Guild Wars 2

It’s been quite a few days since the specialisation of the reaper was shown on the past POI. So we had a few days to speculate, theory craft and whatnot. What keeps nagging me is: we have reaper, what about core necro? I’ve been reading a few posts where some people like reaper but dont like core necro and Vice Versa. I haven’t seen anything from Rob G or anyone on changes (if any) on the core mechanics of the core of the class and left the “band-aid” that is the reaper. Can’t really shake the feeling the we’re all being pigeon holed into the specialisation “because it’s better.”

LOL ill use it just because it looks wayy cooler compare to the original necro.

they should have never made the specialization cooler then the original..
they should just make them equal cool so people like me can have a choice lololol

It’s melee. Which is better in a lot of ways, I guess. Has some great uses. But normal DS will still have it’s place mid-back-lining as it always did. Theres some things being ranged has its advantages for. Plus, Reaper is designed well, maybe they will go back and add a little love to base DS, but that’s not really any fault of Reaper/RS. Best to wait it out and see what happens. As it stands, I can easily see builds that don’t use shouts, doesn’t use GS and would prefer ranged DS over melee.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/necromancer/Follow-Up-Forum-Specialist-Feedback/page/6#post5085542

specifically the report that was forwarded said

There was a report that was compiled / forwarded of user complaints. Im assuming reading through that report and processing it and coming to a decision will take some time.

I think if anything, you are being welcomed to continue playing core necro if you want to, that’s why Reaper Shroud only comes in with the elite line. Reaper shroud is revamping the class and the implementation means you don’t have to use it if you don’t want to.

Roe.3679:

I think if anything, you are being welcomed to continue playing core necro if you want to, that’s why Reaper Shroud only comes in with the elite line. Reaper shroud is revamping the class and the implementation means you don’t have to use it if you don’t want to.

The question is: is there ever a build for which you WONT want to. Power will want to take it. There are spvp bunker builds that will enjoy it. I believe many / most condi builds want it? I havent seen anyone take spite/curses/soul reaping for example. Most builds that dont currently incorporate reaper can drop one of their current lines, pick up Reaper, and be better. And that is a problem, because it means every necro will have to buy the expansion to do well.

Darwec.3784:

Roe.3679:

I think if anything, you are being welcomed to continue playing core necro if you want to, that’s why Reaper Shroud only comes in with the elite line. Reaper shroud is revamping the class and the implementation means you don’t have to use it if you don’t want to.

The question is: is there ever a build for which you WONT want to. Power will want to take it. There are spvp bunker builds that will enjoy it. I believe many / most condi builds want it? I havent seen anyone take spite/curses/soul reaping for example. Most builds that dont currently incorporate reaper can drop one of their current lines, pick up Reaper, and be better. And that is a problem, because it means every necro will have to buy the expansion to do well.

Hold out for the new Blood magic. I still think some power might like the ranged dps and support of playing Spite/BM/SR. Some MM builds might also prefer DM/BM/SR. Etc.

ronpierce.2760:

Hold out for the new Blood magic. I still think some power might like the ranged dps and support of playing Spite/BM/SR. Some MM builds might also prefer DM/BM/SR. Etc.

Excuse me: I mean, AS IT STANDS, every necro will want to take reaper. I hope that the bloodmagic rework is good, and i hope that they do carefully look at all the comments people made in the other thread.

Darwec.3784:

ronpierce.2760:

Hold out for the new Blood magic. I still think some power might like the ranged dps and support of playing Spite/BM/SR. Some MM builds might also prefer DM/BM/SR. Etc.

Excuse me: I mean, AS IT STANDS, every necro will want to take reaper. I hope that the bloodmagic rework is good, and i hope that they do carefully look at all the comments people made in the other thread.

Well “as it stands” doesn’t matter much. We know blood magic will be getting a very needed rework, so theorycrafting beyond that doesn’t really mean a whole lot. Also, i still see certain builds taking blood even without major updates. Some people flat out prefer the old DS.

Doubt reaper will be good for pvp and wvw. A big part of specializations will be the new skills and the necro shouts are going to be the worst utilities in the game along with ranger shouts.

Right now, I would say yes, players are being funneled into Reaper. There are no substantial changes to Necromancer.

