Guild Wars 2

Unconventional for a necro, but a really cohesive colour pallete for the entire look.
Deserves a 10/10.

Alright, here’s mine:
In case anyone’s wondering, the weapon skins are from the Twilight Assault living story. Plus, for nostalgia sake, Lions Arch before and after the invasion in the background.

I almost never pug on my necro. And I have full zerker alts, so there really is no point changing builds.
Also, I think you’re underestimating how much you can contribute with a hybrid build. Yes, single target damage is lower, but you’re certainly not a burden.

Vamp Signet? :o
Is it really any better with Signet Mastery and Bloodthirst?

3. Transfers.
4. Perplexity.
5. Chaos Armor (even more situational than #1.)

Would it help? Definitely. Do necros need it? Meh… don’t know, some builds might, some others don’t.

spoj.9672:

Well i assume you use different runes and different traits. So they arent the same builds.

Same runes, same traits. I sometimes switch my amu and rings from soldier to berserker, but other than that I really don’t bother changing anything.

spoj.9672:

Got stunlocked and kitten d. I expect melandru runes or something would of helped a lot.

Sounds like an average day for any necro xD
Not sure about melandru though, focusing all defense on utilities might just be enough (Spec Armor/Walk, Well of Darkness/Power). I’m sure you could make it work.

@bellkb: There are very few builds that don’t use a staff, so you should probably narrow down your preferences a little more than “…not minions”.

spoj.9672:

Theres no such thing as a build which works well in both.

That’s not really true. Even your PvE build can work in WvW by simply picking up a staff as secondary weapon.
Arguably any generic 30/10///30 Deathly Perception power build provides a better offense vs defense ratio in a PvP environment. I know you don’t like this build for PvE because its dps is worse than it could be, but if you want to switch between WvW and PvE without having to change builds I’d say it’s probably the best choice atm.

Ultimately it comes down to how much you care about each game mode if you are willing to compromise. I use my build for both. WvW most of the time and in PvE I just keep up with the living story or do the occasional dungeon with guildies. If I was any more serious about PvE I’d probably switch profession anyway.

Dalanor.5387:

Cogbyrn.7283:

The thing about Staff #1 is that the fact that it pierces and provides 4% LF per hit means you could basically earn 20% LF every time you throw it into a group of mobs. In fact, there’s a Powermancer WvW vid where the guy does just that. He keeps the Staff out and mostly spams 1 into the zergs he’s chasing, and it gives him insane survivability.

It can feel extremely lackluster, but I think it’s another issue of scaling, because it can also have really strong potential.

12% only, piercing has a 3 target cap.

No, Necrotic Grasp hits up to 5 targets.

Rennoko.5731:

spoj.9672:

If withering precision has any sort of icd it will be bad in pve. Unshakeable will ruin it. Thats why im hoping its no icd. But I understand that 5 vuln for 2.5seconds with no icd might be a bit over the top….. Actually no that really doesnt seem that strong rofl. Heres hoping for no icd.

No ICD would be crazy in PVP though….you would be able to hold people around 20+ vuln constantly.

If those patchnotes aren’t fake, there will definitely be an ICD for Withering, probably 10 seconds.
Without ICD Life Transfer + Deathly Perception would instantly max out 25x vuln on 5 targets. So would Ghastly Claws or Life Siphon on a single target. Definitely too op for PvP.

RashanDale.3609:

The greater marks change is nice (making the increased radius standard),…

First of all: this change is absolutely horrible!
Secondly, if it’s true, then there will no longer be an increased radius. Atm you get 240 radius with Greater Marks, 180 is already the default size.

Something is off about those patch notes. Why would they need to write mark 2-5 increased from 120 to 180 if the base radius hasn’t been 120 since October? Did they mean 180 → 240 for all marks? Either way, “Greater” Marks won’t fit the disciption anymore, and it certainly won’t be worthy of master tier with just the unblockable feature.
Anyway, there’s still the CDI to argue against it if it’s really supposed to be implemented like this.

Bull Zooker.1672:

flow.6043:

Definitely hybrid, it would easily take the crown over going pure condi or power.

Not sure if an all-trait necro would be the best class, but it would certainly not be last.

would you run celestial gear?

