Guild Wars 2

I still feel like Scrapper is superior for any bruiser Reaper. 7% damage reduction from the runes within, what, 600 range? Which means that Soldier gear has the equivalent armor value (I think) of Knight’s armor, but with more power as well as vitality. That’s huge for a bruiser

Seriously though… Something does need to happen with Blighter’s Boon. It doesn’t seem to really help with attrition all that much on bruiser builds…

BUT. CttB should definitely give un-cleansable chill for 15 minutes and double the time it takes to respawn (But only for non-Reapers. Other Reaper’s know how to handle the cold)

AND Rise!! should spawn Flesh Golems with all the minion traits integrated into the mobs themselves, and they take all the damage you take, but it only affects them 50%

jalmari.3906:

i kind of agree specializations made trait line choices pretty boring.

for power necro it’s like spite, soul reaping, reaper if you go dmg, you can try tankier with something instead of soul reaping but meh your damage and DS uptime will be horribly pathetic, just saying.

no idea about condinecros been playing 500-1000 games with power reaper now though.

i do miss my core dagger zerker but it isn’t viable anymore for anything it was nerfed many times over and over (ds/weakness etc so called “fixes”) so it cannot work really for anything else than seal clubbing.

reaper is okay as long as you remember you will be cc’ed to death many times over and thieves laugh at you most of the time

See, I love fighting thieves as a Soldier Scrapper S/SR/R Reaper because my durability foils their damage spikes, and I hurt them… a lot. Also, I find there are few situations where I get cc’d to death. I’ve fought Rampage warriors toe to toe and just casually slashed at them while in shroud and kill them when Rampage runs out.

As for the first part of your post… Yeahhhh……. It does end up making things pretty dull for spec preference

Dadnir.5038:

It’s one of the first I got and I’d probably give it to you if I could since all my character except my revenant have their tyrian map completion and what gate me to finish these collection is the fact that you don’t get reward for hot map completion if you have the tyrian 100%…

Wait… what? You don’t get a reward for it?

Eh, I dunno. I just think having a more substantial pin down skill would be positive

My point more is that Grevedigger has a long wind up and a good number of times you use it in a match, it misses your main target. Having the vuln be immobilize wouldn’t be a bad thing, I think

Cogbyrn.7283:

Vydahr.4285:

Cogbyrn.7283:

Yeah, don’t ever let someone else dictate your fun-having. If you want to be in a top competitive scene then you can listen to advice, but if you’re just playing the game to enjoy yourself as a hobby? Play what you want. ANet has yet to create content a Necromancer can’t complete, so all you need to do (as others have mentioned) is find fun people to run with.

I will say that, pertaining to the OP, I have yet to have someone harp on me for being a Necro. I’ll also say that I hope it happens, because I enjoy breaking those arguments down.

As to your last point…. If you get kicked from a group immediately when they find out your class, it’s hard to break down an argument :p But that’s when you just go in and do the fractal/dungeon solo just to spite them (and fulfill your masochistic necro tendencies, of course)

Haha yes, that’s also true. I was imagining map chat saying “We don’t take kindly to your type ’round here”, or someone angrily whispering, in which case I’d start firing all guns.

“I challenge you all to a fight!” everyone in map proceeds to step on your melted corpse together “I meant one at a time!”

Cogbyrn.7283:

Yeah, don’t ever let someone else dictate your fun-having. If you want to be in a top competitive scene then you can listen to advice, but if you’re just playing the game to enjoy yourself as a hobby? Play what you want. ANet has yet to create content a Necromancer can’t complete, so all you need to do (as others have mentioned) is find fun people to run with.

I will say that, pertaining to the OP, I have yet to have someone harp on me for being a Necro. I’ll also say that I hope it happens, because I enjoy breaking those arguments down.

As to your last point…. If you get kicked from a group immediately when they find out your class, it’s hard to break down an argument :p But that’s when you just go in and do the fractal/dungeon solo just to spite them (and fulfill your masochistic necro tendencies, of course)

lordhelmos.7623:

I think this skill is fine where it is and can really be used by smart players to dole out some serious punishment.

NCSY + Shroud Knight 5 then 4 is pretty much death for anyone. NCSY + gravedigger can really ruin anyone hiding behind a block that can’t take a hit, like a chrono.

Unblockability is a really good mesh with GS.

