Channeling Tactics

[TBMarauder]

Thanks to the initiative shown by Fownkaymownkay, I am making this thread for you all to post any Channeling-based tactics and strategies.

Please keep it OT. :)

[RedHed]

i saw an ele in tombs spamming spirit rift and spirit burn and essence strike with ether prodigy for energy management. seemed to work quite well. (was a rank#30 or so guild playing)

[Too Hot Fo You]

what about the animation of spirit rift? Because I had exactly the same idea with a few more skills, but I can't play so I don't know about the animation. Is there any graphical animation that shows where Spirit Rift will hit?

[Sai]

ive been working with a channeling based build since saturday in random arenas, take a look.

16 channeling
13 communing
rest spawning

Spirit Burn
Essence Strike
Spirit Boon Strike
Painfull Bond
Anguished Was Lingwah
Blood Song
Shadowsong
Flesh of my Flesh

the idea is that you keep creating spirits of pain with lingwahs ashes as you can have multiple pain spirits while using this skill, cast blood song and then use painfull bond on whoever is beeing attacked by the spirits.
cast shadowsong if you need to blind someone or simply to add extra damage through painfull bond.
when the spirits are up you can use the cheap lightning spells to deal direct damage, you'd be surprised how much damage ritualists can actually do when built for it :)

anyway theres the build i managed to make using limited faction, let me know what you think :afro:

[Tango]

16 channeling +3 rune, +1 hat
7 communing
11 spawning +1 rune

Pain
Cruel was daoshen
channeled strike
rapture soul
explosive growth
Shadowsong
Flesh of my Flesh
destruction

This really is meant as a area denial build or to keep people away from healers.

Lay destruction down
get daoshen's ashes ready
wait, if anyone comes pop destruction with rapture soul, channeled strike and drop the ashes.

its missing something though I can't put a finger on what it is.

[Lanto]

what about the animation of spirit rift? Because I had exactly the same idea with a few more skills, but I can't play so I don't know about the animation. Is there any graphical animation that shows where Spirit Rift will hit?

Yeah its a slowly rising blue sphere that explodes once it reaches the highest point.

[Too Hot Fo You]

ohh well, so it can be seen quite clearly -.-
Well anyways, should be nice against IWAY, as they are stupid enough to stay there, all that pets will hide the sphere XD

[Too Hot Fo You]

By the way, what I thought of was using it as a new sort of spike, an aoe that will hit after three seconds, I thought it is not noticeable, you could make a spell fit the 3. second, so that both hit together and spike your target down. Nevermind now, it's almost useless if you face a half decent team.

[HonshuHigamori]

Hehe. I remember the first time Spirit Rift was casted on me. I saw the pretty blue orb rising and I actually got distracted at first, thinking to myself "Uh... what's that?". Then it exploded in my face and I kept an eye out for it from then on ::P

[Zesr Swiftblade]

Rt/E
Channeling: 16 (Sup. Rune + Mask)
Earth: 12
Restoration: rest

Earth Attunement
Glyph of Lesser Energy
Grasping Was Kuurong (Elite)
Channeled Strike
Aftershock
Earthquake
Ward Against Melee
Flesh of My Flesh (I personally hate the skill but o well)

Basically a surprise Kd/As build. Pretty much keep earth attunement on the majority of the time you can, then for your damage cast glyph of lesser, kuurong, get close to them, channeled strike (approx. 130 dmg..?), drop Kuurong's ashes(approx. 60 dmg. + kd), aftershock (approx 80 more damage). Ward against melee for obvious reasons, flesh of my flesh because i wanted to see how useless or useful it was. I pretty much used this build just to mess with people since there were limited build ideas floating around this weekend.

