Guild Wars 2

been looking into it, but i can’t seem to find one on my own. Anyone know what the “typical” d/d build is?

thanks

not viable. necros dont have enough stability to brawl in melee range, and siphoning is a bad, broken mechanic. i tested the crap out of dagger builds. staff spam, scepter/dagger, is all thats really viable on the necro.

nerva.7940:

not viable. necros dont have enough stability to brawl in melee range, and siphoning is a bad, broken mechanic. i tested the crap out of dagger builds. staff spam, scepter/dagger, is all thats really viable on the necro.

Not true it all, d/d is viable in the hands of the right player with the right team.

30(V,VII,XII)/15(IV)/10(II)/0/15(VI)

6/6 thief runes on armor
fire/battle on daggers
battle on staff
Knights ammy(berserkers jewel)

consume coditions, blood is power, signet of undeath, well of suffering, lich

This is what I run in tpvp(paids) and it does work well imo. Takes some practice getting used to.

for serious tpvp no. For structured pvp I use a staff with d/focus. Utilities spectral grasp, spectral armor, corrupt boon, and lich form for elite. You could put w/e traits you think are best.

How do u not get melted by conditions and what do u bringto your team Khalifa

well i mean dagger 4, staff 4 and my heal clear conditions. Not to mention a guardian clearling my condis and giving me might so i can get up to 25 stacks. Time warp + lich form = gg

The problem is all these necros instantly saying builds like this are not viable instead of learning to use them. This is how we fall into the necros are only condi turret spammers with no other options.

Khalifahaze.6045:

The problem is all these necros instantly saying builds like this are not viable instead of learning to use them. This is how we fall into the necros are only condi turret spammers with no other options.

My friend does a D/D power build with necro sometimes, he always rages when thieves and warriors tunnel vision him though, how do you get away or survive without plague or flesh golem CC?

you should not be dying to thieves in this build, warriors are a little harder you just have to have well timed dodges. Its all about DS in this build use it as much as you can then go in with the dagger burst. Being on a team where things like an ele and guardian can help protect you during zergs is what makes this tpvp viable. Also the dagger 3 root is amazing cc makes killing other melee not a so hard. If you want to see how it’s played go to (10:55) in this video.

Khalifahaze.6045:

well i mean dagger 4, staff 4 and my heal clear conditions. Not to mention a guardian clearling my condis and giving me might so i can get up to 25 stacks. Time warp + lich form = gg

Bingo

I ran a few different power dagger builds and loved them all, with dagger main hand you will be building life force quickly so I definitely suggest taking some points in soul reaping for Crit damage and life force.

I ran 30 0 10 0 30 for a bit which was fun or 30 0 20 0 20 depending on your offhand. stability in deathshroud is great for when guardians trap you in ring of warding, and you get cc’d. A trait I love that I feel is overlooked is the adapt trait where life force drains 25% slower in DS. With a dagger power necro you are going to be wanting to spend a lot of time in DS for life blasts, as well as to mitigate Aoe and damage, so 25% slower drain is nice. Another good trait in soul reaping life blasts pierce and cause vuln. 20% damage for targets below 50% is a very good power trait that ups dagger damage nicely, combined with life blasts give might for 15 seconds, I was rocking out 4.5k life blast crits every once in a while. Utilities I ran well of suffering, spectral grasp (great for pulling targets back into wells) then I ran either spectral walk, another well, or corrupt boon, depending on fight. I ran dagger and warhorn (the daze is great) or dagger and focus. Dagger offhand is more for conditions IMO but the condition transfer and blind is great.

BlueprintLFE.2358:

Khalifahaze.6045:

well i mean dagger 4, staff 4 and my heal clear conditions. Not to mention a guardian clearling my condis and giving me might so i can get up to 25 stacks. Time warp + lich form = gg

Bingo

I ran a few different power dagger builds and loved them all, with dagger main hand you will be building life force quickly so I definitely suggest taking some points in soul reaping for Crit damage and life force.

