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[PvE] [Question] Suggestions for survivable high-damage necro spec


trianglecubed.3750

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Hey, all. So recently after ignoring my necro for a couple of months I decided I wanted to do some work on them. I looked up a spec on metabattle, specifically https://metabattle.com/wiki/Build:Reaper_-_Greatsword/X and it seemed great, I read all about it, how they'd use it, and it let me use two of my favorite weapons for the necro, the MH Axe and the Focus along with the greatsword. However I'm finding I don't have as much damage or survivability as I'd like. I have more of both on my warrior, ranger, and mesmer than here and it just feels... wanting.

The whole "second healthbar" thing is really lame when I don't really get any sort of evades or invulns and the rate at which the healthbar depletes in a fight feels near instant in some cases against certain mobs. I find I'm really effective against some mobs, but others just wreck me before I can do much of anything. That combined with the fact that the wells have suuuuch a long cooldown and a low lifespan leaves me dead more often than I find myself on any of my other characters, even my ele. I can solo certain champ bounties on some of my characters like my mes and ranger without much issue but I just can't figure my way around even fighting more than two or three vets at once on my necro unless they're a certain type of mob. The only time I feel like I have any sort of survivability is with minions and.. man.. dps sure isn't there with them. I really want to burst down groups of enemies as quickly as possible and be able to sustain myself and my dps in bigger open-world PvE fights.

So I don't know what to do at this point other than ask for suggestions on both gear and build for a real powerful survivable necro build, it can be any spec or elite spec and I'll be more than happy to craft/buy any gear I need to make it work but I don't quite have the skill to see where the synergies are in stats, skills, and build to get where I want to be on my Necro, that is, to reiterate, being able to burst down groups of enemies and be able to sustain myself and my dps in bigger open-world PvE fights.

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You should try this build instead: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQNBHhF6kZTodTslGw1GgeTs8LYQJtAwHI+IGFviUZhvwwC-jhRBAB4pPAgnAwDnCAzUCSp6PXt/o8DA-e

You have two pulls, AoE stun, AoE blind, stun break with might, AoE vuln, AoE chill = 100% crit chance, so you can burst cleave all the mobs you pull without dying. You can swap out Berserker armor for Valkyrie if you want more HP.

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i have played almost all classes and necro has best surv/dmg ratio.U need full viper stat, GS as main weapon heal on it is fine to keep u alive when u r out of shroud. Most important skill is rise its almost perma dmg reduction only thing u lack is stab if u had more stab u would be like god.Every attack u do is aoe i manage to keep 28 stacks of bleed almost all the time peak at 32 solo.U go repoer/spite/shroud take every healing trait. I take duumfire for when shroud 5 and 4 is on cd and u have to cleave.Belive me it works so good other players cant belive how tanky am.

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The critrate of that build outside of shroud is only 60% w/o fury assuming 25 vuln on your target. Considering how quickly you get kicked out of shroud these days, I'd say have some precision. Also why curses with master of corruption? The utils also seem to have been left blank?

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@Nimon.7840 said:Can anyone Show this thread to anet developers?

PLEASE!

Maybe If a non Main necro Player tells them,that necro/reaper is Bad they might believe him.

Cause they are Not listening to necro Mains.

??? This thread isn't about necro being bad. It's about a new player getting advice on how to build a necro for OW content.

Necro is an excellent choice for that. Scourge builds could be more useful in harder areas and way better against mobs known to have boons. As normal, that's a trade off between damage and utility, though I think the utility is so good on Scourge in those circumstances, it's worth it.

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  • 3 weeks later...

This is the "You and what army?" Power MM Scourge that I currently run for open world PVE content. Axe/focus as primary weapons, with a backup staff for longer ranged situations. The basic idea is that the minions swarm while I go bomb mode with burst and cleave. Axe/torch is also viable for even more cleave up close, and you can swap Abrasive Grit for Fell Beacon if you want to go that route as your primary setup. The barriers and associated effects such as Abrasive Grit give you good durability, and make you useful in those impromptu groups that pop up. All in all, a very fun build to play.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vRIQNAndWnE9CN1gd1Au1As3gFcBT/w2YnsS5gdwNAaAEAaBA-jFCBwAGV+B4UKkSfDO1fkoEMh5vAPpAs7PAA-w

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http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQNBHhF6kGRobTs2GwoGgeTsgLYxXxv4YMaDkv+AQXtAQLA-jBSGQBpTDRCV+NgjAwHVCOy9HAwDAIfq/cgTBAA-e

I use full viper gear with runes of renegade and play scourge when I need to be serious in PvE. For everything else I run that same gear with this build as reaper. The synergy with blind causing chill which causes vuln and bleed. Having more crit % based on vuln traited.. and crits cause weakness.

Rise! adds a lot of survivability and creates new targets to soak up aggro/dmg. Spectral Armor helps keep you alive and provides more uptime for shroud. Well of Darkness blinds enemies (+chill, bleed, vuln) which adds to your survivability.

