How is Necro/Reaper for PVE now?

How is Necro/Reaper for PVE now?

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Posted by: Aldath.1275

Aldath.1275

I’ve been doubtful about this class before, since I don’t really do PVP and I’m really interested in high level PVE content; however people has been saying Necro is a waste of time for PVE and sincerely, when I tried Necro some weeks ago I felt he was very lackluster in terms of damage (I only played it up to level 8 because I got bored…).

I want to retake my Necro, but IDK where or how to begin and if it’s even a good idea to max him for high level PVE, considering I have a Ranger, Reve and Guardian.

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Posted by: Gramp.7482

Gramp.7482

Don’t take necromancer its bad

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Posted by: Aldath.1275

Aldath.1275

Well that was pretty straightforward, not sure if you’re serious…

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Posted by: Bhawb.7408

Bhawb.7408

Not at all an expert in our group PvE, but imo Necromancer is in a decent spot right now because while it doesn’t necessarily offer enough to be taken in optimized groups, it is close enough for pug groups to take one. It also has the huge benefit of being extremely safe, and now with buffed minions you can even make the rest of your group significantly safer.

But of Corpse – Watch us on YouTube
My PvP Minion Build

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Posted by: Fenris Amarok.4052

Fenris Amarok.4052

Reaper is godly. Anyone who tells you otherwise is either trolling or needs to learn to play. I prefer condition damage. For my build, use spite, soul reaping and reaper. Take traits that apply vuln on shroud 1, in an area in shroud, close to death, dhuumfire, August of death and kitten d onslaught. Condition damage armor (I’m getting trailblazer today for condition duration and tankiness), runes of balthazar, sigil of bursting and smoldering. For weapons I use dagger/ warhorn for life force generation and a great sword, use great sword to go into shroud. Use any weapons you want, though.

This build (with carrion and truffle steaks) maintains 5200 burning per tic without any other buffs. Haven’t tried with trailblazer yet, but that should increase the number of burning stacks at any time, so even more damage.

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Posted by: Blaine Tog.8304

Blaine Tog.8304

I find both the Necro and the Reaper to be really effective in PvE. You won’t likely be setting any speddrun records with an all-Necro team, but they’re really good in PUGs if you know what you’re doing. Necros are very self-sufficient, Reapers even moreso.

I main Ele and Necro, though I have an alt of each profession at level 80.
How to Condi Reaper on a budget
Everything I say is only in reference to PvE and WvW.

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Posted by: Aldath.1275

Aldath.1275

Any tips for surviving the first levels? The damage output of the class seems to be low compared to others and I have to take on mobs 1 on 1.

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Posted by: Afya.5842

Afya.5842

Super good self-sustain. Group support is probably still meh but with open world being such a huge part of HoT, I think necro is pretty good. Plus it’s good breaking bar.

i will see how reaper in raid plays out.

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Posted by: Khristophoros.7194

Khristophoros.7194

Any tips for surviving the first levels? The damage output of the class seems to be low compared to others and I have to take on mobs 1 on 1.

dagger does a lot of damage.

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Posted by: Aldath.1275

Aldath.1275

Any tips for surviving the first levels? The damage output of the class seems to be low compared to others and I have to take on mobs 1 on 1.

dagger does a lot of damage.

That’s the weapon I0m using, but the nly skill that seems to do OK damage is the 2, and it has a long cooldown.

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Posted by: Bhawb.7408

Bhawb.7408

Dagger AA is one of the highest DPS skills in the game. Don’t just pay attention to the numbers, but also how long they take.

But of Corpse – Watch us on YouTube
My PvP Minion Build

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Posted by: ianwelsy.8572

ianwelsy.8572

ok so i am new to forums and i really do not like forums because there is somuch crap that players say i hate it because it makes me wonder if i am playingmy class right.
So to the OP man never ever listen to ppl play it yourself and god it is so frecking awesome the dagger dps is WHOA!!!!!!! then u get the Well of Suffering and Signet of Spite and Blood is power man u rock dps is crazy hoenstly keep with it i am now 36 and i love it. I have been told by my guild that a decent geared nerco/reaper is frecking awesome

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Posted by: Setun.4368

Setun.4368

I’ve been doubtful about this class before, since I don’t really do PVP and I’m really interested in high level PVE content; however people has been saying Necro is a waste of time for PVE and sincerely, when I tried Necro some weeks ago I felt he was very lackluster in terms of damage (I only played it up to level 8 because I got bored…).

