195 hp on each spirit with 13 spawning power (+60 with 0 Spawning; +154 with 9 Spawning)
+12 damage and +1 attack on splinter weapon (+7 duration with 9 Spawning; +10 duration with 13 Spawning; Same for GDW)
+28 damage Ancestor's Rage

The damage and durability of spirits on a Rit primary has a significant advantage over other classes. Splinter/GDW and Ancestor's Rage are bonuses. (The damage advantage a Rit primary has is all armor ignoring except for Ancestor's Rage which is only useful in certain teams).

The Josip

The Josip

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Aug 2009

Me/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Arrogant Bastard View Post
I see no reason not to use a superior rune in pve for casters.
I find that rather ironic. When someone asks on this forum whether he should use sup or minor runes, the overwhelming support goes to minor runes. But when x/y needs to compare to y/x, then it's sup rune for the sake of the argument. Yes, Rt/x can also take sup communing and sup spawning. Would get even better results.

I don't disagree with you though, I prefer using sup runes and mostly use them myself (in general).

Quote:
A Rit who takes Splinter and/or GDW will be many times more effective than a x/Rit who does not As I said, PuGs dont use Splinter, so it's totally irrelevant in this discussion. But you obviously just want to water it down. If you want to discuss about best Rt builds there's Rt subforum or pvxwiki, here we're talking about why E/Rt instead of earth ele or whatever, and what's the difference between pug E/Rt and pug Rt/x. PuG, the key word here.

We can compare all day long theoretical builds and character equipment, but as a pug group leader you can choose between PuG #1 and PuG #2, not between forum debate build #1 and forum debate build #2.

Here's how reality looks like: random PuG in my PvE team right now. Major channeling, no communing at all, minor spawning I think. No Splinter, no Ancestors, Radiant insignia. That's the usual Rt primary you will find among PuGs.

------


To get back ontopic

Rt (your equipment set)
SoS
Vampirism
Bloodsong
Agony
Painful bond
Siphon
Summon
Rez/something

E/Rt:
Ghostly Might
Pain
Shadowsong
Disenchantment
Anguish
Siphon
Summon
Rez/something


So, with 2 spirit spammer like this, The E/Rt will do something like 283dmg in 2 seconds if I calculated correctly, or 141 dps. Without SoS.

Even primary Rt with that build would do marginally better because PBond is on the other guy.


As I said, I'd take 141dps plus all else on that build, vs any other dmg ele build such as that earth one, or some fire one etc. And PuG can either decide not to take eles at all and just take rits, or not to discriminate classes and take ele and best build ele can take.

maxxfury

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Apr 2006

[DVDF] Gp

Me/A

Well when the numbers are crunched, the rit primary will obviously come out on top (screen shots and calculation in this thread show this) meaning that the rit is indeed the best spirit spammer, no doubt about that.

Can an elem decently emulate a spirit spammer? yeah. but it doesnt gain the advantages the rit does via runes, more damage, godly splinter, longer gdws, and more durable spirits.

You just cant be so one track about what bars you run and play to the team strengths..dont be selfish for you own needs.

No doubt ANY /rt can do the job of spirit spammer adequately, but the problem arises when you have multiple rits and your trying to take that job from them, when they do it simply better.. benefitting the team.

IF their are rits to do the job, let them do it, as they are better at it. . benefitting the team more. If there is non, let a /rit do it.
There are only so many spirits to share at the end of the day, and the primary rits should ideally get them before out sourcing to 2ndry rits.

Its just common sense :/

as 'The Josip' just posted, have them split the spirits between them selves.

Quote:
Originally Posted by The Josip View Post

To get back ontopic

Rt (your equipment set)
SoS
Vampirism
Bloodsong
Agony
Painful bond
Siphon
Summon
Rez/something

E/Rt:
Ghostly Might
Pain
Shadowsong
Disenchantment
Anguish
Siphon
Summon
Rez/something


As I said, I'd take 141dps plus all else on that build, vs any other dmg ele build such as that earth one, or some fire one etc. And PuG can either decide not to take eles at all and just take rits, or not to discriminate classes and take ele and best build ele can take. Still missing Splinter weapon....and good luck gettin a pug to do this and to be a pita, a rit running the second bar would still do a better job if there was 2 rits in the team.


