Guild Wars 2

I actually felt like a rat scurrying from one area to another in wvw just to avoid places I could easily get ranged from lol… I’m hoping that the portal, once it’s fixed, helps relieve some of that stress, but I did get kind of used to running a well there in place of it so we’ll see.

Justine, you’re going to have to keep me posted on the success… will you stick with mostly celestial?

Most of the builds that included any kind of condition aspect should be safe for the most part. But for a pure power build and a few others, the destruction of the soul reaping line completely removed the entire build. Instead of promoting build diversity, the patch has effectively reduced the amount of available options for power.

It hurts anyone who saw the value in speed of shadows. You are not alone, my fellow victim.

I’m not even concerned too much about the vital persistence nerf. It absolutely weakened the defensive portion of what we had, but the biggest nerf was to speed of shadows. Having shroud available every 7 seconds was a huge benefit for synergy with a dozen other rotations and traits. It’s amazing to me how much impact that 3 seconds can make when waiting for a stunbreak/stability among other things. Blighter’s boon is almost useless as a back up sustain now, especially with the vp nerf. They buffed spiteful spirit, but I have to wait 3 more seconds for that now too. Not to mention the timing for all of the weapon/shroud/skill rotations are thrown out of whack. It doesn’t matter how much more damage you think you can do if something can kill you faster than you kill them.

Edit: also, if you’re playing power reaper and relying on RS1 to do all of your damage, you’re doing it wrong.

Typically those who didn’t need SR were those who played braindead Condi based builds (to include hybrids). This was supposed to be the patch that buffed power reaper, not nerf them into oblivion.

Just played in wvw. Speed of Shadows nerf was the worst thing to ever happen, despite the destruction of vital persistence. Rip my main.

Power reaper was in a great spot before this patch. I play mostly wvw, but also some pve. The main issue I always had was condition removal on mine. I ran greatsword and axe/wh/f depending on needs. For utilities, I used spectral grasp (because I hate chasing down my targets), suffer (for small condi cleanse), and the third was usually up for grabs. My elite was always chilled to the bone because to me, it’s been the most superior elite we’ve ever received.

This patch has affected my build by changing the following (only mentioning the main changes):
Spectral grasp: I LOVE that it got the added functionality to pull up to 4 more targets. What I don’t love is the huge cooldown it received. I have used this skill on every build since playing necro because of our glaring disadvantage when it comes to the mobility versus any other class. The chill and the life force gain were always secondary to me when compared to having a way to better control the fight, especially on reaper where I want to actually have baddies close enough to me in order to boop them with my greatsword. I could live with a 30s cooldown, due to the new aoe functionality, but guardian greatsword has more utility on its skill 5 and is still on a smaller cooldown. Something to consider.

Vital persistence: I am absolutely all for this change. I’ve wanted to choose spectral mastery so many times to diversify my build, but just couldn’t due to how much shroud is needed to stay viable on power necro. HOWEVER, the decay mechanics absolutely should have been made baseline if it was going to be changed the way it was. I can totally see how we want to pave the way to scourge, and I think this change benefits them greatly since they won’t be as reliant on shroud as the other 2 specs. That said, unless the old vital persistence is made baseline, any shroud based specializations (2 out of the 3 that will be available) are going to be useless. Due to the lack of stun breaks and stability, I have always taken soul reaping for foot in the grave. We were given no other alternatives to replace such a crucial survivability, yet almost forced to drop the entire soul reaping traitline to go for blood in order to try and find other meager means of sustain that just don’t work. Making the old vital persistence shroud decay baseline would fix 98% of the issues necro and reaper have.

There are many more suggestions I’ve posted here and there thought the past few years regarding how to buff power necro/reaper. Turning focus 4 into a tether that pulses chill on bad guys in a pbaoe, and regen on myself, then rooting if they break the tether (like deathshroud 5) is one of them. Adding the ability to remove conditions every time you strike a chilled foe to blighter’s boon is another. With no cooldown… like that superpowered deathly chill trait. There are so many things that could have been done to help power specs not just become viable, but STAY viable for the future. I had dreams of seeing power reaper and condi scourge working hand in hand with each other, but the passive play of boring condition specs will always outweigh the difficult yet rewarding playstyle of an active and skilled power spec.

