Guild Wars 2

To start I think power Necro is turning out to be more viable than we initially thought at launch. It still could use some work, but it goes to show how experiencing the game can impact our perceptions… That being said I would like to offer a few suggestions from my time since launch playing a power/toughness Necro.

Preface I play a tanky/power hybrid build in soldier gear with Dagger/WH + Staff. These observations are strictly from this perspective. I’m neither a full-on control tank, nor a glass cannon type of build. This will certainly influence my perceptions.

1) Staff

-Marks need a higher power coefficient OR Spiteful Marks needs to go from 10% to 100% to be of any real use. Or a little of both.

-Necrotic Grasp projectile speed needs a solid increase. The channel time on it is fine. Damage feels well balanced. It’s just too slow.

2) Dagger

-Dagger sound effect is entirely too loud and “impact” sounding. A nice ripping or slashing sound would be much more appreciated. As it is everyone within 10 miles knows there’s a dagger Necro around.

-Dark Pact does not belong on the dagger. Admittedly, I appreciate it in WvW/SPvP, but in PvE it is largely a dead skill on my bar as the only mobs I would care to immobilize are immune to it and everything else I’m fine just going toe-to-toe with. I would like to see this skill go in one of a few directions.

a) Swap it with Unholy Feast. Dagger is a toe-to-toe weapon and tends to be within range of more enemies at once. PBAOE damage + Retaliation makes a great deal of sense on this weapon. Axe attacks from range anyway and could actually appreciate an Immobilize, even in PvE if only to avoid damage from a Veteran.

b) Give dagger some mobility. A leap similar to the Warrior’s sword skill (on a longer cooldown) with AoE lifesteal on landing would fit rather appropriately. This would leave dagger without any control, but I would be fine with that given 2/3 of our offhands have control options.

c) A land version of the spear’s “Deadly Catch” that pulls enemies to you and applies Weakness. This is the sort of control skill I would expect on the dagger, not a ranged Immobilize.

3) Axe

-As stated in the dagger section, Axe could benefit greatly from a ranged immobilize as it has 600 range to make use of, rather than a PBAOE skill, which isn’t always of the best use, and if it is used you’re in a situation that you would probably rather not be in anyway.

-Autoattack would do well to simply speed up somewhat. Not a whole lot, but enough to help in the damage department and allow for slightly more Vuln stacks to go up. It would also benefit “on crit” builds as well as lifesteal due to the rapid hits.

4) Death Shroud

-Dark Pact Projectile speed needs an increase in a big way. I don’t think there’s much argument on this one.

-Life Blast doesn’t do enough damage. Combined with the Dark Path issue, all I ever use Death Shroud for is to eat big hits I can’t dodge, tag mobs in large group events with LT, and the occasional fear in PvP. I realize that by having zero traits in Soul Reaping I shouldn’t be hugely effective in DS, but while blasting from 100% to ~70% or so it should at least out-damage dagger and be worth using in some manner. I feel like it’s a largely wasted class mechanic, similar to steal on a purely ranged Thief.

5) Traits

-I’d like to see a trait that gave an inverse effect to the Ranger’s Longbow. The closer you are to your target the more damage you deal. The bonus could apply differently depending on the weapon. Dagger might get little/no benefit, Axe a moderate benefit, with Staff and Scepter gaining a much larger one. This could benefit Condition/Power hybrid builds as well as tanky builds that could use a slight damage bump while in the thick of it. This could replace some sort of existing trait

-I actually don’t mind Reanimator. The Horror could use a little more health and better AI, but in the grand scheme of things I don’t have a problem with it. The larger issue is Protection of the Horde as speccing into Death Magic doesn’t guarantee you’ll be using minions. So a free minion for some extra damage or taking a hit/two isn’t a terrible proposition. Move Dark Armor to the minor 5 slot. Move Reanimator up to the 15 minor slot with a moderate HP increase. Protection of the Horde goes to the major slots as it should.

All of these suggestions, if implemented in “nerfed” versions and buffed up over time as developers observe their effectiveness would do well to move everything in the right direction.

In no particular order (sorry):

You’re gonna catch hell from the well-bombing power Necros, but at least you aren’t getting rid of the immob completely. Actually, it’d come in handy for getting the entire Axe #2 channel to hit, so you may be on to something there. Plus, I’ve heard people say they think Axe #3 is out of place. I half agree. Since it is a mid-range weapon, the cripple is nice for kiting, but the retaliation doesn’t make sense if you’re trying to stay out of range anyway… So with Unholy Feast I’d either say keep it on Axe and change retaliation to some other boon (suggestions? vigor perhaps?), or switch it over to dagger and keep the retaliation.

As for your first trait suggestion, I’m not sure the risk outweighs the reward. Hybrid builds tend not to be in the thick of it since they build in little to no added vitality or toughness. And I’d personally want to stay alive and DPS from range as opposed to play risky for a marginal (I assume +2-5%) damage increase that could have me in downed state more often.

I agree with the general sentiment that the Death Magic line needs to be reorganized in terms of the minor traits that are dependent on minions. Don’t worry Bas, I’m not a hater! Just want traiting for toughness to be a little more useful for everyone.

About DS: It most certainly isn’t a useless class mechanic. Even for how you’re using it, which is precisely how you should use it – to extend your normal health bar. I’m with you on Life Blast feeling a bit…lacking. Too weak? Cast time a tad too long? Maybe. Traited it can be a better (piercing & vulnerability and/or might stacking, add in DS fury), but I feel too like it could be a hair better than it is currently without having to trait for it.

For the utility marks offer, doubling the effect of spiteful marks is too much. But even with SM marks 2, 3 and 5 are wimpy – I’ll give you that. So maybe bump the coefficients for Staff #2,3, and 5, and keep SM as is.

Love the bit about the dagger sound being obnoxious. Would much rather have a slashing or ripping sound…

I definately like the idea of swapping dark pact with unholy feast. Ive never considered the Necro as a range dps caster, if anything they are a melee dps caster or a ranged support caster. Which is why I really think the devs made a mistake by leaving out a cleave weapon on the necro and not giving them more dps potential close range. The design of the wells suggests that a necro should be pretty close to the frontline.

bump for great justice!