Guild Wars 2

The Standards Undead, Scavenging are all good.

Divinity/Travelers works best if your running Celestial Gear.

Krait is a new intresting setup for bleed builds, but seems better in pve.

Tormenting is really good if your all in for this (Tainted Shackles reduced cooldown, sigil of torment etc).

Strength/Aristocracy are really good for Power/Condi builds and hybrids if you can afford them. You can easily be running 20-25 stacks of Might on your own with a sigil and strength and blood is power.

I run full Ascended Celestial on a Havoc Staff Necro in WvW.
It has a bit more survivability with only a slight damage decrease as the tradeoff.
It really shines with a Sigil of Strength and Runes of Strength though as with Blood is power you can maintain 20-25 stacks of might in almost every fight.

This will work with heavy investment and of course Epidemic. Dont suggest the Earth rune, try the new rune of strength instead for more condi-damage. Of course stacking corruption runes on offhand.

I also highly suggest trying Scepter/Focus in wvw.

Trick with this build besides the Dhuumfire change is DS regen(What dagger 1 is for) and you have the get used to the Spectral Walk/Flesh Wurm timing to teleport around/maintain mobility. This is a great roaming build in wvw as well unless your on a majorly overpopulated server matchup.

Pull the points outta Spite and put them in Death Magic to pickup the two Staff traits. change your Wells to Power/Corruption/Darkness.
Gear I suggest Apothecary but any of the +Healing Power gear can work. Runes of Water and Sigil of Water + Sigil of Life(250 Healing Power) or Benevolence(12.5% extra healing) on your Staff with be optimal.

I would also suggest looking at dropping Unholy Martyr in Blood and picking up Ritual of Life instead. That way you have two major healing skills.

Keep in mind though as a Necromancer you will always be the number 1 focus target in wvw.

Minions are pretty strong if not for the AI and Pathing issues. I have tested many time and with spamming attack buttons while being attacked the minions stand around and do nothing. Sometime even doing nothing when commanded to use their skills.

I think they need to have the AI fixed, gain some more stats of the necromancer and shadowfiend needs a complete reworking.

Bone minions should also heal out of combat like others finaly do.

This is ok for a zerging build, you got a good focus on aoe abilities but no real specialty. I would highly suggest picking up the soul reaping trait that makes life blast pierce though. Just kepe in mind you dont have a really good crit modifier or reliable condition stacking for bleed/poison.

Ive had this happen on my Necro with Terror traited when I use corrupt boon on someone with 15+ seconds of stability up.

Thanks for the input from what I gathered im looking at a Sword/Dagger or Sword/pistol Thief and I do have regular groups I go with so 1vX isnt as much of a concern.

I was looking at the builds and something Trickery focused or with valkyrie gear intrested me. More sustained damage and survivabilty then straight burst glass canon.

I normaly play a Necromancer but have deicided to start a new character after I completed all his quests and got him full exotics.

Im looking to play a Thief, mostly in WvW and need some advice.

What kind of strengths and weaknesses am I looking at?
What classes should I be careful of and Thieves have a hard time against in pvp.
I see lists of Builds but not really explainations what they do/strengths and weaknesses especialy compared to other builds.

Links to demonstration videos are also welcome.

Bull Zooker.1672:

ah ok, I played around with my usual build axe/focus and dagger/warhorn and I no longer felt the need to switch to dagger for close range DPS. so I switched it out for staff. as axe has always been my favourite weapon on necro this patch made me very happy.

Indeed though there are several times I can see where Dagger #3 the root would help along with the Warhorn skills to move into melee faster.

Axe/Focus just synergise too much for this build.

Escalated ticket lets hope this gets resolved.

After patch I had Axe 2 Crit for over 10k damage today, was awesome.
Still want to see some Spinal Shiver damages though.

As above ^ this still is a Glass Canon build to keep in mind. Our high health pool and deathshroud just give us buffer room to compensate with better skill and tactics.

I was messing with Daggers a bit today and can say it does insane damage on the #1 (I hit for 5k several times on some of the hits) but you have no closers and little ability to stop runners. I have trouble running down thieves and dagger/dag elementalists. As a physical attack it is great to #3 a Thief who then stealths while you drop suffering then swing at the air where he was to see him unstealth dead lol.

Im really trying to work a Staff build though for keep assualt/defense. A guildies also been asking me what scepter is like in berserker since feast of corruption does some insane damage on power builds though I only think that would work in PvE.

I find it very fun but it is kinda costly to buy off Trading Post or Farm from Dungeons.

