Guild Wars 2

Togashi Jack.9531:

I’m at a point in my playing this game that I know Living Story comes out every second tuesday(when they feel like it). I don’t need to be told, or teased, or hyped on that, because I’ll log in and play that content. What I want to know about and get hyped about is all the stuff that may(or may not) be coming that isn’t living story. Because policy prevents you from telling me anything about what may or may not be coming, I can’t get exited about it. I’ll log in today, get about 1 1/2 hours of enjoyable story, and then will likely put the game down again until the LS comes back in January.. or whenever… maybe I’ll be back..

Edit: You know what, I feel the need to further elaborate. I’d played Guild Wars from its 2005 release all the way until GW2’s release. I’ve been playing Guild Wars 2 since the head start. I have 8 level 80s and map completion. I have greatly enjoyed playing this game and have tried to sell my friends on it.

I – was – excited.

Then some time past. Within the first few months we had expanded into Southsun Cove with a brand new area and Fractals was released. Its new content, and and its free. Awesome. Christmas rolled around with and then in the new year they sold us on Living Story. It didn’t have the greatest of introductions with Flame and Frost, but hey, its new stuff and was full of promise for great things to come. Over the rest of the year we’d deal with the introduction of Scarlet, the Queen’s Jubilee, and the Nightmare Tower. Sure, some of the content was fun, but a lot of it was zergy and mindless, with prohibitive time constraints. But we played, hopeful for new content.

By this time the game was a year old, and the only new additions that had stuck around were Southsun Cove, Fractals. Then, really taking to heart the concept of Living Story as content delivery system, they introduced the Fractured path and later the Edge of the Mists. Why did it fit into the narrative? Because reasons. It needed to be shoehorned in because that was how they were doing things.

Then they took a break for awhile, before finishing Season 1. Then they took another break for awhile, and put out parts 1-4 of season 2… then they took another break and while the story was really good in season 2, the stop-start-stop pacing in conjunction with the lack of new content was taking its toll.

I do not mean to say that the introduction of Dry Top or Silverwastes was poorly done, quite to the contrary. However, for many players like myself, the damage had already been done. I’ve no desire to go farm drytop endlessly for Dynamic events and I’d already become disinterested for the most part before SW was released. Based on past history and lack of any (Non Living Story) content news, I’ll assume that there’s nothing. Which means there’s nothing to get excited over.

THIS x 1,000 I agree whole-heartedly.

The start-stop mentality and brevity of the content we do get is the problem. ANet said in their Summer 2013 release (it was either in June or July), that we would either be 7 days out from new content just released, or 7 days away from new content about to be released. Period. I can understand taking a month break for the holidays, but the massive breaks between the end of LS1 and beginning of LS2, and LS2 “mid-season” finale & restart, the is a slap in the face (and blatant renege of their promise) that many players, such as myself, will never forget and will never forgive so long as sub-par content such as we’ve seen recently keeps getting released.

Do not repeat the “mid-season finale” crap with LS3. You’re not The Walking Dead or some other hit TV series with the ratings & fanbase to pull it off— you’re an MMO developer competing in a fierce market against juggernauts such as World of Warcraft, Rift, Star Wars: the Old Republic, and Lord of the Rings: Online (not to mention other titles such as League of Legends, DOTA 2 , and so forth). While the ratings weigh in your favor (built largely from initial launch success), you’re quickly conceding ground to your competitors; this player, for one, is fed-up with the direction GW2 has taken and has no longer made it his sole MMO (from highest priority to lowest, to be honest).

Yes, I realize that I can only speak for myself, however what is unknown is the percentage of your player base who feel the same way, and furthermore, those who feel neglected like I do, who choose to remain silent.

What infuriates me, as well as others as I’m sure, is the fact they’ve reneged on so many promises .

To point out some key talking points from the announcement (dated July 2, 2013):

• “Our goal is to make Guild Wars 2 the most frequently updated and best supported game experience you can find, and to that end, every two weeks there will be a release with brand new playable content and a mix of supporting features and updates across the entire game. As you read these words, a release is seven days or less away or has just happened within the last seven days— those are now the only two states you’ll find the world of Tyria.” — Killed by a 2 month break.

• “overhaul our explorable dungeons to make them more exciting”: nope

• “introduce new fractals”: nope.

• " introduce holiday festivals and other events that will appear on a yearly basis, but
  with updates and changes each year": ha, nope.

Nilkemia.8507:

Sors Immani.8429:

I think OP was trying to say he wants more in-depth content as opposed to what we are currently seeing. Echoes was a big step forward, however Tangled Paths is arguably as big of a step backwards. Yes, S1 was buggy, but is clicking through waves and waves of dialogue really better?

Um…yes. Because there’s more to it than just that text, it tends not to be even half as buggy as Season 1’s content, and save for some unskippable cutscenes, it can be skipped or looked at on your choosing once unlocked. Oh, and it’s not only around for 2 weeks then gone forever.

I fail to see how Season 1 was more “in-depth”…and I was there since Flame and Frost.

Then surely you already know the answers the the following questions:

Has S2 introduced a new dungeon path? No.
Has S2 introduced new fractals? No.
Has S2 introduced new skills? No.
Has S2 introduced new holiday events? No.
Has S2 introduced new world boss events? No.
Has S2 introduced new conditions? No.
Has S2 introduced new WvW maps? No.
Has S2 introduced new SPvP maps? No.
Has S2 introduced new SAB zones? No.
Has S2 even heralded the return of SAB? No.

And of course, did S1 have a 2 month long break in the middle of it? No.

Source: http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Release
Everything under Season 1 header.

This is why, in my opinion, Living Story: Season 2 is a FAILURE, and the ONLY way it will redeem itself (particularly after that horrendous 2 month break) would be for the remaining 2 episodes to be every bit as large and grand in scale as Echoes of the Past.

I’ll gladly trade the hours I’ve spent clicking through dialogue boxes, watching cut scenes, or waiting for NPCs to stop talking to I can continue my quest for the bugs of S1 (which weren’t anywhere near game-breaking for me).

I think OP was trying to say he wants more in-depth content as opposed to what we are currently seeing. Echoes was a big step forward, however Tangled Paths is arguably as big of a step backwards. Yes, S1 was buggy, but is clicking through waves and waves of dialogue really better?

I certainly hope not. I, for one, despise this year’s release schedule: it’s a two-week break between what equates to hour-long instances of new content (which lately, the majority of such has been either cut scenes or clicking through dialogue boxes).

