Guild Wars 2

I’m using the Shout Reaper build, and have been fine while roaming with Axe/Dagger and Staff, but wondered if Dagger would be even better.

I just want to know what others think, and do.

Thanks for any replies.

:D

You talk about Roaming, then i think you play WvW. Otherways, explain better your problems and we’ll answer to all your questions

If you play condition use a condi weapon is better, then the scepter will do better damage than the axe. You lose the axe3 to corrupt 2 boons istant but you will corrupt 1 boon at the end of the AA chain, the axe2 grant 12%LF but is a channeling skill and with few conditions the scepter3 can grant the same LF but with no channel required (only 1/2 sec of casting time). Both the weapons grant you cripple AoE.
The main difference is that with the scepter you can use your Condition Damage Statistics and if you’re using a condition setup that will grant you an appropriate amount of damage, better than using a Power weapon with low Power/Critical/Ferocity stats (and you need them all to inflict good damage with a power build, while you can chose to focus only on Conditon Damage for the equipment stats and use foods to increase your condition duration to do all the damage you need).

I can also suggest you to use the Warhorn as secondary weapon, expecially roaming in WvW, because grant you an Unblockable Daze AoE with the skill 4 and AoE cripple + swiftness + LF generation with skill 5, that is always good in open spaces and eventually massive fights.

The dagger as main weapon for a Power build in WvW isn’t bad, if you’re able to reach your enemy, and will grant you Immobilize + boon corruption and a strong Auto attack, but a ranged weapon like the Axe helps you to catch your target easier (expecially because a lot of other classes have better mobility skills than the necromancer) and the difference in damage is not so big.

The staff is the only weapon that is mandatory in more or less every build (power, condi or hybrid) because grant you Life Force generation (traited) and different Utility skills (also marks are unblockable if traited). But have a really low damage (it’s the worst damage weapon of this game, but also the best Utility weapon we have)

axe,

because on-point instant strike 600radius pbaoe 5 target 2 boons corrupted and cripple will help you and your allies more than just pewpew projectiles back into the face of your team mates.

Justine.6351:

axe,

because on-point instant strike 600radius pbaoe 5 target 2 boons corrupted and cripple will help you and your allies more than just pewpew projectiles back into the face of your team mates.

…Necro has barely any projectiles.

And for roaming, castrating your damage output for slightly more burst corruption is a terrible idea.

No, condi roaming, you go Scepter, all the way.

Drarnor Kunoram.5180:

Justine.6351:

axe,

because on-point instant strike 600radius pbaoe 5 target 2 boons corrupted and cripple will help you and your allies more than just pewpew projectiles back into the face of your team mates.

…Necro has barely any projectiles.

And for roaming, castrating your damage output for slightly more burst corruption is a terrible idea.

No, condi roaming, you go Scepter, all the way.

Oops I thought scepter was projectiles.
I was thinking an actually good reaper build that uses both Condi, power and boon corrupts not some trailblazer trash looking to tag loot so I guess if someone going Condi only ya scepter would be best to get numbers.

Justine.6351:

Drarnor Kunoram.5180:

Justine.6351:

axe,

because on-point instant strike 600radius pbaoe 5 target 2 boons corrupted and cripple will help you and your allies more than just pewpew projectiles back into the face of your team mates.

…Necro has barely any projectiles.

And for roaming, castrating your damage output for slightly more burst corruption is a terrible idea.

No, condi roaming, you go Scepter, all the way.

Oops I thought scepter was projectiles.
I was thinking an actually good reaper build that uses both Condi, power and boon corrupts not some trailblazer trash looking to tag loot so I guess if someone going Condi only ya scepter would be best to get numbers.

I use Celestial gear. I think going full Condition would be bad in a lot of situations where players could spam remove Conditions, and if you run into the same person removing Conditions again, or multiple times, then it’s like might as well leave that map for a while.

The thing I like about Scepter most is the Boon Corrupt and Torment, after using it a bit when roaming last night.

I find the second skill sorta clunky though.

Why either or?

I’m currently running a glass hybrid silly build with Axe/Scepter. It kind of works.

Spectral Grasp and/or Focus helps if you need longer reach.

Edit: To clarify — staff is great utility but not mandatory.

Kam.4092:

I use Celestial gear. I think going full Condition would be bad in a lot of situations where players could spam remove Conditions, and if you run into the same person removing Conditions again, or multiple times, then it’s like might as well leave that map for a while.

The thing I like about Scepter most is the Boon Corrupt and Torment, after using it a bit when roaming last night.

I find the second skill sorta clunky though.

Necro does have the best condi application though, and if you last long enough to burn through all their condi clear and get them with a whirl, they are very dead. The point of Celestial is that it can be strong with a might-stacking build, but you don’t have to go full cele; you can mix in some Trailblazers/Dire/Rabid as well.

Scepter 2 can be cast behind you like Staff and the bleeds are fairly long so if you’ve got nothing else to do while kiting, this is the thing to use.

