Showing Highly Rated Posts By Divine.3279:
Sigh,
As someone who has mained Necromancer since launch at PvP, I know what a change Necromancer has taken from being a tanky bruiser class to a now squishy one.
Let me start off by saying, Necromancer IS THE BEST teamfighter in this game. Do NOT even argue with this statement as that is the truth and nothing BUT the truth. With that being said, Necromancer’s DPS potential is off the roof. Yes, I am fairly aware that people tunnel focus you at the first mid fight and with Necromancer being squishy as it is, it will kill a lot of unexperienced Necromancers. But there are counters to this.
Kite correctly, know map layout and know where Steal can’t work on you (against thieves)
With Thief Comps I take Shout Heal and Flesh Wurm for the Life Force so Shroud can save you
Coordinate with the support on you’re team
Always stay in ranged if you are low on Life Force, this is the #1 mistake that most necromancers make
If you are focused, use Spectral Armor to gain Life Force as damage you take is converted into LF
Rise even with it’s nerf state, can still overwhelmingly do Damage Mitigation out from you and trigger traps from Dragonhunters
If you are Solo Qued I highly recommend taking the Power Build with Paladin’s as THIS WILL help you.
Flesh Wurm can be used for vertical mobility to disengage immediately and it’s a stun breaker. Also, to prevent your Wurm from being killed before you use it be smart and don’t be putting it to the most obvious of spots.
Reaper’s Mark is an underrated mark for Necromancer. My most favorite use of it is against thieves, I lay the mark directly where I am standing while I’m ranging down other marks or Scepter/Axe skills.
Yes, I am quite aware that Necromancer can’t take many 1v1 matchups (except for Engineer, we eat Engineer’s for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for 1v1’s well condi necros that is) And yes I am completely aware that the class has turned into Downstate 9000. But this does not mean AT ALL that Necromancer is in a terrible spot. Do not think that going down all the time or not being able to 1v1 a lot of classes makes Necromancer automatically terrible and need a buff instantly. An experienced veteran Necromancer with the right build and even better, a good support on the team can inflict a lot of pain in teamfights, and I mean A LOT OF PAIN. Especially an Elementalist/Necromancer Duo can do A TON of damage to people in teamfights.
Would I wanna see Necromancer being able to 1v1 again or at least have its damage reduced a bit while buffing its sustain so it can survive longer? Maybe, but the identity of Necromancer right now is a very high damage teamfighter with the drawback of being squishy if in the hands of people not prepared to take the focus they will be getting.
I think the current meta is fine compared to HoT in general (although I’ve been maining Rev which I’ve retired out of frustration now), but HoT kinda blew the game apart so that’s not saying much.
The reason I think that is that the elite speccs are a requirement, not a choice. Hence build diversity went out the window and you pretty much know exactly what you’re gonna be up against just by looking at classes.
Elite specs aren’t a requirement for some builds and some classes actually can be played without elite spec. It truly depends on the person behind the screen though to make them work.
Also, you have to remember they made Elite Specs powerful because if they were the same as core specs, no one would buy the expansion. It was a marketing standpoint.
Would like to point out that this meta in my honest opinion has been one of the greatest we’ve had so far.
Unless you’re an elementalist and can only heal others with the 1 viable build while dodging like a monkey.
You know there’s other viable builds for elementalist? No one forces you to run meta. Meta just means the most popular and flavor of the month, and the elementalist meta is mainly run because IT IS THE BEST support as of right now. But no one absolutely forces you to run it.
Viable below gold/plat where you can fight bad players that dont know when to dodge. If you are playing anything besides healbot on ele, you’re a free kill to any player with a fraction of skill on any other class. Try getting to legendary on s/f fresh air ele, let me know how that goes for you.
People have actually got on legendary on s/f fresh air ele or some other weird builds. You have to remember about 45% of winning is your build, the other 55% is the person behind the screen’s skill.
Just a friendly bump to my guide so that people who want to try necromancer in pvp can see ^^
Kiting
One of the most important and essential things to master and learn as a Necromancer is kiting. This thread is long enough, so I’m going to list down links of a in-depth tutorial to kiting made my Metabattle.
Battle of Kyhlo
Forest of Niflhel
Legacy of the Foefire
Temple of Silent Storm
(All credit goes to Metabattle, fantastic kiting guide!)
