Guild Wars 2

Based on " ’Twas the Night Before Christmas" (Necro style)

’Twas the night before Wintersday, when all through the morgue

Not a creature was stirring, not even a warg;

The corpses were packed into the coffins with care,

In hopes that Ol’ Grenth soon would be here;

The minions were nestled all snug in their graves,

Dreaming visions of enemies impaled upon staves;

And mamma in her spikes, and I in my scales,

Had just settled down on our long bed of nails,

When out on the swamp there arose such a clatter,

I lumbered from bed to see what was the matter.

Away to the window I flew in a burst,

(just kidding, we’re necros; for speed we’re the worst,)

The moon on the spine of the sickly, dying trees

Was so lovely and pale it made me weak in the knees,

When, what to my slow-focusing eyes should emerge,

But a ghastly hearse, and eight Bone Fiends humming a dirge,

With a dire dark driver, the embodiment of death,

I knew in a moment it must be Ol’ Grenth.

More slowly than slugs his coursers they came,

And he whispered, and rasped, and called them by name;

“Now, Fetid! now, Foul! now, Rotten and Reeking!

On, Pox! on Pestilence! on, Putrid and Stinking!

To the top of the ruins! to the top of the wall!

Now scuttle away! scuttle away! scuttle away all!"

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,

When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,

So up to the crypt-top the coursers they crawled,

Dragging the hearse upon which Ol’ Grenth sprawled.

Up on the roof, on spindly legs they came creeping

As eight pair of pincers searched for souls to be reaping.

As I drew in my head, and was turning around,

Down the chimney Ol’ Grenth came with a bound.

He was dressed all in black, from his head to his foot,

And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;

Carrying a sack of coal so large and so grand,

Judgement had come with my fate in his hand.

His eye sockets — how they glowed! With menace and dread!

His cheekbones so sharp, I thought, “Now I’m dead”!

From his bony jaw appeared a grin of delight,

My heart skipped a beat, I was so full of fright;

His chill stole away all my warmth like a thief,

Until presently I heard the chatter of my teeth;

He had a skeletal face and was thin as a rail,

But the terror he exuded caused me to quail.

He was gaunt yet imposing, a right ominous old deity,

And I trembled when I saw him, in spite of my fealty;

A wave of his hand and a twist of his head,

Soon gave me to know I had everything to dread;

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,

Ripping away all my skills and traits with a jerk,

Then pointing his finger, all crooked and bent,

And giving a nod, up the chimney he went;

He drifted to his hearse, to his team gave a wail,

And away they all glid like a dark ship under sail.

But I heard him exclaim, as he drove through the pall,

“NERF AWAY, NERF AWAY, NERF AWAY ALL!”

(continued)

Long-term? Well, I’d really like to return to where I started. The scourge of the skies. The sower of pestilence and plague. The dark winged harbinger of death and destruction. Of course, that’s going to take awhile. Something – some unseen force…as…if…as if…I was being controlled…or…hmmm?…like I’m following a script – is holding me back. I don’t really know how to describe it. It’s just…I’m a FREAKING dragon, ok! There’s so much MORE I could be doing than standing around on a beach. Old habits die hard, I guess.

Hmmm? What’s that? “Like what?”, you ask? I don’t know. Just…something. I want to be ME. I want to travel. I want to see what the world looks like beyond the Splintered Coast. Fly inland a bit, visit some of the coastal communities, and sample their fine local delicacies like Asura Appetizers, Sylvari Salad, Hylek Hummus. You know, taste what the world has to offer. I’m tired of sand between my claws all the time.

I also want to challenge myself. That’s the only way we grow. I’m tired of all these pesky little ants milling about my feet. They’re dumb as bricks, I tell you. No, I do not need my 1,000th pedicure with a greatsword, thank…you…very…much. I mean, it’s the same ol’, same ol’. Back in the Big Z days, they hit me, I feign injury, then jump back into the ocean…and that’s even when I’m beating them. But that’s how Big Z wanted it, so that’s what I did.

No more; I want something better for myself. I want a challenge and these tiny sand mites biting at my heels ain’t cuttin’ it. Sure, they’ve got their mega-laser; bully for them. What do they expect me to do, just STAND there while they fire at me?!?! I did that for Big Z…I ain’t doin’ that no more!

No…if they want to shoot me, they’re going to have to work for it. They’re going to have to do more than swing away at my feet. They’ll have to figure out how to climb up on my back and beat me into submission first if they expect to get a clear shot with that laser thingy. And just to make it REALLY interesting, they’re going to have to manage that WHILE I’M IN FLIGHT! And if I just happen to do a mid-air roll and dump them in the drink, too bad, so sad for them. Ha! How do you like them apples, you so-called-adventurers?!?!

