Guide:2 Man UW Tank and Spank

Generalizes the popular concept of a single tank and nuker farming Wastes, Vale, and Chambers in the Under World for ectos. Offers variants in both tanking and nuking to meet individual needs.

Concept

 * Utilizing the idea behind 600 tanks, both variants are capable of dealing with Skeletons of Dhuum, and have essentially the same usage and equipment.
 * An Spell Protection is required to handle Dying Nightmares.

Usage

 * Set up bonds (wait for your energy to regen before casting each)
 * Cast Protective Spirit before pulling sizeable but manageable groups of monsters and setting them up for a spike (by balling them in an adjacent range, use the right wall trick as necessary).
 * Use Spirit Bond to red bar and tank, and Shield of Absorption to reduce all damage to zero for a short amount of time.
 * Skeletons are managed by bringing a group of enemies along to stimulate Spirit Bond to counteract Bone Spike and Flurry of Splinters. Alternatively, utilize the terrain to avoid all attacks by skeletons.

Equipment

 * 20 energy enchanting staff of one of your invested attributes (customized).
 * Zealous/Vampiric Scythe of enchanting. Both can help energy and the later can do decent damage.

Counters

 * Total energy loss/drain.
 * Forgetting to reapply Protective Spirit or other protection enchantments.
 * Interruptions.
 * Dying Nightmares stripping enchantments.

Monk Tank
[build name="Spirit Bonder" prof=monk/mesmer divine=10+1+3 protec=11+3 insp=10][protective spirit][Shield of Absorption][spirit bond][mantra of resolve][spell breaker][blessed aura][balthazars spirit][Essence Bond][/build]

Pros/Cons

 * Simple and reliable interruption protection.
 * Longer lasting prots, including the ability to have SoA active at almost all times. This can potentially make it easier to gather and handle exceptionally large mobs.
 * Ability to share anti-spell protection with the nuker (useful sometimes against Coldfires, especially when the nuker is inexperienced).
 * Inability to maintain anti-spell protection can mean waiting for recharge, and makes certain quests and monsters harder/slower to farm.

Usage

 * Use Mantra of resolve against chamber enemies to avoid interruption, and use Spellbreaker as necessary to prevent Dying Nightmares from stripping all your enchantments.
 * Be aware of Dying Nightmare spawns, and use your staff to kill them. Always have Spell Breaker available when moving into untouched ground.

Equipment

 * lvl 5 or 15 AL with vigor, vitae, attunement, and radiant runes/sigs as needed.

Assassin Tank
[build prof=A/Mo sha=12+1+3 prot=12 dead=3][Protective Spirit][Shield of Absorption][Spirit Bond][Deadly Paradox][Shadow Form][Shroud of Distress][Balthazar's Spirit][Essence Bond][/build]

Pros/Cons

 * Ability to maintain anti-spell protection. Removes the worry of Dying Nightmares, and makes several other monsters and quests easier to farm (especially combined with a Wastrel's nuker against spell casting foes).
 * Harder to prevent interruption in some instances.
 * Shorter prot spell duration.

Usage

 * Use Shroud of Distress before entering an aggro situation, and use Shadow Form preemptively to prevent Dying Nightmares from stripping all your enchantments.
 * Be aware of interrupts, and how to mitigate them.

Equipment

 * starter armor or 3 pieces (mask+leggings+shoes) of AL 25 armor
 * Radiant and Attunement runes/insignias

Concept

 * There are a few different bars which work here, but they center around dealing massive amounts of armor ignoring damage (to handle Bladed Aatxes), and using the mesmer skills AV/SV to help the tank and facilitate damage dealing against some of the spell casters (Smite Crawler).

Usage

 * Let your tank aggro without your interference.
 * Use AV/SV on the tank to help protect them from interruption in certain hairy situations, and to drain foe's energy.
 * Always make sure that Skeletons of Dhuum die before any other creature. It is very difficult to tank skeletons by themselves, as their attacks do not often trigger Spirit Bond, and also ignore damage reduction spells.  As long as other enemies are alive and attacking the tank, Skeletons are not a big problem.
 * Can solo small groups of Graspings, which may be useful if the tank dies, or when you accidentally aggro. You may die trying to evade the Graspings, so standing up to them is sometimes the best option.  Just use AV/SV on yourself and the rest is common sense.  You can even take out groups while waiting for the tank to grab a good mob. (Recommended for PRO only, and better suited to NM)
 * If you become the target of enemies, and standing up to them is not an option, switch out your superior runed armor pieces, and switch to a defensive weapon set while trying to kite.

Equipment

 * 40/40 sets for appropriate attributes.
 * Enchanting illusion set.
 * Attunement runes and Radiant Insignias as necessary.

