Guild Wars 2

Hey all, I’ve read a lot of these necromancer leveling guide/build help so I know just how tiring it must be to see yet another topic about it. I did my research so rest assured, I’m not some lazy guy that just doesn’t want to use google to get me answers. The problem is this, I’ve looked at input everywhere and there seems to be no consensus at all. My guildies say condition is the way to level, forums say wellomancer is the way to go and some say minion master is the way to go. So i’m seeking for a specific build to help me level as quickly and efficiently as possible. here are some specifics:
1) I am planning on doing map completion to help me lever + story quests
2) I want to kill things and blitz through maps as fast as possible
3) I can easily adapt to any playstyle since I’ve played almost all classes to lvl 40+ so preference is not the issue here. I’m looking for optimal performance

Thank you all for taking the time to read this and am looking forward to hearing your responses. Thanks

If you wanna kill mobs fastes Dagger/Dagger and Axe/Focus is probably the highest damage (or Dagger/Focus and Axe/Dagger). With Well of Suffering, Well of Corruption, Blood is Power and Deathshroud skill 4 you can do some pretty high burst AoE damage, but then it goes single target for a while from there.

If you need help surviving an encounter, Well of Darkness helps alot. Minions aren’t so bad in the open world, they got some good sustained damage on top of what you do from what I’ve gathered and can tank foes a little bit. Use Well of Blood to give them a little extra healing. If you can lure a foe into a wall, the activated Flesh Golem skill hits hard.

As for traits, I don’t know any Minion Master build. For a power build you could go something like 30/20/0/0/20.

My Necro is lvl 40, and I’m having a lot of success with a staff hybrid damage build. I use well of suffering, blood is power (delicious might stacks), and spectral walk to help me get places (the stun break and LF gain are great utility too). Also, flesh golem is by far the best elite for leveling. It tanks for you, deals good damage, and is on a low cooldown.

My 2nd weapon set is scepter/warhorn, but I’ve switched those around many times. Hope this helps somewhat!

I used all minions while leveling. They keep the mobs off you so you can kill without dying so often yourself. I also used staff and scepter/dagger while leveling. After you have some traits then melee range combat is easier.

I have been using Nemesis’ necro guide as my reference to build my necro. Currently on lil 50 and shaping up to be a glass cannon build. I have to be honest, it does not feel like playing a necro in terms of playing style, but it sure packs a lot of DPS (maximising on might and vulnerability), and it will surely help to lvl up faster when soloing maps. My build is currently 20/10/0/0/20, axe/focus and dagger/dagger or dagger/warhorn. Utilities are blood is power, well of suffering, signet of spite and flesh golem When soloing I’d mainly stick to axe/focus with my DPS rotation, pop skill 4(focus), then skill 2(axe). Should go down in 3 secs tops, then while waiting for skill 4 to reload, I’d pop blood is power on the next mob, then auto-attack until skill 2 is available, then I’d pop that. By the end of this, skill 4 should have finished reloading, so you can rinse and repeat. If u wanna pull a group of 3 mobs or more, pull them together, pop blood of power, skill 4, drop well of suffering, then pop death shroud and skill 4. Should demolish all mobs in less then 5 secs. Hardly ever use the second weapon config, only when I am rarely waiting for cool downs, and even that I just jump into DS as life blast deals more DPS. All my gears are +power and +precision. Hope this helps with your build decision. Again, I have to say there is little traditional necro playing style with this build as the usage of minions or conditions is almost non-existent.

Grok Krog.9581:

If you wanna kill mobs fastes Dagger/Dagger and Axe/Focus is probably the highest damage (or Dagger/Focus and Axe/Dagger). With Well of Suffering, Well of Corruption, Blood is Power and Deathshroud skill 4 you can do some pretty high burst AoE damage, but then it goes single target for a while from there.

If you need help surviving an encounter, Well of Darkness helps alot. Minions aren’t so bad in the open world, they got some good sustained damage on top of what you do from what I’ve gathered and can tank foes a little bit. Use Well of Blood to give them a little extra healing. If you can lure a foe into a wall, the activated Flesh Golem skill hits hard.

As for traits, I don’t know any Minion Master build. For a power build you could go something like 30/20/0/0/20.

How does that weapon set compare to d/d and staff though? I hear staff is great at aoe but I’m guessing not as much damage as d/d and axe/focus?

Flipflop.8359:

I have been using Nemesis’ necro guide as my reference to build my necro. Currently on lil 50 and shaping up to be a glass cannon build. I have to be honest, it does not feel like playing a necro in terms of playing style, but it sure packs a lot of DPS (maximising on might and vulnerability), and it will surely help to lvl up faster when soloing maps. My build is currently 20/10/0/0/20, axe/focus and dagger/dagger or dagger/warhorn. Utilities are blood is power, well of suffering, signet of spite and flesh golem When soloing I’d mainly stick to axe/focus with my DPS rotation, pop skill 4(focus), then skill 2(axe). Should go down in 3 secs tops, then while waiting for skill 4 to reload, I’d pop blood is power on the next mob, then auto-attack until skill 2 is available, then I’d pop that. By the end of this, skill 4 should have finished reloading, so you can rinse and repeat. If u wanna pull a group of 3 mobs or more, pull them together, pop blood of power, skill 4, drop well of suffering, then pop death shroud and skill 4. Should demolish all mobs in less then 5 secs. Hardly ever use the second weapon config, only when I am rarely waiting for cool downs, and even that I just jump into DS as life blast deals more DPS. All my gears are +power and +precision. Hope this helps with your build decision. Again, I have to say there is little traditional necro playing style with this build as the usage of minions or conditions is almost non-existent.

Thanks a bunch for the detailed response
I plan on playing traditional necro once I reach 80 but as for now, I have to make the most out of the little playing time I get so I’m looking for maximum dps available

In my experience I put all my trait points into the Blood line while I leveled. Everything else (extra trait points / armor / trinkets) went toward power and precision. With life stealing you won’t kill everything as fast as the next guy, but you won’t go down as often either. Overall you will have an easier and faster time plowing through map completion. This is the only character where I can say I don’t really need my healing skill.