Guild Wars 2

Bhawb and Softspoken — Thank you for your time in reading my post, and I apologize if it sounded like I was overly complaining about the traits, as that was not my intention. Regardless, your insight and views are greatly appreciated, and you are absolutely correct in your assessments. Take care and have a nice weekend!

My personal “gripe” with our traits is how absolutely boring most of them are. This is slightly in line with what Softspoken has mentioned, in that it seems a large portion of the traits available simply are “Percentage Based” traits. What I mean by this is that traits aren’t creative, but rather along the lines of “X does Y% more damage” or “X recharges Y% faster”. While inherently useful, these traits don’t tend to reward creativity or ingenuity, which is how some new builds tend to be formed.

Let’s perform a quick count of “Percentage Based” traits (excluding minors, since they are obtained without choice)

Spite

• Death’s Embrace – Deal 50% more damage while downed.
• Spiteful Talisman – Focus skills recharge 20% faster and have increased range.
• Signet Mastery – Signets recharge 20% faster.
• Spiteful Marks – Marks deal 10% more damage.
• Training of the Master – Minion damage is increased by 30%.
• Axe Training – Axe damage is increased and axe skills recharge 20% faster.
• Close to Death – Increases damage by 20% to enemies below 50% health.

Curses

• Hemophilia – 20% increased bleeding duration.
• Master of Corruption – Corruption skills recharge 20% faster.
• Banshee’s Wail – Warhorn skills recharge 15% faster, and their effects last longer.
• Spectral Attunement – Spectral skills have longer durations and grant life force on use.
• Lingering Curse – Conditions inflicted by scepter skills last 33% longer.

Death Magic

• Minion Master – Minion skills recharge 20% faster.
• Staff Mastery – Staff skills recharge 20% faster.
• Flesh of the Master – Minions have 50% more health.

Blood Magic

• Dagger Mastery – Dagger skills recharge 15% faster.
• Bloodthirst – Siphoning health is 50% more effective.
• Ritual Mastery Wells recharge 20% faster.
• Quickening Thirst – Move 15% faster while wielding a main hand dagger, move 10% faster while wielding an offhand dagger.

Sould Reaping

• Vital Persistence – Life force drains 25% slower while in death shroud.
• Path of Midnight – All death shroud skills recharge 15% faster.
• Spectral Mastery – Spectral skills recharge 20% faster.
• Speed of Shadows – Move 15% faster while in death shroud.
• Master of Terror – Fear you inflict lasts 50% longer.
• Near to Death – Death Shroud recharges 50% faster.

I’m certainly not against Percentage Based traits at all. My concern is that many of these traits don’t particularly allow for great levels of diversity and creativity. In their design, they “tell” you how to use them. "This one decreases recharge times, so you use the same skill(s) more often! Spam that skill and feel the non-monotonous creative juices bubble within you! "

I may just be a noob (and I am), but Percentage Boost traits seem to usually make “poor” builds better.

I don’t want traits that turn a mediocre build into a decent one. I want traits that turn a good build into my build.

Thanks for taking the time out of your day to read my silly post. Have a nice day and take care everyone! <3 Necro

JonathanSharp.7094:

So, we do read the forums.

Right now we’re thinking this ability will go back to being unblockable, as will Currupt Boons. We still want you to need LOS to your target, however. We want these skills to have fun back/forth play on them, while being fair for both sides (the attacker and defender). Keep in mind, these abilities can still be evaded.

And thanks for all the constructive debate in here, great job!

Thank you so much for taking the time to give us a comment <3

Bas.7406:

I think there is a bigger question here, Jonathan. When are you going to appear on the Necro Podcast? And how big a fan are you of the show? I have no ulterior motive in asking those questions ;P

^^^This

<3

I was thinking about this skill a bit recently, and I came up with a idea that I felt was a bit neat. Namely, CPC becomes a Chain Skill. We have:

Corrosive Poison Armor
Weaken yourself and envelope your body in a corrosive field, poisoning and weakening nearby foes.
Duration: 15 seconds
Poison: 3 s
Weakness: 3 s
Self-Weakness: 6 s
Radius: 240
Pulse: 3 s

>>> Corrosive Poison Cloud
The target area is enveloped in a noxious cloud that poisons foes and leaves them weakened.
Poison: 4 s
Weakness: 4 s
Radius: 240
Combo Field: Poison
Pulse: 3s
Range: 900

Cast Time: 1/2s Recharge: 40s

What this translates into is, basically, the skill starts off as a “mini” Plague Form, but you can cast it again to turn it into CPC. The recharge timer begins at the first cast of Corrossive Poison Armor (like Spectral Walk) and the duration of the CPC is whatever time remains on Corrosive Poison Armor. The duration has been increased to 15 seconds and CPC deals slightly longer Poison and Weakness duration.

I feel that this change makes CPC useful to both Power builds and Condition builds. Corrosive Poison Armor can be used both defensively and offensively when engaging a foe at close quarters, but if you’re attacking from a safe distance or with height advantage, CPC can be utilized in the traditional manner (gtaoe).

