I have been away from the game and the community for a while, but I wasn’t at all surprised that when Anet began shifting the balance away from condition game play necro took some hits. While I don’t think we got proper compensation in survivability and lord knows they neutered any build diversity in the condition play, I scraped together a pretty impressive power build with the other tools they gave us.
The attrition comes from LF generation on dagger/staff #1, reapers precision, and x2 spectral armors (2 of those sources we can access even while in DS). You also do more damage the longer you are in the fight through proper positioning (Rune of Thief), stacking conditions (Target the Weak), and by bringing the enemy below 50% HP (Close to Death). Granted its no where near the best attrition in the game or what we have asked for but you’d be surprised how well LF stacks with this build and how much use you can put it to.
Build: 30/25/0/0/15
Spite: V, X, XII
Curses: V, VI
Soul Reaping: IV
Barbarian Amulet w/ Berserkers Jewel: This is the reason this build feels like a bruiser and allows you to take hits while still dishing out steady dmg. While it is true with Berserker you would have more straight power and more crit dmg, you become immensely more vulnerable to burst and less self sufficient by cutting down your HP/LF pools.
Staff + Dagger/Dagger
Consume Conditions, Well of Suffering, Well of Corruption, Spectral Armor
This build actually is very flexible on elites, its a personal preference
~Flesh Golem gives you more cc and a regular cripple. It can be very nice for rez denial or setting up burst.
~In a team setting Lich Burst can allow you to mow down targets quickly. I use this least often simply because it has a thoughtless spam play and is vulnerable without team coordination
~I use plague most often for the guaranteed stomp. It is also nice as a secondary mitigation tool if you are out of DS and hard focussed. In solo Q its nice to be able to at least stall a decap at a base if you are not able to win the fight (We all know escape isn’t an option)
Runes: (personal choice) I chose runes of the thief because you gain a slight dmg increase with the crit and a small survival boost due to reapers precision, other power/crit rune sets will work. The extra 10% dmg also comes into play randomly more often than you would expect in team fights. Once you get used to the build it is easier to purposefully position yourself for the extra dmg.
Sigils: Staff (Sigil of Sup. Fire) + MH dagger (Sigil of Sup. Air/Fire) OH dagger (Sigil of Sup. Bloodlust)
Pros:
~Heavy AoE pressure
~No one expects a power necro
~Massive amounts of LF generation + DS uptime when played correctly
~26K Health and 18K in DS (not considering natural decay) which gives you a lot of staying power even when focussed by timing both active and passive Spectral Armor
~access to control condi’s like fear/chill/weakness without being dependent on all condi’s landing
~better than average condi removal for a power build with dagger/staff #4 + CC
~Same or better rez denial than the old 30/30/10/0/0 power teamfight necro
~Amazing % dmg bonuses make up for lower base power than other heavy power builds. (2% per condi, 20% while enemy is bellow 50%, and 10% from behind or beside)
~Has nice synergy with condi builds due to extra dmg from target the weak and ample access to cover conditions
Cons:
~Moderate learning curve vs other burst classes (especially if you use Berserk- not recommended)
~Weaker in 1v1s with other necros (not useless against, just vulnerable)
~Like most necros, this build lacks any mobility without team support
~Lack of Stability, only mildly mitigated if you choose to access plague stomps/face tanking
Personally I have a lot of fun with this build and think it has carry potential in solo Q while still being desirable with an organized team. It isn’t your average necro but thought I’d post a build for others to try like the old days, I dont feel like there is much info flow anymore. Anyway for any of those who try it, enjoy.
(edited by reedju.5786)