Help me improve my Power Reaper (PvE)

Hey guys,

I'm always trying to improve my Power Reaper build to fulfill my playstyle, and currently I'm having a blast with the following:gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQJARWnMbCt0g10AebC0bilfBL+IGFviTVtfwRAKpFA+AA-jBSGwAU0BAa/BPaCGp+zQlfSVCC4BAg+CAIIA2B-e

Basically I run full Berserker, Greatsword and Staff, Shouts and Wells.Spite to give lots of might and vulnerability, Blood Magic to get self healing, and Reaper to multiply crit chance on vulnerable foes.My playstyle is basically to rotate between Greatsword and Shroud. And when things go bad I back off and switch to Staff until getting some heal or recovering life force.

However, there are some things I'm stilll not satisfied with:

• Hard to trigger Blood Bond, and when it does I have no control over who it's going to affect (too bad there are no other options in this tier).
• Undecided in relation to sigils to my staff (must somehow help me to recover).
• Sometimes I cap on 25 stacks of might (meaning Runes of Strength can be overkill here).
• Undecided if worth going with traited Signet of Vampirism to give me more passive self heal during shroud (requires removing Close to Death).

So, any ideas or suggestion to help me making this better? Specially how to get even more from staff to recover from range when I back off (the goal here is to recover quickly to go back to melee ASAP)..

Unless you LOVE staff, I would go with Axe+Focus for when you need to pop into range. You lose the AoE control, but you gain a ton more (single target) damage. And it's just more fun play-style in my opinion. Focus 4 plus Axe 2 can do lots of burst damage from 900m.

If you do swap to axe, unholy ferver could be a good options but if you aren't swapping weapons often then keeping Rending Shroud is fine too.

I know the axe gets a lot of hate ... but I have really enjoyed it so far on my power reaper so far.

Plus. "Adam" is a super cheap focus that is just a human skull. So... I am holding a human skull as a DESTROY my enemies. Hard to beat :P

Here is my Power Reaper build: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQNBHhF6kGRoyGs2GwxGgeTsULYSDhx2ZDqrFAiAxdxy4aE-jBCFAB8pE8Q1fQa/BBOEArpPAgTAQSK/K4JAEA4A48mHAnf+5nf+5N95nf+5nf+5nf+5BA-e

Close To Death, personally, isn't worth it unless you're running a Hybrid build and even then it's iffy. Yeah you get a good damage spike once they hit 50%, and allows you to snowball from there, but the problem with Power Reaper is GETTING them to that threshold. As such, sustained damage (I've found) is far better than situational burst damage. Now the latter isn't a bad strat either, just not my personal preference. Plus, you're gaining more Power out of Signet of Spite with the Signets of Suffering Trait than you'll most likely get from Close To Death (I also hear rumors of ANET moving Signets of Suffering down a Tier, which means we should be able to run that WITH Close To Death in the near future, hopefully).

Axe/Warhorn + GS allows for ranged coverage and a nice transition to melee should an enemy charge you (like the always do). Warhorn also is the best off-hand for break bars and WH 5 is perfect to cast right before you swap to GS (damaging aura that grants Swiftness and applies Cripple). Since you're running GS, Vulnerability stacks should be a piece of cake (I mean GS3 applies 12 by itself). I'm personally a fan of Death Magic, and love Deadly Strength but if you wish to run Blood Magic it's typically not worth it without Dagger or Scepter main-hand, and if you go with Scepter you're essentially going with a Hybrid build at that point. Locust Signet provides Healing Power for Signet of Vampirism, as well as a nice little aoe lifesteal should you need it (though I typically pop it last after popping Vampire Signet). You obviously don't want to pop Signet of Spite, so I usually keep it on a hotkey I never use to avoid accidentally losing that 270 Power buff.

Alternatives: If you're liking the Condi cleanse and Deadly Strength bonuses from DM but don't like Corruptor's Fervor you could go with Unholy Sanctuary for some slightly more sustain while in Shroud (which is what I've found myself doing more and more lately). Plus you gain additional Toughness in Shroud, while gaining a 14% conversion rate. The site doesn't show it, cuz they don't have it fixed to keep Spite Signet's Passive while in Shroud, but rest assured your Power will exceed the 3k mark. If you still want to go with Rending Shroud that's fine, but keep in mind that's 3 stacks of Vulnerability every 3s, not one stack a second. So it'll take time to apply enough stacks, or sustain enough stacks, to actually benefit you imo. Increasing Axe's damage and reducing its CD is far more important, since you'll have Axe2 up more often and you'll be doing even more damage with it.

