Guild Wars 2

Kiriakulos.1690:

Belorn.2659:

Nickczh.6341:

“Immune to direct damage when health is below 10%.” .. imagine the possibilities..

Or they could simply give necromancers a second health pool and make it a class ability rather than a trait.

Really wish people would stop parroting that, maybe then we could actually get some survivability.

Necros have the WORST survivability and mobility in the game, even WITH deathshroud. That’s because for DS our class has no access to: blinks, evades, blocks, invulnerability, stealth, consistent HP recovery and sustainable stability. Any other class in the game makes use of some or most of these and never give a second thought about how not having any is game-breaking for GW2 combat.

Know why Necros in pvp spec for burst, nothing but burst and even more burst? Because any prolonged engagement is a default loss for us, the exact opposite of what our “class philosophy” is supposed to deal with combat.

I think ANet isnt too bad at balancing, it’s just that our class mechanic has actually become a curse for this class. Everything around the necro was, is and will be balanced taking into consideration this extra health pool that we have, and ANet is, evidently, too blind to see past their numbers and metrics and see how it actually works in practice.

How much damage can be mitigated with one invul/dodge vs a full LF bar? Unfortunately, all ANet will see is our 200% base HP and think it looks pretty kitten survivable, so we don’t get any vigor, blocks and what have we not.

Just thinking out loud, and quite possibly dreaming..

What if necros had a trait – “Immune to direct damage when health is below 10%.” .. imagine the possibilities..

Nevermind, that makes me sad. Anywho, I dont know how Diamond Skin got through balancing. Just imagine the reaction if there was a trait like that that worked against direct damage.

If retaliation procs on conditions, then crits should proc on conditions too.
/sarcasm

1. Lack of vigor – I agree. There should at least be a trait somewhere for it, or adding it to an existing skill (I’m thinking Spectral Wall or Locust Swarm)

Off topic:
2. Wimpy axe autoattack – Not a power user, so I can’t say from experience. General consensus is that axe #1 is used with focus #4 to set up axe #2, not to be used as a primary weapon auto-attack.

3. Cleave – I used to think the lack of cleave was really impossible to understand, but I guess the blessing in disguise is that we’re less susceptible to retaliation oriented builds, such as the “Immortal Mesmer” build (unless you’re using Wells and hitting everything in sight).

Hey guys,

Just wondering. What happens when you use Corrupt Boon on a Ranger when they use Rampage As One? How long is the fear? It can’t be 20s, so I’m guessing there’s an internal cap on fear duration but am unaware of what it is.. 3-4s?

Great play, this is a great great example of how the Condition Necro should be played. I have a couple comments:

1. I see that Fear makes up a good part of your damage, but perhaps DS#3 could be saved for after your opening combo to interrupt heals. A good example was in the Ranger fight, when I saw him healing, I was like “ kitten you could’ve ended that a lot faster”. You could consider saving that ‘on demand’ fear.

2. In the thief fight, great placement of marks and Spectral Walking. In that fight, you had Epidemic slotted and I think you should’ve used it to spread conditions off of Thieve’s Guild. Otherwise it was a very entertaining fight, and perhaps the stars and planets aligned! I don’t think I could’ve dealt with his insane shadow-stepping.

3. That Guardian fight was a perfect example of debuffing and a build that is un-equipped to deal with it.

4. Focus vs OH Dagger is a matter of personal choice, and I agree weakness is an underrated condition. I do prefer Focus because using Staff #3, Scepter #2, DS#2 and Focus #5, I can keep the opponent on constantly mobility lockdown, making fights against melee classes a piece of cake. Additionally, I feel that boon removal on Focus#5 plus vul/regen on #4 outweigh the one condition transfer+blind (in 1v1) on OH Dagger. Weakness could then come from the Staff #3-#4 combo iirc, and/or the Weakening Shroud trait if you have space for it. I guess the choice of Focus vs OH Dagger largely depends on how you like to fight.

5. Minor point: I think you can afford to use Scepter #2 more. It does land on downed opponents (just checking to make sure you know that), and in the fight against the two D/D Eles, you could use Scepter #2 on the last one who went in Mist Form behind the wall even though he’s “blocked”; the reticle wraps around the wall. This way, you can already start dealing damage even before coming in range (Scepter #2 range is 900 + radius). Practicing this helps against opponents who try to fight using LOS with you.

Well played, +1 to your sir.

Having watched every Necromancer montage I could possibly find, IMO you’ve got decent to good fights.

