Guild Wars 2

INTRODUCTION
While its origin’s lie in ancient Cantha, long before the human gods granted magic to Tyria, the Ritualist has adapted over the centuries by merging many of its techniques with the ambient magical energies injected into Tyria. However, with the rise of the elder dragons, Ritualists have begun to turn back to their older techniques while utilizing as little ambient magical energy as possible. To this effect, their techniques have changed greatly over the past 250 years.

Ritualists draw their power from the Mists, a primordial reality separate from Tyria that encapsulates many different existences and personalities. Humans, charr, norn, asura, sylvari: they all exist within the mists in many places and times. As conduits between the Mists and the Tyrian reality, Ritualists capitalize on these existences to amplify and manifest their own will in the form of physical spirits.

As scholars that do not rely heavily on the waning ambient magical energies, their practices have been preserved in Elona and the Crystal Desert where magical energy is at an all-time low thanks to the presence of Kralkatorrik. Ritualists and their practices are slowly slipping into the Tyrian continent as they continue to combat the agents of the elder dragon as well as Palawa Joko. It is only a matter of time before their techniques are fully embraced by a continent that seeks to push into the Crystal Desert to secure their livelihoods from the crystal dragon once and for all.

In other words
Ritualists are eccentric scholars that have an empathetic connection to a veritable Akashic Record of realities that exists just under the fabric of the Tyrian plane. Ritualists draw from the powers of the Mists via emotion, will, spiritual finesse and creativity. To this effect, they employ techniques to which other professions simply have no access.

Furthermore, we see every main race and more dwelling and interacting in the Mists on a daily basis (Heart of the Mists, WvW, Fractals of the Mists). Therefore, Ritualists of any race have no shortage of entities and powers to grasp within their source of power.

In conclusion, it is a poor understanding of lore to attempt to write Ritualists out of relevance in GW2 with how all creatures are connected to the Mists, how the Mists are a power source separate from the elder dragons, and how Ritualist techniques—as a result—are also separate from most modern magical techniques of GW2 Tyria. They are mistwalker spiritualists; not magicians. This difference does not make them any less effective than magicians. Because of the raw power and plethora of existences contained within the Mists, there is no reason why Ritualists would be irrelevant in modern Tyria as combatants against the elder dragons.

FUNCTIONAL OUTLINE INFOGRAHPIC
See attachment #2 (_v2 as of now)

SOULBOUND SPIRIT COMMANDS
Soulbound Spirit Command (SSC) activation

• Aside from [Invoke], SSCs are chain skills. There is first the [Send (spirit name)] skill which is instant activation. Upon use it chains into the actual skill’s command option and triggers the visual cue associated with it. After the first skill’s activation, there is a 1-second delay period during which the subsequent chain skill is in cool-down (similar to the [Temporal Curtain]’s chain skill pull). This prevents double-tap spam and allows an opponent to see a Ritualist activate an SSC before the effect proper comes down.
• Once an SSC is activated, its respective subsequent chain skill and visual effect linger for 15 seconds. If the SSC is not used within that time-frame, the skill flips back to the original command skill and goes into regular recharge.
• Upon completing an active SSC skill, the associated spirit vanishes from the battlefield.

Send

• Your Soulbound Spirit appears at your side and awaits your command to charge at a target foe.
  • Upon activation, a symbol associated with the Soulbound Spirit will appear floating at the right side of the Ritualist.
  • [Send] skills all have ranged attacks that involve the Soulbound Spirit leaping or dashing to a target or location. These spirits start at the Ritualist’s location (burst from their body). Therefore, all of the range indicator’s for these skills are tied to the Ritualist’s current position.

Stand

• Your Soulbound Spirit stands directly before you and awaits your command to attack foes in front of you.
  • Upon activation, a symbol associated with the Soulbound Spirit will appear floating above the Ritualist’s head.

Shield

• You Soulbound Spirit appears at your side and awaits your command to defend you.
  • Upon activation, a symbol associated with the Soulbound Spirit will appear floating at the left side of the Ritualist.

Invoke

• Tie your Soulbound Spirit to target location for a short period of time in its Binding Ritual form.
  • Invoke is a carbon copy of a Spirit’s regular [Binding Ritual] presence, but with a shorter duration, longer range, no [Unbind] option and a shorter cast-time. Invoke gives the Ritualist the option to summon out a Soulbound Spirit to battle in its bound form if he or she should desire.

MANA
This is the resource unique to the Ritualist and appears as a turquoise bar located below the F-skills.

• Activating an F2 or F3 skill will consume 1000 mana.
• Since Binding Rituals are a 3-skill chain, this means that a full [Binding Ritual] skill rotation from an F-skill slot will cost 5000 mana (because [Unbind] skills cost 2000 mana to activate already).

BINDING RITUALS
Recharges

• A [Binding Ritual]‘s recharge will begin counting down immediately after the [Binding Ritual] skill is used. The rest of the chain does not interfere with the [Binding Ritual] skill’s recharge.

Using a Binding Ritual

• [Binding Ritual] skill
  • A ground-targeted skill that displays the spirit’s stats and abilities. Places a mark on the ground where cast to be triggered later.
• [Summon] skill
  • The mark placed by the [Binding Ritual] skill summons the actual spirit to the battlefield.
  • A Ritualist cannot have more than one [Binding Ritual] spirit active at the same time. If a new [Binding Ritual] is summoned to the battlefield, it will overwrite any already active [Binding Ritual], instantly destroying the old one and sending it into regular recharge.
• [Unbind] skill
  • Prematurely destroys its respective spirit for a special effect and sends the [Binding Ritual] chain into regular recharge. [Unbind] skills cost 2000 mana to activate.

BINDING RITUALS AND THEIR SOULBOUND SPIRIT COMMANDS
Spirit of Pain (Utility Skill; F2/F3 Skill) [Binding Ritual]

• Cast-time: 1 second
• Recharge: 15 seconds (30)
• Communing Binding Ritual. Bind a Spirit of Pain at target location that you can later summon. It attacks enemies with explosive bolts of energy that inflict high damage.
• Damage: 302 (0.9)
• Damage radius: 120
• Rate of attack: 2 seconds
• Attack range: 1000
• Duration: 30 seconds
• Range: 450
  • Uses a bright blue-tinted Elementalist [Fireball] projectile.

Summon Spirit of Pain [Summon]

• Cast-time: 0
• Summon your spirit to battle at the location marked by your binding ritual. This destroys any other active spirits that you currently control.

Ancestor’s Rage [Unbind]

• Cast-time: 0
• Mana cost: 2000
• Pain enters into a frenzy and attacks your current target. You gain Fury and Might. Pain dies after executing this skill.
• Increased rate of attack: 100%
• Frenzied Spirit Duration: 4 seconds
• Fury: 5 seconds
• Might (3): 15 seconds

Send Pain

• Cast-time: 0
• Recharge: 20 seconds

Rush of Pain ([Send Pain]’s chain skill)

• Cast-time: ½ second
• Pain charges target foe and blasts damage at your foe’s location.
• Blast damage: 628 (1.7)
• Blast radius: 180
• Combo Finisher: Blast
• Range: 1200
  • Pain uses the Warrior [Rush] animation. As such, it can be used without a target, but this will just send Pain charging in a forward direction. This skill’s blast hits up to 5 targets.

Stand Pain

• Cast-time: 0
• Recharge: 25 seconds

Pain Barrage ([Stand Pain]’s chain skill)

• Cast-time: 0
• Pain unleashes a flurry of blows in front of you that destroys projectiles and damages enemies in a line.
• Damage (8x): 888
• Duration: 3 seconds
• Range: 600
  • Guardian [Zealot’s Defense].

Shield of Pain

• Cast-time: 0
• Recharge: 35 seconds

Painful Riposte ([Shield of Pain]’s chain skill)

• Cast-time: 2 seconds
• Block incoming attacks. If you block a melee attack, Pain appears at your location and knocks back adjacent enemies.
• Damage: 481 (1.0)
• Knock-back: 240
• Range: 180
  • Pain uses the Warrior [Staggering Blow] animation. This attack hits up to 5 targets.

Invoke Pain

• Cast-time: ½ second
• Recharge: 15 seconds
• Bind Pain to target location.
• Duration: 15 seconds
• Range: 1200

Spirit of Shadowsong (Utility Skill; F2/F3 Skill) [Binding Ritual]

• Cast-time: 1½ seconds
• Recharge: 45 seconds (25)
• Communing Binding Ritual. Bind a Spirit of Shadowsong at target location that you can later summon. It attacks enemies with blinding bolts of energy.
• Damage: 111 (0.3)
• Blind: 2 seconds
• Rate of attack: 4 seconds
• Attack range: 1000
• Duration: 20 seconds
• Range: 450
  • Uses a grey-tinted Mesmer [Ether Bolt] projectile.

Summon Spirit of Shadowsong [Summon]

• Cast-time: 0
• Summon your spirit to battle at the location marked by your binding ritual. This destroys any other active spirits that you currently control.

Shadowsong [Unbind]

• Cast-time: 0
• Mana cost: 2000
• Destroy your spirit and blind foes at its location. You gain immunity to blindness and create a blinding smoke field at your location.
• Damage: 221 (0.5)
• Blind: 5 seconds
• Spirit blind radius: 240
• Blind immunity duration: 10 seconds
• Smoke Field duration: 3 seconds
• Smoke Field pulse: 1 second
• Smoke Field blind: 3 seconds
• Smoke Field Radius: 120
  • The blind immunity functions identically to the [Utility Goggles] boon.

Send Shadowsong

• Cast-time: 0
• Recharge: 25 seconds

Leap into Shadows

• Cast-time: ½ second
• Shadowsong leaps to target location and explodes, blasting adjacent foes with damage and leaving behind a blinding smoke field.
• Blast damage: 159 (1.0)
• Blast radius: 120
• Smoke field duration: 4 seconds
• Smoke field pulses: 4
• Smoke field blind: 3 seconds
• Smoke field radius: 120
• Combo Field: Smoke
• Range: 700
  • Shadowsong uses the Engineer [Jump Shot] animation. This skill hits up to 5 targets.

