Guild Wars 2

Hello, I’ve got a similar thread running on the Engineer forum. I’m interested in how they compare in terms of wvw capabilities. I know very little about Necromancer, except I hear a lot of QQ about the class. I take that statement with a grain of salt because I also hear necro can be one of the most powerful classes if played right.

What I don’t know is how they do in terms of damage and survivability in zergs and roaming. Are they best as aoe condi(power?) or are they divided as in 2 weapons sets, 1 aoe 1 single target? What can I expect from Necro on a mostly wvw basis, I run some dungeons and other stuff as well but it’s not my focus.

Without sounding kitteny, I’m a long time gamer and do not have issues with skill caps, so this won’t hold me back from playing the class. However, what makes me cringe is having to spam abilities, especially in AoE siuations. I main a thief and can’t stand my #2 skill because it takes 5 seconds to land on it’s farthest range.

Will I be happier with a necro than Engineer, or other way around? All info is welcomed, if serious:)

Thanks in advance!

Well if you get focussed you’re dead – no escape abilities and DS melts too fast. So roaming is EXTREMELY difficult to do as a necro unless you have a buddy to bail you out. But I think the necro is pretty useful in group fights. Well of corruption to peel off the enemy zerg’s stability followed by a Reaper’s Mark will do a lot to swing a group fight your way!
Well of blood and well of power also offer a lot of sustain to your own group but some commanders don’t like them as they interfere with the water fields that also provide healing.

All you need to know is, Grenth judges everyone in the after life. So that’s enough reason to be a necromancer.

In AOE situations, whether you run conditions or power, if you know what you are doing, you will be able to pull out more damage than a thief.

Having a warhorn off hand, you can activate locust swarm as you run into a crowd, place down the well of suffering on top of them, go into death shroud gaining (retaliation, fury, cast Enfeebling blood), and use skill 4 in DS. With little AOE from allies, they will be hitting the ground fast. After that you can switch to your staff, and if traited, you can cast huge marks damaging, snaring, and bleeding them, or you can keep auto-attacking with your dagger (high damage single target).

Condition builds on the other hand are way easier, select one player with tons of boons, use the utility to turn all their boons into conditions, then use epidemic. Enjoy the show!

Azraeel.1238:

Condition builds on the other hand are way easier, select one player with tons of boons, use the utility to turn all their boons into conditions, then use epidemic. Enjoy the show!

For 3 seconds if do not killed target in 2 sec casting time.

Condition necro the worst class in the game. Very low dps = no loots only grays = no money.

I have only 30silver and I do not chance to get gold because i have low dps.
lvl80, full exoric rabid gear, condition necro.

1/3 of the others’ downed health combined with zero 100% sure bailout invulnerabilities/blinks means if you get ran over by the zerg in fight they get a free rally.

prothorin.5849:

Azraeel.1238:

Condition builds on the other hand are way easier, select one player with tons of boons, use the utility to turn all their boons into conditions, then use epidemic. Enjoy the show!

For 3 seconds if do not killed target in 2 sec casting time.

Condition necro the worst class in the game. Very low dps = no loots only grays = no money.

I have only 30silver and I do not chance to get gold because i have low dps.
lvl80, full exoric rabid gear, condition necro.

Your gimmicking yourself greatly by relying solely on condition damage in the current meta. Any organized zerg/roaming group carries aoe condition cleanse, and the chances of getting a godly epidemic off in that enemy zerg is close to none.

Rabid gear is only used on builds which are crit-proc heavy. Even then, you do not need more than 40% crit chance to proc your sigils. For both zergs and solo roaming, I prefer to run a hybrid full carrion fear build. 26-28k health, 2300-3400 toughness and 2500 power/1990 condi damage. Tagging everyone in the zerg/solo roaming is not an issue.

OreoWolf.9564:

prothorin.5849:

Azraeel.1238:

Condition builds on the other hand are way easier, select one player with tons of boons, use the utility to turn all their boons into conditions, then use epidemic. Enjoy the show!

For 3 seconds if do not killed target in 2 sec casting time.

Condition necro the worst class in the game. Very low dps = no loots only grays = no money.

I have only 30silver and I do not chance to get gold because i have low dps.
lvl80, full exoric rabid gear, condition necro.

Your gimmicking yourself greatly by relying solely on condition damage in the current meta. Any organized zerg/roaming group carries aoe condition cleanse, and the chances of getting a godly epidemic off in that enemy zerg is close to none.

Rabid gear is only used on builds which are crit-proc heavy. Even then, you do not need more than 40% crit chance to proc your sigils. For both zergs and solo roaming, I prefer to run a hybrid full carrion fear build. 26-28k health, 2300-3400 toughness and 2500 power/1990 condi damage. Tagging everyone in the zerg/solo roaming is not an issue.

I just follow the Necromancer www guide. Thats why use rabig gear.

For WvW you’re best with the zerg. Necros are in the top half of desired classes. Mesmer, hammer War/Guard, Ele, then Necro.

