Guild Wars 2

Welcome to the necromancer.

To fill you in, a large majority of our (most prized)traits are either cooldown modifiers or % damage modifiers to the tools we are already granted. Because of this, picking “special” traits is not a large problem for many. The bigger problem is… what gear should a necromancer use?

The gear you choose (Armor, Accessories, and Slotted Upgrades) will be the biggest factor of how your Necromancer performs. To compliment this, you’ll see direct relations between the passive attribute bonuses and major/minor traits in any given trait line.

• Example 1: Death magic grants Toughness and Boon duration, which compliments greater marks and staff mastery for defensive aspects of your Staff marks.

• Example 2: Blood magic grants Vitality and Healing power, which compliments Dagger+Staff play from siphoning, well usage, and staff2 regeneration as well as an increase in healing output. Vitality serves as a gain to your HP buffer.

I’ve broken down both power and condition damage into tiers, each tier sacrifices one or more defensive stats that are inherent in popular 3-bonus exotic pieces of armor. Armor bonuses work like this:

Major Bonus / Minor Bonus

or for exotic and some rare pieces:

Major Bonus / Minor Bonus / Minor bonus

Naturally, you find that most offensive gear sets (Berserkers, Soldiers, Valkyrie, Carrion, and Rabid) to have an offensive stat as the major bonus, and one or more defensive stats to be a minor bonus. Sometimes, a second offensive stat is offered as a minor bonus as well. (such as critical damage or precision)

To organize the trade-off between defensive stats and offensive stats, i’ve broken down Power and Condition damage into increasing tiers, and as you invest into a higher tier of either Power or Condition based gear, you will naturally lose out on more defensive stats.

Power Based Gear
=Berserker, Soldier, Valkyrie=

Tier 1: Power
Tier 2: Precision
Tier 3: Critical Damage

If you notice, Berserker gear offers all three tiers of Power-base attributes. You get the Power/Precision/Critical Damage combo (Maj/Min/Min) so you have a high power base with a precision and critical damage bonus, which raises the end of your DPS curve. The trade off is, you get no sources of vitality or toughness. Therefore, at level 80, you will have only 916 Vitality+ Base armor to provide you protection from your foes. (1800 armor) and only 18,000 HP to fight with. If you don’t understand the benefits of Toughness or Vitality to the necromancer class, I recommend you search the terms in the forums.

The next step down in Power based gear is Valkyrie Armor. It offers TWO of the Power-based attributes, and substitutes vitality for precision. You gain a greater HP buffer (more hitpoints) at the trade off of critting less, yet you maintain a high critical damage modifier.

The last step down in power based gear is Soldier’s Armor. It offers Power/Toughness/Vitality and retains only the first tier of the power base aspect. It substitutes toughness and vitality instead of higher crit chance and damage.

Power based gear Dmg<=>Tank scale: Berserker<=>Valkyrie<=>Soldier

Condition Damage Based Gear
=Rabid, Carrion=

condition damage is a much more complicated stat to build from. most of the tiers in condition damage are gained from special rune sets, trait allocation, or mixing two or more offensive condition gear sets with more defensive condition gear sets such as Apothecary, or Shaman’s.

Tier 1: Condition Damage
Tier 2: Condition Duration
Tier 3: Condition Procedure (Proc’d Abilities and Conditions)

As stated in the precursor to listing these tiers, condition damage is a much more complicated combo to work with. Most of the time, gear you choose for a condition based gear setup will be a trade off between Condition Maxing<=> Defense Mechanism

Carrion Gear
Carrion gear offers Condition Damage/Power/Vitality. This is one of the most popular gear sets due to availability and focus on Condition damage, while giving more HP. the power stat as a minor bonus makes it so that when you attack siege or non-mob objects that require you to use power, you don’t do little damage. Vitality only serves as a buffer, though, which can easily be destroyed by incoming conditions and high-power geared foes. Which leads me to explain the more pricy, harder to obtain, and more offensive cousin…..

