Guild Wars 2

Hey everyone.

Can’t sleep so i decided to make this thread to help people. Ask me anything you would like to know about necro! builds, mechanics or just want to chime in and say hi

credentials- Playing since early beta and played with SYNC during the international at PAX/Several other tournaments like MLG invitational. Most my knowledge does involve high end pvp but i do pve and wvw too.

Hi!

Do you feel necro is up there with the current professions chosen for high lvl spvp?
If so what are your main strong points?

Also want to know if you ever revive someone during battle on a point?
Lets say 3v3 with a high focus on necro from the other team.

Last, what do you run in general?

(night night ^^)

How do you deal with highly skilled engineers currently. If I use terror build I’m a kittening ping pong ball. If I use spectral power build I can last longer but he’s got so much cc I’m eventually going to die. If I use glass cannon I’m a ping pong ball made of glass.

I don’t mean kittenty engis, I mean the ones you run into that are at the top of soloq. I know I know they’re probably not pro either but they are absolutely what I have the most trouble with now and it’s driving me crazy because they all talk kitten saying how awful I am since according to them necro is a hard counter to engineers. Oh and its not turret engis. I have no problem with those.

NeXeD.3042:

How do you deal with highly skilled engineers currently. If I use terror build I’m a kittening ping pong ball. If I use spectral power build I can last longer but he’s got so much cc I’m eventually going to die. If I use glass cannon I’m a ping pong ball made of glass.

I don’t mean kittenty engis, I mean the ones you run into that are at the top of soloq. I know I know they’re probably not pro either but they are absolutely what I have the most trouble with now and it’s driving me crazy because they all talk kitten saying how awful I am since according to them necro is a hard counter to engineers. Oh and its not turret engis. I have no problem with those.

I agree with this statement. In theory they are only considered hard counters because of boon corruption, as engi’s are almost as much of a boon monkey as a guard/ele, and engi’s are considered to have relatively weak condition clearing compared to eles or guardians or even warriors. But in practice their CC abilities win out against most necro builds. I only stick to necro in WvW these days, but I’d assume that maybe a build with the stability trait might stand a shot? Other than that you could bait them out until their CC abilities are all on CD, but necro lacks the micro-mobility and evasion to do that properly.

I would love to know how you deal with an over abundance of cc as well =\ soon as I go into a group (started to tpvp) its send the warrior with a hammer to make the necro redundant with the occasional fear steal from a thief -.- (just an example)
likewise we have no problem taking out their necro in the same fashion I can do it with just dagger dagger wod spectral grasp and fear from ds and golem =s even that is too much cc for the other necro to withstand lol…..

Hey thanks for making this thread man. It really is great

Do you feel like necros are as bad as people make us seem so in PvP and Pve? What build are you using when and why? What are your armor choices?

thanks

Did you know that necromancer is a type of mancer?

Eg. Pyromancer or aquamancer.

True story.

Playing Necro is a total blast in WvW. We’re basically AoE death machines.

Zombify, what sorts of unconventional necro builds do you think are viable in large scale WvW? Lately I’ve been running a chilling darkness well build with ice runes/sigils which is pretty fun! The only issue is that I’m getting fattened up by eating too many koi cakes, and I want something a bit different/more effective in the realm of a power or hybrid build.

Is Reaper’s Precision any good?
I’m trying to figure in some way of generating LF in pvp.

Merlin Dyfed Avalon.5046:

Hi!

Do you feel necro is up there with the current professions chosen for high lvl spvp?
If so what are your main strong points?

Also want to know if you ever revive someone during battle on a point?
Lets say 3v3 with a high focus on necro from the other team.

Last, what do you run in general?

(night night ^^)

I do feel necro is a very strong 1v1 class (mainly terror). This honestly is due to nightmare runes power creep and reapers protection. Yes, i have DS revived or plague revived people in high matches if i have
numbers for the enemy team and know i can get the revive off. Otherwise its a big no-no to be on point haha. I bounce between builds A LOT depending on my team/other team. Usually my go to is 0/6/4/0/4 w/ carrion though.