Side Note: Kiting can be hard for necromancer at times when they run Plague Signet, as they will have permanent Chill or Cripple, or even both. Even with these conditions on you, still try to kite as much as possible if you are getting focused.
Free Camera
Free Camera is a great camera to use in PvP. What it does is it detaches the camera from your rotation, so you can rotate your character without rotating your camera back to your character. Basically what this means is, while you are running forward, you can turn your camera to look behind your character, and it wont reset the camera, it will stay there. This is great for disengaging from teamfights or running away from an enemy while kiting to cast down your staff marks behind you. Yes, I do know about the keybind called “Look Behind” but I personally think Free Camera works A LOT better because you don’t need to have a finger on the keybind it is on. Also, Free Camera it’s not only used to look behind you, it can be used for a lot more than that. You just have to find a way to get used to the camera first, as it can take some time getting used too. When you finally get used to it though, it will help you tremendously when kiting.
(edited by Divine.3279)
Reaper Shroud
Every profession has a unique ability that are usually bound to the FN keys. Necromancer’s unique ability is to be able to transform into another being with another set of health called the Reaper.When you are in Reaper Shroud, you cannot use any of your healing, utility, elite abilities but it more than makes up for it with the amount of insane damage Reaper Shroud does. As I said Reaper Shroud is another form, with another set of health so going into Reaper will save your life as the damage you take in Reaper will decrease another health bar called Life Force, and not your original health. If sustained, Reaper becomes a VERY powerful offensive tool in teamfights, capable of counter/cleave attacks, and can take down enemies very quickly.
Life Rend: First ability of Reaper, does decent damage also can be used as a semi cleave if you are trying to cleave for a downed enemy or downed ally.
Death’s Charge: Can be used as a getaway from any sticky situation, or to catch up to an enemy escaping.
Infusing Terror: Can be used for the Stability it gives to stomp an enemy, rezz an ally, or not be knocked down when using Soul Spiral or Executioner’s Scythe. Can also be triggered for a Fear CC. (Pro tip: Do not trigger the Fear CC if enemies have Stability)
Soul Spiral: One of the greatest cleaves and damaging abilities in Guild Wars 2, if the enemy team is trying to res one of their own, use this on top of them and the cleave this ability does will be enough to kill the downed enemy, kill the people trying to rezz him, or force them to stop rezzing and flee the capture point.
Executioner’s Scythe: A great ability to stun and do damage to a crowd of enemies in a 240 radius, but this ability is easily dodged with the 1 1/4 second casting time and the easy animation to spot so make sure to Bait Cast this ability.
(edited by Divine.3279)
Tips and Tricks
Always stay in range at beginning of matches with Staff, if you have the specialization Soul Reaping, build up your Life Force.
Before going into Reaper Shroud, cast Locust Swarm then Chill to the Bone. Locust Swarm should always be cast in conjunction with Reaper Shroud because of the Cripple and Life Force status it gives, and Chill to the Bone should always be cast before going into Shroud because of the stun it gives, and the stability it gives. (Remember to Bait Cast if you think they will dodge your Chill)
Never use Infusing Terror casually, as it can grant you Stability in shroud to use to stomp an enemy, or revive an ally.
The minions that spawn from using Rise can be used to trigger Dragonhunter traps.
Plague Signet can be blocked, so be careful when casting it..
Plague Signet can also be used as a Stun Breaker.
When you use Executioners Scythe, it will create a Ice combo field. Use Death’s Charge inside this field to grant yourself a Frost Aura.
Wail of Doom can be used to counter any block abilities that other classes have, so make sure you use this ability wisely and not casually.
Do NOT spam all your marks on staff all in one place
Never roam around the map, always stick to teamfights.
When using the heal Consume Conditions, make sure you are out of range or cast it while hiding behind something so it doesn’t get interrupted.
Make sure to kite as much as possible if you are getting pressured.
If by some chance, you get a 1v1 with an Engineer, take that 1v1. Reaper’s will always destroy Engineer’s in 1v1’s.
