Guild Wars 2

Hey all,

In light of the new balance changes I have been able to create a customizable build that I’ve been working on for a while now or atleast with this particular playstyle which is uncommon to most necros.

Switched out staff for d/d- axe/wh, I find that going d/d axe/wh allows me to flow from offensive to defensive playstyles rather smoothly****

Using Barbarian Amulet
VIDEO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3WRZ5t_lYM

I could have done better against the 2nd thief 1v1 using more dagger auto’s and healing earlier, after re-watching it it was apparent I should have healed instead of switching to dagger. Not the best opponents but i hope it displays what im trying to accomplish with the build.

update-Moved 5 points in DM for spectral mastery, using runes of the sanctuary.

Soldier-http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=;0437-0-kH-J084gJ;9;79JJ-J4;049-18;213-JwW0U;1cV19cV196Zd

Berzerker- http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=;0437-0-kHFJ084gJ;9;79JJ-J4;039-18;213-JwW0U;1cV19cV195ZG

Barbarian- http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=;0437-0-kH-J084gJkJ0;9;49JJ-J4;049-18;213-JwW0U;1YBm7YBm78ko

This build requires patience and a general good sense of necro cooldowns to use effectively. This means knowing when its appropriate to leave DS, heal, and use utility’s intelligently.

How to play: There are 2 focuses to this build staying in DS for as long as necessary, and knowing how to counter burst damage / deal with condi’s since this is a low condi removal build.

Retaliation is Death Shrouds best friend. When your in DS you want as much retaliation up on you as possible, knowing how to appropriately apply retaliation is key.

DS regeneration ability tier:
1:Locust swarm
2:Spectral Walk
3: Spectral Armor

Make sure one of the above is applied before jumping into DS. Locust swarm will increase in effectiveness the more targets its able to hit granting more life force so this is your go to for life force regen, perfect for entering group fights.

Enter DS do your ds things then spam 1….I know….lame….but its for the best, when you run out of LF apply the next ability available and jump right back into DS (remember to apply retaliation before entering if possible).

Canceling DS before it runs out will give you full CD, letting it run out gives you no CD and you can jump right back in after filling some life force. So take care when deciding to leave DS because leaving to early can lead to a quick death.

With this build you want to get hit you want to take damage, but you want to make sure your in DS with one of the above abilitys with retaliation while thats happening.

Certain points and utlitys can be changed / moved. For instance removing the 10 in spite and adding it to curses and soul reaping for banshees / spectral mastery. I enjoy the retaliation in DS over banshees / shorter spectral cd’s but its your choice.

This is not a burst spec, this is pure attrition the more the enemy attacks you the worse off they are. The longer you’re around your opponent in DS the more damage they take via death shivers. The more condis on him the more damage you do.

Adventure rune / energy sigil combo is perfect for necro pvp and increases necro survivability dramatically. Know how to manage endurance via weapon swaps and heals. 100% endurance almost instantly is possible after double dodging. Knowing how to manage health / endurance is also a key component to this build. Stuff like Dodge weapon swap dodge heal Dodge Dodge DS is possible, while may be a bit overkill such endurance management can be the difference between life and death.

Something I’ve noticed about Vital persistance and this build in general, Life force flows really well with endurance often allowing me to exhaust my endurance in DS and waiting for life force to dry up and my endurance to fill right back up usually hitting 50% when life force fully drains allowing for another dodge in case i need it. Prior to the buff this was never really the case even with a similar build.

Hope you enjoy!

I think this is a cool idea, it’s always fun to find builds that are off the beaten path and try to do something different. I personally would change the build up slightly to focus more on keeping a higher retaliation up time and would do something like this:

http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=;08-_;1kH-J084gJVJ0;9;49JJ-J4;049-14;217-4wl6;2qNnCr7YB6Zt

Instead of adventure runes, I went two Water, two Monk and two Rage for the purpose of increasing the retaliation and fury buffs. You can have perma Fury with just flashing DS as sometimes you know you won’t need to go into DS and flashing it would be OK. Also a higher uptime on retaliation with the spiteful spirit.

Also, since this build was on the lower side of condi removal, now has 40% boon duration, and is slightly less survivable without adventure runes, I felt as though Well of Power would counter balance this. It can also give retaliation by converting confusion! Who doesn’t like 3 stun breakers? =)
Also changed to have 5% more crit in axe/warhorn instead of force.

