Guild Wars 2

For pvp i think that if the first hit of auto applied chill instead of the third, this could help the AA to land hits. The damage can still be weighted on the third.

I also think we could just get rid of Death Spiral (skill 3). It’s basicly another auto attack that adds vuln, with a boring animation. Take the vuln from there and divide it up into the 2nd and 3rd auto attack.

Instead make the skill 3 a defensive one. My suggestion: Melt. Your character melts into a monster-filmesqe blob into the ground and 3 seconds later reforms 600 units away. It drops you as a target, still provides the 2% life force, and is basicly a 3 sec invuln with a short range “teleport” where your character is just “underground” for 3 seconds. 30 sec cd?

Melt would also make for a great graphic – just turning into black goo and dripping into the ground, then reversing somewhere else.

The auto would be much improved, the 2 skill already looks awesome, and the boring death spiral is gone, turned into a much needed defensive skill – something that would be useful in pve as well (mai trin, sloth etc.).

It would force players in pvp to retarget, or sit around for 3 seconds and then try to find where you reformed at. A great, much needed, burst denial for necro, and it would be on a power build, so the meta condi builds would still be relevant as well.

Skill 4 is already great on GS, and skill 5 just needs to be more reliable – all 5 enemies in a cone are always pulled right in front of you, and it should provide a cone shaped AOE marker.

Lastly, there should be a trait that upgrades gravedigger – you now spin forward 450 units while performing gravedigger. It could be bundled with Soul Eater and possibly take out the leeching component to balance it. Add leeching to decimate defenses and all weapons.

Thoughts?

I’d say the #3 idea is too much effort on Anets part. There’s an easier way to get an invuln as I will stay later.
Greatsword has the following problems in pvp.
1. It is too slow
2. Necro lacks staying power to go melee
3. Necro is currently stuck as boon removal which favours sceptre/condi
Ideas for fixing:
1. something many people have asked for, make Reaper’s Onslaught attack speed increase affect Greatsword.
2. change Spectral Armour so you take no damage for 3 seconds (traited would mean 4.5 seconds). Also give some sort of life force gain but with a health threshold so it cant just be used to instant fill your life force pool as soon as you enter combat. This would effect the minor Soul Reaping trait and would stack with each other like Endure pain and its trait equivalent.
Also there’s a need for more stability. Add some to Spectral Walk maybe?
3. similar to Anets sceptre buff, give Greatsword auto a boon corrupt on final hit. Then maybe boon corrupt on #5 (oh you have stability? It would be a shame it it got corrupted into fear and you were pulled by one skill).

Lahmia.2193:

I’d say the #3 idea is too much effort on Anets part. There’s an easier way to get an invuln as I will stay later.
Greatsword has the following problems in pvp.
1. It is too slow
2. Necro lacks staying power to go melee
3. Necro is currently stuck as boon removal which favours sceptre/condi
Ideas for fixing:
1. something many people have asked for, make Reaper’s Onslaught attack speed increase affect Greatsword.
2. change Spectral Armour so you take no damage for 3 seconds (traited would mean 4.5 seconds). Also give some sort of life force gain but with a health threshold so it cant just be used to instant fill your life force pool as soon as you enter combat. This would effect the minor Soul Reaping trait and would stack with each other like Endure pain and its trait equivalent.
Also there’s a need for more stability. Add some to Spectral Walk maybe?
3. similar to Anets sceptre buff, give Greatsword auto a boon corrupt on final hit. Then maybe boon corrupt on #5 (oh you have stability? It would be a shame it it got corrupted into fear and you were pulled by one skill).

Sorry to say that but those changes are also unrealistically. I doubt that Anet would ever give base necro an invulnerability effect like you suggest on spectral armor.

I am also not sure if i like the idea of giving boon corruption to greatsword. I would prefer if it focus more on your 2. point also staying power in melee. For that ether mobility or a block would be a nice.

Muchacho.2390:

Sorry to say that but those changes are also unrealistically. I doubt that Anet would ever give base necro an invulnerability effect like you suggest on spectral armor.

I am also not sure if i like the idea of giving boon corruption to greatsword. I would prefer if it focus more on your 2. point also staying power in melee. For that ether mobility or a block would be a nice.

Given Anets track record, any decent Necro buffs are unrealistic at this point. And all of the points I have made are ideas I’ve heard from multiple people in the forums and in game.
But if Anet were to give us an Invuln skill, Spectral Armour is by far the #1 candidate for it.

PVE Only:

GS doesn’t need any buffs or changes, and Death Spiral is perfect as is. It’s primarily a power-support weapon in my book (engage with it then swap to your main weapon, in my case that’s Dagger/Dagger). The 4, 5, 3 combo works like a charm and bursts your opponent pretty well (depending on your Traits). I have yet to have any issues with it in PvE, now PvP (which I don’t play) would have to have its own patch server in order for these changes to work. Vulnerability on Autos just makes is a melee-copy of Axe. Death Spiral is a free ‘half-stack cap’ of Vulnerability all in one strike and Nightfall IS your Invulnerability (provided they don’t remove the Blind). The only change I can see GS needing in all modes is the 5 needs to be re-targetable. If I press 5 and turn to my left the claws should pull from where I’m currently facing when they come up, not where I was originally facing.

