Guild Wars 2

Hey guys,

I need some help with necro in soloq.
I mained Mesmer when the old power build with Gs/Staff was meta.
I was pretty decent in pvp.

So now I Came back to gw 2 but I can’t enjoy the new chronomes it is just no fun for me.
So i started playing necro atm with the power boonstrip build.
What are good matchups for this build ?

And how the kitten do I survive ? If i get focused I have a hard time.
Most classes have way more movement I only have warhorn 5 and it’s pretty hard to disengage or to kite effectively.
If you get focused as a mes just blink away , that’s it.
But with necro I’m kittened there is no way I can get away against most classes.
Maybe it’s just a learn 2 play issue because I’m used to mes with way more utility in Defence and movement.
And i cant trust my teammates to peel for me in low elo.

What utility skills should I use?
Atm i use spectral armor, corrupt boon and you are all weaklings for the extra stunbreak.
So i thought about using the flesh worm instead of you are all weaklings for better positioning if I mess up or for disengage.
Any tips here ?

So are there any 1 v1 situation against certain classes I should go for ?
Or stick with a teammate and always try to +1?

Are there better necro Builds for soloq ?

Appreciate every help I can get

Ah and are there any good nec streamer? Or Youtouber?

You have to run soul reaping basically. I initially played a glass cannon spec but its just miserable in solo queue. You have to run a spec which creates a lot of death shroud as that is your sustain. Then just go to the fights where you are against engis, rangers, eles and (in a team fight) warriors.

Do not go to the fights where there are mesmers and thieves because they own necros. If there is a 2v2 you could go to and there is your warrior there and its vs a mesmer and warrior then dont go, you will get farmed. If there is a 2v2 with your engi/ele there and its vs a warrior and ele then go there as you can do stuff in that fight

tl;dr: play soul reaping (soul marks) and avoid mesmers and thieves.

A bulk of your survival comes from Blighter’s Boon and might stacking. Try to keep chill up as much as possible on enemies. You should have no problem generating Life Force. Fight along the outside of the point, then when you have decent Life Force, move in to melee with Reaper Shroud. If you are low on health, the pulsing stability from RS 3 and spamming RS 1 on chilled opponents can give you back about half your health. Just be sure to get out of melee range before you run out of Life Force.

Something I threw together was to use Signets of Suffering. It has worked wonders and am 30-7 or something, exlcuding 4v5 matches, with it. I beat anything that has a lot of boons. But I also maintain significant condition pressure with 3 ways to transfer.l.

I solo queue all the time with my necro. The only problem I have with 1 vs 1 is when I’m against a good thief. If you’re having difficulty staying alive, switch to a power build, except use scrapper rune and demolisher amulet for the extra toughness. Thats what I’ve been using this season and it works great for me. I’m only in silver tho but I did upload some of my clips to youtube if you feel like watching how I play:

https://www.youtube.com/user/Sledgstone

I use blood magic with the quickening thirst trait so I have 25% increased movement speed while wielding a dagger. It helps to get around faster or to disengage from fights.

To the original poster, here is a in-depth guide I made about Necromancer going through its roles and what it can do in solo que:

Necromancer Guide

Yeah,that necro focus is reall in pvp.Stabil/stun break on entering RS/DS helps a lot in this case,but without support and under focus you need miracle or kite the second enemy team notice you

KaporHabakuk.6219:

Yeah,that necro focus is reall in pvp.Stabil/stun break on entering RS/DS helps a lot in this case,but without support and under focus you need miracle or kite the second enemy team notice you

Yes, thats because necros are so dangerous, they need to be put down fast.

Prince Vingador.8067:

KaporHabakuk.6219:

Yeah,that necro focus is reall in pvp.Stabil/stun break on entering RS/DS helps a lot in this case,but without support and under focus you need miracle or kite the second enemy team notice you

Yes, thats because necros are so dangerous, they need to be put down fast.

Anyone left alone is dangerous. The difference is Necros can’t escape or negate the focus fire. They are by far the easiest target to quickly down in a group fight.