At least were seeing Axe buffs this patch, im hoping for more soon. (Side note Retaliation from Axe does pretty good damage on a zerker so consider that in for your output)

I play a Full Berserker Gear with Rubys instead of Runes Necromancer.
I use Staff Main and off Axe/Focus.

My Marks hit for 1,000-3,000 damage depending on the mark and my Lifeblast hits for 5,000-8,000+ damage. Necrotic grasp regularly hits for 2,000 plus damage.

My damage well does a ton of damage as well.

Its perfectly viable, and can throw some people off since they are not used to taking huge damage from the Necro.

Axe/Focus is better in roaming for the lifeforce and vulnerability/regen. Dagger does huge damage but you gotta be in melee.

Im finding this works better in roaming and zergs then when I was all Rabid gear and Scepter/Fear Spec.

Nemesis is the only person to post a video about the build. Keep in mind his videos are for PvE generaly so you will need to tweak to your preferance.

But gearing wise
All Berserker Armor, Weapons and Accessories.
Instead of Runes use Rubys, for Accessories you can get a Berserker backpack called Guild Assassins backpack as part of guild armor. Exquisite Rubys go in accessories.
In your weapons I prefer Force+Accuracy Sigils for +5% Damage and +5% Crit.

You will have like 45% Crit(Sigil of Accuracy dosnt show in tab) and around 109% critical damage. As a Charr blood is Power+Battle Roar helps spike the damage.

My Charr Thief is White with the smeared pattern as Red, My Necro is black/grey with green eyes.

Im trying to make a new one based on this.

I find your guildies lack of imagination boring.

Asura Hunters (Particularly melee ones)
Sylvari and Norn Engineers
Norn Thief (Huge ones)
Asura Guardian

Surely these seem stranger?
I always thought I didnt see enough Charr Thieves though personaly.

On Charr ive found only Guardian and Mesmer work for Greatsword animation wise.

Try a Hammer instead, for a change of pace.

I have 3 Sets, for my Necromancer. I like the look of Khilbrons for when im doing Condition/fear, my Pow/Tough/Vit set is transmuted T3 Cultural, and my Berserkers set is the Profane Armor from the item mall.

Refrence Number 130223-001423

After purchasing Gems with Paypal before I am unable to now for the second time ever since purchasing the game.

I called Paypal customer service and they claim NCSoft is a “High Risk Vendor” and that they cant complete transaction with them because they dont provide invoices with correct information.

I submitted a ticket see above but can you please explain whats going on?

I just want my Gems and to play and have fun.

Point still is Thief mechanicaly speaking is literaly designed to counter all our abilities and kill us.

We cant do enough direct damage/stack conditions because of stealth. Thief has the best condition cleanses in the game when it comes to us.

Thief is designed to burst a target down really fast and then have the ability to escape. Necromancer is designed to be attrition where the longer the fight is the better their chances of winning become.

I think Thief does the former just a bit too good in the current build, its difficult to counter Stealth on a Necro while we can reliably counter the other classes burst potential but still they are Scissors to the Necros Paper.

Then again I only get beat by Thief in WvW when im alone and trying to 1v1 them so take that as you will.

Melpomene.2367:

This is one thing I hope they fix with Necromancer. We have “multiple” weapons that apply poison, but there’s actually only three. And one is underwater that doesn’t directly apply poison unless they pass through it.

Thief has just as much poison on their weapons as us I think, which is pretty sad. And they can apply bleeds and poison much more faster than we can.

Love the part on epidemic should cast poison on target and spread to all. Hate when I epidemic and they cure their conditions a second before it casts.

Actualy a Ranger applies Bleeds the fastest, then sword Warrior, then Thief.
My brothers Ranger can apply 25 bleeds in a couple seconds.

Poison is good if it worked, it really needs its passive to have better effect since its cleansed so much or automaticaly before heals.

Epidemic, I actualy have the problem of a target dieing often before it casts. I would either like Epidemic to be instant or to apply the effects of a target when the button is pressed not when the skill animations are all done. (Targets get what was on current target at time of key press)

Of course I would also like DoTs to be able to crit and also have magnitude stacking so the strongest ones stack on a single target. It would be great also if you could by some means maybe a trait get a chance for your conditions to resist being removed. Seems fitting and thematic for a Necromancer afterall.

Especialy Considering I could do more Damage as a Condition build with my same gear (All exotic Rabid) on a Warrior, Ranger, Thief, and especialy Mesmer. Along with better group support and utility for some. Just what as a Necromancer am I supposed to be bringing to the party again?

Most of the Heals in game that also remove conditions remove the conditions first then heal so the poison passive dosnt work.

Theres a number of traits that benefit you actualy poping in and our of Deathshroud.

