best solo reaper roaming builds?

I mean lets be real for 90% of the roamers you come across you don't need a sophisticated build, and for the others you'll probably die anyway due to all the bs the other classes have (in the hands of a more experienced player). So is it better to just go full glass and hope to kill them before they have a chance to counter attack?

I was simply going for full marauders, but with staff. I've been experimenting a bit with dread and staff 5 into axe 2 (with agility sigil) is a bit nuts. You can also land a full RS4 if you can land RS3, plus it gives some nice LF sustain. There are times I wished I had a gs, but there are also times when gs felt useless. The aim here is to start strong and burst them, I suspect this will be where a lot of the fights stop, but for the ones that don't I guess just kite with staff until the next opportunity to burst?

Well, I change my standard build with pretty much every balance patch and tomorrow there might be one, but I will still post what works best for me at the moment.

That's the base version:http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQNAndRnMbCt2g12AG3A0biFcBjqLEHeWQtpAwBIuKuFLjA-j1xHQBdTfQP2fAAnCg2p+jyeCAKUJY/U+9OQAYVtAbbbNtttttxAUF-w

Modifications:

When encountering a

• Guardian / Warrior / Revenant: Spectral Grasp -> "NCSY!"
• Condi Mirage / Condi Scourge: Spectral Armor -> Plague Signet
• Soulbeast: Spectral Grasp -> Corrosive Poison Cloud (not to actually fight him, but to cast it behind you when disengaging to a LOS spot)

Why Commander:The best gear for a Power Reaper is without a doubt: Demolisher - but unfortunately it doesn't exist, so Commander is the closest choice in terms of stats. It became viable when ANet reworked Sigil of Cleansing and improved the damage multipliers (Soul Barbs) and Ferocity bonuses (Onslaught, Death Perception and the 6th bonus on the reworked Scholar Rune) for Power Reapers to compensate the low base ferocity.

Why Spiteful Renewal:On Axe/Focus + GS you are overstacking Vulnerability when you run Bitter Chill and the damage increase of Spiteful Talisman is useless in competitive modes since everyone has boons. Buffing "YSIM!" with Spiteful Reneval and Augury of Death results in a very potent heal.

Why did I get rid of Marauder:3 reasons:

• 1) Sigil of Cleansing and Spectral Walk became much more potent and added some great condi cleansing which is not unreliable transfers that we had to rely on before. So we can afford to drop some vitality which otherwise would increase our anti condi sustain.
• 2) Outside of gimmicky Blood is Power + Blood Bond builds Necro's healing is too low to recover from a burst that did 20k damage so it does not make sense to gear for additional vitality.
• 3) We got a slight Life Force pool buff (Soul Battery) when running Soul Reaping, which brings us now to 16K LF on base vitality, which is okay (not great) for most situations when investing in addtional toughness and cleanses (which I do in that build).

Why double Sigil of Energy:Because dodges are our only scaling defense. We can never have enough endurance!

@"felincyriac.5981" said:I mean lets be real for 90% of the roamers you come across you don't need a sophisticated build, and for the others you'll probably die anyway due to all the bs the other classes have (in the hands of a more experienced player). So is it better to just go full glass and hope to kill them before they have a chance to counter attack?

I was simply going for full marauders, but with staff. I've been experimenting a bit with dread and staff 5 into axe 2 (with agility sigil) is a bit nuts. You can also land a full RS4 if you can land RS3, plus it gives some nice LF sustain. There are times I wished I had a gs, but there are also times when gs felt useless. The aim here is to start strong and burst them, I suspect this will be where a lot of the fights stop, but for the ones that don't I guess just kite with staff until the next opportunity to burst?Staff is ueseless on Power Reaper. It has zero pressure and swapping to it gives your target time to breathe. Or even worse: lots of builds can just ignore the marks and burst through it. Nightfall on GS is your only serious outside of shroud melee defense. It will remain a must pick as long as ANet does not lower the shroud cooldown.

Agility sigil is not worth it anymore in my opinion as we can time the shroud leaving right after a quickness pulse for 3s of quickness outside of shroud. In most fights you don't switch from GS to axe but from shroud to axe as people will kite you when you are entering shroud.