NoNameNoob.9758:

Hey guys,

I need some help with necro in soloq.
I mained Mesmer when the old power build with Gs/Staff was meta.
I was pretty decent in pvp.

So now I Came back to gw 2 but I can’t enjoy the new chronomes it is just no fun for me.
So i started playing necro atm with the power boonstrip build.
What are good matchups for this build ?

And how the kitten do I survive ? If i get focused I have a hard time.
Most classes have way more movement I only have warhorn 5 and it’s pretty hard to disengage or to kite effectively.
If you get focused as a mes just blink away , that’s it.
But with necro I’m kittened there is no way I can get away against most classes.
Maybe it’s just a learn 2 play issue because I’m used to mes with way more utility in Defence and movement.
And i cant trust my teammates to peel for me in low elo.

What utility skills should I use?
Atm i use spectral armor, corrupt boon and you are all weaklings for the extra stunbreak.
So i thought about using the flesh worm instead of you are all weaklings for better positioning if I mess up or for disengage.
Any tips here ?

So are there any 1 v1 situation against certain classes I should go for ?
Or stick with a teammate and always try to +1?

Are there better necro Builds for soloq ?

Appreciate every help I can get

Ah and are there any good nec streamer? Or Youtouber?

I think this is widely a l2p issue in the sense that mantra mes and power necro are two entirely different playstyles. In gw2, most people would simply think that sustain is the only way to imitate the idea of tankyness you see in other games, but necro is simply tanky. It does not sustain, but it has 50k+ health with insane damage and should never be ignored on the battlefield. Think of it this way, as a good thief, you should really never die if you have good judgement. As a mantra mes, you should die when your cooldowns have all been expelled. You die more easily as a mes than you do as a thief. As a necro, you die when focused and stunlocked. These are simply how the classes are designed to be. As a necro, you are meant to be unseen, so you should arrive to the battlefield late and spam your aoes and let your team take the damage as you cleave the enemies down. (Or you can just have an ele with you to be your sustain for you). This is simply good design, in my opinion. Now, imbalance was created when they let war have perma 800 healing per second with a 10 sec stunbreak/adrenal gain with incredible resistance and 50%-perma 25% movement speed increase. But that’s a whole different story. I hope this helped.

Poelala.2830:

NoNameNoob.9758:

Hey guys,

I need some help with necro in soloq.
I mained Mesmer when the old power build with Gs/Staff was meta.
I was pretty decent in pvp.

So now I Came back to gw 2 but I can’t enjoy the new chronomes it is just no fun for me.
So i started playing necro atm with the power boonstrip build.
What are good matchups for this build ?

And how the kitten do I survive ? If i get focused I have a hard time.
Most classes have way more movement I only have warhorn 5 and it’s pretty hard to disengage or to kite effectively.
If you get focused as a mes just blink away , that’s it.
But with necro I’m kittened there is no way I can get away against most classes.
Maybe it’s just a learn 2 play issue because I’m used to mes with way more utility in Defence and movement.
And i cant trust my teammates to peel for me in low elo.

What utility skills should I use?
Atm i use spectral armor, corrupt boon and you are all weaklings for the extra stunbreak.
So i thought about using the flesh worm instead of you are all weaklings for better positioning if I mess up or for disengage.
Any tips here ?

So are there any 1 v1 situation against certain classes I should go for ?
Or stick with a teammate and always try to +1?

Are there better necro Builds for soloq ?

Appreciate every help I can get

Ah and are there any good nec streamer? Or Youtouber?

I think this is widely a l2p issue in the sense that mantra mes and power necro are two entirely different playstyles. In gw2, most people would simply think that sustain is the only way to imitate the idea of tankyness you see in other games, but necro is simply tanky. It does not sustain, but it has 50k+ health with insane damage and should never be ignored on the battlefield. Think of it this way, as a good thief, you should really never die if you have good judgement. As a mantra mes, you should die when your cooldowns have all been expelled. You die more easily as a mes than you do as a thief. As a necro, you die when focused and stunlocked. These are simply how the classes are designed to be. As a necro, you are meant to be unseen, so you should arrive to the battlefield late and spam your aoes and let your team take the damage as you cleave the enemies down. (Or you can just have an ele with you to be your sustain for you). This is simply good design, in my opinion. Now, imbalance was created when they let war have perma 800 healing per second with a 10 sec stunbreak/adrenal gain with incredible resistance and 50%-perma 25% movement speed increase. But that’s a whole different story. I hope this helped.

