Guild Wars 2

Sooo, first things first I’m a returning player after being away for almost a year now, and even before that I rarely played. So I logged into my beloved Necromancer and joined WvW as a Reaper, but it just didn’t do it for me. So I though, well maybe I should return to my old condition build and spread some diseases.

But what the hell happened? Is Anet actually being serious with this? I feel like most spells have a reduced range now. The wells and everything. But hey, that’s fine. I simply move closer, drop them and then quickly switch into Plagueform. The first time I did that I immediately got downed and didn’t even notice that my elite got changed. I just thought the damage was too high. But on my second attempt I noticed my elite going on cooldown, but I’m still jumping around as a feeble human, not a virulent cloud.

That’s when I took a step back and simply cast Plaguelands outside of any fight to see what is actually happening. What I saw was that I simply farted a small, pulsing cloud of laughable size on my position, and I was like “WHAAAT??”…

How do you expect us to use this elite against other players? First off, you don’t even gain Stability while casting, so it’s easily interruptable. But who would interrupt such an elite, which you can simply roll out of, because it’s so small? Hell, you don’t need to do anything, because as immobile as Necro is you don’t even have to worry about him getting close enough to get any effect from Plaguelands at all!

There are soo many downsides to this skill compared to the old Plagueform. One of the biggest being the lack of Stability. Now you’re simply the tossing ball of the enemy zerg. Not to mention the loss of tankiness and a relocatable AoE spell.

Honestly, stuff (meant to say a different word here) like that makes me want to leave the game again. Anet is again reducing the number of viable builds in WvW. But maybe I’m wrong, but then maybe someone can tell me how to efficiently utilise Plaguelands in WvW, or any other PvP scenario?

Plaguelands is actually pretty powerful if you use it at the right time.

Vyrulisse.1246:

Plaguelands is actually pretty powerful if you use it at the right time.

It’s very different from the old elite, which was about mobility.

Think high DPS but without any mobility.

It is quite effective against veteran and lower NPC’s (camps) and siege. Against players, it’s best used on a bridge or other choke to deny access, or during a busy zerg clash where other distractions and red circles might cause it to be ignored for several seconds.

Stonewall.6037:

Vyrulisse.1246:

Plaguelands is actually pretty powerful if you use it at the right time.

It’s very different from the old elite, which was about mobility.

Think high DPS but without any mobility.

It is quite effective against veteran and lower NPC’s (camps) and siege. Against players, it’s best used on a bridge or other choke to deny access, or during a busy zerg clash where other distractions and red circles might cause it to be ignored for several seconds.

So in other words it’s extremely situational and you first have to move yourself into an extremely dangerous position before you can expect any benefit.

Players have been complaining that the necromancer don’t do enough damage so they simply replaced a defensive skill by an offensive skill.

Personnally I’m pretty happy that they finally got rid of one of our transform elite skill thought I would have prefered that they took care of the awfull lich form instead of the okay’ish plague form.

But yeah, what can we do? Anet’s dev seemed to already have mastered the “let’s give them what they want by changing something they don’t want us to change!” way.

plaguelands is an amazing improvement, thats all there is to it.

Sublimatio.6981:

plaguelands is an amazing improvement, thats all there is to it.

Ah yes, I see. Your infallible arguments really convince me. /sarcasm

1. dps increase
2. cd reduction
3. aoe field – requires choke points, or strategic placement
4. isn’t a useless transform with no damage and just stability pulse
5. can precast and pull your foe for the last few strongest ticks

All changes, especially one as drastic as changing a form like Plague to a corruption (that functions more like a well), are going to ruin some builds, strengthen others, and create still more.

For me it was largely a positive change; yes, most people aren’t going to stay put to suffer all the conditions, but it stacks far more condis than Plague ever did meaning if you get hit by pulse 10 you have a much harder job getting rid of them.

I see its main benefit as being capture points – either in WvW where you can get an entire camp to kill itself with one skill, or in PvP where you can make fighting on-point a really bad idea while you cap it.

If you want stability, go Lich Form, or use traited shroud.

The new skill is below average and it rarely reach its full potential. Its only useful in pve and arguably could be decent in wvw. Pretty unreliable imo.
Definitely need some changes.

I will say it could do with a larger area, not too much larger but a bit. It’s an Elite after all. Or maybe slightly faster pulses if that’s a thing they could do if they do keep it so tiny.

It’s called being tactical.. Knowing how it works is one thing, knowing HOW to use it is another.. it’s all about hiding the skill in combat…never open with it.

mazut.4296:

The new skill is below average and it rarely reach its full potential. Its only useful in pve and arguably could be decent in wvw. Pretty unreliable imo.
Definitely need some changes.

Actually, I find it very powerful in PvP as well, and situational – but effective in WvW.

HardRider.2980:

mazut.4296:

The new skill is below average and it rarely reach its full potential. Its only useful in pve and arguably could be decent in wvw. Pretty unreliable imo.
Definitely need some changes.

Actually, I find it very powerful in PvP as well, and situational – but effective in WvW.