And NOW when I beat them? Hehehehehe! No more jumping back into the sea and swimming away. If they lose, there’s going to be consequences; believe…you…me. I’m taking this show on the road, baby, and the Risen are coming with me!!! I’ve had my fill of Splintered Coast; Aleem’s Penance, Chokevine Gorge, Shattercleft Hills, here…I…come. Heck, maybe with a good agent, I could even book all of Sparkfly Fen if the fleas can’t figure out how to hold me back. I’m returning to my roots and spreading the corruption I was born to spread, one waypoint at a time.

Of course, that’s all just a dream. But at least now I have a dream; something to work towards. With Big Z, I had nothing.

I’m also making connections with The Shatterer and The Claw of Jormag. They’re where I used to be; enablers unable to see a way out of their situation. In helping them find the courage to break free, I feel like I’m giving back…reaffirming my own commitment to myself. We have to take care of ourselves because – if we don’t – no one else will.

So that’s my story.

My name’s Tequatl and I’m a co-dependent enabler.

…and this is my first time attending Co-dependants Anonymous.

It all started that fateful day when I first met him; the Big Z. The rotting flesh, the putrid green aura, the multiple heads; what’s not to love, right? And that raw, primal lust for power with all those undead minions worshiping at his feet. Made me weak in the wings.

Back then, I’d do anything for him…anything. And I did, too. “Stand on the beach and look menacing but don’t actually pose a threat.”, he said. I – star-struck – obediently complied, “Yes, Big Z. Anything for you Big Z.”

Over time, though, there was a growing emptiness inside me. I just chocked it up to an empty stomach and figured a few dozen adventurer hors d’oeuvres would satisfy my hunger. Alas – tasty as they were – they did not sate the growing void within.

Something was missing. That something was me. I’d repressed my own needs so Big Z could take all the glory. He was just using me and I – foolishly – allowed it to happen. I enabled his attention seeking behavior…his narcissism…at the expense of my own nature. I look back now and think how could I have been so stupid.

When I finally confronted him with the news that I wouldn’t allow myself to be used anymore, he just laughed. “There’s a million more where you came from, sweet cheeks.”, he derisively chuckled. It stung, but at least I had asserted myself. I had finally broken his spell over me. I was free.

Recovery has been hard. After so long of standing in one place, my fitness level is shot. I can barely fly anymore; it’s more of a glorified leap. But each day I’m working to get stronger; I can even hover a little bit now.

And, as emotionally cruel as his treatment of me was, I do have to thank Big Z for giving me control over my own squad of undead minions. I’m trying not to do to them what I allowed Big Z to do to me. I’m encouraging their independence…facilitating their efforts at self-discovery. Of course, that’s quite the uphill battle when dealing with mindless Risen; but you have to have goals. I see glimmers of hope, though, as they start to push a little bit further inland. They try so hard; it makes me smile.

(continued)

In the July 23rd, 2013 patch, the Necromancer profession received the following change to its profession-specific mechanic, Death Shroud:

Damage taken while in death shroud will now overflow to the necromancer’s health pool if the damage taken is greater than the remaining life force.

The intent of this post is to petition the developers at ArenaNet to revert this aspect of Death Shroud back to its pre-July 23rd, 2013 state. In other words:

Damage will NOT overflow to the necromancer’s health pool if the damage taken is greater than the remaining life force.

This is the only change that is being requested by this post.

If the developers wish to see Necromancers die from fall damage – even while in Death Shroud – so be it; add code that insta-kills if falling beyond a certain distance or – better yet – code those zones you don’t want us seeing with an AoE insta-kill. This way, Necromancers could also return to surviving falls from great heights where appropriate (e.g. escaping in WvWvW) while still being prevented from accessing areas outside the map. Regardless, please reinstate our ability to use Death Shroud as our sole form of de facto block/evade/invulnerability.

I would ask those who post remain on topic; this is simply a petition for those who wish to show support for reverting Death Shroud. If you disagree, that’s fine, too; all I ask is we keep the petition focused narrowly on the topic of overflow damage from Death Shroud to the normal health pool, pro or con. There are numerous posts that have already delved deeply into this debate; the intent is this one remain succinct and in the form of a petition rather than a discussion.

Previous posts which have argued this point somewhere within the thread can be found here:

Can Death Shroud actually be balanced?

Death Shroud brainstorming

DeathShroud is now base 100% HP

July 23rd patch notes: hidden buffs edition

Necromancer’s only defense!

sPvP forum to dictate the future of Necros

Thank you.

