Guild Wars 2

I love all the non necro players happy to join us through the reaper and worshipping it without knowing the price. Welcome.

PookieDaWombat.6209:

Now THIS is how you introduce a new class.

Not gonna lie, this one has me REAL excited aaaaaand that one skill in the vid with the hand grabbing the dude and pulling him back better be a shout called “get over here!”.

If not, make it so.

For reals.

Still….dem in the thick skirmish skills. oh yes. I am ready.

Agreed, this is the first spec that has really caught my attention, of the three they’ve featured. (Chronomancer seems like an interesting concept, but mesmer isn’t a profession I’m really inclined to play.) I’m pretty excited to see what else they have in store.

Sagat.3285:

I love all the non necro players happy to join us through the reaper and worshipping it without knowing the price. Welcome.

Who do you think doesn’t know necro in here?

I think some might have preconceived notions about the roles the classes play, but that might be because they only see the game through the scope of the current meta.

Guhracie.3419:

PookieDaWombat.6209:

Now THIS is how you introduce a new class.

Not gonna lie, this one has me REAL excited aaaaaand that one skill in the vid with the hand grabbing the dude and pulling him back better be a shout called “get over here!”.

If not, make it so.

For reals.

Still….dem in the thick skirmish skills. oh yes. I am ready.

Agreed, this is the first spec that has really caught my attention, of the three they’ve featured. (Chronomancer seems like an interesting concept, but mesmer isn’t a profession I’m really inclined to play.) I’m pretty excited to see what else they have in store.

I’m still squirming for the deets on engie.

I will be a sad panda if it falls short my the hype in my brain.

I’m trying to figure out the armor pieces from the video. It’s hard with dull dark colors on a dark though burning background. But it does seem likely they’ll put the Grenth hood back in the gem store …

Donari.5237:

I’m trying to figure out the armor pieces from the video. It’s hard with dull dark colors on a dark though burning background. But it does seem likely they’ll put the Grenth hood back in the gem store …

Shoulders are Arah, i can tell you that much

Reaper name is awesome, too bad DH is kitten. ^.^

My first reaction to seing the Reaper was “cooool!” I mean, I really like it.

My second reaction though was, “what use is this?” It seems to be built to be good when fighting a tight pack of weak enemies. Well I already do just fine against a pack of weak enemies with my Scepter/Focus condi Necro.

What use will the Reaper have against single large targets, ie world bosses? That is what ALL characters need to be designed to fight, not trash mobs. What skills and traits will Reapers have that will make them a serious contribution to open world boss fights, when the enemy is largely immune to things like Chill and Fear.

Looks amazing. Once I have enough ToK to level my revenant, I’ll put any more I get into leveling my necro faster.

This isn’t quite what I’d hoped for, but I do like what I’m hearing so far.

I have a necro that calls up minions and runs into battle. I think he’s going to be a good fit for this.

Morfedel.4165:

Leo G.4501:

PookieDaWombat.6209:

OK, I am really getting tired of this belief that if you are not somehow actively buffing everyone around you that you are somehow a selfish class.

Condi-cleanse and redistribution, boon stripping, area CC and conditions all help a group during group play. Can we please stop labeling Necro as a selfish class simply because they don’t play like the other classes already? Not everything in this game revolves around dungeon speed runs. I could make the argument that thieves are the most selfish, but it wouldn’t be entirely true either.

I like the direction the Reaper is going in since they seem to be about both keeping with what the Necro does well (in direct team support) while also delivering better on the damage front.

This.

There’s so much boon spam, there isn’t a NEED for an entire spec dedicated to it! If you really want a bunch of might, get a War or an Ele. If you want Aegis and Protection, get a Guardian. As it is, either barely anyone wants defensive boons like Vigor, most have Fury coming out their ears and people outside of WvW don’t even know what Retaliation does. So even if this spec was ‘supportive’ to a team, if it didn’t give might or aegis, it’d be labled as trash anyway.

I agree with you two. I’ve really scratched my head wondering where all this kitten about selfishness in a class or build comes from? It seems rather stupid to me.

“This” indeed.

I completely agree with this train of thought.

