Guild Wars 2

Hi folks,
let’s talk about: What is the role of the Necromancer in WVW and What are the viable builds at our disposal.
Our role in zergfights is clear since day 1: spread conditions at range. we could go to the front lines but it is clearly not our place, other professions can do and will do better there (exept for dire builds maybe) so since the Staff is our friend we should equip it and rain down an inferno of conditions on the enemy formation.
But is this our only way to make the difference in wvw?
Is it really just a mere choice of chosing a Power Build instead of a Condition one?
Many tried to be bunkers,many tried some rainbow mix of traits and weapons, youtube is full of necros showing their skills with some extravagant build but we all know our profession is not that lucky to give us the freedom of choice on how to play (if we wanna “win” ofc).

What is your opinion?
How do you play in wvw? You go solo or you go with the zerg?
What setup do you find EFFECTIVE?
What setup do you find MEH..?
What setup you definitely avoid?

power well for zerg

condi for roaming

rainbow mix of fluffiness for never

Riccardo.7254:

Our role in zergfights is clear since day 1: spread conditions at range. we could go to the front lines but it is clearly not our place, other professions can do and will do better there (exept for dire builds maybe) so since the Staff is our friend we should equip it and rain down an inferno of conditions on the enemy formation.

what? imo the main-role in zergs for necs is well-dropping and plague. condi is kinda meh there; the amount of cleanses and condi-hate in your usual 95%warr/guard-blob is just too kittening ridiculous.

What is your opinion?
How do you play in wvw? You go solo or you go with the zerg?

both. but usually i prefer my thief when i want to roam (yes, i feel a bit bad for that)

I personally play Rabid terror necro with a lot of boon removal and perplexity runes for roaming and small group stuff. There isn’t enough condi hate until you hit organized zergs, and the ability to instantly spike players down with fear chains/CB/path of corruption is all really nice.

But in big zergs wells/plague are the way to go.

Hey Bhawb, what are the traits/skills you use in this build?

Rykdean.6253:

Hey Bhawb, what are the traits/skills you use in this build?

In my terror build?

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fRAQNAW7Yjc0UebvN22wfbighSyWoDi+ACgzlyvIKA-TRxYwAAU+9T9n57PIS3wClgkCAipRA-e

That’s basically it. You can change Hemophilia to Weakening Shroud, Greater Marks to Reaper’s Protection, and Spectral Mastery to Path of Midnight, all are just choices. Also the runes can be swapped around a bit at will, same with sigils (which I didn’t list because I still haven’t really properly gotten my own yet), dagger offhand, and you can even change the 20 DM to 20 Spite if you want. Its just how you want to make the build work for you.

Bhawb.7408:

You can change
- Hemophilia to Weakening Shroud,
- Greater Marks to Reaper’s Protection,
- and Spectral Mastery to Path of Midnight,

- yes
- no
- yes. After all you get 4 lower cds with PoM instead of just 2 (not to mention the better synnergy with Path of Corruption), unless you feel a lower cd on stunbreak is neccessary.

On topic:
I know this is an unpopular opinion, but Plague is not the no-brainer elite choice for zergs like everyone is making it out to be.
It very much depends on the fights, your build, the terrain, the number of opponents and their team composition, the way you’re engaging, whether you are defending a structure or fighting somewhere out in the open,…
When I’m joining guild raids or just casually dropping in on some bigger action, I’m usually going with Golem. Of course I do use Plague every now and again, but the long cd and the fact that it forces you into being rather passive for up to 20 seconds makes it very niche for me.
The Golem charge on the other hand has a pretty large hit box and no aoe limit. In many situations this will be more disruptive to an opposing zerg than blind spamming only 5 targets per second. Also, you can actually fight with your regular skills after using Charge.
So clearly it’s a more offensive choice compared to Plague. You might as well use Lich, but then you’re again faced with a long transformation and a long cd after that (also, you might not run a power build).
Bottom line for me: I’ll take the golem a lot more often than Plague.

I go both solo, small-scale and large scale (20/25). All on power/critical damage spec.
As has been said, putting out pressure through (damaging) conditions is ineffective against a larger coordinated enemy group (unless you are focussing on countering periphery maybe, since so many melee groups now with Melandru/Lemongrass).
Our role, next to some control through mostly soft cc, is damage. Armor, weapons, trinkets all chosen to maximize direct damage (basically running almost full berserker).
Running with at least 2 wells and Plague. Plague is a great skill for fighting against outnumbering enemy groups, to negate some of that damage for our melee. Lich’s damage is great, but any coordinated enemy group will focus you as soon as you pop it.
Next to focus on the enemy meleegroup, another role for our necro’s is focussing their periphery, assisting our counter-periphery party.