Modern ROJway

There are several builds that are very effective and require little player interaction. These builds rely on Spirits and Minions to tank the damage thrown at the group while said minions and spirits deal DPS that not many player builds can touch-- and even when they do, they only do DPS while the Spirit Lord is able to heal well while maintaining that DPS. We all know these builds exist and they have existed for years. There would be little point for me to post a build that has 2 Rays, Spirits and Minions and declare myself genius. And even then it's only a variant of well-known powerhouse builds: It brings nothing new to the table.

This build may not be as foolproof or as relaxed as the builds with minions and spirits, but that does not automatically rule out it's effectiveness or viability. I will argue that if one is willing to put in the effort, he will find this build very effective in any 8-man area, including DoA and UW Hard Modes. Only the players' own ability and knowledgeis the roof in the elite zones. I guess the same can be said about the Spirit, Minon, Mesmer builds that pop up five times aday on these forums, but it doesn't make the other builds any less viable.

Bottom line is that Spirit & Minion builds are very good and powerful and exceptional in the sense that they require little interaction from the player considering their effectiveness. And that they are not the only builds in this game. One can run 3 Necro Assassin warp-touchers coupled up with a Dwayn Dervish, ST Ritualist and Searing Flames Elementalists and quite possibly vanquish any area they can enter with 7 heroes. Some players have become blind to any other build than the one they deem the best. And then there's the players who's all about Min/Maxing. And the players who are all about Min/Maxing but yet refuse to micro... More about that below -->

Edit: Point is, if someone runs an earth elementalist instead of an AOTL necro after clearing every area under Hard Mode without consumables, so what? A little change in the winds at that point is always good.

To micro or not to micro

The argument “It’s extra work, therefore I won’t do it” is an argument I won’t take seriously. Let me explain the why:

As a warrior, have you ever dreamed of the ability to bring Smite Hex, Splinter Weapon and Ancestors’ Rage? But you didn’t because you just can’t use them effectively. Or have you ever watched your character suffer from Blurred Vision or Blind and Mind Freeze and observed that Dunkoro’s there at full energy wanding away and not using Smite Hex and Smite Condition on you, and refused to use Smite Hex and Condition manually because it’s extra work and not one of your own abilities? What if you could create a character that you could modify and add additional, special skill slots that you can equip with skills from any profession, any attribute at a maximum rank of 16, regardless of what profession you play – only at the expense of skill slots being withdrawn from your heroes? Would you increase your skill slots from 8 to 10, or 16 in order to bring a Smite Hex and Smite Condition that do not hinder your own ability to play while they activate?

Now with seven heroes, you can equip your team with 64 skills, and the majority of the players only uses 8 on a common basis.
When I invite 7 heroes to the group I don’t see 8 skill bars, I see 64 skill slots and the ability to use them at will. Most players only see the 8 skill slots in the middle of their screen when they leave an outpost to complete a Z bounty, and only use those 8 skills. What if you saw more? What if there were 10 skill slots in the middle of the screen – would you utilize these additional skill slots at the expense of your heroes? Because there are 64 skill slots you can utilize. Give it some thought and ask yourself if it’s difficult to use skills 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8? Then consider if you’d be willing to operate two or more additional skills in order to do something you’ve always wanted to – no more lazy Dunkoro, or picky Razah not using Ancestors’ Rage on you with only one surviving foe.

A player who refuses to micro Smite Hex and Ancestors’ Rage can be compared to a player who refuses to create a character with 2 additional skill slots, just because it’s extra work.

My 2 cents.

I think some RPG players, people who grew up on Baldur's Gate and what have you, have a (perhaps subconscious) attitude of "I am a thinker and planner, not some twitch gamer; if I liked twitch I'd be playing Counterstrike". These are people who'll spend ten hours working out a build and ten minutes tweaking it for the next area before leaving town, but they won't use ten clicks to micro Smite Hex during the mission.

I'm like that. I've soloed Baldur's Gate on multiple characters, but I didn't finish the Witcher. I had to drag myself kicking and screaming into GW micro. These days I'll click a few hero skillbar icons before/after a fight and use the few I can hotkey on my numpad during it. That's my limit.

Damn "action RPGs" are taking the RPG world over. I wonder what GW2 will be like.