Guild Wars 2

I like the exhaustion system, but I think it can be more refined. Firstly a sharper penalty should come to those who throw 2 or more siege without expending ATLEAST 10 supply to build it(the premise is that if you plan to build siege you would’ve made a supply stop to do so). This debuff should be one that persists even if you log off then back on called “Siege Locked” across all characters on the account (you broke the rule in-game you should serve that time unto completion in-game). This debuff should last 5~10 minutes (or more at Anets discretion), which incurring this penalty in succession resulting in a longer Siege Locked debuff upto being indefinitely locked (the premise being that doing this multiple times on purpose this late in the game means you don’t really care to play the game mode correctly on a competitive level). The debuff exhaustion can occur for players who have thrown 3 localized siege that supply were put into by him or herself and surrounding players I.E roaming parties. This allows them to place the necessary siege with coordination between party members. Secondly only “legitimate commanders” meaning those people with atleast 5~10 (or 10+ at Anets discretion) active players on them should be immune to Exhaustion and Siege Locked debuffs.

Back in early Guild Wars 2 I believe commanders had an aura. Reinstate this aura giving the area around them in a range of 600~900 or more with an area of effect to deny siege placement from players around them since most commanders throw their own siege anyway. This will greatly reduce siege spamming in all areas in general of WvW and sharply around commanders.

To prevent the commander from running into the problem of running out of siege and not being able to have it thrown around them due to the aura here is an option.

Shared Siege Slots: Upon joining a commanders squad you can register siege from your inventory that ONLY the commander can throw. Since people donate siege to commanders anyway this allows the commander to still maintain his aura while having access to the siege of his squad if they register it. These slots can be located on the interface were players pick their wvw upgrades for their characters.

Those peoples wanting to rid themselves of the permanent Siege Locked can buy a one time forgiveness pass from the cash shop for a set price. If the penalty is incurred again it is a permanent debuff on the whole account.

I know it can seem like abrasive stuff however this system would achieve the desired result with minimum GM interference or maintenance.

Although it could use some tweaking here and there and some testing of key components in the specialization. Overall I love it because it adds a dark battle mage feel to it. You can either go Condi or direct damage. This would really make axe and scepter shine I feel. I love death shroud but I’d love to have a way to use life force and have defensive capability. I hope our next elite spec is something like this.

Imo if we have the “double health bar” make us less mobile as Reaper is now.

If we lose “double health bar” give us defensive capabilities in a necrotic manner and give us enough damage that makes us “less approachable” for fear of burst. All in all good job! I’ll make a more in depth analysis when I’m off work.

I like this well thought out post, hearing some of your fixes in greater detail might help to solve some of the Reapers problems or atleast get it down the right road.

I think if the beginning minor trait gave us buff in either vitality or toughness would help in making us abit tougher. Since its a brawler spec getting that added health would help for sure or even some toughness would be nice. Since in my opinion from the Reaper POI to the first iteration we played Reaper lost alot of its chill abilities. Since we lost so many ways to put out chill reward us more when someone who is chilled attacks us. Currently the damage decrease is only 10%, I think raising it to 15 or even 20% would help us with defenses. If you look at the skills Reaper has to put out chill most of them incorporate a stun of some kind that’s almost always the length of the chill itself or close to it. Hard for someone to attack you when they’re stunned so that Grandmaster Minor kind of goes to waist I feel.

Im not sure I even noticed the trait Reapers Onslaught when I equipped it. Maybe they merge this in with the GS trait and rework RO instead.

1. Lord Abaddon, in the flesh.

Between traited plague signet and removing condi in DS or procing Unholy Sanctuary to counter the Moa, you’ll most likely melt. I try to draw out the moa on my time before US procs to make sure I can get out of the other moa if its a double engi team

That’s a good question. I’ll try it in game and post back here later on with the details

Awhile I don’t agree that its a useless class for a party. I do agree that it could use some love not in the sense that every class needs to put out an insane amount of boons or might to be a “party” class. But that it does necro like things very well I.E chilling, blinds, poisons, boon stripping/conversion, high sustain damage or heavy condition damage attrition. Currently the Necromancer could be considered sub-par in most of these. I do like the Reaper and I’d like to see some of the changes alot of people have suggested implemented.

As far as PvE, the Reaper is fine in my opinion. Until we hear what “challenging content” actually means. For the longest time I used vamp wells in lvl 50 Fractals and did just fine for damage and staying alive so I currently as a necromancer main don’t find any PvE content challenging.

Augury of Death: A simple trait that does what it says. However, with the current state of shouts and the cast times. This trait doesn’t revival other picks in its tier much. I think making AoD have an additional effect when using shouts would help. Like if each shout gives a set boon to allies and removed or converted a boon on foes for every shout if traited. This would give the shouts more group support and still have the necromancer aspect of stripping/convert boons. That or cause shouts to restore some form of Life Force if AoD is traited.

Master Traits
Soul Eater: With the speed of the greatsword in the current iteration we played over BWE1 I feel the life steal could be up’d to atleast 120~140 per hit. In comparison to Shiro who has 200~300 if back attacking I’m sure this isn’t a stretch or broken. The recharge time seems fair enough but maybe 4 or maybe even 5% would work better. However the current state of the Reaper GS is in need of much love so this trait is lackluster to me.

