Specter - Support Specter

The community gave this build a rating, making it top-tier: Great

Focused on: Healing, Condition cleanse and Boon support

Designed for: WvW Zerg

Expansions required:

Difficulty:

Normal

This build was last updated on October 26, 2025 and is up to date for the October 28, 2025 patch.

Overview

Specter fills the heal/cleanse spot of a party through interplay with Dark Aura enhancing traits, providing high Barrier, good healing, good condition cleansing, and great boon support.

Skill Bar

Scepter/Pistol

Scepter/Pistol

Utility

Variants

Utility

• Blinding Powder Stun break

Template Code

[&DQUUJSwXRz4VGwAANAEAAAAAAAAIGwAAERsAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA=]

Copy Template Code

Specializations

Variants

• Consume Shadows

Equipment

Head
Minstrel

Shoulders
Minstrel

Chest
Minstrel

Hands
Minstrel

Legs
Minstrel

Feet
Minstrel

Backpiece
Minstrel

Accessory
Minstrel

Accessory
Minstrel

Amulet
Minstrel

Ring
Minstrel

Ring
Minstrel

Scepter
Minstrel

Pistol
Minstrel

Sigil

Sigil

Scepter
Minstrel

Pistol
Minstrel

Sigil

Sigil

Rune
x6

Infusion
x18

Relic

Consumables

• • Alternative

Usage

Quick Guide

• Specter is a secondary support that splits its output between Barrier and raw healing.
• Use Well of Bounty if your party needs Stability
• Use Siphon on a high value target such as your commander or a high output DPS player
  • Recast Siphon before you're about to cast multiple Shadow Sap so you can blast the field generated by Cover of Shadow
• Use Shadow Sap whenever your group is being pressued until you need access to a more powerful healing or cleansing skill

Healing Priority

1. Shadow Refuge
2. Shadowsquall
3. Enter Shadow Shroud - Barrier
4. Grasping Shadows
5. Dawn's Repose - Barrier
6. Eternal Night
7. Mind Shock
8. Shadow Sap
9. Well of Gloom

Condition Clear Priority

1. Well of Silence
2. Grasping Shadows
3. Siphon - Shallow Grave
4. Blasts on Dark fields with Cover of Shadow

• Spread out your Dark fields so you have one available as often as possible for Blasts to proc Shadow Savior and Cover of Shadow

List of Dark Fields

• Siphon - Cover of Shadow + Shallow Grave
• Well of Gloom
• Well of Silence
• Well of Bounty
• Shadowfall
• Shadow Refuge

• Use your Well skills frequently to maintain Resistance on your party and Shadow Force for yourself via Traversing Dusk
• Tap any allied downstates for 1 second, if safe to do so, to proc Merciful Ambush

Surviving

• This build has moderate passive defense
• This build has moderate mobility skill access
• This builds has low active defenses

Defensive Skill List

• Enter Shadow Shroud - Extra HP pool
  • Dawn's Repose - Movement + Barrier
  • Mind Shock - Stability + Barrier
• All Well skills - Movement
  • Well of Bounty - Stability
• Shadow Refuge - Stealth

Priorities

High

• Healing/Barrier/Condition Clear

Moderate

• CC
• Boon Application

Low

Detailed Explanations

Healing/Barrier/Condition Clear

Healing Priority

1. Shadow Refuge
2. Shadowsquall
3. Enter Shadow Shroud - Barrier
4. Dawn's Repose - Barrier
5. Eternal Night
6. Mind Shock
7. Grasping Shadows
8. Shadow Sap
9. Well of Gloom