Another thing I might try is having only 10 points in curses and going Foot in the Grave to have 4+ seconds of stability every DS further increasing surivaibility. It’s just really good in PvP in general with DS stomps etc.

Great idea, thanks for sharing, going to mess with this in solo queue for fun.

P.S. Why aren’t there retaliation duration runes =(

EDIT – Ok it seems if you have 20% boon duration increase from runes, like from Water and Monk, no other different type of specific boon duration will add anything more. I.E fury duration, so until this gets fixed, I guess 2 Lyssa would be fine, or even two Vampirism.

Nice suggestions! Like i said it is a very customizable build and there are many valid choices. Although i wouldn’t get rid of death shivers, it kind of pulls the build together. Rage runes alone are perfect for this build but i do like the boon duration. Target the weak synergizes well with death shivers. I was also messing around with a master of terror variant reapers prot, fear duration etc. Gl and have fun!

Well of power is the better choice but i just love that signet with target the weak lol, You can even do WoS for more vuln stacks in DS, it requires a bit of seting up but it works wonders.

Wonder if this is the kind of builds that ANet have in mind when they balance.

I wouldn’t doubt it, this build existed before but vital persistence buff made it even stronger. It’s a bit more “user friendly” now so to speak. When making the build I kept thinking back to previous things Anet devs mentioned about necros. The most helpfull of which was the mentioning that “We want players to regret ever engaging in a fight with a necro”. They also mentioned something about a certain bunker axe build which really got me thinking and eventually realizing that death shroud and retaliation are the perfect pair and utilizing them together is the key to playing an attrition necro in pvp. I was a little hesitant in releasing this build as I was afraid of fighting myself lol.

Most type of burst damage can be countered with this build. Maybe il stream it for a bit later on today after work. Twitch.tv/ellisdx3

This is very very Bootiful

Have you thought about Axe training? An increase of damage all the time (according to playing around in Mists) as well as decrease in Axe #2 for faster DS regen and Axe #3 for the Retal

I am currently working on a build myself, though mine seems bit more “burst” than yours at the cost of survival i am betting.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fQAQRBIbdG2IjW1e2m4GDnCRqw1Ap49qloCID1j1xd+QA-jUCBYLRGtJgEGBiII0JPFRjtMsIasKdER1qGYuDFRrWKgIGGB-w

Not 100% sure on all the utilities yet.

yeah nice build but in high tier pvp , it wont work , any kind of dps build wont work , u will just get focused and die :P

Forsaker.9213:

yeah nice build but in high tier pvp , it wont work , any kind of dps build wont work , u will just get focused and die :P

PvP as in S/TPvP or WvW? I only WvW so i dont mind ^^

Why reaper’s precision with only 22% crit chance? Seems like weakening shroud would add a bit more attrition.

Tenderly.7019:

EDIT – Ok it seems if you have 20% boon duration increase from runes, like from Water and Monk, no other different type of specific boon duration will add anything more. I.E fury duration, so until this gets fixed, I guess 2 Lyssa would be fine, or even two Vampirism.

Is this a bug or intentional?

Judge.1923:

This is very very Bootiful

Thank you! Much appreciated and hope you find success with it.

ArmageddonAsh.6430:

Have you thought about Axe training? An increase of damage all the time (according to playing around in Mists) as well as decrease in Axe #2 for faster DS regen and Axe #3 for the Retal
I am currently working on a build myself, though mine seems bit more “burst” than yours at the cost of survival i am betting.
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fQAQRBIbdG2IjW1e2m4GDnCRqw1Ap49qloCID1j1xd+QA-jUCBYLRGtJgEGBiII0JPFRjtMsIasKdER1qGYuDFRrWKgIGGB-w

Not 100% sure on all the utilities yet.

For WvW use 10/10/20/0/30 retal in DS, target wells, prot on wells, death shiver, unyielding and vital persistance, deathly perception. zerk/soldier armor, scholar or eagle runes zerk and cav accessories

Wenrolio.8063:

Why reaper’s precision with only 22% crit chance? Seems like weakening shroud would add a bit more attrition.

You are absolutely correct, its one of the more customizable traits in this build so feel free to use WS.

If anyone uses the build I would appreciate if you reported back with feedback or if you need help etc.

