Alrightso, yes, Minions are still idiots. It’s so hard to find good help. However, that doesn’t matter if you build for it right, and that’s what I attempted to do here.
http://dulfy.net/gw2traits#build=AgQEvAXoA1Q~
What we have here is the build I’ve been trolling people in sPvP with. In Blood Magic, you take quickening thirst because this build works best with a power setup, and that works best with Daggers. Vampiric presence increases the number of life siphons you and your minions are churning out. Transfusion, on the other hand, is meant to keep your minions alive, as any time you use Shroud Skill #4, you’ll start healing yourself (through lifesteals) and your minions (through transfusion) and if you’re smart about timing, you can even rescue downed allies.
In Soul Reaping, you’re just trying to get as much power as possible, and death perception really keys into that. No matter what, even in full tank gear, Death Perception will give you a minimum of 50% crit chance. Vital Persistence and Speed of Shadows are mostly just there to lower cooldowns in your shroud to a much more managable level, and to make it easier to maintain death shroud in high-risk environments.
Death Magic? Well, it’s minion master build, what did you expect? The traits are all there to increase the efficacy of your minions. There’s a choice here, though, and it’s dependant on how you like to play – I personally prefer Death Nova, as the minions do die and there’s no getting around that, so making them still be dealing life siphons and some extra damage even after they’ve been exploded feels important to me. Unholy Sanctuary, on the other hand, is a useful “Oh Crap” button that automatically activates if you’re about to bite it, and makes the build even more survivable.
Soldier stats, Runes of Melandru. Weapon set should be Dagger/Warhorn to maximize your power DPS, make use of Quickening Thirst, and have both a long-lasting daze an AoE that ticks for ten seconds to also give you more lifesteal. I currently am using Bloodlust and Water for sigils, but I’m sure someone’s going to tell that’s not as good as something else. All your skills should be fitted with minions – yes, this even includes the crappy Blood fiend in your healing slot. As one of the ranged minions, I find it actually survives a lot longer than the others, for the most part. The big choice for your utility skills is whether you want an Flesh Wurm or Bone minions – Flesh wurm gives you an escape teleport. Bone Minions give you extra damage and extra toughness due to counting as more minions on the field and, well, exploding. the choice is yours, but flesh golem, bone fiend, and shadow fiend are all basically required.
For playstyle, the idea is simple – when you see someone, you pull up a locust swarm and run over to start stabbing them, which will get your minions moving on them as well. If your minions are being AoEd, move into death shroud and use life transfer to proc transfusion, healing them back up. It’ll also likely make the enemy think you’re a priority target when they should be focusing on your minions, given each minion also adds into your toughness. This build excells at dueling because you’re so hard to hurt, and you regen when you are hurt, and it can even give some of the really OP builds currently in the meta (looking at you, grenade engi) a tough run for their money.
It does have a couple weaknesses though. First and foremost, if your minions are on cooldown, you’re lost a massive chunk of toughness and will feel it when people start smashing your face in. this generally only happens during AoE heavy fights or in teamfights, neither of which this build handles well. It’s tough enough on several levels that one-shot rogues are barely a blip on the radar, while Guardians and Elementalists are easily the worst matchup you can get, but can be worked with if you’re diligent. Just something to keep in mind.
Give it a try sometime. It’s hilarious watching people run to their doom trying to kill you.