Guild Wars 2

You are mistaken if you think that Retaliation is for tanky builds only and not an offensive boon. Quite the contrary actually, considering it scales with power.
The formula is: 198.45 + (0.075 x Power).
A might-stacking power build could easily reach 3k power. That means reataliation does 420+ damage per attack. If you get hit by one of those dmg (x8) skills: ~3,5k damage… just from a boon. Not too shabby.
Also there is no aoe limit to this.

Now, I don’t run a power build but I still have 2k power in PvE/WvW. And I’m certainly not the only one who wouldn’t want to see this trait lose retaliation.
If you don’t like it for PvE (understandably) then you are free to just not pick this trait.
I don’t know how barbs from gw1 works (since I didn’t play it…) but if it’s a good idea for the Spite line then it could replace much worse traits like Signet Power, Siphoned Power or Death into Life.

pierwola.9602:

• Death Shroud
  I would like to see recharge time(small icons above the LF) on DS skills before i transform

That would really be a nice change. I’ve never actively thought about this, but it sure is annoying to go into DS only to find out that the skill you wanted to use isn’t ready yet.

And seeing how they already changed the DS UI to display boons and conditions, this idea doesn’t seem too far fetched for Anet to implement.

Rennoko.5731:

We cannot generate LF while in DS, not sure why they prevent us from flashing DS whenever we want.

Seems like another beta remnant.
The only thing they’d have to change now is give the boon-on-DS traits a 5 sec ICD. Problem solved.

Rennoko.5731:

Hell I don’t even care if they add a small life force cost to going into DS if they remove the cooldown.

The regular LF degeneration is enough, you’ll lose those 4% almost immediately after going in, no need to add any extra cost.

So I’m for both, removing the cooldown and an out-of-ds indicator for the cooldowns of the shroud skills.

Close to Death > Spiteful Marks.

Reaper of Grenth is an interesting elite choice. I’ve never used it, but it sounds inferior to the regular necro elites…?

I’m also not sure if 6 Runes of Divinity are worth the investment, when you could go a more aggressive way with others (and cheaper ones at that).

One more thing: Eating a rare veggie pizza could free up the Sigil of Agony and Hemophilia for something else. Unless you want to have both for 100% bleeding duration.

Liquid.9672:

sas.6483:

Personally, if I were to use condi damage in WvW, I’d go PVT with undead runes and carrion gemming.

Hrm. This sounds like an odd way to build for condition damage.

With food, 30 in Curses and ascended accessories you’d still have ~1400 condition damage.
At this point it’s not odd at all to invest in more power and survivability.
The only downside would be having a low critical chance. So on-crit effects are out of the question.

Cempa.5619:

According to the below builder -please correct me if I’m wrong- the sweet spot is a mix: …

Maybe that’s the sweet spot for the build you posted…? It’s hard to say without trying it out. But in general, I believe that even a slight change in traits or choice in weapons means that the sweet spot for gear prefixes shifts one way or the other.

Ascii.9726:

In 24.5 seconds (49 critical auto-attacks) Earth sigil has a maximum of 19 times to proc and is accurate if you proc on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th hit. 60% chance applied to the 19 hits is 11.4 procs on average.

Do I have my wires crossed? How can a Sigil with a 2 sec internal CD proc 19/24,5?

Ascii.9726:

Geomancy vs. Earth is a completely different debate though. I failed to find the discussion thread but i think Geomancy was the better and popular choice.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/engineer/Superior-Sigil-of-Earth-or-Geomancy/

If someone says his build wouldn’t work anymore if a trait got changed then this can only mean that he’s using the trait in question.

Maybe pierwola himself can clear this up for us..?

Azraeel.1238:

By kill his build, he meant he will need to change his build into power.

?

Retaliation is based on power. So he obviously uses Near to Death and Spiteful Spirit in a power build.
Replacing it with Unholy Feast would require an internal cd, so his Retaliation uptime would be reduced.

