Guild Wars 2

While I have been actively avoiding the forums lately, I figured I might hop on over here to see if there were any theorycrafting masterpieces I needed to try. However there is a lot more necro hate then I was anticipating, and it is quite clear our class will be feeling the nerf hammer soon. But it doesn’t have to be game breaking, as Anet has shown that they do respond to the occasional positive feedback this post is aimed at taking an objective look at where the necro is, where it was pre-patch, and the healthiest changes going forward for the game. (I will mainly focus on things ppl have been complaining about)

Balance (nerfs):
Putrid Marks: can now only transfer 3 conditions per target hit. IMO this was a good change as before it would transfer every condi on the necro to a single RNG target in the circle. Not only bad design, but too much removal for the CD.

Corrupt Boon: limits the number of boons stripped to 5. I am ok with this as Anet has previously said they want the game to be less knee jerk/burst oriented (reasons behind dmg nerf to thieves/haste change) and no one should argue that a full corrupt wasn’t a lot of pressure. I do however think that Boon rip priority should be set, defined, and the same for every class. We shouldn’t remove the only direct counter to stability stomps besides throwing your face into a cleave for a rez. Set stability with the 5th priority so if it has covers things like axe #3 and focus #5 won’t rip it, but it will still be corrupted by CB & WoC. Right now thieves larcenous strike is the only good way to remove stability. Anything that removes 90% of counter play is a bad health change.

Signet of Undeath: It felt a little heavy handed, but not when you consider other rez utilities cost like ele’s/guardian. It keeps battles from dragging on forever, and it opens up rooms for other utilities because of its cost. Overall a good change.

Balance (Buffs):

Torment: At most it can do 5 bleed stacks worth of damage on a 40 second CD if not cleansed. At best the stacks are a clear telegraph for when you need to dodge our new immob. As stated in the SoTG it was meant as a cover conditions and it serves that purpose. Not a great mechanic but so very far from OP.

Dhuumfire: I never heard necro’s ask for it before Anet suggested it, and even then I saw necro’s beg to not get it. I think it was a poor choice as it limits the creativity the necro needs to apply mass condis and it directly limits the need to pair necro with a class like engi/ranger for coordination. Anything that heavily limits class diversity choices is not healthy (note: I don’t think it is OP, I personally think the 30/30/10/0/0 is cheese but as it stands it is unnecessary).

Doom: .5 increase for the closer range is not a bad thing as it gives necros a sense of the risk/reward paradigm and does not give them a major advantage besides possibly a slightly longer escape from melee focus. With how we functioned pre-patch the buff was unnecessary and did not directly address our sustain

Lifeforce gain: they increased the amount that certain abilities did, but they did not put it anywhere more accessible which was the primary issue. Many necro builds still do not generate sufficient LF and others are ok as they stand now.

Spectral Wall: the biggest L2P issue of this patch. Without a hybrid build with a dagger #3 immob spectral wall will not do substantial damage to anyone without them consistently running into it. However pathing/maps are not designed ideally at all times and without an ICD, a traited spectral wall can troll the crap out of people stuck in terrain. I suggest a fear with a 2-3 second ICD with an increase in LF gain for those who cross it without being feared. It would still allow for a max of 3 fears, but it wouldn’t have such a high learning curve for new players (either that or make every fear it triggers .5 to trigger the CC, but no dmg unless you are traited for duration) It wasn’t something we needed, but it has the potential to be a nice defensive/debunkering/offensive tool. Any utility that functions fairly with multiple uses can be a very healthy class change. Lets be honest, it give the ability more play, but overall as a hard CC & damage necro did not “need” another fear.

Just something to think about for all the terror-haters out there. Pre-patch the only way necro could hold his own with condi dmg was through access to the shared dmg/cc. If you nerf terror it will essentially shut-down any build that skips the Spite tree because it will have so little sustain dmg you will be forced to pick up burning. We have had our transfers/corrupts toned down to give us more access to this dmg which will further push necro’s into 30/30/10/0/0. I personally have gone over to power/bruiser builds thanks to changes to well CDs and life blast bringing up their viability. I believe the burnings presence on the bar is too much for necro’s to remain healthy, not on the basis of dmg/aoe pressure (it only hits a single target and many 30/30/10 don’t run epi), but because along with torment it allows for too many high stacks of bleeds and a plethora of other very debilitating to remain covered. While we are the condi masters that comes into our corrupts/transfers as it should be clearly evident that other balanced classes in the meta cannot sustain any amount of cleanses vs a skilled necro making us currently one of the unhealthy pieces in the current evolving scene. I personally do not think rangers or engi’s have the bleed pressure necro does and that the additions simply made everything inherently good about necro stronger while not preparing other classes in the least for a harder condi cleave. Before we try to kill terror (and along with it every non-burning necro) lets scale back a few trait changes and re-kitten. Spite already has incredibly strong GM trait for dmg, now we need one for sustain.

If this post gets any traction I will update it will positive feedback as we go. Remember this is a place to vent positive frustration into moving the necro into a strong and secure place in the meta without losing our flair and style as a profession. There are enough QQ threads that contribute nothing, hopefully this will be a opportunity for necro’s to have some say in their fate.

Also for those currently using the 30/30/10/0/0 build, I highly suggest you take the time to test the multiple other viable options that we did get this last patch (DS centric builds/might stackers/hyrbids), sooner or later we might even have a fun bunker necro!

Nothing was changed to putrid mark.It still transfers all conditions and not 3.
Indeed it was buffed since now it correctly transfers blind too.
It is funny how people used not long ago to say that there were too much cleanses for the conditions to be effective and now that torment was added,condition pressure is too much…
Burning was already there,applied by someone else but the necro or by the necro himself when transfering his own burning…The only change was the addition of torment…
Omg…One more condition! It is so much !