BUT is a pug ffs! pugs generally suck and are unwilling to do stuff like this..
hell if they are too inflexible to take a splinter weapon when u ask them too you cant expect them to want to share their spirits lol...when they can happily just take 7 spirits them self! and be the usual selfish uneducated blissfully ignorant pug player.

splitting the skills between 2 players for the benefit of the team is just basic team synergy, but then thats another thing pugs generally dont do
pugs are normally an 8 player byob, and pay no attention to the rest.

Daesu

Daesu

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Oct 2008

Quote:
Originally Posted by The Josip View Post
So, with 2 spirit spammer like this, The E/Rt will do something like 283dmg in 2 seconds if I calculated correctly, or 141 dps. Without SoS.

Even primary Rt with that build would do marginally better because PBond is on the other guy.

As I said, I'd take 141dps plus all else on that build, vs any other dmg ele build such as that earth one, or some fire one etc. And PuG can either decide not to take eles at all and just take rits, or not to discriminate classes and take ele and best build ele can take. I dont see why you are trying so hard to recommend a E/Rt spirit spammer. Even if a primary Rt is only marginally better, which many people doubt if you consider both defensive+offensive advantages from runes and spawning power, a primary Rit is still BETTER at the job of spirit spamming than a E/Rt!

Considering the fact that primary rits are usually quite plentiful, it doesn't matter if E/Rt can use SoGM to synergize with another primary rit, because another SoGM primary rit would still be a better substitute than a SoGM E/Rt.

Lastly, I never have a problem finding a PUG as an ele using ele skills on my bar so there is no need for me to compete with primary rits for the role of spirit spamming. Why? Because my earth Ele has enough valuable defensive skills (KD from Churning Earth + Blind from Eruption + blocking from WAM) and being successful in HM PvE is not just about who has the higher damage number. Also my Ele can exploit PvE skills better than most spirit spammer skill bars do, anyway.

The Josip

The Josip

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Aug 2009

Me/

Quote:
Originally Posted by maxxfury
pugs generally suck and are unwilling to do stuff like this..
OK, since youre unwilling to be ontopic im going to ignore your post and move on. The thread is about pugs, not about what team you would build when top gvg team decided to do some pve.

Quote:
Originally Posted by daesu
Even if a primary Rt is only marginally better, which many people doubt
People doubt EMo is good which is why they dont like them. For comparison, everyone and his pet is spirit spamming.

Quote:
a primary Rit is still BETTER at the job of spirit spamming than a E/Rt! Who are you talking to?

Youre claiming things no one is even disputing.

Quote:
Lastly, I never have a problem finding a PUG as an ele using ele skills on my bar Thats because pugs are bad and think youre a nuker. They have no idea how little damage you do in HM. They see ele and think uuuh dmg. Never mind that my mesmer does 3x more damage plus AoE permanent daze and other stuff.

Quote: That is because you never take into account armor ignoring damage from the uber PvE skills which your ERt spirit spamming bar has neglected. How much damage do you think your spirits can inflict, versus my single Pain Inverter in the right settings?

I seriously doubt your posted "spirit-spammer-wannabe" ERt build generates more damage than my EA AP build in many HM situations. Not to mention the other utilities my EA build provides.

Quote:
Because my earth Ele has enough valuable defensive skills and being successful in HM PvE is not just about who has the higher damage number. Youre talking to a guy whose primary class is mesmer.

Your earth ele is average build that is 2x worse overall than ERt. Thats the point of this thread. I dont take eles and warriors in my pug groups at all, because they portray whats wrong with pugs. Youre a good example, you think your build is cool while earth hechman does more or less the same job. If pugs knew how bad they are they could be helped. The problem is that just like you they are satisfied with their mediocre builds and think they are cool.