With that OTHER MMO poised to release a much-anticipated expansion later this week, I would’ve thought ANet to be working on content which is much, much more impressive than what we’ve seen so far. To be fair to them, though, the last LS release (Echoes of the Past) was great in the aspect of it had pretty much everything a GW2 player could ask for: in-depth combat, world events, an expansive new zone (doubling the overall “new” area), and tons of GW1 easter eggs. Unfortunately, as great as this one was, the previous ones have been lacking in one form or another.

This release was good, but in the light of all the lackluster content we’ve gotten (WAY too short LS chapters where longevity is supposedly spawned from achievement grinding in addition to reused holiday content), unwanted changes to the status quo (such as the gem store change and subsequent rollback), and ecological season-long (in northern hemisphere: “midseason” was late summer, “Echoes” is late fall/autumn)breaks in receiving what little new content we do get, not only is it way overdue but in itself is lackluster: one positive cannot outweigh so much negative.

Even more so, with that OTHER MMO releasing a new expansion this week, ANet should have been stepping their digital game up. It’s not like there wasn’t an announcement at some convention last year or anything.

GW2 has become lazy and complacent, turning its back on what made it so great at its release: dynamic worlds, in-depth combat, and satisfying content releases. I suggest going back to this model, release larger zones with more quests once a month, and include new dungeons and dungeon paths with every release.

You’ve got good starting ideas, here’s my take on the skills:

zapv.8051:

Spectral Regeneration (heal): Gain 4.5k health (1.0 scaling) and gain Death Shroud every second for 5 seconds (5% DS per second 30% total) 20 second cooldown.

WAY too strong, imo. Either recharge would need to be increased to 35-45 sec or LF gain reduced from 5% per second to 2-3%.

zapv.8051:

Well of the kitten ed: Applies 4 seconds of one stack of torment per pulse, increases duration of conditions applied to enemies within the well by 33%. 32 second cooldown.

Recharge seems a little short on this one, too. I like the condi duration increase and lol’d at the name, would change from Torment to Cripple or Chill. Possible rename to Well of the Profane as an homage to GW1 (like so many skills are).

zapv.8051:

Shambling Horror: Create a Shambling Horror that applies torment on it’s attacks. As per GW1 this minion is melee and should probably have similar armor and health as a bone fiend. The torment could last 6 seconds and it should attack every 3 seconds. When the shambling horror dies a jagged horror is spawned in it’s place (still triggers Death Nova). Cooldown of 30 seconds.

Interesting concept. For balance purposes, I’d have it serve as a melee-counterpart to Bone Fiend, with the Torment application as it’s “activated” ability (something along the lines of 2-3 stacks for 8-12 sec).

zapv.8051:

Spectral Block: Sacrifice all remaining Death Shroud and become invulnerable depending on how much you sacrificed. Less than 25% 0 seconds (0). 25-50% 1 second (2). 50-75% 2 seconds (3). Greater than 75% 3 seconds (5). Parenthesis indicate duration with spectral attunement. Prevents capture point contribution 80 second cooldown.

Sounds good, albeit a little strong. I suggest changing to "For the next 5 seconds, block all attacks. Each attack blocked consumes 10% LF (Spectral Attunement: 6-2/3%): 10 blocks with 100% LF untraited, 15 blocks traited.

zapv.8051:

Sacrifice: Sacrifice 25% health, target takes 10% (5?) more damage for 5 seconds. 60 second cooldown.

Fairly spot-on here. Consider renaming to Blood Bond (again, GW1 homage) and increasing damage taken to 15-20% with the additional cost of 1% base HP per attack received to the necromancer.

zapv.8051:

Order of the Vampire: Grant nearby allies and yourself vampiric aura for 5 seconds (dark red aura). 90 second cooldown. Vampiric aura makes every attack siphon 200 health from enemy target. 200 damage and 200 health. Note: 2 attacks per second from 5 people is 10k damage.

Suggest including “unrestrained” text to dispel any internal cooldown issues. Additionally, Vamp Aura should also siphon from attackers as well (sorta like SoV).

Rebuild the statue and hire some asuran contractors to fabricate a quick-deploy force field system to safeguard it for future attacks.

Yes, bridges and homes need to be rebuilt as well. I’d suggest statue->bridges->homes, less we get residents/merchants in varying districts rioting over why who got rebuilt first.

(To delve closer into reality, the statue would be rebuilt first as it requires the fewest resources and the symbolism therein serves as a morale boost for the locals. Next, the bridges/roads, as they are public works and the responsibility of the municipality. Individual homes/shops/etc, being private property, would be lowest on the priority; those individuals with the ways and means to immediately rebuild would undoubtedly do so while those who don’t could offer their labor to the municipal projects in exchange for assistance in rebuilding their estates.
Source: personal career in construction estimation and a dash of common sense).

Like others have said, I’d like to see LA become a confluence of racial architecture & technology in addition to embrace the “work with what you got” attitude and a return to the layout of its antiquity.

Charr metalsmiths to salvage the wreckage of the Breachmaker into usable components, incorporated with Sylvari structural engineering(as in, all of their building are freaking alive), built and powered with Asuran technology with Norn strength and architecture (seriously, aside from the Citadel, it’s among the most grand in scale), all coordinated by Humans.

Interesting concept. My biggest piece of advice when theorycrafting new builds on an editor is to use exotics instead of ascended, unless you happen to have enough money & mats lying around to obtain that level of gear.

Be wary of the 50% on critical sigils; if you’ve 50% crit, then you actual chance to apply is around 25%. Again, I would advise to try it with similar (yet cheaper) sigils.

My opinion, for what it’s worth, is that if you want to overload your target with Torment, you would be better off running a scepter mesmer.

Again, I reiterate my point: until such a time when ANet releases a dueling (read: 1v1) format and balances for such, any player/community-made 1v1’s, however sanctioned, should be at the player’s own risk and accept a lack of balance in these modes.

The fact that the link you posted has a clear “no bunkers” rule credits this: build types should not be prohibited if the game is balanced to accommodate such a platform.

Liewec.2896:

i’ve still got to retrain my muscle memory to stop ending deathshroud before a stomp XD
it’s become such a natural thing that i do it automatically and then realize i could have just shroud stomped :P

Same, though I usually just burn opponents down instead of stomping.

Equinox.4195:

In 1v1…

I’m just going to stop right there.

This, in my earnest opinion, completely invalidates any argument you make. Until ArenaNet implements a “dueling” mechanic (and subsequently re-balances the entire game), you enter such matches at your own risk and acknowledge they may be grossly unbalanced, for or against your favor.