Finale
I hope all of you enjoyed my Reaper Guide in PvP. As always, these are just my honest opinions, and would love to hear other people’s opinions on what I missed to say. I hope everyone learned a little bit of something from this guide, and I hope it helps people to become better Necromancers themselves. A lot of people complain that Necromancer doesn’t have sustain anymore, and while that is partially true, a good necromancer can still be a force to be reckoned with in PvP.
(edited by Divine.3279)
You keep insulting people saying :" if you’re a good player you could make it work", if you’re that much better than us….PROVE IT WITH A LINK NO EMPTY TALK ‘cause that’s all you’re been using so far…empty talk
Elementalist: Another class that’s in a great spot right now in the meta. People thought it would die due to Cleric’s Amulet being taken out, but Elementalist is still the king of team support. Can think of 0 changes to Elementalist as well as of right now.
Loads of crap..eles have been using the same set up for the last 1.5 year, all it changed is the amulet and the class got noticeably weaker..to a point where nobody consider you a threat anymore…merely an annoyance
P.S stupid me XD I keep forgetting the main rule of MMOs : what can’t kill me or endanger me is in a good spot and it’s balanced how could I possibly forget that?
Ceimash was able to get to legend just by using core necromancer without Reaper.
I can do the same thing on Necro as well. Sure, it requires a lot more skill and is harder but it isn’t impossible and it is DOABLE. S/F Fresh Air Eles on EU have gotten to Legend. Sizer who plays S/D thief and not meta HAS GOTTEN TO LEGEND. Maygi on NA who plays D/D condi thief HAS GOTTEN TO LEGEND. Core LB power rangers have gotten to legend, burn guardians have gotten to legend, Revenants who run Mallyx instead of Shiro have gotten to legend. Do I need to list anymore for you to get the point? And i’m not insulting anyone, it is a FACT not an OPINION its a FACT that if you are highly skilled enough you can make a build that you created work. As for elementalist, the support build is only RECOMMENDED to be ran, does it mean you are mandatory to run it? Absolutely not. Stop with your Q.Qing and putting salt on this thread that I made so that ArenaNet can get ideas off to balance their classes. Unless you have something informative to say rather than Q.Q all day then say it, but if you don’t leave.
Hey.
Great write up.
Scrapper meta is half damage, half support. Great cleave.
Many fine tuning you did to go full support are super great. I did the same in season 1, 2, and 3 with a cleric gyro support build (more damage and sustain than Magi).
Paladin amulet is the way to go, to not be a liability to your team mate. In 1v1 or 2v2, the damage contribution is a factor enough, that got Bunker Guard (the best condition cleansers of the first 3 years of the game) off meta. (even with Cleric — 900 power, the low damage of my build was putting some 2v2 at risk, but since most of the gyro where instant, I could eat the cleave of 2 and still rezzing)
With the removal of Cleric, Anet don’t want us to be bunker and support at the same time.
Bunker are Knight and Cavalier nowaday. (and their high armor don’t even make them sustainy enough in 1v1 versus Marauder/Paly)
Support are mender, magi and sage.
But… but… healing power was always a bad stat with bad scaling in this game. (and you want to cleanse, right? Do cleanses best let druids/guard/tempest heals with magi/mender)
Going mender or magi remove your DPS from the equation. But DPS is still need to make winning fights.
So I think Paly is the amulet to use to be able to support and wins fight.
Most Magi build will simply prolong the fight for the death of him. Smart players recognizing the squishie Magi and will focus him before the other DPS/bruiser.
So, simply try your support anti-condi build with Paly amulet and enjoy more wins. It will play the same really, your regen will be less good but you will kill faster so you could rotate to other point faster to support more.
For dwayna regens… Plz try Leadership or Lyssa, so you could stealth rez with more boons, less condition on you. You are doing an anti-conditions build… go on that way all out. Leadership will give you the same regen duration than dwayna anyway (or so).
In season 1 and 2, when stealth gyro was instant, it was a great way to convert poison to regen on the corpse with it.
Thanks for your feedback! I did change the rune to leadership since It completely slipped my mind that Leadership converted conditions into boons to allies as well. It lowers the regeneration uptime, but it’s definitely worth it as this is first and foremost a condition cleanse build, so thanks!
@Alex Shatter
Not all builds work, but it doesn’t mean you can’t make your own build that fits your play style. You have to remember, 90% of it is on the person behind the screen, and builds are only 10% of it.
