Guild Wars 2

Friend of mine is telling me I need to build power/crit for us to do dungeon runs instead of building condition. If this is indeed true, could someone please give me an example of a power/crit build for a necro that might work for both dungeons and WvW?

Up until this point I’ve only run conditions & wells.

http://gw2buildcraft.com/calculator/necromancer/?5.0%7C6.1n.h2%7C7.1n.h4.d.1n.h1j%7C1c.73.1g.73.1g.73.1g.73.1c.73.1g.73%7C1n.67.1n.67.1n.67.1n.67.1n.67.1c.67%7Cu27b.0.p25.0.f4%7C40.1%7C3r.48.4d.43.4g%7Ce

Enjoy!

Cool, thanks! =) So that’s the pretty standard build?

Also is my friend correct when he says that I won’t be able to run dungeons with a condition build?

You definitely can run dungeons with a condition build. I’m not entirely certain if power builds have better maximum speeds, but I’m tempted to say they do.

Besides that, the best reason I can think of for your friend to insist you don’t run conditions is that either they (or multiple people in your group?) are already building conditions. If you have too many people (2 can usually get away with it fine, 3 tend to hit snags) running full condition builds, you tend to slow down the damage since you hit the 25 bleed limit wasting bleeds entirely, and the poison / burning starts overstacking on bosses and just doesn’t go through quickly.

In any case, if they’ve got their reasons, might as well just give a power build a try.

If you guys are speed running dungeons (which generally skips trash mobs and is done in situations where AoE damage isn’t important) power is the way to go. Our AoE is very powerful in condi builds, but few people speed run dungeons with AoE situations, and even then I’d suggest running something like Nemesis’ hybrid build so you can adapt for single target.

sticx.5823:

Cool, thanks! =) So that’s the pretty standard build?

I doubt it as its heavy on toughness which you do not need in PvE

If your speed running you want a beserker wells build (30/x/x/0/30). 10 points can either go in Death magic for greater marks or you could avoid a staff altogether like i do and put 10 in curses for some extra precision and lifeforce generation (or chilling darkness for when you take well of darkness). You want to run with well of suffering and well of corruption at all times as they do good aoe damage, they can also crit aswell. 3rd slot is optional, i run spectral walk for a stunbreak and lifeforce generation + swiftness for skipping parts. Occasionally i swap it for well of power or darkness or blood is power for extra might/damage. Spectral wall is also useful when your going to LOS a group of mobs, you can position it so they all walk through as they group up, stacking 10 stacks of vuln instantly before they reach your group (basically the necro’s equivalent of the warriors “on my mark”).

Your weapons should be dagger + warhorn/focus and then the offhand is up to you. I personally go dagger + warhorn and axe + focus with a sigil of energy on the focus. Staff can also be used, provides some support for the group and is your only real ranged option.

Cempa.5619:

http://gw2buildcraft.com/calculator/necromancer/?5.0%7C6.1n.h2%7C7.1n.h4.d.1n.h1j%7C1c.73.1g.73.1g.73.1g.73.1c.73.1g.73%7C1n.67.1n.67.1n.67.1n.67.1n.67.1c.67%7Cu27b.0.p25.0.f4%7C40.1%7C3r.48.4d.43.4g%7Ce

Enjoy!

For Arah, consider going 30/x/x/x/30, for that 3 seconds stability.

Also, I really don’t think signet of spite is that good. Signet of Undeath, now that’s a great one, why is no one mentioning it?

Cempa.5619:

http://gw2buildcraft.com/calculator/necromancer/?5.0%7C6.1n.h2%7C7.1n.h4.d.1n.h1j%7C1c.73.1g.73.1g.73.1g.73.1c.73.1g.73%7C1n.67.1n.67.1n.67.1n.67.1n.67.1c.67%7Cu27b.0.p25.0.f4%7C40.1%7C3r.48.4d.43.4g%7Ce

Enjoy!

That’s a lot of toughness. with very low critical damage. I don’t like power bunker builds for two reasons:
1- Your damage is just plain bad.
2- Your survivability isn’t all too great as well. You can last few more hits, but you still die fast if you get focused in a dungeon.

I know so because I used to run a full PVT bunker build (1900 toughness and ~30k HP). Had a very hard time in dungeons. Now, reduce your toughness to something around 1350, keep your critical chance around 50-60%, and increase your critical damage to around 80%+, and check out how much damage you will be doing. I’m sure you will feel like you are much more useful in groups.

@yroeht can you elaborate on your build for arah? primarily what runes and armor do you run?

@azraeel can you also shed light on your build in comparison to the OP’s build?

sticx.5823:

Also is my friend correct when he says that I won’t be able to run dungeons with a condition build?