Give me revealed on axe 3 and a tether that pulses chill on baddies and regen on me for focus 4.

Add “hitting a chilled foe removes one condition” to blighter’s boon with no cooldown and all will be well in the world.

The Condi lovers revolted

Change deathly chill into remove a condition every time you strike a chilled foe (with no cooldowns as well) and I’ll never play anything else.

I’ve used axe for my power build for years now and have zero complaints about the buffs it got. I actually got yelled at by a few baddies for running a cheese condi build because I was corrupting so much of their boons… with axe/wh and my gs. It’s been a great few days in wvw

They’ve gotten somewhat close for GS5 since I have MUCH better luck using that without getting terrain blocked. I wish it would pull folks off of walls a little more reliably, but it still works. I hate the lack of range on it though.

Svarty.8019:

Warhorn:
-Proposed Solutions-

• Make #5 (Locust Swarm) a blast finisher : #5 Becomes Blast finisher & Swiftness.
• Move locusts from #5 to #4 (Wail of Doom) : #4 Becomes Locusts & Interrupt.
• Swap the names of #4 and #5 skills on Warhorn.

I would LOVE this. Another suggestion I have would be for focus… change the number 4 from a really bad bouncing projectile to a tether that pulses chill on the bad guy and regeneration on us. I wouldn’t mind if it pulled them or not, but we need another source of keeping the Olympic runners from kiting us so easily.

On that note, nerf drood staff 3 to the same garbage level that ele ride the lightning went to… 600 range like reaper shroud 2

A kit like engineeds would be fab

I love my warhorn. What I don’t love is:
Zone in to enemy BL.
Food – Check
Build – Check
Outnumbered buff – Check
Blow warhorn 5 to get this party started – Aggro something invisible before even leaving the starting area, thus wasting the skill and actually making it slower to get out there.

Gorgeous! I hate the fact that I’m going to need to drop power reaper for conditions, but meta demands it. However, after seeing this, I’m a little less hesitant. If only I could ensure I was in a group that cared when I get focused lol

Waffle.3748:

Thanks. We’ll do 5v5’s with power comp if you want to one of these days. As for cancer in the words of our GL when someone complained : “I know you guys run into our comp and it’s complete aids; an entire group of trailblazer **** and super tanky healbots, I probably wouldn’t even bother fighting us if I was in your position. From our perspective though, it’s the most flexible composition imaginable because it counters large unorganized blobs that don’t have team cleanse and it counters the current boonstack meta utilized by organized large groups. Our comp reflects what we spend 99% of our time fighting”.

Oh, don’t get me wrong, I understand why you guys run what you do and accept the fact that I shouldn’t be playing a power necro to fight a group of condi based foes. I have just gotten used to the playstyle of power and find it the most enjoyable. I find it more rewarding more times than not, although heavy conditions (especially at range) are a huge counter to what I run. I run gs instead of staff, so my transfers are further hindered. I’ve started dabbling in my old condi builds again because of the reasons you stated… I just feel extremely dirty doing it lol

I love watching all of the tRex videos I can find, especially when I’m in them. My power reaper can only do so much against that cancer though lol… your groups have excellent synergy and are fun to fight even when I’m on the losing side. Great work!

That was gorgeous!

I’d say projectile damage on initial contact, and pulses regen and the chill/cripple. Having it as a tether and removing the useless bouncing would give focus a HUGE benefit at longer ranges where it’s supposed to shine. As it sits, the bounces only shine at close range IF they aren’t obstructed by terrain… having a 1200 range doesn’t make sense in its current state.

Sarrs.4831:

Brigg.3961:

Make me immune to condis when I’m welding a gs or axe and I’ll love you forever.

if only Death Magic were a viable line, corrupter’s fervor would be a solid choice if the rest of the tree were a bit more suitable

To be honest, I completely forgot about that trait even existing… I haven’t touched death magic since vanilla days, and even then it was probably an accident. If they were to make vital persistence baseline, I’d advocate pushing fervor there to compete with spectral mastery. Corrupter’s fervor is something power necros need now more than ever with this condition meta and it should have easier access than having to take an obscure trait line just to get it.

Put revealed on axe 3 and give me another pull plox

Make me immune to condis when I’m welding a gs or axe and I’ll love you forever.

