Ritualist Guide

Basics

A Ritualist's Place

The ritualist is a 'jack-of-all-trades' that is usually seen as a support character rather than a primary damage dealer. The role of the class is to aid allies with additional damage, healing, and effects brought forth by created spirits.
Ritualists have certain types of skills that are unique to their profession. They can:
- Perform Binding Rituals to summon spirits to bring offensive magic, healing, and protection to the battlefield.
- Cast Weapon Spells onto an ally, providing an effect like an enchantment would, yet being resistant to enchantment removal skills.
- Use Item Spells to create items that have an effect until or when dropped.

Being a Ritualist

There are several different ways to play a ritualist, depending on both one's playing style and the situation at hand. The profession is very versatile; it can both support fellow party members or aid them in combat.
If you plan to summon many spirits in battle, consider using the Ritual Lord or Soul Twisting elite skill to lower the normally lengthy recharge time. Casting many rituals very quickly takes up a lot of energy, so you'll benefit by maintaining Boon of Creation when summoning spirits.

Offensive Ritualists
Ritualists have many skills and options that allow them to deal damage to the enemy. Pain, a spirit that requires Communing to be effective, is a standard spirit that will attack any enemy within sight. Be aware that unlike projectile casters and attackers, spirits do not need a clear line of sight in order to attack a foe. Make sure to summon spirits far enough away from the battle that the monsters won't attack them. It is possible to create an extremely potent artillery ritualist with the use of Pain, Shadowsong, Dissonance, and Anguish - the Ritualist will almost always have at least two spirits available, even after a heavy fight, and can often put up four or five as a "wall" of artillery. The value of attacking spirits lies in the nature of their attacks. Once placed, a spirit will continue to attack any target in range regardless of the actions of the ritualist (in some cases this is a bad thing). Spirit attacks ignore armor, making them quite effective at beating down tough, high-level opponents, and can also be made to do more damage by casting Painful Bond on the opponents they are attacking. The downside to this is that spirits choose their own targets and it is close to impossible to get them to coordinate attacks effectively.
Destruction is another spirit that does damage. It is the equivilant of a time bomb, building up potential damage the longer it is alive. You may use Signet of Creation in order to keep it alive longer. You can time the damage it does by using Rupture Soul after it has been alive for a good time; this will set off a massive spike to enemies within range, doing damage dealt from both Destruction and Rupture Soul as well as blinding nearby enemies.
There are also many spells that deal lightning damage. Most of these have conditional added effects which make them much more effective. Channeling Magic is the main attribute associated with offensive spells. Spirit Rift, a skill introduced early in the game, will strike many foes in a tight area after three seconds have passed. Spirit Burn can deal a fair amount of damage for a low energy cost if you have a spirit near you. With high enough Channeling, Essence Strike and Caretaker's Charge end up giving energy instead of costing energy if the conditions are met. Finally, if you summon several spirits in a typical battle, you may want to consider bringing Doom; you do not need to have channeling to use it and it can deal massive damage with several of your spirits active.

Defensive Ritualists
You may consider playing as a ritualist that supports their allies through healing and protection, in which case there are still many options. Some ritualists choose to invest their points in only Spawning Power and Communing, choosing to rely on spirits from just the Communing attribute.
However, a Ritualist using Restoration Magic can be a very effective healer. Unlike a Monk, ritualist healing gains bonuses from meeting certain conditions, rather than spending points in Divine Favor. This means a healing Ritualist needs to plan ahead and combine skills for the maximum health gain.
Shelter and Union are highly effective both alone and when used together. What results is all damage that's greater than 10% of a party member's health is negated, while the damage that does get through is reduced by 15 points. In order to not have your Union spirit take damage before an attack is blocked by Shelter, cast Shelter first and then Union. Union will then only activate on the attacks that get through. Displacement is another spirit that many put in their lineup. Place displacement between Union and Shelter if you're using those skills to make it as effective as possible, as Displacement should only block the leftover attacks that Shelter hasn't.
There are Restoration skills as well that can heal instead of protecting. Recuperation is a spirit equivalent of the Monk skill Mending, providing up to +3 regeneration (6 health per second) to all allies within the area of the spirit. With an investment of twenty five energy, a ritualist can grant every party member in range (and allies if you have them) a three point life regen bonus for 40 seconds. Life is another spirit you may want to include - it heals for large amounts when it dies if it managed to stay alive long enough. As with Destruction mentioned above, you may want to chain Life with Spirit to Flesh and time the healing. Finally, there are some straight healing spells that benefit when you have spirits nearby.
The key to using Ritualist healing spells is to ensure they meet their requirements to be completely effective. For example, Soothing Memories will only cost a net 2 energy if you are holding an item. Combining it with an Item Spell such as Mighty Was Vorizun will give you a very cheap heal. Mend Body and Soul is a moderate heal, but an excellent condition remover if you have several Spirits nearby. Wielder's Boon is a low heal on its own, but comparable to Heal Other if its target is under the effect of a Weapon Spell. Most of the ritualist heals cost only five energy and heal for a decent amount. Even so you will have to find a different source of energy management if you plan to spam healing spells. It is worth it to invest some points into Spawning Power to take advantage of skills such as Attuned Was Songkai or Spirit Channeling.

PvP Ritualists
The main use of PvP Ritualists is the spirit spamming Ritual Lord build. Other PvP builds have included Soul Twisting + Shelter and channeling magic for spike assists, as well as some builds occasionally using a pair of defensive ritualists to replace a monk.

Attribute Priority

There are two general trends for pure ritualist builds: those who use many spirits will spend strongly into Communing and Spawning Power, while those who do not will use Restoration and Channeling skills to support the offense or defense more directly.

