[JGJTan]

Well I thought I'd decide to share my little build for soloing Blessed Griffons in Snake Dance as a Mesmer/Monk. I believe it can also be done as a Monk/Mesmer as it wouldn't make much of a difference, only Illusionary Weaponry would be a little weaker.

First of all, you need to find yourself a nice melee weapon (the more cooler the look, the better of course) and a +12 Focus Item. Max Armour would also be a plus and hopefully it's the +10 against physical attacks armour. Don't be daunted by the negative energy as this build doesn't require much if used correctly.

The stat lineup should be as follows:

Mesmer/Monk

Fast Casting = 7 (6+1)
Illusion Magic = 14 (12+2)
Inspiration Magic = 7 (6+1)
Healing Prayers = 10

Monk/Mesmer

Divine Favour = 4 (3+1)
Illusion Magic = 12
Inspiration Magic = 9
Healing Prayers = 10 (9+1)

The skill lineup should be placed in this order for easy use:

Vigorous Spirit
Illusionary Weaponry (elite)
Sympathetic Visage
Orison of Healing
Healing Breeze
Physical Resistance
Illusion of Weakness
Mending

When you first enter Snake Dance, immediately use Illusion of Weakness and Mending. Illusion of Weakness is useful as it gives you an extra health reservoir to draw from in a dire situation. Be careful when using Illusion of Weakness if you have 60DP though. Mending is in play so that you don't have to continuously cast healing spells to save yourself from an early grave.

Begin by drawing one griffon. Usually the griffons are either in groups of twos however there are the odd groups of threes or even the lone one. Be careful however if you draw a Stone Summit Heretic. They are nasty towards this build and you can only save yourself with some skill combinations which I will talk about later. Once you draw the griffons, when they're close by, use Physical Resistance and Sympathetic Visage. Then proceed to use Illusionary Weaponry and Vigorous Spirit and attack the Blessed Griffons with your melee weapon of choice.

Physical Resistance is in play so that you don't get about 20-30 damage per hit, instead it is reduced to 7-17. Sympathetic Visage will kill their energy supply, stopping them from spamming Holy Strike on you. Illusionary Weaponry is the skill which will help you defeat the Blessed Griffons as they have an enchantment called Spell Breaker which stops anyone from casting a spell on them. Vigorous Spirit will negate most of the damage done by a Griffon in combination with Mending and Physical Resistance.

Beware though. Keep an eye out for what the Blessed Griffon is casting. If they are casting Symbol of Wrath, make sure you move back otherwise you will get severely punished. Also keep an eye on the other Griffons by looking to see if they stop to cast a long spell (you can tell because a spell circle will appear above their head) so you know when to move back a little. After they cast Symbol of Wrath, you should be safe until Sympathetic Visage runs out. Use Healing Breeze if your health gets to about 50% and use Orison of Healing if your health doesn't go above 50%.

You have to beware of the Stone Summit Heretic though. Their nasty combination of Conjure Phantasm and Crippling Anguish (elite) can be a real hassle to combat. If you happen to have to fight a Stone Summit Heretic, cast Vigorous Spirit before entering battle. The Heretic should use Shatter Enchantment, removing Vigorous Spirit. Immediately after, you can use Illusionary Weaponry and Healing Breeze. Use Vigorous Spirit once it recovers and keep Healing Breeze on while fighting the Heretic otherwise you'll suffer from a nasty health degeneration.

Another nasty monster is the Azure Shadow. They're Smiting Monks. Again this build is good against them as you deal no actual damage to them (as Illusionary Weaponry deals the damage) so Retribution and Holy Wrath are ineffective against you. You have to be careful of their attack damage though. If you draw one, it will use Signet of Judgement on you, then either run up to you or cast Retribution then Holy Wrath. Make sure you keep up Illusionary Weaponry, Vigorous Spirit, Healing Breeze and I think Physical Resistance. Don't be worried if you're losing health rapidly against these guys as Illusion of Weakness should keep you alive long enough to kill them.

I hope this guide helps a little for those Mesmers or Monks who wish to try their hand at farming Blessed Griffons. Feel free to post any mistakes I may have made or point out any errors and I'll edit them in.

[Goto]

Nice guide.


I was just wondering, is Illusionary Weaponry speed a constant, or does it depend on what kind of weapon you use it with? Once Factions is released, if you were willing to lose the energy a focus item provides you might be able to get some nice damage with illusionary daggers.

[Aaron]

You told me about this...I might try it sometime .

[JGJTan]

Nice guide. 


I was just wondering, is Illusionary Weaponry speed a constant, or does it depend on what kind of weapon you use it with? Once Factions is released, if you were willing to lose the energy a focus item provides you might be able to get some nice damage with illusionary daggers. 

I was actually thinking that. The speed depends on the weapon I think and I was planning on trying out using the daggers however daggers ARE two handed... so it wouldn't work as well against Blessed Griffons.

[Ariana]

Use Flurry! (Change secondary)

Nice guide. 


I was just wondering, is Illusionary Weaponry speed a constant, or does it depend on what kind of weapon you use it with? Once Factions is released, if you were willing to lose the energy a focus item provides you might be able to get some nice damage with illusionary daggers. 

I was actually thinking that. The speed depends on the weapon I think and I was planning on trying out using the daggers however daggers ARE two handed... so it wouldn't work as well against Blessed Griffons.

[Raktor]

Be careful when using Illusion of Weakness if you have 60DP though.

You'd know