NeXeD.3042:

How do you deal with highly skilled engineers currently. If I use terror build I’m a kittening ping pong ball. If I use spectral power build I can last longer but he’s got so much cc I’m eventually going to die. If I use glass cannon I’m a ping pong ball made of glass.

I don’t mean kittenty engis, I mean the ones you run into that are at the top of soloq. I know I know they’re probably not pro either but they are absolutely what I have the most trouble with now and it’s driving me crazy because they all talk kitten saying how awful I am since according to them necro is a hard counter to engineers. Oh and its not turret engis. I have no problem with those.

Ah yes, turret engis. Gotta love that AI honestly, while necro is indeed strong vs engi, you shouldn’t be fighting a turret engi unless you have no choice/know you can win 100%. We dont have the physical damage
to kill certain turrets fast enough as condi (thumper/net etc). If you do have to fight him, throw darkpath into their shield block. usually makes them panic and forces a dodge (also gets pressure on them if you have path of corrupt). That opens a window to spike. Power necro
has it a bit easier since DS4 can just cleave the turrets down or you can force them to sit in a well if they realllly want that point. Honestly its just a dumb fight in general since they aim to debunker and we have very little stability access lol.

Ozzy Toxin.3074:

I would love to know how you deal with an over abundance of cc as well =\ soon as I go into a group (started to tpvp) its send the warrior with a hammer to make the necro redundant with the occasional fear steal from a thief -.- (just an example)
likewise we have no problem taking out their necro in the same fashion I can do it with just dagger dagger wod spectral grasp and fear from ds and golem =s even that is too much cc for the other necro to withstand lol…..

Sadly, i deal with heavy cc by having my team peel/offer prot and stab. Otherwise it all comes down to juking/positioning if a warrior is tunneling you and waiting for zerking and endure to be on cooldown.
you then have a window to counter pressure/cc. Thief steal has a pretty big animation unless they stealth fear. Counter pressure is honestly your best friend vs good thieves.

MrSimpleMan.6194:

Hey thanks for making this thread man. It really is great

Do you feel like necros are as bad as people make us seem so in PvP and Pve? What build are you using when and why? What are your armor choices?

thanks

I personally feel necros are in a weird spot. We are great/op in certain aspects, but very lack luster in most others. We have a high skill cap compared to something like hambow which also makes the class very unforgiving if you make a mistake.
We also lost a lot of our pressure due to nerfs after dhuumfire hit (they were trying to tone down damage when dhuumfire was honestly the problem). We also have little pressure due to hard counters (zerking stance) or the amount of passive and active cleanses.
Nightmare runes are op though and can make us feel pretty op in 1v1s so its a weird situation. As for pve, i think zerker necro puts out a ton of damage! condi not so much

My go to build is 0/6/4/0/4 w/ carrion and nightmare runes. I feel this is a decently strong build that punishes people who over extend. My other builds sacrifice safety for more pressure since we are hurting there.

Zefrost.3425:

Did you know that necromancer is a type of mancer?

Eg. Pyromancer or aquamancer.

True story.

Yes sir i did!

nearlight.3064:

Playing Necro is a total blast in WvW. We’re basically AoE death machines.

Zombify, what sorts of unconventional necro builds do you think are viable in large scale WvW? Lately I’ve been running a chilling darkness well build with ice runes/sigils which is pretty fun! The only issue is that I’m getting fattened up by eating too many koi cakes, and I want something a bit different/more effective in the realm of a power or hybrid build.

Hmm in large scale? i really do like wells, especially when you have access to ascended gear and food….Though my dirty little pleasure is dire gear for roaming with food cause the fear duration is just straight up dumb lol.
I think you should try condi wells or just yolo with zerker 6/2/0/0/6. well of power, walk, wurm

blakdoxa.7520:

Is Reaper’s Precision any good?
I’m trying to figure in some way of generating LF in pvp.

Compared to the other tier 1 traits we have, its very lack luster even with high crit. Soul marks out shines this trait by far. Really do wish we had other LF generation options.