I’d like an invite, please
IGN: Sigma

Such fun ideas in this thread! I suppose I will echo some of the thoughts and ideas of other people:

Patch Notes: 2/30/21

• Death Shroud UI update. You can now see your boons and conditions while in Deathshroud.
• You may now be healed while in Deathshroud, but healing is reduced by 33%.
• Entering Deathshroud replaces the first five skills on your skill bar. The first four are the same as the present skills, but the fifth skill is now based on what weapon you have equipped in your main-hand when in Deathshroud. [Blah blah, insert new skills]
• Healing Skill and Utilities remain available while in Deathshroud, but activating one costs 15% life force.
• A death in sPvP fills 15% life force, instead of 10.
• A death in tPvP fills 20% life force, instead of 10.

Take care folks!

Good day! It seems a bug has been cropping up revolving around Death Shroud.

Issue: Leaving Death Shroud can occasionally cause your Healing skill, Utility skills and Elite skill to be completely “blank” for a few moments (personal experience has been ~.25 seconds while others claim to have it happen for a second)

Game Modes with Issue: It happens in both PvE and PvP.

Replication: For me, it doesn’t happen all the time, but has really only happened during combat. I’ve only noticed it in sPvP.

Further Information: A thread has been made in the Necro Forums about this issue:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/necromancer/Death-shroud-3

Thank you for your time and consideration!

I’ve had this issue as well in sPvP. It lasts for about .2 or .3 seconds, for me. As per Leadfoot’s advice, I’ve made a thread in the bug forum (https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/bugs/Leaving-DS-Healing-Utilities-Elite-Gone). Feel free to post there concerning replication and other insight. Take care everyone!

I thought it was kind of funny. He started off as a Necromancer, but rerolled as a Guardian to become stronger. It’s like ANet was reading the Necro boards before they went live! XD

Only a Necromancer would summon Undead Pacifists.

Only a Necromancer would pop his Elite, press 2, and then stand next to an enemy and then contemplate his navel.

Only a Necromancer would spend 1 minute attacking a trash mob only to have a Warrior, Guardian, Ele or Mesmer run up, hit three buttons, kill it, and toddle on.

Only a Necromancer will spend a minutes using traits, utilities and skills to build up his Class Mechanic to have it drained in seconds.

Only a Necromancer would have its Class Mechanic Nerfed heavily and then be told L2P.

I apologize for the cynicism, but I suspect that’s the part of the point and charm of this thread. Take care everyone!

Predictions:
Scepter
Nothing

Axe

• Increased Rending Claws damage by 15%.

Dagger

• Increased damage done by Life Siphon by 10%

Warhorn
Nothing

Staff

• Damage inflicted by Putrid Mark decreased by 10%
• Fixed a bug in Greater Marks that showed improper AoE size

Healing

• Taste of Death – Healing has been increased to 4,555

Utilities

• Epidemic – Recharge increased to 25 seconds
• Signet of Spite – Recharge reduced to 60 seconds
• Signet of Undeath – Can Revive up to 2 (or maybe just 1) allies instead of 3.
• Spectral Armor – Recharge reduced to 60 seconds
• Well of Suffering – Damage reduced by 10%
• Well of Corruption – Damage reduced by 10%

Traits

• Ritual Mastery – Wells recharge 20% faster and deal 10% more damage.
• Banshee’s Wail – Warhorn skills recharge 20% (was 15%) faster, and their effects last longer.
• Vampiric – Now scales with healing power (slightly).

Overall

• Minion AI has been improved/fixed
• New Death Shroud UI. Death Shroud will now show your health, conditions and boons you are affected by.

I attempted to mimic the “slow and steady” balance rate of ANet while avoiding buffing anything that could give the Necromancer a unique edge. From here, Vampiric builds were buffed but no other “game-breaking” buffs were made.

Have a nice weekend everyone!

Splendid! Thanks for confirming some uncertainties I had regarding this Mark’s mechanics (I wasn’t sure if it transferred ally conditions at all ). It’s a great skill, and I hope it doesn’t get hit during the AoE balancing (but I wouldn’t be surprised if it did). Again, thank you for your time and effort in this matter! Take care!

I agree with Dr. Orderly MD PhD DDS (nice name, btw). The 1-skill does minor healing, but it’s enough to mitigate some damage. Fear is single-target 2 second fear, but it has the longest cast time of all down-state skills with 1.25 seconds. Skill 3 is an AoE Poison (with Dark Combo-field) and that’s it. Their downed-state really isn’t that ‘strong’, unless there’s a simultaneous “down” — but even then Necros can be beat by Ele (Mist when low on health = 50% downed HP again), Ranger (Lick Wounds, unless the Necro waits to pop its Fear on the pet when this skill activates), Warrior (Vengeance wins), Mesmer (confusion + Phantasm + teleport to safety helps), Thief (wait to teleport and get out of our Fetid Ground and/or to escape and attempt a heal). So really the only classes that will most likely lose a 1-1 downed battle are Guardians and Engineers (and to a lesser extent Thieves and Rangers). Take care and have fun!

Good day and good news!

“We’re working on the minions’ behavior now and will be testing some changes to see how they work. Thank you for your patience, everyone!”

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/bugs/Necromancer-pets-will-not-always-attack/1145351

It may be 15 days old, but I’m not sure if I would anticipate it in the January update. At least it’s coming down the line! I’m looking forward to testing a tanky-condition minion master that actually has competent minions in sPvP.

Have a nice day!