I ran 30 0 10 0 30 for a bit which was fun or 30 0 20 0 20 depending on your offhand. stability in deathshroud is great for when guardians trap you in ring of warding, and you get cc’d. A trait I love that I feel is overlooked is the adapt trait where life force drains 25% slower in DS. With a dagger power necro you are going to be wanting to spend a lot of time in DS for life blasts, as well as to mitigate Aoe and damage, so 25% slower drain is nice. Another good trait in soul reaping life blasts pierce and cause vuln. 20% damage for targets below 50% is a very good power trait that ups dagger damage nicely, combined with life blasts give might for 15 seconds, I was rocking out 4.5k life blast crits every once in a while. Utilities I ran well of suffering, spectral grasp (great for pulling targets back into wells) then I ran either spectral walk, another well, or corrupt boon, depending on fight. I ran dagger and warhorn (the daze is great) or dagger and focus. Dagger offhand is more for conditions IMO but the condition transfer and blind is great.

Yeah those builds are solid, I prefer 15 in curses for the extra crit and fury. Having 70% crit after DS is pretty awesome. As for offhand it’s all what u prefer. I’ve tried them all and I just like dagger offhand the best.

Well this discussion shut me up. Excited to try this out. I only played a bunker condi necro so I kinda dismissed everything else.

is the LF generated by signet of death significant or noticeable in a fight?

nerva.7940:

is the LF generated by signet of death significant or noticeable in a fight?

Eh it’s a smaller amount so if you are in a longer team fight and your using weaps that dont generate a lot of life force, you will notice it helping, IMO life force is crucial to necros, and especially pvp necros, so even if it is a small amount, it is still one of the better passive effects out of the Rez signets as it is something that can definitely make or break a fight.

nerva.7940:

is the LF generated by signet of death significant or noticeable in a fight?

The signet is probably used to revive teammates primarily.

Khalifahaze.6045:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Tyxk_2GLYs

Can’t watch the video in germany due to GEMA issues with the music, is it maybe up somewhere else, do you maybe stream playing this build sometimes?

i really really like the build, but it’s very reliant on a good team. much higher learning curve and seemingly much squishier than my bunker wellmancer. the damage is worth it though =)

i find spectral walk to be a powerful ability for this build.

power necro is not viable, it’s easily kited and too squishy.

power necro seems to be an assassin type burst spec. nobody would be kiting him. u come in from the side, immobilize and burst. or just annihilate an entire point with lich like any 30/30/10 necro would.

i’ve played it before (http://www.twitch.tv/symbollix/c/1755443), when it works, it’s amazing however outside of wells trying to hit people with your dagger is awful. Frost/Shocking aura are pretty much hard counters. However it’s incredibly easy to kite people with it and as for assassin, it doesn’t have the gap closing ability to really be an assassin, outside of #2 in DS there is no gap closer. If you miss the immobilize for whatever reason, it gets cleansed and people just walk out of the wells then you’re chasing people like a headless chicken with dagger #1. Oh, and 30/30/10 is an absolutely awful trashy spec.

Like I said before this build isn’t the easiest to play but it has great reward. Between staff 4 and dagger 4 u can send back chills when you’re getting kited. You have DS 2 as a gap closer and chill not to mention staff 5 to fear enemies back towards you. Getting kited is rarely an issue for me.

there is kiting in tourneys? if you aren’t fighting on the node you’re doing it wrong. and staff to tag people at range. getting kited is not really an issue with this build

how do you fear enemies towards you?

Mithir.7460:

how do you fear enemies towards you?

I think he meant towards your well or marks

getting trained by warriors and thieves is brutal on this build.

nerva.7940:

getting trained by warriors and thieves is brutal on this build.

which build is it not brutal on a necro? you have no escape mechanisms other than DS. if anything this build is better built to deal with that with hard hitting marks/wells that warriors/thieves will be sitting in.

I prefer dagger/focus, but in the current meta of hot join with lots of glass thieves/warriors/mesmers this build actually works well.