It doesn’t need any of these major changes, it might need a damage boost but other than that everything is fine as is (Death Spiral is great with Decimate Defenses as well, that’s an instant 6% Crit Chance increase for about 10s).

Sometimes i ask myself where do they put all the money they get from us players? Not into the game for sure. Cant imagine none of them ha ing a 40h week job at all when the patches r so mediocre every 2months..

Mikhael.2391:

Sometimes i ask myself where do they put all the money they get from us players? Not into the game for sure. Cant imagine none of them ha ing a 40h week job at all when the patches r so mediocre every 2months..

Lol I love when people who don’t work in the gaming industry talk smack about Developers and Designers like this, just goes to show how little you know.

Okami.7049:

Mikhael.2391:

Sometimes i ask myself where do they put all the money they get from us players? Not into the game for sure. Cant imagine none of them ha ing a 40h week job at all when the patches r so mediocre every 2months..

Lol I love when people who don’t work in the gaming industry talk smack about Developers and Designers like this, just goes to show how little you know.

Im sorry for my ignorance. If you could please being aware of such dificulties and workwise explain to me the lack of content/fixes/balance(in some classes almost since release) i would be forever gratefull?

Okami.7049:

PVE Only:

GS doesn’t need any buffs or changes, and Death Spiral is perfect as is. It’s primarily a power-support weapon in my book (engage with it then swap to your main weapon, in my case that’s Dagger/Dagger). The 4, 5, 3 combo works like a charm and bursts your opponent pretty well (depending on your Traits). I have yet to have any issues with it in PvE, now PvP (which I don’t play) would have to have its own patch server in order for these changes to work. Vulnerability on Autos just makes is a melee-copy of Axe. Death Spiral is a free ‘half-stack cap’ of Vulnerability all in one strike and Nightfall IS your Invulnerability (provided they don’t remove the Blind). The only change I can see GS needing in all modes is the 5 needs to be re-targetable. If I press 5 and turn to my left the claws should pull from where I’m currently facing when they come up, not where I was originally facing.

It doesn’t need any of these major changes, it might need a damage boost but other than that everything is fine as is (Death Spiral is great with Decimate Defenses as well, that’s an instant 6% Crit Chance increase for about 10s).

So given the chance, you wouldn’t change Reaper’s Onslaught to grant Greatsword increased attack speed as well as its current effects? That would allow for all current Greatsword skills to stay the same but give us a good trait that we have yearned for since day 1 of HoT (if you’ve seen my past posts, you’ll know how much I hate the current Soul Eater).

Okami.7049:

PVE Only:

GS doesn’t need any buffs or changes, and Death Spiral is perfect as is. It’s primarily a power-support weapon in my book (engage with it then swap to your main weapon, in my case that’s Dagger/Dagger). The 4, 5, 3 combo works like a charm and bursts your opponent pretty well (depending on your Traits). I have yet to have any issues with it in PvE, now PvP (which I don’t play) would have to have its own patch server in order for these changes to work. Vulnerability on Autos just makes is a melee-copy of Axe. Death Spiral is a free ‘half-stack cap’ of Vulnerability all in one strike and Nightfall IS your Invulnerability (provided they don’t remove the Blind). The only change I can see GS needing in all modes is the 5 needs to be re-targetable. If I press 5 and turn to my left the claws should pull from where I’m currently facing when they come up, not where I was originally facing.

It doesn’t need any of these major changes, it might need a damage boost but other than that everything is fine as is (Death Spiral is great with Decimate Defenses as well, that’s an instant 6% Crit Chance increase for about 10s).

Well the thing is Anet doesnt really want that skills work differently between the modes hence the only difference they would ever do is changing the numbers. And that wont help Greatsword for spvp/wvw.

And honestly something like giving deathspiral a short charge or teleport (a pretty common demand for greatsword) would be useful for pve as well, so i am sure you can make greatsword more useful for pvp settings without effecting pve too much. Even reworking that skill to be a block etc. wouldnt be bad for pve after all that skill before the patch was so terrible it wasnt even part of the dps roation for power reapers (now it is barely worth casting over the auto).

Other common change demands were a reduction to the aftercast of gravedigger and better functionality of grasping darkness. Also things that make the weapon even in pve clunky (hence why i wouldnt call greatsword perfect even for pve standards).

Lahmia.2193:

Okami.7049:

PVE Only:

GS doesn’t need any buffs or changes, and Death Spiral is perfect as is. It’s primarily a power-support weapon in my book (engage with it then swap to your main weapon, in my case that’s Dagger/Dagger). The 4, 5, 3 combo works like a charm and bursts your opponent pretty well (depending on your Traits). I have yet to have any issues with it in PvE, now PvP (which I don’t play) would have to have its own patch server in order for these changes to work. Vulnerability on Autos just makes is a melee-copy of Axe. Death Spiral is a free ‘half-stack cap’ of Vulnerability all in one strike and Nightfall IS your Invulnerability (provided they don’t remove the Blind). The only change I can see GS needing in all modes is the 5 needs to be re-targetable. If I press 5 and turn to my left the claws should pull from where I’m currently facing when they come up, not where I was originally facing.