Death Shroud recharges every 10 seconds.
Spiteful Spirit Trait gives you 3 seconds Retaliation for entering DS.
Furious Demise gives 5 seconds of Fury when entering DS.
Weakening Shroud 10s Bleed/Weakness AoE when entering DS.
Shrouded Removal cleanses 1 condition each time you enter DS.
Near to Death reduces DS recharge from 10 to 5 seconds.

By popping in and out, you can have every 5 seconds a perma weakness and fury, condition cleanse, and a small dot. On top of your normal abilities or mix and match.

Charr Necro armor often has the problem the body/legs and feet look bland while the helms/shoulders and gloves look great.

You really need to mix and match to get that perfect look if you dont like the sets.

I personaly like Khilbrons/Cultural T3 kinda bondage effect. Reminds me of the Qunari mages from Dragon Age.

Have a look at gw2armor.com

Rennoko.5731:

I was not impressed with might stacking and retaliation to be quite honest. The bonus it get from power is VERY minor. Even with 2500 power, 15 stacks of might, etc, I only recorded retalation hitting around 420 or so. Passive and active healing is going to outpace that easily against someone playing smart and using big hits only.

When you can easily be hit by a thief for 5000, even in full PVT gear, it is fairly useless. I realize its a passive effect, and as such they do not want a “thorns” build to be overpowered, but I mean come on…. you spec as heavily as you can to make that retaliation damage better, and its equivalent to a condition build on a mesmer with 1 stack of confusion.

I see closer to 600+ damage personaly, but its additional damage to all targets attacking you which vrs players can help.

Btw Thief is a terrible comparison to make since that professions mechanics are the exact opposite of ours and is practicaly designed to kill Necros. I see plenty of other classes out there that can do just as much damage or more then them. (You can easily make a dagger necro who does as much damage as a Thief, we both have the same dagger #1 skill they spam)

You got to keep in mind a portion of axe damage comes from Retalition which scales off of your power.

The Hybrid dosnt work so well currently and the glass cannon only works with Dagger (Dagger+Full Berserkers)

Axe is better with Might stacking, BiP+Reapers Might+Sigil of Strength or others.
The #2 and #3 are good but #1 is pretty abyssmal.

Any of the offhands can work at least.

Liquid.9672:

Jayne.9251:

Liquid.9672:

Jayne.9251:

lol I can only i) magine what Tier 1 is like if Tier 2 is a break from the constant onslaught. Oy.

You have no idea. T1 is nuts. As it should be I guess.

So I’m guessing there’s no three-server peaceful dolyak walk parades?

That would require Dolyaks taking more than 3 steps, which is as about as far as they get in T1.

All kidding aside, it’s not that different than T2, just more round the clock action with less room to take breathers.

Lol especialy with the Havoc squads who kill all the dolyaks, take camps. Build siege in said camps to waste enemy resources and keep flagging keeps as contested to prevent waypointing.

Or the Mesmer Feints, were you stealth destroy a outer door, have your mesmers hide inside somewhere where you cant be spotted. Have a small force flee and let the defenders leave while everyone goes and restocks siege, then Mesmer portals their entire army past the gates and blitzkrieg caps.

T1 is the meat grinder, im sorry to see SBI fall behind.

My Charr Necro, Currently Condition Spec.

Hidden Pistol tool belt skill is pretty good.

Dagger+Focus works better for that build unless you go heavier conditions then scepter works.

Mammoth.1975:

Stack the longest possible chill you can then epidemic for real hilarity.

Advantage of Scepter/Focus Necros, Been playing with this and a Sigil of Ice instead of Earth.

I do my normal combo, Spinal Shivers and then epidemic for hilarity.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/images/8/85/Corrupted_Artifact.jpg
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/images/1/16/Gaze.jpg
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/images/a/a6/Nightmare_Focus.jpg
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/images/1/1f/X7-10_Alpha.jpg
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/images/7/7f/The_Anomaly.jpg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fruQqvuu_fk

Im using Eye of Rodgort Scepter and Gaze Focus on mine.
Playing with Scepter/Focus

Of course theres the Staff Deathwish

Im not impressed with any dagger/axe

Might Help
http://www.gw2armor.com/charr/male/light_list.php

I found its more important how you make your charr look since compared to others our armors dont exactly fit right.

If you really want to be unique be a female Charr necro, I never see female Charr Necros or Mesmers.

Charr can have some unique looks, from feline, demonic, Canine and I even have a Charr Guardian who looks like a huge Rat (Modeled after Skaven)

For WvW I prefer all Rabid gear and im having better luck with Sigil of Ice on my Scepter instead of Earth. It really helps kite some of our weakness classes in wvw.

