Guild Wars 2

Can you link the build, please?
Thanks!

Thanks a lot!
I’m not sure how you’ve reached that “10:1 ratio”, but it actually worked wonders =)
It was the best survivability of all the tests I’ve made, so I think you’re quite correct on that ratio.

Hello everyone!

I believe probably everyone knows it but me and i can’t find any UPDATED information about it, so I’m going to ask here =)

Sooo… Does anyone knows how GW2 calculate the benefit from Toughness on a character?
I’m not sure if it is better to have a large Health pool and low Toughness or a berserker’s health pool with a lot of toughness.

Can anyone help me out on this subject?

Thanks !

Hello everybody!

I’m interested in creating a build to use Mace MH and another one for Sword MH, therefore I’ll Split this post in 2 parts.

Thanks in advance!

PART 1: The Sword

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vJAQNAseTjMdQlH25B2eApIGmCsbAGAGZaQIGUDyPQYrFA-TpRHABCt/QAHCAkKDIwJAAgHAQwHBAA

This is the Build I’m running now…
I’m using utility shouts and banner (I saw it in a post from “online” this week and I liked the way it played). It gives support and utility, and also 3 additional healings.

Aside from the support part (which is more of na extra), it is a Hybrid build between Power and Condition, with a Decent HP. Lb benefits from Condition Damage too.

What do you think of this build? Can anyone help me improve it at all?

EDIT: This build tend to Condition more than Power. That is why I chose Longbow. If anyone can suggest me a more Hybrid build with GS, It will be really helpful!

PART 2: The Mace

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vJAQNApeSjMdQZI2FCWhApIGUCMcDMCuAXFMA870pwx7JA-TZBCABA8EAcvMwwHCgn2f4iTAAA

This is the Build I’m running now…

The major downside of this build is that it can be kitted easily, since Mace MH don’t have anything to close distances.
I’m using Berserker Stance to receive extra jumps to use as pressure and gap closer.

What do you think of this build? Can anyone help me improve it at all?

Thanks again!

Ok, I’ve tested the build a little more, so let me give some proper feedback:

Overall, as I’ve already stated, playing this “Banner Rampage Shout” is better than the shoutbow builds. First of all, the banner is a nice addition to team fights (specially since you can apply a regen of 18.000 hit points =o). It’s better than “Fear Me”.
The shouts are good for healing and buffing the whole party (and can even be used as an active healing, if you are desperate). Now I’m having A LOT of trouble to use Stance builds. The lack of healing makes me angry. =)

For me, Rampage is essential to a build that can’t 1v1 most classes.
Best case scenario: I won’t use it, because I’m running with my allies.
Worst case scenario: I can hold a point, scare people away and (maybe) even capture a point on a 1v1. Yes. You can build this “supportive build” and still win 1v1 with Rampage.

I don’t know enough of other classes to make statements here, but I’ve felt the build is quite decent, providing support, not turning you into a “full support build”.
I still feel weaker than a lot of classes, of course, but if my team is winning, I can’t complain. It gets the job done.
It is not a support build and it’s not a frontliner build… but it needs to be played in the frontline, attacking, tanking and buffing/healing the teammates.

That is what I think so far =)

I don’t know all the classes in-depth, but what this build have is: versatility. It is not a support but can support, it’s not a frontliner, but can hit and take hits, it’s not a bunker but can hold a point, it’s not a roamer but can capture points (using GS’s mobility and Rampage).

Correct me if I’m mistaken, I’m here to learn.

Sword #2 is great for mobility and #3 hits hard if the enemy have less than 50% hp.
Overall Axe have a stronger auto attack, with #2 and #3 that don’t have utility.

Also, as I have said, I have a MAJOR latency issue, so it is easier to waste a Sword #2 than an Eviscerate. IF I COULD LAND EVISCERATES, maybe I would change.

Also, tomorrow I’ll try adding Arms on that build, just for the fun.
Ill see if i can add condition damage (and maybe ill go back to Lb instead of GS).

Good luck for us.

Ok, let’s compare this build against the previous ShoutKing you’ve posted…

IMPORTANT: I used it with Sword/Shield instead of Hammer.

I feel that this one is better overall, because even if the Banner have a higher CD, it is more useful overall than a Fear.
The problem is that we have to give up on Defense traits (and kitten , can’t tell you how I missed it), but it’s DO-able.

I’ve played a few matches this morning and honestly? I still feel weak.
Of course, it feels better and more useful than running with 3 stances smash the keyboard, but i honestly can’t evaluate how useful those support skills actually were, so I’m considering just “how I’ve felt” and “how many matches I’ve won”, but I can’t help to feel “getting carried” but other teammates.

