Rusty Reaper Requires... Radvice? )WvW build question)

Hey, all. I've just recently come back to the game after quite a hiatus and I'm finding that I quite enjoy WvW, specifically zerging along, and occasionally popping tag if no one else volunteers

Hooooowever, I've been running the Greatsword Roamer build, which works wonderfully in duels. And to be honest, can be surprisingly spicy in a zerg fight. But, I've been informed the current meta is Power Scourge and I.... Am not a fan, frankly.

So the question is, is there a Reaper build that I can get away with using in Zerg fights? Shout use, maybe? (It occurs to me that "Nothing Can Save You!" followed by popping into Glass Shroud would be pretty rough on a group, but I'd like more thoughts)

There are quite some good builds. But with any of those you are not meant to just go in

Best is a group specifically for that purpose. Like a pocket guardian, a shout ele, 2 reapers and a thief.

But reaper is just not as effective as scourge, you are way more vulnerable to cc.

If you get cc'd while casting shroud 4 you loose almost all your dmg

The short answer is no, reapers are not ideal for WvW zerg fights when compared to scourges. The long answer... reasons being scourges corrupt boons (#1 thing that scourges are needed for today in this meta), spike for amazing 10 target dps (reapers still stuck with 5), and scourges also provide barriers which benefit you and your teammates.

Reapers are good for melee cleave, but that's quite an afterthought these days. You are simply not contributing much compared to scourges and will find yourself get caught quite often because you need melee range to dps properly. Lastly, if you run with organized guild groups or commanders that care about winning fights, they'll ask you to bring a meta scourge build or not at all. Reapers are not given a raid spot in organized WvW raids.

Guess I just have to get used to Scourge... At least there's a power build for it that doesn't feel too bad to use

Reaper is still okay for roaming though, right?

@Vydahr.4285 said:Guess I just have to get used to Scourge... At least there's a power build for it that doesn't feel too bad to use

Reaper is still okay for roaming though, right?

If you are good at using your environment, you can be successfulAssuming, that you are equally skilled like your opponents from here on:But in most 1v1 situations you will need very specific builds.There's no best overall build for reaper right now in my opinion.Not like other classes, that just switch out one utility skill or one trait.Just an example: if you gear up and take traits and utilities, you might find yourself taking for example 2 condicleanses and one antipower thing.

But necro is very vulnerable alone.So if you now have to fight a power enemy, it's much more likely, that you loose than it would be on another class. Or if you had chosen different traits and utilities.

Every class can just run away from you, reset and try again. You as a reaper can't. That's the biggest weakness right now.

In addition you are very weak to cc and high ranged enemies.

You can have fun as a reaper, and you can be rather successful, but it's much easier on other classes to win fights ;)

That said, in general: necro is sadly still not meant to be a 1v1 fighter. And you will notice that very soon.

But it's super pleasant to win 1v1s :D because if you win them, you outplayed your opponent, which will tell you, that your better than him :p

I think you can use Reaper for merging in WvW but you should build it more like a core Necro and focus on condi pressure.

A simple setup might be staff / axe-focus with some wells, shouts, and CPC.

I try not to expect much out of a zerg build besides condi pressure on a highly vulnerable build.

To be fair, Scourge is about half the DPS of Reaper in almost all situations. But, Scourge can hit twice as many people (moar bagz), can provide more utility, and can survive much MUCH better than a Reaper as a front line. I refused to make the switch for a long time, but had to buy the expansion for stupid mounts. I legit wish I had switched a while back just because I would be at Ultimate Dominator by now if I had.