Spawning Power:
This ability is either extremely important or almost useless, depending on whether your build uses Spirits/Minions or not. Many spirits, such as Shelter and Union, will lose health when they take effect. Having many ranks in Spawning Power allows them to stay alive longer.

Communing:
When using a mix of spirits and other spells, Communing probably goes farther for you than Spawning Power as it will increase duration and effect of spirits as well as other spells.

Restoration Magic:
The Restoration line is perceived as inferior to the Monk lines. However because it does not require a second attribute such as Divine Favor to be fully effective it is popular on hybrid characters that like to retain some damage dealing potential. Restoration and Channeling work well together for this.

Channeling Magic:
As with most offensive lines, Channeling tends to be all or nothing. If you have many ranks, it is useful for dealing damage. If you do not, it is better to use your energy elsewhere.

Equipment

Armor & Runes
Armor varies as much as the multitude of roles the ritualist can play. Armor bonuses may be granted for being enchanted by a weapon spell, controlling spirits, holding items (notably including urns), or while activating skills (think of the long activation time for spirits).
As for appearances, while all ritualist helmets cover the eyes, as far as game mechanics, they are not blind and are affected by the blindness condition just as any other class. However, players may still roleplay being blind as does the henchman, Aeson.

Weapons
As other casters, ritualists, use wands and offhand items or staves.
Keep in mind that binding rituals are not spells, thus weapon mods that grant faster casting or recharge to spells will not affect your rituals. Also note that if using an abundance of item spells, you will lose any bonuses granted from your weapon as long as an item is held.

Combat Tactics

Spirit Stats
Spirits cannot be healed directly, but can be healed via the Spirit Boon Strike spell, can be targetted by attacks, and are immobile. Spirits' effects either work within a range around them or they target single enemies within their range. The exact range varies according to the spirit. Detailed information on Spirit stats is available within the Spirit article.

Managing Your Spirits
Important factors for your spirits are the recharge time and the placement. You want your spirits to be up at the correct time at the correct place. Defensive spirits are usually placed a good distance away from the actual fighting, so they don't get targeted by enemies. It is best to start placing these spirits before the fighting starts, since it takes some time to get them all up. When the fighting starts, watch for the recharge and search good places for your new spirits so that they are out of harms way but still cover your team mates (who might have moved since the fighting started). Finally, do not stack spirits in one place. Any form of AOE will be devastating to your lightly armored spirits.
Offensive spirits can also be created before the battle. In that case the enemies have to be lured towards the spirits (like in a trapper build). Other spirits will only be cast during the battle. Make sure you get close enough to the enemy for these spirits to work but be aware that you will be standing still for a long time while creating a spirit, making you an easy target.
Consider Draw Spirit as an option to bring vital spirits with you as you move, but be careful to not waste it on a short lived spirit in the heat of the moment. Spirits that take a lot of damage or have short life times are simply not worth the effort, even if the recharge time for them is long.
If you are working with a specific build it may have different advice, and you should consider which suggestion is correct for you.
The hardest part of spirit management is not actually the spirits, but your teammates. Avoid 'go-go-go' PUGs if at all possible. When they run, all your spirits will be left behind, and with them all the support you could have provided until your recharge comes around. More than likely, you will get the blame for their error. A spirit spammer is a build that works best on a thinker's team. You want a team willing to let you set up a 'battle / spirit platform' (the area where you cast the majority of your spirits) and then to defend that space until the fight is over. You want them to draw in the opposition, lure them to your spirit platform, rather than chase it down.
With henchmen, this becomes easier to manage. Most henchmen will not stray too far from the PCs, and when they do will return if you choose not to follow them. On the other hand, they will not seek out and draw in opponents as readily as fellow players might, and often you will have to leave your own spirit platform to draw in an enemy, and then flee back hoping the hostiles follow and your henchmen don't stop them too far away from the spirit platform. It is a delicate game, but it can be managed.

Energy management
Ritualists have a few energy management skills at their disposal; Essence Strike, Spirit Siphon and the elite Signet of Spirits, all part of the Channeling Magic skill set, require nearby spirits. Boon of Creation is often vital for spirit spammers and Ritualist minion masters, and Restoration Magic Ritualists may rely on the Spawning Power elites Attuned Was Songkai or Spirit Channeling as an exclusive skill to give them a leg up on monks. If the above doesn't fit your plans, try a secondary profession for your energy management needs.

Resurrecting
With Flesh of My Flesh, Lively Was Naomei and Restoration the Ritualist might be equal or even superior to the Monk in resurrecting dead allies during battle - although both are (arguably) now outdone by the Paragon's Signet of Return. If your team wants to resurrect team mates during battle the Ritualists is the better choice (but always keep in mind that Resurrection Signets might be even better). For resurrection after a near-wipe, the Monk's teleporting Rebirth is unbeaten though.
If you use Death Pact Signet keep in mind that while it is the fastest resurrection using it on people who jump right back into combat may not be the best idea. Death Pact Signet draws aggro to a player and when and if they die again, you're going down with him (dying via Death Pact Signet will not cause Death Penalty.)
Lively Was Naomei and Restoration are the only two skills in the game that resurrect the caster. They are also unique in the fact that they allow people to be resurrected on the field even while under the effect of Frozen Soil, making these skills even more useful when it comes to fighting in Heroes' Ascent as Frozen Soil is often set down by the other team. While Lively Was Naomei is more common in Heroes' Ascent, some people prefer Restoration because it falls under the Communing attribute line, so they do not have to invest points into the Restoration attribute line. If you plan on using the Restoration spirit, it might be wise to consider bringing a spirit-killing skill such as Rupture Soul in order to get an immediate resurrection.