Guild Wars 2

I finally finished my full ascended zojja’s build: weapon armor trinket and all. I maxed out Fotm to be able to farm tier 4 fractal dailies. I get that feeling that I am finally ready to attempt to raid. Or so I tell myself.

I’m aware that condi/viper necros are in far more demand than a zerk reaper. Does that mean that a zerk reaper has no role to perform in a raid? Or do they do fine, but are slightly outperformed by another class in pure zerk builds?

I would be willing to change my ascended armor to yassith(viper’s), since I know all it costs is a couple of spirit shards and some ectoplasm. However, there are a couple of issues I am facing.

My build is Dagger/Warhorn and GS
I do not have aritificing at 500 on any character, that means no ascended scepter/staff
I am currently working on incinerator.

If I ever hope to raid, should I change to a viper/condi necromancer? Or should I stick with what I have?

Hey there fellow necro,

I was once a power necro myself, but I took a meta to the knee and now I’m condi necro.

People seem to have big hate towards power necros for some odd reason, but the truth is, the two does have a big difference when it comes to raid. The DPS difference is huge. I would recommend going full Yassith for your ascended armor, and then just use exotic scepter and staff while you work towards their ascended counterparts. Keep doing t4 fractal dailies, you never know when you’ll get an ascended weapon chest.

Stay dark, have fun, and good luck!

Thanks for the response. It kinda irritates me because I do good DPS with my zerk reaper with spite/soul reaping/reaper.

What about my trinkets? What trinkets are best for viper builds?

Hey man, not sure if you’re aware but valkyrie’s power reaper is actually stronger than berserker’s reaper

If you’re interested in being one of the cool-kid power reapers, I’d suggest checking out Brazil’s guide video on it. I believe he managed to go up to about 20k-ish DPS, which is certainly not bad.

LezardValeth.9453:

Thanks for the response. It kinda irritates me because I do good DPS with my zerk reaper with spite/soul reaping/reaper.

What about my trinkets? What trinkets are best for viper builds?

Unfortunately good dps doesn’t cut it when it comes to raids. Other professions do much higher direct damage and bring more to the party. The main reason necros get a look in is because our condition damage is top tier and for bouncing epidemic (1 condi necro casts epi on main target, then other necros cast epi on nearby targets just after first epi has gone off).

It (as always) depends.

If you have a steady good group, then bringing a power reaper is not a problem. The dmg difference is not huge. BUT you cant compare condi reaper and power reaper as these 2 have different “jobs” in the raid group.

The comparison to your power reaper is the tempest or thief. These are all melee, power based clases. And the power reaper fall short in dmg compared to both of the others. Your streangth is a more tanky settup and ok CC (no better or worse compared to the other 2).

The condi necro on the other hand is ranged and condi. So why is this importent?
At VG, being ranged = green circle, the power reaper cant do this. And due to being condi, its red guardian in split.
At other bosses like mathias, trio and SAB (kiting) again the range is helpfull or part of the reason why a necro is picked in the first place.
And for SAB, sloth and trio being able to use Epi (based on your condi dmg) is a huge reason to even bring a necro. And again a power reaper cant do this.

TLDR: Dont compare the condi and power reaper. Compare your power reaper to a tempest/thief and bring it in the spot of 1 of these.

ohh ohh ohh btw, unless you are talking WvW, PvP or open world. No reason to get a staff. Scepter on the other hand is really needed.

Thanks for the comments. I swapped my ascended gear with yassmith versions. Although I still need trinkets, rings, and an amulet, I’ve noticed a significant difference between playing a condi necro and a power necro. While I love playing power necro, I am happy to be a condi necro at the moment.