I think the issue people tend to have is more that it gives 10 stacks of vuln in replacement of 2 boons removed. Just about everybody likes the unblockable part, but the vuln part is somewhat lackluster

Knote.2904:

Sororita.3465:

Vydahr.4285:

True, but Anet seems to balance things around best case scenario and not something in the middle, so I’m sure they’d look at “holy kitten, ten seconds of fear output? nope, can’t have it.”

Although, i suppose technically it could be looked at the same as CttB, but with less damage and no other CC, soft or otherwise

If Anet looked at every skill like that then you could say that warrior hammer does something along the lines of 10 seconds of knock down.

It’s still 2 seconds on 5 enemies, thats not over powered at all.

Lol if Anet looked at every skill that way, Reaper would be removed.

Considering almost every ability of ours is based on doing more with more enemies…

I stand corrected. I seem to still be a bit jaded about core necro. Still, I’m not sure fear is the way to go for NCSY. A second of immob per boon removed might be good, though. It would fit the whole, “You’re screwed now, buddy” feel of yelling “Nothing can save you!” at someone. And, frankly, would be a lot more useful than 10 vuln stacks for a handful of seconds. (And the unblockable would still be more effective if you could plant your enemy where you want them to whack them with your GS)

Sororita.3465:

Vydahr.4285:

Knote.2904:

The one to Rule.2593:

1 sec of fear per boon? that’d be way too strong.

It only strips 2 boons.

*10, potentially, because it’s up to five targets that you would make flee from you

Thats still only 2 seconds of fear per enemy.

True, but Anet seems to balance things around best case scenario and not something in the middle, so I’m sure they’d look at “holy kitten, ten seconds of fear output? nope, can’t have it.”

Although, i suppose technically it could be looked at the same as CttB, but with less damage and no other CC, soft or otherwise

spoj.9672:

What Goldenrevolver said.

Lupicus requires about 105% crit chance to get perma crit because hes lvl 82. Maybe its higher. I dont know what the formula is above 80 anymore since they changed the base precision.

And this further adds to the decision ive always made about valk gear. Its pointless and bad. :P

You must hate Soldier then :p

Goldenrevolver.4371:

one IMPORTANT thing you need to consider in pve situations that the OP described is that when you are fighting mobs above level 80 ,eg when an open world event is scaling because there are many players, your crit chance is lower against these targets so you need more than 100% crit chance to crit them 100% of the time. also as it was already said check if u had weakness

Did not realize it lowers your crit chance against upscaled enemies like that. Thanks for the information

Just to clarify, I’ve only ever seen this happen in PvE. In PvP things just happen too fast to notice anything like that. The most recent example was on a Breacher in Verdant Brink

Knote.2904:

The one to Rule.2593:

1 sec of fear per boon? that’d be way too strong.

It only strips 2 boons.

*10, potentially, because it’s up to five targets that you would make flee from you

Bhawb.7408:

That isn’t how mitigation works though, though it isn’t a huge change each one has diminishing returns, so two 10% damage reductions is only 19%.

How far could you stack up damage mitigation on a Reaper, ideally? Between Rise! and all the other traits we have, it’s probably pretty significant (especially in shroud with the unlisted mitigation)

Rishnock.6230:

I haven’t tried condition reaper yet. Just hopped on a few hours ago and did berserker amulet full direct damage reaper. Granted I was worthless until I got a little lifeforce, after that I was a big benefit to the team.

I was using greatsword and axe/focus. The latter was just for skill 4 and 2 to get some life force from a range. But after I got a pool, speed of shadows trait along with shroud skill 2 lets you charge in and then you do some damage. As soon as you’re out, use the shout that puts weakness on everyone. Like, don’t complain about dying easily when you’ve got an AoE weakness. And greatsword skill 4 has an aoe blind that’s helpful to stay alive. Sometimes I like to use well of darkness as well.

Then greatsword skill 2 helps when they get weak. I’ve found reaper is good for finishing up a fight, especially if you can catch them with low endurance.

AoE Weakness and a shout that gives 50% damage mitigation, as well as Suffer! giving you 10% damage mitigation for 3.5 seconds against those enemies without a condi cleanse

Has anyone else noticed in PvE when there are full stacks of vuln on a target but not all are yours, you just don’t crit as much as you should? For instance, I notice this most on larger targets with more players fighting it when I’m in shroud, because I should crit 100% of the time with DD and DP, but it doesn’t show any crits, even in the combat logs.

Anyone else encounter this?