These forums are loaded with a very singular perspective based on a very limited limited perspective on the game. I got bored of dungeon runs two YEARS ago. General group-play in Guilds Wars 2 is by far more diverse and complex than the stacking-boon-spamming or rushing thru the game in a frenetic fashion.

Thank the gods ANet isn’t driven by these loud, myopic folk.

My 80 necro is parked at the moment, mostly so I can focus on world completion with my Mesmer. The “Reaper” might make my necro more interesting; it’s a good idea from what I’ve seen so far.

Nice start, very good question, just what will the fall into for their niche. Right now the necromancer is a undesirable Powerhouse for either raw damage or Conditions. How will the Reaper be any different?

The things I saw were stronger AoE/Cleave and Condition Pressure. Greatsword and shouts I believe are a nice touch, but how will strong Chill effect the game.

I feel because even with increased power the condition part will be revamped in HoT. Thus making it significantly stronger. But then Scepter/Focus will be even stronger and making that pointless for the Reaper.

So where DOES this fit into? Maybe the Reaper can apply lots of hard CC to remove defiance stacks quickly, making viable in world events?

I just hope PvE content changes from the “skip ahead as fast as possible, then blast fire fields and AA”

Current bosses are mostly immune to conditions, which is a huge nerf to Necromancer.

Current bosses do not strip or flip boons – which makes boon professions advantageous.

Old dungeons reward skipping so high mobility and stealth professions are reward, again.

Fix the PvE content and Necro will be fine.

Rin.1046:

Donari.5237:

I’m concerned about a long windup needing large groups of foes for full effect. I don’t see it as a bad thing, just not my general play style. I know that any slower skills I have are just about completely useless when I have others around me because the enemies die before my shot even lands (I’m staring at you, Thief Shortbow 2). And I seem to face one or two mobs far more often than groups of five or more when I’m fighting on my own. So this spec may not meet my personal needs. Which is why it’s good there are so many professions and spec versions thereof! Because some people are going to revel in this.

Tomorrow’s live stream will help a lot, if it’s run like the DH ReadyUp was. That one made DH look far more viable for how I play than the blog/video had.

This is not me saying I think the Reaper is lame, bad, or in any way uncool. I’m just unsure it will fit into how I play. I still have a necromancer with 100 skill challenges done just in case!

So long as you can keep moving while you ‘windup’ your attacks, I don’t think it will be a problem for me. Once you get used to the timing, slow attacks are not a problem if you can keep moving while casting, much like the guardian hammer 4 skill.

Of course, like you say, it will come down to each player’s preferred playstyle.

That is not true, mechanics wise Hammer is much better suited for the point capture gameplay of spvp, yet no guardian uses hammers there.

Long casting time skills are inherenly at a dissadvantage in a game based around movement with, dodges, CCs and interrupts.

It IS a concern, we will have to wait until tomorrow and see what they mean by “long”. 1s in this game is an extremelly long time but workable so long as it only applies to aditional skill and not the auto attack, if on the other hand we are talking 1.5s+ for everything that is simply an eternity and essentially unusable.

Level 5 necro, I knew it was worth it!

PookieDaWombat.6209:

Guhracie.3419:

PookieDaWombat.6209:

Now THIS is how you introduce a new class.

Not gonna lie, this one has me REAL excited aaaaaand that one skill in the vid with the hand grabbing the dude and pulling him back better be a shout called “get over here!”.

If not, make it so.

For reals.

Still….dem in the thick skirmish skills. oh yes. I am ready.

Agreed, this is the first spec that has really caught my attention, of the three they’ve featured. (Chronomancer seems like an interesting concept, but mesmer isn’t a profession I’m really inclined to play.) I’m pretty excited to see what else they have in store.

I’m still squirming for the deets on engie.

I will be a sad panda if it falls short my the hype in my brain.

Same, but Engi will almost certainly be last

Right, so a reaper without a scythe is not a reaper, but you give them greatsword instead of adding a new weapon? That is a nonsense, really.

Yunielesca.2850:

Right, so a reaper without a scythe is not a reaper, but you give them greatsword instead of adding a new weapon? That is a nonsense, really.

They do get a scythe. Try and read the blog before posting. Reaper shroud, which replaces death shroud, turns your weapon into a scythe while it’s active. It’s even in the video.