Rabid Gear
Rabid combo offers Condition Damage/ Precision/ Toughness and provides health density (armor from toughness) high Condition damage base, and preicison to begin focusing on proc’d skills such as bleeding and siphon based healing. Rabid is a more offensive cousin to Carrion, because it gives you more incentive to be closer to your opponent, pushing more conditions and trying to deal more power-based attacks to proc even more bleeding and healing to fill your HP buffer. Using rabid gear as a base, and mixing in defensive or Carrion accessories for the more secondary/defensive stats is a more common way to go from endgame Conditionmancers.

—Secondary Condition Gear sets—

Rampagers
Rampager gear is the wild card in hybrid/condition playstyle, even power based playstyle. it offers a Precision/Power/Condition damage combo, (Precision is the major bonus) which means your necro will benefit much more from using critical hits to proc healing and bleeding. Some total setups include:

• Rabid Armor, Rampager Accessories, Carrion Jewels slotted (Precision>Toughness>Vitality)
• Carrion Armor, Rampager Accessories (Condition Damage>Precision>Vitality)
• Rampager Armor, Carrion Accessories, Crests of the Rabid slotted (Precision>Condition Damage>Toughness)

Apothecary
Apothecary gear is the newest addition to GW2 as of the Nov15th update. It offers two defensive stats and one offensive minor bonus. Healing Power/ Toughness / Condition damage.
This combo suggests an improvement in selection for healing/tanking condition players, who may want to use minions for cover while using healing power to heal and regenerate those around them. Apothecary is a good way to make a more generalist/support conditionmancer, and can be mixed with Rabid or Carrion gear effectively.

Shaman Upgrades
Shaman gear is only obtainable in Caudecus Manor, and provides Vitality/Condition Damage/ Healing Power bonuses to make a good filler for Vitality and Healing holes with gear such as Rampagers. to balance other gear with Shaman, here are some set ups available:

• Shaman Armor, Rampager accessories, Rabid Crests slotted (Balanced Vitality/Toughness > Balanced Condition/Healing power > Precision/Power balanced)
• Carrion Armor, Rampager Accessories, Crests of Shaman slotted (Condition Damage>Vitality> Precision/Healing power/Power balanced)
• Rabid Armor, Carrion Accessories, Shaman Crests slotted (Condition>Vitality>Tough/Healing power Balanced)

=Different Gear and their similar build counterpart examples=

Powermancers
Soldier(P/T/V gear) “Juggermancer” by Sheobix
Berserker(P/Pr/Cr gear)“How to Hit like a truck” by Hufflepuffer
Berserker(P/Pr/Cr gear) Shroudstomp by Oozo (link to build)

Hybrids
PvP – Knight’s(V/P/Pr gear) “Mr.Freeze” by Ascii
Berserker+Rabid+Soldier(P/Pr/Cr+C/T/Pr+P/T/V gear) Critmancer by Zintair (link to gear setup)
PvP – Carrion+Shaman(C/P/V+T/C/H Amulet+Jewel) Powerr’s Build

If you know of any other effective builds listed in the forums, please reply so it can be added under “Different Gear and…” section. This helps players who are confused with what gear to choose.

Can I ask a question? You opinion on an hybrid set i’m going for. I’m a staff/DS build. My primary stat are power/defensive stat (a balanca between toughness and vitality)/precision for having a decent ammount of crit%.

So I was going for a build 20/20/0/0/30 just for take some traits, than using equipment for balancing the stat. This way:

-Orr set (Power/Thoughness/Precision)
-jewel =>Knight set (but meaby using item like Karka shell or triforge amulet)

My problem is that I don’t know which rune use.

using 30 points in Soul reaping is good for you, if you use Knight’s full gear with berserker jems slotted in the accessories, your SR 30% mod from the trait line will compensate for your lack of Vitality for scaling death shroud.