Stand Shadowsong

• Cast-time: 0
• Recharge: 30 seconds

Cone of Shadows

• Cast-time: ½ second
• Shadowsong wails, damaging and blinding foes in front of you in a cone.
• Damage (4x): 122 (0.5)
• Blind (4): 1 second
• Range: 400
  • A dark grey-tinted Elementalist [Cone of Cold].
  • Hits up to 5 targets.
  • This attack pans with the Ritualist. This means that even though [Cone of Shadows] is an independent attack performed by the spirit and the Ritualist can still use other abilities while this attack is active, the Ritualist can also steer [Cone of Shadows] while it is active by moving his or her body in any direction.

Shield of Shadowsong

• Cast-time: 0
• Recharge: 60 seconds

Shadow’s Embrace

• Cast-time: 0
• Shadowsong stealths you and nearby allies in a puff of blinding smoke.
• Blind: 5 seconds
• Stealth: 3 seconds
• Breaks stun.
• Radius: 240

Invoke Shadowsong

• Cast-time: ½ second
• Recharge: 30 seconds
• Bind Shadowsong to target location.
• Duration: 12 seconds
• Range: 1200

Spirit of Recuperation (Utility Skill and F2/F3 Skill)

• Cast-time: 1¾ seconds
• Recharge: 50 seconds (35)
• Restoration Binding Ritual. Bind a Spirit of Recuperation at target location that you can later summon. It grants regeneration to allies in the area.
• Regeneration: 3 seconds
• Spirit Pulse: 3 seconds
• Spirit Radius: 360
• Duration: 15 seconds
• Range: 450

Summon Spirit of Recuperation

• Cast-time: 0
• Summon your spirit to battle at the location marked by your binding ritual. This destroys any other active spirits that you currently control.

Rejuvenation

• Cast-time: ½ second
• Mana cost: 2000
• Destroy your spirit, creating a field that heals allies.
• Initial healing: 740 (0.25)
• Field healing: 204 (0.25)
• Field pulse: 2 seconds
• Field duration: 6 seconds
• Combo Field: Water
• Field radius: 360

Send Recuperation

• Cast-time: 0
• Recharge: 35 seconds

Preservation

• Cast-time: 0
• Recuperation leaps to target area, granting aegis to nearby allies and leaving behind a healing field.
• Aegis: 5 seconds
• Aegis radius: 240
• Field healing: 370 (0.25)
• Field pulse: 1 second
• Field duration: 3 seconds
• Field radius: 240
• Combo Field: Water
• Range: 700
  • Recuperation uses the Engineer [Jump Shot] animation. This skill affects up to 5 allies.

Stand Recuperation

• Cast-time: 0
• Recharge: 30 seconds

Preserving Retreat

• Cast-time: 0
• Gain regeneration and evade backwards, leaving behind a line of spiritual energy that foes cannot cross.
• Regeneration: 5 seconds
• Evade: 1 second
• Wall duration: 3 seconds
• Combo Field: Light
  • Elementalist [Burning Retreat]. The line created by this skill is similar to the Guardian [Line of Warding] and is created directly in front of the Ritualist just as the backward evade begins.

Shield of Recuperation

• Cast-time: 0
• Recharge: 90 seconds

Reversal of Fortune

• Cast-time: 1¼ seconds
• Rift. Create a rift of protective spiritual energy on the ground at target location. Allies within the rift convert incoming damage into healing.
• Mark duration: 2 seconds
• Mark pulse: 1 second
• Reversal of Fortune duration: 1 second
• Radius: 180
• Range: 900
  • The mark pulses twice: once on creation and once one second after creation. Each pulse grants 1 second of the Reversal of Fortune buff which converts incoming damage into healing.

Invoke Recuperation

• Cast-time: ½ second
• Recharge: 30 seconds
• Bind Recuperation to target location.
• Duration: 9 seconds
• Range: 1200

Spirit of Recovery (Utility Skill and F2/F3 Skill)

• Cast-time: 1¾ seconds
• Recharge: 60 seconds (45)
• Restoration Binding Ritual. Bind a Spirit of Recovery at target location that you can later summon. It reduces the duration of conditions placed on nearby allies. Summoning this spirit cures up to 1 condition from allies in its radius.
• Recovery: 3 seconds
• Spirit Pulse: 3 seconds
• Spirit Radius: 360
• Duration: 12 seconds
• Range: 450
  • Recovery is a unique boon that reduces condition duration on a player by 33%.

Summon Spirit of Recovery

• Cast-time: 0
• Summon your spirit to battle at the location marked by your binding ritual. This destroys any other active spirits that you currently control.
• Cure condition: 1
• Radius: 360

Spirit Light (Unbind skill)

• Cast-time: ½ second
• Mana cost: 2000
• Destroy your spirit in a blast of light that converts up to 3 conditions on nearby allies into boons.
• Spirit Radius: 360
  • All [Spirit of Recovery] condition-boon conversions use the [Well of Power] conversion table.

Send Recovery

• Cast-time: 0
• Recharge: 30 seconds

Resilient Intervention

• Cast-time: ¾ second
• Recovery leaps to target location, converting up to 1 condition on nearby allies into a boon and healing those same allies for each remaining unique condition that they would still have.
• Healing per unique condition: 370 (0.25)
• Radius: 240
• Range: 700
  • Recovery uses the Engineer [Jump Shot] animation. This skill affects up to 5 allies.
  • All [Spirit of Recovery] condition-boon conversions use the [Well of Power] conversion table.
  • Healing occurs after the condition conversion.

Stand Recovery

• Cast-time: 0
• Recharge: 35 seconds

Resilient Weapon

• Cast-time: ½ second
• Apply Resilient Weapon to allies at target area. Allies under the effects of Resilient weapon heal and cure conditions with each attack.
• Number of attacks: 3
• Healing per attack: 370 (0.25)
• Conditions cured per attack: 1
• Resilient Weapon duration: 20 seconds
• Radius: 180
• Range: 900
  • Affects up to 5 allies.
  • The Resilient Weapon buff is unaffected by boon duration modifiers.

Shield of Recovery

• Cast-time: 0
• Recharge: 60 seconds

Vengeful Remedy

• Cast-time: 1½ seconds
• Apply Vengeful Remedy to allies at target area. Allies under the effect of Vengeful Remedy recover from conditions 50% faster, and each time that an ally under the effects of Vengeful Remedy would gain a condition, foes adjacent to that ally take damage.
• Resilient Recovery duration: 5 seconds
• Vengeful Remedy duration: 5 seconds
• Vengeful Remedy damage: 179 (0.5)
• Vengeful Remedy damage radius: 180
• Radius: 240
• Range: 900
  • Affects up to 5 allies.
  • Players affected by the [Vengeful Remedy] skill will gain two buffs: one called Resilient Recovery, and 5 stacks of another buff called Vengeful Remedy.
    • Resilient Recovery: You recover from conditions 50% faster.
    • Vengeful Remedy: Each time you gain a condition, you damage adjacent foes.
  • These buffs are unaffected by boon duration modifiers.
  • Each time a player with Vengeful Remedy gains a condition, the stack decreases by 1.
  • If a player were to be immune to an incoming condition (the condition’s duration would have been reduced beyond a point of it being possible to register with a duration), [Vengeful Remedy] would still trigger its damage and the player would still lose a stack of the Vengeful Remedy buff.

Invoke Recovery

• Cast-time: ¾ second
• Recharge: 30 seconds
• Bind Recovery to target location.
• Duration: 3 seconds
• Range: 1200

Spirit of Destruction (Utility Skill and F2/F3 Skill)

• Cast-time: 1 second
• Recharge: 50 seconds (30)
• Channeling Binding Ritual. Bind a Spirit of Destruction at target location that you can later summon. It periodically damages nearby enemies while also inflicting vulnerability.
• Damage: 302 (0.9)
• Vulnerability (3): 8 seconds
• Spirit Pulse: 3 seconds
• Spirit Radius: 240
• Duration: 20 seconds
• Range: 450
  • For each second that it is alive, Destruction gains 1 stack of a unique buff called Destructive Power (each stack lasts 20 seconds). This buff is meant to quantify Destruction’s lifespan for its subsequent chain skill.
  • At specific stack intervals, Destruction’s unbind skill will automatically chain into another, more powerful version of itself. This effectively makes [Spirit of Destruction] into a 5-part chain skill if the Ritualist allows the spirit to live to its final chain skill stage.

Summon Spirit of Destruction

• Cast-time: 0
• Summon your spirit to battle at the location marked by your binding ritual. This destroys any other active spirits that you currently control.

Rupture Soul (0-4 stacks of Destructive Power)

• Cast-time: ½ second
• Mana cost: 2000
• Destroy your spirit, converting it into a ball of spiritual energy that explodes after 2 seconds. The explosion damages foes.
• Delay: 2 seconds
• Damage: 368 (1.0)
• Explosion radius: 300
• Combo Finisher: Blast
  • The ball of energy summoned by this skill is colored a bright blue.

Rupture Strong Soul (at 5 stacks of Destructive Power)

• Cast-time: ½ second
• Mana cost: 2000
• Destroy your spirit, converting it into a ball of spiritual energy that explodes after 2 seconds. The explosion damages, dazes and weakens foes.
• Delay: 2 seconds
• Damage: 481 (1.3)
• Daze: 1 second
• Weakness: 5 seconds
• Explosion radius: 300
• Combo Finisher: Blast
  • The ball of energy summoned by this skill is colored gold.

Rupture Mighty Soul (at 10 stacks of Destructive Power)

• Cast-time: ½ second
• Mana cost: 2000
• Destroy your spirit, converting it into a ball of spiritual energy that explodes after 2 seconds. The explosion damages, weakens, removes boons and launches back foes.
• Delay: 2 seconds
• Damage: 554 (1.5)
• Weakness: 5 seconds
• Boons removed: 2
• Launch: 400
• Explosion radius: 300
• Combo Finisher: Blast
  • The ball of energy summoned by this skill is colored a bright magenta.
  • The boon ripping comes before the damage and launch are inflicted.