Also, because:
1. You know you should transfer the Ele’s Churning Earth bleeds back for a condition burst, and
2. You demonstrated a fear-interrupt of a heal (many talk about it, but I very rarely see it practiced)

+1!!

PS: Anyone having reticle-targetting issues for marks or scepter skills should seriously watch this video closely.

I do agree. I’m not a balance expert or anything, but I feel a 15% reduction in their base CDs wouldn’t break anything..
45s → 38.25s (30.6s traited)
60s → 51s (40.8s traited)

Something I’ve asked myself frequently..

1. Do you ever feel like you’ve been forced into a particular build because of a lack of certain stats distribution?
2. If you could have a particular combination of stats, what would it be and what would your build be like accordingly?

I used to (stopped playing momentarily) run a hybrid 0/30/20/0/20 build with a mix of rabid and carrion focussing on conditions. But if I could have Cond/Toughness/Power, I’d mix that in with rabid to make DS hit harder. Last I checked, there were no Cond/Toughness/Power ascended gear.

Otherwise, Cond/Toughness/Vitality armor and weapons can be considered too. I believe this is available in ascended, but not exotic armor and weapons.

No hate taken. And this video also showcases how 1v1 fights can still be won with bad and unclean play. Talentless didn’t set the bar so high with absolutely perfect play that we all think he’s an outlier and we cant play like him, these seem like pretty realistic fights. I think it’s fair to assume that there will be more imperfect fights (bad timing/positioning, NPC ressing) than perfect ones.

Talentless, haters are gonna hate, don’t worry. I think it’s a great video and shows how this build could work for the roamer and also knowing how to pick your fights. If most people could look beyond just boons/conditions and sigil stacks, they could probably learn a lot more from your video.

1. Life force management/Using DS offensively
2. Controlling your opponent, especially getting him to traverse your Spectral Wall as many times as possible
3. Dodging over enemy staff marks.. because you don’t take any damage or conditions from them, and they trigger anyway.
4. Kiting melee enemies like the sword/shield Warrior

“Powerful” is subjective. If I don’t stand in the Chaos Storm field, do I take damage? Nope. Powerful? Nope. Benefits from instant cast? None, or maybe one pulse of damage.

That said, Chaos storm and Barrage are fields where the enemy has to remain in to take damage as it pulses. Grasping Dead and Enfeebling Blood are not fields and as long as the target is in the reticle when cast, they take all the damage from the spell unless cleansed. So I think you’re comparing apples and oranges here.

To answer your original question, I don’t think decreasing the cast time would help in any way. If one is bad at placing the reticle, then nothing (not even instant cast) can help except more practice and anticipating your opponent’s movements. If you’re using a mouse, you can expect to get good fast. If you’re using a keyboard to target, well, you’re asking for it.

nice video, and no offence but.. you dont use a mouse?

PS: I like how you used Speech to narrate haha, that is very creative!

I’ve never tried it, but I didnt know that the 10% HP mistform on the Vampirism Runes could proc when in DS! If it really is so, this could be a game changer for Necros, since we can get to 10% DS repeatedly at low risk without jeopardizing our HP.

Couple comments about the build:
1. Does seem like a really fun build (I havent tried it), but it makes me feel like a one trick pony, especially with the long CD on Wells and Plague.
2. If you’re rolling just daggers and focus+WH, you can leave the MH Secondary slot empty, although I think having an axe as secondary is better. Axe #2 was just buffed, it can proc lifesteal quite a bit (and in shorter time), and helps in DS generation too.
3. For WvW, it’d be useless in a castle siege, but good for running with the zerg.
4. Particularly for this build, the human elite “Reaper of Grenth” could be useful in proccing lifesteal too, plus poison and chill.

The way you play will decide for you, if we ignore the aesthetics part.

Conditionmancer – Asura: Pain Inverter will be your source of confusion, plus epidemic and it’ll be a good combo.
Power/Wellomancer – Human: Reaper of Grenth elite (poison + chill) will benefit you greatly in melee encounters. If you use life-steal traits, it can be another source of lifesteal. Similarly, you can also use Locust Swarm on the Warhorn.

If I knew this beforehand, I would’ve chosen an Asura instead of Sylvari.

Nickczh.6341:

I still believe that the Final Rest is from Zho Qafar, and its drop rate is exceedingly low. Going purely by facts alone: […]

In addition to this, I wanted to point out:

1. The weakest point to my theory is that Guild Wars 2 Wikipedia is user-edited. So I am unable to qualify the credibility of the statement that Legendary “[…] creatures are very rare to see, they can only be found in dungeon instances or in Ruins of Orr group events[…]”.