It doesn’t need any of these major changes, it might need a damage boost but other than that everything is fine as is (Death Spiral is great with Decimate Defenses as well, that’s an instant 6% Crit Chance increase for about 10s).

So given the chance, you wouldn’t change Reaper’s Onslaught to grant Greatsword increased attack speed as well as its current effects? That would allow for all current Greatsword skills to stay the same but give us a good trait that we have yearned for since day 1 of HoT (if you’ve seen my past posts, you’ll know how much I hate the current Soul Eater).

I was actually just speaking about the GS skills, as far as Traits are concerned I’m all for that update. I agree Soul Eater is actually pretty stupid right now, the only real benefit is a slight CD reduction that’s only noticeable on GS 4 and 5. The ‘lifesteal’ on Gravedigger is stupid weak. Hence why I just run Decimate Defenses.

Muchacho.2390:

Okami.7049:

PVE Only:

GS doesn’t need any buffs or changes, and Death Spiral is perfect as is. It’s primarily a power-support weapon in my book (engage with it then swap to your main weapon, in my case that’s Dagger/Dagger). The 4, 5, 3 combo works like a charm and bursts your opponent pretty well (depending on your Traits). I have yet to have any issues with it in PvE, now PvP (which I don’t play) would have to have its own patch server in order for these changes to work. Vulnerability on Autos just makes is a melee-copy of Axe. Death Spiral is a free ‘half-stack cap’ of Vulnerability all in one strike and Nightfall IS your Invulnerability (provided they don’t remove the Blind). The only change I can see GS needing in all modes is the 5 needs to be re-targetable. If I press 5 and turn to my left the claws should pull from where I’m currently facing when they come up, not where I was originally facing.

It doesn’t need any of these major changes, it might need a damage boost but other than that everything is fine as is (Death Spiral is great with Decimate Defenses as well, that’s an instant 6% Crit Chance increase for about 10s).

Well the thing is Anet doesnt really want that skills work differently between the modes hence the only difference they would ever do is changing the numbers. And that wont help Greatsword for spvp/wvw.

And honestly something like giving deathspiral a short charge or teleport (a pretty common demand for greatsword) would be useful for pve as well, so i am sure you can make greatsword more useful for pvp settings without effecting pve too much. Even reworking that skill to be a block etc. wouldnt be bad for pve after all that skill before the patch was so terrible it wasnt even part of the dps roation for power reapers (now it is barely worth casting over the auto).

Other common change demands were a reduction to the aftercast of gravedigger and better functionality of grasping darkness. Also things that make the weapon even in pve clunky (hence why i wouldnt call greatsword perfect even for pve standards).

Let me reiterate then: I’m against a complete make-over to any of the GS skills, but tweaks and buffs I’m all for. Adding a dash to Death Spiral would give for a nice gap closer/escape, and I agree with Grasping Darkness (I already stated my suggestion to that skill). Gravedigger I honestly RARELY use unless I have full Vulnerability stacks on my target (which gives me perfect Crit Chance) or if I’m being swarmed (and even then I’ll throw down Nightfall before using Gravedigger just for the Leeching Bolts combo). Like you said, the after-cast is a bit slow and without a Crit, doesn’t really justify the damage done in the amount of time it took. (This isn’t the post for that, we’re already having that discussion on another one, and all I’m saying on that subject is it’s the perfect Power weapon in terms of damage only).

An after-thought: adding a dash to Death Spiral would also change up the combo chain. 4, 5, 3 wouldn’t be as effective as 3, 4, auto-away (save your 5 for if they try to escape). But, that would be the most realistic buff considering you’re applying a huge stack of Vulnerability with a single stab, so a dash would make sense (like you’re lunging and putting all of your energy into that one strike). They could also make it to where you throw the GS instead, impaling your target, and allowing you the choice to teleport to your target or pull them to you. Just a thought, a weird one but a thought nonetheless.

Mikhael.2391:

Okami.7049:

Mikhael.2391:

Sometimes i ask myself where do they put all the money they get from us players? Not into the game for sure. Cant imagine none of them ha ing a 40h week job at all when the patches r so mediocre every 2months..

Lol I love when people who don’t work in the gaming industry talk smack about Developers and Designers like this, just goes to show how little you know.

Im sorry for my ignorance. If you could please being aware of such dificulties and workwise explain to me the lack of content/fixes/balance(in some classes almost since release) i would be forever gratefull?

Look at it this way: how many classes are there? Now, how many skills/utilities are there within each class? What about the Trait lines? Think about the amount of math that would have to go into simply buffing the damage of, say, Axe for Necros. Not only do they have to see how that damage equates to the rest of the game (across all game modes) but you also have the Axe Trait to keep in mind, and when working with percentages (such as with that Trait) things get messy quickly. You also have to keep in mind that new content needs to be added to the game, otherwise it will stagnate and die. A Game Developer (which is what I’m in) has to use mathematics and coding/programming software to create the very boots you wear, let alone the stats accompanying them. A Game Designer has to conjure up characters/objects (down to the tiniest of details such as mugs and kegs) and test game mechanics to make sure bugs aren’t present and to make sure everything is running the way they intended it to. They can also be in charge of music, how the sound effects work, etc.