Muchacho.2390:

Goldenrevolver.4371:

i have a completely different impression for pve. the defense is mostly not needed in anything really but with our new toys even my full zerker necro can facetank the most ridiculous champs or even legends. so they need to be very careful when buffing it for pvp.

heres my setup:

-armored shroud 180 toughness while in rs
-“rise” to get an instant cast 50% damage reduction. the minions take your damage and themselves have a 95% damage reduction so they aint gonna die.
-cold shoulder is a 10% damage reduction when the enemy is chilled which has a decent uptime.
-putrid defense is another 10% damage reduction when the enemy is poisoned.
-frost armor is another 20% damage reduction.
-corrupters fervor is 300 toughness and 20% condition damage reduction which is always up while youre in reapers shroud.

so basically you run up to the boss (in full zerker) throw your wells down, instant cast “rise”, go into reapers shroud and go rs5->rs4->r2 to get not only a lot of damage (both rs4 and r2 are dps increases over the autoattack) but also a lot of chill, a nice burst of poison and frost armor. after that “unyielding blast” guarantees that u stay at 10 stacks “corrupters fervor” and u do the rotation again. u can use “chilled to the bone” or “lich” and your heal skill (im using “ysim” shout atm) as needed. theres only a tiny section where u are vulnerable when “rise” minions arent up and youre out of shroud. i think buffing death magic more would trivialize pve even more than it is already by chronomancers and revenants.

its of course a damage loss with losing the potencial to use gravedigger effectively due to the loss of crit chance, losing all the might from spite and losing “close to death” and “spiteful talisman” but “chilling victory” and “deadly strength” balance it out a little.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQNBIhF6kZTolGsmGwbTgDHssOUS579uvxv/9//UBwBkmA-TxRBABXp8jm9HwTfwDnCAAeCAUq+jZKBBA-e

First of frost armor is 10% not 20%. Second corruptors frevor cannot be taken with US, so i dont see a problem there. Soul comprehensions is a nearly useless minor even in pve and i doubt a extra second or ally support on btv will change much to your described situation.

Frost Armor on a Reaper is essentially 20% mitigation, because of Reaper’s inherent durability against chilled targets (10%) plus the 10% from the frost armor itself

meow one twenty.4376:

Vydahr.4285:

meow one twenty.4376:

Vydahr.4285:

Muchacho.2390:

meow one twenty.4376:

Death Magic is a defensive line, but Shroud is our defense and Shroud is enhanced by Soul Reaping.

Shroud is practically enhanced in every line. Every line has something that specially effects shroud. So i dont really i understand your argument…

Shroud’s amount and a couple other things are affected by Soul Reaping. Everything else that can be done with it is in other lines. For instance, Death Magic. Gives you 180 extra toughness in shroud and gives you even more power in shroud. Blood Magic gives you siphons through shroud. Spite gives might in shroud. Reaper makes your shroud attack faster or boosts your defense against movement impeding condis. The list goes on

And to get much out of the defensive traits for Shroud you need Shroud uptime, which Soul Reaping gives.

Actually look at defensive Soul Reaping traits:

Gluttony – better LF generation
Soul Marks – LF generation
Speed of Shadows – Quicker access to Shroud
Last Gasp – LF generation, Protection, possible stunbreak
Spectral Mastery – Instant LF generation, longer lasting LF generators
Vital Persistence – LF degeneration halved
Foot in the Grave – Stunbreak on entering Shroud

Yes, DM does have defensive traits but Corruptors Fervor is the only non-Shroud trait that really increases survivability (Minions notwithstanding). Basically what I’m saying is that Shroud is so important that Soul Reaping overshadows Death Magic as a defensive tool by allowing you faster LF generation, faster re-entry to Shroud, and more ways of generating LF. 180 Toughness in Shroud only matter if you are in Shroud after all. Unholy Sanctuary need a good buff, it heals for 130 health/second on a 19000 health class… that’s about 0.7% of your health per second.

Unholy Sanctuary is actually worse than that, practically speaking, considering most builds don’t use Death Magic unless they’re building more HP and Toughness, which means it’s an even smaller fraction of a percent of healing per second

I even rounded up.

Yeah, for a 28k hp soldier reaper…. it’s only about half a percent, sadly

meow one twenty.4376:

Vydahr.4285:

Muchacho.2390:

meow one twenty.4376:

Death Magic is a defensive line, but Shroud is our defense and Shroud is enhanced by Soul Reaping.

