The weapons may get tweaked.
Dagger focus looks like it will have the most synergy with great sword.
Axe may lose more equip time but it is still the longest range power weapon and condition caps are being reviewed.
Don’t forget focus chill or OH dagger blind
Dagger should work very well with the sword.
I just hope PvE content changes from the “skip ahead as fast as possible, then blast fire fields and AA”
Current bosses are mostly immune to conditions, which is a huge nerf to Necromancer.
Current bosses do not strip or flip boons – which makes boon professions advantageous.
Old dungeons reward skipping so high mobility and stealth professions are reward, again.
Fix the PvE content and Necro will be fine.
^ True, Cogbyrn
Overall, it seems as if Necromancer will be more Frontline power where Revy will be a mid or back line utility profession
What i did not see in the blog was any group utility. Looks good for trash mob farming, though.
Cooter may have been a more apt name.
Without having much more information, I worry the slow skills on GS will be too dodgeable, too easily avoided in PvP.
What if there are 5 skills and only AA is good, or what if it is a Dark Guardian transform and you only get a choice of 3 different AA skills with the others and utilities locked out?
then it will fit nicely into current staff1+dagger1+ds1+lich1+downstate1 rotation.
This rotation I know well. T_T
I totally agree with you there. In fact, the game might be better off if they removed invulnerability completely from all classes. It was the cause of many problems in GW1 as well. (Obsidian Flesh, and the nightmare that was Shadowform)
I agree. Protect is strong, yet every profession has even stronger damage avoidance skills. Total avoidance should have super glassy builds associated to give equivalent damage taken by tanker professions.
This “I’ll just mash buttons and come out smelling fresh-like” is garbage. There is a bit too much fantasy involved in profession mechanics. Avoiding attacks by watching for tells should have higher reward than executing a rotation or traiting an auto immunity.
I wouldn’t read too much into “stances”, considering your “battle stance” is literally just how you hold yourself and your weapon in battle; its something literally every profession does right now.
Yep, Necro has this stance in DS right before Dark Path connects or fails. It’s the fluffy diaper stance.
What if there are 5 skills and only AA is good, or what if it is a Dark Guardian transform and you only get a choice of 3 different AA skills with the others and utilities locked out?
Deathly Piñata
Icy HoT
L2Pmancer
100 Blade Doom Shroud
Dragonflyer
Cooter
Dragon Fearer
(edited by Anchoku.8142)
Hopefully, GS has
cleave
chill
blind
cripple
weakness
a leap
an interrupt
a fire field
a condi transfer
A stun is good. Fearing while running a dagger is annoying.
Personally, Fear would be better if it stunned and gave 2X damage while opponents /cower.
Crafting exotic is probably the cheapest way but gathering material can take a while.
You can also run any dungeon and use the gold to purchase materials, components, or entire armor pieces from the trading post.
This is for WvW and PvE armor.
What if the specialization was Risen Priest of Grenth and Necromancer spams Ice Storm, shades, and Shadow Strike?
And the hoodie
Fear is great for solo ranged play, though! Staff AA ftw!
HoT Darned
Not a Trap
Banners will become mobile pets. Seems pretty obvious to me.
Now War can get its magic hat on. Watch those unintended water fields, though.
Wait, no; Trahearne is my hero!
Moving along…
The Necromancer forum is known for its pessimism and entertainment value.
Unofficial Elite Name Page!
Better Off Downed
Death Nova Caine
Transfusion is Necromancer’s best group utility. As long as your allies are in range, the heal tracks them. It is not hard to get 2k heals per DS, per person. Because few people need Putrid Marks and wells only work good on a stack, Transfusion is a prime support trait and cheap as an Adept.
Transfusion / wells is the only group support build that works for now. Cripples, chills, and blinds are distant runners up. It is the fields on wells, the wells themselves, and Necromancer’s poor ability to use fields that handicap it in group utility.
Life blast ahold be a blast finisher and Dark Path should count as a leap.
Transfusion is Necromancer’s best group utility. As long as your allies are in range, the heal tracks them. It is not hard to get 2k heals per DS, per person. Because few people need Putrid Marks and wells only work good on a stack, Transfusion is a prime support trait and cheap as an Adept.
Transfusion / wells is the only group support build that works for now. Cripples, chills, and blinds are distant runners up. It is the fields on wells, the wells themselves, and Necromancer’s poor ability to use fields that handicap it in group utility.
Necromancer already has Shroud Squats so it makes sense.
Blood fiend could certainly use something as it dies too easily for the heal and damage it gives. I know it was buffed last year but it is still inferior. MM has trouble with condition removal without a certain trait.
I understand your sentiment, Ratphink, but conditions meant to hold opponents in combat just see more cleansing. If Necromancer had more ability to prevent disengagement, then other professions would receive new abilities to prevent capture and lock-down.
This is the same circular balancing we have seen since release. Right now, Necromancer is officially “balanced” with the right amount of mobility and escape prevention.
Consider Guardian getting a bind and traps.
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“Necromancer is in a good state.”
We may not agree with that statement but I expect only the tiniest of impacts to PvP balance. The new specialization will probably focus on Necromancer’s PvE weaknesses; but even that will be cautious.
Expect some glitz and glitter with a bit of group support utility, and that GS will have cleave but work a lot like an axe-dagger with a new off hand utility.