Chilling Victory: Since the Reaper had many of its chill output effects nerfed this trait also seems very lackluster. Either up the stacks of might or their duration or increase the amount of life force regained.

Decimate Defenses: Pretty much the only trait that towers over the other master traits. Its sad to me that the other choices don’t give you any pressure on deciding which to take.

GrandMaster Traits
Blighter’s Boon: I liked this trait with the Spite Traitline, this effectively gave you 268 health back per swing of the Reapekittenr target. It added up really quickly. If Reaper had more access to chill then Chilling Victory would also work really great with this trait and rival Decimate Defenses. I still think 2% LF would be better.

Deadly Chill: I was utterly let down by this trait. It scales horribly with chill and since Reaper doesn’t have the amount of access to chill as we originally thought it makes this even more of an eyesore in my grandmaster traitline. Either remake the trait altogether if chill wont be reworked in Reaper or up the amount of damage chill does on condi builds. I.E atleast in a condi build before 50% let it tick 700ish and after maybe 1.2k so its comparable to a fear tick.

Reaper’s Onslaught: To be honest I’m not sure if I even noticed the difference in attack speed with this trait equipped. Maybe this trait could function like Souleater in this since that it gave some sort of siphon affect and recharge on skills on % per RS AA hit.

Also maybe putting Grave Digger in the RS and Death’s Charge to the Greatsword would solve some problems? I’m sure the ability to dash and pull in the Greatsword would be more accepted.

Last but not least, the Reaper traits. Some of these traits feel so good its amazing. So I’ll go over them and any changes I think would make them better if they need it.

Minor Traits
Shroud Knight: Speaks for itself. Maybe adding a toughness or vitality increase via this trait would help the Reaper feel alittle more brawler(tankier) like. As we are now to play Reaper we’re being forced into only a few types of gear stat (Cavs, Valks) wise to achieve this melee effect as a light armor class. I think this limits the class to much and takes away build diversity.

Shivers of Dread: I like it as is. However, usually when fearing you want the target to go away this causes it to move away 66% slower. So this skill to some would be abit in limbo.

Cold Shoulder: I would see the damage reduction go to 15% since in the iteration of the Reaper we played chill came from the GS AA #3 which was easily dodge. The elite which already had a 2sec cast time with a 2sec stun while the chill lasts 8secs since the enemy is only stunned for 2secs the effective chill is 6 seconds really which usually they end up cleansing after the stun ended. That and the RS #5 which only applied a 1sec chill and 1 1/2sec stun seemingly cancelling the effect of the chill anyway. If we’re going to take less damage from chill foes. Most of the time we get chill in skills beside the GS #3 (again easy to dodge) that are in conjunction with other conditions or hard CC that stop combat anyway. I.E Fear and Stun. Either give us more chill options or give us a bigger reward of less damage taken when fighting chilled foes.

Adept Traits
Augury of Death: A simple trait that does what it says. However, with changes to shouts cast times or their other components that I listed in the post above. This doesnt revival other picks. Either make AoD have an additional effect when using shouts I.E each shout gives a set boon to allies and removes or converts a boon on foes. Or cause shouts to restore some form of LF.

Chilling Nova: The internal CD makes this skill an eye sore along with the length of chill it gives being quite small. Either increase the length of the chill or allow the internal CD to apply per foe and not on a timer since conditions are so readily cleared anyway. That or return to the previous iteration of the trait that was should on the POI. As the Reaper is now with seemingly little access to chill this trait becomes a nonexistent trait.

Relentless Pursuit: Love it, this is the best trait in my opinion. It addresses some of the CC that necro always faced and with certain skills giving stability as well. I found myself to maintain some semblance of mobility.

Continuing on with the review, I’ll start with shouts.

Starting off, I believe the cast time for all the shouts except for the elite should be taken away. It seems unfair that every other class with shouts has no cast time yet we do. Secondly since these skills are supposed to scale with the numbers of foes struck, the Reaper has to have the ability to be in melee. I often felt to squishy in RS and without any LF I felt like I couldn’t be a brawler even if I tried with GS.

Heal Skill: Your Soul Is Mine!
I like the CD and how it can be further lowered if using Augury of Death. However, the healing it gives out is sub-par when compared to other heals like Consume Conditions. I think that allowing it to not only regenerate LF per foe hit but also an additional percentage of health per foe struck would make the skill better. Atleast in that way healing wise it could rival consume conditions atleast.

Utility Skill: You Are All Weaklings!
I liked the quick burst in might that this skill gave and that it was a stun break with a CD that could be lowered depending on foes hit if traited. I’m not sure how the stability worked out on this skill. If it worked out that when using in teamfights you got 5 stacks of stability for 5 seconds that’s fine.

Utility Skill: Suffer!
Although it gives out chill its short lived and isn’t really causing anyone to “suffer”. I wish that instead of one condition transferred it did two. That way if you did change the heal to scale in healing per foe hit, you’d still have a suitable way to get rid of conditions. This would also cause Augury of Death to rival Relentless Pursuit as a trait choice with both these skills. Or if they simply allowed one boon on the foe to be converted to a condition and also a condition to be transferred while applying a chill.