[guedin]

I was thinking about a combo Rt/N :

Spawning Power: 12 (9+3)
Channeling Magic: 14 (12+2)
Death Magic: 9

Destruction (Channeling Magic)
Create a level 9 spirit that dies after 30 seconds. When this spirit dies, all nearby foes take 5 damage for each second the spirit was alive.
Energy:10 Cast:3 Recharge:20

Rupture Soul (Spawning Power)
Target allied spirit is destroyed. All nearby enemies are struck for 122 lightning damage and become blinded for 10 seconds.
Energy:10 Cast:1 Recharge:20

Death Nova (Death Magic)
For 30 seconds, if target ally dies, all nearby foes take 70 damage and are Poisoned for 15 seconds.
Energy:5 Cast:2 Recharge:0


The idea it's to place a spirit near the monk or in a narrow place and cast on it death nova . When a foes come near the spirit, destroy it . Enemy will take 5*20 (for 20s of life from the spirit) + 122 + 70 + blindness 10s + poison 15s = 292 dmg + condition
Is my calcul ok ? and is it viable ? Could be great against IWAY warrior isn't it ?

[TBMarauder]

Slight problem with the above. As has been mentioned elsewhere, NO enchants, hexes, conditions, Monk/Ranger etc heal buffs work on Binding Rituals.

Therefore, 'Death Nova' would not work; "Target is Immune". Hope that helps.

[guedin]

Erf ... yeah its a quite problem :cry:
Thx for the help

[Satinka]

This is the Channeling build I used during the BWE, I call it the Walking Bomb.

Channeling 12 + 1 Headwrap
Spawning 12
Restoration 3 (Edit: oops had a 12 here too :rolleyes:)

Well, I wasn't able to get the runes, only found one superior Restoration and two minor Communion.

http://img92.imageshack.us/img92/6927/channelskills5nf.gif
1. Spirit Siphon
2. Essence Strike
3. Spirit Burn
4. Clamor of Souls [E]
5. Destruction
6. Draw Spirit
7. Rupture Soul
8. Flesh of my Flesh

When the fight begins start summoning Destruction and Spirit Burn, Essence Strike. Now the Warriors should handle the aggro and you can follow them. Cast Draw Spirit then Clamor of Souls and maybe Rupture Soul to blind the foes.
Use Spirit Siphon whenever you need Energy, it gets you +8Energy with Channeling 13, but +9Energy with 14 (I use an offhand +1/20% item).

One thing would be nice that A.Net should build into the Final:
The spirits of your team should be seen like maintained enchantments. So if you click the Icon you can target the spirit. It's really time consuming to hold Alt and search for spirits you can siphon.

[Nozzie]

I think that this line is going to be very huge. One thing I first thought of when reading some of the skills is mixing them with the ele air spike build but then I found enough skills to make a damage build I think that it will be successful I will post it once I get all the kinks out!

[clownface]

Clownface's Tempest Build

Channel - 16
Restoration - 10ish
Spawning - x

1. Weapon of Warding
2. Spirit Burn
3. Destruction
4. Spirit Rift
5. Soothing Memories
6. Restoration (ele)
7. Glyph of Lesser Energy (ele)
8. Res sig / Flesh of my Flesh

Order of casting i do Restoration, Destruction, Glyph, Spirit Rift, then i just spam Spirit Burn on the target constantly. I liked to help the monk(s) out to with Warding to get that 50% block and heals with the 5 mana heal Soothing. I dont bring Rupture because Destruction Buffs your Spirit Burn and that much damage for 5 Energy and 5 Recharge is really neat. After the initial chain, I like to either cast Spirit Burn, then Spirit Rift, then time the Spirit Burn again to when Spirit Rift actually does the damage for a nice 170+dmg spike. The nice thing about the Destruction/Spirit burn combo is it gives u that extra bonus damage, then when it dies it pops an extra 150+ dmg if anythings around. Its also easy to cycle Destruction cuz its time outlives its recast.

Some problems maybe be you cant spike for a long period of time unless you have a battery, probably cud sacrifice the backup heals for more energy management and leave those skills to the possible Spirit Ritualists.