You could use runes, but i recommend soldier crests, or using 2 runes of krait, mad king, and afflicted if you really want the condition duration.

the main problem with your gearing/building mindset is that you have split goals. You’re trying to make a staff/DS build and Toughness+Vitality makes Death shroud better. yet you’re trying to run a hybrid build, which won’t benefit without the precision and condition damage.

why not go 10/30/0/0/30 with d/d + staff and full knight armor, rampager accessories, and berserker jems slotted in the trinks? you’ll max crit damage, stack precision, have runes of rage(2) and runes of citadel(2) to make furious demise trait Fury last 6s… if you’re really set on DS/staff then you could just do that build and spam ds4 all day. trait for DS cooldowns, efficiency, and stability, and in curses grab furious demise, hemophilia, and withering precision. you could have almost 100% uptime on fury and DS as long as you can generate the LF. But beware, that kind of build is a total gimmick build. i wouldn’t recommend it.

the trick to hybrid builds is bridging the gap between using power and condition damage. and the way our traits and mechanics are set up, rampager+ d/d or s/d or s/w with max curses, dribble in spite, and condition runes with toughness sources will get you a long way. proc’ing bleeds/healing is the way to stay up

My thoughts about making a Staff/DS build are that with Staff Mastery and Soul Marks, you can build life force fast enough that a solid amount of your time will be spent in DS, thereby mitigating the need for Toughness and Vitality a bit. So, with a build that focuses on DS, should we be concentrating on maximizing our damage while in DS with Berserker gear, or go for the greater overall survivability?

Thoughts?

Sheobix.8796:

using 30 points in Soul reaping is good for you, if you use Knight’s full gear with berserker jems slotted in the accessories, your SR 30% mod from the trait line will compensate for your lack of Vitality for scaling death shroud.

You could use runes, but i recommend soldier crests, or using 2 runes of krait, mad king, and afflicted if you really want the condition duration.

the main problem with your gearing/building mindset is that you have split goals. You’re trying to make a staff/DS build and Toughness+Vitality makes Death shroud better. yet you’re trying to run a hybrid build, which won’t benefit without the precision and condition damage.

why not go 10/30/0/0/30 with d/d + staff and full knight armor, rampager accessories, and berserker jems slotted in the trinks? you’ll max crit damage, stack precision, have runes of rage(2) and runes of citadel(2) to make furious demise trait Fury last 6s… if you’re really set on DS/staff then you could just do that build and spam ds4 all day. trait for DS cooldowns, efficiency, and stability, and in curses grab furious demise, hemophilia, and withering precision. you could have almost 100% uptime on fury and DS as long as you can generate the LF. But beware, that kind of build is a total gimmick build. i wouldn’t recommend it.

the trick to hybrid builds is bridging the gap between using power and condition damage. and the way our traits and mechanics are set up, rampager+ d/d or s/d or s/w with max curses, dribble in spite, and condition runes with toughness sources will get you a long way. proc’ing bleeds/healing is the way to stay up

100 precision via Curses is not even 5% chance (need 105 for that), IMO is quite negligible in the way of getting another trait that suits you better. Personally I go 0/20/0/20/30 myself. Target the Weak does look very promising but I’ve always felt I needed 20 on blood for well recharge.

Hmm now that said, he probably wants 20 points in spite for the +10% mark damage, at which point it feels strange he missed the death magic tree completely for staff related enhancements, primarily staff mastery and greater marks.

I’d definitely add Knight’s gear to the power setup. It gives everything a power necro can wish for: Power (as a Minor though), Precision and loads of thoughness.
Toughness and Vitality are both necessary Stats for survivability but as the necro has the highest Base hp Toughness outshines the effect of Vitality. Plus you can Build a tanky Powermancer by going all Knight’s but an all out Valkyrie would just suck (why would i want crit dmg if i won’t crit?). Valkyrie is Great as an Addition to Power builds though.

With a 20/30/20/0/0 build running scepter/dagger/staff I was thinking of doing something like:

Rampager armour with 6x undead runes
Carrion weapons with “on crit” sigils
Rabid jewellery with Chrysocola (carrion) jewels

The idea is that this gives me a balance of power/precision/vitality with lots of condition damage and toughness which I think should be my primary stats. Am I mental and barking up the wrong tree?