2. Regarding unique drops: If you were ArenaNet and you had to peg an open-world foe to drop the Final Rest, short of “Epic”-ranked, zone/world Bosses (who already have their own unique drops), what rank would you give it to? Obviously the next lower in tier, i.e. Legendary. Hence, a “specific (rare) boss” being a Legendary boss makes the most sense.

Zapan.7460:

Next time anyone is in Zho’qafa Catacombs, is the Eye of Zhaitan Legendary ranked?

Thanks, I was over with wondering if the name had anything to with the location of the drop, so I went by facts alone. The link provided by Screaming Cantaloupe (that it “has to come from an event, a boss and then chest”) also doesn’t disprove this theory.

To answer your question, there’s a screenshot from a Thief who solo-ed the event chain on Page 2 of this thread, you can see the Eye’s purple starburst frame, i.e. Legendary status.

Noerknhar.3826

I personally have never seen it before, so I dunno how to start it etc. Anyone?

Prior to this (and the other thread), I’m confident in saying that a large proportion of the player-base didnt know of this event, me included! Until one fateful day spent at the PvP Lockers turned into an obsession. ^.^ You can find the whole event chain here. Straits of Devastation - it is the very last event chain before the “Meta Events” section.

(edit) @Community:
I’ve gotten 4 exotics (2 named, 1 was a mob drop) in roughly a dozen or so runs with 0% MF. At least I’m getting some reward while I’m exploring/experimenting.

I still believe that the Final Rest is from Zho Qafar, and its drop rate is exceedingly low. Going purely by facts alone:

The Devs have given us clues.

Lindsey Murdock: “The only hint I will give on Final Rest is this: You cannot make it. It is dropped from a LARGE boss chest.”

Jeffrey Vaughn: “It’s exactly as Linsey stated previously—it’s a loot drop from a specific (rare) boss.”

While most think it hasn’t narrowed down possibilities, I think it has. They have essentially told us that it is a “rare” boss that spawns a “large chest”. If you look at NPC Rank (not the first time this is being pointed out), Legendary foes are the only ones who are “rare to see”. Plus, “they can only be found in dungeon instances or in Ruins of Orr group events”.

Dungeons are ruled out because it was confirmed to be in open world by another Dev, so that leaves Ruins of Orr group events. So if you make a list of all events in Orr which have Legendary foes and spawns a “large chest”, you have:

Straits of Devastation:
1. Zho Qafar – Eye of Zhaitan
2. Risen Priest of Blathazar

Malchor’s Leap:
1. Possessed Statue of Dwayna
2. Corrupted High Priestess (Lyssa)

Cursed Shore:
1. Champion Risen Priest of Grenth
2. Risen Priest of Melandru
3. Gates of Arah

(Let me know if I missed any.)

I looked up Youtube videos to confirm the chests and Legendary status. I dont remember what kind of chests spawned, but majority were Glorious Chests. I’ve also read the theory on having unique-named chests, but without official confirmation, I don’t believe that as much as this.

Without evidence or support, I believe that:
1. All the Temples have been farmed enough to statistically rule them out, leaving Zho Qafar.
2. The Final Rest does not drop from a Zone/World/“Epic” rank Boss.
3. The drop rate of Final Rest is exceedingly small.

Since I’m unable to farm it myself now, I’m relying on you awesome guys to do it and hopefully come back and confirm it!

Bhawb.7408:

[…] At about 80% crit chance, every crit has a 60 and 66% chance to apply bleeds (that means up to 2 bleeds per tick). That means, with great luck, I can apply 18 bleeds to EVERYTHING within the DS 4 radius. […]

Life Transfer hits 9 times in 3s. Superior Sigil of Earth has an internal 2s CD (according to Wiki). 66% chance on your critical chance (80%) means Barbed Precision procs about half the time (50%). That means you will apply 9/2 + 1 (Sigil of Earth) = 5.5 bleeds per person. I’m not sure how you got 18 bleeds unless you count 5 people (AOE limit) which means it’s ~27 bleeds distributed out. Do correct me if I’m wrong.

Anyway, I like the idea of DS, I think it is just the implementation of the idea that came out rather crudely. I cant count how many times DS has saved me in WvW. I have experienced it on the other side too. Countless times I’ve almost downed an enemy Necro before he DSed and ran into a tower.

Again, I’m not saying that DS is great the way it is, it’s a great concept but executed poorly. It has to be able to synergise with the majority of builds, ANet should address that.

dank.3680:

Necros got something great this patch. Power/Toughness/Condition trinkets in Orr for Karma yay.. Now I don’t have to spend 20g each for my ring.s

I havent been able to log on since this update, but Power/Toughness/Condition Damage is the set I’ve always wanted for my Necro. Which karma vendor do you get it from?

