My Search for a "Good" Ritualist Build

Some of you may have heard me lament the fact that I've never really been fully satisfied with the various Ritualist builds that I've tried in AB and competitive missions. Rits have limited mobility being tied to spirits with long cast times and seem best suited to defending or support roles. But even in support roles, in most cases it seems like another profession can do it better. I experimented with Spirit Strength Melee builds (+ damage) but while those are interesting they can be a bit high maintenance and "glass cannons."

As I was thinking about it again the other day, I came us with the idea of combining the Weapon of Quickening elite (which shortens spell recharge by 33%) with the Assassin Deadly Arts spell casting skills. It turns out to be a reasonably lethal combination of skills and I tested it out successfully many times on the Fort Aspenwood mission. The skill bar I used was:

Weapon of Quickening
Augury of Death - shadow step to foe and apply deep wound if health < 50%; when this triggers you often can get in Iron Palm
Dancing Daggers - decent damage and fast recharge; use again at end of combo
Entangling Asp - poison and knockdown
Signet of Toxic Shock
Iron Palm - second knockdown
Heart of Shadow - shadow steps you back and heals; useful after you've attacked and are low in health
Dash - mobility is often key

Template code is: OAej4xfloO0T3sWDi9mlYJLA

Another variation of this build might be to use Mesmer Domination skills (which have fairly long recharge times).

Kel