With the comparably low toughness your sporting on trinkets I would be hessitant about using 6xundead.

Better to replace carrion weapons with rabid and or some of the armour

Carrion gear is rather redundant given the other gear choices that are on offer

I desperately need some advice you guys.

I just hit level 80 and I hit up the BLTC to look for some inexpensive exotic gear. I have 3 pieces of Ogden’s set, which has a lot of power and power bonuses.

I am a full minion master, and I have 30 / 10 / 30 / 0 / 0 as my trait line. I am doing pretty well handling mobs in Orr; I can easily handle 3 or 4 at a time.

My question is, what sort of gear should I be looking for? Is the gear mentioned above obtainable through dungeons? Is it better gear than Ogden’s? I want to use power as my main state, but is that pointless for a MM? I truly am a new and could use a kind soul to give me some guidance. Oh, I use staff and scepter / dagger.

Thanks!

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Item_nomenclature

this page will tell you where to get anything and everything

Palmski.6419:

With a 20/30/20/0/0 build running scepter/dagger/staff I was thinking of doing something like:

Rampager armour with 6x undead runes
Carrion weapons with “on crit” sigils
Rabid jewellery with Chrysocola (carrion) jewels

The idea is that this gives me a balance of power/precision/vitality with lots of condition damage and toughness which I think should be my primary stats. Am I mental and barking up the wrong tree?

if you’re trying to pump condition and toughness, grab rabid gear and use rampager trinks with carrion jems slotted.

Du Bist Schuld.8097:

I’d definitely add Knight’s gear to the power setup. It gives everything a power necro can wish for: Power (as a Minor though), Precision and loads of thoughness.
Toughness and Vitality are both necessary Stats for survivability but as the necro has the highest Base hp Toughness outshines the effect of Vitality. Plus you can Build a tanky Powermancer by going all Knight’s but an all out Valkyrie would just suck (why would i want crit dmg if i won’t crit?). Valkyrie is Great as an Addition to Power builds though.

using a mix of valk and knights is a good way to bridge the gap between vit and tough and still balance precision and crit damage. think of a permutated soldier bonus mashed together with berserker gear

kKagari.6804:

Sheobix.8796:

using 30 points in Soul reaping is good for you, if you use Knight’s full gear with berserker jems slotted in the accessories, your SR 30% mod from the trait line will compensate for your lack of Vitality for scaling death shroud.

You could use runes, but i recommend soldier crests, or using 2 runes of krait, mad king, and afflicted if you really want the condition duration.

the main problem with your gearing/building mindset is that you have split goals. You’re trying to make a staff/DS build and Toughness+Vitality makes Death shroud better. yet you’re trying to run a hybrid build, which won’t benefit without the precision and condition damage.

why not go 10/30/0/0/30 with d/d + staff and full knight armor, rampager accessories, and berserker jems slotted in the trinks? you’ll max crit damage, stack precision, have runes of rage(2) and runes of citadel(2) to make furious demise trait Fury last 6s… if you’re really set on DS/staff then you could just do that build and spam ds4 all day. trait for DS cooldowns, efficiency, and stability, and in curses grab furious demise, hemophilia, and withering precision. you could have almost 100% uptime on fury and DS as long as you can generate the LF. But beware, that kind of build is a total gimmick build. i wouldn’t recommend it.

the trick to hybrid builds is bridging the gap between using power and condition damage. and the way our traits and mechanics are set up, rampager+ d/d or s/d or s/w with max curses, dribble in spite, and condition runes with toughness sources will get you a long way. proc’ing bleeds/healing is the way to stay up

100 precision via Curses is not even 5% chance (need 105 for that), IMO is quite negligible in the way of getting another trait that suits you better. Personally I go 0/20/0/20/30 myself. Target the Weak does look very promising but I’ve always felt I needed 20 on blood for well recharge.