Arenanet spent a lot of time balancing LF generation and DS. My gut reaction to the idea of using LF for something other than DS is that it would mess up their balance too much and so would be unattractive.
The simplest way to give Necromancer utility without affecting our “sustain” is to copy-paste utilities from another class that run in a direction completely different from the typical Necromancer builds.
I like the idea of using life force for something besides DS but still think it would interfere with their previous balance work. The specialization coming up will probably be boring shouts that give mediocre AoE buffs but would not rule out some other class’ utilities.
Meh not going to be excited untill we get something cool without much 111111111111111111 spamming on power necro.
A lot of the Lich skills are amazing – people just don’t use then. The AOE knockback/chill is brilliant and so is Grim Scepter – its damage is enormous, being AOE.
Sadly it’s much easier to just spam 1.
People do not have time to use them. The Lich skills take too long to cast with only 20 seconds on the transform now.
Brush Hog
Cursing Cleaver
Twirl O’Mancer
Dragon Chopper
Weed Whipper
Spiteful Sit ’n Spinner
Mordrem Smoothier
The Terror That Turns in the Night
Cursing Great Sword
Death Shouter
Town Crier
Dragon Wailer
Dark Paladin
Dragon Speaker
Dragon Spooker
Damage Sponge Bobbie
Injustice Juicer
Minion Spanker
Tanks for Revenant
Tanks for Death
Tanks for Everything
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I do not see how being hit offers any advantage for Necromancer. Even gaining Life Force on Spectral skills is a poor trade for losing health. I just chalked the comment up to them not understanding how Necro worked.
The green things are wings. Maybe they are insect wings but they are for flying like Guard and like Locust Swarm.
Or, maybe it’s a decorative swatch.
There will, eventually, be other specializations, too. Who knows; maybe next year it will be about swiping some ranged Ranger skills.
The dragonhunter art teaser had dragon gauntlets in it. So either those gauntlets or the hood are our specialization armor pieces. Can probably speculate a little off of that.
I believe it’s the sword.
But kitten , I wish art had Charr in it. Would look 100% better. And we can’t see anything bout ears and greatsword.
Fairly sure every class is the same race as their cover picture for the initial professions art.
This means the Engineer will be charr.
Charr will still be able to get the hoodie, though.
If I had a choice of more minions, I would want an Undead Scritt to run around swiping turrets, banners, and capturing spirits, elementals, enemy minions, etc.
Our minions should be disabling everyone else’s minions.
Most runes with strength cost more because power works better than anything else. That said, look at Privateer or just slot crests and gems.
Thread perversion time!
Name and describe 3 – 4 shouts for Necromancer! I will even start.
Complain – 180 radius AoE Fear and Torment on up to five enemies. Duration scales inversely to distance from the caster up to 3 seconds for Fear and 6 seconds for Torment.
Res Me! – 240 radius 10 sec AoE Taunt on up to five allies. Also works on pets, spirits, clones, turrets, elementals, banners, traps, and minions by destroying them for health instead of life force.
Margarita Mixer! – Necromancer and two allies automatically execute a whirl attack toward their individual targets. Any other attacks in progress when the shout executes are cancelled.
I Herd That! – summons three ghostly Harathi Tramplers charging in the direction the Necromancer is facing for 600 before disappearing back into the mists.
Won’t be spirits; Necro already has pets.
Neither will it be wells for the obvious reason.
There are several profession specialties that are similar enough to Necromancer’s like venoms and others that are so core to the profession that copying them is unlikely.
Look at current specializations on other professions to guess which had the best copy paste chance to fill a different play style. Shouts are pretty likely based on that but there are other options.
That symbol in the background is a set of putrid spectral wings similar to the shiny white ones Guardian has.
New hoodie skin condirmed
Instead of a tool belt, maybe DS 6-9 have mixes and somehow Necromancer selects which mix to apply to a weapon when not tossing potions.
Banshee is a female fairy, anyway. That specialization would require a total makeover for some.
With a GS and against plant monsters, how about Vegan. Sorry Sylvari
(edited by Anchoku.8142)
Maybe the teasers are misinformation; did you ever think of that?
What if GS is the new weapon but will combine traits with dagger in Blood Magic.
What if, instead, Necromancer got kits to mix up potions?
That thing behind the Asura could be a spectral kit.
(edited by Anchoku.8142)
Banners because that Asura is holding the sword as if it were a stick to skewer a minion and spit it over a slowly pulsing burning field.
So, it is obvious Necromancer will get banners substituting minion skills that drop fields and AoE conditions when staking our wandering, bumbling minions in place. The minions will become turrets like Engi because Engi is awesome and everyone but Necromancer will be able to use the fields for combos and auras.
It would make excellent sense to have Taunt, Defiance, Stability, Retaliation, Reflect, and Protect on a wells build.
That said, the odds are pretty low in my mind.
Posted responses thus far. Keep voting or change your vote. I will check back later this week to make updates.
Here is a thought; what if Necro got Mesmer-like glamours instead of shouts?
Feedback is a reflect
Null Field is an AoE boon strip and condition clear
Veil is stealth
And then there is portal.
If portal for Necromancer was vertical, green, and produced an Aatax minion with decaying health on the entry when Necro goes through…
Mesmer manipulations would have potential, too.
(edited by Anchoku.8142)
Arenanet is methodically copying one profession’s capability to another as a specialization.