Most viable Reaper build for Fractals and Raiding?

Hey everyone,

I just started to play GW2 again and really enjoying it. I really enjoy the Reaper spec from the Necromancer profession.I know that Reaper Necro's aren't really "meta" right now and a lot of people would suggest to play Scourge instead. I did see that the Reaper spec has gotten a buff on 8th May 2018. (https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/discussion/39192/game-update-notes-may-8-2018). I've tried to find some updated guides(after patch) but I couldn't really find anything sadly..So what would be the most viable build to play right now as a Reaper?

Already thanks for the help!

@"Ubie.9348" said:So what would be the most viable build to play right now as a Reaper?

Already thanks for the help!

https://metabattle.com/wiki/Build:Reaper_-_Greatsword/X

I've also heard people playing with Viper gear with a more condition/hybrid based build how does that compare?

@"Ubie.9348" said:I've also heard people playing with Viper gear with a more condition/hybrid based build how does that compare?

I dont know of any written guides of it since it doesnt perform well enough for testers to put the effort in it (they have enough to do with the metabuilds and are doing it for free), but i can suggest to maybe look at this:

This is one of the best (its condi though). I think a hybrid does work too, but will perform not as good. Didnt tested anything of that, so maybe ask Farbstoff (the one who did the video) what he would advise.Power alone will only go up to maybe 25k dps in optimal conditions, which however only matters in raids und cm fractals (which still works there too, yet you may find it harder to find groups there who accept you).If you want a decent power build maybe look at thishttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHaT4_su3NMhttp://de.gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQNBhODbkkGasxWawtGYvxSugNdFWCTBoAQDYFEXF7ijRA-jhRBABXt/o8jS1fMTJIe6ee4iKAwTKIAwBw5nn5Nv5nf+5P/8zP/8z76zP/8zP/8zP/8zLFQEjBA-e

hope i could help you

Thank you :) I will look into it!

@"Ubie.9348" said:Thank you :) I will look into it!

Another advise though: Try to have every avaible weapon for your main class to adjust if needed. The build there might be "optimal" in terms of what is possible with the class, but you can adjust it anytimes. I just wouldnt recommend it in raids/cm fraks, since there most builds are build around other builds, for examble you dont need a mightsource from your build since in organized groups the supporters will buff. otherwise feel free to experiment with it until you find your own style with it :).

Thanks for the help I will keep it in mind! I will keep playing power reaper for now I think since it got buffed after 8th may. I don't know the future how it all will end up so I guess I will get some extra armor/weapons also :)

thanks for posting my video @"Xantaria.8726" - though it's the one from february.for the most recent one, refer to this:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7V1wIw8c6w&t=4s

I got to this a little late, but I have a few guides for the condi Reaper build floating around if you'd like to try it in addition to Power Reaper:

Metabattle guide (slightly outdated, but contains many of the tips and tricks I've gathered): https://metabattle.com/wiki/Build:Reaper_-_Condi_DPS

Fractal focused build guide (on the Discretize website): https://discretize.eu/builds/necromancer/condition-reaper/

I can also answer any questions if you have any

[Accidentally double posted]

@"Amerikajinn.4635" said:I got to this a little late, but I have a few guides for the condi Reaper build floating around if you'd like to try it in addition to Power Reaper:

Metabattle guide (slightly outdated, but contains many of the tips and tricks I've gathered): https://metabattle.com/wiki/Build:Reaper_-_Condi_DPS

Fractal focused build guide (on the Discretize website): https://discretize.eu/builds/necromancer/condition-reaper/

I can also answer any questions if you have any

it amuses me that condi reaper in fractal has gained so much attention from you, since it's objectively better to run power reaper in content such as fotm or dungeons (slaying sigils, night sigils, slaying potions stack up while condi doesn't, and the exposed debuff works better with direct damage). anyway glanced over on the metabattle tips and tricks for fractals and I see some room for improvement:to skip aetherblade portions you don't have to list that many skills. wurm and well of power is enough for the first 4 consoles, and then you can use consume conditions, well of power and wurm port to disable the second 4 consoles

your underwater condi reaper rotation isn't the best. you should always start on trident to pulse chill 7 times. plaguelands on top of that. then on shroud you spawn chill field, use soul spiral and do spear2 for even more whirl finishers. i didnt play condi reaper for almost a year but at least thats what i still remember. - ah and remember trident got buffed so maybe i would alter the rotation - save trident for autoattacking. in that case start on shroud, spear for combo and go trident. when weapon swap is available, repeat the spear+shroud sequence.mai trin - since the rework, placing wurm isn't really feasible anymore there. horrik moves like crazy.

for cliffside - if mesmer doesn't do it, you can pull the first 5 mobs together with gs5

for molten furnace - it's possible to destroy the fire aoe projectile with shroud2 necrocopter, but it's much harder now since they fixed the trick where you do it without moving when facing camera down.

