Guild Wars 2

Necromancers are like jotuns, once mighty, then gods aka anet come and make them miserable.

gavyne.6847:

Totally agree that all classes should be made viable…

All classes are viable in PvE, the PvE in this game is faceroll, it is not like an MMO where you get the new "end game "raid and even organised guild groups are struggling against certain bosses so you get the situration where if DPS class X does 10% more DPS than DPS class Y, then DPS class Y is basically unviable.

In GW2 the PvE content is very undemanding, you could run dungeons with 5 necros and still be able to do it fine, in fact let’s be honest you could do it with just 3 or 4 necros, and for some you can solo, most of the PvE is that easy, hence every class is viable, viable != optimal.

“worst class” is a pretty low bar. Unless you’re going for 100% perfect speed runs, optimizing your dungeon runs isn’t exactly the most important thing.

For the majority of players out there, Necro is in pretty decent shape. For the majority of players, playing a Necro isn’t going to make a huge difference in dungeon clear speed. The majority of players don’t play team spvp. WvW Necro is strong regardless of how casual you are.

I suspect I’m pretty much the “norm” when it comes to players. I do a combination of all game types. I pve when I’m in the mood. I’ll do some Silverwastes. If that’s boring I’ll hop into some pvp for WvW. For me and what I do, Necro feels stronger than most classes. I can run full power and still feel decently tanky due to having high Vit and having Deathshroud to soak hits. I can blow people up in pvp. I feel like a god in wvw.

Yeah, I’d love some group support option and buffs. Why wouldn’t I? But I’m not going to pretend that for the majority of players out there that necro is some sort of unplayable mess.

Warriors and Thieves aren’t in much better shape.

Warriors survive in SPvp only as ressbots. Thieves are super squishy wet noodles that only get by by broken (in WvW) stealth or broken (in SPvp) z axis spammable teleports.

Mesmer is in even worse shape, hard countered by thieves.

And

Ranger is in terrible shape, locked into only a few builds that don’t work.

If your profession doesn’t maximize celestial amulet, you are out of the meta.

I would like to see more balance in builds across all professions. Tone down the meta builds and buff the less attractive alternates. Necromancer is fortunate to have enjoyed the variety it has, even if there is nothing really worthy of being equivalent to a top profession’s meta.

nekretaal.6485:

Warriors and Thieves aren’t in much better shape.

Warriors survive in SPvp only as ressbots. Thieves are super squishy wet noodles that only get by by broken (in WvW) stealth or broken (in SPvp) z axis spammable teleports.

Mesmer is in even worse shape, hard countered by thieves.

And

Ranger is in terrible shape, locked into only a few builds that don’t work.

If your profession doesn’t maximize celestial amulet, you are out of the meta.

I completely disagree I don’t focus on WTS but to an extent those 4 can fit in without being a drag, necro is the worst designed profession.

Bubblez.4612:

Necromancer has been my favorite class since I started playing, but it’s so discouraging playing in WvW. Necros should be the king of conditions yet we get outshined by so many other classes using condi builds. And our power builds don’t even make up for it cause we easily have the worst builds/weapons. We also have some of the worst mobility in the game so pretty much any other class can catch up to us if we even try to run. Then if using conditions you run into a warrior or ele who become invincible long enough for them to burst you down. I’m just hoping that the greatsword will actually be good and give us some movement, but still thinking about dropping the game till then.

Necro is the only class in the game that kills me in 4 hits with Deathly Claws a ridiculous ability that hits for 5k+ per hit!

Shieldbash.5304:

Necro is the only class in the game that kills me in 4 hits with Deathly Claws a ridiculous ability that hits for 5k+ per hit!

If only Warrior had some way to get iframes and reflects for 20 seconds. Oh wait, you can get up to 13 seconds of iframes and three reflects for an additional 6.75 seconds.

Aktium.9506:

If only Warrior had some way to get iframes and reflects for 20 seconds. Oh wait, you can get up to 13 seconds of iframes and three reflects for an additional 6.75 seconds.

Damage mitigation, yes. About reflects, it doesn’t work against axe (nor scepter).

Aireroth.7596:

Damage mitigation, yes. About reflects, it doesn’t work against axe (nor scepter).

Axe and Scepter still get blocked. The guy is also talking about Lich in a power build. I don’t think a lot of Necros run scepter in power builds.

Aktium.9506:

Axe and Scepter still get blocked. The guy is also talking about Lich in a power build. I don’t think a lot of Necros run scepter in power builds.

