Guild Wars 2

Hello peeps!

If you find yourself bored, please do enjoy a clip or two of Reaper zerg surfing in WvW. Both videos were made largely for entertainment, in their own way

The first video focuses largely on roaming with a few wave-surfings in between and is the shorter of the two. This video took eons to export (5 hours or more) because of silly error messages but I got it to work by reducing the quality a bit so hopefully it was worth it!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5P0zq737sjA&feature=youtu.be

The second video is more of just zerg diving and tanking with a few battles in between and some jukez… aaaaaand some asura hunting O.o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psw5gcTU9V8

Build:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQNBLhZakjG6txibwvG4vxSxgR9EuC3q4f4QMJGFA+WdLA-TVyCQBjRJYBV/Ba7PoC9BYRpXFVGMtTAAAOEAU4JAEA4AwyLv8yLvckCov5AA-w
The build is pretty much all set now but it is quite expensive to put together (Trailblazer armour and Sweet Bean Buns) but is very worth it, imo. Of course, there’s always different playstyles and different people like different things, but I just love tankyness and being immune to roots/slows. Just the immunity to slows/roots increases anyone’s survivalbility by 100 times. Often being rooted means you’ll likely be hard-CCed next… and being immune to roots/slows means this will happen less frequently.
-Last thing about gear- Giver weapons COULD be swapped out for Trailblazer but you’d lose crit chance and about 12% condi duration. You’d gain ~200 toughness and condi damage though. Personally, I’m not sure what’s stronger.

The one weakness I found that the build has is other condi Necros (mostly signet Reapers with Plague Signet). Aside from that, I haven’t ran into anything that I felt couldn’t be handled… and if I saw a group with a lot of condi, I swapped Chilling Darkness for Plague Sending. If I’m fighting non-condi people, their condis are so insignificant I usually use Putrid Mark to either blast Spectral Wall, blast Chilblains for some weakness or blast shroud #5 for frost aura.

Hope you enjoy!

(p.s. Bean Buns give +15% condi and -20% condi. The build calc. wasn’t updated)

Zerg surfing, where did you hear that from, do you remember? Im always curious to know where certain phrases originate from.

Stand The Wall.6987:

Zerg surfing, where did you hear that from, do you remember? Im always curious to know where certain phrases originate from.

I’m honestly not too sure. I used to spend roaming nights with the guild over 2 years ago and we always messed with zergs (was on one of the lowest tier servers for the first few years of GW2 and was always outnumbered fighting enemy zergs)…. so we always called it “zerg surfing”. I can’t remember where the term originated from though but it stuck xD

Zerg surfing was a term made by thieves, basically the x/dagger thieves which were C&d-ing ppl in enemy zerg, which usually ppl are mindless there and dont care somone C&d-ing them on the way. This is what I rememebr this term originated from.

Do you find parasitic contagion better than weakening shroud? From my (very little) necro experience the heals from that trait felt negligible.
If going for heals what do you think about replacing Curses with either death magic for “Unholy Sanctuary” or with blood magic for “Life from death” and “Transfusion” combo? With some apothecary accesories you can get some nice heals in shroud.
EDIT: this the build I had in mind:
http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQNBLhZ6kjGo4Gs2GwbTgeTsANYU5ggQoSqBEAWWxpwW4ME-TlSAQBe4EAEtjAwBV/xRKBHjyAfs/gZU69hDBAN0HAgHAAhAUMHA-w
Even with cheap kitten food you get 100% chill duration, it’s similar to what I use in pvp with decent success so far (as much as unranked is a representation of pvp)

Zerg surfing king,

Love it Methane, it is always a pleasure seeing you do what you do.

PadreNike.1803:

Do you find parasitic contagion better than weakening shroud? From my (very little) necro experience the heals from that trait felt negligible.
If going for heals what do you think about replacing Curses with either death magic for “Unholy Sanctuary” or with blood magic for “Life from death” and “Transfusion” combo? With some apothecary accesories you can get some nice heals in shroud.
EDIT: this the build I had in mind:
http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQNBLhZ6kjGo4Gs2GwbTgeTsANYU5ggQoSqBEAWWxpwW4ME-TlSAQBe4EAEtjAwBV/xRKBHjyAfs/gZU69hDBAN0HAgHAAhAUMHA-w
Even with cheap kitten food you get 100% chill duration, it’s similar to what I use in pvp with decent success so far (as much as unranked is a representation of pvp)

That build seems really interesting as well – spectral attunement with spectral armour and walk = super tanky, and Rise on top of that… I actually don’t see many people use stuff like that. I think those utilities would make you super tanky xD I have no experience with wurm-less Necro so I dunno how the mobility would be though…

-Death magic has really nice condi clears so that’d make up for the loss of antitoxin+ bean buns… and Unholy Sanctuary would make up for Parasitic Contagion. So I think Death Magic could be a viable replacement.

