Guild Wars 2

I run a power build with a mix of berserker and knights gear, with axe/focus and dagger/WH and I was wondering what an ideal trait spread could be.

Obviously 30 in spite is a must for close to death and axe training an either reapers might or spiteful talisman.

In the past of been putting at least 20 into blood for well CDs and sometimes 30 into blood for siphoning wells which makes me pretty tanky in AoE encounters and makes well of blood great for group support and siphoning since it lasts 10 seconds. Since I run Well of Blood a lot for dungeons I typically put the remaining ten for shrouded removal since I’d have no other condition removal. If I only go 20 into blood then unusually pick up unyielding blast for the vuln and pierce.

Do you guys think that blood magic traits are worth it for PvE and WvW to be tankier? Or would it be better to put points into either curses or soul reaping for target the weak or deathly perception, which would go great with the might stacking build I was considering. What do you guys think?

Theres no point in blood magic at the moment. So yeah its either go for a target the weak build or go for a more DS orientated power build. They are both strong but have a different playstyle. The target the weak build generally achieves higher damage though.

I see. I feel like putting 30 into curses over soul reaping would be more effective because it boosts your DPS more outside of DS and gives more utility in the form of debuff conditions like weakness and vuln. That being said of miss the well CD reduction and HP from blood magic, but the tree just doesn’t provide enough sustainability for the DPS I’d gain fr curses. Any suggestions on gear? Since I just redlined my knight/zeroed armor with cultural I think I’ll stick with those and maybe pick up cavalier/zerker accessories (although I already use a knights amulet).

Don’t get pigeon holed into 30 spite for close to death just because ‘muh deeps’. Not to say don’t use it, but actually think about what role you’re playing (pve, yeah full dps, zerg or solo wvw both ask for very different things however) when choosing traits and always ask yourself if X trait is the most effect for your build and strategy.

nearlight.3064:

I see. I feel like putting 30 into curses over soul reaping would be more effective because it boosts your DPS more outside of DS and gives more utility in the form of debuff conditions like weakness and vuln. That being said of miss the well CD reduction and HP from blood magic, but the tree just doesn’t provide enough sustainability for the DPS I’d gain fr curses. Any suggestions on gear? Since I just redlined my knight/zeroed armor with cultural I think I’ll stick with those and maybe pick up cavalier/zerker accessories (although I already use a knights amulet).

Do not forget that 30 into Soul Reaping gives +30% Crit damage as well kitten flat damage when above half Life Force. That is a lot. Do not take Curses just for the 300 Precision. You can still pump 10 points into it with 30/10/0/0/30, so you are only losing 200 Precision (which is like 8% crit only).

Then you can think about the tremendous amount of help you get from DS especially in WvW. Curses in general have pretty terrible traits when it comes to a power build. Only thing worth using is the minor trait Target the Weak, but that is a 25 point trait with the rest of the trait slots almost wasted. Do not get trapped into pumping 30 into curses just for the 200 extra precision.

nearlight.3064:

I see. I feel like putting 30 into curses over soul reaping would be more effective because it boosts your DPS more outside of DS and gives more utility in the form of debuff conditions like weakness and vuln. That being said of miss the well CD reduction and HP from blood magic, but the tree just doesn’t provide enough sustainability for the DPS I’d gain fr curses. Any suggestions on gear? Since I just redlined my knight/zeroed armor with cultural I think I’ll stick with those and maybe pick up cavalier/zerker accessories (although I already use a knights amulet).

Do not forget that 30 into Soul Reaping gives +30% Crit damage along with the 5% flat damage when above half Life Force. That is a lot. You can still pump 10 points into Curses with 30/10/0/0/30, so you are only losing 200 Precision (which is like 8% crit only).

Then you can think about the tremendous amount of help you get from DS especially in WvW. Curses in general have pretty terrible traits when it comes to a power build. Only thing worth using is the minor trait Target the Weak, but that is a 25 point trait with the rest of the trait slots almost wasted. Do not get trapped into pumping 30 into curses just for the 8% crit, and never underestimate how useful DS is for Necros.

The curses line isnt that bad for power builds. Warhorn cooldowns is good, adds to dps with locust swarm uptime. Weakening shroud adds some dps when flashing DS and contributes bonus damage to target the weak. After the Withering precision nerf its not really worth going 30 in curses though. Just go 25 in curses then 15 in soul reaping for the crit damage. So basically your two best options for dps builds are 30/10/0/0/30 and 30/25/0/0/15. If you are going for dps then I recommend beserker gear, it may take some getting use to but putting yourself in danger is the fastest way to improve as a player.

spoj.9672:

The curses line isnt that bad for power builds. Warhorn cooldowns is good, adds to dps with locust swarm uptime. Weakening shroud adds some dps when flashing DS and contributes bonus damage to target the weak. After the Withering precision nerf its not really worth going 30 in curses though. Just go 25 in curses then 15 in soul reaping for the crit damage. So basically your two best options for dps builds are 30/10/0/0/30 and 30/25/0/0/15. If you are going for dps then I recommend beserker gear, it may take some getting use to but putting yourself in danger is the fastest way to improve as a player.

Basically I was thinking the same way as you were in regards to this. I feel like the fury trait, banshees wail, and target the weak would be very useful. Deathly Perception also seems too powerful to give up. My only concern would be whether to take near to death as the 20 point SR trait or something else like vital peristance or path of midnight, since unyielding blast will be on the build no matter what. Im also going to stick with my mix of knights and zerker gear. A party full of unskilled glass cannons is a wipefest.