Guild Wars 2

Azure The Heartless.3261:

DrDivine.5378:

Elegie.3620:

Hello,

DrDivine.5378:

I use LB/ sword and axe and the new changes attack a lot of the utilities and stuff I use, I understand balance, but do you think this will severely hurt warriors?

Honestly it’s hard to tell without testing. My thoughts for now:

• In PvE, the challenge has shifted a long time ago from clearing obstacles to clearing them as fast as possible. If anything, the changes can only introduce new inter-classes rotations to accommodate for better DPS. As for the warrior retaining his prominent role in these, only those bothering to min/max could tell – and of course they’d need more info about the changes to come for other classes – but I cannot see the warrior thrown out of an optimized party yet.
• In PvP, it’s harder to predict. The change to adrenaline suddenly makes burst errors less forgiving against good players, so I’d say things could become harder for mid-level players. High-level players might not see a change, because they already manage their bursts well. However, note that Conquest Mode heavily relies on the longbow, with its burst being legitimately preemptively activated on nodes as often as possible, so it’ll actually depend on whether shots not hitting opponents still trigger Cleansing Ire (i.e. still allowing for automatic condition management).
• In WvW, it would depend on your roles. I suspect that frontline warriors won’t see too much a difference because it’s harder to miss when in zerg melee, and a miss can somehow be compensated by the performance of teammates. Roamers, on the other hand, could see some change, because they’re bound to fight duels or small-scale combats, where missing is more critical. Again, good players already manage their adrenaline and prepare their bursts, so this would primarily affect less experienced players.

IMHO, and that remains to be tested, the changes look good on paper, because:

• They somehow require that the warrior now manage his adrenaline in a more subtle way than simply attacking as much as possible. If warriors could eventually come to active management of conditions and health, then things would become even more interesting – we’re still not here though, despite the patch.
• They try to improve underused skills, thus increasing build diversity. Still, these changes sadly remain very minor – for instance when compared to introducing a secondary class system…

Regards.

I will say though, one change I really like is when you miss your burst attack, it does not use the adrenaline. Combine that with the fact that signet of rage grants 50% adrenaline and I think it will still work, its more of just skills that got shifted around.

You may have made a typo.

Missing a burst attack -does- cost you all adrenaline.

if you whiff a burst, you lose your adrenaline and any chance at proccing cleansing ire.

You’re right though. with signet of rage building adrenaline twice as fast, we have compensation for it.

Can’t tell how that makes me want to use [Rampage] though.

I may have read that part wrong, it seems like signet of rage is gonna be one of the primary adrenaline boosters which I’m okay with because I usually open a fight with that signet. As much as I would really like warriors to stay the way they were, I’m trying to keep in mind that this isn’t to make another class superior, it’s to make it an even fighting ground.

“We reworked how the adrenaline works. Currently, your adrenaline is only consumed if you hit with your skill (i.e. if you miss with Eviscerate, your adrenaline is not consumed). Now If you miss your adrenaline dump skills, you will lose adrenaline”

“Berserker Stance – Previous this skill gave just under 5 full bars of Adrenaline which was a lot. Adrenaline gain reduced by 40%, you can only get a full 3 bar of adrenaline.”

“Impale – This offhand sword skill previous had over 100% upcoming on Torment, we felt this was too much. We have reduced torment duration from 12s to 8s.”

These are the three that will hit my warrior the hardest, but I feel like it still can be worked around. That other half of adrenaline boost you get from berserker stance is getting moved to signet of rage so you still have access, its just spread out lol.

Elegie.3620:

Hello,

DrDivine.5378:

I use LB/ sword and axe and the new changes attack a lot of the utilities and stuff I use, I understand balance, but do you think this will severely hurt warriors?

Honestly it’s hard to tell without testing. My thoughts for now:

• In PvE, the challenge has shifted a long time ago from clearing obstacles to clearing them as fast as possible. If anything, the changes can only introduce new inter-classes rotations to accommodate for better DPS. As for the warrior retaining his prominent role in these, only those bothering to min/max could tell – and of course they’d need more info about the changes to come for other classes – but I cannot see the warrior thrown out of an optimized party yet.
• In PvP, it’s harder to predict. The change to adrenaline suddenly makes burst errors less forgiving against good players, so I’d say things could become harder for mid-level players. High-level players might not see a change, because they already manage their bursts well. However, note that Conquest Mode heavily relies on the longbow, with its burst being legitimately preemptively activated on nodes as often as possible, so it’ll actually depend on whether shots not hitting opponents still trigger Cleansing Ire (i.e. still allowing for automatic condition management).
• In WvW, it would depend on your roles. I suspect that frontline warriors won’t see too much a difference because it’s harder to miss when in zerg melee, and a miss can somehow be compensated by the performance of teammates. Roamers, on the other hand, could see some change, because they’re bound to fight duels or small-scale combats, where missing is more critical. Again, good players already manage their adrenaline and prepare their bursts, so this would primarily affect less experienced players.