-Blood Magic could be as well, because it is reallllllyyyyyy nice with warhorn on a Reaper… although Life from Death could make up for Parasitic Contagion, if I took Blood Magic, I would for sure, 100% take Banshee’s Wail. Banshee’s Wail is imo one of the strongest traits that a Necro has… but it’s in blood magic >_> you get constant life force and the life leech you could get from Locust Swarm and Soul Spiral could be really nice in terms of heals… I did a quick calculation and I think you’d get easy 3k – 4k heals if you’re in the middle of 5 enemies… and you also get the free regen when you dodge from Mark of Evasion… so overall I think it could replace the heals from Parasitic Contagion… but you could lack condi clears.
-I was actually thinking of making a similar build using blood magic when roaming with friends – sort of semi-support but tanky as well… I think Reaper/SR/Blood has a lot of really nice potential to fill a tanky support role.
…My only issue with Blood magic is the complete lack of cover condis. It has life leech – which is a bit of damage, but when you’re in a condi build, having a whole bunch of random condis is more valuable imo. Soul Reaping and Reaper lines both don’t have any cover condis. Spite, for example, has the constant vuln and also condis you get from corrupts when using signets or Spiteful Spirit. Curses – the 2 corrupts from Path of Corruption (which is AoE and low cooldown) and I guess Barber Precision.

-I think in sPvP Weakening Shroud is better than Parasitic Contagion. I think corrupts are just.. better in sPvP. Not only that but the weakness is arguably better defense than a bit of heals. If I used Parasitic contagion in sPvP, I think it wouldn’t be very useful cuz stuff gets cleansed pretty quickly so you’d get no heals. In WvW, I think it’s definitively worth it. I notice a real drop in sustain when I don’t take Parasitic Contagion. In the 2nd video there’s some clips where you see the amount of heals you could get from it and they can add up a lot… If you do a condi bomb on a group and teleport away, you can easily get several thousand hp. I love using it on NPCs too for free heals.

TL:DR I think both Death and Blood would be viable in terms of survival and healing but you would probably lack a bit of damage, at least if you’re roaming solo (not necessarily the case if in a group).
I think Parasitic contagion is really nice in WvW, but I still think Weakening Shroud is better for sPvP …. sorry for the ramble xD

Ropechef.6192:

Zerg surfing king,

Love it Methane, it is always a pleasure seeing you do what you do.

Haha, thank you!

Cool build, cool gameplay. Very enjoyable watch.

You really hate asura’s O-o

*hides my elementalist *

MethaneGas.8357:

PadreNike.1803:

Do you find parasitic contagion better than weakening shroud? From my (very little) necro experience the heals from that trait felt negligible.
If going for heals what do you think about replacing Curses with either death magic for “Unholy Sanctuary” or with blood magic for “Life from death” and “Transfusion” combo? With some apothecary accesories you can get some nice heals in shroud.
EDIT: this the build I had in mind:
http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQNBLhZ6kjGo4Gs2GwbTgeTsANYU5ggQoSqBEAWWxpwW4ME-TlSAQBe4EAEtjAwBV/xRKBHjyAfs/gZU69hDBAN0HAgHAAhAUMHA-w
Even with cheap kitten food you get 100% chill duration, it’s similar to what I use in pvp with decent success so far (as much as unranked is a representation of pvp)

That build seems really interesting as well – spectral attunement with spectral armour and walk = super tanky, and Rise on top of that… I actually don’t see many people use stuff like that. I think those utilities would make you super tanky xD I have no experience with wurm-less Necro so I dunno how the mobility would be though…

-Death magic has really nice condi clears so that’d make up for the loss of antitoxin+ bean buns… and Unholy Sanctuary would make up for Parasitic Contagion. So I think Death Magic could be a viable replacement.