So there are (roughly) 12 Classes available in game, I believe there are like 6-8 Trait (including Elite Specialization) Paths you can choose from. Now add in the different weapons each class can use and you’ll see why it takes time and how hard it is to actually balance everything (and why balance is never perfect). ANET also has only about 25 Designers and 2 Programmers. Their team isn’t that big in comparison to, say Blizzard or even Hi-Rez studios. In fact their team is, what I’d call, small and needs more members (especially on the Programming side).

There’s a lot to making a game than simply inputting codes and downloading sound-effects with an artist to flesh things out, especially when it comes to MMOs (and especially when you have PvP and WvW to take into account as well, not just PvE).

i get it that skills that add 12 vuln for 10 seconds are great, but both the animation and just another damage skill that does less than an auto and only adds vuln is pretty boring. In a raid or fractal setting, you’re already going to have 25 vuln on a boss, so it’s pretty useless, and in open world, it really doesn’t matter much. It’s the perfect candidate for change. Putting something defensive on it would be mildly useful for difficult pve encounters and HUGELY useful for PVP.

The biggest problems with necros and gs is getting burst down fast, and not being able to stay in melee – which is why i think changing the soul eater trait to give gravedigger a “whirlwind” charge effect (minus the evasion) and the #3 skill becoming a teleport/detarget/immunity would solve those problems – while also making soul eater desirable.

This would also help build diversity – GS power builds would have anti burst, and slightly better ability to stick to targets, but condi builds would still have more burst and corruption only needing more babysitting in spvp.

I realize huge overhauls like this are unlikely, but i think tossing ideas around like this are good for ideas for the developers.

Okami.7049:

Mikhael.2391:

Okami.7049:

Mikhael.2391:

Sometimes i ask myself where do they put all the money they get from us players? Not into the game for sure. Cant imagine none of them ha ing a 40h week job at all when the patches r so mediocre every 2months..

Lol I love when people who don’t work in the gaming industry talk smack about Developers and Designers like this, just goes to show how little you know.

Im sorry for my ignorance. If you could please being aware of such dificulties and workwise explain to me the lack of content/fixes/balance(in some classes almost since release) i would be forever gratefull?

Look at it this way: how many classes are there? Now, how many skills/utilities are there within each class? What about the Trait lines? Think about the amount of math that would have to go into simply buffing the damage of, say, Axe for Necros. Not only do they have to see how that damage equates to the rest of the game (across all game modes) but you also have the Axe Trait to keep in mind, and when working with percentages (such as with that Trait) things get messy quickly. You also have to keep in mind that new content needs to be added to the game, otherwise it will stagnate and die. A Game Developer (which is what I’m in) has to use mathematics and coding/programming software to create the very boots you wear, let alone the stats accompanying them. A Game Designer has to conjure up characters/objects (down to the tiniest of details such as mugs and kegs) and test game mechanics to make sure bugs aren’t present and to make sure everything is running the way they intended it to. They can also be in charge of music, how the sound effects work, etc.

So there are (roughly) 12 Classes available in game, I believe there are like 6-8 Trait (including Elite Specialization) Paths you can choose from. Now add in the different weapons each class can use and you’ll see why it takes time and how hard it is to actually balance everything (and why balance is never perfect). ANET also has only about 25 Designers and 2 Programmers. Their team isn’t that big in comparison to, say Blizzard or even Hi-Rez studios. In fact their team is, what I’d call, small and needs more members (especially on the Programming side).

There’s a lot to making a game than simply inputting codes and downloading sound-effects with an artist to flesh things out, especially when it comes to MMOs (and especially when you have PvP and WvW to take into account as well, not just PvE).

Ok so regarding what you said ot seems to me theres more work than team members so i refrase: “why are they not getting more employees with the money they earned from the last 4 years?” And i wanna ask you as a client, do you think 4 years to solve CLEAR balance issues is not enought? Take a look at necro for example. The class is lacking so much in sustain and confort, its the forum that i notice complains the most ( with valid points ) every day. I made one since i got back in the game after almost 2 years break (due to lack of new content fixes) and i really understand why so much complains. For me fixing balancing in core classes and hot elites its better than getting another new expansion soon. It would bring more people back for sure after they see their class has gotten what they needed for years now. (Except warrior and DH wich i think are ok)

Well, hiring new employees isn’t about the money they make but rather ’who’s interested in working for them’? Like I said, they’re a small company that only focuses on GW2 while most other gaming companies (that are successful) have some other games in the works as well. As such, making a profit is most likely a bit difficult for ANET right now.

I agree, they’ve taken WAY too long to fix these glaringly obvious issues, some of which really only need a simple fix. But I’m thinking they may not have the time nor manpower to do a complete system overhaul (splitting the servers into the three respective modes and applying balance-updates per Mode rather than uniformly). This solution would actually solve a lot of issues and would allow players of every mode to enjoy their class accordingly.

