User:I Am Jebus/Critweapons

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'' WARNING!!! Some skills on the skill bars have been updated by Guild Wars, but the skill descriptions on PvX have not been updated. If there is any confusion, please follow the link to a Guildwiki and check on the background of the skill.''

Main Idea
Certain builds on the wiki use high critical hit percentages to deal damage. Some are more effective than others.

Critscythe
A staple of assassins is the Critscythe. Here is the basic outline:

[build prof=A/D Crit=12+1+1 Scythe=12][Eremite's Attack][Mystic Sweep][Way of the Master][Critical Eye][Optional][Optional][Optional][Optional][/build]

Very often, skills like [[Assassin's Remedy@14] in conjunction with [[Wearying Strike@12] are thrown in.

The elite is usually:
 * [[Fox's Promise@14] (before this was nerfed, it made Critscythes one of the most powerful techniques around.)
 * [[Dark Apostasy@14] (enchantment removal and the energy from Critical Strikes makes up for the energy loss.)
 * [[Hidden Caltrops@9] (bring critical strikes down to 10+2+1 and shadow arts up to 8+1, this provides a massive snare.)
 * [[Wounding Strike@12] provides massive Deep Wound.
 * [[Vow of Strength@8] makes huge damage in a condition-less team (reduce Critical Strikes to 10+2+1, raise Earth Prayers to 8).

Critscythes are so named because they use a high Critical Hit percentage combined with the strength of a scythe to be powerful. Here are the stats:


 * A basic outline for calculating critical hit percentage is the highest damage range for the weapon (a scythe's damage range is typically 9-41) multiplied by the square root of 2, which is approximately 1.414.
 * This would be 41*1.414= ~58 damage.
 * The Scythe Mastery attribute and the Critical Strikes attribute raise the critical hit chance to about 25% or so.
 * Combined with skills like Way of the Master and Critical Eye, your critical hit percentage can reach almost 60%. That means that 3 times out of 5, you will critical.
 * Combined with attack skills like Eremite's Attack and Mystic Sweep, you can be dealing up to 90 damage a hit.
 * Note that some builds also have skills that will remove enemy enchantments and remove conditions on yourself.
 * The critscythe remains a powerful Assassin build for its raw damage and its utility.
 * They are difficult to counter, as Blind is removed quickly by Assassin's Remedy and the high damage range makes even fighting a 100 armor target deadly, still dealing 55-60 damage per critical. Anti-melee hexes do combat this though, although that's why you have teammates.

Critbows
There are two types of critbows: damage dealing and interrupting. The interrupting one is seen more commonly.

Damage Dealing
[build prof=A/R Crit=12+1+1 Marks=12][Keen Arrow][Distracting Shot@0][Savage Shot][Read the Wind][Way of the Master][Critical Eye][Optional][Optional][/build] The optional can be:
 * [[Hunter's Shot@12]
 * [[Screaming Shot@12]
 * [[Barrage@12]
 * [[Incendiary Arrows@8](lower critical strikes to 10+2+1)
 * [[Critical Defenses@14]
 * [[Assassin's Remedy@14]

This build provides:
 * Damage with Keen Arrow, Hunter's Shot, or Screaming Shot
 * Utility with Distracting Shot/Savage Shot

However:
 * A regular ranger can also pump out the damage almost as well as this can.
 * They have a better attribute spread when using other skills, and Expertise allows bringing more expensive skills.
 * Regular rangers have better armor.
 * They also have higher Marksmanship, meaning more damage.
 * The Expertise attribute also has a plethora of blocking and IMS skills, of which the Critical Strikes attribute has none.

The only viable alternative would be to combine the build with Barrage or Incendiary Arrows, in PvE, not PvP. Enemies bunch up more, and the multi-hit criticals provide much energy, allowing more expensive skills. Combined with Critical Defenses, you have a permanent block, and combined with Critical Agility, you have a permanent increased attack speed and additional armor. This can outdo a ranger in certain scenarios.

Interruption Variant
[build prof=A/R Crit=12+1+1 marks=12+1][Keen Arrow][Disrupting Accuracy][Way of the Master][Critical Eye][Optional][Optional][Optional][Optional][/build]

Optionals can be:
 * [[Called Shot]
 * [[Needling Shot@14]
 * [[Assassin's Remedy@14]
 * [[Critical Defenses@14]
 * [[Dark Apostasy@14]

PROS:
 * An interrupt with almost every hit.
 * Decent damage with Keen.
 * Doesn't have to use skills to interrupt.
 * Preparations are unstrippable.

CONS:
 * A ranger autoattack is pretty slow. Lacks an IAS, unless its PvE.
 * Even there, Distracting Shot and Savage Shot are better interrupts because of their fast activation and their additional effects.
 * Uses a preparation for interrupts, meaning that the arrow flies slowly.

Because of all these reasons, critbows have never been vetted above trash except for two: the Critical Barrager and the Incendiary Crit.

Critspears
Coming soon to a wiki near you!

Critswords
Coming soon to a wiki near you!

Critaxes
Coming soon to a wiki near you!

Crithammers
Coming soon to a wiki near you!

Critwanding
Do I even need to talk...

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