Since ANet seems to refuse to address the issue of the Warrior/Mesmer/Guardian trinity for whatever reason and nerf them to more respectable levels, it stands that the only way to really achieve some semblance of class balance in PvE is to buff everyone else. So, I went to thinking and wrote up some Necro skills that could use some improvement. In some cases, a LOT of improvement.
I don’t really know how much the development team even looks at this section of the forum anymore, and I’ve about lost all hope of the GW2 community itself actually doing anything constructive about it instead of being lazy and adding to the problem, but if the team can at least read this instead of flagging my posts as inappropriate whenever I dispense some truth in other threads, maybe we can start getting PvE back where it needs to be.
Weapon Skills
Axe: An overall damage increase for skills is probably what this weapon needs the most. Not that much, but just enough so that all those stacks of vulnerability you’re putting on really do make a difference. Since this is supposed to be the powerhouse weapon in a Necro’s repertoire, it should at least feel like one.
Scepter: Feast of Corruption is incredibly weak for what’s advertised. The damage done scales very little, even when the target is completely loaded with conditions. Since this is supposed to be the primary damage skill for the weapon outside of DoTs, this doesn’t really make sense. Maybe amp up the damage bonus to somewhere between 10-15% per condition on the target, so that having a lot of conditions on can actually make this a true damage skill.
Dagger: Life Siphon has the benefit of healing the user, as well as damaging the target, but the healing factor is fairly weak. The wiki says that this skill only borrows 5% of healing power, which isn’t really that much considering that the damage it does is also pretty low. Bumping the healing factor to something like 10% of healing power can make it a better survivability tool.
Spear: Dark Spear is probably the worst underwater skill ever, as not only is the range extremely limited, it also prevents the user from taking any action when the attack actually connects, leaving them more vulnerable to attack than if they had used Deadly Catch instead. Sure, you can use the disabled period to trigger Reaper’s Protection, but that just defeats the purpose, as you’re only pushing your target away from you again instead of keeping them in close, which is where this weapon is designed to excel at. Remove the disabled period when using the attack, increase the range, do something. Just make it actually worth using.
Slot Skills
Bone Fiend: Is it just me, or does this minion’s special ability just flat out not work? Because that’s the one reason as to why I never use the Bone Fiend, even in a PvP situation. I don’t want to do a full write up of why this thing should be working as advertised without knowing why it doesn’t work, so if someone can explain this to me that’d be great.
Signet of Spite: The recent buff to the damage bonus is a nice start, but it still doesn’t give us a reason to actually use it for its active effect. Sure you plant almost every condition in the book on the target, but most of them either aren’t potent enough to be worth it or just get resisted by PvE mobs that are immune to certain conditions. Only one stack of bleed? One stack of vulnerability? If I’m going to be losing out on that extra attack power when using this, I want it to actually mean something. Up the bleed stacks, up the vulnerability stacks, make the other conditions last longer except blind. Hell, maybe even give the user boons that are the equivalent to the conditions applied. Either of those scenarios would be better options that the useless signet we have now.
Spectral Wall: Compared to other wall skills, this one really pales in comparison in actual application. 10 stacks of vulnerability is good, but the protection equivalent is too short a duration, a paltry five seconds. Make it last ten seconds as well at the very least, and maybe I’ll consider throwing one down in WvW when I’m running with a roamer group or a zerg.
Death Curse: WHY WOULD YOU POISON YOURSELF WHEN YOU’RE ALREADY DROWNING WHAT THE FLYING kitten WERE YOU THINKING ANET!?
Lich Form: The main problem with Lich Form is that it has no access to any form of healing when in use, and considering that the skills you trade that for aren’t exactly designed for survivability, as well as the fact that your overall mobility is shot when in this form, and you’re also a huge target during use… you kind of get the picture. But, obviously you can’t just straight up give a healing skill to something designed to melt faces. Maybe add a healing component to Deathly Claws that gives back health based on damage dealt (to a cap of course). At least this way a Necro using this skill won’t have to worry about getting blown up as much when triggering it.