Reaper is designed for improved PvE.

reaper is better for:
-Minion masters (all types)
-power builds (all types)
-well builds
-blood magic builds

However I wouldn’t say it’s better for any conditions build. Terror builds might not want it in PvP either since it makes fear chill the enemy instead of pushing them out of the control point.

What irritates me is that almost every class was already good, if not better before the specialization train started. Mesmers were already in good standing before Chronomancer. Guardians were already good before Dragonhunter, nevermind the name. It took the Reaper before anyone even considered looking at the necro. Now its like Be the reaper if you want to be any good which sucks because now because it limits the choice between the two. Take the obvious and predictable route which is the reaper and you’ll be in good standing (numbers are still not final) or the already stagnant, subpar Death Shroud that constantly gets stun locked, you can’t heal while in DS (or not as effective as reaper shroud), awful in groups, and overall seems like a punching bag while you wait on a cooldown.

Did you just look for a reply that matched the conclusion you already came to in your head, based entirely off of a lack of official information and driven by pessimistic fear, and select it as your answer? This whole thread just seems like a biased and ill-informed waste of time now.

Shaogin.2679:

Did you just look for a reply that matched the conclusion you already came to in your head, based entirely off of a lack of official information and driven by pessimistic fear, and select it as your answer? This whole thread just seems like a biased and ill-informed waste of time now.

Short answer: No
More reasonable answer: No, it’s a waste of your time. Some people aren’t as gung-ho as the devs are hoping we’d be as it seemed like they put yet another band aid on the necro problem, fortunately it like this one’s going to stick. No, it’s not fear, but legitimate concern that it took a Specialization to fix a lot of the core issues, which are still there mind you. Note “core,” not Reaper.

It has no decent ranged option like normal DS so that is a thing. Suseptable to kiting.

Also most of the base class has been reworked since we know they took our feed back on board which can be seen the the leeching working on DS and the changes to blood magic. We don’t know in total what has reformed after our feedback so I’m sitting tight. Out of the core classes I expect us to get the biggest rework./changes.

striker.3704:

-Minion masters (all types)
-power builds (all types)
-well builds
-blood magic builds

None of these are strictly true.

CodeHavoc.7926:

Shaogin.2679:

Did you just look for a reply that matched the conclusion you already came to in your head, based entirely off of a lack of official information and driven by pessimistic fear, and select it as your answer? This whole thread just seems like a biased and ill-informed waste of time now.

Short answer: No
More reasonable answer: No, it’s a waste of your time. Some people aren’t as gung-ho as the devs are hoping we’d be as it seemed like they put yet another band aid on the necro problem, fortunately it like this one’s going to stick. No, it’s not fear, but legitimate concern that it took a Specialization to fix a lot of the core issues, which are still there mind you. Note “core,” not Reaper.

To elaborate in case you were unable to comprehend, the reasoning behind my statement was despite the posts attempting to detail why we’re not be pigeon-holed, you simply threw up a post that did nothing but provide a basic answer that supported what you wanted to hear while providing no actual information supporting his answer and set it as the answer to this thread. Doing so gives the impression you are not looking for actual discussion, you just want to hear that the core spec is doomed and reaper is taking over, thus making this thread useless for the purpose of any sort of intellectual discussion on the topic.

So exactly what I said is correct. Good to know. Time to let useless thread die now. Buh-bye. ;P

Reaper is good for solo roaming,small group roaming and pvp.
Core necro is good for zerging(raiding),small group roaming(less so than reaper though) and pvp?(i mean necro,specifically power ones,are only playable cause of lich)

Reaper is not good for roaming, it is bad at roaming because it has no escapes (ofc neither does necromancer)

Reaper will be bad at Pvp because it has no little range and can be kited. Play greatsword, and you’ll never get life force against anybody good. Play anything else and you lose the chill that your specialty is based on.

Reaper will be bad at PvE because of no reflects and no group utility. (ofc this is also true of necromancer).

nekretaal.6485:

Reaper will be bad at Pvp because it has no little range and can be kited. Play greatsword, and you’ll never get life force against anybody good. Play anything else and you lose the chill that your specialty is based on.
.

i believe that any fight on point reaper will be an asset but 1v1 vs any class with decent range ( ranger, mesmer and core necro, dragon hunter ) they will have issues. Like huge issues. Eating damage walking towards a target will be bad.

GS/Staff or axe horn would be the only way to get the best of both words. Also reapers generate so much lf naturally anyways that is never an issue. I see it working just super weak vs some matchups 1v1. Anything within 600 range though is far game. outside that prep to suck…and hard too.

