Ok, this is very fun: yes! They can be reflected! And I tested with a few spare mobs with Jormag a few moments ago: the reflected projectiles are also invisible. I died three times because I applied my target conditions… to myself!
Isn’t this worth of the title of Master of Corruption? Now I understand the real meaning of that trait.
I do mainly PvE but I think the same can apply in WvW and, possibly, sPvP: I’m almost fine with the changes, I understand why they made but I don’t understand why they still left the casting time to 1s.
Now that theyr are projectiles, easy to dodge, why leave the casting time so high?
Also, there is another potential problem: they projectiles apply the conditions when they land, not when the Epidemic is cast. In PvE is a problem as it was common, at least for me, to land an Epidemic on a dying mob. Now I have to land it way before an add dies, which is annoying… not a huge problem but very annoying.
In other modes, however, if the target of Epidemic cleanses it’s condition the projectiles will do nothing.
Another thing: does unblockable means also they can’t be reflected… isn’t it?
So you are complaying…. that Reaper is a good class? That you like it and it’s funnier than other classes?
Are you serious?
yes i am because all classes should be fun, all classes should be strong and when you have one that is vastly better it means that there is no point to use anything else.
Are you really serious?
I main the Necro since the very first beta of the game, I always liked it. For three years we suffered, we have been emarginated because other classes were more fun, more effective and condition suffered a huge game design flaw… and now… now you are complaining?
Please tell me you are trolling us.
For daily use Viper is the best choice. With “daily” I mean you have no problem with the first three tiers: levels 2,10,x; 32,40,x and the third 56,67,77.
Above this levels you will encounter some real challenge. Personally I found Viper is good in almost every situation but for some fractals you may need more defensive stats.
To give you a solid example: in Cliffside fractals levels 62 and 82 I had to use a specific build with lots of blinds and Trailblazer’s stats. It’s hard to survive at those fractals with a squishy build as Viper’s one.
I think Lahmia meant to say either increase the effect (more blood to the target) or give us resistance.
The point is: Corruptions are very very underwhelming and most of the time they are best untraited.
Wow giving resistance to corruptions will be super good, but will make condi even stronger. When used at the right time all conditions on me wont deal damage and meanwhile ill transfer them on top of the corruption effect from the utility… way to OP.
But great idea, I like it
It isn’t: you are trading 2s of Resistance for a 20s of Bleed and Torment. To remove all of your condition you have to waster another utility or skill.
I like the idea but makes little sense on the Necromancer. I agree with everyone: Corruptions need a rework.
@Cecilia I don’t agree: the damage is very nice because it adds damage on top of the others, during an hard-cc.
It’s not 1k damage by the way but about 1,4k and depending on your condition duration it may tick more than once.
Master of Corruption, especially in this build, would only affect Consume Condition decreasing it’s cost of 5s but at the cost of a self-blind… I don’t like it at all, it’s way best untraited.
I am testing a similar build but with Trailblaizer stats (which makes you HUGE) and so far is working.
I suggest you to try Corrosive Poison Cloud instead of Spectral Wall: I use the first to deny bursts from ranged classes and sometimes while escaping. Spectral Wall, in my opinion, is best during zerg fights instead of roaming: it’s harded to see and affects a lot of people, at the contrary while roaming it’s easy to avoid.
I use sceptre/dagger as main and just one other dagger off-hand as secondary set. In the first set I have a Sigil of Bursting (Sceptre) and a Sigil of Malice (Dagger), in the secondary set I use a Sigil of Corruption on the dagger. This way I can swap to the 2nd dagger to build corruption stacks (ex: when dealing with trash mobs) or to the first one to have more damage (ex: when mobs give no stack or against bosses). In both sets I have the same sceptre so the Sigil of Bursting is always working. With this setup I need only three weapons.
In a pure condition build I find this more effective rather than a staff which, to me, it’s a damage drop.
However this was working great with pure damage condition builds but for hybrid builds I do use the staff, a lot.
I use sceptre/dagger as main and just one other dagger off-hand as secondary set. In the first set I have a Sigil of Bursting (Sceptre) and a Sigil of Malice (Dagger), in the secondary set I use a Sigil of Corruption on the dagger. This way I can swap to the 2nd dagger to build corruption stacks (ex: when dealing with trash mobs) or to the first one to have more damage (ex: when mobs give no stack or against bosses). In both sets I have the same sceptre so the Sigil of Bursting is always working. With this setup I need only three weapons.
In a pure condition build I find this more effective rather than a staff which, to me, it’s a damage drop.
However this was working great with pure damage condition but for hybrid build I do use the staff, a lot.
