Hello, all. Last night I took my Necro into WvW to roam around a bit. I run a S/D + Staff build (0/30/20/20/0) and usually it works pretty well in sustained battles but then I ran into this one D/D ele who just wrecked me repeatedly. I was landing most of my spells and got a good Corrupt Boon off but she just immediately cleansed and re-applied her boons. I have a level 80 Ele as well so I know what Eles are capable of but for some reason I just couldn’t figure out how to fight this one. Does anyone have any tips?
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.
Timing is key. Once you land a decent corrupt boon (with some extra bleed stacks on top of that) you should have doom and reapers mark ready to chain fear him, maybe even golem charge on top of that to knock him down. Just as many interrupts as possible so he doesn’t get a chance to regenerate.
I’m not an expert in WvW, but in tPvP good D/D Elementalists are virtually unbeatable in 1v1. Fearmancers, and Blindmancers are the only builds I know of that dominate Elementalists.
Fearmancers can corrupt boons and keep their opponents chained in highly-damaging fears for a huge condition-burst. Where as Blindmancers turn their opponents into useless mounds of flesh and act as true attrition players, allows the blindmancer to stack constant conditions while the opponent cannot attack back and is essentially permablinded/chilled.
However, depending on your traits, you may have a chance by using constant interrupts, use Warhorn, use Doom, use Spectral Grasp, etc. but you would still have to have a very strong condition burst on him in order to do so. I’m not entirely positive why you’re using a dagger with those trait points, but it won’t help you much in this fight.
Contact me ingame for Necro, Ranger, Mesmer, and Thief advice.
Well if your build isnt meant for 1v1 then you wont kill many people in WvW cause theres load of people that run 1v1 builds there.
But to kill DD ele you need direct damage or at least hybrid spec and then you can kill him if he wants to kill you really bad, otherwise once he feels under pressure he will just turn around and ride the lightning away from you.
Artistic Way: Get naked, start dancing imitating the rite of coupling of the pink flamingo… better dying in an artistic way than get wasted for nothing..
Rational Way: Make him waste his time, fight for your life (just your, he doesnt risk anything), maybe a teammate gonna pass by and make your last effort useful..
Longest Way: Buy time, hoping for ANET to notice Necromancer needs some basic design, maybe to make it slightly competitive.
My Way: Wait for GW2 to get released for us Necromancers and laugh at those nerds who are actually wasting time on it
Good Luck
ALPHA, BETA, several months, … 1 Year later…“When it’s ready”[cit.]
D/D else are tough to play against, especially if they just try to wear you down by running away and coming back into the fight, which they can do as often as RTL is up. But they are beatable if played right. I like to start with staff out, dodge RTL (and updraft because it is almost always cast immediately after) and spam some marks. They are almost always in melee range, so marks are usually easy to land if you cast on yourself. Spamming bleeds may seem futile but they are either blowing cantrip cool downs or switching to water to cleanse, so keep putting them on because the more they cleanse, the less damage they do (because water is low damage). Save corrupt boon for armor of earth which gives them stability. Transfer any burning to them ASAP to reduce the effectiveness of their dagger 5 attack. Transfer their big earth 5 attack back to them too if they are dumb enough to use it on a condi necro. And lastly remember to kite. They are still melee despite being eles.
They need to be handled aggressively IMO, but it works.
As deathhammer build, I have absolutely no problem sticking to and violating a DD elementalist. They either run, or die. Retal, kittenloads of power/tough/vit and boon corruption.
I don’t play any sPvP, but I’d imagine it’d work reasonably well there. I can solo elementalists all day…
Well if your build isnt meant for 1v1 then you wont kill many people in WvW cause theres load of people that run 1v1 builds there.
But to kill DD ele you need direct damage or at least hybrid spec and then you can kill him if he wants to kill you really bad, otherwise once he feels under pressure he will just turn around and ride the lightning away from you.
I wonder if “Bait Tanking” would work in this kind of situation, where you let your health remain somewhat low so the enemy thinks he’s winning and doesn’t run away. Necro seems like the only class that could pull that off, but damage happens so fast that it’d be very difficult.
Well if your build isnt meant for 1v1 then you wont kill many people in WvW cause theres load of people that run 1v1 builds there.
But to kill DD ele you need direct damage or at least hybrid spec and then you can kill him if he wants to kill you really bad, otherwise once he feels under pressure he will just turn around and ride the lightning away from you.
I wonder if “Bait Tanking” would work in this kind of situation, where you let your health remain somewhat low so the enemy thinks he’s winning and doesn’t run away. Necro seems like the only class that could pull that off, but damage happens so fast that it’d be very difficult.
Our crap mobility, not many heals, and no immunities/blocks already work somewhat like that
Timing is key. Once you land a decent corrupt boon (with some extra bleed stacks on top of that) you should have doom and reapers mark ready to chain fear him, maybe even golem charge on top of that to knock him down. Just as many interrupts as possible so he doesn’t get a chance to regenerate.