Mindx.9610:

For WvW use 10/10/20/0/30 retal in DS, target wells, prot on wells, death shiver, unyielding and vital persistance, deathly perception. zerk/soldier armor, scholar or eagle runes zerk and cav accessories

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fQAQRBIbdG2IjW1e2m4GDfCRSBv8LQKevah6x64OfIA-jUCBYLRGtJgEGBiII05cFRjtMsIasKdER1qGYuDFRrWKgIGGB-w

Is what i am currently looking at. Not quite sure about the Sigils or the Utilities though.

ArmageddonAsh.6430:

Mindx.9610:

For WvW use 10/10/20/0/30 retal in DS, target wells, prot on wells, death shiver, unyielding and vital persistance, deathly perception. zerk/soldier armor, scholar or eagle runes zerk and cav accessories

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fQAQRBIbdG2IjW1e2m4GDfCRSBv8LQKevah6x64OfIA-jUCBYLRGtJgEGBiII05cFRjtMsIasKdER1qGYuDFRrWKgIGGB-w

Is what i am currently looking at. Not quite sure about the Sigils or the Utilities though.

looks good i had the same build with knights gear, sentinels seems interesting, Target wells is almost a must though in wvw. Depends on what your tying to accomplish really but stats look fine.

Necro can achieve attrition if you build for it.

I can last pretty long against most professions via DS and siphons out of DS.

The only thing I would change with your build is to take 5 from Curses and put it into Death. I would much rather have a passive 200 power over 0-8% damage based on my targets conditions.

Mindx.9610:

ArmageddonAsh.6430:

Mindx.9610:

For WvW use 10/10/20/0/30 retal in DS, target wells, prot on wells, death shiver, unyielding and vital persistance, deathly perception. zerk/soldier armor, scholar or eagle runes zerk and cav accessories

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fQAQRBIbdG2IjW1e2m4GDfCRSBv8LQKevah6x64OfIA-jUCBYLRGtJgEGBiII05cFRjtMsIasKdER1qGYuDFRrWKgIGGB-w

Is what i am currently looking at. Not quite sure about the Sigils or the Utilities though.

looks good i had the same build with knights gear, sentinels seems interesting, Target wells is almost a must though in wvw. Depends on what your tying to accomplish really but stats look fine.

Its more of a roaming, small group build. Zergs i will just throw a a staff on and spam marks, though not into that kind of gameplay as i find it rather boring.

Stx.4857:

Necro can achieve attrition if you build for it.

I can last pretty long against most professions via DS and siphons out of DS.

The only thing I would change with your build is to take 5 from Curses and put it into Death. I would much rather have a passive 200 power over 0-8% damage based on my targets conditions.

good suggestion, Il end up doing this, going to switch the link to reflect the change thx!

Just updating that this build is viable and maybe even better with zerker amulet… have fun!

-edit- Forgot to mention switched to dagger/dagger axe/wh

Updated With Video

I could have done better against the 2nd thief 1v1 using more dagger auto’s and healing earlier, after re-watching it it was apparent I should have healed instead of switching to dagger. Not the best opponents but i hope it displays what im trying to accomplish with the build.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fQAQRBHRhG2IjW4e3m2G9mCQqQzTFyOSxxKT9Ae0PH-TwAg0CtIMSZkzIjRSjsGN6Y1x+j5HA

This is what I use, and I like it very much. Only sPvP and WvW.
I miss spiteful retaliation very much, but dark armor has made a noticable difference. I will prob switch back at some point. Also for 10 in death magic you get spiteful removal, a very underappreciated trait. It can remove fear, immob, and long duration condis. Helps to lessen the pain of not having an extra condi transfer with the staff.
One thing is for sure: x/20/x/x/30
Seems like necro is on the edge of being an awesome power spec profession.

Dark armor is useless it really is no good unless you go full blood magic / siphons.

With your trait choice you lose everything that makes you able to tank dmg and deal dmg at the same time in DS which is the main point of this build.

If you want more dmg just slap on zerker no need to go further than that with this build.

I’m going to make a giant post with more build ideas as i feel the necro community is in great need to veer away from pure condi pure power builds that are misrepresenting the class.

This build is extremely viable and I encourage those who read the post to atleast try it out and see how its “supposed” to work in the video I posted although not the best representation of what the build is capable of I felt it showed what the builds purpose and play style was like

Dark armor isnt great, but if you time your channels right then it does make a difference. What I am trying to use this trait for is to keep defense up when my soft cc/protection/weakness is on cd.

