User:Hercanic/Team:Nigh-Indestructible Prophecies Threesome/SS Necromancer

=SS Necro=

Attributes and Skills
[build prof=n/mo curse=12+3+1 blood=6 soul=2 heal=11 ][Awaken the Blood][Spiteful Spirit][Insidious Parasite][Blood Ritual][Healing Breeze][Balthazar's Spirit][Essence Bond][Restore Life][/build]

Equipment

 * Very open-ended, but aim for maximum energy.
 * With a full set of Radiant and Attunement modifiers (save one slot for Superior Curses), the Necro will have 46 energy before staff/wand+focus.
 * There are two open pips of energy regeneration, so dual +15 energy inscriptions on a wand+focus is viable. Altogether that would put the Necro at 88 maximum energy.

Usage

 * 1) At the start of an area, immediately cast both Balthazar's Spirit and Essence Bond on the Monk.
 * 2) Find a mob and wait for the Ranger to set down his spirits. Meanwhile, choose the best potential targets for Spiteful Spirit.
 * 3) As the Monk is putting up his enchantments, hit him up with Blood Ritual to help cap off his energy.
 * 4) Give the Monk room to gather aggro from the mob and pile them up. The Monk may need to lead if ranged attackers are spread out.
 * 5) Always stay out of aggro. The Monk needs his alone time with the big scary monsters.
 * 6) Once properly stacked, Awaken the Blood and throw down some Spite.
 * 7) If there is a boss present, focus on him first with Insidious Parasite. Do not use SS until his health is weak enough to be brought down just before his minions. A boss requires twice the energy to take down due to half-duration hexes on them, and if he is your only opponent you will not gain enough energy to keep up.
 * 8) Use Blood Ritual on the Monk in such a situation to keep his energy in the clear.
 * 9) With enough energy, you can maintain four 22 second-long SS's thanks to the 5 second recharge provided by the Ranger's Quickening Zephyr.
 * 10) Use Healing Breeze on the Monk to compensate for any initial condition degeneration.
 * 11) After a fight, use Blood Ritual to speed along energy recovery. As your abilities are used last in a fight, you will receive plenty of energy from the Monk while waiting as he works to line up the next mob.
 * 12) Should the Monk slip up, the Ranger can pull him out with Rebirth and you can fully rez him using Restore Life.
 * 13) If things go really south, let the Ranger escape while you lead the train in a different way. As long as either of you survives, everyone can be rezzed. However, the Ranger can rez the safest way possible, so sacrifice yourself if it will keep him alive. As they say, you don't have to run faster than the bear, just faster than your friend.

Counters

 * As the Necro's primary function is as damage-dealer through hexes, any hex-removal or -prevention skill is of concern. The Monk's Sympathetic Visage should nullify most all of such abilities (as long as there are melee attackers to stimulate it), and the Ranger's Primal Echoes synergizes with SV to shut down the signet variety, such as:

Skill Breakdown and Variants

 * Note: Energy and recharge  numbers denote the effects of Quickening Zephyr on relevant skills.


 * 13 23
 * Always keep this up before using Spiteful Spirit or Insidious Parasite. It will increase their duration by another second and the damage by 4 on both skills. Do not use it explicitly for Blood Ritual unless you plan to use Spiteful Spirit or Insidious Parasite very soon. Using Awaken the Blood only for Blood Ritual will cost you ten energy for one more second on BR. That equates to one more point of energy. Not worth it, and at a cost of 9% more life.
 * Always keep this up before using Spiteful Spirit or Insidious Parasite. It will increase their duration by another second and the damage by 4 on both skills. Do not use it explicitly for Blood Ritual unless you plan to use Spiteful Spirit or Insidious Parasite very soon. Using Awaken the Blood only for Blood Ritual will cost you ten energy for one more second on BR. That equates to one more point of energy. Not worth it, and at a cost of 9% more life.


 * 20 5 (Capture Location)
 * The principle damage-dealing tool of the team. All other skills are comparatively straightforward in their use, but careful application of Spiteful Spirit is the Necro's top concern. The Monk will do his best to pile enemies together. If the foes can remove hexes, give a few moments for the Monk's Sympathetic Visage to drain their energy and adrenaline. When dealing with mixed forces, aim for the fastest attackers. Because of SV, attack skills will usually be unusable by foes. You will therefore need to gauge opponents by their base attack speed. Warriors, wands, and bows is the order to use--generally. Bows have the slowest attack speed, so without attack skills they will trigger SS the fewest times over its duration.
 * The principle damage-dealing tool of the team. All other skills are comparatively straightforward in their use, but careful application of Spiteful Spirit is the Necro's top concern. The Monk will do his best to pile enemies together. If the foes can remove hexes, give a few moments for the Monk's Sympathetic Visage to drain their energy and adrenaline. When dealing with mixed forces, aim for the fastest attackers. Because of SV, attack skills will usually be unusable by foes. You will therefore need to gauge opponents by their base attack speed. Warriors, wands, and bows is the order to use--generally. Bows have the slowest attack speed, so without attack skills they will trigger SS the fewest times over its duration.