Donari.5237:

I’m trying to figure out the armor pieces from the video. It’s hard with dull dark colors on a dark though burning background. But it does seem likely they’ll put the Grenth hood back in the gem store …

The head piece appears to be the new armor skin you unlock with the Reaper. From what I’ve seen over on Massively, shoulders, gloves, chest, and legs are all Arah Dungeon armor. Can’t get a clear enough look at the boots to figure out if they’re the last piece in the set though.

Ralanost.8913:

I find it a bit sad. Necros wanted shouts.

I didn’t really want shouts, well more apathetic towards it. I just wanted greatsword that cleaves. So I’m happy.

Dante.1763:

Donari.5237:

I’m trying to figure out the armor pieces from the video. It’s hard with dull dark colors on a dark though burning background. But it does seem likely they’ll put the Grenth hood back in the gem store …

Shoulders are Arah, i can tell you that much

GS is probably the specialisation skin. Hopefully we’ll get something else, Dragonhunters seems to be getting bow and gloves. Although not sure if Chrono gets 2 skins as well.

Ratphink.4751:

Donari.5237:

I’m trying to figure out the armor pieces from the video. It’s hard with dull dark colors on a dark though burning background. But it does seem likely they’ll put the Grenth hood back in the gem store …

The head piece appears to be the new armor skin you unlock with the Reaper. From what I’ve seen over on Massively, shoulders, gloves, chest, and legs are all Arah Dungeon armor. Can’t get a clear enough look at the boots to figure out if they’re the last piece in the set though.

Oh… the nazgul hood. It fits though… doesn’t really do it for me but it’s not horrible.
https://d3b4yo2b5lbfy.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/bc1afGlamor-1.jpg

So not terribly off from the Banshee speculation, and also very much the mass AoE cleavemonster people were hoping for with. Damaging/enemy-focused shouts – and if you don’t like the sound of “Rise!” in a big messy fight and some of the things it can do, I got news for ya, buddz – melee cleaving greatsword, and also based on unkillable horror monsters.

Wait a sec.

Heh…no, seriously. Did anyone see the line “We pulled elements from slow but seemingly unstoppable horror monsters like Pyramid Head and Jason Voorhees to try to craft the feeling of a relentless pursuer who becomes extremely deadly once they close the distance to their prey” and not think “dude, dududududuuuude…babycats is about to get real up in here”? Yes yes, I get it, nobody likes the notion of slow. Frankly I’m not a big fan either, but there is still the option of taking MH Dagger under the claymore for faster attacks, and given how heavily chill-focused this spec is, I’d be very surprised if at least one of those big honkin’ murdershouts wasn’t something designed for hefty Chill uptime. That and we don’t actually know how much Cold Shoulder will extend existing Chills. I don’t think a 33% increase would be uncalled for, given the spec’s focus and general theme.

Besides. Assume for the moment that Cold Shoulder’s damage reduction vs. Chilled is 10%, like Putrid Defense in Death Magic. Taking both means that any enemy who is both Chilled and Poisoned, which should be fairly easy for a Necromancer to contrive, is now dealing 20% less damage to you. That’s more than half of Protection’s damage reduction, and Necromancers can gain Protection pretty easily, too.

Gotta say, I’m liking the sound of Death Magic/Soul Reaping/Reaper. Given that we know relatively little about the Reaper thus far, true, it’s hard to tell what would mesh properly with it…but Death’s extra defenses help a melee Necromancer, and frankly the concept of a five-fold Death Nova off “Rise!” sounds pretty entertaining. SR gives you faster movement while in Shroud as well as a fat gigantic Crit boost to really punish enemies with that scythe. Not as much normal-mode damage as Spite, of course, but something’s got to give, and Death has some hefty options for extra punch. Toughness-to-Power’s a nice conversion to get in Deadly Strength, especially at 14% in Shroud. As I recall Ryn’s currently sitting around 1300 Toughness. Add 180 from the upcoming new Death minor, and you get over 200 extra Power while in Reaper’s Shroud from Deadly Strength and slightly over 100 out of Shroud. 3 and 7-ish stacks of Might worth of Power, respectively, just for existing. I’ll take that.