Don’t know if this qualifies as “build killed” though, considering how much damage Unholy Feast does on it’s own.

That pvp guide is really weird in some places.
His pros/cons list… umm?
“You lack any real “burst” besides stacking 9+ bleeds and poison on a target (which takes time)”
That’s so not true. 9 bleeds is supposed to be the biggest “burst” of a conditionmancer??

I’m not surprised you would lose against a mesmer with the condition builds he posted.

Imo against a mesmer you should have: Greater Marks + Staff Mastery, Epidemic and Corrupt Boon. That’s half the battle right there.
It sounds strange to equip Epidemic in a 1v1, but land it on a clone with just 3 stacks of bleeding and it will be worth it.
And I hope you didn’t pick Plague Form, that elite is the worst in 1v1s. Golem ftw!

Actually, this has only been like that since they nerfed Necrotic Grasp’s range. Before that it always flew straight.
So the way the projetile behaves without a target might not be intented.

Just watched the condi (solo/duo/group) video… super entertaining ^^

Somtimes I wished you had Corrupt Boon instead of the signet, but whatever.
The vid was awesome sauce with some pretty sexy editing.
I’m definitely watching your other videos later.

Haha. Can you imagine how awesome it would look to trigger both Enfeebling Blood and Unholy Feast at the same time while going into DS? ^^

I’m all for it!

This would deal some boderline op damage though, not just the direct one, but you’d also inflict cripple + weakness + 2bleeds. And you could chain Dark Path and Terror/Doom right after that. So in ~1sec you could use 4 skills ^^

Rennoko.5731:

I would suggest that zerker beats both carrion and rabid in WVW, but I guess that is another discussion for another day.

I suppose it depends on your opponent(s), your group composition and the situation.
I can only speak for my WvW build: I would never lose a 1v1 against a Berseker necro. However, they might be able to handle other opponents better than I do…

Feldorn.6873:

@flow what kind of mix do you do? do you mix carrion and rampager?

right now, i’m in rabid, because i can get it for karma, and i had lots of that, but i’m willing to try out carrion in the future. do you mainly use staff for a weapon then?

Here’s my build
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/necromancer/Build-Staff-Corruption/

So that would be carrion armor and staff, rampager’s axe+wh, soldier trinkets except for those two with cond-dmg/toughness/vit/precision.

Now this combo hits the sweetspot for my staff build, but if you want to use the scepter or go into other traitlines then the gear should maybe have more precision.
If you want to stick with rabid on armor you could mix it with some of those cd/t/v/pr accessories, or maybe some rampager’s or sentinel’s (are those available for ascended yet?).

Anyway, my point being: there are lot’s of ways in PvE/WvW to get both vitality and toughness without reducing your offensive stats too much.
As you can see in my build, my EHP is almost 34k which is more than pure rabid or carrion, but the playstyle with it is still rather aggressive.

Rennoko.5731:

Just to clarify, with full rabid, I have around 1800 toughness or so (may be a little less), so with undead runes, that is 90 condition damage (not 20-30). It is noticeable, and adds quite a bit in the long run.

You assume that you don’t have any toughness at all with a carrion amulet in sPvP.
However, the difference is always exactly 644. That’s how much toughness you get with a rabid amulet in sPvP. And that adds 32 condition damage, or 1,6 extra damage per bleed tick.
Or: 1464 vs 1497 condition damage (for my build, 30 Curses + 20 DeathMagic).
So no… there’s no way you’ll notice a difference here (except for +1 on bleeds).

Rennoko.5731:

It really surprises me so many people are pro Carrion though…. having a bigger HP pool just means you have to fill it that much more often, and we have so few options for filling it back up effectively in a drawn out fight. Short fights, bursty fights, it may pan out to be better, but not if it lasts past the first heal.