[Kjentei]

My Ritualist is Channeling. She uses Ancestor's Rage, Gaze from Beyond, Splinter Weapon (to cast on Assassins, in big battles like the Vizunah Square), Cruel Was Daoshen, Destruction and Spirit Burn (and others). I think Channeling deals some good AoE damage, and when wished, some deadly single-enemy damage. If there's a Spiritualist on the team, I might take Spirit Boon Strike and stand near a Union spirit, and maybe use Essense Strike a bit.
I think if you have two Ritualists in a team, and neither of them need to heal, one should go Channeling, one should go Communing, and they're skills will work well together.

[isaragnor]

you all are missing a 2 part skill that can be very very useful
gaze from beyond-then spirit boon strike
easy 100+ direct dammage from gaze then boon strike to replenish spirits health
or dont lay any spirits and use gaze to hurt opponent while takeing health from thier teams spirits
apply echo where needed

[Erasculio]

So far, I'm using:

1) Spirit Rift

2) Ancestor's Rage

3) Destruction

4) Gaze from Beyond

5) Spirit Burn

6) Draw Spirit

7) Rupture Soul

8) Flesh of my Flesh

So far, with 16 Chanelling and 12 Spawing, against the level 20 mobs around Kaineng Center, it's working quite well.

Erasculio

[Kyokuji]

I don't see the point of destruction.
Who's gonna be stupid enough to stay near your spirit for 30 seconds?
And how many non-boss mobs even last that long?

[Kjentei]

Destruction is a key skill for a Channeling Ritualist. It's one of Channeling magic's only spirits and is highly valued for its use to execute Gaze from Beyond (if there is no Spiritualist in your party), and sometimes Rupture Soul.

[schrollbach]

not only that, you can use all skills that require a spirit.

My Build: (Rt/Me)

Essence Strike
Gaze From Beyong
Channeled Strike
Spirit Boon Strike
Spirit Rift
Destruction
(...ashes you hold that increase health and heal you when you drop [for channeled strike])
Flesh of my Flesh

I probably need to rework it some...I haven't used it often and need to see about energy management.

[Arcl]

This is my Channeling/Sprirt Master Build

Communing 14 (12+1+1)
Channeling 12 (9+3)
Spawning 12 (9+3) (i know i get low health etc)

Spirit Burn/Essence Strike (channeling)
Spirit Rift (channeling)
Blood Song (communing)
Dissonance (comuning)
Ritual Lord (spawning)
Boon of Creation (spawning)
Doom (in between casting spirits) (spawning)
Some Kind of Rez

High dmg not only from spirits but also from lightnin attacks usin spirits and 2 energy management skillz.

[Meawin Carmot]

One thing that I think many people forget about spirit rift is that it takes 3 seconds to detonate. So they could move out of the way.

I use this to my advantage.

I have been dreaming a Rt spike build for the ages. But the main problem I came up with was what if they were to move? NO PROBLEM! Just make it so they cant!

Binding chains makes enemys move 90% slower. hmmmm... wana just say stoped for the sake of it all. But I guess it makes it more comical watching them tring to excape...

So what do you do? I know this would be a dead give away for any bit of a monk that would say "HEY! That guy is bout to get pwnt! Cast prot spirit! Or remove hex!"

But anyways, my build would be:

Binding Chains
Destruction
Gaze from Beond
Spirit Rift
Cruel was Daoshen
Channeled Sprit
Some sort of energy management, like Spirit Channeling if you have a restore or monk
Rez

[Boqu]

had few tests last night. Destruction doesn't work as well because 1 you have to run into foes to cast 2 you have to stay there if you want to use some of the spirits channelling. I found Gaze from beyond works wonder but essence strike and spirit burn doesn't have very good range spirits wise.

and, essence strike / spirit burn doesn't work on other people's spirit. maybe i am wrong. please double test for me.

therefore I used Anguish Was Lingwah. you can use the time before battle so during the battle if one die you can cast another one. my idea is basically not to move away too far from the spirit so the dmg can be maxed and the energy can be controled when spamming.

1. Anguish was lingwah
2. spirit burn
3. essence strike
4. gaze from beyond
5. spirit boon strike


6-8 can be anything from second pro, or rez skill/signet.i am currently using Mes's Clumsiness and phatum pain. this build does considerable dmg and is very cheap to build. all skills can be found from early stage of game.

the only nag side is lack of self healing. change one of the skills to mending body and soul maybe.

