I highly recommend using something like Spiritway. While there are other good builds out there, I've seen that Spiritway is very effective.
From my own experience: I've taken my Elementalist through all the HM dungeons. I started out with Sabway and henchmen. While that worked decently and got me through some of the easier dungeons, some areas were still very difficult. Once I switched to Spiritway and henchmen, I found it remarkably easier.
Also note that I ran a fire build the entire time. So Spiritway combined with decent pulling/aggro tactics is good enough that it can even carry a player with a mediocre build
through all of HM.
I pretty much used the exact setup from that PvX link. For henchmen I usually took Zho (for interrupts), Herta (for extra defense and a some damage), Mhenlo, and Lina. Having been getting back into reading about effective builds more recently, that's probably a little too defensive. Herta and even one of the monks can potentially be swapped out for others depending on the areas.
For you specifically, as Ritualist and Warrior players, I would say: You could run either of the ritualist builds on your character, and then bring a rit and a necro hero to cover the other two. I also definitely recommend at least one hero should have an interruption build - either a Broadhead Arrow Ranger or one of the various good Mesmer builds. After that, at least one Monk, and then the last two slots as whatever seems to fit best from your experiences. Your Warrior friend can concentrate on damage-based builds (Hundred Blades, Dragon Slash, whatever) since tanking isn't really necessary most times.
For tactics: In the easier areas or with smallers groups of enemies, just run in and start the fight. In harder areas, pick a spot outside aggro range, park your heroes there, and cast the long-lived and quick-recharging spirits (Signet of Sprits, Bloodsong, Pain). Then have your warrior friend aggro to enemies and lead them back to your spot. Having minions and spirits parked and ready to go like that helps immediately tip the battle more in your favor. After that it's pretty much standard smart playing and tactics... try not to aggro more than one group at a time... try to focus down the most important/dangerous foes first (usually monks, rits, eles)... etc.
Also, consider trying to bring Pain Inverter in your build somewhere. It works well given that any area attacks by enemies could be hitting up to 8 characters, 10 or 11 minions, and numerous spirits at the same time. That can easily add up to a lot of damage put back on the enemy, in some cases nearly killing it in one blast.
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I guess we should use an elementalist hero instead of the warrior for damage?
Actually Elementalist damage kinda sucks in HM due to all the high armor ratings. I haven't properly experimented with it, but I think Mesmer heroes might be more effective. And in addition to their damage they can bring along interrupts (and maybe even fast cast rez).
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I fear heros are very bad at keeping up their spirits?
I've never really had a problem. If the spirits aren't up, they seem to put a good priority on casting them. And with a lot of minions around, the long-lived spirits often stick around quite a while. Then only issue sometimes is when you move to a second fight nearby and some of the spirits are still alive within "spirit range" but not close enough to actually fight. In that case the heroes don't recast them on their own. But a little bit of micromanagement solves that easily enough. |
(edit: or did u mean an UA/HB monk build on heroes?)
