Guild Wars 2

The following is all PVE related. Thank you for your time.

Alright, so I’m up to level 40 and still haven’t completely decided what build I want to go with. Up until this point I’ve been enjoying D/D & A/W for my weapon choices, and going power/precision, planning on traiting to vamp off of crits. But having gotten a D/D Ele to 80 quite a while ago, I remember how punishing Orr is for a squishy melee caster. Therfore, I thought I’d remove the A/W and throw in a staff. But with me focusing on power/precision I feel like the conditions are going to waste since they’re not as potent as they should be. I wouldn’t really mind doing a condition build, but with how conditions work on champions/bosses, I don’t want to be kitten.

Anyway, enough blabbering. Would someone be kind enough to clear the fog in my head and sort of give me a run down of good builds? It would be a great help.

D/D doesnt synergise on necro. The best combo is D/W and D/F or A/F. Vampiric traits are very bad in pve. Wouldnt recommend them.

Vampiric isn’t that great. D/D isn’t that bad, but Dagger offhand is more defensive than offensive. In dungeons, you honestly are trying to roll over things, so i agree with Spoj. go D/F, A/F . Staff is kinda fine as you will be getting might, but honestly if you are using dagger you are just trying to constantly staying in range to DPS while staff is just there for whenever you engage on targets thats really far away.

D/D is fine, although generally in PvE you don’t need the extra defense it gives.

I said it doesnt synergise. I didnt say its not fine. The blind and condi transfer can be good in pvp/wvw. Ones power based, ones condi based therefore they dont synergise.

Orr isn’t anywhere near as difficult for Necros as it is for Eles. As long as you use your Death Shroud to block big hits, you should be fine.

EDIT: Here’s a few builds I posted in response to a similar post a couple of days ago:

In open-world PvE, nothing in the game is easier to run than a Minion Master necro. Here’s a quick example of a build that will steamroll most PvE content. Most of its damage still comes from you, with the minions being used mostly for life siphoning and tanking.

If minions aren’t your thing but you still want to focus on stacking conditions, this build will do it pretty easily. It’s still pretty tanky, deals good damage, and in general should give you an easy time.

If you like the idea of Fearing mobs over and over, here’s a Fearomancer build which I’ve been playing around with recently.

And finally, here’s an easy-to-use direct damage build that focuses on stabbing things in the face with a dagger while your Well of Suffering melts them. This build’s Death Shroud skills will seriously hurt, too. This build is quite a bit squishier than the others and it relies on proper use of your DS for its tanking. But it’s pretty fun to use and the basics aren’t that complicated.

Blaine Tog.8304:

And finally, here’s an easy-to-use direct damage build that focuses on stabbing things in the face with a dagger while your Well of Suffering melts them. This build’s Death Shroud skills will are seriously hurt, too. This build is quite a bit squishier than the others and it relies on proper use of your DS for its tanking. But it’s pretty fun to use and the basics aren’t that complicated.

This last build is pretty much the one I’ve been using so far. Running in, dropping the offhand dagger 5 skill, dropping well of suffering, and then popping into death shroud and using skill 4. The AoE damage pretty much tears through everything around me, and if it doesn’t I can pop out of the shroud and clean everything up with the dagger auto attack. I was even able to solo an event with 10 grawl and a vet ice elemental using that method.

I’m just worried about how it will translate to dungeons since getting into melee range is asking for death.

You can always go with the scepter. It allows you to stay at mid range, while still dealing pretty decent damage. Scepter/Dagger is nice, or Scepter/Warhorn for close combat. The Staff is a perfect back up weapon for PVE to switch to. The fear and conditions are extremely useful against large mobs. And part of PVE is also getting loot from lots of enemies, so you’ll want the aoe spells from the Staff for that.
For bosses, scepter is the better choice. Bosses Like Giganticus Lupicus are much easier when you can keep some moderate distance, so hit him with the scepter and circle strafe him. That actually works for a lot of the bosses in dungeons.

I’ve never been able to make vampiric builds work in PVE. The health that you gain doesn’t make up for the health that you lose by being in close combat. I prefer targeted wells instead, mixed with DS and scepter.