Traiting into fears is totally useless on Power Reaper as every class has an auto stunbreak and at least an additional stunbreak. You will see the "immune" popup more often than you like.

Full glass on Reaper does not work. Everyone who tells you it does, duells just noobs. You are a one trick pony and every spec that has at least one auto direct damage immunity trait or a block will destroy you. You need toughness to survive the 10s shroud downtime. 2600 armor is the optimum.

Running this right now:http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQNAR3dnc0AlbiF3A22A0biliBLuHOEXiUDhrQtKKA8tKAA-jFSGQBES9HJqE0APBgypbIJK9AwBBogKDu2FAgUABOZD-w

Works just fine against most enemies. Switching out some skill against certain classes. Rune is fireworks rune

I've been roaming on and off with Necro for a little over 5 years. Although I did stop for quite some time, I started again recently thanks to a friend. I have a lot less success when I'm solo mostly due to being unable to handle +1's and being outmatched by certain builds but, I don't think it's suicide either.

When we're together, him a power Shiro Revenant and me this:http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vREQNAR3dnc0A12gl3AG3A0biFcBL+K2FLjQDgAQLgqLEHeWA-jlyHABKfEAA4gA0jSjAeAA/rMTj9HeX9HmUC6luhvvAABAQAu5NzmtZwRP6RP6RPaX3mZzM6RvZSBwmkN-wwe're capable of winning 2vX quite easily (and have won against as many as 10). With both of us having Chills, huge spike damage and boon strips, as well as complimentary play styles, we're pretty nasty to fight despite both being high risk builds.

I used to primarily play a full condition tank core Necro that had 3.5k armor and obviously the baseline damage reduction while in Shroud. Every now and then I'll still play it but, the reason I stopped doing this is for exactly the reason you've stated -

you'll probably die anyway due to all the bs the other classes have (in the hands of a more experienced player). So is it better to just go full glass and hope to kill them before they have a chance to counter attack?

Even with as much health as Necro has, and that much armor, things could still easily 100 - 0 me and I simply didn't kill fast enough to survive if I got +1'd. A lot of things can basically laugh off conditions anyway. Which is why I find the most success (and enjoyment) with full YOLO Reaper. Everything invested in damage because a little extra armor might save me from one additional attack but it hardly matters most of the time anyway.

I'm not trying to invalidate a more properly built Necro however. I agree 100% that adding in some durability like toughness or boon duration etc. is a very good idea. But to me, if you can literally be 100 - 0'd in a second by things like full power shatter Mesmer, medi-Guard, Deadeyes, Soulbeasts, etc... F!&k the armor. I like critting people 10 - 15k Spinal Shivers and 10k Shroud auto attacks more.

I think if you want to play something... Smarter? A more durable build with a little armor in it like the suggestions above would be a good idea. But I also think glass Reaper is fine if you're perceptive with it and know how to avoid being outnumbered or out damaged.

@"SpellOfIniquity.1780" said:I've been roaming on and off with Necro for a little over 5 years. Although I did stop for quite some time, I started again recently thanks to a friend. I have a lot less success when I'm solo mostly due to being unable to handle +1's and being outmatched by certain builds but, I don't think it's suicide either.

When we're together, him a power Shiro Revenant and me this:http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vREQNAR3dnc0A12gl3AG3A0biFcBL+K2FLjQDgAQLgqLEHeWA-jlyHABKfEAA4gA0jSjAeAA/rMTj9HeX9HmUC6luhvvAABAQAu5NzmtZwRP6RP6RPaX3mZzM6RvZSBwmkN-wwe're capable of winning 2vX quite easily (and have won against as many as 10). With both of us having Chills, huge spike damage and boon strips, as well as complimentary play styles, we're pretty nasty to fight despite both being high risk builds.

I used to primarily play a full condition tank core Necro that had 3.5k armor and obviously the baseline damage reduction while in Shroud. Every now and then I'll still play it but, the reason I stopped doing this is for exactly the reason you've stated -

you'll probably die anyway due to all the bs the other classes have (in the hands of a more experienced player). So is it better to just go full glass and hope to kill them before they have a chance to counter attack?

yo same, I'm also playing a full dire core necro with 3k armor, 30k health and I have that -10% dmg food, but it doesn't matter as I still get destroyed by the immense dmg output some of these classes have.