I agree man, necros have 2 hp bars, and like u say they do a lot of damage, devs also said that necros are in a good place, so yes i agree its just a l2p issue.
Necros are tanky like u say , so i also dont understand why they die so fast.
Last couple of games i actually had players chasing me across the map, thats how dangerous necros are.

i soloQ as necro but as a rule i have to have ele at my team. and dont 1v1 you kinda like a thief just +1 anywhere except u can actually wipe the enemy team if they leave you alone long enough. and yeah i dont run soul reaping. i use spite, curse, reaper

I’m using a destroyer ammy… really good stats. Immob > drop wells > freeze shout > stomp while all corrupted condi tick for good damage too.

2800+ power with 1700+ condi damage.

Solo Quing as Necro is totally kittening impossible.
How can you say this game if balance when you will get focus all game every kittening game, Im sick of this kitten trying to kite stay alive Vs 3 other player only to have the thief jump you when you run out of shroud. It all happen every time, you will just get farm all day every day.

I’m kittening done with pvp with balance this bad, its not worth the stress to try and play a class who is number 1 first target every kittening time!

grayskull.2367:

Solo Quing as Necro is totally kittening impossible.
How can you say this game if balance when you will get focus all game every kittening game, Im sick of this kitten trying to kite stay alive Vs 3 other player only to have the thief jump you when you run out of shroud. It all happen every time, you will just get farm all day every day.

I’m kittening done with pvp with balance this bad, its not worth the stress to try and play a class who is number 1 first target every kittening time!

youre looking at it the wrong way if you know how to kite you can save your team by not having pressure on them and while they kill everyone. i seen a lot of necro whos really bad at kiting. im not even that good myself but seeing someone much worst than me is very painful.

If you dont have an ele in your team id suggest to swap what you play unless youre masochist/the enemy team is bad

The necromancer isn’t bad, the problem is that almost every other class can kill you in 1v1 (if you’re not really skilled and/or your enemy isn’t bad) and in team fight you’re the first target Ever.
That’s not always because you’re so dangerous that the enemy must kill you, every enemy left alone is dangerous, but because you’re the easier and faster thing to kill in this game.
The necro don’t have any block/immunity/stealth/evade/mobility(only few and bad) skills and really bad access to stability, that make him eat everything you throw him (CC, conditions, burst skills). Under a similar easier damage you can have your LF full but you will fall down really quickly and unable to do anything. Our heal skills are also really long to cast, making them easy to interrupt, also by a random CC.
An team will always focus a necromancer first just because is shure to hit and kill him. You can’t be shure to kill a guardian, a warrior or a mesmer in the same way, they will active block/immunity/movement skills and be unkillable for a lot of time, much more time you need to kill a necromancer and obtain a 5v4/4v3 fight.

For soloQ the necromancer is the worst class ever. But a lot of us like to play it, like the playstyle, the visual effects, and more.

If you think to play hard in sPvP, just change class. There’s not a better thing you can do than chose an OP class and play it, if you want to play seriously.

I solo as a Necro, Currently in Mid Platinum.

Proof: http://i.imgur.com/HQcDbuZ.jpg

Best advice I can offer is to pick your timing to enter a fight.

E,G

At the start when 4 people run to mid point (Usually) you want to wait, way back out of the fight, until the enemy team decide to either; target someone else who can tank better than you, (since you have 0 life force at the start), or then engage you way off point giving your team the cap.

I create videos of some of my games so If you want to watch for the types of things I mention here, this video shows it best since It’s the reason for the video;

Thanks for all the response and the help some good stuff here

There are several builds aswell as utility options(signets, wells, spectral, …) that are viable for nec.

basic is almost always: Soulreaping and Reaper traitline combined with either:
-bloodmagic (condi/power -build)
-Spite (condi/power-build) or
-corruption-line (condi).

corruption line is pretty superior vs boon heavy classes but warrior.
Spite is good for signet-use and dmg, but lacks a bit sustain.
bloodmagic is good for team support and sustain.