About the amulet, I used Crusader and Cleric, but I need to do some more testing. As I’ve said, I was expecting to feel a bit “tankier”, but Life depleted faster than I was expecting. Cleric seems better overall, but, as I’ve said, I need more testing.

The build I’ve used: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vJAQNAseRjMdQlH25B2eApIGICKLAigBQ/ipfKye4vXCA-TpBHwAEOBALLDA4IAY4BA0b/hBHCAA

I’ve changed one Sigil too… I can’t manage to stay alive battles enough to use Sigils that give bonuses for enemies killed.

EXTRA COMPLAINT:
Don’t mind me, really. Where I’m from (Brazil), GW2 is unplayable as Warrior.
The latency sucks SO MUCH, most of my skills can’t actually hit, because the target is not where I actually see them. Most of my Jump Skills move me, but aren’t able to do damage, for the same reason.

I was thinking a supportive build was going to make me feel “less useless” because of AoE support, but I’m disapointed. Aside for playing Staff Necro (which can lay Traps, so they will hit anyway), I can’t play sPvP properly.. =/

online, I agree with your build’s logic.

I’ll try this one and the Shout King during this week.

The current meta forces warriors to act as rogues, to build as assassins to murder someone in seconds, but warriors should be Masters of the battlefield. Not only they should be hitting things, they should inspire allies and demoralize enemies.

I’m currently using a Shout warr, but I’m using rampage for 1v1 scenarios.
If I can, i avoid 1v1, better, if i cant, rampage is there.

Out of 1v1 scenarios, I’m always running with at least other teammate.

This allows me to play tanky and supportive, not leaving me useless against those “meta burst combos” that we see every match.

Ill try both builds and I’ll contribute here too.

Elegie.3620:

So your question is how to maximize the sword’s value?

In condition setups, there are many gears you can use: rabid (with precision), settler (without precision), Carrion (fragile, more offensive), Celestial (optimizing might stacking)… and many builds as well 00666 (optimizing the bow) or 06606 (optimizing condition damage), 60606 (optimizing interrupts). The choice of sigils depends on the intent of the build, its gear, stats (precision and condition damage) and trait template. Earth, Torment, Doom, Agony, Geomancy, Battle can all work correctly in adequate builds.

The sword isn’t only a condition weapon. It’s an excellent power weapon as well, not as much for its damage (although sword #3 hits as much as an Eviscerate, I had some 12k once), as for its utility (long immobilization with F1, cripple on AA, mobility and Leap Finisher with #2). Use the utility to support other power weapons.

In power builds, the bleed on AA isn’t important, but you’re likely to go into Arms anyway, so it’ll help with Bloodlust.

First problem:
Can’t figure out which is stronger: A Condition Sword/Shield, a Might Stacking Sword/Shield or the Might Stacking Axe/Shield.

Second problem:
Should I really use a GS instead of a bow, considering that Lb have a Fire field that works AWESOMELY with Axe (Axe #2 is a finisher), Sword (Sword #2 and Sword F1 are Leap Finishers) and Shield (Shield #4 is anoher Leap Finisher).

Also, on the subject of Sword on the main hand, I can’t figure out which one is better: to optimize my rune, amulet and sigils toward Condition Damage or to ignore the condition and favour Might Stacking.
As far as I can see, those 2 (Condi or Might) are the only two “good paths” i can go with those weapons, but if it can be done differently, maybe I just need a new perspective =)

online.1278:

From my perspective, sw/shield – gs looks best in your list becuz of full mobikity that confuses your enemy by super fast mobility. Or Axe-shield / gs.

Thanks for the opinion. I’m just concerned I’m dropping a really good weapon (Lb) for it. Can’t figure out which one I should use. Lb have more sinergy with other weapons, while GS is just awesome by itself.

Dristig.9678:

Go, GS/Hammer/Rampage. It is currently amazing. Why not take advantage before it is nerfed?

Rampage is awesome, I use it, but I don’t like GS/Hammer. That is just me, of course, but I really miss the shield =)

Thanks for all the answers !

Hello everyone!

I’ve changed the text of the post because… well.. I’ve wrote it all wrong =)
It wasn’t well written, it was confuse and i wasn’t asking the correct questions, so I’ve written it again! Here it goes:

IMPORTANT: I usually play sPvP (solo or with a friend or two)

I’ve tried out all the weapons and combinations and I’ve found out 3 “builds” I would like to use:

• Sword/Shield + Lb: The pro is the Lb’s F1 combo field that can be used by a lot of Sword and Shield attacks. Also, you have a decent ranged attack and might stacking.
• Sword/Shield + GS: The pro is that you have access to GS’ mobility and damage. It just adds well to SnS attacks and makes you “less dependant on one combo”, since you can do a lot of things.
• Axe/Shield + Lb: The pro are the might stacking, applying weakness and good damage.

