Guild Wars 2

Not base necro though lol. Shows what they think about necro, they dont care.

Guardian and necro are unique in that their elite HOT specs replace rather than build on the core specs. So there is no reason for necro shroud to be so bad vs repear shroud except for the fact they dont care. Same with guardian.

Lordrosicky.5813:

Not base necro though lol. Shows what they think about necro, they dont care.

Guardian and necro are unique in that their elite HOT specs replace rather than build on the core specs. So there is no reason for necro shroud to be so bad vs repear shroud except for the fact they dont care. Same with guardian.

Warriors burst was replaced with primal burst.

Also, I don’t see what you’re talking about. Core necro is fine.

bearshaman.3421:

Lordrosicky.5813:

Not base necro though lol. Shows what they think about necro, they dont care.

Guardian and necro are unique in that their elite HOT specs replace rather than build on the core specs. So there is no reason for necro shroud to be so bad vs repear shroud except for the fact they dont care. Same with guardian.

Warriors burst was replaced with primal burst.

They still have their regular burst, too.

bearshaman.3421:

Lordrosicky.5813:

Not base necro though lol. Shows what they think about necro, they dont care.

Guardian and necro are unique in that their elite HOT specs replace rather than build on the core specs. So there is no reason for necro shroud to be so bad vs repear shroud except for the fact they dont care. Same with guardian.

Warriors burst was replaced with primal burst.

Also, I don’t see what you’re talking about. Core necro is fine.

It would be a fair comparison if Necro had access to both Death and Reaper’s Shroud at the same time.

No. No it wouldn’t. Having access to both would turn it into a skill spam class.
Weapon skills → reaper shoud 1-5 →utility/wep skills → death shroud 1-5 when cd is off.
Having 5 entire skills is much greater than a single skill.

Gwaihir.1745:

No. No it wouldn’t. Having access to both would turn it into a skill spam class.
Weapon skills -> reaper shoud 1-5 ->utility/wep skills -> death shroud 1-5 when cd is off.
Having 5 entire skills is much greater than a single skill.

DS and RS skills could share cooldowns. Problem solved.

Lahmia.2193:

It would be a fair comparison if Necro had access to both Death and Reaper’s Shroud at the same time.

More like: when life force is at 100% you gain access to Reaper’s Shroud on f2.

And no, this shouldn’t really happen, it’s just a direct comparison to warrior’s elite spec mechanics.

That being said…

bearshaman.3421:

Core necro is fine.

No, it’s not.
RS is stronger than DS in almost every way.
I know, core builds are still being played today, but non of them because anyone prefers DS over RS.

flow.6043:

Lahmia.2193:

It would be a fair comparison if Necro had access to both Death and Reaper’s Shroud at the same time.

More like: when life force is at 100% you gain access to Reaper’s Shroud on f2.

And no, this shouldn’t really happen, it’s just a direct comparison to warrior’s elite spec mechanics.

That being said…

bearshaman.3421:

Core necro is fine.

No, it’s not.
RS is stronger than DS in almost every way.
I know, core builds are still being played today, but non of them because anyone prefers DS over RS.

Ok I worded it badly. But point being, Berserker can use both their F1 abilities whereas Reaper can only use RS.

Sounds like changes to core Necromancer have not been ruled out.

Thinking positively, like any devoted Necro, Arenanet may be taking longer some professions because they are developing and testing more extensive changes.

Well… look at it positively, most of the time it’s better when anet don’t touch a profession. Because when they do they almost always do it in the wrong direction and end up nerfing things that are fine in order to tune down thing that ain’t.

I don’t believe for a single second that they have left 3 out of 9 professions unchanged. The list that Gaile gave us is not a complete list of the changes coming tomorrow.

Before the upcoming buffs, the base guardian was pretty much unviable (in PvP at least); playing without DH virtues at this point is borderline suicide. Death Shroud is probably worse than Reaper Shroud, but it’s not as bad as losing DH virtues since Death Shroud does actually have some clear advantages over Reaper Shroud (range mainly).