IMHO, and that remains to be tested, the changes look good on paper, because:

• They somehow require that the warrior now manage his adrenaline in a more subtle way than simply attacking as much as possible. If warriors could eventually come to active management of conditions and health, then things would become even more interesting – we’re still not here though, despite the patch.
• They try to improve underused skills, thus increasing build diversity. Still, these changes sadly remain very minor – for instance when compared to introducing a secondary class system…

Regards.

I will say though, one change I really like is when you miss your burst attack, it does not use the adrenaline. Combine that with the fact that signet of rage grants 50% adrenaline and I think it will still work, its more of just skills that got shifted around.

warriorjrd.8695:

DrDivine.5378:

warriorjrd.8695:

Axe offhand is getting a pretty big buff though, but cleansing ire needed tweaking anyway, so more of a fix than a nerf.

Really? can you tell me what the buff is? xD, and yeah, even though I LOVE cleansing ire, it did need some work. I guess I was a bit spoiled.

Axe 5 is getting 17% damage increase ( I believe thats the number) and I think a CD reduction, not 100% sure of the CD change, but I do know the damage was increased quite significantly.

Ah nvm then I realized I use axe mainhand

warriorjrd.8695:

Axe offhand is getting a pretty big buff though, but cleansing ire needed tweaking anyway, so more of a fix than a nerf.

Really? can you tell me what the buff is? xD, and yeah, even though I LOVE cleansing ire, it did need some work. I guess I was a bit spoiled.

I use LB/ sword and axe and the new changes attack a lot of the utilities and stuff I use, I understand balance, but do you think this will severely hurt warriors?

Shaogin.2679:

http://intothemists.com/guides/4232-zhaos_fteg_engineer

This is one of the builds I’ve been using. Survival is nice, I’ve been able to maintain up to 20 stacks of might, and damage comes from rotating through burst skills while controlling opponent with cc. Still working on finishing typing up the guide for it.

I also play another bunker build that runs Bomb Kit, Tool Kit, and Elixir Gun. It has a bit more survival and focuses on condition damage. I haven’t made a guide for that one yet, but if you’re interested just message me and I’ll throw one together real quick for ya.

Link isn’t working

ukuni.8745:

This is what i use and most likely what your looking for

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fdAQFAUlUUpdrlcxPLseRiaBNqzE6bkxAIyPmlPFBA-TJhHwAEeAAb2fAwFAwYZAA

its able to upkeep 9-12 might from swapping and able to get upto and over 20+ might if you blast the fire field from bomb kit, its hps is 800+ with super elixir down and 500+ with just regen and bomb spam, your able to do huge blast finish combos in the healing turrets water field to get a 10k’ish heal which is repeatable every time healing turret is up, you can easily combo your skills together to achieve some really high damage, and your CC is amazing, now its not so much a bunker as it is a a team support machine, as in you want to get around the team fights with this build since thats where i can offer the most to your team.

the flamer one you speak of could be refering to a decap build thats designed purely to decap and recapture a point without killing its enemy as fast as possible and there are a few ways to run that.

I was trying this build most of yesterday and today and I really like the playstyle, I guess I’m looking for something a little more tanky and able to hold on it’s own rather than relying to be in the middle of a huge fight. I’ve been running into a lot of other engineers that have sort of the decap build and they just rip me apart lol

ukuni.8745:

This is what i use and most likely what your looking for

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fdAQFAUlUUpdrlcxPLseRiaBNqzE6bkxAIyPmlPFBA-TJhHwAEeAAb2fAwFAwYZAA

its able to upkeep 9-12 might from swapping and able to get upto and over 20+ might if you blast the fire field from bomb kit, its hps is 800+ with super elixir down and 500+ with just regen and bomb spam, your able to do huge blast finish combos in the healing turrets water field to get a 10k’ish heal which is repeatable every time healing turret is up, you can easily combo your skills together to achieve some really high damage, and your CC is amazing, now its not so much a bunker as it is a a team support machine, as in you want to get around the team fights with this build since thats where i can offer the most to your team.

the flamer one you speak of could be refering to a decap build thats designed purely to decap and recapture a point without killing its enemy as fast as possible and there are a few ways to run that.