Yeah…I am quite looking forward to seeing what this sucker can do tomorrow.

Ohoni.6057:

My first reaction to seing the Reaper was “cooool!” I mean, I really like it.

My second reaction though was, “what use is this?” It seems to be built to be good when fighting a tight pack of weak enemies. Well I already do just fine against a pack of weak enemies with my Scepter/Focus condi Necro.

What use will the Reaper have against single large targets, ie world bosses? That is what ALL characters need to be designed to fight, not trash mobs. What skills and traits will Reapers have that will make them a serious contribution to open world boss fights, when the enemy is largely immune to things like Chill and Fear.

Aaaand this is the reason we can switch between core spec and elite spec within seconds out of combat (and hell, we can easily reequip weapons more suited for single target, too). Going to a worldboss/boss without adds? Switch weapons and/or your Reaper spec. Fighting trashmobs, large groups of enemies or enemies with adds? Stay / Go Reaper. And depending on the power of the DS and GS skills of the Reaper, just select different utilities for Le world boss. you aren’t locked to shouts and GS.

I’m so glad I have a necromancer, and this elite specialization fits really well with him.

Apolo.5942:

Rin.1046:

Donari.5237:

I’m concerned about a long windup needing large groups of foes for full effect. I don’t see it as a bad thing, just not my general play style. I know that any slower skills I have are just about completely useless when I have others around me because the enemies die before my shot even lands (I’m staring at you, Thief Shortbow 2). And I seem to face one or two mobs far more often than groups of five or more when I’m fighting on my own. So this spec may not meet my personal needs. Which is why it’s good there are so many professions and spec versions thereof! Because some people are going to revel in this.

Tomorrow’s live stream will help a lot, if it’s run like the DH ReadyUp was. That one made DH look far more viable for how I play than the blog/video had.

This is not me saying I think the Reaper is lame, bad, or in any way uncool. I’m just unsure it will fit into how I play. I still have a necromancer with 100 skill challenges done just in case!

So long as you can keep moving while you ‘windup’ your attacks, I don’t think it will be a problem for me. Once you get used to the timing, slow attacks are not a problem if you can keep moving while casting, much like the guardian hammer 4 skill.

Of course, like you say, it will come down to each player’s preferred playstyle.

That is not true, mechanics wise Hammer is much better suited for the point capture gameplay of spvp, yet no guardian uses hammers there.

Long casting time skills are inherenly at a dissadvantage in a game based around movement with, dodges, CCs and interrupts.

It IS a concern, we will have to wait until tomorrow and see what they mean by “long”. 1s in this game is an extremelly long time but workable so long as it only applies to aditional skill and not the auto attack, if on the other hand we are talking 1.5s+ for everything that is simply an eternity and essentially unusable.

That’s why I mentioned quickness earlier. I think it’s going to be more prevalent when it becomes a boon, making this spec favor it over other things. I’m hoping they buff sigils/runes that offer quickness too and think it might be an interesting grandmaster trait for this spec.

This spec needs more cowbell.

DevilLordLaser.8619:

Besides. Assume for the moment that Cold Shoulder’s damage reduction vs. Chilled is 10%, like Putrid Defense in Death Magic. Taking both means that any enemy who is both Chilled and Poisoned, which should be fairly easy for a Necromancer to contrive, is now dealing 20% less damage to you. That’s more than half of Protection’s damage reduction, and Necromancers can gain Protection pretty easily, too.

Gotta say, I’m liking the sound of Death Magic/Soul Reaping/Reaper. Given that we know relatively little about the Reaper thus far, true, it’s hard to tell what would mesh properly with it…but Death’s extra defenses help a melee Necromancer, and frankly the concept of a five-fold Death Nova off “Rise!” sounds pretty entertaining. SR gives you faster movement while in Shroud as well as a fat gigantic Crit boost to really punish enemies with that scythe. Not as much normal-mode damage as Spite, of course, but something’s got to give, and Death has some hefty options for extra punch. Toughness-to-Power’s a nice conversion to get in Deadly Strength, especially at 14% in Shroud. As I recall Ryn’s currently sitting around 1300 Toughness. Add 180 from the upcoming new Death minor, and you get over 200 extra Power while in Reaper’s Shroud from Deadly Strength and slightly over 100 out of Shroud. 3 and 7-ish stacks of Might worth of Power, respectively, just for existing. I’ll take that.

