Spiritualist build for PvE

[dfscott]

The biggest problem I've run into with PvE Ritualist builds using spirits is the stationary nature of the spirits. I wanted to avoid a trapper-style luring build -- I really wanted something that could run seamlessly with any PUG. I think I may have finally come up with something workable:

PvE Spiritualist
(Ritualist/X)

Communing: 16 (12+4)
Spawning Power: 11 (10+1)
Channeling Magic: 9 (8+1)
Restoration Magic: 3 (2+1)

Pain (Communing)
Create a level 11 spirit. This spirit attacks deal 21 damage. This spirit dies after 158 seconds.
Energy:5 Cast:3 Recharge:45

Blood Song (Communing)
Create a level 10 spirit who dies after 158 seconds. Attacks by that spirit steal up to 21 Health.
Energy:15 Cast:5 Recharge:60

Dissonance (Communing)
Create a level 11 spirit. This spirit deals 17 damage and anyone struck by its attack is interrupted. This spirit dies after 26 seconds.
Energy:25 Cast:5 Recharge:60

Spirit Burn (Communing)
Target foe is struck for 53 lightning damage. If any spirits are in the area around you, spirit Burn deals +35 damage.
Energy:5 Cast:1 Recharge:5

Painful Bond (Channeling Magic)
For 14 seconds, target foe and all nearby foes take 14 damage whenever hit by a spirit's attack.
Energy:15 Cast:1 Recharge:20

Ritual Lord [Elite] (Spawning Power)
For 30 seconds, your Rituals recharge 59% faster.
Energy:10 Cast:0 Recharge:30

Boon of Creation (Spawning Power)
For 48 seconds, whenever you create a creature, you gain 38 Health and 7 Energy.
Energy:10 Cast:2 Recharge:45

Flesh of my Flesh (Restoration Magic)
Lose half of your Health. Resurrect target ally with your current Health and 8% Energy.
Energy:5 Cast:5 Recharge:0


Pretty straightforward, I think. Pain and Bloodsong are your staple spirits -- Disssonance is only for when you really need the interruption. Once your spirit is out you can spam Spirit Burn -- 88 dmg every 5 seconds for 5 energy isn't bad, considering you're spirits are attacking as well (For comparison, Lightning Orb at 13 does 88 -- it has 25% armor pen, but it also costs 15 and takes twice as long to cast). Add Painful Bond for tough and/or clumped targets (not sure if the extra dmg is Shadow Damage as well, but hopefully it is).

Boon of Creation is your Energy Management and Ritual Lord is what gives you the mobility. You should be able to toss out a new spirit every 15-20 sec or so if you alternate between the two main spirits (if my math is correct). Assuming that it's not a full-on running battle (most PvE isn't), you should be in decent shape.

Thoughts?

[RilderView]

Sounds good to me, i was looking for a good spirit using pve build...

[Artemis Shadowhawk]

I think I might have to try it out once Factions is released. Good work. I really think that Spiritualists will be a deadly force.

[Xunlai Agent]

Can't see a flaw but then again I do not know what Factions' PvE enviroment will look like. Overall the build looks alright to me, I like the idea of the added mobility. Boon of Creation is an awesome skill as it helps with Energy and Health Management and creates a nice synergy with Ritual Lord.

However skill descriptions or mechanics may be subject to change before & after release as you well know. So what looks really good now may not work as intended when Factions is released!

[carasage]

wow that rez... something a rezmer might like...

[JeanDeathwish]

As seen here http://www.gwonline.net/page.php?p=180 Spirit Burn is a Channeling skill and my screen shots conferm it. I assume you used GWFreaks to make this build and it has Spirit Burn and Spirit Boon Strike in the wrong attribute line. They are both Channeling, not Communing. I get the two mixed up often too. At 9 channeling your Spirit Burn should deal ~54 damage when the condition is met.

[dfscott]

Ugh what a bummer -- yes, I used GWFreaks.

Ok, then I'll steal two points from SP and put them into Channeling. It knocks 10% off my Ritual Lord and 1 energy off my Boon, but I don't think it would be that much of an impact (although now we're heading towards Serpent's Quickness range for recharge, so it might be time to look at a Ranger secondary).

[Zain Inferno]

I've been checking out this thread consistantly thinking that this build would work...but with the Spirit Burn being a Channeling spell we need a replacement because it will only do about 50 damage even near spirits...

Maybe replace it with Rupture soul...It would do 110 damage for destroying 1 spirit and with Ritual Lord up immediately after you destroy the spirit you can create a new one?

[dfscott]

I've been checking out this thread consistantly thinking that this build would work...but with the Spirit Burn being a Channeling spell we need a replacement because it will only do about 50 damage even near spirits...

Maybe replace it with Rupture soul...It would do 110 damage for destroying 1 spirit and with Ritual Lord up immediately after you destroy the spirit you can create a new one?