Power damage also requires 3 stats to be effective (scaling it over 300% of the base damage). Condi can be done with one status to get almost all of it and 2 to optimize most builds…
Not quite true: Condition needs three stats as well: Condition Damage, Expertise and time. The third one is not a stat you can build. Conditions needs time to build, while with direct damage you apply immediately all your damage.
If you think conditions are strong I’m fine to nerf them if they also remove that many condition cleanses and invulnerabilities/evades from other classes.
It’s not feasible in PvE though.
Would you say there’s a good reason to go Vipers over Zerker in higher level fractals or both work just as well?
They work both well. You can choose one or the other depending on your playstyle.
Of course they both have advantages and disadvantages: if you get down you still deal damage with a condition build but the zerk is faster to build damage, etc etc.
I have no problem in fractals at any level with my viper build, I deal enough damage and I build it quite fast. You will never be as rapid as a zerk but you can deal a lot of damage nevertheless and, sometimes even better.
My rotation uses Terror because you both decimate the break bar and deal damage in conjunction with the poisons fields from Chillblains and/or Corrosive Poison Cloud +* Soul Spiral* will deal about 8k of poison damage per secs (I personally reached 10k several times). This will wears off quickly but in the mean time you can build your conditions whether with the sceptres or with autoattacking in Shroud with Dhuumfire.
You are squishy as a common berserker, so you may need a bit of practice in some specific fractals, change some traits (like Parasitic Contagion instead of Lingering Curses) or try wells + whirl (it heals a lot).
I use this one as off-tank: great damage, great survivability. I use it mostly in Dragon’s Stand.
I rely on the shroud only at the beginning to decrease my enemy’s life to 50%, or when I need to decrease a break bar, then I spam Gravedigger.
I also wonder how it interacts with the Scrapper’s Bulwark Gyro. I think it’s multiplicative because additive would be too strong but we need some tests to have a confirmation.
While I’d like to have some buff (for PvE mostly) I think it is balanced. With this trait and other changes the Necro is now less slow to apply condition and build the damage, before it was very slow and that’s why it wasn’t used.
It’s balanced because alone is not that damage but, as I said, I use it to burst condition and then build my damage with other ones. I like it very much.
I personally prefer to use Augury of Death instead of Chilling Nova since we apply enough chill and there is really no need to have more. The cooldown on Chilling Nova makes this trait really really useless. For this reason I use Your Soul is Mine instead of Consume Conditions. However if you plain of a full malice build (with Rabid stats) then Dhuumfire is useless: the time you apply Burn is lost on applying condition with the Sceptre, and when you are out of the Shroud the time you apply back the conditions the burn is lost. My suggestion is to avoid the Shroud most of the time, use Speed of the Shadows with Vital Persistence only to use Soul Spiral with a Poison Field (so, Corrosive Poison Cloud is a good idea) but then leave Shroud and keep using the Septre.
For the same reason (condition losts) I don’t use the staff anymore as secondary weapon, it’s just damage lost. Instead I have a Sceptre/Dagger on the first set and just a dagger off-hand in the second set with just a Sigil of Corruption.
So I would use this setup instead. Which is my main fractal builds (that I’m going to convert to Trailblazer’s)
@Aesa
Fear deals about 1,5k damage in a condition build each second, it eats break-bars as long as it’s duration and if you trait with the reaper it also applies chill (which, if traited, is another 1k damage and more break-bar eating).
Try this: trait Fear and Chill and use a Spectral Wall against some Pocket Raptors and have some fun. A more meaninful example: try the Spectral Wall at the SCAR waypoint in Tangled Depth against the Chak waves during the event to protect the camp.
To be more serious: Fear is not meant to last a lot and you can’t demand a damage too high, the one we have is nice.
Now, as I said, I’d like to see our Fear buffed or add more source but Fear, to me, is not bad. I once again say that we need a change in Spectral Wall (like a cooldown reduction), it’s the only thing I ask.
In PvE I think our crowd controls are fine, I decimate break-bars way faster than many other classes. I don’t know know about PvP, I don’t play it very often.
Ok, a few new bosses have this problem but, as I wrote, the majority hasn’t.
We still have a lot other options for the Break Bars: a lot of chill, the Golem charge, Grasping Darkness and Executioner’s Scythe… fear is added on top of this and it’s not our only source of crowd control (not anymore). Personally I think Fear itself is fine, I would only change the Spectral Wall but this is another story.
I’m talking about PvE though, it may make more sense in PvP (but I think it’s fine in those modes as well).
