Guide:Cryway

General Information
Cry of Pain is a Mesmer Nightfall PvE-only skill linked to Sunspear Rank. This guide shows effective builds, skills and considerations when using crier builds in both team-play and a single-player set up. Professions fall into 3 catagories: those it is not recommended to play a caster on (Warrior, Paragon, Ranger); those who can feasibly play a caster, but the primary profession offers nothing particularly special (Ritualist, Monk, Dervish, Assassin) and those who excel at Cry of Pain based builds (Mesmer, Elementalist, Necromancer). This guide covers the latter catagory only.

Mesmer
Advantage of using Mesmer primary: fast casting, signet of illusions means high damage without grinding titles, free secondary

Necromancer
Advantage of using Necromancer primary: energy gain from soul reaping.

Elementalist
Advantage of using Elementalist primary: huge energy pool.

Notable Spike Skills
Illusion Magic - Useful if low Sunspear Rank. Covers multiple magic types so builds can be more versatile and suitable for purpose

- A reasonably effective snare

Domination Magic - High damage but can be very unevenly spread and reasonably conditional during a spike

- Close to unconditional in Hard Mode. Good alturnative to Echo-chaining

Necromancer - More armor-ignoring damage and hex requirement synergy

Elementalist - Primary Elementalist only

Other - Extremely effective skill that keeps any crier on the go

- Very effective, reliable damage - Quick recharge in the unlikely event no other

PvE-Only Skills - Standard, visible mesmer hex used - Very easy way of improving damage - Slightly more difficult to use than Ural's - Effective energy management when dealing with large groups - HSR for multiple casters - Extremely useful for non-primary Mesmers casting spells such as Ether Nightmare and Feast of Corruption

General PvE build
General builds are for Normal and Hard Mode and designed to use with Heroes and Henchmen (or 2 human players and Heroes).

Assassin's Promise Spiker
This bar is inherently broken and rather fun to play. Assassin's Promise gives you the real continuous cry so many builds try to achieve but fail miserably at. Cast Assassin's Promise, mesmer hex, spike and repeat the process every few seconds. Cast Arcane Echo with Ebon Vanguard Assassin Support for an army of Assassins. Great energy return from Auspicious Incantation with no real drawbacks. See Assassin's Promise Spiker

Ray of Judgment
Ray of Judgment offers armor-ignoring PBAoE with some extra degen. When twinned with fast casting and Minions or a human tank (to keep enemies stationary) it can be played very effectively by a human player. Optional slots can offer more along the utility/damage smite line (Smite Hex, Smite Condition, Strength of Honor. Primary monks may want to take Mindbender to speed up the cast time when using RoJ with Arcane Echo. See RoJ Smite Nuker

Domination
Visions of Regret is strong when playing in Hard Mode as enemies have super quick spell recharge time and what seems to be infinite energy. Empathy is also an excellent skill for killing single melee foes. "Finish Him!" and Epidemic allow the player to spread Deep Wound across mobs. Optional slot for Deep Freeze, more melee hate like Enfeebling Blood or even more energy management. In some cases alternative Elite Skills, such as Energy Surge may be appropriate. See

Illusion Spike
This bar is built around the armor ignoring damage capabilities of Wandering Eye and Clumsiness. It also utilises the new AoE update to Fragility, and uses it as a hex for Cry of Pain. Elite Skill can be changed to Shared Burden if it is more appropriate for that area. See

Signet of Illusion Support
These two builds use Signet of Illusions to utilise several magic types of their first and secondary professions. See ,

The Deep
See Full Cryway Deep team

The larger party size in The Deep means teams often take 4 or 5 cryers and also have space for a BiP Necromancer. As the warrior "Steel Wall" pulls ball all enemy groups together extremely close, Ray of Judgment is effective. Oni of the Deep have Viper's Defense which means it is also vital to have a potent snare, so a Deep freeze should be taken. Many of the enemies in The Deep are Assassin primary, so skills like Wandering Eye and Cluminess can be treated as practically unconditional. "You Move Like A Dwarf!" is also useful, as each Aspect needs knocking down 3 times and Kanaxai 6 times.

The most difficult section of The Deep is splitting into the first rooms. They can all be cleared extremely quickly by casting Spiteful Spirit on the Aspects, while close to all other foes. Signet of Illusions with Arcane Mimicry allows teams to have multiple copies of SS, so many rooms can be quickly cleared. Another way of doing this is to take Feast of Corruption and Arcane Mimicry (this can be played by a primary Necromancer, but Mesmer is better due to Fast Casting). The recommended cryer builds for this area are;

Domain of Anguish
See Full DoA Ether Cryway team

It is recommended to have at least 4 cryers in your team to ensure clean spikes, a high Lightbringer Rank is also essential. Cryers must have effective energy management as the limited party size means you generally can't take a BiP Necromancer. Visions of Regret is a very effective Elite Skill here due to the large number of enemies who use the skill Enraged (which mass triggers VoR as you spike) and an effective counter against life-steal spamming Stygian Hungers in Stygian Veil. Potent slow down is essential, due to extremely large mobs, so a cryer build focussed around Deep Freeze should be taken. For early rooms in The Foundry of Failed Creations, it is important for some of the casters to have good survivability incase of a bad spawn. Ether Renewal Elementalists are very popular as they have a high number of enchantments (which translates directly to high health due to Symbiosis), space for skills like Frigid Armor and will never be short of energy. The recommended cryer builds for this area are;

Urgoz's Warren
See Full Urgoz Cryway team

Urgoz teams are very flexible, there is often room for 5 or 6 cryers and a BiP Necromancer, it is quite likely at least one Barrager will be taken with Edge of Extinction. Some of the Warden mobs encountered in Urgoz can be extremely large and difficult to ball together quickly and neatly; Ray of Judgment provides powerful armor-ignoring damage and, together with Edge of Extinction and Cry of Pain, can trigger a cascade of deaths from Edge of Extinction. There are also huge numbers of conditions in this mission, so Extinguish is recommended (and works well with Auspicious). Thorn Wolves are extremely fast and do large amounts of damage if they leak, for this reason it is important to have a potent snare (Deep freeze). Taking a Domination Mesmer with Visions of Regret and Empathy is useful. VoR is extremely effective against against life-steal casting Blood Drinkers and Empathy is useful for most leaks. and single foes.

Fissure of Woe
See Full FoW Cryway Speedclear

The Fissue of Woe Speedclear uses a reduced main team size of 6 because of two solo Shadow Form Assassins that do half the quests. It is quite common that 3 cryers are taken, as well as a Splinter Barrager; enemies have Spell Breaker and Obsidian Flesh which means physical damage is useful. FoW is quite different to other Elite areas because the majority of mobs the main team encounters are small. Enemies on the plains are all undead, so it is useful to take Ray of Judgment as it does Holy (and therefore double) damage. As usual, some snare is required and Empathy is useful for clearing the Rangers from the top of Forge. Shared burden and Technobabble are useful also to prolong enemy casting time and synergise well with Barrage to trigger interrupts (useful for Shadow Monks and Skeletal Bonds). Recommended cryer bars: