Guild Wars 2

Excellent thoughts. I agree that DE is very strong. I usually use it in PVE. I’ll give swapping out the signet a try.

Took my first plunge into PVP hotjoins after playing around in the Mists with alot of different build types. This one seemed to do pretty well against the NPCs as well as in the few matches I played. I was primarily going for alot of CC along with good survivability. Maybe I only did ok because it was hotjoin, I don’t know.

Anyway, thoughts and comments welcome:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fQAQRBLhtG1IjWze3mtG9mCQSR0UDpoXpjKcMliyhH-TwAA2CpIMSZkzIjRSjsGNIYRw2ipFA

I may be a smidge too old to be trying to keep up with the twitch youngsters, but it was a nice change of pace from PVE.

My question is: is it good for what purpose? What is the role you intend to use it in?

It looks like you are trying to be everything all at once.

Some comments:
- Its a hybrid, which is ok for open world PVE, dungeons maybe so-so.
- Three signets really calls for taking Signet Mastery trait
- Well of Blood will offer poor/mediocre healing with only 331 HP
- 64% crit chance is probably overkill
- Unless you mainly a support build Signet of Undeath doesn’t seem too useful.

I used a cleric power/healing build for awhile in PVE. It has great (too much, probably) survivability:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/necromancer/Post-Your-Build-Thread/1827676

Unfortunately, I can’t seem to get the same kind of trait synergy to boost condition dmg to a very useful level, using Shaman or Apothecary gear. When I try the OPs build idea or Avorzik’s build in a calculator, I don’t see how to get condition damage to a useful level (considering that I have no Power) without swapping out for different gear.

I doubt the 15th patch will change things that much. I think Anet is into making some incremental changes, but likely nothing that will make HP a much more viable stat. Just my guess.

Thanks for the additional advice.

I’ve been trying out spectator mode in the hotjoins (didn’t realize that was available) and that has been very, very helpful to get a feel for the maps and to follow around people of my profession (necro) to get a sense of their tactics and those of the opponents. I’ll do that a bit more before jumping in.

This map will get you all the POIs you need:
http://gw2.mmorpg-life.com/cursed-shore-map-of-pois-waypoints-vistas-skills-and-more/36184/

Thanks all! Great advice – just what I needed

I’ve been a PVE player all along (I have 3 80’s) and now I think I want to try some PVP, but I can’t find much info on how to get going in it. Wiki is pretty weak, and youtube tutorials I found don’t really address these questions. Its rather frustrating and frankly makes me reluctant to try it out.

Specifically:

1) I don’t want to just jump in to a game and be the utterly clueless noob who has to learn the map on the fly. Is there a way to learn the maps beforehand?

2) What is “hotjoin” vs solo queue vs solo arena? (I know solo queue was added awhile back, and might be what I’m looking for, but there is nothing called “solo queue” on the PVP Browser. There is “solo arena”, but the wiki says “arenas” were previously called “tournaments”, which I assume means tpvp, which I thought was for more advanced pvpers.)

3) When I’m on the PVP Browser, as a noob what filter should I be using (All/Standard)?

Thanks in advance.

If you plug all the details into this build calculator, you can look at the value Effective Power to see how these different rune setups, power, crit chance & crit dmg are affecting you damage output:
http://gw2buildcraft.com/calculator/

You can see the formula used, if you want to understand it better:
http://gw2buildcraft.com/articles/calculator-faq/#effective-power

And see the Theorycraft Math section further down the damage multiplier info.

This calculator assumes you are making a PVE/WvW setup.

JohnCrow.7482:

My color scheme and weapon sets are a work in progress – Can’t find a dye that can represent a poisonous plant (and pop out) better then this red ….and I’m too poor for better weapon skins.

There are some rare dyes with names like “toxic”, or “acid” or such which seem like poisonous plant colors to me.

Overall, really nice – just needs those finishing touches. 8/10. I like the Dry Bones legs (I use them too) and the mask looks great on the Sylvari.

My Norn gal is going for the witch doctor look. She’s all business. Tactical helm. coat & boots, cultural T1 shoulders, and Dry Bones legs. Norn staff. One older pic shows her with the demon mask, which I think contrasts nicely with the tattoo. (My screenshots always come out wicked dark, so I have to use MS Picture Manager to lighten them up.)