KrHome.1920:

Gwaihir.1745:

No. No it wouldn’t. Having access to both would turn it into a skill spam class.
Weapon skills -> reaper shoud 1-5 ->utility/wep skills -> death shroud 1-5 when cd is off.
Having 5 entire skills is much greater than a single skill.

DS and RS skills could share cooldowns. Problem solved.

Problem solved? The problem is that most elite specializations don’t replace anything, they just add on. Necromancers and guardians are the few specializations that actually got elite specs somewhat right in this regard.

flow.6043:

I know, core builds are still being played today, but none of them because anyone prefers DS over RS.

I… I hate to be that person but, I actually do prefer Death Shroud over Reaper Shroud. At least in WvW and PvP.

In PvE when I’m full glass, I enjoy Reaper Shroud more just because it’s easier to demolish mobs. But over all, I’m honestly not a fan of Reaper Shroud. Dark Path is one of my favorite skills the Necromancer has access to despite it’s slugglish velocity. I also love Doom because I can use it while CC’d, it has a low cooldown and punishes my targets the closer they are to me by increasing the duration.

I agree that Reaper Shroud is better in every way but it might be a stretch to say that no one likes DS better than RS. And if I really am the only one well… Guess I’m weirder than I thought :P.

KrHome.1920:

Gwaihir.1745:

No. No it wouldn’t. Having access to both would turn it into a skill spam class.
Weapon skills -> reaper shoud 1-5 ->utility/wep skills -> death shroud 1-5 when cd is off.
Having 5 entire skills is much greater than a single skill.

DS and RS skills could share cooldowns. Problem solved.

Then it would be pointless because you’d never use the core shroud skills. Core shroud is literally terrible.

Yannir.4132:

I don’t believe for a single second that they have left 3 out of 9 professions unchanged. The list that Gaile gave us is not a complete list of the changes coming tomorrow.

You must be new to this game if this is what you think lol

Gwaihir.1745:

No. No it wouldn’t. Having access to both would turn it into a skill spam class.
Weapon skills -> reaper shoud 1-5 ->utility/wep skills -> death shroud 1-5 when cd is off.
Having 5 entire skills is much greater than a single skill.

It wouldn’t because shrouds have CDs. If you were to make the CD global instead of each shroud seperate then it will not be spammable. On top of that, to get the most out of a shroud (either one) you need to refill your bar, otherwise you get only limited use out of it.

its actually a really great idea that would give necros more tactical choices and how to approach each combat, making the game truly interesting.

I definitely agree that core shroud is far less strong than RS. However, necro is probably the strongest core spec compared to it’s elite spec. Between seasons i played both core and reaper necro a lot, and corenecro is honestly fairly playable. Reaper is def better, but the difference is definitely smaller than other classes. Try playing ranger without druid or Mes without chrono. Far more significant difference.

Death shroud is not as strong as reaper shroud; that is true if all you look at is pure numbers. But there is one number you’re forgetting that is important to a lot of people: range. RS is a melee shroud, and melee attacks are typically stronger because you are up close to your target. Reaper (in general, the shroud in particular) is all about beating things in the face, but if you want to do that at range, DS is definitely the better shroud.

Yes there are people who will use DS over RS for that reason alone, much less others. I switch between them depending on what I feel like playing. It is myopic to say that no one will want to RS; just because you don’t, or even you and your other friends don’t doesn’t mean no one will, nor does it mean that their build is weaker for it. Just different.

Edit: the strongest aspect of reaper imo isn’t even the shroud, it’s the shouts. Those can be awesome (though I still like wells).

Baseleader.4128:

Reaper is def better, but the difference is definitely smaller than other classes.

