[Witch Hunter] Builds etc

[Corrban]

this is my current build. it's based on the anti-tank/healer template in the link I posted above:
http://www.wardb.com/career.aspx?id=9#5:32:15:41000:0:0:25:777:521:8121 :8134::::8146:8147:8148:630

Feel free to comment. and perhaps post your builds as well. I know baz has made a few comments already, I repost them here to increase the pressure on Ventai ;)
And as for damage output, I would make the following observations:

* Spec. You probably already have Burn Away Lies and probably already spam Torment (even when you're not behind your opponent). If you don't, then respec and watch your damage output improve.
* Gear. Stack strength. No, really, stack strength! Even with my terribly restricted playtime, I've managed to easily get trash drops, auction house items and +str talismans to push my strength up past 600 (I think I'm around 620 atm). Strength is what determines our damage output, so get it as high as you can (I think it should be possible for us to figure out a gear template that gives us around 900 strength without too much trouble). Once you're happy with your strength, start pumping up your +crit bonus.
* Tactics. Equip those that improve damage output (duh!). This can either be via boosting your strength stat (Brute Force) or by pumping up the speed that you build accusations (Flowing Accusations and another one that I don't remember that has a 50% chance to grant you an extra accusation). I often see myself firing a 5 accusation Burn Away Lies onto a target and getting 3 or 4 accusations back immediately!
* Skillz. I definately won't be above you in skills, but the simple stuff like positioning yourself properly (so Torment cuts through the enemy's armour), watching your accusations (so that you dump as much damage onto your opponent as possible), using Feinted Positioning the instant it is up, remembering to refresh yor bullets after a death or after 30 minutes, etc, etc... No brainers, I know. But important to remember to keep your damage output as high as possible.

I'm sure we can work together (and maybe get some advice from Ventai) on building the best possible WHs. I'd love to min/max my character a little!

[Zafiriel]

Big thanks for the effort Corban!

As a new WH I find this post and the other one very useful.

Just need a word of advice, what did you find to be the best/most useful build when you are leveling up from the beginning?

I just hit 11lv and got the first mastery on my alt, where should I put it?
I am aiming for healer killer in the endgame (I want to see those damn DoKs and shamans suffer!) so should I invest in Inquisition path right away or go with something more direct while I level up and respec later?

Tnx again
:beer:

Zaf

[Weishaupt]

I hope you don't mind a post from an ex-guildy on this issue! Hi guys, I hope you're all doing well and happily slacking along ;)

I was surfing all the WAR forums tonight and noticed I still had access to this and I can't resist posting on WH stuffs :)

Just need a word of advice, what did you find to be the best/most useful build when you are leveling up from the beginning?

Probably the best damage build (as that's really all you're interested in when leveling) is the Confession tree, just razor strike away to your heart's content and if questing and grinding is your thing Trial by Pain is a perfectly acceptable finisher. It's not until the mid twenties that your options open up making it possible to start practicing with Inq and Judge. You can either go Inq with Seal of Destruction and Punish the False or Judge with Pistol Whip and maybe Fanatical Cleansing or Atonement.

I'd advise going Judgement if you want to be a healer killer and start practicing your positioning and timing of Feinted Positioning.

If you are wanting to be a healer/caster killer then you should probably be aiming towards a build similar to these at 40...

http://www.wardb.com/career.aspx?id=9#9:544:0:0:13:8704:29:521:523:8121 :8120::::631:8147:629:630

or

http://www.wardb.com/career.aspx?id=9#0:0:9:512:13:8704:29:521:523:8121 :8120::::631:8147:629:630

If you want to be fighting melee/tanks then either of these two builds will work (but I'd advise going Judge/Conf to make the most of Torment and controlling your target with PW).

http://www.wardb.com/career.aspx?id=9#9:544:0:0:13:8704:29:521:523:8121 :8120::::631:8147:629:630

or

http://www.wardb.com/career.aspx?id=9#9:640:13:8224:0:0:29:521:8132:528 :8122::::631:8147:629:630

Lots of synergy between Exit Wounds, Seal of Destruction, Repel Blasphemy, Ripost tactic, Righteous Steel tactic and your M1 Confusing Movements. I've seen people literally gank themselves on Riposte procs.

Corrban, I hate to say it mate but that build you linked is not really very good and is missing a lot of key synergies for a melee/tank hunting build. The issues with it I'll list below and then suggest two alternative builds for fighting melee/tanks.

You will hardly ever use that M4 except in large fights (where we have a tendency to die fast anyway) and a WH should be blowing M1 and M2 all the time, so you shouldn't ever even get to M4.

A melee/tank killing build without Repel Blasphemy is really weak, between RB and Confess you can control a lot of the incoming damage.

Flowing Accusations tactic is best used with a Judgement build for Abso spam, because of the times on debuff and cooldown with Exit Wounds and Burn, Heretic you're wasting a tactic slot which could be better spent on a parry or damage tactic (the finishers don't stack with themselves) or heaven forbid using Trial by Pain which as it's channeled will be guaranteed to be set back by melee/tanks everytime.

Unwavering Faith tactic may save you from some Ravage spam from a chosen but otherwise is worthless at one extreme and at the most positive extreme is an unfortunate choice keeping out a much better tactic.

Full Confession tactic is a waste of a tactic slot when you have much more important tactics to slot. A little buff to Confess vs Flanking +15% damage or

A melee/tank hunting build should look like either of these two:-

http://www.wardb.com/career.aspx?id=9#9:512:0:0:13:8704:29:521:523:8120 :8121::::631:8147:629:630

Maximum damage, using Torment, PW and BAL and RB.

or

http://www.wardb.com/career.aspx?id=9#9:640:13:8224:0:0:29:521:523:528: 8122::::631:8147:629:630

For maximum Toughness, Armour, Strength and Weaponskill debuffs, lots of parry synergy and some self healing.

