Team - Fear Famine

This HA team build is designed to shut down your enemy's energy supply and deal tremendous amounts of damage with Famine and Barbs. It consists of:

• 3 "Fear Me!" Assassins
• 1 Famine Ranger
• 1 LoD infuser
• 1 Divert Hexes prot Monk
• 1 Barbed Necro
• 1 SV-AV Support Healer

3 "Fear Me!" Assassins

each assassin can cause approximately -4.5 energy degen in AoE without "For Great Justice!", and slightly less than -9 with it.

This assassin is to bring a running skill, such as Dash, Dark Escape, or Shadow of Haste for flag or relic running.

Caltrops is to be used as a snare

Equipment for assassins

Radiant armor
One set of Furious Daggers of enchanting with +5 energy mod, one set of Vampiric Daggers of Enchanting with +15% damage ^50% health, or +5 energy mod.

Usage of assassins

Put enchantments up before engaging a target you call. It does not matter if you choose the same target or 2 different ones. once fighting, you may switch from your furious to vampiric daggers (but don't have to!). keep Flurry up as much as possible, along with enchantments, and use For Great Justice when possible. Use the adrenaline to spam Fear me as much as possible, dealing devastating Energy Denial. Use Wild Blow only to rid stances, as it cannot double-strike.

Famine Ranger

Usage for Ranger

Lay famine down. While it is recharging, keep serpent's quickness on. to prevent interruption of Famine or the Ghostly Hero's Claim Resource, use Song of Concentration. Use pin down to snare targets that an assassin may call.

LoD/infuser/spirit keeper

Divert Hexes Prot Monk

Return may be replaced with Death's Retreat

Notes pertaining to monks

The assassin secondary may be switched out with anything else, and is only in this build to shadow step away from the current FoTM, which involves a Savannah Heat spike. The ritualist secondary (and skills) can be used on either one for the purpose of keeping the famine spirit alive. Also, the monks are to call their energy when they are low on it, so the Necro can cast Blood Ritual on them.

Barbed Necro

Either Depravity or Wither can go in the 1st optional slot.
Any self-healing skill can go in the 2nd optional slot.
MoF may be replaced with Dark Fury

Necro Usage

Barbs and MoF are to be used on an assassin's called target, while the necromancer's own energy denial is to be used on another target (with the exception of Malaise, which may be spammed on an assassin's target to deal 50 damage a casting.) Blood Ritual is to be cast on Monks if they are in need of energy.

SV-AV Support Healer

Counters

Anti-Melee that is not swiftly remedied
opposite team spreading apart
anti-spirit skills

Variants

the DH elite can be switched out with ZB on the prot monk. Use remove hex in the optional slot in this case. The mesmer might then consider bringing Recovery instead of preservation and Expel Hexes instead of spirit light or transfer.

Notes regarding to obvious weaknesses

Read these notes. they may sway your opinion of this build.

the survival of the famine spirit

Famine does deal damage, but in pulses. The spirit will be alive for at least 10 seconds against the average team, during which it will deal around 100 damage. If not killed, your assassins will destroy the opposing team with pressure.

Lack of damage?

there is a lot of damage in this build apart from famine. barbs adds 32 DPS if the hexed foe is under the attack of a sin, and the sins themselved deal 20-40 dps with high attack and crit rate. (this has been tested and proven). (Wither and) malaise add(s) a decent amount of damage also.

See also

• Team - 55/Famine and A/W Fear-Inspiring Sin