Guild Wars 2

I am a casual HoT PvE player focusing on Minions since it is forgiving and allows me to solo fairly well. Although I know my necro won’t put up numbers like my ele, I’d like to squeeze out some more dps if possible. I’m currently equipped in exotic berserker gear and superior runes of grenth. I have one ascended trinket – amulet hymn of prophets (power toughness condi). As you can see, pretty much a mix.

I’d appreciate suggestions on gear changes and whether I should focus on power vs. condi.

Here’s a link (mostly accurate) of my build http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQNAW7YnM0AN1gd1AebCs3glpBbaEcBqAxfwS4LUaAUACAA-ThRBAB6s/gZKBB4BAclSPvUGQp6PAA-e

Thanks for your help and suggestions.

I am a casual HoT PvE player focusing on Minions […] I’m currently equipped in exotic berserker gear

You are looking for more dps but you have the weakest possible weapon combo (Staff+Scepter/Dagger) for a berserker build.

Why would you do this?

If you want to keep your weapons, switch to condi gear. If you want to keep your gear, switch to GS, Dagger (Mainhand), Axe, Focus, Warhorn.

Your traitlines are also pretty defensive. Currently you are more support (your Bloodmagic traits) than dps.

And why Soul Eater (Reaper Trait)? You don’t even use a Greatsword!

Thanks – all excellent points. Can’t explain the Soul Eater which I’ve changed to Chilling Victory. As to Blood Magic, it helps me stay alive (I think) especially in solo encounters. However, perhaps I should move into another trait if I go with Rabid since my toughness should be high when combined with Flesh of the Master (though the health siphon continues to help with condition damage). Thoughts?

In terms of condition gear, I have enough karma for vendor exotic. Is Rabid > Rampager? Rune suggestions (I’m relatively poor).

Assuming you are going condi:

Rabid will afford you more condi damage, Rampager will boost your power and give you high crit chance. Either will work decently well compared to the other depending on how you build around it.

As of right now, you are using Blood Magic instead of Curses. If you switch to curses, you will have access to lingering curse (a boost to your condi), and target the weak (a boost to condi and to crit chance), barbed precision (chance for bleed on crits), furious demise (fury for 5s on entering shroud). With this trait line in place, I’d switch to rampager. I’m think Krait runes (you can bleed on crits, jagged horrors do bleed, scepter AA and #2, dagger #5, staff #2, you get the idea). For Sigils, Earth and Malice.
Oh, and switch your Reaper traits. Deathly chill. More bleed. Chilling Victory which you’ve already switched, and Chilling Nova. A Song of Ice and Blood (cuz kitten dragons.

Assuming you don’t switch to curses (and effectively might as well not be doing condi):

Stay with berserker but switch to dagger/x and staff. I like to keep staff just for the range (since your DS is a melee shroud), and dagger traits well with blood magic. Runes? probably scholar, but if you need cheaper, Strength or Hoelbrak. Sigils Force and Air.

I certainly like the idea of keeping my current berserker gear + scholar runes. I think I can remain relatively tanky with this build but would welcome suggestions.
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQNBmQD7khGopGsrGwbTg9GssMYTfgAw1K+FeD/hSTgKQEA-TRRBABUq+TRK/A4BAEhSQd2fAA-e

Bishopp.8421:

I certainly like the idea of keeping my current berserker gear + scholar runes. I think I can remain relatively tanky with this build but would welcome suggestions.
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQNBmQD7khGopGsrGwbTg9GssMYTfgAw1K+FeD/hSTgKQEA-TRRBABUq+TRK/A4BAEhSQd2fAA-e

Consider using Chilling Nova (you only have one shout). If you are worried about dying, Unholy Sanctuary is a better choice if you are going berserker (the poison fields will be weak, and you already have Rise on top of your other minion skills). Also, I’m pretty sure your minions count as active companions, so I would switch to Runes of the Ranger. You’re doing a power build, Condi doesn’t help you.

If they don’t count, Runes of Rage are good, especially if you aren’t using Decimate Defenses.

Thanks so much – this is a huge help for me.

If you do decide to use GS, switch to decimate defenses.

I tend to try to stay ranged mostly out of self preservation but I think I’ll have a fair amount of toughness. Thoughts on moving from D/x to GS? And if I use GS, I assume I should change Banshee’s Wail to Vampiric Presence.

Bishopp.8421:

I tend to try to stay ranged mostly out of self preservation but I think I’ll have a fair amount of toughness. Thoughts on moving from D/x to GS? And if I use GS, I assume I should change Banshee’s Wail to Vampiric Presence.

If you wish to switch to GS, the only trait I would switch based on that would be Decimate defenses and dropping Quickening Thirst in favor of Blood Bond. Vampiric Presence I would take regardless of which one you used.

Once you feel comfortable enough with the class and using your shroud as a second life pool, I would seriously consider switching out Blood Magic for either Spite or Soul Reaping.

You’ve been wonderful with your patience advice. Could I trouble you for a build using either Spite or Soul Reaping?

