Guild Wars 2

This trait is serverly lacking in performance only giving at most 10% lifeforce in a fight. Most of the time it would be around 0-8% depending on your build, the size of the fight and whether you win or lose.

If you have any comments on the trait feel free to leave them here but the main goal of this thread is to gather ideas for a new more useful trait.

There is only 1 rule that the new trait must follow.
Must interact with the death of people

Well i am certain your numbers are off (depending where you are, pve, wvw or spvp). Netherless you are right that it is a useless trait.

Well if the interaction with death of people is mandatory, why not the following idea.
Gain for each killed foe 1 stack (players give 5) of Soul fortification. (To a max of 25 stacks)
Soul fortification: Increase your max Lifeforce by 1-2% (not sure what the best number would be) per stack.

Mechanically it would essentially work like the stacking sigils.
The idea is you bolster your defenses with the souls of your dead enemies.

But honestly it would probably help deathmagic more if the reworked trait would give lf during a fight. I dont know maybe a weak version of the spectral armor effect also something like if you get hit you gain 1% lf (1 or 2 sec icd maybe even a per enemy cd not a global one).

if it has to be a death trait then I would say grant stability and cleanses conditions on a nearby death. Personally I would love it to be a life force granting trait in combat.

Tadsoul.6951:

There is only 1 rule that the new trait must follow.
Must NOT interact with the death of people

Fixed that for you.
You know, so the reworked trait doesn’t suck again…

Add to Soul Comprehension the following :

Deathly Swarm generates 2% LF per target hit.
Enfeebling Blood generates 3% LF per target hit.

Well, regardless of what this trait did/does/ever will do it is in the death magic tree. If it was buffed to be hell on wheels it wouldn’t matter.. Either condi or power DM is an awful pick next to spite/sr/reaper. Whatever would change would have to come with bigger changes to DM as a whole.

As is...the only thing that would make me choose DM would be if it allowed some modicum of healing through shroud, but that sounds like more of a blood magic thing.

Anchoku.8142:

Add to Soul Comprehension the following :

Deathly Swarm generates 2% LF per target hit.
Enfeebling Blood generates 3% LF per target hit.

While i am for lf generation on dagger offhand i dont think a minor trait is the right place for this.

So why no make it baseline? Putting it on the dagger trait would also be fine.

Muchacho.2390:

Anchoku.8142:

Add to Soul Comprehension the following :

Deathly Swarm generates 2% LF per target hit.
Enfeebling Blood generates 3% LF per target hit.

While i am for lf generation on dagger offhand i dont think a minor trait is the right place for this.

So why no make it baseline? Putting it on the dagger trait would also be fine.

I agree to having it baseline or on Quickening Thirst but it mat be tricky doing so with respect to balance. OH dagger definitely needs LF for condition damage builds even more than power builds. “Paying” for it by taking Death Magic is a kind of compromise.

Your points are well taken, though.

Another thought is that Death Magic is a tanky trait line.

Has anyone considered adding true hate management traits? Things like taunt could be added to some skills. Fear on Shroud could be replaced by taunt, for example.

Spikes of toughness could also be self-applied via skills in order to hold aggro. Corrupter’s Fever stacks toughness but is not an on-demand trait.

Right now, Necromancer is not especially good at hate-management but some tweaks to DM could make it viable.

Anchoku.8142:

Another thought is that Death Magic is a tanky trait line.

Has anyone considered adding true hate management traits? Things like taunt could be added to some skills. Fear on Shroud could be replaced by taunt, for example.

Spikes of toughness could also be self-applied via skills in order to hold aggro. Corrupter’s Fever stacks toughness but is not an on-demand trait.

Right now, Necromancer is not especially good at hate-management but some tweaks to DM could make it viable.

Well aggro generation has no point if you don’t have the tools to deal with the aggro. So we can start with that if we are not so easibly focussed down.