Yeah…I am quite looking forward to seeing what this sucker can do tomorrow.

Human Reaper’s will have an edge using the elite ‘Reaper of Grenth’, especially since poison now stacks intensity. +4s of chill per second as well as 3s stacks of poison will make a very interesting build. I wouldn’t be surprised if a human Reaper could permanently maintain chill if you build for it, with this new specialization (kinda assuming at least one of the specialization skills will chill target, due to the stated focus on chill).

Of course, that is if they don’t mess with the racial skills in HoT.

Death magic: 3, 6, 7
Soul Reaping: 3, 5, 8
Reaper: ? ? ?

Gonna be epic

Ohoni.6057:

My first reaction to seing the Reaper was “cooool!” I mean, I really like it.

My second reaction though was, “what use is this?” It seems to be built to be good when fighting a tight pack of weak enemies. Well I already do just fine against a pack of weak enemies with my Scepter/Focus condi Necro.

What use will the Reaper have against single large targets, ie world bosses? That is what ALL characters need to be designed to fight, not trash mobs. What skills and traits will Reapers have that will make them a serious contribution to open world boss fights, when the enemy is largely immune to things like Chill and Fear.

Pretty much how I feel as well.

It looks great but is there a purpose to it?
Elite Specializations were supposed to bring a new playstyle to the class were they not? What we can see of Reaper so far is that you can do an AoE power build, that is neither new nor exciting.

I was hoping Death’s Charge would have a Whirl Finisher or something but it seems to make a Poison Combo Field instead, doubt it will do both.

• Still no support options that are useful in current game.
• Still minimal boss support.
• Reaper is forced into Chill.
• ‘Rise’ Shout seems counter intuitive, summon a bunch of minions that will then go and single target mobs, probably requiring minion related traits to work effectively.
• Not expecting Combo Finishers or Fields from the Shout traits, so hopefully something from the Greatsword

The main positive for me right now is trading off Death Shroud for Reapers Shroud. Just have to wait and see what else it brings.

How good is Necromancer with a AoE power build right now?

I think people are misunderstanding the whole thing with Elite Specializations. They are not about adding something completely new never before seen in the game, they are about adding something new to the specific class. As far as I am aware, AoE power build is currently not possible for Necromancer.

I’ll sacrifice that 10% less damage from chill foes for ice auras and reflect with no regret, there has to be one of those two.

Navi.1032:

Ohoni.6057:

My first reaction to seing the Reaper was “cooool!” I mean, I really like it.

My second reaction though was, “what use is this?” It seems to be built to be good when fighting a tight pack of weak enemies. Well I already do just fine against a pack of weak enemies with my Scepter/Focus condi Necro.

What use will the Reaper have against single large targets, ie world bosses? That is what ALL characters need to be designed to fight, not trash mobs. What skills and traits will Reapers have that will make them a serious contribution to open world boss fights, when the enemy is largely immune to things like Chill and Fear.

Pretty much how I feel as well.

It looks great but is there a purpose to it?
Elite Specializations were supposed to bring a new playstyle to the class were they not? What we can see of Reaper so far is that you can do an AoE power build, that is neither new nor exciting.

I was hoping Death’s Charge would have a Whirl Finisher or something but it seems to make a Poison Combo Field instead, doubt it will do both.

• Still no support options that are useful in current game.
• Still minimal boss support.
• Reaper is forced into Chill.
• ‘Rise’ Shout seems counter intuitive, summon a bunch of minions that will then go and single target mobs, probably requiring minion related traits to work effectively.
• Not expecting Combo Finishers or Fields from the Shout traits, so hopefully something from the Greatsword

The main positive for me right now is trading off Death Shroud for Reapers Shroud. Just have to wait and see what else it brings.

the point of those minions is mostly to die, and supply you with life force, which makes you more powerful/harder to kill through reaper shroud.

the playstyle change is not just about melee, but trying to create a class that plays like an unstoppable force. Essentially, when you get close, this thing is supposed to eat you alive.

trading death for reapers shroud is a huge change. with 10/7 second cooldowns, you can spend most of your time in reapershroud if the class is made to survive in melee.

overall the feel/playstyle will be totally different, if they can achieve their goals.

problem is the core necro still feels pretty disjointed/weak.