Regarding your gameplay, it seems to me you’re not doing enough of one thing to contribute enough (I guess that’s the life of most Necros, myself included sometimes). Direct damage is decent (2-3k on your Axe chain), Condition damage is okay (94 per bleed tick), but it seems like this version of the hybrid doesnt quite cut it. Have you considered going full power or conditions? I use a hybrid build focusing on conditions but my DS still can hit for 1k on #1 (on >50% LF) while waiting for cooldowns. 1k is not a lot, but it can be enough to force the enemy to heal when I’m in DS, saving my #3 to interrupt, thereafter unloading all my baggage on him.

Some tips, if I may:
1. Use terrain and LOS – especially in that fight against the ranger and guardian.
2. At 5:24, there is a stealth stomp going off on the downed guy. You could’ve saved his kitten with Staff #5, which was off cooldown.
3. I don’t use my Staff #5 at all, unless it’s one of the following: a) Enemies at the edge of a ledge, b) I’m being chased and I need some space, c) Fearing a thief out of Subterfuge (EARLY), d) Stopping a stealth stomp, or e) Delaying an enemy res.

I’m not pro or anything, it’s just my experience in WvW! Otherwise it’s an enjoyable video, great job!

Edit: It’s easy to judge a battle on hindsight, but the clues to #2 were – a) presence of a thief, b) blinding smoke, c) downed opponent. If CnD is used, you’ll still see black wisps.

Chris, I’ve seen you fight in WvW enough to know you’re one of the best Guardian players out there, you definitely know how to play to your strengths. I’d be very interested seeing how you succeed with the Necromancer!

The best thing to do would be to start the instance yourself.
If they kick you, they lose all progress. That way you grant immunity to yourself.
And if they DO kick you, it’ll be a nice last laugh.

One thing to note:

If you want to increase bleed duration, you need the full second of bleed for it to tick. In other words, a 10.4s bleed will only tick 10 times.

My advice would be to ignore them.

D/D Eles have insane mobility no one can match, so even if you think you can kill them, you cant catch them. And like Dylninja said, they’re likely luring you, much like the modus operandi of The Medicat – they just pull people off the main fight (esp. those with tunnel vision) to disperse the enemy numbers. If no one catches the bait, they’re essentially useless.

D/D Eles in a zerg.. well, they’re usually line breakers. Your own side should have it’s own line breakers too to counter. Furthermore, it doesnt really matter what profession you are in a zerg. Whichever side has the bigger numbers usually wins.

Edit: My apologies my reply doesnt answer your question directly, but from a strategy/long-term POV.

ophidic.1279:

I guess in their mind it’s labeled properly… but as far as I can remember, the names were always reflections of the styles of armor, so this is the first and only instance of this ever happening in my knowledge in the history of guild wars…. so I feel that it’s breaking the system of [prefix] XStyle armor [suffix].

I suppose that’s what I get for having confidence in the system AMIRITE?! haha. :P

No, don’t do that. I had a named helm with Carrion stats. One day I decide to transmute the look of a Berserker helm I bought off the TP. After transmuting, the name remains as Berserker helm. It doesn’t change to Carrion helm, although I believe this is a problem only when transmuting named pieces.

So, don’t go by name. Go by Preview and Stats.

aKIRA.7123:

you can be pulled by engi and mesmer, feared out, chilled/crippled by any non-projectile ground targeted aoe..dunno if im missing anything else

Necromancers have a trait that makes the staff marks unblockable. Everything should have a counter to it, that’s how some builds are effective against some and ineffective against others.. makes sense. But how ArenaNet implemented that is debatable.

Geikamir.6329:

It doesn’t have to HAVE anything to do with the name, but it COULD. It’s just more evidence in my case that I don’t think the behemoth drops it.

See bolded. That’s the worse part about this hunt. We have absolutely no idea if the drop site has anything to do with name, meaning it could drop anywhere!!

@Hileron:

Perhaps I’m not as well-informed, but where do you get Power/Toughness/Condition gear?

Good point, what is the use of a “wall” that doesn’t stop anything?

Geikamir.6329:

I don’t think is the Shadow Behemoth. He’s rare because he’s bugged, not inherently. He also is in a low level zone which would be odd to have an exclusive level 80 item drop. He has nothing to do with the name Final Rest or with gargoyles.

And what makes you think where the staff drops has ANYTHING to do with its name?