@"KrHome.1920" said:Well, I change my standard build with pretty much every balance patch and tomorrow there might be one, but I will still post what works best for me at the moment.

That's the base version:http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQNAndRnMbCt2g12AG3A0biFcBjqLEHeWQtpAwBIuKuFLjA-j1xHQBdTfQP2fAAnCg2p+jyeCAKUJY/U+9OQAYVtAbbbNtttttxAUF-w

Modifications:

When encountering a

• Guardian / Warrior / Revenant: Spectral Grasp -> "NCSY!"
• Condi Mirage / Condi Scourge: Spectral Armor -> Plague Signet
• Soulbeast: Spectral Grasp -> Corrosive Poison Cloud (not to actually fight him, but to cast it behind you when disengaging to a LOS spot)

Why Commander:The best gear for a Power Reaper is without a doubt: Demolisher - but unfortunately it doesn't exist, so Commander is the closest choice in terms of stats. It became viable when ANet reworked Sigil of Cleansing and improved the damage multipliers (Soul Barbs) and Ferocity bonuses (Onslaught, Death Perception and the 6th bonus on the reworked Scholar Rune) for Power Reapers to compensate the low base ferocity.

Why Spiteful Renewal:On Axe/Focus + GS you are overstacking Vulnerability when you run Bitter Chill and the damage increase of Spiteful Talisman is useless in competitive modes since everyone has boons. Buffing "YSIM!" with Spiteful Reneval and Augury of Death results in a very potent heal.

Why did I get rid of Marauder:3 reasons:

• 1) Sigil of Cleansing and Spectral Walk became much more potent and added some great condi cleansing which is not unreliable transfers that we had to rely on before. So we can afford to drop some vitality which otherwise would increase our anti condi sustain.
• 2) Outside of gimmicky Blood is Power + Blood Bond builds Necro's healing is too low to recover from a burst that did 20k damage so it does not make sense to gear for additional vitality.
• 3) We got a slight Life Force pool buff (Soul Battery) when running Soul Reaping, which brings us now to 16K LF on base vitality, which is okay (not great) for most situations when investing in addtional toughness and cleanses (which I do in that build).

Why double Sigil of Energy:Because dodges are our only scaling defense. We can never have enough endurance!

@"felincyriac.5981" said:I mean lets be real for 90% of the roamers you come across you don't need a sophisticated build, and for the others you'll probably die anyway due to all the bs the other classes have (in the hands of a more experienced player). So is it better to just go full glass and hope to kill them before they have a chance to counter attack?

I was simply going for full marauders, but with staff. I've been experimenting a bit with dread and staff 5 into axe 2 (with agility sigil) is a bit nuts. You can also land a full RS4 if you can land RS3, plus it gives some nice LF sustain. There are times I wished I had a gs, but there are also times when gs felt useless. The aim here is to start strong and burst them, I suspect this will be where a lot of the fights stop, but for the ones that don't I guess just kite with staff until the next opportunity to burst?Staff is ueseless on Power Reaper. It has zero pressure and swapping to it gives your target time to breathe. Or even worse: lots of builds can just ignore the marks and burst through it. Nightfall on GS is your only serious outside of shroud melee defense. It will remain a must pick as long as ANet does not lower the shroud cooldown.

oh is that why I keep seeing immune? I kept wondering how they did that with no stab, but still tho getting them to burn their stunbreaks ain't too bad, no?

I can get around 2.4k armour with food/utility, with full marauders, still squishy though.

I plan on kiting with flesh wurm and walk, so staff is there for LF and keeping them chilled till I can get back into shroud, ofc ranged foes will be a pain unless I can LoS, then again that's true for all reaper builds.

As for agility, it's only for swapping into axe at the start of the fight really, just to put some ranged pressure.

I'll wait for todays balance patch (hopefully) before deciding though.

@"SpellOfIniquity.1780" said:I'm not trying to invalidate a more properly built Necro however. I agree 100% that adding in some durability like toughness or boon duration etc. is a very good idea. But to me, if you can literally be 100 - 0'd in a second by things like full power shatter Mesmer, medi-Guard, Deadeyes, Soulbeasts, etc... F!&k the armor. I like critting people 10 - 15k Spinal Shivers and 10k Shroud auto attacks more.