Send Destruction

• Cast-time: 0
• Recharge: 30 seconds

Enchantment Bane Strike

• Cast-time: ½ second
• Destruction charges at target foe to land a leaping strike. This strike destroys up to three boons on its target and deals more damage based on the number of boons that it destroyed.
• Damage: 386 (1.0)
• Additional damage per boon removed: 50%
• Range: 900
  • Destruction uses the Elementalist [Fiery Rush] animation.
  • This attack hits only 1 target.

Stand Destruction

• Cast-time: 0
• Recharge: 6 seconds

Wailing Pit

• Cast-time: ½ second
• Destruction appears at target location, slams the ground and conjures of a pit of wailing spirits that damages foes and inflicts vulnerability.
• Delay: 1 second
• Damage: 279 (1.0)
• Vulnerability (1): 4 seconds
• Duration: 4 seconds
• Combo Field: Light
• Radius: 180
• Range: 1200

Shield of Destruction

• Cast-time: 0
• Recharge: 45 seconds

Bane Shield

• Cast-time: 0
• Block attacks with a shield made out of destructive energy. If you block 3 attacks, the shield explodes, launching adjacent foes.
• Explosion damage: 672 (1.5)
• Explosion launch: 300
• Explosion radius: 180
• Shield duration: 2 seconds

Invoke Destruction

• Cast-time: ½ second
• Recharge: 20 seconds
• Bind Destruction to target location.
• Duration: 10 seconds
• Range: 1200

Spirit of Wanderlust (Utility Skill and F2/F3 Skill)

• Cast-time: 1¾ seconds
• Recharge: 60 seconds
• Communing Binding Ritual. Bind a Spirit of Wanderlust at target location that you can later summon. Wanderlust damages and cripples nearby enemies while granting nearby allies swiftness and reducing slow effects on them.
• Damage: 111 (0.3)
• Cripple: 3 seconds
• Swiftness: 4 seconds
• Wanderlust: 3 seconds
• Spirit Pulse: 3 seconds
• Duration: 20 seconds
• Spirit Radius: 300
• Range: 450
  • Wanderlust is a unique boon that reduces cripple, chill and immobilize durations by 33%.
  • Wanderlust has a blatant casting animation each time that it affects its abilities on the battlefield.

Summon Spirit of Wanderlust

• Cast-time: 0
• Summon your spirit to battle at the location marked by your binding ritual. This destroys any other active spirits that you currently control.

Earthbind

• Cast-time: ¾ second
• Mana cost: 2000
• Destroy your spirit. Wanderlust becomes an enormous claw of spiritual energy. After 1 second, this claw slams the ground, knocking down foes in the area that are suffering from cripple, chill or immobilize.
• Knock-down: 2 seconds
• Radius: 300
  • The enormous claw has a blatant wind-up animation cue for its slam attack.

Send Wanderlust

• Cast-time: 0
• Recharge: 30 seconds

Mark

• Cast-time: 0
• Mark target area with a mark of wanderlust.
• Range: 900
  • This mark remains at target location for up to 20 seconds.
  • This skill chains into another skill: [Journey]

Journey

• Cast-time: 0
• Teleport to your mark of wanderlust.
  • This chain skill remains active for 20 seconds.

Stand Wanderlust

• Cast-time: 0
• Recharge: 25 seconds

Drift

• Cast-time: 0
• Immobilize foes at your location and evade backwards.
• Immobilize: 2 seconds
• Evade: 1 second
• Immobilize radius: 180
  • Elementalist [Burning Retreat].

Shield of Wanderlust

• Cast-time: 0
• Recharge: 40 seconds

Roam

• Wanderlust breaks stun and cures you of chilled, cripple and immobilize. You gain super speed, swiftness and immunity to cripple, chill and immobilize.
• Super speed: 3 seconds
• Immunity to cripple, chill and immobilize: 3 seconds
• Swiftness: 10 seconds
• Breaks stun.

Invoke Wanderlust

• Cast-time: ½ second
• Recharge: 30 seconds
• Bind Wanderlust to target location.
• Duration: 6 seconds
• Range: 1200

Spirit of Bloodsong (Utility Skill and F2/F3 Skill)

• Cast-time: 1¼ second
• Recharge: 45 seconds
• Channeling Binding Ritual. Bind a Spirit of Bloodsong at target location that you can later summon. It attacks with bolts of energy that bounce between enemies and allies, bleeding enemies and granting regeneration to allies.
• Damage: 129 (0.5)
• Bleeding (1): 5 seconds
• Regeneration: 2 seconds
• Rate of attack: 2 seconds
• Number of bounces: 4
• Attack range: 1000
• Duration: 20 seconds
• Range: 450

Summon Spirit of Bloodsong

• Cast-time: 0
• Summon your spirit to battle at the location marked by your binding ritual. This destroys any other active spirits that you currently control.

Spiritleech Fury

• Cast-time: 0
• Mana cost: 2000
• Bloodsong enters into a frenzy and attacks your current target with explosive bolts of energy that steal health for you.
• Increased rate of Spirit attack: 100%
• Frenzied Spirit Duration: 5 seconds
• Life steal damage: 251 (0.5)
• Healing per strike: 320
• Projectile explosion radius: 120
• Attack range: 1000
  • Healing from this skill is unaffected by healing power.
  • This skill uses blue-tinted [Fireball] projectiles.

Send Bloodsong

• Cast-time: 0
• Recharge: 20 seconds

Whirlrend

• Cast-time: ¼ second
• Bloodsong advances directly in front of you, slashing foes in its way. It bleeds and steals health for you from foes that it strikes.
• Life steal damage: 189 (1.0)
• Life steal healing: 204 (0.5)
• Bleeding (3): 7 seconds
• Range: 900
  • Bloodsong uses the Elementalist [Fiery Whirl] animation.

Stand Bloodsong

• Cast-time: 0
• Recharge: 0

Blood Whip

• Cast-time: ½ second
• Bleed your foe with a whip of spiritual energy. If you strike a foe that is already bleeding, you inflict torment. If you strike a foe that is already suffering from torment, you cripple your foe.
• Damage: 179 (0.5)
• Bleeding (1): 4 seconds
• Torment: 4 seconds
• Cripple: 2 seconds
  • Red-tinted Elementalist [Lightning Whip] with a different audio cue.

Shield of Bloodsong

• Cast-time: 0
• Recharge: 30 seconds

Blood Shield

• Surround yourself and adjacent allies with a blood shield aura that grants protection. Foes suffering from a condition that strike someone under the effects of Blood Shield are weakened.
• Protection: 3 seconds
• Weakness: 3 seconds
• Blood shield duration: 5 seconds
• Radius: 180
  • The weakness proc has a 1-second internal cool-down per attacker.
  • This skill effects up to 5 allies.

Invoke Bloodsong

• Cast-time: ½ second
• Recharge: 25 seconds
• Bind Bloodsong to target location.
• Duration: 10 seconds
• Range: 1200

Spirit of Empowerment (Utility Skill and F2/F3 Skill)

• Cast-time: 1¾ second
• Recharge: 50 seconds
• Communing Binding Ritual. Bind a Spirit of Empowerment at target location that you can later summon. Empowerment grants empowering boons to allies in the area. Allies gain might regularly. Allies with might gain vigor. Allies with vigor gain protection.
• Might (2): 6 seconds
• Vigor: 3 seconds
• Protection: 1 second
• Pulse: 3 seconds
• Duration: 20 seconds
• Radius: 360

Summon Spirit of Empowerment

• Cast-time: 0
• Summon your spirit to battle at the location marked by your binding ritual. This destroys any other active spirits that you currently control.

Zealous Bond (Unbind skill)

• Cast-time: ½ second
• Destroy your spirit, granting allies might, vigor and fury at its location. You gain 5000 mana.
• Might (3): 15 seconds
• Vigor: 10 seconds
• Fury: 10 seconds
• Location radius: 360

Send Empowerment

• Cast-time: 0
• Recharge: 30 seconds

Empowering Presence

• Cast-time: ½ second
• Empowerment leaps to target area and creates a circle of energy that damages foes while granting protection and might to allies.
• Damage: 286 (0.75)
• Might (1): 10 seconds
• Protection: 1 second
• Pulse: 1 second
• Duration: 4 seconds
• Combo Field: Fire
• Range: 700
  • Empowerment uses the Engineer [Jump Shot] animation.

Stand Empowerment

• Cast-time: 0
• Recharge: 45 seconds

Empowered Strikes

• Cast-time: 0
• Your attacks grant you might and inflict vulnerability. If you strike a foe with 5 or more stacks of vulnerability, you mark your target with a stored power that explodes after 3 seconds. When this mark explodes, it damages and launches the marked foe as well as any foes adjacent to the marked foe.
• Number of attacks: 5
• Might (1): 10 seconds
• Vulnerability (2): 8 seconds
• Empowered Strikes duration: 10 seconds
• Mark explosion delay: 3 seconds
• Mark damage: 672 (1.2)
• Mark launch: 200
• Mark explosion radius: 180
• Empowered Mark duration: 10 seconds
  • When this skill is cast, the caster gains 5 stacks of Empowered Strikes and 1 stack of Empowered Mark. Empowered Strikes stacks decrease with each attack. Empowered Mark stacks decrease with each outgoing attack that hits a target with 5 or more stacks of vulnerability.
  • The Thaumanova Anomaly has an attack similar to the mark’s described ability in that it can target a player with a blinking bomb “hex.” After 3 or so seconds, the bomb explodes, dealing high damage to the player. This sort of skill could be adapted for the Empowered Mark function.

Shield of Empowerment

• Cast-time: 0
• Grant aegis and a Shield of Empowerment to yourself and nearby allies. Allies under the effect of Shield of Empowerment gain might when they block an attack.
• Aegis: 5 seconds
• Shield of Empowerment (1): 5 seconds
• Might (3): 10 seconds
• Radius: 360
  • Allies affected by this skill gain 1 stack of a unique boon called Shield of Empowerment in addition to gaining aegis. This stack decreases by 1 each time that an ally with it blocks an attack and grants the might in the description when triggered.

