Guild Wars 2

So I made a mistake and spent all my money converting my gear to Viper just before the recent nerf. I’m fairly casual now-a-days so it seems daunting and wasteful to switch my gear back to Berserker or Valk. What is the best casual PvE build with Viper gear? I would prefer power because I like that weapon set and playstyle but Viper feels pretty weak with GS.

Edit: Forgot to mention I also farmed Runes of Thorns. I am additionally sad about that. lol

My advice- dont switch the gear- make second necro for Power build. There was no balance update in this patch so there is still hope for minions comeback since the change butchered the class and excluded it from raids\fractals. It is still good and easy to Play viper nec in open world, but you might consider changing death magic to spite or blood magic as i did. As for the elite… Im glad i made my viper nec a sylvari

just buy a exotic power set, it’s fairly cheap to do.

Given how Eles had a big nerf one patch, then a big buff the next, I think Necros will get a lot of love next balance. Keep hold of your viper set as it is still the best set a necro can get.

I would go for the exotic gear until you know what is going to happen with the class, because I can’t see it remaining this nerf’d forever. I main a Reaper and wanted to build another Reaper just for Raids so I wouldn’t have to switch back and forth between gear and builds, so I bought a character slot, turned all the assorted ascended armor drops I had lying around into Viper, and I even made Meteorlogicus for my Raid character. Right after I finished Meteorlogicus and was preparing to take my character into raids, they nerfed her. So I totally feel your pain. But I am hopeful that they are going to show her some love soon and make her and her gear relevant again. If not, she is a good condi character for doing triple trouble, but that is an awful lot of investment for triple trouble, and I don’t even enjoy doing that very much.

But according to A-net we’re performing well across the game. I don’t see any buffs in future patches.

Avigrus.2871:

But according to A-net we’re performing well across the game. I don’t see any buffs in future patches.

That was stated before the minions nerf… you cant trust ANYONE these days

But really. I’m on that ship aswell. I’ve built my necro with so much love and gold. Not so good in wvw and pvp so i feared no nerf or anything. Then a lot of statements like “necromancer is in good spot right now”, “necro in fractals is not broken, we are working on changing fractals so other classes will be just as good”, “we hear your concerns and we are willing to make power build at least equal with conditions”…

And then minion nerf. Not a perfectly expected and reasonable epidemic nerf – minion nerf. Nerf that nobody expected (yes, yes, spanish inquisition etc.), nobody asked for and nobody likes.
I just hope it is not thief’s S/D situation all over again where all core advantages of the build were stripped only to be added back later in form of elite spec.

“Hey guys, this is our new SCOURGE elite specialization for necromancer, it will allow your minions to be more active during the fight and instead of dissapearing after 30s they will lose health over time. That way if you play well you can actually heal them and benefit from your party support. ISNT THAT GREAT CHANGE?! (the elite spec with NEW minion mechanics will be released along with expansion only for 50$-100$ depending on whether you want additional mini that look like crap or not)”

The nerf to Jagged Horrors should let Arenanet evaluate the profession’s balance. However, there is the balance team’s track record to consider.

Just get yourself a couple of sets of exotic armor: Berserker’s for PvE and, maybe Soldier’s for WvW

Just craft a second set for power. I am currently in the process of crafting an ascended marauder’s set (you do about 6% less damage than Berserker’s but get more health out of it, plus more precision than Berserker’s)

Methuselah.4376:

Just craft a second set for power. I am currently in the process of crafting an ascended marauder’s set (you do about 6% less damage than Berserker’s but get more health out of it, plus more precision than Berserker’s)

Berserker: 2381 Power, 214% Critical Damage
Marauder: 2173 Power, 192% Critical Damage

That’s not 6% – even if you take the 60% critical hit chance of Marauder into consideration it should be something between 10 and 20% which is absolutely noticeable.

In PvE Marauder on Necro is a waste of potential. In WvW you better run Toughness instead of Vitality (like the Demolisher sPvP Amulet).

KrHome.1920:

Methuselah.4376:

Just craft a second set for power. I am currently in the process of crafting an ascended marauder’s set (you do about 6% less damage than Berserker’s but get more health out of it, plus more precision than Berserker’s)

Berserker: 2381 Power, 214% Critical Damage
Marauder: 2173 Power, 192% Critical Damage

That’s not 6% – even if you take the 60% critical hit chance of Marauder into consideration it should be something between 10 and 20% which is absolutely noticeable.

In PvE Marauder on Necro is a waste of potential. In WvW you better run Toughness instead of Vitality (like the Demolisher sPvP Amulet).

Sorry, got that 6% info from Reddit and they were talking about mixing armor with Berserker’s. According to this https://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/4kittenl/berserker_vs_marauder/ it’s about a 10% reduction. I think the fact that you crit much more often tends to balance out a bit. I plan to go marauder armor but with Berserker + Valkyrie trinkets (except backpack, which is Marauder). I am ok with the minute trade off in damage for extra health, cause it also means extra shroud iirc

Methuselah.4376:

KrHome.1920:

Methuselah.4376:

Just craft a second set for power. I am currently in the process of crafting an ascended marauder’s set (you do about 6% less damage than Berserker’s but get more health out of it, plus more precision than Berserker’s)

Berserker: 2381 Power, 214% Critical Damage
Marauder: 2173 Power, 192% Critical Damage

That’s not 6% – even if you take the 60% critical hit chance of Marauder into consideration it should be something between 10 and 20% which is absolutely noticeable.

In PvE Marauder on Necro is a waste of potential. In WvW you better run Toughness instead of Vitality (like the Demolisher sPvP Amulet).