I am just guessing but Reaper may be good when used as the core of a moving group, provided the group keeps its pace down to match the slowpoke.

Normal “abandon the turtle and race to point” play leaves the Reaper/Necro open to fast attacks and kiting. If other jobs provide an escort and intercept, Reaper could be useful as tank with a trap.

Thoughts?

Reapers are slow but not THAT slow.

Sigmoid.7082:

Reapers are slow but not THAT slow.

My fear is with “slow” condition. The slower your attacks are the worse it becomes. I’m not sure if it increases casting time by 50% or slows casting by 50% (aka 2x casting) but either way, the longer your cast is the harder it’s going to hurt you by far. I cringe at trying to resummon minions with their 1.5 sec cast times with slow being in the game.

ronpierce.2760:

Sigmoid.7082:

Reapers are slow but not THAT slow.

My fear is with “slow” condition. The slower your attacks are the worse it becomes. I’m not sure if it increases casting time by 50% or slows casting by 50% (aka 2x casting) but either way, the longer your cast is the harder it’s going to hurt you by far. I cringe at trying to resummon minions with their 1.5 sec cast times with slow being in the game.

I was on about move speed since you can get 25% in shroud and swiftness potentially.

The slow condition that will be one that needs to be transfered right away since cronomancers have that stuff in droves. Will be a hard melee.

Its not like Reaper has -33% movement speed, they walk just as fast as anyone else, and its not like base Necro has a bunch of extra movement effects.

Bhawb.7408:

Its not like Reaper has -33% movement speed, they walk just as fast as anyone else, and its not like base Necro has a bunch of extra movement effects.

Anet necro logic. Reaper won’t have conventional movement skills or speed. They reduce peoples moves speed by 66% with chills and can move 25% faster as base with traits. We move 3.8times faster than them. Inverse mobility. Such speed, much movement.

Bhawb.7408:

striker.3704:

-Minion masters (all types)
-power builds (all types)
-well builds
-blood magic builds

None of these are strictly true.

Well for minion master builds, it gives you access to two things that are very important:
-Rise! (condi removal for new necromantic corruption, mass jagged horrors for death nova, ect)
-A persistent stability that also AOE fears

The stability is most of all what’s important to minion master builds. Minion masters have no answer to CC pinballing. The flesh wurm is only a stun break and the vast majority of classes can simply leap to you as soon as you do it with whatever gap closer+stun they have. With the “shrouded in fear” ability, not only is it a REALLY STRONG way of preventing CC pinballing, but it also lets you force enemies off you if they all pile onto you. Both of these are things the current form of minion master sorely lacks without compromising his build.

On top of that, the relentless pursuit trait helps deal with immobilize spam, which is something else that greatly hinders the minion master.

In all honesty, I do believe reaper is strictly better for a minion master build. The rest, I guess, could be argued preference.

Yes and no I think. Yes in the fact a lot of the reaper traits help to fix the core necro, but no in the fact reaper is very strictly range. Though I am looking forward to reaper condition…ohhhh the fire, the chill, the scepter. The damage reduction…..

TheLastNobody.8319:

but no in the fact reaper is very strictly range.

I think you mean lack of. The reaper is strictly melee while core is a combo of the two.

CodeHavoc.7926:

TheLastNobody.8319:

but no in the fact reaper is very strictly range.

I think you mean lack of. The reaper is strictly melee while core is a combo of the two.

This is one of the main reasons core, when its been fixed as we know it is now , will be a valid option for those builds that want some ranged pressure and not to be kited so easily.

Its good cause you have reason to take reaper and reason not to. Its how i feel elite specs should be.

striker.3704:

Well for minion master builds, it gives you access to two things that are very important:
-Rise! (condi removal for new necromantic corruption, mass jagged horrors for death nova, ect)
-A persistent stability that also AOE fears

The stability is most of all what’s important to minion master builds. Minion masters have no answer to CC pinballing. The flesh wurm is only a stun break and the vast majority of classes can simply leap to you as soon as you do it with whatever gap closer+stun they have. With the “shrouded in fear” ability, not only is it a REALLY STRONG way of preventing CC pinballing, but it also lets you force enemies off you if they all pile onto you. Both of these are things the current form of minion master sorely lacks without compromising his build.