Also, I have another question: When using sword (a condi weapon), should I focus on maxing Condition (Sigils to improve bleed, amulet with condi damage, etc) or should I keep the same configuration for Might Stacking i was using previously? Can’t figure out which one is stronger overall. Condition favours the Lb skills too, since they apply Conditions too.

I was using Sigil of Battle (+2 might on swap) and Sigil of Intelligence (next 3 attacks with 100% critical on swap) for the Axe/Sh + Lb (Might Stacking).
I could use other Condi sigils, like Agony or Doom, but I’m not sure if i using Sword means i should go all-out for condition or i can “ignore it” and keep my build towards might stacking (and consider the Bleed stacks from the Sword as a “bonus” that shouldn’t be the focus of the build).

Any advice is welcome!
Thanks in advance!

Neko.9021:

To be quite honest, it was your fault for assuming the Elementalist is ‘the typical mage’. It is not. Neither flavorfully, nor mechanically. This is a mistake that many players seem to repeat when coming to GW2 without bothering to research the classes.

Overall, remember that the ‘mage’ means different things in different games, and for GW2, the archetype of mage is very much split between the three scholars, each representing their own distinct take on the concept.

Perfect answer! Honestly.

Just wanted to comment a little about it:
When I’ve said “typical magic”, It was about the concept of controlling the Elements of Nature. Every game can approach this concept the way they want. I agree with it and I’ve said it myself in the post:

I would be OK with this, if someone said: “ANet decided that Ele should be a triggerhappy damage-dealing class that rains death”

It’s their class, they can implement it the way they want.

What really misguided me was not the class description, It was the concept of “control” that people use in the forum, as “the krytan assassin” showed =)
Mobility, in general, should be defined as Utility, not Control, from my previous experiences, but If people say that Burning Retreat is “control”, I can understand why people say Ele’s control is great and that makes a lot of sense.

Thanks everyone!

PS: I’ll give a try on the tips about Fresh Air, thanks again!

Hello everyone !

You know… Sometimes I read someone in this forum saying “OMG ELE IS BROKEN” and stuff like that, but there is something that feels wrong, FOR ME… i was born believing that Elementalists (Or Mages, or Wizards) are CONTROLLERS, not STRIKERS.

For those used to those D&D terms (and NO, I’m not comparing both games, I’ll just use the names), Elementalist feels like a STRIKER+LEADER, instead of a CONTROLLER. Explaining what that means:

• Striker is the Damage guy, meaning you can dish out lots of damage.
• Leader is the support guy, meaning you can buff, protect and heal your team.
• Controller mean you can control the battlefield (stopping movement, preventing them their actions, denying an area and status like immobilize, stun or daze, for example.

I would be OK with this, if someone said: “ANet decided that Ele should be a triggerhappy damage-dealing class that rains death”, but people constantly say that “Ele’s control is good”. That is why the tag is: [I am a Noob], by the way =)

From my noob’s point of view, Necromancers (which everyone says that sucks, is broken, everyone can do their job better) is way more a Control guy than the Ele, and that is why I’ve started playing Necromancer. It felt WAY MORE powerful in the subject of Crowd Control.
OK, Necro have it’s problems in other areas, but the Terrormancer can CC badly:

• Reaper’s Mark (Staff 5)
• Doom (Death Shroud 3)
• Spectral Wall (Utility)
• Reaper’s Protection (Trait)
• Flesh Golem’s Charge (Elite)
• Not to mention if you are using Rune of Nightmare, which gives you a 50% chance of triggering a 1 sec Fear when you are struck (once in 60 secs, but …)

And those are only FEARS, that take away the control of the character. They also have access to other stats, like Chill or Weakness, like Chillblains.

Considering you have traits to boost the time duration, you can not only damage (all Fears cause damage from Terror and all the Condi’s ticks normally while Feared) but “lock” your enemies for more than 10 seconds if you would line up everything. Is it useful? Nope. It’s better to stop combos 4 times in a combat than line up one CC-chain, except in specific scenarios.

While playing Elementalist (which is the “usual mage type character”) I have:

• Frozen Ground (Staff 4)
• Gust (Air 3)
• Static Field (Air 5)
• Unsteady Ground (Earth 4)
• Shockwave (Earth 5)

Aside from Air 5 (that stuns… for TWO seconds…), all the other options do not take away the enemies actions. Shockwave immobilize, but that means nothing when you are a Power Ranger and can attack from range. Static Field stuns for 2 seconds, but you need to use Gust, because that same ranger won’t move inside the Field.