I think if you want to play something... Smarter? A more durable build with a little armor in it like the suggestions above would be a good idea. But I also think glass Reaper is fine if you're perceptive with it and know how to avoid being outnumbered or out damaged.You said you are usually a duo team and therefore full glass works a lot better than solo - as you experienced too.

Yes, when a full glass Soulbeast opens fire on you from 1500 range it doesn't matter whether you have 1967 or 2600 armor. He can kill you with 3 autoattacks anyway and you have no chance to fight back. Death's Charging into an unblockable longbow knockback is probably the most dumb thing a player can experience in this game. It's the definition of trolling.

Fights where toughness has a big impact is when duelling thieves as their dagger and sword damage goes down the toilet when attacking a high toughness target. This opens one or two more seconds to counterburst which is totally worth it as they are squishy as f...

@felincyriac.5981 said:yo same, I'm also playing a full dire core necro with 3k armor, 30k health and I have that -10% dmg food, but it doesn't matter as I still get destroyed by the immense dmg output some of these classes have.

Yup, it's unfortunate. Necro doesn't have enough pressure to win 1vX with a condi-tank build and can still be melted by some power builds. It's decent for 1v1/2 but beyond that, you may as well /sit and die.

Makes me sad because core condi Necro is one of my favorite ways to play Necro. Most fights I find however last too long and I end up getting overwhelmed. At least with power Reaper, if I don't get 1 shot in the first 2 seconds anyway, I can end fights quickly enough to move on before having more people on me than I can handle.

@Nocturnal Lunacy.8563 said:

@"felincyriac.5981" said:I mean lets be real for 90% of the roamers you come across you don't need a sophisticated build, and for the others you'll probably die anyway due to all the bs the other classes have (in the hands of a more experienced player). So is it better to just go full glass and hope to kill them before they have a chance to counter attack?

I was simply going for full marauders, but with staff. I've been experimenting a bit with dread and staff 5 into axe 2 (with agility sigil) is a bit nuts. You can also land a full RS4 if you can land RS3, plus it gives some nice LF sustain. There are times I wished I had a gs, but there are also times when gs felt useless. The aim here is to start strong and burst them, I suspect this will be where a lot of the fights stop, but for the ones that don't I guess just kite with staff until the next opportunity to burst?

Nevertheless Cele was nerfed for PvP already (I don't know why, cele ele is not an issue anymore). For PvE gear they can't do that because: shitstorm incoming.

People posting videos of themself are better candidates for an "I think I am gods gift" mentality. ;)

@Nocturnal Lunacy.8563 said:

@KrHome.1920 said:

@Nocturnal Lunacy.8563 said:

@"felincyriac.5981" said:I mean lets be real for 90% of the roamers you come across you don't need a sophisticated build, and for the others you'll probably die anyway due to all the bs the other classes have (in the hands of a more experienced player). So is it better to just go full glass and hope to kill them before they have a chance to counter attack?

I was simply going for full marauders, but with staff. I've been experimenting a bit with dread and staff 5 into axe 2 (with agility sigil) is a bit nuts. You can also land a full RS4 if you can land RS3, plus it gives some nice LF sustain. There are times I wished I had a gs, but there are also times when gs felt useless. The aim here is to start strong and burst them, I suspect this will be where a lot of the fights stop, but for the ones that don't I guess just kite with staff until the next opportunity to burst?

I’ve been interested in the celestial set. For the most part, you gain a lot more stats than any other amulet...and the lack of precision can be made up for via traits, so it has always enticed me.

The only reason I haven’t messed wit it is for the somewhat irrelevant stats it gives like healing power and condition damage. Neither of these are useless in the right build, but in power reaper they are essentially wasted. The idea would be to make a build that can benefit from all the stats (curses would be a good place to start to make use of the condition damage)

Also, the lack of concentration always makes me sad, and the lack of might gain is unfortunate. There is a food that can give u 25 might easily (dumplings) but it’s only very effective if you have concentration to make it stack faster/longer

Other than those things I feel celestial is untapped potential to be a good build...just has to be theory crafted

Sorry, but the cele build really only works for core and scourge.On reaper it's pretty bad right now (who knows what happens on Tuesday) Condi dmg is low and with cele you loose like 600-800power compared to a real power build.