The two biggest things going against Condition builds in party/dungeon scenarios are

1. Damage limits. Bleed caps and the mystical interactions of Burn and Poison damage from multiple sources aside, Condition builds do not benefit from Time Warp. Sure, you can hit your 25-stack Bleed easily, but that’s it. You gain about 700 DPS compared to 1-2k with a Power build.

2. Anti-Condition mechanics. From the Poison golem in SE Story/P1, to Simin, to Mossman, and now NULL, we continue to see boss mechanics that wipe all Conditions from them periodically (or worse, heal with more Conditions applied). The problem is getting back to your 3k DPS as a Condition build requires a long ramp up, compared to Power builds who can do the same the moment the fight continues.

Flux.9784:

@yroeht can you elaborate on your build for arah? primarily what runes and armor do you run?

Not much to say really. In Arah, you will need stability to skip those ring of warding mobs, to fight the second boss of p3 (because of those hands knocking down), and to escape Lupi’s dome thingy. If you don’t use you own stability, you will be a dead weight for your party… and this 3 seconds stability (from Foot in the Grave) is pretty good at all these uses.

The gear is full berserker, with Runes of Rage (maybe not optimal runes, but pretty nice nonetheless).

The traits are: slower DS drain, DS#1 pierces and causes vulnerability, DS#1 grants might, signets (I love undeath) recharge 20% faster, and either Near to Death or the axe one depending on the weapons I will be using in the fight (almost always axe, these days, except for the Crusher, staff #4 is mandatory imho).

For the first boss of Arah p3, you may want a Well of Power. I have been ended up soloing stuff a lot, lately: first 2 bosses of p3, first boss of p2, … and I am not a skilled player, so it shows that power/crit stuff is pretty good.

I am not sure how helpful it is, but I have recorded two random Arah runs, with pugs. If not for the Choir Bell interludes of p2, they were not very good, I wasn’t even sure I’d make them public, I just did it to test Bandicam.

p2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKLSpCiZa_4
p3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jNebGrYGm4

In p3, you can see Spectral Walk saving my kitten from Lupi.
I can usually run to the final boss of p2 on my first try, and then solo him, but that was a bad day, so I ended up trying something else.

I was also testing out Flesh Wurn at lupi, but that wasn’t very conclusive

Unrelated, but power/crit is also pretty fun in WvW.

Here are too recent bits of footage:

Hills: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ol96h5Q8gDE (fights at 1:10 and 6:10)
Stonemist: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxAK9tEwKuU

This is my build.

The best runes for a beserker build are scholar runes. But if you dont have the cash just go for ruby orbs.

spoj.9672:

The best runes for a beserker build are scholar runes. But if you dont have the cash just go for ruby orbs.

How can you maintain health > 90% ? Ruby Orbs give you more crit damage, precision, and sustained damage in heavy damage environments such as WvW and dungeons.

Azraeel.1238:

spoj.9672:

The best runes for a beserker build are scholar runes. But if you dont have the cash just go for ruby orbs.

How can you maintain health > 90% ? Ruby Orbs give you more crit damage, precision, and sustained damage in heavy damage environments such as WvW and dungeons.

Dungeons you should be above 90%hp for quite a while when your whole group is stacking melee and dodging effectively. Trash will prob stop you from getting the bonus but its more for bosses. You have enough precision already and scholar runes give a nice boost in power and the loss of crit damage isnt that much. Its what warriors use if they want absolute max dps, the problem is they are expensive. Necro’s have better ways than warriors to avoid losing hp. I havent been able to try them out myself due to expense but power is pretty good stat to boost your overall dps.

This is a Power / Crit / Chill build lol. But try it out.. :P Not sure how well it is.

http://gw2buildcraft.com/calculator/necromancer/?5.4|8.1n.h1k.d.1n.h2|6.1n.h1k|1n.7p.1n.7p.1n.7p.1n.7p.1n.7p.1n.7p|2s.0.21j.0.31j.0.21j.0.31j.0.2u.0|u2ac.0.k27.k23.0|2e.1|3r.3u.44.43.4g|e

This is a better all around build, I think, it is more flexible in that you can change out your abilities to wells (great for dungeons) and the traits that add benefit to wells.

Then you can switch back to the above spec for solo roaming in wvw.

And you can even go Zoomancer spec for farming a lotta pve mobs and have good survivability.

What I like about it is that I don’t have to re-trait every time I want to do something different.

Also The first spec that is listed above is incorrectly calculated by the website, it is increasing the staff damage by way of the Axe Training trait.

Just my two cents.

I have been using a configuration similar to this (all Knight items) and my survive-ability in all situations is fantastic and damage is pretty good too.

I think I will be changing to this gear setup though, the damage output is a bit higher.

For dungeons you can stick with staff the entire time because you have all the big bonus traits for staff in this spec.

