Guild Wars 2

I’ve stuck an extra 20 points in SR because I love the 1.5s+ fear and the 20% extra HP for DS (in addition to my Carrion gear) is pretty great, but has anyone figured out what Jon’s talking about?

I thought for a while that 30pt in DS for the 5s recast plus 5s Fury might prove interesting, but what else would you take with this build and have you tried it? It strikes me that we’ll struggle to combine DS and conditions (well duh) but can it work with power builds at all?

come on chaps, let’s see what we can do!

I had a Death Shroud build a while back that worked pretty good, I did not stick with it because I didn’t think it was anything special but I might give it a try again, basically I went in and out of death shroud constantly to cast might and vulnerability and then I would use blood is power and go back into death shroud, it was kind of fun.

I’ll give it a try later when I get home.

I do not, because it is terrible.

Im going to be trying this when im next on – im going to play DS centric until I find the magic one. (utils and sigil/runes not set in stone)

http://gw2skills.net/editor/en/?fQQQNAnYWjMax7hbSbM8JAZGP/b8hjpesO7nD;TsAA0CooUyokQJrSOlkKtIYQwMCA

Variation 1
http://gw2skills.net/editor/en/?fQQQNAnYWjMax7hbSbMcKi5DdDqw7jPcMqHrjdnD;TsAA0CooUyokQJrSOlkKtIYQwMCA

Variation 2
http://gw2skills.net/editor/en/?fQQQNAnYWjMax7hbSbM8JAJFPfdkijNm6x6sfOA;TsAA0CooUyokQJrSOlkKtIYQwMCA

I run an axe/DS build on occasion. It feels a tad weak, but it is a ton of fun.

What he was talking about I think we can safely call the “myth of the Necromancer”.

It is what the class was.

Namely, we are constantly going in and out of DS soaking up damage while dealing damage/adding utility/etc.

The actuality is that LF is hard to come by without a very specific skill/weapon build (take scepter for example… you get 2% life force every 10 seconds. With zero skills/traits to build life force as a sceptermancer you pretty much don’t have any).
PS Devs: this could be partially fixed by giving us 100% LF everytime we respawn.
Our DS damage isn’t even that strong.
Even though it is an extra health bar, it is blown through (much like our health pools).
Our CC is limited (a chill that puts us in melee range and a 1 second fear every 20 seconds).

Oh I meant to add how I play my build:

Something like this (I am at work so this might not be 100%).
http://goo.gl/oBk3r

I am unsure of runes/sigils (A work in progress for sure).

Meant this… http://www.gw2build.com/builds/simulator.php#1.5.4.7.18.0.5.32.5.0.106.109.127.121.130.8.8.43.306.0.0.0.0.0.334.339.0.0.0.0.366.369.371.15.0.25.0.30

QSpec.4298:

I run an axe/DS build on occasion. It feels a tad weak, but it is a ton of fun.

What he was talking about I think we can safely call the “myth of the Necromancer”.

It is what the class was.

Namely, we are constantly going in and out of DS soaking up damage while dealing damage/adding utility/etc.

The actuality is that LF is hard to come by without a very specific skill/weapon build (take scepter for example… you get 2% life force every 10 seconds. With zero skills/traits to build life force as a sceptermancer you pretty much don’t have any).
PS Devs: this could be partially fixed by giving us 100% LF everytime we respawn.
Our DS damage isn’t even that strong.
Even though it is an extra health bar, it is blown through (much like our health pools).
Our CC is limited (a chill that puts us in melee range and a 1 second fear every 20 seconds).

Pretty much this. He is referring to the mechanic not a specific build. The raw truth is that the traits are really inferior to what other professions have to offer. Even if they were all working they would be underwhelming. I love switching to a guardian and an elementalist and feeling like I’m shopping for an amazing sports car with so many amazing traits. Then I go back to Necro and feel like I’m picking the best compact car for the job.

I’ve never played much with DS except as an “oh noes!” survival attempt or a quick swap in/out for Life Siphon. Since it is the class-defining ability, i feel like i haven’t really been giving it enough attention, so i’m thinking about trying something like this.

As far as synergy and survivability go, i think a Dagger/Warhorn main with Staff sub would be best for a DS-centric build.

Dagger/Warhorn attacks:
1) Quick attacks at 6% life force generation per cycle, decent DPS
2) Health drain
3) Root
4) Stun
5) IMS and snare for 11 seconds, plus LF (Flat 1% or 1% per tic or 1% per tic per enemy hit? I know it requires hitting to gain LF, which is promising). No matter how the LF pans out, it’s great for pursuit.

Staff:
1) 3% LF
2) DoT/HoT on decent recharge
3) Snare/DoT
4) Condition sending
5) Fear (I just use it as a delay tactic if i can interrupt a long-charge ability)

Keep in mind some of the Staff bonuses (regen, condition dump) only trigger if you’re within range of the mark when it goes off, which means staying in melee range full time is beneficial. This whole setup works optimally at maintaining melee range through various movement-hindering abilities (counting DS – two chills, a root, a cripple, a stun, and another cripple/swiftness pair).

I’m really not sure what to trait for though, because i’ve literally never put points into Soul Reaping. Right now i’m running a wells set that’s 0/30/10/30/0 but will play with it tonight some. As far as which traits/stats to take, i’m a big fan of toughness and healing ability.

Reducing cooldown on DS and DS abilities while taking some bonuses could be nice. Perhaps the area heal on life siphon or heal on exit from DS. The might on DS activation looks really nice too. Maybe Cleric’s gear with runes of Fighter for a decent boost to damage and toughness.

@Jackel

Let me know how it is. I found dagger didn’t generate as much life force for me as I was using more life force for defense (given the proximity) and couldn’t reliably kite enemies.

@Jackel

I am not sure what you mean when you say “some of the Staff bonuses only trigger if you’re within range of the mark when it goes off”. Please trust me, I am not trying to troll or anything, if anything I should be trolled for my preferred weapon choice. I main staff (I know, I am strange), and I get the condition dumps over VERY long ranges, even when I lay the mark down as far as I can then dodge back and someone steps on it.

My DS build is fantastic, that is why I am not going to share it.

<3 Rhydian ….you are awesome!