Guild Wars 2

Velgor.4528:

1. Berserk always deal more DPS than a condi spec dosnt matter the class.
2. Necro dps is still on good medium stage.

Problem is just he dont have any offensive, defensive or utility support, just decent single dps….

I do think the Necro has a lot of access to offensive support, and some access to defensive support. In fact, I think the Necro’s specialty is offensive support.

The necro even in Berzerk form can have access to blind, cripple, chill, weakness, and fear, all in dependable, AoE form; these are defensive suppport. In terms of defensive support through boons: has access to heals, regeneration, and the best teamwide condition cleanses / control — all possible in Berzerk form.

Necro offensive support is mostly cripple, immobilize, chill, fear — and tons and tons of dependable vulnerability.

I think a lot of people overlook the necro as a powerful support because most people are used to more obvious forms of support such as healing and boons. But support is just as effective in the form of disabling your opponents — if they can’t do anything, you don’t take any damage. I think the necro is the class that embodies the saying “The best defense is a powerful offense”.

We all know that any profession can command just fine, but we also know that there are many different commanding styles, and that different professions bring different advantages to groups.

I’m looking to explore the differences in commanding style of Necro vs. Mesmer, and I welcome anyone reading this to brainstorm w/ me.

Off the bat, we know that the most important traits a commander needs to have are survivability, control, and support — in combat mobility / raw damage not so much.

So here are some of my thoughts:

Necromancer:
- Incredible personal survivability through regeneration, protection, chill + fear + blind + cripple, and of course life force/death shroud.
- Up-front battle style (If you use death shroud and plague form with retaliation)
- Access to stability through Death Shroud trait
- Excellent enemy control

I think the overall playstyle of the necromancer commander will be far more aggressive — in your face — taking on zergs / controlling and defending keeps and towers. In zerg fights, the necromancer commander strategy will be to just rawly overwhelm the enemy zerg through AoE control and conditions. Access to excellent zone control through wells, plague form, and marks.

Mesmer:
Also very good survivability through nearly constant uptime on boons (protection, regeneration, aegis), access to many stun breaks, and clone confusion. Access to distortion (extremely powerful).
Far far more team utility and access to tricky maneuvers (group invisibility and portal).
More evasive and tricky battle style — perfect for unorthodox plays and strategies.
Access to stability through mantra.
Excellent team support.

I think the overall playstyle of the mesmer commander can of course still be up-front, but is better suited for leading unexpected plays, approaches, strategies, etc. I see issues however with using portal because PUGs tend to mindlessly follow the commander. Access to time warp on command is a powerful tool for taking down keeps/towers and getting the turning hand on zeros — since PUGs will ball near the commander.

These are my thoughts — I’m not claiming either is better or worse overall, just better or worse for certain niches as the class demands. I do think the mesmer can be a far sturdier class than most people let them on to be — and I do thing that the necromancer can provide far more massive control then most people let them on to be.

Give me your two cents! Agree? Disagree? Added thoughts?

Thanks!

I’ve been scouring the internet for a study done on this, but the best study thus far included every class except for necromancer..

I have 2 things I’ve been wondering:

1. In a span of, say, 60 seconds, does necro DPS max out in a condition spec, or a power spec?

and

2. How does necro DPS in its max spec compare to the max possible DPS in other classes?

If you guys have ideas, thoughts, impressions, I would gladly like to hear them. If there’s no concrete study done on this I’m considering doing my own because Ithink this would contribute a lot to the necromancer community.

Thank you VERY much guys, this was what I suspected.

And to the fool who asked me if I play Necromancer — the better question is if YOU play necromancer.

Wondering which weapon dishes out max the max DPS, period.

I’m not interested in survivability or range or DPS — if there are numbers somewhere — I know that the Axe deals the highest NUMBERS with Ghastly Claws — but which deals the highest damage / second over say a 10 second time span?

Thanks !

Ah you make good points — I set out that argument to kitten the validity of my claims you two make good points — I haven’t been in the game for many months.

@Drarnor — did you mean Necros are good spot for PvP? Or did you mean what I described is the ideal scenario but that the PvE environment shuts down that ideal environment?

I do still think Necros manage to provide some utility.

I also heard that Necros can output some of the most DPS through power builds.

Bhawb.7408:

The issue isn’t that you can’t run multiple Necro builds in PvE, or that X is bad. Minions can be run in PvE (although they scale events so…), power can be run, condi can be run. In fact, power necro has the highest DPS of any build I know of.

The issue is that Necros bring AWFUL group utility, and don’t have anything to make up for it.

Why?

Necros bring lots of condition control — draw conditions from allies — resend to enemies.

Lots of AoE Condition Spread — chill, fear, cripple, immobilize.

Boon stripping, vulnerability. Also regen for allies in AOE form.

I think necros bring utility to teams in an unorthodox way — through control. You know, AoE conditions brings a LOT of team utility-- for example when:
- The boss enemy or whomever takes 5% extra damage from all sources due to vulnerability stacks.
- A boss or whatever who relies on intense AoE conditions such as bleed or burning is suddenly not only rendered useless, but also fed his own conditions.
- Melee bosses are rendered useless through cripple, immobilize, and chill.
- All bosses rendered useless through fear chaining.
-Bosses who rely on boon stacking such as regeneration, protection, aegis are all of a sudden standing naked and neutered.
- Necros also provide many combo fields and AoE support through wells.

These all provide pretty good team support!!! I THINK YOU ARE WRONG!! Necros are pretty kitten kitten

I would go as far as to assert that necros might be among the best team support through versatility and just utter shut down!

Here’s what I think ~~

I think the game is about either 1v1 ability, survival (bunkering), or pure damage. Everything else doesnt matter cuz it blends in in large scale groups and battles.

So what I gather from all this are that warriors and guardians reign supreme ~~ necros can sometimes be helpful. Eles and Mesmers are the supports. Across most game modes.

Yes?

Edited by moderator: became off topic

Agreed.

I think these are very valid and real points. Too many things in PvE are not affected by conditions enough.

Luke.4562:

Run away……

Meaning?

So you would say — current state of game..
WvW / PvP: Classes who maximize conditions (E.G. engineer, necro, thief)
PvE: Classes who maximize damage output (E.G. warrior, ranger, ele)

Hey all. SO I took a big break and am back — wondering about the current state of the game regarding class imbalance and/or niches for certain classes.

Would someone be able to provide some overall breakdown of what each class provides and what kind of personality each class might be suited for?

Long time ago I played mesmer and necromancer, thoroughly enjoyed both. I know people will tell you to just go in the game and try it out but it’s difficult to tell how a class will pan out come late game.

Thanks in advance!