When traited it has a cooldown of what, 12 seconds? Just use it on CD if there are other mobs in the vicinity.

Transferring a handful of bleeds, poison, and cripple/chill is usually enough to make the 12/15s cooldown worth it. Add to it torment, weakness, blind, or vuln that your target may have just from fighting you and it’s definitely worthwhile.

Personally, I use it in my “vampiric hybrid” build (don’t laugh) to facilitate additional self-sufficiency (read: additional self-heals).

Dark Path (DS2) and Necrotic Transversal (wurm port) are currently teleport effects & should be treated as a leap finisher, similarly to a mesmer’s Phase Retreat.

“Dark Aura/Armor” should be toned down to 50-75 dmg/healing per strike you make (unrestricted), and Bleed or Torment foes who strike you (1x – 3 sec, 1s ICD/attacker).

Axe’s range is fine as-is. Necros have a “caster” weapon (staff), a “long-range” weapon (scepter), a “medium-range” weapon (axe) and close-range/melee weapon (dagger).

Sample of my proposal:
We fight against Mordy until around Q3 of 2015, at which point the DSD is becoming more active and is wrecking havoc on the costal regions of Cantha/Elona. The continent of Cantha OR Elona is introduced, and we spend until Q4 2016/Q1 2017 “fleshing out” that continent. When we finish there, we move on to the other continent (Cantha or Elona), and spend until Q3 2018 filling it out. Rinse, repeat for 3rd continent (Unending Ocean or Realm of Torment) and wrap up Q4 2019/Q1 2020. Then it’s off to the last uncharted continent to last until Q3 2021 before returning to Tyria to finish filling out its boundaries by the end of Q4 2022/Q1 2023.

And this is just to establish the world the game takes place in/on. Add to it political intrigue, shifts of power, and dragon influences (Primordus, Krakaltorrik, and Mordy will still be active, the latter “incapacitated” or what have you, and you’ll still have the after effects of Zhaitan and Bubbles to deal with), and you have the ability to change an established world for new experiences (read: destroy something other than Lion’s Arch).

Duke Blackrose.4981:

I think it’s less about doing more and more about doing different.

Let’s say that there is a young wannabe fantasy author, but he spends all of his writing time on fanfiction because that provides immediate gratification. Meanwhile, his major novel goal is pushed back and he loses out for it.

That’s precisely what’s happening here. Instant gratification and short term gain are winning out over the long term improvement and health of the game and Anet are taking some much-warranted flak for it.

And yes, I did just call the Living Story fanfiction.

Precisely. I add, that just because something is different or unique doesn’t always mean its good or it works.

Novuake.2691:

I agree the devs could do more and would love them to do more, but you can not expect them to, or even demand they do.

Why not? I remember, shortly after the release of Nightfall, ANet announcing that they were scrapping the campaign plan to work on Guild Wars 2, and that it was going to be ground-breaking and that they wanted it to be the best product they could produce. Throughout the betas and on release day, this was the case: “quests” (hearts) that didn’t require dialogue, enemies that couldn’t be “stolen” (tagged for another player), and credit based on effort put in, not just “being with the winners”, dynamic events, etc.. what happened? Now we have reheated holiday events, dungeon zerg grinding, WvW grinding, champion/karma grinding, achievement grinding, collection grinding, wardrobe grinding and hour-long mouthfuls of content with entire seasons inbetween (last LS release mid-late summer, next LS release mid-late autumn) 4-round bursts. Living Story shouldn’t be 4 weeks of releases followed by 11 weeks of break. I cannot stress enough how much this mid-season finale stuff infuriates me, especially when it’s coupled with the brevity of each LS release. It’s bad enough that TV shows do this (ahem, AMC). I don’t want my game to do the same.

Quick thought: at least when TV series do this mid-season finale junk, I’m getting a solid hour’s worth of entertainment every week as opposed to every two weeks. Not to mention their “break” is usually a week shorter or so.

Now looking down the road, even at a breakneck speed of one “continent” every 18 months, it’d take an additional 6 years to fully flesh out whatever passes for a “planet” Guild Wars takes place on. Add to it another 9-12 months to finish filling out Tyria and you’ll have a game that’ll easily last for 9 years: nearly the equivalent to today’s WoW, and like it or not, that other MMO is the benchmark for the industry and genre (added note and without derailing thread, at last I recall, Blizz had no further plans for the game once the players hit 100, meaning next month could bring their last expansion).

My major issue pertains to LS: the releases we are getting can be cleared in under an hour for even the most casual of casual gamers. An hour’s worth of content each month is almost insulting, in my opinion. In attempt to try to stretch out the content, an achievement grind-fest has been implemented: wardrobe, collections, crafting, title tracks, etc… With LS 2, we’re treated to this “mid-season finale” crap. I, and I’m sure many other players, hate it. We get 5 or so quests in biweekly intervals for a little over a month and then we have to wait 3 for a new release (August 13 – Nov 4)? It’s infuriating (on top of the gem store debacle that, for me, has yet to be remedied).

How would I remedy this? For starters, “Living Story” would consist of major expansion-like patches every 3 to 6 months (for GW1 veterans, think the Sorrow’s Furnace patch). New quests, dungeons, and events would provide a source of income for players while the new gear skins would allow players to expand their wardrobe if they chose to do so. Expansive new maps (with fewer waypoints) would allow players to explore at their leisure and provide a sense of achievement since defeat would require a long trek back to where you left off (again, harkening back to GW1 with towns/outposts serving as only means of travel).

Tyria itself is rich with lore and locale that we’ve not explored: the Crystal Desert, Dragon’s Lair, Battledepths/Depths of Tyria, Ring of Fire Isles, Tarnished Coast, Woodland/Verdant Cascades, Janthir, Southern Shiverpeaks, Far Shiverpeaks, and every other area on the map that is still in it’s stylized “uncharted” sense. Add to it the continents of Elona and Cantha, the Realm of Torment, and the vast expanse of the Unending Ocean and you’ve got enough material to work with for the next 5 years (easily) at my proposed content size and release schedule. I’m sure most players would be thrilled to see the continent maps have 100% landmass explorable.

TL;DR: ANet, you’ve got more than enough material to work with. Please stop trying to wring every last drop of “content” out of these tiny releases. Slow your schedule down some, give us larger releases and show us new locales with more quests, dungeons, etc. While we’re in “x”, something can be happening in "y"— that’s how you do LS.