My experiences out of over 200 games this season:
- you do very hard vs warriors as an necro caused by pulsating stabi and condi immunity + massive single target cc and burst.
- power builds are bad vs. good revs/thiefs. … they simply dodge your burst.
- learn to jump = best way to survive and to avoid enemy team focus … example in the video of Kuper.2641
- get a feeling of your healing cooldown and when ur lifepool is low exit shroud on a safe spot to heal and return to fight. … the key to survive is to manage your Shroud rotations.

At the moment i mostly play with spectral trait and so with spectral wall/walk and armor for more shroud regeneration. Wall is good vs thief and classes with minor stab also it fears mesmer illus so they cant shatter u.
Spectral walk is good to juke warriors (jump on higher ground.. warrior follows u, activate walk… jump down get distance and port back within 12[8 without trait] seconds)

I am just gold ranking in eu … but its hard to get out of there as necro since u either have to kite (which is pretty hard without blocks/invus) or win teamfights which is pretty hard when focused or teammates die first.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQRBHbhG2JHNQnNYNNgPNA9mYpWwg6aBgGA1YYOUGi3ijxzIA-TZBFABF8AAY4kAAwRAok9H+vMAA

Well of Power is exchangeable to whatever, I usually go with “Rise!” or SA, or swapping Plague Signet for NCSY is also an option if there’s no condi on the other team. Which almost never happens but anyway.

I basically take credit for power necro being meta. Even if the meta is not what I’m running.

Spite is good for signet-use and dmg, but lacks a bit sustain.

If you are taking reaper and soul reaping then spite>blood for sustain just because of how CV+BB interact as well as a hydromancy sigil. Its a VERY long explanation but if people ask i’ll explain indepth.

In short entering and leaving shroud heal you and generate LF and might.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQNBIhF6kkGolGsmGwnGgeTsgLYxXxuYYcqI0EqCQXtAwBA-TZBFQBC4JAwgDBA82fwglBAwJAAA

Made it to plat with this lol

Sigmoid.7082:

Spite is good for signet-use and dmg, but lacks a bit sustain.

If you are taking reaper and soul reaping then spite>blood for sustain just because of how CV+BB interact as well as a hydromancy sigil. Its a VERY long explanation but if people ask i’ll explain indepth.

In short entering and leaving shroud heal you and generate LF and might.

Yes and No. You can pick the Boon Healing trait when playing power build, but u loose a lot of dmg with an condi build … caused by no additional bleeding.
Corruption Trailine offers cd reduction on heal-skill(consume conditions) and
bloodmagic = healing on hit/ warhorn boost and heal well proc when rezzing.

playing without soul reaping is possible, but i do not recommend it on lower rating. You are weaker in 1n1 matchups (missing unblockable trait) and ur cleave dmg is gone no additional bleeding, no fire on aa.
You probably can pick Spite, bloodmagic, Elite and pick every trait that grants healing + 1050 power/condi +560vita/heal amulett. But be aware that u only get might on hit, heal (bloodmagic) on hit and condi consumption(5sec. cd) on hit. So this wont work vs. heavy cc matchups.
—> http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQNBmWD7kZTobTsmGwdTgeTsgLYxVxuYYEqNFAOATZhTQVA-TZxGABjfBAyvMwBPBA02fAgDCAA
( change “your soul is mine” when facing more than 1 condi class and utility skills like u prefer … e.g. well of power, spektral armor,…)

Perhaps Spite were meant for tanking pressure? I might be wrong since Death Magic Necro was a bit problem to me but yeah, let’s include downstate damage pressure aswell.

u shudnt just know 1 build but know necro enough be able to change ur build and utilities base on what ur fighting, if u feel like u know u will be the one targetted and other team full of like thieves and mesmers u can switch to a tankier amulet like knights or even change ur elite to plague form so that ur secretly the worst target in the team fight and they waste their cds

wwDefuser.2056:

Yes and No. You can pick the Boon Healing trait when playing power build, but u loose a lot of dmg with an condi build … caused by no additional bleeding.
Corruption Trailine offers cd reduction on heal-skill(consume conditions) and
bloodmagic = healing on hit/ warhorn boost and heal well proc when rezzing.