Can consider full trailblazers. Able to beat roamers from top roaming guilds like violent tendency vT and ninja tactics OP.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaHYGzduxOE

You asked so here it is :) Speed Reaper. Nothing escapes. Kite all day. Passive condi xfer destroys other necros and mirage. Dunks on holo, core guard and wars too (care of rampage :)) I run this in plat 1/2 ranked, it carries teamfights, is a great roamer and +1. It also dominates stronghold and is a good wvw roamer (I don't do much wvw, but was very nice for swooping into the zerg, cleaving stuff and zooming away untouched. Nice for chasing down runners too). Full marauder gives over 100% crit chance so you could def drop some prec for condi or whatever if building for wvw.

Marauder stats. Runes of speed + speed of shadows trait gives perma 99% swiftness. Open with Nightfall -> Spectral grasp then go to town in reaper shroud. You may be tempted to take spite for the might stacking or blood for the heals over curses THIS IS A MISTAKE. Curses gives hidden sustain with it's condi xfer/corruption and auto weakness application. It makes reaper very hard to stop and gives you a lot of control over the fight with your boon corruption.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQNBHhF6kjGo1Gs2Gw4GgeTscMYx5wf4Rk6HcEiVR9stVAA-jZxHABXXGAgTBQL7P89RAQ5HAAA

For some reason the number of thieves, full glass soulbeasts, and power mirages has increased this week so I am back to a straight forward burst setup while soaking up damage with rise! and spectral armor which works great atm.

Simple but effective:http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQNAndRnMbCdbi12AG3A0biFcBD6qFAaBxVxvYZkqLEHeWA-j1xHQBvT9nes/ADVCqsnUw303AgTpw/U+9OQAYVt02utt102222GDAVA-w

@"kodesh.2851" said:You asked so here it is :) Speed Reaper. Nothing escapes. Kite all day. Passive condi xfer destroys other necros and mirage. Dunks on holo, core guard and wars too (care of rampage :)) I run this in plat 1/2 ranked, it carries teamfights, is a great roamer and +1. It also dominates stronghold and is a good wvw roamer (I don't do much wvw, but was very nice for swooping into the zerg, cleaving stuff and zooming away untouched. Nice for chasing down runners too). Full marauder gives over 100% crit chance so you could def drop some prec for condi or whatever if building for wvw.

Marauder stats. Runes of speed + speed of shadows trait gives perma 99% swiftness. Open with Nightfall -> Spectral grasp then go to town in reaper shroud. You may be tempted to take spite for the might stacking or blood for the heals over curses THIS IS A MISTAKE. Curses gives hidden sustain with it's condi xfer/corruption and auto weakness application. It makes reaper very hard to stop and gives you a lot of control over the fight with your boon corruption.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQNBHhF6kjGo1Gs2Gw4GgeTscMYx5wf4Rk6HcEiVR9stVAA-jZxHABXXGAgTBQL7P89RAQ5HAAA

I really like the Curses approach. I might try this in my WvW roaming build - I use Firework Runes (+25% movement speed) and make up for any lost toughness/vitality in my accessories/rings (full marauders otherwise)

@Sakorath.8910 said:

@"kodesh.2851" said:You asked so here it is :) Speed Reaper. Nothing escapes. Kite all day. Passive condi xfer destroys other necros and mirage. Dunks on holo, core guard and wars too (care of rampage :)) I run this in plat 1/2 ranked, it carries teamfights, is a great roamer and +1. It also dominates stronghold and is a good wvw roamer (I don't do much wvw, but was very nice for swooping into the zerg, cleaving stuff and zooming away untouched. Nice for chasing down runners too). Full marauder gives over 100% crit chance so you could def drop some prec for condi or whatever if building for wvw.