Am I the only one who actually makes use of Necrotic Grasp’s piercing mechanic? The same in my DS power build (unyielding blast): get your targets clustered together and target the foe that’s furthest away. You’re guaranteed to hit it and everything in-between.

Axe just needs a rework or to have Rending Claws removed and changed to an OH weapon. Dagger AA with Ghastly Claws and Unholy Feast? Yes, please!

I’ve already chimed in on this here

I’d like to see the following:

Bloodthirst reworked to:
1- Grant allies siphon-on-hit (or possibly just on critical hits)
2- Increase necromancer’s siphon effectiveness
3- Spotter-like effect for Ferocity
4 – Adjust trait tier as needed

Blood is Power reworked to:
1- Grant necromancer 5x might for 10 sec, bleeds for 8 (1x)
2- Target is marked for next 12 sec, all strikes against the target grant 1x Might for 5 sec, bleeds player/ally for 3 sec (1x). 1 sec ICD

Well of Power reworked to:
1 – Stability on initial pulse, all allies.

Signet of Undeath reworked to:
1 – Revive target defeated ally for 8 sec @ 25% HP.
2 – Revived ally has weakness, poison, and chill inflicted on them for the duration.
3 – Revived target ally must be healed to 100% & score a killing blow to rally.
4 – Signet passive grants additional toughness, condition damage, or buff to minions.

Axe reworked to:
1 – 3-hit AA chain, with cleave on final strike.
2- Be wielded as an OH weapon

Dark Fields reworked to:
1 – Provide Dark Aura for leap combo finishers
2 – Provide Dark Aura for blast finishers (no more AoE Blind)
2 – Dark Aura siphons HP and Blinds or inflicts Weakness upon being struck

Dark Path reworked to:
1 – Increased projectile speed 25%
2 – Combo finisher: Leap

In the end, all you can do is play how you want to play and disregard what I, or anyone else have to say.

Learn from your mistakes, learn what does and does not work for you, and remember to not be afraid to swap out skills/traits/gear on the fly and between encounters.

Kritisch.9023:

I’d thought about that but with the build swerving wildly away from the original crit-based procc’s in favor of full on power and tank I just don’t think that I will see the “on-crit” sigils enough for them to have a meaningful impact.

5% increase on the dagger AA equates to an additional 150 damage. The sigils do not increase the damage on Vampiric/Vamp Precision procs (and if they do, the math only indicates it’s an additional 4 damage – rounded up – across both procs). You may be better off with on-kill, on non-critical hit, or condition duration sigils.

With the current build’s critical % so low (6% if I clicked the correct one), you would be better off scrapping Vamp Precision for Mark of Evasion. The value of Regen + Bleed on demand with a dodge/roll is not to be underestimated.

Dark Armor could also be scrapped. The added toughness on channel is nice, though channeling leaves you open to interrupts which renders the trait useless. I would suggest taking Ritual of Protection (since you’re intent on running wells with Ritual Mastery, and added Prot on WoP in addition to its stability/stun-break, and condi conversion is almost too good to pass up), Shrouded Removal because a free condi cleanse is always nice, or my personal favorite, Spiteful Vigor: because if you’re hitting your healing skill, you’re about to be burst down and the Retal returns a good portion of that burst (specifically if it’s multi-strike burst such as 100b, Rapid Fire, Unload, iDuelist, and so forth) to its source. Also, because Retal has no ICD, it’s a great as-set (darn filter) when you’re outnumbered. In essence, its free damage that gets more effective the more you’re hit.

Back on the topic of wells in this build, you might want to swap out SoS for WoC, if only to deal with boon-heavy opponents and add a bit of psychological warfare to the mix. I cannot stress enough how much online gaming (particularly any form of PvP) revolves around the player’s psyche. The “hardcore” players especially, as they have a tendency to enter panic-mode if their plans are interrupted/altered without their input.

I’ll leave you with this nugget of wisdom I’ve discovered while playing this game: you can swap weapons (aside from the 2 sets you have equipped), traits, and skills anytime you’re not in combat— even if you’re charging headlong into a zerg. I’ve found it best to have one major build archetype with different skill/weapon/trait variations you can quickly plug in to deal with different situations as they arise.

Kritisch.9023:

I’m not as fond of how this build plays as the previous builds but it’s a blatant rip off of another build ( http://www.sosgw2.com/home/m/22639769/viewthread/12502168-power-necro-builds-for-wvw-pve 3rd post down is the build in question), It is without question a more resilient build but I’m not over fond of the reliance on wells. I also had to settle for the Traveler Sigils for the move speed (I hate being slow, and the horn just isn’t up enough).

The new build:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fRIQRBIhdu1IHNN22TjrNc4moWokOGuhAeypoLgsODAA-TVSAABfcCAKc/BlU+xj6PAY+LkDCQL6HsQJIBPBACBIYMA-w

Like I said I’m not much of a fan of the style, the ONLY reason the horn and foci aren’t swapped is because of the 4 skill on the Foci synergy with the ax. With the version of this I’m running It is possible to burst down people fairly quick but I find myself constantly being out run. Not to mention I can’t kill them before they kill me (Granted this is a tankier build than mine).

I’d suggest using Air or Fire sigils in lieu of Force. Remember, you’re not going to have a few heavy hits, but rather a bunch of lesser hits (think "1,000 needles from Final Fantasy: each hit was small, but accumulated). Ideally, with Air/Fire, you should be having enough critical hits for the rune to proc on CD.

Between Spectral Grasp and Dark Pact, you should have your target on lockdown (Dark Path, too.)

Kritisch.9023:

I feel the need to reiterate: The dagger in the second set is just there because I like the bleed synergy with scepter and blind/chill, NOT because I think that it is optimal. If you have a better suggestion for the scepter pairing by all means tell me, and please tell me why.

Yes, I’m only using that trait point for Spectral Armor and I do not regret it in the least. the additional 3 seconds of -33% damage is amazing. On to Warhorn, the only real argument I can offer to Warhorn (aside from “I like D/D”) is in the form of a question:
Do you not also strike with the offhand dagger when you are attacking? I am current;y under the impression that you do not with the WH and Foci.

No, you do do not strike with OH dagger when you are attacking, hence the suggestion to run warhorn; its AoE/cone interrupt & pulsing AoE/cripple/swiftness is not to be overlooked, especially when you’re running any mechanic that focuses not on the amount of damage you deal per hit, but the number of hits you deal (even more so when critical hits do NOT appear to be normalized – someone correct me if I am wrong on this). The dagger would do well with Scepter and allow for a nice condition bomb (scepter AA bleed/poison + enfeeble/bleed + blind/chill/condi xfer).