-Blood Magic could be as well, because it is reallllllyyyyyy nice with warhorn on a Reaper… although Life from Death could make up for Parasitic Contagion, if I took Blood Magic, I would for sure, 100% take Banshee’s Wail. Banshee’s Wail is imo one of the strongest traits that a Necro has… but it’s in blood magic >_> you get constant life force and the life leech you could get from Locust Swarm and Soul Spiral could be really nice in terms of heals… I did a quick calculation and I think you’d get easy 3k – 4k heals if you’re in the middle of 5 enemies… and you also get the free regen when you dodge from Mark of Evasion… so overall I think it could replace the heals from Parasitic Contagion… but you could lack condi clears.
-I was actually thinking of making a similar build using blood magic when roaming with friends – sort of semi-support but tanky as well… I think Reaper/SR/Blood has a lot of really nice potential to fill a tanky support role.
…My only issue with Blood magic is the complete lack of cover condis. It has life leech – which is a bit of damage, but when you’re in a condi build, having a whole bunch of random condis is more valuable imo. Soul Reaping and Reaper lines both don’t have any cover condis. Spite, for example, has the constant vuln and also condis you get from corrupts when using signets or Spiteful Spirit. Curses – the 2 corrupts from Path of Corruption (which is AoE and low cooldown) and I guess Barber Precision.

-I think in sPvP Weakening Shroud is better than Parasitic Contagion. I think corrupts are just.. better in sPvP. Not only that but the weakness is arguably better defense than a bit of heals. If I used Parasitic contagion in sPvP, I think it wouldn’t be very useful cuz stuff gets cleansed pretty quickly so you’d get no heals. In WvW, I think it’s definitively worth it. I notice a real drop in sustain when I don’t take Parasitic Contagion. In the 2nd video there’s some clips where you see the amount of heals you could get from it and they can add up a lot… If you do a condi bomb on a group and teleport away, you can easily get several thousand hp. I love using it on NPCs too for free heals.

TL:DR I think both Death and Blood would be viable in terms of survival and healing but you would probably lack a bit of damage, at least if you’re roaming solo (not necessarily the case if in a group).
I think Parasitic contagion is really nice in WvW, but I still think Weakening Shroud is better for sPvP …. sorry for the ramble xD

Ty so much for the detailed reply!
And yah the goal was to make myself super tanky while still having enough counter to condi’s, the need for rise and spectral armor came from using sage amulet in spvp which has 0 toughness but since i use trailblazer (don’t exist in spvp) in wvw you can easily the replace spec armor with flesh wurm, you are still tanky AF especially in shroud
I wish I could use blood magic too but it feels a little lacking vs condi’s and sustain as most of your heals are from using shroud 4, the thing I found is that it must hit in order to heal which becomes a problem when a Zerg is after my kitten and I’m low health, if it would heal regardless of hitting it would be much better.
I made some changes to the gear I feel celestial accessories make more sense and provide more dmg too (both power & condi):
http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQNBLhZ6kjGo4Gs2GwbTgeTsANYSNgAwyKOF2CnhU5ggQoC-TlSAQBK4QAEtjAwBV/JNKzMjSDPcCAAwDAISKBvn+Afs/AhAUMHA-w

Sandrox.9524:

Zerg surfing was a term made by thieves, basically the x/dagger thieves which were C&d-ing ppl in enemy zerg, which usually ppl are mindless there and dont care somone C&d-ing them on the way. This is what I rememebr this term originated from.

Very interesting, thanks. This seems to be a likely source. If not, then its good enough.

flow.6043:

Cool build, cool gameplay. Very enjoyable watch.

Thank you sir!

