How to build your own [7h] TeamBuild {GUIDE} - Not yet completed :)

Thenameless Wonder

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Aug 2009

W/

22 Mar 2012 at 01:45 - 1
This guide is still in progress and I have not been able to implement and finish the entire guide. I know it isn't a "guide" yet because I haven't finished out typing that part Thanks for your patience while I complete this!


Index: Offensive Builds (Overview) : Ctrl+F "i1" Defensive Builds (Overview) : Ctrl+F "i2"
This guide assumes you are knowledgeable about Guild Wars in general. You have been playing for a while and are comfortable about the professions strengths and weaknesses (although these will be explained). I assume you have access to the 7hero content (mercenary heroes) although I will provide leway for players who don't purchase this. I am also a sole supporter of NO-MICRO heroes. I believe if you have the right set-up, you can create fantastic team builds where all you worry about is YOURSELF.

To begin the fabulous journey of making your team build, you must first ask yourself these questions:What is this build being used for? Is my focus on offense, defense, or balanced? Does my teambuild (no matter how fantastic the idea) work in PvE?

Many factors play into the decision of the overall build. If your builds are meant to roll through dungeons with ease, a general thought would be to bring sufficient defense to aid you on your journey. Likewise, using a vanquish build, bring speed boosts will greatly assist you.


Not us first look at good builds but recognize the bad ones. In this manner, you can see yourself where the faults lie and learn. Click below to load a fictitious teambuild I made. Can you tell me whats wrong?



Before I tell you what is bad, I will explain that there are some good things about this teambuild.
Frequently in PvE, mobs are dealt with most efficiently with spike damage. Spike damage is efficient because it can eliminate dangerous foes quickly and it is less time intensive to blow up group after group of foes. Liquid Flame and Fireball are both fairly good spike skills within this setup. AoE (Area of Effect). Commonly seen as inefficient, this tool can be used with some effectiveness. AoE skills allow one skill to hit multiple foes = more damage for the single skill. Savannah Heat is a very powerful AoE skill along with Meteor Shower. Ritualists have become mainstream because their healing skills (among many) are very useful. Protective was Kaolai is a very efficient pary heal skill as it heals the entire party and can be activated very effectively. Healing Burst is an ideal choice for party heals. Weapon spells are unstrippable once applied which makes these vulnerable against enchantment removal. Weapon of Warding and Vengeful Weapon are good additions to the team as a whole.
The good points of the build in general are the elemenalist spikers have PwK and a fair choice of spiking/AoE spell. Healing Burst on the monk as well as good hex removal is also good.
(The points in bold are key positives to this build)


Now here what is bad about the teambuild:
No protection against interupts. The offensive output of this build is clearly shut down if Cry of Frustration or Distracting Shot would be cast upon any elementalist. This team build is fairly weak against enemies who are resistant towards fire damage. Destroyers would have no problem ripping apart this team. No damage exists that is not related to spells. If for any reason the elementalists could not cast their spells, this build could not do damage to a Iris Flower. This teambuild provides no means to absorb damage, intead it focuses on killing the enemy quickly enough in hopes that they will survive.
Sometimes outhealing an enemy assault isn't as good as protecting against it.


As this is a general spike build, the pitfalls remain as follows. If these elementalists could not cast spells for any reason, the team is shut out, and lacks a faithful method of defense.
(Points that are negative are in bold)

i1
OFFENSIVE BUILDS: SPIKES


This first team build was clearly a build used to spike. Or otherwise known to inflict fast packets of high damage quickly to take the enemy down. Spike builds take advantage of niches within the game. Commonly seen in HA (or infrequently now) were these spike builds. An example; one team build was the "Invoke Ele" spike which had 8 elementalists with Ride the Lightning as their elite skill and other air magic skills. The idea behind the build was simple: prevent the other team from ressurecting with Frozen Soil and with coordination, run in and spike 2-3 targets, focus-firing and hopefully killing them. Sadly for these builds, they didn't work very well, well-coordinated team saw this in advance and protected their team (among other things) and won.

Builds such as spike builds pack a powerhouse of offensive skills but almost always lack healing or defense. If certain conditions are met; ex. all of the players are balled up and stationary (as the case for my first team build), then the enemy is pretty much dead after 3 seconds of fire magic. However, if these conditions fail to satisfy, if the enemy is spread out, the skills are less effective and nothing dies. This idea rides behind the AoE spike. AoE spikes are builds utilizing AoE spells that damage multiple opponents. Some different AoE spikes could utilize Energy Surge, Invoke Lightning, Shockwave, Searing Flames, Destructive was Glaive, Ineptitude, Keystone Signet, Icy Veins, Ravenous Gaze and Feast of Corruption.