I think Reaper’s Touch for focus 4 would be great if it was a tether similar to dragon hunter f1 that gave me regen and either chilled or crippled the enemy. When activated once tethered, it roots. My biggest issue with power necro that I have is that my enemies always run away. If axe had a pull on it as well, I’d be in heaven!

I’m not sure if it’s just me or not, but I cannot purchase standard tuning crystals from the trading post. The ones that are listed are below 20c and I get a message saying that 20c is the minimum amount for purchase…?

That cooldown though…

Brigg.6189:

The only time it’s especially strong is on a zerk build. Zerk builds are difficult in this meta.

I would say it’s comparable to lich in team fight presence though.
http://www.twitch.tv/briggzgw2/c/6144168
http://www.twitch.tv/briggzgw2/c/6144230

And now I know why we have those little numbers in our names.

I have found that in a lot of cases, non-meta builds (whether via traits or utilities) can throw an enemy off balance. If I run into a necro in wvw, I can almost be certain it’s some sort of power build that normally I can defeat using my hybrid build (talking roaming and smaller skirmishes here). My build is more condi based with a lot of corruption 2/6/0/0/6. I can’t, however, get axe to synergize with it, be it due to my playstyle or general infamiliarity with the weapon. I miss the 900 range that scepter gives me. If axe was changed to have a 900 range, I would be one happy necro.

That said, this build, regardless of the less-than-optimal damage can soak a lot of damage and still keep the pressure on the opponent. In terms of powermancers and medi guards and even most d/d eles, once they blow their burst, they’re vulnerable. Sometimes I completely avoid that burst, sometimes I don’t. I am nowhere near the skill level of Holl and his amazing juking skills (LOVE the videos!), so I rely on dodges, toughness, and ds to carry me. I will tweak this build a bit more to see how it goes with my playstyle, but I definitely wouldn’t be so quick to criticize simply because it’s not meta. I completely understand the amount of damage the meta can cause and applaud those who are good with it! I just don’t like running builds that everyone knows how to counter.

Just tried this out somewhat in wvw. My gear doesn’t match, but the traitline itself is solid! One thing i have found out, is that it is a COMPLETELY different method of life force management than what I’m used to, but it definitely has a great synergy to it. More practice, proper gear, and this will become my new build.

It looks good for roaming and multi-person skirmishes. I know that in my guild, I cry a little whenever we run into a little group, as the first thing they always say is, “Focus the necro!” Also, from my experience, the opposing groups do the same. I love being able to survive long enough for my team to pick them apart, although we necros are usually lucky if we live through those encounters to the end. I just want a good roaming build for Frostfang, and this looks extremely promising!

Think I’m gonna try something like this today! I don’t have the funds or resources to make it spot on (due to the ongoing crafting of Frostfang), but I should be able to get somewhat close. Looks interesting!

If you like condis, go dire and substitute rabid until you find your sweet spot for survivability.

I don’t even care if he just sits there while underwater. I would just like to be able to chase someone through the water without losing my pet! It’s such a pain to take a long route to get to a contested camp in wvw just to keep him up. Normally, I’ll just sacrifice him anyway since he’s not usually a game changer, but i hate having to wait for the cd regardless.

The good thing I find with scepter, even in a hybrid build, is that it throws out so many conditions that it seems to keep the enemy under pressure, regardless of the damage. I don’t think I’d run this for a group or zerg, and I’m not sure how well it would work against more than one opponent if you’re solo. The high crit chance should allow decent additional condi sigil procs for even more pressure. Unless you really need the staff cd, I’d throw those 2 points towards the dark path corruption and grab foot in the grave over the crit chance in ds. Never underestimate the power of corrupt boon also. I’d advise that over one of the sigils. Basically, try it and tailor it towards your playstyle! Screw meta builds!

If they would just make poisons as the F2, F3, & F4 skills that some other classes have access to, I might use them more often… as opposed to never. I admit, I am not a skilled thief, and I die more often than I should because I can’t figure out how to play less aggressively. For those reasons alone, I find other utilities MUCH more beneficial to use over venoms. Shame too, since I loved how venoms worked in Everquest on mah rogue!