My trait setup is pretty similar to yours. I have the freedom to switch traits around on the go, depending on which foe I am facing. Which is the point in what I am try to accomplish. 20 in death magic is not so great unless you get the 25 minor, but only if you have a high toughness and even then the other trait choices are pretty minimal.

It’s some kind of variation of power build, similar to one I’ve been using for a week now. Personally, I’d switch Spectral Walk to something else, like Well of Darkness and swap weapon sets a little bit.
Warhorn imo works better with dagger MH because dagger has way better burst and sometimes Wail of Doom is necessary to to touch tougher enemy, like warrior spamming CC. For Axe, I think OH dagger fits better, it’s more defensive setup this way, allows to kite, cripple makes landing dagger #5 easier. You just don’t wait in it autoattacking because most of the times, by the time you use your skills, weapon swap is off cd

5 seconds of aoe blind in which players may escape from or 12 seconds of life force regen in DS? You have to remember necro and this build in particular is a Healing game and if you want to add wod just remove one of the wells no need to remove spectral utilitys as they are what makes this build work.

Your playstyle must reflect your current healing cooldown and absorbing as much damage as possible before your heal is up is a big focus of this build and necro in general.

Unholy feast and locust swarm synergize with each other better than dg/wh for the retaliation before jumping into deathshroud for the life force regen, banshees wail is perfect for getting off both unholy feast and locust swarm cast without being intterupted / taking dmg. Also dagger is a up close melee weapon which could require you to throw out your blind / weakness when moving in.

Dark armor is supposed to mitigate damage and it is flawed because of the range aspect of channels, I.E your not supposed to be getting hit when channeling but rather supposed to be hit when in DS. DS is your damage mitigation mechanic.

The reason I say its better with full life siphon is because you have something on top of the dark armor backing it up making it more useful for damage mitigation especially with dg #2.

Remember 25 points in DM is not worthless without high toughness think of it as a balance mechanism, either way this build originally had 25 in curses then I moved it to 25 in DM thanks to suggestions on this thread then finally it was clear and obvious that spectral mastery was the better choice.

You can’t remove Deathly Shivers from the build or your increased up time in DS is literally useless. Remember that the more you stay around your opponent in DS the more damage they take which means retaliation gets a nice boost in dmg as well.

This makes it so being around or even hitting/pressuring a necromancer will backfire

“We want to make it so you regret ever having engaged in a fight with a necromancer”- Anet 2013

Definitely one of the most underrated traits in the game

love how detrimental perma stealth thieves are when it comes to pvp and capping points. you aren’t doing anything but harming your team using a build like that :/

Good point about axe/horn.

Its true about dark armor, like I said I will probably switch back at some point. Unless its a warrior with berserker stance up, I have plenty of soft cc available to deal with melee. Ranged damage is a problem. There are a couple if times when it is nice to have that extra armor to deal with bursts up close and far off (ds4 is a good example). Being able to take some damage out of ds saves life force as well as the cd for bigger spikes. I havent used spiteful removal, but in some cases it would be great.
I’m thinking I will switch dark armor for dagger mastery though, and get spiteful retaliation.

Interesting – I’ve been experimenting with a few similar builds myseld (0/15/25/0/30 etc).

A few things – I currently think Deathly Shivers to be horribly UP relative to putting those 10 points in SR. +50% crit is huge, especially in sol/valk gear.

I mean, if you hit for 10k, and have 10 stacks of vuln on a target, that’s 1k bonus.

If you hit for 10k, and have 50% crit and 50% base plus 50% valk crit makes a 5k bonus.

Extra uptime in DS without DS isn’t wasted, it’s more time to build might stacks and more time your health isn’t taking damage. I’d actually argue that time in DS where you’re not chucking out +70% (30 SR plus 15 Curses) crit chance damage is the actually wasted time.

While I know what your saying you also have to consider vuln works toward teammate dmg as well, also removing spectral duration traits decreases your uptime when being pressured thus having less lifeblast to pump out, but the dmg difference may make up for it if you do crit. I do like your build with valk amy though.

Spectral Attunement is non-optional IMO, so I’m currently using 20/20/0/0/30.

Chill of Death procs with Lichform and valk are hilarious…

Really can’t decide on runes. If Svanir didn’t glitch out after each death I’d go with them (that 5s freeze, mmmhmmm). I’m currenly using Ogre, but there’s got to be an interesting set which doesn’t bug out after death. I’ve just not found it yet.