More effective healing… pfff, please. If I heal 6k on a 20k or 26k health pool is not a game changer. Necro heals just aren’t effective in general and full rabid isn’t going to change that…

Bottom line imo:

PvE/WvW: I’ve always been favouring carrion but that’s because I don’t use a scepter. And promoting on-crit effects is really the only pro of rabid, which I don’t need so carrion is a win-win for me.

@WvW: Carrion beats rabid. Carrion mixed with non-carrion gear beats pure carrion.

So tomorrow?
Not sure yet, but I’ll try to make it.

Interesting… although the title is kinda misleading, because you could have made your point regardless of whether or not we get burning.

In favor of your agenda, I think dropping poison from the scepter’s auto attack would be counter productive. Reapplying it more freqeuently (even with a short duration) should give you much more single target uptime than a skill that has a 10 second cooldown, because conditions get cleansed.
And another stack of bleeding on the scepter, with the 25 stack limit… I don’t know if this is such a good idea. So maybe keep Putrid Curse as it is and just add poison to Feast?

Blood Red Arachnid.2493:

Our skills can’t get permanent up-time by themselves, even with recharge reductions and 100% condition duration.

With 100% duration, Ligering Curse and Staff Mastery: Chilblains inflicts 12 seconds of poison on a 16 sec CD. On top of that you just need 1 Putrid Curse (4,5 sec poison).
And let’s not forget the transferable selfinflicted poison on Corrupt Boon.
Epidemic on all of that and you perma poison 5 targets… unless they cleanse.

Also, condition transfer (especially with Putrid Mark) is a rather unique feature of the necromancer. There is only the mesmer’s Arcane Thievery, which transfers 3 conditions like Deathly Swarm.
So when people complain that we don’t have access to a certain condition I always have to think: Putrid Mark.
In PvP this mark gives you access to every condition your opponent has. 1 hour of burning and 10 stacks confusion? Right back at you, and take some Epidemic with that, kthxbye.

Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to see some more conditions for us, but the access to everything is already there.

iFocus.3781:

Are necros welcome in dungeon groups?

As welcome as any other non-warrior profession.

iFocus.3781:

Needed and wanted in wvw groups?

Yes.

iFocus.3781:

Charr or human?

If this is about style then it doesn’t matter. If it’s about racial skills then humans are probably the least appealing, especially for a necro.

iFocus.3781:

Is there a particular build that is fun, engaging and good (weapon, utility and trait-wise)?

Unless you don’t know this already, first you should make up your mind about weapon preferences and if you want to go conditions or power… or both.
Then look for a build.

spoj.9672:

Theres lots of builds but for pve straight damage is the only way to go really.

Cmon… you know this isn’t true.

I used both Sigils in PvP and WvW/PvE. Now I’m mostly sticking to Geomancy.

They both do the same amount of direct damage, which is about the same as Necrotic Grasp.
When I have a Carrion jewel (and 20 Spite/30 Curses) in the Mists they will both do slightly less than 500 damage on a traning golem. (240-250 without any traits or jewel)

Of course they both benefit from all kinds of damage enhancing buffs and traits (Critical hits, Might, Vulnerability, Target the Weak, Close to Death,…). So with my WvW gear I have a little over 2k power and no extra crit damage. And with that I’ve seen the Sigil of Geomancy do 1,5k on other players.

Andele.1306:

Either way i know i got 2 ticks off fear with 1% 30% and 80% condi duration, but didnt get it with 0+sigil, so i really dont care, use it if you think it helps.

You still don’t get it.
It’s not about how it makes me feel or if I think it helps or whatever.
The question is: does the sigil increase fear duration by 15%? Answer: yes it does. How do I know this? Because I used a reliable method of testing it. You did not.

Just as a reminder:

Andele.1306:

Yeah i got the second tick with just 2 lich runes a few times, doesnt mean it adds duration to it.