True. But other classes shouldn’t be a point of reference here.
The fact that other classes’ elite specs are by design upgrades rather than side grades is irrelevant to necro. Death Shroud is weaker than Reaper’s Shroud, so fix it and buff DS.

bearshaman.3421:

But there is one number you’re forgetting that is important to a lot of people: range. RS is a melee shroud, and melee attacks are typically stronger because you are up close to your target. Reaper (in general, the shroud in particular) is all about beating things in the face, but if you want to do that at range, DS is definitely the better shroud.

You misunderstand.

When people say RS is stronger they don’t mean it does more damage against a training golem.
It’s all about utility. RS has some mobility, stability, an ice field, a leap and two whirl finishers, and a lot more on-point aoe pressure. DS has…. range, wow!

People have been asking for those things for years, long before HoT was even announced. Then the elite spec gets all those nice features and our core Shroud is left behind without any of it. Feelsbadman.

Of course, it wouldn’t make sense to completely redisign Death Shroud to accomodate the same amount of finishers or whatever.
But there’s one very obvious buff they could add rather easily: stability on Tainted Shackles. 3 stacks, 3 seconds, so it basically covers the time between cast and the immob hit in the end.

I think there is a misunderstanding somewhere… Death shroud is by no way underpowered in number, Death shroud is terrible in playability. That’s why people complain about DS, not because of crappy numbers. The issue are not damage but :
- The god d*mn cast time of #1.
- The slooooooooooow skill #2 that have both cast time and slow projectile.
- The awfully frail skill #4 which is a hell to fully cast.
- And the strange fact that skill #5 which apply torment, root ennemies at the end of the skill (which hurt the full effect of torment).

While the strenght of Reaper shroud is not it’s damage which are probably lower or equal to DS but it’s ability to perform it’s skill fluidly. (well not skill #5 but that’s ok for a good CC).

In a game like GW2 where a fluid gameplay is necessary, DS just can’t be satisfying for anyone. Now, it’s obvious that it’s bound to stay this way but even so, it will never be satisfying to play.

What guardian gained in PvP with this patch is the equivalent of what necromancer would gain if they only removed the cast time on DS#2 and reduce DS#4 cool down. That’s a direct buff to survivability, damage and support.

Dadnir.5038:

And the strange fact that skill #5 which apply torment, root ennemies at the end of the skill (which hurt the full effect of torment).

This might look like a design flaw to some people, but the idea here is that your opponent either moves out of range with torment or gets immobilized.
Regardless, the difference in potential torment damage is negligable, especially when you consider that the immob hit’s direct damage is likely to more than make up for it anyway.

Baseleader.4128:

I definitely agree that core shroud is far less strong than RS. However, necro is probably the strongest core spec compared to it’s elite spec. Between seasons i played both core and reaper necro a lot, and corenecro is honestly fairly playable. Reaper is def better, but the difference is definitely smaller than other classes. Try playing ranger without druid or Mes without chrono. Far more significant difference.

The reason for that is that the design of repear is replacement and not addition. Whoever designed the chronomancer basically didnt understand good design principles as they just made it strictly better than mesmer and so obsoleted mesmer. Core necro and core guardian should both be made equal to repear and dragon hunter because they can be made equal. Core mesmer can never be good because of the bad designer who created the class.

My suggestions are that ds4 pulses 8 stacks of poison and has reduced cast time. Ds5 should have a lower cd and grant 3 stacks of stability. Ds3 should be an unblockable interrupt. Then we would be getting somewhere with death shroud.

@Lordrosicky.5813 I just can’t agree with how you see the mesmer. In fact, the only real reason one want to use the chronomancer’s traitline is the free movment boost. It’s just for QoL, otherwise, the core mesmer is perfectly fine as is and even more, enjoyable to play.

Why poison on DS#4? Is it because RS have it? You know the main purpose of DS#4 is sustain. It’s our source of life force in DS, it’s not like RS#4 which is a lot more agressive and lack any sustain. Being a bit more steady or having a less of an awfull Cool Down is what this skill need. It absolutely doesn’t need more damage…

Dadnir.5038:

@Lordrosicky.5813 I just can’t agree with how you see the mesmer. In fact, the only real reason one want to use the chronomancer’s traitline is the free movment boost. It’s just for QoL, otherwise, the core mesmer is perfectly fine as is and even more, enjoyable to play.