Yes! yes yes yes!…and where are your videos showing this build variety?
You keep shouting from distance..but nothing to back up your arguments
I made this thread for people to talk about class balancing, not for people to Q.Q. over build variety. I won’t lie and try to argue, yes almost the entire player base runs meta because of metabattle.com but that doesn’t mean you can’t create your own build that you can run as well. It will require you a little bit more skill to do this, but it is doable. Remember, much of it is in skill level of the player not the build itself. If you are a good player, I’m sure you can make a build that you created work.
Bzzt, this thread is old and needs to be severely updated. I didn’t know people still looked at this, and honestly I haven’t played the game at all this season due to the fact that ques are so unbelievably long. I will update this guide today, and as for matchups with Necromancer I will also add to that. Cheers!
I’ve been quite passive in the forums, just here or there lurking around in my Reaper Shroud to see what people have been talking about.
And I’m starting to see a common pattern honestly,
People complaining about the matchmaking this season and why the kitten they can’t climb.
Now by any means, I’m not a pro player and I don’t consider myself great at any class. I’m just a gamer who fell in love with the Necromancer class and have been playing pvp with it for a long time. When Heart of Thorns came out, and the official seasons of ranked pvp came with it, I was stuck in Emerald for the entire season. Yeah thats how bad I was lmao.
I kept blaming teammates and lag and just stacking up mounds of excuses and excuses as to why I couldn’t kittening get out of Emerald. So, one day I decided to tryhard and record an entire game that I played. I kept analyzing the footage to see what my teammates were doing wrong.
And then while I was watching the footage of the match, it hit me like a truck. I was the one playing like an idiot and playing garbage and rotating like a random carousel. Just from that one footage I realized for myself that it wasn’t my teammates fault, it was basically me.
So I worked on it, and by the time Season 2 came dodge rolling around I was able to make it into Legendary. Same for season 3, and season 4.
“Oh thats nice, raise your horn and ego even more you elitist prick.”
No no no, that’s not what this thread is about. I make it sound so easy to get into Legendary, but trust me it was still a struggle.
Yes, you will get unfair matchmaking. Yes, you will face against duo que’d players on voice, yes you will get people on your team that have let’s just say “unique” builds that clearly don’t work in ranked. Yes, you will lose 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10+ in a row, and you will rage indefinitely and you will definitely want to punch or destroy something. Yes, you’ll get people on your team that have absolutely 0 idea about Conquest or Ranked mechanics, and definitely hell yes there are problems in the new matchmaking that ArenaNet has made.
But, it’s only been out for ONE, not FOUR, one season. Now, before you go raise your meta builds up on me and torture me while calling me a white knight for ArenaNet, let me assure you I’m nowhere near that border lmao.
Remember what I said about me being stuck in Emerald in season 1? Yeah, I wanted to go in the forums and blame everything on the matchmaking system and yell at ArenaNet for making sPvP trash and terrible in Guild Wars 2. Then, after I watched the footage of me backpedaling, clicking abilities, (even clicking the yellow bar to dodge cuz I didn’t have it bound) and spamming my marks on staff all in one place like the kitten I was. After I fixed all of that and Season 2 came rolling by, I dragged and carried myself to Legendary. By no means was it easy, because like I said before, you will get que trolled. It happens to everyone, and it will always happen to everyone. That’s just how it is.
I got lucky, and got placed into Platinum 2. I’m slowly but surely climbing my way to Legendary, but getting +5 for every win and losing -24 for every loss is making me want to go into HULK SMASH mode.
So what’s the actual point of this thread? Well my actual point is, before you blame anyone of your teammates, before you blame any of ArenaNet’s matchmaking algorithms, look at carefully and analyze how you play out in the field first. I’m not saying the good old quote “git gud and carry pleb” I’m simply saying maybe there are a few things YOU as a player can improve on before you go flame your teammates or ArenaNet, cuz believe me I needed some major improvements. If any of you ever need help with general sPvP questions like mechanics, and how to rotate properly you can certainly ask. As for class related questions, I’m afraid I can only answer Necromancer/some Engineer class questions as I suck at multiclassing at the other classes.