I’ll try that one out too! It would also really help if you could message me and give me the quick run around of how to use the build efficiently.

Mayama.1854:

vincecontix.1264:

Honestly though if you are new and want fast results just play bunker turret engi xd

Just dont forget to disable whisper from your allchat

LOL I know all about the hate of turret engis xD, I was hoping to dive into something different though.

vincecontix.1264:

You can try my build they are pretty bunkerish

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxnsNysvq9w

This is me using the spvp build in wvw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khFMcw2guIs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Jc8WeRStOc

Swap out power shoes for stabilized armor is you want to be even more bunker.

I shouldve probably noted I’m looking for builds for pvp xD, I’ll check this one out thank you!

I saw this one engi use two different builds I kinda liked but couldn’t contact him. The first was a bunker that gave him 10-15 stacks of perma might, the second seemed to revolve more around the flamethrower.

I have about 100 tomes of knowledge and kinda wanted to try an engi next, anyone know of any really awesome bunker builds to hold a point in pvp?

Neko.9021:

So here’s the thing.

In people’s opinions, yes, Spirit Ranger is considered “cheese” because it’s very easy to play. If you value people’s opinions over your own effectiveness or preferred playstyle, then I suppose you could play something else.

However, at the moment, Spirit Ranger is still the best support build for the Ranger, and it is probably the strongest built for the Ranger in PvP at the moment.

My advice? Don’t bother with what people feel is cheesy or not, if you’re focused on being effective. Most of the complaints about Spirit Ranger are for how effective it is for so little effort. In my opinion, that’s really not a reason to stop playing it if you want to play Ranger. Why wouldn’t you play what is both highly effective and easy to play?

I’ve tried standard power and condition builds and I liked them a lot too, I guess when I brought my condition ranger/power ranger in pvp though and not dueling, I didn’t feel like I was helping the team much. Team mates seemed to really benefit from the stone and sun spirit especially, and I would use wolf and drakehound for typical crowd control while staying fairly tanky. I was just curious if there was a build better suited to support team members in pvp in terms of functionality. xD

Dahkeus.8243:

Yea…it’s by far one of the easiest specs to play since you can pretty much just cast your utility skills on cooldown and spam weapon abilities without much though. Good timing with spirit rezes and dodges with the sword are the only parts of the build that seem to involve much thought.

The reason we were trying spirit ranger is our team seems to like the buffs and the utilities do help a bit. Do you have any suggestions for a ranger build that would better benefit a team in pvp?

I’ll be honest, in pvp me and my friend run spirit rangers because of the buffs and helps with crowd control in team fights, I always wondered though as it seems like people seem to really, really hate spirit rangers.

Are they kinda in the same category as minionmancers, PU mesmers and hambows as in considered cheese?

Curunen.8729:

Can you recall from the buff bar which mantras they were running?

Seems a bit weird – a PU build should kitten all over any pure mantra build, especially in a 1v1.

I’m trying to remember, this was a dueling room so it focused on 1v1 but he bested me and a warrior. I almost had him, but he had an extra charge on all skills so he was able to best me and that warrior. I just remember seeing a lot of mantra icons before entering.

I’m probably going to get scolded for this, but on my mesmer I run a PU build as the suitability and damage has been so helpful in pvp I can hold my own against most builds. And then theres my signature nightmare in pvp, the mantra.
Mantra is one of the few builds that really wall my mesmer, and in general, I seem to struggle the most fighting against other mesmers due to all the clones. Is it possible for a PU mesmer to outpace a mantra build?

I’m probably going to get scolded for this, but on my mesmer I run a PU build as the suitability and damage has been so helpful in pvp I can hold my own against most builds. And then theres my signature nightmare in pvp, the mantra.

Mantra is one of the few builds that really wall my mesmer, and in general, I seem to struggle the most fighting against other mesmers due to all the clones. Is it possible for a PU mesmer to outpace a mantra build?

ukuni.8745:

tankie multikit engineers are most vulnerable to rapid reapplication of conditions, condi bombing them can be effective but baiting out there heal the reapplying the conditions as fast as possible is the most effective way to take an engi down.