Utility Skill: Nothing Can Save You!
I think the cooldown could be brought down to 30 seconds. Other than that I feel that the skills pretty solid in converting their boons into vulnerability and the length of it is fairly decent. I feel that the skill tooltip should say “Boons Converted” instead of removed to clear up any miscommunication of the skill. Or if it could function that it at first converts two boons to vulnerability and then strips another two it would help in this seemingly boon intensive reliance of other classes and give necro’s a way to further deal with them.

Utility: Rise!
Change the minions summoned or make it a flip skill. That summons minions and allows you then to use the skill for an additional effect. I.E all minions rush selected target and blow up for X amount of damage and/or restore LF and/or Health.

Elite: Chilled To The Bone!
I like the skill in theory, I just dislike the long cast time and how easily it can be dodged. I rather you take away the stability it offers and put it on another skill for a faster cast time so it can actually be landed in fast paced combat and not just in surprise attacks.

Nynuwe.5893:

Tommyknocker.6089:

Drarnor Kunoram.5180:

…snip 5. “Arise!” sucks. It’s useless for literally everyone: Jagged Horrors are lousy with multiple foes and a 40 second cooldown to summon just one is laughably awful. Even Minion masters don’t want to run this shout. Scrap it entirely and replace with something else. My suggestion is “No escape!” knocks foes down and gives the Reaper super speed (2 seconds +1 second per foe struck). Takes inspiration from the fact that the horror movie monster catches someone because they tripped. snip…

OH PLEASE Anet make this so! No escape would be the perfect replacement and would fit the theme so well. +1 just for this suggestion alone.

I second this suggestion fully.

I love this idea 100%!!! Becky dont trip!!

I actually wouldnt mind seeing this as sometimes certain DS skilks fit into better situation and if entering and exitting the respect shrouds shared a CD I suppose that could be fine. IMO it be no differnt than an engi having mutiple kits to use at certain times.

Even with the needed changes I still loved playing my Reaper with a twilight finally!!!!

I actually used this elite in wvw wearing PVT gear taking the traits that made poisoned and also chilled foes do less damage to you this along with protection made me quite the tanky individual however with most alll tanku builds my damage suffered abit. I was still able to used death perception and decimate defenses with PTF and PVF gear for similar effects. The Reaper of Grenth with vuln on chill with pulsing vuln in DS/RS caused me to inflict tons of vuln on MANY targets allowing my party of well necos to absolutely destory bomb sites.

CronicDemise.4635:

The only thing I played this weekend was the reaper, and I agree with every point you’ve made.

I found myself actively avoiding the GS AA because of how low it was hitting compared to my RS AA. For a RS focused build, that’s not really an issue because you’ll never not be in RS, but for anything outside of that, it’s definitely an issue.

KashimKudal.2961:

Skill 5. This was a very hit or miss skill for me, when it landed it was very rewarding. However I found myself using it more for life force regeneration that its actual ability to pull players. The reason being is that in teamfights if the enemy was bunched up I did not want to pull them away from the team bomb. Although the skill was extremely useful when pulling enemy players off of pressured or downed state teammates. I feel that grasping arc of the skill could be a bit wider but all in all in my opinion its a skill that rewards skillful use and tactical awareness. If thats what it was stated to do it would be fine but it was stated as a way to catch players running from you, and since chill doesnt decrease movement skills distance travelled anymore I’m not sure if it actually serves any purpose. Since most movement skills move 300~1200 range in less than the cast time of the skill which is 3/4 a second.

Regarding GS skill 5, with how it works in its current form, I think it would be much better suited as a ground targeting skill, like the Reaper brick path utility. I think this works best because it’s hard to gauge how wide of an area you’re able to pull into you while you’re on the move. Further, if an enemy is moving to the side, you can cast it ahead of them so they end up walking into it if you time it right; as of right now, if you cast it and someone is moving to the side, you’re SOL of landing the hit.

Yes I actually agree with your suggestion giving the reaper greatsword # 5 a ground target visual would make the skill more understandable as you can see the parameters of where the skill will actually land. Also I don’t remember correctly but I believe that the claws have a delay when appearing out of the ground, maybe increasing the speed at which the claws appear and pull targets back might make the school function a bit more fluidly as well.

@ Bhawb.7408: I see your point I’ll have to be more thorough next beta.

@Silverkey.2078: I do agree with you I feel this attack should flow better with other skills and not forcibly break up the flow of the greatsword. I still think some theatrical windup is okay but I still like my idea of giving it an aoe critical when hitting downed state targets ensuring a boost in damage. When thinking of an executioner skill I think of back stab which nearly instacasts with higher damage. In comparison the Gravedigger seems very lackluster.

Bhawb.7408:

Never go off tooltips in GW2, they’re awful. Guardians actual full cycle is 3.7s, Necromancer’s is 3s, and I’m not sure about Warrior.

