Build talk:Rt/any RA Channeling Magic Pressure

Necro secondary and other changes
Rt/N seems to be more popular this year. I'd add it and make this build Rt/any but there are a couple of things I'm not sure about (because there are many variants around).

The major change would be removing Gaze From Beyond and adding Insidious Parasite + Faintheartedness to the bar, this seems to be the most common way to play it. Attributes are a bit more debatable - should we go with 11 Curses (13 with flux which is a Faintheartedness breakpoint for degen) and only a total of 9 in Spawning, or lower Curses and a bit higher Spawning (for Bloodsong and weapon spell synergy)?

Spirit Boon Strike could also be added as a variant, but if we want to make it compatible with the /N version it has to replace either Renewing Surge or Spirit Burn, not sure which (probably Renewing). --DefinitelyNotHanz (talk) 13:21, 23 May 2018 (UTC)
 * Only weapon spell is nightmare weapon with a base duration of 12 seconds. With the current 13 spawning power it lasts 18 seconds. If you lower it to 6+1+2 (12 base channeling and 11 base curses) the duration only drops by two seconds to 16. It takes 4.5 seconds including the animation end to throw 3 spears. Judging from the weapon spell duration there's no harm in going for a base attribute distribution of 12-11-6 to get nice curses breakpoints. The spirit's health drops by 25 from 243 to 218, assuming a minor channeling magic rune like in the build page. A superior rune would add another spirit level, but I guess that's not a safe suggestion for a PvP build page. So with some bad luck the 25 lost health points might result in the spirit surviving one less hit. Probably not too bad a trade.
 * Let's leave theory crafting be what it is, for now: Did you test the /N variant? Does it work well? Does faintheartedness replace the defensive power of protector's defense well enough, especially in keeping your own spirit up as long as possible? The /N variant sounds like your spirit is going ot be kicked way faster than usual and you can't really do much against it. The normal build has 75% block chance for the spirit and a blind, whereas this variant only offers 50% slower attack speed. If the /N variant is about pressure only, wouldn't /E with Teinai's Wind maybe do a better job? --Krschkr (talk) 15:24, 23 May 2018 (UTC)
 * Yes, tested it during the weekend. /N does yield higher pressure but isn't purely offensive, high uptime on 2 melee shutdown hexes that have some damage isn't that bad of a trade. Bloodsong for the most part should be fine with its life stealing attacks combined with Feintheartedness, but that's one of the big reasons for taking Spirit Boon Strike. I always place the spirit way back anyways, it's mostly for the skill synergy, and if the melee wants to overextend they're free to do so.
 * Warrior secondary could potentially be better for allies but in RA they often break it in no time, although it's still very useful for when they are kd'd / about to be kd'd (or casting rez against Rangers). Both secondaries have their pros and cons. --DefinitelyNotHanz (talk) 15:50, 23 May 2018 (UTC)
 * So the /N variant is viable and should be added. Will you do it? You can move the page aswell, else I'll do it after you did the changes. --Krschkr (talk) 16:19, 23 May 2018 (UTC)

All In Flux
You can use the build core suggested for may in the august flux All In; pick empathic removal or YAAA as elite skill. --Krschkr (talk) 18:48, 6 June 2018 (UTC)
 * With the extra 100 HP during All In, would you recommend a +3 rune? Or just keep the HP? --DefinitelyNotHanz (talk) 19:36, 6 June 2018 (UTC)
 * Matter of taste. Compared to 14 channeling magic you hit no break point, it's just a slight general damage boost of +6/skill and +2/bloodsong or surge. Probably depends on whether your fluxed prot monk brought protective spirit (-> superior rune is superior) or not. 15 channeling magic would help against weakness (preventing to drop below 4 break points!) without sacrificing too much health. --Krschkr (talk) 19:45, 6 June 2018 (UTC)

RA ritualist merge
We currently have four RA build pages for five quite similar builds. I think that we can cover all these RA ritualist builds + the All In flux on a single page. As this one is the only page that's already got a vote I'd like to overwrite it with User:Krschkr/Builds/93 to cover all of them. Any objections? --Krschkr (talk) 14:02, 27 January 2019 (UTC)
 * Sounds fine for the most part. Only problem I see is that rit kinda sucks most of the time, it's not that viable outside relevant fluxes. --DefinitelyNotHanz (talk) 19:27, 28 January 2019 (UTC)
 * I didn't find unfluxed rits to be terrible. Maybe I'll have to do some more testing, perhaps there was a meta shift? --Krschkr (talk) 19:33, 28 January 2019 (UTC)

