Guild Wars 2

So I’ve just recently started a necromancer, and it seems to me like ANet REALLY tried to push condition damage onto Necromancers. I was discussing builds with a friend of mine who mains a Necro, and he said that he primarily uses Deathshroud for a lot of his dps, and traits to reinforce that idea. If I understand correctly, Deathshroud gives extra bonuses to power and precision, as well as crit damage?

In this case, what is the best weapon to build up Life Force? Would it be Axe/x, or Dagger/x? I kind of like warhorn, and the warhorn 4 ability seems more melee, so I’ve been considering D/W.

Are there any other nuker builds? I’m trying to avoid condition damage, given it’s lack luster performance in group content due to the way the game handles condition stacking and condition damage.

Any tips would be appreciated. Sorry if this has been discussed elsewhere. I skimmed the first page, but it is late, and I am tired.

If you want a “Nuke” build you can go with the standard Wellomancer:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fRAQNAndWjc0UdbLN20whbiahC66MAmho6Aqnj2oaB-TVSDwAP3fIhSweK/ep+TlzAAI9BDeAAAM/J5QAQKgIWGB-w

The most common weapon set is Axe/X for power. You can use mainhand dagger for the Life Siphon, but I’m not a fan of the shorter range. All 3 of the offhands (Warhorn/Focus/Dagger) are viable so it just depends on the situation. I typically keep focus as my default and will switch to Warhorn for mobility or Dagger for AoE conditions. I always carry a Staff as my alternative weapon set for the utility. The auto can be used to stack Life Force.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fRAQNAW4Yjc0UZbLN20whbCchSqfA6FIAiWqbj04ZB-TlCEABwpD4NNBFt/AIaE2SJoBPEAtU+Jj6PAcEAc+CAEAABYmzMdGgCdml5OLFgfKjA-w

My hybrid variant. It uses the staff as primary weapon to apply conditions and build life force, then drop wells and pop into DS for the extra crit and DS 5+4. Also, nothing funnier then hitting a thief for 5k lb crit, and then setting them on fire for another 2k dmg. That’s generally the idea of the build, load a enemy with bleed, poison, and torment, and burning, then start hitting them with life blasts. Two sources of dmg ticking away at them at the same time (condi+LB) will provide more burst then 1 source of dmg that hits harder but in easily anticipated intervals.