Yeah something might seem good when you are getting carried by a voice chat team, tried them all. While its a fun change its not even close to optimal just learn a viable melee burst class and change chars when you want to play that way. You will be doing yourself and your team a favor learning a new class that does better in that role.

I do think there are decent necro builds not full conditions, dagger/warhorn or focus makes more sense to me then double dagger. d/d seems like a choice of someone just trying to look cool.

Anyway real test…. pug tpvp for a few days with a build you will quickly develop an understanding of what the good builds are for which classes.

For a long time I ran the semi-tanky no power all condi damage build w/ scepter + dagger and Staff. I now switched to one very similar to the power build Khalifia talked about it I find it so much more useful in tournaments. I use it with both wells and res sig. Use the immoblize on dagger to keep them in wells. Sometimes you do have to back off because of the squishyness, but then you just DS auto attack for ~2k average attack. Also like Khalifia stated I coordinate time warp and lich with mes at team fights and verus bad teams I can down 2+ players easy in it. It is very resliant on DS because of the squishyness, but you should charge it really fast with staff/dagger auto attack. This build brings just as much or more pressure than a straight condi build for sure, but can also burst down 1v1 which is it’s biggest upside imo.

My thoughts exactly. Less squishy than I originally thought. Depending on how fast I can build LF. Does take quite a bit of practice but it’s hella rewarding as it can put as much pressure as the condi wellmancer

Anyone try Axe instead of dagger?

Yeah I have messed around with axe for a bit, for me the damage just isn’t there, the auto Attack seems weak, and your only real damage is coming from the 2nd channeled ability, which is too wasy to get interrupted, or strafed, or line of sighted, once on cool down you are stuck without much damage.

Jimmy Graham.2851:

For a long time I ran the semi-tanky no power all condi damage build w/ scepter + dagger and Staff. I now switched to one very similar to the power build Khalifia talked about it I find it so much more useful in tournaments. I use it with both wells and res sig. Use the immoblize on dagger to keep them in wells. Sometimes you do have to back off because of the squishyness, but then you just DS auto attack for ~2k average attack. Also like Khalifia stated I coordinate time warp and lich with mes at team fights and verus bad teams I can down 2+ players easy in it. It is very resliant on DS because of the squishyness, but you should charge it really fast with staff/dagger auto attack. This build brings just as much or more pressure than a straight condi build for sure, but can also burst down 1v1 which is it’s biggest upside imo.

Yeah, this is pretty much it. I really believe that this spec is just as good if not better than the cookie cutter condi spam every necro runs. People don’t want to learn something new that can be a little more challenging. Condi necro has to be one of the most boring and mindless things I have ever played. This build is hardly squishier because of how quickly you build life force. You are also able to protect yourself better when getting attacked imo. Run around with a staff guardian getting condi clear and might stacks makes this build very good. As far as axe goes, it just isn’t there yet. Hopefully in the future it will get some changes, but atm dagger will always yield higher dps.

Khalifahaze.6045:

Jimmy Graham.2851:

For a long time I ran the semi-tanky no power all condi damage build w/ scepter + dagger and Staff. I now switched to one very similar to the power build Khalifia talked about it I find it so much more useful in tournaments. I use it with both wells and res sig. Use the immoblize on dagger to keep them in wells. Sometimes you do have to back off because of the squishyness, but then you just DS auto attack for ~2k average attack. Also like Khalifia stated I coordinate time warp and lich with mes at team fights and verus bad teams I can down 2+ players easy in it. It is very resliant on DS because of the squishyness, but you should charge it really fast with staff/dagger auto attack. This build brings just as much or more pressure than a straight condi build for sure, but can also burst down 1v1 which is it’s biggest upside imo.