If you don't like DM, Blood Magic (with Dagger/Warhorn instead of Axe/whatever) Quickening Thirst and Vampiric Presence are essential. The Blood Magic GMs though are more useful with a Condi or Hybrid build, but I typically run Transfusion. If BM doesn't seem appealing, Soul Reaping is another good option that allows your Shroud1 to apply Vulnerability, Vital Persistence is arguably better now (from what I've heard though I'm no longer a big fan of it) and either Dhuumfire or Death Perception synergizes beautifully.

Finally, Reaper's Onslaught is a good option for raw burst but if you're not running Blood Magic and want some solid sustain run Blighter's Boon. Since Spite causes your Shroud1 to apply Might, you'll be healing each time you auto. Like I said, I prefer Death Magic and this is just how I play. Currently working on a Hybrid Scourge build though, so I might be changing my perferred build soon.

I also want to note that Berserker's is great if you're NOT running Decimate Defenses. In a group scenario, you'll most likely have Fury which increases your Precision by 20%. Berserkers with DD causes you to overcap your Precision, especially if you choose to run Death Perception from Soul Reaping. I should also note that Strength Runes are good if you have little ways to gain Might, otherwise Scholar will give you a better DPS output. Even while below 90% health. Staff is typically a Condi weapon and not wise to use without Soul Reaping (you can make the marks Unblockable and they will grant lifeforce). Just my input though, nothing important.

Ah, you are running a power build?You'll want to use this ;)http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQNAR7YjM0Ga6qd1Wdrux72dD/t/2SxgF3DLiJRqmwU4WFFAGAJAA-jxCBQBeU5RAOgAA4ABUNlY+T3zzOAB6Y/Bn9EE0wFBgmKBdo6PtDEA2SV/tbbbNtttttSB8oyK-e

@TheSlothArmada.6709 said:Ah, you are running a power build?You'll want to use this ;)http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQNAR7YjM0Ga6qd1Wdrux72dD/t/2SxgF3DLiJRqmwU4WFFAGAJAA-jxCBQBeU5RAOgAA4ABUNlY+T3zzOAB6Y/Bn9EE0wFBgmKBdo6PtDEA2SV/tbbbNtttttSB8oyK-e

I just want to say: this is not a Power build, it is a MM Hybrid build. Power does not utilize Condi Damage, it's exactly what it's called: Power, Precision, Health and Ferocity are the key stats.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQNAR4dnMbCt0g10AebC0bilcBjqMsGaWxTxu4YEKA0AWBA-jBxfABSoEkD1fAQ3AqK/IFQELtA-e runes & sigils of your choice , with this you re basically an immortal killing machine

I'm running Reaper/Blood/Spite, all ascended and all zerker, GS/Axe/Dagger, Healing Shout, Well that does Vulnerability, Signet that gives Power, Signet that does Speed, Elite Shout.

Thanks for all the tips guys.

I changed some things on my build and I'm enjoying a lot:

• Now using Signet of Vampirism with the trait (removed Close to Death), and the passive heal is pretty helpful while in shroud. That's exactly what I need for sustain - healing in shroud.
• Now using Signet of the Locust, and the heal from this is way too good when you can land it on multiple foes. In fact it's as good as a normal heal skill. I'll probably be using this for the move speed until getting a mount.
• Now traited for Deathly Chill, and I found the damage output is better than Reaper's Onslaught even for full power, thanks to all the might stacks. And this makes much easier to trigger Blood Bond. I'll be using this, unless I find I need more sustain, in which case Blighter's Boon can be the way to go.

Sometimes I try to go with Soul Reaping, but I always regret removing Blood Magic. Drain seems too good for survival.And I also tried replacing Spite, but this seems to be the staple traitline.

@Okami.7049 said:

@TheSlothArmada.6709 said:Ah, you are running a power build?You'll want to use this ;)

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQNAR7YjM0Ga6qd1Wdrux72dD/t/2SxgF3DLiJRqmwU4WFFAGAJAA-jxCBQBeU5RAOgAA4ABUNlY+T3zzOAB6Y/Bn9EE0wFBgmKBdo6PtDEA2SV/tbbbNtttttSB8oyK-e

._.It was a joke.