Scepter 3’s torment can cover for your bleeds and weakness (which are the most important conditions for you) and you can combine with Corrupt Boon, Plague Signet to just smother them in non-essential condis.

Ralkuth.1456:

Kam.4092:

I use Celestial gear. I think going full Condition would be bad in a lot of situations where players could spam remove Conditions, and if you run into the same person removing Conditions again, or multiple times, then it’s like might as well leave that map for a while.

The thing I like about Scepter most is the Boon Corrupt and Torment, after using it a bit when roaming last night.

I find the second skill sorta clunky though.

Necro does have the best condi application though, and if you last long enough to burn through all their condi clear and get them with a whirl, they are very dead. The point of Celestial is that it can be strong with a might-stacking build, but you don’t have to go full cele; you can mix in some Trailblazers/Dire/Rabid as well.

Scepter 2 can be cast behind you like Staff and the bleeds are fairly long so if you’ve got nothing else to do while kiting, this is the thing to use.

Scepter 3’s torment can cover for your bleeds and weakness (which are the most important conditions for you) and you can combine with Corrupt Boon, Plague Signet to just smother them in non-essential condis.

I last long enough usually to take out 2 people at once, but if a third comes in I am dead usually unless it’s like a Rev or Guardian.

I only have a full Viper’s set for PvE. I don’t have Trailblazer’s yet. Would mixing Trailblazer Trinkets be ok?, and the rest Celestial when roaming?

Without a doubt scepter is best for condi builds. Personally I would never drop scepter for axe when running condi and honestly I would drop staff over scepter if I’m hybrid.

Staff is a great utility weapon, but imo especially if you aren’t running soul reaping (which in my builds I do not) you’re better off taking either gs or axe for the boon corrupts.

As for armor, carrion/tb mix might be best for roaming if you want a hybrid feel. Or mix vipers, carrion, and tb. I personally think cele wastes too many stats on necro to be worth it. You gain very little from healing power, toughness isn’t nearly as good as vit on necro (vit adds to your total lf pool as well so it double counts), ferocity is ok but you’re better off with just higher power, and precision is needed but you only need around 20% to be effective.

Helly.2597:

Without a doubt scepter is best for condi builds. Personally I would never drop scepter for axe when running condi and honestly I would drop staff over scepter if I’m hybrid.

Staff is a great utility weapon, but imo especially if you aren’t running soul reaping (which in my builds I do not) you’re better off taking either gs or axe for the boon corrupts.

As for armor, carrion/tb mix might be best for roaming if you want a hybrid feel. Or mix vipers, carrion, and tb. I personally think cele wastes too many stats on necro to be worth it. You gain very little from healing power, toughness isn’t nearly as good as vit on necro (vit adds to your total lf pool as well so it double counts), ferocity is ok but you’re better off with just higher power, and precision is needed but you only need around 20% to be effective.

Celestial is bad for Condi builds but is pretty much BiS for forward play on power/hybrid when not playing staff/soul reaping.

I went for a Hybrid build in WvW, and use Shout Reaper Meta. I enjoy it a lot. It’s amazing in squads and big fights.

I mainly don’t roam, which is why I made thread just asking which weapon people liked for roaming. It seems like most use Scepter even when hybrid.

I have two sets for wvw:
Cele+Reaper runes with A/D+staff for zerging.
TB+Antitoxin runes with Sc/W+Staff for roaming.

The antitoxin, sweet bean bun and relentless pursuit combo (-98% cripple, chill, immob duration while in RS) is really hard for me to give up when outnumbered roaming so I don’t usually run the shout runes nor the shout trait. The 360 radius of the shout runes is also much harder to land in small fights. No shout runes means a lot less pressure from my utilities which makes scepter all the more important. Lack of stability from Guards also means I bring more stunbreaks instead of shouts.

When it comes to cele vs TB, Cele is great in zergs when you are hybrid and spiking conditions, power dmg and corrupts. Aoe Burst is what matters to take people down. Condition duration doesn’t really matter here as if they don’t go down fast, there will be cleanses/heals. The condi duration from TB is great for roaming though as it helps immensely with overloading enemy condition cleanses.

Only “Shout runes” worth using are Trooper, which have the same range as the shout using it (nothing amazing for Reaper, but Rangers get some stupid range out of them).

Scepter and Curses, nothing else comes close for my Reaper.

Kam.4092:

I’m using the Shout Reaper build, and have been fine while roaming with Axe/Dagger and Staff, but wondered if Dagger would be even better.

I just want to know what others think, and do.

Thanks for any replies.

:D

Hi

I actually rarely roam on my reaper, prefer mes and engi for that, but when I do, I run scepter + dagger and axe + warhorn on bleed focused build in hybrid gear (hybrid offense / defense, not condi / power).

It works out OK, though a pair of thieves will almost always get me except if they’re newbs or I get lucky or some other situational stuff happens. And them thieves just seem to LOVE to work in pairs.

In 1v1 its much better, I come on top or pretty close vs most, except super cleansing druids. I have just enough HP to survive and counterplay any alpha even from glass toons, and enough offense to down them or make them run away (again thieves).