I want to retake my Necro, but IDK where or how to begin and if it’s even a good idea to max him for high level PVE, considering I have a Ranger, Reve and Guardian.

Necros are so good right now in both PvE and PvP. Either power builds or condi builds the trait lines are amazing for them and once you get the Reaper elite unlocked and going it’s even better. There’s a good amount of build variety you can choose from to play with, the weapons are interesting and blend in with Shroud skills really well if comboed right, and overall the class is just really good. I’m not gonna lie I kittening love Necro shouts more than I do Warrior shouts now.

So in conclusion yes, Necros are good. They’re kitten good.

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Posted by: Blaine Tog.8304

Blaine Tog.8304

Any tips for surviving the first levels? The damage output of the class seems to be low compared to others and I have to take on mobs 1 on 1.

Minions. Use minions. They make leveling up brain-dead easy. Also, don’t use Dagger 2 or 3 unless you need the heal or immobilize, since both are actually DPS losses.

I main Ele and Necro, though I have an alt of each profession at level 80.
How to Condi Reaper on a budget
Everything I say is only in reference to PvE and WvW.

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Posted by: NovaanVerdiano.6174

NovaanVerdiano.6174

Necros aren’t optimal in PvE. However, they are viable and if you’re not going for record runs, your party usually shouldn’t have any issues with you running Nec as long as you know what you’re doing.
D/F and GS would be your preferred weaponsets for maximum damage output along with Spite/Blood Magic/Reaper trait lines.
If you enjoy Necro, go for it.

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Posted by: Lily.1935

Lily.1935

Necromancer provides massive damage for both a physical set as well as condition set. We have one of the best survivability capability in PvE out of all the professions. This means we can stick in combat under high pressure for much longer than most anyone else. Death shroud is some of the strongest ranged DPS and reaper’s shroud is extremely strong melee DPS. Greatsword and Dagger both do high damage in melee and Scepter and dhuumfire provide us with solid condition damage.

Its not all sunshine and roses though. The necromancer has little utility it can provide to the group. Vampiric presence is extremely good and blood magic provides some great group utility on its own. But our vuln stacking and self might becomes superfluous in groups. Our support is also rather underwhelming at times and our defenses are almost entirely reliant on shroud. Our ability to hinder brake bars is decent but not nearly as good as it probably should be.

But even with the negatives, don’t let the nay Sayers get you down, necros are great. Run them, love them and murder face.

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Posted by: Mercurias.1826

Mercurias.1826

Necros are bruiser mages. They have warrior hp, respectable damage, solid condi cleansing, and Shroud mechanics. Sustain comes from blood magic traits and other vampiric skills, as well a good amount of regen.

On the bad side, their high defense and hp is at a loss when it comes to vigor generation. Gotta be sparing with dodges. Necros don’t contribute much in the way of boons and buffs to a party. Necros don’t deal high Power-based DPS at range (condi is pretty good).

When you start leveling, the dagger Mainhand is going to be your friend. It works very well with blood magic for survival, has high damage with the autoattack, and can be traited to give a movement speed boost via blood magic. Running Dagger/Warhorn is pretty common when leveling.

I recommend training blood magic up quickly. As stated earlier, it gives a lot,of your sustain.

If you want to play with minions then invest in Death Magic, which strengthens them and makes you more durable. Minions were recently buffed in PvE as far as survival goes, so it’s worth using them more often. They also work well with blood magic.

If you want raw DPS, going Spite is helpful. It has a good number of traits to help improve your DPS in little ways, but of course the best is Closer to Death, which raises your DPS by 20% when enemies are under half health.

Curses is a good trait line for condition damage, as well as dps in general.

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Posted by: bravehoptoad.5246

bravehoptoad.5246

Any tips for surviving the first levels? The damage output of the class seems to be low compared to others and I have to take on mobs 1 on 1.

I’m also leveling a necro, my first character in GW2.

