Guild Wars 2

Hello Necro enthusiasts,
it bugs me when I see people complaining about DS being only viable fir power builds and for defense as I use DS equally offensively as a I do defensively (if not more so).

the idea of this post is to give people ideas on how to use DS in other ways that works well for conditions power and hybrid builds other than just to soak up damage.

so I think alot of people under estimate/ underuse dark path, but its a very powerful tool. the port (even though its slow) is very helpful and can be used either to initiate an attack, to slow/snare and bleed which is useful for every build we have and also if you plan ahead you can use it to escape on a different less threatening mob/player nearby if you find yourself in a pinch.

I personally use dark path as soon as its off cooldown as it either forces a dodge or slows your opponent down while adding bleeds too. which in a conditions build is very powerful and a power build is nice extra damage, and in the chilled state you cannot be kited as easily.

in my current build im using weakening shroud as a trait and mark of blood on dodge, if I want to load up my conditions fast, I dodge roll in enter DS use dark path followed by doom and then use my utilities and other skills. Before any other skills are activated I generally have between 8-10 bleeds on a target (if all goes to plan) and my other abilities are going to add to that. I find this to be very strong. if I dont want to waste a dodge I evade when needed and use spectral grasp to pull them into the mark.

doom is another very strong skill, especially in terror builds with fear duration. also can be used in power builds to interrupt heals and for some minor CC. I use doom when ive loaded someone up with bleeds but theyre not near any other enemy players, if I can I fear them in the direction of a nearby enemy or mob and epidemic. therefore spreading conditions from single target to multiple target. obviously this is a very situational example but like I say, this is hopefully going to be food for thought when people explore the uses of DS.

life siphon is imo very strong AoE. I actually prefer life siphon over life blast single target as its not easy to dodge and on my rabbid set up still hits for roughly 2k. I use this when anticipating a thief going into stealth or to add pressure in group fights. also theres other group utility offered by life siphon like healing and drawing aggro.

life blast is the skill I use when everything else is on CD even tho it still hits fot about 1.5k on my conditions spec. This is good for baiting dodges and keeping up pressure. when you manage to bait a dodge when using life blast that is an opening for either dark path, or a burst skill like axe 2 for example.

all of these skills have multiple uses and I dont feel they get used enough.

I hope this has been helpful.

also if you have any other uses of DS or examples of play when you feel very powerful using it please comment and share.

im aware DS isnt perfect but you have to optimise the use of what you’ve got to be strong in this game, so please be constructive.

Isn’t Life Blast 50% less effective when you’re below 50% health? Would be nice if they removed that, it would be really helpful in PvE and PvP.

I wouldnt say its any less effective under 50%.
Just a little before 50% LF is when I back out if it, or start using it defensively.

Main thing I try to do is pop off long CD skills, go DS ASAP, then 2, 4, 3, exit DS, change weapon sets and fire off everything left. Using DS at the start of the fight is way better than saving it for an emergency. I just wish I could use it more often, even if for shorter duration.

It does not matter what my traiting is. I try to use DS as much as I can but still forget to watch the timer.

It isn’t okay that it has zero synergy with condi builds which were supposed to be the focus of the class.

Dralor.3701:

It isn’t okay that it has zero synergy with condi builds which were supposed to be the focus of the class.

AoE bleeds and conditions, 2 wells and a DS life siphon does the trick for me…

I don’t know if u read the part about using DS to stack bleeds quickly dralor? ds is awesome for condition builds imo.

I can finish mobs off in cursed shore in about 6 seconds using just bleeds and thats only because of how I use DS. I think its very effective for condition builds. if I could use a recording system like fraps I would make a few videos but I play on my laptop and it wouldn’t cope very well