Shroud is practically enhanced in every line. Every line has something that specially effects shroud. So i dont really i understand your argument…

Shroud’s amount and a couple other things are affected by Soul Reaping. Everything else that can be done with it is in other lines. For instance, Death Magic. Gives you 180 extra toughness in shroud and gives you even more power in shroud. Blood Magic gives you siphons through shroud. Spite gives might in shroud. Reaper makes your shroud attack faster or boosts your defense against movement impeding condis. The list goes on

And to get much out of the defensive traits for Shroud you need Shroud uptime, which Soul Reaping gives.

Actually look at defensive Soul Reaping traits:

Gluttony – better LF generation
Soul Marks – LF generation
Speed of Shadows – Quicker access to Shroud
Last Gasp – LF generation, Protection, possible stunbreak
Spectral Mastery – Instant LF generation, longer lasting LF generators
Vital Persistence – LF degeneration halved
Foot in the Grave – Stunbreak on entering Shroud

Yes, DM does have defensive traits but Corruptors Fervor is the only non-Shroud trait that really increases survivability (Minions notwithstanding). Basically what I’m saying is that Shroud is so important that Soul Reaping overshadows Death Magic as a defensive tool by allowing you faster LF generation, faster re-entry to Shroud, and more ways of generating LF. 180 Toughness in Shroud only matter if you are in Shroud after all. Unholy Sanctuary need a good buff, it heals for 130 health/second on a 19000 health class… that’s about 0.7% of your health per second.

Unholy Sanctuary is actually worse than that, practically speaking, considering most builds don’t use Death Magic unless they’re building more HP and Toughness, which means it’s an even smaller fraction of a percent of healing per second

Muchacho.2390:

meow one twenty.4376:

Death Magic is a defensive line, but Shroud is our defense and Shroud is enhanced by Soul Reaping.

Shroud is practically enhanced in every line. Every line has something that specially effects shroud. So i dont really i understand your argument…

Shroud’s amount and a couple other things are affected by Soul Reaping. Everything else that can be done with it is in other lines. For instance, Death Magic. Gives you 180 extra toughness in shroud and gives you even more power in shroud. Blood Magic gives you siphons through shroud. Spite gives might in shroud. Reaper makes your shroud attack faster or boosts your defense against movement impeding condis. The list goes on

Just a comment on the first part of your post as a suggestion: Keep the current LF from deaths, but then add a .5% lf gain per hit you take with no ICD. Presumably, on a tanky build you’re expecting to get hit quite a lot and having a lesser version of Spectral Armor makes a lot of sense (alternately, maybe Spectrals should be in Death Magic…… Seeing as they are almost exclusively defensive skills)

Bhawb.7408:

I’m doing great in PvP with Reaper right now, though not on the original build I intended to play. Haven’t had the chance to play a ton, but I’ve also not lost a single game yet. Reaper definitely has a few issues, but a lot of them go back to the core profession like we’ve been saying would be an issue since pre-BWEs.

Not running DM, then, Bhawb?

Warscythes.9307:

Vydahr.4285:

Biggest problem in PvP for Necros/Reapers: 0% starting life force

Ehh I wouldn’t really mind starting with 25% life force or something similar but I think most of us got used to it at this point that it is a minor issue compared to everything else.

Who doesn’t start the match and start finding boxes to hit anyway these days.

it’s really the principle of the thing. I mean, Necromancers are alive, right? They must have their own life force

Biggest problem in PvP for Necros/Reapers: 0% starting life force

Dead.5829:

Vydahr.4285:

And I’m just here on my tank reaper hitting 500k sometimes :’(

You probably take a lot more damage, though! : D

Yes. Yes I do. Frustrated a Dragonhunter for a couple minutes at the beginning of a PvP match because I’m so kitten durable

Dead.5829:

Thustlewhumber.7416:

So I’m sitting here with my power reaper doing 8k auto attacks and 25k+ Executioner hits continuing to wonder why anyone would go condi…

I’m assuming that’s pve, buuuuuut in pvp – consistently hitting 800k-1mill and absolutely pewping on some builds is making condi reaper a lot of fun.

Nearlight ruined me :’ (

And I’m just here on my tank reaper hitting 500k sometimes :’(

Cogbyrn.7283:

Dead.5829:

One thing that’s helped quite a bit for getting off heals after RS is watching for the Infusing Terror stab pulse, seeing it pulse, casting Terrify, then dropping shroud and immediately healing. If I’ve got a chrono on me, I’ve found my best bet is to hope for an ooLoS spot.

I had this thought in the middle of a match the other night, then totally forgot about it. Thanks for the reminder!

