Guild Wars 2

Thank you for the precise description + examination of the shroud issues. Necromancer is the only class which didnt’t get any close attention since release (in comparison to ranger e.g. which got full rework at some point) and releasing new specs will only make it more transparent, how non-responsive and non-synergetic are the core necromancer traits. So in order to enjoy and use the potetial of new necro content arenet really needs to look in base class functionality. In your post it becomes visible that a 2nd healthbar was a life saving tool during the first year of the game. With the growing utility options and burst of several classes, it became a demage-to death-sponge(bob) and certainly needs a rework for our beloved necromancer.
Thank you Lily, i see you as a constructive voice of the necromancer community.

That said, i think it’s high time they give the Power Reaper back what they have taken to facilitate the Scourge build and give some serious thought as to how they can properly balance this class once and for all. So many decent ideas have come from the player base, many in Lily’s post and absolutely no conversation from their end. I think it’s just flat out wrong to treat your customer base this way, just wrong.[/quote]

This, exactly. It is amazing how most of the classes got a significant rework (ranger, mesmer) throughout the years and necromancer stayed broken since meta. Especially now with the new specs it gets more and more visible how broken and useless is the core necromancer. No synergizing traits (especially with scourge) and if they are combinable, it is just weak.
I think it is time for an official statement from the makers about necromancers role in the game. It might have been designed as solo Pve farming character, but the “customers” need to know this. If not, then the core necromancer urgently needs a rework . At this point no specializations are able to overhype the uselessness of necromancer on the full class scale.

Thank you Lily for the time, love and thought effort you put into this post.
I would call it the content coming from “community’s voice”.

You put into words and summarized major issues about Necromancer class we all love and I really hope it will be noticed by Arenanet.

As a GW1+2 veteran I encourage every Necromancer loving player like me to support and share this post, it is Gold.

Thank you and let’s hope for the best, Gigi Nec Romance

Dear Necromancer Fellows,

The Short Version of this Post is:
1. Make Deathshroud and Reaper Shroud (and possibly upcoming Sand shroud) a Full Utility Skill bar Affecting either Self of Party Skills and giving possibility for more complex and Strategic gameplay. Therefore make Weapon Skills and Utilities usable while in DS/RS.
2. Change Lifeforce mechanic from 2nd Healthbar To Source of making Deathshroud Skills more effective depending on The amount Spent or owned.

In Short To my background:

I Played necromancer since Beta (actually since gw 1) and i’ve been watching Many Passionate necromancer players giving up on The Game or The class. Im Aware that there are enough hatered Posts, so this one has The goal To Remind and discuss a point that has been addressed in many ways. It is mostly about a rework of necromancers function as a whole and its development. I mostly speak from heart of passionate PvE player, because in my view most recent voices come from wvw and Pvp side, which don’t address the uselessness of necromancer class especially in challenging party endgame content.(im not talking about spamming conditions and minions in certain content, because imo it shouldn’t be a goal of a player majority to spam 1-3 skills every 15 seconds)

Here we come to the first problem:
Necromancer is a spam skill class. You either spam 1. or 2. skill on the 2-3 build possibilities you have. In pve it is still about negating damage and its output just as in good old dungeon zerg meta, only that it is a 10 people party now. In zerk Build you either have the possibility to spam 1 on dagger or 2 on greatsword, or you switch to axe instead of dagger and spam 2 using death shroud right after. Getting to Deathshroud(or reapershroud in this case) you use 5 spamming 1 for the rest.

Which brings us to problem 2:
There is barely a difference in demage output in 3 of the meelee possibilities(RS, Dagger Auto, GS). Even if there is A difference in timing, the choice of these doesn’t feel as either useful or interesting. I won’t go in depth for the condition build, since there is a certain routine not allowing any impactful positioning, demage spike output or party support. This is also the case for the zerk build. The argument that comes in place at this point is that necromancer is as selfish class. If it is the case, then it mainly has a too weak demage output(even after axe and gs improvement) and doesn’t have significant survival or spike mechanics. I call it castrated necromancy.