Yeah, this is pretty much it. I really believe that this spec is just as good if not better than the cookie cutter condi spam every necro runs. People don’t want to learn something new that can be a little more challenging. Condi necro has to be one of the most boring and mindless things I have ever played. This build is hardly squishier because of how quickly you build life force. You are also able to protect yourself better when getting attacked imo. Run around with a staff guardian getting condi clear and might stacks makes this build very good. As far as axe goes, it just isn’t there yet. Hopefully in the future it will get some changes, but atm dagger will always yield higher dps.

The issue with almost all power builds is to gave up positioning in order to place wells and the lack of a good power AoE.

The condi spam necro has targeted AoEs with focused rituals + grasping dead and enfeebling blood, while power necros are very much focused on single tarrget damage, and the need to go 20 traits points in curse in order to get focused rituals.

Current trait/weapons design favours too much the hybrid build for tPvP.

Anyone know off hand if well damage is static, or if it scales with power or anything?

Didn’t see anything on the wiki

BlueprintLFE.2358:

Anyone know off hand if well damage is static, or if it scales with power or anything?

Didn’t see anything on the wiki

Wells do more dmg in a power build.

Mrbig.8019:

Khalifahaze.6045:

Jimmy Graham.2851:

For a long time I ran the semi-tanky no power all condi damage build w/ scepter + dagger and Staff. I now switched to one very similar to the power build Khalifia talked about it I find it so much more useful in tournaments. I use it with both wells and res sig. Use the immoblize on dagger to keep them in wells. Sometimes you do have to back off because of the squishyness, but then you just DS auto attack for ~2k average attack. Also like Khalifia stated I coordinate time warp and lich with mes at team fights and verus bad teams I can down 2+ players easy in it. It is very resliant on DS because of the squishyness, but you should charge it really fast with staff/dagger auto attack. This build brings just as much or more pressure than a straight condi build for sure, but can also burst down 1v1 which is it’s biggest upside imo.

Yeah, this is pretty much it. I really believe that this spec is just as good if not better than the cookie cutter condi spam every necro runs. People don’t want to learn something new that can be a little more challenging. Condi necro has to be one of the most boring and mindless things I have ever played. This build is hardly squishier because of how quickly you build life force. You are also able to protect yourself better when getting attacked imo. Run around with a staff guardian getting condi clear and might stacks makes this build very good. As far as axe goes, it just isn’t there yet. Hopefully in the future it will get some changes, but atm dagger will always yield higher dps.

The issue with almost all power builds is to gave up positioning in order to place wells and the lack of a good power AoE.

The condi spam necro has targeted AoEs with focused rituals + grasping dead and enfeebling blood, while power necros are very much focused on single tarrget damage, and the need to go 20 traits points in curse in order to get focused rituals.

Current trait/weapons design favours too much the hybrid build for tPvP.

While this may be true, it doesn’t change the fact that power necro is still tpvp viable. It takes a little bit more awareness about when to go in and who to attack. Power builds also allow a necro to utilize deathshroud at its fullest extent because it’s rather lackluster in a condi build. Every try playing a condi necro against a team with heavy condi removal? this makes you almost useless in these matches. This is mainly the reason why I choose power necro over condi. I make this work in tpvp, others may not have much success with this type of play style. That being said, I was just trying to get across that this build is viable and can be quite deadly if played correctly.

Here’s the problem with this build though. Casuals or low skill/simple-minded players are going to say it isn’t viable because they can’t pull it off.

Apparently it isn’t viable also because only a few people (Like Khalifa) can pull it off. I’ve seen it do work though, kinda high risk/high reward since its more punishable than scepter but I’ve seen it work.

TL;DR Just because you’re not good enough to pull a legit build off, that doesn’t mean a build isn’t viable. People are more likely to blame a build than themselves which is pretty pathetic.

Also.. Mace + GS Warriors are a bad match-up with this build.

One bit of advice. When trying a new build , especially if you have evidence from watching other players do it successfully, is give it more than 5 minutues. Sometimes it can take an hour or even more to familarize yourself with a new build and the muscle memory, especially if the escape keys your used to are gone.
If you only take 5 mins to play it, you might be selling yourself short.

