So I have been playing around with a necro for roughly 2-3 weeks so far and these are my thoughts ( and the different play styles i have used ).
The first necro build that I ran with was axe / focus (with a well build).
I ran this for dung’s. The axe’s main attack itself put up vulnerability as well as the focus. Also dropping the other vulnerability well you could easily stack up 20 vulnerabilities right away. I wasn’t focused too much on doing damage but helping out the other players do more damage.
This build was not too bad, I wish that I invested more into healing (IE healing gear). It helps out in dung’s more than other classes since it makes the big hitters hit even harder. The other classes damage + in a fight far outweighs your own. You can also fix this up to have only dark wells so they leech life on hit keeping them alive. But make sure you tell people to stay in wells because.. they do not know what they do.
My 2nd build so far was Dagger / focus, this build was good for pvp for the time that I tried it. Not solo though due to everyone having a way to run away from you. Having the immobilize really doesnt help since it does not last long enough to get into melee range, and most melee class’s eat you up since your main job i have seen is kiting. Useful for dung’s? naah not really because your squishier than most of the other classes. It does deal decent burst damage but if your going this route its better for the party to grab a more dps oriented char. It works well in a group for a condition spreading necro. Immobilize then spread the love. (OH make sure you grab the speed increase, its what 15%? in main hand with dagger, I forget)
My 3rd build that i finally went to was a condition necro. Currently my gear is exotic with power/condition being the same and precision more than the other two. I am running scepter / dagger for pvp and it actually works alright. I have focused more on self preservation (sorry i do not memorize skill names so please just bare with me). So spectral armor , spectral walk (I switch this out with spectral grasp), and the wurm for the oh crap i need to get out of their situations (or the skill that turns all the boons into conditions), oh yeah and the golem <3. for the oh crap I need to get out of their situations. Now this build I have used in pvp for a bit and its alright, decent at most you just need to stay away from people and summon your golem when you NEED it. Due to people killing that thing off once you start getting away from them + its charge is just awesome. (it does more damage to an enemy stuck on a wall)
I have adjusted this build at the end skills to epidemic , the one that self poisons and poisons the enemy, and spectral armor ( a must for pvp / but for pve you could use toxic cloud or any other fun item). Now this build I have used for dungeons and its not that bad, the only problem is when you have another class IE a hunter who also does bleed damage and your bleed stacks are only 25 max. However you drop groups down as soon as you drop epidemic. OH you ask why I went with so much precision? Well I wanted to see if the skill that says you have a 66% chance to add a bleed on a crit. With a 49% chance to crit my scepter crits almost every hit which stacks up the bleeds quickly.
Currently I am reworking my gear to power – vitality – condition, to see how that will work out. I only have 25,000 HP at the moment but that is with barely any vitality except in a few trinkets and rings.
The problem that I have currently with the necro is the amount of thinking you need to do than the other classes. Death Shroud (DS) is a life saver and its good to start with to get in close. The biggest <3 I see for the necro is epidemic, its insane how you can spread the love to everyone so quickly.
Staff – Always have this as your off weapon, the fear / chill / remove conditions + the range is just awesome.
I have been stacking more and more points into vitality to live through fights and it has been working especially on a necro. I will start doing WvW video’s with and without a group, hopefully trying to catch some solo classes. There are problems with the necro class however it is a lot harder to learn than the others. + I believe it IS a support class. Also a darn good one. If you want to deal massive amount of damage go play a different class and stop kitten up my forums.
(The pet AI needs a major upgrade the golem would be so legit if it would actually attack its target)
OH try using a build in which you soak up conditions from your allies. (Make sure you add the 30%? dagger skill cooldown for your offhand weapon and you can rid of 9 stacks if all 3 hit / and the well ).
Necro’s are fun, just hard to play. They need tweaks ( they will get them in time ) but overall its a fun class to play, but it gives me a headache. Necro the jack-of-all trades but master of none.
Sorry for my poor grammar and spelling.