Id take earth henchman over earth ele any day. Henchman is more reliable, listens, and doesnt think his build is imbagon in disguise.

I think we can finally conclude this discussion.

Daesu

Daesu

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Oct 2008

Quote:
Originally Posted by The Josip View Post
Your earth ele is average build that is 2x worse overall than ERt. Thats the point of this thread. I dont take eles and warriors in my pug groups at all, because they portray whats wrong with pugs. Youre a good example, you think your build is cool while earth hechman does more or less the same job. If pugs knew how bad they are they could be helped. The problem is that just like you they are satisfied with their mediocre builds and think they are cool.
Id take earth henchman over earth ele any day. Henchman is more reliable, listens, and doesnt think his build is imbagon in disguise.

I think we can finally conclude this discussion. Comparing the earth henchy to a good human earth ele is just silly. I dont think I need to go into why.

HigherMinion

HigherMinion

Forge Runner

Join Date: May 2008

East Anglia, UK

Order of [Thay]

N/

It's very easy to create a good PUG team. In places like the day's or previous day's ZBounty/Mission outpost.

1.You have a Party Search tool. If you are the leader, keep this open.
2.Add all the professions you want and ask them to ping.
3. If they do not synergise with your original team build plan- Ask them to change some skills, perhaps even the whole build. Some people will cry and ragequit the party, but then you can look for something else.
4. When you're happy with everyone's build you can enjoy a relaxing mission with good `player-builds.
5. If the players are rather bad at executing their builds; do not hesitate to give tips, draw on the compass and ping regularly. This will help them to get a better grasp of the game. Tell them who is calling, then tell them to mash "T-space".
6. If the PUGs were good enough, you should add them to your friends list, because no doubt they will want to play with you again on the following zQuests, and make party-searching less of a hastle.

This has worked for me for a long time.

Arrogant Bastard

Arrogant Bastard

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Aug 2009

Your mom's house

E/

The Josip-

You are the one who keeps insisting that a non-Rit primary can use a spirit spam build just as good as a Rit primary. This assumption is incorrect as the damage difference from the spirits alone should be around 10% (contrary to your estimate of 1%).

As far as Splinter/GDW, while most PUG's won't have them on their bars, it is not hard to ask them to make a small change.

The Josip

The Josip

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Aug 2009

Me/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Daesu
That is because you never take into account armor ignoring damage from the uber PvE skills which your ERt spirit spamming bar has neglected. How much damage do you think your spirits can inflict, versus my single Pain Inverter in the right settings?
I saw spirit spammers who use EVAS and some use PI. If you want to show E/x build that works better, sure, go ahead, post it. All 8 skills. Then we can check it out.

Quote:
Comparing the earth henchy to a good human earth ele is just silly. I dont think I need to go into why.
I'm afraid you do. The build is almost exactly the same as that of Earth henchman (the one posted on second page). You can argue that human would use the build more effectively, and I'll argue that henchman won't disconnect, rage quit, leech/go afk, aggro mob and get everyone killed, act like an idiot. And, considering that we already showed how damage of such build is crap, I can tell you henchman will cast Ward normally, and I'm pretty sure he will target someone with other spells.

I'm sorry, but Earth Henchman is overall better than PuG earth ele. I also have proof of that: the success rate of people who used henchmen in Prophecies (before Heroes) vs success of PuGs. A good player who went with PuG team failed far more often than good player who took henchmen.

End of proof.


Quote:
Originally Posted by HigherMinion It's very easy to create a good PUG team. In places like the day's or previous day's ZBounty/Mission outpost. I agree with what you said. But thing is, when I PuG (and not just me), I like giving more freedom to people in the team. By this I mean that I will accept builds which are OK but by no means "best". Simply put, I want people to play with skills they like using (unless of course they dont care either way) - even if those skills are slightly less useful. I dont mind suggestions of course.
Another thing is that it takes a while to get PuG team going, so I prefer to keep it simple and not go through everyones builds unless really needed. Some people i'll check, but for instance if I see a ranger I'll just let him be.