Yes I heard that most people do you say that, however I just used them for a simple side by side comparison I use the tool tips which should reflect some resemblance of how the skill operates and functions in game. Thanks for bringing it to my attention though and I’ll make a note to test all the AA’s in real time at the next beta with videos.

Silverkey.2078:

Since I want to be very fair, the hammer of guardian is actually slower if I believe the wiki: 3.7s instead of 3s for the reaper GS. The hammer AA DPS comes higher if you count that all the symbol pulses hit. Also, the hammer has more than just the AA to boost its DPS while gravedigger is very bad in its current state for necro.

Then I will say the hammer is not meant to be a DPS weapon but a CC + defensive weapon. Also in terms of pure DPS (for example in PvE), the guardian has more damage multipliers.

I see your point although when I look at the tool tips even though most people say do not use the tool tips, I use them just for a flat comparison of data that ANET puts up if this is not actually reflected ingame anyone feel free to let me know so I can test them in comparison next beta. The first two attacks of the Guardian hammer have a cast time of 1/2 secs and the last hit has a cast time of 1 1/4 seconds. For the damage that I calculated out I took the actual auto attack chain timeframe which the last hit would include the hammer impact and only one second of a symbol damage. As this is what the data suggest when the actual animations for attacking that the Guardian hammer uses would end although the persistent damage of the symbol remains, meaning that for at least one of the auto attack to follow actually overlaps with symbol damage and instead of trying to figure out a good place to finalize it and its rotation I simplified it to only include auto attack animation cast times and the damage associated. This time frame comes to be about 2 1/4 seconds. However I do see your point and that I believe it actually is more if you count all symbol hits as apart of the auto attack by which you must add an additional 2 seconds on to the total time of the auto attack for damage completion this results in a total time of 4 1/4 secs for Guardian hammer AA. The resulting damage equaling out to be 3898 over a time of 4 1/4 secs. In comparison when letting the reaper auto attack chain run to meet 4 seconds of attack time you must include the first two attacks of the chain. The resulting damage is as follows 4361 which may sound impressive however, to attain this damage it requires nearly two full AA reaper GS chains. In one chain the guardian AA chain is only a small 463 damage off. If I were to do a direct attacks made comparison and not a time based one the guardian hammer does 5476 and that margin only widens exponentially as the chains allowed increase. In further analysis you’d find that the damage between the two chains becomes a whooping 1115 damage in favor of the guardian hammer.

In this sense it becomes a much worst state of affairs when you realize that the Guardian hammer is made for CC and not outright damage and that Reaper greatsword which is meant for heavy DPS is actually outpaced over time in comparison to a defensive weapon.

Jackalrat.5493:

KashimKudal.2961:

Here is a compilation of the comparison between Reaper AA and other heavyweapons.

This is a great post, especially.

Not only is it the slowest of the three and the lowest damage of the three…but it’s also the only one coming out of a light armored class.

True enough, although the Mesmer uses a greatsword even in a tankier state it does a burst and quickly leaves the area. However, the Mesmer has more than enough utility to actually enter and exit combat effectively. The Reaper as stated is supposed to be a slow moving yet hard hitting specialization, meaning that staying in the middle of a fight should be a specialty I.E absorption or mitigation of damage and also inflicting comparable or greater damage on foes in the process which I feel it lacks in both these areas when put to trials against other classes in melee combat. Although with certain setups the reaper shroud can be made to be a very tanky spec class it gives up quite a bit of DPS in the process and is easily outpaced by classes that use the great sword in melee.

Here is a compilation of the comparison between Reaper AA and other heavyweapons.

Hey guys I didn’t know there was a general thread started for reaper feedback as I had started mine late into the night when I was tired. Instead of retyping or copying and pasting another wall of text, here is a link to it so that you may read it at your leisure.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/necromancer/Lord-Abbadon-s-Reaper-Review/first#post5366459

Skill 3. Although I do like the concept of the skill in practice it seems to be lackluster. I think this is mostly due to the fact that it does not actually reach the range of 170, I do think that the cast of the skill can be reduced to 3/4 sec to feel more natural or that a slight dash forward while doing the attack would work as well. Although it is able to hit three targets as the tooltip states it is seemingly hard to hit even for moderately skilled players, it is for this reason that I would actually prefer the life force regeneration to be on skill #2 as it is an aoe and easier to land hits with. Even without the lifeforce regeneration on the skill it still maintains its core concept of applying vulnerability.

Skill 4. I like the skill as is, however just for me if I had to make one change I would take a interval of 1 second with five pulses applying two stacks of blind and crippled instead of 4. Also I’m not sure if the damage is pulsed every second or every 2 seconds as well, but if the damage is not pulsed every 2 or 1 seconds I would like it too just as added pressure for the skill.

Skill 5. This was a very hit or miss skill for me, when it landed it was very rewarding. However I found myself using it more for life force regeneration that its actual ability to pull players. The reason being is that in teamfights if the enemy was bunched up I did not want to pull them away from the team bomb. Although the skill was extremely useful when pulling enemy players off of pressured or downed state teammates. I feel that grasping arc of the skill could be a bit wider but all in all in my opinion its a skill that rewards skillful use and tactical awareness. If thats what it was stated to do it would be fine but it was stated as a way to catch players running from you, and since chill doesnt decrease movement skills distance travelled anymore I’m not sure if it actually serves any purpose. Since most movement skills move 300~1200 range in less than the cast time of the skill which is 3/4 a second.