 * 20 6
 * Bosses will always be the last standing if only Spiteful Spirit is used to take down a group. This team build thrives against innumerable foes, but with only one attacker energy management becomes strained. Therefore, it's best to take down the boss first by keeping his underlings alive to fuel the energy needs of your team. Insidious Parasite offers a way to deal high damage to a single target. As the boss nears death, apply Spiteful Spirit to one of his lackies (not on him, otherwise you will only get half the duration out of SS). This should kill him, but if not just stack both SS and IP for 92 armor-ignoring damage dealt per strike.
 * Bosses will always be the last standing if only Spiteful Spirit is used to take down a group. This team build thrives against innumerable foes, but with only one attacker energy management becomes strained. Therefore, it's best to take down the boss first by keeping his underlings alive to fuel the energy needs of your team. Insidious Parasite offers a way to deal high damage to a single target. As the boss nears death, apply Spiteful Spirit to one of his lackies (not on him, otherwise you will only get half the duration out of SS). This should kill him, but if not just stack both SS and IP for 92 armor-ignoring damage dealt per strike.


 * 13 1
 * Overall, energy management should be entirely trouble-free for all party members. Blood Ritual will simply help minimize downtime between fights to a minimum. In rare instances where there is only one slow, ranged attacker (such as a boss) who requires the energy-taxing Spell Breaker on the Monk constantly, your Monk may need energy support (aggro will generally stay on the Monk when fighting only one enemy, allowing the Necro to approach). If you feel confident that such a situation can be avoided (such as simply running away or aggroing more monsters), Blood Ritual can be replaced.
 * If the Necro is the only teammate having difficulty with energy, Life Bond can be utilized on the Monk along with a second casting of Balthazar's Spirit on the Necro himself to double his energy intake. This will take all natural energy regeneration, however, and will cause a drain if under the effects of.
 * If energy is not a problem, consider this for additional damage output.
 * If energy is not a problem, consider this for additional damage output.


 * 13 1
 * Healing Breeze serves to recoup health lost from Blood Ritual, though this can be achieved through natural regeneration. Should either the Ranger or the Necro come under fire, HB helps mitigate damage while attempting to break aggro. However, the most important function of HB is to combat degeneration from conditions. Sympathetic Visage should shut down most conditions that foes might use, but there are some situations where that is not possible. As SV only triggers on melee attacks, enemy rangers can apply conditions. The most dangerous condition that HB cannot help is Daze. If the area you are farming contains such dangers, consider one of the alternatives:
 * Simple and quick condition removal, but it will only remove a single condition.
 * All conditions are removed, but at the price of a longer recharge. The Ranger's Quickening Zephyr will cut the recharge down to 10 seconds, though.
 * with : Even faster than Mend Condition and removes all conditions like Purge Conditions, but only by transferring them to the caster. As the Necro will have much more health than the Monk and should never be the target of aggro, he can bare taking on any condition. Couple that with Plague Sending and you can not only solve your problems but weaken your enemies with them at the same time. To do this, Blood Ritual is the least necessary skill that can be replaced. Be aware, though, that Blood Ritual's emergency purpose is to support the Monk when facing only one tough opponent and energy is harder to come by. If this will not be a problem, feel free to change out BR for whatever you want.
 * with : Even faster than Mend Condition and removes all conditions like Purge Conditions, but only by transferring them to the caster. As the Necro will have much more health than the Monk and should never be the target of aggro, he can bare taking on any condition. Couple that with Plague Sending and you can not only solve your problems but weaken your enemies with them at the same time. To do this, Blood Ritual is the least necessary skill that can be replaced. Be aware, though, that Blood Ritual's emergency purpose is to support the Monk when facing only one tough opponent and energy is harder to come by. If this will not be a problem, feel free to change out BR for whatever you want.


 * A well-known duo, both are cast on the Monk. These are essential for providing substantial energy to both characters from every hit the Monk endures.
 * A well-known duo, both are cast on the Monk. These are essential for providing substantial energy to both characters from every hit the Monk endures.


 * The only Prophecies skill short of a single-use signet that can ressurect the Monk at 1hp. The Ranger can get the Monk's body out of aggro using Rebirth.
 * An unlinked alternative if the Necro does not want 11 attribute points invested in Healing Prayers, especially if he switches out Healing Breeze for something else. This will allow the Monk to remove his armor before dying again 30 seconds later, fully revived by a second use of Rebirth from the Ranger. This will naturally extend the resurrection process, but if speed is not an issue this skill will free up attribute points for use elsewhere.
 * An unlinked alternative if the Necro does not want 11 attribute points invested in Healing Prayers, especially if he switches out Healing Breeze for something else. This will allow the Monk to remove his armor before dying again 30 seconds later, fully revived by a second use of Rebirth from the Ranger. This will naturally extend the resurrection process, but if speed is not an issue this skill will free up attribute points for use elsewhere.

=Team Navigation=
 * 1) Overview
 * 2) SB Monk
 * 3) SS Necro
 * 4) GC Ranger
 * 5) Two-Man Variant
 * 6) Guides