Guild Wars 2

Life force drains slower while in shroud. Shroud skills recharge faster.

Miscellaneous effect.png Degeneration Decrease: 50%
Recharge Recharge Reduced: 15%

The Necro actually is really fun to play. The problem is that each build you use, you must have soul reaping and reaping.
Reaping becouse is much stronger than death shroud and death shroud for vital persistence, so you can choose spite (direct damage) or Curse (Conditioner).
The solution are 2 o they give to us F1 and F2 becouse I must spend my traits in Death Shroud and Reaper or they of base give to us the Degeneration decrease.
What do you think about it?

No, not all builds have to use Soul Reaping or Vital Persistence, it just so happens that for most builds Soul Reaping is the next least bad option after your main two lines, and Vital Persistence just happens to be the only major trait worth taking in its tier (unless you have spectrals). If we made VP baseline everyone would still take SR, and everyone would just swap to whatever the next obvious choice was in that line.

Also adding both shrouds at once really degenerates the interesting choice of going Reaper or not. Otherwise you just obviously take Reaper all the time, since its a flat improvement for every build.

Everyone keeps saying that but honestly, this should never happen in any universe. It certainly won’t help with the insane power creep this game has been getting for years now. I’ve used builds for forever without using this trait. I’ve used it once in awhile but never did I say, “I cannot necro without this trait – I need this trait”.

I see where people are coming from though… it’s the same old problem with Curses, Blood Magic and Death Magic being garbage for all eternity. A few problem traits where changes to the traits that would help with life force spread (more life force options are the issue) are:

• Soul Comprehension – Should be some sort of life force gain “while in shroud” trait.
• Corrupter’s Fervor – Say what you want but this trait synergizes with absolutely nothing. This trait was just thrown in there so that there’s another trait there.
• Master of Corruption – This trait should probably have life force gain and not suck.

• Banshee’s Wail – Okay. Be honest, who the hell is using this trait now? No one. No one should be anyway. It’s location and its trait line suck. I’m going to continue suggesting that this trait should change wail of doom to FEAR until it happens – since it should. I’m right – you’re wrong. I don’t care if it doesn’t affect life force like this topic is about, I want it. Now that that’s settled…

• Parasitic Contagion – IMO, keep it a health regen trait – but improve it.

We should be buffing the traits that no one actually uses because that doesn’t (shouldn’t, with competent balance team) cause power creep.

Etc.

Off topic but one thing that I do think would make sense is not tying greatsword to reaper. Can you imagine casting a dark path and then pre-casting gravedigger so that it lands when you teleport? Should seriously not be tied to reaper. Melee shroud with melee weapon is bad. This is a playstyle that I would prefer over reaper to be honest. I miss my ranged life blasts. Greatsword would actually be decent enough to work. One of my favourite tricks used to be having tainted shackles immob the opponent then land my axe burst (I know – axe) on the opponent. I would love to immob -> gravedigger.

And then what if we give tainted shackles a trait that inflicts AOE taunt so that 5 opponents come into you for an immob so that you land a kitten gravedigger! One can dream I guess.

Im sorry, how is master of corruption bad? And how are people not taking curses for condi builds? I don’t understand at all, I was under the impression that corruptions and a condi build taking curses and reaper and a third line results in the highest dps condi necro build? The conditions you gain and can transfer off from master of corruption is still added dps, lingering curses is obvious, increased crit chance and 50% fury uptime from the minors…Curses seems pretty ok as a condi based trait line?

On the flip side, soul reaping is terrible for condi builds, it provides nothing except for dhuumfire which is objectively worse dps than scepter/dagger. So…no i dont think the trait, or soul reaping, is at all a requirement for every necromancer build. It only works well for builds that require deathshroud?

Yeah being blinded by using your healing skill is a nice buff.

Zefrost.3425:

Yeah being blinded by using your healing skill is a nice buff.

A) you dont take the corruption heal, take signet of vamp. b) i was talking about having corrosive poison cloud and blood is power and (possibly) epdemic. c) you should have a trait that transfers conditions, along with 2 skills minimum. If you’re having problems transferring conditions off yourself, that’s player error.

Soul reaping is pretty mandatory at higher tier pvp, but vital persistence is only prt of the equation.

I’m starting to feel more forced into it for soul marks than anything else because it’s a significant source of life force. I was trying to make spite/curses reaper work to maximize boon corruption to kill revs and bunker chronos, but without soul marks, condi builds have very poor life force generation. And since it makes your marks unblockable it allows you to maintain pressure and interior through their block spam.

Vital persistence is part of the equation, since it does let you get off more skills in shroud before you go back to being vulnerable, but I’d say that soul marks overall feels more integral to most builds I play than vital persistence, although it certainly helps.

This is also why I might go back to base necromancer spite curses SR builds, just to be able to counter revs and bunker mesmers better since reaper doesn’t bring enough boon rip even if deathly chill and reaper shroud are great.

Darwec.3784:

you should have a trait that transfers conditions, along with 2 skills minimum

This is why its bad. These skills are just flat out not strong enough to warrant extra mechanics to mitigate their downsides. In your example, two skills (BiP/CPC) need to, once transferred, have the power of 3 skills. But they don’t, so they are bad.

On another note, I agree with Zefrost’s main point that our trait lines are too weak in some cases. Disagree with specifics, but it is true that the reason SR is “mandatory” is because most builds can’t reasonably take DM/BM/Curses, largely due to one or more tiers being “dead weight”.

Darwec.3784:

Im sorry, how is master of corruption bad? And how are people not taking curses for condi builds? I don’t understand at all, I was under the impression that corruptions and a condi build taking curses and reaper and a third line results in the highest dps condi necro build? The conditions you gain and can transfer off from master of corruption is still added dps, lingering curses is obvious, increased crit chance and 50% fury uptime from the minors…Curses seems pretty ok as a condi based trait line?

On the flip side, soul reaping is terrible for condi builds, it provides nothing except for dhuumfire which is objectively worse dps than scepter/dagger. So…no i dont think the trait, or soul reaping, is at all a requirement for every necromancer build. It only works well for builds that require deathshroud?

Without soul marks a condi build won’t be in shroud long enough to make adequate use of things like path of corruption even because scepter and untraited staff life force is deplorably bad. I do agree that master of corruption is viable in a wanderer’s build for sure, but it’s higher risk/higher reward, and spite simply gives us more sustained pressure through might and vuln and survivability, making it lower risk, slightly lower reward. A lot of necros are starting to use durability runes with spite and wanderer’s or celestial to survive better while still being able to stack might.

Bhawb.7408:

Darwec.3784:

you should have a trait that transfers conditions, along with 2 skills minimum

This is why its bad. These skills are just flat out not strong enough to warrant extra mechanics to mitigate their downsides. In your example, two skills (BiP/CPC) need to, once transferred, have the power of 3 skills. But they don’t, so they are bad.

This depends? Pvp and wvw, yes, these are weak skills. PVE, I am fairly certain they result in higher condi damage than any alternative setups. Transferring the bleed form blood is power is good damage. As for corrosive poison cloud, weakness does less than it used to, but its still useful to transfer.

Darwec.3784:

This depends? Pvp and wvw, yes, these are weak skills. PVE, I am fairly certain they result in higher condi damage than any alternative setups. Transferring the bleed form blood is power is good damage. As for corrosive poison cloud, weakness does less than it used to, but its still useful to transfer.

Yeah, that’s a fair point, and you have an otherwise “useless” plague sending trait so in practice you aren’t losing a 3rd skill.