Helpful Tip to not die to Deadeye Roamers

So i play Reaper in WvW on Henge of Denravi. Perhaps some will recognize my ingame name (Oh no a Susan).

For a while i've contemplated on finding a way to defeat or defend myself against deadeye roamers, my strongest hard-counter. I really couldn't pin down a solid way to prevent getting one-shot in open field. My only solutions were Line-of-sighting, which in openfield isn't an option.

So after an epiphany this mourning it occurred to me, and then i put it to the test. The story goes like this; Leaving the Henge of Denravi Keep on Eternal Battlegrounds, i see a player in downstate, having had trouble with a dead eye roamer, who was going around picking people off. Shortly after i was picked off too. So i try again, this time i'm more careful.

As a necro leaving the spawn, i knew that i would be the primary target...awesome. This is when i had the epiphany. The trick i learned from being careful this time; Once you've become marked by a deadeye, spam your "Target - Nearest Foe" button which is by default the "C" key on your keyboard. For a while, nothing will appear or happen (because the Deadeye is in stealth, waiting for an opportune moment to snipe) The exact moment you see the target deadeye appear in the UI, you dodge, and 95% of the time you will dodge their Deaths Judgment.

This should have been pretty obvious...i mean it's really not complicated to understand...but so many people probably don't know exactly when to dodge, and experience "bugs" with stealth, and rather than trying to play the UI game, they will try and look for the deadeye as he exits stealth...which is a mistake because sometimes the deadeye won't appear out of stealth because the game is "loading" their character. So by playing the UI game, you'll be able to dodge their deaths judgment with ease.

This is just the start of learning to deal with dead eye's. Mainly this will work with the noobiest of varients (Straight Rifle Deadeye's) and you may have trouble if other enemies are around. But do your best to use this trick to your advantage. Pretend you are a sitting duck in open field (where no other enemies are around) that way a Deadeye will be attracted to you...and little do they know, that your Spam Target-Nearest-Foe key is your best friend.

Not that a DE should have any issues with a Reaper, but how are you getting 1-shot in open field? Unless you are roaming in full berserker, that shouldn't happen - and you shouldn't be roaming in full berserker as a Reaper.

@Turk.5460 said:Not that a DE should have any issues with a Reaper, but how are you getting 1-shot in open field? Unless you are roaming in full berserker, that shouldn't happen - and you shouldn't be roaming in full berserker as a Reaper.

One-shot is kind of a blanket term for dodging their primary burst, which will take out a big chunk of your health. For some, this may be enough to one shot them. I don't run around in berserk gear, but this chunk of damage is enough to pressure me to where i'd have to blow some cooldowns.

@coro.3176 said:

• does not work if they binding shadow first..

Or Spotter's Shot

@syszery.1592 said:

@coro.3176 said:

• does not work if they binding shadow first..

Spotter Shot will break stealth, which mean you cannot use DJ after it

@syszery.1592 said:

@coro.3176 said:

• does not work if they binding shadow first..

or are the backstab type

Concerning backstab, just adjust your position at random intervals. Spin around or something. It can mean the difference between death and...not death. It's amazing how often I have enemies see me go into stealth knowing I have a dagger and move so predictably or in one direction, making it extremely easy to set up a backstab.

Not sure why this topic was moved out of the WVW forum, since it applies to all classes, not just necromancer. Was simply retelling the story from a necro perspective since that’s what I play. @arenanet

@Jeknar.6184 said:

@syszery.1592 said:

@coro.3176 said:

• does not work if they binding shadow first..

Not if you time it right. Mark (+ Kneel) + Spotter's Shot + Death Judgement always works for me...

You will never kill a deadeye on necro. We had a slight chance to oneshot them in melee range before shroudburst was removed recently but it's impossible now. The remaining damage on entering shroud can't even kill mesmer clones.

That said gearing properly will let you survive to deadeyes for a long time so you can at least move to safety, e.g. LOS or a tower.

First of all get some toughness or marauder + a hp increasing rune. So even if you eat the full burst opener you have still about 50% of health.

Secondly train your reflexes und trait speed of shadows to remove the immob and dodge or shroudtank (additional 50% damage reduction) the burst.

Then it depends on the encounter:If the deadeye is melee: shroudburst until he shadowsteps somewhere and then RS2 in the opposite direction as deadeyes have very limited gapclosers.

If he is ranged it's a bit harder and map awareness becomes more important: avoid moving through wide areas as this makes you vulnerable to pewpew stuff. Is there a sentry or tower nearby that can reveal him? Then move to this direction!

In EU deadeye is pretty much dead as the reveals in WvW hit them hard. It's just a matter of time till everyone in NA will have switched to S/D too. For S/D there is an easy solution: move to the opposite direction from where he ported to you as this neutralizes sword2 which will wreck any opponent that tries to fight the build.

@syszery.1592 said:

@Jeknar.6184 said:

@syszery.1592 said:

@coro.3176 said:

• does not work if they binding shadow first..

Regardless, you can’t use DJ without becoming revealed and leaving stealth.Dodging the moment you appear on the closest target, will negate DJ whether you use DJ or not. Anything you combo DJ with will also be dodged.

hi there, [HNTR] [NAPL] bullyhunting agent from AR just unstealthing for a quick sec to ask, why not just play deadeye to hunt the deadeyes? alternatively you could stay near sentries since that patch makes it hard-ish to stay stealthed

@Napples.2104 said:hi there, [HNTR] [NAPL] bullyhunting agent from AR just unstealthing for a quick sec to ask, why not just play deadeye to hunt the deadeyes? alternatively you could stay near sentries since that patch makes it hard-ish to stay stealthed

Because some of us prefer to get good at the class we like playing rather than to go out-cheese another class with his own class.And this thread that OP created is a perfect example of that.A Necro lover who wants to get as good as he can in the current meta and is willing to share his experience with others.