I believe you may be experiencing a slight bug If you have the trait Spiteful Talisman (Spite – II) active, it changes the description of Spinal Shivers. I believe the effect remains the same, it’s just a tooltip error. Take care and have a nice day!

I’m optimistic about the AoE “nerf” and upcoming changes. I suspect they’ll tackle the AoE issue with one of two approaches:

• Apply a new, “broad” approach to reducing the damage done by AoE skills to rezzers and downed. As a terrible example, it could be something like taking less damage while being rezzed or rezzing. The actual solution will likely be something far more balanced and creative than what my little brain can come up with.
• Targeting specific “troublesome” AoE skills and adjusting those. Such skills may include Wells and Marks.

If Option 2 is the path taken, then I believe ANet will do a fine job of balancing the skills. Why do I think this? Because I don’t believe they’ll simply reduce the damage of the skills and call it done (which I believe is what the Necro community fears). I think they’ll actually buff the skills they’re “nerfing”, but in ways that we may not initially care for. For example, if they reduced the raw damage of Well of Suffering, then I suspect they’d significantly increase its duration (and ultimately increasing its damage should a target remain in it for the full duration). Thus rezzing while in a well is less punishing but the skill acts as a “better” long-term area denial/punishment skill. Unfortunately, the above example would kill Well-Bombers but would prove useful in point-denial and *coughATTRITIONcough * builds.

Take care everyone and have a nice day!

Good day folks! I’d like to bring to discussion today the differences in cast times for the #2 downed state skills amongst the professions. Namely, we have the following cast times:

• Necro: Fear – 1 1/4s (1.25s)
• Warrior: Hammer Toss – 1s
• Ranger: Thunderclap – 1/2s
• Guardian: Wave of Light – 1/2s
• Mesmer: Deception – 1/2s
• Engineer: Grappling Line – 1/2s
• Elementalist: Vapor Form – 0s
• Thief: Shadow Escape – 0s

When ANet removed the need for “energy/mana” to cast skills, they stated that skills will be balance by cast time and recharge. Stronger and more impacting skills tend to have a longer cast/recharge time. If we choose to follow this logic, then Fear is regarded by ANet as one of the most impacting #2 Downed Skills. I doubt ANet really feels this way about Fear, but this begs the question of whether or note Fear “deserves” a 1.25s cast time.

If I may share my opinion, I think Fear is one of the most versatile #2 Downed State skills as it can target any foe within 900 range and takes them out of combat for 2+ seconds (minus stun-break). This allows the Necro to be supportive even at the cost of its own life. But I don’t think this warrants a 1.25s cast time. In fact, this “additional” cast time hurts our odds of staying alive when downed for multiple reasons:

• Less time to react when being stomped/focused. This is a problem as a foe can begin stomping before your downed state skills appear. So rather than having ~1.75s to react to being stomped (3s to stomp – 1.25s to cast Fear), we really only have about .75s to react and choose our target (after adjusting to our super-close camera angle and such)
• Less likelihood to be able to use Fear twice. This isn’t a super-big issue, in my opinion, but it does warrant a statement. It’s sort of annoying being stomped while queuing up your second Fear.

On a different, but sort of related note:

• Fear does not “synergize” with Fetid Ground. I personally really don’t care for Fetid Ground in the first place, but Fear and Fetid Ground really don’t work well together. This is usually how things go for me:
  Fear -> Foe runs away -> If Fetid Ground is ready, I have to wait for my foe to get into stomping range to maximize the poison effect. Thus to use #3 generally means I’ve already accepted defeat and am just being spiteful post-death.

So what do you guys think? Is the cast time too long? Just right?

As always, thank you for your time and have a great day!

PS: I think Fear is an incredibly good skill, and I’m certainly not bashing it. I just don’t like the cast time

PPS: Does anyone else have times where Fear seems to fail for no reason? Or that it casts on the foes your Leech Life was attacking even after you’ve selected a different foe? It may just be me as I’m not a super-good player

This sounds like a fun ponder!

Hopes (These feel probable):

• Minion AI Fix. It’ll still be bugged, but better.
• DS UI Change.
• Axe Buff.
• Spectral Skills Alterations (Wall buff/change, Armor buff/change)
• 2 New Combo Finishers.
• Signet Buffs
• Some Bug fixes

Dreams

• DS overhaul
• Trait overhaul
• Signet overhaul
• Axe overhaul

Actual Expectations/Buffs/Nerfs:

• DS UI Change.
• No minion change, but a Red comes in and tells us it’s in the works for February.
• Staff Marks no longer trigger when placed directly under foes (PvP only). Subsequently, Staff Marks are slightly buffed (could be in the form of a new Combo Field or Finisher).
• Epidemic recharge increased (likely increased to 25s, but my cynical side says 40s).
• Axe buff (Won’t be enough to salvage the Axe. Likely just a 10% damage increase to Skill #1 ).
• Random minor buffs to skills no one really used, and probably still won’t use.
• 1 new finisher (non-aquatic).

I’m no longer hoping or expecting Necro buffs that redefine/reinvigorate the class. Rather, I’m now hoping that other classes will be balanced to bring them along the same lines as the Necro. I suppose we shall see in a few weeks.