See, the main reason why PuGs fail are rarely skillbars. Mostly, it's lack of responsibility (quitting without reason etc), lack of coordination (overaggroing), not knowing how to use builds properly, and various idiotic behavior.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Arrogant Bastard
You are the one who keeps insisting that a non-Rit primary can use a spirit spam build just as good as a Rit primary. This assumption is incorrect No I don't. I said it like 10x that Rt primary is better but difference in practice is insignificant because spirit spamming is so overpowered you're supposed to plow through mobs either way.

And 10% damage difference is only if you use sup rune which also means, -75hp in HM. So it's more damage for less life, as simple as that. Also, that 10% is in ideal case. In practice, damage difference is lower *between 2 PuGs*.

Quote:
As far as Splinter/GDW, while most PUG's won't have them on their bars, it is not hard to ask them to make a small change. It's not hard, but:

1) it takes time
2) if I wanted people in my PuG team to always use the same build, I'd go with heroes. I like variety, I like creativity. Yes, often at the expense of efficiency.
3) I may be in all-caster team, since I generally prefer those and in practice they tend to be more efficient and faster. I have healthy prejudice against warriors and assassins, while I'm ok with dervishes.


---

Now, back to the point. Why would I accept Elementalist PuG if he isn't E/Rt or E/Mo? Will someone finally post 8 skills that do more damage than E/Rt can? In HM. Or will it be again "but you're not Rt..". You're stuck at Ele primary, you can either use spirit spam or use something else that gives you 33% of spirit spam firepower.

MasterSasori

MasterSasori

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Dec 2007

USA

[Thay]

R/Mo

Quote:
Originally Posted by HigherMinion View Post
It's very easy to create a good PUG team. In places like the day's or previous day's ZBounty/Mission outpost.

1.You have a Party Search tool. If you are the leader, keep this open.
2.Add all the professions you want and ask them to ping.
3. If they do not synergise with your original team build plan- Ask them to change some skills, perhaps even the whole build. Some people will cry and ragequit the party, but then you can look for something else.
4. When you're happy with everyone's build you can enjoy a relaxing mission with good `player-builds.
5. If the players are rather bad at executing their builds; do not hesitate to give tips, draw on the compass and ping regularly. This will help them to get a better grasp of the game. Tell them who is calling, then tell them to mash "T-space".
6. If the PUGs were good enough, you should add them to your friends list, because no doubt they will want to play with you again on the following zQuests, and make party-searching less of a hastle.

This has worked for me for a long time.
This. Pugging shouldn't be a nightmare. A few precautions and a little planning goes a long way if you know what you're doing and what you're getting yourself into.

Quote:
Originally Posted by The Josip View Post
Now, back to the point. Why would I accept Elementalist PuG if he isn't E/Rt or E/Mo? Will someone finally post 8 skills that do more damage than E/Rt can? In HM. Or will it be again "but you're not Rt..". You're stuck at Ele primary, you can either use spirit spam or use something else that gives you 33% of spirit spam firepower. You would accept it because not everything in PvE is Slaver's Exile and it would be nice for once to have some damn fun. So what if E/whocares is not as fast as SoS E/Rt if you're having fun? Would you honestly take a E/Rt over a E/X if the E/X is more fun to pug with?

Besides as you said very accurately, the major problem with pugs is not the build. It's the idiocy/ignorance that makes people rage.

Daesu

Daesu

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Oct 2008

Quote:
Originally Posted by The Josip View Post
I saw spirit spammers who use EVAS and some use PI. If you want to show E/x build that works better, sure, go ahead, post it. All 8 skills. Then we can check it out.
Nope your ERt build (from Page 3) doesn't use EVAS or PI.