Reconsideration of Meta Tag
I've been playing Ritualist a lot, particularly the variants of this build in RA, and I don't quite feel it should be ranked as a Meta build. Reasonings for this are below:


 * Spirits are easily countered by any class capable of direct damage.
 * You find a wealth of Warriors, Rangers, Dervishes, and Elementalists in RA, all of whom are capable of killing your spirit(s).
 * It is true that they may have to push into your backline to do so, but considering how small the maps are, as well as the nature of 4x4 combat, the distinguishment between the backline and frontline falls apart rather rapidly in this format.
 * Additionally, the enemy team can simply play the waiting game, forcing you to give up your position should you wish to engage, thereby having to recast your spirits.
 * Spirits are easily countered by interrupts/shutdown
 * Mesmers, Rangers, and hammer Warriors are aplenty in RA, all of whom will have no trouble interrupting your spirit(s).
 * Kiting and using LoS obstructions are viable options to counter this, but consider that every second you spend not engaging the enemy is also a second you spend not helping your team.
 * Much of your strength is tied into a Spirit being in earshot
 * This is a problem because of the factors above. If at anytime you do not have a Spirit within earshot of you, half your bar essentially becomes Flare with a recharge time.

This leads to a scenario where, provided you are not shutdown, you can output extraordinary pressure on the enemy team. However, most competent players will attempt to destroy your spirit(s), knowing that doing so will limit your offensive capability. And once your spirits are destroyed, it can be rather difficult to re-summon them due to the aforementioned issues of shutdown. Having a choice of Elite skill and secondary profession is nice, and certainly provides much adaptability, but I genuinely don't think this build fits the Meta bill simply because of how easy it is to be shutdown. That's not to say I don't think it's a good build either. It's one of the better ones out there, and probably the best Ritualist build for Random Arenas. I've gone on plenty of win streaks with it, but I have to acknowledge when my opposing team is competent, and consequently shuts me down with ease. Generally when this happens, I find myself thinking why didn't I play a Lightning Surge Elementalist instead? Soldier198 (talk) 20:47, 17 August 2019 (UTC) – this sounds like you shouldn't give it such a low effectivity rating, and you shouldn't give it the best universality rating since it's not great at adapting to suboptimal situations. To me, your reasoning (including that on the talk page) sounds more like a 4/3. --Krschkr (talk) 23:27, 17 August 2019 (UTC) Apologies, it seems I do not fully understand what the effectivity and universality rating entail. I will correct the rating. Also, I assumed meta was used in the more traditional sense of Most Effective Tactic Available. I understand now that the meta tag in this case refers to the popularity of the build. Thanks for clearing that up. Soldier198 (talk) 01:47, 18 August 2019 (UTC)
 * Meta is only a popularity, not a quality tag. The build quality these builds are tagged with (good/great) is determined through vetting. As long as ritualists are part of the metagame in random arenas the tag should stay. I don't anymore keep track of the PvP meta so I can't judge whether the build is still being played frequently. If it isn't, the meta tag has to be removed and replaced with a provisional rating.
 * That said, I find your rating text to be conflicting with the score you're giving the build: "its reliance on a spirit(s) to fuel many of its skills lends it to being quite vulnerable to shutdown. It has great output when you aren't being shutdown, but when you are you're going to feel quite useless to your team."
 * "this sounds like you shouldn't give it such a low effectivity rating, and you shouldn't give it the best universality rating since it's not great at adapting to suboptimal situations. To me, your reasoning (including that on the talk page) sounds more like a 4/3.."

Successful Build
I am posting this here incase anyone looks towards this discussion page to see how others run this build.



I prefer dropping Resurrection Signet to take Pain. Having two spirits in earshot is more powerful than one. Most importantly, it helps prevent the loss of the conditional effects on many of your skills (burning from Spirit Burn, blind from Gaze From Beyond etc...) by making it more difficult for your opponent to destroy all your spirits. "You're All Alone" I found to be a very effective skill. Aside from shutting down melee attackers and helping your own melee stick to targets, using it to cover blind from Gaze From Beyond is effective for countering Rangers, who typically bring Mending Touch. Soldier198 (talk) 16:57, 29 September 2019 (UTC)