Guild Wars 2

How do you guys get this attack to hit reliably in PvP?

I got super excited by the numbers I was seeing in a pure power/toughness/vitality build by stacking vulnerability and might against the practice golems (25 stack of vulnerability + 16 stack of might + 3k power + Spite XII = OH MY!) but in practice against other players the reliability of the skill fell through the basement. More often than not I’d only get one hit in.

Just wondering if there are some tips to ensuring more hits with it. Need to make this work for my PvP Beastmancer™ build >:)

Cheers.

hackks.3687:

How do you guys get this attack to hit reliably in PvP?

I got super excited by the numbers I was seeing in a pure power/toughness/vitality build by stacking vulnerability and might against the practice golems (25 stack of vulnerability + 16 stack of might + 3k power + Spite XII = OH MY!) but in practice against other players the reliability of the skill fell through the basement. More often than not I’d only get one hit in.

Just wondering if there are some tips to ensuring more hits with it. Need to make this work for my PvP Beastmancer™ build >:)

Cheers.

best tip imo would be to make sure they are immobilized first that way they will have a hard time evading the reapers touch. also make sure that you only hit 1 target for its maximum potential 3 hits.. oh and get spiteful talisman if possible to spam the kitten out of it when it gets out of cooldown. its kinda a must ability for any power necro imo.

Best bet is to chill your target first with focus 5 after they exhaust their dodges, then hit them with Reaper’s Touch at point blank range so it bounces between you and them really fast. If at any point your target, or the target ally that the scythe bounces between dodges, the bounce chain is stopped. Someone having swiftness on them moving around a lot can also mess up the bounce chain, which is why you need to be up close.

Kravick.4906:

Best bet is to chill your target first with focus 5 after they exhaust their dodges, then hit them with Reaper’s Touch at point blank range so it bounces between you and them really fast. If at any point your target, or the target ally that the scythe bounces between dodges, the bounce chain is stopped. Someone having swiftness on them moving around a lot can also mess up the bounce chain, which is why you need to be up close.

ok, fire it up close. That I can work with.

Enemy’s dodge interrupts the bounce chain. I can work with that, too.

Am I getting this right though, if one of your teammates dodges while in the path of the scythe it will interrupt?

hackks.3687:

Am I getting this right though, if one of your teammates dodges while in the path of the scythe it will interrupt?

If your teammate is chosen by the game to be the recipient of a scythe bounce and he dodges before it reaches him, yes. The scythes do not seek their targets, instead only flying in a straight line between targets. The scythe always targets the closest ally when it bounces, so its best that you are that closest ally.

If something blocks the path between bounces it will break the chain as well.

That’s some pretty weak design IMO. The way I assumed the skill would work (and I really feel that it should work this way) is that the scythe is fired and bounces between me and and my opponent granting regeneration/vulnerability to any ally/opponent in between me and my target. Given the range, the cast time, low dmg, and CD duration, this seems appropriate and in a PvP combat situation this would be a respectable skill that could function reliably. In the current state though the steep drop off in successful bounces makes the added range from the Spiteful Talisman trait almost worthless, since it’s only truly reliable (read as: worth the low dmg and long cast time in order to place the vulnerability stacks) at close range.

hackks.3687:

That’s some pretty weak design IMO. The way I assumed the skill would work (and I really feel that it should work this way) is that the scythe is fired and bounces between me and and my opponent granting regeneration/vulnerability to any ally/opponent in between me and my target. Given the range, the cast time, low dmg, and CD duration, this seems appropriate and in a PvP combat situation this would be a respectable skill that could function reliably. In the current state though the steep drop off in successful bounces makes the added range from the Spiteful Talisman trait almost worthless, since it’s only truly reliable (read as: worth the low dmg and long cast time in order to place the vulnerability stacks) at close range.

Learn to DS and Reaper’s Touch becomes totally OP…

And in an effort to not be a TOTAL troll, I agree with you. But it’s what we got, so we may as well work with it.

PinCushion.7390:

hackks.3687:

That’s some pretty weak design IMO. The way I assumed the skill would work (and I really feel that it should work this way) is that the scythe is fired and bounces between me and and my opponent granting regeneration/vulnerability to any ally/opponent in between me and my target. Given the range, the cast time, low dmg, and CD duration, this seems appropriate and in a PvP combat situation this would be a respectable skill that could function reliably. In the current state though the steep drop off in successful bounces makes the added range from the Spiteful Talisman trait almost worthless, since it’s only truly reliable (read as: worth the low dmg and long cast time in order to place the vulnerability stacks) at close range.