Khalifahaze.6045:

Mrbig.8019:

Khalifahaze.6045:

Jimmy Graham.2851:

For a long time I ran the semi-tanky no power all condi damage build w/ scepter + dagger and Staff. I now switched to one very similar to the power build Khalifia talked about it I find it so much more useful in tournaments. I use it with both wells and res sig. Use the immoblize on dagger to keep them in wells. Sometimes you do have to back off because of the squishyness, but then you just DS auto attack for ~2k average attack. Also like Khalifia stated I coordinate time warp and lich with mes at team fights and verus bad teams I can down 2+ players easy in it. It is very resliant on DS because of the squishyness, but you should charge it really fast with staff/dagger auto attack. This build brings just as much or more pressure than a straight condi build for sure, but can also burst down 1v1 which is it’s biggest upside imo.

Yeah, this is pretty much it. I really believe that this spec is just as good if not better than the cookie cutter condi spam every necro runs. People don’t want to learn something new that can be a little more challenging. Condi necro has to be one of the most boring and mindless things I have ever played. This build is hardly squishier because of how quickly you build life force. You are also able to protect yourself better when getting attacked imo. Run around with a staff guardian getting condi clear and might stacks makes this build very good. As far as axe goes, it just isn’t there yet. Hopefully in the future it will get some changes, but atm dagger will always yield higher dps.

The issue with almost all power builds is to gave up positioning in order to place wells and the lack of a good power AoE.

The condi spam necro has targeted AoEs with focused rituals + grasping dead and enfeebling blood, while power necros are very much focused on single tarrget damage, and the need to go 20 traits points in curse in order to get focused rituals.

Current trait/weapons design favours too much the hybrid build for tPvP.

While this may be true, it doesn’t change the fact that power necro is still tpvp viable. It takes a little bit more awareness about when to go in and who to attack. Power builds also allow a necro to utilize deathshroud at its fullest extent because it’s rather lackluster in a condi build. Every try playing a condi necro against a team with heavy condi removal? this makes you almost useless in these matches. This is mainly the reason why I choose power necro over condi. I make this work in tpvp, others may not have much success with this type of play style. That being said, I was just trying to get across that this build is viable and can be quite deadly if played correctly.

The biggest problem i find is that in any build i have to give up or the greater marks trait or focused rituals.

I think the best build a power necro can achieve would be something on this line, in order to keep the AoE potentials of the condimancer WHILE being power based ( so more powerful against enge-ele bunker and 80% of classes fighting in mid point)

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fQAQNAodWjMad6ZaSbMcKApCPD94WddOSByDTVwdA;TsAg0Cnoey8k4J7TunkPt+YAx0CA

Maybe some future changes will make power necros more powerful, who knows

Mrbig.8019:

Khalifahaze.6045:

Mrbig.8019:

Khalifahaze.6045:

Jimmy Graham.2851:

For a long time I ran the semi-tanky no power all condi damage build w/ scepter + dagger and Staff. I now switched to one very similar to the power build Khalifia talked about it I find it so much more useful in tournaments. I use it with both wells and res sig. Use the immoblize on dagger to keep them in wells. Sometimes you do have to back off because of the squishyness, but then you just DS auto attack for ~2k average attack. Also like Khalifia stated I coordinate time warp and lich with mes at team fights and verus bad teams I can down 2+ players easy in it. It is very resliant on DS because of the squishyness, but you should charge it really fast with staff/dagger auto attack. This build brings just as much or more pressure than a straight condi build for sure, but can also burst down 1v1 which is it’s biggest upside imo.

Yeah, this is pretty much it. I really believe that this spec is just as good if not better than the cookie cutter condi spam every necro runs. People don’t want to learn something new that can be a little more challenging. Condi necro has to be one of the most boring and mindless things I have ever played. This build is hardly squishier because of how quickly you build life force. You are also able to protect yourself better when getting attacked imo. Run around with a staff guardian getting condi clear and might stacks makes this build very good. As far as axe goes, it just isn’t there yet. Hopefully in the future it will get some changes, but atm dagger will always yield higher dps.

