Guild Wars 2

I run the full zerk 6/2/0/0/6 build and early on in the match when empty on LF, I struggle sustaining especially vs mesmers. I use spectral wall as my main defense to buy me some time until I accumulate a little LF but it seems there is very little margin for error.

How do you guys approach this situation when running this build

Or do you guys still think this build is viable? I’m also interested about your 1v1 tactics outside the DS zerk build

I don’t run a power build, but I make heavy use of spectrals – usually armor – and soul marks so I usually have a small life force pool to worth with to start a match. You can always do the minion trick too. Otherwise I would try to head to the mid fight and use your big hits there to get some kills and life force. Zerker necros are dangerous but not really the best for 1v1 situations.

Might is power, corrupt boon and spectral armor are what I would use for utilities. Flesh golem for elite, you could go lich but if they corrupt your stability or just run away for the duration you will be in trouble. In a 1v1 duel they should let you have 30% lf to start. Would help if you said what weapons you are using.

In wvw I usually use this to build

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fRAQRBHbhG2IHNF32SjNNs3moWoguODgZIqOg65oNqWA-TBCEABJcSFYS5nEHBA72foN9PA8gCSU9ntUCGAABIAfLcfLcu5NP6NP6NLFQELjA-e

How to play (Always start with the life force full):
1 vs 1:
Dark Pact→Wail of Doom→Well of Suffering→Swap Axe and use Ghastly Claws→ Ds and Life Blast

2 × 1:
1) Dark Pact→ Wail of Doom(Search hit the two)
2) Then Well of Suffering on first target
Well of Corruption on second target → preferably use on class with more boons(elementalists and gardians)
3) Charge(golem skill)
4) Locust Swarm
Swap to Axe and
5) Unholy Feast
6) Spinal Shivers
Enter on DS
7) Tainted Shackles
8) Life Transfer
9) Life Blast on eak target first

Tips:
1) Use Doom on near target and use dodge for evade stuns and etc.
2) Use only 50% o fyour life force and get out. Immediately use Spectral Walk→Reapers Touch→Unholy Feast→Ghastly Claws to gain more life force.
3) Use wells always.

I use staff dagger/focus mainly for spinal shivers and have chill of death traited. Since I cant escape leap or stealth, best I could do is slow them down. Casting time takes a bit so if my positioning is faulty, the outcome wouldn’t be good. I like using the dagger but uncertain if the staff is optimal for this build. For utilities Im currently using well of suffering, spectral wall and armor. Lich for utility.

GreenRipper.6432:

In wvw I usually use this to build

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fRAQRBHbhG2IHNF32SjNNs3moWoguODgZIqOg65oNqWA-TBCEABJcSFYS5nEHBA72foN9PA8gCSU9ntUCGAABIAfLcfLcu5NP6NP6NLFQELjA-e

How to play (Always start with the life force full):
1 vs 1:
Dark Pact->Wail of Doom->Well of Suffering->Swap Axe and use Ghastly Claws-> Ds and Life Blast

2 × 1:
1) Dark Pact-> Wail of Doom(Search hit the two)
2) Then Well of Suffering on first target
Well of Corruption on second target -> preferably use on class with more boons(elementalists and gardians)
3) Charge(golem skill)
4) Locust Swarm
Swap to Axe and
5) Unholy Feast
6) Spinal Shivers
Enter on DS
7) Tainted Shackles
8) Life Transfer
9) Life Blast on eak target first

Tips:
1) Use Doom on near target and use dodge for evade stuns and etc.
2) Use only 50% o fyour life force and get out. Immediately use Spectral Walk->Reapers Touch->Unholy Feast->Ghastly Claws to gain more life force.
3) Use wells always.

Thanks, I appreciate your input. That’s not a bad rotation, I’ll try it out on a mesmer.

Furious.2867:

I use staff dagger/focus mainly for spinal shivers and have chill of death traited. Since I cant escape leap or stealth, best I could do is slow them down. Casting time takes a bit so if my positioning is faulty, the outcome wouldn’t be good. I like using the dagger but uncertain if the staff is optimal for this build. For utilities Im currently using well of suffering, spectral wall and armor. Lich for utility.

