I found using greater shade to be far to superior because using 3 small ones while on the go often you will find yourself shadeless due to cooldown. The greater shade is nice because of this but I feel locked into using it.
The shields are amazing but degenerate way to fast. When used on yourself the caster I do not think they should degenerate to make up for the loss of shroud however should not stack of course with the cap set to your highest shield.
The dps I was doing felt very nice and in a very good level. As I felt my dps was fair compared to other class classes I strongly expect a massive massive nerf to dps coming soon because we aren’t allowed as necromancers to do nice dps
The elite felt very lackluster white the heal feels pretty nice except again how fast shield degenerates.
I was using dagger with torch and can say I had the most fun on this elite out of those I played which worries me of massive nerfs. Anytime I enjoy a class they get nerfed when it’s usually not needed only pvp players complaining.
Sand Savant would be even better if it actually did count as 3 Shades for related traits. The Master minor trait counts as 3 (get 225 expertise) but the 2 Master trait’s (barrier or burn on summon) only counts as 1 Shade.
The F5 procing your Shades on every tick is pretty kitten good. You are basically getting 2 Vuln, 2 Torment, Cripple and Burning every tick for 7 ticks. On a 16 sec CD.
Agree with most.
-Elite is okish, but I expected it to be aura around the necro. No, its static aoe, very disappointing.
-Barriers indeed degenerate wayyy to fast. Imo they need to have at least another 5 to 8 sec. before they slowly(twice as slower then now) degenerate.
-The portal felt very underwhelming with only 900 range… like Anet wtf?!?! It should be minimum 1500 so you can escape all ranged weapons. And honestly it should be even 2k+ range. The good thing is, you can use it 3 times, but it disappears faster then the mesmer portal.
-Dagger skill 5 is single target, while skill 4 is 5 target… wut?! It should only KD your primary target, but the rest is applied to up to 5 targets…
- The Shade cd should be a little bit lower and outside of combat you should get all 3 shades ready, not waiting for them to recharge 1 by 1. Maybe decrease cd outside of combat.
-Extremely vulnerable to kite/range. Even more then core/reaper.
I can see how scourge will be pretty strong in pve. If its good in pvp reminds to be seen.
I like scourge so far because it adds a different playstyle to necro. Offensive skills are way to strong when you go for condi fire burn scourge. Defensive options and barriers are weak compared to that. There should be a clear split between pvp and pve or offensive options need to get tuned down (not only for scourge).
I hope power reaper stays viable in pvp. The few elite specs (ele, eng, necro), weapons and new traits I tested look all strong for offense but weak in defense.
I like scourge so far because it adds a different playstyle to necro. Offensive skills are way to strong when you go for condi fire burn scourge. Defensive options and barriers are weak compared to that. There should be a clear split between pvp and pve or offensive options need to get tuned down (not only for scourge).
I hope power reaper stays viable in pvp. The few elite specs (ele, eng, necro), weapons and new traits I tested look all strong for offense but weak in defense.
Even though it’s a very huge huge new style it’s a lot of fun which surprised me.
Sadly though I have a feeling for PvE it will be nerfed to nothing at all because the pvp players will have complaints even though as the class stands now PvE wise it’s a good class
the scourge is looking to be decent back-line support in pvp, just so long as no one so much as glances at your general direction the wrong way, at which point just remind yourself that there is only one thing worse than respawning, and that is not respawning.
My only real complaint is how quickly the barriers degenerate.
If fine with degeneration, but they feel like they are gone in a split second!
They should last for about 10 seconds before they start to degenerate, and the degeneration should be about 33% slower than it is at the moment. I’d be fine if this effect was only for the Necromancer who casts them.
Main character: Winter Harvest (Necromancer)
[BICE] Black Ice / Maguuma Server
My only real complaint is how quickly the barriers degenerate.
If fine with degeneration, but they feel like they are gone in a split second!
They should last for about 10 seconds before they start to degenerate, and the degeneration should be about 33% slower than it is at the moment. I’d be fine if this effect was only for the Necromancer who casts them.
Or as they are capped degenerate out of combat wouldn’t be bad either
Sand Savant makes it alot easier for sure but I really really want that Demonic lore so went back late last night to try make 3 Shades work. In PvP 3 Shades is easy enough to use, in WvW its much harder and u want the 1 big one…
Still Love Scourge, and the skill challenge this class now brings compare to the “easy” gameplay mechanics of previous Necros
Underjordens Furste 80 Necro Piken-server
Servant of Dhuum
I think the problem is the cast time and the small effect range untraited and the 900 cast range makes it extremely clunky to use. It does not feel viable to cast it somewhere to get a quick aoe fear at range off.