TeamBuilds that use spells as their main form of damage (in the case of an AoE spike) are usually very powerful but again, lack defense or sufficient healing.




Now here is another teambuild, this time instead of using a spell-spike, will focus more on physical damage.



Again, here are the good things about this build:

Reliable damage sponges. Both pets and minions are highly recommended for soaking up damage. Pets take 33% damage in PvE and minions summoned by Aura of the Lich are great meat shields for soaking up dangerous attacks. With 12 interupts, this build has more than enough to shut down enemies. Distracting Shot and Savage Shot are good ranged interupts. As with any AoE melee attack used with Splinter Weapon, this build is very effective with splinter weapon. Weapon spells and preparations do stack, it is wise to stack them if you can. Splinter Weapon plus Barrage is a very common choice. The last build, the "Ether Renewal Prot" is very effective. Although I will frown upon using pre-made builds. Sometimes their effectiveness is too good to pass up. This build can spam spells like their is no tomorrow. Rangers possess multiple forms of conditions to apply to their foes; bleeding, poisoned and blind.
Clearly, the teambuild has enough damage soakers and interupts to handle most areas and packs enough heals. Conditions can prove this team build the upperhand in some cases.
(Pro's are in bold)

The bad aspects of this build:
12 interupts is a bit too many skills to equip to have sufficient interupts, is it not? Is there a more effective skill? < Panic While utilizing many good aspects, this build lacks hex removal and would most certainly fall apart especially if the elementalist and/or necromancer should die. Convert Hexes is a good choice. A single healer is not capable of supporting an entire party, especially in HM. Multiple healers (although not needed to be dedicated healers) are necessary. A minimum of 2 resurrection skills is recommended for a full party of 8 members. Relying on more than one party member to bring a ressurect is ideal, but too many can sacrifice efficiency in a team build.
Too many skills are being used for interupts and multiple condition skills are redundant to bring. The support (heals) for this class is very fragile.
(Negative points are in bold)

This build can take down most of what it is given but lacks forms of protection, especially against dangerous hexes such as Panic, or Ineptitude.


OFFENSIVE BUILDS: SPIKES: GENERAL CONCLUSION

Builds that are focused on offensive will have High damage output Lack defense or healing
Be able to kill quickly at the cost of defense or healing




i2
DEFENSIVE BUILDS: PRESSURE

Polar opposite to the offensive builds are defensive builds. Instead of focusing on spikes, the defensive build focuses on pressure. Because the defensive build is able to resist and defend against most attacks, as most of the skills are used for this case, the team must rely on pressure (hexes, conditions, energy denial) to win the battle. The immediate pro to using a defensive build is you can clear out any area with it, it will just take 3x longer than a spike build. The immediate problem with this idea is PvE is not meant to be played (I do not play PvE with pressure builds) most commonly with pressure teambuilds. Factions has a time limits on their missions as do some Prophecies and Nightfall missions. It is hinted quite clearly that you need to get from point A to point B as fast as possible; defensive builds go against this and stall out the battle to gain the upper hand. While not in my mindframe to create some defensive builds, I will do my best.



Please forgive my lack of knowledge towards the paragon class, for it has been the class I so rarely play, but bear with me as we look at this defensive teambuild:


Good facets of this teambuild:
Good pool of condition inflicting skills. Broad Head Arrow and Stunning Strike can both cause daze, which is a great asset in attacking enemy caster types. With a solid backline(your team heals/support), here represented by the three monks in union with the paragons, form a SOLID healing block. With Aura of Faith, Defensive Anthem, Aegis and Shield of Absorption, the brunt of physical attacks are not an issue. Shouts and chants/anthems are very stable against most PvE mobs. Very few counters exist for these types of skills. Notable shouts include Fallback and Stand Your Ground. Your healers have energy management. This is TOO important to ignore; they are healing you and need energy to do it! Skills that help with energy management include Power Drain and Waste Not Want Not along with Drain Enchantment if you want to remove enchantments while you are at it Multiple condition and hex removal skills. If one of my heroes is being pressured and is under the effects of daze, it is very easy for another hero to cover. More than one hero is capable of doing the same thing; no one healer is specialized. Multiple skills across many professions can be put here.
In a nutshell, this team can protect itself from most any assault but has trouble inflicting any damage (even in the form of degeneration from conditions).
Pros are in bold.