[raisenero]

I was killing with massive channeling spike tonight.

12 + 4 Channeling
12 + 1 Spawning
3 + 1 Restoration

Cruel Was Daoshen
Channeled Strike
Destruction
Spirit Rift
Rupture Soul
Draw Spirit
Boon of Creation
Flesh of my Flesh

About 15 seconds into the match, I'd cast Cruel Was Daoshen. As we closed the distance to the enemy I'd cast Destruction. As the enemy moved around I'd use Draw Spirit to keep it close to them. When it was about 5 or 6 seconds from dying I'd cast Channeled Strike on the closest target, then Rupture Soul, drop Daoshen's ashes. Very quick AOE spike for about 380 damage total. Sometimes I'd catch 3 people in it. But usually only two (generally two people attacking our teams monk)

I need to replace Boon of Creation with something else, the benefit is minimal when I only have 1 spirit. But all told, it was a good build.

[Goldfish God]

1 Destruction
2 Essence Strike
3 Gaze from Beyond
4 Soul Twisting (E)
5 Weapon of Warding
6 Mend Body and Soul
7 Generous was Tsungai
8 Flesh of my Flesh

channel 12+1+1
restoration 12+1
spawning 3+1

plant your Destruction, Essence and Gaze as much as possible, Soul Twist to detonate Destruction and move location. Gaze from Beyond can use life from non-allied spirits too if they're closest so it's good to stand near an opponents spirit if u can safely to damage them as u cast.

[Zible]

I think the point of desturction is to have a spirit around to buff all the other channeling skills that rely on a spirit being around. Destruction is a fast and cheap spirit in the channeling line, so you don't have to invest Attribute points in another line.

Thats really the point, and when it pops if it hits someone..... all the better.

[Soundwave]

Yeah I don't think you're supposed to run into the enemy to plop down a destruction.

However I think Destruction is pretty useful. First of all it's only 3 second cast (iirc) which is fast for a spirit. Generally people just ignore it. If a melee kills it, it takes damage. I usually put one down and use it for Gaze from Beyond or Spirit Light Weapon, stuff like that. It's great for a spirit to have hanging around. When it dies if a melee is trying to get you, more damage. You can also use it with Rupture Soul for when a melee comes at you. I don't remember if the Destruction damage goes off when Rupture Soul kills it, but that would be killer. Also I use Spirit Siphon with it for a little boost of energy. (The spirit doesn't need energy anways, right? lol)

[Goldfish God]

There's a vaguely amusing affect that destruction has on enemy players. If u run to them and plant one right next to them they either don't know what it does and stay (to take the damage eventually), or they know and run away (breaking off their normal attack pattern etc to reposition). Only some kill it fast to avoid the max damage. With Soul Twisting/draw spirit u can keep forcing them to reposition if they're the ones that run.

If u can avoid overaggro planting Destruction next to PvE mobs has no negative effects compared to staying back to only hit melee mobs. Mostly for putting a bit more damage onto ranged mobs by getting in close.

Soul Twisting triggers the damage, so I think Rupture Soul does too.

[Boomstar]

I haven't done much pvp with ritualist but destruction and rupture make great combo when you plant your destruction next to caster types to protect them from melee monsters. I'm sure that it would function pretty much the same in pvp. Usually running into the fray and planting destruction will get you killed though maybe if had shelter down already you could though.

[Bobross]

I use destruction as a spirit for rupture soul in my communing build. With draw spirt, you may be able to pull it to a few melee mobs and blind them and do 200ish dmg. Worth it for that I think.

[matishalin]

has anyone got ideas on a Rt/N going death BUT not using minions and using soul feast necrotic traversal ect

i need a good build my current is a communing/restoratio/blood magic

[Caddykins]

I've been trying to make a go with Destruction + Draw Spirit, but it's been a pain to switch from the target to my spirit to draw and then rupture. Is there an easier way to target the closest allied spirit?