Make sure you use focus 4 when close to your target, it gives big damage, life force, and vulnerability. If you use it farther away it won’t bounce unless its a group of targets.

if you bring spectral wall just o buy time ,, you might aswell take the minion rats with you ^^

Against mesmers use the transfer life so he put the ghosts. Everyone will die and before the next reuse it dies.
If condition keep away when he invisible and not kill the clones, only beat him because by killing the clones is when you fill the conditions

Wells blow for 1v1 encounters unless they are complete morons. I prefer dagger dagger for 1v1s over the focus, you could go dagger dagger axe focus for a good 1v1 setup with those traits. But drop the Wells and wall.

NeXeD.3042:

In a 1v1 duel they should let you have 30% lf to start.

I just met another person for a 1v1 who was adamant that I start our duel with zero life force.
And you know, the whole “but warriors start without adrenalin…” discussion ensued, despite him actually having a necro as one of his alts.
Anyway, I just drained my lf everytime.

NeXeD.3042:

Wells blow for 1v1 encounters unless they are complete morons.

I almost always have at least one well in duels.

I can’t think of any 1v1 I could possible have where either me standing still is a good idea let alone a situation not on a point where I can get someone else to stand still long enough to make any of the Wells worth it. If someone had a video of doing it against someone who isn’t a complete moron I’d be really interested

We apply the well wells. The secret is you paralyze the opponent with Dark Pact and Wail of Doom, with this u can keep the opponent a good time inside the well.
You can keep the opponent into the well using daze + immobilize or fear + immobilize because it avoids the use of another skill to teleport.

Placing a defensive well doesn’t mean that you have to stand still. 240 radius is actually enough to dodge roll without leaving the well.

Also, there seem to be two different mindsets here concercing the use of wells.
The one being: power build – root – well of suffering – max dmg. Makes sense, but this kind of strategy is of course more effective on npcs rather than real players.
The other aspect to wells is skill timing and area control. You can anticipate your opponent’s skill rotation and positioning and force them out of there comfort zone with wells, similar to how you would use Spectral Wall.

Anyway, I almost always use Well of Power in my build, and in tpvp I run Well of Darkness or Corruption in addition to that depending on the opposing team composition.

In my experience tpvp and 1v1s are not the same, yes wells can be useful at holding points but in a 1v1 duel I am still quite confident there are much better options for a 1v1 fight. If it’s tpvp or wvw or pve wells are great to fine. I must have misread somewhere about 1v1s.

Well, first and foremost I’m a WvW player and duelist whenever the opportunity presents itself.
If you happen to play on EU, I’ll gladly fight you with double wells

I am not on EU. And according to the wvw discussion boards that automatically makes me kittenty so I suppose I’m wrong and wells are indeed more effective than all of our other utilities in 1v1 situations.

in Tournament, You start with 0 – 25 LF ( from summoning minions ).

its a rule you cant stack before the match … so you better get used to with it.

those who needs full LF before duel are just bad …

Hmm I wouldn’t say more effective in general. It certainly depends on your build, and of course your opponent. Some wells like WoP work against most of them, but occasionally I’ll use a completely different utility composition.

Back on topic:
If you have trouble generating lf against mesmers you might want to consider using a warhorn. Locust Swarm gives 1.8% life force per hit or in your case even 2% because of Gluttony, with 10 ticks this could potentially fill 100% of your life force pool. And with all the mesmer clones surrounding you it will certainly generate a decent amount, not to mention that you’re also dealing damage and cripple.
Also, Spectral Grasp for an instant 16.5% might also come in handy when you start with nothing.

As other people mentioned, if you are going 6/2/0/0/6 bring a focus, and use focus 4 for 20+% life force.

My 1v1 build will always be minions. The only other I’d consider top 1v1 builds (as far as necro goes) are dire terror condi, maybe spectrals, and tanky power. Things like wells/zerker can certain work, but are very quickly countered or rely too much on favorable matchup.

Hey Bhawb you confirmed what I thought was the case with the ds zerk build. It’s a fun build but rather dependent on a lot of things. But the tips from fellow necros on here are still very useful.

BTW, there are 3 1v1 servers on right now and out of 46 players, only 2 were necros.