Necromancer w/MH Dagger is already fairly respectable for single-target Power damage. One of the big things the class lacked was AoE capabilities, which were basically ‘covered’ by one well and Life Transfer in the regular Necromancer, weird Epidemic builds notwithstanding.

People keep asking for:

Navi.1032:

• Still no support options that are useful in current game.
• Still minimal boss support.
• Reaper is forced into Chill.
• ‘Rise’ Shout seems counter intuitive, summon a bunch of minions that will then go and single target mobs, probably requiring minion related traits to work effectively.
• Not expecting Combo Finishers or Fields from the Shout traits, so hopefully something from the Greatsword

…and all I can really see there is “Necromancers can’t generate or blast fire fields, and so they’re useless in PvE.”

The game only revolves around stacking in fire fields if you play it that way. And frankly, I’m pretty sure HoT is going to make that a whole lot trickier to pull off anyways.

If the Reaper is inducing mass long-lasting Chill, as it sounds like it can do, that’s pretty helpful crowd control. It’s a melee spec and so it can benefit from fire stacking, even if it doesn’t do any of that stacking itself – but it does look like it might be quite good at controlling enemy moment and position. From the, y’know, skill and a half, partial description for one utility, and three minor traits we’ve seen.

Perhaps we can see tomorrow whether it has the whole “stacks Might and Stab to 25 forever” thing everyone immediately thinks of as the only group support worth having, but even when that inevitably turns out to not be the case (though I would not count Stability out, given the whole unstoppable-monster angle), it may well have new tools that will work well in the jungle, or reinvigorate old fights.

I’m surprised (well I shouldn’t be) at how quickly people seem to think “Rise” is its only shout. It’s best to wait for the PoI tomorrow, hopefully they show the traits as well like they did with Dragonhunter.

I’m just glad there’s an actual dark hood in the game finally that lets you cover your whole face! They delivered on the vibe I was hoping for!

Here’s some skill info that might have flown under the radar. It’s from ten ton hammer and I think they are the only ones to label all of the PR assest images they received. You can reference http://www.tentonhammer.com/news/guild-wars-2/meet-reaper-necromancer-elite-specialization for images. So, for skill names and types we have:

Nothing Can Save You (Utility)
Your Soul Is Mine (Heal)

Greatsword skills:
Death Spiral (Skill 3)
Nightfall (Skill 4)

The trailer technically showed only 2 greatsword skills and neither of them were the ones shown in the tentonhammer article. Although, it’s hard to tell what the skill effects were based on the images, it would appear that the skills aren’t completely physical. Happy speculating!

DevilLordLaser.8619:

…and all I can really see there is “Necromancers can’t generate or blast fire fields, and so they’re useless in PvE.”

The game only revolves around stacking in fire fields if you play it that way. And frankly, I’m pretty sure HoT is going to make that a whole lot trickier to pull off anyways.

I wish the devs would just fix fire fields or blast combos already. It’s too prevalent of a tactic that dumbs a lot of the game down and requires practically no investment to pull off (you just need to blast, someone’s bound to have a fire field and if not, you kids played with the wrong crowd!).

I honestly would be curious how things would change if they swapped blast and whirl combo effects.

I love playing melee, especially heavy-hitting melee, so I may just have to roll a necro when HoT comes out. Better start collecting more tomes.

DevilLordLaser.8619:

So not terribly off from the Banshee speculation, and also very much the mass AoE cleavemonster people were hoping for with. Damaging/enemy-focused shouts – and if you don’t like the sound of “Rise!” in a big messy fight and some of the things it can do, I got news for ya, buddz – melee cleaving greatsword, and also based on unkillable horror monsters.

Wait a sec.

