I have used this build exclusively in PvE so everything is to be regarded in a PvE context. Everything is based on my own personal experience and represents only my take on how I play my Minion Necro. Feel free to disagree.
In GW1 I played my Necro as a Minion Master almost all the time. In GW2 it’s a bit hard to justify bringing minions to the field.
Minions are great while leveling but fall of a great deal at max level.
Because of that and the fact that they have various other problems they are rarely worth the skill slot.
This build does not change that fact but helps you deal with the problems and even out the flaws to a certain degree.
What I am trying to accomplish with this build:
- use as many minons as possible without being defenseless without them
- use multiple stats to be as flexible as possible while keeping the amount of minions high
Playstyle:
Death Shroud(DS) is a great skill with a wide range of options how to use it.
In this build I try to take advantage of DS as much as possible.
It has a fixed ability kit and works with every other build, this allows for great variation in this particular build.
Core mechanics for this build:
- With 15 point minor trait in the Curses line we get Fury for 5 seconds, with the 30 Point major trait in Soul Reaping we can reduce the cooldown on DS to 5 seconds.
- Life Blast deals more damage the more Life Force you have
Now how do we use these mechanics ?
The idea is to pop into DS and use the fury buff to ensure a lot of crits. Important is to keep your life force pool high so life blast deals maximum damage while fury is up.
after 5 sec cancel DS and lay down conditions with your staff or weapon of choice.
(more about weapons later)
This way you can still hold your own in a dungeon if your minions died until the cooldowns are back up.
This sounds very simple but is a lot more complicated in combat when you have to dodge or use DS to block off some damage to survive.
Here are some basic guide lines:
- keep life force above 50% if possible
- don’t stay in DS when fury is down (unless you have to to survive)
- use the bone fiends active as often as possible
Weapons:
Staff is imo the best weapon for this build. It can build up life force quickly to sustain the use of DS while allowing you to keep a safe distance. The AoE is very usefull too and provides more durabilty for your minions with the regen from mark of blood.
Your second weapon set can be anything.
Armor:
I’m using carrion armor and emerald rings, amulet ect.
Carrion because this build benefits from power aswell as from condition damage.
Emerald Jewelery to boost the defense.
However I think it would probably be better to go with coral or chrysocola jewelery but I don’t have time for the grind and was barely able to afford this equipment so I can’t test it.
Skills:
Essential skills:
- Blood Fiend[heal]
- Bone Fiend
- Bone Minions or <Variable skill>
- <Variable skill>
- Flesh Golem[Elite]
Variable skills:
- Blood is Power - Provides a good amount of dmg and 10 stacks might
- Epidemic - if you primary use scepter, Epidemic provides AoE
- Well of Suffering - works best in a group that lacks vulnerability
- Signet of undeath - this one is only worth it if you don’t want to use staff, or your group dies alot
Traits:
Curses – 20:
- Weakening Shroud(10pt) - I highly recomend this. you will jump in and out of DS alot and spread a good amound of conditions this way
- Master of Corruption(20) - if you run Blood is Power or Epidemic, this is a must
- Focused Rituals(20) if you go with Well of Suffering this allows for better placement and positioning
Death Magic – 20
Not much to discuss here, Minion Master(10) and Flesh of the Master(20) are absolute must have. Without these it is completely pointless to bring minions.
Soul Reaping – 30
- Vital Persistence - since DS is used alot and it is important to keep life foce as high as possible, this is essentail to the build
- Unyielding Blast - with good positioning this trait increases your AoE damage by a huge amount especialy usefull when Life Transfer is on CD
- Near to Death - this is probably the most important trait for the build and is an absolute must have !