Guild Wars 2

I’m using a 6-6-2-0-0 full zerk d/d – sb thief at the moment for wvw, switching to d/p – sb for spvp

I’m having problems vs necro with both builds, let it be power or condi. I am not a good player at all, so it can be just me being outplayed.

But on paper, if two equally skilled players are against each other can you comment how to proceed versus powernecro and condinecro both in wvw and pvp? I would appreciate any tips. My current build: http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fZEQNAoYVlsMp0pdOx7J8PNRLRsdY3LX5a/EcA-T1RBABRcCFua/R5He6bW4QAAwTKgS1fMTJYAAEgb2mt5Nzm38m3sbezbez2sMA6jB-w

The build you have linked is full ascended, do you have this?
If not, a build showing EXACTLY what you run may be a bit more helpful. Even if you use cheaper food etc.

EDIT: I have amended the traits to something I personally use.
Build

Has good condi clear through stealth, good fury uptime and a ton of stealth heals.

The key to Thief is either stealth or evades. D/D is stealth based. In this case, you want to stealth often to clear conditions, stack might, heal and give you the advantage of re-opening.

Zach.3264:

The build you have linked is full ascended, do you have this?
If not, a build showing EXACTLY what you run may be a bit more helpful. Even if you use cheaper food etc.

EDIT: I have amended the traits to something I personally use.
Build

Has good condi clear through stealth, good fury uptime and a ton of stealth heals.

The key to Thief is either stealth or evades. D/D is stealth based. In this case, you want to stealth often to clear conditions, stack might, heal and give you the advantage of re-opening.

Thank you I’m going to those traits a try right away! Guess this is more of a defensive setup, where I’ll be giving away a bit of damage for a way to clear condis and sustain. Should be a fair trade. Thanks again

e: are you using full zerk as well or valkyrie with zerk amulets (i know thats a popular gear setup)

e2: would you say 2 points in trickery is worth it as opposed to this : http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fZAQJAoYlsMp0pdPxyJ8PNBNBtdFGeI4uGrYGaFAA-TFCFwA61DA4BAcVJISleCOBAOVGUb/BVq/QKArWGB-w

MrSimpleMan.6194:

Zach.3264:

The build you have linked is full ascended, do you have this?
If not, a build showing EXACTLY what you run may be a bit more helpful. Even if you use cheaper food etc.

EDIT: I have amended the traits to something I personally use.
Build

Has good condi clear through stealth, good fury uptime and a ton of stealth heals.

The key to Thief is either stealth or evades. D/D is stealth based. In this case, you want to stealth often to clear conditions, stack might, heal and give you the advantage of re-opening.

Thank you I’m going to those traits a try right away! Guess this is more of a defensive setup, where I’ll be giving away a bit of damage for a way to clear condis and sustain. Should be a fair trade. Thanks again

e: are you using full zerk as well or valkyrie with zerk amulets (i know thats a popular gear setup)

e2: would you say 2 points in trickery is worth it as opposed to this : http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fZAQJAoYlsMp0pdPxyJ8PNBNBtdFGeI4uGrYGaFAA-TFCFwA61DA4BAcVJISleCOBAOVGUb/BVq/QKArWGB-w

I crafted my Thief to 80 in a day and have been using full berserker since. It still works a charm

Apologies ye, I’ve been using Condi build recently and forgot I don’t use that in my Power one. This is the exact build I use for D/D

against necro is a bit tricky,if the necro is condi heavy you have to watch out for DS #5,always keep cond clear for that you will noticei t when green stuff coming to you or you will have torment stacks.Always try to pressure him and dps him down quick in DS.

If it is a power necro,watch for thier DS,when they enter it try to stealth as much as possible,and/or dps them down while trying be on thier back,they have powerfull #1 skill which does alot of dmg,staying at thier back will make it hard for them to hit you.

In general,most of the necros use staff,always try not to step on thier marks and if you see them just standing still it means they are in the center of marks,so watch out from that.
also in DS,if you see them using #4 or #5 skills,try to stun/daze them cause those skills are channeling skills which can be inturrpted.

If they use DS then just stealth up. When you’re about to come out of stealth you can re-stealth immediately after by using Cloak and Dagger again (avoiding the revealed debuff so long as you don’t break stealth by hitting). Let their DS tick down, or if they come out of it you have several seconds before they can enter again.

Thief is great for harassing, some times you’re better off knocking their health down bit by bit rather than trying to all in one go.

Sandrox.9524:

also in DS,if you see them using #4 or #5 skills,try to stun/daze them cause those skills are channeling skills which can be inturrpted.

Actually, Tainted Shackles in not channeled.
The cast time is 1/4 sec, this part can be interrupted.
After that those green beams will hit every target within 600 range, they can’t be dodged, blocked or interrupted. Starting with the initial hit, 1 stack of torment is applied every second as long as you stay within range. After the 3rd sec the necro will emit a blast that deals damage and immobilizes. This one can be avoided (dodge, block, blind, move out of range…)
So basically, if you happen to be near a necro when they use Tainted Shackles, dodge after 3 seconds or just move out of range before that.

As a general pointer against necros, regardless of their build:
Be aggressive when they are not using Death Shroud and stay away when they are. Because:

1. Necros are stronger at close range. DS #2 is a rather slow projectile, it is homing and therefore more easily avoidable at higher range. DS #1 and #3 are more effective below 600 range, and #4 and #5 don’t work at 600+ at all.

2. About 80% of every necro’s defense comes from mitigating damage with life force. Their regular healing is really bad. So if you’re timing your skills for when their Shroud is on cooldown (10sec after exiting), they’ll have a significantly harder time recovering.

That means: bait them into DS and move away. Wait until they cancel it or their life force depletes naturally and enjoy a 10 sec window of opportunity during which the necro is weaker and more vulnerable to your attacks.

Regarding Condi Necro, not much to say. Many explained it before and know how to handle it.

Against good roaming Power Necro you can expect anything. They can be either full glass A/F+Staff which falls down rather quickly or other variations.

The other variations are a problem. Power Necro doesn’t need a staff. In fact, they drop staves more and more often, trying other secondary sets.

“Baiting” DS against skilled Power Necro won’t work, I tell you. We know exactly when to use it, when to switch out and we often run Near to Death which makes Death Shroud a 6 second cooldown with 3-4 second Retaliation and 3 second weakness + bleed on switch.

Your best bet is to play as defensive as you possibly can. We’re having troubles with S/P Thieves and some S/D. Constant disengaging, stealthing and blinding is the key to beat a Power Necro.
As D/D, CnD as often as you can. Run blinding powders, teleports.

It’s a terrible mistake to say that Power DS Necro is most dangerous in DS with Life Blast. No, we’re not. Trading hits with Dagger Necro toe2toe is a suicide. Not only it does tons of damage, too fast for blinds, but also fills up LF in extreme rate.

Combo of Locust Swarm, DS and Life Transfer can easily stack around 12-13 bleeds on close targets.

Make sure to play safely. Power Necro using Axe or/and Dagger will have 3-5 channeled abilities which can hit you quite hard in stealth. Life Siphon, Ghastly Claws, Life Transfer, Tainted Shackles and Unholy Feast. If you get caught in half of them, it’s around 11-15k damage. Outrange, again.

Tl;dr

Don’t get caught and play as safely as you can. Disengage, be patient, don’t fight near mobs. Power Necro can have an kitten nal of tricks and down you in matter of seconds. Their weakness is mobility. Don’t underestimate Power Necros. Most of us have spent long time playing this class and we’re not stereotypical. Still, many run GC one-trick-pony burst builds, but better do not.

Just practice.