I really want to mess with Necro more in endgame PvE. I’ve already mastered Guardian and Warrior, so now I am stubborn enough wanting my Necromancer to do stuff instead of being a mule.

Dagger/Dagger is awesome! (Condi transfer, high damage, and blind!)

Problem is, what else can we do? I really want to pull my weight.

I’ve been testing out chill, and it seems I can mantain perma-chill even on bosses with Rune of Ice. Is that a good idea? Useful?

Kain Francois.4328:

I really want to mess with Necro more in endgame PvE. I’ve already mastered Guardian and Warrior, so now I am stubborn enough wanting my Necromancer to do stuff instead of being a mule.

Dagger/Dagger is awesome! (Condi transfer, high damage, and blind!)

Problem is, what else can we do? I really want to pull my weight.

I’ve been testing out chill, and it seems I can mantain perma-chill even on bosses with Rune of Ice. Is that a good idea? Useful?

Nope. You will barely notice a difference to boss attack cooldowns.

Kain Francois.4328:

I really want to mess with Necro more in endgame PvE. I’ve already mastered Guardian and Warrior, so now I am stubborn enough wanting my Necromancer to do stuff instead of being a mule.

Dagger/Dagger is awesome! (Condi transfer, high damage, and blind!)

Problem is, what else can we do? I really want to pull my weight.

I’ve been testing out chill, and it seems I can mantain perma-chill even on bosses with Rune of Ice. Is that a good idea? Useful?

Chill is more of a player condition. I don’t think many bosses would be greatly effected by it to the point you build only for chill. Grab some strength runes, battle/str sigils and go to town with the amount of DS generation there is in pve.

Hey sorry my post was a little confusing I really didn’t mean turret engis. I know how to kill them, or at least I know how to kill most of them. It’s the nade spamming and cc engis that I have trouble with as either terror in both setups and as a power necro. And honestly I have more luck as a spectral power necro against them than with the condi necro.

What do you think we lack as a class now to do well in pve dungeons or fractals?

I feel with the way that the fights are made we are just useless…. I’ve experimented with many builds, wells for healing, minion master (berserker or cleric), full condi (s/d & staff with corruptions) or even dagger/focus & warhorn (ew. axe) zerker…
The only thing we’re good at is controlling our own conditions and surviging on our own + we deal some nice “base” dps with daggers.
We don’t provide any skipping mechanics, we can heal with wells or minions (with minions being the better option stat-wise, but they are terrible for skipping – most of the cases today :/ ).
We don’t have any reflects – which is again a problem with the way the fights are made.
We don’t have much vigor access either, why?

Well I know “anet” wants an attrition class or whatever… but hey you’re not supposed to “outstand” a boss, which is not the case anyway. I mean … thoughts?
(We face similar problems in pvp it seems, but I actually enjoy my necro at my casual 30-ish spvp rank).

Thoughts?

tl;dr version:
What changes do we need not to get kicked from pugs, as a class and in the game (pve mainly)?

NeXeD.3042:

Hey sorry my post was a little confusing I really didn’t mean turret engis. I know how to kill them, or at least I know how to kill most of them. It’s the nade spamming and cc engis that I have trouble with as either terror in both setups and as a power necro. And honestly I have more luck as a spectral power necro against them than with the condi necro.

I have a.bigger issue with cc engis more then.wars (I.know wars verry well.)
I found hybrid crit/condi spam works best. And trying to kite…wurm and swiftness.

awesome thread, tip of the hat to you sir!

question:
is rare veggie pizza overpowered?

What do you think is the biggest limitation to a minion master playstyle? And what do you think is the ceiling overall for the playstyle. I like it but from what I hear, it limits you when you try getting more serious in the game

NeXeD.3042:

Hey sorry my post was a little confusing I really didn’t mean turret engis. I know how to kill them, or at least I know how to kill most of them. It’s the nade spamming and cc engis that I have trouble with as either terror in both setups and as a power necro. And honestly I have more luck as a spectral power necro against them than with the condi necro.