As far as wvw, run dagger most of the time; as with anything it is situation dependent.

i didnt realize due to my inability to read that it was for dungeon runs lol. so disregard my post. unless you tpvp :P

Kitedyou.1720:

http://gw2buildcraft.com/calculator/necromancer/?5.4|8.1n.h1k.d.1n.h2|6.1n.h1k|1n.7p.1n.7p.1n.7p.1n.7p.1n.7p.1n.7p|2s.0.21j.0.31j.0.21j.0.31j.0.2u.0|u2ac.0.k27.k23.0|2e.1|3r.3u.44.43.4g|e

This is a better all around build, I think, it is more flexible in that you can change out your abilities to wells (great for dungeons) and the traits that add benefit to wells.

Then you can switch back to the above spec for solo roaming in wvw.

And you can even go Zoomancer spec for farming a lotta pve mobs and have good survivability.

What I like about it is that I don’t have to re-trait every time I want to do something different.

Also The first spec that is listed above is incorrectly calculated by the website, it is increasing the staff damage by way of the Axe Training trait.

Just my two cents.

I am interested to know few things out of your build:

1- With such high toughness and no points in Soul Reaping, don’t you have issues in dungeons that you pull so much aggro?
2- Why sigil of Geomancy?
3- Do you really do fine damage with this build? Critical chance is at 40%, barely any critical damage, and power is fine. How much do you crit for?

http://gw2buildcraft.com/calculator/necromancer/?5.0|8.1g.h17.g.1g.h1|6.1p.h14|1n.710.1n.710.1g.710.1n.710.1n.710.1n.710|2s.0.2t.0.2s.0.2s.0.2t.0.2s.0|u6ac.p48.0.0.f2|0.0|3r.4d.4a.43.4e|e

may as well go all out.
ds 1 skill crits for 4-6k
dagger 1 chains for 5k at +50 percent hp and 9k at -50% hp
lich crits for 6-8k w/o might
wh 5 ticks for 400-800 for the full duration
traited shivers crits for 3k
fire sigil crits for 1.5k aoe
air sigil crits 4-5k
staff auto attack crits for 3k
staff 4 crits for 6k aoe

works for me I never die, just know when to dodge and when to interrupt with wh and you wont even take damage.
gl

I don’t focus on melee I use the axe/staff but mainly focus on the axe… To me the staff is just used for the fear , chill , condition transfer and the range when I need to hit something further away.

http://gw2buildcraft.com/calculator/necromancer/?5.0|7.1g.h2.d.1g.h1|6.1g.h2|1n.7b.1n.7b.1n.7b.1n.7b.1n.7b.1n.7b|1g.67.2s.0.3s.0.1g.67.1g.67.3v.0|u26b.5.0.k25.f2|0.0|3r.3u.44.0.4e|e

Is the build I’m running currently the +4% damage from runes , 5% from force and 15% from axe mastery is enough to make the average hit of the auto on axe hit for 500-600 and the crits are over 1k a pop meaning 2k pre hit… The 20 in blood can be subbed but the mix of life generation/damage that comes from it is nice… You don’t realize how quickly 37 life solen on hit and 50 per crit adds up.. It’s nothing amazing and you can move some of the points into soul reaping or death if you want but I keep them there for survival… Ghastly claws = 8×37 along with a few crits worth of bonus damage and healing to you… The numbers look like you got bleed on them that just can’t be cleansed.

The skills are all self selected I just choose my average go to… Devour plague can be subbed with well if you decide on more support… Bip is your main offense skill so I would suggest not changing that out unless you really have to…. Locust signet with the 50% siphon trait is a free full heal on 4 targets and the passive is amazing for your mobility… The only issue is you don’t get the passive on use….. The 3rd utility is completely up to you though I recommend signet of undeath for party play, corrupt boon for wvw, spectral wall for support via protection to those who run through it. And lastly lichform is just good with a high power/crit/crit damage build due to the way it works..

I do focus 4 followed by 2 auto attacks then a ghastly claws. If I’m 100% life force I go into ds and life blast till 50% lf then I life transfer and go back out and focus on attacking with the axe… If the target is to dangerous to get within 600 yards I focus on auto attacks and the marks from the staff… Autos may be super slow and you wont always hit but 2k crits and 1k hits are nothing to scoff at nor is the marks though they hit for much less except putrid which can crit up to 5k

You can edit it as you see fit I just have it set this way because it’s my play style… I seriously recommend trying out the life stealing traits before you dump them though because like I said those little numbers add up quickly.. 5-7k ghastly claws with that bonus 296-696 damage is nice since it comes back to you as a heal…. If they buff siphoning skills/traits as they said that may go up and make my build even better for me….. The auto also ticks it twice per use which is good…

TheStarflyer.9641:

fire sigil crits for 1.5k aoe
air sigil crits 4-5k

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Sigil_of_air
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Sigil_of_fire

Just a heads up they can’t crit.

