Guild Wars 2

Ok guys. I officially need help. Been playing pvp for last month and got placed among top 100 on a new leaderboards. I use d/p with different meta/non meta builds. I have rly no problems fighting and soloing any class,to solo recap. My only problems are necroes . Never played one, and rly don’t know how they worked. Most of the time I got feared and my hp just goes to zero In less than 2 seconds, no time to dodge. And sometimes I start fighting and get him low and he just enters 2-3 forms than I have no time to fight, and that deal insane dmg(especially wraith looking one) . I tried several times, and now I just go to help team on recapping and defending, when I see necro. I talk about high skill players. Please explain me their mechanics and your suggestion to countering and fighting them. Note, I don’t use shadow refuge at all in spvp, cause it’s a point loser .

You need to stealth against wraith form until you can break his stability with steal. Break his stab, use f1 to fear him and then dps him. They hit hard cause they are glass and you are a thief. Against the death shroud form you need to keep them blinded and avoid the black hand things he throws at you. That form also has a fear. So better have a stun break up…

As a Necro main myself, here’s the advice I can give.

First, learn the Death Shroud skills. This is important because every necro has them, and they are indeed powerful.

Life Blast is the auto attack and will hit hard, especially within 600 range. On Power Necros, this is especially powerful, but Condition necros may be packing Dhuumfire as well. After the first fight, you should know the answer here, as condition necros are either packing Dhuumfire or Reaper’s Protection (fear when CC’d). Non-Dhuumfire condition necro lifeblasts aren’t very scary, but don’t underestimate them. Although the projectile is slow, don’t waste your time trying to pull fancy dodges by strafing or shadowstepping. It will home to you anyway, making up to a 90 degree turn mid-flight if necessary.

Second is Dark Path. This one is deceptively scary because it will lead to so much. This is a black hand that travels along the ground, and is one of the few “really should dodge” skills Necros have. Even though it’s a projectile, it’s unblockable, which also means it will go right through Smokescreen and reflections. The chill and bleeds are nasty enough, but the real danger is what else happens. On Condition necros, this probably is a two-boon corruption. Thieves aren’t as boon heavy as most other professions, but nobody likes sudden weakness. On Power Necros, they are now right in your face with a dagger AA.

Third skill is Doom. It’s scarier on Condition necros due to Terror putting out an easy 2k damage, but beware on any variety. It’s often used to either make sure a Dark Path lands or to force you off of the Necro. There is no telegraph, and the skill can be used even when the Necro is stunned, so the only way to avoid this is anticipation of the Fear. Keep a close eye as to how the Necro is using it and learn when stunbreaking this Fear is a good idea. This is a moment-to-moment judgement call, so not much I can help you with there.

Life Siphon is pretty straightforward, just pulsing AoE damage where each hit gives the Necro some life force. Easily interrupted, but important to note is that it ignores stealth entirely, hits for a lot of damage and has a lot of chances to proc sigils and traits (9 hits per target over the channel). Currently, only MM Necros use the Transfusion trait in PvP, but be warned it could also be a powerful group heal in that case.

Tainted Shackles has a lot of counterplay. Like Life Transfer, it completely ignores stealth. Each pulse can be individually dodged, but the tether creation cannot be. Leaving 600 range ends any additional effects from the skill. The last pulse not only immobilizes, but hits decently hard as well in Power builds.

While Life Transfer and Tainted Shackles ignore stealth, they do not give any visual indication to the Necro, so these skills cannot be used to track you.

Everything else for advice starts to break down dependent on build, as what counters one Necro build doesn’t really work on another (except CC spam). Kill any Flesh Wurms you see before engaging the Necro , though, as that deprives them of a stunbreak and an escape.

Thank you very much. Very good advices and I will try to use them well.

SB is great for fighting a normal necro because it has more range than their melee set and it outdamages their staff auto’s. The matchup becomes more difficult when the necro pops lich or death shroud.

If he’s in lich, you need to steal to strip his stability, then either keep him blinded or CC’d using the stolen fear. If he’s in death shroud, and you get hit by death shroud 2, immediately steal because he’s almost certainly going to life blast. Death shroud 3 is an instant fear, so I try to save a stunbreak in anticipation.

Use the stolen fear on his lich first, and if that’s on cd, his death shroud second. If you don’t have the stolen fear or your steal, you need to stay in stealth during lich/death shroud. I find it’s a bit easier using X/D because you can chain CnD’s to drop his life force while remaining in stealth, but D/P will suffice with its on demand stealth. Note that D/P 3 blinds will outpace his lifeblasts, so you can also keep him perma-blinded if you have enough initiative.

The idea is to play very defensively when he’s in lich or death shroud. Slowly whittle away at his life force when you can. Once he’s out of death shroud, either range with SB or burst him aggressively, depending on how much health he has.

Something I forgot to mention is that staying behind a Necro protects you from most of their attacks, including Life Blast and Dark Path. Staff marks can be cast behind them without penalty, and Life Siphon (the dagger mainhand channel) ignores facing once the pulses start. No Necro autos (except Lich Form!) can hit you if you stick behind them, so this can relieve a lot of pressure.

Just beware of those Necros like myself that have bound an “about face” key.