This sounds like fun! Let’s see about some utilities…

• Summon Blood Fiend – Cast time reduced to 1 second. All attacks heal minions as well.
• Taste of Death – Heals Minions as well (not for full 3960)

• Blood is Power – Now is also a Stun-Break. Recharge increased to 45 seconds.

• Rigor Mortis – Cast time Reduced to 1/2 second. Bone Fiend attacks immediately and applies 2 second immobilize. Recharge reduced to 25 seconds.

• Necrotic Traversal – Swap places with your Flesh Wurm and poison both areas. Subject to same teleport path/rules as original skill.

• Haunt – AoE Blind. Cast time reduced to 1/2 second. Shadow Fiend still “rears up and attacks”. Total time when hitting the cast button should be ~3/4 seconds.

• Signet of Spite – Passive: Conditions last 10% longer. Active: Foe suffers from Weakness (10s), Poison (5s), Cripple (10s), Blind (6s), and Fear (1s). Recharge reduced to 60s.

• Signet of Locust – Active: Steal Health from target foe (~2k health. Damage may be less than health gain). Recharge reduced to 25s.

• Signet of Undeath – Passive: Gain 1% LF for every 2 seconds in combat.

• Spectral Armor – Recharge reduced to 45 seconds.

• Spectral Wall – Foes passing through the wall get 3 stacks of confusion for 5 seconds (instead of vulnerability)

• Spectral Grasp – Now works reliably.

• Wells are no longer PBAOE and have casting range of 480. Trait can increase casting range to 900.

New Traits and Changes (just some. I could spend all day on this XD ) :

• Combined Fetid Consumption and Necromantic Consumption and put it in Death Magic Grandmaster Major (The minion boon removal and condition removal traits).

• Combined Reanimator and Death Nova. Jagged Horrors now activate Death Nova (if they don’t already). Jagged Horrors have a reduced cooldown of 20 seconds. Death Nova may need to be adjusted to compensate for more minion fodder.

• New Adept Death Magic Minor: Deathly Invigoration – Gain Vigor for 3 seconds when entering Death Shroud.

• Protection of the Horde combined with Flesh of the Master.

• New Master Death Magic Minor: Calloused Flesh – Gain 10-30 toughness per condition on you (scales with level).

• Siphoned Power – When hit below 25% health, gain 3 stacks of might for 10 seconds and nearby foes are weakened for 10 seconds (Cooldown 45 seconds).

• Axe Training – Axe skills generate Life Force and recharge 15% faster. Rending Claw will generate 1.5% per swing, Ghastly Claw will generate 12% for a complete channel, and Unholy Feast will generate 3% per foe hit.

• Foot in the Grave – Activating Death Shroud grants stability for 3 seconds and is also a Stun-Break (30 or 45 second cooldown).

• Near to Death – Death Shroud recharges 50% faster and gain 3% LF when you exit Death Shroud.

I’m tired and I’m sure most of these are imbalanced, but they were fun to think about. Take care everyone!

Howdy! I’m certainly no expert on the Necromancer, but if you want DPS for PvE, I think one of the “stronger” ways you can go is:

• Dagger/Whatever (Focus for survivability, Warhorn for Control, Dagger for Control + Support)
• Staff
• Wells (Well of Corruption and Well of Suffering)
• Bone Minions in 3rd Utility (when it becomes available to you)
• Elite: Whatever. For early PvE, Flesh Golem is fun. Later on, Lich is fun, too. Plague is boring, but arguably the best elite in our repertoire.

As for Traits, do whatever you like! I say you can’t go wrong with 10pts in Death Magic to grab Greater Marks. Also 20pts in Blood Magic will get you a 20% recharge reduction for wells, which is awesome. But since you’re level 17, you don’t have to really worry about that just yet. You will get to respec later, so just go with whatever works for you!

From my experience (watching Guardians fighting the mob I’m fighting), you won’t get the same “Hit 3 buttons and move along” feeling. However, dropping wells and blowing up minions provides substantially AoE damage, and Chillblains (Staff 3) does a superb job of maintaining distance. Use daggers whenever you aren’t at a huge numbers disadvantage or when it is safe to enter melee range. Also Death Shroud. It is a life saver. In PvE, it is a fantastic “Uh-Oh” button even without any traits in it. You won’t get immeasurable damage out of it, but it can provide 5-10 seconds of “invulnerability” while your skills recharge.

Anywho, I hope this was of some assistance! I hope you enjoy the Necromancer and find the right build for you! Take care!

PS: Conditions + Epidemic are fun also.

EDIT: Avoid Axe I started with Axe, switched to Dagger, and never EVER looked back.

If I may add more food-for-thought, let’s consider a comparison of Scepter #1 and Axe #1. I’ll note quickly that the actual “damage” (bleeding aside) from both skills are almost the same (~6700 for Axe, attacking for 10 seconds, ~6100 for Scepter attacking for 10 seconds). Note that the Axe damage includes the Vulnerability added, and if we subtract 10% of ~6700, we arrive at ~6100, the same as the Scepter (This was NOT an intensive study, so there may be some errors). So for all intents and purposes, let’s presume they perform the same “direct damage” (this is not true, but I think the values are close enough to consider this a “viable” example).