I’m finding the Blood Magic trait line to be great for solo leveling. The free Mark of Blood on dodge is great for sustain, and so is Protection every time you cast a well. With the Warhorn recharge reduction, you have perma 33% speed increase, and those spare skills that help reviving downed players are fun. It’s fun to save people while cruising through open-world events.

So far it’s proven to be more useful than the extra damage, say, from Spite.

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Posted by: spoj.9672

spoj.9672

Necros are possibly looking to becoming potential meta tanks in raids. And by that i mean full dps tanks.

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Posted by: nearlight.3064

nearlight.3064

Necros are possibly looking to becoming potential meta tanks in raids. And by that i mean full dps tanks.

So would that mean zerker gear with some cavalier trinkets? How much toughness would you probably need for most groups?

Necromancer Main
Taking a break from GW2 to play various
Nintendo games..

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Posted by: TheLastNobody.8319

TheLastNobody.8319

Necros are possibly looking to becoming potential meta tanks in raids. And by that i mean full dps tanks.

I’m guessing because of the fact we can trade precision for vit or toughness thanks to decimate defenses?

A knight in shining armor is a man who never had his metal truly tested.

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Posted by: NovaanVerdiano.6174

NovaanVerdiano.6174

Necros are possibly looking to becoming potential meta tanks in raids. And by that i mean full dps tanks.

So would that mean zerker gear with some cavalier trinkets? How much toughness would you probably need for most groups?

If the rest of your group is full glass, 1-2 cavaliers rings would suffice (since they’re the easiest thing to get)
Alternatively you can give up BM/Spite if really necessary and roll DM for at least 300 additional toughness you shouldn’t have any issues keeping up, though that’s a higher DPS loss especially if you give up Spite for it (which I did and the numbers were still very acceptable, but it could’ve been even higher of course).

//@TheLastNobody: We can do that, yes. We also have “Rise!”, Shroud and other ways to simply laugh at incoming damage.

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Posted by: nearlight.3064

nearlight.3064

Necros are possibly looking to becoming potential meta tanks in raids. And by that i mean full dps tanks.

So would that mean zerker gear with some cavalier trinkets? How much toughness would you probably need for most groups?

If the rest of your group is full glass, 1-2 cavaliers rings would suffice (since they’re the easiest thing to get)
Alternatively you can give up BM/Spite if really necessary and roll DM for at least 300 additional toughness you shouldn’t have any issues keeping up, though that’s a higher DPS loss especially if you give up Spite for it (which I did and the numbers were still very acceptable, but it could’ve been even higher of course).

//@TheLastNobody: We can do that, yes. We also have “Rise!”, Shroud and other ways to simply laugh at incoming damage.

Thankfully I have a full set of cavalier trinkets from my WvW hero days.

It sounds like it could be fun and potentially useful. We had a rabid condi rev tank in the pug group I tried it in, and he seemed fine since we had druid heals, but he wasn’t quite fast enough at leading him around the death triangles, and then we’d miss green circles and then I’d be the only one still alive. But yeah, I feel like this way I’d be a bit more useful to my team than with a standard DPS build.

Necromancer Main
Taking a break from GW2 to play various
Nintendo games..

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Posted by: spoj.9672

spoj.9672

You can just use toughness food. Thats all you need.

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Posted by: NovaanVerdiano.6174

NovaanVerdiano.6174

That’s… a pretty good idea.

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Posted by: Anchoku.8142

Anchoku.8142

Necromancer is good enough for most PvE except it is still sub-optimal for the original dungeons where mobility (skipping), stealth, and boon generation rule.

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Posted by: Aldath.1275

Aldath.1275

So, am I the only one on the whole GW2 population who enjoys NOT to skip stuff on dungeons and fight my way thru? …

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Posted by: TheLastNobody.8319

TheLastNobody.8319

So, am I the only one on the whole GW2 population who enjoys NOT to skip stuff on dungeons and fight my way thru? …

I’m actually with you on this one. While it is easier to skip most mobs I’ve found it equally as fast just to fight through some. One example being the exploders in Arah’s inquest path.

A knight in shining armor is a man who never had his metal truly tested.