Hmm now that said, he probably wants 20 points in spite for the +10% mark damage, at which point it feels strange he missed the death magic tree completely for staff related enhancements, primarily staff mastery and greater marks.

i never said to put only 10 points in curses dude.. it shows 30 points.

Here’s my tanky support build for dungeons and WvW:
0/10/30/30/0
Curses: III or IV (situational)
Death Magic: II, IV, V
Blood Magic: VI, VII, IX
I usually run around with Well of Blood, Well of Power, SW, and Epidemic. Elite skill varies on what I’m doing. I use a staff for the perma-regen, long range, and overall decency of the skills.

Gear: Full Shaman’s
CM dungeon armor, Shaman amulet, Shaman rings, Ashes of the Effigy, and Wraithlord Chains. All the accessories have Crests of the Shaman in them and the armor has Vit based runes.

Total base stats are roughly:
33k base health
2.1k armor
2.2k attack
700 condition damage
1k healing power

From my experience in WvW and in dungeons, I find it more useful to regenerate health though healing and life force gain than to mitigate the damage a little more with higher armor. So although the armor value is rather low, I can gain that health/life force back easier than some other builds.

I like the Shaman’s stat setup particularly for my Necro because all three of the stats contribute well to my build.
The Vit as main skyrockets my health and also boosts the size of my life force pool. With Staff1 and SW, I can fairly easily gain back life force. A large health pool also helps to deal with conditions.
Condition Damage I personally find more useful than power. With epidemic, I can spread my allies’ DoT’s to enemies based on my own cond dmg.
The Healing helps to keep my normal health up (obviously). Well of Blood heals for about 11k for the full duration. With Staff2, I can have perma regen provided there is an enemy near me.

This build does not do that much damage, but you will usually outlast your opponents because of the health and life force regeneration.

Sheobix.8796:

kKagari.6804:

Sheobix.8796:

using 30 points in Soul reaping is good for you, if you use Knight’s full gear with berserker jems slotted in the accessories, your SR 30% mod from the trait line will compensate for your lack of Vitality for scaling death shroud.

You could use runes, but i recommend soldier crests, or using 2 runes of krait, mad king, and afflicted if you really want the condition duration.

the main problem with your gearing/building mindset is that you have split goals. You’re trying to make a staff/DS build and Toughness+Vitality makes Death shroud better. yet you’re trying to run a hybrid build, which won’t benefit without the precision and condition damage.

why not go 10/30/0/0/30 with d/d + staff and full knight armor, rampager accessories, and berserker jems slotted in the trinks? you’ll max crit damage, stack precision, have runes of rage(2) and runes of citadel(2) to make furious demise trait Fury last 6s… if you’re really set on DS/staff then you could just do that build and spam ds4 all day. trait for DS cooldowns, efficiency, and stability, and in curses grab furious demise, hemophilia, and withering precision. you could have almost 100% uptime on fury and DS as long as you can generate the LF. But beware, that kind of build is a total gimmick build. i wouldn’t recommend it.

the trick to hybrid builds is bridging the gap between using power and condition damage. and the way our traits and mechanics are set up, rampager+ d/d or s/d or s/w with max curses, dribble in spite, and condition runes with toughness sources will get you a long way. proc’ing bleeds/healing is the way to stay up

100 precision via Curses is not even 5% chance (need 105 for that), IMO is quite negligible in the way of getting another trait that suits you better. Personally I go 0/20/0/20/30 myself. Target the Weak does look very promising but I’ve always felt I needed 20 on blood for well recharge.

Hmm now that said, he probably wants 20 points in spite for the +10% mark damage, at which point it feels strange he missed the death magic tree completely for staff related enhancements, primarily staff mastery and greater marks.

i never said to put only 10 points in curses dude.. it shows 30 points.

You’ve misinterpreted what I said. He is going 20/20/ and you asked why not go 10/30 to stack precision. I’m saying that 100 extra precision won’t matter much if you don’t get a trait suitable for you.