Guild Wars 2

Bubby.6475:

Nay of the Ether.8913:

since we have DS damage overflow now.

what is damage overflow?

Just watched that abomination build. I wanna try that.

In the olden days, if you took a big hit of damage in DS it might drop your LF to zero and throw you out of DS, but your health pool would not be affected. This is what allowed us to jump from big heights while in DS and land without dying.

But now, the excess damage (i.e., beyond the damage required to drop your LF to zero) from a big hit will not only drop you out of DS, the excess damage will be subtracted from your regular health pool. So…now we can die when jumping from heights, even when in DS.

Bubby.6475:

im not using a crit build. so crit damage is out of my consideration. im goin for a tank build w/ oomph.

Anyone want to share their tank-cro sigils/runes/reasons?

See my Protector build:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/necromancer/Post-Your-Build-Thread/2623011

4x Runes of Earth
2x Runes of Mercy

Last night I played around with taking the 30 from SR and putting it in Curses. It seemed to work well. I might keep it that way.

Also, I switched from Axe to Scepter, and I think I enjoy that better.

See the news item on the two teams – each team has one necro:
https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/meet-the-gw2-pvp-invitational-tournament-teams/

Posi’s build:
http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=;044Z;1kHFH0p37JkJ0;9;4TJ;0J39A18;529-8-17;2hoHAhoHA2Fr

Zombify’s build (the links are mistakenly swapped with Vyndetta on the news page):
http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=;044Z;1kHFC0r3ZJkJ0;9;4TJ;0J49A38;529-KN17;2hoHAhoHA2Vs

Both run very similar 30/20/0/0/20 S/D+Staff builds, and similar utility skills.

Necros are doing well enough that we’ve received some nerfs lately (Dhuumfire, Putrid Mark, damage while in DS now overflowing to health).

Dungeon mechanics are the main issue. They affect necro, but its really an issue with poor mechanics.

Have you run this build, or are you posting to ask if it will work? Dungeons? Open world PVE?

I highly doubt #1 will ever happen. Instead, I think they’ll go the route of Torment: i.e., rather than increase stack count, they’ll increase the number of types of conditions that can be applied.

As it stands now, conditions are in a pretty good place except for caps in group situations, so I don’t see a need for #2 or #3. If the force modifiers affected conditions, there would be a huge cry for a nerf to necros.

With ~2300 power I get a 2K crit on FoC on Cursed Shore Risen with 4-5 conditions.

The damage from FoC is direct damage, so this skill actually benefits power builds much more than condition builds.

I’d be curious how much value any new necros get out of this video. It was rather scattershot and disorganized, and barely touched on our class mechanic. It was not so much a PVE guide – it was a collage.

Mostly what I got out of it was that he likes dagger + well builds.

I would highly recommend viewing the builds by Nemesis. His video build guides are lengthy but also very instructive for a new necro.

Condition:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/necromancer/The-new-conditionmancer-guide/2634725

Hybrid:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OCcT7iJUrA

See more on his youtube channel and in the stickied thread:
http://www.youtube.com/Iamoneandiamlegion
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/necromancer/Necromancer-tutorials/221328 (these may be older builds)

Another build I like:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/necromancer/Build-Staff-Corruption/1773894

Build I’m running now (shameless plug):
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/necromancer/Build-The-Protector/2606512

I also find it painful to run around without Signet of the Locust. Once I get to an area for farming/events I’ll switch it out.

- Spite is just so-so.
- Plague would be nice but if allies run condition cleansing, then why bother?
- Undeath is powerful but very long cooldown and the passive is meh.

I agree that the human proportions are weird, and legs are too long and sticklike. It is as if they based the humans off of runway models.

These sites can give you some ideas about the armors you can get later on so you can see if there is something that will satisfy you if you stay with human:
http://www.gw2armor.com/
http://www.gw2armorgallery.com/

knbBlackTemplar.3059:

Necromancer is my third 80, and i have no clue how gear and which build is pick. Maybe i just should buy berserker gear? Or maybe go to conditions? Links to good builds are welcome

It would help readers if you were more specific about venue: PVE (open world or dungeon), WvW (solo or zerg), PvP.