The issue with almost all power builds is to gave up positioning in order to place wells and the lack of a good power AoE.

The condi spam necro has targeted AoEs with focused rituals + grasping dead and enfeebling blood, while power necros are very much focused on single tarrget damage, and the need to go 20 traits points in curse in order to get focused rituals.

Current trait/weapons design favours too much the hybrid build for tPvP.

While this may be true, it doesn’t change the fact that power necro is still tpvp viable. It takes a little bit more awareness about when to go in and who to attack. Power builds also allow a necro to utilize deathshroud at its fullest extent because it’s rather lackluster in a condi build. Every try playing a condi necro against a team with heavy condi removal? this makes you almost useless in these matches. This is mainly the reason why I choose power necro over condi. I make this work in tpvp, others may not have much success with this type of play style. That being said, I was just trying to get across that this build is viable and can be quite deadly if played correctly.

The biggest problem i find is that in any build i have to give up or the greater marks trait or focused rituals.

I think the best build a power necro can achieve would be something on this line, in order to keep the AoE potentials of the condimancer WHILE being power based ( so more powerful against enge-ele bunker and 80% of classes fighting in mid point)

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fQAQNAodWjMad6ZaSbMcKApCPD94WddOSByDTVwdA;TsAg0Cnoey8k4J7TunkPt+YAx0CA

Maybe some future changes will make power necros more powerful, who knows

eh, everybody has build preferences. I would not run that build it seems more as a confused necro build. I would switch out a lot of those traits for other ones. I don’t find not having focused rituals hurts me in any way. Also not having spectral armor at 50% is not so good for a melee necro. Why you would choose 50% dmg on down over retal I don’t know.

people saying its not viable may be talking spvp. forcing yourself into melee range vs a zerg of bs thieves and hb warriors isnt a great idea

Khalifahaze.6045:

Mrbig.8019:

Khalifahaze.6045:

Mrbig.8019:

Khalifahaze.6045:

Jimmy Graham.2851:

For a long time I ran the semi-tanky no power all condi damage build w/ scepter + dagger and Staff. I now switched to one very similar to the power build Khalifia talked about it I find it so much more useful in tournaments. I use it with both wells and res sig. Use the immoblize on dagger to keep them in wells. Sometimes you do have to back off because of the squishyness, but then you just DS auto attack for ~2k average attack. Also like Khalifia stated I coordinate time warp and lich with mes at team fights and verus bad teams I can down 2+ players easy in it. It is very resliant on DS because of the squishyness, but you should charge it really fast with staff/dagger auto attack. This build brings just as much or more pressure than a straight condi build for sure, but can also burst down 1v1 which is it’s biggest upside imo.

Yeah, this is pretty much it. I really believe that this spec is just as good if not better than the cookie cutter condi spam every necro runs. People don’t want to learn something new that can be a little more challenging. Condi necro has to be one of the most boring and mindless things I have ever played. This build is hardly squishier because of how quickly you build life force. You are also able to protect yourself better when getting attacked imo. Run around with a staff guardian getting condi clear and might stacks makes this build very good. As far as axe goes, it just isn’t there yet. Hopefully in the future it will get some changes, but atm dagger will always yield higher dps.

The issue with almost all power builds is to gave up positioning in order to place wells and the lack of a good power AoE.

The condi spam necro has targeted AoEs with focused rituals + grasping dead and enfeebling blood, while power necros are very much focused on single tarrget damage, and the need to go 20 traits points in curse in order to get focused rituals.

Current trait/weapons design favours too much the hybrid build for tPvP.

While this may be true, it doesn’t change the fact that power necro is still tpvp viable. It takes a little bit more awareness about when to go in and who to attack. Power builds also allow a necro to utilize deathshroud at its fullest extent because it’s rather lackluster in a condi build. Every try playing a condi necro against a team with heavy condi removal? this makes you almost useless in these matches. This is mainly the reason why I choose power necro over condi. I make this work in tpvp, others may not have much success with this type of play style. That being said, I was just trying to get across that this build is viable and can be quite deadly if played correctly.