PLAGUE FORM is your best skill when in a ZvZ fight. Also make sure you have Chilling Darkness trait.

For utilities, take your choice of Well of Corruption, Well of Darkness, Well of Suffering, Signet of the Locust, Spectral Walk or Spectral Wall. Also have Ground targeted wells traited.

Staff is the best all around weapon, works everywhere in WvW, but the #1 autoattack is painfully slow.

Zerg Necros in WvW collect many loot bags.

Staff works great in PVE as well. It is a really easy way to tag lots of enemies during events and get lots of loot. I use the staff almost exclusively to farm places like Cursed Shore.

Swamurabi.7890:

PLAGUE FORM is your best skill when in a ZvZ fight. Also make sure you have Chilling Darkness trait.

Plague form do very low damage maybe 0.

prothorin.5849:

Swamurabi.7890:

PLAGUE FORM is your best skill when in a ZvZ fight. Also make sure you have Chilling Darkness trait.

Plague form do very low damage maybe 0.

If you’re using Plague for damage, you’re doing it wrong. Plague is to become this nigh unkillable ball of disruption. With Chilling Darkness, you make sure they can’t run, hit, or heal for 20 seconds.

Let me say that again: the point of Plague is to disrupt, not kill. When one side has up to 100 attacks just not hit in a fight, that swings the tide in your favor.

prothorin.5849:

Swamurabi.7890:

PLAGUE FORM is your best skill when in a ZvZ fight. Also make sure you have Chilling Darkness trait.

Plague form do very low damage maybe 0.

hmm, get 5ppl in your aoe, the numbers i see when in it, are between 250 adn 350 per tick per player, and then theres the condition damage. But mostly the massive blind and slow makes up for it, even if it did 0 damage, it will be the way to go.

Swamurabi.7890:

PLAGUE FORM is your best skill when in a ZvZ fight.

My power necro’s Wells of Corruption and Suffering disagree a bit :/

Son, don’t let people make up nonsense to play along. Give it up at this point, the Engineer is definitely in a better shape, but I suggest you wait a week longer. The situation MAY change at that point.

yroeht.5843:

Swamurabi.7890:

PLAGUE FORM is your best skill when in a ZvZ fight.

My power necro’s Wells of Corruption and Suffering disagree a bit :/

My plague form, when preceeded by spectral walk, follows me everywhere the enemy is, Blinds them, Chills them and TAGS them. It also lasts for most if not all of the engagement.

Swamurabi.7890:

yroeht.5843:

Swamurabi.7890:

PLAGUE FORM is your best skill when in a ZvZ fight.

My power necro’s Wells of Corruption and Suffering disagree a bit :/

My plague form, when preceeded by spectral walk, follows me everywhere the enemy is, Blinds them, Chills them and TAGS them. It also lasts for most if not all of the engagement.

Dropping the wells beforehand will remove their retaliation and protection, which will make your friend’s job a lot easier once you do go into Plague.

(Doesn’t the retaliation kill you? Or are you expecting mesmers to deal with that? a full Plague is potentially 20×5×350(?) = 35k damage by retal alone )

yroeht.5843:

Swamurabi.7890:

yroeht.5843:

Swamurabi.7890:

PLAGUE FORM is your best skill when in a ZvZ fight.

My power necro’s Wells of Corruption and Suffering disagree a bit :/

My plague form, when preceeded by spectral walk, follows me everywhere the enemy is, Blinds them, Chills them and TAGS them. It also lasts for most if not all of the engagement.

Dropping the wells beforehand will remove their retaliation and protection, which will make your friend’s job a lot easier once you do go into Plague.

(Doesn’t the retaliation kill you? Or are you expecting mesmers to deal with that? a full Plague is potentially 20×5×350(?) = 35k damage by retal alone )

Mesmer Null Field does a better boon strip, and hits everyone that crosses it for as long as it lasts. Wells only pulse and hit max 5 people per pulse. In one second the whole zerg could be through and past the well. By the time you wait for the enemy zerg to slow down you could be stunned and then downed.

Not everyone has Retaliation and has it for a full 20 seconds. Plus when you enter Plague Form you get a boost to your HP total. Plague Form also gives you stability so you ignore all the CC around you.

When I enter Plague Form I know I’m doing my job by all the “MISS” texts that pops up all over my screen and at the end when I see all the loot bag texts.

Swamurabi.7890:

When I enter Plague Form I know I’m doing my job by all the “MISS” texts that pops up all over my screen and at the end when I see all the loot bag texts.

Exactly. There’s nothing like seeing a ton of MISS popping up as you Plague through a zerg. If you haven’t listened to Ascii’s SOAC interview, I highly suggest you do. He highlights how powerful Plague can be in large group encounters really well.

Thanks for the great amount of info provided guys!
It seems people think necro’s are a little too average. I might make an engi for now, and wait if the next patch fixes anything. I’m not getting my hopes up because I heard what “you might be happy” meant for rangers in the past. Don’t get me wrong, the aoe playstyle looks like a lot of fun to me! I will keep checking up on them.