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Posted by: Bhawb.7408

Bhawb.7408

I don’t enjoy fighting the mobs because doing so is completely trivial. If the general encounters in this game were more fun I’d be with you, but they aren’t. Something like Dark Souls, however, I often find myself fighting most enemies because the fights are rarely trivial, and there is a feeling of accomplishment of learning a path so perfectly that you can run from bonfire to boss without taking a single hit.

But of Corpse – Watch us on YouTube
My PvP Minion Build

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Posted by: TheLastNobody.8319

TheLastNobody.8319

I don’t enjoy fighting the mobs because doing so is completely trivial. If the general encounters in this game were more fun I’d be with you, but they aren’t. Something like Dark Souls, however, I often find myself fighting most enemies because the fights are rarely trivial, and there is a feeling of accomplishment of learning a path so perfectly that you can run from bonfire to boss without taking a single hit.

Completely unrelated note, but if the fume knight and artorias where just suddenly dropped in this game, what would you imagine the outcome being?

A knight in shining armor is a man who never had his metal truly tested.

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Posted by: Blaine Tog.8304

Blaine Tog.8304

So, am I the only one on the whole GW2 population who enjoys NOT to skip stuff on dungeons and fight my way thru? …

I would prefer to do full clears, except the skip mobs are rarely interesting to fight and they don’t drop very much. If I want to fight random mobs, I can do that by myself in the open world.

I main Ele and Necro, though I have an alt of each profession at level 80.
How to Condi Reaper on a budget
Everything I say is only in reference to PvE and WvW.

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Posted by: Skoigoth.9238

Skoigoth.9238

So, am I the only one on the whole GW2 population who enjoys NOT to skip stuff on dungeons and fight my way thru? …

I’m actually with you on this one. While it is easier to skip most mobs I’ve found it equally as fast just to fight through some. One example being the exploders in Arah’s inquest path.

I enjoy skipping very much, even when I play Necro. It’s OK to have different preferences regarding game-play

On topic, yes, Necro is a lot better in PvE now for sure, mostly thanks to Reaper and the trait rework prior to HoT (new Blood Magic e.g.).
Sadly, I think the core class still has a lot of problems holding us back and I doubt these issues will be addressed anytime soon. But, you never know, maybe Geesus has a surprise in stock for us with the December patch.

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Posted by: Anchoku.8142

Anchoku.8142

Part of the reason the new areas feel more friendly to Necromancer is because the mobs are more active and not so faceroll easy.

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Posted by: Ropechef.6192

Ropechef.6192

You can just use toughness food. Thats all you need.

That’s… a pretty good idea.

o.0

Plate of Spicy Herbed Chicken +100 Toughness
+70 Power

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Posted by: spoj.9672

spoj.9672

No point going for the super expensive one. x)

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Posted by: Zaily.8064

Zaily.8064

I returned to GW2 when HoT came out, started new account with new necro – I did lvl 80 in like 60 hours of playtime (used some experience boosters, but no lvl up tomes etc)

I found the best and fastest way to level up to go with axe+warhorn/Staff (later axe+focus, when i unlocked signet that gives movement speed).. I also use minions – signet + fiend + shade + Flesh golem

Focus on Death and Blood Magic – death for minions, blood magic for life stealing attacks, healing wells when reviving etc..
dagger might give you bit more dmg, but you will not be that safe since you need to fight melee with it. With axe u can kite and your minions will tear down enemy. Once you get Flesh golem Elite, all the PvE content up to lvl 80 will become really easy- I did a lot of ascalon dungeon runs – usually when something went bad, I was the last one alive who then revived the party back to life while having boss on my back.. (sometimes i switched axe for scepter for condi build, saying that, i had gear with high power, precision, sometimes condi dmg, didnt focus too much one one thing, but it was okay for me)

Now Im finishing my reaper, which seems really strong too, finally i feel like i can do some big damage numbers

I love necro (I also love mesmer and I think I might like revenant too, but he is only lvl 21 now

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Posted by: Zoltreez.6435

Zoltreez.6435

Don’t take necromancer its bad

your bad…..

to the OP Reaper is a freaken solo build with HUGE surv and crazy dmg
soloing HoT hero points :P

reaper is my fav atm feels like a ONE MAN ARMY !!!!