See Nemesis’ video tutorials with builds for PVE/WVW/PVP. They are lengthy but give a good explanatioin of necro abilities and builds:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/necromancer/Necromancer-tutorials/221328

At 40, I think you have 30 trait points. I would try:
- scepter/dagger & staff
- 0/20/0/10/0, with Hemophilia and Master of Corruption in Curses and Bloodthirst in Blood.
- or 0/20/10/0, with Hemophilia and Master of Corruption in Curses and Staff Mastery in Death.
- BiP, Epidemic and Locust Signet for skills. Swap out Locust Signet situationally (e.g., Flesh Worm for lengthy champ fights, Well of Suffering for AoE fights, etc.).

One nice thing about the necro is that there are ALOT of viable builds. The downside is that it does make it hard to find the one that fits you best.

Stubie.5834:

Thanks for all the answers. I switched to power build last night and I don’t like it near as much as my condition set up was.

I’m with ya there. If they would fix conditions (stack limits on bosses & ineffectiveness on structures) I’d switch back to conditions in a heartbeat.

Xyonon.3987:

flow.6043:

Ethaine.8419:

Use a transmutation stone on a white item.

Xyonon.3987:

It’s not that easy …

Actually it is that easy.
The whole bank thing… not necessary.

When have you done this the last time? When I did it the last time I had to do it twice because transmutating it in inventory made it soulbound… Or maybe I just made a mistake – was my first time back then.

I did it a few weeks ago. Didn’t use the bank for the transmute.

For what its worth, this is what I am using currently:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fQMQNAW3YjMaV6tbaaMcKAJFYf9kCuHHSxt1GVgYA-jgyAYLIEGMODI7REtmDBrdhtAOEN9CmukIq2nUEtaZA0HDA-e

Its nice for events, because of the AoE Protection for allies from wells, and decent Healing Power to give AoE regen. But it also solos easily, due to the Protection, Health and Toughness. When running around, I swap out Well of Corruption with Locust Signet. During events I might swap out Bloodthirst for Ritual of Life (which also gives Protection).

Not a mega-powerhouse, but I like it.

Stubie.5834:

Btw how do I respec? Thanks for any advice.

You respec by going to the Necro trainer and choosing the option to respec. It costs a few silver each time you do it.

Are you buying the Training Manuals (one at level 11, next at 40, then last at 60)? These are from the same Trainers.

See:
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Trainer

I think its a pretty nifty idea for PVE. It might be considered overkill, with such high toughness and vitality, but the conversion of those attributes to Power makes it more attractive. The loss of crit chance is the price you pay.

SrebX.6498:

As a leveling Condition-Minionmancer, What would you recommend for Underwater set up?

I use BiP, Epidemic, Bone Fiend.

We are quite strong underwater. Trident2 whenever its off CD for AoE weakness and aggro, BiP, epidemic, Trident5 and they are usually dead. If not, then flash into DS for DS2, or Trident3 for the poison.

For Veterans, add in Trident4 and DS5 followed by DS3.

When you also mix in the Spear rotation mentioned above you are pretty much a nonstop AoE killing machine.

Breaking Bad.6241:

“We’re also looking to make conditions scale better in PvE/WvW leveling so that they’re more viable at different junctures in the level scale.”

Emphasis mine.

Exactly. Their comment has nothing to do with the primary issues of 1) condition stack caps and 2) condition-immune structures & bosses.

Slither Shade.4782:

Idk but the title sounds like a cool elite.

I agree with this. Maybe use the original thread’s title:
Please stop neglecting conditions in PVE

knbBlackTemplar.3059:

“Epidemic” destroy any single way of possible condition improvement (only thing is possible to make – destroying structures with condi)

Lopez.7369:

Epidemic could be capped at 25 bleeds. It should probably be capped at even less, to be honest.

Or, if the proposed idea that stacks above 25 get converted into direct damage is implemented, then Epidemic will only transfer a max of 25 stacks of condition damage.

Nice post by Lopez in the Tequatl forum on conditions in PVE. Five pages long so far:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/livingworld/tequatl/Please-stop-neglecting-conditions-in-PvE/2860732

Link to the specific post:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/October-15th-balance-skills-updates-preview/2926216

I think 30 in Blood is quite viable in open-world PVE.

As Axyl says, the Vampiric traits are ok, but should be much better for the cost of taking 30 in Blood. As it is now, I think it is the case that regeneration provides more health per sec than vampirics with 30 in Blood, even with 5 foes in a well.