Marauder stats. Runes of speed + speed of shadows trait gives perma 99% swiftness. Open with Nightfall -> Spectral grasp then go to town in reaper shroud. You may be tempted to take spite for the might stacking or blood for the heals over curses THIS IS A MISTAKE. Curses gives hidden sustain with it's condi xfer/corruption and auto weakness application. It makes reaper very hard to stop and gives you a lot of control over the fight with your boon corruption.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQNBHhF6kjGo1Gs2Gw4GgeTscMYx5wf4Rk6HcEiVR9stVAA-jZxHABXXGAgTBQL7P89RAQ5HAAA

When I saw Kodesh's build I also thought it was pretty good especially after the nerfs to the Spite tree.The additional fury, weakness and condi management could possibly outweigh the benefits of the Spite tree.However looking at his build, I was also reminded of the nerf to SoS...I loved it when Reaper Shroud 2 dash could be synergised with 7 seconds Shroud flicker + Path of corruption + Chilling Darkness + Deathly chill for an awesome bomb...Unfortunately it is all gone now...All gone!

@EremiteAngel.9765 said:When I saw Kodesh's build I also thought it was pretty good especially after the nerfs to the Spite tree.Actually not. It lacks both: damage and sustain.

The few corrupts via curses don't save that build.

The additional fury, weakness and condi management could possibly outweigh the benefits of the Spite tree.No he is overstacking crit chance in shroud and outside of shroud he can be bursted very easily.

Hitting with lesser enfeeble and the path of corruption is RNG because of the delay. Plague sending won't land when you are blinded or blocked. In a real world scenario these traits fail too often and weakness is too unreliable (can be cleansed and the damage reduction is RNG too). So the whole traitline becomes useless except for that crit chance which he does not really need as he is running marauder amulet.

However looking at his build, I was also reminded of the nerf to SoS...I loved it when Reaper Shroud 2 dash could be synergised with 7 seconds Shroud flicker + Path of corruption + Chilling Darkness + Deathly chill for an awesome bomb...Unfortunately it is all gone now...All gone!Right. Curses is not what it used to be for power reapers.

@KrHome.1920 said:

@EremiteAngel.9765 said:When I saw Kodesh's build I also thought it was pretty good especially after the nerfs to the Spite tree.Actually not. It lacks both: damage and sustain.

The additional fury, weakness and condi management could possibly outweigh the benefits of the Spite tree.No he is overstacking crit chance in shroud and outside of shroud he can be bursted very easily.

However looking at his build, I was also reminded of the nerf to SoS...I loved it when Reaper Shroud 2 dash could be synergised with 7 seconds Shroud flicker + Path of corruption + Chilling Darkness + Deathly chill for an awesome bomb...Unfortunately it is all gone now...All gone!Right. Curses is not what it used to be for power reapers.

Curses is still pretty good for reaper, it gives reasonably high fury uptime combined with fireworks rune.With death perception you only need 47% critchance in shroud to get 100% critAnd outside of shroud you will still have 67%

Also applying conditions will increase the critchance

Also curses brings weakness which is a pretty good defense in itself.Actually, right now the only thing spite offers different than curses is might, but you are able to get enough might from other sources.

Both traitlines offer corrupts spite offers dmg from might and modifiers, curses from increased critchance.

Also I don't think you have the right to say, that builds lack dmg or sustain, when posting builds like full commander (which looses a lot of dmg from not having any ferocity) or no toughness builds

@KrHome.1920 said:

@"EremiteAngel.9765" said:When I saw Kodesh's build I also thought it was pretty good especially after the nerfs to the Spite tree.Actually not. It lacks both: damage and sustain.

The additional fury, weakness and condi management could possibly outweigh the benefits of the Spite tree.No he is overstacking crit chance in shroud and outside of shroud he can be bursted very easily.

However looking at his build, I was also reminded of the nerf to SoS...I loved it when Reaper Shroud 2 dash could be synergised with 7 seconds Shroud flicker + Path of corruption + Chilling Darkness + Deathly chill for an awesome bomb...Unfortunately it is all gone now...All gone!Right. Curses is not what it used to be for power reapers.

Also - I played a version of Kodesh's build in WvW (team roaming) using Marauder gear, and toughness/power/vitality accessories/amulets. I was definitely able to last longer in team fights, and the speed runes helped me get out of pressure to reset.