Guild Wars 2

So I recently came back to GW2 after having been gone for about a month. Halloween basically restored interest for me. But I never had a chance to perfect my build. And I’m pretty out of the loop in terms of stat builds.

I have no interest in PvP/WvW whatsoever. I’d like to know your guys’ opinions on making a powerful dungeon/PvE necro build. I made 50g off of the Halloween event and am prepared to invest every bit of it into all of the exotics, runes, sigils, etc that I need.

You don’t need to answer to all of these questions, just an opinion on one or more would be nice. Though if you think you can give me a perfect explanation, I’d be happy to hear it.

I was aiming for a conditionmancer. What I mostly want is to be a DoT/DPS power to behold, really. But if you have a better recommendation, by all means.

Gear?: Honestly, I was just going to load up on all level 80 exotic carrion equipment here. Am I right in this assumption or should I get something else/mix it up a bit?

Weapons?: I already have a level 80 exotic staff on hand, and was going to also purchase a scepter/dagger combo for swapping out. Is that acceptable, or should I lean for something else?

Runes/Sigils?: For runes, I was thinking about buying six Superior Runes of the Afflicted and transmuting all of them into my armor. Good or not? I’ve no idea about sigils though, if anyone can point towards recommendations on that.

Skills?: Currently, my skill lineup is Well of Blood/Consume Conditions (depending on situation), Blood is Power, Plague Signet, Epidemic, and Plague Form. Anything that would be a better lineup for dungeons?

Traits?: Honestly, this is what I’m most confused with. I’ve read several Necro guides out there, and there seem to be a lot of conflicting in terms of what you should distribute for traits, and the major trait selections. Any help here would be most welcome, as I really cannot decide.

That’s all. Thanks for any assistance you can offer.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fQAQNArdWjQaV6pbub07JAJFX/8kivHP6xxGPMA
My general all purpose build. I use it when I’m trying out a dungeon for the first time, and for general PvE. Its great for delivering lots of AoE, mainly for use with staff

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fQEQNArdWlMa61muRvGD3ExkCvxNIFvXaRPImxSGA
This build is for dungeons that require more focused single target damage (e.g. CoE path 3)

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fQEQNArdWlMayrnuxdD92EgkirfGSxtSH9gYjPG
This is also a variation of my all purpose build, higher damage, less tanky.

I use traveler gear for the magic find, which is very similar to Carrion. Also pirate runes, so you can get whatever rune you fancy really. I also use magic find sigils.

Protip: Your downed state, with the 50% more damage when downed trait, is much better than your regular state when you are up against the boss of HotW ex2. =)

For some dungeons, I constantly change out my skills depending on the fight ahead. Much of this comes down to preference, but if you have a query about a path that I have done before, I can tell you how I like to change out my skills.

Conditionmancer PvE dps spec

Consensus Build: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fQAQNArYWjMaN7pbub07JAJFPfNkie1N6BxGnMA
Variations: 10/30/20/10/0 (with blast finisher), 20/30/10/0/20 (with soul reaping/unyielding blast), 30/30/10/0/0 (with well of corruption) or 0/30/30/10/0 (with focussing crystal for maximum cond. dmg at the expense of other traits)

Gear: 5x Rabid – Dungeon: TA, Arah, HotW/Trading post: Khilbron’s/Karma: Orr karma vendor 42k

Accessories: 5 x Carrion (Chryolscola (sp)) or 3 x Carrion 2 x Rampagers (coral)

Weapons: MH Rabid scepter, OH Rabid dagger (e.g. Malfectyrm(sp)), Rabid staff

Utilities:
1) Plague signet or Bone minions or Corrupt Boon or Spectral Walk/Spectral Armour (Lupicius)
2) BiP (use with dagger 4)
3) Epidemic (use on cooldown)

Elite: Flesh golem or Plague (situation dependant)

Runes: 6 x Undead

Sigil: MH of Earth, OH of agony/of corruption, Staff of corruption/of geomancy

Rotation: Scepter 2, dagger 5, BiP, dagger 4, (epidemic), swap weapon, staff 2, staff 3, staff 4, epidemic

Additional notes: If you consistenly pop epidemic early in the rotation you may want to enter DS to build might/stack vulnerability through reapers might/unyielding blast to fill the rotation- see build variations

Some people swap mark talents for pet talents though personally I find them to be a liability it most dungeons with aoe/random pulls etc

I have recently come across a build focussing on stacking might (sticky build post) through (strength/of the fire/hoelbrak) and sigil of battle – I am still testing it out but it seems the original build I provided comes out marginally on top (I am not a heavy theorycrafter)

You can supplement rabid gear with carrion gear until you farm the necessary tokens/karma. You can alternatively craft rampagers gear though I would then adopt a more well-centric build – see Xyi’s post on Guru forums

Forgot to mention, you generally want to use consume conditions, well of blood is only really useful in story mode

Conditionmancers are better suited for AOE dps, Power build for single target dps

I am not an expert in the latter so I will leave that to other people to dicuss/provide builds. From my own experience condition builds are alot of run in PVE as well as WvW – theres nothing like popping epidemic on a heavily conditioned mob in a crowded room

I also get the impression from grouping that other proffesions are better suited for burst dps (e.g. warriors) it is for that reason I generally lean more towards condition specs over power because it is there where we truly shine (well until they nerf/remove epidemic)

This is what I usually roll with in dungeons.

http://www.guildhead.com/skill-calc#mzVm0cz9Mow0xMow0xM0xGG0McsmMoR

I use Tahlkora’s named set and Shaman’s etched weapons for Healing, Vitality, Condition Dmg. (Why is it not toughness like sPvP amulet) With rune of the flock/grove. Well of Blood becomes a fat heal (5.6k over 10s) with some +healing investment. Transfusion turns Life Transfer into a pretty big AoE heal too. Well of Darkness and Plague Form give you ample sources of damage mitigation while Epidemic lets you spread aids.

Last utility slot can be anything depending on encounter/your tastes. Flesh Wurm is excellent against Subject Alpha while you may prefer Spectral Walk for something else. Plague Signet is never a bad choice while any other well can be easily fitted too. After all, all your wells will grant protection those inside it initially when cast.

You’ll be watching conditions on both your foes and allies while taking both the role of healer + tank momentarily and situationally. You have more than enough tools to keep people up between their healing skill CDs, but since this is GW2, if they’re flat out kitten there will be nothing you can do for them :>