@Vydahr: I’m running something that is less than optimized/ideal, but I’ve been playing around with alternating Spite/DM. Right now I have something like this:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQNAR3dnMbCdbid2AW2A0biFrBTKAEyKZxdwQYJkKEEDmUA-TZBHwAGOIAAuAAq2fwZZgBPBAA

I threw Sigil of Battle on Axe/Focus, but I don’t really like it. I thought I’d be cool and get 2% LF on swapping to that weapon, but that just isn’t much, and I’m really not that cool for doing it. I’ll need to look around at what else I might want with that weapon set.

I know people don’t like Axe, and I know people don’t like Focus, but I wanted to try them together for kicks. I’ve been a long-time Focus user, so the cast times don’t bother me, and being able to strip 3 boons and chill from 1200 range has been awesome. I know Staff has long-range chill on a shorter cooldown, and the AoE fear and such, but there’s something about the amount of LF I can generate quickly with Axe #2, Focus #4, Axe #3 (with BB) that just really tickles me. With the 7 second cooldown on Shroud, cycling through those abilities and YSIM can catapult me back into Shroud at a high amount of LF, and if they dodge those abilities when I use them, then they have less mitigation to deal with me being back in Shroud, since I usually pop in and out fairly frequently based on situation.

Also, Melandru Runes + Relentless Pursuit is maybe my new favorite thing. Someone mentioned it in a thread recently, and I wanted to high-five the thread, because it feels wonderful. With Axe, Focus, and GS, I lose all my weapon-based condi transfers, and I’m only running Plague Signet for emergencies at the moment. To fill that gap I tried just baking more condition “resistance” into my build with Corrupter’s Fervor, Shrouded Removal, and Melandru. I’m not sure how well it’s working, but I think if I play my cards right it feels pretty good. Some condi Thief played me like a fiddle last night and it was infuriating because I was being an idiot in the 1v1, but I’ll be keeping an eye on how it performs under pressure.

Anyway, that’s enough jabbering.

Seems fairly solid. Currently, my build is very solid. I don’t have quite the LF gen that you do, but I have so much durability and power together that I can get people low enough on health to make them start playing defensively. Also, Rune of the Scrapper is very good for a DM Reaper. 7% innate damage resistance is awesome. Boosts your armor value by, what, a couple hundred in terms of percentages?

But, yeah. Try running something like mine with all those shouts and Suffer! as condi transfer with staff (Also, Suffer! is really nice if you get blinded while trying GD) Rely on that toughness and wail on people while in shroud (burn some LF and use it as a shield) Just.. Don’t jump into the midfight in Stronghold right off…………… It hurts. A lot.

Oh! And also, Hydromancy is on staff because the extra damage/chill on staff when you use it point blank like I do a lot. Very good AoE effectiveness for a quick burst (relatively quick, anyway)

Cogbyrn.7283:

Vydahr.4285:

Even with Rise! we’re not OP in my opinion. Reaper’s are very solid, and though general builds aren’t very different, we have a few different flavors that are all good. We’re also one of the few classes that can be extremely tough to take down solo without sacrificing a ton of damage potential (unlike Water camping Eles on point)

And, frankly, that style of sturdiness is kind of new to the game as something truly viable. And if our tankiness encounters some added Might, Quickness, or any other boon, really, we become absolute powerhouses (let me tell you, getting full stacks of might from a teammate in PvE against a boss as a DM build is soooo gratifying.) And, because of that, people very well might get scared. However, we do have clear, exploitable weaknesses.

For instance, even in a build that has Heavy armor toughness with or without Corrupter’s Fervor, a Reaper doesn’t have a lot of inherent condi cleanse. Even though our life pool is high and a single condi user isn’t likely to down us, a couple can. Or a condi guy and power build. We’re strong against pressure and fight back much better than a lot of classes in 1v2’s and greater, but we can succumb. Reaper’s are also ridiculously slow, and have a hard time catching up to targets. Also, though RS can boost a Reaper considerably, it’ll run out. And, again, vs one target we’re strong, but if they can get us out of shroud and burn through some of our HP, they’re likely to win.

So, yes. We’re the monsters in PvP. Big, slow brutes that are difficult to take down. Maybe not the scariest, but Grenth help you if you get caught unaware by a Reaper. But, on the other hand, Grenth help us if we’re caught even a little unprepared, because we’ll go down too. We’re strong, but with weaknesses. As it should be. And if Anet remembers that, then we should do fairly well through future balance patches

tl;dr – We’re solid. But we can be killed. We’re gonna be fine

I agree with your assessment at the moment. When I drop out of RS, I’m really quite vulnerable, and although Rise! helps with that, it’s still the same “no personal stability” situation that can be exploited. I have already seen myself get dazed out of healing multiple times in a row while trying to shout, and it really sets me back.