That’s all I wanted to say, now you can reply down below and call me a white knight elitist kitten prick. :P
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This thread will mainly be a list of the current state of all the 9 classes in PvP. As the season is near ending, a new balance patch will surely come out, so I have made this thread so that people can discuss things that can be nerfed/buffed. Hopefully, ArenaNet considers some of the ideas said in this thread.
PLEASE TRY TO KEEP THE SALT LEVEL TO LOW! TOO MUCH SODIUM IS BAD FOR YOU! Respect other people’s opinions on what they think should be buffed or nerfed and debate using facts, if possible that is.
I’ll start of with what I think is the current state of classes in PvP.
Warrior: Warrior is in a very good spot in PvP, a lot of people are running it right now. Honestly, my opinion on Warrior is that it has good sustain with double Endures, and Resistance stacks while doing insane damage. My personal opinion is to either nerf warrior’s damage, or nerf it’s sustain. (Mainly nerf it’s damage, as it’s sustain really is fine, but being immune to both power damage and condition damage (resistance) while being able to do a lot of damage is a tad bit overpowered)
Guardian: A lot of people always, ALWAYS complain about Guardian in PvP. In my complete honest unbiased opinion, Guardian needs absolutely no changes as of right now. Except for maybe reduce trap damage just a tiny bit, not too much maybe 5-8%. People always complain about Guardians because of traps that they put, but honestly if you are dumb enough to walk into mid and expecting there to not be traps with guardians on the other team, you really do deserve to get killed by traps. Guardian’s are not anywhere near the level of overpowered. Be smart and don’t walk in traps and bind dodge.
Revenant: Rest in peace. You will be remembered Revenant. In all seriousness, Revenant got hit pretty hard in the last balance patch. The nerf to PS and SoTM really set this class to the bottom of the meta. It can still do good damage and party boonshare, but these days Revenants die very fast and very easily. I have 2 suggestions on how to fix Revenant and put it back into the meta. Make the Mallyx/Glint version of Revenant great again (there has been a lack of condition damage builds in this meta so far. 6 metas are power damage, only Mesmer being Condition Damage.) or turn Revenant into a full support class by buffing/reworking Ventari heals and combo that with Glint. We’ll just have to wait and see what awaits Revenant, hopefully no more nerfs, as the class can use some buffs at this point in time.
Also, Consume Conditions has a 5 hour cast time, so prepare to be interrupted. :P
That’s why you use it when you are LoS or behind a wall. If a necromancer uses their heal and they are not behind something to keep it from getting interrupted, that’s a major flaw they need to fix.
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Hey man you never know, maybe he just ate his breakfast this morning and got a boost to his abilities :P
North America is not anywhere near the skill level of Europe. That’s just the cold hard fact.
Are there good players on North America? Of course there are, but they are lacking compared to the amount of good players in Europe. Europe has been dominant in PvP for quite awhile now. NA Gold is like EU Bronze, that’s how much more skilled Europe is PvP based wise.
Also, I’d like to list a couple of 1v1s that Necromancer can take and potentially win, keep in mind player skill and the builds that players are running is taken to account as well. If you want to get in depth and ask questions and call me an idiot and say, “LOL NO WAY NECRO CAN WIN THAT MATCHUP YOU IDIOT” or the exact opposite “LOL NO WAY NECRO CAN’T WIN THAT MATCHUP YOU IDIOT” I will do thorough explanations of the matchup if you guys want.
Necromancer vs Engineer= Condi wins this very easily
Necromancer vs Condi Warrior= Depends on player skill and build. Necro can win this tho
Necromancer vs Mesmer= No just no just run don’t bother don’t be an idiot
Necromancer vs Revenant= Depends on player skill, and build Necro can win this tho
Necromancer vs Druid= No just no just run don’t bother don’t be an idiot
Necromancer vs Power Warrior= No just no just run don’t bother don’t be an idiot
Necromancer vs Dragonhunter= Depends on player skill and AWARENESS cough dont step on traps cough Necro can win this tho
Necromancer vs Burn Guard= Condi wins this very easily if player skill is high
Necromancer vs Necromancer= Depends on player skill and build, either way a necro wins lol
Necromancer vs Thief= Depends on Life Force, player skill, and build. Necro can win
Necromancer vs Elementalist= Don’t ever take this 1v1, as it’s never ending.