Necro I find little difficulty in sustaining myself, I may not be following the meta per say but I can easily lifesteal/regen my health in a fight. It’s being one-shot that hurts (in my case). But yes, Necro is one of the growing list of classes that needs to be tweaked and brought up to par with the competition. I can see that the core concept behind Necros is to be a self-sustaining class that focuses more on themselves rather than their team, but if that’s the entire case then their DpS needs to justify their selfish playstyle. If I go into a fight, I better be pulling my weight in damage output otherwise I’m just in the way and a possible liability when downed. They need to fix some parts in the Blood Magic tree, Death Magic needs to be revitalized and Axe needs to be buffed/tweaked into viability as the power weapon it was made to be. These are just examples, by the way.

Read up on ArenaNet’s ‘history’ and you’ll see why they’re having a some issues nowadays. Only one of their founders is left in the company, which means out of the three original leaders they only have one left now to direct the company.

I really think that one day work could fix lets say 2 or 3 utilities for ex. In one class. Its so many minor changes that would make a big diference. I got into a fight today (after getting fed up with my dh) on my necro and my friend just laughed so hard when he saw my health go from full to 0 and shroud from full to 0 aswell in in 2 stuns after striped of stability by boon corrupt by 3 players. Necro needs shroud to be tougher or at least more sustain outside shroud. My wish is more insta shroud abilities so it makes it more viable

Mikhael.2391:

I really think that one day work could fix lets say 2 or 3 utilities for ex. In one class. Its so many minor changes that would make a big diference. I got into a fight today (after getting fed up with my dh) on my necro and my friend just laughed so hard when he saw my health go from full to 0 and shroud from full to 0 aswell in in 2 stuns after striped of stability by boon corrupt by 3 players. Necro needs shroud to be tougher or at least more sustain outside shroud. My wish is more insta shroud abilities so it makes it more viable

Did you just say you 1v3’d? Cuz you just said ‘by 3 players’ so yeah, of course you’re gonna get deleted. You’d have to be running a Tank to survive that much burst. Death Magic (yes, I know it’s destroyed right now) provides Toughness while in Shroud and Minions are a great way to soak up damage as well. I agree though, it shouldn’t be difficult to make changes that obviously need to be made. It’s starting to look like, to me, that ANET is afraid to change anything (which is hurting the game more than helping it).

Okami.7049:

But I’m thinking they may not have the time nor manpower to do a complete system overhaul (splitting the servers into the three respective modes and applying balance-updates per Mode rather than uniformly). This solution would actually solve a lot of issues and would allow players of every mode to enjoy their class accordingly.

For your info, they did told us in the past that they have such a system already in place. If they really wanted they could do this with ease (in gw1 they actually did it). They arent doing it because they dont want to do it. Hence the biggest change will be some different numbers but it wont be like in gw1 where some skills worked completly different in pve and pvp.

Okami.7049:

Mikhael.2391:

I really think that one day work could fix lets say 2 or 3 utilities for ex. In one class. Its so many minor changes that would make a big diference. I got into a fight today (after getting fed up with my dh) on my necro and my friend just laughed so hard when he saw my health go from full to 0 and shroud from full to 0 aswell in in 2 stuns after striped of stability by boon corrupt by 3 players. Necro needs shroud to be tougher or at least more sustain outside shroud. My wish is more insta shroud abilities so it makes it more viable

Did you just say you 1v3’d? Cuz you just said ‘by 3 players’ so yeah, of course you’re gonna get deleted. You’d have to be running a Tank to survive that much burst. Death Magic (yes, I know it’s destroyed right now) provides Toughness while in Shroud and Minions are a great way to soak up damage as well. I agree though, it shouldn’t be difficult to make changes that obviously need to be made. It’s starting to look like, to me, that ANET is afraid to change anything (which is hurting the game more than helping it).

Sorry i didnt explain better, i was focused by 3 but wasnt alone fighting them ofc. Point is i went from 26k health and shroud to 0 in less than 4secpre or less.

What’s your build? Can you link it with GW2skills.net?

Okami.7049:

What’s your build? Can you link it with GW2skills.net?

This but i use fried golden dumplins instead. http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQJARWnMbC91glbCebC0biljBL+G+DHiR9stVAgaJ8EiVA-TRCBABnpEMLlNfq+j+XAga2fAjHAAAHCgKOCAepUiUAsLyC-e and i might use zerker with marauder trinkets for more dps sometimes. Also switch to spite for more dps sometimes. Tried blood magic and the others but didnt like it since tales too long to kill most people.

Mikhael.2391:

Okami.7049:

What’s your build? Can you link it with GW2skills.net?

This but i use fried golden dumplins instead. http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQJARWnMbC91glbCebC0biljBL+G+DHiR9stVAgaJ8EiVA-TRCBABnpEMLlNfq+j+XAga2fAjHAAAHCgKOCAepUiUAsLyC-e and i might use zerker with marauder trinkets for more dps sometimes. Also switch to spite for more dps sometimes. Tried blood magic and the others but didnt like it since tales too long to kill most people.