In the next post I’ll go over my thoughts on the shouts and traits. Please feel free to leave any useful and well thought out comments and suggestions.

Greatsword Skills

Skill 1. I am a fan of the auto attack however I only have some minor changes that I think would improve it. Though I do understand Anet wants to keep a theatrical feel to that heavyweight of the greatsword the damge does not coincide with the animation in my opinion. For the slow attack speed the modifiers for damage should be much higher as to feel more rewarding when making contact on targets. In PvP gameplay I felt that only subpar players fell prey to the greatsword, and that even when veteran players made a mistake the damage they received was not punishing enough to feel theatrical or rewarding. Although the range on the AA says 170 it felt nowhere near that though I had heard that this was a bug during beta testing. Perhaps with the correct range set for the greatsword it would feel more fluid. In comparison in SPVP a warrior wearing a PVT amulet and hoelbrak runes using a hammer [I used hammer because greatsword for warrior has modifiers in traits that give it a base damage boost that Reaper greatsword does not have. So I took hammer instead because it’s modifier in its trait line does not increase its base damage but are situational.] has an auto attack chain base damage as follows 835-835-1114 each attack having a cast time of 1/2 sec. A guardian with a hammer has an auto attack chain base damage as follows 743-835-928 with the first two attacks having a cast time of 1/2 sec and the last hit 1 1/4 secs accompanied by symbol damage that hits 1215 over x3 hits. The Reaper greatsword in the same setup has a auto attack chain base damage as follows 789-881-1021 with the first two attacks having a cast time of 3/4 sec and the last hit having a cast time of 1 sec. Not only do guardian and warrior have an attack speed that is faster both weapons do more damage in a shorter period of time and are considered heavy weapons for their class. Even the necromancer dagger auto attack does more damage than the reaper GS auto attack so in my opinion to be more functional and theoretically correct to the feel of the Reaper, the greatsword damage must be greater than that of the warrior or guardian hammer auto attacks.

Skill 2. I’m actually quite satisfied with this skill as well and I only have minor changes to note. The cast time of the skill I do appreciate as it such a hard hitting skill. I do think there should be some situational modifiers within the skill itself. For example hitting a target under 50% health should recharge the skill 80% faster. However, hitting a downed target should recharge the skill 80% faster but also result in a critical hit. In this way it causes the skill to function as intended when targets are actively engaged in fighting you but that when the target is in a down state it is more theoretical in the sense that the Reaper has claimed his victim and is daring you to come and try to save them.

[I am currently drawing a blank because I forget if downed state targets can be criticality hit, if they can it offers a more substantial cleaving mechanism to the reaper and if it doesn’t it offers a sort of counter pressure to ressing in teamfights. Although I’d like to point out that even if this skill recharges 80% faster along with the whooping 1 1/4 cast it actually equals about 2 1/4 secs between active damage which is only slightly faster than the AA]

Skill 4. Although I do like the skill quite a bit there are some things that I felt were lacking. Although the skill tool tip says that there x11 hits on a maximum of 5 targets, the duration for this skill is 2 seconds. In practice I felt that this gave too much time to other players to simply sidestep the skill or dodge away and out maneuver the skill entirely. This also means that the damage for the skill is spaced over a longer duration meaning that most targets only take a fraction of the damage the skill can output. In comparison the skill on Guardian greatsword #2 hits x7 times on a maximum of 5 targets and has a cast time of 3/4 secs. This skill is almost always used with symbol of wrath causing a projectile finisher enabling it to hit upwards of x11 correct me if I’m wrong. I think reducing the duration anywhere between 1~1 3/4 secs would allow it to be more rewarding when catching opponents.

[My only question is if the trait Reaper’s onslaught in the reaper trait line causes the skill to cast faster? If so I think that the trait should be rolled into base line or a median taken across all Reaper shroud skills, because it seems slightly unfair that to make the skills more viable in teamfights you must select a grandmaster to compress damage on targets when the Reaper is supposed to be a hard-hitting but slow moving specialization. Which I understand but the current duration makes the damage inconsequential on targets with high mobility or even mediocre players.]

Skill 5. Although the skill was first introduced as a executioner skill, I feel that it does not live up to its name. The reason I say this is because I found myself using this often at the beginning of fights to catch opponents rather than finishing them off. Although the skill leaves behind an ice field unless you leap or use a whirlwind action the field is useless. I had no problem landing the skill in teamfights however in 1 v 1 situations it was almost immediately dodged every time. In comparison the warrior hammer skill #5 has a cast time of 1 sec and a hard CC knockdown of two seconds. The cast time of Executioner Strike is 1 1/4 secs and the stun duration is 1 1/2 secs, the warrior skill has a shorter windup and double the reward in CC. I believe there are one or two ways to make the skill more comfortable and rewarding. The first is that since the ice field persists for 5 seconds it should pulse chill at a duration of 1/2~3/4 per second. This would allow the skill to feel theatrical in the way that whether it is used in the beginning or end of a fight that feeling of impending doom when the skill is used and connects is more substantial. I do understand that the ice field combined with whirlwind finishers does produce chilling projectiles however if that became an issue simply allowing the field to be a persisting “chilling mist” instead of an ice field would rectify the issue. The second solution would be considered easier to accomplish by simply lowering the cast time of the skill and increasing the duration of the CC applied not to be like a hammer skill 5 where the duration of a cast time to CC ratio is double but somewhere comparable. That or simply raising the stun to 2 secs.

