Underwhelming Ritualist Class?

[NeferJackal]

Ive been playing a Ritualist in Factions up to lvl 16, but ive not had a very good impression of him. His main thing is the whole spirit summon, which is interesting enough, but a big BUT. I think the spirits have far too long cool downs, and Boon of Creation is too short. His other two skill lines just makes him feel like a lite Elementalist or a lite Monk. The problems with the overlong cooldowns is exemplified in what I hear about the Elite Ritual Lord, that its seen as a must have to make the ritualist more useful.

I was really trying to like the Ritualist, but i think he suffers too much from being a support class. Which really can be seen when you play pve.

[scamPOR]

Whats wrong with a support class? Monks / mesmers / necros are all support by and large. Even most ranger builds.

[Tarew]

I can't actually start to play faction before I get home today but from what I've seen in the preview weekend and on the skill pages, the main strength of the ritualist is his versatility and his ability to "manipulate" the battlefield.
Arenanet has said in an interview that his tempo is different than that of other characters which is correct.
The Ritualist has the ability to combine healing and damage dealing in one character (for an example check my build below) for example where a Monk or elementalist build is stuck is either pure offensive or pure defensive.
I'd say play him a little longer and try out more skill combinations :)
I'm sure the Ritualist can be made worthwile.

[NeferJackal]

Well, its not such a class i am looking for then.

[Erasculio]

Well, if you think that direct damage = Elementalist and healing/protecting = Monk, then the Ritualist (and the Necromancers and Mesmers and Rangers) are kind of one trick Professions, are they not?

The Ritualists, like the Mesmers, play differently from the other Professions. It could happen that you just don't like their style.

Erasculio

[Xunlai Agent]

I would hold my horses for just a bit and see how things turn out...

[naka]

It's a bit of getting used to for me, as i now have to wait for spirit spells to recharge in between pve battles as compared to playing a warrior before this.

[Tessalina]

I havn't found my Ritualist underwhelming at all, it's just taken some time for me to figure her out :smiley:

Ritualists really are a very flexible class, there is a lot you can do with them. Their channeling magics can actually be quite devestating if set up properly, the spirits are nice for some additional background support, and their healing powers are quite impressive, especially for the energy cost.

Ritualists also can be extremely defensive, they can skyrocket their health and be quite hard to kill.

In my case, I've created a Ritualist/Monk. I really didn't have a healing character yet so I figured this would be a nice time to do it. I've found that a Restoration/Healing Prayers combination can result in some incredible healing power :smiley:

I think, as others posted, it really isn't a case of Ritualist being underwhelming so much as it's just a profession that doesn't mix well with your playing style. Ritualists do play very differently and at an unusual pace, so they can take some getting used to.

[Sclopper]

Taken from a guildy of mine if you just want to be using Spirits...Find and cap Ritual Lord and go Rt/R for Energizing wind..Spirit spamming ftw

[NeferJackal]

I just feel hampered badly by the slow recharge on spirit skills, and if its anything like the core game. It will be ages before you can lay your hands on those crucial elites. Had just gotten to the mainland before I gave up and started over.


Yes, the Ritualist is a hybrid caster, much like the Paladin and Shaman classes from WoW, both which I have problems playing, because their indivudual class parts are weaker than the power of their pure parent classes. I think the Ritualist primary ability could have been better, it kind of pigeonholes you into becomming a spiritualist, and less using the other facets of the class. A primary ability should be useful to the class as a whole. Like Energy Storage, Soul Reaping or Critical Strikes.

[ckenni]

I'm starting to like the Channeling line because it can be quite devastating in PvE. A well-timed/placed Destruction + Rupture Soul combo is really strong.

[Geishe]

Vengeful Weapon PAWNS! Try out Reversal of Fortune, and Vengeful Weapon, it rox your sox. Im loving my Ritualist, moreso than the months of play time in my Necro.

[davepesc]

It took me a while to appreciate my ritualist, but at level 16, I'm really starting to enjoy her.

I went R/Me, for no real good reason other than Mantra of concentration seemed like a good thing for those long casting spirits.

Pros:
-Spirits rock. They can blind, interrupt, take damage for you, bodyblock, deal damage, get you pizza, well, you get the idea.
-Great support character. A little bit prot monk, a little bit geomancer with some ranger thrown in. Their buffs should make them a welcome part of any team.
-The females are HAWT.

Cons:
-Silly hats that are never explained, except for the henchman saying that she's blind.
-Females run EXACTLY like female eles, with the silly little sway
-What's with the staff attack animation? Behind the back and through the legs...ftw?
-Somewhat lame primary attribute, compared to Soul reaping, expertise, fast casting, Divine favor.