Save corrupt boon for armor of earth which gives them stability. Transfer any burning to them ASAP to reduce the effectiveness of their dagger 5 attack. Transfer their big earth 5 attack back to them too if they are dumb enough to use it on a condi necro.
All good advice, but this is especially helpful. I’ll keep an eye out for stability, thanks!
I wonder if “Bait Tanking” would work in this kind of situation, where you let your health remain somewhat low so the enemy thinks he’s winning and doesn’t run away. Necro seems like the only class that could pull that off, but damage happens so fast that it’d be very difficult.
The one time I managed to kill the ele, it happened because I stalled just long enough for a roaming group to show up. We chased that ele halfway across the map but killed her when she was dumb enough to turn and try to 1v1 the closest chaser.
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.
Timing is key. Once you land a decent corrupt boon (with some extra bleed stacks on top of that) you should have doom and reapers mark ready to chain fear him, maybe even golem charge on top of that to knock him down. Just as many interrupts as possible so he doesn’t get a chance to regenerate.
Save corrupt boon for armor of earth which gives them stability. Transfer any burning to them ASAP to reduce the effectiveness of their dagger 5 attack. Transfer their big earth 5 attack back to them too if they are dumb enough to use it on a condi necro.
All good advice, but this is especially helpful. I’ll keep an eye out for stability, thanks!
I wonder if “Bait Tanking” would work in this kind of situation, where you let your health remain somewhat low so the enemy thinks he’s winning and doesn’t run away. Necro seems like the only class that could pull that off, but damage happens so fast that it’d be very difficult.
The one time I managed to kill the ele, it happened because I stalled just long enough for a roaming group to show up. We chased that ele halfway across the map but killed her when she was dumb enough to turn and try to 1v1 the closest chaser.
Have you read up on the typical D/D Elementalist build? I highly recommend it. It’s designed to deliver a lot of mediocre AoE damage, heal itself, zip around all over the place, and CLEANSE CONDITIONS! Half of the build is there to do nothing but cleanse conditions and heal. Cleanse/Heal on Dodge (in Water attunement). Cleanse/Heal on Water Attunement. Cleanse on Stun-Breaker Use (one of which cleanses). Cleanse when you get Regeneration. It’s an absolute nightmare to fight them with a Condi build.
2 of them together is even worse because they cleanse each other every time they swap to Water attunement as well.
I roam quite a bit in WvWvW. My build is extremely aggressive and I have no problem with them, though some mesmers do give me problems. I run 30/25/0/0/15 my main weapons are Staff and Axe/Focus.
My utilites are Spectral Grasp, Spectral Wall, Spectral Armor. My elite is Lich Form. 30pts in spite I use 50% more damage in downmode, Cast spinal shivers on a target with 25% health, and 50% more dmg with a target under 50%
In curses I use Cast enfeebling blood when entering deathshroud, and Increase spectral duration.
In Soul Reaping I use 20% faster cd on Spectral skills.
Weapons and armor is berserk, with Scholar Runes. Accessores are all Ascended multi stats(the ones with everything.)
Alone im at 3400 attk power, 56% crit rate (76% w/passive), 20400hp, 2080 Armor, and 96% Crit dmg. ( Food I use is 100 prec, +10% crit dmg and sharpening stones)
The best way to drop a D/D ele is to burst them down and keep the annoying conditions up as much as u can. Once I wittle them down with marks ill switch to axe/focus, aoe root, chill, then ill drop spectral wall and jump into lich form and run thru it gaining protection as I hit for insane amounts with auto attack lich. Plus Dodging at the right times is also helpful since a lot of their skills seem to cause a blowback. And remember, stay in death shroud as long as possible even if u don’t have much life force since it can absorb an unlimited amount of single point damage before breaking. (just like jumping off the highest cliff in the game, as long as u have 5% life force and jump into shroud right before u land, all that instant damage is absorbed.
Have you read up on the typical D/D Elementalist build?
I’ve played the typical D/D Ele build. Day 1 of the game, I started out as an Ele because I wanted to pew pew burst things like in GW1. I mostly run my Ele kitten D or staff out of sheer dedication but I’ve run D/D just to see what all the hubub was about. I’m well aware of their condition cleansing capability but wasn’t able to translate that knowledge into a favorable fight.
just like jumping off the highest cliff in the game, as long as u have 5% life force and jump into shroud right before u land, all that instant damage is absorbed.
That is fascinating, I did not know that. Now I want to go jump off cliffs in the borderlands.
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.
As deathhammer build, I have absolutely no problem sticking to and violating a DD elementalist. They either run, or die. Retal, kittenloads of power/tough/vit and boon corruption.
I don’t play any sPvP, but I’d imagine it’d work reasonably well there. I can solo elementalists all day…
Your build is completely unviable in tPvP and would be dominated by basic D/D Elementalists, so no. No offense.