I found Dagger+Focus works better as your main set in a vampire build because of the regen stacking.

As others have said healing is a wasted attribute on us at the moment. But since our drains are set healing amount that gives us the freedom to replace it with something else.

I favour Knights or Rabid gear, depending on how your setup (A dagger with sigil of earth can stack bleed pretty good).

You also wanna have a look at the food that either gives you constant health regen, or boosts your condition duration depending how you build.

vicious.5683:

*arithmetic

make the math and tell your correct answer. You sir, have failed at reading and orthography

You couldnt find anything better to counter my argument about flawed math other then a minor grammatical error with a single vowel.

Logic says how can you and everyone else here base a opinion on flawed assumptions?

Cognitive Dissonance

You do take less damage from all sources other then the mechanics own built in time limit of -4%. The maximum time you can be in DS is 25.5 seconds or 32 with Vital Persistence trait.

I suggest reading this post https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/necromancer/Death-Shroud-HP-Pool

Which has already discussed this and tested it out.

In power heavy axe builds dont forget retaliation.

Sheobix.8796:

Two races stand out as a clear benefit to me. (from an offensive standpoint)

Asura:

1) Pain inverter. synergizes well vs. mesmers, thieves, and warriors.
2) Power suit is awesome… there are some.. certain consumables used in this form that are exceptionally strong (though i will not reveal them in the forums so to avoid getting them nerfed)
3) technobabble is an additional 2s daze on top of warhorn. with runes of the mesmer and warhorn traits, you can pull off a 6-7second stunlock.

Norn:

1) Your armor looks the best when worn. (big fat norns look good..)
2) Access to snow-leopard elite which gives stealth and mobility. (two things that make the class OP)

Asura are good Spvp Necros because of this.

Male
http://www.gw2armor.com/charr/male/light_list.php

Female
http://www.gw2armor.com/charr/female/light_list.php

Personal preference we look better with mix and match peice then most of the whole sets. Like Shadow/Tactical, Im partial to stately myself http://tinyurl.com/aknjs7z

Ive played a Necrobunker build in guild matches a few times. In my own experince we bunker better with CC then straight mitigations.

I had much better success assualting a node or keeping it neutral though.

why Chill+Daze are nasty.

I like Ascalonian Catacombs, Sorrows Embrace and Honour of the Waves, Power/Toughness/Vitality gear on my Powermancer Axe Build.

For support/conditions I favour the stats from Caudecus Manor, Vitality/Condition Damage/Healing Power.

Watch some Thief vids and study your enemy. Most of this ‘Elite’ is mearly from people not knowing what to do when someone stealths. Its not damage immunity.

http://tinyurl.com/aknjs7z
Skull Mask Transmuted onto a Exotic on my Charr Necro.

vicious.5683:

When entering DS, you lose 4% LF per second, no matter how much LF pool you have.
Because of this, your LF pool takes 25 seconds to empty (from 100% to 0).

The thing is, when you invest some points in Soul Reaping, lets say 30, you should have more LF (i.e. 130%), but the green bar takes the same 25 seconds to empty( from 130% to 0).

This means only one thing. The 4% degen turns into 5.2% degen, just for invest 30 points in SR.

The logic says, if you have more LF, it should take more time to deplete.

I really hope this is not working as intended.

You Sir have failed at basic arithmatic. Perhaps you should read up and educate yourself on how percentiles work.

http://tinyurl.com/b9u8key

The Run down for Minionmancer. The Secret it does all its minion enhancemnets from traits not gear.

Sheobix.8796:

charr with shadow armor looks pretty good, although i’d only grab the skull facemask from that set and mix it with either arah’s, nightmare, or CoF set.

I run an asura for the racials and the smaller figure. Since i also run a super tanky steamroller type necro, having a tiny floppy eared critter steamroll you in WvW is hilarious. i think the Arah set on asura looks really fantastic, and the CoF set horns will make you wonder why you haven’t tipped over yet. Its very enjoyable.

if you want pale bringer of death look, roll human. it also fits a bit better story-wise and thematically. I believe rustypipes said this.

…

but we all know how much we love fat norns that flesh out armor really well.
y0l0

Human or Sylvari in Order of Whispers armor looks rather….Witch King of Angmar-ish. Norn wise the skinny norn dosnt look half bad in armor.

I prefer Stately, http://tinyurl.com/aknjs7z

kKgari I solved that problem a long time ago. http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Sigil_of_Energy on offhand for some of those fights.

Theres Runes that buff swiftness speed that are actualy useful for us because we can have perma swiftness.