Guild Wars 2

Pretty funny build that utilizes everyones not-so-favorite trait, Unholy Sanctuary. Today I 1v1’ed my friend who was in his very aggressive Ranger build, and it took him 9 minutes to kill me, and only because I accidentally exited DS immediately after US activated it. Oh and I accidentally had epidemic on my skill bar instead of corrupt boon. So that didnt exactly help.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fRAQNAW7Yjc0UebtN+0webCihS6T4CG3IDgGgyqIKA-TpRAABsVGAgHAQ0XAgf2fojDCgHHBAA

I tried a build not long ago that focused on siphoning wells, but also had Unholy Sanctuary. Had a hard time actually killing other players with it, but I guess that’s not the point… I could heal like crazy. ^^

I dunno about that build but if you are set on using something like that I would change up your sigils on your staff since your are purely sustain I cant see you killing anything other than a condi engi or a mesmer with no condi removal I would go with another energy sigil and either frailty for a cover condi…. maybe generosity… or just another geomancy.

Unholy sanctuary is the only trait Ive been considering totally essential… with good life force accumulation its exceptionally strong, it really is 2 life bars. Its not about the heal, which is just enough to basically let you eat whats left over from conditions when you switch back without dying immediately, but that you will never get caught by a spike and can play much more aggressively.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fRAQNBIhZakjmebrtx1G2bTgMUS3BRw2GZAcAU2ERBA-TpBCABAcCAy4QAwxRAAn9HAvMQePAAA
This is the build I’ve been using in PvP. Not quite as strong on the survivability front, but it is a whole lot more durable than people would expect from an Assassin’s amulet build. Good variations include using Weakening Shroud instead of Reaper’s Precision. I have had numerous fights where Unholy Sanctuary kicked in multiple times without me leaving combat, so my opinion of the trait has drastically improved since its release.

Pros:

• Very significant damage
• Very durable due to high Protection uptime, very high life force gain, and decent healing (and Unholy Sanctuary).
• Perma-Swiftness means I can cross between objectives well
• Very difficult to escape without blowing teleports
• Very high control with multiple interrupts and a very long AoE Daze (3.6 seconds). Also has good ability to control an opponent’s position.
• Greatly extended time in Death Shroud, simply by entering right after Locust Swarm is cast.

Cons

• Virtually no boon removal, which is the main reason people want Necromancers on their team. Can replace Spectral Grasp with Corrupt Boon to aid in this, but the tradeoff is being easier to escape and losing a long-range interrupt (Spectral Grasp is really good at preventing stomps).
• Can be kited easily if they dodge Dark Path/Spectral Grasp
• No disengage. If you get outnumbered, your best bet is to just try to survive as long as possible to contest the point. Reaper’s Protection helps here, as does Spectral Wall and Locust Swarm
• No Stability. Very prone to disables.
• No burst damage. Fights tend to take a while, but you do have the tools to force your opponent off the point.

Something I’ve learned is that people are likely to stunbreak your Fears, then have nothing for your massive Daze or Flesh Golem knockdown.

^^^

slot a knights amulet and swap spectral wall for the signet of spite and you’d have virtually same damage (>90%) with comparatively x2 protection permanently (which cant be stripped).

Damage loss would be higher due to losing the Ferocity and Precision. Spectral Wall is used for much more than just the Protection, it also provides great zone control. Weaving in and out of it as you fight helps prevent a lot of damage to you from melee opponents.

Or you can drop it to prevent enemy ressers/stompers. Or delay orb runners on Spirit Watch.

Spectral Wall is stupidly versatile, yet highly underused outside of EotM.

Well then swap the rune of the grove for rune of the pack alternately, and do even be more offense (I think) with basically double perma protection.

(btw I include a calc for ferocity and precision).

edit: nm its 5% less damage overall but significantly more defense. Worth it imo. And you get more fury which would probably close the gap.

Dropping Rune of the Grove cuts the Protection uptime to below perma-Protection , even when below 50%. You can substitute Rune of Earth for Grove, but other than that “double perma-protection” doesn’t work.

By double perma protection I mean your toughness is so high its equivalent to almost a double application of protection, compared to your spec. Not quite mathematically but certainly better than 33% less damage… So you dont even have to worry about protection as a buff, but if you did have that buff on too it would be crazy better.

Sry if that was confusing :P