While I’d like to see a buff of our Fears I don’t agree it’s lack luster. It decimates break-bars quite nicely with a bit of condition duration and it’s damage (when traited) is nice.
I want to point the fact that the majority of the newest bosses/enemies are no longer immune to fear in the sense it can be applied but the effect is negated (so, the enemy is not feared but the break bar is consumed and the eventual damage is applied). The problem is present only with some of the older bosses/enemies like the Fire Shaman in the Volcanic fractal which is completely immune to fear (so no break-bar nor damage).
Talking about PvE.
I personally like condition builds more than direct damage builds but my answer is: it depends.
Since there is no (legal) DPS metre there is no way to answer your question, however I think it’s more a melee vs range comparison rather than condition vs direct damage.
For us, and in my experience, direct damage builds mean melee, this means you can’t continuously engage combat because, depending on the enemy, you have to move away/cover/ heal. This is a huge DPS loss. Condition builds are, instead, ranged (almost) and, usually, you can keep pressuring your enemy more than a direct damage.
Generally I think we have about equal DPS for condition vs melee and the problem is more like to use the build you prefer or the build you need. For example: in Silverwastes I prefer to use a condition build since the Hulks have an higher armor, while in normal open world I use a direct damage since I can’t use only a few skills for trash mobs (which means: greatswords auto-attacks and a few Gravediggers) and care less about cooldowns.
While I agree that generally Corruption skills needs a change it is true that, mostly in PvE, Master of Corruption adds more condition for you to use. For example right know our source of Torment is very low and removing the two stacks from Blood is Power would be a cripple for us. I hope they keep adding more options and diversification to the Conditions we apply like they did with the sceptre.
I agree that Fears should keep move our enemy away from us and not form the wall. I believe, though, that it really needs some love.
Lowering the cooldown would be awesome but I think it need something else.
It would be fantastic that it reflects projectiles and makes them to apply Fear. THAT would be fantastic, but unrealistic.
I have 4 ascended sets: the main is an hybrid Viper that I use for both lower fractals and open world and dungeons, a Rabid that I use for higher level fractals (which I will transmute to Trailblazer when available), a Cavalier/Zerk/Knight for WvW and fun in PvE and a full Zerk that I don’t use anymore.
Hybrid with Viper is great. I suggest to find your favourite playstyle, test it with exotics and then go for ascended. However, especially with condition builds, the difference between exotic and ascended is huge.
This is my actual build and works really well.
I crafted this set before the expansion so I have all the trinkets with Knight stats but you may want to try Captain and drop the Sigils of Accuracy.
That make sense however majority of the times (in instances) you don’t get 9 stacks at all.
Also Bursting and corruption makes a lot of sense.
As far as I know the added Malice is added after every bonuses, so Target of the Weak, Might stacks etc etc. I need confirmation of this but I’m pretty sure.
Just a note: you can’t Spectral Recall while in mid-air but you can activate it after a gliding thus recall back. So if it lasts long enough you can use it.
I’m not sure to understand if you need it for WvW or PvE.
However for PvE I suggest to try Viper gear and Sinister trinkets (until Viper ascended trinkets are available). But if you feel it’s too weak because you lose tankinesh another option is Trailbrazer’s gear and Rabid or Dire trinkets. While the first one is good for a Reaper Dhuumfire build, the second you build an old condition build.
About Sigil of Corruption: I don’t use it anymore because in general PvE is nice but the added damage is negligible since you are generally playing with many people and you rarely notice them. In Fractals, dungeons or Raid, most of the times you rarely have the opportunity to build the stacks.
Personally I suggest Bursting/Malice, even if they are very expensive.
My Reaper condition build uses the Staff 90% of the time, because when its traited the Life Force regeneration is superior over every other weapon (and, to be honest, it’s good even if not traited). I also run Terror and Deathly Chill that makes Staff #3 and #5 both powerful and useful (which deals damage and decimate break bars).
You can compensate the lack of defensive stats with a proper use of Shroud, positioning and, survival instinct (or, in short terms: learn how to flee).
I don’t agree: you should go Viper. Condition Duration is really important because let’s you keep the stacks, which al means more stacks, at the expense of less malice. I think it’s worth the investment (overall you lose very few malice and precision).
1) As I’ve seen, yes, it’s just one second of Fear. Also, if I’m not wrong, it seems to be affected by our condition duration. I have no proof of this, just empirical data.
This means 25 stacks of stability is just one second of Fear, however it may last longer due to condition duration.
2) If the boss is immune to fear it affects no break-bar at all. You also don’t deal damage if you have Terror
3) Stability prevents the crowd control preventing the fear to be applied, so you don’t even deal damage if you have Terror.