I don't know all the spells coming down the pike for my Ritualist, but I have high hopes of things to come.

[naka]

From the description, the rit primary attribute only seems to benefit if you're going communing. I'm just at lvl4 so i can't really tell but is it worth investing in it if you're not using spirits?

[Tessalina]

It's worth a few points if you are in restoration too. There are a few nice restoration spirits(Recuperation and the one elite one are the most useful for a healing based build) and a couple of nice spells for healing.

Likewise there are some really nice damage spells if you are mostly offensive focused.

But yes, in general it seems like it's only worth maxing out if you are communing focused. If you are channeling or restoration focused it's still worth putting some points into but probably 8 or less unless you need it for a weapon requirement.

While not as immediately useful as some other profession's primary, The importance of Spawning power seems to be more in the spells it provides instead of the effect it generates. This is nice for a change of pace because, unless you need/use those spells a lot(or are spirit/minion focused for the health effect), it frees up a lot more points to spread into other attributes/secondary professions. Giving the Ritualist a lot more flexability than some other classes where maxing or near maxing out your primary is often a must.

[Findariel]

The thing with ritualitst is that they work slow, very slow (mine is lvl 12 atm).

Single player with hench is very ok but if people have to wait until your spirits are cast/recharged .. well it may take a while!!

[Akirai Annuvil]

Ritualists are almost dependant on spirits, IMHO so Spawning Power is useful for every class. The most powerful heals require spirits nearby, and spirits augment damaging skills as well. So logically you want them to live as long as possible.
However there's a pretty neat trick but you don't have to bring your own spirits (normally its a good plan anyways but if you have a build which doesnt work without spirits but has no room for them you could try this). For most skills you can also use enemy spirits.
For example:

Essence Strike
Target foe is struck for 5-41 lightning damage. If any spirits are in the area around you, you gain 1-6 Energy.

it says ANY spirits so it also means ENEMY spirits :) in some cases in PvE this is useful, but in all cases of Alliance Battles that I've been in. I only took resto and channeling and used only healing and damaging skills and it worked great :D but it's dependant on your own style of course... if you need the safety back up, take one or two of your own spirits.

[Nozzie]

I am not underwhelmed or disapointed at all, I am very excited to see the full potential of this class however it will definitely take time to get used to it.

[Rumpshaker]

I am not underwhelmed or disapointed at all, I am very excited to see the full potential of this class however it will definitely take time to get used to it.


I can see where the OP is coming from. After creating my Ritualist and playing for a short period of time I was shocked by the classes pacing. My assumption was that spirits played an integral role in every fight, but it's not that simple. In order to use spirits in every fight then a Ritualist would have to alternate spirits. You really don't have the option to _count_ on any specific spirit because of recharge times.

For folks who enjoyed Necros or Beastmaster Rangers and thought Ritualist would be pet oriented as well....this is a BIG surprise. I'm not going to say it is a bad design choice. I will just say that for me it's disappointing. Slugging along waiting for Pain to recharge is not a rational approach.

I truly wish that Spirit use could have been curtailed by a hard coded limit rather than recharge times.

[SerenitySilverstar]

I believe this is the first class I've ever played where the secondary is vital to performance. Choose your secondary carefully, and you'll have a team member who is a very clever support class, much like the mesmer.

[Blkout]

I just feel hampered badly by the slow recharge on spirit skills, and if its anything like the core game. It will be ages before you can lay your hands on those crucial elites. Had just gotten to the mainland before I gave up and started over.


Yes, the Ritualist is a hybrid caster, much like the Paladin and Shaman classes from WoW, both which I have problems playing, because their indivudual class parts are weaker than the power of their pure parent classes. I think the Ritualist primary ability could have been better, it kind of pigeonholes you into becomming a spiritualist, and less using the other facets of the class. A primary ability should be useful to the class as a whole. Like Energy Storage, Soul Reaping or Critical Strikes.

I totally agree with you and I'm noticing the same thing with my Ritualist. It's very dissapointing.

[NeferJackal]

I can see where the OP is coming from. After creating my Ritualist and playing for a short period of time I was shocked by the classes pacing. My assumption was that spirits played an integral role in every fight, but it's not that simple. In order to use spirits in every fight then a Ritualist would have to alternate spirits. You really don't have the option to _count_ on any specific spirit because of recharge times.

