Guild Wars 2

I’m enjoying my Necromancer alt (currently level 41) but I’m not sure how to optimize my usage of Death Shroud. What’re the best ways to use the ability, in both PvE and PvP?

1. Is it better to shield yourself from taking any initial bursty/heavy damage with DS or to save DS as a brief “second life” for when you’re about to die?

2. If you’re trying to maximize single-target damage do you wait until you’re at 100% Life Force before entering DS and then spam Life Blast until you hit 0% LF? If not, at what %LF is Life Blast no longer worth using?

3. What’s the best way to handle AoE situations with a Staff as your main weapon? Do you; Spam Marks -> Enter DS -> Life Transfer -> Leave DS -> Spam Marks?

4. Is Life Transfer worth using on a single target or only 2-3 targets?

5. Should you not use Life Transfer on multiple targets when you’re already at 100% LF, as it wastes the LF generated by the spell?

6. Should Dark Path be used for chasing rather than kiting/escaping?

7. What’re the best DS traits?

Thanks in advance. :D

PS: Completely unrelated but why is my Bone Fiend such a high priority target? Mobs will try to attack my Bone Fiend before any other minion or even myself, it’s just kinda odd.

Personally, I like DS for being able to:
1) Absorb that burst dmg coming at me
2) Cast Fear
3) Close the gap between me n my target.
4) waiting for consume conditions to come off CD.

I Spvp alot and those are my reasons. I drop is as often as possible to conserve Life Force. In PvE I’ll use to spam Life Transfer because it’ll also be set to heal during group events.

The Traits I use for it? If its PvE ill use the might buff for the blast and the AoE vulnerability. But thats because I play a power build.

I have fun with Dark Path. Using Spectral walk ill run away getting them to chase me, recall back, spam staff marks on them, than drak path onto them, switch to my dagger/dagger poping the hydromancy effect, while they are frozen, pop corruption well and smash for dmg. Right before they respond heavy, switch weapons, popping Hydromancy again, DS for Fear and spam more marks.

1. I’d recommend using Death Shroud when you need to absorb damage and you have used your long cooldown abilities, like utility abilities and your #4 and #5 spells.

2. Life Blast’s damage is cut in half at about 50% Life Force, as far as I know. I’ve done some testing and the drop in damage seems to occur at 50% Life Force. I’d recommend using Dark Path at 50% and then popping out to regenerate Life Force for more Life Blast spam.

3. Mark of Blood -> Chillblains -> Putrid Mark -> Mark of Blood -> Death Shroud -> Life Transfer -> /dance -> repeat

4. Life Transfer is essentially free damage because it regenerates Life Force instead of spending it like Life Blast. As such, definitely use it on a single target, unless you plan on fighting multiple targets in a bit.

5. On multiple targets, use Life Blast a couple of times before popping Life Transfer, yes.

6. I use Dark Path just before leaving Death Shroud. It applies some bleeds and takes me within melee range so I can drop my Marks and Wells again if need be. If you want to kite something, I’d recommend not using Dark Path and instead just using Chillblains and swapping to your other weapon set for the second slow.

7. If you like Marks and Death Shroud, I’d recommend giving the Marked For Death build a go. To quote the guy who posted the build in the “Post Your Build Thread”:

The way the build works is that obviously you use a staff as your primary attack. Every Mark you put down is very large and every time a monster touches this mark you get 3% lifeforce. It doesnt seem like much but when you have 5 monsters on the mark you get 15% life force PER MARK. In events I’ve actually seen her lifeforce go from zero to full in no time at all.

Mark of Evasion from Blood Magic creates a Mark of Blood whenever you dodge (10 second cooldown). You can dodge in Death Shroud, which enables you to place a Mark of Blood and gain 3% Life Force per monster hit by it, without having to drop out of Death Shroud.

Pretty neat build for those of us who enjoy Marks and “mastering Death Shroud”.

currently playing with a 30/0/10/0/30 power build with the stability trait for DS as well as retal when entering DS in additioin to +15% movement in DS. Basic idea is a stun break that hits back every 10 sec. By and large DS is an “Oh kitten” button that extends your life under duress and also provides a little utility and dmg. So with that…

1. Yes, by and large DS is something that should be saved for more moments of duress. That doesn’t mean it can’t be used for it’s dmg/utility at other times though when you want to apply pressure.

2. LB is a waste of time. Just fires way to slow. below 50% the dmg tales off significantly

3. AoE situations are situational – see what I did there? Honestly though it changes, sometimes in a close range push I’ll drop all my marks at once, drop my wells, and pop DS #4 uber aoe pressure. If I have more range to work with I’ll be more particular about what I drop where and when based on who I’m trying to set up for a kill.

