Pressure in HA

[schwetty]

Hello,

This was a build that I was thinking of running in HA. Any insight would be appreciated.

http://www.gwshack.us/cd89e

Im new to the whole GW shack thing so sorry if it looks weird. The att. points are not exact but estimated (im at work) so correct me if im grossly off.

I do not take credit for this build, the mechanics or anything else that I may get flamed about. I simply took what I saw in multiple GvG's with some of the popular HA teams and added and divided and multipled and etc lol. Fairly positive that this was run by other ppl and many others have thought of this and with the no. of good players in this game I highly doubt you can make a build that is totally original nowadays but what would i know :grin: . I would like to know what you think of the build and any improvements/flaws you think I would run into. I realize defense in this build is fairly weak but I hope to counter that with the amount of pressure to put the other team into the defensive allowing us to take advantage of our strengths. Thank you in advance for any insight you bring.




_____
Rainbow Brotherhood [ROFL]

[SDV Rider]

The basic idea of the build I like a lot... my guild has played a few builds like this one and they work out pretty well. I'll try to give a few of my own opinions without changing your build for you...

1)The mesmer's hexes will most likely be easily removed because he/she is the only one using hexes. That person may also have energy problems.

2)The conditions should be good, except that most teams have a Restore Condition/Martyr on their team. Consider a skill to shut that down. Also, consider another type of ranger that might spread conditions better than an Incendiary ranger.

I like seeing relatively fresh ideas like this. I imagine your guild will have some success with it. Just remember it'll take a few runs to change skills, get used to the builds, and perfect the team to your liking. Good luck!

[schwetty]

Ty for the reply. The reasoning with the incendiary is that with a melandru's ranger (which is the one that causes bleeding) is that the incendiary adds extra pressure not from the actual burning itself but by the complimented bonus on the skill which is every time an arrow hits the spell is interupted. With called shot that makes for an unbeatable interrupt as called shot cannot be evaded or blocked and only cost 5 nrg along with 3 recharge (not sure on the recharge but it is low). Many times the crip shot should be able to get hunters shot on a few targets to spread bleeding as well. And if you really want more conditions you can add a charge sword warrior but I wanted higher DPS so I chose the axe/shock warrior (pretty annoying to get an agressive warrior on you, and your attempting to remove conditions and heal the team). I agree with the energy of the mesmer and that was going to be an issue from the start and I already thought of two idea's, either the mesmer may run 3 core hexs and all nrg management (Scourge of healing, stolen speed, image of remorse or another 3) with channeling, drain enchant, power drain and a res chant. Or the other option was to run a N/Mo with hexes and support for the monks. So the N/Mo would look something like this (Order of pain, life siphon, faintheartedness (or parasitic bond for more spam power), offering of blood, aegis, extinguish, convert hexes, rez signet). With all the melee damage being dealt orders will hurt the opposing team as they have to deal with conditions and now the added dmg from 3 rangers. IMO I believe the necro would work fairly well as you have added pressure and interrupts to stack the pressure up. As for the RC/Martyr/Extinguish it is a valid point but this build does 2 things with pressure on its side. For one if it doesn't roll you with the pure pressure from the conditions/hexes (IE degen you out) it will run the monks dry of energy due to the constant manual healing and the ranger can drop blackout for signet of humility or just blackout the opposing who is able to compensate for the pressure. In this case it would be important for the warrior (who should be the caler) pick the correct target priority and deal with it in a manner that allows the team to take advantage. Thus stick the RC or the martyr. Dont worry about extinguish as much as the 15 nrg cost will get to you eventually. In builds like Bspike where they may run a RC/Martyr and a Extinguish this will be most apparent because the team will be on the defense to heal each other and wont be offensive enough to spike too many targets and if they do attempt to spike hopefully the choking + 2 other rangers can shut them down enough to the point our infuser can have easy pickings infusing. Against IWAY i find this build to be pressured hard as the choking would have to stick the necro and what not but my main concern would be the lack of defense this build carries other than the crippling which allows monks to kite and so for that reason i would also opt the necro in many cases but their is no hex pressure like mesmer hex pressure IMHO. The build not only requires players to be competent as a team but to be able to react as individual units and think for themselves. Although that may sound basic (not to flame any beginners or HA'ers) it seems that too many players crash under pressure or can't handle the positioning of higher level gaming and make incorrect decisions such as what to interrupt and where to move. Thx for your input again it really helps a noob like me ^^.

[David Holtzman]

First off, PARAGRAPHS. I won't read a page long block of text unless I can see the author is something like "Kant". Sure as hell ain't straining my eyes like that for GW.

Second, build looks alright for basic pressure. I think you're focusing on non-synergistic aspects though. Lots of condition pressure in there, some hexes, and a cg. Only thing for the cg to do is sit on a monk really, and if he's stopping Heal Party then why bother with Scourge Healing? Better to swap it for something more useful at killing off a prot (which is what your build does). Cripshot is a nice skill, but not particularly useful for tombs. Better I think to give him pracstance and swap incindiary for melandrus, something that adds a condition and does decent damage for spikes. Hunters is cute, but its damage is mediocre and the bleeding not very effective.

Frag won't do a thing for you. Forget it. Actually, rephrase: that mesmer won't do a thing for you. I'd scrap him for something useful, either another war or a tainted necro. If you're gonna go condition spam, may as well go all out. Or you could keep the mesmer but give him some real utility. Clumsiness or Bflash for seeking rangers, PD for ghosts, Surge for area pressure and prot denial, some enchant removal for spiking, etc.

But, all in all, not terrible for a decent pressure build.

[Patccmoi]

David states a good point that i see many people do by mistake : putting 1 hexer in a team. That's not only useless, that's nearly detrimental.

A LOT of teams, in HA especially, have multiple hex removal and more importantly inspired hex on their monks (and sometimes even Expel Hexes on a Mesmer). If you use no hex at all, this prevent them from using it for emanagement, and sometimes makes one of their team's elite useless. If you overload them with hexes, fine. They can get some energy out of it, but most of your hexes will still stay there and be detrimental in the long run.

Imo you need at least 2 people hexing to seriously consider hexes in HA. Otherwise, all they'll do is be removed. Just look at your own team build. Would you be annoyed AT ALL by your Mesmer? Or would the 4 iHex simply make you happy he's there so you can get energy out of him? Then consider you aren't facing any hex. Your Mesmer has only Power Drain to power his massive hexing, and he'll be tight. You can put them in the same situation by taking out ALL hexes from your team.

If you go for few hexes, use low duration hexes with nasty effects. Clumsiness, Ineptitude, Diversion, water snares, etc. Hexes that end on effect most of the time, or have a harsh effect with short duration (like water hexes, though overall in HA they're not all that great compared to GvG). This makes hex removal not all that meaningful since your aim is that they're 'detonated' right away.

I agree that you could use something like a Tainted Necro to go all-out condition pressure or something else that is doing direct pressure (a Fire Ele, a warrior, etc.). And if you go massive condition, something to cover Restore Conditions would be nice. For example, if you use a Tainted Necro you could make him N/Me and give him Mantra of Inscriptions + Signet of Humility. This way he can lock RC from the other team. Or you can use an ESurge Mesmer that would lock a monk and have it on him too (like ESurge-EBurn-Sig of Weariness-Mind Wrack-MoI-SoHumility-Drain Enchant-Rez)