Also – I’ve gone with piercing LB instead of 20% CD reduction. I’m not sure how it’s working just yet – the vuln helps the team obvs, but the nice thing is unless someone dodges they can’t just run back into the zerg and hide/hide behind a pet/behind a teammate.

I mainly WvW, so piercing is better than CD (lots of LF from incidental deaths). In sPvP, I think the 20% cooldown is more important.

I like the idea of Deathly Shivers, but the low application rate and the fact you have to go 20 points deep into Death Magic (which has 2 junk minor traits for LB builds) sucks too much.

SupahSpankeh.8452:

Spectral Attunement is non-optional IMO, so I’m currently using 20/20/0/0/30.

Chill of Death procs with Lichform and valk are hilarious…

Really can’t decide on runes. If Svanir didn’t glitch out after each death I’d go with them (that 5s freeze, mmmhmmm). I’m currenly using Ogre, but there’s got to be an interesting set which doesn’t bug out after death. I’ve just not found it yet.

Also – I’ve gone with piercing LB instead of 20% CD reduction. I’m not sure how it’s working just yet – the vuln helps the team obvs, but the nice thing is unless someone dodges they can’t just run back into the zerg and hide/hide behind a pet/behind a teammate.

I mainly WvW, so piercing is better than CD (lots of LF from incidental deaths). In sPvP, I think the 20% cooldown is more important.

I like the idea of Deathly Shivers, but the low application rate and the fact you have to go 20 points deep into Death Magic (which has 2 junk minor traits for LB builds) sucks too much.

Yup I agree about DM traits but DSh increasing DS functionality is still very appealing to me. It gives a new spin to necros role in team fights, but yes DM traits are shameful.

I use 30/10/0/0/30 with reapers touch axe training and chill of death in wvw soldier/zerk/calv piercing is way to good in wvw to pass up, although aegis totally owns this trait lol.

SupahSpankeh.8452:

Spectral Attunement is non-optional IMO, so I’m currently using 20/20/0/0/30.

Chill of Death procs with Lichform and valk are hilarious…

Really can’t decide on runes. If Svanir didn’t glitch out after each death I’d go with them (that 5s freeze, mmmhmmm). I’m currenly using Ogre, but there’s got to be an interesting set which doesn’t bug out after death. I’ve just not found it yet.

Also – I’ve gone with piercing LB instead of 20% CD reduction. I’m not sure how it’s working just yet – the vuln helps the team obvs, but the nice thing is unless someone dodges they can’t just run back into the zerg and hide/hide behind a pet/behind a teammate.

I mainly WvW, so piercing is better than CD (lots of LF from incidental deaths). In sPvP, I think the 20% cooldown is more important.

I like the idea of Deathly Shivers, but the low application rate and the fact you have to go 20 points deep into Death Magic (which has 2 junk minor traits for LB builds) sucks too much.

Either use Lyssa runes + low CD elite or use Ogre runes for extra power/damage. You can even go with divinity for over all stat balance or 5 scholars and one divinity.

The Primary.6371:

SupahSpankeh.8452:

Spectral Attunement is non-optional IMO, so I’m currently using 20/20/0/0/30.

Chill of Death procs with Lichform and valk are hilarious…

Really can’t decide on runes. If Svanir didn’t glitch out after each death I’d go with them (that 5s freeze, mmmhmmm). I’m currenly using Ogre, but there’s got to be an interesting set which doesn’t bug out after death. I’ve just not found it yet.

Also – I’ve gone with piercing LB instead of 20% CD reduction. I’m not sure how it’s working just yet – the vuln helps the team obvs, but the nice thing is unless someone dodges they can’t just run back into the zerg and hide/hide behind a pet/behind a teammate.

I mainly WvW, so piercing is better than CD (lots of LF from incidental deaths). In sPvP, I think the 20% cooldown is more important.

I like the idea of Deathly Shivers, but the low application rate and the fact you have to go 20 points deep into Death Magic (which has 2 junk minor traits for LB builds) sucks too much.

Either use Lyssa runes + low CD elite or use Ogre runes for extra power/damage. You can even go with divinity for over all stat balance or 5 scholars and one divinity.

Personal experience with that build told me that Lyssa runes with Golem can be extremely useful in WvW. You can get stomps, resses, and a complete condi cleanse JUST from your runes not to mention the Knockback from the Golem.

The only downside is you have to blow the Lyssa runes if you want to use the Golem for an interrupt.

Really nice video OP.
thought I’d share what I’m running.

