Give mobs boons which are constantly applied and u have a good time.
Living World Season 1 had this with the Aetherblade invasion. It was a refreshing pace for the Necromancer of then.
Spamming ice fields whenever the skills are off cool down can be a problem when other professions are counting on being first, or only, down with another field.
I do not see how solo dps can be accurate if fields play a significant role. After all, only Necromancer can make much use of ice, anyway. Waiting for a field everyone can use for dps seems better. In group play, avoiding using an ice field might be better dps.
Epidemic is my favorite, though it is usually of little or no benefit. It does help with add’s, which can be a huge crowd control skill.
ANet needs to make fundamental changes to how Necromancer works, since they tried to port over mechanics from GW1 to GW2 while introducing far more direct counters without any benefits. The idea of “weakening” the enemy is cool, but it doesn’t work when so many things to counter conditions exist, which just wasn’t the case in GW1 when Necromancer’s theme worked.
I agree. Shroud makes Necromancer a square peg where all other professions are round.
Also, fear was actually very useful for groups in PvE at game release. Why not make it a thing, again?
On the bright side, months of complaints about the greatsword and the Deathly Chill over-nerf were heard.
I just hope the new elite line addresses sub-par group utility.
Personally, I like the higher prices for materials despite the expense in crafting. It helps all players make gold by gathering and salvaging. I still remember how low materials had gotten after release and season 1.
This way, you can get gold for playing.
I am testing Superior Rune of the Reaper, tonight.
I tried a hybrid build last night.
Viper’s equipment, Deathly Chill, and plenty of chill sources felt decent enough that a hybrid power-condi build did not feel like a dps nerf versus pure berserker and pure sceptre bleed spam.
I did a little bit of open world PvE last night and felt Deathly Chill was actually worth building a hybrid Reaper for. Greatsword may be traitable into a hybrid weapon, again.
I plan to run berserker-scholar with Reaper’s Onslaught, tonight.
Necromancer: “Hey, I’d like to bring a Reaper wells bui-”
Raid leader: “No!”
Necromancer: “But the light and dark f-”
Raid leader: “No!!”
Necromancer: “What if I stand next to-”
Raid leader votes to kick
Reaper and wells…
Will condi-copter be good enough for a raid slot?
Transfusion now transfers health from the Necromancer to up to 5 allies.
Soul Comprehension’s effectiveness has been increased from 20% to 25%.
Reaper’s Protection now additionally corrupts 1 boon.
Keep in mind that there are no runes that will suddenly let you win more fights, faster. Do not waste your Scholar runes or your berserker armor just to hunt for a slightly better option unless you are comfortable with the expense.
Berserker-scholar can help you kill mobs faster in PvE if you also pick max dps traits and have experience in both dodging and avoiding mobs linking. However, no rune set will keep you from winning, or from dying. They just do not influence your performance that much.
Many players choose runes and sigils for their added effects, such as 25% movement speed increase on the sixth bonus. Keep options like this open, too.
For now, I do not use Berserker-scholar in Lake Doric because mobs’ ranged damage is strong. One set of armor cannot fill every role or environment but most of the core game areas work well with Scholar or Strength, if you have the build and experience to run a full glass build.
Arenanet balance updates
All professions will be normalized to the same base health: 15,922 for level 80.
Epidemic now copies 5 conditions on the casting Necromancer to three enemies within a 360 radius.
The tool tip for Epidemic has been updated.
(edited by Anchoku.8142)
Both runes are good for power Necro so no one can complain about you wearing the wrong one. If I know I am going cap Might even without duration improvement, I use Scholar. The extra Ferocity does not go to waste if I drop below 90% health. On the other hand, if I know I will be short on Might, Strength makes more sense. They both cost close to the same – 2.5 to 3 gold.
You can easily try-before-you-buy, too. There are some really cheap runes that give good results. Want to be a Pirate? Try Privateer. Want a little extra healing? Try Vampirism. There are many runes that provide 175 power for a few silver that you can try, then crunch other runes over them when you get bored.
I try lots of weird stuff like adding Superior Rune of the Thief to cheap Carrion armor for the precision and 10% damage bonus in groups with a tank. Almost nothing I try makes a huge difference in game play but it is fun to experiment, sometimes. (I tend to carry around a lot of armor to support many build types.)
As a Necromancer main, I expect tool tip updates and nerfs.
For players who think leveling a few crafts to 500 is too expensive and takes too long, one set of ascended equipment utterly dwarfs getting to 500.
I know the change does not make people happy but ascended equipment is about game economy.
I crafted all three classes of ascended armor. The time and materials required were more than I can begin to describe.
Arena net will still offer ascended equipment at a discount to the pure crafting path.
Ascended equipment was too easy to obtain compared the enormous time and material sink of crafting. The change is about fairness but also about the BLTP and economy.
Edit: I expect legendary armor is also a factor. It will likely require at least some crafting, too.
(edited by Anchoku.8142)
Ghostly outfit from Halloween 2016.