swampland - could be added a note that you can pick up wisps in shroud at bloomhunger, so you can transport them faster using necrocopter.

but generally your other tips are correct! suprised to find so many. you can also add that using ettin gunk is a huge dps boost for condi reapers (it pulses chill and blind)

@Sublimatio.6981 said:

@"Amerikajinn.4635" said:I got to this a little late, but I have a few guides for the condi Reaper build floating around if you'd like to try it in addition to Power Reaper:

Metabattle guide (slightly outdated, but contains many of the tips and tricks I've gathered):

https://metabattle.com/wiki/Build:Reaper_-_Condi_DPS

Fractal focused build guide (on the Discretize website):

https://discretize.eu/builds/necromancer/condition-reaper/

I can also answer any questions if you have any

Yeah, I updated quite substantial amount of the guide previously but I haven't gotten around to updating it with the new underwater stuff and whatnot (been working on other stuff haha).

It's also true that Power Reaper is better in fractals and the like due to the natural advantage of power based burst damage, but I still like to indulge in the Condi Reaper side of things as a personal preference. I originally had just raid tips in there but decided to go the extra mile at the time and add in fractal stuff too.

Thanks for the feedback btw, ill be sure to add it in when I get to it (unless someone beats me to it XD)

In fractals, I found condi reaper better for survivability, which may not be necessary if you run in a group with a healer and boon sharer. Power reaper has an easier time boon corrupting and has higher dps but you need to keep an eye on dodging mechanics more. If you run with a pug in t4s, I'd highly suggest blood magic trait line for awesome rez support and some party heals. Your Druid will get all the credit, but that's okay.

@Oogabooga.3812 said:In fractals, I found condi reaper better for survivability, which may not be necessary if you run in a group with a healer and boon sharer. Power reaper has an easier time boon corrupting and has higher dps but you need to keep an eye on dodging mechanics more. If you run with a pug in t4s, I'd highly suggest blood magic trait line for awesome rez support and some party heals. Your Druid will get all the credit, but that's okay.

condi reaper has objectively worse survivability unless you take parasitic contagion (huge dps loss).power reaper grants protection, lifesteal and can use well of bloods which are strong since last patch. also on power, wasting life force to mitigate damage is less punishing for dps than when you need to do your shroud rotation on condi reaper, but your lifeforce got depleted. on power, being pure gs without going into shroud/axe is almost same dps. the above 50% power rotation with shroud and axe is for fancy people who want to dish out the little bit more. of course it's still underwhelming, 26k? it is criminal that at this point in time there are still power classes doing less than 31-30k dps.

I use Viper Reaper GS/Scepter-Dagger and I'm doing 14-15k dps average in long boss fights against single target. (with a chrono in party it's much more)If there are multiple mobs you can output insane damage with epidemic. You need to focus on bleeding and use krait runes.The key is knowing the rotation and timings, otherwise it's hard to pass 10k levels.(In real world scenario, not benchmark)Ice field combos are important since you deal 2 stacks of bleeding with every chill.The good thing about Reaper is it's a very well balanced class with both tankiness and good dps. Yeah, even though I'm using a non-metacharacter I'm doing more DPS than many meta build users in my party while having a lot better survivability.If someone dies, at least 2 people won't be making DPS.

@Umut.5471 said:I use Viper Reaper GS/Scepter-Dagger and I'm doing 14-15k dps average in long boss fights against single target. (with a chrono in party it's much more)If there are multiple mobs you can output insane damage with epidemic. You need to focus on bleeding and use krait runes.The key is knowing the rotation and timings, otherwise it's hard to pass 10k levels.(In real world scenario, not benchmark)Ice field combos are important since you deal 2 stacks of bleeding with every chill.The good thing about Reaper is it's a very well balanced class with both tankiness and good dps. Yeah, even though I'm using a non-metacharacter I'm doing more DPS than many meta build users in my party while having a lot better survivability.If someone dies, at least 2 people won't be making DPS.

Scourge does all this much better. Plus party barrier, plus many conditions, plus no ice field requirement. It is harder to play creaper optimally. Condi reaper used to be great before deathly chill nerf. Epidemic alone doesnt justify the class, imo. Power reaper does better.Edit: the tankiness comes from the necro class. Even a mediocre ele will do at least 15k dps

@Voltekka.2375 said:

@Umut.5471 said:I use Viper Reaper GS/Scepter-Dagger and I'm doing 14-15k dps average in long boss fights against single target. (with a chrono in party it's much more)If there are multiple mobs you can output insane damage with epidemic. You need to focus on bleeding and use krait runes.The key is knowing the rotation and timings, otherwise it's hard to pass 10k levels.(In real world scenario, not benchmark)Ice field combos are important since you deal 2 stacks of bleeding with every chill.The good thing about Reaper is it's a very well balanced class with both tankiness and good dps. Yeah, even though I'm using a non-metacharacter I'm doing more DPS than many meta build users in my party while having a lot better survivability.If someone dies, at least 2 people won't be making DPS.