Holl.3109:

You really hate asura’s O-o

*hides my elementalist *

You have a tiny one? :O …nowhere is safe! >: )

(I actually love asuras :P )

PadreNike.1803:

Ty so much for the detailed reply!
And yah the goal was to make myself super tanky while still having enough counter to condi’s, the need for rise and spectral armor came from using sage amulet in spvp which has 0 toughness but since i use trailblazer (don’t exist in spvp) in wvw you can easily the replace spec armor with flesh wurm, you are still tanky AF especially in shroud
I wish I could use blood magic too but it feels a little lacking vs condi’s and sustain as most of your heals are from using shroud 4, the thing I found is that it must hit in order to heal which becomes a problem when a Zerg is after my kitten and I’m low health, if it would heal regardless of hitting it would be much better.
I made some changes to the gear I feel celestial accessories make more sense and provide more dmg too (both power & condi):
http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQNBLhZ6kjGo4Gs2GwbTgeTsANYSNgAwyKOF2CnhU5ggQoC-TlSAQBK4QAEtjAwBV/JNKzMjSDPcCAAwDAISKBvn+Afs/AhAUMHA-w

Oooo.. Sage amulet is an interesting choice…. I’d think it could have nice synergy with blood magic :o …. could dish out some nice support for allies :P I never got to try the new amulets yet X_X
Death Magic must be really nice against all those other pesky condi people you find tho especially other Necros.

Build’s looking good Might seems easy to stack with such long chills so condi dmg would go up and power as well.
Have you considered something like Sigil of Torment or Sigil of Frailty instead of Agony? Those would be some nice cover condis for the build. I know I keep bringing it up, but I think when you have a lot of random condis (doesn’t even have to be a damaging condi), when the enemy uses condi cleanses, they can remove that irrelevant cripple or something while your bleeds tick away. It’s really good vs. druids/scrappers/tempests.

MethaneGas.8357:

flow.6043:

Cool build, cool gameplay. Very enjoyable watch.

Thank you sir!

Holl.3109:

You really hate asura’s O-o

*hides my elementalist *

You have a tiny one? :O …nowhere is safe! >: )

(I actually love asuras :P )

PadreNike.1803:

Ty so much for the detailed reply!
And yah the goal was to make myself super tanky while still having enough counter to condi’s, the need for rise and spectral armor came from using sage amulet in spvp which has 0 toughness but since i use trailblazer (don’t exist in spvp) in wvw you can easily the replace spec armor with flesh wurm, you are still tanky AF especially in shroud
I wish I could use blood magic too but it feels a little lacking vs condi’s and sustain as most of your heals are from using shroud 4, the thing I found is that it must hit in order to heal which becomes a problem when a Zerg is after my kitten and I’m low health, if it would heal regardless of hitting it would be much better.
I made some changes to the gear I feel celestial accessories make more sense and provide more dmg too (both power & condi):
http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQNBLhZ6kjGo4Gs2GwbTgeTsANYSNgAwyKOF2CnhU5ggQoC-TlSAQBK4QAEtjAwBV/JNKzMjSDPcCAAwDAISKBvn+Afs/AhAUMHA-w

Oooo.. Sage amulet is an interesting choice…. I’d think it could have nice synergy with blood magic :o …. could dish out some nice support for allies :P I never got to try the new amulets yet X_X
Death Magic must be really nice against all those other pesky condi people you find tho especially other Necros.

Build’s looking good Might seems easy to stack with such long chills so condi dmg would go up and power as well.
Have you considered something like Sigil of Torment or Sigil of Frailty instead of Agony? Those would be some nice cover condis for the build. I know I keep bringing it up, but I think when you have a lot of random condis (doesn’t even have to be a damaging condi), when the enemy uses condi cleanses, they can remove that irrelevant cripple or something while your bleeds tick away. It’s really good vs. druids/scrappers/tempests.

Great idea, the only problem with torment is that it activates on crit and the build has low crit, I’m def gonna try doom Sigil though.

Yo Meth, check this out, not impressive videos by any means just a showcase of how tanky/sustainy the build is and how good it is in escaping the brink of death :-)
It does amazing 1v1s vs just about anything as well I just don’t really capture any 1v1 footage as it’s pretty lame (especially in EOTM), the build shines in outnumbered fights.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pfePrhkR2k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9lzjYIPgZQ
This is the final build btw:
http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQNBLhZ6kZTo4Gs2GwbTgeTsUNYSDgAQwi6FcDuUxbwRYKE-T1yCABA8AAIUJ4XKzk4QA0umg61DwlSDkPCA0s/Q/q/QxJAgQAKmDA-w

well done, very enjoyable to watch.