Why poison on DS#4? Is it because RS have it? You know the main purpose of DS#4 is sustain. It’s our source of life force in DS, it’s not like RS#4 which is a lot more agressive and lack any sustain. Being a bit more steady or having a less of an awfull Cool Down is what this skill need. It absolutely doesn’t need more damage…

Well on mesmer (and other classes) you are factually wrong. Mesmer changed to chronomancer by addition of an extra skill and not by replacement. As such, the chrono will always be better than the mesmer as it adds that really strong 5th skill. In practice what should have happened if that 5th skill replaced one of the current 4. It is a design flaw in many of the HOT elite specs.

Of all the skills on Death shroud Doom is the only one worth the time it takes to cast.

From my perspective, Life Blast is not homing, Dark Path is even easier to dodge (provided pathing does not fail), and Tainted Shackles does not have a strong enough CC.

Anchoku.8142:

From my perspective, Life Blast is not homing, Dark Path is even easier to dodge (provided pathing does not fail), and Tainted Shackles does not have a strong enough CC.

Life blast is homing and going to disagree with dark path being harder to dodge than deaths charge if you are trying to avoid the path of corruption proc. The release point on dark path is just really low for most projectiles, so it is easily missed unless used from a distance. With that being said reaper shroud 4 and 5 are way stronger than the death shroud counter parts.

ArthurDent.9538:

Anchoku.8142:

From my perspective, Life Blast is not homing, Dark Path is even easier to dodge (provided pathing does not fail), and Tainted Shackles does not have a strong enough CC.

Life blast is homing and going to disagree with dark path being harder to dodge than deaths charge if you are trying to avoid the path of corruption proc. The release point on dark path is just really low for most projectiles, so it is easily missed unless used from a distance. With that being said reaper shroud 4 and 5 are way stronger than the death shroud counter parts.

Dark Path misses more at distance because at increased distance target movement is more likely to cause it to “out of range.” Death’s charge’s advantages are that it doesn’t require a target, and it doesn’t require hitting the target for the movement component to work. Oh and charge isn’t a projectile so it’s not ruined by all the projectile hate.
Anecdotally Dark Path has as far as I can tell the worst success rate of any projectile I’ve used in PvP. I can go entire matches without the skill ever successfully connecting.

Life Blast’s damage is bad for it’s cast time and it’s a projectile.

Crinn.7864:

Oh and charge isn’t a projectile so it’s not ruined by all the projectile hate.

To be fair, neither is Dark Path because it’s unblockable.

Lordrosicky.5813:

Dadnir.5038:

@Lordrosicky.5813 I just can’t agree with how you see the mesmer. In fact, the only real reason one want to use the chronomancer’s traitline is the free movment boost. It’s just for QoL, otherwise, the core mesmer is perfectly fine as is and even more, enjoyable to play.

Why poison on DS#4? Is it because RS have it? You know the main purpose of DS#4 is sustain. It’s our source of life force in DS, it’s not like RS#4 which is a lot more agressive and lack any sustain. Being a bit more steady or having a less of an awfull Cool Down is what this skill need. It absolutely doesn’t need more damage…

Well on mesmer (and other classes) you are factually wrong. Mesmer changed to chronomancer by addition of an extra skill and not by replacement. As such, the chrono will always be better than the mesmer as it adds that really strong 5th skill. In practice what should have happened if that 5th skill replaced one of the current 4. It is a design flaw in many of the HOT elite specs.

Well, you can say that I am “factually wrong” (sorry it make me laugh) but I could say that you that you are blinded by the meta.

Core mesmer have a lot of advantage, trading a core traitline for the chrono line only really give you an easy access to a passive movment ability (which is something that help a lot the mesmer as a QoL since before chrono most mesmer had to use a runeset giving them a passive movment boost). You trade a lot of things in order to use this 5th skill and honestly it’s not always worth it.