I’m happy with deathshroud, other than I wish I could at least see the timers for my 6-10 skills. The issue I’d have with deathshroud healing, is that I would fully expect condis to also hit through it as well, even if they were reduced in damage. As it sits, deathshroud is already a get-out-of-jail-free card in a bunch of different ways, AND it has a low cooldown. I don’t think the trade offs they would impose would be worth healing, in my opinion.

Well, phooey… I had thought all along that was really when they were going to hit. It will be awesome when they finally implement it though!

I already have 9 characters (one of each class and two eles). I don’t want to make any more characters… not until a new class or race can replace that second ele. Even with that, each of my characters currently have back skins already (sun catcher, scerelite carapice, fervid censer, desert rose, rox’s quiver, shattered and regular holo dragon wings, and a SAB toad backpack… the second ele doesn’t get one). I still have at least 6 others in my bank that have no homes. If they’d let engi’s skin their weapon kits separately, I could use up three of them, but I’d still have some left over as well as any future skins that they introduce. I have held off making the dwayna and grenth back pieces because of this. If they make these available to withdraw from the pvp locker at whim, I’ll be one of the happiest players in the game, even though some of the skins aren’t even really skins, but actual backpieces.

I was just reading up on that, but wasn’t sure if it will work that way or not. I REALLY hope it does!

… and only 9 characters. Will there ever be a way to implement all skins to use a system similar to zenith skins? I love the skins I have, and would be willing to use them if I could change them out for cosmetics only.My tequatl wings are rotting away with my oilspark backpack thingie and my antitoxin injector. My SAB backpacks are losing pixels! And my watchwork shoulders are getting rusty.

Have there been any discussions for an arcane elite? I have a build centered around arcane utilities, and my elite slot is the only one I’m not happy with. What would be some suggestions if they were to implement one?

Sogradde.8016:

Tongku.5326:

Nabrok.9023:

It’s not like there’s not an easy counter. Sweep and sentry and you should be fine.

Bay watergate among others …..

Do YOU want to be the one babysitting a dead mesmer corpse that stays there for many hours, as high as 6 hours straight ? Sweeps don’t exactly help with that.

You cant even go out of LOS of it, do you really wanna stay there entire time and spend half your weekend playtime doing nothing but that ?

Dead people time out after 10 minutes max. Your point is invalid.

There are ways around that. Your point is invalid.

But, I’m finding it difficult to have enough traits for one weapon set… I can only imagine the frustration at trying to trait for two different ones.

My normal set up for this was arcane shield in place of the glyph. I added the glyph to add even more conditions to the build, although with the arcane traits, they act more as crowd control than actual conditions, which i find more useful in this set up. I have found that I don’t really have issues with stuns, since they usually have some pretty noticeable windups and I have a lot of CC and defense. The issue I do have is with condition removal. It’s horrible. Earth focus 4 is really the only thing I have, and although it’s actually a decent CD (for focus), it’s usually not enough. I may have to forego the new heal and go back to ER to handle them.

Genius. I am gonna try that out tonight!

Those are good suggestions. I typically run renewing stamina on d/f, I think I just got caught up in the skill calculator. You are correct, however, in that this build has bad condi cleansing. Some day, maybe they’ll address that. I hate the potential amount of fun and cool builds that exist but aren’t viable due to conditions being a concern.

So, I’ve been messing around with a ton of traits and builds and weapons and etc… One of the funnest play styles I’ve come across is dagger/focus. I had also messed around a bit with arcane utilities (admittedly due to the new heal), and found them to be a bit of fun as well. Given the new ascended armors and such that have come out, what would you guys think about the following build?

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fEAQJAodnEEFaYlBSGwjYAgooFTEKewiyjYupGA-j0CBYfChkIBhMAM1UZNRVQsMsIasKkYaXER1Wzp2gOYW0JSKAtWGB-w

It’s a celestial centric build that has a bit of oomph with a lot of CC added. I may try to play around with it in exotic gear first, but I wanted to hear some thoughts about it for pvp and wvw roaming.

I just can’t wait till he faces NSP or IoJ in order to see what he’s missing

He’ll be crying about them tanking next lol

Banzie.5248:

Can HoD take on the coveted CD like they said they’d be on par with?! Doubtful. Let see how fast their fair weathers burn

Our fairweathers started burning out last week lol… hopefully this week gets rid of the rest of the weeds