[I chill]

Re: Draw spirit - I think this works if you are targeting yourself or not targeting anything, many times i have used it and pulled an allied spirit i wasn't targeting.

Another Channeling skill that is underrated- Lamentation. It is conditional damage, but the condition is proximity of target to a spirit or corpse, which should not be hard for you to set up. It also has a long recharge. But it is a 5 energy skill that spikes for over 100 armor ignoring damage and casts in .25 seconds, and is a great way to start or end a channeling spike. I am working on a good Assassins promise build for channelling, its hard to beat the DPE and speed of this skill.

Chill

[Ashin]

I'm still fiddling with everything and at the moment I'm trying something like this:

(1) Attuned was Songkai
(2) Destruction
(3) Channeled Strike
(4) Spirit Burn
(5) Vengeful Weapon
(6) Soothing Memories
(7) some other skill.. atm using Spirit Rift but maybe not great for pvp
(8) some other skill.. Flesh of Flesh for res, Binding Chains, Rupture Soul, maybe Plague Touch from my /N could go here as well

Idea is to prep for fight with AwS and, when in range, get Destruction down.

with just 9 in Spawning, AtW effectively lets you spam cycle through Channeled Strike, Spirit Burn, Vengeful Weapon. Soothing Memories is essentially a free heal when you need it. Ritualist armor with +10 armor while holding an item.

So far it seems to have potential but needs refining.

[Caddykins]

Re: Draw spirit - I think this works if you are targeting yourself or not targeting anything, many times i have used it and pulled an allied spirit i wasn't targeting.


Hmm...I'll try that then, thanks :) Just hope there isn't another rit in the group, I guess, and pulled the wrong spirit :P

And yeah, Lamentation is pretty good. Assassin's Promise is like the uberest spell in PVE.

[Jarreth Tal]

This is my current Attack Rit build:

15 Channeling (11+1+3)
10 Restoration (9+1)
9 Communing (8+1)
9 Spawning (8+1)

1. Mend Body and Soul
2. Generous was Tsungrai/Soothing Memories/Flesh of my Flesh
3. Signet of Capture/Generous was Tsungrai
4. Spirit Boon Strike/2nd Signet of Capture
5. Clamor of Souls [E]
6. Ancestor's Rage
7. Spirit Rift
8. Spirit Burn

Since I'm working on the Skill Hunter title, I usually have one or two Signets of Capture on me at all times. I'll usually start out by calling the target with 4 or 7, then follow up with 8 and 4 or 7, whichever one wasn't used. For close encounters, a 5-6 double hit will usually take a squishy attacker down to about half, or 6 can be used when a tank has pinned an opponent. If I have a full heal on with no sig caps, I'll do a 3-1-2-drop to get the maximum benefit.

Jarreth Tal.

[arredondo]

Cool thread. Here's a build I designed in April for the Necro forums, but I only got around to testing it yesterday (I went RiNe for more damage, less mana in my first test however):


Electric Flesh Bomber (Ne/Ri)

Death: 16
Channeling: 12
Soul Reaping: 4

Animate Flesh Golem: Create an L26 fleshy baby
Death Nova: 105 AoE asjacent damage enchant if ally dies under it
Putrid Explosion: Exploit a corpse for an 126 AoE nearby damage explosion
Taste of Death: Steal 420 HP from animated creature

Lamentation: 82 armor ignoring damage spell on target who's near a corpse
Channeled Strike: send 77 Lightning damage to target, add 29 more if you are holding something (106 total)
Cruel was Daoshen: Hold these ashes and cause 94 AoE nearby damage once you drop them
Taste of Pain -or- Rez: +158 HP if cast on enemy with <50% health (not a blood steal)

http://forums.gwonline.net/showthread.php?t=395827

You basically...