Consider taking the 10 pts from Curses and moving them to Death for Ritual of Protection (-33% damage taken for x seconds with each well). That is a huge reduction in incoming damage and reduces the need for alot of investment in vampirics, and provides nice team support.

sorudo.9054:

anzenketh.3759:

sorudo.9054:

if gold is so easy to get then you can tell me how, the most i got is 6 gold…..

You salvage too much. You need to vendor more. And keep less mats.

and how do i craft without mats…..
a nice paradox for you to solve.

Crafting is a gold sink. My experience has been that either you make gold…or you craft….but not both.

Lich elite is power-based, so it won’t hit very hard in your build. Plague, or maybe Snow Leopard, would be better.

Bloodthirst would be better than Dagger Mastery. It will help your Vampiric, Vampiric Rituals, downed skill 1, and DS Life Siphon.

Also, your high healing power will only by useful with boosting regen and Consume Conditions. It will not boost your siphoning.

Finally, its kind of a shame to allocate three traits to wells but only slot 1 well. I understand the intent, but wonder if adding a second well in place of Corrupt Boon might not be better.

Some recent necro WvW posts with builds for roaming:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/necromancer/WvW-guide-part-I-the-PvP-conditionmancer/2801152
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/necromancer/Necro-WvW-roaming-V-6/2820131
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/necromancer/Ascii-Livestreaming-WvW/2789028

Tarnished Coast – Same problem here. Intense lag followed by disconnect. Went back in and happened again. Then a third time, same thing. By then the event had ended in failure. Numerous people in map chat had the same kind of experience.

Edit: this was in an overflow, in case that makes any difference.

Maybe something like this?
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fQIQNAoYWjQaV6ZaKbM8JCpCYb6B3Gn4ge8ed5MA-jACBYLCiEEgE1BKBqIasVSFRjVvATViIq2boIa1SBonyI-e

It provides:
- good Power/Prec/Crit (2522/45%/44%) for dagger/dagger melee
- uses wells to provide siphoning for you, Protection for you & allies in the wells
- Renewal sigils for AoE healing on weapon swap (could instead use Water sigils)
- Pack runes for AoE Fury, Might, Swiftness boon chance

Another direction to go is more of a focus on Healing Power, such as my Vengeful Cleric build:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/necromancer/Post-Your-Build-Thread/1827676

Just some ideas….

Can you link to your intended build so we can see what you originally had in mind?
(use http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/ or other build editor).

For incremental healing of allies, there are other options such as Sigil of Renewal or Water.

Necros can also offer Protection to nearby allies via wells, which are good in a Power build. See my Protector build for ideas:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/necromancer/Post-Your-Build-Thread/2623011

Maybe replace it with something akin to the Elementalist adept minor trait Stone Flesh?

Shrouded Flesh – Gain 2 Toughness per level while in Death Shroud

Or, perhaps like some other minor traits that trigger at a certain health level:

Noxious Ground – Gain CPC at your location for 4 sec when health reaches 50%

Or, perhaps a boon duration boost, since boon duration is in the Death trait line:

Savor Death – Boon duration increases 0.2% per level
(so, 16% @ lvl 80)

You should probably post this in the Tech Support forum instead of Bugs forum.

Try doing a repair of your GW2 install. See the “-repair” command line option:
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Command_line_arguments

My prediction: big update will not be big.

They will not stack.

Swiftness is a boon that provides an increase to movement speed. Other effects that provide a bonus to movement speed (e.g. certain traits and signets) do not stack with swiftness; only the highest increase in movement speed will be applied.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Swiftness

If only they had put Cliff’s cell phone number in the error message, this would be resolved by now.

Same here. I get it on approx 30-40% of the page requests. Refreshing resolves it, although it may take two refreshes sometimes.

I wouldn’t worry too much about armor before 80. I usually update my armor about every 10 levels. Often you can get your armor from karma vendors as you do the hearts in each zone. The karma you’ll spend is a tiny amount compared to what you will accumulate at level 80 (I have 1.6 million karma at the moment from prior characters.)

For a wells build you would want Power. At level 35 I’d be looking for Vigorous (Power/Vitality) or Strong (Power/Prec) stats. But I wouldn’t worry too much about it because you’ll be throwing away old armor fairly quickly as you level.

Sigils/runes are nice to have (e.g., Minor Sigil of Bloodlust is cheap and worthwhile), but again, don’t worry if you have no runes/sigils util you get near to 80.