Between all the chill uptime, AoE blinds from the well and great sword 4 and traited crit->weakness in the curses line plus the passive healing from Signet of Vampirism and being able to duck into shroud to soak up damage and dish it out with shroud 5 to AoE stun/ice field and then shroud 4 to whirl finisher in the ice field to put out stacks of bleed followed by shroud 2 blind (+chill, bleed, vuln) you have a really solid build that can take some punishment and deal it out as well.

Utilize great sword 5 strategically to group enemies together, drop great sword 4 and then 3. Swap to axe/wh for axe 2 on the biggest threat which will have a nice stack of vuln by now increasing axe 2 by a lot. Pop into shroud and AoE stun with 5, whirl with 4, blind with 2. Drop out of shroud and swap to great sword to start all over if anything is still alive. It is a lot of fun :)

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Survivability is always a tradeoff w/raw DPS. This is a shroud-based build I've been using recently in OW. It has the benefit of long shroud times, vampirics, higher health, some toughness, vuln and might stacking. When in shroud, tactically positioning oneself to make use of shroud1 pierce is a real DPS multiplier, along with Death Perception. The longer the fight, the more the mobs, the more vampiric healing, LF gain, and the more vuln & might stacking you benefit from.

Gather up mobs, AoE with WoS, Dagger5, Axe3. Then Axe1 to stack some vulns+Axe2 on the main target. Shroud4 AoE, then position to use shroud1 w/pierce til ~20%LF left, then rinse/repeat. Dagger2/Shroud4/dodge (Mark of Evasion) for healing.

For more survivability via vampirics, swap some accessories to Clerics w/Opals.For support/rez role, swap all accessories to Clerics w/Opals (or Shaman crests), trait Ritual of Life & Transfusion; can also switch to Well of Blood, Well of Power (instead of Spite signet) as wells are traited and provide protection.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vRQQRAnY4Yn0ICN2gl2Au0A0uhjchiWGrRzOD7lYKgBQDkAA-jhxEgAa6HIUCuq+Dg5Pz9HwV+RKg8UGB-e

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The initial learning hurdle for newish Necro players is often understanding and putting into practice how to use shroud.

  1. Always remember to generate life force. Know which skills generate it and watch your LF.
  2. Learn when to use shroud and when not to. It is like learning to block big skills and ignore little ones. Shroud does no good when on cool down.
  3. Learn your conditions on weapons, utilities, and shroud. They are crucial to avoiding damage.

No other profession eats as much damage as Necromancer and that is hard to get used to.

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Pre-PoF, I found reaper to be worse than base necro. The damage was the same, but it forced you to be melee, which I hate.

Scourge does a lot of damage because it can use shroud skills outside of shroud, at the cost of having shroud. If you want a group of open world mobs to die, have them stacked and go down the skill line. You do lose reaper shroud and greatsword, so if you enjoy those it's probably not the right choice.

It is a big adjustment going from having shroud to not having it. I downed a lot early in PoF and went back and forth base necro and scourge several times. I think I finished the story as base necro since it doesn't down (and the final story sword is ridiculously overpowered anyway).

In fractals it tends to look like:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vRUQNAnfWn0ICN2g10Ae9C0zhlcBTvwuYjsTXhlQSAKA0AWBA-jVDFQBAVLQLPEAXUJoCVKkElFC4IAoP1fSjOAloEDAnAAfqJIE7PQgHAw8gAgJFgqqqKIgyB-w

Open world (which really anything works) tends to look like:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vRUQNAnfWn0ICN2g10Ae9C0zhlcBTvwuYjsUnh1wzCKA0AWBA-jVDFQBhY/hkosIN6Aa5hAQfq/oQlCC4IAoElYA4EAAUtAE4BA4TNBXUJ48gAgJFwqKVVVVQAlD-w

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I have 3 ascended sets. Stats on everything (weapons, armor and trinkets - except the aqua breather) are changeable for about 200g for the whole set, which gives me enough flexibility to not need to go for legendary stuff as I change stats maybe 2 times a year.

Berserker: best pick for Reaper, even in PvP these days - I run this 90% of the time (I am Solo Q EU platinum skill-level)Cavalier: good for X vs. X when you are constantly focused - Bitter Chill, Decimate Defenses and Death Perception mandatory, then great damage for the sustain!Viper: the PvE meta gear - I have it, but never use it as I hate Scourge and the trivial PvE gameplay bores me to death

If I had to chose 2 out of my 3 sets, I would pick Berserker and Viper for 98% of the game content. Especially in PvE on Berserk or Viper gear a Necro is still at a top level of survivability compared to other classes. There is no need to put stats into defense. Berserker/Blood Magic/Full-Wells self-supports a Reaper like crazy. On Viper Scourge you can stay at range which trivializes stuff even more.

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