Guild Wars 2

I rolled a necromancer then asked some necros on my server about good WvWvW power builds. (Note: I will always be in group of 3 or 4 players). I cooked up the following:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fRAQJArdjk00SbRNG3wfbCchCyBIAicDCBqbjw4ZB-TFROwAjU+BY/Byq/ITJIA-w

Some questions:
a) I had trouble choosing between Near to Death and Path of Midnight. But I figured getting into death shroud for a 2nd life pool and life blast auto outweighs a small reduction on DS skills. Is this OK?

b) Regarding the rune choice: Is it silly to take strength runes with this build? Since I am not specced into Reaper’s Might and might not always be with a guardian, I’m not sure where my sources of might will actually come from.

c) I had trouble deciding if I should take Close to Death and Reaper’s Passion. I chose Reaper’s Passion for Furious Demise bonus. But, more importantly I figured since my crit is so high in DS, why not replenish my life force while IN DS. Does this work?

d) Am I on the right track with this build before I invest in Strength runes? Did I make a good choice for armor/accecories and runes?

Any help is appreciated. Looking for comments on build and comments on my necromancer philosophy.

a) yes, it’s ok. I’d take Unyielding Blast over Vital Persistance though.

b) If you go with Strength runes you should definitely take Reaper’s Might as well.

c) *Precision.
And no, bad choice. The trait itself is weak and you don’t really need Furious Demise with 93% crit chance in DS.

d) kinght’s/zerker, sure that works. You might also want to consider some valkyrie as well.

I assume Well of Blood is a mistake? Consume is the only viable heal.
Weapons: also a mistake? For power builds you can basically choose any weapon except the scepter.
Also, I wouldn’t use Chilling Darkness. If you go 2 points in Curses the trait to pick is a no brainer: Weakening Shroud.

Thanks. Sounds like I’m on the right track.

Do you suggest Valkyrie for the Ferocity (b/c ferocity is low) or the vitality (to deal with conditions)? Since the necromancer has such a large health pool would you consider the vitality < toughness? How about Caveliers (Toughness, power, Ferocity) instead of Valkyrie?

Yes there were mistakes >_<
Well of Blood is a mistake. I wanted Consume Conditions for heal + condition removal — as you suggest.
Sceptor also a mistake. I want axe. There isn’t a point
The point of chilling darkness was for the chill speed reduction. Good catch on the Weakening Shroud cripple. That should have the same effect; drop pools then go to DS

ionix.9054:

The point of chilling darkness was for the chill speed reduction. Good catch on the Weakening Shroud cripple.

There’s no cripple on Enfeeble, but that’s not the point. The trait is good, more damage and some extra defense with weakness, that’s all there is to it.
You shouldn’t have problems keeping opponents in range through other means.

ionix.9054:

Do you suggest Valkyrie for the Ferocity (b/c ferocity is low) or the vitality (to deal with conditions)? Since the necromancer has such a large health pool would you consider the vitality < toughness? How about Caveliers (Toughness, power, Ferocity) instead of Valkyrie?

For necros vitality is better than toughness. You should mix stats to have a little extra armor but overall you just get a lot more out of vitality because it scales with you life force pool as well.
Most of your defense comes from mitigating damage in DS, and since lf regen is always percentage based you can generate a lot more hit points if you have a lot of vitality.

You want valkyrie because compared to berserker you can sacrifice precision for vitality. A worthwhile trade considering you get +50% crit chance from Death Perception.
I’d aim for 80-90% crit chance in DS.
If you feel you need a higher chance out of Shroud you might wanna take pack runes, they give you some precision and a nice fury uptime in combat.

Thanks for the response. Massaged it a bit into:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fRAQNAndWjc00SbRNG3wfbCchC63MAaho+Aqbjz4ZB-T1BEABMp8DiDBwiq/ky+DAcCAe4JAslSQSBonwI-w

Unless I’ve completely misunderstood, I think the following is a good baseline (perhaps swapping some armor pieces for some toughness)
Armor: Valkyrie (w/ Runes of Strength)
Accessories: Beserker
6/2/0/0/6

Notable changes:
- Gives me a larger health pool at the expensive of toughness. This will increase my lf pool
- Will sit at 85% crit in DS and 35% crit outside of DS w/ higher crit damage and power