Guild Wars 2

So, it’s pretty much finalized that burning will very likely be a 30pt Grandmaster trait which makes getting Master of Terror fairly difficult for anyone using a scepter. Here I have a few notes that may enlighten people as to the most cost-efficient way of maximizing burning and terror damage, at least in PvE/WvW

Solution #1: 105% Fear Duration

A. Rare Veggie Pizza, 40%
B. 30pts in Spite, 30%
C. Necromancer Runes x6, 20%
D. Sigil of Paralyzation, 15%

Total: 105%, 70% ALL Condi, 35% Fear only.

Downsides – Lose your offhand sigil and damage from conditions. What I mean is, note that with 70% condition duration, a 4s burn reaches 6.8s, JUST short of a 7th tick.

Solution #2: 95% Fear Duration (Wut?)

Here’s something alot of people might not know, Sigil of Paralyzation is actually bugged, and I believe it multiplies on top of condition duration from other sources, I’ve tested this in Heart of the Mists over and over by eating a pizza before hopping in (buff stays on).

A. Rare Veggie Pizza, 40%
B. 30pts in Spite, 30%
C. Nightmare Runes x6, 10%
D. Sigil of Paralyzation, 15%

Total: 95%, 80% ALL Condi, 15% Fear only. Note .. 1.8s x 1.15 = 2.07s

Downsides – You still lose your offhand sigil, but now you have another burn tick, yay ! Another 35-70DPS depending on your malice.

Solution #3 – 70% Fear Duration

It is known that if a fear is timed, you can actually pump out an extra tick. I can’t do it myself very often but I’ve occasionally seen videos across the forum. Given that bleeds tick continuously, this requires remarkable skill and timing, looking at the enemies health bar and timing it /just/ as it falls from condition ticks. In practice, this is fairly difficult and I don’t recommend this solution. Besides, if you’re skilled enough, you can even do this on the above two solutions and get three ticks probably.

The upshot is you can now use your offhand sigil and whatever runes you want to reach bleed duration cap, though the benefit from having this is severely diminished if anyone else is contributing any bleed stacks at all (if you easily maintain 25 stacks with your weapons/build).

Downsides – Unreliable, mostly luck-based, return is based on group comp/allies nearby.

Solution #4 – 120% Fear Duration

Basically, this is getting Master of Terror anyway. The only situation I can recommend this is in is where you’re not using a Scepter. I don’t think it’s worth dropping BOTH 2% damage per condition and your shot at significant uptime of a buffed weakness / scepter durations above bleed cap for it, but if you’d rather have the burst for your hybrid build, I don’t know.

That’s all for now, hope this is useful to fellow necromancers tomorrow and the coming weeks !! Have fun !