Invoke Empowerment

• Cast-time: ¾ second
• Recharge: 30 seconds
• Bind Bloodsong to target location.
• Duration: 6 seconds
• Range: 1200

HEALING SKILLS
Mend Body and Soul

• Cast-time: ¾ second
• Recharge: 15 seconds
• Heal yourself. You also cure up to 2 conditions on yourself and nearby allies if you are within range of an active Binding Ritual Spirit.
• Healing: 4850 (0.5)
• Condition removal radius: 360
• Spirit effect radius: 600

Spirit to Flesh

• Cast-time: 3½ seconds
• Recharge: 20 seconds
• Mana cost: 1000 per pulse
• Channel a spell that converts your mana energy into health and conditions on you into boons with every pulse.
• Pulse heal: 808 (0.25)
• Pulse: ¾ second
• Duration: 4 seconds
  • Condition-boon conversions use the [Well of Power] conversion chart.
  • This skill pulses a total of 5 times over 4 seconds.

Urn of Kaolai the Protector

• Mana drain: 450 every ¼ second
• Item Spell. Channel the urn of Kaolai, the Ritualist who bested Balthazar to defend a village, gaining new powers.
  • Weapon skills: [Spiritleech Aura]; [Drop]; [Spiritleech Aura]; [Cut]; [Kekashi]; [Castling]

Drop

• Cast-time: 1 second
• Recharge: 25
• Heal yourself.
• Healing: 5,560 (0.5)

Spiritleech Aura

• Cast-time: 1½ seconds
• Recharge: 15 seconds
• Siphon spirit energy from foes in the area.
• Damage (3x): 354 (2.0)
• Range: 600
  • Turquoise-tinted [Life Transfer] with a different audio cue.
  • For each target struck by this attack, the caster gains 1 stack of a unique boon called Spirit Leech energy. Each stack lasts 40 seconds. These stacks cannot be stolen or removed by boon steal/removal effects.
  • Strikes up to 5 foes.

Cut

• Cast-time: 1¼ seconds
• Recharge: 40 seconds
• Unleash a cone of spiritual energy that damages foes and heals allies. This skill grows stronger based on how much spirit energy you have absorbed.
• 0-4 stacks of energy: Damage: 284 (1.0); Healing: 540 (0.5)
• 5-9 stacks of energy: Damage: 336 (1.3); Healing: 808 (0.5); Knock-back: 240
• 10 or more stacks of energy: Damage: 418 (1.5); Healing: 1302 (0.5); Launch: 400
• Range: 600
  • This skill strikes up to 5 allies and 5 foes respectively.
  • Using this skill consumes all active stacks of Spirit Leech energy.

Kikashi

• Cast-time: ¼ second
• Recharge: 40 seconds
• Knock back adjacent foes with a blast of spiritual energy. This skill grows stronger based on how much spirit energy you have absorbed.
• 0-4 stacks of energy: Knock-back: 240
• 5-9 stacks of energy: Knock-back: 240; Aegis: 5 seconds
• 10 or more stacks of energy: Launch: 400; Aegis: 5 seconds; Stability: 4 seconds
• Combo Finisher: Blast
• Radius: 180
  • Using this skill consumes all active stacks of Spirit Leech energy.

Castling

• Cast-time: 0
• Recharge: 40 seconds
• Reflect projectiles with an aura of spiritual energy. This skill grows stronger based on how much spirit energy you have absorbed.
• 0-4 stacks of energy: Duration: 3 seconds
• 5-9 stacks of energy: Duration: 4 seconds
• 10 or more stacks of energy: Duration: 5 seconds; Protection: 3 seconds
  • Using this skill consumes all active stacks of Spirit Leech energy.

RITES (Utility Skill sub-class #1)
Rites are associated with mana management and taking advantage of Binding Ritual Spirits through positioning and consumption.

• “Consume” is a key word associated with Rites. Skills with “consume” in their description automatically attempt to destroy all active Binding Ritual Spirits within their respective “skill radii” upon activation. Consumption can destroy multiple Binding Ritual Spirits at the same time, so the Ritualist must take care when activating these skills if there are Spirits nearby that he or she does not want to destroy.

Ghostmirror

• Cast-time: 0
• Recharge: 30
• Mana cost: 2500
• Exchange places with your active spirit within range and gain 5000 mana. If you have no active spirit, you instead teleport backwards.
• Skill radius: 900
• Backwards teleport distance: 900
• Breaks stun
  • “Skill radius” describes the “spirit within range” part of this skill’s description. In the case of [Ghostmirror], the skill will determine first whether or not there is an active Binding Ritual Spirit within 900 range (using the Ritualist as a focal point). If the skill does indeed detect a spirit, it confirms that it is owned by the spell’s caster. If it is owned by the spell’s caster, [Ghostmirror] swaps the Ritualist with the Binding Ritual Spirit. If [Ghostmirror] determines that there are no Spirits within its effetive radius that are under control of the Ritualist that activated it, it attempts to teleport that Ritualist 900 range units directly backwards (may be impeded by lack of terrain behind the Ritualist resulting in a teleport that is less than 900 range).

Soul Twisting

• Cast-time: 0
• Recharge: 30
• Mana cost: 3000
• Consume an active Spirit that you control. You gain attunement for 30 seconds. If you consumed a Spirit, you also break stun and gain 4000 mana.
• Attunement: 30 seconds
• Skill radius: 180
  • Attunement is a key word that describes a unique boon that stacks in intensity. Attunement makes your next Binding Ritual activate instantly.

Feast of Souls

• Cast-time: 0
• Recharge: 60
• Mana cost: 3000
• Consume an active spirit that you control. Break stun, gaining regeneration and vigor. If you consumed a Spirit, you gain both 4000 mana and a skill based on that Spirit’s nature.
• Regeneration: 10 seconds
• Vigor: 10 seconds
• Skill radius: 180
• Breaks stun
  • If you consume a Spirit with this skill, it chains into another skill.
  • The chain skills stay active for 10 seconds respectively and do not interfere with the cool-down of [Feast of Souls] (as is the case in the [Shadowstep] skill chain).

Channeled Strike (if you destroyed a Channeling Spirit)

• Cast-time: 1½ seconds
• Channel the fury of your destroyed spirit, inflicting heavy damage and launching your target through the air.
• Damage: 548 (1.7)
• Launch: 400
• Range: 1200
  • Movement interrupts spell cast.

Tanasen’s Sanctuary (if you destroyed a Communing Spirit)

• Cast-time: ¼ second
• You gain attunement and form a protective shelter at your location. Foes and projectiles cannot enter.
• Attunement: 30 seconds
• Sanctuary duration: 3 seconds
• Sanctuary radius: 180

Spirit Transfer (if you destroyed a Restoration Spirit)

• Cast-time: ¼ second
• Heal and convert up to 3 conditions into boons on allies at target location.
• Healing: 1200
• Radius: 240
• Range: 900
  • [Spirit Transfer]’s condition-boon conversions use the [Well of Power] conversion table.

Offering of Spirit

• Cast-time: 0
• Recharge: 30 seconds
• Bleed yourself and gain 5000 mana. If you have an active spirit nearby when you activate this skill, you then cure 3 conditions and break stun.
• Self-bleeding (5): 5 seconds
• Skill radius: 600

SIGNETS (Utility Skill sub-class #2)
Death Pact Signet

• Passive effect: You gain mana when using Summon and Unbind skills.
• Mana gain on skill use: 1000
• Active effect
• Cast-time: 2 seconds
• Recharge: 150 seconds
• Revive an ally at the target location. The next time that that ally falls below 1% hp within the next 30 seconds, you suffer extreme damage.
• Radius: 180
• Range: 1200
  • Applies a unique debuff to the revived player and the Ritualist called Death Pact. While under the effects of Death Pact, nothing happens. However, if the revived player’s hp falls below 1% of his or her total hp, Death Pact inflicts 30,000 damage to the Ritualist and then ends.

Signet of Binding

• Passive effect: You constantly regenerate extra mana energy.
• Mana gain: 100 points every ¼ second.
• Active effect
• Cast-time: ½ second
• Recharge: 20 seconds
• Teleport an active spirit under your control within range to target location.
• Skill radius: 1200
• Range: 1200

Signet of Ghostly Might

• Passive effect: When you summon a binding ritual spirit, you create a pulsing area around that spirit that damages foes.
• Damage: 185 (0.5)
• Pulse: 1 second
• Duration: 5 seconds
• Radius: 180
• Active effect
• Cast-time: ½ second
• Recharge: 45
• After 1 second, your active spirit within range emits a spiritual energy shockwave around itself that damages and launches foes adjacent to it
• Delay: 1 second
• Damage: 386 (1.0)
• Launch: 200
• Shockwave radius: 180
• Skill radius: 600
  • A wide, turquoise-tinted ring (180 radius) of energy appears around the spirit during the delay period. After the delay period, it explodes and inflicts the damage and launch described in the skill.

Signet of Spirits

• Passive effect: Your Binding Ritual Spirits spawn with more health.
• Spirit health bonus: 50%
• Active effect
• Cast-time: 0
• Recharge: 15 seconds
• Heal your active spirit in range and teleport it to your location.
• Spirit healing: 3000 (1.0)
• Skill radius: 1200

RIFTS (Utility Skill sub-class #3)
Rifts are AoE effects that influence battlefield movement and control space.

Vacuum

• Cast-time: 1 second
• Recharge: 45 seconds
• Create a circular rift at target location. After 1 second, your Vacuum pulses, attempting to pulls foes towards it. When this rift ends, it explodes, damaging foes inside of it.
• Damage: 548 (1.7)
• Pull delay: 1 second
• Duration: 3 seconds
• Pull range: 300
• Radius: 180
• Combo Finisher: Blast
• Range: 900

Spirit Flight

• Cast-time: ¾ second
• Recharge: 30 seconds
• Rift. Create a circular rift at target location. Allies that pass over it jump into the air at a great height. Enemies that attempt to enter the rift are knocked backwards.
• Knock-back: 180
• Duration: 4 seconds
• Radius: 100
• Range: 900
  • Same idea behind the vertical jumping pads in the Skyhammer (Cannon) pvp map.