Let’s consider I’ll leave Staff (mainly a support weapon) to use Scepter + Focus and we lose all Staff spells described up there for:

• Freezing Gust (Water 4)
• Comet (Water 5) – can you actually hit someone without using Gale (which should be user to Dragon’s Tooth, from what I’ve played)
• Blinding Flash (Air 3)
• Dust Devil (Earth 3)
• Gale (Air 4)

Not to mention that Blindness may last longer than the other conditions, but the affect only 1 hit/miss.

The way I see it, Necro’s CC just beats Ele’s CC in EVERY situation. Why people say that Elementalist’s control is good?

Of course, Ele have access to A LOT of other things, like area healing, combo fields, huge area damage, Utility, but that is not my point.

Am I missing something?
Thank you everyone for reading this far and for those who are willing to help!

PS: An Extra question: I’ve tried to do that “Fresh Air” build and I’ve killed a lot but… 90% of my time I’m using Air 1 and Air 2. Is this how it is supposed to be played? Because it seems boring as hell. It feels like having access to a whole armory, but only one or two weapons are actually good. The others feels like decorations on a pretty wall =)

PS again: Don’t flame me, please =/ I’m a noob. I said that in the topic’s name =/

Bhawb.7408:

Eolirin.1830:

You can fear people into the spectral wall if you position correctly can’t you?

Yes. It also gives you protection, and can be used for area denial.

This is exactly why I’m not sure why people said “good people can avoid it easily”…
I mean… sounds like an awesome spell. If i’m not going to use this… then what?
Suggestions?

First of all, thank you for everyone that replied!

CommunityScabies.2587:

More to the point, I use this:

Curses: II/IX/XIII.
Death Magic: V/VIII.
Soul Reaping: III/IX.

Staff: Sigil of Geomancy & Sigil of Corruption.
Scepter: Sigil of Geomancy.
Dagger: Sigil of Energy.

Rune of the Nightmare.
Carrion Amulet.

Corrupt Boon (Unblockable, 5 boons into negative conditions)
Blood Is Power (+300 Condition Damage)
Corrosive Poison Damage*/Spectral Wall**/Spectral Walk***/Well of Power****

Summon Flesh Golem

Thank you for the build! I’ve liked the traits, switching the Spectral traits for Death Shroud ones.
I think the Sigils, Rune and Amulet are an awesome choice too, but I’m kind of “confused” about the Utility Powers…

When I was reading for PvP Necro builds on this forum, EVERYONE told that Spectral Walk, Corrupt Boon and Summon Flesh Wurm were like…. THE ONLY AVAILABLE CHOICE.
Spectral Walk is obvious. It gives move speed, allow you to juke and recover Life Force.
Corrupt Boon is so awesome, it should be a Necro base spell, and one of Necro’s main usefullness on a PvP game (removing boons, adding condis at the same time).
Flesh Wurm should be used for Mobility purposes.

I’m not sure I agree with them.
Maybe, as you’ve stated, It’s better to use Area Weakness than having another Escape Route (Flesh Wurm) on sPvP.

Another weird thing is the use of Blood is Power. Sure, +300 Condi damage is AWESOME, but you have to remove one of those 3 Utilities said to be “THE AWESOME CHOICE”.

Another thing is that it is weird that you all say about Spectral Wall. First: It is another Fear. And that means more CC (that also deals damage and allow the other Condis to damage without a chance of retribution).
About being “difficult to land” against smart players, there are two uses that Walls excel at:
1) Against Melee players, especially Rogues => They CAN’T do kitten, if you drop it on your feet and Strife left and right. It means: Fear yourself, or stand still being damaged by my conditions until the wall disapear.
2) Blocking choke points => You don’t need to fear with the wall, but if the enemies need to ENTER through a wall, you can put it there. They will need to fear themselves or find another way in, which will take time. Time they won’t be capping a place or helping in a team fight.

That said, I won’t use it to stop a Power Ranger, because If he is a good player, it will be useless. But there are a lot of warrior, rogues and melee characters to make this really powerful.
Maybe It’s not ALL THAT AWESOME? Sure, but it is really good indeed. Correct me If I’m wrong.

For Elite skills, I’m using Plague. Everyone recommends Plague. But you’ve convinced me to try the Golem. I don’t like summons, pets and stuff, but I’ll give it a try.

Anyway, that is it. I’m still unsure about those Utility spells, but I’ve moved a step forward to this build ! hehehe thank you all very much!

PS: I’ll give Dhuumfire a try someday. I’m not going to do it now because i wanted to focus on Heavy-CC and I would have to remove some awesome CC effects to get it. But I’ll give a try someday, thx!

Hello everyone!

I’ve been watching some videos on YouTube and talking with some other players here on forum some months ago (I’m kinda out of GW2 because of the Master’s Degree is taking away my time =x), but I’m planning on creating another Condi Necro build for sPvP.