Haha all good. You need to catch them with a condi swap into a fear chain after they heal. Kite them, dont let them get close too close to shield daze/pistol. Make sure you dont let their confusion sit on you. Also make sure to dodge the frost nades unless you are planning for some clutch transfer. Both power (with dagger OH) and condi should win unless you make a mistake. also dodge crate animation.

nolasthitnotomorrow.8563:

What do you think we lack as a class now to do well in pve dungeons or fractals?

I feel with the way that the fights are made we are just useless…. I’ve experimented with many builds, wells for healing, minion master (berserker or cleric), full condi (s/d & staff with corruptions) or even dagger/focus & warhorn (ew. axe) zerker…
The only thing we’re good at is controlling our own conditions and surviging on our own + we deal some nice “base” dps with daggers.
We don’t provide any skipping mechanics, we can heal with wells or minions (with minions being the better option stat-wise, but they are terrible for skipping – most of the cases today :/ ).
We don’t have any reflects – which is again a problem with the way the fights are made.
We don’t have much vigor access either, why?

Well I know “anet” wants an attrition class or whatever… but hey you’re not supposed to “outstand” a boss, which is not the case anyway. I mean … thoughts?
(We face similar problems in pvp it seems, but I actually enjoy my necro at my casual 30-ish spvp rank).

Thoughts?

tl;dr version:
What changes do we need not to get kicked from pugs, as a class and in the game (pve mainly)?

Honestly, i think necros getting kicked from pugs is just bad stigma. Sure, we aren’t GS warriors, but a zerker necro with wells puts out A TON of dps. Now i could understand not taking condi for speed clears unless heavy aoe to abuse epidemic (maybe). As for changes, id like to see the other weapon sets have better LF generation. That may help all around for quality of life and dps.

RlyOsim.2497:

awesome thread, tip of the hat to you sir!

question:
is rare veggie pizza overpowered?

Glad you like it buddy!

and yes i do if they don’t have lemon grass on or purposely hard countering conditions. Otherwise, our fears become soooooooo stupid, and nightmare rune procs become instant wins.

Grrman.5312:

What do you think is the biggest limitation to a minion master playstyle? And what do you think is the ceiling overall for the playstyle. I like it but from what I hear, it limits you when you try getting more serious in the game

I will be honest with you, Bhawb truly fools around with minions more then me and probably can answer it better. But from my experience with dueling high tier players and queueing with them for fun, the AI is both a blessing and curse. Blessing because it pilots itself (not including using the minions abilities). Curse because the AI is verrrrrrrrrrrrrry dumb and buggy. Caed kites my minions all day long on the Z-axis. Just leashes them around then comes and spikes me hard. Minion masters probably wont ever be competitive unless the AI changes in the game/or the offer greater utility.

Infect.2738:

Grrman.5312:

What do you think is the biggest limitation to a minion master playstyle? And what do you think is the ceiling overall for the playstyle. I like it but from what I hear, it limits you when you try getting more serious in the game

I will be honest with you, Bhawb truly fools around with minions more then me and probably can answer it better. But from my experience with dueling high tier players and queueing with them for fun, the AI is both a blessing and curse. Blessing because it pilots itself (not including using the minions abilities). Curse because the AI is verrrrrrrrrrrrrry dumb and buggy. Caed kites my minions all day long on the Z-axis. Just leashes them around then comes and spikes me hard. Minion masters probably wont ever be competitive unless the AI changes in the game/or the offer greater utility.

Everything Zombify said is very accurate, although I do think the lack of viability atm is far more due to perception than reality (few at a high level really understand MM I’ve noticed). AI not only has an issue with Z-axis movement, but stealth and instant movement in general. Fighting Mesmers and Thieves feels much less like fighting an enemy, and more like fighting your minions.

Big issues except AI:
1) Random stupid mechanical issues (Haunt’s 2s activation time, Rigor Mortis being simply an AA buff that doesn’t reset your AA timer, etc.)
2) Dying to mass AoE
3) Forced into certain builds (must be tanky, must have certain traits)
4) Low mechanical skill ceiling but very high knowledge ceiling
5) Slowish rotations

There might be something else I’m forgetting but oh well. Also, note that literally all of the major weaknesses can be mitigated, not completely stopped or anything, but there are methods you can use to make them not nearly as big of an issue (for example renewal sigils + transfusion make it much harder to die to AoE).

