Guild Wars 2

I wanna theory craft some MM Reaper builds with ya’ll. This is focused on PvP (or WvWvW) types of discussion.

As of now, I run axe+focus and dagger+warhorn as a minion master (using http://dulfy.net/gw2traits#build=AgQDWAS4AXw~) . I heavily utilize siphoning from dagger+warhorn to keep my health up, while axe+focus gives me retaliation, regeneration, and vulnerability to allow me to win out even more in a trade of blows. The speed from quickening thirst helps me keep up with enemies to ensure I drop them.

The one I was looking into using was:
http://dulfy.net/gw2traits#build=AgQDWAR4Btw~
using axe+focus and greatsword
However, I have some concerns looking at trying to fit reaper into this build:
1. I won’t have the increased speed from quickening thirst
-Could this be considered offset by relentless pursuit?
2. I won’t have the dagger 2 skill to act as a secondary healing skill
-I want to supplement this with soul eater, but will the increased killing power, chill, and ample access to leeching bolt whirl finishers offset the lowered siphoning?
3. I won’t be able to bring all the traits to make axe more effective, which will greatly reduce my retaliation up-keep and boon hate.
-Does the 15% damage reduction from cold shoulder potentially offset the retaliation pressure?
4. Since I won’t be using a dagger, my only options for a blood magic adept are blood bond and ritual of life, neither of which really fit into this build.
-Do I take blood bond and hope jagged horrors+dodge bleeds proc the trait? Or should I instead take ritual of life even though it doesn’t do much of anything for me?

I wouldn’t run Axe or Focus in an MM build over Dagger and either WH or Dagger offhand. You lose a lot of damage, healing, and immobilize for CC chaining, and for OH you lose either a source of bleeds for Blood Bond + condition removal or CC + massive LF generation and swiftness. A/F just doesn’t make up for it, focus 5 is too long of a cast to be useful, so all you really get is a ranged AA and Axe 3/Focus 4, which don’t compare to how much D/WH or D give you. The real test will be if Greatsword and double melee will work, if not you’d probably go A/D + D/WH.

It’ll be really interesting to see how much sustain Reaper brings, it could possibly replace Blood Magic for non-clerics builds, though I’m not sure how viable they will be without the ability to keep minions alive. I’m guessing DM/BM/R could be good, and either Spite or SR to replace BM could work if more selfish Soldier builds are supported by the new traits.

Bhawb.7408:

I wouldn’t run Axe or Focus in an MM build over Dagger and either WH or Dagger offhand. You lose a lot of damage, healing, and immobilize for CC chaining, and for OH you lose either a source of bleeds for Blood Bond + condition removal or CC + massive LF generation and swiftness. A/F just doesn’t make up for it, focus 5 is too long of a cast to be useful, so all you really get is a ranged AA and Axe 3/Focus 4, which don’t compare to how much D/WH or D give you.

You’re right, I do lose a lot of damage (dagger auto) and healing (dagger 2) by taking Axe over dagger mainhand. However I like having a ranged option, and I really detest staff. That (and having made frostfang for my necro) is why I’m trying to make axe work here. Also, since I’ll have Greatsword in swap, I’ll still have a “high damage option” even if it’s left in it’s current state (which I foresee them buffing the coefficients).

On the offhand, this is where it’s more of a grey area. Dagger would make sense with it’s ranged abilities, weakness application, and blinds. However, the condition transfer can almost be considered a waste since minions take a lot of conditions off of me. That said, especially against burn guardians and cele eles, removing those massive burning stacks that get through the minion removal is paramount. Dropping focus, especially without the spite tree, for dagger might be an excellent idea.

Bhawb.7408:

The real test will be if Greatsword and double melee will work, if not you’d probably go A/D + D/WH.

I think reapers using double melee will be very effective. Especially if they use speed of shadows and relentless pursuit. However the traits to make that work are spread too thin for a minion master to really utilize that type of setup, which would work better for a spite/SR/reaper.

For a minion master, I feel locking down an enemy is more important than keeping up with them. This maximizes the time your minions can wail on the enemy. Dagger has that in the form of an immobilize, However you won’t have the speed in an MM build to really keep up with any ranged classes (played properly) to be a threat. Thus I feel like a ranged option is a necessity.

Bhawb.7408:

It’ll be really interesting to see how much sustain Reaper brings, it could possibly replace Blood Magic for non-clerics builds, though I’m not sure how viable they will be without the ability to keep minions alive. I’m guessing DM/BM/R could be good, and either Spite or SR to replace BM could work if more selfish Soldier builds are supported by the new traits.

While BM brings transfusion and siphoning for minions, transfusion gets interrupted frequently in this mantra mesmer and cele ele meta. The best way to keep minions alive is to pressure the enemy enough for them to not attack them.

I actually run soldier’s gear on my DM/BM/Spite minion master build. Siphoning is strong at a base, and doesn’t really scale all that well with healing power unless you’re running a vampiric wells build (well of blood scales fantastically with healing power). Soldier’s MMs can easily utilize BM.

For SR to be able to replace BM in this build, Reaper shroud 1 would need to have quite the sustainable life force generation.

Spite however, has potential for competing with BM in this case thanks to blighter’s boon. Looking at it now, If I wanted to have plenty of sustain running Axe+focus with greatsword, using http://dulfy.net/gw2traits#build=AgQBfANYBuQ~ would be rather ideal. You’d be generating a lot of might, which would all proc blighter’s boon. In fact, I’d very much like to try out this build to see if it would give the sustain I’m looking for.

Now, A death nova reaper is something else I’m curious about. I feel like it would end up being a sort of hybrid of blind necro and condi necro, looking something like this:
http://dulfy.net/gw2traits#build=AgQC5APUBqg~
using scepter+dagger and GS
utilities: (optional heal skill choice), “Rise!”, bone minions, shadow fiend, lich form
Assuming that the chill damage from deathly chill is the damage per second, this will generate damage from nearly every skill off your bar, and make the shadow fiend’s blink a lot more useful. You will also deal plenty of AOE pressure from both the chilling novas and death novas. Deathly swarm will now also potentially chill up to 3 foes at once (assuming it treats a single toss as 1 pulse).