The problem with Rupture Soul is that you have to get them close to the Spirit, which is difficult.

I still think the build might be workable by moving two points from Spawning Power to Channeling. That would give you 63 points of damage instead of the truly awesome 88 that we were getting before, but it's still decent.

However, I've now got some ideas for a more mobile build ... coming soon...

[Zain Inferno]

Yah but if you were to use this as a solo farm build rupture soul would work well

[Erasculio]

The biggest problem I've run into with PvE Ritualist builds using spirits is the stationary nature of the spirits.
For the records, it may be they aren't so stationary after all (http://forums.gwonline.net/showthread.php?t=390122). If that skill exists, I believe it's going to be used a lot in PvE (at least in the smallest maps).

Erasculio

[dfscott]

In case anyone's interested, here's the modified version of this build that I've been running in the preview (since we don't have all the skills yet) with fairly good results:

Communing: 12
Spawning: 10
Channeling: 8

Pain
Shadowsong
Union
Doom
Painful Bond (had to buy this one - was using Spirit Boon Strike before)
Soul Twisting
Boon of Creation
FomF

With Soul Twisting, I can keep Union up pretty much indefinitely if the party is taking a reasonable amount of damage. As soon as I step outside, I cast Boon, Pain, and Soul Twisting. That puts a fast-cast recharge "in the pocket." As soon as combat starts, throw out Union and then Pain. Keep an eye on Union's health and Soul Twist it right before it dies and then recast it. If you get the Pain off and still have at least half health left on your Union, you can probably get Shadowsong off during the next Soul Twist/Union cycle.

Soul Twisting's effect isn't an enchant and doesn't run out, so just use it at the end of each combat.

Sometimes Union takes too much damage too fast and Soul Twist hasn't recycled. In that case, I generally just spam out the spirits as much as possible and use Doom to fill the gaps. Painful Bond is nice for bosses and monks.

[dfscott]

Sorry to reply to my own post, but I just got sick of being a Union battery. The original goal of this build concept was offensive spirits. With that in mind, here's what I finished up with (no money for runes or armor, so it's just base attributes). I never was able to cap Ritual Lord, and I really think you need it to be effective:

Communing: 11
Spawning Power: 10
Channeling Magic: 10
Restoration Magic: 1

Pain (Communing)
Create a level 8 spirit. This spirit attacks deal 16 damage. This spirit dies after 118 seconds.
Energy:5 Cast:3 Recharge:45

Blood Song (Communing)
Create a level 7 spirit who dies after 118 seconds. Attacks by that spirit steal up to 16 Health.
Energy:15 Cast:5 Recharge:60

Shadowsong (Communing)
Create a level 7 spirit. The spirit's attacks cause Blindness for 5 second(s). This spirit dies after 30 seconds.
Energy:10 Cast:5 Recharge:45

Spirit Burn (Channeling Magic)
Target foe is struck for 35 lightning damage. If any spirits are in the area around you, spirit Burn deals +24 damage.
Energy:5 Cast:1 Recharge:5

Painful Bond (Channeling Magic)
For 15 seconds, target foe and all nearby foes take 15 damage whenever hit by a spirit's attack.
Energy:15 Cast:1 Recharge:20

Soul Twisting [Elite] (Ritualist None)
Destroy target allied spirit. The next Binding ritual you perform casts 66% faster and recharges instantly.
Energy:5 Cast:1 Recharge:10

Boon of Creation (Spawning Power)
For 45 seconds, whenever you create a creature, you gain 35 Health and 6 Energy.
Energy:10 Cast:2 Recharge:45

Flesh of my Flesh (Restoration Magic)
Lose half of your Health. Resurrect target ally with your current Health and 6% Energy.
Energy:5 Cast:5 Recharge:0

My normal strategy was to have Soul Twisting and Boon of Creation pre-cast. As soon as a target was called, I'd drop one of the longer casting-time spirits (Shadowsong for melee opponents or Bloodsong for casters) which would take about 2 seconds with Soul Twisting active, and follow up immediately with a Pain. Then, if there was a nice cluster, I'd throw Painful Bond in there (ala Spiteful Spirit). From then on, it gets pretty improvisational. :wink: FWIW, I tried Draw Spirit, but it just wasn't as useful as I thought it would be. As long as I didn't have any AoE making the mobs run, my spirits would normally remain in range of combat, and I could Soul Twist the occasional one that got too far out.

As I mentioned in another thread, the biggest problem I kept having was not being able to tell my spirits apart without mousing over them. I'd see a spell had recharged, glance around and notice I only had two up, but I wouldn't be sure if the one I had ready was the one that was missing. I really hope Anet gives us different graphics for different spirits (although I really don't expect them to since they haven't for Ranger spirits). But Ranger spirits and defensive Rit spirits show in your effects bar, while the offensive ones ofc, don't. If anyone has any tips about how to get around this, I'd love to hear them.