4. Just consider it your means of hitting back while in DS (which you use when under pressure)

5. The loss of LF while using LT is marginal at best.

6. yes, but creative usage of skills in situations is never a bad thing… unless it doesn’t work

7. I’m liking the stability. the retal just makes sense given the designed use of the skill. it really just depends on your build and playstyle.

Mazra.1625:

1. I’d recommend using Death Shroud when you need to absorb damage and you have used your long cooldown abilities, like utility abilities and your #4 and #5 spells.

DS has a 10 sec CD, is instant, keeps all dmg from effecting your HP, and works while CC’d. Far better to hit it first, figure out what you’re dealing with, and then decide on which long CD you want to blow after

that’s just my opinion

Thats a lot to answer, and a lot of it is learned as you play. That said, I’m still finding new ways to use it.

1 – I’m using a power/crit build lately and my DS does quit a bit of damage. I use it till about 50% LF, then exit because damage is weak at that point. I try to always make sure I have enough LF so I can pop in to take a hit or two if I get stunned or something. It’s definitely nice to use if you know a big hit is coming and you cant get out of the way.

2 – Life blast only gets weak at 50% LF I believe. What I usually do now is enter DS, and hit life blast until around 50%. Sometimes I’ll enter and just use life transfer right away because I have stability, and because I get fury when entering DS and its nice to crit for 4.5kish with transfer.
Either way works, but when I try to maximize my damage I do life blast until close to 50%, then life transfer, and usually dark path just because it teleports you even out of DS and its a fairly quick cast.

3 – I’ve been trying a new build suggested by Hufflepuffer.4201 (https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/necromancer/How-to-Hit-Like-a-Truck/first#post664326)

It revolves around using wells for a ton of damage, and keeping the enemy inside them. What I find effective for the staff if you’re going all out damage is to spam 2-4 (always save fear for when you need it) and then immobilize, drop at least well of suffering, pop into DS and use life transfer. If all this hits you can quite easily drop an enemy almost instantly.
It’s not always good to spam staff skills though. Don’t forget that #4 transfers your conditions to the enemy instantly, and #5 is good for making enemies run away when you’re CC’d, or to prevent a stomp or rez.

4 – Life transfer is always worth using, even against one target IMO. It does great damage (around 4k), with stability you are almost guaranteed to pull off the full move. Also traited its a very big heal for allies. If you know your next fight won’t be until another 30 seconds or so, go ahead and use it unless you think there will be or see a few extra enemies headed your way.

5 – I don’t even consider the LF regen on life transfer. Against 3+ enemies I think it pretty much cancels out the passive LF drain over time, but it really doesn’t affect your bar much.

6 – Dark path is on a short cooldown, so use it however you like. Using it for escape is pretty situational – it requires an enemy be in the direction you want to flee. Generally I’ll use it to chase someone, or I’ll just hit it before I exit DS because it’s a quick cast and the chill is always nice.

7 – This is a hard one to answer, and it depends on your play style/build. Generally I’ve found “life blast pierces” to be almost essential – it hits anything in the way if you don’t choose this and often doesn’t hit your target. Also, critting 3-4k to anything in your path is nice too

The build I was using earlier had:

- “Life blast and Plague blast grant might for 15 seconds” This is great, it makes your life blast hit extra hard the more you use it, and you end up with a nice stack of might when you exit. You could just enter DS, fire off two or three shots for a couple crits and come out with almost as much might as you’d have from Blood is Power

- “Gain retaliation for 3 seconds when entering DS”. This is pretty useful if you useDS to absorb damage fairly often, which is what most people do. It’s even useful if you only use DS for damage as well, because enemies often attack someone in DS right away. Instead of it just being a damage buffer, now enemies get hurt for hitting you!

- “Cast enfeebling blood when you enter DS”. Not the best trait, but as a dagger build I’m almost always melee range of my target. A little extra bleed is always nice, and weakness makes your DS hit harder. I mostly grab it because its the best DS trait to get while aiming for the 15 point one to get fury

- “Gain fury for 5 seconds when entering DS”. Very nice if you use DS for damage and not just another health bar. DS seems all about critting and hits for around 4k crit with life blast, and life transfer as well. Having a guaranteed fury when you enter it makes sure you crit often.

- “Gain stability for 3 seconds when entering DS”. Its our only form of stability. I was going for the 50% faster cooldown on DS but getting interrupted while casting life transfer, or knocked down and having your 100% LF bar eaten while you’re down for 5 seconds is very kitten annoying.