(continued)

Instead of convoluting this issue with nerfs, patches, fixes to the fixes, etc., why not, instead, take the path of least resistance and return Deathshroud to the pre-patch state with regards to the overflow damage. Moreover, maybe it’s time to just come clean and admit that Deathshroud has been problematic from day one due to hastily converting our downed state form into our profession-specific mechanic shortly before release. Honestly, I think the necro community would be much more forgiving and understanding of such an admission rather than trying to maintain the fiction that it’s working as intended now.

Perhaps you have a long-range vision for Deathshroud. However, in the process of getting to that point, we’ve been nerfed below par in certain scenarios. At a minimum, until Deathshroud has been patched to fit your overarching design goals, please revert it with regards to the damage overflow issue. It was our sole form of burst/spike mitigation. That application of Deathshroud wasn’t game unbalancing to begin with; so why fix it?

Even if it doesn’t fit with your vision for Deathshroud, the necro community creatively adapted our profession-specific mechanic to compensate for some very glaring deficiencies in the class’ design. Despite this organic evolution which established a precedent – transforming Deathshroud into our burst/spike mitigator – it’s now been stripped from us. Why? To what end?

To paraphrase General Zod:

“We exist only to serve our party. That is the sole purpose for which we rolled necros. And every action we take – no matter how violent, or how cruel – is for the greater good…of our party. And now…* choke * …we have no party. Our Deathshroud. THAT…is what YOU…have taken…from US !!!”

JonathanSharp.7094:

I say play it a while and then see how you feel.

We did a big set of improvements to Necro recently, and we want to make sure we don’t over improve their defense capabilities.

We want to shift more focus to death shroud throug main hand skills, but, again, we don’t want to do this too fast, ESPECIALLY with a major Pax tournament right around the corner.

So death shroud gains may not be as high as you would like, but we’ll keep monitoring them and looking at further improvements to make.

ROFLMAO!!! XD

We’ve been playing it almost a year. We don’t need to play it any further to know this recent change will do nothing to improve our situation. Hate to burst your bubble, but after 10’s of thousands of collective hours playing the profession, the necro community knows the class better than you do.

The attitude portrayed by the dev team towards necros – between the lack of understanding of the the class’s shortcomings, sentiments like “learn to deathshroud”, and this latest “…play it a while and then see how you feel.” insult – demonstrates ignorance mixed with arrogance.

The fixing of what have been obvious and well-documented bugs after months of pleading our case does not equate to improving the class. All you’ve done is bring it up to par (and not even that, really, because you essentially have no clue or vision of how this class fits into the game). Because we’ve suffered so long making our beloved but broken class work – barely – I would argue our collective skill with the profession is quite high. Naturally, any improvements will give the impression we are now OP. However, that is neither our fault nor reason to nerf aspects of the profession that were not broken nor OP to begin with.

Previous posters have already argued quite eloquently why allowing damage to overflow from deathshroud is a complete gutting of the necromancers lone defense tactic. I won’t restate all of the above other than to say if the issue was you didn’t want necros to survive a fall from any height, you should have been able to prevent that from happening without implementing this ridiculous damage overflow nerf.

The fact of the matter is you guys can’t even identify the real problem. Given this, how can you possibly come up with the correct solution? The problem isn’t necros surviving falls from any height; the problem is being able to gain access to areas of the world you don’t want players gaining access to. The solution isn’t to nerf deathshroud; the solution is to figure out a better way of compartmentalizing and locking out those areas you don’t want players to see. Instead, you took the lazy way out and nerfed a profession to the ground because you can’t see the forest for the trees. Un-F-ing-believable!

The issue from a player perspective isn’t about being able to jump from any height and survive. As many LULZ as we get from doing that (hey, when you’re a trash tier class, you find fun in the absurd, ok), that’s NOT what we’re upset about.

What we ARE upset about is having the necromancer’s de facto version of invulnerability/block/evade removed.

What we ARE upset about are devs missing the boat – once again – regarding the real problems with the profession, then dismissing our concerns with flippant and condescending responses.

What we ARE upset about is the catering to the complaints and whining of a vocal minority of forum warriors calling for nerfs to our profession.

What we ARE upset about are devs fixing long-outstanding bugs that should not have existed in the first place, bringing our class close to being on par, then nerfing us because our par is now considered OP.

Our par is NOT OP. We, the necromancer community, are OP because we actually learned how to play our profession despite its glaring shortcomings. If the rest of the player base can’t deal with that, that’s their problem; you don’t nerf skilled players for being skilled.

In the real world, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger; you survive, you adapt, you evolve, you prevail. That’s where the necro community is coming from; we survived, we adapted, we evolved, we prevailed. But in the GW2 world, don’t dare do that because otherwise you are punished with nerfs rather than rewarded for skillful play.