Current Meta
Hi
I am in no way considered a pro, I just speak from experience since I’ve tried all 3 of the styles you’ve mentioned so take everything I say with a grain of salt
From a dungeon perspective, it is most effective to play a power necro since you’ll be able to help your team kill bosses and clear obstacles the fastest that way. Since almost all bosses can one shot you anyway, a large amount of your survivability comes from dodging and actually eliminating whatever it is that is damaging you, so that is why the power necros shine.
However, which style of necro you play is really up to what you like, and what you’re comfortable with. Personally speaking, I was new to this style of game whilst levelling so I found the “hit and run and watch them die” style of condition necros to be most effective for me. Power necros usually use single target weapons such as dagger and axes, and I found the aoe of scepter 2 and dagger 5 to be a lot more effective in taking out mobs while allowing me to survive, and thus I played conditions. However as I grew more comfortable with the class and staying in melee range, power necros seemed like a better idea since they helped my teams clear mobs faster, and I grew fond of the large numbers the builds are capable of.
So essentially I would say pick the weapon set you like the best and start from there, since what weapons you use dictate which build you’ll follow, and use that as a starting point to finding out what is fun and works for you.
As a side note, you can also play the largely controversial minions master necro, so there is actually more than just 3 ways to play this class :P I play a zerk minions master in dungeons sometimes and you’ll be surprised how effective that actually is. More targets to eat damage coupled with multiple sources of life siphon allow me to do my fair share of dmg while ensuring I never die. I’m usually the last one alive in my team and do enough damage to hold my own.
Hope something in here helps
Hey guys,
so I’ve been trying out a necromancer for a bit and pretty much like him, altho I was wondering what the current meta for this class is.
I’m informed there are basically three ways to play a necro in PvE (Condi, Power or Mixed (Hybrid); yet I’m curious what the most effective of those three builds is IF you intend to play PvE a lot (dungeons; higher fractals)
I’d be happy about every constructive answer! :-)Nefarius
Most effective is Power (Glasscannon). Watch the sticky guide for more information. No Utube guides, they are usually false.
But u can play all three, and u can finish the content. But not as fast, and not as usefull for your party (depends on the group).
BTW. 1shotting bosses are a lie. There is no encounter (except 40+ fractals) who can´t be facetanked without dogding.
(edited by Norjena.5172)
Written guide by spoj:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/necromancer/Guide-DPS-Necro-for-PvE/first
Video guide by Brazil:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgRH-tiRSjU
tl;dr
Play with power build if you want to stick to necromancer.
As mentioned, PvE meta is and looks like power/zerker will be for some time. That doesnt mean the others cant be fun (I play hybrid and enjoy it the best), meta is about effective not neccesarily fun for all. Since ur talking PvE any of the types will work well and being a necro is enuff for some prejudice no matter your build, so find what u like to play and go with that.