Now, if you’re really intent on running a lot of condition damage, you may want to look into +condi duration as well. In addition, there’s always Parasitic Contagion to throw in for added (albeit weak) demi-siphon.

Regarding Spectral Armor: it’s your call on whether or not to burn the mid-tier trait solely for it. I suppose Banshee’s Wail is the other side of that coin, only supporting 2 skills. Then again, there’s always Enfeebling Shroud. You can always take it, then in combat flash DS long enough to start Tainted Shackles & hit Doom. Ideally, your target would be fleeing while Torment piled up on him, then start running back to you when the Immob would hit. At that point, you’re out of DS and with the D/W set, you’ve got Fury on you and they’ve been hit with a total of Bleed, Torment, Weakness and are still Immobilized long enough to get Wail of Doom off on them, chain to Locust Swarm, then Dark Pact for additional Immob. Then you flank them and unload with LS & Dagger AA. When they come to, you can swap to Scepter/Dagger and Enfeeble/Deathly away from them to start the cycle over again. In theory, anyway.

To clarify my elite suggestions: Plague and Warband support were suggested not as a way to increase DPS, but to help turn the tide of battle if you find yourself on the defensive. I meant these to be taken as defensive suggestions, not offensive. The fleshy is my go-to offensive elite (occasionally running Hounds of Balthazar and SUPER occasionally Reaper of Grenth since I play hooman), I find the on-demand KD is a great opener and usually tosses my target into a panic mode. Panic mode = mistakes = easier/more secure win. That’s my playstyle, though: defensive and reactionary, goading my target to make a mistake to exploit; be the mountain and allow your enemies to drive themselves mad bringing you down, at that point become the avalanche.

And yes, it’s always great to find others who also go against the grain.

As a fellow necromancer who tries to shoot out on his own with builds, I admire and respect your attempt at melee. Respectfully, I offer the following changes to help you.

Elite
I’ve found out that, as a melee necro, it’s best to adopt hit-and-run tactics until your opponent gets off-balance then go hyper-aggressive and pursue until the battle’s won. As such, I’d swap out Lich form for Warband Support (as a Charr) or Plague to help increase survivability. Additionally, Flesh Golem with its on-demand knockdown and nigh perma-cripple could be a wise choice as well.

Traits
Spectral Attunement for one skill is a wasted trait slot. I’d swap it out with Hemophilia, Enfeebling Shroud, or Banshee’s Wail and pick up Warhorn as an offhand for your dagger. Yes, running two daggers looks cool and you’ve said you like the Chill procs off Deathly Swarm, but Locust Swarm’s 10 aoe hits cannot be overlooked— with this build, that equate to 10 additional Vampiric procs and a possible 10 additional Vampiric Precision procs as well. Not to mention you’ll be thankful for the cripple & swiftness if you find yourself on the defensive and have to run. Additionally, I’d swap Dagger Mastery for Mark of Evasion: the added regen on dodge could probably help more than a reduced CD on Life Siphon.

Skills
Consume Conditions in place of Signet of Vampirism. CC can spell a full hp restore if used in a SHTF scenario. Still, if you “believe” in SoV, at least swap out some sigils for generosity. You cannot rely on Deathly Swarm to handle all of your condition clears.

Gear
Replace the Chrysocola gems with Coral gems. Just doing this increases your crit chance to 65%. To put it another way, about 2 of every 3 of your strikes will proc Vampiric & Vampiric precision in addition to simply hitting harder.

There probably are other better changes to be had, but I believe these would be best to optimize your build and keep it “feeling” the same.

’Morning everyone! Introducing my take on a “hybrid” build, focusing on the regenerative traits Parasitic Contagion, Vampiric, and Vampiric Precision.

Build is not meant to go toe-to-toe with anybody. The regenerative structure is there to help swing the tide of battle in your favor, not to allow you to drain-tank something.

I’m not real familiar with WvW. I’m quasi-guildless (2-man guild: my wife and myself), and have focused on SPvP/PvE since the betas. It’s under the “WvW” tab on the editor because, frankly, I’m lazy and it’s that much closer to the default than the PvE tab. If I were to use this in WvW, judging from what I’ve read about the experiences of others, I’d use it as a solo/small group roamer.

I’m also unfamiliar with Fractals, outside of soloing the underwater shard and most of colossus, so I can’t say how well it would work there. Again, see above guild situation and add the fact that I mainline a necro :P. I know as a PvE-er, the major issues to deal with are the condi cap, and the fact that with a good group you won’t be needing the “green numbers” you’re capable of producing.

What, in my opinion, this build would be good for in PvE is world completion, roaming, or any other situation where self-sufficiency and survivability is wanted.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fRAQRBIhtG1IHNd3WTjtN83mAXomsJeCoPgA4ej8DOBA-TFCBABxoLYH1fiw8nznEAW0KQrSQAeCAJt/o8jUAQsrC-w

Again, theorycrafting this morning while sipping coffee in my office. I haven’t tested it yet and if you’ve got the resources to do so, then by all means be my guest. I understand there may be better decisions to be made regarding gear, traits, skills, etc— the variables.

And to get a pre-emptive answer out there, the big joy I’ve gotten out of the GW franchise is being able to go against the meta and craft original builds, even if they are inherently flawed. It stems from teenage/college neckbeard years, with a similar concept applied to crafting decks in Magic: the Gathering: less concerned about winning at all costs, and more concerned with the theme/flavor/purpose of the creation.

Bhawb.7408:

If you want to blow people up use Well of Suffering.

WoS doesn’t blow people up… I’d say it’s more of a melt, especially if you’ve got your target Immobilized in it and Locust Swarm up

Swamurabi.7890:

Here’s a couple of thoughts.

What if Epidemic either transferred conditions like it does now if you target an enemy or copied boons if you target an ally?

What if wells could follow a target, either enemy or ally, or even yourself like plague form.

Since there’s a light aura that’s been introduced what should a dark aura provide? Lifesteal? Maybe leaping through a poison field gives dark aura, too bad necros have no leap skills.

Your version of Epidemic would be a copied Signet of Inspiration.
Wells must remain stationary, otherwise they’re not “wells” (or “fonts”, if you want to go that route).