E/Rt:
Ghostly Might
Pain
Shadowsong
Disenchantment
Anguish
Siphon
Summon
Rez/something

Quote:
I'm afraid you do. The build is almost exactly the same as that of Earth henchman (the one posted on second page). You would be stupid to use the exact same build as the Earth henchman. For one, a human player can use PvE skills that heroes and henchman can't.

Quote:
You can argue that human would use the build more effectively, and I'll argue that henchman won't disconnect, rage quit, leech/go afk, aggro mob and get everyone killed, act like an idiot. And, considering that we already showed how damage of such build is crap, I can tell you henchman will cast Ward normally, and I'm pretty sure he will target someone with other spells. That is because you have not met a good human pug player. I usually dont disconnect, and I dont rage quit, leech/go afk, aggro mob and get everyone killed, etc. and I pug.

maxxfury

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Apr 2006

[DVDF] Gp

Me/A

TL;DR

X/rit outputs a good amount of damage easily spamming spirits with SoS, if there is room for it in the team (eg, there isnt already a rit doin it with the same skills) then you could do worse, even tho its not as good as a rit/x doin the same job...

conclusion, spirit spamming is OP...for the output you get for the risk reward factor.

The Josip

The Josip

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Aug 2009

Me/

Quote:
Originally Posted by HigherMinion
I have sometimes been in an outpost for over an hour building a good party. Time isn't an issue for me
That's different, I was talking about the usual anonymous PuGs you try to grab faster and just do ZM ZQ, random mission and such.

Quote:
I like assassins, when they run DPS builds, and quick-attack skills. Warriors are good also, churning out SY and taking advantage of GDW and sometimes SoH or MoP (Which are rather common in my teams)

I don't understand your prejudice. Explain.
Attitude/manners, boasting, badmouthing, bad skill, bad skillbar, bad aggro, tanking concept, tunnel vision, lack of coordination..

As I said in the game, it goes back to prophecy days and beginning of factions. some classes seemed to have much more immature/incompetent playerbase, and/or it was easier to notice that in these classes.

See how your thinking style is different - you start thinking "ah but assassin can be good with these skills and....". Yes, good assassin in a good team. Good assassin in a bad team will not have all that support, and bad assassin in a good team will just cause headache to the team.

Quote: Originally Posted by MasterSasori You would accept it because not everything in PvE is Slaver's Exile and it would be nice for once to have some damn fun.
Exactly. And that's what I do. Sometimes I also tell them that their build will do very little damage (but im still ok with it just for the fun of it).

Quote:
Originally Posted by Daesu
Nope your ERt build (from Page 3) doesn't use EVAS or PI.

E/Rt:
Ghostly Might
Pain
Shadowsong
Disenchantment
Anguish
Siphon
Summon
Rez/something That was secondary Rt build, meant to show something else.

You didn't post your 8 skill build.

Quote:
You would be stupid to use the exact same build as the Earth henchman. For one, a human player can use PvE skills that heroes and henchman can't. I'm just commenting on other people builds you know. The one posted earlier here. So if you don't like his build you can talk to him not me. And besides, not every PuG takes 3 PvE skills, or any PvE skills for that matter. Various reasons.

Quote:
That is because you have not met a good human pug player. I usually dont disconnect, and I dont rage quit, leech/go afk, aggro mob and get everyone killed, etc. and I pug. It happens very often in a PuG team. Just yesterday I played in HigherMinion's team and we had 1 quitter in the beginning (not really sure what happened). Thing is, henchmen won't quit, and humans may have IRL emergencies, or network problems, or just ragequit issues.
For instance, at one point HigherMinion disconnected. Let's say he failed to reconnect. What then? Mission failed because he was healer.
It was a great team, but I'm just saying it's not all about skillbars, with humans there's always human factor.

The Josip

The Josip

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Aug 2009

Me/

That's true, but I was merely replying on his henchman vs pug comment.