You can preview it in your outfit tab. It will be back in the gem store.
Spotter is a Ranger trait that gives allies precision allowing them more frequent critical hits. Crit rate scales dps up a lot more than siphons.
Edit: with SoV, you should be using it as much as possible, and in the presence of allies, for the dps increase to be effective. Use it even if you do not need a heal.
(edited by Anchoku.8142)
The passive was meant to be a minor damage reduction in line with vampiric traits so Ookami understands it correctly.
I rarely use SoV anymore. Its heal was an early experiment in providing Necromancer with group utility through shareable siphons. However, SoV did not change Necromancer’s meta ranking. Likewise for Vampiric Presence. Spotter was, and is, far more popular.
Signets of Suffering was an attempt to give Necro might stacking and was the only reliable source until Reaper made it look insignificant. The boon corruption is good but ultimately unnecessary given the amount of stripping in the game while CtD is a solid dps increase in PvE and SS is good in PvP.
(edited by Anchoku.8142)
Pretend the next elite is torch.
If it is main hand, it will have a short range that does slightly more dps than AA. If it is off-hand…
I rank axe skills this way.
1 Unholy Feast
3 Ghastly Claws
99 Rending Claws
Axe is a lot better since it’s last buff, though, so RC move up a few hundred spots. If only it could do something besides being an irritant like, say, corrupt a boon every second hit, or proc burning on an ICD.
In my opinion, you do not need Viper’s to have a decent condition duration build so do not think 1000 gold will change a condi build from bad to good. It will just make it a bit better so you can use other runes and sigils but still not meta.
You will get about 14% duration from exotic trinkets and 13% from exotic armor.
Ascended armor increases duration by about 1% over exotic while ascended trinkets increase almost 5% to just under 19%.
Investigate the cost of exotic versus ascended before crafting or buying Viper’s and compare it to other sources of duration, unless you have plenty of time and gold. The recipes require more expensive components.
Exotic Carrion equipment with consumables, runes and sigils is a good way to get into a condition damage build for at expense. Sinister is a glassier build for higher dps.
Keep also in mind that all condition damage builds have less sustain and variety than power builds because LF generation is slower and you get fewer defensive CC skills.
There is also a way to play power, yet still use condition duration. This is an old idea from back at game release. Feel free to try it in world events. Start with your favorite power build, eat pizza and use a toxic focusing crystal, then slot Epidemic instead of a normal utility. Proc off a boss with other players’ conditions and watch the add’s melt. Make, or buy, a couple of exotic Giver’s weapons and add Malice for another 30% (60% w/consumables).
That is 60% condition duration on, for example, a berserker-strength shout Reaper for a weapon swap and one utility. Purists and min-maxers may not like it but for PvE events it works as well as anyone really needs.
For a condition damage build, there is only one weapon set that makes much sense: scepter/dagger. Scepter is the only significant source of condition damage in Necromancer’s toolbox. Dagger has both a condition transfer, which is extremely valuable if you use corruption utilities, and a boon corruption of its own.
Lingering Curse extends base bleed duration. From there, equipment with expertise like Viper’s (and Giver’s weapons), along with sigils, runes, food like pizza, and toxic focusing crystals will get you capped at double-duration (base + 100%).
Whether you need equipment for a condition damage build, or not, it is good to have one to switch to.
Contrary to what many assume, you do not exactly need Viper’s armor but it does help to get to 100% duration. The armor, itself, gives something like 20%. The rest comes from other sources so you can wear Carrion, Sinister, Dire, whatever, and still get close to the duration cap.
Food and toxic focusing crystals get you 30%, which is more than ascended Viper’s armor.
Rune of the Krait gives you 45% bleed duration where most of your dps comes from
Superior Sigil of Agony is 20% also extends bleed duration
Superior Sigil of Malice is 10%
These things, alone, will get you to the cap without spending a single silver on black diamonds.
Even a pair of single-handed Giver’s weapons with a Superior Sigil of Malice add 30%, though the Giver’s weapons sacrifice stat’s for the potent duration increase (10% duration vs. about 5% for a one-handed ascended Viper’s.)
(edited by Anchoku.8142)
the most innately durable professions in the game provide top-tier damage.
Lol.
Necro defensives are non-scaling. Great against things that deal low damage like trash mobs, terrible against anything with real dps.
% damage mitigating effects such as protection gained from Spectral armor and the bonus mitigation from Rise! are more potent the larger the incoming hit is.
The effective HP on the class is also roughly 2-4x that of all others given shroud.
If Necromancer has 2x to 4x more EHP than any other profession, then it stands to reason Necromancer gives up 2x to 4x more EHP than any other profession. This is a four and a half year old discussion and is why Life Force generation (and capacity) has been increased over the last several years.