I think the passive right now is so weak that it’s irrelevant xD
On-death traits only make sense in low-tier PvE (where enemies are weak and die a lot) or large-scale WvW fights. Everywhere else it’s completely meaningless because if something doesn’t die, the trait might as well not even be there. And if it does die, you get almost nothing out of it…

How about completely scrap the current passive and make it so you gain 1 second evade upon entering shroud?
So if you picked up Death Magic, you’d have the 1-sec evade + the protection when exiting from Beyond the Veil?

Or something like “every time you gain life force, you also gain health”. This would probably be pretty OP but if it’s only a small percentage it could work?

Or “every time you gain life force, you steal a small amount of health from nearby enemies”. Not too thematic with the death magic treeline but anything is better than the current trait.

-You gain lifeforce from deaths as usual, but you also gain a small amount of lifeforce from any NPC deaths like Mesmer illusions and ALL of your minions? Probably way too niche for minion master builds and fighting Mesmers…

Last one – the closer the enemy is to death, the more life force you get by hitting them. If the enemy is below 50% health, you gain 1% life force per hit. Below 25% health, you gain 2% life force per hit.
Or… if YOU are below 25% health, you gain 1% lifeforce per enemy hit.

Tim.6450:

Well aggro generation has no point if you don’t have the tools to deal with the aggro. So we can start with that if we are not so easibly focussed down.

An on-demand immunity would be necessary, too. Either a trait that makes blind 100% effective in PvE, or some other form of avoidance.

Spectral Armor and Wall are not strong enough to face-tank with their current cool-downs. However, a Spectral heal that grants a short immunity, medium heal, and long regeneration could be a good tanking tool.

With the right tools, Necromancer could perform as a part-time, or full-time tank. The profession, like many others, has potential but the lack of skills that scale make it impossible right now.

Toughness, alone, is not productive in PvE.

Muchacho.2390:

Well if the interaction with death of people is mandatory, why not the following idea.
Gain for each killed foe 1 stack (players give 5) of Soul fortification. (To a max of 25 stacks)
Soul fortification: Increase your max Lifeforce by 1-2% (not sure what the best number would be) per stack.

I really like this one. I would say 4% per stack would be just right.

I struggle with end-loaded buffs. Getting rewarded with LF after a victory is fine in casual PvE but a temporary, small increase in LF capacity will not have much value in PvP or other situations.

I have a new idea for this trait:

Soul imprisonment (the name would work nicely with the picture):
For every death (same range as the lf from death) and every 10 secends passively you gain one stack imprisond soul. Stack up to 5 times.

The imprisoned soul buff:
Use an imprisoned soul as shield to reduce the damage of the next hit by 50% . Remove 1 stack upon getting hit and gain 4% LF.

Another idea:
Everytime you gain lifeforce though a death or when you enter shroud you gain 1 stack of soul replenishment.
Max 3-5 stracks (i am not sure on the right number)

Soul Replenishment: For 10 seconds gain every second 1% lifeforce.

Signet of Undeath is so abysmally useless it could be reworked so that activating it without a target provides a 2 minute charge that instantly resurrects the Necromancer from a downed state.

Also, Necromancer should have a trait that provides passive effects when signets are on cool down.

The idea I had that I had posted here in my rework ideas thread is that you “gain 2% Life Force for every condition applied to you.”

I feel this would work nicely during times you’re being trained down by large groups and getting a heap of conditions stacked on you. It would also work nicely in tandem with Corruption skills, allowing you to feed your Shroud.

SpellOfIniquity.1780:

The idea I had that I had posted here in my rework ideas thread is that you “gain 2% Life Force for every condition applied to you.”

I feel this would work nicely during times you’re being trained down by large groups and getting a heap of conditions stacked on you. It would also work nicely in tandem with Corruption skills, allowing you to feed your Shroud.

That’s a pretty nice idea though Anet would probably make it 1% per condi.

I like that, too. MoC builds are always short of LF.

SpellOfIniquity.1780:

The idea I had that I had posted here in my rework ideas thread is that you “gain 2% Life Force for every condition applied to you.”

I feel this would work nicely during times you’re being trained down by large groups and getting a heap of conditions stacked on you. It would also work nicely in tandem with Corruption skills, allowing you to feed your Shroud.