Starting off I’d like to say that I truly enjoyed the Reaper during the beta. I actually had hoped Necromancer would use a greatsword from the very beginning of Guild Wars 2. So when it was announced that the new specialization for necromancer would be you using greatsword I was simply ecstatic. Enough about that let’s get down to the nitty gritty. Also I want to state that all numbers were taken from into the mist build editor and that all Reaper damage statistics were taken from the beta over the weekend.

Reaper Shroud Skills

Skill 1. I did enjoy the overall range of the auto attack. The range of the auto attacks went from 170 to 220 on the tooltip however I’m not sure if that was reflected in game. The fluidity and speed of the attack was awesome and the animations department did a great job. Overall I am satisfied with auto attack for the Reaper shroud, although I do want to point out that the base damage of the reaper shroud auto attack chain is less than that of most melee two hand weapons in the game on the first two attacks. So I feel that elevating the damage of the first two hits would be a nice touch to the auto attack and inversely bumping up the damage minorly on the last hit of the auto attack.

[My only concern about the auto attack is that since the reaper shroud only has access to chill via the #5 skill in an indirect situational manner and on #2 when fearing targets how else are we supposed to inflict chill upon our opponents within Reaper shroud? I think that adding a chill on the middle attack would ensure that chill can be applied but that is not applied so often to feel overpowered.]

Skill 2. As most of the community has already pointed out, the skill has no collision which means that you simply glide through all enemies in the path. In some instances this is a good thing when trying to escape or trying to move beyond opponents to catch others. However, this means that other times when you are simply trying to attack a single or focus a target you simply fly through them missing any chances to set up anymore combinations. I believe that adding collision to the skill if a target is selected up to the maximum range of the skill would allow it to function better. But that if a target is not selected the skill will cast its full length in range I.E like warrior greatsword skill #5. I believe that this will allow the skill to maintain the same functionality as it does now but gives the player the option of singling out and focusing a single target if they desire.

[ My only question about this skill is if it’s applies the trait in curses called Path of Corruption to all targets it passes through or to the end of the skill range. If it applies to all targets passed through I think that if a target is selected it should only apply up to the skill arriving to the target location. This gives the skill in my opinion some more utility in that you can choose to go through multiple foes to corrupt boons on multiple players or to focus a single target and corrupt boons up to that target’s location if there are any targets in line of sight.]

Skill 3. I am absolutely 100% satisfied with Infusing Terror. This skill adds one of the things necro needed which is stability. I found myself using this not only to ensure I can do damage and not be CC’d as soon as I entered Reaper shroud, but that I can also use it to stomp enemies in teamfights or fear an enemy from stomping a teammate. All in all I am truly satisfied with this skill.

[Just for kicks I tried this skill in conjunction with soul reaping trait Foot In The Grave, to my surprise these two work extremely well together with a stun break ensuring that you’re not almost immediately CC’D while entering Reaper shroud but have access to stability during to ensure you maintain mobility.]

I agree, having a healing skill that puts you into combat seems really hurtful

At this point I’d just be happy for a necro Dev to actually break their silence and answer some questions honestly. I agree with most of the changes listed above in the main post. I just want Consume Conditions to be explained as to why it gimps the necromancer and is the only heal in the ENTIRE GAME that punishes you for trying to survive.

Although I do agree with your statements involving condition necromancer. Not everyone wants to play necromancer as a condition class. As far as your statement about consume conditions. I cannot agree fully with them, yes Necromancer has skills that apply conditions on use where the outcome of the skill outweighs the cost of using it. I.E epidemic as you stated. However on a heal when the soul benefactor is the necromancer, why would the necromancer then kitten himself after healing? Keeping in mind that almost every class in this game will have a way of putting out vuln some better than others. After they wear down your DS and your health pool if you take consume conditions you’ll use it and any decent player will know of these changes to your heal skill. From there they’ll load you up on vuln and absolutely finish you off. The only way I’ve thought of that “might” make this heal work with the changes is if Unholy Martyr takes the conditions you have when you enter Shroud and converts them into LF, and even IF it did work that way…your telling me I have to take an entire line for a Grandmaster trait to make my heal effective?? Other than that you literally have to either take the damage OR you have to blow condi removals which consume conditions WAS one of the necromancers main condition cleansing mechanics. Or transfer conditions. No other class in this game has a mechanic that gimps them like this. Its simply bad game design.