If anyone can give me advices and answer my questions, I’ll be really grateful!

First, a link to the current build I’m using:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fRAQNAW7Yjc00bb5NG3wfbigBRyWfi+QgJU+NKA-TVRAwAAOCAiVGs5CAkTXAnHAAA-w

The questions:
1) I’m not sure about my utility spells. While I really wanted to use Flesh Wurm (because of the Mobility), Corrupt Boon and Spectral Walk are a MUST and Spectral Wall is another Fear (and one I can control easily). Spectral Wall not only gives me (and teammates) a boost of Survivability, but also Fear, which is AWESOME against those LOVELY Rogues. Do you think I should dump one for the Flesh Wurm?

2) The decision from topic one is important for this one: I’m not sure I’f I should use Spectral Mastery (Soul Reaping IV) or Path of Midnight (Soul Reaping III).
Path of Midnight allows me to Fear more and that is awesome, but If I’m planning to use both Spectral Walk AND Spectral Wall, Spectral Mastery is really good. Reducing in 20% the cooldown on a guaranteed Fear is awesome, not to mention the Swiftness (and Mobility) from Spectral Walk.
If I’ll only use Spectral Walk, maybe I could switch Spectral Attunement (Curses X) for Path of Corruption (Curses XIII).
What do you guys think of it?

3) Can someone help me with Amulets and Weapon sigils, please? I’ve chosen from what sounds good, but I’m not sure if those are really the better I can get.

4) Scepter + Dagger or Scepter + Warhorn?
I’ve noticed both are good, so I’m taking suggestions. Dagger seems nice, since it can apply Blindness, but Warhorn can Daze (only 2 seconds, unfortunatly) and can add Swiftness to you and Cripple on a foe.

Ok, that cover up the questions about the build.

I have one last question, not aboud the build but about HOW TO PLAY, lol.

Ok, so I have both a Staff and Scepter/X (Dagger or Warhorn), but I’m not sure what i should be doing.
From what people speak in YouTube guides, Necromancer’s Scepter Auto-Attack (Scepter 1) is really good, and Scepter 3 can inflict heavy damage when you’ve just used Corrupt Boon, since it damages per condition.
On the other hand, Staff Mastery reduces all Staff’s cooldowns by 20%, which means i can almost apply Bleed (Staff 2) all the time, not to mention Chill, Fear and Condition Transfer.

I’m not really sure what I should do with my “filler spells”. Should I use all my Staff spells, change to Scepter, use the heavy hitters and than I auto-attack until all Staff-skills are refreshed?
Or should i stay more time on Staff, that allows me to almost spam bleed (Staff 2), only changing to Scepter/X when i want to use some specific spells (Like Scepter 3 to damage per condition, Scepter 2 to Cripple, Dagger 4 to apply Blindness or Warhorn 4 to apply Daze)?
Or there is no “optimal” choice? So in which scenario should I use each approach?
I’m fairly new to the game and I’m testing out the way I can, but I still lack the “vision” to evaluate which strategy is the strongest.

Thank you for reading this far and thank you again if you can help me in any way!

MadRabbit.3179:

The reason the dmg dealing version of staff doesn’t get used in sPvP is, because 5v5 is too small of a scale to capitalize on your AoE and most of your abilities are easy to dodge out of or even walk out of. You also have to camp fire to really do heavy damage with staff and if you get pressured, you will have to swap out.

sPvP isn’t like PvE where you can just can camp fire, dodge properly and deal heavy aoe dmg to mobs too stupid to dodge out. It’s also not like a WvW zerg where you have a target rich environment to hit stuff with your AoEs and plenty of teammates around you with blast finishers to capitalize on your all your combo fields.

I’m actually running this build:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fFAQFAWnMISlDW4AeOAdEGIEIIu1MMoocd5KA

It’s an adaptation of a build I’ve found on YouTube. This build is both supportive and give a little survivability.

You could say:
“But in WvW you AoE would be more effective”. Ok, It’s true, because hitting 1 or 50 is the same thing, but it doesn’t mean it is not effective.

I THINK Staff Ele works great on 2 things: helping to capture a point and defend a point.
Since you can stack fields (and the Blasting Staff Arcane Trait makes your AoE awesome), it’s really good to force people out of a point, or keeping them outside.
Of course, the whole purpose of this build is to support someone else (stunning, healing, buffing), but when you main support-spells are on CD, i aways try to cast damage AoE spells, to add something more.

You have recomended 0/0/0/2/6/6, but Rock Solid is just AMAZING. Being able to add stability to everyone just by entering the Earth Attunement makes a difference. It’s really useful when you are with 2 or 3 other characters on a choke point.

What Trait would you choose as the 3rd major Trait, if i decided to use 2/6/6, instead of 4/4/6? Aquamancer’s Alacrity?