Also the minor traits all rely on having these shades up, you can only keep these up with the sand savant trait. If you dont pick it, you’re screwed, and thats bad.
Sand Savant trait itself actually.. It doenst add any power. As much as i like its concept, its nothing more than a quality of life improvement.
I think the problem is the cast time and the small effect range untraited and the 900 cast range makes it extremely clunky to use. It does not feel viable to cast it somewhere to get a quick aoe fear at range off.
Also the minor traits all rely on having these shades up, you can only keep these up with the sand savant trait. If you dont pick it, you’re screwed, and thats bad.
Sand Savant trait itself actually.. It doenst add any power. As much as i like its concept, its nothing more than a quality of life improvement.
After more use I agree with the range, why not 1200. With full range the mechanic can be played both, melee and full range and both will still be viable. Also the small but very annoying cd between casts make it feel uncomfortable.
Scourge suffers greatly from lack of sustain. Barriers are a mediocre replacement for shroud, especially because of the massive decay rate and not having a big barrier either. Likewise, we have no more stability. You’re almost required to take Trail of Anguish for the stun break. And honestly, I think i still prefer Consume Conditions over Sand Flare because we dont have enough condi clears if we dont take it. This might not matter much for the majority of pvers, but this is pretty big in pvp. It will be hard to make scourge decent in WvW/PvP since they can basically just get dove on or sniped without much effort due to lack of basic survivability which oh yea every other class has. Classic anet kitten design.
Necromancer is the worst class hands down. Wake up Anet.
I guess every other class that doesn’t have a full Cindi cleanse must be nothing as well then. In wvw you have a potential 20 condi convert every 4 seconds for 1.2k lf and thats bad?
That every 4 seconds for 10 people around you/shade (Which doubles as an attack!), or more if you use several seconds.
While also having multiple ways to transfer conditions(such as dagger 4), or eat conditions outright (consume conditions).
If you do not understand how ridiculously strong this is, I can’t help you. Who even comes close?
F2 is so strong its insane, if u say otherwise I really doubt how much u played with it. Test some more, the CD on the skill + cleanse its kitten amazing imho. Iam NOT the only one saying this, watch youtubers + streamers in PvP and u get same response.
Underjordens Furste 80 Necro Piken-server
Servant of Dhuum
I agree with most of the stuff others have written. For now, the Scourge seems mostly balanced, the use of Shades require that you position yourself and your shades well, and you can’t just spam your shadeskills in hope of having any effect. I haven’t been able to fight every other specialization, yet I can clearly say that Deadeye will be the biggest counter due to it’s range and mobility. Even using the portal doesn’t help much as they just teleport away in an instant. So yeah, a faster casttime would be nice. Also does the portal exist for 6 seconds instead of 20, I suppose that is a bug?
Using the smaller Sand Shades in PvP works just fine for me, I would probably prefer it since it gives me much more control over the battlefield. Though, I believe the description of the “Manifest Sand Shade” Skill is a bit misleading since it says “Manifest a Sand Shade by using some of your life force.” while it doesn’t require any life force at all. Besides that do I also wonder how the Death Perception Trait from the Soul Reapening works with Shades. Are they even able to critically hit? And even if so, I don’t feel that that trait really would work well since it’s condi-based. (I know that Foot in the Grave and Dhuumfire are better alternatives either way)
And I also agree with most others, F2 does wonders for condi-cleansing. Although I still run with Consume Conditions just because Sand Flare does feel way weaker because of the fast decaying barrier.
I too think its a fun spec, but the barriers degen too fast. I messed around with it in wvw as I intended mostly to use it with a pve minion build, and over all it feels good aside from the shields.
I’d like to reiterate that the biggest problem with this spec is how crazy-fast the barriers degen.
I know they don’t want Scourge to be going into fights with a permanent barrier for 50% of their already-high max health, but in-combat the barrier should live longer before degen starts and the degen should be slower.
Remember: the barrier isn’t healing. It SHOULD degen — it’s meant to be a reactive ability to incoming damage; but right now the degen is just crazy.
Main character: Winter Harvest (Necromancer)
[BICE] Black Ice / Maguuma Server
I’d like to reiterate that the biggest problem with this spec is how crazy-fast the barriers degen.
I know they don’t want Scourge to be going into fights with a permanent barrier for 50% of their already-high max health, but in-combat the barrier should live longer before degen starts and the degen should be slower.
Remember: the barrier isn’t healing. It SHOULD degen — it’s meant to be a reactive ability to incoming damage; but right now the degen is just crazy.
Most barriers can’t absorb a power spec AA chain anyways so I don’t see the issue. You use it at the right time, it’ll get taken out by damage before you need to worry about degen.