Let’s also assume that your Axe is capable of inflicting a constant 10 Vulnerability on a foe. Thus said foe will take 10% more damage. Now let’s assume you have, like me, ~350 Condition Damage, giving your bleeds about sixty damage a tick. Let’s also assume, then, that the Scepter is able to upkeep 5 stacks of bleed constantly (not a difficult feat). Thus the bleeding is performing about 300 DPS (5 ticks at 60 a piece). For 10 stacks of Vulnerability to match this, the target will be needing to take ~3,000 damage a second from outside sources (10% of 3,000 is 300, the damage the target would take from simply bleeding). This is tricky for any non-burst builds and/or team gang-ups. Thus, for the sake of pure damage, I believe it can be argued that Scepter #1 out DPS’s Axe #1 even when focused on Power and Precision, in most scenarios.

Take this as you, since it was done quickly and without in-depth analysis Take care everyone!

Howdy Hackks! I’m sorry you didn’t find my analysis “sufficient.” It was, indeed, a spur of the moment thinking that I wanted to share. You’re opinions/statements are certainly valid, and I do not wish to nullify them. If you don’t mind, though, I’d like to share a little “rebuttal” if you will.

1) I treated Axe #1 as support since the damage was minimal. If it’s not power, or control, then what is it? Furthermore, with multiple allies, Vulnerability is Support and Damage, but by oneself, since the damage of the Axe #1 spam is so low, it’s a prep tool for greater damage to come — hence support. I’m not simply saying Vulnerability is Support, but that Axe #1 is.

2) You caught me I didn’t know how to treat the 8% LF gain, and by “Support”, I really mean it “supports” your character, not in the sense of Anets trichotomy. LF is such an important tool that any gain in it shouldn’t be written off and undercut, so you are correct on that. As for “what other weapon gives as much and on such a short cooldown,” I contend with Reapers Touch performs similarly (15% life force on a 18sec cooldown). Regardless, thank you for mentioning this.

3) I have full Berserkers and max Power and Precision :X Aside from Runes, I’m not sure there’s much more you can do. You may be thinking of “Attack” as “Power”, which is, indeed, much higher.

4) You are correct! Axe does perform better LF gain than Scepter, but that brings into question what is the Axe’s role? If you define it as LF gain, then yes, you are correct. I, personally, do not define the Axe as LF gain role but rather a ranged “support” weapon that, as Shoebix implied, prepares the target for more powerful follow ups. Of course, we are all allowed our own interpretations.

Thank you for your input!

I enjoy the Axe+Focus combo as it allows for decent movement restriction and #4 gives great vulnerability, allows for an even stronger #2. Regardless, given the time of “prep” to set up the Axe versus the same amount of time spamming #1 with the scepter, I’d take the scepter. Here’s the story:

Present Build:
2,139 Power
2,025 Precision
357 Condition Damage
Clearly if Axe were a power-based weapon, it should outclass the scepter at this moment since my condition damage is significantly lower than the Power/Precision. However…

• Scepter: Against a Light Golem, just spamming #1, Golem dies in ~9-10 seconds
• Axe: Against a Light Golem, just spamming #1, Golem dies in ~9-11 seconds
  Now I chose the Light Golem since it has the lowest Toughness, making our numbers favor Axe. But in this case, the scepter is just as effective as the Axe (in regards to simply spamming #1. Moving on:
• Scepter: Opening with Grasping Dead and then Spam #1, Light Golem dies in ~8.5-9.5 seconds.
• Axe: Opening with Ghastly Claws and then Spam #1, Light Golem dies in ~8.5-9.5 seconds.
  These numbers were not done scientifically, but with about 5 tests and a stopwatch. Doing the same tests with the Heavy Golems yield similar results (except using only Axe #1 spam is takes significantly longer).

Now I understand that these tests really don’t mean much at all, since they’re done in a “vacuum,” so take them as you will. However, I’m pretty surprised at how awful the axe is performing when it has such a huge stat advantage in the build I tested with (Full Berskerker, max Spite/Curse). So when push comes to shove, I’ll be taking a scepter in my power build over the axe.

Again, thank you all for your input and insight! Have a great evening (where it applies)!

Thanks Shoebix for the insight! I agree that the Vulnerability can be excellent setup for a Well Bomb and it was something I didn’t think about prior to typing up my spur-of-the-moment thoughts. Your understanding of the class is far more reaching than that of my own. So thank you for your input!

And thank you also Yumad. I agree 100% with everything you said. My 1) idea has high percentages because it’s “something we can give up in negotiations” (I was literally thinking of the Futurama episode where the Mutants gain their freedom…if you don’t catch that reference then ignore it). My “balanced” percentages would be 1% lower than what I have listed And you’re right on the money with 2) and 3). I was thinking the weakness would only last for a fraction of second, just enough that with huge amounts of duration investment could you keep weakness up “permanently”, but the moment you stopped spamming #1, the weakness would dissipate within a second or two.

Thank you very much for your input guys!

EDIT: Shoebix, again you are right on with your assessment of Life Force generation (except for the 60%, but I think that’s a typo ). My hope for the Axe would be a viable weapon to any build, which led me to the idea of LF generation, since that’s basically useful all the time (more or less).

Your first mistake was going with Axe And yeah, the damage sounds about right, actually :\ My advice is avoiding the Axe entirely. In fact, with zero condition damage, the scepter out DPS’s the Axe regularly. Now I don’t have much (any) WvW experience, but if you wish to maintain a power build, I suggest carrying Spectral Grasp and daggers. Pulling a foe off a wall, and immobilizing them for ~4 seconds is every flavor of satisfying. Plus Dagger DPS is quite substantial (especially in comparison to Axe).