On top of that, the relentless pursuit trait helps deal with immobilize spam, which is something else that greatly hinders the minion master.

In all honesty, I do believe reaper is strictly better for a minion master build. The rest, I guess, could be argued preference.

Rise!, unless heavily changed, will not be used in normal MM builds. It is a skill that gives very little effect compared to other MM skills unless you can hit 4-5 targets. Yet, MM is a build that desperately wants to avoid dealing with 4-5 targets, your entire build and playstyle tries to push you away from the very thing that will make the skill work.

CC pinballing isn’t an issue as MM. You are only fighting 1v1/1v2, and it is extremely rare you find someone who is able to CC you that much, and either way MM is now able to go FitG so that still isn’t a thing to force Reaper. Immobilize shouldn’t be a big deal either with the almost excessive condi removal Necromantic Corruption gives.

Pretty much all combinations of Spite, BM, SR, and Reaper will work, the only real requirement is that you have DM, outside of that they all offer something unique for the MM.

Bhawb.7408:

striker.3704:

Well for minion master builds, it gives you access to two things that are very important:
-Rise! (condi removal for new necromantic corruption, mass jagged horrors for death nova, ect)
-A persistent stability that also AOE fears

The stability is most of all what’s important to minion master builds. Minion masters have no answer to CC pinballing. The flesh wurm is only a stun break and the vast majority of classes can simply leap to you as soon as you do it with whatever gap closer+stun they have. With the “shrouded in fear” ability, not only is it a REALLY STRONG way of preventing CC pinballing, but it also lets you force enemies off you if they all pile onto you. Both of these are things the current form of minion master sorely lacks without compromising his build.

On top of that, the relentless pursuit trait helps deal with immobilize spam, which is something else that greatly hinders the minion master.

In all honesty, I do believe reaper is strictly better for a minion master build. The rest, I guess, could be argued preference.

Rise!, unless heavily changed, will not be used in normal MM builds. It is a skill that gives very little effect compared to other MM skills unless you can hit 4-5 targets. Yet, MM is a build that desperately wants to avoid dealing with 4-5 targets, your entire build and playstyle tries to push you away from the very thing that will make the skill work.

CC pinballing isn’t an issue as MM. You are only fighting 1v1/1v2, and it is extremely rare you find someone who is able to CC you that much, and either way MM is now able to go FitG so that still isn’t a thing to force Reaper. Immobilize shouldn’t be a big deal either with the almost excessive condi removal Necromantic Corruption gives.

Pretty much all combinations of Spite, BM, SR, and Reaper will work, the only real requirement is that you have DM, outside of that they all offer something unique for the MM.

Judging by your opening statement, I’m gonna assume we’re talking about MM builds that use necromantic corruption as a “base”.

The reason I find Rise! to be looking so good, is that your other options as a minion master for that same slot (assuming all minion utilities) are bone minions and flesh wurm. Bone minions tend to be better for group fights when it comes to their burst damage, so (as far as the necromantic corruption build goes) Rise! competes directly for the same slot as a team fight utility. Bone minions also lose potency for this build as you lose death nova. I also find bone minions to be the most unreliable skill in the game, even jagged horrors seem to be more responsive. This leads me to believe that Rise! will help in those situations more. This is doubly true since they draw conditions, and in fights with more than 2 on each side, that condition removal can be incredibly helpful since you’ll usually be the target of them. Let’s not forget that Rise! will probably also proc on mesmer illusions or any other summon.

The flesh wurm is definitely more reliable and powerful in a one on one fight, however the minion master is already strong in a one on one fight, and the wurm doesn’t seem necessary for those situations.

CC pinballing is rather prevalent in any situation involving a guardian or 2+ opponents. I will agree that FitG helps with the same issue, however the rest of the traits don’t help the minion master keep an opponent locked down, which is very important for the build to function. This is why I believe reaper wins out in this situation.

To say that you ONLY fight 1 v 1 or 1 v 2 is silly to me, as the movement for maintaining that type of play typically calls for lots of swiftness and blinks for persistent rotation of points. Even then, your power houses for 1 v 1 fights are the shadow fiend, bone fiend, and flesh golem. The last utility slot doesn’t require a 1 on 1 minion, letting you cover your weaknesses with the last remaining utility slot.

immobilize (along with chill and cripple) aren’t gonna be a big issue to the necro himself with necromantic corruption, but they will slow down his minions tremendously. allowing them to get into range to hit the enemy player is rather important to a necromantic corruption build, so the reaper helps mitigate the only weakness necromantic corruption can give you.