See this table for the info:
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Item_Nomenclature#Level_80_attribute_values

You may already know this…but just in case:

Although Well of Power lasts 5 sec., the Stability effect only lasts for 1 sec. (i.e., for the first sec. of the well). So if you cast it too far ahead of your foe’s attack, the stability will have expired.

10/10 for full bringer-of-death look.

Mine is far less menacing but I think it fits being Asuran.

T2 helm, cabalist coat, winged leggings, acolyte shoulders.

Behold the Dodgemancer!

The most OP, bestest ever necro buil…..ok, ok, just kidding: this is mostly a gimmick build I just created on paper out of curiosity.

Build: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fQQQNAW7YlMaS32ux5G92EwkCu/O6xxBzMliyZH-jAyAIMBZiBM9JQpwioxWaLiGrWmIqWdjZyLiWtMAVrB-e

Thread: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/necromancer/The-Dodgemancer/first#post2549074

Theme:
- Maximize access to Endurance and dodge-related abilities
- Impair the enemy with bleeds, weakness, reduced Endurance and poison

It should provide pretty much continuous access to dodging, as well as good Regeneration and Might. And…it has an almost perfect 10:1 ratio of Health:Armor so it must be OP, right?

Oh, and Asura is a must, both for Radiation Field and for the coolest dodge animation!

The Protector

This is a tanky solo & support PVE build inspired by The Abomination by Nemesis.

Build: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fQQQNAnYWjMaV6ZaeaM8JEpCYz0DuZcEHqHlD78hA-jwxAoLBxsXR0YrdDRrOGW9CmukIq2DUEtahAEsFA-e

Thread: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/necromancer/Build-The-Protector/first#post2607227

Motivation: a build which is modest cost, easy to play, and offers some supportive value in a group, as well as being quite viable solo, and likely also decent in WvW (although I haven’t tried it there yet).

Principles:

• High Toughness and Vitality (~1800 toughness/~28.8k health)
• AoE Power-based – staff and axe/dagger
• Support via offering Protection to allies and extra armor when rezing
• Deathshroud – good LF generation and leverage of Deathly Perception

Methods:

• Use of wells combined with Ritual of Protection trait provides self + allies in the well with Protection for 3 sec. Protection is a 33% reduction in damage taken, which equates to roughly an additional 900 toughness for those 3 sec.
• Use of wells combined with Vampiric Rituals provides a great deal of healing from siphoning.
• Although the build has negligible Crit Chance, use of Deathly Perception trait provides +50% crit chance while in DS for decent Life Blasts.
• Use of 4 x Runes of Earth to add toughness, support the Protection and offer Protection on hit.
• Use of 2 x Runes of Mercy provide additional 400 toughness while reviving an ally.

Notes:

• This is a modest damage build. Killing a Veteran Giant, for example, is a bit slow. It is not a ZOMGMEGACRITZ build.
• Bloodthirst could be swapped with Ritual of Life (Well of Blood on revive). That well will also trigger Protection.
• Because we cannot heal while in DS, it is optimal to try to plan your use of DS for when wells are on CD, or between well casts, (e.g., when you are kiting/on the move) in order to maximize your gains from Vampiric Rituals and Vampiric traits.
• Soul Marks could be swapped with Mark of Revival, at the cost of LF generation.
• Use of Dagger instead of Focus for offhand is just my personal preference. In WvW I would likely opt for Warhorn instead.
• Sigils: Flexible. E.g., could follow Nemesis and use Sigils of Leeching + Sigil of Restoration for offhand, or go Bloodlust/Force/Battle direction, or Renewal, etc.

I’d guess there was some reason during beta for this self-stun (or self-disable, whatever), or they thought they were cleverly mirroring the self-bleeds on BiP. Either way it seems inane.

I usually use Spectral Grasp underwater instead, since it generates LF, as well as not being self-disabling..

As an -ahem- post-half-century person, I am finding this build I just posted forgiving, fun for open world PVE, and easy to play:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/necromancer/Build-The-Protector

Another nice option would a Condition build where you just lay on the conditions, Epidemic them, and cripple/chill/kite them until they melt. A full Rabid build would work for that.

I also like the look of this build, although I haven’t played the exact same build, I’ve played similar:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/necromancer/Build-Staff-Corruption/1773894

The Protector

This is a tanky solo & support PVE build inspired by The Abomination by Nemesis.