Dark Aura… now you’re on to something, change from poison fields to dark fields (which necros have plenty of) and you’re in business. Make Spectral Recall, Necrotic Transversal, and Dark Path all function as leaps (similar to Mesmer’s Swap or Phase Retreat) and suddenly necromancer just became a lot more useful.

As for mechanics/functionality, what would Dark Aura/Armor actually do? Lifesteal? Torment? Blind? Any combination thereof?

I’m sure there’s others, but this is what I could immediately think of:

Axe / Scepter Cleave/Small-radius AoE— If only for one of the hits on AA, just give us this and get the bellyaching to stop (or move to another item).

Rework Vampiric Skills/Traits— Vampiric builds were among some of the most fun to play in the original Guild Wars and is something a lot of players identify as being “quintessentially” necromantic. Reworking SoV to siphon health on being hit as opposed to just healing is a great start. Reworking Bloodthirst into something that actually does something is another.

Self-centered party utility— Biggest flaw to necromancers is the apparent lack of utility. Lots of players and devs would state that they’re intended to be a “selfish” class, but I ask why can’t we use this philosophy to create necromancer utilities? Why can’t necromancers offer party-wide buffs at a cost to other players, capitalizing on a “deal with the devil” idea: something that necromancers define very well, while at the same time being more powerful for the necromancer?

Example

Blood is Power
Bleed yourself and your target. Gain 5 stacks of might for 10s. For the next 10s, whenever allies strike the target, they gain might and begin bleeding as well.
Might: 5x (10s)
Might (per strike): 1x (3s)
Bleeding: 1x (10s)
Bleeding (per strike): 1x (5s)

Condition Cap management— Preventing weaker conditions from overwriting stronger conditions would go a long way in helping necromancers become “viable” and condition-based builds in general. Alternatively, allowing all players to share from a “condition damage pool”, where all players who’ve applied the appropriate condition would get credit for the damage being done, could help as well.

I don’t do tpvp, but my comment (for what it’s worth) would be that ANet would probably disable this “trick” and allow necromancers to start tpvp matches with 10% LF, the bare minimum required to enter Death Shroud.

Maybe it’s working as intended and ANet plans on making new traits which allows us to equip medium & heavy armor?

On a serious note, yes, it’s annoying. On my necro, I tend to get heavy armor drops and on my guardian it seems I only get medium armor drops.

Bad luck pandemic or game bug? Who knows..

Zealot’s gear: Power, Precision, Healing Power

Based on what you’ve said, this is my take on it (assuming PvE).

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fRAQNAndWjM00UbXNu1webidBZ6jDXCZgXRGJEA-ThxCABAY/hoq/Yq5vHUCSqyPQ1HAA-e

With whom would I need to get in contact in order to join? I’m a very casual gamer (only able to log in for a few hours a week and for longer periods on every other weekend) and after playing essentially guildless since beta, the game’s starting to grow stale.

Last I checked, mace does cleave.

My thought would be to have a ghostly image (like a mesmer phantasm or a necro with SA/SW active) of the stealthed character flash for a short duration of around 0.25 or 0.33 seconds whenever damage is taken.

Condition damage is excluded, lest getting hit with bleed/poison/torment completely disable stealth for the duration.

Bhawb.7408:

Ranged weapons don’t cleave. They either splash or do guardian staff-AoE

I could see Axe 1 having a “wave” AoE, given the current animation and the fact that most if not all other profession/weapon combinations have a cleaving/splashing/wave effect on the AA.

That being said, I’m leaning more towards a complete rework of Axe 1 & 2. I like the concept of the current skills with a melee weapon serving as a caster focus and the necromancer slashing at the air to have spectral claws slash at the enemy – very voodoo-esque, but as-is those skills leave the axe sorely lacking.

An alternative could be to buff Axe Training, but I think doing so would be pushing the boundaries of what is and isn’t “OP”. Furthermore, much more of a buff to the trait would probably warrant it being moved to GM tier.

My idea/proposal:

Axe 1 is now a 3-strike, 2-skill attack chain. New skill “Spectral Claws” introduced, chains from Rending Claws. Hits adjacent targets, inflicting Vulnerability.
Damage: 178 (it’s Rending Claws damage/strike * 1.5)
Range: 600
Targets: 3
Vulnerability: x1 (7 seconds)

-or-

Axe Training
Reduces recharge on axe skills. Increases damage while wielding axes and your axe skills inflict Vulnerability on each strike.
Recharge reduced: 15%
Damage increase: 10%
Vulnerability: 1x (5 seconds)
Please note that Rending Claws already inflict vulnerability per strike, and as such will not be affected by this portion of this trait. Ghastly Claws would inflict 8 stacks of vulnerability, and Unholy Feast would inflict 5 seconds of vulnerability on each target struck.

Rentapest.6503:

Necro’s should not be able to fear entire groups of players off a cliff into oblivion. It’s rediculous.

Why is nothing done about this? Either ban these players or nerf the ability. Simple.

Oh please cry some more. Seriously, its how us necromancers sustain ourselves outside of death shroud.

[Edit]
Reviewed OP’s posts. Looks to be a fail ranger judging by img links, and most lol-worthy post outside of this one I found was “omg retaliation is so OP remove it plx, I lose over 90% of my hp trying to kill an enemy with retal”.

I may just be blathering on, however after re-reading my last post, I’ve had a revelation:

If the devs want the necromancer to be a “selfish” profession, why don’t they give us group utility but make it affect us more effectively? My Bloodthirst revamp is a prime example: allies get to siphon on hit, YOU get an additional siphon on hit (vampiric x2), and YOUR siphons are more effective.

Well of Blood is similar: everyone who’s standing in it gets a decent enough heal, but YOU get a much better one.

It would certainly fit necromantic lore, would it not? Granted, there shouldn’t be much for a necromancer to contribute to a group. Blood is Power could also be reworked with self-centered utility:
Blood is Power
Bleed yourself and your target. Gain 5 stacks of might for 10s. For the next 10s, whenever allies strike the target, they gain might and begin bleeding as well (might gain 2s ICD).

The only “altruistic” utility a necromancer should have, in my opinion, is the drawing of conditions. Even then, it’s self-centered as they can be consumed for health or transferred to a target for even more devastation.

If we get nerfed, I could see our dagger skills taking a hit in damage more than anything else given the “cleaving” buff and the fact it’s a Blood Magic weapon (as in dagger traits are BM traits).

Nightmare runes for us may get nerfed by tying its proc cooldown with that of Reaper’s Protection.