The realistic ceiling of MM is basically anything that isn’t serious 5 man tournaments. You can basically do anything you want that doesn’t rely on entering “serious” tournaments. Also, I personally think that the main reason you don’t see MM in tournaments isn’t because they can’t be played, but because the effort to play around an MM’s weaknesses isn’t really worth it, and so few players have the necessary knowledge/experience (since if you want to be competitive, condi is more worth your time). So I think you might be able to make MM work at a competitive level, if you had an understanding team who would work with you to fit MM into your team, but good luck finding one when so many other builds fit in much more easily.

Zombify, you run a condi terror build? How do you deal with warriors? I was running condi in soloQ and eventually switched to power because I kept getting trashed by warriors.

I always found the Warriors pretty easy as a terrormancer. Just gotta watch for zerker stance. When they go zerker do your best to kite and use deathshroud 4 and lifeblast. Once zerker stance is done they are kittened and most of the ones I fight try to run away as soon as it’s gone. Just fear them into a wall and laugh.

NeXeD.3042:

I always found the Warriors pretty easy as a terrormancer. Just gotta watch for zerker stance. When they go zerker do your best to kite and use deathshroud 4 and lifeblast. Once zerker stance is done they are kittened and most of the ones I fight try to run away as soon as it’s gone. Just fear them into a wall and laugh.

Also like add that most warriors will be lazy and take Heal sig, poison will wreck them, another thing to look out for is the trait.cleansing ire. For it to work they must land a burst skill(which they have big tells) with the.exception of Conbustive shot.

Another strategy is to spectral walk move from the point you used it, spectral grasp then spectral recall, zerker stance.should be over.

I haven’t.used that combo.in a.long.time but it should still work.

http://youtu.be/FRM8majX7J0?t=11m30s
something like this. Just wait for Berserker Stance end and use CB if you see stability on him, then burst. Always keep distance against warrior and kite kite kite alot. Dont forget to stack poison. Correct me if I wrong.

Roe.3679:

Zombify, you run a condi terror build? How do you deal with warriors? I was running condi in soloQ and eventually switched to power because I kept getting trashed by warriors.

NeXeD answered pretty accurately. The big timing windows are zerker stance and endure pain. You need to kite zerking, make sure to dodge pin down or be ready to send it back just to cleanse it. Also make sure to always dodge earthshaker/eviscerate depending on their build. Once zerking is down open up with pressure/condi spike with fear. Also try and keep poison on them at all times. Save the corrupt for stability for obvious reasons. And at no point should you be fighting them on point/in their explosive arrow fire field unless you absolutely need to.

Bumping this to see if anyone has any other questions!

<3

“Compared to the other tier 1 traits we have, its very lack luster even with high crit. Soul marks out shines this trait by far. Really do wish we had other LF generation options.”

We have great ones if u use Spectral Skills and even more so Combined with Spectral Attunement. Tho this is ofc mainly for a Power Specc ofc.

Also a Question : What do u think of the new Food from Season2 wich has 40% Cond.Duration + %chance to steal health on hit ? can it be a better option for Rare Pizza ?

Dear Infect,

I have levelled my necromancer to 50 as a minion master, which was fun albeit rather easy. Then the Crown Pavilion happened and I levelled it further to 80. In the Pavilion, my necro can do every single one of the bosses except Pyro for which I have no reflect or absorb to bring to the party, so I never bothered to go there.

My aim for my necromancer is to use it to finish world completion and do dungeons and factuals. In fact I am torned between whether my mesmer or necro to be my main character. I have heard that powermancer with berzerker setup is the way to go. That is what I am trying at the moment, a 6/5/0/0/3 build with D/horn, A/F, WoS, Blood is Power and Signet of Spite. But is it the only effective way to do PvE contents?

In my heart, I still want to try a condimancer and/or a terrormancer builds, or even a MM build again. But I have heard that they are sub-par for PvE. What do you think of them?