Build: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fQQQNAnYWjMaV6ZaeaM8JEpCYz0DuZcEHqHlD78hA-jwxAoLBxsXR0YrdDRrOGW9CmukIq2DUEtahAEsFA-e

Motivation: a build which is modest cost, easy to play, and offers some supportive value in a group, as well as being quite viable solo, and likely also decent in WvW (although I haven’t tried it there yet).

Principles:

• High Toughness and Vitality (~1800 toughness/~28.8k health)
• AoE Power-based – staff and axe/dagger
• Support via offering Protection to allies and extra armor when rezing
• Deathshroud – good LF generation and leverage of Deathly Perception

Methods:

• Use of wells combined with Ritual of Protection trait provides self + allies in the well with Protection for 3 sec. Protection is a 33% reduction in damage taken, which equates to roughly an additional 900 toughness for those 3 sec.
• Use of wells combined with Vampiric Rituals provides a great deal of healing from siphoning.
• Although the build has negligible Crit Chance, use of Deathly Perception trait provides +50% crit chance while in DS for decent Life Blasts.
• Use of 4 x Runes of Earth to add toughness, support the Protection and offer Protection on hit.
• Use of 2 x Runes of Mercy provide additional 400 toughness while reviving an ally.

Notes:

• This is a modest damage build. Killing a Veteran Giant, for example, is a bit slow. It is not a ZOMGMEGACRITZ build.
• Bloodthirst could be swapped with Ritual of Life (Well of Blood on revive). That well will also trigger Protection.
• Because we cannot heal while in DS, it is optimal to try to plan your use of DS for when wells are on CD, or between well casts, (e.g., when you are kiting/on the move) in order to maximize your gains from Vampiric Rituals and Vampiric traits.
• Soul Marks could be swapped with Mark of Revival, at the cost of LF generation.
• Use of Dagger instead of Focus for offhand is just my personal preference. In WvW I would likely opt for Warhorn instead.
• Sigils: Flexible. E.g., could follow Nemesis and use Sigils of Leeching + Sigil of Restoration for offhand, or go Bloodlust/Force/Battle direction, or Renewal, etc.

I feel the same way about Soul Marks, especially when scepter is my offhand weapon – scepter is very weak LF gen. If I am using axe, then I rely on axe for LF gen.

I find Signet of Undeath and the trait Reapers Precision to be very poor at adding much LF. I’ve never really run a spectral build, but that would be another way to generate LF.

Take a look at this one:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/necromancer/Build-Staff-Corruption/1773894

From the Grave – A well (with the Grasping Dead animation) which cripples and Torments each second. Lasts 7 seconds.

/signed.

If they want, they could just change:

Damage taken while in death shroud will now overflow to the necromancer’s health pool if the damage taken is greater than the remaining life force.

to:

Falling damage taken while in death shroud will now overflow to the necromancer’s health pool if the damage taken is greater than the remaining life force.

And we already know they can distinguish falling damage from other damage. I.e., Toxic Landing trait.

soulxhawk.7914:

Ok thanks, I found out how to get to the other starting areas. Also what stat is best for solo? VIT, STR, END? Also what weapons are the best? I use axe and staff at the moment.

Axe is a limited range power weapon while staff is a mix of power & condition damage.

At level 17 I would go for Vitality. It seemed to have the best benefit for me – staying alive helped my DPS the most.

The difficulty with the axe (and all power-weapons) is that you can’t kite the enemy and do damage at the same time, whereas conditions applied tick every second even while you are kiting the enemy.

So I would suggest for now to try using Staff + Scepter/Dagger. Scepter gives you more range than axe, applies more conditions, and scepter2 cripple really helps with kiting. Dagger5 weakness is very helpful for reducing incoming damage, and dagger4 blind also reduces incoming damage.

You should have 7 trait points now. I would either aim for Blood line first, in order to get to 10 points to take Bloodthirst, which really makes DS2 quite strong, or Death line for Staff Mastery, so your marks come off of cooldown sooner. As you get more points and get stronger, you can respec along the way, so whatever traits you choose now won’t be a forever comittment.