Heh…no, seriously. Did anyone see the line “We pulled elements from slow but seemingly unstoppable horror monsters like Pyramid Head and Jason Voorhees to try to craft the feeling of a relentless pursuer who becomes extremely deadly once they close the distance to their prey” and not think “dude, dududududuuuude…babycats is about to get real up in here”? Yes yes, I get it, nobody likes the notion of slow. Frankly I’m not a big fan either, but there is still the option of taking MH Dagger under the claymore for faster attacks, and given how heavily chill-focused this spec is, I’d be very surprised if at least one of those big honkin’ murdershouts wasn’t something designed for hefty Chill uptime. That and we don’t actually know how much Cold Shoulder will extend existing Chills. I don’t think a 33% increase would be uncalled for, given the spec’s focus and general theme.

Besides. Assume for the moment that Cold Shoulder’s damage reduction vs. Chilled is 10%, like Putrid Defense in Death Magic. Taking both means that any enemy who is both Chilled and Poisoned, which should be fairly easy for a Necromancer to contrive, is now dealing 20% less damage to you. That’s more than half of Protection’s damage reduction, and Necromancers can gain Protection pretty easily, too.

Gotta say, I’m liking the sound of Death Magic/Soul Reaping/Reaper. Given that we know relatively little about the Reaper thus far, true, it’s hard to tell what would mesh properly with it…but Death’s extra defenses help a melee Necromancer, and frankly the concept of a five-fold Death Nova off “Rise!” sounds pretty entertaining. SR gives you faster movement while in Shroud as well as a fat gigantic Crit boost to really punish enemies with that scythe. Not as much normal-mode damage as Spite, of course, but something’s got to give, and Death has some hefty options for extra punch. Toughness-to-Power’s a nice conversion to get in Deadly Strength, especially at 14% in Shroud. As I recall Ryn’s currently sitting around 1300 Toughness. Add 180 from the upcoming new Death minor, and you get over 200 extra Power while in Reaper’s Shroud from Deadly Strength and slightly over 100 out of Shroud. 3 and 7-ish stacks of Might worth of Power, respectively, just for existing. I’ll take that.

Yeah…I am quite looking forward to seeing what this sucker can do tomorrow.

I love this post. Way more detailed than I could’ve written, with all the excitement I couldn’t convey.

Pookie, I suspect engie will be last to get the showcase, but I’m pretty hopeful that it will impress as well. I’m really thrilled with the speculated hammer as their new weapon.

I usually run thief, so I’m very interested in their spec, but I have yet to see rifle done well. I wish they were getting maces or axes, but I know the reasoning for the rifle is sound.

Depending on how these next few months shake out, I’m really considering getting the expansion.

Mar.4839:

I’m surprised (well I shouldn’t be) at how quickly people seem to think “Rise” is its only shout. It’s best to wait for the PoI tomorrow, hopefully they show the traits as well like they did with Dragonhunter.

I’m just glad there’s an actual dark hood in the game finally that lets you cover your whole face! They delivered on the vibe I was hoping for!

I can guarantee that anyone who thinks “Rise!” is the only shout didn’t actually read the article.

To fit in with the area-of-effect theme of the greatsword, the reaper gets a full set of shout skills. All of these shout skills act as attacks that can hit up to five enemies and scale in effectiveness based on the number of targets struck (and yes, you read that right—reaper shouts deal damage!).

Somehow I don’t think thieves will “fear the reaper” at all.

Swagger.1459:

Somehow I don’t think thieves will “fear the reaper” at all.

Yeah I can see Dagger/Pistol theives wrecking this spec, initiative= gg chills , they have interrupts blinds and evades out the kitten , have stealth, insane mobility. Yeah can’t see us beating a smart thief, but if they make a mistake or don’t play as well, we’ll probably drop them in 2 hits.

People were calling Revenant a dervishy class, but the Reaper seems VERY Dervish to me. I’m EXTREMELY excited!

Also thanks for not calling necro spec the Hylekhunter. :P

Aaaand this is the reason we can switch between core spec and elite spec within seconds out of combat (and hell, we can easily reequip weapons more suited for single target, too). Going to a worldboss/boss without adds? Switch weapons and/or your Reaper spec.

Noooooo. If I have to switch out of a spec to fight open world content then what’s the point of switching into it in the first place? That’s my question, what is the point of this class, when from the description so far, it seems to just be doing the same “smacking around clustered groups of mobs” thing that the existing build does.