There are other ways to mitigate damage than sucking it up in shroud. Minion Master builds are particularly tanky not because of Death Magic but because minions divert damage from you to them. A minion constitutes a wonky kind of damage immunity skill where you take no damage at all as long as your opponents ignore you and attack the minion (and you avoid AoE). Almost every profession has pets but Ranger, Mesmer, Scrapper, and Necro have pets that do very well at reducing incoming damage, so long as the opponent cannot lock onto the playing character and minimize the pets’ effectiveness.
(edited by Anchoku.8142)
Greatsword was designed to provide cleave. Necromancer did not have cleave before greatsword. It works best in PvE open world and dungeons.
Since raids were introduced fractals seem more casual.
What should anet balance around, if not the meta?
End game meta is my vote, too, though “meta” is a tricky term.
CPC was also on my mind. Like Transfusion and its ‘almost good if you look at it sideways’ heal, CPC is half as good as a damage reflect.
Necromancer still has a lot of its original “selfish” design philosophy buried in weapon skills despite the massive trait rework. The breadth of support skills Necromancer lacks is still holding the profession back.
Or
Other professions still need group utility or dps nerfs.
I do like the idea of boon corruption (as opposed to stripping) being a necessary squad capability but it will only be a partial fix because it makes Necromancer as much a one-trick pony as other professions.
Honestly, Transfusion was a step in the right direction but it is just not as capable or needed as, say, an AoE reflect. Maybe adding another skill with group utility will be enough to reduce the bias against Necromancer’s lower dps.
Necromancer does not have big on-demand party utilities. Boon share, stealth share, teleport, reflect, control effect, fire field, high condi dps, high power dps, AoE block, big AoE heal… I am sure there are others.
Without sufficient group utility, it does not matter whether Necromancer can solo open world better than some professions.
Lich and Plague both need huge utility buffs but Necromancer cannot be the only profession that has skills made irrelevant by power and defense creep.
Knockdown – Flesh Golem’s Charge
Stun – War Horn 4
Fear – shroud 3, Spectral Wall, staff 5 (not recommended)
Chill – various sources
Pull – Greatsword 5, Spectral Grasp
Push – Lich 3 (not recommended)
I enjoy playing condi-ranger.
I could understand lower dps if Necromancer brought some other utility to raids.
I joined a squad forming for Vale Guardian this afternoon. The organizer waited for 12 players to join the squad, then asked the other Necro and myself to drop out leaving raid without a Necromancer or a Reaper.
Personally, I am tired of Arenanet. They buff too hard, then they nerf too hard and leave it that way for another year. Necro has more utility than it did in the first couple of years. For that, I am grateful. However, raids still require specific mixes of professions and there is no room for a Necro in cooperative play.
I have no issue with the change
Use Lich for Tequatl burn phase and AA standing in the right spot.
Flesh Golem and Chilled to the Bone are useful most often.
This makes me want to run it. GW2 is normally unfriendly for grouping. Most other maps are extremely solo-friendly where players just do whatever and loot.
(edited by Anchoku.8142)
A leather farm locked behind a group and LS3 story?
For the GW2 team this is innovative. It is far better than the Bitterfrost berry-loot farm.
Yes, a split is the only good option and it is all Necromancer’s fault for being different.
Making detailed descriptions for major profession changes for the Dev’s to work on has never resulted in that “suggestion” being implemented.
It is often better to describe why the changes are necessary.
Your f1-4 descriptions are interesting thought exercises, though. Please keep sharing.
Use support builds in casual open world or pug dungeons. Here are some examples: Jormag gets a cleric wells build (1) because shroud forces a bundle drop, Orr temples get either a zerker or cleric shroud transfusion Reaper (2) to heal after AoE, Heart of Maguma event chains get zerker shroud shout with plenty of CC, and minions (4) occasionally get pulled out when soloing champs.
Hahaha!! You posted just a day before this guy called WoodenPotatoes uploaded this video about Reaper Healing.
Check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9whN4CCcd-0
Just watched WP’s video. I use those same traits for build 2, though I use cleric’s gear and rune of the grove. The protection duration can work with spectral utilities or wells.
End game has become unrewarding for me because there is less social interaction and more impersonal grind.
The newest areas, HoT+, do not encourage grouping, social dialogue and dependency, cooperative adventure, whatever keeps players chatting.
I’m fairly certain the medium armour mesh has an inbuild longcoat anyway, hence all the “buttcapes”.
Plenty of buttcapes on heavy. Light tends more towards the weird half skirts.
Half skirts with a poofy bottom. :/
I want my original monk’s outfit back! Thank Grenth for pirate and chef’s outfits.
Edit: Also khaki shorts, Ascelonian pants with normal skirt, town clothes, and many other old skins.
(edited by Anchoku.8142)
Alas, the human race was nerfed. I can no longer pop Prayer to Lyssa like candy for a random boon every few seconds. It was like having an endless bag of Skittles for a rainbow of boons, though it was useless in most situations and Necromancer was far underpowered at the time.
It is a good idea. I will take anything that will make greatsword good for more than blending trash mobs.
Maybe it will get buffed once a year until it socks less, like axe.