For DPS, I’m not quite sure why you would want Rabid or Dire, isn’t it better to grab what offensive stats you can (e.g. with Sinister)?
In theory yes however in a Sinister build you may want to go hybrid. Scepter is our main condition weapon (along with dagger usually) but the direct damage is negligible (this is why Signer of Suffering is useless) so power is not useful.
For a pure malice build you need three stats: condition damage, condition duration and time. Time is not a stat so let’s ignore it for now. Other stats are irrelevant, so usually our old habit was to increase malice with Rabid or Dire stats indirectly: Rabid’s precision increases it with Target’s of the Weak (and can proc Barbed Precision and/or Sigils) and the extra toughness increased malice with a Tuning Crystal, this is the same with Dire.
Personally I see no reason to add power if we can deal damage while using some defensive stats.
The advantage of a pure malice build is that you can see really big numbers with conditions the main disadvantage is that you need time and in the most encounters enemies are dead before you can apply enough stacks to proper build your damage.
In fractal, though, I use that build I wrote you and it works since Fractals is bosses and trash: against bosses you have time, against trash mobs you have Epidemic.
I suggest you to stay with dagger or try greatsword. Axe is not good… at all. Or at least is not good because it does not cleave and it’s damage is lackluster (it’s good, though, for burst and Life Force generation). To farm it’s best a greatsword or a dagger.
However you may want to use an Axe instead of a Staff if your build is power based and you need a ranged weapon for boss fight or in those situations you can’t go melee. Staff is not good for power builds in my opinion.
@Cogbyrn
I agree with what you say: a DPS meter would help a sane person to improve himself however my experiences was only abuses. You are a little behind? You are kicked out. WoW comunity was a bit toxic with this, Guild Wars 2 ones is following but still not there.
To be honest I was rarely kicked from parties due to being a Necromancer and so far only a couple of times in three years due to my mistakes (well, it happens). Most of the time I proved myself worthy so other people never complained, maybe sometimes I even changed idea of someone. Is not that kittenomeone describe.
I found a lot of people that are asking a zerk build so I had to switch to it but kicking because being a Necro it’s more a thing of the past.
This whole suggestions does not apply in case of a hybrid build (Siniter/Viper/Rampager) but it’s good for pure Malice builds (Rabid/Dire):
If you want to keep Spite then I suggest you to use Bitter Chill and Signet of Suffering and in this way you may want to switch Epidemic for another signet (I use Signet of Power for it’s conditions) to apply more might. The additional damage doesn’t work for conditions so both Spiteful Talisman and Close to Death are useless.
In curses take Plague Sending that works with Signet of Suffering, I proc them with Corrosive Poison Cloud + Blood is Power without using a Dagger #4.
in Blood is use Transfusion to help allies.
However my Malice build, which I use for fractals, is this one.
I don’t use Staff because it’s just a burden and switching to it gives no advantage, to me it’s even counter-productive because it deals too little conditions and slows down the bleed application from Sceptre. I, isntead, use a second dagger that I use when I know I can build Corruption stacks and switch to the other dagger for bosses.
Also, in addition to the normal rotation, I apply Torment with Shroud #5, which is speeded by Soul Reaping.
Absolutely not. We have enough discussions without it, we don’t need more discrimination. Because that’s what damage meters brings. I played many MMOs enough with that kind of attitude of trying to reach max damage and nothing more. Guild Wars 2 is about fun, or at least it is trying, and so far I’m ok with it.
Burning deals about 3x the damage of bleeding or poison. Meaning an engineer who can keep up say 10 burning is dealing the same damage as a Necromancer who could theoretically keep up 30 bleeding/poison. Now, will they maintain that high of burning? Obviously not, nor will a Necromancer maintain very high bleeding/poison.
A Necromancer can stacks and keep 30 stacks of bleed, even more. However with the latest condition duration changes (and sceptre) it’s not possible (or useful) any more since we dropped a bit of bleed for more torment.
I always played Malice builds and what I’ve seen is that the Necromancer is maybe the slowest (maybe not any more since latest Sceptre changes) condition applier but the best when keeping them. So, as I’ve seen, an Engineer can spike 10x or maybe more burning but then they decay fast, while a Necromancer can maintain Bleed and Poison (and now Torment) stacks more easily.
I’m not sure our damage is that far from an Engineer or whatever, for me it’s debatable.
However you look for maximizing damage, doing speedruns and whatever then yes: zerk is the way. Condition damage is viable and, in my opinion, really fun but perhaps not optimal.