Bad things about this teambuild:
No real synergy exists in this teambuild. My heroes are thrown together and although we can heal and protect ourselves, we can't complete this task with effectiveness (explained further later). This defensive teambuild does not have enough punch to take down enemies. I would give my two cents and say I don't think I could kill anyone with this defensive setup. My ranger has Ressurection Signet. In most case, another skill such as Flesh of my Flesh, Restore Life, or Unyielding Aura is a better choice for a ressurect.
Overall, I can defend well with this teambuild but without maximum effectiveness. The synergy between my heroes is sufficient, but not to their max potential.
Things you should worry about in team builds are in bold.



Pressure (or defensive teambuilds) exist in two forms (similarly to offensive builds). One type of defensive teambuild is the teambuild that can handle any attack thats thrown against it, as is the case with the above build, but does not have sufficient damage to kill the enemy. Like I said earlier, these builds are more oriented towards PvP where stalling is a good strategy, not the most effective or quickest strategy in PvE. The other type of defensive teambuild involve niches as explained earlier with the first build. ( If the heroes are free to cast their spells and the enemy stays all balled up, then you have won the battle ). Niche teambuilds can be used and I am in no means trying to undermine them, however, as long as they are tailored for a very specific area and nothing else, they can be very effective. The teambuild below is a fair example of a niche, defensed focused teambuild.




Good things about this teambuild:
A solid backline. When building teambuilds, it is common to have one dediated healer, here my Unyielding Aura monk and my Soul Twisting ritualist. With both I am sufficient to handle most areas. Spirits are very very useful in 7h builds. Spirits can act as meat sponges, soaking up damage, or can be used offensively ( Signet of Spirits is the ideal choice for that ), or with utility ( Wanderlust providing knockdown ) or lastly with pure defense ( Soul Twisting to pump out protective spirits such as Shelter and Union from communing.) AoE protection in the form of wards. Wards are location area spells, meaning if you are positioned right, and correctly use your wards, they are very effective. Ward Against Melee is a very good ward to use. As all of my heroes will be stationary most of the time (I do not have any melee heroes, just casters), this setup will do me well. Just extreme defense with a punch happens when I have three shockwave heroes. With the new update, different conditions trigger depending on the range of the enemy when shockwave is cast. Truthfully, anything that gets into melee range is more than dead. Sufficient amount of pressure is present with my nine attacking spirits and three shockwave elementalists to kill anything in range.
In general, this build can handle any close-combat situation involving an enemy mob. Protection and healing should not be a problem but it can be improved.
Pro's are in bold.

However, my cons to the build are more than obvious:
My teambuild works well if niche conditions are met. It works well if my heroes are all bundled up and only melee are attacking me. This build will not work if enemies are standing around a corner, not visible, ie. AoE spells would surely rip apart my team if they managed to kill the defensive spirits or provided they did enough energy denial ( through Energy Surge ) to shut down my offensive casters. Power Leech is rarely shown on any bar, why is that? I will discuss further below about skills you should not be using ( because there are better alternatives ).
If a player could pull all enemies to a perfect ball, adjacent to the team, all the time and everytime this build would do fine. However, relying on niches only works some of the time.
Con's are in bold.



DEFENSIVE BUILDS: PRESSURE: CONCLUSION


It seems that while defensive teambuilds are the more sturdy of the two types looked at thus far, it can lack offense at the cost of damage, or in the case of being too specialized.

Therefore, defensive teambuilds: Pack the muscle to withstand an assault Oftentimes lack the punch to KO an enemy


Now that the two types of specialized (being specialized in offense or defense) teambuilds have been discussed, before moving on to the last type, I will discuss the skills of the game.


SKILLS TO USE

Now, many many skills exist in guild wars. All skills are not equal! Good and both bad skills are there in the game. This is not meant to be a troll topic but is merely my opinion and will be backed up by support. Most commonly, a build will be focused around a particular skill, this skill being the elite skill on the bar. To help decide your elite skill, you must first recognize the purpose of the bar (to interupt, damage, etc) and compress your skill bar. Compression skills are defined as follows; skills that do more than one thing. Compressed skills are highly sought out in team builds because they are effective at putting two different skills in one (not literally of course). Take the obvious skill Signet of Spirits, in one skill it can summon three spirits. In addition it has no energy cost which is a definite plus.
Unyielding Aura can instantly ressurect a team member while providing a bonus to the monk's healing ability. The most effective compression skills are found in most meta-rated PvX team builds and for good reason. I will further explain the elite skills to assist you in making your best teambuild.