It is the same for other professions. Elementalist lose some flexibility, you could even say that it’s fast paced natural rythm drop a lot in order to bring some punch to the tempest traitline (however, this change of pace is a lot more user friendly which make tempest meta). Scrappers gain a drone that almost never work, to the point that if it wasn’t here it would be the same. Berserker gain new abilities but trading a core traitline for berserk traitline is a huge loss, especially when you play axe. Core ranger and druid are almost as effective as is, the only difference is that druid is more forgiving and suit better players that have a hard time using dodge. Thieves gain a skill on dodge, well not a big deal.

For revenant, what herald put on the table is certainly the most difficult to apprehend because, de facto, both core profession and elite spec where released at the same time and most people usually mixed the 2 thing as one. The F2 skill is a great addition that improve a lot the gameplay experience when playing revenant, however, nobody have enough gameplay experience without herald it to really say “yeah! I’m a lot stronger thanks to the Herald traitline”. People just didn’t had the time to gain enough insight of the core profession and now that the elite traitline have been released, it’s already in all those meta builds that sheeps use mindlessly instead of trying to play something that could fit them.

Now, I’ll just say that guy like you were despising me in fractal because I was using a condi mesmer which is now known as one of the best mesmer dps spec. I am not a meta sheep and you should just try to think a bit outside the meta before assessing that I am “factually wrong” about profession, because what is factually wrong is the fact that the trade is alway in favor of the elite spec. You are so used to the elite spec that you don’t even understand haw much you lose by taking those very spec.

Ok, these are all fair points. So basically DS needs a rework on some of the skills to make it more useful (not necessarily more powerful), or to make those skills perform better or as intended?

Dadnir.5038:

chrono line only really give you an easy access to a passive movment ability

Shield? Continuum Split?

Dadnir.5038:

Elementalist lose some flexibility…

No.

Dadnir.5038:

Scrappers gain a drone that almost never work, to the point that if it wasn’t here it would be the same.

You mean Function Gyro has no noticable impact on gameplay?
Do you even guild wars?

Dadnir.5038:

Berserker gain new abilities but trading a core traitline for berserk traitline is a huge loss

Wrong.

Dadnir.5038:

Core ranger and druid are almost as effective as is, the only difference is that druid is more forgiving and suit better players that have a hard time using dodge.

What… but… what??

Dadnir.5038:

Thieves gain a skill on dodge, well not a big deal.

Dadnir stoooop iiiiiiiiiit!!!

Dadnir.5038:

For revenant…
People just didn’t had the time to gain enough insight of the core profession

Yup, 1 year is definitely not enough. And the player base is way too small, so there’s no way anyone could’ve tried core rev in that time.

Dadnir.5038:

guy like you were despising me in fractal because I was using a condi mesmer

Were you talking about PvE this whole time?

Dadnir.5038:

You are so used to the elite spec that you don’t even understand haw much you lose by taking those very spec.

Not only are you wrong but you’ve lost all credibility.

Dadnir.5038:

Lordrosicky.5813:

Dadnir.5038:

@Lordrosicky.5813 I just can’t agree with how you see the mesmer. In fact, the only real reason one want to use the chronomancer’s traitline is the free movment boost. It’s just for QoL, otherwise, the core mesmer is perfectly fine as is and even more, enjoyable to play.

Why poison on DS#4? Is it because RS have it? You know the main purpose of DS#4 is sustain. It’s our source of life force in DS, it’s not like RS#4 which is a lot more agressive and lack any sustain. Being a bit more steady or having a less of an awfull Cool Down is what this skill need. It absolutely doesn’t need more damage…

Well on mesmer (and other classes) you are factually wrong. Mesmer changed to chronomancer by addition of an extra skill and not by replacement. As such, the chrono will always be better than the mesmer as it adds that really strong 5th skill. In practice what should have happened if that 5th skill replaced one of the current 4. It is a design flaw in many of the HOT elite specs.