Roilmaw

• Cast-time: 0
• Recharge: 60 seconds
• Rift. Create a circular rift at your location to which enemies will be teleported via your entrance portal.
• Duration: 60 seconds
• Radius: 180
• Range: 900

Hale (Roilmaw’s chain skill)

• Cast-time: 1 second
• Rift. Create an entrance portal for your Roilmaw that spawns at target location after 1 second. Foes that are either caught inside of or cross the border of this portal are stunned and teleported to the epicenter of your Roilmaw.
• Delay: 1 second
• Stun: 2 seconds
• Pull range: 300
• Rift duration: 5 seconds
• Rift radius: 180
• Range: 900
  • Uses a turquoise-tinted Tequatl vortex portal (the one that teleports players underwater). During the delay period, it simply remains stagnant. It beings churning like a typical whirlpool during its active period.

Renewing Memories

• Cast-time: 1 second
• Recharge: 75 seconds
• Create a linear rift at target location. Enemies that cross the rift have each of their Utility Skills replaced respectively by the skill Path to Renewal.
• Path to Renewal duration: 7 seconds
• Rift duration: 5 seconds
• Combo Field: Ethereal
• Range: 900
  • The skill Path to Renewal does not interfere with the cool-downs of the skills that it replaces.
  • Uses a turquoise-tinted [Temporal Curtain] appearance.
  • Upon passing through a [Renewing Memories] rift, a player will receive a unique debuff called Recalling the Past for 20 seconds. Players under the effects of Recalling the Past cannot learn the skill [Path to Renewal]. This prevents players from teleporting back into the [Renewing Memories] rift and constantly having their utilities overwritten by [Path to Renewal]. Its duration also prevents multiple Ritualists from repeatedly overwriting a player’s utilities by chaining multiple [Renewing Memories] rifts. Recalling the Past cannot be removed by condition cleanses.

Path to Renewal

• Cast-time: ½ second
• Re-learn your lost skill. You are crippled, confused and teleport back to the location at which you learned Path to Renewal.
• Cripple: 2 seconds
• Confusion (2): 5 seconds

ITEM SPELLS (Utility Skill sub-class #4)
Item Spells are bundles that function akin to Engineer Kits except that Item Spells drain certain amounts of mana energy every ¼ second while active. To this effect, they cause mana degeneration and have a soft-capped time-limit for their skills that depends on your mana energy level. Furthermore, a Ritualist cannot wield an Item Spell while in Channeler mode. If a Ritualist enters Channeler mode while actively wielding an Item Spell, that item spell will be automatically de-equipped so as to activate that Ritualist’s proper Channeler mode weapon skills. There is no limit to the number of Item Spells that a Ritualist can equip. When wielding Item Spells, Ritualists wield different weapons or items to reflect that they are using an Item Spell.

Cutlass of Glaive the Raider

• Mana drain: 700 every ¼ second
• Item Spell. Channel the weapon of Glaive the Elonian corsair, gaining new powers.
  • Weapon Skills: [Hack] —> [Slash] --> [Cyclone Slash]; [Give Chase]; [Moor]; [Broadside]; [Bombardment]

Hack (1-1)

• Cast-time: ½ second
• Hack your foe.
• Damage: 202 (0.6)
• Range: 130

Slash (1-2)

• Cast-time: ½ second
• Slash your foe.
• Damage: 202 (0.6)
• Range: 130

Cyclone Slash (1-3)

• Cast-time: ½ second
• Whirl in place and strike adjacent enemies.
• Damage (2x): 236 (0.7)
• Radius: 130
  • [Cyclone Axe]

Give Chase

• Cast-time: ¼ second
• Recharge: 8 seconds
• Leap at your foe to deliver a crippling kick.
• Damage: 202 (0.6)
• Cripple: 3 seconds
• Range: 400
  • Ranger [Kick].

Moor

• Cast-time: 0
• Recharge: 20
• Moor a summoned Spirit in the area that you control to your current location.
• Spirit effect radius: 600
• Mark duration: 15 seconds

Broadside

• Cast-time: ¼ second
• Recharge: 40 seconds
• Rift. Conjure a rift that resembles a spiritual ship wall with a protruding cannon. Foes cannot cross this rift and it lasts for 3 seconds. After 3 seconds, the wall’s cannon unleashes a powerful blast that damages foes and knocks them back.
• Duration: 3 seconds
• Broadside damage: 418 (1.0)
• Knock-back: 400
• Range: 450
  • This skill is a narrower version of [Unsteady Ground] (half the width).
  • The blast uses a cone attack pattern originating from the cannon. Foes on the other side of the wall opposite the cannon will not be hit.

Bombardment

• Cast-time: 3¾ seconds
• Recharge: 40 seconds
• Call down spiritual firebombs at the target area.
• Damage: 418 (1.3)
• Duration: 7 seconds
• Firebomb damage radius: 120
• Radius: 360
• Range: 900

Fan of Lee Sa the Lively

• Mana drain: 200 every ¼ second
• Item Spell. Channel the weapon of Lee Sa the energetic monk, gaining new powers.
  • Weapon Skills: [Wind Cutter]; [Mana Tornado]; [Whirlwind Step] —&gt [Backdraft]; [Vortex] --&gt [Spirit Pull]; [Clamorgust]

Wind Cutter

• Cast-time: ½ second
• Cast out a wheel of air that bleeds foes and returns to you.
• Damage: 118 (0.3)
• Bleeding (1): 2 seconds
• Range: 900
  • Turquoise-tinted [Vapor Blade].

Mana Tornado

• Cast-time: ¼ second
• Recharge: 8 seconds
• Cast out a tornado that grants you mana for each foe that it hits.
• Damage: 229 (0.65)
• Mana gained per hit: 800
  • Turquoise-tinted [Dust Devil].
  • Pierces targets.

Whirlwind Step (3-1)

• Cast-time: ¼ second
• Recharge: 15 seconds
• Whirl in target direction, evading attacks while crippling and blinding foes in your path.
• Damage: 179 (1.0)
• Cripple: 1 second
• Blind: 2 seconds
• Evasion: ¾ second
• Combo Finisher: Whirl
• Range: 450
  • [Whirlwind Attack]

Backdraft (3-2)

• Cast-time: 0
• Evade backwards, leaving behind a line of gusts that knock back foes. Using this ability increases the skill chain’s recharge time by 100%.
• Damage: 176
• Knock-back: 180
• Gust duration: 2 seconds
• Evasion: 1 second
  • [Burning Retreat] that leaves tiny [Sandstorm] (Radius: 90) fields in its wake instead of lines of fire. Those fields knock-back foes attempting to cross them.

Vortex (4-1)

• Cast-time: 1¼ second
• Recharge: 30 seconds
• Pull foes to you with a powerful vortex of wind.
• Range: 450
  • Old [Flamethrower Kit] [Backdraft] with a cast-time.
  • Movement interrupts cast time.
  • Produces a series of [Air Blast] animations while casting.

Spirit Pull (4-2)

• Cast-time: ½ second
• Teleport any Bound Spirit in the area that you control to your location.
• Skill range: 1200

Clamorgust

• Cast-time: 1 second
• Recharge: 45 seconds
• Rift. Create a linear rift at target location. Foes that pass through this rift have their first weapon skill replaced by the skill Manic Soul.
• Rift duration: 5 seconds
• Manic Soul duration: 3 seconds

Manic Soul

• Cast-time: 0
• You become confused and leap directly forward, venting your built up energy.
• Self-confusion (3): 5 seconds
• Leap distance: 900
  • [Rocket Boots] leap.

Longbow of Khanhei the Vengeful

• Mana drain: 700 every ¼ second
• Item Spell. Channel the weapon of Khanhei the spiteful strategist, gaining new powers.
  • Weapon Skills: [Sundering Arrow]; [Keen Arrow]; [Savage Shot]; [Spiritwalk Arrow] —> [Spiritwalk]; [Savage Shot]; [Spite]

Sundering Arrow

• Cast-time: ¾ second
• Recharge: 0
• Fire an arrow at your foe that inflicts vulnerability.
• Damage: 179 (0.65)
• Vulnerability (1): 4 seconds
• Combo Finisher: Physical Projectile (20%)
• Range: 1000

Keen Arrow:

• Cast-time: 1¼ second
• Recharge: 10 seconds
• Fire an arrow that bleeds your target. If you strike your target’s flank, you also inflict immobilize and steal health.
• Damage: 221 (0.5)
• Bleeding (3): 4 seconds
• Flank damage: 221 (0.5)
• Flank healing: 370 (0.3)
• Flank immobilize: 2 seconds
• Range: 1000

Savage Shot

• Cast-time: ¼ second
• Recharge: 20
• Fire an arrow that dazes your target. If you interrupted a skill, you also steal health from your target.
• Damage: 118 (0.3)
• Interruption damage: 317 (0.9)
• Interruption healing: 370 (0.9)
• Daze: 1 second
• Combo Finisher: Physical Projectile
• Range: 1000

Spiritwalk Arrow (3-1)

• Cast-time: ½ second
• Recharge: 20 seconds
• Fire an arrow at target location that creates a pulsing field that damages foes and teleports any active spirit within range that you control to its location. You may teleport to the arrow’s location if you wish.
• Pulse damage: 221 (0.5)
• Pulse: 1 second
• Duration: 5 seconds
• Arrow’s spirit teleport radius: 1200
• Field radius: 180
• Combo Field: Ethereal
• Range: 1000

Spiritwalk (3-2)

• Cast-time: 0
• Teleport to your arrow’s location.
  • This chain skill stays active as long as the [Spiritwalk Arrow] field is active.

Spite

• Cast-time: 1 second
• Recharge: 35 seconds
• Rift. Fire an arcing arrow at target location that explodes on impact, creating a pulsing rift that damages foes while granting healing and retaliation to allies.
• Damage: 168 (0.9)
• Pulse damage: 168 (0.9)
• Pulse healing: 176 (0.3)
• Retaliation: 1 second
• Pulse: 1 second
• Radius: 180
• Duration: 5 seconds
• Combo Field: Light
• Range: 1000
• Minimum range: 300

Blade of Vorizun the Mighty

• Mana drain: 1000 every ¼ second
• Item Spell. Channel the weapon of Vorizun the powerful and uncanny assassin, gaining new powers.
  • Weapon Skills: [Draw] —> [Slice] —>[Jagged Strike]; [Lotus Thrust] —> [Entangling Asp]; [Unsuspecting Strike] —> [Fox Fangs]; [Blades of Steel]; [Trampling Ox]

Draw (1-1)

• Cast-time: 0
• Bash your foe with the hilt of your blade.
• Damage: 179 (0.6)
• Range: 150

Slice (1-2)

• Cast-time: ½ second
• Slice your foe’s body, inflicting bleeding.
• Damage: 179 (0.6)
• Bleeding (1): 3 seconds
• Range: 150

Jagged Strike (1-3)

• Cast-time: ½ second
• Lead Attack. Slice your foe again, inflicting bleeding.
• Damage: 286 (0.86)
• Bleeding (2): 5 seconds
• Range: 150
  • Upon using a Lead Attack, all other Weapon Skills that are defined as Lead Attacks chain into their subsequent skill.