Honestly Im okay with almost all changes to necromancer. HOWEVER – Im not okay with having the only heal in the game in which punishes you severely if you use it. If you trait for it, it’ll give you two conditions instead of one. Meaning either you blow a condi cleanse in a bad situation [I.E a Power Ranger stacking vuln on you right after your heal] Or you use a skill that transfers the condition to protect yourself. So you mean I have to use two skills to actively heal so I don’t die? I just think its funny that we have so many topics about this and not one Dev can give us an answer as to WHY they made this change.

No heal in the game punishes you for using it like the new consume conditions does. Even if the vulnerability is 4 seconds. With the new ability for almost ALL classes to put out vulnerability. That stack can turn into a big problem and allow for people to simply wait for you to get low enough to heal and simply pile on more vulnerability that you helped them stack essentially. I love necromancer as it is my main class and I’ve found ways to work through the classes short comings through this games lifetime. However, punishing us for healing is ludicrous. Anet- You need to fix this.

No heal in the game punishes you for using it like the new consume conditions does. Even if the vulnerability is 4 seconds. With the new ability for almost ALL classes to put out vulnerability. That stack can turn into a big problem and allow for people to simply wait for you to get low enough to heal and simply pile on more vulnerability that you helped them stack essentially. I love necromancer as it is my main class and I’ve found ways to work through the classes short comings through this games lifetime. However, punishing us for healing is ludicrous. Anet- You need to fix this.

No heal in the game punishes you for using it like the new consume conditions does. Even if the vulnerability is 4 seconds. With the new ability for almost ALL classes to put out vulnerability. That stack can turn into a big problem and allow for people to simply wait for you to get low enough to heal and simply pile on more vulnerability that you helped them stack essentially. I love necromancer as it is my main class and I’ve found ways to work through the classes short comings through this games lifetime. However, punishing us for healing is ludicrous. Anet- You need to fix this.

No heal in the game punishes you for using it like the new consume conditions does. Even if the vulnerability is 4 seconds. With the new ability for almost ALL classes to put out vulnerability. That stack can turn into a big problem and allow for people to simply wait for you to get low enough to heal and simply pile on more vulnerability that you helped them stack essentially. I love necromancer as it is my main class and I’ve found ways to work through the classes short comings through this games lifetime. However, punishing us for healing is ludicrous. Anet- You need to fix this.

No heal in the game punishes you for using it like the new consume conditions does. Even if the vulnerability is 4 seconds. With the new ability for almost ALL classes to put out vulnerability. That stack can turn into a big problem and allow for people to simply wait for you to get low enough to heal and simply pile on more vulnerability that you helped them stack essentially. I love necromancer as it is my main class and I’ve found ways to work through the classes short comings through this games lifetime. However, punishing us for healing is ludicrous. Anet- You need to fix this.

Sigmoid.7082:

In love when you are cleaving a downed body it would be. Since the downed person recharges it same as a -50% does.

Interesting if thats true

Goat.7043:

Nemitri.8172:

I may go with this, who knows. This is my current look for my DS build.

What helmet is that?

Grenth Hood from Gemstore. Usually comes out around October for Halloween.

Front http://gyazo.com/fe9f2a2e295c076c08f8cc67ea73e78e

Back http://gyazo.com/04112cf9b0151ebcad3eec48547828ed

Only thing subject to change is using the blacked out reaper hood for sure and maybe some main color changes but I’d be keeping the gold trim. I’m hoping that in RS it doesn’t take away your backpiece so that when you enter into it I’d have an ethereal glowing on my back from the fractal backpiece.

I’m glad it scales with condition damage. However, I’d like to know if it will tick per second or if its just a single hit on condition application?

Lily.1935:

Yes. Do also note that weapon traits also effect you while using death shroud as long as you have that weapon equipped. So if you take Dhuumfire with Lingering curse for example, then your Dhuumfire will go from 3 seconds to 6 seconds a hit.

True story. I didn’t think of that, awesome catch.

Achrisos.1360:

Hello,

Yesterdays vid got me really excited about the future of Necs. Usually I only play my Nec in spvp but the new Reaper might entice me to play this char in some other content as well.

The one thing im not too happy about is the super HUGE scythe in Reaper Shroud. It just feels a little to clunky being soo big i think they should tone it down a bit maybe while you are idle standing have it shrinked and then if your in combat it gets bigger then.

Anybody else feel the same?

Yes and no, I feel that the handle of the scythe could be toned down and not have such a long tail. That or simply adjusting the placement of the players hands on the scythe while shortening the end would also work and keep in step with the skill ranges I feel.

Softspoken.2410:

KashimKudal.2961:

The passive of signets still work in DS. As far as Plague Signet- I suppose it’d have to be confirmed or I’ll simply test it in PvE today. Even if it only pulls 1 every 3s that’s still quite abit of LF sustain along with Unholy Martyr and AA. Either way it’d be a nice part of a build.

Currently, they don’t. To my knowledge, they never have. Start rethinking your build.

Ah you’re correct they dont work within the DS. Good catch

Shiki.7148:

Lily.1935:

Zefrost.3425:

I agree than tainted shackles should inflict taunt and that life blast should be a projectile finisher. Dark Path should revert to how it was way back in beta where it was a ground targeted teleport that caused AOE blind.

