Guild Wars 2

If conditionmancers had easy access to this, it would be kinda lame. Lots of kites, weakness, protection, now vigor. GG game.
Obviously Anet would have to make it so vigor is hard to get to for the condition people. Spite tree is all about Dhuumfire, obviously not Curses, Death Magic is crap, Bloodmagic is crap, so there is only Soul Reaping left.
I think the best way to implement this would be to rework Strength of Undeath. Keep the damage boost above 90% life force, and add vigor below 10% LF. Most every power user uses deathshroud for damage, so the damage boost isnt really used much. There are plenty of times, however, that one finds themselves in a low life force situation. Not that it isnt easy to get that back with axe 2, dagger 1, and focus 4, but it would be hard to stay at 10% Lf though for the sake of vigor.
Thoughts, ideas, criticisms? What say you.

No vigor, thanks.

Do we need way more access to true defensive mechanics? Yes, 100%. But vigor isn’t the way to do it.

Hey Bhawb, as far as a defense mechanic in DS, what do you think about a trait like:

Delayed manifestation: become mist for 1 s when entering deathshroud.

This would be a way to avoid giving us defensive boons but allow us to use our DS mechanic strategically to avoid large bursts. This would be perfect for one hit mechanics in PvE and allow us to avoid one big burst in PvP and WvW.

The downside would be that it does little for our long term sustain. It may also be overpowered if someone is flashing DS q7 seconds so would likely need an ICD

Similar ideas are what a few people have suggested, things along the line of: apply AoE blind when you enter Death Shroud, gain block/invuln when entering DS for a very short duration, gain Aegis on entry, etc. Yours works just as well, they are solid concepts.

I think there are a number of things they could add trait-wise to make DS way better defensively, and also encourage active play (like timing the DS entry).

What if necros had a different approach to defense?

We already have weakening shroud and enfeebling blood, as well as staff 3+4, but what if power necros had more, and easier ways to apply weakness? (weakness on crit maybe?) It would be a powerful defensive tool, and it’s very much in the necro style to hex an enemy, rather than buff yourself.

Another trait idea, give you and your allies might when you apply weakness. (Make the trait name imply that you’re sapping the enemy’s power and using it for your own.) his makes our poison fields more valuable as well.

i don’t think traits are the answer to necro’s defensive problems. however, adding existing weapons might be.

For 2s after entering DS you gain X toughness and conditions applied last 50% normal duration.

Or bake it into DS as a passive effect for all Necros. Obviously along with the Dhuumfire removal patch =D

Draehl.2681:

For 2s after entering DS you gain X toughness and conditions applied last 50% normal duration.

Or bake it into DS as a passive effect for all Necros. Obviously along with the Dhuumfire removal patch =D

I think what the necro lacks is something to deal with focus fire. I’m not sure if there’s enough toughness to deal with this.

I also worry about putting something like block/invuln on DS. I believe since you’re usually not allowed to attack during these types of moves, this would interfere with DS’s offensive burst application.

That being said, we really do need a block of some kind. We are SLOW! Give us something to use against being instantly melted by the horde!

Kashijikito.1864:

We already have weakening shroud and enfeebling blood, as well as staff 3+4, but what if power necros had more, and easier ways to apply weakness? (weakness on crit maybe?)

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Withering_Precision

:P

Personally I don’t see what is so wrong about having vigor on necros. Necros suck the life out of their enemies, so it fits thematically too.

But since devs have made it very clear necros will never get vigor, how about we get an offensive version of it in the form of a side effect on our siphoning traits? e.g. Bloodthirst – steal 4% of your target’s endurance per hit.

It’ll be very different from vigor as if your target is low on endurance you won’t be getting much either, fits the ‘make-your-enemy-have-trouble-escaping’ image the devs want, and breathe some value into our shunned Blood Magic line.

ddoi.9264:

Kashijikito.1864:

We already have weakening shroud and enfeebling blood, as well as staff 3+4, but what if power necros had more, and easier ways to apply weakness? (weakness on crit maybe?)

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Withering_Precision

:P

Personally I don’t see what is so wrong about having vigor on necros. Necros suck the life out of their enemies, so it fits thematically too.

But since devs have made it very clear necros will never get vigor, how about we get an offensive version of it in the form of a side effect on our siphoning traits? e.g. Bloodthirst – steal 4% of your target’s endurance per hit.

It’ll be very different from vigor as if your target is low on endurance you won’t be getting much either, fits the ‘make-your-enemy-have-trouble-escaping’ image the devs want, and breathe some value into our shunned Blood Magic line.

Well actually, I was talking about this trait, but it’s a grandmaster trait in curses, a tree that most power necros tend to avoid, and even then, it’s not really a good enough trait compared to other grandmaster traits. I guess it could work as a grandmaster spite trait, but even then you’re better off taking “close to death”

As far as endurance siphoning, that would be incredibly overpowered, as there is no counter play possible. Your enemy could dodge the endurance siphon….and lose a dodge anyway, or get hit. Either way they get punished, not exactly fun to deal with, and people would cry for nerfs immediately.

I agree it’s hardly worth going 30 into curses for that trait considering the duration and internal cd. Maybe if it was brought down to master tier power builds can consider it.

4% of endurance is 1/25th of your total endurance bar even when it’s full; it’s hardly overpowered since you probably naturally regenerate more than that already. It’ll be like weakness without fumble but longer duration. However it can always be adjusted to not be overpowered if it turns out to be so. Make it proc on crit, steal more but have a reasonable internal cd, or put it on a long obvious channeled skill like dagger #2 which no condi build will use so it complies with the OP’s concerns. (Though that’ll undermine its effectiveness greatly)

Not to mention every other class has fairly easy access to vigor which in itself is already a counter, so I do not think it would be as terribly overpowered as you say with proper adjustments.

I’m just putting out ideas, though I would prefer some sort of actual sustain or defensive mechanics as Bhawb suggested.