Daesu

Daesu

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Oct 2008

Quote:
Originally Posted by The Josip View Post
That was secondary Rt build, meant to show something else.

You didn't post your 8 skill build.
So you recommended an ERt build that doesn't make use of the damage from PvE skills? How is that superior to any usual AP EA build?

Quote:
I'm just commenting on other people builds you know. The one posted earlier here. So if you don't like his build you can talk to him not me. And besides, not every PuG takes 3 PvE skills, or any PvE skills for that matter. Various reasons. I was talking about YOU as the Ele player. Not every PUG player brings a decent skill bar but that doesn't mean you have to follow them and lower your own standards.

Quote:
It happens very often in a PuG team. Just yesterday I played in HigherMinion's team and we had 1 quitter ... What has that got to do with builds? The flaw in your argument is to claim that the best PUG build for an Ele is a ERt spirit spammer. That is untrue because:

1. Primary Ritualists make better spirit spammers. This we all agree on even though you tried to play it down by claiming that they are just 1% better when many of us have already shown you that primary rits are significantly better at that role than a ERt.

2. Primary Ritualists spirit spammers are plentiful so there is no need to gimp yourself by playing a ERt spirit spammer wannabe in a PUG! Even if you can't find a human primary rit in party search, you can simply add a rit hero spirit spammer since the bar is so simple that even a hero can run it. So when is there a use for your wannabe ERt secondary spirit spammer build?

The Josip

The Josip

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Aug 2009

Me/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Daesu
I was talking about YOU as the Ele player.
I don't play as ele.

Quote:
So you recommended an ERt build that doesn't make use of the damage from PvE skills? How is that superior to any usual AP EA build?
To what usual AP EA build? First you'll have to post 1 build with 8 skills then we can discuss what's superior.

So far you'be been avoiding it in every post but I'll keep reminding you. Let's see if you can be constructive a bit.

Quote: There are lots of AP EA build out there. If you really want to look at one of them:

[build prof=E/A][Assassin's Promise]["You Move Like a Dwarf!" or Pain Inverter][Ebon Vanguard Assassin Support]["Finish Him!"][Glyph of Lesser Energy][Churning Earth][Eruption][Ward Against Melee][/build]

Quote:
The flaw in your argument is to claim that the best PUG build for an Ele is a ERt spirit spammer. That is untrue because:

1. Primary Ritualists make better spirit spammers. The flaw in my argument?

Re-read your 'argument', it contains serious logical fallacy. Basically, you're claiming that XY isn't the fastest car because airplane is faster.

Quote:
Even if you can't find a human primary rit in party search, you can simply add a rit hero spirit spammer since the bar is so simple that even a hero can run it.

You're do desperate. You're trying to use my own argument against me (earth henchman vs earth ele). No, hero can't run spirit spam properly because his spirits will often hit the wall due to bad placement, he cant take summon spirits, he doesn't recast SoS so if there's alive SoS half a mile behind he won't recast it for the new mob, he will need to be microed all the time or his spirits will die in a simple AoE (unlike Herta who doesnt need to be microed but just places Ward around everyone). He won't cast Siphon properly. So if you wanted to prove that Razah will be better spirit spammer than E/Rt you failed. And at the end of a day I can take Rt spirit spammer, why not, it will not be subject to human factor, but will require much more effort.

Daesu

Daesu

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Oct 2008

Quote:
Originally Posted by The Josip View Post
I don't play as ele.
If you dont have experience playing an ele yourself, then you shouldn't be recommending and arguing with others to play a ERt spirit spammer.

Quote:
To what usual AP EA build? First you'll have to post 1 build with 8 skills then we can discuss what's superior.
You're do desperate. You're trying to use my own argument against me (earth henchman vs earth ele). No, hero can't run spirit spam properly because his spirits will often hit the wall due to bad placement, If you dont even know how to use a simple hero then you fail in PvE.

