Guild Wars 2

Introduction

I know I’m not the first to make this suggestion, just hear me out.

The old GW1 Necro had a lot going for it, a lot of unique mechanics that made it a very diverse profession to play, and the Disease condition was one of them.

Now the GW2 Necro on the other hand, is a bit lacking in the unique department these days. Cough: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/necromancer/Necromancer-A-Dead-Boring-Profession/first#post1739827 cough.

So why not try and bring back some of the old, and breath some new life into it.

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Mechanics

The idea is this, Disease is a Necromacer specific condition (perhaps with a few Ranger pet skills as an exception).
And it works like this, the condition works like any normal damage over time condition, that stacks in duration, etc, with damage somewhere between Poison and Burning.
BUT, when removed it damages the target based on the number of other conditions present when it is removed. So the more conditions, the harder it hits.

However, it only does this if removed, not if it expires normally.
So you have this juxtaposition, where removing it may end up being worse if you just let it expire normally.
This could be a fun way to punish people who don’t pay attention and just blindly remove conditions willy nilly.

It also encapsulates what the Necromancer is about, in part, which is not only applying conditions, but punishing after the fact.
It would be a heck of a lot more interesting then Fear, that’s for sure.
(provided you have enough sources of Disease so that you can apply it somewhat often)

One of the things I liked about Disease in GW1 was that it could be spread between enemies. I wouldn’t mind another condition for Necros to use, given how Fear was originally intended to be a Necro-exclusive. That and because a player’s fear will never be as awesome as an enemy’s fear (I swear, if I get feared for 6+ secs again…)

Another possibility would be adding Madness as a condition, perhaps as a tweak to the Lich Form elite skill. No idea about what it would do but com’on… Area Madness, anyone?

I like the idea and it would be good for punishing players that don’t pay attention as you said, but instead of it damaging them when it is removed, how about just when it expires anyway. This means if a mesmer sends it back to you, you get punished (which fits the mesmer playstyle). Having it damage you at removal means classes who do see it, and try to fix it still get punished.

@Magnum I kind of like the madness ability, make it like confusion but perhaps it is a weaker aoe version? Less damage per skill, more people affected

I prefer the idea that was mentioned in a previous thread, where every tick, the disease and any remaining ticks minus 1 is spread “Nearby”, and so on, and so on, until everyone ends up with 1 tick on the outside. The ticks do not recognize friend or foe.

The only trouble is, having one class be the only way to give it. Holy unbalanced.

True, not every profession can deal out every condition or boon, but none of them are completely exclusive.

Also: Whatever we get access to, the enemies do too. That doesn’t work in reverse.