I’m crafting ascended armor at the moment but can’t decide on stats. In a 30/30/30/30/30 build I can see celestial being BOSS for most specs (power/condi/tank/support)?

I probably wouldn’t, definitely not full celestial. Seeing how you get 300 vit/toughness/healing power anyway, along with some very useful defensive traits, I’d probably focus on more offensive prefixes for gear: Carrion, Berserker, Rampager…

If you’re considering celestial for ascended armor for a real build, I’d wait for the march patch, or whenever they plan to replace crit damage with ferocity.
Some dev commented on celestial maybe getting an overall stat buff, because it’s getting the biggest nerf with the crit damage change.

Definitely hybrid, it would easily take the crown over going pure condi or power.

Not sure if an all-trait necro would be the best class, but it would certainly not be last.

Aegael.6938:

I use a very similar build, but I run in the vitality traitline instead, I wonder if you’ve tried that? I also take Elixir S instead of EGun, EGun is typically very useful in-fight, but once it comes time to secure stomps on downed enemies I’ll basically just lose every single time in a 1vX if the opponents aren’t braindead.

Points in Alchemy are a severe liability against necros, and the EGun is for extra condition cleansing.

Oh and nice videos, Sil. Epic control.

lazycalm.5186:

1. Is 30/20/0/0/20 still the way to go?

2. How are Condi Necros doing in SPvP overall?

3. Are there any guides that actually show the rotation and some tips?

4. What utility skills should I use? And should I use Plague Form or Flesh Golem and why?

5. How do you manage Death Shroud? When should I go in and out of it?

6. What is the role of Condi Necros in SPvP?

1. Yes

2. Very strong, if you know what you’re doing.

3. Don’t know.

4. Adept to your team composition, the role you’re going to play in it and the opposing team.
But in general: you can never go wrong with Corrupt Boon + any stun break + Epidemic or any spectral skill or another stunbreak. For example: CB – Epidemic – Spectral Armor, or: CB – Spectral Grasp – Well of Power.

@elite: Golem makes you stronger, Plague means team support.
That usually means: if you’re fighting 2v3 or 3v4, Plague will do more for you and your team. But 1v1, 2v2… Golem>Plague.

5. Damage mitigation. Any damage you can take out of your life force pool instead of your regular hp means you’ve done something right. In the process of doing that you’ll learn to incorporate damage rotations as well, but protecting your health pool is the most important thing.

6. Damage.
And to a minor extent debuffing enemies so your teammates can bring them down more easily.

thaooo.5320:

PvE doesn’t need to be discussed in a class sub-forum.

what??

Andele.1306:

Actually no… flashing ds is terrible…

You’re assuming that DS flashing means double tapping to gain boons. That’s just not true.
3/5 skills have a shorter casting time than 1 sec. If I wanted to use one of these skills, and just that one, before I switch back to my regular weapon/utility bar then a 1 sec cd for exiting DS would be a horrible nerf, especially in PvP.
Another example would be preventing the utility skill lock out. If you go into Shroud to mitigate some damage, but you realize that you’re about to take more damage than you have lf left, then it’s probably better to manually exit. If there was a 1sec cd you could be locking yourself out of your utility bar for up to 2 seconds.

It’s not just spoj’s build and playstyle, DS flashing is useful in any type of build.
The suggestion here would be an imposition for most players, and quite frankly a nerf to the class.

What a sight for sore eyes. Positiv attitude and praise for the necro on this forum?
That’s like seeing a unicorn! Don’t scare him away, TheDevice :P

Mmmkay… tricky, I suppose you should go hybrid then.
You could do a variation of my build. If I had to use dagger/focus instead of axe/wh, I’d probably use this: 10/25/20/0/15

So obviously I would drop Axe Training and Banshee’s Wail, which frees up some points to get Last Gasp in Soul Reaping. I’d lose some power and precision, but I could compensate by changing the amulet to rampagers and the back piece to berzerker, which in turn synergizes a little better with the increased crit damage.

Another trait option would be: 0/25/25/0/20. It basically comes down to how much you want to use your focus, or if buffing it with Spiteful Talisman is worth it.
You’d actually gain some power by getting the gm minor in Death Magic. So the difference is 10% less condi duration, but a maxed fear duration instead.