Quote:
he will need to be microed all the time or his spirits will die in a simple AoE (unlike Herta who doesnt need to be microed but just places Ward around everyone). Henchies suck compared to heroes, it is not because henchies AI is superior to heroes AI it is because you can't micro henchies skills even if you want to!

At the end of the day, a rit hero under the hands of a good player is still better than a ERt spirit spammer wannabe.

HigherMinion

HigherMinion

Forge Runner

Join Date: May 2008

East Anglia, UK

Order of [Thay]

N/

Has this argument about x/Rts being as good as spirit spammers as Rt/ relevant to the main subject; PUG improvement?

Jeydra

Forge Runner

Join Date: May 2008

I can't agree with bringing Res because in general I think Res is a waste (only use hard resses; UA and Death Pact Signet especially), although the characters with the Res need to know to use it at once after someone dies. That's when heroes come into play - players are better off bringing an additional DPS skill.

Also something not mentioned: if someone asks you to ping your build, do it, because if you don't they can't tell what roles they still need to fill in the team. Example: Ritualist joins the party. If the Rit doesn't ping his build, the party leader can't know if he's Restoration or if he's spirit-spamming. Assassin joins the party. If the Assassin doesn't ping his build, the party leader can't know if he's using Daggers (wherupon he can bring Strength of Honour / GDW / Splinter Weapon etc on his heroes or himself), or if he's AP calling (wherupon those skills are wasted). Et cetera.

Me, when I PuG, I just invite whoever is in the area, check their builds out, plug the missing links with heroes / henchmen and go. As one might guess, I'm not one famous for patience, and I can't really imagine how people wait an hour creating the perfect party to do something you can blaze through easily ...

PS: @the E/Rt argument - it's really simple actually. Primary Rits are going to massacre E/Rt's at spirit spamming for obvious reasons. Still, if there are no primary Rits in the party (or if the primary Rits aren't spirit spamming), and if the party needs you as a damage character, then by all means go ahead and spirit spam. Aside from your being less effective than a primary Rit, nothing stopping you.

MasterSasori

MasterSasori

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Dec 2007

USA

[Thay]

R/Mo

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeydra View Post
I can't agree with bringing Res because in general I think Res is a waste (only use hard resses; UA and Death Pact Signet especially), although the characters with the Res need to know to use it at once after someone dies. That's when heroes come into play - players are better off bringing an additional DPS skill.
Res is only a waste if everyone in the team doesn't die frequently and are reliable enough. When you pug, it's not often to get a decent monk.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeydra View Post
As one might guess, I'm not one famous for patience, and I can't really imagine how people wait an hour creating the perfect party to do something you can blaze through easily ... A little more patience and planning can go a long way. Like the time we went to Slaver's and our party like exploded at the second group?


Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeydra View Post
PS: @the E/Rt argument - it's really simple actually. Primary Rits are going to massacre E/Rt's at spirit spamming for obvious reasons. Still, if there are no primary Rits in the party (or if the primary Rits aren't spirit spamming), and if the party needs you as a damage character, then by all means go ahead and spirit spam. Aside from your being less effective than a primary Rit, nothing stopping you. Massacre is an overstatement. Primary rits still win out but another class can still be an effective spirit spammer. The main problem I see is prejudices against other classes as spirit spammers and the abundance of rits out there that another class going spirits is looked down upon.

Jeydra

Forge Runner

Join Date: May 2008

Quote:
Originally Posted by MasterSasori
View Post
Res is only a waste if everyone in the team doesn't die frequently and are reliable enough. When you pug, it's not often to get a decent monk.

A little more patience and planning can go a long way. Like the time we went to Slaver's and our party like exploded at the second group?

Massacre is an overstatement. Primary rits still win out but another class can still be an effective spirit spammer. The main problem I see is prejudices against other classes as spirit spammers and the abundance of rits out there that another class going spirits is looked down upon. Well when I PuG I can see what the Monks are running, so it's not that bad. If someone brings a bar with 8 heals, fine, he can (usually) still heal almost as well as Mhenlo. If the mission / quest we're doing is hard, I can supplement him with ER Prot myself. Otherwise just having Aegis and Prot Spirit on a hero I can micro is usually enough.