Yes, other trait lines can give you similar option coverage (SR for stun break+stability, spite for more chill+cripple) However reaper accomplishes both at the same time while also helping buff you in the one area you are weakest in.

TL;DR: Reaper allows a minion master to cover more of his weaknesses in one trait line than the other options available.

Sigmoid.7082:

CodeHavoc.7926:

TheLastNobody.8319:

but no in the fact reaper is very strictly range.

I think you mean lack of. The reaper is strictly melee while core is a combo of the two.

This is one of the main reasons core, when its been fixed as we know it is now , will be a valid option for those builds that want some ranged pressure and not to be kited so easily.

Its good cause you have reason to take reaper and reason not to. Its how i feel elite specs should be.

I don’t think I heard the core was being changed, only Blood Magic so if you have a link or something, I’d like to read up on that but as far as I know, core wasn’t being changed for reasons of being overpowered as quoted by the forum specialist him/herself.

CodeHavoc.7926:

Sigmoid.7082:

CodeHavoc.7926:

TheLastNobody.8319:

but no in the fact reaper is very strictly range.

I think you mean lack of. The reaper is strictly melee while core is a combo of the two.

This is one of the main reasons core, when its been fixed as we know it is now , will be a valid option for those builds that want some ranged pressure and not to be kited so easily.

Its good cause you have reason to take reaper and reason not to. Its how i feel elite specs should be.

I don’t think I heard the core was being changed, only Blood Magic so if you have a link or something, I’d like to read up on that but as far as I know, core wasn’t being changed for reasons of being overpowered as quoted by the forum specialist him/herself.

It is being changed though. All we know are the blood magic changes after all the feed back we have given some which we know is correct and has been taken on board its safe to assume lots of other changes have been made, traits changed, numbers tweaked. The only thing that was an out right no was thongs that didn’t thematically fit the necro eg conventional party support.

striker.3704:

The reason I find Rise! to be looking so good, is that your other options as a minion master for that same slot (assuming all minion utilities) are bone minions and flesh wurm. Bone minions tend to be better for group fights when it comes to their burst damage, so (as far as the necromantic corruption build goes) Rise! competes directly for the same slot as a team fight utility. Bone minions also lose potency for this build as you lose death nova.

Wurm is absolutely necessary for all MM builds unless your plan is to never move from a single point. It not only provides reliable and good DPS and a projectile finisher (and at least used to ignore stealth), but allows you to quickly reposition both infight if you are getting trained down or between fights when someone tries to rotate.

Rise! will be worthless without DN, without that you get 5 minions with extremely pathetic AA damage. The extra little bit of condition removal in a NC build won’t make up for your loss of the burst damage of Bone Minions, and in a DN build you won’t want to lose the blast finish and on-demand poison potential. Rise! will only be used on condi MM builds using DN, otherwise it provides nothing special.

striker.3704:

CC pinballing is rather prevalent in any situation involving a guardian or 2+ opponents. I will agree that FitG helps with the same issue, however the rest of the traits don’t help the minion master keep an opponent locked down, which is very important for the build to function. This is why I believe reaper wins out in this situation.

It really isn’t a big deal, even when it happens. The only time CC chains are really an issue is when your minions are already dead, you’re in a 2v1 or 3v1, and are low on LF or other CDs. Otherwise it isn’t that big of a deal, all minion actives are instant cast, Flesh Wurm can not only bring me out of a stun but also prevent any incoming ones and reposition me far enough that no one bringing high CC can follow, and in small fights they’ll run out of CC eventually. Plus I can very easily save my dodges for CC, since you can absorb damage readily, even more so once we get better damage reduction and healing from the core specialization changes. The key to avoiding CC chains is to reply with your own, which base Necromancer will do much better at with Doom and Tainted Shackles, an instant cast or delayed-effect CC that will break enemy chains.

Reaper doesn’t bring any special CC. Anything it brings you will take only by giving up CC from core.

striker.3704:

To say that you ONLY fight 1 v 1 or 1 v 2 is silly to me, as the movement for maintaining that type of play typically calls for lots of swiftness and blinks for persistent rotation of points. Even then, your power houses for 1 v 1 fights are the shadow fiend, bone fiend, and flesh golem. The last utility slot doesn’t require a 1 on 1 minion, letting you cover your weaknesses with the last remaining utility slot.