You forgot to input your weapons but I’m going to assume they’re Zerker or Cavalier. Marauder I wouldn’t recommend, it’s more for Thieves in my opinion. You can get Trinkets with Zerker + Valk stats (it’s in the tab of Trinkets to choose from labeled exactly that) which I would recommend since you get more Power, more Ferocity, more Precision and slightly more Health. It looks to me like you’re not going for Power but rather Conditions instead? Staff benefits most on a Condi-build (from what I’m told that is) and if you’re running GS you need a speedy weapon to compensate for your slower DpS (which is why most people run Dagger/input off-hand [I run double dagger]). Spite is good, I currently run it as well as Blood Magic. It may seem weird but I like the sustain it provides, and with my build it’s perfect for how I play. It’s not really for damage, more like for healing/self-sustain but when used right it’s amazing.

I just tweaked some stuff to show how I would be running that kind of build (which to me seems like it’s meant to be more Tanky than offensive at the moment?):

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQNBhQD7kZTovGscTwbTgeTs8LYUPhvQwCKpFA+AxHxo4UE-TxBHABHq+TH7PEmuhgU+BwDAgOlgifBACAcA87v5bfDO/8zP/8z73f/93f/tUAsLyC-e

All I did was swap out 3 of the Trinkets for full Zerker + Valk stats and went with Zerker weapons. Swapped out Staff for Dagger/Warhorn (solid LF regen from Dagger, Warhorn provides a hard CC and even more LF regen that benefits Dagger having to be up and close to its target). If you’re having issues from ranged enemies, Shroud 2 is a projectile buster and a leap that can easily close gaps (and it’s spammable) and with Speed of Shadows you’ll be able to hop in and out of Shroud faster. I grabbed Decimate Defenses instead of Chilling Victory because I replaced Curse with Spite. Since you have many, easy ways to keep Vulnerability capped your Crit Rate will almost constantly be boosted by 50% (of course if you have a wiggly opponent then I can’t guarantee the stacks staying if you can’t land the necessary blows). This allows you to crit constant, crit hard and do a decent amount of damage while only losing a measely 200-ish Toughness. Since you have Soul Reaping I assumed you wanted to be in Shroud as often as possible so I chose Rending Shroud that way even if you’re unable to land a blow on your target they’re still gaining stacks of Vulnerability unless they choose to disengage.

This is just my take, I’m a pure Power-based Necro and my build is a lot more risky than this but I do have more Power, Health and the same Ferocity. PvPing isn’t my thing but I can solo almost anything pretty well where I’m at right now.

Okami.7049:

Mikhael.2391:

Okami.7049:

What’s your build? Can you link it with GW2skills.net?

This but i use fried golden dumplins instead. http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQJARWnMbC91glbCebC0biljBL+G+DHiR9stVAgaJ8EiVA-TRCBABnpEMLlNfq+j+XAga2fAjHAAAHCgKOCAepUiUAsLyC-e and i might use zerker with marauder trinkets for more dps sometimes. Also switch to spite for more dps sometimes. Tried blood magic and the others but didnt like it since tales too long to kill most people.

You forgot to input your weapons but I’m going to assume they’re Zerker or Cavalier. Marauder I wouldn’t recommend, it’s more for Thieves in my opinion. You can get Trinkets with Zerker + Valk stats (it’s in the tab of Trinkets to choose from labeled exactly that) which I would recommend since you get more Power, more Ferocity, more Precision and slightly more Health. It looks to me like you’re not going for Power but rather Conditions instead? Staff benefits most on a Condi-build (from what I’m told that is) and if you’re running GS you need a speedy weapon to compensate for your slower DpS (which is why most people run Dagger/input off-hand [I run double dagger]). Spite is good, I currently run it as well as Blood Magic. It may seem weird but I like the sustain it provides, and with my build it’s perfect for how I play. It’s not really for damage, more like for healing/self-sustain but when used right it’s amazing.

I just tweaked some stuff to show how I would be running that kind of build (which to me seems like it’s meant to be more Tanky than offensive at the moment?):

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQNBhQD7kZTovGscTwbTgeTs8LYUPhvQwCKpFA+AxHxo4UE-TxBHABHq+TH7PEmuhgU+BwDAgOlgifBACAcA87v5bfDO/8zP/8z73f/93f/tUAsLyC-e

All I did was swap out 3 of the Trinkets for full Zerker + Valk stats and went with Zerker weapons. Swapped out Staff for Dagger/Warhorn (solid LF regen from Dagger, Warhorn provides a hard CC and even more LF regen that benefits Dagger having to be up and close to its target). If you’re having issues from ranged enemies, Shroud 2 is a projectile buster and a leap that can easily close gaps (and it’s spammable) and with Speed of Shadows you’ll be able to hop in and out of Shroud faster. I grabbed Decimate Defenses instead of Chilling Victory because I replaced Curse with Spite. Since you have many, easy ways to keep Vulnerability capped your Crit Rate will almost constantly be boosted by 50% (of course if you have a wiggly opponent then I can’t guarantee the stacks staying if you can’t land the necessary blows). This allows you to crit constant, crit hard and do a decent amount of damage while only losing a measely 200-ish Toughness. Since you have Soul Reaping I assumed you wanted to be in Shroud as often as possible so I chose Rending Shroud that way even if you’re unable to land a blow on your target they’re still gaining stacks of Vulnerability unless they choose to disengage.