These are modifications of your last build. Also note that I used exotic armor. There isn’t enough difference between ascended and exotic armor to justify ascended unless you are going to do high level fractals, and the cost is much higher. Ascended weapons and trinkets are worth it, and trinkets you can get with laurels, guild commendations, and fractal relics.

First build: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQNBmQD7khGopGsrGwbTg9GsgLYQXtAQLI+K2FLjS5gdw+C-TxRBABA8EAuR9HzUC68FB4KlfPt/Ae6GAA-e

This one uses Spite, Death Magic, and Soul Reaping. The idea here is lots of damage, vulnerability stacking, might stacking, lots of chill (and proccing effects off of chill like blind).

Some options here:
– Blighter’s boon instead of reaper’s onslaught if you need more lifeforce generation to get into shrou or some additional healing while in shroud,

- Death Nova instead of Unholy Sanctuary if you find you’re doing fine staying alive.

- Checked the wiki, the bonus damage on ranger runes does work with minions. However, you can use other rune sets as prefered. Rage, Strength, Hoelbrak are good options. If you find you can maintain your life at a high level, you can use Scholar runes.

Second Build: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQNBmQD7khGopGsrGwbTg9GsQNYUvgawlSKAMAGWxfwSYLE-TxRBABA8EAMTJ4Nq/clyvn2fAPdDOfRAAA-e

This is basically the same build but with Soul Reaping instead of Spite. Here the focus is on staying in shroud as much as possible. You do more damage while in shroud, more life force generation, and even without fury, your crits will be over 100%. There are definitely better ways to do this build, but they will require a departure from berserker gear. But without changing that, here are some of the options.

- Soul Marks instead of Unyielding Blast if you have more than enough vulnerability, and want even more life force generation.

- Death Nova over Unholy Sanctuary. With the increased life force generation, you shouldn’t need Unholy sanctuary, but try it and see what happens.

- see previous build for alternate rune choices.

Now, that said….
One thing you’ve consistently mentioned is that you like being at range. Reaper’s shroud is a melee shroud, whereas the regular death shroud is pretty powerful at range, and with minions you will be able to use them as distraction while you pound away at a distance. Here is a suggested build that I think will do that effectively.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQNAW3djM0QTN2VDu1A7NOyFK5NkD1AMAagVgWGrRzC-TxRBwAXV+lT9HAPBgHXEgn7PgX3gZlgAA-e

This is a minion shroud build. Your goal is to have a lot of minions out while using shroud to pound enemies at a distance. Might stacking vulnerability stacking extra damage from several places, and near 100% crit without fury. The Valkyrie armor choice is because with Death perception you can lose a little precision, and the vitality will give you a little more of a cushion if somehow things go sideways.

Options are many on this one. Primarily weapons. Axe or Dagger mainhand, any of the off hands, depending on situation. The staff gives the highest damage in shroud I believe (someone correct me if I’m wrong).

Trait options:
- Spiteful renewal if you are facing a lot of condi, more than Necromantic Corruption can deal with. Unlikely, but just in case. Shrouded Renewal over Flesh of the Master for the same reason, and just as unlikely.

- Chill of Death over Rending Shroud if you are facing enemies that use boons.

- Soul Marks if you really need more lifeforce generation.

- See previous build for alternate rune choices.

On the flip side I have another build for a long lasting reaper’s shroud, but that doesn’t fit with what you’ve indicated you want out of this build.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQRBHRhG2IDN0Ujd1gbNwejDqhSGADwwObgWeColQNcCA-TBSBwAROIAP3f4m6PAeCA41PYWJ4jTAwVlfAA-e

Since I’ve made the changes you suggested initially, I’ve been mostly melee (GS/Shroud) and it’s been highly successful (everything dies but me). As such, I definitely would try a spec which lets me stay in shroud for a longer time.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQJARWjM0QTN2VDu1A7NWyFMoAQDYFEXF7ioKDrhmFA-TxRBQBPZ/hco+DAeCA6RXAjUCKSlfP4SAAA-e

This build uses Valkyrie gear, boosting your substantial life pool even higher. You can get away with this because the build makes use of two traits: Death Perception for 50% crit in shroud, and Decimate Defenses, which gives 2% crit for each stack of vulnerability on your target. Between those two traits, and the amount of vulnerability this build can crank out, you should be at 50% out of shroud and 100% in shroud most of the time, and regardless of the level zone you are in! (wonderful for world completion, since your crits don’t scale down). Might stacking, etc etc.

Yes I dropped Death Magic. Mainly because you don’t need the toughness you were getting (you have vitality), and the minions aren’t necessary to your dps at this point. Trust me, you will mulch most things with this. The minions still serve a purpose, but you won’t need the traits from DM for them to be useful, and this allows you to feel free to change out minions for other skills as needed or desired.

trait options:

- reaper grandmaster trait. Pick one, depending on your situation. Reapers Onslaught makes the most sense, but Blighters boon may prove useful. Deathly Chill really is for condi builds, but you may want the extra bleed damage for something.

- Ranger runes. If you end up swapping out the minions, you will want to replaces these with something else. any of the rune sets I suggested before will be good choices. Traveler’s runes I will add here, because speed increase.

