Archive:Team - 55/SS FoW



The FoW 55/SS team build is a 2-player farming build designed to conquer many parts of the Fissure of Woe, one of the richest areas in the game. The build is based on an invincible monk (55 monk) doing all the tanking and gathering of targets and an Echo SS Nuker to dish out all the damage in the form of the elite hex, Spiteful Spirit.

This build can be used to farm the area outside the Tower of Courage, the Great Battle Field, the Fissure Shore and the Spider Cave quite efficiently.

Build Concept
While there are different tactics for different situations (explained below, in the tactics section), the general outline of how this team works is very similar to most other 55/SS teams:
 * The 55 monk attracts all aggro of the enemies. This includes the important step of taking melee attackers to spell casters and/or ranged attacker whenever possible to allow Spiteful Spirit to kill as many foes simultaneously as possible. Solid lining up of ranged attackers and then solid piling of melee attackers on them are the keys to making this team build effective and successful.
 * The SS necromancer's job is to carefully administer Spiteful Spirit on foes so that as many foes as possible drop at the same time. If the 55 monk does a solid job piling up foes, then Spiteful Spirit placed on two of them can take out the entire group in a matter of seconds.
 * The 55 monk's primary responsibility is to survive. He/she must be accustomed to playing the role of invincible monks because 55ing in the Fissure is a more difficult breed of 55ing than, say, the Crystal Desert. Also, perfecting the timing of using Arcane Echo and Spell Breaker takes time.
 * The SS necromancer is in charge of killing, and must utilize his/her skills in the way that takes out the most dangerous foes first.

The Invincible Monk
[build prof=monk/mesme divine=12+3+1 healin=10+3 protec=8+3][protective spirit][healing breeze][spell breaker][arcane echo][blessed aura][mending][balthazars spirit][essence bond][/build]

Equipment:
 * A sword/axe with at least an 18% enchantment lengthening upgrade on it. This is important to guarantee continuous Spell breaker coverage for over minute against foes that can remove enchantments. Ideally, a +5 energy mod in the sword would also help out a great deal. Rajazan's Fervor, Spirit of the Forgotten, the Totem Axe or the +5 energy Katana available in Divine Path (and upgraded) all make great weapons for this build.
 * The off-hand is not by choice in this build. It has to be the -50 off hand (see Cities of Ascalon).
 * Ascetic's Armor offers the most energy which is beneficial to this build.

Usage:
 * Cast the 4 enchantments on the right of the skill bar at the beginning. Note that you will have 0 energy regen when you put all 4 on, so you will need Blood Ritual from the SS Necro when you are in need of energy.
 * In situations where there are no enemy mesmers, the approach is to put Protective Spirit on and engage. With 4 pips health regeneration from Mending, you should not need Healing Breeze until you round all foes and they are all hitting you at the same time.
 * The Energy from Essence Bond and Balthazar's Spirit should be more than enough for all situations.
 * The combination of Blessed Aura, Arcane Echo, Spell Breaker and a special weapon with "of Enchanting" is to make Spell Breaker (SB) last perpetually. This is needed for cases where spell casters (enemy mesmers and necromancers) can remove enchantments and kill you instantly.
 * To invoke this combination, invoke Arcane Echo first, then Spell Breaker then Protective Spirit and go into the enemy. When Spell Breaker is about 1/3 of the way recharging, invoke the copy held in Arcane Echo's slot (you cannot wait till SB starts flashing because by then the copy in Arcane Echo will have expired). When Arcane Echo recharges cast it immediately, then invoke the original SB which would have recharged, repeat this for as long as needed. This combination should allow for complete immunity from spells with only a second gap between repeating the process *To cast the first three spells in the sequence above, the monk needs 40 energy to start. Then he/she needs to go into battle quick so that enemy hits can fill up their energy reserves fast enough so that there is enough energy for the echoed SB to be cast. Timing and measuring all of this takes practice.