Again please be aware that this is my opinion and does not reflect the actual intentions of the skill designers or is intended to offend anyone and their build. This is for education purposes in looking at which skills are more effective than others. Once again, these are my opinions on skill choices and should have no impact on the way you decide to build your teambuild. Some of these elites aren't the very best out there but I have opened my eyes to the different possiblities by which some of these elites run. In addition, not all elites are listed in the following pictures.

If you wish to look at the skills please click below

WARRIOR ELITE'SWarrior's are the class that is the most sturdedly build (along with paragons). With this in mind, warrior's main purpose is to soak up damage. Warriors can do other things as well but with the most efficiency, warriors can tank. The elite skills reflect this and their explanations are below. Good Elites Battle Rage - Very useful if using a build with many adrenaline skills. This skill will easily help maintain and let the hero spam these adrenaline skills and allow the hero a speed boost. Defy Pain - Warriors are built to tank with 80AL and this build makes it so much more effective when your warrior is built like a rock, able to withstand packets upon packets of damage. This skill is a skill so it has instant activation time and can be upkept indefinitely. Dwarven Battle Stance - Provides IAS, armor and the ability to interupt which can be hard to find on a warrior. Triple Chop - Is a good AoE damage skill for the warrior; consider bringing a weapon spell to synergize with it. Warriors Endurance - Allows the warrior to switch secondary professions while providing the energy to use skills. This elite can be used to make a W/A or W/D ex. Backbreaker - Can be four seconds to shut down that enemy boss or monk that is giving you so much trouble. Crippling Slash - Combines Sever Artery and Hamstring to easily lead into a build that needs a condition present. Hundred Blades - Again, another good skill to use with Splinter Weapon. In addition, the damage from this skill applies even if you are blind. Dragon Slash - Easy skill to spam damage dealing skills through a warrior. Bad Elites Bulls Charge - Is too conditional to rely on a moving foe to provide a knockdown. Flourish - The warrior has more skills to depend on itself being a tank rather than a damage dealer. Besides, warriors should be used for what they are capable of; tanks. Headbutt - Although the application of dazed doesn't do much against you, 15 energy is too high a cost for warriors with a starting energy at 20. Primal Rage - Why sacrifice the armor you have? Cleave - Again, warriors are designed to take more damage than deal. RANGER ELITE'SRangers have been called the jack of all trades but masters at none. This is true to the feel of rangers as they can inflict conditions, spike, and interupt quite easily with their skills. The elite skills that I have chosen reflect their versitality. Good Elites Escape - Is easily synergized with melee builds as it provides IMS and a chance to block. Glass Arrows - Provides good damage and a conditional bleed if your opponent decides to block them. Again, good with weapon spells. Marksman Wager - The Warriors Endurance for rangers. With this skill you can spam skills like Power Shot or Needling Shot with relative ease. Enraged Lunge - Is the only ranger skill able to apply deep wound ( and a good damage bonus as well ). Strike As One - Can provide cripple, bleeding, and instantly turns your pet into a damage soaker at the front lines. Incendiary Arrows - Spreading multiple foes with burning is a good source of party-wide degeneration. Barrage - The staple of most ranger builds. Very useful in spike damage with Splinter Weapon. Broad Head Arrow - Provides a very long application of dazed and interupts the target. Bad Elites Archers Signet - Builds that revolve around solely applying conditions are very vulnerable to spells that remove conditions. There are just better alternatives to this skill. Trappers Focus - Unless niched for this, this elite is better filled by another skill. Famine - Relying on a spirit to provide damage is less effective because the spirit can die and it is hard to continually drain the enemies energy pool. Quick Shot - No added damage, conditions or anything. MONK ELITE'SMonks are quite obviously the class that is meant to heal (as it was designed). However monks can go damage if they so choose, but their main bunch of skills is handled to heal and protect their team. Good Elites Healers Boon - Gives the monk faster cast time and more healing for a low energy cost and low cast time. Peace and Harmony - Removes conditions, hexes, and reduces the duration of these shortly thereafter. Unyielding Aura - Compresses a ressurection into your skill and increases your healing effectiveness. Glimmer of Light - Fast, low energy and low recharge for a heal. Healing Burst - A potential party-wide heal for only five energy. Word of Healing - A recovery heal if the target is at low amounts of health. Ray of Judgement - Gives monks the access to damage within their profession. This skill does good damage, is good against minions, and causes burning. Aura of Faith - Benefits the player being healed by offering additional