Well, you can say that I am “factually wrong” (sorry it make me laugh) but I could say that you that you are blinded by the meta.

Core mesmer have a lot of advantage, trading a core traitline for the chrono line only really give you an easy access to a passive movment ability (which is something that help a lot the mesmer as a QoL since before chrono most mesmer had to use a runeset giving them a passive movment boost). You trade a lot of things in order to use this 5th skill and honestly it’s not always worth it.

It is the same for other professions. Elementalist lose some flexibility, you could even say that it’s fast paced natural rythm drop a lot in order to bring some punch to the tempest traitline (however, this change of pace is a lot more user friendly which make tempest meta). Scrappers gain a drone that almost never work, to the point that if it wasn’t here it would be the same. Berserker gain new abilities but trading a core traitline for berserk traitline is a huge loss, especially when you play axe. Core ranger and druid are almost as effective as is, the only difference is that druid is more forgiving and suit better players that have a hard time using dodge. Thieves gain a skill on dodge, well not a big deal.

For revenant, what herald put on the table is certainly the most difficult to apprehend because, de facto, both core profession and elite spec where released at the same time and most people usually mixed the 2 thing as one. The F2 skill is a great addition that improve a lot the gameplay experience when playing revenant, however, nobody have enough gameplay experience without herald it to really say “yeah! I’m a lot stronger thanks to the Herald traitline”. People just didn’t had the time to gain enough insight of the core profession and now that the elite traitline have been released, it’s already in all those meta builds that sheeps use mindlessly instead of trying to play something that could fit them.

Now, I’ll just say that guy like you were despising me in fractal because I was using a condi mesmer which is now known as one of the best mesmer dps spec. I am not a meta sheep and you should just try to think a bit outside the meta before assessing that I am “factually wrong” about profession, because what is factually wrong is the fact that the trade is alway in favor of the elite spec. You are so used to the elite spec that you don’t even understand haw much you lose by taking those very spec.

Are you trolling or don’t you get it?

Chronomancer is strictly better than mesmer because it ADDS a 5th skill. Repear is not strictly better than necro because it replaces 5 skills with 5 different ones. Replacement and not addition.

If repear was designed like chronomancer then it would simply be that repear shoud gave you 6 skills instead of 5. In which case repear would be better than necro because it has everything necro has AND an extra skill.

It really isn’t complicated.

flow.6043:

But there’s one very obvious buff they could add rather easily: stability on Tainted Shackles. 3 stacks, 3 seconds, so it basically covers the time between cast and the immob hit in the end.

I feel like I would prefer that Tainted Shackles became instant-cast since it barely has an animation anyway, just an irritatingly long aftercast. Instead, give Stability for Life Transfer so you can’t be interrupted while siphoning Life Force. And perhaps increase the Life Force gain as well.

Dark Path needs to either: be faster or gain a more punishing effect. I love this skill like crazy but you can literally walk to your target before it connects and without Path of Corruption, it’s effects aren’t very potent. It’s just nice for popping up in your targets face and ignoring blocks.

Doom is the only skill that doesn’t need to be changed. Everything else could use cast time adjustments and/or stronger effects like Stability, additional conditions etc.

ITT: Why we can’t have nice things

Lordrosicky.5813:

Baseleader.4128:

I definitely agree that core shroud is far less strong than RS. However, necro is probably the strongest core spec compared to it’s elite spec. Between seasons i played both core and reaper necro a lot, and corenecro is honestly fairly playable. Reaper is def better, but the difference is definitely smaller than other classes. Try playing ranger without druid or Mes without chrono. Far more significant difference.

The reason for that is that the design of repear is replacement and not addition. Whoever designed the chronomancer basically didnt understand good design principles as they just made it strictly better than mesmer and so obsoleted mesmer.

Robert Gee designed both Chronomancer and Reaper.