PadreNike.1803:

Yo Meth

…

xD

PadreNike.1803:

Yo Meth, check this out, not impressive videos by any means just a showcase of how tanky/sustainy the build is and how good it is in escaping the brink of death :-)
It does amazing 1v1s vs just about anything as well I just don’t really capture any 1v1 footage as it’s pretty lame (especially in EOTM), the build shines in outnumbered fights.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pfePrhkR2k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9lzjYIPgZQ
This is the final build btw:
http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQNBLhZ6kZTo4Gs2GwbTgeTsUNYSDgAQwi6FcDuUxbwRYKE-T1yCABA8AAIUJ4XKzk4QA0umg61DwlSDkPCA0s/Q/q/QxJAgQAKmDA-w

Yo Nike! :P
Well played sir Those jukes brought a tear to the eye haha. The thieves really wanted you…
The build is very nice.. the heals you got from Unholy Sanctuary were pretty crazy… I think at one point you went from like 200 health to 3k… which is crazy. Interesting choice of healing skill too… lots of life force and then healing in shroud from Unholy Sanctuary… and good synergy with Runes of Grenth for easy chills…

-I liked how you used shroud often. Some Necros tend to barely touch it and it’s not an easy thing to get into (especially when coming from another profession). The quick leaps with shroud (go into shroud, leap, exit shroud) was good but try to let Death’s Charge go a lil bit further before exiting shroud. I usually try to exit shroud right before the “puff of smoke” at the end of the skill cuz the leap actually goes pretty far. (I exit before the puff of smoke cuz.. I dunno if it’s just me, but it seems like the puff of smoke part of the skill immobilizes you for a split second…).

-Good use of camera-look back!

Also I would suggest that when you activate Spectral Armour, and when you use Locust Swarm to use your shroud then. Those things make you super tanky and you can stay in shroud for at least 10 secs when they’re up (not necessarily both of them at the same time, but at least one of them)…. which means really nice heals from Unholy Sanctuary.
—Or something like Locust Swarm --> Rise —> use shroud. Locust Swarm = lots of life force, Rise = lots of tankyness so in a way it’s even MORE shroud and…. shroud = heals :P

I would give a tip to increase the rotation speed of your camera . You can find it in the options – that way you can quickly pan the camera around to face enemies or away from enemies.

Keep it up!

well done, very enjoyable to watch.

Thank you

Ty Methane for the great tips! I just started necro a week ago and this thread along with the videos on your YouTube channel have been great help to get into the class, I’m loving it

Those were fun to watch!

PadreNike.1803:

Ty Methane for the great tips! I just started necro a week ago and this thread along with the videos on your YouTube channel have been great help to get into the class, I’m loving it

Glad I could help! I appreciate it
The Necro forums lately have been one of the most active ones in terms of videos
we shall welcome a new one into our dark army gladly >:D

Dead.5829:

Those were fun to watch!

Glad you enjoyed em

your additional face pictures and text were awesome rofl
a good watch!

hi, few noob questions:
– is travel speed an issue for you guys in WvW? Interesting builds, but I always play classes that has some sort of speed buff, reapers just seem slow
- can these builds work with viper set?

EremiteAngel.9765:

your additional face pictures and text were awesome rofl
a good watch!

Haha ty, glad people are enjoying them :P there will be a lot more of where those came form >:)

rchu.8945:

hi, few noob questions:
– is travel speed an issue for you guys in WvW? Interesting builds, but I always play classes that has some sort of speed buff, reapers just seem slow
- can these builds work with viper set?

-Yes travel speed is really important in WvW, unless you have stealth (Mesmer and Thief). Everything else, in my opinion, needs good movement speed (swiftness or trait that gives move speed), otherwise you’ll get run over.
-Reapers can have good movement speed. For example some Reapers like to use Locust Signet. Some like using warhorn or spectral walk for movement speed. You could also use Runes of Traveler, Runes of Pack (if you’re power), Sigil of Agility, etc. There’s a few ways to get decent movement speed, just depends on your build. Reaper is slow, but doesn’t have to be. If you run a certain setup to what I have ( -condi runes, -condi food, Relentless Pursuit trait), you won’t notice any slows… and it can work for power builds, condi builds or hybrid builds.
-You could use a Viper set with the build, yes, but it will be a lot glassier. Depends how much Viper you have – full set, a few pieces or? It think it can work. You’d have a lot more damage but you’ll be squishier.