- Hold Cruel was Daoshen
- Rez a Flesh golem and Death Nova your creature as he goes at someone
- Cast Channled Strike at who he attacks
- Blow him up (with ToD) near the target, triggering Death Nova blast
- Hit Lamentation for added damage
- Cast Putrid Explosion on the corpse
- Go near foe (if he still lives) and cast Cruel was Daoshen.... the first set will drop for damage, so you drop your second CwD ashes manually to get a 2x lightning spike

All the Necro spells (and Lamentation) ignore armor, which is nice for an offensive Rit once in awhile, don't you think?

[Scott the Green]

Here's my current build, tested only in PvE. Most likely completely horrible for PvP.
If I was the type to name my builds I'd call it the Body Channel.

Rt/N

16 channeling
12 death magic
Rest in communing and restoration

Spirit Rift
Splinter Weapon
Channeled Strike
Mighty was Vorizun
Putrid Explosion
Well of Suffering
Soothing Memories (sometimes Shadowsong)
Flesh of my Flesh

The idea is fairly simple. Let the tank(s) engage, then cast Mighty was Vorizun for the extra energy. Cast Spirit Rift, followed by Channeled Strike. They should hit at the same time for a lot of damage. Toss Splinter Weapon on the tank while something recharges, then cast it again.

At least one thing should be dead now, so cast Putrid Explosion. Something else should be dead now, so cast Well of Suffering while Putrid recharges. Then cast Putrid again. Use Spirit Rift and Channeled Strike when you want, re-cast Mighty when it runs out, and use Soothing Memories to help with energy.

If you're like me, you've already forgotten that Splinter Weapon is in there, but I'm not sure what I want to replace it with. Maybe I'll actually get around to getting some elites.

[Jarreth Tal]

If you're like me, you've already forgotten that Splinter Weapon is in there, but I'm not sure what I want to replace it with. Maybe I'll actually get around to getting some elites.

You could switch it to Ancestor's Rage, which you can target on tanks or yourself. If you want to stay with a weapon spell, Wailing Weapon is good for interrupts.

Jarreth Tal.

[AscalonWarrior]

Short and simply: does someone knows a channeling Rt build for PvE?



Thanks, AW :flowers:

[Jarreth Tal]

Here's the one that I've been using for a while:

16 (12+1+3) Channeling
13 (12+1) Restoration
3 (2+1) Spawning
3 (2+1) Communing

1. Mend Body and Soul
2. Generous was Tsungrai/Soothing Memories
3. Signet of Capture/GwT/Flesh of my Flesh
4. Spirit Boon Strike/2nd Signet of Capture
5. Clamor of Souls [E]
6. Ancestor's Rage
7. Spirit Rift
8. Spirit Burn

I've also used a few other skills, on occasion, like Wailing Weapon. Usual combos are 4-8-7 for targets that are farther away, and 5-6 or 7-5-6 for close encounters. I also tend to play my Rit a bit aggressively, as my 'close' combo can severely damage enemy caster groups.

Jarreth Tal.

[bellissima]

Attuned was Songkai {E}
Destruction
Draw Spirit
Rupture Soul
Spirit Rift
Channeled Strike
Spirit Burn
Res

Channeling: 12+3+1=16
Spawning Power: 12+1=13

Cast AwS, summon destruction and stay near it while casting burn, strike and rift. When the spirit has recharged, run near a group of mobs, cast draw spirit on it and blow it up with rupture. Rinse and repeat.

[Psychotic]

I've been using a similar build, which kills 60AL things in about 1-2 seconds. I don't have sup spawning or channeling so the damage can only go up. I also have skill slots open for w/e spell u want defensively.

