Guild Wars 2

For a power/condi hybrid build (at low levels currently lvl 29 – yea I know that’s not the best idea but I’m stubborn and I’m trying to make it work!) what is the rotation?

I use scepter/dagger with axe/focus. Currently I do sceptor 2 (bleed and cripple) sceptor 5, sceptor 4, blood is power, switch to axe/focus, 4,5, epidemic, 2.

I’m doing this all randomly and probably completely out of order. I’m sure there is a proper and more efficient way of doing this… can someone share what they do?

Also I have been thinking of doing just pure condi necro, so I guess that will be sceptor/dagger with staff off hand. Anyone know a good rotation for that?

Thanks!

Silver.4798:

I use scepter/dagger with axe/focus. Currently I do sceptor 2 (bleed and cripple) sceptor 5, sceptor 4, blood is power, switch to axe/focus, 4,5, epidemic, 2.

I usually use dagger4 after BiP and Epidemic. That way, you can use dagger4 to transfer the BiP self-bleed and the Epidemic self-vuln to the targets.

Sometimes its better to lead with dagger5 instead of scepter2, since dagger5 has a fairly small AOE radius and its possible for the target to move out of its range, even when crippled.

I wouldn’t get too hung up on having a fixed rotation, though. Necro is somewhat more like the classic John f-in Madden:
http://azeroth.metblogs.com/2009/10/01/the-great-flowchart-of-feral-dps/

There are different condition rotations for different builds and different people. It depends on your goal (burst conditions, terror, sustained conditions), the enemy’s build (how many stun breaks/cleanses/dodges etc), and the way the fight is going. We aren’t like elementalists where you pretty much have a set of rotations you spam over and over again, but there are a number of rotations you can learn and abuse when the right situations are met. But its hard to say what the ones you want are without knowing your full build.

@TheAgedGnome, thanks! I understand what you’re saying but I like having a default “go to” rotation because otherwise I feel like I’m kinda winging it and the next thing I know I’m doing the crisis scramble to stay alive when the mob should’ve been dead if I did the right rotation. Know what I mean? As I gain more experience I’ll hopefully learn the more nuanced rotations

My goal is to get here within a month or 2, so I got a lot of work ahead of me!
http://gw2buildcraft.com/calculator/necromancer/?5.0|b.1m.h16.8.1o.h5|7.1g.h16.d.1g.h2|1o.73.1o.73.1o.714.1o.714.1o.a3.1o.a3|311.0.311.0.211.0.211.0.311.0.2w.0|u16b.u26b.0.a5.0|0.0|3r.3u.3x.48.0|e

@Bhawb, Of course I fully expect everything to be relative there is nothing set in stone.
But, my knowledge of the tools at my disposal is severely lacking. I don’t even know which rotations take advantage of what, if you could spell those out for me I’d be quite grateful!

With regards to what I want to do, I guess I want mostly sustained conditions in AoE if I’m dealing with mobs, but switch to conditions + bursting with axe/focus if dealing with a boss or single target. Not sure if that helps narrow anything down

With Epidemic and BiP, you’ll want to find the rotation that gives you the most condition stacks quickly, then Epidemic it. I’d suggest something like Dagger 5, BiP, D4, S2, DS2, then Epidemic them. That should give you 12 stacks of Bleeds (some on huge durations) on the main target, with 15 stacks on up to 5 surrounding it. Then you can either use scepter auto attacks to stack up bleeding, then S2->DS2->Epidemic when it comes up, and then the next time Epidemic is up your full combo should be available. You could also probably throw S3 on the backend of that for extra damage.

Alternately, when you find yourself against single target fights you’ll want use a different rotation, probably one to setup and use Axe 2 once or twice, then back into Scepter for conditions.

Check out Nemesis builds. He explains them pretty well, and most of them are really viable. I don’t know if it was the best option, but when I’ve been leveling my Necro, I had pure condition build and it seemed very ok. As for Scepter/Dagger in PvE : #2>#5. Grasping Dead is your best ability, follow it with Enfeebling(cast of #5 is soo long and you have greater chance to land it on crippled target). If you go for 15 point minor trait in curses, switch to DS and switch it off instantly after to keep fury boon up(it helps stacking bleeds via 5 point curses minor trait). Use BiP for longer fights, followed by Dagger #4. And scepter autoattack. Always cast full 3 attack chain, don’t break it. If you want to cast anything, wait for full chain with poison, and do it after. You cast Epidemic in situations whenever you want, generally with most conditions up. Scepter #3 has best use with as many different conditions on target as you can, since it will deal most damage and give you extra Life Force, however use it as much as you can. Don’t keep it if you encounter situatuons when you simply need to soak damage/use DS. Ah, as a secondary, I’ve been using staff with Geomancy sigil. Keep in mind that it’s support weapon, which can give you some short minimal burst, but it’s totally terrible in sustain, use it to mark field before the fight in leveling/PvE if you wish, but main Scepter/Dagger. Tbh, experience comes with time, read descreptions, and you should know how-to untill you hit 80

Silver.4798:

For a power/condi hybrid build (at low levels currently lvl 29 – yea I know that’s not the best idea but I’m stubborn and I’m trying to make it work!) what is the rotation?