I feel like I’ve been sort of playing as an underdog for so long that I want to make sure I fairly evaluate how strong my build is. Right now, I think it’s really strong, but can be punished.

Exactly. And that’s how it should be. Even outside of shroud, we can be hard to take down (particularly by squishy classes who are afraid of getting smacked in the face with a necro gs) in a 1v1 scenario, and sometimes in a 2v1 (if our shouts are all good to go. Throw out some weakness and damage-mitigating minions and you’re pretty solid) but other than that, if our shroud gets burned, we don’t often have time to recover it, particularly if we’re getting pressured by even a little CC

(Also, Cogbyrn, what is the build you’re using right now? I’d be interested in comparing notes)

Cogbyrn.7283:

meow one twenty.4376:

Vapour.7348:

Pimsley.3681:

The chill buffs have been looking good in spvp. I run 3 necro builds in pvp now. Wish we had templates so I don’t have to use character slots. The two builds were cele signet and marauder reaper. Newest one is carrion deathly chill.

It’s not yet fully optimized because it’s something I quickly crafted but I’m pleased with its performance Qing Solo so far today.

THANK GOODNESS DRAGON HUNTERS ARE PERCEIVED AS OP
Maybe due to its high damage and low skill cap

But I have a feeling there will be soon lots of QQ threads on the PVP subforum about your build. It is crazy powerful but yet to be discovered by the masses.

It has to be. We should all thank DH’s for taking the spotlight off Reapers and Scrappers.

Serious question: is there something in particular about Reaper that is currently too strong? I get that Reapers are strong, as I feel nearly invincible with my Soldier build in the few sPvP games I’ve played. It takes me not knowing at all how to fight against a particular build/style, or multiple people chaining daze/CC at just the right time and applying high damage consistently for me to go down.

But where is the line between them needing to adapt to what we bring to the table, and what we bring to the table being too strong? Someone mentioned Deathly Chill needed a nerf because they didn’t know what could beat a Condi Reaper 1v1.

For starters, should the proclaimed selfish class not excel in 1v1 at the very least? And second, do people just need to figure out that they can’t come full bore at us and down us anymore?

One of my biggest concerns is actually that Rise! is going to see a hit, maybe down to 25% damage reduction or something. Regardless, I’m curious what people think about the current situation, because I feel really strong in PvP. I’m trying to decide when I draw the line of feeling “too strong”.

Even with Rise! we’re not OP in my opinion. Reaper’s are very solid, and though general builds aren’t very different, we have a few different flavors that are all good. We’re also one of the few classes that can be extremely tough to take down solo without sacrificing a ton of damage potential (unlike Water camping Eles on point)

And, frankly, that style of sturdiness is kind of new to the game as something truly viable. And if our tankiness encounters some added Might, Quickness, or any other boon, really, we become absolute powerhouses (let me tell you, getting full stacks of might from a teammate in PvE against a boss as a DM build is soooo gratifying.) And, because of that, people very well might get scared. However, we do have clear, exploitable weaknesses.

For instance, even in a build that has Heavy armor toughness with or without Corrupter’s Fervor, a Reaper doesn’t have a lot of inherent condi cleanse. Even though our life pool is high and a single condi user isn’t likely to down us, a couple can. Or a condi guy and power build. We’re strong against pressure and fight back much better than a lot of classes in 1v2’s and greater, but we can succumb. Reaper’s are also ridiculously slow, and have a hard time catching up to targets. Also, though RS can boost a Reaper considerably, it’ll run out. And, again, vs one target we’re strong, but if they can get us out of shroud and burn through some of our HP, they’re likely to win.

So, yes. We’re the monsters in PvP. Big, slow brutes that are difficult to take down. Maybe not the scariest, but Grenth help you if you get caught unaware by a Reaper. But, on the other hand, Grenth help us if we’re caught even a little unprepared, because we’ll go down too. We’re strong, but with weaknesses. As it should be. And if Anet remembers that, then we should do fairly well through future balance patches

tl;dr – We’re solid. But we can be killed. We’re gonna be fine

Bhawb.7408:

The trait is amazing, but yes it “only” applies vuln for Reaper Shroud. However, it has great synergy with Corrupter’s Fervor and most importantly Decimate Defenses, and it works well with all the shroud focused builds which really like the vuln. It also applies the vuln quite a bit faster and in a more reliable AoE cleave.