Yea I can imagine random pvp players who ignore red circles, but that’s not serious…

mazut.4296:

HardRider.2980:

mazut.4296:

The new skill is below average and it rarely reach its full potential. Its only useful in pve and arguably could be decent in wvw. Pretty unreliable imo.
Definitely need some changes.

Actually, I find it very powerful in PvP as well, and situational – but effective in WvW.

Yea I can imagine random pvp players who ignore red circles, but that’s not serious…

Dude it’s like the single best decap skill in the game. You drop it on point and your opponent has to leave the point or get rekt.

Crinn.7864:

mazut.4296:

HardRider.2980:

mazut.4296:

The new skill is below average and it rarely reach its full potential. Its only useful in pve and arguably could be decent in wvw. Pretty unreliable imo.
Definitely need some changes.

Actually, I find it very powerful in PvP as well, and situational – but effective in WvW.

Yea I can imagine random pvp players who ignore red circles, but that’s not serious…

Dude it’s like the single best decap skill in the game. You drop it on point and your opponent has to leave the point or get rekt.

What about power necro… or you forgot about that too…

This is an amazing addition to my condi build! It can cause so much damage and bleed build up. True it is not as effective against highly mobile foes or other players who recognize the skill, but I suppose that that’s its Achilles’s heel. However, on stationary/semi-stationary enemies, this thing wrecks!

mazut.4296:

Crinn.7864:

mazut.4296:

HardRider.2980:

mazut.4296:

The new skill is below average and it rarely reach its full potential. Its only useful in pve and arguably could be decent in wvw. Pretty unreliable imo.
Definitely need some changes.

Actually, I find it very powerful in PvP as well, and situational – but effective in WvW.

Yea I can imagine random pvp players who ignore red circles, but that’s not serious…

Dude it’s like the single best decap skill in the game. You drop it on point and your opponent has to leave the point or get rekt.

What about power necro… or you forgot about that too…

This is clearly a condi elite. Power builds are better off using the other Elites.

mazut.4296:

Crinn.7864:

mazut.4296:

HardRider.2980:

mazut.4296:

The new skill is below average and it rarely reach its full potential. Its only useful in pve and arguably could be decent in wvw. Pretty unreliable imo.
Definitely need some changes.

Actually, I find it very powerful in PvP as well, and situational – but effective in WvW.

Yea I can imagine random pvp players who ignore red circles, but that’s not serious…

Dude it’s like the single best decap skill in the game. You drop it on point and your opponent has to leave the point or get rekt.

What about power necro… or you forgot about that too…

Maybe if Anet finally revamps Lich Form, we might just get a pure power elite.

This is frustrating. I wish A-net had a suggestions inbox.

Why couldn’t they have added Plague Lands as our Well Elite and maintained the existing Plague Form with some tweaks to improve the offence a little bit?

Plague was really good for bunkering down in WvW – it was probably our best defensive option available. Sure, the DPS was terrible, but it was still an Elite Skill that was useful in PvP & WvW.

Alright. After hours of playtime and fooling around with different builds in WvW this weekend I came to the conclusion, that Plaguelands in the grand picture sucks.

Sure it’s great for fighting camps and stuff, but that’s not what I am after. That is PvE. As soon as a human player comes along you get so incredibly out maneuvred it’s not even funny.

The only time it’s actually useful is when there are catas directly at the wall of a tower or rams at the gate. Then you can jump from the wall with Spectral Walk on, plant Plaguelands and return up to safety… Given your timing is perfect of course. Because the incredible lack of stability makes it almost impossible for Plaguelands to get through. So most of the time you drop down, get CCed and have to return back up without doing anything.

And that’s my biggest problem of all. The old Plagueform gave us a reliable source of Stability and tankiness. Our ONLY reliable source of Stability. Now with that gone and none existent movement spells I die. A lot.

I’m not the best player obviously. But I know when to go in and when to retreat. I have map awareness. I have everything I need to survive. But it’s still not enough. Where other classes simply can walk out of the death zones, we get knocked down and snared literally to death.

At first I didn’t find it useful, however, my Necro in Viper gear has found it pretty kitten powerful. I mainly use it when I’m getting overwhelmed by groups which doesn’t happen too often as epidemic tends to make short work of groups. This has been a great way to keep my Sigil of Corruption at max stacks longer. I’ve tried other elites and in this build the ability to stack lots of conditions in a hurry and then Epidemic it is downright mean. The only part that bites is the cooldown is just too long to use it for anything beyond situational.

For sPvP, I use plaugelands and “Chilled to the Bone”. I only used “Chilled to the Bone” until we got plaugelands, I’ve been appreciating it.

I have used it in the past for capping points and area denial. Yes, its easy to avoid, but it pretty much forces people to avoid the area for 10 seconds. Your team can do a lot in 10 seconds. The points I enjoy denying the most are those “special” areas that award more points to your team if you cap them. As well, I have dropped it in the middle of team fights before, and I find enemies often fumble in order to re position themselves. (Or they end up suffering big time)

Of course, in WvW and PvE it is deadly useful as well.