Ah, my bad. Mistook the skill.

Carry on.

fracture.9754:

necrofail.7439:

fracture.9754:

necrofail.7439:

Power necro is fantastic in spvp, as well as wvw zvz. Condi necro is good in spvp and literally has the best 1v1 build in wvw. It’s fine for small group roaming too. Yeah we suck at standing in corners….. oh well.

The condescending remark shows ignorance and misinformation. “Standing in corners” is very rarely used in speed clearing groups.

Still bad in pve and I would argue alot of what others have said about necro shows ignorance.

Well surely you understand not all of us enjoy zerging in blobs, or?

spoj.9672:

:>

o/

Necro is not broken or underpowered in PvE. Most of the time (and I say this from comments from people in game), Necros are considered weak because they don’t make the best zerkers in the game. Sure, a zerk necro works fine, but in comparison to warriors, etc. for dungeon running? Why play Necro at all? That’s what I hear a lot of anyway.

So just for fun, I made a video of my main soloing SE p1 with all the most “broken” necro mechanics. Namely minions. No gimmicks, no using broken enemy AI or exploits, just good old fashion toe to toe PvE.

http://www.necronex.com/blog/sorrows-embrace-solo-p1

Yeah, p1 isn’t the hardest dungeon in the game, but not many can solo it straight like that.

I dont see how that proves that necro isnt still underpowered and bottom tier in PvE. Just consider how few options and how far the necro has to go just to get through content like that compared to other classes and you see the problem. Most classes can just change a few small traits, slot some defensive utility or change weapons whereas necro has to go all in for stupid stuff like lifesteal to sustain and defensive gear to supplement it because they dont have any active defence. Not to mention the time it takes to complete content when you are forced into such innefficient and unfun methods.

And that doesnt even begin to cover the whole necros dont contribute in a group issue.

The two biggest problems in PvE are…
… it is slow with nothing but a 25 or 30 percent speed boost – no leaps or teleport (without engaging a target.)
… low party benefits – no might stacking, poor use of fields, too many of the wrong fields, poor group buffs, poor group condition management.

I think too many people for some reason keep thinking necro is fine for PvE because it can do dungeons like Nex pointed out. Nobody is arguing that. Anything can basically do any content in this game as random the build or stats. People just need to realize there’s no reason or benefit to having a necro over another class in PvE. Sure you can still do dungeons with them, sure you might think you’re doing a lot for your group, and you might be for all we know because everyone with you could be terrible, but if by now people go into dungeons with competent people, and are on their necro and don’t feel like they’re dragging the group down in some way or are useless compared to something else they could bring, then they will always probably be too thick-headed to get to.

I think the question here is “why does it matter that necro is the worst at PvE?”. We’re not terrible to the point where it prevents you from completing dungeons. In fact, the only playstyle where we have no place is speedruns, which exclude half the classes anyway. Would it be nice if necros had more team utility? Definitely. Is it game-breakingly bad? I’d say no.

Czerny.6530:

I think the question here is “why does it matter that necro is the worst at PvE?”. We’re not terrible to the point where it prevents you from completing dungeons. In fact, the only playstyle where we have no place is speedruns, which exclude half the classes anyway. Would it be nice if necros had more team utility? Definitely. Is it game-breakingly bad? I’d say no.

Because there is a huge gap between necros and the rest. 6/8 classes are used in records. Engi is very occasionally used. Ranger has been used in some records in the past and has the necessary tools to be wanted in a group. So you could say 7/8 classes have a place in speedruns and are very desirable for group content.

Necro simply has nothing, its not welcome in casual groups, its not welcome in speedruns. Its literally only welcome in groups that dont care at all but even some of those groups will kick a necro because it doesnt bring anything to the table. We cant even properly blast combo fields. The class is completely anti group friendly. Thats not acceptable for an MMO.

Is it game breakingly bad? No. Is it bad to the point that there is massive exclusion of the class? Yes. Thats not something you want especially when theres a mass of new players coming into the game. Its not pleasant choosing a class then finding out months later you arent welcome in many groups. Even more so if you are interested in speedruns and casual meta groups.

Honestly, since Anet doesn’t seem to actually grasp the fundamentals of AI programming, they need to upgrade the number of minions that the necro can have with them. Weaken each minion by 25% and then double or triple the total number of minions they can have. That would make up for the sheer stupidity of minion AI and make Necros a useful class like they were in Gw1