If ever in doubt on WH specs I find this thread a useful reference to use as a basis for building new specs.

http://www.warhammeralliance.com/forums/showthread.php?t=221151

[Zafiriel]

Wow! Big thanks for such an comprehensive answer mate :D
Much appreciated!

I'll definitely take your advice and put my points in Confession until I hit late T3 and then start experimenting a bit with judgement and inquisition to see what suits me best... I have a thing for dot-ing and debuff-ing my enemies to death ;) but judgement is probably better for healer kill... will see how it works with WH in practice...

Again tnx a lot for sharing your experience and insight :) I'm sure to go back to your post often as I level up ;)

And gratz on becoming the Phoenix Legion's Guild Master, as I can see!
All the best!
:beer:

[Katimira]

Hey guys, I shall add my two penneth...I agree mostly with Wies's answer - very comprehensive, but I disagree in one area...

I would suggest that for finishers, do not us Trial by Pain...It is a channelled finisher, and as such you do not auto attack during this time. My auto attack on squishies is about 200-300 per hit and I get about 3-4 hits in during the time of the TbP finisher....By using the other finishers, I saw my kill speed increase significantly.

That said though, when hitting healers, I tend to hit them with SoM, then use TbP to maximise the setback/disrupt of their healing.

(This is my first post about char classes, so please dont flame :) )

[Katimira]

Also, as an aside, I use the addon WSCT (War Scrolling Combat Text) with the ability Notifier.....this way I get a scrolling count of my accusations and can accurately plan my finishers.

Hope this helps

[Fraccles]

The key to playing a good WH is balancing your defense with your damage output. At lower RRs you cannot afford to put points into enough defensive abilities to hunt multiple enemy types...it's a bitch. Even when you do, the unstoppable debuff means you have to make the most of whichever crowd control you use.

Some tips I found useful

The Strength cap is around 1050 odd. If you can get way over the cap with brute force + liniment, try replacing it with something else. Alternatively, go for weapon skill talis, increased parry and armour pen. are always handy. A new tactic can increase your gameplay more than dumping stats into things other than strength.

Shroud of Magnus is nearly essential for killing in a blob. It can also be used to disrupt a maurader trying to pull you and a shaman trying to snare you. It will not however disrupt DoTs on you. (it also disrupts the orbs and life drain in tomb of the sun)

Vindication should only be used if you have Shroud of Magnus.

If you have a spare point, van Horstmann's makes killing Choppas much easier. The damage occurs even if you parry.

It is useful to bear in mind that Pistol Whip is only 2 seconds whilst disarm is 4 and silence is 3 seconds.

Do not just pistol whip instantly, save it for a couple of seconds, use it when they finally realise you are behind them to get the maximum effect. If you knock them down straight away it gives them thinking time.

Similarly with RB. Do not Confess! straight away. To make the most of it you will want to wait about 6-7 seconds until after you have used it. That way you get 5 seconds of parry spam + 4 seconds of disarm.

Choose your target, buff the correct execution bullets, then use incognito. Even if you are specced judgement, confession bullets make healer kills a lot easier.

Punish the false can be kept up indefinitely if you have it. If the two sides are just zerging, use it on the tank that everyone is mindlessly hitting along with seekers blade and sever blessing.

When attacking someone by a cliff, do not attack from the cliff side, unless you have resolute defense.

Fervor stacks to x3, the stack can be kept up by doing one more fervor every 8 seconds, this means managing (and not spamming your attacks like a monkey) is key. Once the stack is built up use either torment or razor strike. If you can keep this up on a boss or a tank as well as not losing time on your finishers you're doing well!

Tanks can be kited. If you are having trouble killing a tank and you're still alive after 30 seconds, restealth, let your DoTs tick out fully, then jump back in and reDoT. Sudden Accusation usually does more damage than Burn Armour in this case. If they try to chase you, feinted positioning + snapshot can snare them from the front. FP'd pistol whips tend to be blocked.

Try to obtain this, it makes tank hunting so very delicious: http://www.wardb.com/item.aspx?id=2002507#dropped-by It is dropped in Tomb of the Sun.

The point of a free confess, is that it will do more damage than any other attack. Since it doesn't build action points though and a free crit makes redundant the crit on your gear it isn't really worth it.

When escaping a ALWAYS use SIGIL OF SIGMAR BEFORE FLEE.

Lastly, ignore all WH AoE. It's shamefully weak and will be out healed or out killed through superior dps. The only time I ever used it was with razor strike, riposte, repel blasphemy when killing lower level mobs to help out lowbies in pqs.

All for now. It's a bit here and there but it's 1:30am and I'm just doing this so I fall asleep :D

[Ish]

Also, as an aside, I use the addon WSCT (War Scrolling Combat Text) with the ability Notifier.....this way I get a scrolling count of my accusations and can accurately plan my finishers.

Hope this helps

I was looking for that option as I heard it was really useful. I'll have to have another look for it.

Thanks.

[Katimira]

No worries Ish...just download the addon from curse.com :)

[Sharpey]

lets talk about renown training!!
the plan i have made for my WH is
"Might" MAX-
"Assault" max-
(then im torn between pouring all the points in "Opportunist" for crit,
or a mix of "Opportunist" and "Reflexes" for Some Parry-
What have you guys done or What do you intend to do??

Help would be appreciated.