- Chill of Death over Rending Shroud if the enemies have boons.

- Spiteful Renewal if condi pressure becomes an issue (you don’t have necromantic corruption, so this could become an issue, but Staff 4 can transfer those conditions).

- Bitter Chill if you need more vulnerability (somehow).

If you don’t want to use Valkyrie gear (this is one of the only times that gear set is useful), you can stick with Berserker, and use Chilling Victory instead of Decimate Defenses, or swap the GM soul reaping trait for one of the other two. Either way, you will still be sitting on a 100% crit rate most of the time.

Edit: in all honesty, if you don’t want to use Valkyrie, its not a bad idea to use Marauder. It is a minor dps decrease for a substantial boost in health.

If you use greatsword, I recommend dropping all minions and running shouts: Spite, Soul Reaping, and Reaper. You will not need minions with the AoE of shouts. Similarly, you will not need vitality if you crit a lot.

Use axe/focus instead of staff as your ranged weapon before switching to greatsword.
Slot Signet of the Locust for movement.
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQNAnYRnMbClbitbCW2A0bilaBDKBEAmBxbxx4ZkaMMHqWA-TBSBABA8EAe4EAclyPKV/hm9HMTJIe6Di4QAQKgIGDA-e

Anchoku.8142:

If you use greatsword, I recommend dropping all minions and running shouts: Spite, Soul Reaping, and Reaper. You will not need minions with the AoE of shouts. Similarly, you will not need vitality if you crit a lot.

Use axe/focus instead of staff as your ranged weapon before switching to greatsword.
Slot Signet of the Locust for movement.
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQNAnYRnMbClbitbCW2A0bilaBDKBEAmBxbxx4ZkaMMHqWA-TBSBABA8EAe4EAclyPKV/hm9HMTJIe6Di4QAQKgIGDA-e

It’s not whether you need vitality, it’s whether you need precision. between Death perception and Decimate defenses on a build designed to stay in reaper shroud, you don’t. So might as well boost vitality. Or any other stat, if theres another set that gives power and ferocity.

I agree about the shouts, but he wants a minion build so…

If I lead with a lightning axe crit and draw aggro as I close the gap, then follow with Unholy Feast, Reaper’s Touch, channel, swap to greatsword, YaaW (or Rise), Grasping Darkness, Nightfall, Death Spiral (add an AoE flame blast on crit sometime), cleanse condition and chill with Suffer, Grave Digger…

It is not fine for me to say I do not want to crit frequently before shroud when the fight may be over by then. Some vitality may be acceptable but not at a cost of crit rate.

I run exotic berserker-scholar with ascended berserker trinkets in HoT. Against champs, it may become dicey but I can swap to a raid setup for that and there is often help.

PS: I forgot to equip focus on my linked build.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQNAndRnMbClbitbCW2A0bilaBDKBEAmBxbxx4ZkaMMHqWA-TBSBAB4pPAgnAAlq/ExhA4hTAgZKBpZ/hrU+RKgIGDA-e

Pps: Foot in the Grave and Dhuumfire are easy swaps when you have enough precision. I run them more often than Death Perception on Berserker.

Lots to digest here so bear with me.

This thread has been incredible because it’s encouraged me to move out of my comfort zone (I mentioned I’m a casual player – I’m also an older player [late 50s] and not very good at theorycrafting).

I chose a minion build largely because it was easy mode – lots of toughness from minions, ranged dps. But with this thread and suggested builds, GW2 has become a whole new game. Yesterday I solo’ed my first champ and I’m almost always melee (D/F) and in shroud. Dying is a rare occurrence and mostly the result of my sloppiness.

As such, I am much more inclined to changing out minions for other skills. I very much like being in shroud for long periods and it has worked very well for me in dps and survivability. I also like the idea of Runes of the Traveler because I can then use signet of spite rather than signet of the locust. I think having a ranged weapon also makes sense for those times when melee is dicey (though I was exclusively melee/shroud when I did the Triple Trouble event yesterday) so perhaps I’m being too cautious.

So, using Bearshaman’s build as my base, (http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQJARWjM0QTN2VDu1A7NWyFMoAQDYFEXF7ioKDrhmFA-TxRBQBPZ/hco+DAeCA6RXAjUCKSlfP4SAAA-e) thoughts on which minions to switch out? My own thought is to add Signet of Spite and Chilled to the Bone. Also, is “Your Soul is Mine” the better heal since it increases life force?

Thanks again for everyone’s help and suggestions.

Suffer for condi cleanse (you mentioned roaming around in HoT) and You Are All Weaklings are my favorite shouts. Signet of Spite is also a good choice. Your Soul Is Mine helps with lifeforce regen, and as far as elites, it’s a toss between Flesh Golem and Chilled to the Bone, depending on the situation. If you do go heavy on shouts, it might be worth switching to the Augury of Death trait in the reaper line.

The fun thing about this build is you can swap around your 6-10 skills based on what you are likely to be facing, without having to reinvent the whole thing.