Shadow Fiend isn’t used in standard MM builds, his active is so garbage its not worth taking him over Flesh Wurm who provides similar DPS but more reliably, with a projectile finisher, and a better active. And yes, you do need swiftness and blinks, which you easily pick up with Flesh Wurm and Locust Swarm. Swarm gets you the speed, Flesh Wurm gets you far enough away to use it. Even when I was really highly ranked in sPvP I was able to force enemies to 1v1/2v2 me by running to the third point, or allowing their 1v1er to come to me.

striker.3704:

immobilize (along with chill and cripple) aren’t gonna be a big issue to the necro himself with necromantic corruption, but they will slow down his minions tremendously. allowing them to get into range to hit the enemy player is rather important to a necromantic corruption build, so the reaper helps mitigate the only weakness necromantic corruption can give you.

Sure, its nice. But only 1 minion that stays around long in your standard MM build really cares about movement slowing. Otherwise, you are looking at Bone Fiend, ranged, Flesh Wurm, immune to all of those CC effects, and maybe Blood Fiend, also ranged. Bone Minions don’t stay around long enough to bother, and Shadow Fiend will only be used if Haunt is fixed, at which point a bit of CC isn’t that big of a deal. Also they just need to hit to get rid of their CC, and your big melee minions (Shadow/Golem) hit every 1.5 and 1.2s, more than capable of stripping CC effects if you set them up for it.

Reaper will be nice, absolutely, but not even remotely mandatory.

Bhawb.7408:

snipped for text limit

Wurm is strong in a 1 v 1 scenario without question, however it has a rather long cooldown for rotating points when compared to any more mobile class. It’s strength in re-positioning would be great if the skill was reliable in gauging distance when positioning it. As it stands though, only certain scenarios give you a semi-reliable way to escape using it (IE, the upper ledge of mid point for that map with svarnir on it), and the lengthy cast time prevents you from using it on the fly to cover distance unless you place it far ahead of time.

The jagged horrors each apply a stack of bleeding every time they hit. Their initial damage isn’t that high, but bleeding (that you won’t otherwise apply) is actually quite helpful, especially as a cover condition or as supplementary DPS. The condition removal is also potentially 5 conditions at once, which is nothing to scoff at.

Unless they fix the bone minion AI, that burst damage is incredibly unreliable in the absolute best scenario. Jagged horrors in my experience at least try to attack the enemy. Unless they make bone minions more responsive, then that burst damage number might as well have a disclaimer saying “works 10% of the time”. I’ve had instances where I would run up past an enemy to try and lead bugged bone minions in range only for them to run the opposite direction or entirely around the enemy.

I’m not talking about DN builds, we’re discussing the necromantic corruption types at the moment.

Being out numbered is always bad regardless of your build, when I talk about fights with multiple people, I’m mostly talking about when it’s a 2 v 2, 3 v 3, ect. In these situations the necromancer is always the target first, and these are also the CC chains I’m talking about. It’s in this situation where doom (single target) and tainted shackles don’t come up to snuff. 1 v 1 is, like you said, not a big deal. This is why I say that the reaper’s shroud in fear is so strong, as it helps most in exactly that type of situation, while still being strong in a 1 v 1 scenario.

Shadow fiend’s active is highly underrated in my opinion, as it is the only minion that can reliably blink up ledges to give chase to an enemy that would otherwise be poking you outside of “leash range”, keeping them tangled up for a time (the wurm can be LOS very easily in this same position). His blink is also a delayed instant cast, which let’s you use it to cover stomps. Not to mention that his active is also extremely reliable to at least do what you expect it to, unlike the flesh golem getting stuck on a pebble or the bone minions admiring flowers.

Mandatory is a very strong word. I would consider Death magic, possibly Blood magic, to be “mandatory” to a necromantic corruption build. This is why I think reaper is a clear winner in this situation as it provides everything you need covered by the last trait line in one easy package. Spite only provides additional cripple or chill, and Soul reaping only provides a CC break+stability (both provide additional DPS options outside of that). Neither of these things are BAD for the build, both trait lines are good for it, but I still find reaper’s ability to provide both at once without even using traits to accomplish it a strong argument in it’s favor.