Guild Wars 2

Alright, so I run a D/D and Staff Necromancer with emphasis on Death Shroud. I’m at work and not home so I can’t check my exact build at this very moment, but I usually have tons of Life Force. I just love switching between DS and going back to regular form in firefights, and I run Spectral Armor, Spectral Walk, and that Signet that gives life force in combat but can be used to raise downed allies.

So in the fun factor department, I found the build and playstyle to be extremely fun and satisfying.

I’ve never given a Condition build a chance, I have no doubts of whether or not it’s effective since from what I’ve read, it’s apparently a very good way to play the Necro. However, I’m just curious about how it is in regards in the fun factor department. Of course I want to be effective, but I also want a similar thrill on par with DS power necros.

So this question pretty much goes out to the Necromancer players that have tried both condition and a death shroud power build.

I personally find swinging the scepter for bleeds very dull and boring and seem to switch off more and die to bad concentration.
When playing dagger/power Im in the fight engaged and know im going to take a load of damage so I mentally prepare for it.

I’ve personally rocked both condition and power necros, and I would say the power necro is much more fun. The reason being so is that when you spec with wells in your utilities, you dish out your damage in the 5 seconds it takes to pulse your wells and hit your finishers. Super quick AoE destruction. Also, power builds gear towards dagger+blah and tend to be fun because it takes less concentration and easy survivability due to the blood traits and siphoning.

Condition builds are exceptional at PvP/WvW and PvE simultaneously, but takes much more concentration to play because the person has to focus on stacking bleeds while moving and mitigating self-conditions. Also, the survivability is much less since its more of a scepter+blah geared build.

I leveled and now play a sceptor/dagger and staff condi build. I love it. PvE is pretty easy, for anything challenging, I’ll use my elite pet to tank for the first portion and then load up my bleeds. Staff utility is awesome, and very usefull.

I just switched to the proper gearing for it with Condi/tough/prec. I mostly do wvwvw and was using some cheap carrion yellows. I really enjoy the utility of epidemic, corrupt boon (lol @ Save Yourself! guardians), and staff marks. I use sceptor in focus fire situations and staffs for ridiculous wall coverage.

Edit: also the 4 ability with the dagger offhand dumps 3 conditions on target on a pretty short cd. Thats superior condition control for small scale combat.

i can’t stand the sound of the sceptre and the whole waving things in the air and bleed your oponent from 900 yards range..it feels stiff and very non dynamic.

i absolutely adore the staf tho that doesnt feel non dynamic at all you have amazing control with the staff

merch.1026:

I personally find swinging the scepter for bleeds very dull and boring and seem to switch off more and die to bad concentration.
When playing dagger/power Im in the fight engaged and know im going to take a load of damage so I mentally prepare for it.

If all you’re doing is swinging your scepter #1 you’re doing it very wrong. I play Scepter/Dagger + Staff and I am constantly swapping my weps, using all of my skills, including my utilities. It’s very engaging imo.