Dagger/focus – staff sounds like a power build setup.
However, your weapon prefixes are for condition builds. That means you have the following options:

1. Use the soldier armor and supplement with new berzerker weapons and accessories.

2. Use the rabid armor, drop the focus, buy a scepter and use your dagger as an offhand weapon. If you don’t allready have rabid accessories, go with carrion or dire instead.

Since your dagger is ascended, I’m guessing you want to keep it, which means you should probably go for the second option.

There might also be a possiblitiy to go hybrid with the condi weapons and soldier armor…

@Attachment:

The center of the mark is exactly 1200 units away from the golem. The spot I’m standing on is the furthest I could make Necrotic Grasp hit.
I use Greater Marks with 240 radius, so I’m guesstimating the Grasp’s range at 1400.

Life Blast works at exactly 1200 range, with or without Unyielding Blast. But the starting point of the skill is actually at your finger tips instead of directly under your feet, so I could stand slightly behind the mark center to make it hit the golem.

The range reduction Andele is refering to was actually from something like 2k+ range to what it is today.

It’s either bugged or a tool tip inaccuracy, but yes it ticks just 13 times.
However, the swarm shows 15 sec as much as the non-traited 10 ticks show their animation for 12 sec. When the swarm stops hitting the animation slowly gets smaller, so the traited 13 ticks do match their animation.

A link to a build calculator would’ve helped.
But either way, your question isn’t that easy to answer. If you want to know how much more damage you do if you’re not in DS then just hit some npc with and without the signet and look at the damage log.
In PvP the situation dictates how much time you can afford to stay in or out of DS. No one will be able to tell you something like: you’ll be spending 63% in Shroud and therefore the signets passive takes effect 37% of which you need to substract another 13% for using heals and other non-damaging skills…

The right advice to give here is rather obvious: drop the signet!
Well of Power will make you survive longer, that’s more important in WvW.

Anchoku.8142:

… but not Spiteful Marks

… a trait that no one should ever pick anyway.

Lalangamena.3694:

each tick gives you 1 % of LF, in a good situation it can refill almost half of your lifeforce bar and

I just had to check in game because I wasn’t sure anymore myself.
The tooltip says 2%, but a traited Locust Swarm (13 ticks) on 5 targets will give you 98% life force without Gluttony. So each tick is roughly 1,5% life force.

A 100% projectile finisher would indeed make this a rather good choice, especially with Spiteful Talisman. But it’s not a projectile finisher at all.

Merlin Dyfed Avalon.5046:

“Since when?’
ok, Wvw is about movement and speed in an organized guildgroup of 20 when playing a necro with Foot in the grave.

What does an organized group have to do with it?
Movement speed for necros is overrated. Everyone else is faster than you anyway, who are you trying to get away from? Other necros?

Merlin Dyfed Avalon.5046:

“Assuming you have 20 in Death Magic if you’re zerg surfing, Banshee’s Wail + Locust Swarm will give you 18 seconds of swiftness.” hmm define zerg surfing? if it means running with 40 plus in the middle of a zerg. then it doesn’t matter what you take at all.. but yeah, with those traits you can get some nice speed, only to tag something and lose it.

I was implying that you are likely to have Staff Mastery and Greater Marks if you participate in zerg fights a lot.

Merlin Dyfed Avalon.5046:

“You see the contradiction here? If allies provide swiftness out of combat you won’t have to use Locust Swarm.” yes , that’s what i am saying. so why take it? to tag in a zerg?

Yes. Plus, it adds up to a lot of damage, stacks very long cripples on foes, and most impostatly: up to 10% lf/sec (11% with Gluttony) over 10 or 14 sec if traited. That lf regen is potentially better than Spectral Armor.

Rym.1469:

For zerging? Not really, Dagger or Focus/Staff is better here.

Why focus?
My personal zerg-fight off-hand weapon rating:
warhorn > dagger (with Chilling Darkness) >>> dagger >>>>>>>>>>>>> focus.

Merlin Dyfed Avalon.5046:

naw , wvw is all about movement and speed..

Since when?

Merlin Dyfed Avalon.5046:

locust swarm won’t provide you much speed,

Assuming you have 20 in Death Magic if you’re zerg surfing, Banshee’s Wail + Locust Swarm will give you 18 seconds of swiftness.