There’s two types of bunkers I go up against, I don’t know much about playing an engi but it’s either the all out supply kit turret engi, or a supply kit flamethrower engi, both of which usually have a stack of 10-15 perma might.

Dumb question, but as soon I made the mysterious vine I noticed it automatically unlocked the skin, I’m guessing this piece will be upgraded similar to the spinal blades in the next patch, but will I be able to still do this if I use the wardrobe instead of the actual back pack piece?

I’m not going to be that guy and say “OMG THEYRE TOO OP” as I don’t feel that is the case, I just struggle with them a bit on certain characters. I have a zerker necro, blackwater mesmer,, spirit ranger and an axe/sword warrior. For some reason, my ranger is rather well against them, my warrior does pretty good too as he mostly just does high damage fast enough to down them.

My mesmer can be good, sometimes they hit too hard though, and they usually completely wall my zerker necro. Asking for advice on constructive criticism if I were to use let’s say my blackwater mesmer, etc. what is the best way to defeat a good bunker engi with supply crate and possibly a flamethrower?

I’m having a bit of trouble with this profession, I found a pretty good build for P/D that uses the utilities you’d expect, the problem I’m having is the use of stealth and the damage output.

I feel like my mesmer can stealth my thief in that when I stealth with my mesmer, I can’t be seen. When I try using shadow refuge or 5 on the dagger and stealth, people are still hitting me as if they can see me along with necro pets and ranger pets. I may be doing something wrong, but I’m always pinpointed lol.

The damage output I feel like it’s almost there, I’ll have a really good head start fighting someone, they’re almost down, but as they get under the threshold I’ll be out of initiative and have nothing left that hits them hard enough to down them before they kill me.

I guess I’m in need of a bit of help on the playstyle of thief, suggestions of builds, weapon combinations, etc. are greatly appreciated.

I’m sort of new to thief in pvp, I’m good with mesmer, necro, ranger and warrior but thief has had sort of a learning curve. It’s fun, but for some reason I had trouble getting the hang of P/D I guess for the reason that I miss that shadowstep sword gives you to close in.

Have you ever used that weapon combination before?

I’ve been trying different builds and recently tried a melee spirit ranger that uses GS and sword/warhorn (sometimes dagger) and it’s pretty fun. I don’t really see the GS as a weapon I’d keep out, usually I just use it to close in and block/stun before switching to sword.
It kinda made me curious, are there people who actually use GS on ranger? Or is it mostly outclassed by other weapons?

I’ve been trying different builds and recently tried a melee spirit ranger that uses GS and sword/warhorn (sometimes dagger) and it’s pretty fun. I don’t really see the GS as a weapon I’d keep out, usually I just use it to close in and block/stun before switching to sword.

It kinda made me curious, are there people who actually use GS on ranger? Or is it mostly outclassed by other weapons?

After capping a necro, warrior and mesmer I finally decided to try a ranger knowing all the bad things my friends have told me about the profession. After getting past a lot of the frustrations as it had sort of a learning curve, I surprisingly like using my ranger.

People have always told me run short bow as my ranged weapon (I usually run a melee ranger) but I found myself liking the longbow as it seemed to hit harder. Pairing the wolf and krytan drakehound is also especially annoying because of all the stuns, fears and knockbacks with decent damage. I can see why people hate them in WvW because I haven’t much use for my ranger in terms of major support, I think it’s in PVP where they truly shine.

Durzlla.6295:

They give them to all players in sPvP to maintain balance, for example, if you were a GW1 player you’d be able to run 2 spiders who both have an immobilize F2 due to the black widow. However if they were exclusive a non GW1 player would NEVER be able to.

That makes more sense, I was kinda wondering why they did that, so it was basically like gw1 players being able to run two jungle spiders, two ravens, etc.?

I found this very strange, but I always thought the black widow, the white raven, etc. were kind of a fun skin to show off for people who played Guild Wars 1, I especially like to use my white raven in pvp.

However, I found out yesterday that in pvp that the HoM pets are given to all players despite their HoM points. The pets are the same as let’s say the normal raven, jungle spider, etc. why give them to all players if they;’re just a skin you have to earn?