That’s the point I’ve been trying to make for the longest time. Does the names of the item (Dawn, Dusk etc etc) have anything to do with where it drops? Sure there will be exceptions, but I haven’t seen any confirmation that the name “Final Rest” has to do with where it drops. Heck, Bramblethorne drops in AC.

If every named exotic has to drop in a place to do with its name, that’s an awful lot of effort on ArenaNet’s part. Do you think such a task would be high up on their priority list?

I wouldnt be surprised if this staff is dropped from a completely random boss (with a chest), and only that one boss.

Hanzo.9624:

Nickczh.6341:

You’re missing the point. Yes, there is no problem with our underwater skills. I only said what I didnt like about them when I was asked my opinion.

My point is.. there is no trait for a faster recharge underwater for either weapon, like every other class has.

We have Deathshroud.

But we have axe and staff reduced CD traits. Not consistent?

First off, I am a proponent of killing mini-bosses. I just have one peeve with some dungeoners. Frequently, I hear things like “mini-bosses drop trash loot so it’s not worth the time invested to kill them”.. it just boggles my mind.

We all know good drops (AKA level 80 exotics) have a small chance to drop. If you want good drops, you have to kill him enough times so you have a large enough sample for some statistical significance. Killing a mini-boss a few tens of times and concluding “it drops crap” is just naive.

Imagine now. Imagine if all mini-bosses/bosses dropped exotics, guaranteed. Everyone farms dungeons, sells loot on TP. Supply goes up, market saturates, prices dive. When all exotic gear costs that cheap, what constitutes “good loot” then? Precursors? What would be the point in killing anything then?

You’re missing the point. Yes, there is no problem with our underwater skills. I only said what I didnt like about them when I was asked my opinion.

My point is.. there is no trait for a faster recharge underwater for either weapon, like every other class has.

@Skinny T:
As far as I know (from experience), drops scale with your level, but there is a larger chance of getting drops of that zone level. In other words, if you’re farming the Shadow Behemoth, you will frequently get Level 15 drops, with some Level 80 trash. There is also the chance (RNG) that you get Level 80 exotics.

For a fact, I’ve gotten 80 exotic drops in AC and in the Zho Qafar (level 75) event. So far in that chain, I’ve gotten 2 exotics (1 named) from the chest, and another named exotic from a mob drop (a risen acolyte, not the boss).

That’s precisely the question I asked in my long kitten post above. Does the name of the staff have anything to do with where it drops? For all we know, it could just have been a rarely occurring boss (many prerequisites have to be fulfilled) chosen at random that drops the Final Rest.

roamzero.9486:

I find that the Trident autottack sometimes flat out doesn’t work in wvw. I see the animation going off on the player but nothing is happening.

It’s most probably because you’re out of range or the enemy is behind you/at a bad angle. The one good thing about trident though, that I exploit sometimes, is that it doesn’t require LOS. I think AN is planning to fix this.

@Nay of the Ether: Precisely what Kiriakulos.1690 mentioned. Moreover, with the Dec update ArenaNet released, it featured, prominently, buffs to underwater combat – both fields and finishers, so we should be expecting more epic underwater fights. Hence I felt that this discrepancy is even more alarming now, than it was before.

I think few people complain about Necros underwater because most fights occur on land, which most are comfortable at. But to answer your question, I feel that the trident is a weak LF generator, OK damage (needs time), while the spear doesnt cleave strangely (look at Warriors).

I haven’t done the calculations, but a cleave weapon could make the Vampiric build viable! In which case, I’d re-gear to full P/T/V and be the in-your-face-caster-class-guy.

Hmm, let’s look at underwater skills recharge traits across all professions.

Warrior: Crack Shot, Forceful Greatsword
Guardian: Two-Handed Mastery
Engineer: Hair Trigger, Short Fuse
Ranger: Martial Mastery
Elementalist: Pyromancer’s Alacrity, Aeromancer’s Alacrity, Geomancer’s Alacrity, Aquamancer’s Alacrity
Mesmer: Blade Training
Thief: Relies on Initiative for weapon skills, no cooldown modifiers.

Necromancer: None.

Can anyone at ArenaNet or in the community explain the basis behind such a design?

Pixels, I feel the same way. I’m a Sylvari Condition Necro.
1. Plague: Synergises most with the condition spec, but is situational and involves being in the frontline. I do my work best unnoticed so it’s not that ideal.
2. Lich: Totally doesnt work well with a condition Necro.
3. Summon Seed Turrets: Useful for the 3s invulnerability. I use them during defence situations, sometimes in small duels, but the CD is too long for the 30s recharge.
4. Flesh Golem: Knockdown is nice, shortest CD of all elites, but he drowns and aggros too much/dies too easily.