There are some others I’d have liked but I didn’t have enough trait points. I LOVE the “life transfer heals allies” as its a huge heal to everyone I believe, not just 5 targets.

For a more defensive build you could take “Lose a condition when entering DS” as we cant see conditions while in it, and conditions deal more damage to our LF bar than straight damaging moves. I sometimes pop into DS when I’m super low health and have conditions on me just so I don’t die.

The trait that causes PBAoE weakness seems veeerry nice, but I don’t have the 20 points to spare for it.

Anyways I hope this helps. DS is pretty simple when you first look at it, but with traits there’s actually a lot it can do and it’s pretty versatile. If you have any more questions ask away! Anyone would be happy to answer

Thanks everyone for all the amazing information! :D

hackks.3687:

Mazra.1625:

1. I’d recommend using Death Shroud when you need to absorb damage and you have used your long cooldown abilities, like utility abilities and your #4 and #5 spells.

DS has a 10 sec CD, is instant, keeps all dmg from effecting your HP, and works while CC’d. Far better to hit it first, figure out what you’re dealing with, and then decide on which long CD you want to blow after

that’s just my opinion

You should know what you’re dealing with before you’re getting hit. The guy is level 41, so I assumed he was asking for help with leveling. Unless you auto-run into a pack of whatever while alt-tabbed out of the game, you should know what you’re dealing with and how to proceed the moment you initiate combat.

The 10-second cooldown is going to seem like a lifetime when you get knocked down and roflstomped by four centaurs or hammer-wielding enemies. Blow your cooldowns, pop Death Shroud and deal damage while you wait for your cooldowns to finish. If you run with Soul Marks and Mark of Evasion, you can prolong Death Shroud’s duration quite a bit by dodging and placing a Mark of Blood every 10 seconds.

Mazra.1625:

hackks.3687:

Mazra.1625:

1. I’d recommend using Death Shroud when you need to absorb damage and you have used your long cooldown abilities, like utility abilities and your #4 and #5 spells.

DS has a 10 sec CD, is instant, keeps all dmg from effecting your HP, and works while CC’d. Far better to hit it first, figure out what you’re dealing with, and then decide on which long CD you want to blow after

that’s just my opinion

You should know what you’re dealing with before you’re getting hit. The guy is level 41, so I assumed he was asking for help with leveling. Unless you auto-run into a pack of whatever while alt-tabbed out of the game, you should know what you’re dealing with and how to proceed the moment you initiate combat.

The 10-second cooldown is going to seem like a lifetime when you get knocked down and roflstomped by four centaurs or hammer-wielding enemies. Blow your cooldowns, pop Death Shroud and deal damage while you wait for your cooldowns to finish. If you run with Soul Marks and Mark of Evasion, you can prolong Death Shroud’s duration quite a bit by dodging and placing a Mark of Blood every 10 seconds.

meh. I was referring to PvP

mainly,i use it to soak up dmg,interrupt,aoe heal and a filler while waiting for my cds like heal or utilities

I use it initially as a burst combo such as going in dropping wells, death shroud for life transfer whilst moving in front of my target to fear them back into wells then chilling at close range and pumping out life blasts down to 50% and then ill flip in and out of DS for the instant fear and soaking up damage.

I never think twice about using it purely as a shield whilst fleeing though, DSHP to 0, then take hits on full life down to about 20% by then ive built back up about 60% DSHP which i use again, then Consume Conditions as i come out.

Dark Path to chase fleeing enemies down, always!

In contrast to the details others have given, how about a couple simple guidelines?

Use it early to soak or deal damage (if specced for it), but drop out of it before 50%. This lets LF you generate during the fight count, but leaves you with a buffer if you need.

4 is good aoe, 3 is a good interrupt, and 2 is a gap closer (for dagger spec). Any of these is worth the 10s cooldown.

If you die while you still have LF left, you havn’t used DS as much as you should.

To be honest most of the time I hit death shroud it’s only for a split second to cast my fear. Interupting my target is always my priority. In PvE it can be used to fill out the seconds before a weapon swap or extra damage. In PvP settings it can be great to absorb a huge amount of damage that you know is coming.

But it’s mostly the fear >.<

The fear is a HUGE life saver. The fact that we can enter DS and cast it while knocked down is amazing. I’ll also often use it against thieves who steal fear from me, when the duration is half over I’ll switch and pop fear and he can’t hit me in that 3 seconds I’m CC’d