Learn to DS and Reaper’s Touch becomes totally OP…

And in an effort to not be a TOTAL troll, I agree with you. But it’s what we got, so we may as well work with it.

oh no you didn’t L2DS me!! I am the MASTER of DS!!!

lulz

true enough though, it is what it is. at least for the time being. This is definitely something I think devs need to look at though.

hackks.3687:

That’s some pretty weak design IMO. The way I assumed the skill would work (and I really feel that it should work this way) is that the scythe is fired and bounces between me and and my opponent granting regeneration/vulnerability to any ally/opponent in between me and my target.

I think that’s pretty much how the Elementalist skill works that makes that whirling sound and goes out then bounces back adding weakness and doing damage. Can’t remember the name, but for Elementalists it’s a single circular projectile that rolls, and some mobs can fire the same thing in a fan of 4 or 5.

Seems like the mechanism is there for it to work somewhat like you describe. (I think the Elementalist skill actually goes to a fixed distance and then bounces back so it will overshoot your initial target, but basically what you’re describing.)

Is the way the scythe works currently the same as the Mesmer staff bounce? Or is the Mesmer staff bounce more reliable? (It always seemed reliable to me, but it’s been a while.)

Druitt.7629:

hackks.3687:

That’s some pretty weak design IMO. The way I assumed the skill would work (and I really feel that it should work this way) is that the scythe is fired and bounces between me and and my opponent granting regeneration/vulnerability to any ally/opponent in between me and my target.

I think that’s pretty much how the Elementalist skill works that makes that whirling sound and goes out then bounces back adding weakness and doing damage. Can’t remember the name, but for Elementalists it’s a single circular projectile that rolls, and some mobs can fire the same thing in a fan of 4 or 5.

Seems like the mechanism is there for it to work somewhat like you describe. (I think the Elementalist skill actually goes to a fixed distance and then bounces back so it will overshoot your initial target, but basically what you’re describing.)

Is the way the scythe works currently the same as the Mesmer staff bounce? Or is the Mesmer staff bounce more reliable? (It always seemed reliable to me, but it’s been a while.)

The Ele dagger skill you’re referring – Vapor Blade – works exactly as I expected the Reapers Touch to work. You fire the skill at your opponent, they receive the dmg and the condition, as does every enemy in between. Similarly the Dagger #2 water skill fires a cone aoe that damages foes and heals allies regardless of what your allies do.

In fact, every bouncing attack I can think of performs the same way, which is why I posted about Reapers touch, because it wasn’t working anything like the other skills and I thought I had overlooked something or just didn’t understand the tool tip correctly.

I just don’t see how it’s reasonable or functional for a teammate to be able to interrupt one of our skills.

It needs looking at IMO.

hackks.3687:

In fact, every bouncing attack I can think of performs the same way, which is why I posted about Reapers touch, because it wasn’t working anything like the other skills and I thought I had overlooked something or just didn’t understand the tool tip correctly.

The Mesmer Staff bounce does not work that way: it bounces around. The Necro Dagger #4 also bounces around. Not sure if they all have issues with missing, etc, but there are several bouncing attacks in the game that don’t work like Vapor Blade.

Vapor blade “bounces” at the end of its range, the others bounce from target to target by a straight line.

Druitt.7629:

hackks.3687:

In fact, every bouncing attack I can think of performs the same way, which is why I posted about Reapers touch, because it wasn’t working anything like the other skills and I thought I had overlooked something or just didn’t understand the tool tip correctly.

The Mesmer Staff bounce does not work that way: it bounces around. The Necro Dagger #4 also bounces around. Not sure if they all have issues with missing, etc, but there are several bouncing attacks in the game that don’t work like Vapor Blade.

Vapor blade “bounces” at the end of its range, the others bounce from target to target by a straight line.

Vapor Blade doesn’t actually bounce. It just boomerangs – goes to the target and comes back. The Mesmer staff bounces but does not return. Same with Guardian scepter and Thief’s shortbow skill Trick Shot.

Point being, NONE of them are interrupted by an ally’s actions.

The mesmer staff WILL bounce back to the mesmer if the mesmer is the closest target. Much the same way their GS 2 attack works. The bounce range for the mesmers staff + gs throw are relatively short as well.