Again, the numbers you listed sound correct. Just avoid the Axe, if you can

Cont: Why the Axe Falls Apart
So looking back at the above short analysis, the Axe has skills that complement all three of Anet’s ideals: Damage, support and control. This is a fantastic trait to have in a weapon, but unfortunately isn’t enough for the Axe. Looking critically at the Axe, it doesn’t perform well in 1v1 situations. The damage output is far to minimal to effectively kite-and-kill a competent foe, so let us consider this in a more ideal scenario: 2v1. In this scenario, the Necro is out of the line of combat is providing a Support role:

• Your ally is taking the brunt force of an attack, you stand back, throw on stacks of Vulnerability with (#1) and follow up with (#2) to apply pressure and damage. As your foe attempts to flee, you hit (#3) to attempt to keep the foe in the fight. If they turn on you, your retaliation should help finish them off. Ideally, you and your ally come out victorious as you supported him/her.

The above scenario seems to be the ideal situation for the Axe, and even seems to paint the Axe as a competent support weapon! But is it really? Consider using a scepter in the exact same scenario above. Not only does the scepter apply constant pressure through bleeds and poison, it has a further reaching cripple and it’s (#1) skill deals more damage than Axe (#1) in almost every scenario. So even in the Axe’s ideal environment, I argue that the scepter does a better job than Axe.
TL;DR: I believe that the Scepter does Axe’s role better than the Axe does.

Where does this Leave the Axe?
The Axe doesn’t have a loving home. It doesn’t fit well in a power build since it has little power behind it. It is a poor support weapon and is outclassed in pressure by the scepter. It has poor control as only skill (#3) provides control, and it’s “ok” at that, even. The Axe really doesn’t have a place where it belongs in the Necro line-up. Heck, I’ve had greater success with the scepter running 200 condition damage than using the axe in a power/support build. It really is just a lackluster weapon.
TL;DR: Axe isn’t good at anything and is outperformed by other weapons.

How to Fix the Middle Child.
I have a few ideas on how to remedy the Axe. I want the axe to be a viable option for the Necro regardless of the individual’s build (condition, power, minion, support, well, etc). Thus I have the following options:

• 1) Make Axe the life-force battery weapon. Let Rending Claw gain 3% per hit and Unholy feast 4% per foe hit. Furthermore, make the Grandmaster Axe trait improve life-force gain for the axe by 33% in addition to the recharge reduction and damage boost.

• 2) Change the conditions applied by the Axe. Let Rending Claw apply Weakness instead of Vulnerability (good for any build) and Ghastly Claw apply Confusion (2-3 stacks). This turns the Axe into a support and pressure weapon to be used in tandem with other players. It also wouldn’t hurt to increase (#1) damage as well, but that may be asking for too much.

• 3) Increase (#1) damage substantially. This would help define the Axe as a ranged alternative to the dagger. It also wouldn’t hurt to decrease the channeled time for (#2) as well.

Thank you all for your time and consideration! Take care!

Good day to everyone and happy Friday! I’d like to discuss our sad friend, the Axe. Now just to clarify, this discussion pertains primarily to the effectiveness of the axe in sPvP. To begin, I feel the axe is quite underwhelming and I intend to outline the reasons why I feel this way. My intention is to garner discussion and perhaps attract the attention of a Red, but mainly I just wanted to see what the community here feels. Let us begin, shall we?

Recap of the Axe
For those who may not recall immediately what the Axe skills are, I will list them here:

• Rending Claw – Slash your foe twice with ghostly claws to make them vulnerable (2 stacks).
  http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Rending_Claws

• Ghastly Claw – Summon spectral claws to slash your foe in a quick flurry of strikes, gaining life force per strike (8%).
  http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Ghastly_Claws

• Unholy Feast – Damage and cripple nearby foes. Gain retaliation for each foe you strike.
  http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Unholy_Feast

Why the Axe Falls Apart
I’ll jump straight into the main ideas of why I believe the Axe presently is underwhelming. We first recall that Anet wanted to disband the “holy trinity” in favor of “damage, support, and control”. Subsequently, most skills, conditions, and boons fall into these categories. Furthermore, weapons attempt to capitalize on one or more of the above three categories to give said weapon a “feel” and “purpose”. This is where the Axe falls apart. The axe fails to satisfy or unite any notion of synergy amongst damage, support and control, and I will delve into those details by examining each skill independently and then simultaneously.

• Rending Claw
  If you have spent more than a few minutes in the Mists playing with the Axe, you understand that Rending Claws has a terrible damage output. In a glass cannon build, it crits for ~500+ (on Heavy Golems), and averages about ~300+ per non-crit. So clearly the #1 skill isn’t intended for damage, so it must either be support or control. The secondary feature of Rending Claws is its Vulnerability stacking, where it can muster ~11 stacks of vulnerability. Now, 11% more damage is spiffy, and supplies a nice Support effect, so one can argue that Rending Claws is a Support Skill.
  TL;DR: Let us establish this: Rending Claw is Support.