I never see eles doing 15k at fractals, these people must be very rare among pug parties then. Most people don't know how to properly play their class.I played berserker reaper as well, but didn't see any advantage besides vampiric healing while in shroud.

@Umut.5471 said:

@Voltekka.2375 said:

@Umut.5471 said:I use Viper Reaper GS/Scepter-Dagger and I'm doing 14-15k dps average in long boss fights against single target. (with a chrono in party it's much more)If there are multiple mobs you can output insane damage with epidemic. You need to focus on bleeding and use krait runes.The key is knowing the rotation and timings, otherwise it's hard to pass 10k levels.(In real world scenario, not benchmark)Ice field combos are important since you deal 2 stacks of bleeding with every chill.The good thing about Reaper is it's a very well balanced class with both tankiness and good dps. Yeah, even though I'm using a non-metacharacter I'm doing more DPS than many meta build users in my party while having a lot better survivability.If someone dies, at least 2 people won't be making DPS.

And i never ever saw a power reaper over 8k and Condi over 10k, while i reach up to 22k on my scourge on some fractal bosses. While still doing support via might and barriers and Condi cleanses.

Even people who told me they are good necro players just sucked with reaper. And i think these are the reasons:Reapers rotations are written in stone, you cannot change them without loosing a lot of DPS.Reaper is much more reliant on not getting hit than scourge (if you are getting hit while being in shroud, your DPS will drop due to less lf and therefor less shroud uptime)CReaper needs a lot of awareness of his icefield and even more of his teammates fields.CReaper doesnt have as easy access as scourge to epi. As you are locked out of utility skills for half of the fight (while being in shroud)And last thing: scourge has more cleave dmg than reaper.

@"Ubie.9348"

I've actually been running power reaper specs seriously for years in fractals. That metabattle build is wrong. Usually those listed metas are spot on but this one is a rare case of where it is actually wrong. Here is what you want to do for a Power Reaper in fractals, raids or even solo content:

• Spite: top - middle - middle

• Soul: top - middle - bottom "Taking Soul over Blood is important for Dhuumfire. It's a lot of extra damage after might buffs."

• Reaper: top - bottom - bottom "Swap last selection to Top for more survivability if needed."

• "If you are full ascended" -> Berserker gear on everything except weapons. The weapons should be Valkyrie. Then use Scholar Runes. This will create a situation where the build has a flat 50% crit rate with no fury, then when 25 vuln is on an enemy, it grants the build an additional +50% crit rate for a 100% crit rate. If you were to get serious about tweaking for raids, you could afford to lose enough Berserker trinkets to drop your flat 50% to 30%, replace them with Valkyrie and rely on Fury buffs from the party. The Valkyrie pieces are important because the more vitality you have, the longer your death shroud is, and in the end, the highest DPS rotations in this build are actually from spamming DS #1 with Dhuumfire. Of course this also grants very handy survivability.

• Axe & Warhorn always -> Force in Axe - Warhorn with Smoldering. Axe/Warhorn is the side that you want to use while going into shroud for #1 Dhuumfire spam. Those small burns are no joke with 25 might. While #1 spamming, you'll be ticking 3k to 4k DPS with about 5 stacks of burn on the enemy. The +20% burn duration will add more DPS while in shroud than an Air rune. Why not use Air rune for when you are out of shroud? Because when you are out of shroud, you want to be on Greatsword side. Use Force & Air on Greatsword. Also, in parties with Chronos, where quickness uptime is high, the applications and burn stacks from Dhuum will be much more frequent, greatly enhancing damage. Air sigil only goes off once every 3s, regardless of quick buffs. Smoldering > Air on your shroud side rotation.

• 6 - Consume Conditions "Pretty much your only condi clear."

• 7 - Sig of Spite, just for the +180 power

• 8 - Spectral Armor, you'll need the stunbreak in more difficult content and the LF regen while getting hit. The wells for extra DPS are a lie. Quicker LF regeneration = being in shroud more often to Dhuum spam.

• 9 - Rise!, the -33% damage from Rise! stacks with protection buff. The longer you can stay in shroud before needing to leave shroud, the longer you can Dhuum spam. Important to point out that the these minions soak cleave limits and often stop party members from getting hit at all. It all equates to party survivability and longer durations of time in shroud.