Condition Clear Priority

1. Well of Silence
2. Grasping Shadows
3. Siphon - Shallow Grave
4. Blasts on Dark fields with Cover of Shadow

• Before your group is anywhere near combat make sure to cast Siphon on a high value target such as the Commander or a high output DPS player
  • You can mark that player with the Set Personal Target keybind and use the Take Personal Target keybind to quickly target them to recast Siphon and other allied target skills
    • You don't always need to recast Siphon onto the same target, but you should have a default target to use it on unless someone else needs it more for some reason
• Shadow Sap is your main skill, use it until you have a chance to enter melee or are running out of Initiative then use Enter Shadow Shroud
  • All of your initiative should be spent on Shadow Sap
  • Always prioritize using Shadow Sap on Dark Fields so you (and your allies) gain Dark Aura
• Use your Weapon Swap off cooldown to regain Initiative with Quick Pockets
• Every time you gain Dark Aura, nearby allies are healed by Shadow Savior and lose 1 condition from Cover of Shadow. Prioritize Blast or Leap finishers in your own Dark Fields whenever possible to generate Dark Aura
  • Your own fields have priority for Combo Finishers
  • Make sure to use one of your Dark Field generators before using Shadow Sap or Enter Shadow Shroud

List of Dark Fields

• Siphon - Cover of Shadow + Shallow Grave
• Well of Gloom
• Well of Silence
• Well of Bounty
• Shadowfall
• Shadow Refuge

• In addition to the Dark Field interactions Relic of Karakosa provides a significant part of your healing output when blasting Combo Fields. Ideally every Blast hits a Dark Field but they must hit a non-Dark Combo Field at a minimum

List of Finishers (Blast unless noted)

• Shadow Sap
• Grasping Shadows
• Dawn's Repose - Leap
• Mind Shock

• Your Enter Shadow Shroud skills only heal when hitting an enemy
  • Don't kill yourself trying to land your Shroud skills hitting the enemy
  • Grasping Shadows only benefits your Siphon target and yourself for hitting enemies, its Condition Clear and Blast Finisher work regardless, so use it on allies freely
  • Never Autoattack in Enter Shadow Shroud, leave as soon as everything is on cooldown
• Exclusively use Siphon on allies
  • The exception is if your group is single targeting enemies then you can Siphon a marked target to remove their stability with Bountiful Theft and enable your groups spike
• Use Siphon as frequently as possible to proc Kleptomaniac but without wasting the Barrier, Dark Field, Healing, and Condition Clear Siphon provides via Shadow Savior, Cover of Shadow and Shallow Grave
• Shadow Refuge can generate a huge amount of Barrier over the squad, use it when your squad is trading hits with an enemy group
  • You don't need to care about the effect of Stealth, only the trait interaction of Panaku's Ambition that activates on application
• Shadowsquall is your highest healing ability, but Stealth access is limited to Shadow Refuge, random Blasts on Smoke Fields or otherwise being put into Stealth by other allies
  • Make sure to target an ally before casting Shadowsquall
  • Black Powder could create a Smoke Field to Blast for Stealth, but the Initiative cost is too high to be worth using
• It can be worth tapping allied downs to proc Merciful Ambush when it is safe to do so and your healing/condition clear isn't critically needed

CC

CC Skill List Dawn's Repose - Fear Mind Shock - Stun Well of Silence - Daze Shadowfall - Pull

• Use Mind Shock as your first or second cast after Enter Shadow Shroud so you can follow up with Dawn's Repose to land the Stun at the end of Mind Shock
• Though Well of Silence dazes foes on its initial strike, its better used to cleanse conditions and provide a Dark Field for blasting
• Shadowfall will CC opponents three times with the caveat that you must position yourself adjacent to the enemy. Be careful not to place yourself directly into an enemy stack

Boon Application

• All your Well skills should be used frequently to proc Traversing Dusk for Resistance
• Use Well of Bounty whenever your party is lacking Stability
  • Ideally also use it in a location your party will stay for multiple ticks, not while your group is moving, but the first tick is the most important by far
• Mind Shock is a good source of small Stability

Settings

• Under General Options / User Interface check Always show squad health bars and Always show party health bars. These will make it much easier to keep track of who needs your support.
• Also under General Options / User Interface turn on Thick party health bars
  • Thick squad health bars can be used too as a matter of personal preference, but is not recommended for large numbers
• Under Squad Options uncheck View as a grid. This will allow you to keep track of your allies' boons, conditions and health, enabling a better decision-making and skill management.