Channeling 12
Spawning 13 (12+1)


Spirit Rift
Ancestors Rage
Destruction
Cruel was Daoshin
Rupture Soul
Draw Spirit

Basically: Cast Cruel was Daoshin and Destruction shortly before battle. As soon as Destruction has recharged, that means you have 10 seconds to get your combo in. Get next to the enemy, cast Spirit Rift on them, immediately draw spirit, rupture soul, then Ancestors rage and drop Cruel. Rupture, Draw spirit, and Ancestors all have under 1 second time limits, which means you get them off about the same time Spirit rift hits.
Damage your looking at:
96 + 82 + ~110 + 128 + 94 = 510 AoE damage + blind All done in about 1-2 seconds.
Downsides: Involves intense planning and timing, and if they move away from you they can avoid some of the damage

[Jarreth Tal]

(snipped)

Basically: Cast Cruel was Daoshin and Destruction shortly before battle. As soon as Destruction has recharged, that means you have 10 seconds to get your combo in. Get next to the enemy, cast Spirit Rift on them, immediately draw spirit, rupture soul, then Ancestors rage and drop Cruel. Rupture, Draw spirit, and Ancestors all have under 1 second time limits, which means you get them off about the same time Spirit rift hits.
Damage your looking at:
96 + 82 + ~110 + 128 + 94 = 510 AoE damage + blind All done in about 1-2 seconds.
Downsides: Involves intense planning and timing, and if they move away from you they can avoid some of the damage

A good way to deal with moving enemies is to have a warrior 'pin' the target before starting your attack run. Since I use Spirit Rift a lot, this has basically become second nature to me. I like starting out with a Spirit Boon Strike (usually 4 on my skill bar) with a Ctrl+Space+4 to damage the target and have the warrior run up and attack. Once the warrior has started doing his thing, then I'll start up the Spirit Rift.

If you're willing to be aggressive (and it sounds like you are :smiley:), your tactics preform well against groups of Jade Brotherhood, where they'll have the Knights (warriors) run up, and the various casters hang back in a group. These days, I'll run up with my warriors to attack their Mages (Elementalists), since those are probably the most dangerous members, and need to go down fast.

Jarreth Tal.

[Psychotic]

i've actually been working with my secondary a bit since i still have 2 skills. If i'm in a team setting, i bring res sig or flesh b/c its stupid to not have it. otherwise i've been experimenting with displacement and shelter, which between the two are normally very easily able to keep me alive long enough to do this combo. i also don't have an elite in use, so good ideas here would be appreciated. I'm thinking soul twisting might work well for an additional spike a few seconds later with a second rupture soul. I've also messed with some energy management skills, and mantra of recall looks like a good option too. Another option i've played with is ranger secondary, and using storm chaser as a possible energy management skill.

For additional damage, your last 2 skills might work well with:
Soul Twisting {E}
Explosive Growth

Other decent skills:
Putrid Explosion (if your against a group of high armor and low armor mix, since your combo will take out the low armor, cast this afterwards, and you can probably pull another kill or 2).
Tainted Flesh{E} (adds some nice degen, while doing nothing to you)
Aura of Displacement (can allow you to get in and out fast for the combo)
Binding Chains (if your going at it alone, this will work very well. keeps melee mobs unable to avoid you and deal you damage, until you unleash your combo. however, when the time comes to unleash your combo, they will get blinded for 11 seconds).
Mantra of Recall (for E management)
Whirlwind {this might work well combined with Earthbind}
Crystal Wave/Shockwave
Inferno / Flame Burst / StarBurst
Frozen Burst

if you do that though, you pretty much will have to be using +15/-1 Energy Weapon/Focus because normally after the combo i have above, i have no energy.

[GhostBoy]

For PvE I've used the following basic spike combo, which works well and gets you going early as it only uses basic skills. I hench a lot, so I needed an offensive Ritualist build. I suggest a bit of extra energy armor for this, as it is a bit heavy in that department.

Cruel was Daoshen
Channeled Strike
Spirit Rift


Usage: Use the beginning of combat in some productive manner, f.inst. by setting up Union or something else. The idea is to give your companions time to engage the enemy and stop them moving around. Otherwise your rifts will be worthless. If using henchmen, be sure to call a target for them to get them going.

Hold Daoshens ashes and walk up 'adjacent' to your mark, preferably one that is grouped around others. Start a Spirit Rift on him, followed immediately with Channeled Strike and dropping the Ashes. Due to the delay in Spirit Rift, all your three damages should hit within a second of each other.

That should give you a nice 150+ spike in the area, with an 200+ on your chosen target, all depending on level and stats of course.