-Stellaris
-Total War: Warhammer
-Guild Wars 2

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Posted by: Kain Francois.4328

Kain Francois.4328

Necromancer is in a good spot now. Not top tier, but fairly high.

For solo and small-scale Open World, Necromancers bring a naturally high bulk alongside very large damage. The ability to life steal also further increases your survivability, and makes you very efficient at taking down large groups of foes that would otherwise decimate another class. Minions are also in a good spot now, being able to even the odds with foes greater numbers than you, and tank damage. Early expansion-release, it was not unusual to see a Necromancer soloing Hero Challenges. A Necromancer’s usefulness only increases as they take Reaper, gaining a Reaper Shroud that replenishes itself, ability to spam blind, and the ability to spam Graveiggers that 2KO most enemies in the game.

For large-scale PvE and zerg content like Chak Gerant and Tequatl, Reaper suddenly spikes to top tier. Again, their high bulk is important for these events, but the ability to spam Gravedigger puts Necromancer miles ahead of most classes in the game.

For Dungeons, Reapers can blindspam and deal huge damage on bosses with Gravedigger. Nightfall is great for stacking situations.

For general situations, Blood Magic’s Last Rites and Vampiric Aura is very useful for all content.

For high-level fractals and possibly raids, Epidemic is useful in a condition team, if not the future of the meta.

Overall, Necromancers are finally in a great place right now, and it brings me great joy to say that. It only took 3 kitten years of waiting, but now we have great team support through Blood Magic and projectile blocks like Corrosive Poison Cloud, we are amazing at breaking BreakBars without losing damage, Nightfall is crazy good for trash stacking, minion are finally useful, Epidemic-spam will be useful in the future, and dat Gravedigger spam is sooooo good on boss fights!

We went from the absolute bottom-tier to the high-mid tier. Be proud, Necromancers! \o/

(If you’re curious, now the title of bottom-tier belongs to Rangers.)

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Posted by: Skoigoth.9238

Skoigoth.9238

(If you’re curious, now the title of bottom-tier belongs to Rangers.)

I’m not sure why people keep saying this, but right now Ranger/Druid is better than ever and a very versatile class too.

If anything, Thief is now “bottom-tier”, at least according to all the Thief players complaining (justifiably so, probably) about how nobody wants a Thief/Daredevil in their raiding groups.

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Posted by: Kain Francois.4328

Kain Francois.4328

I’m not sure why people keep saying this

Astral Force nerf. Natural Convergence is bugged in PvE. Staff is trash.

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Posted by: Altoid.9104

Altoid.9104

Druids are a godsend in raids, but whatever makes you feel better.

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Posted by: TheLastNobody.8319

TheLastNobody.8319

(If you’re curious, now the title of bottom-tier belongs to Rangers.)

I’m not sure why people keep saying this, but right now Ranger/Druid is better than ever and a very versatile class too.

If anything, Thief is now “bottom-tier”, at least according to all the Thief players complaining (justifiably so, probably) about how nobody wants a Thief/Daredevil in their raiding groups.

While I will say ranger is more playable than thief at this point right now (thief is way too tied to stealth for its offensive and defensive capabilities even with daredevil). Druids just keep on getting the snot knocked outta them with the nerf hammer. I mean last patch they now can’t gain AF unless their target is already hurt. And they can’t use staff one unless they have a target. I’m not even that aware of the bugs they have.

I mean, imagine if you were a medic in TF2 and suddenly, you can’t build uber unless your target is already hurt. That’s pretty much what ranger and Druid are going through right now.

A knight in shining armor is a man who never had his metal truly tested.

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Posted by: Skoigoth.9238

Skoigoth.9238

@TheLastNobody: I’m not exclusively talking about the healing aspect of Druid (I really dislike how people reduce this spec to “healing only”), but more about the 25% – 35% flat damage boost a Druid brings to his party and this is not even accounting for Spotter or the Burn procs from Sun Spirit.
Druid is a great support class that also brings respectable personal DPS in both power and condi builds, has good utility and it also still is the best-in-slot class for dedicated Healers as far as I’m aware, regardless of nerfs/bugs.

Anyways, we should probably stop this discussion here since we are going massively off-topic X)