• Ghastly Claws
  Clearly this is a damage-based skill (with a hint of Support from the Life Force gain). Against a heavy golem, it yields 2.5k-3k damage using a glass cannon build (2k power, 2k prec). There really isn’t too much to say in addition to this.
  TL;DR: Let us establish this: Ghastly Claws is Damage

• Unholy Feast
  This skill is arguably one of the better weapon skills the Necromancer has, period. Large AoE with decent damage (crits ~1k) as well as cripple and self-retaliation. You can use this skill to hit Stealthed Players, cripple melee users, and punish ranged users. It really is a splendid skill, and offers excellent control in every aspect.
  TL;DR: Let us establish this: Unholy Feast is a Control Skill.

Howdy! I should warn you that the Necro doesn’t feel like the Necro from GW1 (at least it doesn’t for me). Now I’m probably an “average” player, so take what I say with a grain of salt

1) For PvP, play around with builds. I’ve done Burst, Condition, Hybrid, Glass Cannon, Death Shroud and some have had varying success. The most recent build I’m trying I stole directly from:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=videos&search_query=gw2+necromancer&search_sort=video_date_uploaded

An unfortunate aspect I’ve experienced is that it’s not “good” for a Necro to go solo in sPvP. That is, I recommend you “stick” with at least one other player when playing as Necro. For me, this is hard since I love back-capping, but that usually puts me in a solo situation when about 2-3 enemies pop up after respawn. The above build works great if someone else is being focused on instead of you.

2) I’ve had great success with Wells in generic PvE. I haven’t had much dungeon experience, unfortunately, but I presume Wells will work well there also. As for how to handle wells, there are many ways to go about it. You can try Knight’s Armor (Power, Precision, Toughness) for a more offensive build, or try a Hybrid build with Carrion (Condition, Power, Vitality). The Knight’s version works well for generic PvE and is great for farming Orr (Staff + Dagger/Warhorn, for me). However, melee loses out a bit in Dungeons where range is important, and aside from Staff, that leaves Necros with axe (which is terribad) and scepter (which requires high condition damage). So for dungeons, I’d recommend Carrion (or Rabid) armor.

But this now begs the question about how to distribute your Attribute Points. If you want one that can jump between Knights and Carrion, perhaps a 20-20-10-20-0 build will work, where 10 in Death Magic are for the Greater Marks. The trait choices are up to you, past that. Unfortunately, this may be “Jack-of-all-Trades, Master-of-None” build where you can perform most things well, but not necessarily better than another build.

Another advantage of this trait distribution is that it lends itself well to swapping out Wells for more Condition-centered builds. You can get a recharge reduction for Corruptions in the same spot where you get Ground Targeting for Wells in the Curses line. Furthermore, if you need more damage for destructible environment, you can swap in Bone Minions and put in the 30% damage boost in the Spite line to provide two 2k damage AoE explosions, as well as Well of Corruption and Well of Suffering.

Unfortunately, a glaring issue with this setup is the lack of Life Force generation. I’ll let you worry about that .

Have fun!

I can confirm that Parastic Bond works for the following in the Mists: Svanir, Chieftain, and random Guild Lord guards. I was healed for ~970 (92 Healing Power). I have no information regarding ICD. Great catch pmargeti!

20 tries and absolutely nothing. I dare someone to top that RNG bad luck.

EDIT: It appears I’m not alone. Perhaps those who got the item under 10 tries were just incredibly lucky. Hope things work out for everyone else!

^^This.
(Note: I’m an average or below-average, casual player. I’m only rank 12 from sPvP, so take what I say with a grain of salt)

With respect to what QSpec has said, I’ve run a dagger power build with Spectral Grasp and the whole “snare” gambit. Thieves could still escape (and they probably “should”), Mesmers could escape (that may say more about me, though), GS warriors could flee quite easily also. Rangers with vigor can easily maintain distance, as well. Not many can deny that we have access to a plethora of movement inhibiting skills (every mainhand has one), but even crippled wild creatures are dangerous if you’re only armed with a spoon (unless it’s an avacado or something). But that’s a whole different topic, entirely and I’d prefer not to continue derailing this thread.

Anywho, thank you Oldbugga for making this thread. I was fairly surprised when I read ANet’s view on all the classes. If you go from top to bottom of their list, the start by sharing their ideals and goals for each individual class and where they “ideally” fit into the scheme of this game. But when you come to the Necromancer, it’s just as Knote said. They listed what ‘abilities’ the Necro has and did some hand waving saying “It works, somehow” and moved on. I would love to see a build from ANet that truly captures their vision of the Necromancer. I have actually worked a bit on a hybrid Dagger/Scepter build, but didn’t have much in terms of Rune/Trait/Utility support. I may return to it with the upgrade to terror and see what comes of it, but I’m still skeptical.

Take care everyone and enjoy the remainder of your weekend!

Hm. I do enjoy my Necro, both in PvE and PvP, so I have no intention to quit. Regardless, if I was quitting Necro, some of the following would make me reconsider:

*Revamp of Death Magic trait line
*Siphoning adjusted to allow for some form of scaling
*Minion AI healed and minions buffed in some sense
*Rework of the signets (and Plague Signet being fixed)
*Life Siphon not being a channeling skill
*Traits fixed
*A Power + Condition Damage + Toughness Amulet
*Axe rework/buff
*Added a new weapon to Necro mainhand/offhand
*A Well buff (not that they necessarily need it. They’re good, but fairly dull)
*New downed state (Why are we so “weak” when we’re closest to death? We’re Necros, we should have an awesome downed state XD )

Those are to name a few. Have a nice day everyone!