As for buffing Blood Magic properly, I could see siphons going party-wide with Bloodthirst reworked to be a vampiric “Spotter” with a trait tier change:

Bloodthirst
Nearby allies siphon health when they hit a foe. In addition, your siphon effects are 20% more effective.
Range: 360
Targets: 5

Could also stand to see Renewing Blast moved to Blood Magic and Unholy Martyr moved to Soul Reaping with the added effect of turning Life Blast into Plague Blast.

Who knows, with all I’m “seeing”, I may just be looking through rose-tinted glasses

The last episode of the Living Story released August 12, and the next episode is to come November 4… am I the only one who’s upset at the lack of PvE content that’s being released?

As I’ve ranted discussed before, each episode is getting cleared in about an hour and has zero replay value (at least for this player). Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the content we do get and it’s because of this that it irritates me we don’t get more per release.

Instead, we get grinding. Achievement grinding, item grinding, equipment grinding, collectible grinding— all of which is exacerbating the elitist meta (profession exclusions, gear requirements, AP requirements, etc). For the game, when it was in development and upon release, touted as eliminating or at least minimizing the grind it appears the precise opposite is coming to fruition.

Now, before fanboy logic kicks in and tosses civilized reasoning out the window, I must state I classify myself as a casual gamer. I’m only able to log in for an hour or so every couple of days. This alone should substantiate my argument for more in-depth content (being able to clear release material on a stringent schedule and asking for more), but it probably won’t. I want content so in-depth that it creates a backlog for me. I want more than 5 (average) quests and a metric ton of grinding filler material every two weeks— I want new armor or armor skins, new weapons or weapon skins; I want new dungeons with multiple paths and bosses; I want new regions with dozens of renown hearts and points of interest. Finally, I want meaningful achievements instead of this grind-fest we have now. I don’t want just to play, I want immersion. And this much I can be sure of: while I may be the only player who’s been outspoken and passionate about this topic, there are many others who share this point of view.

Arena Net, I enjoy this game, this franchise. I’ve stayed with it because of its originality, creativity, and desire to go against the flow of traditional MMOs. However, with the massive break in-between content releases, I’ve lost motivation to stay any longer as the game no longer tries to be enjoyable, for lack of better words. Sure I’ll be back to clear the new LS releases, for what they’re worth, but an hour or so every two weeks cannot be counted as a comeback. Furthermore, with less time spent online, the less likely I am to visit the gem store (which I have done on multiple occasions, in moderation), which brings the cycle full-circle back to you: with such shallow content, your players won’t be playing as much and thus not spending as much.

I realize the type of story releases I want would not fit within a 2-week cycle. It’s because of this I ask for you to re-consider the entire bi-monthly method in its entirety; the lack of content in the releases reeks of burn out and hearkens back to the original Guild Wars, where releasing a new campaign every 6 months was proving more and more difficult. Cut the LS cycle to once-a-month, if not every 2 months, but give us enough material to last. Learn from your competition in this manner and don’t be ashamed to emulate them, I can assure you they have already emulate much of your methodology already. If not, look back at what made GW1 so great and give us more of that.

TL;DR: LS is all filler, no killer and GW2 overall feels like it’s alienating it’s player base by reneging on its charter belief of minimizing the dreaded grind.

I tried it last night, with Spectral Grasp subbed in for Spectral Wall (my luck with it’s been atrocious lately). It’s a fun build, as simple as that.

Tried different variations as well, with Traveler’s Runes subbed in for the Vamp Runes, and with 2 pts out of Curses to get GM in Soul Reaping, first used Death Perception and then FitG.

Results were, Vamp’s mist form serves (if nothing else) as an excellent “reminder” that you’re about to have DS proc; my best mileage came from face-tanking in DS and allowing LF to deplete, then when mist form procc’d, hit SA and SW (and if able, Locust Swarm) right before unholy sanctuary kicks in. From mist->DS is usually 2 hits, the first one grants the required 10% LF to allow DS to proc, then you have several seconds of the assault you’re facing to charge your LF bar to max before it starts to degen as opposed to it melting from the get-go.

Death Perception granted nice big numbers, but didn’t really help overall. Similar with FitG.

Spectral Grasp is a fun addition to this build. As said, my luck with Spectral Wall is non-existent so the guaranteed 20% LF with grasp is welcome as opposed to having to hope I score 4 or more hits with the wall. In addition, it’s always fun to Grasp an opponent off a cap point

There’s more variations I would like to try with this build (because if nothing else, I’d like to think I’m one of the few necro forum users who doesn’t care about min/maxing) but couldn’t get to yesterday due to time constraints.

TL;DR: Drarnor, this build is fun as hell, trying different variations to see what it can do.

Also, I apologize for any horrid grammar in this post. Work day just started and my brain’s still a potato.

[Edit] Forgot to mention I subbed Reaper’s Protection with Death Shiver first (to no real effect) then Spiteful Vigor. Vigor seemed to work better than with RP, simply because I found myself in the middle of a 4v1 (with multiple mesmers and Guild theives) quite often. The retal itself isn’t enough to do much of anything however it’s more than the vuln granted by Shiver, and the damage accumulates with Tainted Shackles and Life Transfer if you hit DS immediately post-heal.

I think it does make some players re-evaluate their attacks, but only after 1/2—3/4 of their HP has been drained because of it, particularly rapid-fire/multi-hit bursters.

Players who rely on conditions or heavy-hitting skills (ie, nukes) probably don’t give a rat’s fuzzy rear end about a 200-300 damage trade for their 3-4k.

pessimist.7294:

Leo Paul.1659:

We already got him to attend the summit. Who’s to say he hadn’t run to some more mordrem on his way back to Rata Sum? Certainly not me… teehee let me escort you on your way back councillor

Exactly, cant we just arrange some kind of “accident” to get rid of him?

Like a mesmer portal closing when he’s in mid-port (and thus cutting him in half)?
What about a necromancer spacing out, thereby losing control of a minion which happens to crunch his head like an overripe melon?
Badly-timed supply crate/battle standard?
Why not sneak one of those un-attenuated mini-waypoints onto his person?

Anyone else have any ideas?

Bottom line is: roll a necro anyway and see if its playstyle fits with your own. A lot of players call it a selfish class, I call it a self-sufficient class.

Maybe it’s just my playstyle, but I’ve had unparalleled survivability with my necro opposed to any other class. In dungeons, I utilize this feature to rez teammates when killing the creature for a rally is too long in the tooth. When not, I’ll tackle the enemy one-on-one to secure a rally for my fallen comrades.

