Guild Wars 2

I think I read over 50 threads on Necro and it seems fairly mixed in general. One is in favor of the upcoming changes while the other side isn’t happy at all. I say let’s see what Anet brings elite specs. When will this happen? You know typical Anet tends to be more tight lipped now more than ever, no more than a “It’s coming soon.” So hold your judgement until then and wait it out. Hopefully while we’re still on this earth, Anet.

To add to the earlier post, we haven’t seen the GS skills yet either.

Well… For one thing, the livestream that detailed most of the changes people are discussing specifically invited feedback. They want to know what players think of those changes now.

As well, even though the specialization will be a big deal (new trait line, new weapon skills) there’s bound to be a lot of characters who can’t / won’t use it. So for them, the proposed skill line changes are way more important.

I agree that in terms of grand meta analysis (Will Necromancers have a place in dungeons / fractals? Will they be more PvP relevant?) the specialization is a huge piece of the puzzle that we don’t have yet, but there’s a lot of people who simply aren’t at that level of play.

So I mean… Yes, specializations are certainly a big deal and will change many things, but they won’t completely replace Necromancers as we know them, and we’ve been given a rare opportunity to see & provide feedback on changes that are still in flux.

Well, in my opinion the traits presented are so messed up that either the elite specialization won’t suffice to cover it up since at least 1 piece of the build won’ t be appropriate or the elite specialization will be so good that we will never mention the necromancer again, but only the elite specialization ( like they proposed to be for rangers, if they pick up the druid elite spec they are mentioned as druids).

Besides it is still early, we can give feedback and hope for the best! sure things are not promising, but it can be made better in amny ways.

Regardless of your opinion of the trait changes, the trait changes should be good on their own. The Elite specialization should not have to save us from our awful base, it should be a good addition to a good base.

“Just wait until….” has been the primary defense for necro’s so called balance for years. So, how about no.

The elite spec will be only be another weapon for power builds. it will be good for power builds and power builds only. Thus, good for power builds, bad for condi builds. I want them to address the problems with the class that already exists, coupled with some of the terrible decisions they are making to the necro base class, especially effecting condi builds.

Even if the elite spec is good. We still have to select two core specs. So i think its fairly important to get the core specs right. Especially as they are being released before HoT. :P

One good trait line won’t magically make 5 bad ones good.

Waiting for GS is something in doing since I want a Gs on my necro. That said GS should not be the “fix all” for the class. That would.make us a pretty boring class with everyone running the same weapon and build set up since its the one that plugs the holes the class has.

CodeHavoc.7926:

I think I read over 50 threads on Necro and it seems fairly mixed in general. One is in favor of the upcoming changes while the other side isn’t happy at all. I say let’s see what Anet brings elite specs. When will this happen? You know typical Anet tends to be more tight lipped now more than ever, no more than a “It’s coming soon.” So hold your judgement until then and wait it out. Hopefully while we’re still on this earth, Anet.

Thing is, the other professions got great reworks AND they still have the elite to come. So its not ok to say oh we got nothing changed with the base necro but maybe our specialisation will bring something new.

Another thing more aimed at whether the base necro is underpowered or not, the elite is supposed to be on par with the base not an upgrade.

Let’s say that there it is, our brand new elite specialization. It has big greatswords for kids, AoE cleave, good damage, boons to share, activie mitigation and what not. Cool!

But there’s your regular Necromancer too. They said it will be a choice. But what’s the choice between one broken, old version and second, working? Why would I use non-elite spec on my necromancer if all the cool stuff and fixes are on elite one?

How to fix the gripe that all non-Necros have: Blast finishers. There are exactly 3 things the Necro can’t do at the moment:

Party-wide swiftness, but if any of the other 7 don’t bring it they can stick it.
Stealth, again… if the classes that give it don’t bring it, they can shove it.
Aoe Might. This is the one people talk about when they say “Necro has no utility.”

Are you sure we have no utility?
To plagiarize myself from another post:

AoE healing? There’s a well for that.
Vulnerability? We can do plenty when the /mace warrior is slacking
Blind? Yes, we can.
Area denial? Fears for days and especially Teh Epic Troll Wall of Fear FTW <3
Apply weakness? Yea, we got it.
Boon strip? We got it covered 2 or 3 different ways.
Not dying? Sure, we don’t have a total invulnerability skill, but we got loads of health and a second health bar, it’s okay enough that I don’t mind it too much.
AoE Stability? Well.. our well is kinda broken, I’ll give you that (only 1 second and doesn’t pulse with a 5 second well?)
Skipping content? There are consumables for this.
Movement speed? We got a passive signet, possible perma swift uptime with warhorn, and swiftness for days with specral walk.
AoE movement speed? If you don’t have an Ele, Warrior, Mez, Thief, Ranger, Engi or Guard in your group… YOU ARE DOING IT RIGHT CAUSE WE DON’T NEED EM TO ROLL CONTENT 5 NECRO THE FOREVER META.