Reaper’s Onslaught, Decimate Defenses, and Corrupter’s Fervor all together let a DM Reaper hit 1200/1200/2400 auto chains in shroud consistently (from what I’ve tested) which is actually as much (or more) than a Soldier Spite build (DM Reaper still being Soldier, of course)

Dead.5829:

Rym.1469:

I’m not sure if that change didn’t push Condi Reaper a bit over the top. It’s incredibly powerful now.

Might be just that new “meta” doesn’t really have that much AoE cleansing as all metas over past 2 years had (D/D Eles, Shoutbot Guards/Warriors etc.) trying to replace it with CC and is quite vulnerable to Reapers.

Safe to say we are currently on top of the food chain, imo.

I think it’s this. Condi Reaper deal swith Dragonhunters really well through Rise!/minions for their traps, Death’s Charge for their True Shots, and condi damage for their low hp + lack of condi clears (since they’re used to killing things before those things can react). I think a lot of people are just learning how to play them, too. I was pretty awful for the couple of games I played it (though still put out 1mil damage, so… that was cool I guess).

Condi Reaper also puts out a lot of indiscriminate damage in team fights, murderizes minions and clones, and actually deals with someone getting in its face really well with Reaper’s Shroud.

There also doesn’t seem to be much of a meta past “play Dragonhunter, random builds on the new elite specs, and see what this Herald is all about”. When people start trying to make more balanced and multi-faceted (get it?) builds, the situation may even out better.

Death Magic bruisers handle DH’s quite well, too. In a different way, but Rise! does wonders, and when you pop into shroud and have essentially 10 stacks of permanent might that you don’t have to keep up, plus 3300 armor or more, and stab for 8 seconds… Well. Traps don’t trap you. They tickle you, you charge out, and whack a Dragonhunter in the face a few times.

Side note: Now I want to see a condi Reaper and DM Reaper go after a Dragonhunter together and then just watch the QQ

Side side note: Had a Herald call my build cheese because even with all his damage potential, i swatted him out of the air (yessssss)

It’s good fuel for Corrupter’s Fervor for tanky builds, too

I…. think it’s the delirious option. Sadly. But, hey, if it feels better to you, great. And have fun with it

Holl.3109:

Vydahr.4285:

Lynnie.7213:

Holl.3109:

NEVER! I WILL CONTINUE POWER REAPING AND USING BLIGHTERS BOON

Blighter’s boon VS Deathly Chill … THE EPIC BATTLE!

And then Reaper’s Onslaught and Death Magic Reaper’s just putting around in the background xD

Hahahahhahh they are no match!

(Though, to be quite honest, DM Reaper’s a pretty sturdy themselves. I don’t think any Reaper is particularly squishy)

Lynnie.7213:

Holl.3109:

NEVER! I WILL CONTINUE POWER REAPING AND USING BLIGHTERS BOON

Blighter’s boon VS Deathly Chill … THE EPIC BATTLE!

And then Reaper’s Onslaught and Death Magic Reaper’s just putting around in the background xD

Man, I guess I was lucky… The scale was the first thing I got after unlocking reaper other than the sword

Blaine Tog.8304:

Vydahr.4285:

Blaine Tog.8304:

I got around to taking my Reaper into Stronghold again last night (I’ve been busy ping-ponging around new and old content for the last week) and wanted to mention that I had pretty much the same experience as before: raid-boss-level difficulty to kill. I ended the match 10-0, even though I went after the enemy lord by myself near the end while also being attacked by several enemy players. Completely batty.

Weirdly enough, the only member of the enemy team who gave me any trouble at all was a base Necromancer. He couldn’t kill me (I basically never dropped below 50% health) but he was surprisingly difficult to catch.

Needless to say, I’m looking forward to grinding out the precursor PvP tokens (the name escapes me) much more than I was before.

Shards of Glory, I believe. Also, what build are you using? I’m very curious as a tanky reaper myself

Yes, Shards of Glory! Thanks!

Here’s roughly what I’ve used so far: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQNAR3YnMbCtbilbCebC0bilaBLeLOGPjUjh5QZAqrFAmBA-TJRBwAlLDQd/BNPBAAXEAA

Nothing all that revolutionary, just lots of shenanigans. Axe/Dagger is probably a mistake considering how much other condi removal I have; Axe/Warhorn is probably a much better idea since I don’t have any Swiftness access at the moment and Warhorn 4 would be a really good way to stop stomps. Though I really like the idea of having some extra Chill from Focus.