Thanks again!

First of all… thank you all for replying !
And sorry I’ve took so long to reply… busy week =/

Yes, I’ve noticed (the hard way hehe) that Elementalists aren’t for newbs. Staff even more.
Staff FEELS LIKE it is more related to my game style. Being valuable to my team while, but not being a “support-only” profession. I can do some damage, CC someone with Air 5 -> Air 3 and then Fire 5 for some extra damage, but It is not easy to use it on PvP.

Yes, Diva, i know that video. I know it really well, since I have it in my smartphone LOL
Love the video (Y)

I’ve heard people saying about S/X on the foruns and apparently it have less utility, more burst, and I’m not sure that is what I want to play, but I’ll give it a try some day.

Now I want to try out that “Celestial Staff Build”. I’m not sure how i can play this “supportive role” as a Staff Elem (other than stunning someone here and there and healing fields), but I guess I’ll figure it out.

Thanks for the help and any advices on the Cele Staff is more than welcome !
I’ll give Diva’s build a try, too! I just feel I’m way too noob to make it work hehehe =)

Hi there!

I was talking with a friend about sPvP and he said to me that a profession I wanted to play was more ABLE than others to fit a sPvP role.
Being a WoW player, i’ve noticed that WoW’s roles(the tank, dps, healer, ccbot, dot pressure, for example) don’t apply to GW2.

What is actually expected from someone in a PvP scenario?

Or… how is the current “meta” on team composition in sPvP? This way I can understand what a team expects from me and how I can be a better team player.

Thanks in advance!

First of all, thanks for replying and sorry I took so long to reply!

Drarnor Kunoram.5180:

First off, let me bring up the most common “Terrormancer” build.
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fRAQNArYGjc0UebfNG3mIYoksFEtA4cpMJiCA-TpwXAAw+DWZAA
There are a few notable blank spots where people will argue for different things, so just fill those in with what you prefer.

Elite should be either Flesh Golem (charge is handy, and occasionally he actually fights) or Plague.

Curses Adept slot should be either Hemophilia or Weakening Shroud, depending on if you want more damage or more weakness. Generally speaking, Hemophilia should be your choice.

Death Magic Master should be either Greater Marks or Reaper’s Protection. Greater Marks gives you an unblockable Fear and condition transfer, which can both be very handy against Guardians (not many others use blocks that much). Reaper’s Protection means that once per minute, opponents can’t capitalize on stunning you.

Soul Reaping Master can also use Soul marks acceptably, but Master of Terror is generally the better one for a Terrormancer spec, especially if you have someone willing to help peel for you.

Now, you can use other skills besides Flesh Wurm and Spectral Walk, but those are our only two methods of getting out once the excrement hits the rotary blade, and you will not survive in PvP with no stunbreaks at all. Due to the Necro’s terrible ability to actually avoid getting CC’d in the first place, most choose to run double stunbreak. Triple would be used, except that precludes using Corrupt Boon, which is basically the entire reason to have a Necro on your team in PvP.

Thanks a lot ! I’ll give it a try!

Drarnor Kunoram.5180:

1. As I explained above, people dedicate their utility skill slots to Corrupt Boon + 2 stunbreaks. Signet of Spite is a good skill, but Necros just don’t have the slots for it.

That helped a lot! Actually, It makes sense, hehehe !

Drarnor Kunoram.5180:

4. The passive is a bit unreliable. It likes to prioritize cripple, chill, and immobilize which frequently end up hurting you more than your ally (who can move faster than you or throw up some defense when immobilized). It can work all right, and it is acceptable to use, but generally speaking, it adds more of what you already have plenty of: condition transfers. For what you are asking about, Well of Power is better, since it actually gets rid of conditions entirely and is on a lower cooldown than Plague Signet.

That makes sense too! Thank you!

Anyway, I’ll try to focus heavily on Condition, use Spectral Walk, Flesh Wurm and Corrupt Boon. Not sure about my elite, but I’ll focus my traits on Fear and Condi damage and I think I’ll still be useful.

Thanks again!

First of all, thanks for replying! And sorry I wasn’t able to reply sooner!

Lawful.5314:

Staff, dont use it if you are a beginner.
Yeah, sucks to hear but its true, staff is hard to use, and it will take you a while before you actually make a difference with staff in real sPvP.
You need a good knack for it, have to predict what the enemy will do to put your lava font on the right spot, or all your other aoe’s (…)
Yeah it takes time to get better at it, let alone be capable to win against someone in 1v1 with staff. Anyways yeah, because staff was fun and easy-peasy in PvE, doesn’t mean it’ll be like that in PvP, but you should have realized that by now. In fact, staff is the most difficult weapon to use in PvP.