I run sort of a hybrid condition build I made myself, but I’m looking for something that can hit very hard and deal with most threats. I use staff and sceptor/pistol with 0/5/3/3/3 traits

I know this one particular condition mesmer that is one of the best pvp players I’ve seen yet, when he defends a point, he was easily dancing around 3v1 with his mesmer no problem. He looks more competitively into builds and Ikinda wanna do the same, any advice on a good build?

OrianZeta.1537:

A lot of this relative enjoyment has to do with ranger bow skills being quite lame. Thief, warrior and even the conjured frost bow are more exciting and useful than a mostly vanilla turret. It’s best not to think of the insult it actually is to make other classes more interesting at range than a ranger.

the bow for the ranger isn’t exactly boring, particularly the shortbow where I do like the rapid fire bleeding and the back jump dodge, I’ve seen people use bows exceptionally well. Me on the other hand, I found myself dying a lot as I didn’t have much recovery and only average dps. I may try it again now that I’ve had more practice as a ranger, but so far melee ranger has worked a lot better for me so far.

DeceiverX.8361:

S/GS are already considered pretty solid weapon loadouts for the ranger. Most of the complaints revolve around the fact that the class description is a blatant lie and that the theme of the archer “ranger” doesn’t really exist anywhere in the game. The closest thing really to it in terms of playstyle is P/P thief imho.

To be honest, I’m kinda glad it’s a lie. I found the bow playstyle pretty boring compared to thr sword/GS set. There’s a lot more moving around and I think it kinda makes them forget about your pet at times

gawker.8340:

I found the trap ranger very strong too. It would be nice to experience that kind of “immortal” feeling on a Longbow power specc.

I love trap rangers, on this melee ranger I use traps and it works very well. I tried spirit but maybe it was just me but I couldn’t play it very well.

Nike.2631:

Just play it.

The problems will speak for themselves.

So I’ve been trying a ranger in pvp these past couples of days and a lot of the problems really hit me in the face. I had such a hard time dealing with most classes, though did well against thieves for some reason.

Strangely enough, it wasn’t until I went to an all out melee ranger with greatsword and sword/warhorn that I was actually able to perform very well. It could just be my taste in playstyle, but the sword added a new dynamic as it basically gives you extra dodgerolls in addition to cripples and poisons and made me a much harder target to keep track of. Ranger does require a lot of multitasking as you have to keep an eye on things like setting traps, switching pets at the right time, etc. but overall once I tried this build it was so much fun.

shadowpass.4236:

It’s a fun playstyle, that’s for sure. I main a power ranger myself. Longbow (or Greatsword)/Sword-Axe

(its just sword and greatsword btw, no shortsword haha)

With a longbow + melee weapon set, you will find that it is actually better for your enemy to close range on you first before you swap to your melee set.

Yeah sorry idk why I call it shortsword idk lol

Prysin.8542:

i play the same set myself, albeit i rotate between axe offhand and warhorn for DPS or movement. It is a bit “weird” to play melee ranger, but it sure is rewarding.

glad to hear I’m not the only one, I basically have that build with a bunch of traps, it’s strangely rewarding to play melee ranger.

So I’ve tried using ranged weapons with my greatsword including the shortbow and axe but for some reason, I really struggled to kill anyone in PVP. I got bored today and paired my greatsword ranger with a shortsword and warhorn and surprisingly, it worked infinitely better for me.

The shortsword has some of my favorite ranger skills, , it gives you good cripples, poisons and dodges which kinda adds a new dynamic. Whenever I would charge with greatsword and then dodge around and stab with shortsword, it kinda played like the unholy lovechild of a warrior and a thief haha.

After capping a mesmer, warrior and just recently a necromancer, I decided next I’d make a ranger. I’ve heard all the horror stories of this class, but I’ve seen one or two really good ones that kind of convinced me to choose it in PVP.

I’ve been messing with different builds and the class is actually fun to play, I feel like I haven’t gotten down the right traits and skills yet that work together efficiently. I was kinda liking the dual axes better than the shortbow, but I’m not a professional ranger player.

What skills/traits do you think you would use?

warriorjrd.8695:

If you want to use a rifle you’re going to be disappointed. Ranger is more of a naturalist class as opposed to a “ranged” fighter. Rifles and pistols aren’t natural, and as a result rangers don’t use them. I would suggest just playing the ranger first before trying to get a solid build. Get a feel for the class, because ranger isn’t easy to play. You can run a good build, but if you aren’t affiliated with the class, you won’t preform well with it.