This is just my take, I’m a pure Power-based Necro and my build is a lot more risky than this but I do have more Power, Health and the same Ferocity. PvPing isn’t my thing but I can solo almost anything pretty well where I’m at right now.

Ive tried not to use staff but the sustain decreases even more. You miss on the condi transfer fear and chill plus unblocable damage. I also go zerker trinkets and run around 2550k power but from what i experienced having 1600tough or 1100 doesnt make a diference while outside shroud. Plus shroud 2 leap is usefull but every other class has more mobility and can easily kite necro hence the staff aswell. I can switch gs for axe/war but its no hard cc, that daze is a joke since it rarely proves usefull oonly i i see enemy using a long animation skill. If u noticed i got that sigil of speed plus intel for a gs combo. Works really well u pull with 5 and then just auto atack(faster does around 10 damage) or almost insta gravedigger( slighty slower but crits for over 10 without protection)

(Too long for me to quote you)

Here’s my build:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQNAoYRnMbC12gdbCmbC0bilfBjKL8FCWQJtAwHI+IGFniA-TxRBQBA4JAgH9BWS9HGpEkCnCARq8jG7P8NgAYQQIAsWr1a1QIECBA-e

Dagger 4 can transfer up to 3 Conditions and has a low CD, Suffer! can transfer up to an additional Condition (or more depending on how many enemies surround you) while lifestealing. Spectral Armor and Rise! provide a total of 66% damage reduction for a couple of seconds before reducing to 33% while the minions are out and attacking. Rise! is also easily spammable, so you’ll only have about a 10s window where you’re ‘vulnerable’ (and that’s where you can easily rely on Shroud). I place emphasis on Shroud, Might and Vulnerability. Necros can’t Tank (now that Death Magic is dead) so your best bet is to kill or be killed. Here you have a nice Health Pool (which, if I remember correctly, correlates with your Lifeforce Pool as well), your base damage is capped (as far as I know) and your Ferocity is nothing to scoff at.

Dagger/Dagger provides a solid form of LF regen, an Immobilize, a powerful Lifesteal, a multi-Condition Transfer (that also Blinds), and a large AoE that inflicts Bleeding and Weakness and corrupts 1 Boon per enemy in the AoE (up to 5). Your Soul Is Mine! is the best heal for a Power Necro, since it both lifesteals, heals AND steals lifeforce. I already explained SA and Rise! and Suffer!. Chilled To The Bone! is a hard stun that Chills (which inflicts Vulnerability) and provides you with a couple of seconds of Stability. GS is normally only useful as a setup/skills-based weapon unless your opponent isn’t a jumping rabbit, then you can rely on the heavier autos and Gravedigger.

Sadly, Necro isn’t up to par with DpS as every other class and as such we have to rely on self-sustaining and outlasting our opponent rather than bursting them down. Hence why I chose the Traits I chose. Spite 3 causes Chills to inflict Vulnerability, Spite 2 provides consistent stacks of Vulnerability so long as you remain near your opponent while in Shroud, Spite 2 is a no-brainer. Soul Reaping 1 is for stacking Vulnerability faster as well as maintaining max Vulnerability stacks (Soul Reaping 3 is a good alternative if you want to hop in and out of Shroud more often), Soul Reaping 2 is a no-brainer and so is the final Soul Reaping 2. Reaper 1 is to give your Shouts (which you should be using since you’re Melee-oriented) lifesteal and reduced CD, Reaper 3 gives you 50% Crit on top of your current Crit when at max Vulnerability stacks, and Reaper 1 provides you with more lifeforce regen (since you’re easily stacking Might) and a solid heal while in Shroud.

This is just how I play, I used to run Blood Magic (which is also viable, just ditch Soul Reaping) because that was additional sustain plus even more healing while in Shroud (and gave my minions from Rise! lifesteal which helped quite a bit) but that was also when I was running Cavalier’s for Armor, Zerker Weapons and Valk Trinkets. In other words, I was more on the Tanky side and had sacrificed DpS for sustain/longevity. Not really the wisest choice, considering how aggressive my playstyle is.

This is just my opinion by the way, don’t take any of it to heart just think of it as me showing you options. I’m bar far a ‘perfect’ Necro player and I still have a lot to learn, this is just my take on the matter.

Well your build seems interesting Okami i will try DD/gs and will give feedback on it. Thanks for the info.

Lol i just tried this and how do u even survive thiefs with this build? Because got easily kited all the time and burned down after he saw my boons end. No chance whatsoever for 4 tines in a row.

Mikhael.2391:

Lol i just tried this and how do u even survive thiefs with this build? Because got easily kited all the time and burned down after he saw my boons end. No chance whatsoever for 4 tines in a row.