SS Necromancer
[build prof=necro/mesme curses=12+3+1 illusi=12 bloodm=2+1 soulre=2+1][awaken the blood][arcane echo][spiteful spirit][sympathetic visage][ancestors visage][blood ritual][desecrate enchantments][Sunspear Rebirth Signet][/build]

Equipment:
 * Ideally, Villnar's Glove as a focus item and the Wayward Wand (Curses) from the Adept of Bone as a weapon. These combine for a 36% chance to halve the recharge time of Curses (which includes a 4% chance of making it presumably 4 times faster but the recharge time is capped at half). This reduces the average recharge time of Spiteful Spirit to 8.1 seconds compared with 9 seconds with only one fast recharge item or the full 10 seconds with no fast recharge items.
 * Scar Pattern Armor is best for energy.

Usage:
 * Patience and good timing are the most important aspects of success. Give the 55 monk room to operate and round up and gather aggro. This is not like a run in the Underworld where the tanking is more or less straight forward. The monk will need space to move. Following closely will only result in breaking up aggro and making fights longer. Something that can endanger the monk in fights against mesmers/necromancers.
 * Once the enemies are piled up into one nice pile, or as much as the 55 monk can pile them, invoke Awaken the Blood then proceed to echo and apply Spiteful Spirit on foes. Generally, warriors make the best targets as they attack the fastest and invoke stances while attacking which only serves to increase the damage SS deals.
 * If the enemy group contains a monk or more, Sympathetic Visage (and if possible Ancestor's Visage) on the monk and the use of Desecrate Enchantments will facilitate taking them out.

Tactics
Much of the success of this build relies on reading and responding to certain situations:
 * Shadow Monks: If a group of Shadow Army forces includes Shadow Monks, they can make things difficult with their powerful healing. Their healing will cause mismatches in damage between foes, making Spiteful Spirit less potent, they can also heal allies around them with a powerful Heal Area and worst of all, if a member falls they can resurrect him. In addition, if there is more than one, they can virtually keep their group alive infinitely. Approach: The key to defeating them is to drain their energy with SV much like the Smite Crawlers of the Underworld. The 55 monk needs to pull enemies so that he/she is next to the monk(s) (easily done by simply attacking with the weapon described above) and also so that the other attackers are adjacent to the monk so that SS can work faster.
 * Shadow Mesmers: The greatest threat they pose is Shatter Enchantment which (if it hits Protective Spirit) will instantly kill the 55 monk. Approach: If there is more than one Shadow Mesmer, then it is best to go with the safe approach and echo SB. The monk should try and pile the mesmers, but (as was mentioned above), if the monk keeps moving around a lot to line up foes, he/she may not have enough energy to cast the echoed Spellbreaker. If there is just one Shadow Mesmer, the 55 monk can protect the enchantments by covering Protective Spirit with Healing Breeze. If the Mesmer shatters Breeze, nothing will happen.
 * Skeletal Ether Breakers: They are much like Shadow Mesmers and the worst thing to be feared from them is Shatter Enchantments. When coupled with Skeletal Icehands, the echoed SB approach is the only way to avoid their spells and the Icehands' Maelstrom.
 * Doubter's Dryders: They possess two enchantment removal skills, so Spell Breaker is a must if taking them on. However, an easier approach is for the 55 monk to cast Spell Breaker on the Necro and have him kill the dryder solo.
 * Abyssals: Abyssals are quite brutal for a 55 monk to take on, especially if more than one is attacking. Their attacks can knockdown the monk frequently disrupting Breeze or, worse, Protective Spirit. Approach: The monk can first start off with one Abyssal at a time around the Tower of Courage. Slowly they will be able to time their casts so that they can go through after the knockdowns. If taking on more than one, it's best to move around a bit so that they are all hitting at the same time, this spares the monk the agony of being knocked down mercilessly because if two knockdown attacks hit at the same time, they only knockdown the monk once.
 * Ancient Skales: These are basically a 55 monk's worst nightmare. Their skill set includes the much dreaded Rend Enchantments, health degeneration and life stealing. They will also place a strain on the SS Necro because they will switch targets and place their life draining hexes on him/her too. Approach: Continued SB coverage is necessary to take them on. The Necromancer should always move away after casting on them so that they do not invoke Grenth's Balance on him/her and steal life (their AI is such that they will look for the target with the most health when using that skill, which will not be the 55 monk). Since these skales do not drop Obsidian Shards, perhaps the best approach would be to avoid them completely.