SpellOfIniquity.1780:

flow.6043:

But there’s one very obvious buff they could add rather easily: stability on Tainted Shackles. 3 stacks, 3 seconds, so it basically covers the time between cast and the immob hit in the end.

I feel like I would prefer that Tainted Shackles became instant-cast since it barely has an animation anyway, just an irritatingly long aftercast. Instead, give Stability for Life Transfer so you can’t be interrupted while siphoning Life Force. And perhaps increase the Life Force gain as well.

The whole point of having stability on Tainted Shackles would be so you could use it while casting other skills – like Life Transfer – or during stuff like rezzing/stomping.
After all, that’s one of the main reasons why Infusing Terror makes RS so much more superior to DS.
Stability on Life Transfer, however, would just protect Life Transfer, nothing else.
So Tainted Shackles really is the obvious solution here.

flow.6043:

SpellOfIniquity.1780:

flow.6043:

But there’s one very obvious buff they could add rather easily: stability on Tainted Shackles. 3 stacks, 3 seconds, so it basically covers the time between cast and the immob hit in the end.

I feel like I would prefer that Tainted Shackles became instant-cast since it barely has an animation anyway, just an irritatingly long aftercast. Instead, give Stability for Life Transfer so you can’t be interrupted while siphoning Life Force. And perhaps increase the Life Force gain as well.

The whole point of having stability on Tainted Shackles would be so you could use it while casting other skills – like Life Transfer – or during stuff like rezzing/stomping.
After all, that’s one of the main reasons why Infusing Terror makes RS so much more superior to DS.
Stability on Life Transfer, however, would just protect Life Transfer, nothing else.
So Tainted Shackles really is the obvious solution here.

Having tried repear for the first time today, reapear shroud is vastly better than ds on almost every level. To get ds up to rs level would require significant buffs.

3 stacks of stability on ds5 and more torment
8 stacks of Poison on ds4
And probably 10% cd reductions on all ds skills

This would help although rs would still be way better.

flow.6043:

SpellOfIniquity.1780:

flow.6043:

But there’s one very obvious buff they could add rather easily: stability on Tainted Shackles. 3 stacks, 3 seconds, so it basically covers the time between cast and the immob hit in the end.

I feel like I would prefer that Tainted Shackles became instant-cast since it barely has an animation anyway, just an irritatingly long aftercast. Instead, give Stability for Life Transfer so you can’t be interrupted while siphoning Life Force. And perhaps increase the Life Force gain as well.

The whole point of having stability on Tainted Shackles would be so you could use it while casting other skills – like Life Transfer – or during stuff like rezzing/stomping.
After all, that’s one of the main reasons why Infusing Terror makes RS so much more superior to DS.
Stability on Life Transfer, however, would just protect Life Transfer, nothing else.
So Tainted Shackles really is the obvious solution here.

Hm, I didn’t think of it that way, very good point.

I stand by the fact that Tainted Shackles needs a reduced aftercast, though. It feels like this skill interrupts itself sometimes and it drives me bonkers. I don’t have a problem like this with anything other than this particular skill. I just have to mash it a hundred times until it fully casts or sometimes it just won’t. Though I obviously haven’t ruled out that this may strictly be on my end, I find it strange that it’s only this skill.

Either way, I really hope some buffs come to Death Shroud sooner rather than later.

Life Blast at short range is good but can be easily dodged at range

Dark Path fails far too often to be useful at anything but short range and still often fails due to pathing.

Doom is good as an interrupt and soft CC like a pseudo stun, though I wish it were more potent.

Life Transfer is also good. In PvE, the heal with Transfusion is the best group utility that Necromancer has, bar none.

Tainted Shackles is weak for PvP. It requires both the Necromancer and the opponent to allow enough time for it to complete for a little damage and conditions that are cleared easily. In PvE against bosses, it is utterly useless because they ignore its bind, which does little to break bars, and the damage is not worth wasting time on.