health and protection. Life Sheath - Almost instant cast time to remove conditions and protect against future damage. Restore Conditions - Removes and heals for all conditions. Bad Elites Spell Breaker - Even though this skill provides against spell protection, if an enemy cannot cast spells on you, they will switch almost instantly to another player who they can cast spells on you. Useful in farming situations, not in teambuilds. Withdraw Hexes - Cure Hex or Convert Hexes are better choices than this when the recharge time of this skill can increase exponentially. Balthazars Pendulum - Knock down is hardly a problem in PvE and is hard to prevent against single targeted targets. Defenders Zeal - Power Drain, Waste Not Want Not and Drain Enchantment are much better options as energy management than an elite. Amity - Unless you can kill them without attacking them I do not see much use to this build (as they can still cast spells).NECROMANCER ELITE'SNecromancers have a bundle of great elite skills. Necromancers can manipulate bosses, inflict AoE damage, and create walls of minions. Good Elites Icy Veins - Prime choice for a necro who has attribute points invested in soul reaping and wants to push out damage. Reapers Mark - The underpowered Assassins Promise that provides a good amount of pressure and energy (in addition to the necromancers soul reaping attribute). Wail of Doom - Effectively shuts down an enemy for the duration this skill is active. Cultists Fervor - For those builds that need some additional energy management, this skill provides sufficient cover. Order of the Vampire - Is a party wide buff for physical players on your team. Soul Leech - Can drain the health faster than most skills when paired against (especially) a mesmer boss. Spoil Victor - A versatile tool to use against any boss as their health will be higher than yours. Aura of the Lich - Increases your death magic attribute and creates minions. Massive compression. Discord - Low recharge and high damage provided the conditions satisfy. Jagged Bones - Great support to spread bleeding and keep your minions alive. Virulence - Great spell to inflict three conditions; compression for conditions at its best. Feast of Corruption - AoE damage and health loss. Lingering Curse - Provides pressure and less effectiveness from enemy monks. Pain of Disenchantment - Giving us enchantment removal and AoE damage because of it. Soul Bind - Shuts down the enemy healer while you can focus your efforts elsewhere. Spiteful Spirit - AoE damage whether they attack or use spells. Very good skill. Bad Elites Signet of Suffering - Is easily replaceable by Barbed Signet. Vampiric Spirit - Necromancers should not have to worry about healing themselves in this manner. More effective healing skills are useful such as Signet of Lost Souls. Ravenous Gaze - Unless this is used with multiple heroes, the effectiveness is severely limited. Also, the enemies must be bunched up to take full effectiveness and this does not always happen. Contaigon - Relies effectively on putting dazed and blind on this hero which puts them at a higher risk of being killed. Tainted Flesh - Is not energy friendly when you need to cast it on seven other players to prevent disease. Depravity - As foes die in PvE very easily, this skill can not be used to its maximum potential. Order of Apostasy - At 25 energy, this is too expensive a skill for enchantment removal along with the health loss. Weaken Knees - Will not apply as much as you like it in PvE where the majority of the battles involve 85% stationary foes.MESMER ELITE'SMesmers are the best caster class at interupting and punishing the enemy. Their set of elite skills is shown by this and which is why mesmers are so highly prized by many players. Good Elites Arcane Langour - Easily shuts down enemy monks with exaustion that isn't available in many skills. Keystone Signet - Recharges your signets, causes AoE damage and interupts. Stolen Speed - Is a AoE caster shut down spell. Crippling Anguish - Mainly a melee shut down spell that has pressure. Fevered Dreams - AoE condition spread spell that can spread daze. Ineptitude - AoE damage and application of blind. Shared Burden - The all-around melee & caster shut down skill. Migrane - Effectively gives you time to interupt and disable skills while providing enemy pressure. Energy Surge - AoE damage and energy denial. Panic - AoE interuptions. Very good skill. Visions of Regret - AoE damage upon skill usage. Tease - AoE interuption and energy denial. Bad Elites Symbols of Inspiration - Is too hard to predict what elite skill you will receive and whether or not it will sync with your teambuild. Illusionary Weaponry - Mesmers have low AL and are best not left at melee range, especially in HM. Enchanters Conundrum - Interupting the enchantments is more efficient than slowing their cast time and then interupting. Energy Drain - Easily replaced by Energy Tap or Power Drain. Mantra of Recall - Much better skills exist for energy management. Signet of Midnight - Can be replaced with Ineptitude for blind and damage.
ELEMENTALIST ELITE'SElementalists are useful in different situations. With air magic, elementalists are useful in single targets, with fire magic, multiple targets. Earth magic are more about defense and water magic focuses on hexes. Good Elites