Guild Wars 2

I recently rolled a necro to have a ranged alternative to my guardian for WvW. I’ve been planning a build as I’ve levelled (currently lvl60ish) and Staff + S/W + wells seems like the best option for the 15-20 man squad guilds I run with.

The only thing I haven’t decided on is whether to go for power/precision direct damage or condition damage.

Current build.

I want to keep condition duration high either way for the chills/cripples etc but for damage output would it be best to go condition damage + epidemic for strong bleeds OR power/precision + well of suffering for high damage and crits (30% crit damage from traits too).

Offensive stats with rabid/carrion:
1200-1375 conddmg (100-110 bleed tick)
35% crit chance
30% crit damage
1600 epower

Offensive stats with knight/soldier/zerker:
260 conddmg (56 bleed tick)
36% crit chance
55-64% crit damage
2600-2900 epower

Both set ups have 2500 armour and ~22k health.

TL;DR: Direct damage or condition damage for AoE WvW medium sized squad based fighting.

I would say go for both, even better if you stick with a zerg. Hybrid builds are good for keeping both pressures going, but normally lacks a bit in the survival department. If you’re always in a group you shouldn’t be worried about it.

30/30/10 with Rampager armor, one giver’s weapon, mix of Cavalier/Rampager/Berserker trinket will net you good stats overall, a nice defense and a good pressure from both direct damage and conditions. You go for targeted wells, Greater marks and you’re a AoE machine in sieges/defenses and even when roaming, peoples loves to stack together.

If you want to use scepter, I would go with dagger off hand for the additional AoE, Bleed and condition transfer. AoE freak go get them!