Please advise.

Many thanks!

Hi OP,

Do you have a viable Necro build that takes advantage of the trait path of corruption or is centered around path of corruption? Would you recommend using condi or power necros for that trait?

Thanks in advance

Dear OP

I will be getting back into GW2 after over a year absence and I want to start a new main, considering necro. I usually prefer hybrid power/support builds and was wondering if a deathshroud heal build would be viable in PVE or just not helpful enough. Here is my idea so far, may drop the wells for full spectral for LF generation to max my time in DS healing. Here’s a link
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fRAQNAndWjk00abPN22wfbiahayooLgsODAqvj2ogB-e

What do you think?

I have a question…Im a lvl 80 necro but in WvW im having extreme trouble keeping up my DS while under direct fire under anything is there any tip to help my DS not go so low so quick?

Use spectral armor

Ravezaar.4951:

Also a Question : What do u think of the new Food from Season2 wich has 40% Cond.Duration + %chance to steal health on hit ? can it be a better option for Rare Pizza ?

Honestly havent had a chance to try the new food yet. If its like the other foods with a low ICD, then i think it may definitely be better then just 70 condi damage.

Oh My God.8423:

Dear Infect,

I have levelled my necromancer to 50 as a minion master, which was fun albeit rather easy. Then the Crown Pavilion happened and I levelled it further to 80. In the Pavilion, my necro can do every single one of the bosses except Pyro for which I have no reflect or absorb to bring to the party, so I never bothered to go there.

My aim for my necromancer is to use it to finish world completion and do dungeons and factuals. In fact I am torned between whether my mesmer or necro to be my main character. I have heard that powermancer with berzerker setup is the way to go. That is what I am trying at the moment, a 6/5/0/0/3 build with D/horn, A/F, WoS, Blood is Power and Signet of Spite. But is it the only effective way to do PvE contents?

In my heart, I still want to try a condimancer and/or a terrormancer builds, or even a MM build again. But I have heard that they are sub-par for PvE. What do you think of them?

Please advise.

Many thanks!

You heard right about the zerker part. I think spoj has a pretty good pve guide in terms of raw dps for pve. Otherwise i personally do 6/6/0/0/2 or 6/2/0/0/6. your utilities are fine for pve.

Sadly, condi is indeed sub-par at best for pve. This is due to the games condition cap on condis from all classes. Also condi just doesnt scale as well as zerker. I love condi all around in pve, but i wouldnt bring it to a speed clear dungeon run.

izzuedotcom.2498:

Hi OP,

Do you have a viable Necro build that takes advantage of the trait path of corruption or is centered around path of corruption? Would you recommend using condi or power necros for that trait?

Thanks in advance

Haha yes sir i do. The main build i run uses path of corruption since it is indeed a strong trait. 0/6/4/0/4 with carrion (can also use rabid, i just have had better results with carrion in this meta). And you definitely run condition for that trait since it makes the boon strip that much stronger.

TheSoothsayer.7439:

Dear OP

I will be getting back into GW2 after over a year absence and I want to start a new main, considering necro. I usually prefer hybrid power/support builds and was wondering if a deathshroud heal build would be viable in PVE or just not helpful enough. Here is my idea so far, may drop the wells for full spectral for LF generation to max my time in DS healing. Here’s a link
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fRAQNAndWjk00abPN22wfbiahayooLgsODAqvj2ogB-e

What do you think?

Honestly depends on what you mean by viable. Most hardcore groups prefer just straight damage for the speed it brings. Otherwise if you do want to try a nitche heal build with necro, that build doesnt look too bad. I honestly havent fooled around too much with straight healing builds, but i do know well of blood with clerics gear is one of the biggest aoe heals in the game. Too bad its not a water field too

Remorhas.2963:

I have a question…Im a lvl 80 necro but in WvW im having extreme trouble keeping up my DS while under direct fire under anything is there any tip to help my DS not go so low so quick?