Yes, I know Staff is a hard weapon to PvP. Maybe in WvW It is easier, since all you spells are AoE and you can “free cast” a lot, but I’ve learned the hard way the Pros and Cons of the profession and the weapon.

Also, I’ve tried D/D and i hated it. I know it’s good. I know people will say “it is just BETTER” and I don’t care. I feel like I’m playing an Arcane Trickster. A “magical thief”, or anything like it.
I’ve tried S/F and S/D too. Is it as clunky as D/D ? No, but Staff spells FEEL right, to me.

Lawful.5314:

2. You are running zerker but focusing on survivability cantrips, see the contradiction?
Staff is not a damage dealing weapon, sure you will get some huge damage in every now and then, but its inconsistent because it depends whenether your opponent is smart enough to stand in your aoe circles long enough or not.
I would suggest running Celestial and changing your build up to 6/6 water/arcane and earth in general if you want to run staff effeciently.

I don’t actually see the contradiction, sorry
If you create a zerker build and die in the first 10 seconds, I won’t be usefull at all. Those spells are “reset buttons” that I can press, re-position myself and try again. Of course real life is not so bright and shiny, but that is the concept.

Lawful.5314:

With staff, you’d want to run 6water6arcana and stay with another person ALL the time until you get better and focus on supporting them and your team, because your ability to 1v1 or hold a point is very, and i mean very limited and skill based. I would probably assume that with staff, you are losing most of your 1v1 fights, if not all of them.

Yes, I’ve felt really weak and squishy with this build. Maybe the guy playing it was just way better than me and could do it anyway. A was sticking with the team, but i was like… a enemy magnet. =)

I don’t really like playing “full support”. I do like to help the team, but i don’t like feeling absolutely useless when I’m alone, but I’ll try that celestial build anyway.

Thanks for the advices, btw !

Drarnor Kunoram.5180:

bssbruno.1487:

I wanted to play Necromancer as a condition damage + CC (Fear), but everyone is saying that It’s not really viable right now.

Actually, that’s still the most viable Necro (outside of PvE and zerg fight WvW), primarily due to range and how much easier that makes positioning. Necros also have a wide variety of conditions they can apply (every Necro build has 5 conditions before accounting for weapon, skill, or trait choices, so chew on that for a bit). In fact, Necros are capable of applying every condition in the game without RNG or equipment being a factor in a single build (S/D, Dhuumfire, Spectral Wall, Bone Fiend/Flesh Wurm, and your choice of axe, focus, well of suffering, signet of spite, or death shiver).

In any case, since our condition damage sets have better range, which makes positioning much easier, that is the more viable build.

I’m new to the game, but can you suggest me a build ? I see A LOT OF contradiction about the builds, specially about Traits and Utility spells. Any input is more than welcome. I have created a Topic about it today, but no one replied yet.
And I have already watched guides (videos and text). I’m not asking because I’m lazy, but the builds are really different, i can’t find a pattern. Thanks in advance!

Main Character Name: Andreas Kross
Account Name: bssbruno88.1487
Favorite Game Mode: PVE/PvP/WvW
Server: Fort Aspenwood
Number of Necromancers: 1

I actually play both Necromancer and Elementalist, but the Necro is way more interesting. I’m actually talking in this forum about some PvP builds for Necro, It’s going to be awesome to talk with other Necros about it!

Roe.3679:

bssbruno.1487:

Is it really that bad?

I wanted to play a Terrormancer, but from what I’m reading, it would suck. A lot.
It’s weird how Necros are supposed to give up their Defensive Utility to perform their role well (using Signets, for example).
I favour Necromancer over Elem, for example, because of CC/debuffing. I like that concept, but unfortunatly we need to give up on Utility as well for it. We can’t help teammates, we can’t move around capturing places.

And then I ask again: Is it really that bad?

If you play casually, no, it’s not that bad. You’ll still be focused but most of the time you should be able to kite and use your ports effectively… but you do need to mind your positioning. If you run into a coordinated team or want to be seriously competitive at all, then it’s not good.

First of all: thanks for answering!
What do you mean with “use your ports effectively”? I don’t know what is a port, sorry :/
Also, i don’t want to play professionaly, but i have friends to play 3v3 and 5v5, so i want to be, at least, useful for them.
Weird thing is that i’ve always read that Necromancers were bad at PvE because they were really good at PvP. When that changed?

That makes me sad, because I was REALLY looking forward to use a heavily condition based character on GW2

That depends on your build and weapons. I’m new to GW2 too, but
I’ve read in this forum that Power is better than condition for leveling.
My necro is lvl 25 and I’m focusing on power itens. Bring a Staff too. You can equip the staff, apply your conditions and then swap to Axe for raw damage. When the staff spells get out of cooldown, swap, use them, swap again and repeat.