GS is better be condi weapon and have leap, block, condi removal and fear skill.

Junkpile.7439:

GS is better be condi weapon and have leap, block, condi removal and fear skill.

Please no, I want to actually be useful in PVE. Totally cool with having leaps, blocks and fears on it though.

arsh.9026:

Junkpile.7439:

GS is better be condi weapon and have leap, block, condi removal and fear skill.

Please no, I want to actually be useful in PVE. Totally cool with having leaps, blocks and fears on it though.

no block, no fear.
i actually want this to be a weapon that can be used to do crazy damage with quite some good survivability.
a bit like having a swoop for AOE KB with skills that can use an arm of the undead to do massive AOE damage around the selected enemy.
we really don’t need even more conditions on necro’s, we have pretty much all of the weapons for that, we need raw damage and quickly so.

Inimicus.7162:

AoE healing? There’s a well for that.
Vulnerability? We can do plenty when the /mace warrior is slacking
Blind? Yes, we can.
Area denial? Fears for days and especially Teh Epic Troll Wall of Fear FTW <3
Apply weakness? Yea, we got it.
Boon strip? We got it covered 2 or 3 different ways.
Not dying? Sure, we don’t have a total invulnerability skill, but we got loads of health and a second health bar, it’s okay enough that I don’t mind it too much.
AoE Stability? Well.. our well is kinda broken, I’ll give you that (only 1 second and doesn’t pulse with a 5 second well?)
Skipping content? There are consumables for this.
Movement speed? We got a passive signet, possible perma swift uptime with warhorn, and swiftness for days with specral walk.
AoE movement speed? If you don’t have an Ele, Warrior, Mez, Thief, Ranger, Engi or Guard in your group

Not to be mean or condescending, but here is my question to that. What can a necro do that another profession can’t already do but better? Thief has stealth and on demand access to blind, warrior has its banners to give loads of support and buffs, guardians can just fart and you get a full bar of boons plus reflects and aoe stability, eles can stack might and fury like no tomorrow, plus heals.

Engies can do the job of thief and an ele, not as well but dang close and fill in any holes the group might have. Oh and also have great aoe vulnerability with grenades and bombs. Mesmers can remove boons more consistently than a necro can, nobody really cares if they get flipped to conditions or not, they just want them gone. Plus the handy as heck portal letting your whole group easily bypass content. The ranger is the only profession I can think of that doesn’t do much for groups, except spirits.

I’m with several others here that Necro needs to be fixed BEFORE HoT.

Necro should have builds that are taken for stronghold, conquest and courtyard.
Necro meta shouldn’t be FOCUS THE NECROMANCER.
What changes prevent this?

Necro should have builds for fractals and dungeons.
Necros shouldn’t be kicked for being a Necro.
What changes provide party utility needed in dungeons?

How will the GS work with dagger, scepter and axe?

Inimicus.7162:

How to fix the gripe that all non-Necros have: Blast finishers. ETA.

Blast finishers would help soo much.

I don’t know why they gave Necomancer a. Bunch of blast finishers, but put them all on underwater weapons.

If Necomancer had good access to blast finishers (eg, on axe 3 and Warhorn 4 and dagger 5), then Necromancers could have the option to take well of blood instead of consume conditions, blasting the well to remove conditions.

That old give us team support and more build variety and more strategic/tactical choice all in one move.

nekretaal.6485:

If Necomancer had good access to blast finishers (eg, on axe 3 and Warhorn 4 and dagger 5), then Necromancers could have the option to take well of blood instead of consume conditions, blasting the well to remove conditions.

That old give us team support and more build variety and more strategic/tactical choice all in one move.

Blasting a light field gives AoE retaliation, not a condition cleanse. That’s why elementalists get mad at hammer guardians. Condition cleanse is only on projectile finishers.

I’m feeling like GS is gonna be a power weapon and will replace the curses line, but we will see. I feel like they’re making one line core for a spec and the rest fluff for that very reason (all dedicated minion traits are now in death magic for example). This way, more specs can make use of the specialization instead of GS coming in and wrecking 2-3 different builds at the same time.

There is no “replacing” a single line, it is just a third line that you can mix and match as you want. The only special stipulation is that you can only have 1 elite specialization, and you need that specialization equipped if you want the specialization stuff.

No amount of traits or skills in the specialization will fix necromancer, and if there are, then we will all be forced into this specialization. That’s bad design.

How about a bolded no?? NO.

Bhawb.7408:

There is no “replacing” a single line, it is just a third line that you can mix and match as you want. The only special stipulation is that you can only have 1 elite specialization, and you need that specialization equipped if you want the specialization stuff.