That Forgewight run was a mistake I don't see it as a patience problem though, because before we left I saw no problems with the build we had. A bit more patience and we might've remembered to bring Frozen Soil, but that's it. I learned from that run that ER heroes simply cannot be trusted, and while human ER + two Smiters is more than enough, you need a human ER.

And yeah massacre is an overstatement, when the difference (according to earlier in this thread) is about 10%. Still primary Rits are simply better, and E/Rt's are worse than N/Rt's at spirit spamming. With no advantage to speak of, why bother? Go ahead and spam spirits if there's no spirit spammer already in the party and if the party needs you as a damage character, but it's just foolish to defend E/Rt spirit spamming in general.

qvtkc

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Apr 2006

Quote:
Originally Posted by The Josip View Post
(...) dervishes and warriors and assassins, because I think they're only worth it if team build revolves around them (read: buffs)
Sorry, but you just lost all credibility. If you take melee characters, there's no reason to not take buffs. See step 1.

Quote:
Originally Posted by MasterSasori View Post
Oh yeah I also forgot to mention what makes you think that a warder with blurred vision could do more fore defense than an imbagon? Are you suggesting that taking a Ele with blurred vision and wards would be a better idea in HM than an imbagon? Damage in HM comes to a great deal from melee enemies. While imbagons are great, especially with the somewhat unorganized way most PUGs play, warders do provide more potential for damage decrease - as long as everyone stays in the ward. Also, while the +100 armor from SY! is great, blocking/blind/blurred protects against armor-ignoring damage as well.
Still, with most PUGs, I'd go with an imbagon.

qvtkc

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Apr 2006

Quote:
Originally Posted by Xenomortis View Post
So, we either stand still in the ward and get hit by the nukes, or we move out of the nukes and take very little damage?
The trouble with wards is that you need to stay in them.
The neuwwwwwwks

What nukes? On occasion there will be mobs with Meteor Shower, which would hit the frontliners since such mobs always cast MS early on. Stuff like Searing Heat, nightfall mobs with SF or ESurge is a little more of a threat, but still not a big deal.
Of course, it takes a bit of organization to manipulate aggro correctly. That is a teamwide job in GW, unlike other similar games, but it's usually too hard for PUGs to do it.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Xenomortis View Post
There's little reason to bring such defense. SY and a couple of prots/debuffs on the midline will easily suffice (Aegis, PS and Enfeebling Blood somewhere and you're done). I am a huge fan of Enfeebling Blood. Less huge fan of PS, not because it's a bad skill (it's not, it's great), but because most PUG monks can't handle it correctly.

Xenomortis

Xenomortis

Tea Powered

Join Date: May 2008

UK

N/

Quote:
Originally Posted by qvtkc View Post
What nukes? On occasion there will be mobs with Meteor Shower, which would hit the frontliners since such mobs always cast MS early on. Stuff like Searing Heat, nightfall mobs with SF or ESurge is a little more of a threat, but still not a big deal.
Yes actually.
Savannah Heat, Searing Flames spam, Meteor Shower, Deep Freeze (+Maelstrom) etc.. - all threatening in HM and most are spammed in EotN.
These nukes can eat your henchmen alive unless you get some prots up or flag them apart. Individual humans, no matter how incompetent tend to be much more spread out than the AI and hence telling them to clump up into wards is a bit counter-productive.


Quote:
Originally Posted by qvtkc View Post
I am a huge fan of Enfeebling Blood. Less huge fan of PS, not because it's a bad skill (it's not, it's great), but because most PUG monks can't handle it correctly. Vekk.

Wakka

Wakka

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Sep 2006

Northern Ireland

R/

Its not like its exactly hard to use PS? lol