This entire discussion between us started because you didn’t believe that the sigil increases the duration of fear.
My test however showed that it does.
I’m very aware that you won’t start a fight with doom and that it is very likely that there will already be a condition on your target. But that is irrelevant to varifying if the Sigil affects fear or not.

Andele.1306:

Also just as lag hates me maybe just you got really unlucky with ticks… or as said you werent in actual combat with the thing/didnt do anything to it for a while…

+90% fear duration on 200-300 inflicted fears and no extra fear tick. Yeah, that’s not unlucky, but it statistically proves a second tick to be impossible.

And again, I was in combat the entire time (no utility switching possible). But if by “didnt do anything to it for a while” you mean that there was no condition on the golems before I feared them… then yes, I didn’t do that because that was the point of the test.

Andele.1306:

if you actually just drop fear as a opener it will always just do the initial tick.

Duuuuude -.-
Why would you disagree with us if you knew this the whole time?
My test was about just that: start with a 90% increased fear and then see if the Sigil pushes it over 100% for a second tick.

Btw just beeing in combat is not enough. Unless the training golem you attacked dies or you walk away a huge distance, you’ll be stuck in combat forever. So all my tests were performed with perma combat-mode.

I tried to replicate your results with both 80% fear duration and just Master of Terror.

I must have tried about 50 Reaper’s Marks and Dooms on the spot where all those golems are clumped up. So it’s safe to say that I made about 200-300 samples.

I could not get 2 ticks of fear ever! Not one time. I don’t know what you did in those screenshots, but it sure wasn’t what I tested.

Andele.1306:

A) you contradicted yourself here
B) you DONT need 100% additional condi duration for fear to proc twice, it will already proc like 9/10 times if you just get master of terror~
C) for the 100000 time same sigils dont stack their bonuses…

A) really?

B) What Gabi said.

Also:

War Mourner.5168:

But he’s saying that fear is the only condition, so it should be impossible for it to tick a second time without 100% duration

And Master of Terror gives you a 1,5 second fear. That means you’ll average 5/10 2nd ticks (not 9/10), if there are other conditions to set up the timer for it.

C) That is not true for all Sigils.
For example: 2 Kill stacking Sigils will give you +2 for each kill (25 is still the limit).
Or 2 Sigils of Earth increase your chance to inflict bleeding. The internal CD cancels out the second one, but they both are in effect concerning their chance to proc on crit.

Andele.1306:

So no you had extra condi duration runes and/or spite

Of course I had extra duration:

flow.6043:

+90% fear duration.

That was the whole point of the test. Get enough so you can see if the 15% from the sigil would tip the scale.
I had Master of Terror, 20 Spite, Runes of the Necromancer.

And yes

BadJas.5178:

Did you make sure Fear was the first and only (ticking) condition you applied?

that’s what I said:

flow.6043:

I tested on a training golem, no extra conditions, just the DS fear.

Btw I made a second discovery:
2 Sigils of Paralyzation don’t stack their duration.
With Master of Terror (50%), Runes of the Necro (20%), and 2 Sigils (2×15%) on one weapon set. This combo does not give a second tick.
So apparently you can’t extend you fears by 30% with 2 Sigils, just 15%. (bug?)

I can’t remember who it was, but there’s a WvW video of a necro using a complete set of those runes.

Andele.1306:

Yeah i got the second tick with just 2 lich runes a few times, doesnt mean it adds duration to it.

I wasn’t talking about “a few times” in combat with pre-existing conditions on my target to promote the chance of getting a second tick with less than 100%.

I tested on a training golem, no extra conditions, just the DS fear. And I repeated the test several times. The sigil always gave a second tick, the other set never did.

I just updated this thread
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/necromancer/stun-sigil-work-for-wh-daze/first#post2091469

Tested in the Mists.
+90% fear duration. With the Sigil I actually got a second tick.

I just tested one more thing because this thread made me curious if it also applies to the “stun” from the sigil.

