Build:Rt/any Soul Twisting Prot Hero

This build is in the metagame and deserves to be stored. This build has received an overall rating in the range from 4.75 to 5.0 and thus qualifies for the highest category of working builds: Great. This build has been designed for the following use: PvE hero

Simple spirit spammer build that uses defensive spirits to provide powerful defense and support to the party.

Attributes and Skills

Ritualist / Any 12 + 1 + 3 Communing 12 + 3 Spawning Power Creatures you create have 60% more Health, and weapon spells you cast last 60% longer. Soul Twisting FactionsRitualist. Spawning Power 15Soul TwistingElite SkillFor 45 seconds, your Binding Rituals cost 15 less Energy (minimum 10) and recharge instantly. Soul Twisting ends after 3 Binding Rituals.515 Shelter FactionsRitualist. Communing 16ShelterBinding RitualCreate a level 13 Spirit with 260 (+156) Health and 79 armor. Non-Spirit allies within its range cannot lose more than 10% maximum Health from a single attack. When this Spirit prevents damage, it loses 43 Health. This Spirit lasts 62 seconds.25145 Union FactionsRitualist. Communing 16UnionBinding RitualCreate a level 13 Spirit with 260 (+156) Health and 79 armor. Whenever a non-Spirit ally in its range takes damage or life steal, it is reduced by 15 and the Spirit takes 15 damage. This Spirit dies after 62 seconds.15¾45 Displacement FactionsRitualist. Communing 16DisplacementBinding RitualCreate a level 15 Spirit with 300 (+180) Health and 91 armor. All non-Spirit allies within its range have a 75% chance to block incoming attacks. Every time an attack is blocked in this way, this Spirit takes 60 damage. This Spirit dies after 62 seconds.15¾45 Armor of Unfeeling FactionsRitualist. Communing 16Armor of UnfeelingSkillFor 37 seconds, your spirits within earshot take 50% less damage and are immune to critical attacks.5120 Optional CoreNo Profession. UnlinkedOptionalOptionalOptional. Boon of Creation FactionsRitualist. Spawning Power 15Boon of CreationEnchantment SpellFor 60 seconds, whenever you create a creature, you gain 50 Health and 6 Energy.10245 Optional CoreNo Profession. UnlinkedOptionalOptionalOptional.   Template code

Optional slots

Defensive Support	Offensive Support	Healing Support	Utility Support
EarthbindFactionsRitualist. Communing 16EarthbindBinding RitualCreate a level 15 Spirit with 300 Health and 91 armor. All non-Spirit foes knocked down within its range are knocked down for at least 3 seconds. Whenever this happens, this Spirit loses 23 Health. This Spirit dies after 47 seconds.15130 Signet of BindingNightfallRitualist. Spawning Power 16Signet of BindingSignetYou lose 40 Health and take control of target enemy-controlled spirit. (50% failure chance with Spawning Power 4 or less.)215 "Stand Your Ground!"NightfallParagon. Command 8"Stand Your Ground!"ShoutFor 13 seconds, all party members within earshot receive +24 armor when not moving.1020 Serpent's QuicknessPropheciesRanger. Wilderness Survival Serpent's QuicknessStanceFor 15..27..31 seconds, recharge times for your skills are reduced by 33%. Serpent's Quickness ends if your Health drops below 50%.545	Binding ChainsFactionsRitualist. Communing 16Binding ChainsHex SpellFor 3 seconds, target foe and all nearby foes move 90% slower and take 32 damage each second while moving.10115 Brutal WeaponFactionsRitualist. Communing 16Brutal WeaponWeapon SpellGive target ally a Brutal Weapon for 42 seconds. The bearer's weapon strikes for +16 damage as long as the bearer is under no Enchantments.10115 Strength of HonorCoreMonk. Smiting Prayers 8Strength of HonorEnchantment SpellWhile you maintain this Enchantment, target ally deals 16 more damage in melee.-110215	Death Pact SignetNightfallRitualist. Restoration Magic 3Death Pact SignetSignetResurrect target party member with your current Health and 32% Energy. The next time that ally dies within 120 seconds, so do you.312 Flesh of My FleshFactionsRitualist. Restoration Magic 3Flesh of My FleshSpellLose half your Health. Resurrect target party member with your current Health and 8% Energy.54 Spirit's GiftNightfallRitualist. Spawning Power 14Spirit's GiftEnchantment SpellFor 60 seconds, whenever you create a creature, all allies near that creature gain 47 Health and lose 1 Condition.10145 "Fall Back!"NightfallParagon. Command 8"Fall Back!"ShoutFor 7 seconds, all allies within earshot gain 10 Health per second while moving and move 33% faster. "Fall Back!" ends on an ally affected by this Shout when that ally successfully hits with an attack.1020 "We Shall Return!"NightfallParagon. Command 8"We Shall Return!"ShoutAll party members in earshot are resurrected with 38% Health and 13% Energy.2530	Power DrainCoreMesmer. Inspiration Magic 8Power DrainSpellIf target foe is casting a Spell or Chant, that Skill is interrupted and you gain 17 Energy.5¼20 Waste Not, Want NotEotNMesmer. Inspiration Magic 8Waste Not, Want NotSpellIf target foe is not casting a Spell or attacking, you gain 11 Energy.5¼15

Equipment

• +60HP Staff, other staff upgrades don't do much. Inscription is up to your choice because the hero doesn't really benefit that much from them. "Aptitude not Attitude" is the best choice, but not necessary.
• Full Blessed/Shaman's
• Vitae runes, best vigor you can afford.

Usage

• Cast spirits before battle. Keep in mind Soul Twisting can be queued easily.
• Avoid using Displacement if attacks aren't a threat.
• In tough fights, disable/micro Union.
• Always use Shelter before Union. If the hero fails to do so the spirits need to be micro'ed.
• Set the hero to Guard Mode.

Variants

• Additional offensive Communing spirits.
• Bringing only 2 defensive spirits (usually Shelter + Displacement) can save space and help heroes not run out of ST charges.

Counters

• Spirits affect minions, making the use with a minion bomber inadvisable.
• Enchantment removal.
• Spirits dying from AoE.

Notes

• This hero should not be combined with a Minion Bomber hero, as they will interfere with each other's builds:
  • Low-level minions will cause Shelter to die very quickly, potentially leaving the party exposed.
  • The spirits' protective effects will delay the minions' death and thus damage from Death Nova.
• Players may choose to micro certain spirits (such as Displacement) depending on the area.
• Superior/Major/Minor runes can be swapped per player preference, but is not recommend since this weakens your spirits. Make sure you always hit the break point (12 Spawning Power) for 3 charges on Soul Twisting when using a 3rd attribute line.
• An easy way to get familiar with the maximum spirit range is to summon a spirit and walk until you lose it's effect.

See also

• Build:Rt/any Soul Twisting Prot (the player version)
• Build:E/Mo Ether Renewal Prot Hero
• N/Mo Soul Reaping Prot Hero