I thought the purpose of the specialization was that you would trade off something for something else? If they introduce this specialization without you needing to give up anything for it, it will just be a straight upgrade unlekittenanges other factors of the necromancer at their core upon adopting it. At least until they introduce the next specialization set after this one. I'll be honest, I haven't seen anything beyond the current changes to existing traits as far as this specialization stuff goes.

Well thats what we initially thought. But it has now been confirmed the only thing you “trade off” is a trait line of your choice. So basically because you can only have 3 traitlines equipped. It means to use the elite spec you can only use 2 core specs. Its not really a trade off when you consider this though because you can use any other core traitlines, weapons and utilities you want with the elite spec.

It was confirmed we dont lose any weapons or utilities when equipping the elite spec. Its basically an elite traitline which takes up one of our three traitline choices. And gives us access to extra stuff. And when we get more elite specs we will only be able to have one equipped at a time. Which means are access to some things will be restricted slightly. But the core stuff is accessible all the time.

The blog post explains all this really well. :P

striker.3704:

Bhawb.7408:

There is no “replacing” a single line, it is just a third line that you can mix and match as you want. The only special stipulation is that you can only have 1 elite specialization, and you need that specialization equipped if you want the specialization stuff.

I thought the purpose of the specialization was that you would trade off something for something else? If they introduce this specialization without you needing to give up anything for it, it will just be a straight upgrade unlekittenanges other factors of the necromancer at their core upon adopting it. At least until they introduce the next specialization set after this one. I'll be honest, I haven't seen anything beyond the current changes to existing traits as far as this specialization stuff goes.

Here’s the basic rundown of the new changes:

You pick exactly three trait lines, which will now be called “specializations”. In those three lines, you’ll get all the minors and your choice of major at every tier. (So three Adepts, three Masters, three Grandmasters.)

How the new elite specializations fit in:

Elite specializations that will be released with Heart of Thorns (Like Druid for Rangers) will be slotted in instead of one of the three ‘core’ specializations. So instead of going Spite / Death Magic / Soul Reaping, you might choose Spite / Death Magic / New Specialization. As well, you can only ever have one elite specialization equipped at a time, even if they release more in the future.

So the tradeoff for the elite specialization is one of your three chosen trait lines / core specializations.

Edit: Beaten to the punch. But I like this post, so here it stays.

spoj.9672:

Well thats what we initially thought. But it has now been confirmed the only thing you “trade off” is a trait line of your choice. So basically because you can only have 3 traitlines equipped. It means to use the elite spec you can only use 2 core specs. Its not really a trade off when you consider this though because you can use any other core traitlines, weapons and utilities you want with the elite spec.

It was confirmed we dont lose any weapons or utilities when equipping the elite spec. Its basically an elite traitline which takes up one of our three traitline choices. And gives us access to extra stuff. And when we get more elite specs we will only be able to have one equipped at a time. Which means are access to some things will be restricted slightly. But the core stuff is accessible all the time.

The blog post explains all this really well. :P

Tl;dr for familiar people.

Comparing to current World of Warcraft, we will have almost the same thing:

Your current Necromancer will be like WoW class before choosing specialization (even named the same).

Such trades, much wow.

To Suck or not to Suck

That’s your question.

Softspoken.2410:

striker.3704:

Bhawb.7408:

There is no “replacing” a single line, it is just a third line that you can mix and match as you want. The only special stipulation is that you can only have 1 elite specialization, and you need that specialization equipped if you want the specialization stuff.

I thought the purpose of the specialization was that you would trade off something for something else? If they introduce this specialization without you needing to give up anything for it, it will just be a straight upgrade unlekittenanges other factors of the necromancer at their core upon adopting it. At least until they introduce the next specialization set after this one. I'll be honest, I haven't seen anything beyond the current changes to existing traits as far as this specialization stuff goes.

Here’s the basic rundown of the new changes:

You pick exactly three trait lines, which will now be called “specializations”. In those three lines, you’ll get all the minors and your choice of major at every tier. (So three Adepts, three Masters, three Grandmasters.)

How the new elite specializations fit in:

Elite specializations that will be released with Heart of Thorns (Like Druid for Rangers) will be slotted in instead of one of the three ‘core’ specializations. So instead of going Spite / Death Magic / Soul Reaping, you might choose Spite / Death Magic / New Specialization. As well, you can only ever have one elite specialization equipped at a time, even if they release more in the future.

So the tradeoff for the elite specialization is one of your three chosen trait lines / core specializations.

Edit: Beaten to the punch. But I like this post, so here it stays.

I like your explanation, this is awesome news as, looking at it now, taking blood only for the minor siphoning might not be too beneficial for me after the patch. I hope we get to see this new specialization soon so I can know for sure what i want to do.