Pelopidas gave the right answer. If you time your last gasp (if you have it traited) or use spectral armor in conjuction with death shroud, you can tank a surprising amount of damage. Usually takes several people just to get you out of the death shroud. Spectral walk can also do this, but not to the same effect.

Necromancer is my go to class. I love how it plays!

But anywho, here’s MY question: What’s your opinion on dual daggers? I find it has the most insane LF regen out of all the weapons and some of the best DPS for single target. What would you say D/D would be against an Axe? I never enjoyed the axe, as if requires you to stack vuln for it’s 2 to be worth anything.

Also, what’s your opinion on Dhuumfire? It used to be so amazing, but now I just can’t think about putting 6 points into the traits just for the burn.

Edit: Got a guide for a fear build? It’s always interested me but it seems… weak, with being only able to fear targets every 20 seconds or so for only a little damage, at least with terror.

WizardRed.2796:

Necromancer is my go to class. I love how it plays!

But anywho, here’s MY question: What’s your opinion on dual daggers? I find it has the most insane LF regen out of all the weapons and some of the best DPS for single target. What would you say D/D would be against an Axe? I never enjoyed the axe, as if requires you to stack vuln for it’s 2 to be worth anything.

Also, what’s your opinion on Dhuumfire? It used to be so amazing, but now I just can’t think about putting 6 points into the traits just for the burn.

Edit: Got a guide for a fear build? It’s always interested me but it seems… weak, with being only able to fear targets every 20 seconds or so for only a little damage, at least with terror.

I think dagger mainhand is way better then axe. More utility, more LF generation, better damage. Axe’s auto is just weak imo and the burst from axe 2 can be avoided easily (in pvp that is). Axe isnt bad for pve though i still run dagger/x.

Ah dhuumfire…. its good and bad in its current form. Its good because burning is still such a stupid condition and now you can skillshot it. Its bad because, well, lifeblast is just a terrible projectile. I’ve had random clones/spirits/parrots/wolves/everything eat my “skillshot” lifeblast while it was traveling which wastes dhuumfire. Need to really line it up and be close to the target which promotes bad positioning.

As for guides, i need to make another in-depth one, but you can always find my current builds on my stream twitch.tv/thezombify

WizardRed,

Aren’t all the life force generating weapons more or less normalized for life force per second gained? Dagger is fast hitting but you have to be hitting rapid fire and not missing any.

Staff is 3/4 sec but a larger LF gain than dagger per hit.

Silentshoes.1805:

WizardRed,

Aren’t all the life force generating weapons more or less normalized for life force per second gained? Dagger is fast hitting but you have to be hitting rapid fire and not missing any.

Staff is 3/4 sec but a larger LF gain than dagger per hit.

Yes and no. They all have the potential to have somewhat similar gains, but in practice dagger has by far the highest, with scepter being the lowest. Dagger is around 3.8%/s, axe is 1.5%/s, staff is 2.9%/s to 8.6%/s, and scepter is anywhere from nothing to 3.6%/s (although that will never happen, it is much more often lower). Dagger is the most reliable because its simply 8% per chain, which is easy to hit, whereas Staff is 4% per person hit (up to 3 people) but is very easy to avoid since its a slow projectile, and Scepter/Axe both need to land abilities, one with a long easy to stop channel and the other with the need to have conditions on the target.

Offhands are also totally different. Dagger OH gives nothing, WH can give up to 100% per cast (4% per second), and Focus can give up to 15% per cast (just under 1% per second).

Bhawb,

Many thanks. I would never have figured that out and it rests my mind on dagger being the best.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fRAQNAW7Yjc0UTbtNe2wfbighSyW4DiuBCgzlykIKA-TJxHwAFuIAA3f4YZAAPBAA

Hey is this close to what you run in tpvp? If not what do you think about the trait choices and sigils other than the energy and fear stuff.

Bhawb.7408:

Silentshoes.1805:

WizardRed,

Aren’t all the life force generating weapons more or less normalized for life force per second gained? Dagger is fast hitting but you have to be hitting rapid fire and not missing any.

Staff is 3/4 sec but a larger LF gain than dagger per hit.