When you reach level 80, then you need to choose what you really want to focus, condition or power damage, but for leveling, it is not that important.

Is it really that bad?

I wanted to play a Terrormancer, but from what I’m reading, it would suck. A lot.
It’s weird how Necros are supposed to give up their Defensive Utility to perform their role well (using Signets, for example).
I favour Necromancer over Elem, for example, because of CC/debuffing. I like that concept, but unfortunatly we need to give up on Utility as well for it. We can’t help teammates, we can’t move around capturing places.

And then I ask again: Is it really that bad?

I think Necromancers are pretty tanky. I don’t like meleeing, so neither rh e Greatsword nor the heavy armor interest me, honestly.
I wanted to play Necromancer as a condition damage + CC (Fear), but everyone is saying that It’s not really viable right now.
I would enjoy more a buff to that concept than wearing myself like a knight
My humble opinion.

Hello everyone !

I’ve started playing GW2 this month and I’m leveling a Necromancer.
I’ve tested the weapons and the best combinations (FOR ME) are the Staff as the main weapon and S/F or S/D, still not sure my off-hand.
I wanted to focus on sPvP with this build, going to full condition damage and Fears/CCs, or what people call “Terrormancer”.

I’m using this guide as a reference for my build:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dyiUVGLXQE

Can you give me some advice, please?
1) Almost no one uses Token of Spite ! How is that possible? Maybe I’m a kitten ed noob, but this Utility seems REALLY awesome. And when you use it with the Staff’s runes and Epidemic (to spread Conditions), it is awesome, you can spread 6 or 7 Conditions up to 5 targets. Why people don’t recommend it on PvP builds?
2) What do you think of Utility spells?
3) Off-hand weapon: Dagger, Focus or Horn? I think if I use Corrupt Boon, maybe i can give up on Focus, but, on the other hand, I could use focus exclusively to free that Utility slot.
4) Is Plague Signet a good Utility for sPvP? I mean, removing your allies conditions and then throwing them at your enemy (Staff #4, for example) sounds amazing. Is it something that my team will “expect” from me, because I’m playing Necromancer? To “take that hit for them”?

Any advices are more than welcome and I thank you all that have read this far!
Thanks again !

Hello everyone !

I’ve started playing GW2 this month and I’m leveling an Elementalist.
I’ve tested the weapons and the best combinations (FOR ME) are the Staff or S/F (Scepter/Focus), but Staff >>>> S/F by far. My humble opinion.

I know S/F is rising up and people are saying wonderful things about the “S/F Fresh Air”, but, again, FOR ME, Staff’s gameplay is way more fluid, so I’m giving it a try.

I’m using this guide as a reference for my build:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUsOU9Gj6-s

I’m not using it 100%, because I’ve made some Trait changes, so you can check my actual sPvP build here:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fFAQFAGhMMqcW4gOaACAhY1jhDEZQx3rB-TZQaAAQZAA

The original build is focused on dealing damage on sPvP, but I actually like to be useful to my team. Not a full support, but a Damage Dealer with support skills. Until now, this build feels that is focused on damage AND can support nicely.

Can you give me some advice, please?

1) What do you think of my Healing spell? Ether Renewal is good, but can be interrupted. Should i focus on some other Healing Utility that heal instantly?
2) What do you think of my Utility spells? I’m focusing more on survivability, so I value 2 Break Stun spells. Also, they are cantrips, that value my Water traits.
3) Can you suggest me another Utility? I left a blank space there, but I actually enjoy Arcane Shield (another Break Stun and damage mitigation) and Glyph of Air (Passive Move Speed), but I’m open to suggestions.
4) Is Lightning Flash a good Utility option? I’ve seen a video where the guy used it to capture points faster, but I’m having a hell of a trouble actually using it on sPvP, because the range seems SO SHORT.
5) For the Elite Skill, I’m using Glyph of Elementals, but I’ve heard good things about Cyclone too. I’m actually favoring Elementals over Cyclone, because i can “cast and forget” the elementals, while the Cyclone will stop me from casting spells. I think I’m more valuable dealing damage, healing and CCs (Slows, stuns, etc…) than making myself immune more time (remember that I already have Mist Form, Armor of Earth and I’m considering Arcane Shield, so I already have a lot of survivability Utilities).

Ah… one more thing: I’ve seen builds using Arcane Spells, but I’m not sure it is necessary. With Fire Traits you can have Fire spells and attunement almost available all the time, and, for me, Fire is my main source of damage. Therefore, I can’t see the benefit of wasting a Utility spell (and another Break Stun escape cantrip) to a simple damage spell. Maybe I just don’t understand Arcane spells?

Any advices are more than welcome and I thank you all that have read this far!
Thanks again !