Guild Wars 2

I am relatively new to Necros but my wife main one since ever, IMO the problem in conditions builds with the necromancer is the lack of the class to grow conditions stacks by himself.

I mean, if you are plenty of conditions from the enemy you can return them back, you can corrupt their boons, but there is a lack of ways that a condi necro can stack conditions that damage the foes by himself as bleed and poison are painful in big stacks, the Dhuumfire is great but to slow to stack anyway.

Probably my knowledge of the class is too limited yet but that is my perception by now.

EDIT: typos
EDIT2: Look at this, https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/necromancer/Stacking-Condi-s-How-high-have-you-gone there are some guys stacking 45 bleeds using scepter

Condi necro is a bit tricky. By itself I’d say the spec is below average. I’m only getting about 5-7k DPS on any one target.

But, Condi necros have access to Epidemic, which in the right circumstances is a monstrous skill. Those circumstances being against multiple enemies while teamed up with other condi build. So, if you are in those circumstances, or you just need solid ranged damage, condi necro is worth it.

But if you want to scrap at close range and be dependent on no one, then direct damage is for you.

Hybrid necro can be very good, and I believe that reaper will be too (RS1 + dhummfire).
But atm pure condi build necro isn’t as good as any other class, except when it come to transfer condi and corrupt boon (not very often in PvE)

Very strong 1v1, but not a dps spec. I don’t recommend it for PvE.

There are really two types of condition builds. One uses soft CC like weakness, fear, and also boon corruption and transfer on mostly power builds. The other build is for condition damage, trying to get the most out of bleeds and poison, Terror and Dhuumfire.

The first type based on power seems like the most popular and effective in PvP but is not very good in PvE because Defiant on bosses specifically reduces the effectiveness of soft CC. For PvE, going straight power – critical is usually the solution.

The second type based on condition damage can be used in PvP, too, but lacks punch so players typically run bunker builds to try to outlast opponents. Condition damage builds in PvE are severely limited in use because dps was toned down for PvP where players may not have high vitality. Also, condition damage for Necromancer comes mainly from scepter with the rest from traits and weapon proc’s. Terror and Dhuumfire both increase in damage with investment in the condition damage stat but have such short up-time that condi-damage is inefficient without scepter as the main weapon.

Now just imagine a burn guardian and a reaper together…. The burn guard puts its fire field then both guard and reaper spin on it for probably more than 20 stacks burn and 12 stacks poison in 4s…

Depends on what area of the game you’re talking about.

Conditions in PvE are weak for any profession. Some professions can do relatively good condition damage in PvE but it’s still less effective than power builds.

In PvP they are strong against people who have few condition clears or are neglecting to pay attention to who’s attacking them. Otherwise, condition builds are fairly weak assuming your opponents are at least mildly skilled.

In WvW they are strong solo but can still be heavily negated by food buffs. Condition builds are also nearly pointless in zergs.

For Necromancer, depending on which area of the game you’re talking about, all of the above applies. Don’t bother with it in PvE and if you’re using it in PvP or WvW it works best in small groups of 2 – 5ish. It can be strong solo against the right people but if your target knows how to handle you you’ll be rendered almost completely defenseless.

Conditions builds, especially with Necromancers, have a long ramp up time. Kiting, blinds, CC, stealth, high cleanse time, are all ways to make a conditionmancer pretty much a cat without it’s claws.

Also while we’re on the subject, conditionmancer takes some practice to master so if you’re still interested in playing it give it some TLC. I’ve met a lot of conditionmancers that can only apply bleeds, poisons, cripples and fear and can’t seem to manage anything else. It takes a while before you know how to stack a ton of conditions and keep them stuck there so keep trying if you’re having trouble with it. Necromancer is the only profession that can apply every condition in the game without the help of outside sources (runes/sigils for example).

Short answer: no, at least not in PvE or WvW. (No idea about PvP.)

Longer answer: You can kinda make it work if you really want to, particularly while zerging in WvW but it’s a lot of work for mediocre benefit. Epidemic is a terrifying skill if used perfectly; with a single button-touch, you can destroy 5 people/mobs if the source is sufficiently conditioned. Outside of those perfect Epidemics, however, there are other professions (Engineer, I’m looking at you in particular) that do it better, and the Power Necro blows the Condi Necro out of the water in terms of effectiveness almost everywhere. It’s just so hard for Necros to stack enough Bleeds and Poisons to compete with other professions’ Burning spam, and before you ask, no, Terror isn’t enough either.