Merlin Dyfed Avalon.5046:

besides you have guardians to provide the buff. also well locusts mainly just tag unwanted mob’s ^^

You see the contradiction here? If allies provide swiftness out of combat you won’t have to use Locust Swarm.

Merlin Dyfed Avalon.5046:

dagger can stunbreak

No.

Oswaldzl.3652:

is warhorn worth it?

Yes.

Sandra Martino.3870:

The daze.. not so much.

Aoe-daze is pure gold!

spoj.9672:

Ive been looking into optimal condimancer recently…

That could be a rather tricky endeavour.
If you run a condition or hybrid build to contribute more to something like the wurm event with the husk mobs or whatever, so basically for aoe-bursting conditions, the lines get a lot more blurry than it would with your dagger build.
You have your set rotation for single target auto attacking, Locust Swarm and flashing DS for fury and weakness etc., so it’s rather easy to say: with setup X I’ll do ~5% more damage than setup Y.
But with a condition build, especially in group events, there are so many factors that can shift your dps in one or the other direction. Like positioning for aoe, transfers – especially Epidemic, other people buffing you, or stuff like: should I burst a single target and then spread conditions? Or start with a lot of aoe and let others stack as well before I double up condis? In which case, is it worth it to use Master of Corruption for more frequent aoe or not..?

So calculations like this:

spoj.9672:

But if you want to gain 4% direct damage in exchange for 2% less condi damage then you should use rampager weapons.

don’t matter as much as in direct damage builds.
Also, I might be bias here because I use a hybrid build, but I’d always rather go for the direct damage boost. Not just because of the much needed single target damage on event NPCs that get maxed condi caps after 2 seconds, but because conditions tick with a base value. So if I drop 2% condition damage I’m hardly losing that much actual damage. For example: 1470 instead of 1500 condi damage, that means one tick of bleeding does 116 instead of 117,5 damage. Even if you manage to spread 25 stacks with Epidemic, those extra 2% condi damage will still just be a little over 180 dps for the short while until the stacks run out. That’s about as good as a random Barbed Precision proc. So if I had the choice I’d definitely go for the extra direct damage instead.

bri.2359:

I can see carrion armour, but the runes?? 183 CD is fine, but the other rune options seem pretty useless. Why not runes of strength, or any runes that add and/or sustain might for more power and condition damage? I focus on might for all my DPS builds, and seems to work well enough.

It would work well enough if necros could sustain lots of might by themselves.
The only legitimate souce of might for a condition necro is Blood is Power. We also have traits like Reaper’s Might and Signet Mastery, but:
Life Blasting to build a few stacks of might fits in a hybrid DPS rotation, but if you go full conditions you’ll want to keep stacking bleeds instead.
Signet Mastery, simple fact is: the more signets you use in a condition build the lower your damage. Some people have Signet of Spite on their skill bar, but it’s really more of a PvP skill for cover conditions, in PvE you won’t get far with 2x bleeding and a little poison. And considering the long cooldown the might up-time isn’t that great.

Bottom line: people go with scavenging because it will give them the highest condition damage they can get. Is it really the highest DPS option as a condimancer? I’m not so sure, the occasional confusion proc from Perplexity (5x plus 1 crest/jewel) is likely to net more damage. But the extra healing on Scavenging makes it the superior defensive choice.

To my knowledge it never worked with Lich Form.
I guess those runes aren’t popular enough for a fix like that, but maybe they’ll get a rework in march anyway…