That being said, it does need a couple things done to it:

-It should be a well or at-least ground place-able.
—That, or it should grant stacks of stability like “Chilled to the Bone”.
-It should have a combo-field associated with it.

Other than that, it is pretty rad at the moment. I’ve been having a ton of fun using it. I tend to get around the stability thing by using it when I’m not being focused or the enemy has already dished out their CC. However, I really do think that it should grant stability (or be ground target-able). Its an elite, after all!

I do like that its effect is pretty low-key, visual-wise. I tend to dump Executioner’s Scythe or a Well before it (leaving a red circle), and often my allies are dumping AoEs as well. This hides it fairly well.

STOP using word effective in WvW cos skill is crap. Rarely is usable in any situations in WvW mode. So for elite this skill sux *.
PLague was the only sustainable skill with insta stab without traiting or going to shroud. Spamming blindness, crippled and weakness in the midle of melee train without any full bunker builds, so it was imba. And it had usefulness in any situation in WvW which plaguelands don’t.

Long cast, no stab or so whatever def addon to secure that cast, ground “self” target skill, to many pulses to reach any usefulness out of it, cos even the dumbest players have time to avoid it’s critical dmg. And even less skilled ppl learned to stalk necros on walls trying to jump on sieges.
Skill as it is have no place in elite slot. imho

I am going to miss my “well screw you I’m a cloud” retort.

But I haven’t tried the new replacement skill so can’t comment on it’s efficacy.

If you WvW a lot, Plaguelands is going to seem like a nerf over plague, because battles are typically too open or too mobile for a static field that requires someone to stand in for several seconds to actually do any significant harm, plus you’re no longer able to spam weakness or blind the entire duration.

sPvP and PvE are a different beast though. sPvP it’s a pretty good area-of-denial skill for a point, especially with the more damaging and disruptive conditions coming on later ticks. For PvE, it’s a straight DPS increase for condi builds that can exceed Flesh Golem for bosses that are completely static or have phases where they stand in one place, like Thaumanova Anomaly.

Tested it extensively in pvp and its pretty kitten weak. Its really only good to pressure downed players, but the old plague was even better at that and stomping/resing.
I’m even more disappointing now…

This skill need further rework. Something between the original plague and the current skill.
120 cd/220 range mobile field/instant cast/10sec. duration/2x stability for 3sec. The skill is no longer “corruption” and cannot get reduced skill cd from the trait.
When cast weapon bar get 2 skills.
- 1st skill is offensive. Act like the current skill giving offensive conditions and stacking them(bleed/poison/chill/torment/burning/last tick gives fear).
Also Gives offensive buff to the party and pulse vulnerability every 2 sec. for its duration(halved in pvp/wvw)
- 2nd skill is defensive. Its more like the original Plague. Pulse defensive conditions(cripple/weakness/blind/last 2 ticks gives slow) and gives toughness and pulse protection to the party.
You can swap between the 2 skills but with 5sec cd.
The actual elite duration doesn’t start before you choose one of the 2 skills. It automatically enter the offensive skill after the stability duration ends without interrupting your actions.

I would like it a whole lot more if you didn’t have to be standing in that strategic location to use it.
I’d ask for a little range but i’m scared that they’d make it into a well skill.

Plaguelands is good. I use it in WvW no problem & it’s definitely the best elite for my build there. I don’t know if it beats Plague but it’s quite good.

I would like it if it had some of its old Stability granting effect, likely maybe it pulses Stability to you while you stand in it, but otherwise it’s quite good.

CynicalFred.9135:

I would like it a whole lot more if you didn’t have to be standing in that strategic location to use it.
I’d ask for a little range but i’m scared that they’d make it into a well skill.

I don’t think they’d be afraid to make it a ranged-targeted skill. CPC is after all.

I don’t want it changed, except maybe make it a channeled cast time – 1 tap i would spawn it in place, holding for a sec would cast it mobile, following my position

If the plague will follow the necro it’ll be meta for sure in pvp.
Best condibomb: Plague, wait, cast flesh wurm on point and teleport, gg.

Vitali.5039:

If the plague will follow the necro it’ll be meta for sure in pvp.
Best condibomb: Plague, wait, cast flesh wurm on point and teleport, gg.

No what you do is you slot Spectral Walk, activate Spec Walk from a superior position, close and plant the Plague, then Spec Walk out.

It’s killer for WvW siege. I don’t know how it’d work in sPvP beyond just making you even better at cleaving corpses.

Sarrs.4831:

Vitali.5039:

If the plague will follow the necro it’ll be meta for sure in pvp.
Best condibomb: Plague, wait, cast flesh wurm on point and teleport, gg.

No what you do is you slot Spectral Walk, activate Spec Walk from a superior position, close and plant the Plague, then Spec Walk out.

It’s killer for WvW siege. I don’t know how it’d work in sPvP beyond just making you even better at cleaving corpses.

Good thing that players in pvp tends to stay out of plague.
I clearly was answering this Sublimatio’s post.

I don’t want it changed, except maybe make it a channeled cast time – 1 tap i would spawn it in place, holding for a sec would cast it mobile, following my position