I’m not doomsaying here, I’m hoping the expanded information tells me why I’m wrong here, I just don’t see it based on what they’ve said so far. for now, the only role I can see for this spec is defense in PvP, and I couldn’t care less about that.

Ohoni.6057:

Aaaand this is the reason we can switch between core spec and elite spec within seconds out of combat (and hell, we can easily reequip weapons more suited for single target, too). Going to a worldboss/boss without adds? Switch weapons and/or your Reaper spec.

Noooooo. If I have to switch out of a spec to fight open world content then what’s the point of switching into it in the first place? That’s my question, what is the point of this class, when from the description so far, it seems to just be doing the same “smacking around clustered groups of mobs” thing that the existing build does.

I’m not doomsaying here, I’m hoping the expanded information tells me why I’m wrong here, I just don’t see it based on what they’ve said so far. for now, the only role I can see for this spec is defense in PvP, and I couldn’t care less about that.

because they arent that good at smacking around clustered groups,

this is melee smack around, which is generally faster with more damage, it also should come with added durability, and what looks like a more powerful Death shroud.

phys.7689:

the point of those minions is mostly to die, and supply you with life force, which makes you more powerful/harder to kill through reaper shroud.

jagged horror gives no life force on death.

Tim.6450:

phys.7689:

the point of those minions is mostly to die, and supply you with life force, which makes you more powerful/harder to kill through reaper shroud.

jagged horror gives no life force on death.

hmm, that kills the fun.

this is melee smack around, which is generally faster with more damage, it also should come with added durability, and what looks like a more powerful Death shroud.

Which sounds good, but how much will that add to their abilities against world bosses? Will their durability be applied in a way that matters against enemies that are practically immune to debuffing, or is it mostly based on debuffing the enemy? Are their attacks strong against single targets, or only against groups where the effects stack together? I’m just concerned that this is yet another Necro build designed to destroy trash mobs, rather than one that provides a useful function in boss battles. If it’s just for smashing trash mobs, I have no need for a version that does it “slightly faster,” especially if it’s at closer range. The time it would take to close the distance would negate any increased kill speed it would pick up (assuming it’s even slightly balanced with other classes).

Again, not saying “omg, this will definitely be horrible!” I’m just saying I have my concerns based on what we know so far, and I’m looking forward to them explaining exactly how this spec is intended to be useful in large boss fights where Necros are currently hurting, rather than as just another PvP build where, as I understand it, Necros are reasonably decent.

Medium class player here, never played a light armour class qt all not even to try but I think Il have to now haha. The reaper sounds and looks amazing. You know every reaper in the game are gonna have twilight lol

but guys if we look from one side.. isnt “reaper” as generic sounding as “Dragon hunter” : ) ?

They are almost in all games. Now I really dont get it… why there was such big WhoOoO about DH

CrimeDog.5614:

Holy cow! I need to make a necro now. That looked tight.

Needs more cowbell, though.

Apolo.5942:

That is not true for me, mechanics wise Hammer is much better suited for the point capture gameplay of spvp, yet my guardian doesn’t use hammers there.

Long casting time skills are inherenly at a dissadvantage for me in a game based around movement with, dodges, CCs and interrupts.

It IS a concern for me, we will have to wait until tomorrow and see what they mean by “long”. 1s in this game is an extremelly long time for me but workable so long as it only applies to aditional skill and not the auto attack, if on the other hand we are talking 1.5s+ for everything that is simply an eternity and essentially unusable for me.

Corrected for you.

DeT M.4319:

but guys if we look from one side.. isnt “reaper” as generic sounding as “Dragon hunter” : ) ?

They are almost in all games. Now I really dont get it… why there was such big WhoOoO about DH

I don’t consider reaper generic at all. Only game that I know about has reaper as a class name. Though mostly garbage f2p games, I’m sure there is at least a half dozen with dragon hunter classes. The problem is more with what dragonhunter symbolizes in Tyria. We are all hunter of elder dragons and their minions. Yet Guardians get a specialization that makes them extra special at fighting them? It just doesn’t make sense. Reaper for Necro? It makes all the sense in the world. How can you even compare the two?