My simple suggestion would have to be: Let us put a utility instead in the elite slot.

4. There are fleshreavers in-game, although there’s no mention of any chests at the end of the events. Can anyone confirm this? (I mention this because fleshreavers look somewhat like gargoyles. However, I dont think this event is a probable drop for the staff.)

5. I got a hit for my search “final rest” in Guild Wars, appropriately, an article about The Underworld.

[…]Here the spirits are judged by Grenth for their actions in life and sent to their final resting place. Recently, this realm has become invaded by demons allying themselves with Dhuum, terrorizing the souls of the dead and sending them to locations they do not belong.

This led me to the meta-event Secrets in the Swamp, culminating in the slaying of the Shadow Behemoth. Portals from the Underworld popping up in places they do not belong (Heartwoods, Eldvin monastery, Taminn Foothills), sounds like what the Guild Wars article mentioned and the objective of the event, in this context, could mean putting these underworld creatures back to rest, hence “Final Rest”. Moreover, a Shadow Behemoth Chest spawns at the end of the event, that is the same size as the Glorious Chest. Additionally, “this event chain is on roughly a 2.5 hour timer” and “[bugs] on most servers”. Does this equate to being rare? Someone mentioned that this event is not done by many Level 80s because they’re all in Orr. Meaning, despite being farmed frequently, most participating are not 80, so dont even qualify to loot the Final Rest. Thereafter, still having to overcome the RNG hurdle. Suspiciously, there is also a renowned heart, Help Historian Garrod investigate Godslost Swamp, in the same location where you “[put] tortured spirits to rest”.

However, we have to take this Guild Wars Wiki article with a grain of salt because it’s user-edited. The words “final resting place” could very well have been something else, hence not having any significance to “Final Rest” at all.

I know this is a long post, but I hope I managed to communicate my research results effectively to you guys in the hopes of cracking the mystery surrounding this more than legendary staff. Let me know what you think, or more specifically, I’m looking to eliminate possibilities.

“When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth”.

Sherlock Holmes

I’ve been doing some research and it has only made me more puzzled. I uncovered some interesting things that made me question if we all got this wrong.

1. I looked up “gargoyle” in Wikipedia, and it is not what comes to mind (that beastly winged creature).

[…] a gargoyle is a carved stone grotesque […] with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building […]

And under the etymology section, “gargoyle” originates from the French term gargouille, meaning “gullet” or “throat”. Could this mean we’re supposed to be looking at places/architecture to do with the conveyance of water?

This reminded me of the Mad Memories 2 Scavenger Hunt hint “These old bones are caught in the gullet, where laughing rises from sorrow (site #7)”. This is a location in Bloodtide Coast, the Laughing Gull Island (“gull” here could refer to the sea creature “sea gull”, or noun, “a person who is fooled or deceived” from the Dictionary). Here, I found one event that spawns a Glorious Chest – The Campaign Against Taidha Covington. Under “Notes”, it says “This is one of the few meta events that has a random chance to trigger.” Does this equate to “a specific (rare) boss”?

2. However, going by its architectural significance (first paragraph of Wikipedia: gargoyle), I dont know what buildings or structures in the PvE world coincides with this. Although the jumping puzzle in WvW EB is called “Obsidian Sanctum”. (Architectural) gargoyles are made of stone; obsidian is a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed as an extrusive igneous rock. “Sanctum” is a private place from which most people are excluded or a sacred place, like a shrine within a temple or church, and we know from the GW2 timeline that gargoyles mysteriously vanished in 1185 AE. Could this JP be where they immortalized themselves in their stone form? Plus there are what seem like gargoyle heads that spout (ironically) fire there. However, to my knowledge there is no event there, besides the final chest, that spawns any sort of boss/chest, correct me if I’m wrong.

3. Between “gargoyle scythe” and “final rest”, which name was given first? If it was called “Final Rest” first, then named “gargoyle scythe” after because it was designed as a gargoyle, then it makes sense we should be looking for some boss’ resting place, hence, we have Destroy the Eye of Zhaitan, where it makes perfect sense that he opens with “How dare you disturb my resting place?” However, if it was named “gargoyle scythe” first, then “Final Rest” (for whatever significance), the gargoyle from the Halloween event looks exactly like the one on the staff, except all Halloween events are over. Do you think the order in which they were named matters? Complicating that further, I decided to check for myself using Bramblethorne. It is a Sylvari looking weapon, but a) no mention of TA, b) Level 80 item that can drop from AC.