Its fairly obvious I was on about power builds since very few condi builds will take spite over curses when running SR and Reaper. Its also fairly obvious by your posts that you favour more so condi builds with the curses traitline.

Anyways:

When you enter shroud it counts as a weapon swap. The order the game does this is it swaps weapons then enters shroud. So what happens is the hydromancy sigil, pretty much sued on the off set on any power build be it staff or dagger , and sigil of battle, one of my choices, go off first. Hydromancy applies its chill before its damage so you will get upto 5 procs of Chilling victory and BlightersBoon for upto 5 might and 10%lf, then another 2% lf for the battle sigil going off. Then you enter shroud and proc spiteful spirit meaning you will gain up to another 5 stacks of might, as the game also counts this all as one attack for the purpose of chilling victories ICD, and 5 stacks of retaliation. . Overall entering shroud will gain me upto 17% lf, 10 stacks of might, 15s of retaliation and proc blighters boon around 10 times for a heal of ~2k.

Leaving shroud is a similar matter. You will swap weapons before leaving shroud. So hydromancy and battle go off proccing blighters boon upto 7 times and due to chilling victory you gain 5% LF. Max of ~1.4k. Theres other interactions with sigils and traits further but its relativity minor.

This interaction is the reason why powerbuilds seem so tanky. Because entering and leaving shroud grant you lf, healing and might.

Literally you enter shroud causing you to gain more shroud and heal, you then stay in it for a while, causing you to heal more due to #3 if used and then spite minor #1 and #3 ( if i use strength over battle, which I do on another set I gain more might and heal even more ), Then you leave shroud…causing you to heal and gain more shroud so you have more for next time you enter it.

So in short to the part of your post i quoted: No spite does not lack sustain.

It’s why the power build is more soloq friendly. You sustain by doing normal things and you aren’t soft ( paladins amulet gets you 24k/19k HP/LF and just under 2.4k armour, protection from last gasp and SA, rise, shrouds weird innate 50% damage reuflcton to all things including fall damage ) . You also do a lot of damage by doing necro things. You can 50-0 people by swapping weapon, entering shroud or a combination thereof. Hydromancy+Air+Chilling Nova+Spiteful Spirit+Chill of Death.

Im also using spite I use this build for solo/duoq

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQNBmOD7kjGodTs8Gw2GgeTsgLYQXtAwBI+K2FDjUA-TZBFABiXGAgnAgAHEgS2fghLAAA

Im not sure about my elite chilled to the bone seems awesome especially in low elo
Started ranked a few days ago and I’m now in low gold
No one ever dodges my ult and I can stun 3-4 people at once sometimes so it’s rly strong atm.
Maybe I switch it in higher elo with plague for more sustain if focused and the extra stability for rezzing or stomping.
But chilled to the bones will still be nice for fakecasting and force a dodge.

But I’m getting better and better I think I just need more practice after the long break from gw2 and its a way different playstyle with necro.
But I’m getting better in kiting and survive way longer now thanks to all the help from you guys

The video from kuper also helped me

The secret of the necromancer/reaper at this time is that power builds are actually better than condi builds if you soloQ and/or don’t have a dedicated support class in your team. They have a lot more sustain because of how Spite synergizes with Chilling Victory and Blighter’s Boon. As a condi you will practically never go for BB because of that other GM trait.

In fact, Spite provides so much sustain for power builds that you can quite comfortably 1v1 druids, scrappers and thieves. DHs, mesmers and warriors are not that comfortable but it can be done. Condi necro is a non-issue, and you eat revenants and eles for breakfast because of how they rely on their boons.

Yannir.4132:

In fact, Spite provides so much sustain for power builds that you can quite comfortably 1v1 druids, scrappers and thieves.

You can comfortably 1v1 thieves? Wish I had that kinda luck lol. Only way I have a chance in that matchup is when I have 75%+ LF and can flip Spiteful Spirit multiple times.