I like it but it isnt conform with the rule of this tread.^^

So it should something like:
For every condition applied to you and every death around you gain 2%.

Muchacho.2390:

SpellOfIniquity.1780:

The idea I had that I had posted here in my rework ideas thread is that you “gain 2% Life Force for every condition applied to you.”

I feel this would work nicely during times you’re being trained down by large groups and getting a heap of conditions stacked on you. It would also work nicely in tandem with Corruption skills, allowing you to feed your Shroud.

I like it but it isnt conform with the rule of this tread.^^

So it should something like:
For every condition applied to you and every death around you gain 2%.

But why does it have to be about death? Yes I know thematics and all that, but its thematics that have been holding Necro back. As a wise forum user once said: “If a theme stops something from being useful, then the theme itself is pointless and need not be used.” The same reasoning can be used on Reaper Greatsword’s slow but hard hitting attacks.

Lahmia.2193:

Muchacho.2390:

SpellOfIniquity.1780:

The idea I had that I had posted here in my rework ideas thread is that you “gain 2% Life Force for every condition applied to you.”

I feel this would work nicely during times you’re being trained down by large groups and getting a heap of conditions stacked on you. It would also work nicely in tandem with Corruption skills, allowing you to feed your Shroud.

I like it but it isnt conform with the rule of this tread.^^

So it should something like:
For every condition applied to you and every death around you gain 2%.

But why does it have to be about death? Yes I know thematics and all that, but its thematics that have been holding Necro back. As a wise forum user once said: “If a theme stops something from being useful, then the theme itself is pointless and need not be used.” The same reasoning can be used on Reaper Greatsword’s slow but hard hitting attacks.

Well it doesnt but the op said he only wants ideas with a on death part to it. The reason is probably because Anet explicitly said they want death magic to have an on death trait.

And personally i would be fine with your idea.

Muchacho.2390:

Lahmia.2193:

Muchacho.2390:

SpellOfIniquity.1780:

The idea I had that I had posted here in my rework ideas thread is that you “gain 2% Life Force for every condition applied to you.”

I feel this would work nicely during times you’re being trained down by large groups and getting a heap of conditions stacked on you. It would also work nicely in tandem with Corruption skills, allowing you to feed your Shroud.

I like it but it isnt conform with the rule of this tread.^^

So it should something like:
For every condition applied to you and every death around you gain 2%.

But why does it have to be about death? Yes I know thematics and all that, but its thematics that have been holding Necro back. As a wise forum user once said: “If a theme stops something from being useful, then the theme itself is pointless and need not be used.” The same reasoning can be used on Reaper Greatsword’s slow but hard hitting attacks.

Well it doesnt but the op said he only wants ideas with a on death part to it. The reason is probably because Anet explicitly said they want death magic to have an on death trait.

And personally i would be fine with your idea.

Yeah I guess so. But on that note, only 3 traits in the Death magic line are death themed. Unholy Sanctuary stops you from dying, Death Nova which gives minions an on death poison field and Soul Comprehension, which obvious gives more life force from deaths.
edit: I’d be happy to see one less death trait.

I’ve got a few ideas that’d make it more useful but still based on death.

One idea is that killing a foe would grant you a special “buff” which would increase your life force gain for a certain period. It could either be a major buff for a short period (say, double life force gain for 5 seconds) so you could get a burst of life force after a death, or it could be a smaller buff for a longer period based more on sustained life force gain (say, 1% extra life force every time you gain LF for 15 seconds), which would basically just permanently boost your LF rate as long as you keep killing stuff at a moderate rate.

Another idea is that killing a foe would reduce the recharge of all attacks which grant life force by a certain percentage. Which could help both LF gain as well as offense / defense, depending on build. The only problem would be that some weapons which don’t have LF gain or only have LF on auto-attacks (like both MH and OH Dagger) and a number of utilities wouldn’t benefit at all, and it might pigeonhole you into choosing certain stuff a little too much. But then again, other traits have skills and weapons they work better or worse with, so maybe it wouldn’t be so bad.