Are there other professions that bring more team utility? Certainly. However, I make up for my lack of team-wide buffs by being a solid player. I minimize the variables brought forth by bad players. The damage I bring to the table, the rallies, and the other minor things (trap disabling, etc) are my party utilities. The other 4 players need only concern themselves with the dungeon at hand.

I see a necromancer as a ‘free agent’ in dungeons. We don’t give anything, nor should we need anything.

In spvp, its always do-or-die. It makes victory that much sweeter while blunting the edge of defeat: when you win, you get blasted as OP or hear “blahblahblah2ndhealthbarwahwahwah”, and when you are defeated, you opponent has no victory to bask in: you have no choice but to take any CC on the chin, to soak up any damage directed your way.

I cannot vouch for WvW, as that is not my scene. I’m sure others could (and already have) elaborate on this in my stead.

I generally have an easier time rallying as a necro compared to other classes. 1 and 3 can hit fairly hard, and from my experience, if I’m downed and I down my opponent, as long as I have 1/4 to 1/3 of the downed health bar left I will defeat them and rally (provided, of course, that no one else interferes).

My guardian seems to be stomp fodder once downed. The knockback is easily countered and my healing doesn’t kick in until 3 is off CD.

Now, if we could still command a minion once downed, that’d be great. I’m sure we all would love to be able to FGC the player trying to stomp us

@NeXeD: Why not both? lol

On a more serious note, the goal of the thread was to get ideas of how to make the build better . Simple as that. After lurking and posting on the necro forums for a while, I had thought we all were above build trashing.

@Anchoku: I realize we are durable. The purpose of the build was to soak damage & let enemies retaliate themselves to death.

The feedback I was looking for did arrive in Pelo’s post. Sorry for the thread necro, loose ends and all.

After reading the rant/troll, here’s what I came up with.
(literal thought process: I’d let LF decay OoC if we could burn it all in a “burst” skill→ lol, lets make an OP “burst”/elite skill that is fueled by LF)

Tainted Flesh
Elite skill. 1/4s activation. 60s recharge. Lose all accumulated Life Force. For 5 seconds, whenever a foe strikes you in combat, that foe gains all conditions. Conditions are multiplied per 20% of life force lost.
Bleeding: (2x) 10 sec – 850 dmg
Blind: 5 sec
Burning: 1 sec – 328 dmg
Chilled: 2 sec
Confusion: (2x) 5 sec – 260/130 dmg on skill activate
Crippled: 10 sec
Fear: 2 sec
Immobilized: 0.5 sec
Poison: 3 sec – 252 dmg
Torment: (1x) 3 sec – 96/48 damage
Vulnerability: (2x) 10 sec
Weakness: 10 sec
Breaks stun

Therefore, burning a full Life Force bar would result the following (100% LF/ 20% LF per multiplier= 5x multiplier. 20% LF=1x, 40%=2x, and so on. LF % would be rounded down for balance purposes)

Bleeding: (10x) 50 sec – 21,250 dmg
Blind: 25 sec
Burning: 5 sec – 1,640 dmg
Chilled: 10 sec
Confusion: (10x) 25 sec – 1,300/650 dmg on skill use
Crippled: 50 sec
Fear: 10 sec
Immobilized: 2.5 sec
Poison: 15 sec – 1,260 dmg
Torment: (5x) 15 sec – 2,391/1,195 dmg
Vulnerability: (10x) 50 sec
Weakness: 10 sec

Give us something like this and then we’ll talk about letting LF decay OoC

Right… Reflexive damage is much more fun for me, though (it harkens back to the Spiteful Spirit – Insidious Parasite or Price of Failure – Reckless Haste combo days of GW1).

If SoV stole health upon being hit, I’d be in heaven. There’s something about letting opponents kill themselves that’s appealing, and it’s my play style.

None of the higher end necro community likes the build, I get it. The goal was to keep perma-retaliation and with the traits I was pouring in to maximize it, it ended up being a minion build. The bad/tough decisions made were to minimize the major weakness I saw, which were conditions. I’ll think twice before asking for feedback in the future.

To make clear what I’m griping about, incase it was missed:

New dungeon, weapons, zone (complete, not this Dry Top business), and substantial story arc every 6-8 weeks > 5 quests and 7-10 achievements every 2.

Currently I can knock out each LS episode in a couple of hours. After that, there’s nothing really to do outside of achievement grind (which does not appeal to me) or pvp. Leveling an alt really isn’t an option for me anymore in post-april patch GW2.

I’d like slightly darker nights and a more realistic day/night cycle, akin to WoW that OTHER MMO’s: Daytime is 6am to 6pm server time, night is 6pm to 6am, with daybreak and nightfall lasting from 5:30 to 6:30, am & pm, respectively (first 30 minutes of daybreak could be pre-dawn twilight followed by the sunrise for the next 30, and for dusk the first 30 could be the sunset followed by the moon(s)rise for the next 30).

Granted, this would probably require balancing night runes pretty heavily (if not outright removing them), but it seems more logical to me than the current 70/40 minute schedule with 10 minutes of neither every 2 hours.

Without going off on too far of a tangent, the dev team needs to slow down many aspects of the game, from little snippets of content every 2 weeks (I’d be happy for much larger content every month or so, and I’m sure others would too) down to the day/night cycle. I’m afraid that they’ll burn themselves out or “paint themselves into a corner” like they did with the original Guild Wars.

Sunshine.4680:

Change sword with hammer! Not enough classes use hammers. :<

This

Again, all hail the hammermancer!

Thanks all for the feedback, brutal as ever

@Pelo Your link is what I was going for, just didn’t click for some reason during the build. I’ll try it next time I’m able to log in.

That being said, I ran the build semi as-is, with TotM instead of Signet mastery, and alternating WoP/Locust in place of plague sig, since Deathly Swarm and Putrid Mark were enough to handle any incoming damage.

Did notice that Spiteful Vigor only grants Retal upon saccing the Blood Fiend (ie, using a #6 slot skill that grants health). In the theorycraft, I was wanting to run it because I was assuming it would function the same as Lyssa runes and Flesh Golem (activate on summon & on charge). I was running Sanct runes because of the additional Retal proc and vitality buff.

The goal of the initial build was to keep perma-retal and to melt targets by any means necessary, which ended up being a blend of retal damage, minion attacks/death nova and whatever damage I pushed out from condis, attacks, etc. As sorry as the initial build was, it was able to 2v1 / 3v1 vs some of the more rapid-fire classes (rangers, thieves, and the like).