The biggest problem i find is that in any build i have to give up or the greater marks trait or focused rituals.

I think the best build a power necro can achieve would be something on this line, in order to keep the AoE potentials of the condimancer WHILE being power based ( so more powerful against enge-ele bunker and 80% of classes fighting in mid point)

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fQAQNAodWjMad6ZaSbMcKApCPD94WddOSByDTVwdA;TsAg0Cnoey8k4J7TunkPt+YAx0CA

Maybe some future changes will make power necros more powerful, who knows

eh, everybody has build preferences. I would not run that build it seems more as a confused necro build. I would switch out a lot of those traits for other ones. I don’t find not having focused rituals hurts me in any way. Also not having spectral armor at 50% is not so good for a melee necro. Why you would choose 50% dmg on down over retal I don’t know.

tbh the only thing I changed from your build is those 5 points from soul reaping to curse in order to get focused rituals. maybe retail on death shroud in place of 50% downed damage but nothin else.
personally I don’t have any problem in melee without spectral armor at 50% life, and I would never trade it for the capability of being on the roof at mid points spamming AoEs death.

but whatever

I actually run a power build because I find condition spam very boring. What I dont understand is dagger offhand I have tried it in power builds…. its not optimal, seems like a pick to look cool nothing more.

Warhorn or focus adds more imo. When im running a more glassy build I tend to warhorn offhand for lockdown burst combos, balanced I got with focus. I just dont see dagger offhands benefits in a power build vs the other two options.

Xom.9264:

I actually run a power build because I find condition spam very boring. What I dont understand is dagger offhand I have tried it in power builds…. its not optimal, seems like a pick to look cool nothing more.

Warhorn or focus adds more imo. When im running a more glassy build I tend to warhorn offhand for lockdown burst combos, balanced I got with focus. I just dont see dagger offhands benefits in a power build vs the other two options.

Weakness is really good for standing toe to toe with other melees and the blind + condition removal is also invaluable.

im running with spectral wall instead of well of suffering, i prefer it for the instant 10 stacks of vuln, not to mention the prot. any reason to pick the well instead?

Well does mad damage

Why does everyone think power is the only way to run a direct damage setup? I personally run a crit build and have a lot of fun with it. Critical damage bonus is in the deathshroud line which adds a ton of survivability being able to hop in and out of it every 5 seconds if I want, having it last much longer, less CD on the DS skills and on top of it gaining life force extremely fast with d/d-staff.

I use offhand dagger because I can’t see any other offhand replacing the low cooldown condition transfer of the #4 skill.

You can have around 45% crit chance (which is plenty to get crits on a regular basis) while still having 28k hp, toughness is a bit low granted. But my autoattack chain from dagger hits for around 4k usually, Life Siphon from 2.5k-4k, same with Life Transfer in DS.

I actually run with 0 points in spite and have around 2600 attack, but with crits I do plenty of damage. Sometimes I’ll run with a zerker ammy and get around 3k attack but that takes me down to 22k hp so its more risk/reward scenario.

This type of build is a completely different playstyle and takes a different mindset then the types of builds most necros run, it may not work for everyone, but it doesn’t mean it isn’t viable. It helps to have as much CC’s as you can, personally I run spectral grasp and flesh golem.

I had a laugh when this Mesmer ask in /m “Whats with this melee necro dancing around people like she’s a thief”.

nerva.7940:

im running with spectral wall instead of well of suffering, i prefer it for the instant 10 stacks of vuln, not to mention the prot. any reason to pick the well instead?

I find wells melt bad players but against good players wells are not very useful good players move out of them fast. Im with you on not using wells much these days. I like spectral wall just fine but only when Im running a full spectral build else it does not last very long to justify the utility slot.