Yes and no. They all have the potential to have somewhat similar gains, but in practice dagger has by far the highest, with scepter being the lowest. Dagger is around 3.8%/s, axe is 1.5%/s, staff is 2.9%/s to 8.6%/s, and scepter is anywhere from nothing to 3.6%/s (although that will never happen, it is much more often lower). Dagger is the most reliable because its simply 8% per chain, which is easy to hit, whereas Staff is 4% per person hit (up to 3 people) but is very easy to avoid since its a slow projectile, and Scepter/Axe both need to land abilities, one with a long easy to stop channel and the other with the need to have conditions on the target.

Offhands are also totally different. Dagger OH gives nothing, WH can give up to 100% per cast (4% per second), and Focus can give up to 15% per cast (just under 1% per second).

So dagger/horn with Staff give the best LF generation??

If staff is traited with soul marks or has the ability to hit 2-3 targets consistently yes. Otherwise I’d say its probably tied with A/F, just depending on the situation, some situations will favor one more than the other.

Bhawb.7408:

axe is 1.5%/s…. and scepter is anywhere from nothing to 3.6%/s

You forgot to include cast times (and Gluttony for builds with points in Soul Reaping).
It’s rather negligable on scepter, but the little over 2 sec on Ghastly Claws makes 1.5%/s only possible with Axe Traning.

Bhawb.7408:

staff is 2.9%/s to 8.6%/s
…
Staff is 4% per person hit (up to 3 people)

Necrotic Grasp hits up to 5 targets, so it’s potentially 22% per cast with Gluttony.
Also, the time per cast is actually 1.3 sec, not 1.4 as stated in the wikipedia notes.
So the best possible lf/sec is close to 16%.

Bhawb.7408:

WH can give up to 100% per cast (4% per second)

Locust Swarm gives 1.8% lf (~2% with Gluttony) per hit.
Traited with Banshee’s Wail you get 13 ticks (bugged because it should actually be 15) on a 24 sec cd with a 1 sec cast time. Best possible average: 5.2% lf/sec.

Bottom line:
The question will always be how many targets you’ll actually manage to hit with your lf skills, but if conditions are perfect you’ll average by far the most lf regen with staff, followed by warhorn.

Could I perhaps get a link to the terror build? No guide attached? Just the passives and skills n whatnot? I think I can figure out the play style myself.

The terror build is a build that uses the Terror trait to deal decent damage and incapacitate the opponent while your other conditions tick. Almost any build that picks up Terror and maybe Master of Terror trait is considered a terror build. Anyway i’ve linked a common variable. The usual faceroll is to interrupt heal, cast signet of spite, DS 3/2/5, staff 5, profit.

This is a variable I use :
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fRAQNArYWjc00XbjNG3wfbighSqWI6GIAOXq/iooJA-TZRFwAAOBAK3fIxhAIaZAFPBAA

I just would like to mention that death magic and blood magic, at least the first 4 points have excellent pvp traits, as well as the whole curse line, so if you don’t want to go the 0/6/2/0/6 build you can go for 0/6/4/0/4 (No stability on ds, but more toughness, staff cd’s, reaper;s protection) or 4/6/0/0/4 (more condi duration, chill of death) or 0/6/0/4/4 (more vitality, vamp traits, heal on ds exit)

Why do you choose IV for Curses? It’s condition duration is really low…

Edit: Talking to an experienced necromancer is like a celebrity to me, lol

That is another thing of preference, you can go for the 20% bleeding duration:)

Why cannot the Flesh Golem swim? Seems odd for an elite when all other minions can.

The Flesh Golem has some image to maintain. He can’t be seen all soaked up. He’s an elite, after all!

Yendorion.2381:

Why cannot the Flesh Golem swim? Seems odd for an elite when all other minions can.

Flesh golem used to be available underwater, same with Wurm. Unfortunately they didn’t have any animations, Flesh Wurm literally just floated in the water like he sits on land (and could move), and Flesh Golem kind of did the same. They looked really weird, and I don’t think ANet had a chance to finish up any animations before they were forced to launch.