Contact me ingame for Necro, Ranger, Mesmer, and Thief advice.
I’m not entirely positive why you’re using a dagger with those trait points, but it won’t help you much in this fight.
Basically, for a nice 5+2 combo to stack up bleeds quickly and 4 for extra condition removal
Use Axe/Dagger, it’s better for bleed stacking, you also get retaliation (Decent AoE Damage, AoE Cripple, and AoE bleeds when specced for it) and vulnerability from it as well. You also get solid DPS from Axe 2 even from a condition build, which is necessary to beat Elementalists as you cannot win with conditions alone unless you fear trap them to death.
Contact me ingame for Necro, Ranger, Mesmer, and Thief advice.
I generally run the same build as you do. I have fought a few d/d ele’s and roam myself quite abit and from personal experience it all boils down to how well you can time your corrupt boon. I also generally run well of corruption if I know I’m going to be fighting up against a d/d ele just to make sure to keep as many boons off as possible. I’d also use spectral grasp to close some distance and spectral armor just to have abit more survability and that extra lifeforce. I’d also try just using fear effectively as well as people have stated here. I guess you can try going 0/30/20/0/20 for longer fear duration? might also help more and pick up repears protection to have more fears at your disposal.
Well, whatever works. I have beaten some d/d without being a fearmancer so it’s not necessary but also comes down to how skilled the d/d ele in the end. I just had to point a different alternative to his build as I’ve been running the same build as him for a long time now.
Use Axe/Dagger, it’s better for bleed stacking, you also get retaliation (Decent AoE Damage, AoE Cripple, and AoE bleeds when specced for it) and vulnerability from it as well. You also get solid DPS from Axe 2 even from a condition build, which is necessary to beat Elementalists as you cannot win with conditions alone unless you fear trap them to death.
What would the build for that look like? I can’t seem to figure out a trait distribution for that that wouldn’t leave me fully glass. I tried out a 0/30/20/0/20 Terrormancer build that was fun but left me much easier to take down, and I still had a bunch of Toughness from Death.
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.
I’ve 1v1 D/D eles and won plenty of times. Fights will also take 5-10 minutes, so more likely than not the elementalist hits minute 3-4 and just leaves, and frankly I think we’re both happy with that because the fights get exceptionally boring after the first few rotations.
Beating them depends on your build, but you can try killing their boons, timing your conditions to right after they use their water attunement cleansing, interrupting their rotation (eles are hugely dependent on rotations). It just depends, but generally speaking if you keep them on the defensive they just don’t have the time to sit in fire attunement hitting you like a wet noodle long enough to kill you, and instead hit you like a wet paper noodle because they spend most of their time in water attunement and earth playing defensive.
But really, 1v1ing D/D eles is just flat out annoying, not because of difficulty but because you are both going to be there for ages.
I’ve 1v1 D/D eles and won plenty of times. Fights will also take 5-10 minutes, so more likely than not the elementalist hits minute 3-4 and just leaves, and frankly I think we’re both happy with that because the fights get exceptionally boring after the first few rotations.
Beating them depends on your build, but you can try killing their boons, timing your conditions to right after they use their water attunement cleansing, interrupting their rotation (eles are hugely dependent on rotations). It just depends, but generally speaking if you keep them on the defensive they just don’t have the time to sit in fire attunement hitting you like a wet noodle long enough to kill you, and instead hit you like a wet paper noodle because they spend most of their time in water attunement and earth playing defensive.
But really, 1v1ing D/D eles is just flat out annoying, not because of difficulty but because you are both going to be there for ages.
I wonder how they feel during that fight, as they keep trying to set you up for Flame Grab only to have you consume Burning before it hits (or transfer it back to them), Fear them out of it, bleed out half their life, corrupt their vigor/fury/protection/regen off them, dodge the obvious knockdown attempts, fear them out of Churning Earth channels, chill them out of Water attunement so they can’t cleanse as fast, etc. etc.
It’s got to be one of the most irritating 1v1 scenarios for both players.
That is pretty much exactly what I’ve heard from them as well. I used to 1v1 some ele’s in my PvP guild, I would usually win, but it would take almost an entire game per fight, and we’d both end up having multiple moments of being within one burst attack of dying, then healing back up to full and basically starting all over again.
Hmm. So it looks like you just kept up the pressure with conditions until he eventually slipped his cleansing rotation?
Incidentally, I am so sad I didn’t go Norn for my Necro now. I want that racial Elite skill so very, very badly.
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.
Pretty much ya there was 1 time I could of ended it but I paid a lil to much attention to my own hp, cause I was so low. But you want to keep DD’s snared as much as possible.
LavaFluxx – Ele
Ankle Bitër – Necro – Paxa
Necro and Ele small man videos:Necro/Ele Videos