For folks who enjoyed Necros or Beastmaster Rangers and thought Ritualist would be pet oriented as well....this is a BIG surprise. I'm not going to say it is a bad design choice. I will just say that for me it's disappointing. Slugging along waiting for Pain to recharge is not a rational approach.

I truly wish that Spirit use could have been curtailed by a hard coded limit rather than recharge times.

Well said, this just shows there is a design flaw in the class. Ritual Lord shouldnt be an elite if it's so badly needed to get proper efficiency out of the class. Imo, I think Ritual Lord should be removed from the game, and the elite should be incorporated into the Spawning Power ability beside the health boost. That I think would make it quite a lot more useful, right now I think it's kind of underwhelming. So perhaps with 10 Spawning Power, spirits recharge 50% faster, but you would still be hurdled with casting time on them.

Then i would believe that spirits would become a lot more useful for the Ritualist, since he with training would be able to get them out more often, as it is such a stumbling block for the class. Also if you consider your average pug with 10 year olds, they just dont have the attention span to keep waiting for the ritualist to get ready.

Btw, were exactly IS Ritual Lord capped?

[Phoebus]

Ritual Lord is capped SW of the Eternal Grove mission in the Eternal Grove explorable area.

[FlawedParadigm]

...Is that mission even open to Luxons?

[Feynt]

Ritualist is really all about the secondary class, enhancing it as it were. Necromancers summon better minions, rangers get more useful spirits to alter the playing field with, elementalists get a slew of bonus attacks that have synergy with Air magic, and monks get some very nice heals (Spirit to Flesh and Feast of Souls = nifty).

[Servant of Kali]

Has anyone used Rt with Serpents quickness? Is recharge still bad even with that skill?

[Muhummad Msabi]

I haven't found Ritualist to be underwhelming at all. I'm not keen on the Communing side of the Ritualist yet. I went and tried out the Channeling. I found that side to be MUCH better for direct dmg dealing.

Here's a build I'm currently using. I'm only level 15 and no elites capped yet. This build does some nice dmg when used properly.

12 Channeling Magic
9 Restoration Magic

Cruel Was Daoshen
Channeling Strike
Spirit Boon Strike
Spirit Rift
Essence Strike
Splinter Weapon
Generous Was Tsungrai
Rez signet

This is a nice spike type build.

To Use -
Cast Cruel Was Daoshen first. Target your foe and use Channeling Strike. There is a bonus for holding something while using Channeled Strike so make sure you chain these casts. Depending on how fast your foe will die, you either cast Spirit Boon Strike or Spirit Rift. Lots of health on the foe, go for Spirit Rift. Low health [on foe], Spirit boon strike. If foe is high health, after your Spirit Boon Strike, rush in and drop the ashes. You will cause lightning dmg to surrounding foes.

Essence Strike is a no cost attack spell when there are spirits around (friend or foe)

Use Splinter weapon on yourself or an assassin in group for some decent AoE dmg.

Generous Was Tsungrai is a decent self heal.

Channeling Strike - 106 dmg (77 +29)
Spirit Strike - 96 dmg (AoE dmg)
Cruel Was Daoshen - 94 dmg (AoE dmg)
Spirit Boon Strike - 82 dmg

Total spike = 378 dmg +you dmg some surrounding foes.

Enjoy!

~me

[NeferJackal]

but how are your energy management as a channelling ritualist? With that setup, you are going to be dry very fast. The Ritualist energy management skills depends on having spirits around.

[Muhummad Msabi]

but how are your energy management as a channelling ritualist? With that setup, you are going to be dry very fast. The Ritualist energy management skills depends on having spirits around.

At the moment I am only a lvl 15. I have no elites capped for energy management. I took secondary in /Mes for energy management when I get more attribute points. I'm only at 125 with both 15 pt attribute quests completed. In the second attribute point quest, I was able to survive quite well and energy was not that bad of a problem. Occasionally I did have to wait for energy, but it wasn't for too long. I could see a channeling build being extremely powerful with a Necro primary, deaths would be plentiful and energy gain would not be a problem.

~me

[Rumpshaker]

So those enjoying the Ritualist don't find it odd that Pain can't be used in successive fights? I'm probably too green to see the abuse potential of a spirit like Pain, however, my assumption was that Energy cost and limited level range were sufficient barriers to any unbalance. Even ENERGY degen per spirit could be a mechanism for balancing. Excessive recharge seem overly cautious and/or lazy.

[Feynt]

I suppose that would depend on the flow of your team. I've played some teams that are hyper fast and barely give you a chance to regen health, let alone energy or have skills recharge. I've also played others which move slowly and deliberately, and have no problem setting up Pain every fight.