I traited/geared for +90% fear duration and I still had the Sigil of Pralyzation on my warhorn.
Turns out: the Sigil actually increases the fear duration to 105%.
1 tick with my staff, 2 ticks with my warhorn.

Edit: 70% fear duration and 2 Sigils don’t give a second tick. So apparently they don’t stack their duration.

Andele.1306:

for the second, i remember it in the hit generalization patch notes and http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Necrotic_Grasp – even the wiki stated so, maybe its just derpy in pvp since when would you think to get 5 people hit, will test it later in pve.
it should say out of range when over 3 enemies hit

It does say “out of range”, but only after the 5th target.
I can’t remember if it ever was just 3, but I’m sure it has been 5 targets since they reduced the range to 1200. Never seen the wiki note or anything else on that matter to make me think this wasn’t supposed to be like that :/

Magic Find is not the best way to make a quick buck. But if you must, just use mf-food with a regular build. (omnomberry bars, lotus fries, spicey pumkin cookie)

If you want to farm for gold, you could join dungeon runs (like Citadel of Flames).
Or just go WvW and run with the zerg or in small groups. Event participation is really frequent there, which will give you 3,xx silver each.
And you’ll get lots of items from loot bags which you could salvage (white+yellow) or sell directly to a vendor (green and blue).

You could also try to join a guild and then have their members help you out with gear etc

RashanDale.3609:

@flow and Andele:
Soul marks gives 3% per mark. not per enemy.

You’re right, just tried it in the Mists.
Never used this trait, so I assumed otherwise. Thx for clarifying.

DaisyRogers.6837:

The more I play these weapons the more I wonder why the heck I even bothered with the clunky staff.

Because it’s the best weapon in da universe!!

Andele.1306:

I dont know if you got the notice about 7 months ago, but pretty much everyone knows ngrasp got nerfed to 3 pierce limit like all auto attack pierces (non trait created ofc and explosion aoe doesnt take in hit count), dont know if it applies to the mists but the risen and fireflies sure think so.

See attachment.
It works on 5 targets in the mists and it certainly also works in PvE/WvW.

Andele.1306:

Mentioned it since he asked and Locust is 1% pre enemy pre second and please tell me when people walk in a conga line in pvp/all 5 are on the same area for 15% soul marks trigger OR hell even in pve also its max 9% since its destroyed after it hits a third enemy, but the chance of getting 15% off GMed soul marks is pretty high there.
So 6% LF pre 1.5 (1.7 with aftercast/if you dont cancel the dagger pull animation with 2) and 1-5% life force pre second for 10 seconds (so min 10% max 50%) or 3-9% pre 1.1 if in melee (+ flight duration but it wont be counted) with 3-15 pre mark (12-60%), but you also offer up all of your cooldowns instead of just auto attack + 5.
It ends up as high resource use/high potential reward vs low resource use/medium potential.

Necrotic Grasp hits up to 5 targets.
Also, you can use the warhorn and then switch to staff. So the extra 1-5% per hit should apply to your staff calculation as well.
If you go for Soul Marks you’ll automatically get Gluttony as well (plus 10% lf gain).
So if enough mobs line up conga style, then you can gain 100% LF in a little over 4 seconds:
Locust Swarm (4 ticks = 20%), 4 marks (60%), 1 Necrotic (15%), +Gluttony = 104%.

Yeah, I know it’s a rare scenario, especially in pvp. So the dagger might be the safer bet for lf regen.

Andele.1306:

Also the aoe part of the daze is wasted unless you get it on a team (not to mention as a lot of other people will confirm there were so many times when a enemy was inside the friggn animation but still didnt get stunned/its hit detection is kitten), and what group does a teamfight without a guardian or ele there to share their defensive power around (stability/stat aura/etc.)?

No guardian or ele can keep perma stability on their team.
Also, even if it hits just one or two it will be worth it. 4 seconds disabled in a team fight means burn a stun breaker or lose.
And don’t forget the defensive benefits of it, 4 seconds is a lot of breathing room.