I figured the adept minor trait with Death Magic should provide you with a few seconds of vigor when entering Death Shroud or something (Promotes defensive Death Shroud, which fits the Death Magic line, and it’s useful for any build). The jagged horrors should be lumped with the Grandmaster Trait that causes a poison cloud when a minion dies. Subsequently, jagged horrors should trigger this trait, and perhaps the trait (and summoning of jagged horror) should have a 10 cooldown (or the horrors should have a 20 second cooldown and the trait have no cooldown. Depends on coding).

The Death Magic line makes me sad. In PvP, I want to trait Death Magic, but I don’t want to be forced to carry a staff or run minions to do it. Ah well, tis what it is.

I agree, for the most part. Underwater DS still has some uses (If I have a bunch of bleeding stacked on me, then it’s nice to use Plague Blast and pass it off), but on the whole I really don’t care much for it.

I’m primarily curious as to what it’s purpose is. All signs point to control (you can control conditions, make the foe blind and cast an impressive fear), but the implementation feels quite lackluster.

Plague Blast is so weak and slow to fire off, I find that it’s only real purpose is the condition transfer. However, to transfer 2 conditions, you have to essentially channel yourself for ~4 seconds, in which time the opponent(s) are free to apply more conditions and whittle away at your remaining LF.

I like Dark Water. It applies 2 of the most annoying conditions in the game and is AOE. However, it’s still a control skill while you’re in a form that, really, has no way to take advantage of any control.

Wave of Fear is very nice. It’s our best fear skill and can hit multiple targets. I have issues getting it to hit, but I figure that’s a me-problem and not a Wave of Fear problem.

As for Gathering Plague…yeah, it’s fairly bland. I’d much rather it be a 2-part skill, where the first channels all conditions to you (and you gain LF per condition), and is replaced by a second skills that does an AOE condition transfer (with a 60 second cooldown, or something). I’d also like to add that there may be a bug with Gathering Plague that causes it to only take 1 condition from allies but copy the rest onto your character.

So those are my thoughts…perhaps I’m missing something, but underwater DS feels unwieldy to me. It has great control skills, but oddly enough, you seem to lose out on control by switching to Death Shroud. It’s like giving a bazooka to a bear. Theoretically, this scenario would be a threat to all humanity and we’d be at risk of enslavement to our new bear overlord, but in a reality the bear will sooner blow itself up and do little to otherwise. Two theoretically powerful tools, but combined into one practically inferior package.

Bears and bazookas analogy. Why are there not more of these?

Good day everyone! This thread is very simple and is made for fun. I would like to hear how you would like to change the Dagger Skills. Now I’m not saying that Daggers are OP/UP or in any drastic need of change, but I feel that they have a great potential to be something uniquely awesome to the Necromancer. So without further adieu:

Necrotic Slash -> Necrotic Stab -> Necrotic Bite
Option 1) Keep as is but give Necrotic Bite AOE damage and AOE Life Force gain. Subsequently reduce Life Force gain of Necrotic Bite to 3% per target hit.

Option 2) Add life siphon to Necrotic Bite and make it AOE. Subsequently, remove Life Force gain from Necrotic Bite and raise Necrotic Stab to 4 Life Force gain (maybe).

Option 3) Necrotic Bite transfers some duration of one condition you presently have. That is, it will take one condition you are suffering from and apply X seconds of it to a foe on hit. Combine with Corruption skills and/or plague signet and voila! Synergy!

Option 4) All dagger hits have a PBAOE (Point-Blank AOE). Damage and Life Force gain are adjusted to compensate for this.

Life Siphon
Option 1) A single burst of AOE Life Siphoning. The present channeling skill really doesn’t feel right for the dagger as the dagger is a “fast” weapon with high control. I’m not too fond of toddling left and right as my opponent is slapping me around, negating whatever health gain I’m getting.

Option 2) Single target one-hit Life Siphon with increased life steal per boon on foe. This would also be melee-range and the life siphoning would be fairly significant. To maintain scaling, though, we’ll say that the siphoning done is equal to X% of the damage dealt with the attack.

Option 3) Life Siphon heals nearby allies for a small amount also.

Dark Pact
Option 1) Add a teleport to Dark Pact. This kind of overlaps with Death Shroud’s Dark Path, though, as both would be gap-closers and movement-control skills.

Option 2) A successful hit immobilizes and gives you swiftness and vigor. Paralyzing a foe should fill a Necromancer with giddy anticipation of carnage, which translates into a speed boost and renewed vigor. “It’s time for my pound of flesh!”

Option 3) Dark Pact immobilizes and “marks” a foe, making subsequent hits (for X seconds) siphon life. Or more simply, your next X hits siphon health. The health siphoned will scale on Power AND Healing – that is, Y% of the damage you do is translated into health gain (thus more power = more gain), and Healing will improve this amount.

Feel free to talk about the Dagger offhand as well! I have no real opinions on it as I don’t usually run dagger offhand. As always, thank you for your time and consideration! Have a pleasant day!