Lotus Thrust (2-1)

• Cast-time: ½ second
• Recharge: 8 seconds
• Lead Attack. Stab your foe, inflicting weakness and poison.
• Damage: 221 (0.5)
• Weakness: 3 seconds
• Poison: 5 seconds
• Range: 150

Entangling Asp (2-2)

• Cast-time: 1 second
• Recharge: 15 seconds
• Off-hand Attack. Throw a chained dagger that poisons and immobilizes your foe. If you strike a foe that is already suffering from a condition, you also inflict torment.
• Damage: 118 (0.3)
• Poison: 5 seconds
• Immobilize: 2 seconds
• Torment (3): 5 seconds
• Combo Finisher: Physical Projectile (100%)
• Range: 600

Unsuspecting Strike (3-1)

• Cast-time: ¾ second
• Recharge: 15 seconds
• Lead Attack. Leap to your foe and deliver a staggering slice. This attack deals more damage based on how much your target has.
• 100% – 90% hp: 481 (1.3)
• 90% – 50% hp: 336 (1.0)
• 50% – 0% hp: 252 (0.75)
• Range: 600
  • Warrior [Savage Leap].

Fox Fangs (3-2)

• Cast-time: ½ second
• Recharge: 10 seconds
• Off-hand Attack. Spin in place, quickly striking adjacent foes.
• Damage (2x): 236 (0.7)
• Radius: 180
• Combo Finisher: Whirl
  • Warrior [Cyclone Axe].

Blades of Steel (4-1)

• Cast-time: ¼ second
• Recharge: 30 seconds
• Finisher. Dash in a target direction, slashing foes in your path while evading attacks.
• Damage: 259 (0.7)
• Evasion: ¾ seconds
• Combo Finisher: Leap
• Range: 450
  • Warrior [Whirlwind Attack].
  • Finishers remain blocked from use until a player uses an Off-hand Attack. Using a Finisher will both re-lock any other active Finisher and flip all active Off-hand Attacks back to their Lead Attack skills.

Blades of Steel (4-2)

• Cast-time: ¼ second
• Dash in a target direction, slashing foes in your path while evading attacks.
• Damage: 259 (0.7)
• Evasion: ¾ seconds
• Combo Finisher: Leap
• Range: 450
  • This chain skill will not count as a Finisher and therefore can be used directly after the first [Blades of Steel].
  • This chain skill will only remain active for 3 seconds so as to promote fast double-usage.

Trampling Ox

• Cast-time: 1¼ second
• Recharge: 30 seconds
• Finisher. Strike your foe twice. If your foe was suffering from a condition, you also cripple and knock that foe down.
• Damage (2x): 554 (1.0)
• Cripple: 5 seconds
• Knock-down: 2 seconds
• Range: 130

ELITE SKILLS
Ritual Lord

• Cast-time: 1 second
• Recharge: 90 seconds
• Elite Rite. Any active Binding Ritual Spirits that you control die, all of your Binding Rituals instantly recharge and you gain 5 stacks of Attunement. For 15 seconds, you have no limit on the amount of Binding Ritual Spirits that you can maintain at a single time. When this effect ends, all of your Binding Ritual Spirits die.
• Attunement (5): 30 seconds
• Ritual Lord duration: 15 seconds

Staff of Togo

• Mana drain: 1000 every ¼ second
• Elite Item Spell. Channel the weapon of Master Togo, the hero of Cantha, gaining new powers.
  • Skills gained: [Rebind]; [Spirit Boon Strike]; [Claw of the Angchu] —> [Sensali Swoop]; [Call to the Spirit Realm]; [Spirit Circle]

Rebind

• Cast-time: 0
• Recharge: 0
• Teleport an active spirit within range that you control to target location.
• Skill radius: 1200
• Range: 1200

Spirit Boon Strike

• Cast-time: ½ second
• Recharge: 10 seconds
• Strike your foe with a surge of spiritual energy and heal all active allied spirits in the area around you.
• Damage: 229 (0.5)
• Spirit healing: 1302 (0.3)
• Skill radius: 1200
• Range: 1200
  • The healing radius uses the Ritualist caster as its center point.

Claw of the Angchu (3-1)

• Cast-time: 1 second
• Recharge: 60
• Mark up to 3 enemies at target location with the Claw of the Angchu.
• Radius: 240
• Mark duration: 15 seconds
• Unblockable
• Range: 1200

Sensali Swoop (3-2)

• Cast-time: ½ second
• Mark the target area with a rift. After 1 second, this rift will attempt to pull all enemies marked with Claw of the Angchu to its location.
• Delay: 1 second
• Unblockable
• Rift’s pull range: 1200
• Rift’s placement range: 1200
  • This skill is ground-targeted and has a linear “wall” targeting marker. The wall has a placement range of 1200 and serves as a targeting system for the pull. From the location at which it is placed, the wall will attempt to pull all targets within its range that are marked with the debuff “Claw of the Angchu” towards itself using the same vector as the Mesmer skill [Into the Void]. This pull has a maximum range of 1200 range units. If an enemy marked with “Claw of the Angchu” is further than 1200 range units from the epicenter of the [Sensali Swoop] AoE circle, the pull will have no effect.
  • Players can dodge the pull effect, but cannot block it.

Call to the Spirit Realm

• Cast-time: 1½ seconds
• Recharge: 120
• Summon three spirits at target location. They attack with bouncing bolts that damage enemies and grant fury to allies.
• Damage: 118 (0.3)
• Fury: 2 seconds
• Rate of attack: 2 seconds
• Number of bounces: 3
• Duration: 15 seconds
• Range: 1200
  • These spirits are summons that are not counted as Binding Ritual Spirits and therefore can exist alongside of other active Binding Rituals already under the Ritualist’s control. The spirits each have their own respective health pools.

Spirit Circle

• Cast-time: 1½ seconds
• Recharge: 150 seconds
• Create an enormous rift at your location. Allied spirit creatures inside this rift gain bound armor and retaliation. Allies within this rift regenerate mana energy and gain regeneration.
• Bound armor: 1 second
• Retaliation: 1 second
• Regeneration: 1 second
• Mana energy gained: 1000
• Pulse: 1 second
• Duration: 10 seconds
• Radius: 600
  • Bound armor is a unique boon that grants a 99% damage reduction.
  • Active Binding Ritual Spirits as well as active Soulbound Spirits (F4 profession mechanic summon) count as spirit creatures according to this skill.

Mistmarble

• Cast-time: 1½ seconds
• Recharge: 180
• Elite Rift. Create a rift at your location that replaces the weapon skills of all creatures within it.
• Pulse: 4 seconds
• New skill duration: 4 seconds
• Duration: 16 seconds
• Radius: 480
  • Skills gained: [Feint]; [Leaping Kick]; [Celestial Fist]; [Hurricane]; [Shoulder Throw]
  • This skill overwrites a player’s currrent weapon skills with the skills listed above. The new skills do not interfere with the cool-down timers of the skills that they replace. Once used, a Mistmarble skill will flip back to the respective skill that it originally replaced. Each pulse renews the Mistmarble skills. What this means is that any skills not currently replaced by a Mismarble skill will be replaced respectively (according to its position in the weapon skill bar). To this effect, a player may actively be using Mistmarble skills until most or all of them have flipped back. That player then can wait until the next pulse and have those skills replace his or her weapon skills once again. Mistmarble skills that are still in effect (have not be used) when a pulse occurs are not affected (they do not flip into themselves as this might disrupt play). Mistmarble pulses once on creation and once right as it ends in addition to the three pulses in between these two events. Having a Mistmarble skill re-applied through a pulse does not affect its cool-down timer.

Feint

• Cast-time: ½ second
• Recharge: 4 seconds
• Quickly feign a strike at your foe, dazing and confusing them.
• Daze: ½ second
• Confusion (2): 3 seconds
• Range: 130

Leaping Kick

• Cast-time: ½ second
• Recharge: 4 seconds
• Leap at your foe to deliver a crippling kick.
• Damage: 168 (1.0)
• Cripple: 2 seconds
• Range: 400
  • Ranger [Kick]

Celestial Fist

• Cast-time: ½ second
• Recharge: 8
• Unleash a flurry of punches on targets in front of you. Your first strike stuns your foe. Your final strike burns and knocks back your foe.
• Damage (8x): 808 (2.0)
• Stun: ½ second
• Burning: 3 seconds
• Knock-back: 240
• Range: 130
  • [Blurred Frenzy]

Hurricane

• Cast-time: ½ second
• Recharge: 12 seconds
• Dash in target direction, knocking back foes in your path.
• Damage: 229 (0.5)
• Knock-back: 240
• Combo Finisher: Whirl
• Range: 450
  • [Whirlwind Attack]

Shoulder Throw

• Cast-time: ¼ second
• Recharge: 15 seconds
• Daze and knock your target away from you. If you interrupted a skill, you deal extra damage launch your target instead.
• Damage: 118 (0.3)
• Knock-back: 180
• Interruption damage: 418 (1.5)
• Launch: 300
• Range: 130

CHANNELER MODE OVERVIEW
Activating Channeler Mode (base skill-set F4) changes the Ritualist’s Weapon skills and F-skills while also locking the Healing, Utility and Elite skills. While in Channeler Mode, the Ritualist suffers a mana drain of 200 mana every ¼ second which negates the Ritualist’s natural mana regneration. In Channeler Mode, the Ritualist’s Soulbound Spirit manifests itself as a ghost-like, figure at his or her side. The Ritualist fights without weapons while in Channeler Mode.