[comestelumi]

Ok, now don't bash me here, but I've used a combo in RA and TA which doesn't seem to work at first, but can be very deadly when it does. I use skills which are mostly never used: the two skills Binding Chains and Lamentation. My skillset is as followed:

Destruction
Soul Twisting
Binding Chains
Lamentation
Free Slot (Rupture Soul is handy)
Free Slot (if mesmer Arcane Echo)
Free Slot (if mesmer Energy Tap or Ether Feast or Generous Was Tsungrai)
Res Sig

My only problem at the moment is the recharge of the skill Lamentation and Binding Chains. Therefor I'm still working on the build, trying how it works with Serpent's Quickness, or Vengeful Weapon or perhaps Quickening Zephyr.

The point of my build is to stop someone moving and to then place a Destruction spirit in the area of the at 10% speed moving foe, you can place it in one second if you've Twisted it beforehand.
Then you cast Lamentation which does 106 armor ignoring damage. 212 when echoed or hitting a warrior using Healing Signet. After that, you can use Rupture Soul to deal the damage of the Destruction spirit and of Rupture Soul itself, really crippling the enemy in a matter of a few seconds.

I have yet to try this build with four ritualists in TA or heck, even 6 or 8 in HA or GvG. I believe it may work if everyone brings complementing skills, as in: one rt/r brings QZ and the rest brings one or two energy management skills. Meh, I don't know if it will really work, but it would be nice if it did, as we'd have some sort of ritualist spike build.

[Ezra]

the idea is that you keep creating spirits of pain with lingwahs ashes as you can have multiple pain spirits while using this skill...

When you say multiple Pain spirits, you don't mean in the same area, do you? Because a Pain spirit will kill whatever other pain spirit is around at the time.

[Kjentei]

I'm surprised at how many people don't use Lamentation. It was armor-ignoring damage the last time I checked.

[NeferJackal]

I'm surprised at how many people don't use Lamentation. It was armor-ignoring damage the last time I checked.

Ive never had much luck with lamentation, it is a watered down version of putrid explosion, and it could use some more visible graphics to help you better determine the radius of effect, as it is very easy to miss with it. Also the long recharge is what really kills this skill.

[GhostBoy]

I'm surprised at how many people don't use Lamentation. It was armor-ignoring damage the last time I checked.

Lamentation Spell. If target foe is in the area of any corpse or Spirit, that foe takes 10..82 damage. 5/0,25/30

I considered it while buying new skills yesterday, but ultimately it got ditched due to the recharge time. 30 seconds, AKA about once a battle is too little. I'd rather have lesser damage available consistently.

Compare to Spirit Burn, which has a similar condition (only reversed) for extra dam (extra damage being I believe is also generally armor ignoring, though that may be just my misunderstanding) that brings almost to the level of Lamentation. The armor ignore is plenty offset by the fact that I can cast it 5 times in the same period, and the condition is something I can control directly.

Spirit Burn Spell. Target foe is struck for 5...41 lightning damage. If any Spirits are in the area around you, Spirit Burn deals +15...27 damage. 5/1/5

[Kjentei]

I find that a good direct way to use Lamentation is after you may run next to a foe, and cast Draw Spirit (make sure you've got your Destruction spirit up), then use Lamentation on that foe. Works well, and even better if you then use Spirit Burn or Essense Strike.

[skaspaakssa]

I was having fun with it for a while on Chkkr Brightclaw trying to get his green, since he uses Recuperation. It can also work on some Ranger bosses that like their Brambles and stuff.

[ICU]

..............

[Niphe]

my guild one time tried a Rit spike with the spirit Rift then the 2sec cast high dmg skill(dont remeber the actual skill name) well on the dumbies the dmg was stupid good, because the 3sec rift and the other skill hit at the same time, how ever in tombs it didnt work. i do remeber us getting so mad at this one trapper so we ALL body block him(lol BB a trapper) and did the spike >< stupid high dmg...

[Noctis Grim]

are there any good channeling based PvE builds?