We aren’t getting taunt. Its not in our flavor. Arena Net has already stated that quite a few times. A pull would honestly be better.

Actually, it should chill or cripple them, and the immob should be triggered when the link breaks instead of when the skill ends.

I agree with this.

If you don’t have Reaper of Grenth (which will be an extremely powerful elite now with the Reaper spec/ especially if using the taking less damage from poisoned foes Putrid Defense and from chilled foes Cold Shoulder which Reaper of Grenth applies both. Simply taking Death Shivers will help in applying vuln. Also you can cast Reaper of Grenth and it will persist even in DS so I assume it will also persist in Knight Shroud.

SidewayS.3789:

This thread is lmao. Welp guys, you just have some 99 stacks of confusion. You think these new changes will put us in the meta for dungeons? If you think so, then i’m sorry to say, you dont play dungeons. Most say that the changes are good for pvp/wvw, maybe it is, i’m not playing these mods, but on PvE – dungeons, the Reaper will be in the exact same place at is now. Its true that in the first month of the expansion, almost no one will go in dungeons, rather exploring new map/collecting hero points, etc. But after the dust will of the new content will settle, the dungeons will be full again.
Yes we can dream of our new place in the meta, but i lost faith a long time ago with Necro on dungeons.Question : Why you should take Reaper rather then Chronomancer? The shouts are AoE, most bosses are single target so it almost invalidate our new shouts. Open your eyes and leave this “dream” behind that those who cry are noobs, or should i say play with Necro/Reaper in pvp/wvw but please dont come with the idea that in PvE , Reaper will be in the meta.Cheeers.

@Sororita : Take some pills bro, it seems you’ll choke with your dream, lol

Hmm I wouldn’t say never being in a PvE meta. I can’t wait to see the new traits in their final form. A necro can be excellent in PvE, if played well just like every other class. I hope with Anets call for more challenging content that yes even Necros with their now heavy ability to crowd control groups of mobs becomes a needed part of PvE in some sort of 8~10 man raid like instances. As the dungeons are now and knowledgeable player running a semi dps stated gear/spec can speed clear. This takes minimal skill nowadays.

My only question is if the Dhuumfire will hit multiple foes since the KS AA hits 3 3 then 5 players. This could be extremely brutal on a Necro wearing carrion armor. Taking full advantage of specific rune sets to generate a truly scary tanky condi melee toon

Shiki.7148:

Cogbyrn.7283:

I would say 12 stacks of might for 4 seconds is supplementary. There are plenty of other traits that give Might on attacking chilled targets, Might on using Shroud #1, etc. Plus, the shout also applies Weakness for 6 seconds, and breaks stun. Does BiP do those things?

And calling certain builds “dead” in the meta at this point is just blinding yourself to potentialities for no reason. Maybe they’ll find a place, maybe they won’t. If they do, it’s easier to remember the potential usefulness of Shouts if you don’t just completely rule them out from the get-go.

Also, @Drawing Guy, are you ignoring the fact that it actually sounds like they’re balancing them around hitting 3 targets, not 5? And for WvW, they could work very, very well in all kinds of different types of fights. Disorganized skirmishes happen all the time in WvW, it isn’t just roaming 1v1s (which is actually more often 2v1s), or GvGs with coordinated comps and calls. Additionally, I often stay near the rear of the retreating party because I have all kinds of slowing/distracting utility that saves more people from dying, instead of just trying to not die myself.

And little access to stability? You must not have seen Reaper Shroud’s #3.

Well what I’ve seen is them balancing it for 5 players hit. Because otherwise the casttimes and the Elite cooldown would be far lower. They factor in that you get a potential 35% CDR, so you have the elite on a 78 CD. While actually you will most likely have 14-21 CDR , so 103-95 seconds cd. Which is too high for a shout with a 2 second stun that can be broken and has a 2 second casttime meaning it will get interrupted more often than not. If it was like current deepfreeze – no stunbreaks possible – or gave stability at the beginning of the cast and then one extra stack per person hit after the shout I’d say it could be a fair CD. But like this? Nope. Make it 90 seconds base and 1.5 cast… Even 1 s cast would be fair if telegraphed enough. Which it should be with the Reaper screaming at you.

Or, keep the current times except maybe elite CD, but make all shouts and the trait have what they have now when hitting 3 foes baseline . So get at least 3 jaggeds, at least x might etc. And then just scale them with hitting 4 and 5. Because most of the shouts are decent against 3 people, so at least have them decent, not terribad against 1 person.

No I saw your point Shiki, I just wonder how strong they’ll be when coupled with other scenarios that the Reaper will generate in melee combat. It seems they’re pushing for it to be a multi opponent class. We’ll see in beta testing

Vilkata.4725:

KashimKudal.2961:

Ragnar the Rock.3174:

I chose answer C: Racial elite.

Ragnar knows what he’s talking about. Human Racial Elite will be amazing with Reaper for sure. Reaper of Grenth

That’s assuming racial skills will still be around once the new trait/skill unlocking system goes into place.

I’d be a tad disappointed if they did tbh