I’m currently using 0/30/10/0/30,
soldiers amulet and earth runes,
weakening shroud, banshees wail and spectral attunement, shrouded removal, spectral recharge, DS recharge and stability on DS.
Dagger/Warhorn and Axe/Dagger.
consume conditions, spectral armor, spectral grasp, spectral walk and plague form.
This is a brilliant build in my opinion, a real mix of CC, condi and power.
very rewarding if played properly.
In thr OP’s build I wouldnt use the DM trait to cause vuln while in DS, I would take either reapers protection or retal on heal.

Nice Bull.
I’m running the same thing pretty much. Recently changed to that setup. Shrouded removal takes place of that extra transfer we get with the staff.
Zerk amulet, soldier jewel, melandru runes, -sgrasp+swall, -plague+golem.

Nice Bull that looks really good I’ll try it out for a few matches

Its a good build for team fights and strong 1v1,
I run it in WvW aswell as PvP, except in WvW I have a lot more crit chance and crit damage as all my accessories are zerk,

@Mindx I think you will enjoy the build as your play style is similar to mine (from what I can see in your video) and I love it.
It’s a real bruiser spec, applies decent pressure and has very good staying power.
I hope you enjoy your testing.

@Stand The Wall, I like the thought of going zerk in this spec as I think it would work, I was running 20/20/0/0/30 (zerk) previously and thought I’d try out something a bit more tanky/bruiser’ish and this is what I came up with.

I like spectral grasp with spectral attunement as I get 20% LF, a good pull and an interrupt, that is of course my personal preference and the reason I take it over wall.
When I’m beaten down to 0% LF, I can pop grasp and then immediately re-enter DS in a pinch. Good for clutch stomps etc.

I have said enough… I’m rambling

If only we could carry a 4th utility slot… I would love sgrasp.

There are too many situations where swall saves my kitten . I use it to separate point, against perma stealth thieves, on mes veil, in 1vX, to disengage, heal/melee protection etc…

I occasionally grab sgrasp but swall is just so good.

Definitely try this in zerk amulet! Its so fun. I dont play anything else but this now.

What would you call this spec Bull? Thinking of making a video of my noobness. Lets think of a sweet name, and make all the condimancers jelly.

4 utility slots on this spec would be incredible haha

I agree wall is probably a better survival tool, I just like pulling and pushing people about with grasp

I’m not great at this kind of thing, but I’d call it something like , ‘Shadow Bruiser’ or ‘Spectral Soldier’.

A video would be great! Wish I could record and post some of my specs and pvp bouts.

I’ll keep an eye open for the video if it does get posted!

Making a thread to appeal for 4 util slots. Done.

I like the sound of spectral soldier. I will go with that.

If I do make a video, I want to give you credit. Would posting your full handle name be ok?

Of course man, not sure I deserve credit formit as you were using it anyways but I’m happy either way.

maybe add me in game and we’ll do some tourneys/hot joins on this spec for your video?

While I like the idea of the reduced cooldown on DS for making exiting DS a little less painfull I think you’re better off taking vital persistance.

The build is rather selfish which I try to avoid unless I’m purely doing hotjoins. I really like the fact that you are balancing around soldier amulet by jacking up both crit chance and crit damage giving you stats that the amulet does not apply. This imo is the correct way to make a build rather than going all or nothing with a single stat (full power full condi builds) the necro community needs to learn how to move away from those builds so in that regard I respect this build alot.

I still think retal / deathly shivers is the way to go for builds specializing in life force gain as it is counter pressure and incentive to have enemies back off you in team fights, something which you lose to gain 10% crit chance / damage. Never forget to keep your teammates in mind when building unless its for spvp.
Although I <3 banshees wail

I’ve read a suggestion on another post to increase deathly shivers to 6 every 3 I thought it was to much at first but after thinking about it a little 5 every 3 may be appropriate.

Retal is nice but I think if you are going to be sitting in DS blasting things then reapers might is better. 3 sec of retal every 10 sec or around 10 stacks of might up most of the time? Unless you are flashing ds you wont get the full effect of retal.
Going 20 into death magic is sacrificing a lot of damage that could be spent on spite. Imo its not worth the vuln gain unless you combine it with piercing blast, but thats cutting spectral recharge by a lot.
Imo the build is a great balance between damage and survivability. Surviving isnt being selfish, because the longer you survive (you are a necro you will get focused a lot) the longer they arent attacking your teammates. If you can run zerk amulet and survive purely with control conditions like cripple and weakness then thats when it starts to get fun. Keep in mind I dont do solo q or team q, so I could be totally wrong here. Like you said life force regen is key, and axe+dag+horn with spectrals is a great way to do that.

