Forum Link Code:[url=]Me-N Soul Failure[/url]
This is a PvP build designed to make other foes impotent for
long periods of time while also doing decent damage. It is very
strong against foes that use mostly attacks, and it is decent
against most casters, but it is not very effective against Monk
primaries.
Attributes and Skills
Equipment
Use Hale and of Fortitude mods on
a Curses staff and a Rune of Superior Vigor to get your maximum
hitpoints up to 590. Use whatever armor you prefer with Runes of
Minor Fast Casting and Minor Inspiration Magic.
Usage
- Cast the main combo of Spirit of Failure, Price of Failure, and
Parasitic Bond on attackers, such as Warriors, Assassins, and Rangers.
- Cast the secondary combo of Wither and Parasitic Bond on
casters, such as Mesmers,
Necromancers,
Elementalists, and Monks. (Note: Monks should be a low priority for this
build.)
- Rotate from target to target continuing to maintain the two
combos on your foes.
- Use Inspired Hex on particularly damaging hexes, and then use
those hexes against your foes. Inspired Hex can also be used for
energy management.
- Use Drain Enchantment as your main energy management skill.
It's also great for removing enchantments, such as Illusionary Weaponry or Elemental
Attunement, that are vital to the builds of your foes.
- Use Ether Feast when you're in trouble and need a quick boost
in health.
- If 1 attacker focuses on you, make sure that the main combo is
active on him. You can then ignore his presence for all intents and
purposes, and immediately cast the secondary combo on the foe of
your choice.
- If 2 attackers focus on you, make sure to cast the main combo
on at least one of them right away. If both of them have the main
combo on them, you can ignore them until it's time to refresh the
combo on them. If only one of them has the main combo on them, it
is advisable to flee until your main combo is recharged. At that
point, you can either continue to flee, or attempt to cast the main
combo on the second foe.
- If 3 attackers focus on you, make sure to cast the main combo
on at least one of them right away, and then flee until at least 1
of the attackers changes focus.
- If there are no attackers, the main combo will be largely
unnecessary, and you can focus on spamming the secondary
combo.
- Both combos should be spammed as frequently as possible, using
Inspired Hex and Drain Enchantment for energy management when
necessary.
Counters
- There are several Monk skills that can counter this build
effectively: Contemplation of Purity, Convert Hexes, Purge Signet,
and Holy Veil.
Purge Signet has stiff energy penalties, Contemplation of Purity
can only be used on the caster, and Holy Veil needs to be
maintained to have the greatest effect against this build, which
means that only Convert Hexes is a truly useful counter. Convert
Hexes, however, has a 20 second recharge, whereas the main combo of
this build has only a 10 second recharge, so Convert Hexes can only
counter this build up to a point.
- Energy denial builds are marginally effective against this
build, since this build has skills to quickly regain energy.
- Interruption builds are fairly effective against this build,
unless you manage to get a combo off on them first while the focus
is elsewhere. It may be desireable to add a superior rune of Fast
Casting if you're having problems being interrupted. Another
alternative is to take Mantra of Concentration or Mantra of
Resolve to prevent interrupts.
- Certain hexes such as Backfire could potentially cause problems for this
build, but in general, this build can afford to ignore them or wait
them out.
Variants
- Spiteful Spirit can be used in place of
Wither, but it's more expensive, has a shorter duration, and
severely discourages the target from attacking (which is an effect
already caused by Spirit of Failure and Price of Failure). Wither
is also more useful against casters than Spiteful Spirit.
- Inspired Hex and Drain Enchantment are the two optional
skills.
- Power Drain
can be used for extra energy management and the ability to
interrupt.
- Soul Barbs
can be used for extra damage capabilities.
- Mantra of Concentration or Mantra of
Resolve can be used to protect against interrupts.
- Plague
Touch can be used to protect against harmful conditions and
transfer them to foes.
- Malaise can be used
in combination with Wither to completely shut-down the natural
energy regeneration of casters.
- Of the 5 left-over attribute points, put 3 into Illusion Magic,
add a minor rune of Illusion Magic and equip Distortion. An attacker
hexed with Spirit and Price of Failure will then miss you with an
86% chance, giving you a net 1 energy for each miss.
- Reckless
Haste has great synergy with the Failure hexes, increasing rate
of attack and adding a further 43% chance to miss (68% miss chance
in total).
Mesmer / Necromancer 