Also I used to use a dagger/well build that used old fleshy to cc right here.
http://gw2buildcraft.com/calculator/necromancer/?5.0|8.1g.h2.8.1g.h1|7.1g.h2.d.1g.h1j|1n.7b.1g.7b.1g.7b.1g.7b.1n.7b.1n.7b|1g.67.2s.0.3s.0.1g.67.1g.67.2v.0|0.k49.a0.k18.k20|0.0|3r.4d.44.4a.4g|e

I don’t run this build anymore due to prefering the axe due to the range and higher crits on ghastly claws but it did fantastic damage… The axe/focus combo as the secondary is just a mid range option btw you can switch it with the staff if you want… The bonus dodge when you switch to it was a life saver…. The only sigil I recommend keeping on the dagger would be force since 5% bonus damage is a good sustain boost the 5% crit on the other hand is completely up to you…
edit
I forgot to say if you have any questions for me add me to your friends list using Dakiaris… I’m usually on 1 of my 3 characters mid afternoon to late at night.

Also the backpack you can use that or go with the zerker one… I just did that one for the little bit of survivability… I plan to swap it to a zerker one when I can since it’s only -50 armor.

Azraeel.1238:

I am interested to know few things out of your build:

1- With such high toughness and no points in Soul Reaping, don’t you have issues in dungeons that you pull so much aggro?
2- Why sigil of Geomancy?
3- Do you really do fine damage with this build? Critical chance is at 40%, barely any critical damage, and power is fine. How much do you crit for?

Hey Azraeel.
After trying many many many different specs and studying the trait lines for hours on end I came up with this config. I have been using this spec for a long time now and the damage output is pretty kitten good for WvW.
The only class that gives me issues is the thief class…but that class gives most every other class issues too so no surprise there. The Geomancer sigil does an aoe bleed and dmg to boot., good for that little bit of extra DPS and for helping to keep thiefs on their toes because if they are near you they are getting hit with it.

You can put whatever sigil you want in the weapons. I have a few different weapons that I carry with me for the different aspects of the game.

For WvW I have a focus that has a bloodlust sigil on it that I use for getting the charges then swap out. For PvE (non-dungeon) I have a staff that has the luck sigil on it that I swap out after I get the max charge. And yes, I have a second set of armor that I carry with me.

The trait lines I have picked allow you do various things without having to respec.

Example:

WvW
Use dagger/focus primarily in fights, unless I need additional cleansing (from staff).
This would be the configuration I would use: http://gw2buildcraft.com/calculator/necromancer/?5.4|8.1g.h2.d.1n.h15|6.1n.h1k|1n.7p.1n.7p.1n.7p.1n.7p.1n.7p.1n.7p|2s.0.21j.0.31j.0.21j.0.31j.0.2v.0|u2ac.0.k27.k23.0|2e.1|3r.3u.44.43.4g|e

PvE (non-dungeon)
Use staff for mass pulls and farming.
This would be the config I use:
http://gw2buildcraft.com/calculator/necromancer/?5.4|6.1n.h15|8.1g.h2.d.1n.h15|1n.71l.1n.71l.1n.71l.1n.71l.1n.71l.1n.b1m|1n.65.1n.65.1n.65.1n.65.1n.65.1c.65|u19c.0.k25.k37.0|2e.1|3s.4d.3y.41.4g|e

PvE (dungeon)
Use staff for most everything.
This would be the config I use:
http://gw2buildcraft.com/calculator/necromancer/?5.4|6.1n.h1k|8.1g.h2.d.1n.h15|1n.7p.1n.7p.1n.7p.1n.7p.1n.7p.1n.7p|2s.0.21j.0.31j.0.21j.0.31j.0.2v.0|u17c.0.k24.k68.0|2e.1|3t.4d.4a.4c.4f|e

To answer your question about the 40% crit rate; I have tried crit rate in the 60+% range and I just don’t feel it justifies the sacrafice you have to make in other areas. Just my opinion from many hours of trial and error with the necro. I have seen ticks on dagger 2 after focus 4 hit for as high as 6500. I don’t recall the crit dmg for dagger 1.
There have been very few solo fights that I have lost against non-thief classes. A few warriors got me good, but they were control spec, and I was new to fighting them at the time. Mesmers are always a PITA… you just have to look for the one that is either strafing, moving backwards, or running the other way. The clones always face you.

Hope that helps.

Everyone is always worried about doing mega damage…but what about being able to take good damage too. I lol at zerker spec’d anything that isn’t thief, good ol’ DS to take care of their burst, then you hit with chill and immobilize them and then pwnsauce em’ because they have everything on timers and no health. :o)

Just a funny observation…the OP appears to have abandoned this post…they haven’t said “boo” in three days. :p