So does the name “Final Rest” actually have any relation to where it drops? Or is it just a rare boss with a large chest, chosen at random, that drops this staff? Also, using Bramblethorne as an example, we cannot exclude low-level dungeons.

Chill is indeed pretty good. It is too bad that we only have 1 skill that applies chill, which is pretty sad since necros worships Grenth.

1 skill? Cant say you know the class very well can you? Focus #5, Staff #3, DS #2.

Support
I agree wholeheartedly with Drarnor Kunoram when he says that we do it in a “subtle” manner. When you ask about support, most people instinctively think of yellow hexagons above your utility slots. Seldom do people think of support as shutting down the enemy, hampering their escape or damage output. There’s more than one way to support. In WvW, I’ve Corrupt Boon frontline full-boon Guardians and Elementalists more times than I care to remember, and they’ve almost always died. Do people notice that the full row boons just flipped into conditions? Do you notice it? Without these line breakers, I’d say I’m contributing tremendously to my team. Our easy access to cripple and chill also helps to keep over-extended enemies that way = easy kill for the team. How is a boon going to help me in that situation?

Damage
For some odd reason, people only like comparing damage as numbers flat out. You cant compare a Necro’s damage against a Thief’s damage. Heck, you cant compare anyone’s damage to a Thief’s. Yes, it’s true we dont do as much damage as a thief. But whatever happened to range and cool-down? To do big damage on thief, you have to be in melee range! Think of the thief as high risk, high reward. I would think of (a staff) Necro as low risk, medium reward. You know what the problem is? Necro doesnt suit your playstyle. And I quote:

The faster you kill your enemy the better.

You just pointed out at you want to shut people down ASAP. Although I do agree that the faster you kill your enemy, the better. But it’s situational. Countless times during sieges and bridge/chokepoint fights, I see the thiefs, warriors/guardians and other GC specs hanging out at the back while the professions with better range are holding ground. In that situation, who cares how much damage you can do when you cant even unload your damage without getting killed? I.E. high risk, high reward.

Death Shroud
I think DS is grossly misinterpreted in the community. You have to distinguish between the different types of “survivability”. I think DS is great survivability against sustained damage. It’s a freely replenish-able resource, granted you trait for it, and DS #3 is also a great interrupt. On the flip side, it’s not that useful against burst because it gets eaten through in a matter of seconds, and takes a couple seconds to refill.

Condition Damage
Again, people always bring up the issue with rampant condition removal in WvW, passive or not. If you’re playing conditions, you have to understand you’re playing a pressure game. Passive condition removal is at every defined interval, cleanse cannot occur without using a skill with a CD. It’s pressure play. Should one wipe conditions now, or wait till your passive removes it? What if your passive removes the “wrong” condition if you have more than 1 condition (poison instead of the 10 stacks of bleed)? If you use your wipe now, you dont have it for the next 20+ seconds. It puts the pressure on opponents, and you cant deny that pressure affects your gameplay, sometimes adversely.

So there, CHIPS, I addressed your issues. Bear in mind this is not a L2P post, nor am I saying you’re wrong, but maybe a different perspective would be beneficial. The Necro class is a very subtle class and it takes a lot of time, pondering and tinkering before you start to appreciate the mechanics of it.

I’m saying to literally swap your HP for LF when entering DS. Nothing else changes (so you still have access to all your skills, weapon swapping, conditions and boons). Your idea sounds good, halving the circle to accommodate both LF and HP levels.

A lot of Necros find themselves lost and useless in WvW. I have been able to find decent success using my hybrid build, and I’ve accepted that I’m not a tanking, soloing character (which doesnt win much points in WvW). Instead, I’ve found my calling as a strong support character in messy and crowded attrition fights (commonly found in attacks and defences).

This has to be one of the most insane thought experiments I’ve had. How many Necros, in your own mini zerg, does it take to down the opposing zerg? (SoR fights against quite a zergy server) Secondly, which profession could imagine doing this better than a Necro?

Answer? 4. And only the Necro.

Here’s the answer to a zergy fight.
1. You need your own mini-zerg, obviously you need support.
2. Form a party of 4 Necros who have condition builds.
3. All must use Staff and Epidemic, preferably with staff CD, greater marks and decreased Corruption CDs traited.
4. Call a target in a clustered group. All 4 Necros place Staff #2 on him. One casts Epidemic. Instant AOE 24 stacks of bleeding for his friends caught in the marks and epidemic.