The first three weapon skills in Channeler Mode are determined by the selected Soulbound Spirit while the last two weapon skills are determined by the weapons that the player was just actively wielding. The 4 skill is determined by the off-hand weapon while the 5 skill is determined by the main-hand. Two-handed weapons provide both a 4 and 5 skill.

A Soulbound Spirit’s attack leash is 1200. To this effect, a Ritualist must stay relatively near his/her active Soulbound Spirit while in Channeler Mode in order to keep attacking in unison.

CHANNELER MODE F-SKILLS
Spirit Leap (F1)

• Cast-time: 0
• Recharge: 10 seconds
• Command your spirit to quickly leap to target area.
• Super Speed: 2 seconds
• Range: 900
  • The range indicator is tied to the Ritualist. If the spirit is not within 900 range of the point, it will run to within 900 range and then initiate the leap animation. To that effect, the spirit gains Super Speed for 2 seconds in order to assure that the leap is executed quickly even if the skill is activated while it is outside of range.
  • This skill will interrupt the spirit’s current skill queue.

Draw Spirit (F2)

• Cast-time: 0
• Recharge: 10 seconds
• Command your spirit to teleport to you.
• Range: 900
  • The range indicator is tied to the Ritualist. If the spirit is not within 900 range of the Ritualist, it will still attempt to teleport to the Ritualist, but it may just not reach the Ritualist entirely; similar to how [Infiltrator’s Signet] can be used to move 900 range to a target even if the target is outside of 900 range.

Unique Soulbound Spirit-based skill (F3)

• This skill changes depending on which Soulbound Spirit is slotted.

Leave Channeler Mode (F4)

• Fade from Channeler Mode and return to your normal skills.
  • Channeler Mode enters a 10-second cool-down upon use of this skill.

CHANNELER MODE WEAPON SKILLS
The first 3 are determined by your Soulbound Spirit while the last 2 are determined by the weapons that you are wielding when you enter Channeler mode. The 4 skill is determined by your main-hand weapon while the 5 skill is determined by your off-hand. Two-handed weapons provide both a 4 and 5 skill.

CHANNELER MODE SKILLS
Spirit of Pain
Painstorm (F3 skill)

• Cast-time: 1¼ seconds
• Recharge: 45 seconds
• Pain rains meteoric punches that plaster the area around it.
• Damage: 418 (1.3)
• Fist damage radius: 120
• Duration: 7 seconds
• Radius: 360
  • Pain casts an effective duplicate of [Meteor Shower] directly on top of its location using itself as the center of the radius.
  • This skill interrupts Pain’s current skill cue.

Pain Fist

• Cast-time: ½ second
• Punch, casting out a spiritual fist at your foe that damages foes in its path.
• Damage: 179 (0.75)
• Range: 900
  • Piercing projectile.

Pain Knuckle

• Cast-time: ½ second
• Punch, casting out a spiritual fist at your foe that damages foes in its path.
• Damage: 179 (0.75)
• Spirit fist range: 900
  • Piercing projectile.

Star Finger

• Cast-time: 1¼ seconds
• Focus mana into your finger to release a powerful, piercing bolt of energy at your foe. If this attack strikes a weakened foe, you gain might. This skill is stronger based on how long you channel it.
• ½ second channel: Damage: 229 (0.75)
• 1 second channel: Damage: 314 (1.0)
• Full channel: Damage: 352 (1.2); Weakness: 4 seconds
• Might (2): 8 seconds
• Range: 900
  • This skill visually displays a charging bolt of energy in front of the Ritualist while this skill channels. The bolt increases in size each time that the Ritualist reaches another channel threshold.
  • Piercing projectile.

Mark of Pain (2-1)

• Cast-time: ¼ second
• Recharge: 15 seconds
• Form a large fist of mana energy above target location. After 1 second, this fist slams into the ground, damaging and marking foes with the mark of pain.
• Delay: 2 seconds
• Damage: 386 (1.0)
• Mark of Pain duration: 8 seconds
• Radius: 180

Star Breaker (2-2)

• Cast-time: 0
• Pain runs to target area and smashes the ground, damaging foes. This attack burns and launches foes with the mark of pain.
• Damage: 318 (1.0)
• Damage radius: 180
• Burning: 3 seconds
• Launch: 400
• Range: 600
  • The range limiter is tied to the Ritualist. Pain will attempt to blast directly at the center of the radius reticle.
  • Pain uses a 1¼-second long hammer animation when activating its smash attack.
  • This attack interrupts Pain’s current skill cue.

Time Stop (3-1)

• Cast-time: ¼ second
• Recharge: 30 seconds
• Whirl in a target direction, immobilizing foes that you strike.
• Damage: 236 (0.75)
• Immobilize: 1 second
• Evasion: ¾ second
• Combo Finisher: Whirl
• Range: 450

Star Crash (3-2)

• Cast-time: 0
• Pain slides forward, burning and blasting foes at the target location.
• Blast damage: 504 (1.2)
• Blast burning: 3 seconds
• Blast radius: 180
• Range: 600
  • The range limiter is tied to the Ritualist. Pain will attempt to blast directly at the center of the radius reticle. This may lead Pain to reposition itself if it is too close to the target area when this attack is called.
  • This attack interrupts Pain’s current skill cue.

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Alright, that’s all I’ve got for now. Channeler Mode would be next, but I spent forever just retooling what I’ve posted already. I’ll maybe try to get it in in some time, but the jist of Channeler Mode is making one’s Soulbound Spirit into a pet that appears on the field for a period of time and fights with you in high-damage melee against an enemy. Channeler mode can also be a powerful support tool by means of supportive spirits such as Recovery and Recuperation, so the F4 isn’t necessarily always related to raw damage.

I admire your huge effort you put into this, it got so long that I honestly didn’t read every skill yet, but I wanted to give you a positive feedback with a small critique right now.

Your concept of the Ritualist would fit very well to Guild Wars 2, I never understood many people here arguing about how a Ritualist would not fit into GW2 because the game already had of some kind of “summoned” things like Guardian’s ghost weapons, Ranger’s spirits, Engineer’s turrets or Necromancer’s minions. In GW1 we also had many summonings, still allowing the existance of a Ritualist. The Ritualist’s spirits are very special in their way, and they provide totally different mechanics.

If Ritualists ever come to the game, only in a Cantha expansion for sure. Lore-wise I don’t see any problem at all, they would fit perfectly and be a great addition to the game.

Now talking about your suggestions: I can tell you that it got a well thought, very elaborated and cool design, the best Ritualist suggestion here so far! Love the effort and how awesome the concept got. That’s almost exactly how I imagined a Ritualist to work in Guild Wars 2. Kinda makes me want to play it already!

I only see one thing to be critized, the “Mana” mechanic. Mana was banned very early in the development of GW2, and the no mana mechanic with skills having cooldowns only is a very strong character of the game which ArenaNet would never change in the sense of adding some kind of “mana” source, doesn’t matter if invisible or not, they would never have “Mana” as a word in the game. Reworking that would make this suggestion perfect in my opinion.

Cheers!

Edit: I read every skill now. I only see some balance issues on some skills but who cares, hand this to ArenaNet and let them have this to work on, for real!! We want Cantha as an expansion in about a year, with a Ritualist as new playable profession.

Thanks a lot for your support, Carlos.4371. To be brief, I also agree with your opinion about how Ritualists are by no means irrelevant in the lore of Guild Wars 2, which is really the thesis behind my meager lore introduction at the beginning of this thread.

As for:

Carlos.4371:

I only see one thing to be critized, the “Mana” mechanic. Mana was banned very early in the development of GW2, and the no mana mechanic with skills having cooldowns only is a very strong character of the game which ArenaNet would never change in the sense of adding some kind of “mana” source, doesn’t matter if invisible or not, they would never have “Mana” as a word in the game. Reworking that would make this suggestion perfect in my opinion.

I can understand the aversion to a mana mechanic ala GW1 energy. However, I still defend my personal design as a means to govern three potentially very powerful profession mechanics simultaneously without destroying the their ability to perform on the battlefield. As seen, the only things that really consume mana are the active [Unbind] skills, using an F2 or F3 skill, wielding an [Item Spell] or lingering in [Channeler Mode]. To this effect, there isn’t really a lot of stuff constantly eating up mana energy at all.

Furthermore, I mean, I guess mana could be removed, but then it really sort of cheapens [Channeler Mode] without it being linked to a hard resource. It’d be even shallower than [Death Shroud] which actually requires some sort of effort to charge. Furthermore, even if it were removed on all accounts except for just [Channeler Mode], it would still manage to cheapen the profession mechanic by making it a sort of free-bee thing that no Ritualist would have to worry about managing or charging except maybe after having just used it.

Even further, although I haven’t gotten to them yet, I think it would be a good idea to put some mana management skills even on the weapon skills.

The goal with mana being an energy resource for the Ritualist is to make the Ritualist make choices with his or her skills.

• “Do I really go all out in [Channeler Mode] and risk not being able to use [Unbind] skills directly afterward?”
• “Do I invest most of my time into [Item Spells] knowing that I may not have a lot of Soulbound Spirit hp if I should enter [Channeler Mode]?
• “Do I go spirit spammer route and really capitalize on [Unbind] skills and maybe leave [Channeler Mode] and [Item Spells] by the wayside?

In essence, the goal is sort of what Necromancer has going with [Death Shroud] except it would be as if [Death Shroud] had multiple aspects. Ritualists can specialize via their profession mechanic, spirits and item spells. The goal with mana is to sort of funnel a lot of energy into one or two rather than giving Ritualists full command of all of them simultaneously. I suppose having only 3 utility skills would sort of help to limit this too.

In the end, removing mana would require a lot of rebalancing and skill changes. I guess it could be possible, but it’d require a lot of work. The only way I could see that happening would be if someone actually told me to really help design the Ritualist for GW2. Then the gloves would be off for a round-table discussion.

I liked ritualist in GW1. This is a good read as well.

However, I will have to staunchly disagree with everything you just said on account of your name.

I love the effort you put into this, it’s neat to speculate.