Somnium Luna.6294:

Ok guys. I officially need help. Been playing pvp for last month and got placed among top 100 on a new leaderboards. I use d/p with different meta/non meta builds. I have rly no problems fighting and soloing any class,to solo recap. My only problems are necroes . Never played one, and rly don’t know how they worked. Most of the time I got feared and my hp just goes to zero In less than 2 seconds, no time to dodge. And sometimes I start fighting and get him low and he just enters 2-3 forms than I have no time to fight, and that deal insane dmg(especially wraith looking one) . I tried several times, and now I just go to help team on recapping and defending, when I see necro. I talk about high skill players. Please explain me their mechanics and your suggestion to countering and fighting them. Note, I don’t use shadow refuge at all in spvp, cause it’s a point loser .

tell me pls how you beat d/d elem

Life blast is a projectile btw, means it can be reflected. Always keep a stun break and avoid marks while applying enough pressure using ranged weapons like pistols and shortbow(cluster or poison). Be aggressive like mango said once he’s out of death shroud or lich form. Only engage lich form when you know he is low enough to do so, because it hits like a truck. Please avoid life blast as much as possible when you’re facing a power necro. Oh and their dagger auto attacks usually will hit harder than yours, so just drop BP n stab them as much as possible by engaging and re engaging using ports like infiltrators signet,skill 3 on d/p n steal.

Nephrite.6954:

Life blast is a projectile btw, means it can be reflected. Always keep a stun break and avoid marks while applying enough pressure using ranged weapons like pistols or shortbow(cluster or poison)when they’re standing within their marks. Be aggressive like mango said once he’s out of death shroud or lich form. Only engage lich form when you know he is low enough to do so, because it hits like a truck. Please avoid life blast as much as possible when you’re facing a power necro. Oh and their dagger auto attacks usually will hit harder than yours, so just drop BP n stab them as much as possible by engaging and re engaging using ports like infiltrators signet,skill 3 on d/p n steal.

I’d first warn you to not take the current leaderboard to indicate anything about skill, there is always something to learn to improve. Being top 100 doesn’t mean you’re top 100 in skill, it means you’re top 100 in performing well for your given MMR… Read backpack’s recent QQ post for more info on that topic…

As d/p you have a metric kittenton of blinds/dazes available to you. You should have the necro constantly blinded or dazed. Shadow shot, auto, auto, shadow shot, daze that kittening heal when you see it. One thing i liked to do is once I have the stolen fear available, I’ll blinding powder on top of him then cast the fear. Once the necro starts running away, heart seeker to him to gain stealth and get a free backstab in. If you have a long duration stealth you can cast the fear in stealth then backstab+steal also. If he drops several marks on the ground just dodge through them to void them all. He goes into lich form? Steal to him immediatley to rip his stability if available, if not, line of site or stealth because you’ll be 2 shot otherwise.

You should get a feel for the fight after a while. Getting a bit low on health? Stealth up and use shortbow’s 1 attack to immob him and drop a few cluster bombs on. All in all, thieves have an above 50% chance at a win vs necros when played right. Good luck dude.

sadly can’t outplay nightmare runes

as thief you shouldn’t be dueling people in match anyway

What you need to learn as a theif:

Never 1v1 unless its another thief or a mesmer.

some exceptions apply:

If you see a guardian and hes dps…. they have the upper hand but its beatable, so that fight is up to you. You can not make one mistake though.

If you see a ranger, and hes kitten , fight him. If you see a ranger and its played by a good player just turn around and run the other way.

Fresh air ele, you can beat, but again, you can not make one mistake. They can make many.

If you see a bad necro, kill him. If you see a half way decent necro, leave.

Role of a thief is too… be highly mobile. Kill mesmers. Kill runners and decap. we are at a disadvantage 1v1 except vs mesmers….. anet decided its not our job. The end.

I actually don’t agree with the statement thief is not 1vs1 class. I know the role of a thief in pvp. Ofc his main advantage is using mobility to run around the map and help out. But I personally have no problem fighting 1vs1 at all(except neuro or three engine cause it’s suicide). Thief, if aged smart can beat easily any class. Ranger is easily countered with infiltration signet and interupts , warrior with blinds and evades( especially hambow). And elementals and mesmers are just mind play games. Thief main role is out numbering fights and fast decap. But in ranked pvp I found it pretty great to kill and cap that solo guarded point and then rush to next fight. The key is you need to be at all places of map at once.

Sorry for typing mistakes was using phone with autocorrect

Somnium Luna.6294:

I actually don’t agree with the statement thief is not 1vs1 class. I know the role of a thief in pvp. Ofc his main advantage is using mobility to run around the map and help out. But I personally have no problem fighting 1vs1 at all(except neuro or three engine cause it’s suicide). Thief, if aged smart can beat easily any class. Ranger is easily countered with infiltration signet and interupts , warrior with blinds and evades( especially hambow). And elementals and mesmers are just mind play games. Thief main role is out numbering fights and fast decap. But in ranked pvp I found it pretty great to kill and cap that solo guarded point and then rush to next fight. The key is you need to be at all places of map at once.

you fought bad players then
good player might not win every 1v1 match vs thief but they know how to hold point long enough for teammates to arrive
thief job is not to duel in ranked