Counters

 * Dying from accidental aggro or from tank death.
 * Interrupts via mindblade specters and dropped aggro.
 * Damage/hexes from spell casters who decide to target you (usually because you are too close or because you/your tank did something wrong).
 * Energy management. Some of these variants can be somewhat tricky, and burning through energy with a bad spell use strategy can mean waiting for spells and energy to regen while the tank is holding enemies off under pressure.

Wastrel's Hybrid Mesmer
[build prof=Me/R dom=11+1+3 illu=11+3 wild=8 fast=3+1][Famine][Arcane Conundrum][Mind Wrack][Ancestor's Visage][Sympathetic Visage][Wastrel's Worry][Shatter Delusions][Aneurysm][/build]

Pros/Cons

 * Potentially the fastest.
 * High difficulty level, and very dependent on an experienced tank balling enemies correctly.
 * May be easier/smoother with a sin tank due to their maintainable anti-spell protection.
 * Energy management may be difficult.

Usage

 * Set up Famine ahead of time, use AV/SV as necessary on the tank, use Arcane Conundrum for energy return upon spike completion, and go to town with the remaining skills. Stay back until you develop a feel for proper spikes or until the tank pings a target.

Illusion Mesmer
[build prof=Me/Mo fas=12+1 ill=12+3+1 ins=3][Echo][Arcane Echo][Wandering Eye][Clumsiness][Sympathetic Visage][optional][Essence Bond][Rebirth][/build] Optional
 * Tank should drop Balthazar's Spirit for Life Attunement or Vital Blessing.
 * Tank should drop Balthazar's Spirit for Life Attunement or Vital Blessing.

Pros/Cons

 * Practically mindless, and does not require a perfect aggro from your tank.
 * Cleans up straggling foes very quickly (not dependent on a balled mob).
 * Easy to solo Graspings and Skeletons.
 * Amazing energy management.

Usage

 * Standard nuking strategies: Echo and Arcane Echo Wandering Eye, then spam them on high hp targets like Aatxe, and use AV/SV to remove energy from Graspings and Smites, as they cause problems with spells and shouts.

Variants

 * Fast casting at 11+1, inspiration at 6

SS Necromancer
[build name="spiteful spirit necromancer (ss/sv)" prof=necro/mesme curses=12+3+1 illusi=9 soulre=9+1][arcane echo][spiteful spirit][reckless haste][ancestor's visage][sympathetic visage][optional][optional][optional][/build] Optional:
 * (For inexperienced monks. Most monks will request it, but it is completely possible for a monk to properly manage their energy and rarely require "regen" time.)
 * (more damage from SS)
 * (A very nice option. Great for killing skeletons quickly, finishing off foes, taking out single targets, and even survival. A good SS can solo a group of 3 Graspings and a group of 2-3 Coldfires by echoing Insidious Parasite.  This is usefully when and if the aggro becomes broken or the monk dies and there are creatures between you and the monk's corpse.)
 * (for Mindblades, if you choose to venture further than most)
 * (great e-management skill, with the added bonus of causing area damage)
 * (another great e-management option)
 * (or you can just carry res scrolls)
 * (if you do not have Nightfall or res scrolls)

Pros/Cons

 * Works well on all creature types.
 * Natural energy management via Soul Reaping.
 * Probably 2nd fastest.
 * Smites can be a challenge until getting the procedure down.
 * Limited by rigid secondary. Cannot access reusable resurrection skills.

Usage

 * Use AV/SV on the tank to remove energy from foes to reduce healing and interrupts. Wand down Dying Nightmares before the tank's anti-caster enchantment expires. Use reckless Haste, Arcane Echo, and Spiteful Spirit to nuke foes.
 * Always cast SS on the creature/creatures with the highest HP. This will ensure that SS kills all of the other foes with lower hp, and then will continue to damage the higher HP foes.  Bladed Aatxes have the highest HP, so if the monk has aggroed Grasping Darknesses and Bladed Aatxes, always cast SS on the Aatxes.
 * It can be counter productive to use SV/AV against Graspings and Aatxes since it will prevent them from using instant cast skills which would otherwise contribute to the damage, especially vs. Graspings who use Flurry.
 * Fighting Smite Crawlers is probably the most difficult job you will encounter on this farm. It is essential to keep their energy drained constantly so that they do not heal themselves and also do not remove your hexes.  To ensure this is done, cast visage on the tank, wait 9 seconds to let visage lower the energy of the Smites, then cast in the following order: Visage on the tank, Arcane Echo (if you did not echo visage), Spiteful Spirit on target 1, Spiteful Spirit on target 2 (or recklass haste if you echoed visage), then visage on the tank again, then move away from aggro range.