• ICD 45 sec.
• 3 targets, untargeted.
• It’s the Ranger’s Hunter’s Call, but in an aoe version.
• In my build, with 2k power and no crit dmg it will do 1,5-2,5k direct damage per target, depending on crits and their armor value.
• When you activate your elite the ravens (disguised as hawks) will attack any 3 tragets that are closest to you in a 900 range radius. In or out of combat, against structures or npc/player, even if they are under water and you’re on land.
• The birds will continue to hit even if your tagret moves out of the 900 range, but not the other way around. The first hit counts, from then on the birds are unstoppable.
• The birds are activated at the end of the elite skill channel. So for example: you click Summon Flesh Golem, birds start after 1,5 sec when the summon channel is over.
• This is also the crucial moment for blindness. If you are blind in that moment the entire sequence will fail.
• It will do 16x damage on each target. So it works with crit procs (lots of Barbed Precision!), siphoning, but also retaliation (you might get 48x retal damage if you’re not careful).
• Needs line of sight for each of those 16 attacks. Unlike with blindness, the skill will not fail if you don’t hit initially, but depending on your positioning relativ to your target the birds might tell you “obstructed”.
• Doesn’t work in Lich or Plague Form under water. But: the Hunter’s Call skill actually runs “in the background”. If you cancel Lich or move out of the water with Plague before the cast time is over, the remaining hits will land on the nearby targets like you landed the skill from the start. For example: the skill animation lasts 5 sec (I think..), if you activate Lich and cancel it after 1 sec, then you’ll get the 4 remaining seconds of the bird attacks.

Jinx.7258:

due to ascended gear you’ll get:
- Condi necros one-shoting you with full condition bar on you
- Thieves one-shoting you/perma stealthers
- Warriors 100b you to dead or hambow scrubs/ perplexity roamers
- Engis running away with their perma speed
- Same goes for the Eles as for the Engis
- No money income as you dont do that much kills/hour

Non of those have anything to do with ascended gear.
And when was killing players ever a good source of income? No one plays WvW for gold.

Jinx.7258:

Wasting your time with WvW roaming… I stopped roaming when Fresh Air trait was implemented.

Fresh Air? You mean because eles are so strong atm?
Stahp hatin…

GrandmaFunk.3052:

except that axe AA has over triple the range of any of the cleaving AA.

Which is why it does far less damage, still no reason why it shouldn’t cleave.

You’re all forgetting that necros take a -50% reduction on all sources of damage while in Death Shroud, which basically means that the number displayed on your lf bar is actually double. So a necro with no extra vitality or points in Soul Reaping has 22046 hit points in DS.

On topic:

Any form of healing should work without restrictions if you’re in DS. It’s quite ironic that the one class that has to rely on a lot of health as their defensive “mechanism” alone, not only has the worst healing of all classes but half of the time healing is completely wasted on them.

No, our power weapon’s auto attacks don’t cleave. Yes, they all should.
/captain obvious flies away

Monoman.2068:

I would try to make a set of armor that doesn’t use critical damage or condition damage because they are due for some big changes.

Condition damage will be changed?

spoj.9672:

I did the maths on various trait combos before posting my guide. The best one to take if you want deathly perception is 15/25/0/0/30. The extra power is better than going 30 in curses especially as their arent many decent traits for power builds in curses.

That’s definitely true for a dagger PvE build.
In PvP however, axe + Axe Training (20/20///30) nets both higher defense and offense.
Not only will you do more damage in DS, but you can cast exactly 2 Ghastly Claws before your Shroud cd ends, which also generates more life force.

Norjena.5172:

Rampager if u play hybrid

Full rampager is precision overkill. Depending on the rest of the build you might want to supplement with berserker or carrion.

Eleir.9325:

What’s the problem with Dhuumfire? (Serious question)

Short version: too much damage, no skill required.

So yeah, let me sign my name right here…. psych! nope.

Admit it, you were all reading this to the original melody in your mind while shaking your head Night-at-the-Roxbury-style.

Bhawb.7408:

Marks can be “fixed” simply by having the mark appear on the ground the instant the mark begins casting, and then you have half a second to get out. Along with more differentiation between the casts. If this makes marks too weak, buff them.

That’s actually a really good idea.
I’m surprised no one made this suggestion in the “Give Necro Marks Unique Animations” thread from two weeks ago. Or did I just not read it?
Either way, indicating an incoming mark with a red circle would make a lot of sense in context of the rest of the game.

1. First screenshots show me facing away from the NPC mesmer in the hotm when using Corrupt Boon. I successfully turn his 6 stacks of might into weakness.

2. Second screenshot: Blood is Power when facing away. The combat log registers the direct damage done to the golem. I self inflict 2 stacks of bleeding but there are no conditions on the NPC.

3. Downed Fear: I went down in a spot with several golems standing in a straight line in front of me. I then fear the 3rd and 4th golem, which clearly shows that the skill does not hit first in line.