That’s pretty similar to my build, except I take DM instead of Spite and a few other traits are changed, as well as Staff instead of Axe/Dagger. Also Scrapper runes. I find that, as long as you don’t get completely swamped by a minion master and his allies, you do well. Though i will admit that lf generation can be a problem at times

Blaine Tog.8304:

I got around to taking my Reaper into Stronghold again last night (I’ve been busy ping-ponging around new and old content for the last week) and wanted to mention that I had pretty much the same experience as before: raid-boss-level difficulty to kill. I ended the match 10-0, even though I went after the enemy lord by myself near the end while also being attacked by several enemy players. Completely batty.

Weirdly enough, the only member of the enemy team who gave me any trouble at all was a base Necromancer. He couldn’t kill me (I basically never dropped below 50% health) but he was surprisingly difficult to catch.

Needless to say, I’m looking forward to grinding out the precursor PvP tokens (the name escapes me) much more than I was before.

Shards of Glory, I believe. Also, what build are you using? I’m very curious as a tanky reaper myself

A tank build running DM/SR/Reaper played aggressively against a (relatively) glassy Herald works well. You have such high toughness and base power that even out of shroud, everything you do hurts them a lot more than most of the things they do to you. And if you have enough life force, you’re even more durable and more powerful (you essentially get 14 non-disappearing stacks of might by going into shroud on a soldier build) and can rock their world. People seem to have trouble when the immovable object starts to move toward them.

(Side note: making a mesmer play defensively as a Reaper is amazing. Mwahahaha)

Arenzo.3298:

Vydahr.4285:

Substatic.6958:

AAAaaaand today fractal guilds were looking for players again in map chat, guess which was the only class being left out in their list?

I really hope that Anet realizes that that sort of exclusion is a thing… Not that it seems like they’re going to do anything much about it -.-

although i dont think its good to exclude people, its up to people who they want in thier groups

It’s more an issue of excluding an entire class and not giving the players the chance to prove themselves. If you don’t want to play with certain types of people or certain classes/builds at times, fine. But to have it be so common to say no to necros, even now that reaper is out, is completely messed up because, frankly, we’re not a bad profession and can hold our own better than most other professions

Substatic.6958:

AAAaaaand today fractal guilds were looking for players again in map chat, guess which was the only class being left out in their list?

I really hope that Anet realizes that that sort of exclusion is a thing… Not that it seems like they’re going to do anything much about it -.-

Can someone please tell me how this build can get melted quickly in Stronghold? I’ve made it as durable as I possibly can and still get my face melted off…. I should add that the last time I played PvP was probably BWE 3 and therefore I am rusty. But is the melting just because of rust or is my build off?

EDIT: I use Scrapper runes instead of the fighter ones, just wanted the proper stats showing

I use staff because of the utility factor. And staff 3 and 4 together pack a nice punch and throw in some weakness in there with the chill and poison

Azzumy.7685:

The problem is see is that Reaper’s might has as condition that you have to be in shroud. In order to make shroud a viable option you need the Reaper trait line and the Soul Reaping trait line.

Should there be 3 trait lines that affect the Shroud so much?

I think there should be 6 trait lines that affect shroud so much. Shroud is our main mechanic, and as such each traitline should do something significant to it

Ouch, Bhawb. Ouch

meow one twenty.4376:

Vydahr.4285:

Theoretically I should have enough life force because I go towards team fights, but the kitten start of a match is ridiculous

You should hang back behind your team for the beginning of the match. A smart team would target you at the beginning of a team fight and with no defenses it quickly turns into a 4v5, hang back long enough for your Ele/Engie/Guard to get focused and then you can start attacking.

My usual strategy is (in stronghold) to stay back from mid for a few seconds, charge in with CttB to put a pause on the enemy team, then YSiM to get lf and go from there. Doesn’t take a whole lot of Shroud time to mess up glass builds. Does it always work, though? Ehhh……….. You know. Once in a while

Theoretically I should have enough life force because I go towards team fights, but the kitten start of a match is ridiculous

I have myself a bit of a dilemma… See, I run a Death Magic build that uses Corrupter’s Fervor. That being said, I use Unyielding Blast as a trait so that I can constantly have that extra toughness in shroud. However. Soul Marks is generally the better trait to take (especially where Reaper’s sometimes have a life force issue.) I play both PvP and PvE, so, basically….. shrug Not sure which would help more