• 0 - Chilled to the Bone! is too important to not use. A lot of the newer fractals are introducing ridiculously large amounts of mob action. This elite is a very powerful AoE crowd control worth using in almost every situation, even against smaller mobs, and this isn't even to mention that it grants stability for situations like uncategorized. It has a 2 second stun which hits as a heavy CC and additionally applies chill which is a soft CC, all working to break bars. Flesh Golem will yield more DPS against a single target boss, which you can swap to when it is boss time, but Chilled to the Bone is the better elite in every other situation.

• Food & Utility -> Bowl of Sweet and Spicy Butternut Squash Soup & Potent Superior Sharp Stone are optimal. For cheaper route, just downgrade.

Things to note:

1. This build may sacrifice a bit of top damage compared to other metas, but it is 4x more durable than other metas. This build is actually so tough, that you can solo things like CM MAMA, CM Arkk, or that OP Dervish boss in TA. If a situation calls for such, just swap last selection in Reaper from bottom to top for greatly enhanced sustain. If you wanted to bank even more on sustain, use strength runes on each side of axe & greatsword to even further bolster https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Blighter%27s_Boon - also consider using life steal food. <- if you do this, you can easily solo ridiculously difficult bosses, so long as you know mechanics, in the event that a party needs a carry.
2. The only thing that holds this build down, is the ramp up time till a boss hits under 50% health, where https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Close_to_Death and https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Gravedigger are able to be spammed. Before Gravedigger can be spammed, there is significant loss in DPS while not in shroud. This is the effect that puts elite parties off to Power Reapers.
3. Viper Reaper is inferior to a well played Power Reaper. If you want to run Viper on a Reaper, consider playing Scourge. A Viper Scourge lands almost twice the DPS as a Viper Reaper.

@"Nimon.7840" said:

I never see eles doing 15k at fractals, these people must be very rare among pug parties then. Most people don't know how to properly play their class.I played berserker reaper as well, but didn't see any advantage besides vampiric healing while in shroud.

https://dps.report/gwMJ-20180707-142730_enso <- this is from a pughttps://dps.report/BVnq-20180702-232149_enso <- this is from a static (mind that power riper dps is lower the shorter 50% phase is, and we have weaver)https://dps.report/YD1v-20180706-232312_skorhttps://dps.report/YoEI-20180708-231902_siax

Unless you start your own party/squad, nobody will take a Reaper in raids or T4 fractals.

@Zaraki.5784 said:Unless you start your own party/squad, nobody will take a Reaper in raids or T4 fractals.

Raids there's no chance, but fractals people will take anyone who knows the mechanics, doesn't down, and doesn't hit like a limp noodle.

@Hesacon.8735 said:

@Zaraki.5784 said:Unless you start your own party/squad, nobody will take a Reaper in raids or T4 fractals.

both are not true. you can face kicks/people leaving but it's definitely possible to get a raid and fractal done by joining as riper.

I'll clear up a few condi Reaper things real quick (on mobile so difficult to easily quote Nimon and Subli).

Firstly, Parasitic Contagion is a 10% dps loss for Condi Reaper (when utilized correctly) so I guess it depends on what one's definition of huge is; all the same to convert a loss of 2k dps in return for 2k hps is a pretty nice trade if you don't happen to have a competent healer.

Secondly, one should never use a bad player playing a build as an example of its upper limits. While I can't provide my own logs right now I can surpass 20k dps in bursty fractal fights WITH parasitic Contagion equipped, let alone without it. Condi Scourge and Condi Reaper are remarkably similar in damage outputs where single target damage is concerned (but Reaper loses less from running Parasitic Contagion, whereas Scourge phlls ahead once Epi-bouncing enters the equation).

@Amerikajinn.4635 said:I'll clear up a few condi Reaper things real quick (on mobile so difficult to easily quote Nimon and Subli).

Firstly, Parasitic Contagion is a 10% dps loss for Condi Reaper (when utilized correctly) so I guess it depends on what one's definition of huge is; all the same to convert a loss of 2k dps in return for 2k hps is a pretty nice trade if you don't happen to have a competent healer.

Secondly, one should never use a bad player playing a build as an example of its upper limits. While I can't provide my own logs right now I can surpass 20k dps in bursty fractal fights WITH parasitic Contagion equipped, let alone without it. Condi Scourge and Condi Reaper are remarkably similar in damage outputs where single target damage is concerned (but Reaper loses less from running Parasitic Contagion, whereas Scourge phlls ahead once Epi-bouncing enters the equation).

Necro is absurdly tanky without parasitic contagion, as it is. Even without a healer, necro's survivability is the least of your concerns.Edit: as for condi reaper and condi scourge being similar in dps, I honestly think you are wrong, here. Snowcrows dps benchmark is at 30k for condi scourge, they dont even have condi reaper dps measured... And i have not found a single vid within the Last months with a condi reaper benchmark, after deathly chill nerf.