I use scepter/dagger with axe/focus. Currently I do sceptor 2 (bleed and cripple) sceptor 5, sceptor 4, blood is power, switch to axe/focus, 4,5, epidemic, 2.

I’m doing this all randomly and probably completely out of order. I’m sure there is a proper and more efficient way of doing this… can someone share what they do?

Also I have been thinking of doing just pure condi necro, so I guess that will be sceptor/dagger with staff off hand. Anyone know a good rotation for that?

Thanks!

You shouldn’t attempt such a gear dependent build so early on… the hybrid requires a unique balance between condition and power capabilities, otherwise it is not worth it to switch…

But if you must insist… in simple terms it can be divided into two major categories…

Single target and multiple… with a unique twist in AoE + single target focus, you also need to keep in mind that you must have a feel of how much damage you can pump out, for maximum effectiveness.

AoE rotation : scepter 2 – into dagger 5 – few auto-attacks (here is where you must use your feeling, cause you need to add as many stacks on the target so that, after you switch and burst… your conditions expire when your burst expires, therefor you have not wasted any time with conditions that were an overkill) – into blood is power – into epidemic – into well of suffering + heal OR dagger 4 + well of suffering – SWITCH into DS 4 + a few piercing DS 1 – into axe 3… ~ repeat sequence
Everything should be dead by now… and you should not have too many bleeding stacks remaining… when things are dead

Single target rotation: scepter 2 – into dagger 5 – auto-attacks (again.. you need to measure stuff) – into blood is power + heal OR blood is power + dagger 4 – SWITCH into focus 4 – into axe 2 – into DS 1 spam 4 attacks – into axe 2 and SWITCH ~ repeat sequence…

The AoE + single target focus is actually a combination of the two… you start off with the AoE rotation, and after switching instead of DS 4 you do the single target rotation on your target of choice…

Thanks for explaining guys!

Early on it is quite a challenge to make this build work, so long as I’m on offense I have no problems esp on melee mobs, but vs multiple ranged mobs is when I gotta use some serious crisis management (read: run like hell).

Still, it’s good practice until I get the gear and traits to pull it off properly and learn how to manage defensively.

Although, I have a question @Nemesis, I understand things will be different at lvl 80 with the right gear but how does one manage defense in this hybrid build? Necro’s arent very mobile, I don’t have a lot of access to vigor or dodge, and yes there is a large HP pool but that doesn’t quite seem enough… The condi build seems to have a lot of life siphoning going on to heal through the damage, how does the hybrid build deal with taking a lot of damage (when I make a mistake or having your dodges and heals on cooldown)?

Silver.4798:

Thanks for explaining guys!

Early on it is quite a challenge to make this build work, so long as I’m on offense I have no problems esp on melee mobs, but vs multiple ranged mobs is when I gotta use some serious crisis management (read: run like hell).

Still, it’s good practice until I get the gear and traits to pull it off properly and learn how to manage defensively.

Although, I have a question @Nemesis, I understand things will be different at lvl 80 with the right gear but how does one manage defense in this hybrid build? Necro’s arent very mobile, I don’t have a lot of access to vigor or dodge, and yes there is a large HP pool but that doesn’t quite seem enough… The condi build seems to have a lot of life siphoning going on to heal through the damage, how does the hybrid build deal with taking a lot of damage (when I make a mistake or having your dodges and heals on cooldown)?

With full exotics and ascended normal mobs are just a joke at lvl 80… dungeons are demanding a bit, some of them… and fractals… well there you have to use “the skill”. It’s not about soloing, you will have people with you… stand behind people as you charge your bleeds for the AoE… then you quickly move to the front-line of the battle as you switch, put the well down and DS 4 as you move away back to safety behind of your team… Even if you get hit DS will absorb that… and even if you lose DS once DS 4 starts it will finish it’s channeling…

You are a range DPSer that focuses on full damage of all sort… you are not suppose to take some hits to the face. There is no shame in hiding behind a guardian / guardian wall… cause it is you that does most of the damage. This is what works at lvl 48 fractals… I know… i’m there for a long time now…