Sorry idk why I thought rifle haha, I used to play one in GW1 so I was kinda curious to see what changes were made

I recently just capped my third character, giving me a mesmer, warrior and necro. I know this is going to sound ridiculous, but I’ve had the greatsaw greatsword skin and the black widow pet I never used and was considering using both to make a ranger as my next character.

Yeah, I’ve heard bad things about rangers in general, but after seeing one or two in pvp that were surprisingly really good, I kinda wanted to try one out for myself. Is anyone here experienced with rangers? If so, I’m thinking about using Greatsword and rifle with black widow and white raven, any advice?

rincewind.9528:

Well, I got both the Panda and the Doly Tonic first because I couln’t decide wich one I wanted more.
So, I would choose Panda. Because cute.

I guess panda rules this forum lol

I’ve got four rewards so far and for the next 1600 I’m deciding on whether I should get the panda or the slickpack, what do you think?

Bhawb.7408:

Ozzy Toxin.3074:

its still too easy, just like the other classes that have ai massing builds. I say delete them all and bring back the skill in the game (mm, turret engi, spirit ranger, (Mesmer would not be so bad if they couldn’t just stealth away-.-) even ele’s elemental)

ps I realise Mesmer cant be deleted =p

Except only two other professions have true AI builds, Mesmer (PU) and Engi (turret). Spirits have no AI at all, they are just slightly different banners, and no other profession can successfully run a summon build.

Also, what skill? The majority of popular builds have just as little skill as MM without all the bugs or weaknesses of MM and far more effectiveness.

Rolyate.6753:

MM is ok, but it is out of your personal control as to whether your minions survive. Thus at higher tiers, they are very easily countered.

The issue however, is the simple effectiveness of such a passive build, as certain builds find it hard to put out the aoe pressure required to kill of minions.

This isn’t at all true, if you know how to build and want to go that route (hence: knowledge intensive, not execution). If you want minions to survive though its fairly easy to make it happen.

The big issues with MM right now is the completely passive traits and the ease that they can beat certain builds with no meaningful input (as far as them being too strong situationally, there are plenty of other issues).

Refer to: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/balance/Giving-Counterplay-to-Minions/

Yeah, I always found it strange that MM get singled out as relying on AI when classes like engis and mesmers use similar methods but are considered strategic. Doesn’t it all come down to how good you are regardless?

ArmageddonAsh.6430:

I think its more due to the fact that you aren’t really doing anything. Just like Mesmer and Phantasms. They are just summon and forget. Sure you have the special attack but other than that its just let them run wild.

Yeah I can see that argument, isn’t the basic idea to just overwhelm your enemy with AI minions and conditions?

I’ll be honest, I used to play necro in gw1 and it was my favorite class as I liked the idea of summoning the undead. I decided to make a necro for my next character and without researching anything, I did the typical all skills as minions and fired away.

However, despite me being able to tank most classes and get good points in pvp, I noticed how some players shunned the idea of necromancers using minions because it’s “OP.” Is this true?

GoogleBrandon.5073:

DrDivine.5378:

I appreciate the detailed insight of necro builds. I’m going to be honest with you, when I decided to make a necro as my next character I didn’t really research the meta, I remembered myself liking the minions in GW1 and wanted to see if the play style was still similar. Maybe I’ll play witha power or condition build and see how that works as well!

I’ve been enjoying the minion build as it actually did help me with the abundance of hambows I go up against. I used a custom warrior and would get stomped by hambows all the time. My necromancer, on the other hand, unusually tanks everything and gets rid of them no problem.

GW1 MM and GW2 were completely different though, as you were “managing” your minions there rather than commanding their only skill…
GW2 minions are only bound to a cooldown on death, so there is not much in depth managing aside from the blind from Shadow Fiend and the immobilize from Bone Fiend… The real art is gone, and that is imho a shame… They really made the most complex Necromancer Build completely braindead in GW2, and as you might’ve realized, people are kind of through with braindead builds

By the way, even though I am generally outspoken about MM necromancers, if it works for you then don’t force yourself to play something different… Know however that there are situational better builds, but those are only existent when playing as a team – safe to say MM necromancers peform (too) well in SoloQ due to the lack of teamwork, so a 1v1 build like that is bound to assure you victories…

This is kind of a shock for me but I do appreciate the input as I am in no way a professional when it comes to pvp. I can do pretty well, but all of my characters are custom built so it’s give and take.