Andele.1306:

Dagger/Warhorn setup, together the 2 make the highers LF generation of necro weapons

Actually that depends on how many foes you’re up against.
One Necrotic Grasp has the potential to get you 15% LF, and so do marks if you have the Soul Marks trait.

Unless you want to keep your Knight’s gear, this build might be what you’re looking for
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/necromancer/Build-Staff-Corruption/

Dredlord.8076:

Bhawb.7408:

If you actually think that what we are seeing is bad customer service, I really start to wonder if you even thought about what you were saying. These devs take time out of their day to come on live streams as guests, they take time out to watch tournaments and podcasts, and talk with people during them. They are taking an intelligent approach to fixing the game, one that is shown to be effective by far more popular games, and an approach that in the end makes the game much more enjoyable to their customers: us.

If you want examples of bad customer service, or completely ignoring consumer base, then you don’t need to look far to find far more impressive examples of not caring at all for their customers.

its time to get some life experience kid, the necro class has received terrible customer service up till now.

The devs do these things because * it’s their kittening job*. I have many friends in the game industry all of whom have 10 plus years experience. They do these things because it is required of them as part of promoting the games they are working on.

The strategy they have used to balance the game has not been intelligent both from a business perspective and a customer service perspective.

Bawb your blatant fanboism is clouding your judgement and you have very little experience with mmo’s to back up your ridiculous opinions.

Get some life experience? Rediculous opinions?
That’s quite the condescending tone for someone who (on absolutely no legal basis) feels so entitled to a certain level of attention to the class he happens to be playing.
You (among others) seem to think that making the necro exactly how you want him to be is in the devs job description.

It’s one thing to argue that players would be more satisfied with a better working product, hence increasing the customer base. But to assume that Anet deliberately neglects us, or that the devs are too lazy or just don’t care about the necro, that’s just absurd.

I gotta say, I’m pretty hyped about what they said.

As far as I understood it:

- the DS5 – Dark Path synergy probably means that the new skill will work only or better in close range.
- DS5 will also increase (solve?) the sustain issues of the necro.
- LF regen will be buffed in general.
- A blink is not out of the picture yet, but they want to see how we do with increased sustain first.
- we’ll be able to heal hp in DS
- Vampiric will be improved.
- Weakness will work against crit-builds.

Those are all serious buffs to the necro. My concern is that on the one hand this might make as better under pressure and focus fire from multiple opponents, but on the other hand totally overpower us in 1v1s.

Alright, seems I got confused by the skill description.
So… does the “whenever you are struck” part also apply to the boons, or do you automatically get them with the armor?
If it does apply, does an attack trigger both a boon and a condition? or just one or the other?

And does this:
“This does not apply when the Chaos Armor effect is granted from a combo field.”
“Chaos Armor never grants protection when struck.”
…mean that necros can never get protection with it?

Iceflame.5024:

You seem to be saying that enemies do not get chaos armor? Errrr, isn’t it a buff so basically only for allies? Why are you mentioning enemies?

The description says boons to allies, conditions to foes
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Chaos_Armor
Some of the npcs I tested it on had confusion, which they didn’t get from Necrotic Grasp. They didn’t have the bubble or the chaos armor icon or anything… so I assumed that’s as chaos-armor-ish as it gets on enemies.
Or does the description mean that they have to attack me (with the armor) first to receive conditions?

I only use it untraited.

I just did some testing in PvE with some regular mobs.
It seems, the few times I manage to trigger Chaos Armor on myself (can’t say that it works better if I stand in the center), other targets are likely to get it as well. But they don’t have to stand in the wall, only on the mark.
My golem is more likely to get it if he got protection from walking through the wall. Also, somtimes I can give my golem CA if he’s far from the wall, but not to enemies that are standing in it.
If I don’t stand in the wall myself it appears to be less successful and completely unpredictable.

