Guild Wars 2

I like the staff, but I’d have to go 20 points into Death Magic to make it worthwhile. Since Wells are power-based, I’m thinking the Dagger is my best option, followed by the Axe. Any opinions on this?

Those 20 points could be better spent elsewhere, is my main hang-up.

If you are making a power build Dagger/X, Staff is the way to go. Staff does require 10 in death for greater marks, but no need to do more than that. Axe is inferior in every way. Don’t bother with it.

Ignore Myrm if your talking about PvE. Staff should only be used in WvW or sPvP. Maybe PvE if your going supporty or conditions or something. For straight power builds in PvE its worth carrying one around but theres no point having it equipped for most fights. Take dagger and warhorn/focus and then for your offhand take axe + focus. Means you dont have to waste trait points on a useless defensive tree which is counter productive in PvE.

Axe auto attack is awful so avoid using that. But the 2 and 3 are actually very good skills.

spoj.9672:

Ignore Myrm if your talking about PvE. …
Axe auto attack is awful so avoid using that. But the 2 and 3 are actually very good skills.

I didn’t realize that there was still any discussion to be had on this. You have me interested spoj.

Axe 3 gives you a cripple that is inferior to the chill on staff 3 and retaliation that you already have access to in the spite trait tree at the Adept level. The auto (as you say) is entirely useless. Axe 2 is comparable damage to Dagger 2 with the same range, and axe forces you to be in striking distance of almost everything that has any kind of range ability or gap close.

Staff on the other hand has a max range piercing auto-attack that hits for decent damage in a power build plus all the AoE marks and the CC of #5 that is basically the only escape mechanism available to necro when mobbed by multiple targets.

I don’t see anything unique offered by axe. That is why I say it is no contest. While it is true that I am pretty much an exclusively PvP player at this point I have played through almost all of the PvE content since release. What are you seeing that I do not?

The staff on a power build does offer fairly decent damage from range. But you dont need all that cc and the condition combo’s. Fear can actually screw up mob grouping. Axe is strong on power builds because it allows the player to dart in and out of direct melee range without losing huge amounts of dps.

Unholy feast does some nice damage and you can get perma retaliation with it when theres enough mobs around you (no need to waist a trait slot for retal). Basically its good for tagging and doing an aoe burst combo on a group of mobs after LOSing them. Combo goes unholy feast, drop wells, enter DS and life transfer. The damage you do is insane and the retal hits actually contribute alot of damage to it. You could place your marks on the spot where the mobs are LOSing to but usually one mob will trigger them first and the rest wont get hit. If you wait till they are all on you, you are taking a risk and slowing the combo down, plus you cant use reapers mark or you will screw up the pull for your group.

I will admit axe number 2 doesnt do enough damage to actively use it on cooldown. But it does provide a really nice amount of lifeforce. So if you need to duck out of a mobs auto attack range for a few seconds you can switch to axe and use the 2 to get some decent damage and lifeforce. Im constantly moving back and forth between melee and about 500 range if i can without effecting the mobs position or compromising my group by doing so. Traiting into soul marks and using that to gain lifeforce is terrible for lifeforce generation. I can gain about 60+% lifeforce just by using focus 4 and axe 2. Really useful for bosses where you dont have enough dodges to avoid every attack and have to absorb some hits (GL).

Doesnt really matter though. Necro’s are weak in the kind of dungeon runs i run. So i rarely use mine anymore.