I have to say that there is alot to the “Living Story” that I just ignore because these transient events often make little sense unless is into the lore and/or one looks up guides on youtube or elsewhere and in the end, the events don’t matter much anyway, unless you thrive on getting achievements or special event items.

As for the crafting, I personally just found it a gold sink. I was better off leveling my first character by selling all the craftable components rather than trying to level my crafting skills. To each his own.

I do find that there are a number of aspects to this game that require going outside the game to learn or figure out. Maybe I could do it ingame if I had more time, but I don’t.

Use the GW2 wiki (link at top of the forum page) often. It will help a great deal in figuring things out.
Another site worth bookmarking for events, new items, armors, puzzles, etc. is Dulfy:
http://dulfy.net/category/gw2/

As for those support tokens, with the Aug. 6 patch you should now be able to sell them at a vendor and recoup some cash:
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Support_Token

Stick with it and don’t get discouraged. As you level up, it will make more and more sense.

It could be nice for Asura condimancers:
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Pain_Inverter

See the Sheobix and Nemesis builds linked in this thread:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/necromancer/Can-someone-link-me-a-juggermancer-build/2538995

subcrazy.1098:

Video of stats for the foot in the grave video in 1st post.

Thanks

Hey it takes alot of work to install those NSA Prism taps inline with the servers!

Are we talking PVE, WVW or PVP?

My new signature:

Stealth nerfs are the perfect fertilizer for mistrust.

Also, here’s the original Juggermancer thread:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/necromancer/Juggermancer-Final-Blog-Link/first

With the additions of Ascended trinkets and the Deathly Perception trait, here is my “re-imagining” of the Juggermancer build:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fQAQNAW3djMaV6ZaKbM8JkJFcz4Ap49qFqHlD78hA-jwxAoLioZOAR0c2rIasdgioxqsxUvER127ioVLEggxA-e

• Power: 2657
• Toughness: 1752
• Health: 29472
• Crit Dmg: 30%
• Crit chance: 4%…but in DS its 54%

Pretty beastly

Edit: swapping in some Cavalier to boost Crit Dmg for higher DS damage:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fQAQNAW3djMaV6ZaKbM8JkJFcz4Ap49qFqHlD78hA-jAyAoLioZOAR0c2rIasdgioxqsxUvJVFLIbvLiWtQACGDA-e

• Power: 2544
• Toughness: 1867
• Health: 27262
• Crit Dmg: 55%
• Crit chance: 4%…in DS 54%

masztipapa.4710:

I would have started playing this spec long ago if it worked. Sadly the dodge trait has a 10 sec internal cd so all those endurance regen stuff r worthless. Dont even know why since it drops a weaker mark, not the normal one….

Even so, that’s 5 sec of regen out of every 10 sec, and the ICD is not shared with Staff2, so combined with Staff2, you can pretty much have near constant regen.

I just tried this build out (with some rare gear variations) in Orr and it works pretty well, actually; although I think it may be due more to the Weakness than to the added dodge abilities.

My answer is YES. I don’t shroud-dance, so it frustrates me when I accidentally double-tap F1.

OTOH, I understand that shroud-dancers would have a conniption fit if it was changed.

Behold the Dodgemancer!

The most OP, bestest ever necro buil…..ok, ok, just kidding: this is mostly a gimmick build I just created on paper out of curiosity.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fQQQNAW7YlMaS32ux5G92EwkCu/O6xxBzMliyZH-jAyAIMBZiBM9JQpwioxWaLiGrWmIqWdjZyLiWtMAVrB-e

The theme:
- Maximize access to Endurance and dodge-related abilities
- Impair the enemy with bleeds, weakness, reduced Endurance and poison

It should provide pretty much continuous access to dodging, as well as good Regeneration and Might. And…it has an almost perfect 10:1 ratio of Health:Armor so it must be OP, right?

Oh, and Asura is a must, both for Radiation Field and for the coolest dodge animation!

HatSimulator.9362:

honestly i am baffled that you have 24,000 health and doing that much damage.

And survive so well! That’s why I assumed PVT gear. I’ll be interested to see this build.

Rennoko.5731:

In the video he says 30/0/0/10/30, just FYI

Ah, thanks. I missed that.

Nice. Those were some neat battles.

Build? Maybe 20/20/0/0/30 with PVT gear?