The solution which occurred from many important voices on the forums for couple of times lies in the core of necromancer: rework Deathshroud/Reapershroud from spam 1 weapon skills replacement to impactful and synergetic mechanic that should’ve introduced with the game release or latest with HoT.
If Necromancer should stay as selfish class, bring it to the top of dps list. Not by increasing demage output or reducing the cast times, but giving possibilities and utilities that reward smart timing and rational usage of skill improvement. For example you can put passive afk effect vampiric aura into an active reaper shroud skill that can be used for higher party dps spike and situational based(as support or aggressive gameplay). If there shouldn’t be any party support, let necromancer deal more demage and steal life on the next 5 attacks and such.
In pve lifeforce should be an option and not a class mechanic, because as a main necromancer mechanic is feels very weak and the amount of survivabllity is unnecessary in most places, especially for experienced players.
There should be a choice, which gameplay a necromancer wants to invest his lifeforce into. It can be tied to the trait lines chosen or depending on the choice of death- or reapershroud. DS might be there to give you survivabllity and condition demage Utility. And reaper shroud might help u in meelee position. So depending on the amount of lifeforce you own, Shroud Skills would become more effective and make it possilble to bring strategic gameplay for the class. This concept has room for development and opens up synergy with trait lines and weapons skills. It is viable for upcoming specializations, so instead of imlementing new “forms” that limit the players to 5 spam skills and try to compensate the core weakness e.g. Stability from lich form and plague, it’s finally time to put in some (re)work and bring in some complexity into the lovely Nec Romancer.

This is my first full and loving post and maybe the last. Its goal isn’t an absolute statement, but an evolving conversation about variety and realistic examples of suggested utility Shroud and Lifeforce concept.
Because we care… And we wait…

In Love Gigi Nec Romance

I would like to adress 2 issues about reaper usage in PvE:
1. Dps
2. Chill

Since there is so much hype about the “high numbers” on greatsword, reaper’s demage is still very low in comparison to some classes, which bring a lot more utility and usage for party overall. Many Veteran Necromancer players are hoping to get into the End-Game Content with our beloved class, but with these low numbers i fear it won’t be possible. The numbers of the skills might be high, but if compared to dps overall, it is truely weak and classes like Revenant or Engineer highly outnumber these + granting permanent party buffs, reflects and stealth… So here is one of the solutions for reaper:
Numbers need to be higher! I don’t know how to solve the gap between PvP and PvE, but i fear with that low demage and long casting times it will be unused. Also i don’t see any difference in using GS over the Reaper’s Shroud since they do farely the same dps, also the utilities are similar. The only difference is that in RS im am mobile and can dodge the heavily hitting mobs in high end instances. So there needs to be bigger differentiation between those 2 Reaper mechanics. At least in numbers: i need to be rewarded for the lack of mobility.
So there is this question: why wouldd you take a Necromancer (Reaper) in party?
2. Chill?
Well in PvE this mechanic is pretty useless. I don’t know what kind of impact it will have on high lvl fractals or raids, but the slowing down bosses or veterans is highly uneffective because:
1. They get usually crippled.
2. They don’t move because attacked by meelee groups.
As i said it might be useful in content where you can’t meelee bosses though so far there is rarely a spot where it is impossible.
So by selling this feature as Necro’s “speciality” in my oppinion there should be something added that is rewarding enough to use this feature, because so far it is very weak.
For example the chill traits should do higher demage or it should have an impact on the party too by using chill. Similar to alacrity but maybe letting party members strip boons at a certain interval. Another suggestion is to implement a trait or effect that lets you attack faster after a successful apply of chill: it would make GS usage a lot more significant.

Hello guys, i filled up the form and can’t wait to join the guild!

Hey Guys,

im a Veteran player from GW1 to GW2 and id like to join a guild with people who enjoy easy and fast runs as i do. Good mood and friendly players required

I have all classes on lvl 80, my fractal lvl is 50 and pvp rank 43, so i participate in all kind of game content.

The guild should have Guild mission and preferrably be on Piken Square.

Im looking forward to the invite!
Cya ingame.