Well, as it stands now if you’re up against a good Thief (someone’s Main), Necros won’t stand a chance no matter how you build. They’re just a hard counter to Necros, hence why you typically want to rely on your team to take them out. Whenever I’m up against a bad Thief, though, it’s relatively easy for me to root them with Dagger 2, rotate to GS 4, hit em with GS 3 before either swapping back to Dagger and entering Shroud or using GS 5 to keep them in the Nightfall circle before performing the latter rotation. In Shroud my combo is always 3, 5, 2, 4. 3 Gives you Stability and when Detonated infilcts Fear (which also Chills, and subsequantially adds Vuln) and sets up for Shroud 5 for the Stun. Following up with Shroud 2 while in the Ice Field gives you Icy Aura (which inflicts Chill whenever an enemy hits you) and transitioning right into Shroud 4 causes you to not only Poison but Chill as well thanks to Icy Bolts. After that I normally just exit Shroud and, since I’m already in Dagger, I just repeat the process. Dagger 4 is great for removing multiple Conditions, Dagger 5 is great for corrupting a Boon, inflicting Weakness and 2 stacks of Bleed (rather large AoE too) and of course Dagger 2 is a nice ranged heal if your enemy is wishing to disengage or play from a distance. Soul Reaping and Blood Magic are, honestly, interchangeable though I keep finding myself reverting back to Blood Magic just because of the Dagger Trait, sustain and I can support my allies a bit with an AoE heal whenever I use Shroud 4 (also teleports downed enemies to me, so that’s nice for getting them out of danger).

Like I said though, when up against a good Thief there’s really no way a Necro can win. We don’t have ‘good’ DpS and we can’t even Tank anymore with DM having gone to ruin. Your best bet would be to just out-sustain him and hope he screws up. I don’t PvP, but I have done a few duels in Guilds just out of curiosity to see where my skill level is at (lol I’ll admit: I suck). This is my general build that I stick with in all modes, tbh.

You could try a MM build and sacrifice the Power for Condi. I thought PvP was normally a group-based thing anyways? I never knew they had a 1v1 match-up.

Mikhael.2391:

Lol i just tried this and how do u even survive thiefs with this build? Because got easily kited all the time and burned down after he saw my boons end. No chance whatsoever for 4 tines in a row.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/necromancer/How-to-Beat-a-Thief-1/first#post6382646

Here is a link to a Thread that was made specifically discussing Necros vs Thief. I’m sorry I couldn’t be of much help my friend :/ but I do want you to succeed! Necros aren’t dead!

I ll try again but overall seems that ill be lacking from staff range options aswell.

Well going back to ideas for improving greatsword:

I always felt the grasping darkness into gravedigger should be harder to avoid. So if increasing the attack speed isnt a option how about giving grasping darkness a short stun or immobilise after the pull.

GS trait should at least have a bigger heall and make speed movement increase by25% while wielding 2h weapons.

To kill thieves (aside from the really good ones or those deliberately countering you, but as mentioned, they will have the advantage here so you shouldn’t really go around expecting much):

Berserker or Marauder+Zerk+Valk mixed gear. To beat a thief, you can’t take your time, so running something that won’t melt them won’t do you any good. If they’re instantly killing you, you’re probably mis-playing somewhere or they’re running a build that can’t fight you otherwise (4k hours on thief here). I recommend using A/D. A/D + GS is pretty mean against thieves if they don’t camp shortbow (if they are you were probably never winning to begin with) or P/P (they’re running the hard-counter build to you and DH) since they’ll need to get in close to hit you, and if trying for the engage, will be revealed or will need to disengage. Ghastly Claws’ channel, like all channels, tracks stealth; know this and use this to your advanatge. Run Chill of Death over Rending Shroud. Like I said, you’re not going to kill a thief taking your time hoping they stick around. Odds are they’re running ToTC in Trickery which means they’ll have three boons. Spectral Armor the BV engage and dodge the follow up. Suffer! should send the weakness back to them. GS 5 -> 4 -> 3 -> swap (they’ll typically use BD to stunbreak midway through 3 and try for the BP+HS to escape) -> wait half a second before the BD blocks end and they can stealth -> Ghastly Claws. They’ll not be at full hp and will be on boons. Chill of Death proc during their escape attempt will take all three boons they likely still have from ToTC and hit them for massive damage for the remainder of their health. If you’re critting and they haven’t used Shadowstep anticipating the CoD proc, they’ll in all likelihood die. Be ready for round 2 with dodges and shroud to negate the next burst if they’re still up or you think they might be (wait a second or two and try casting Axe 3 as to prevent them from getting a stealth res), and when they come back, send weakness/poison back to them via OH dagger 4. Apply OH dagger 5 on feet when they engage to inflict extra weakness since it hinders their crits and endurance regen.

As for making GS better (I don’t think there’s a lot needed to be done fundamentally here):
Delete Soul Eater and reduce GS cooldowns baseline to AA/6/10/15/20 seconds, split chill to 1s on first AA and 1.5s on third AA, then make a real condi trait where Soul Eater is. No power build is going to surrender either DD or CV for some recharge unless GS ends up busted, and no condi build is going to run GS effectively, anyways.