Too bad ArenaNet already said they have no plans to return to Cantha or Elona or to make an actual expansion… I want the original GW1 devs back (not that I want GW2’s devs fired or anything, but their absence is very visible in the game. I mean come on, you guys destroyed the original Lighthouse in Lion’s Arch like it was nothing!). Those guys made such a great game. It’s a shame they’re not with ArenaNet anymore.

Chris RJ.1843:

I liked ritualist in GW1. This is a good read as well.

However, I will have to staunchly disagree with everything you just said on account of your name.

It was a hastily-made mistake during BWE 1. It seemed a lot more passable 1 and a half years ago, and I was going to make an asura mesmer by the same name because it would technically be within lore bounds. Although I did wise up to making such a character name before the game even released, now I get to sit with this account name forever.

I guess that I can understand your initial reaction, though.

Zera Allimatti.2541:

Too bad ArenaNet already said they have no plans to return to Cantha or Elona or to make an actual expansion…

That’s why I feel that current lore can be understood and developed in such a manner to bring the Ritualist to Tyria via the Crystal Desert. Also, I share your feelings about the current GW2 team. It really is rather distressing to see this game stagnate the way that it has over the past many months from both a lore and a game-play stand-point.

Swagg.9236:

Chris RJ.1843:

I liked ritualist in GW1. This is a good read as well.

However, I will have to staunchly disagree with everything you just said on account of your name.

It was a hastily-made mistake during BWE 1. It seemed a lot more passable 1 and a half years ago, and I was going to make an asura mesmer by the same name because it would technically be within lore bounds. Although I did wise up to making such a character name before the game even released, now I get to sit with this account name forever.

I guess that I can understand your initial reaction, though.

Haha just joking mate. I suppose if used in parody it is actually alright? idk… Seriously you put a lot of thought into this. It also stings a little to see community members put gems like this together (or the release calendar one fella put out) and compare it to what we get in game.

I liked the Rit a lot. The trouble is that Anet’s “no healer” mindset likely wont see them back in action. As far as Cantha and Elona go, they have backpedaled on this. Don’t recall which interview but they are choosing to remain silent on the idea. Also saying they haven’t ruled out expansions altogether.

Even if they don’t do a traditional expansion (which they should), WP has some excellent ideas about how to make it work. Although a traditional expansion would be great for the community. Think about it. What if they put a cryptic post on the website about some massive expansion in a year? Doesn’t even need to be a new continent (Tyria still has a lot to explore). Speculation would drive up excitement and the community would be back out exploring. Kind of how an MMO should be.

the reason why they don’t release cantha is because both korea and china did not like the idea of having an expansion that mixes both country’s cultural buildings as one, i honestly don’t see why the give a f*** because they already made it and it’s their own design and property….

You could turn the “mana” pool into a sort of Life Force-esque design. Maybe make it so that it regenerates itself over time rather than having to kill things and such to gain it

ArmageddonAsh.6430:

You could turn the “mana” pool into a sort of Life Force-esque design. Maybe make it so that it regenerates itself over time rather than having to kill things and such to gain it

It already passively regenerates at a rate of 200 points every 1/4 second. To this effect, Ritualists always start out with full mana (base 12,000; base amount of mana can be increased via Spawning Power trait-line, but I haven’t gotten to that).

Swagg.9236:

It already passively regenerates at a rate of 200 points every 1/4 second. To this effect, Ritualists always start out with full mana (base 12,000; base amount of mana can be increased via Spawning Power trait-line, but I haven’t gotten to that).

In that case, maybe change the name to something less “mana-y”?
I mkean if it worked kinda the same as Life Force in that:

1) Slowly gained
2) Used for skills

Then i dont see a problem with it.

What astounding detail in this post haha kudos.
My main was a ritualist in GW1, I absolutely loved the class and its mechanics. My only worry would be that the concept of summoning spirits and then sending them at the enemy would be branching too close to mesmer’s phantasms. Still I love the idea and will always endorse a ritualist profession being developed. Well done for taking the time to plan it out so thoroughly. Its a shame we won’t be seeing any new professions for a long while yet

ArmageddonAsh.6430:

Swagg.9236:

It already passively regenerates at a rate of 200 points every 1/4 second. To this effect, Ritualists always start out with full mana (base 12,000; base amount of mana can be increased via Spawning Power trait-line, but I haven’t gotten to that).

In that case, maybe change the name to something less “mana-y”?
I mkean if it worked kinda the same as Life Force in that:

1) Slowly gained
2) Used for skills

Then i dont see a problem with it.

I chose the word “mana” because it’s generalized enough to serve as the name for an energy mechanic while remaining exotic enough to describe a sort of force derived from an emphatic connection to the Mists. I mean, I guess I could rename it, but I just don’t really see the fuss in the name.

Dante.8456:

What astounding detail in this post haha kudos.

Thanks for the support.

Dante.8456:

My only worry would be that the concept of summoning spirits and then sending them at the enemy would be branching too close to mesmer’s phantasms.

If you’re talking about the [Send] mechanic, then I guess I could maybe see your worry. However, I still think that there are enough differences between the two mechanics ([Send] and Mesmer phantasms) to differentiate the two. For starters, [Send] is often on a large cool-down compared to a typical Mesmer phantasm (especially after they buffed the Illusionists Celerity buff). Furthermore, it only strikes once instead of producing an NPC that lingers about and keeps attacking. Moreover, while phantasms are almost exclusively damage-related, [Send] spirits have a lot of supportive options depending on which Soulbound Spirit that you decide to slot. In the end, [Send] is not only more versatile than phantasms are on the whole, but it’s also limited in scope by the availability of free F-skill slots depending how one wants to play the Ritualist (soulbound spirit commands or just load up the F2 and F3 with binding rituals) and which Soulbound Spirit that a Ritualist chooses.

I think it’s more flavorful than phantasms, but I guess I’m biased there.

Dante.8456:

Its a shame we won’t be seeing any new professions for a long while yet

Yeah. However, the reason I decided to finally make this post was because I wanted to have out a concrete idea for the Ritualist before ANet did.

I updated the little lore introduction post at the beginning of the thread. I also wanted to try to clarify how [Send] works a bit better. Since the spirits are supposed to burst out from the Ritualist’s body, the range limits and line-targeting are supposed to behave as if the Ritualist him/herself were using the skill.

This post has really seen a lot of work. Seems like you’ve almost done all the work for Anet. With the skill ideas you suggest, Ritualist will be viable in both support and damage (direct and condition) when equipped with right skills.

I guess that the Item Spells which consume mana overtime are slowed by natural mana regeneration. You said it regenerates 200 per every 1/4 seconds but the Fan of Lee Sa the Lively costs the same as natural regenerations, so guess it could be hold infinitely. Or even regenerate same time with the passive Signet. Definitely better than just ‘casnt-n-drop’ function in original Guild Wars.

I was bit confused of some Rifts replacing enemy skills, but it seems like a nice idea.
The spirits are well thought and the special abilities of soulbound spirit gives extra spice. Would like to hear more of the Channeler mode and it’s skills.

Omfg I love this thread. I’ve always been a fan of the ritualist in GW1 (Spirit Spam build ftw) and would love to see them make a return to GW2.

I really like the item spells (perhaps an item you can hold which gives you a long duration of retaliation?) and rifts which cause AOE damage. Love, love, love it.

Full support

P.S. love the charr ritualist. You must have gone to a lot of effort drawing that! :O

Edit: I agree with Carlos, ditch the mana mechanic and Anet could work on balancing the skills and everything then would be perfect. I want to play ritualist in GW2 now!!! :-(

Ele Lady.6103:

This post has really seen a lot of work. Seems like you’ve almost done all the work for Anet. With the skill ideas you suggest, Ritualist will be viable in both support and damage (direct and condition) when equipped with right skills.

That’s my hope.

Ele Lady.6103:

I guess that the Item Spells which consume mana overtime are slowed by natural mana regeneration. You said it regenerates 200 per every 1/4 seconds but the Fan of Lee Sa the Lively costs the same as natural regenerations,

That was actually the idea behind [Fan of Lee Sa the Lively]. It was actually supposed to be the mana-management [Item Spell].

Ele Lady.6103:

I was bit confused of some Rifts replacing enemy skills, but it seems like a nice idea.

My only worry would be the coding issues with replacing select skills without disturbing others. We have [Moa Form] that proves that it’s possible to forcibly change an opponent’s skills, but the effect isn’t actually a targeted skill replacement, but rather a full shake-up of a player’s skills.

Ele Lady.6103:

Would like to hear more of the Channeler mode and it’s skills.

Coming soon if I can find the time. I already have more or less 1 of the spirits (Pain) finished. It’d really be a bit of work to really polish the whole mode off, though.

Zaoda.1653:

Edit: I agree with Carlos, ditch the mana mechanic and Anet could work on balancing the skills and everything then would be perfect. I want to play ritualist in GW2 now!!! :-

I’ve had this discussion already in this thread. I really do feel that removing or drastically changing the way that the Ritualist mana mechanic works at this stage would really cheapen a lot of the skills that involve mana—especially the F-skills. Since I don’t plan on making any weapon skills cost mana, the majority of Ritualist skills that they would use regularly wouldn’t be hindered by the mana mechanic. In fact, I’m not opposed to designing weapon sets with 1 or 2 skills that help regenerate mana faster. The main goal of having the mana mechanic is to prevent a Ritualist from spamming all of his/her capabilities with impunity (channeler mode, unbind skills, item spells). I really do think that it regenerates passively fast enough, there are enough skills that provide mana, and there aren’t enough skills that consume vast amounts of mana on a regular basis that it won’t be a big issue to manage mana in general.

Zaoda.1653:

P.S. love the charr ritualist. You must have gone to a lot of effort drawing that! :O

If you’re talking about the bottom picture in the first post, that’s actually supposed to be a tengu. Although, charr ritualist is pretty cool.

Here’s a +1 to bringing a Ritualist to GW2.

Rit was my main in GW1 and I’ve tried (and failed) to make a Ritualist substitute in GW2.

EDIT: lol Swagg I realised I +1 you over 7 months ago for your other posts on the ritualist. Glad your still here, still playing and still committed to the Ritualist.

respect for ur effort

i wonder how u came to those numbers
are u balancing power already or did u focus on fun?

What armour type do you want the Ritualist to equip in Guild Wars 2?