Please everyone, I made this thread for everyone to discuss their own opinions on what should be buffed or nerfed for the next balance patch. I’m trying to make this thread a Suggestion Thread for ArenaNet to look at and hopefully get ideas from us for the next balance patch. If you are just going to Q.Q and put salt on this thread and complain how this meta is bad and not give actual opinions on how classes should be balanced please leave.
@Alex Shatter
Not all builds work, but it doesn’t mean you can’t make your own build that fits your play style. You have to remember, 90% of it is on the person behind the screen, and builds are only 10% of it.
For all the posts on this thread saying that this is a healthy way to grow the PvP population, I completely agree.
Like I said on my OP, I have no problems with PvE players trying PvP. I love it when they do, because it grows the population for the PvP Community. The point I’m trying to make is, before you que FOR RANKED PVP because you want Ascended Gear, please have the courtesy to know PvP mechanics, have a solid pvp build, and know your class.
I am not in anyway trying to discourage PvE players from doing PvP or to tell them to get out of PvP completely. I’m only trying to say that before you do RANKED please have the courtesy to learn pvp mechanics first.
The state of Necromancer in this upcoming season is filled with doubts and questions. A lot of people have strayed away from Necromancer because of the complain and crying about it’s sustain and how it’s easily vulnerable in sPvP.
This is true, I’m not going to deny that Necromancer is a tanky class and has a lot of sustain, because I’d be lying if I said it was. With that being said, YOU WILL get focused, you will probably go down more than once in a PvP match if you solo que and there will be some days that you can do absolutely nothing about it.
So what does that mean? Necromancer is bad in PvP? Should solo que Necromancers just stop because there’s absolutely no hope?
The answer is simple, no. Not at all. If you can’t handle yourself getting focused, then yes please go find another class because this class is clearly not for you. People need to understand that Necromancer’s sustain relies on a lot of factors, from team mates, luck, what abilities it has taken and what amulet/rune combination it has, and most importantly, the one behind the screen controlling the class.
Before the season starts, I will be updating the Necromancer PvP Guide in my signature, and making a brand new one that will explain more thoroughly and more in detail on how to survive better, and other tricks you can do on Necromancer.
But for now, YOU as the player playing Necromancer every single game you get into in PvP, you need to do your research. See what team comp the enemy team is running, and try to predict what they might be running as a build. Either power or condi, or even a hybrid. (Mostly 99% of the time classes run the meta build in ranked, so be sure to keep up to date what’s the metabuild.)
Let me give you some words of wisdom. This is how these 2 stats work in PvP.
Vitality=Very good for reducing Condition Damage
Toughness=Very good for reducing Power Damage
Plan accordingly, on what amulet you will be taking and what rune you’ll be taking. Don’t be afraid to change up your build to try and survive better against either a power comp on the other side or a condi comp on the other side. Most of the time, if there’s only 2 condi class on the other side but 3 power, pick a toughness amulet and a toughness rune. The reason? Because Necromancer has many condition cleanses on fairly low cool down. Use the abilities/amulet/rune/sigils/traits to your advantage to try and survive longer.
Remember, always and when I mean always I MEAN ALWAYS expect to be focused and be prepared to get focused every single game you step into. That’s the team strategy around Necromancer, you get focused a lot because you are squishy, but also very dangerous.
I’ve been talking about why Necromancer is weak, and because of its lack of sustain, but the biggest advantage that Necromancer has is it is the king of teamfighting. No other class has the DPS teamfighting capability of a Necromancer. Necromancer has both a ton of AoE damage and Single Target damage to do its killing, but even though it is the greatest teamfighter, you will die and explore the wonders of down state A LOT if you are not prepared to be focused.
I’ll be going more in depth about Necromancer soon, when my new guide hits the forums, if you guys are still having trouble on Necromancer, go check that out when it gets posted by me, as I can tell you right now, it will be fully in depth and thorough about what to do and what not to do on Necromancer.
Long story short, is necromancer viable this upcoming season? Absolutely. Is it an easy class to play and learn? Absolutely. Is it an easy class to survive and position on? No, not at all. Always remember, Necromancer is the king and god of teamfighting dps, but it suffers the major blow back of being taken down easily into downstate, if the one using necromancer is not prepared to take the focus.