The best thing about this is that you can pretty much reach max bleed cap in less than 3s, and you can repeat this procedure every 4s (4 Necros with Epidemic means one Epidemic every 3s, traited. The limiting factor becomes Staff #2). Sure, “there’s a lot of passive condition removal”, most refresh every 10s, “Shake It Off” has a 25s CD untraited. This tactic refreshes every 4s. If I hit you at 0s, you will take the full base 8s of bleeding if you dont remove it. At a base 100/tick bleed, that’s 2500 dmg/s from 1200 range, AOE.

*Comment on point #4: I tested in the mists. A greater #2 mark that hits two golems give each 3 stacks of bleeding. If you Epidemic one of them, the other gets 6 stacks. So if you cast Staff #2 around the same target in a cluster of people, whoever sticks too close gets 12 stacks of bleeds. Epidemic your target and this poor soul will get 24 stacks. Sure, he’ll cleanse it, but it’s back 4s later.

Think about it guys, tell me what you think!

PS: I can see this working for zergs too, unfortunately, but regardless, for the coordinated ones it is still a solution.

I main a Necro, and even after getting the short end of the stick this patch, I find I still cant let it go. I just thought of a simple change to DS that would be very reasonable for everyone.

The solution is basically to have DS as a second lifebar. Literally. Swap out our red HP circle for a green one (some details have to be sorted out so we can see our HP too while in DS) and have a percentage number in there.

The benefits I can identify are:
1. It “synergises” with all our identified builds, namely power/juggermancer, hybrid/conditionmancer and MM.
2. Requires little programming changes.
3. Requires little DS UI changes (i.e. we can see conditions too).
4. It is in line with AN’s philosophy of our class mechanic – “to extend our life total further”.
5. Allows having access to our entire toolbar.
6. Although not new weapon-specific skills in DS, our DS skill are not limited to 4. Weapon swapping should still be possible.
7. If AN sees fit, our F2, F3 and F4 could still be the original DS #2, #3 and #4 skills. (Obviously, F1 is to enter/exit DS, thus losing our DS #1.)
8. Allows DS generation while in DS.

Point 8 can easily be interpreted as being OP. For example, the base dagger auto-attack chain grants 6% LF. Natural degen rate of DS is 4%/s, meaning you actually can stay in DS permanently. However, bear in mind you’re in melee range. Additionally, these suggestions would make up for our lack of escape mechanisms.

What are your thoughts?

perhaps if AN paused with all these oh-so-happening monthly events bullkitten, they may actually have enough people to take a hard long look at class balances and bugs. the most disgusting thing I find about this update is that we have a long, comprehensive list of bugs compiled, with time dedicated from our very own Necro community into testing, and AN addressed none of it, except if you count extending the life of the jagged horrors a fix of any form. the rest of the update was across-the-board changes which means, yes you guessed it, nothing was updated for the Necromancers.

I know how you feel AN.. I know. It feels like you just finished writing your exam, and now you have to check your answers.

Firstly, movement buffs do not stack. A 25% Signet plus swiftness or any movement speed trait buff will NOT stack, it will take the greater of the two. If it does, it’s likely a bug. Right, now that we have that out of the way..

How would a 3s base stealth not give you enough time to run away? Plus shortbow. Seriously?

A 25% movement speed buff for some classes “breaks” the game and spells the end of the Thief class? Seriously?

Giving thieves such insanely high burst damage with stealth used offensively and defensively is the game breaker. The fact of the matter is, thieves have been OP since launch. AN is just balancing stuff out now, so get used to it.

Sprawl.3891:

pop in DS – fear – drop wells and staff marks at your feet, if he attacks you he’s dead. thieves in WvW are super easy kills since you almost always have full life force at the start.

I’d try not to use Wells against thieves. Any smart thief will wait that 5s before attacking you again. Your wells would be on long CD then.

1. https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/necromancer/Tips-for-fighting-thieves-in-WvWvW

2. Pretty much every Necro runs a Staff in WvW. Use your Staff #5 when you know a stealth stomp is going down on your ally. I’ve saved tons of people like that. On a side note, I’m really embarrassed when I see Necros spam marks in WvW. The only marks you should be spamming is #2 and #3. #4 and #5 are situational. For example, #5 is used to interrupt stealth stomps and Ele’s Meteor Shower casting (you have to react fast for this).

3. If you see one of your allies getting focussed by a melee thief, you should be placing your marks on that ally. Guarantee hit.

4. Watch some thief videos and learn their movement when they stealth.

5. Personal opinion: I feel condition-oriented Necros are more effective on Thieves.