Sorry, got that 6% info from Reddit and they were talking about mixing armor with Berserker’s. According to this https://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/4kittenl/berserker_vs_marauder/ it’s about a 10% reduction. I think the fact that you crit much more often tends to balance out a bit. I plan to go marauder armor but with Berserker + Valkyrie trinkets (except backpack, which is Marauder). I am ok with the minute trade off in damage for extra health, cause it also means extra shroud iirc

OK, seems legit. But keep in mind, that higher vitality might not give you a higher shroud uptime as shroud degenerates in a fixed percentage (2 or 4%). It doesn’t matter if you have 15k or 25k Lifeforce. You’re done after 50/25 seconds.

Now if you have to tank damage it depends on the form of damage. Against direct Damage Toughness is the way to go. Against Condition Damage Vitality is more helpful as it ignores your armor. Since Necro has a very high base healthpool (plus the shroud!) the class is naturally pretty well prepared against condition damage.

So in most scenarios the direct and not the condi damage is the problem for a Necro.

Example: In WvW a Power Shatter will twoshot you (if you manage to tank the first burst with your shroud – if not it is a oneshot) regardless whether you have 20k or 25k health. But he will have a hard time against you if you spec for some toughness.

KrHome.1920:

Methuselah.4376:

KrHome.1920:

Methuselah.4376:

Just craft a second set for power. I am currently in the process of crafting an ascended marauder’s set (you do about 6% less damage than Berserker’s but get more health out of it, plus more precision than Berserker’s)

Berserker: 2381 Power, 214% Critical Damage
Marauder: 2173 Power, 192% Critical Damage

That’s not 6% – even if you take the 60% critical hit chance of Marauder into consideration it should be something between 10 and 20% which is absolutely noticeable.

In PvE Marauder on Necro is a waste of potential. In WvW you better run Toughness instead of Vitality (like the Demolisher sPvP Amulet).

Sorry, got that 6% info from Reddit and they were talking about mixing armor with Berserker’s. According to this https://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/4kittenl/berserker_vs_marauder/ it’s about a 10% reduction. I think the fact that you crit much more often tends to balance out a bit. I plan to go marauder armor but with Berserker + Valkyrie trinkets (except backpack, which is Marauder). I am ok with the minute trade off in damage for extra health, cause it also means extra shroud iirc

OK, seems legit. But keep in mind, that higher vitality might not give you a higher shroud uptime as shroud degenerates in a fixed percentage (2 or 4%). It doesn’t matter if you have 15k or 25k Lifeforce. You’re done after 50/25 seconds.

Now if you have to tank damage it depends on the form of damage. Against direct Damage Toughness is the way to go. Against Condition Damage Vitality is more helpful as it ignores your armor. Since Necro has a very high base healthpool (plus the shroud!) the class is naturally pretty well prepared against condition damage.

So in most scenarios the direct and not the condi damage is the problem for a Necro.

Example: In WvW a Power Shatter will twoshot you (if you manage to tank the first burst with your shroud – if not it is a oneshot) regardless whether you have 20k or 25k health. But he will have a hard time against you if you spec for some toughness.

I try to dodge first but if I am out of energy I will use shroud as a shield so that’s why I need a bigger LF pool. Regardless, I like the extra survivability. And I don’t really like WvW, will only play it for Gift of Battle reward. I do quite alright in PvP with Marauder’s

This is embarrassing but I haven’t been playing lately. I forgot I already have a second Necro in zerker gear. When you have 14 alts it’s hard to keep track OK!

It’s exotic armor but I have ascended jewelry and strength runes so 25 might + 25 vuln on Veterans produces the Grave Digger crits I was looking for. Woo Hoo for 17K crits!

Dristig.9678:

So I made a mistake and spent all my money converting my gear to Viper just before the recent nerf. I’m fairly casual now-a-days so it seems daunting and wasteful to switch my gear back to Berserker or Valk. What is the best casual PvE build with Viper gear? I would prefer power because I like that weapon set and playstyle but Viper feels pretty weak with GS.

Edit: Forgot to mention I also farmed Runes of Thorns. I am additionally sad about that. lol

1.) Dont run viper and GS. Its viper and scepter/dagger+warhorn on swap, a staff for utility.

2.) Don’t feel bad at all, just make a new necro.

If you are playing viper just because its ‘meta’ then there is the issue. Why not just play power reaper from the start since you like it more?

Dristig.9678:

So I made a mistake and spent all my money converting my gear to Viper just before the recent nerf. I’m fairly casual now-a-days so it seems daunting and wasteful to switch my gear back to Berserker or Valk. What is the best casual PvE build with Viper gear? I would prefer power because I like that weapon set and playstyle but Viper feels pretty weak with GS.

Edit: Forgot to mention I also farmed Runes of Thorns. I am additionally sad about that. lol

Go with a corruption build. Even with the nerf on jagged horrors it’s still really powerful. I use Curses (scepter trait GM, Master of Corruption, and your choice for minor), Death Magic (1/1/1), Blood Magic (that last one is personal taste really, can’t go wrong with any traitline for the third one, just depends on you), With Blood fiend, Poison Cloud, Blood is Power, Epidemic, Lich Form or Flesh Golem (depending on what you need).

I find it’s very survivable, lots of sustain (even without blood magic), and I can dish out a lot of condi which HoT creatures are pretty susceptible to. You should have 3 critters out at all times (BF plus two horrors), so that helps distract mobs too.

Dristig.9678:

This is embarrassing but I haven’t been playing lately. I forgot I already have a second Necro in zerker gear. When you have 14 alts it’s hard to keep track OK!

It’s exotic armor but I have ascended jewelry and strength runes so 25 might + 25 vuln on Veterans produces the Grave Digger crits I was looking for. Woo Hoo for 17K crits!

With viper’s thorns and a casual play style, I would run a condi Minion Master. Let your minions tank and do direct damage while you kite with sceptre.