Sarrs.4831:

Yannir.4132:

In fact, Spite provides so much sustain for power builds that you can quite comfortably 1v1 druids, scrappers and thieves.

You can comfortably 1v1 thieves? Wish I had that kinda luck lol. Only way I have a chance in that matchup is when I have 75%+ LF and can flip Spiteful Spirit multiple times.

If I expect to be fighting thieves 1v1(or any other time I expect a lot of CC), I slot Well of Power. Wait for the Steal so they don’t swipe your Stab, and then pop the well. Fire away with axe until they back off. I rarely kill them if they are good but it’s a win anyway if they leave.

Yannir.4132:

The secret of the necromancer/reaper at this time is that power builds are actually better than condi builds if you soloQ and/or don’t have a dedicated support class in your team. .

You cant say this in generall. The power build suffers from blocks. Sure u can pick a shout, but u will loose a utility slot.
Your Staff power dmg is low, it’s only for some utility. Axe is single target. Shroud is your only real source of aoe dmg.

Compare condi with power i would say:
Power Necro:
+ sustain
+ single target dmg.
- less dmg on staff
- less aoe dmg
-+ reliant on vulnurable targets(no blocks, [no invis]-no shroud, dmg on hit … no automated/passive ticks like condi)

Condi Necro:
+ Aoe Dmg when not in shroud
+ Once transfered no line of sight or further hit necessary —> you can move freely and still do pressure with your conditions
- cleanseable
- less burst potential since u dont run “Plague Signet”

For example i modified the corruptionmaster build on Metabattle. And i do better with it than the standard one (more Lifeforce reg. =more sustain). http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQNBmWD7kjGo2Gs8GwdTgeTsYMYUNhqQtKOHGEPiR/sAwAA-TZxFABAcEAO/BA4UZA22fIhLCAA
I dont feel to be dependend on “Vital persistance”. So i swap it for higher Duration of Protection/Spektral armor(passive+active) and the benefit on Lifeforcereg.

of course you need to change ur build regarding enemy team composition. There is a huge difference playing vs. warriors/thiefs or no warriors/thiefs. Furthermore if enemy druid uses longbow for perma immobilize or not.

You cant say this in generall. The power build suffers from blocks. Sure u can pick a shout, but u will loose a utility slot.
Your Staff power dmg is low, it’s only for some utility. Axe is single target. Shroud is your only real source of aoe dmg.

Its true since condition builds generally need to be supported because of how soft they are and how they lack sustain. Also Yannir doesnt play meta, they take dagger instead of staff.

Besides 4 skills condi builds suffer from blocks as well. Staff also doesnt put out a great deal of condi pressure either, even in a condi build.

You also still need to land your skills with a condi build. So you still need “Vulnerable” targets. Its not automated or passive.

Also power builds generally generate alot more LF than condi builds

I don’t recommend that power boonstrip build for too many reasons to list. It was put on metabattle by a guy who is probably in the .005% of players in the world skill wise and all his flunkies/synchophants upvoted it. Thats not saying that build can’t work just for the average player the vast majority of the time you going to be much more successful running the typical condi mancer using some combination of curses, soul reaping, spite, and Reaper. If that build was so great he would have been using it when $$$$ were on the line. I unerstand the argument that its probably some kind of solo queue build but again to me the problems with it are all the same old problems that have been discussed many times before with power necro and the difficulty of being in melee range all the time as a Necro.

steelheart.7386:

I don’t recommend that power boonstrip build for too many reasons to list. It was put on metabattle by a guy who is probably in the .005% of players in the world skill wise and all his flunkies/synchophants upvoted it. Thats not saying that build can’t work just for the average player the vast majority of the time you going to be much more successful running the typical condi mancer using some combination of curses, soul reaping, spite, and Reaper. If that build was so great he would have been using it when $$$$ were on the line. I unerstand the argument that its probably some kind of solo queue build but again to me the problems with it are all the same old problems that have been discussed many times before with power necro and the difficulty of being in melee range all the time as a Necro.

Such as?
Genuinely interested.