You can still spec towards crits, if it’s DPS you want, or boost your power and toughness for something a bit more durable. I’d also recommend having a look at all the available runes. Because many runes have an unlockable final power when you got the whole set, that can greatly compliment your build.

TylerWolff.7186:

Blaine Tog.8304:

And finally, here’s an easy-to-use direct damage build that focuses on stabbing things in the face with a dagger while your Well of Suffering melts them. This build’s Death Shroud skills will are seriously hurt, too. This build is quite a bit squishier than the others and it relies on proper use of your DS for its tanking. But it’s pretty fun to use and the basics aren’t that complicated.

This last build is pretty much the one I’ve been using so far. Running in, dropping the offhand dagger 5 skill, dropping well of suffering, and then popping into death shroud and using skill 4. The AoE damage pretty much tears through everything around me, and if it doesn’t I can pop out of the shroud and clean everything up with the dagger auto attack. I was even able to solo an event with 10 grawl and a vet ice elemental using that method.

I’m just worried about how it will translate to dungeons since getting into melee range is asking for death.

Should be ok, though you may have to mix things up depending on the fight and your playstyle. DS is really good survivability against trash mobs, especially if you have a Guardian to grant stability or take stability on DS.

I use the same power build in PVE as I do in WvW.

30, 10, 0, 0 , 30.

I use ground targeted wells and use WOS, and WOD frequently.

I use D/F and A/W. This might not have the synergy some players prefer but I like it.

I use D/F and WOS to set up and kill most single mobs very fast.

I start with Reaper’s touch, then Dark pact, followed by WOS to get the target(s) sufficiently weakened.

I then use the daze, locust swarm, and or Unholy feast, before casting DS and buring down anything else as AOE and control.

My DS is used as a one hit which is high damage from the axe trait.

When DS is at 50% I pop out and build up the Life force again with Axe #2, unholy feast is usually off CD and then I can start my D/F cycle again.

The Dagger #1 is great for finishing off close mobs and enemies.

I do have P/V/T armor for the most part and tend to carry Zerker accessories to bring up my crit.

Outside of perhaps doing something really stupid, I can ’t remember the last time I died in Orr.

My game play style is not for everyone and may not be conceptually perfect but I enjoy it and can hold my own quite well.

If you want to stick with main-hand dagger through the middle levels, 10 points in Spite for Spiteful Spirit and 15 points in Curses for Furious Demise and Weakening Shroud work great in PvE. Run around, pull a few enemies, flash in and out of DS, then stab away. Drop a well if you need to: Suffering to kill and Darkness to protect yourself.

The staff is as much a support weapon as it is a condition weapon, and it does have some appeal in power builds.

Mark of Blood gives AoE regen, Chillblains chills and the poison field can cause weakness, Putrid Mark does hit really hard for power build, and reaper’s mark is just a large stun. The main power appeal of the staff comes from necrotic grasp. It is a piercing attack with a decent base power, so against tightly clumped enemies or enemies in a row, the staff outdamages every other weapon for power necros. Though most people will be using unyielding blast, which is more powerful at close range, so because of this many players see the staff as redundant.

Staff also makes (or made) LB a bit stronger.

Vampiric can work if you approach it correctly. You have to have the correct traits, stats, and consumables; that’s a given. In this game, though, that’s not enough; it’s how you play as a vampire that makes or breaks the build.

In GW2, there’s not as many fire-and-forget life stealing options as there were in GW1. If you aren’t hitting, you aren’t siphoning. Here, you have to get aggressive; have to be constantly in melee range slashing away with your dagger to process hits and maintain a constant trickle of life stealing; throwing down wells at your feet while standing toe-to-toe with your opponent; and maintaining pressure the entire time. If you can do this, going vampire can work.

It’s definitely not a relaxing playstyle, though. No sitting in the back line or kiting from the perimeter.

*The above is in reference to a D/W vampire. If you prefer to go Minion Master with Vampiric Master trait, then you can play a more standoff-ish siphoner if you want.

This dev done video covers a lot of basic necro pve builds, it may be worth your time.
http://www.twitch.tv/guildwars2/c/2763537