I would just like to post and say… thank you, this build has totally been what I was looking for in WvW! It gives me some actual game against the Thieves and Mesmers that are everywhere.

I am not sure which build I like more at this point and I will need lots of practice either way, the 0/30/10/0/30 or the 10/20/20/0/20 build.

displacedTitan.6897:

I would just like to post and say… thank you, this build has totally been what I was looking for in WvW! It gives me some actual game against the Thieves and Mesmers that are everywhere.

I am not sure which build I like more at this point and I will need lots of practice either way, the 0/30/10/0/30 or the 10/20/20/0/20 build.

Hey man, just a note to say both of these builds (although both heavily focused on LF generation) play quite differently.

The OP’s build is more of a ‘sit in DS and out last the damage’ playstyle where as my build 0/30/10/0/30 is more of a flashing DS until you really need it, getting your damage from high fury uptime and disrupting your opponents play via lots of CC.

so when trying to decide which build you prefer, make sure you’re playing it to its full potential

I spent a few days playing this spec in WvW (mostly roaming) last week and it was quite fun. The following are my observations. (I only had exotic gear and didn’t use any food, so take this with a grain of salt)

This is a VERY tanky build.
I was running full berserkers and comfortably tanking warriors and thieves as long as I had LF generation up in DS.

This build has difficulty with sustain classes
Despite being (with the possible exception of MM) the closest necros can come to a sustain spec, it cannot regenerate the health you (will slowly) lose. Couple this with the fact that you sacrifice all your (already sub-par) burst to maintain LF through spectral skills and you can feel totally powerless against high-sustain classes like elementalist and guardian.

I still feel like a ping-pong ball
I’m not used to PvP, so this might just be me, but I tried to play a few hotjoin games with this build and just got knocked around when there was more than one person on a point.
Full disclosure: while I think I play necro decidedly above average in WvW, I’m at best average at dodging, which is much more important in PvP than WvW.

#bringbackshade
While it doesn’t feel as strong as the condition, MM and power specs that are currently standard for necromancers, replacing foot in the grave with shade could easily put it in contention for a place as the fourth viable (but still balanced) necromancers spec.

Thanks for a cool build! I feel much less pigeonholed into my condi spec now.

necromenous.5490:

I spent a few days playing this spec in WvW (mostly roaming) last week and it was quite fun. The following are my observations. (I only had exotic gear and didn’t use any food, so take this with a grain of salt)

This is a VERY tanky build.
I was running full berserkers and comfortably tanking warriors and thieves as long as I had LF generation up in DS.

This build has difficulty with sustain classes
Despite being (with the possible exception of MM) the closest necros can come to a sustain spec, it cannot regenerate the health you (will slowly) lose. Couple this with the fact that you sacrifice all your (already sub-par) burst to maintain LF through spectral skills and you can feel totally powerless against high-sustain classes like elementalist and guardian.

I still feel like a ping-pong ball
I’m not used to PvP, so this might just be me, but I tried to play a few hotjoin games with this build and just got knocked around when there was more than one person on a point.
Full disclosure: while I think I play necro decidedly above average in WvW, I’m at best average at dodging, which is much more important in PvP than WvW.

#bringbackshade
While it doesn’t feel as strong as the condition, MM and power specs that are currently standard for necromancers, replacing foot in the grave with shade could easily put it in contention for a place as the fourth viable (but still balanced) necromancers spec.

Thanks for a cool build! I feel much less pigeonholed into my condi spec now.

Yes it definitely does get countered by other sustain builds, playing around your heal cd is absolutely necessary knowing when to back out and how to stall until your next heal is crucial or you wont sustain…. This is one of the reasons I really feel necros should have some type of healing in DS.

I havent used it much in WvW I use axe/focus – staff 30/10/xx/30 focus/ axe traits and chill of death woc wos corrupt boon for team play 15+man groups. If im solo i do 20/20/xx/30 with spectral utilities/cb. I use 10/20/20/0/20 for small man groups in wvw.

Necromancer will always be a pinball even with foot in the grave and sanc runes

^^ this.

if you mess up your timing on leaving DS and have 10’s to stall till your heal is up (when you desperately need it) you are in deep poop.