TL;DR
Buff the defense and utility of power necromancer.
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Talking about skillful play here so please don’t respond with nonsense like,
“I do fine with greatsword
.” If you respond with that, then you are a bad player.
If you are a bad player and you fight, say, a warrior who is equally bad, then you can possibly win because you are both bad. But if you are both equally amazing players then you will never win a fight as a power necromancer against any other power based class. Yes, any (other than the surprise factor in a team fight, which any class can do btw)
If you ever win a fight on a power necromancer then it is either because:
A – You are a better player than the opponent and would win on any build.
B – The opponent didn’t expect you to be a power necromancer.
Let’s take a look at what a power necromancer has:
PS. Damage output is not the problem with power necromancer, the damage is fantastic. The problem is our unjustifiable lack of defenses which other classes have. This may not be well known, but a power necromancer is also somewhat vulnerable to conditions.
Greatsword 1 – Just damage (chill is a non factor for all fights because you don’t use it)
Greatsword 2 – Just damage.
Greatsword 3 – Just damage. (Life force gain is negligible and not defense)
Greatsword 4 – AOE blind and cripple. Good skill. Should pulse every second, though.
Greatsword 5 – AOE frontal pull. Good skill. Needs some bug fixes, but good.
Axe 1 – Just damage. This skill is balanced, which is why it’s bad.
Axe 2 – Just damage.
Axe 3 -
Okay, you know what, I’m not going to list every skill and ability in the game because it’s a waste of my time.
Here is a list of why power warrior is viable:
Basically, a warrior does everything a power necromancer can do but has survivability.
Endure Pain – Physical damage invulnerability.
Whirlwind Attack – Evasion and moblity.
Rush – Mobility and gap closer.
Berserker Stance – Condition immunity.
Healing Signet – Sustain and condition immunity.
Shield Stance – Block.
Here is a list of why power guardian is viable:
A meditation guardian is so superior to in every way to necromancer that I don’t even…
Whirling Wrath – Gravedigger without the drawbacks because it hits multiple times it’s almost guaranteed to do damage and it removes aegis and blinds as multi hit.
Leap of Faith – Similar to death’s charge. Good.
Shelter – Block.
Virtue of Courage – Block.
Renewed Focus – Invulnerability and block recharge.
Judge’s Intervention – Teleport. The most superior type of skill in the game.
Smite Condition – Instant and huge burst damage.
Not doing this for every class either. But thief has the same type of abilities including stealth, blah blah blah. Mesmer has stealth, evasion, invulnerability, lots of CC, blah blah blah and BURST damage.
Okay, now if you can’t comprehend why power necromancer is kitten compared to other power classes, please go play more than 2 PvP matches to understand why.
Ultimately, a power class (necromancer) doesn’t work if it just has damage. A power necromancer has no burst and no survivability. By the way, if your “power” necromancer is using something stupid like cavalier then it’s a bad build and toughness does not = survivability.
What do I mean necromancer has no burst? Think about it. What is your burst? BURST – not just good damage. What is the meaning of burst?
Burst – Break suddenly and violently apart, spilling the contents, typically as a result of an impact or internal pressure.
How are you going to burst a foe as a power necromancer? Maybe some death’s charge, shroud 5, maybe some… NO! That’s not kitten burst damage. That’s very clearly charging into your foe which is very dodgeable and using a 1.25s cast time (non burst) skill. Even doing something as non burst like this is already a 2.5s cast time just to get IN to do damage.
High damage output does not matter if you can’t survive to use it.
This is what burst damage is (WvW clips because no one uploads PvP clips):
Guardian burst damage
Mesmer burst damage
Thief burst damage
Warrior burst damage
See how all of these classes have burst damage AND survivability?
Okay, now pretend that you are a power necromancer fighting against one of these classes. How are you going to win? Answer: You’re not. Your slow gravedigger is not going to hit them. If you somehow do hit them, they will evade, get out of range, block, heal up, stealth, endure pain, etc. And you will lose.
Pretend you are on a power necromancer and you are in an intense fight VS Vaanss on his berserker warrior! OMG yes! He’s down to 40% health! (You’ll be low health and life force by this point) So close! Endure Pain -____- Now Vaanss proceeds to annihilate you because you have no way to live his onslaught. What are you going to do? Double dodge? Lmao. Spectral armor? Death’s Charge? Okay, then he rushes to you and whirlwind attacks. There, he caught you.
As a power necromancer you literally cannot burst any power class down before they burst you down because they have immunities to damage – you don’t.
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Okay, so what am I trying to get at? Necromancers don’t need more damage, no. We need survivability on builds that have none. I’m not expecting blocks, invulnerability, evasion like blurred frenzy or anything, but we do need something.
PS. You’re not going to land that (6s long) “burst” damage in that video against any good player who is not a golem. Why? I already said why.
No, I’m not asking for buffs to our builds that are already good. kitten kitten it. Just like every other class wants, I want BUFFS TO OUR BAD BUILDS. Build diversity. PLEASE. For the love of God. Buff our bad builds.
What needs buffs for power necromancer? Answer: The greatsword itself. Here’s a buff that in itself would almost make power necromancer viable.
I would also like to see our greatsword auto attack changed somehow. The chill on the third auto chain is never used because it takes way too long to get to. Why not move the slow chill attack to be first in the chain instead? Sounds good to me. Maybe some weakness on the second hit.
What else needs some changes? Our focus. It’s literally just damage. Okay, it inflicts chill and removes 3 boons. It’s still just damage. No survivability to be found here. However, spinal shivers is a good skill. What isn’t a good skill is reaper’s touch. It needs some form of survivability addition, as does our axe #3 unholy feast.
If you run axe/focus, what survivability do you have on that weapon set? NOOOONE! ZERO. NADDA. This is why I personally run axe/dagger because off-hand dagger has a blind that transfers conditions. Perhaps making unholy feast AOE fear to inflict CC would be a good change. I don’t know.
Isn’t scepter/torch guardian in a similar situation? No. That weapon set is meh for reasons on its own but the guardian has survivability with other skills – necromancer doesn’t.
Isn’t axe/mace warrior similar with no survivability to axe/focus necro? No. Warrior has survivability and burst on his other weapon set as well and has other ways to mitigate damage.
TL;DR
Buff the defense and utility of power necromancer.
(edited by Zefrost.3425)