If enemies get it the visuals don’t show up, they just get the conditions. So it’s kinda hard to tell here, but I could manage the combo on 5 targets. I’m pretty sure it never worked on 5 allies though.

I always use Spectral Wall in zerg fights and I try to trigger Chaos Armor with Putrid Mark as often as I can.
Results: very inconsistent, for me and for other players using blast finishers on it.
It just doesn’t always work. Sometimes I think I’m not standing in the perfect spot (wherever that is…) but other times I see Choas Armor on people who were not even standing close to the Spectral Wall. Sometimes I can give Chaos Armor to myself and my Flesh Golem even if only I am standing in the wall.
What never ever happens (even though it should) is triggering Chaos Armor on 5 targets, which should happen all the time in zergs. My guess would be 2 or 3 tops.
Maybe this is an issue with ethereal fields in general? Because I’ve never given 5 Choas Armors on Null Field or Time Warp either.

Should both work for me.
I might not be able to talk tough.

Kitedyou.1720:

It sounds as though there is no reliable way for a Necro to beat a Thief…I don’t like that answer really…I will find a way, eventually…

Well, the “reliable” way is to down him before he can stealth up again.
That means you need to trap him in a CC chain und land a nice damage burst on top of that. How well that works depends on the build.
It certainly does with mine, if you want to give that one a try. Although… I feel kinda handicapped atm because of the Staff Mastery bug :/

DarnDevil IV.2143:

flow.6043:

DarnDevil IV.2143:

and put a nr2 under your feet.

rofl

Yes, I know a theif can dodge very easily, that’s why you put the mark on the lowest cooldown for it.

I use this mainly for the information about his location and if a thief burns a dodge to avoind one staff nr2 I will be more than happy as there are much more important things to dodge.

You misunderstand.
That phrase just sounds alot like toilet humor. xD

I agree about the mark. Not to forget, you get regeneration even if the thief dodge rolls through it.

Kitedyou.1720:

any idea if that damage gets the 20% bonus from Close to Death (not the bleeding, obviously)?

Yes, it does.

DarnDevil IV.2143:

and put a nr2 under your feet.

rofl

Rising Dusk.2408:

This is a critical bug that needs a hotfix. These traits are used by a ludicrous number of Necromancers in unison, and missing out on one or the other due to a bug like this being introduced is an immense hit on the usability of the staff as a weapon.

Agreed, this is definitely worthy of a hotfix.

Staff Mastery doesn’t work with Greater Marks anymore -.-

That basically makes every staff build unusable… worst patch ever!

Omg you’re right -.-

Even the tooltip just changes on Chillblains.

I suppose you meant to take Mark of Evasion? Or is Bloodlust really just for the sigil?
In terms of thief countering, you might want to take those 10 points into Curses for Weakening Shroud. Maybe even 15 for Furious Demise, seeing that you have a power heavy build with just 37% crit chance (not a fan of Spiteful Vigor). That would also make your on-crit-sigils more effective.
Speaking of which: Consider taking 2 Sigils of Geomancy. I have a little less power and precision in my build, but I have seen the sigil do 1500 damage (usually it’s about 700-1k). Direct damage, that is… not the 3 stacks of bleeding.

And of course, Signet of the Locust doesn’t help you at all against thieves (or any class really). So if you know you’re about to engage, you could switch it out.

One more thing: Maybe Chill of Death instead of Spiteful Talisman.

Actually, the best way is to not make them overlap at all. If a mark triggers, run onto the next one.
Also, you could try to fear him into a mark that you are not standing on.

And again they only fixed just half of one trait. Dark Armor got some improvement, but I bet it still doesn’t combo with Deadly Strength or Rune of the Undead.
Not that anyone would ever use this trait anyway…

I feel like im a prophet

nice ^^

Was this supposed to be “the big bug fix patch”??