For stat choices see: http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Item_Nomenclature

If you want style, then you’ll want to transmute new stats onto the style armor you want. For that you’ll need Basic Transmutation Stones, which you can accumulate by completing zones as you level:
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Transmutation_Stone

To me the necro is a caster class, so adding more melee weapons that act like melee weapons is going down the wrong path.

But if they do it in the same vein as offhand dagger (which really acts like a casting weapon), then I think it would fit. So instead of a melee cleave on a sword/hammer/etc., it would be an AoE (or pbAoE) effect.

But please: no GS laserbeams.

Banjal.7328:

Day one Male Norn Necro and proud of it.

Ok, I’ll admit it. That one came out nice! Maybe I didn’t try hard enough creating my male Norn. Hmmm.

I made a Norn female necro because I couldn’t find a Norn male look that I liked.

Overall, I’ve been rather disappointed with the variety and quality of male human and Norn faces, hair and tattoo options. So my other 80 necros are Asura and Charr.

Eternum.1706:

The new Dire stat combination is: ++Condition Damage, +Toughness, +Vitality.

Thoughts on how this will affect the Necromancer in WvW, PvE, and sPvP?

I think it will make for very interestingly robust 30/30/x/x/x hybrid builds. (i.e. half Soldier, half Dire).

Edit: half Dire, half Zerker hybrid would also be interesting…

Leveling my third necro to 80 now… (yea, yea, I’m nuts).

For the initial levels……..

Using minions is almost a must due to the skill point layout. Make use of the minions secondary skills: the Haunt skill on Shadow Fiend is very effective, immobilize on Bone Fiend is helpful to stop charging critters, and blow up your Bone Minions with gusto!

I use scepter/warhorn or scepter/dagger. Make extensive use of the blind on dagger, and warhorn daze. Locust swarm for getting around…at least until I got the Locust Signet.

I put points first into Blood to reach Bloodthirst. Then the next 10 into Death.

Gear is vitality/power mix.

LF from scepter is very poor, especially in comparison to axe. It needs a boost on #3 or add LF gen on #1 or 2.

As for scepter1 being an auto-attack, so what? Staff1 auto-attack gives LF.

And ANet recently acknowledged that our LF generation was poor. To wit, recall these recent LF boosts on 7/23, which left out scepter:

Shadow Fiend—Haunt: When this attack hits an enemy, it will grant the necromancer 10% of their life force.
Ghastly Claws: The total life force granted from this skill has been increased from 10% to 12%.
Spectral Armor: Incoming hits now grant 8% life force; has a 1-second internal cooldown.
Spectral Walk: Incoming hits now grant 2% life force; has a 1-second internal cooldown. This spectral skill now grants life force while Spectral Armor is active.
Spectral Grasp: This skill now grants 15% life force (up from 10%).

tattoohead.3217:

And do you have any other creative ways of mitigating damage or stopping burst. please share here

Don’t know if it qualifies as “creative”…but…Protection (-33% dmg) from wells via the Ritual of Protection trait.

See my Protector build, and the link in there to Nemesis’ Abomination build, on which my build is based:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/necromancer/Post-Your-Build-Thread/2623011

That’s pretty neat. I think I’d opt for Staff Mastery or Shrouded Removal over Dark Armor, but I like the overall concept.

Awesome – thanks for all the answers.

Edit: Just transmuted my race’s cultural Tier 1 to level 14 armor and it worked fine.

Is it possible to transmute Cultural Armor (e.g., Tier 1) using basic transmutation stones to remove the level req on the armor and allow my new level 10 alt to wear it?

@Sorrow – I think that’d work fine. because minion builds work so well in PVE, I think there’s alot of room for variety to the standard minion build.

Here’s one variety of your build, with Berzerker/Knight gear:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fQAQFAWjEa16tama07JApHRT90TK4GcKFlzOA-jwxAYLAiAQyrIaslzioxqXwUnER1ejioVLDg+WA-e

Nay of the Ether.8913:

It’s not about the whole jumping thing, although that was cool, but now if you get bursted at the end of your DS life force pool, it directly overflows to your real hp. Therefore, using DS as a burst control mechanic no longer works effectively, because when you need the most burst mitigation is when your hp is already low. Also negating those huge boss hits for 30k+ is no longer possible.

Agreed. I only used jumping as a simple example but in rereading my remarks I did not make that clear.