Tenebrous.2451:

I Deschain I.4623:

I don’t know if it was like this before but when I’m taking more damage than I have life force and I’m switching back to my normal health bar, there is a one second delay before I can use my normal skills again. Is this intended?

Yes yes, please change this!

Yes, this is an unacceptable bug and needs to be fixed ASAP.

themenaceofseventhdimension.2075:

Ok guyz plz look at my build i just updated it. thats all i ask. just look at it plz.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fQEQNAnYWjMaF7tbKb8bKAJFX/MUhejKcM1jyZHdA-jUzAINioRqDG5BgAlIiAYyTZM/JoW1KiGr2GTDjoiFk1xo28ioVLFAELAA-w

I think I would consider:

- dropping Greater Marks and putting the 10 pts into Spite for Axe Mastery.
- perhaps replace Divinity runes with Elementalist Runes.
- replace Signet of Spite with BiP, since BiP has half the CD and you can then take Reapers Might instead of Signet Mastery.

But…its all a matter of preference really for your playstyle.

Take a look at this build for some ideas:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/necromancer/Build-Staff-Corruption/1773894

What is your build?

shadowraith.9124:

The problem is that blobing is currently more effective than not doing.

Maybe an AoE debuff as a group grows in size? As the group (defined simply by the number of people in a certain radius) expands beyond 20, for example, then the debuff increases significantly, nullifying the blob benefits?

The Veteran Giant in Cursed Shore is a popular target to use for a reference.

See for example:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/necromancer/LF-Necromancer-Veteran-Giant-DPS-Test-Videos/first#post2498885

See also Nemesis’ youtube channel, such as the recent Hybrid Necro video.

zen.6091:

It’s a fairly simple fact that with any game server, more players requires exponentially more resources to maintain the same level of performance, and there is a limit to computing resources. This game clearly does not function with blobs of 50+ players spamming each other, and yet, nothing has been done to discourage massive blobbing with either a hard de-buff or making it wildly inefficient point wise.

That’s really all there is to it.

That does seem to be it. It is all good until the “blob v. blob” encounters and then my skills I hit just flash while I am engulfed by red circles and I pretty much wait to die. This is with video on lowest quality and a decent internet connection.

Draehl.2681:

I think the only point trying to be made here is Necros no longer have a way to absorb huge single hits in PvE. All other classes can invuln/block/etc. a hit. We had that with DS previously, but now we do not. This may be something else to split between PvE/PvP.

Precisely this.

A combination of Dhuumfire w/60% reduction + Terror w/17% reduction will either finally prove that the original Dhuumfire+Terror was indeed OP or that the alleged
OP-ness of necros is utterly erroneous or lies elsewhere.

To make per second Torment damage equivalent to Burning damage the number of stacks (S) required for a given condition damage ( C) is:
S=(.25*C+328)/(.0375*C+31.875)
At 1600 condition damage S=7.9
If a target is moving (thereby taking twice the Torment damage), then S=7.9/2= 3.95

So Drarnor Kunoram’s suggestion of 5 stacks makes sense to me.

But wouldn’t a change from Dhuumfire to Torment would be quite different from Tainted Shackles (600 range) since it would presumably inherit the range of the weapon used? Would the complaining be any less if one necro could proc Torment at 900 or 1200 range using Staff1, DS1 or Scepter and thereby induce the enemy to stop moving to reduce damage? Or maybe that is what is needed?

Kraag Deadsoul.2789

I’m not asking for blocks, evades, or invulnerability. With the pre-patch DS, I didn’t need them; it functionally served the same purpose as those skills. With this patch, though, that’s gone. Replacing it with some extra effective health in DS is not going to save you. This patch took a defensive mechanic that existed for the necromancer, removed it, and failed to replace it with something of equivalent value.
……
I’ll reiterate; I’m not asking for blocks, evades, or invulnerability. I really and truly do not want them. Simply revert DS such that damage received does not overflow into the regular health pool. That’s all. Doing so reinstates our only de facto block/evade/invulnerability skill; even if it’s one that is dependent on the life force resource.

I agree.

Imagine if they patched block/evade/invulnerability skills to only absorb X amount of damage and that any extra damage above X overflowed into the health pool. Lion’s Arch would be set ablaze in a furious firestorm.