I am kinda disappointing about the MM necro I guess being the “hambow” of necromancers. It was my favorite class in GW1 because I loved the idea of summoning the undead and wanted to see if that similar feel made a return here. I tried to make my own minion build, which has been doing extremely well against almost all threats except for some really good mesmers and engis, but thats about where it ends. Even guardians, a class I’ve always struggled to go up against, my minion necro destroys them with ease, which I guess supports your point haha

GoogleBrandon.5073:

DrDivine.5378:

Romek.4201:

safe the game and dont play minionmancer

Why don’t you like minion necros? They seem alright

In a solo perspective they are neigh perfect since you can just be lazy and let the (idiotic) AI do the work for you, while you just try to maintain your health… However, the problem comes for a MM when trying it to getting it work for a team…

Though a necromancer as a whole suffers from a lot when looking at the current “meta” (Lord knows how much I hate that word), but there are still a lot of strong points for a Condition/Corruption or Power Necro… AoE being one of them, together with countering many condition classes (think of engineer mostly) and last but not least, making short work of the support bunker by constantly pressuring them via Boon Corruption… This makes the two I named a perfect example of why they could peform really well when supported by their team, since they can flip around a situation to their will…

MM cannot, it is a 1v1 spec and will never excel in anything another necromancer can… Sure, you can let your minions body block projectiles for your teammates, but at the end it is just that… Your fears do minimal to nothing, and are just generally annoying to the random hambow on the enemy team, who will likely react, use stability and make sure you will not live to tell the tale… Have a decent support bunker on the enemy team and they will focus you down without even being able offer anything to your team, because aside from Fleshworm, none of the minions offer somewhat close to a stunbreak…

Aside from that, people who have done a decent amount of matches (not me, I only played like 1500 TPvP matches) say that MM necro is the least skillfull to play out of all the Necromancer builds, and teaches you nothing but laziness… You are not incentified to watch the enemy bars for regen or weakness to corrupt, and small things like this add up when you climb higher and higher in PvP….

In short, yes MM Necromancers work, but will at this state not be considered as either skillfull or usefull…

To answer your question, Mesmers will likely try and range you, and with the setup you got, you are gonna have way too many issues even trying to land a hit… As said before, get a staff or scepter and some conditions in your build – mesmers in particular do not have many cleanses – it will likely cost them their survivability if they do…

I appreciate the detailed insight of necro builds. I’m going to be honest with you, when I decided to make a necro as my next character I didn’t really research the meta, I remembered myself liking the minions in GW1 and wanted to see if the play style was still similar. Maybe I’ll play witha power or condition build and see how that works as well!

I’ve been enjoying the minion build as it actually did help me with the abundance of hambows I go up against. I used a custom warrior and would get stomped by hambows all the time. My necromancer, on the other hand, unusually tanks everything and gets rid of them no problem.

Romek.4201:

safe the game and dont play minionmancer

Why don’t you like minion necros? They seem alright

Blond.6549:

9/10 for the above necro. If you had different shoulders and gloves i would definitely give it a 10.

This is my necro and i need suggestions for the chest. I want something that goes with my curent skins.

8/10, I like the “voodoo” feel of this character, I think it could benefit from a few more colors.

Here’s my dark midget overlord.

I have a minion necromancer that uses axe/warhorn and dual daggers with sort of a custom build (I didn’t really research this class). So far, he’s extremely tanky and I can take down warriors, guardians, thieves, rangers, etc.

The only two I seem to struggle with sometimes is mesmers and engis. Engis can vary a lot for me, but mesmers are fairly consistent as they seem to kill my minions relitively fast. If I was fighting let’s say,a shatter mesmer or a custom mesmer using staff and pistol/sceptor, what would be the ideal strategy?

Everytime I fight one they completely shut me down, I use a minion necro with dual daggers and warrhorn/axe

My first character was a mesmer, and I really liked the playstyle (I ran a custom condition build with staff and sceptor/pistol). However, since then I’ve leveled a necro and a warrior, both of which outperform my mesmer in almost every way (both are also custom builds no hambow lol)

I think the heart of the problem is despite my mesmer’s superior armor, it severely lacks in dealing damage, my mesmer can be decent defensively but really struggles to kill anything with lackluster damage. My necro on the other hand, tanks everything, does insane damage and has little trouble dealing with most threats, and he wears level 10 armor haha.

Are condition mesmers not that good offensively? Or should I tune something?