In the future I’ll be using this post to track all of my videos, but I’ll also update the Phantasmal Boons build whenever I change something
Videos of the build in action:
Bad Company (This is more of a Guild video than anything, but I’m using the build in it).
The Good and the Bad (Not the best fights, but you can watch me lose and learn from it!)
Out Of My League – A relatively long 1vX fight using the solo version of my build.
Build Discussion – Coming soon!
I was tired of being forced into shatter in order to feel like I was bringing any real benefit with my group, so after being inspired by various other posts and some experimentation I came up with a Phantasm build that brings a lot to a group, while is able to easily switch a few things and be extremely effective solo.
Here’s the build for groups: http://tinyurl.com/phantasmal-boon-v2
And here’s the build solo: http://tinyurl.com/phantasmal-boon-solo-v2
It works by summoning phantasms, stacking boons, and sharing them with your party. I often found myself getting Regen, Protection, Aegis, Vigor, Retal, Fury, 9-25 stacks of Might (depending on if my interrupts proc) and 2 random boons (obviously doubles since just about every boon is covered) with rather long duration and sharing them with the whole party.
Gear/Food
My armor and weapons are a mix of Valk/Knights/Zerker/Cavalier. You can mix and match as you see fit, but I’ve found this gives me a very nice balance of high damage and good survivability. The runes are 2x Hoelbrak/2x Water/2x Monk. This gives me 60% boon duration and 80% might duration, which means the massive stacks of might I share will last even longer (I explain how to stack these later).
For food I use usually Might on Dodge, but sometimes I use -%Condition Duration if I’m solo. Having conditions duration almost halved is great when I’m solo because I don’t always have Null Field, but in a group the extra dodges and might to share are invaluable. I’m using Sharpening Stones for extra Power.
How it works
My goal is to do lots of damage and spread lots of boons. Upon engaging a group, I’d usually do something like this:
1) Pop Chaos armor (Prot/Regen/Swiftness if hit)
2) Drop a Chaos Storm on the group and stand in it (Aegis/Retal/Swiftness and 5 stacks of might per interrupt)
3) Auto attack for a few seconds for Might/Fury
4) Right before Chaos Storm ends, Phase Retreat for extra Chaos Armor
5) Pop Decoy (Prot/Regen/Aegis) and swap to Greatsword**
6) Summon iZerker (Vigor on crits)
7) While running towards enemy (to ensure you get the bounces), use Mirror Blade for 3 stacks of might.
8) Use Illusionary Wave for another 5 stacks of might per interrupt.
At this point you should have Protection, Regeneration, Swiftness, Aegis, Fury, Vigor, Retaliation and, of course, tons of might. The amount of stacks and duration can vary quite a bit because of the inherent randomness, but rest assured it’s quite a bit.
9) Pop signet to share every boon in the game, and continue to DPS/destroy your opponents.
**It’s important that you decoy BEFORE swapping to Greatsword, because you want a staff clone for the extra boons on either you or your party members. Also, make sure you’ve stopped auto attacking so that those staff bounces don’t break your stealth.
With this build I bring a lot to the group between the buffs, null field, and mass invis, and I still do lots of damage (and collect lots of bags!) thanks to the iZerker.
Solo Play
I also solo roam quite a bit, so I planned the build around it’s ability to easily swap things out for solo play. Here are the changes I make when I’m roaming.
Null Field – This becomes Arcane Thievery, since it melds well with the traits I switch for solo play. This is also the skill I swap out if I need a situational utility.
Signet of Inspiration – This becomes Blink. It’s just too good solo not to have.
Traits:
Domination VI —-> Domination III – Pretty self explanatory. 15% damage is better solo, 9 more seconds of group buffs is better in a party.
Dueling III —--> Dueling I – The extra range on Blink and Arcane Thievery is great survivability solo.
Chaos IV —--> Chaos III – Also works well with both Blink and Arcane Thievery.
Chaos VIII —--> Chaos X – Bountiful Interruption is great in groups, but the reduced cooldown on Staff seems much stronger when running solo.
Enjoy!
Tarnished Coast [Crit]
(edited by Zumi.6384)