Wrong link.

Edit: ok… well, I’m not a fan of passiv procs, especially if they are on a 60 and 90 sec cooldown.

Reaper’s Protection is clearly meant as a defensive trait, but you’ll probably get more survivability with 30 in Soul Reaping and Foot in the Grave (not to mention the horrendous minors in Death Magic).

@ Runes of the Nightmare: 1-5 is a good combo, but when I’m looking at the 6th bonus I’m inclined to take any rondom other rune for an extra 28 stat points instead.

Melanie.1240:

I think what I’m actually asking is if this trait setup is ok…

I would never take Spiteful marks. Focused Rituals only sometimes in WvW zerg fights.

Melanie.1240:

What type of damage is best for staff? Condition or Power? Or both?

Both. Maybe take a look at my staff build.

As a general pointer, if your focus is on PvE/dungeons you might not want to play a staff or minion build at all. You’ll be more efficient with something like spoj’s build (stickied to the top of the forum).

tattoohead.3217:

On top of boss CC and condition spike, the honest truth is that an evenly matched Engineer stands no chance against a Condition Necromancer.

I had the same opinion up until 1-2 months ago. The engi I met played some weird power build with zero points in alchemy. He didn’t have a single boon.. ever, so there was hardly anything to exploit or counter as a necro. Plus, his controll and skill timing was just epic. Not only did I have a hard time against him, but he was almost undefeated the entire evening in the obsidian sanctum arena.

Mind you, this was in WvW, not sure if his build would’ve worked in sPvP as well.
Also, in tPvP you have a different approach to builds. Many engis run some bunker/decap-thingy-whatever-build. This makes total sense in tPvP because you can hold a point for a very long time. Even if you fight alone against 2-3 people initially, you’ll get team support at some point. In a WvW duel you don’t have to decap/contest a point or are under any time constraints. Those bunker engis would probably die to a necro eventually, even if it takes 2 min.

tattoohead.3217:

and we all flood Anet with…

This is just asking for a ban.

Necros aren’t in bad shape atm, and if you look at every class subforum you’ll always find people who feel that their class is the one most neglected by Anet.

Also, once you have something more concrete than “lack of vision and effort”, just write it in the professions balance forum. That’s probably the best way to get your oppinion heard.

Rym.1469:

-Does it transfer Blind like Putrid Mark?

No, it will miss if you’re blind.

Rym.1469:

-Does it move conditions first or break stun? Can I transfer Fear that way?

Stun break first, then transfer.

Rym.1469:

-Is there some non-listed limit on number of conditions transfered?

Minus fear and blind: 10.

Rym.1469:

-How does the passive work in general? Does it also affect minions?

1 transfer every 3 seconds from any allied player/npc/minion/clone. The icd and limit applies to you, you won’t pull 30 conditions every 3 sec in a zerg.
And according to the rule for all aoe skills, I’m guessing it’s always the one standing closest to you.

Rym.1469:

-What’s the radius of Passive? There’s only range listed, I believe for active

1200.

Rym.1469:

-Is it affected by obscured?

Yes, it needs line of sight.

Rym.1469:

-If yes, is the nature of active signet stealth projectile?

Not sure. I don’t think it can be reflected.

Rym.1469:

-If yes, can it be bodyblocked?

It’s blockable.

Rym.1469:

-Does it work only if you’re facing the target or regardless of direction, just affected by 1,2k range?

You don’t need to face your target.

Player.8373:

Well in mu case: Blood is Power always succeeds, corrupt boon at the other hand will only corrupt the boon if you are facing that person.

And still nope downed number 2 : Fear still doesn t work as intended.

I don’t know what else to tell you. It’s not like this when I play the game.

Can anyone else test and report their results?

Luke.4562:

Once in PVP (before June 2013 patch) it was meta, they badly nerfed it because of it.

Some people thought it was meta, but even back then it was a wasted utility skill.
People had such a low opinion of the necro, all they were expecting from us was: “yeah… I guess you can rez someone every 3 min, whatever..”.
Today no one takes this signet anymore, not because the cast time is 1 sec longer, but because people learned to play and/or figured out that almost any other utility nets higher group support than using this pathetic signet 2 times per match.