Core vs Reaper vs Scourge

[SlitheSlivier.1908]

Firstly, I'm talking about PvP and WvW, and only Power builds.How do those 3 compare in different situations? When are each better? Pvp, wvw roaming, wvw zerg, and 1v1?

Also I'm curious because im having a hard time figuring it out...Does Scourge actually have higher health than Reaper due to Barriers, and why is powee Scourge generally considered more "meta" than power Reaper in zergs?

[Dadnir.5038]

@"SlitheSlivier.1908" said:Firstly, I'm talking about PvP and WvW, and only Power builds.How do those 3 compare in different situations? When are each better? Pvp, wvw roaming, wvw zerg, and 1v1?

Reaper is the best bet for power build in any situation.Then you'd probably look at core.

Also I'm curious because im having a hard time figuring it out...Does Scourge actually have higher health than Reaper due to Barriers, and why is powee Scourge generally considered more "meta" than power Reaper in zergs?

Nope it doesn't have more health than reaper. The reaper will have access to the equivalent of an effective 26k health barrier every 10 seconds, the scourge is far far behind that, I'm not even sure it can reach this amount of barrier in a minute.Power scourge is considered meta in zerg because when you stack scourges the value of barrier shot up (it's due to the fact that barrier do stack and you can in end effectively end up with disproportionate meat shields in form of barrier). The damage itself isn't great anymore but everyone still have the habit to chicken out in front of the big red aoe even if it's not the main source of worry.

[RisenHowl.2419]

Scourge offers barrier and cleanses, Reaper offers better spike damage, core power is niche in pvp and useless in wvw compared to the elite specs.

Corrupts are the same between them all when built/used correctly. Scourge is zerging only, Reaper is roaming/zerging, core can roam/zerg. Necros in general are difficult to roam with due to the lack of mobility, stability, and projectile hate. Scourge is preferred for zerging because it's very difficult to play reaper in a zerg well. Melee class with poor stability access is a challenge that for most people isn't worth the time investment.

As far as sustain goes: core>reaper>scourge

[gavyne.6847]

Speaking only WvW, why is power scourge more meta than power reaper in wvw zergs? Because they provide barriers for the whole party, corrupt a lot of boons, and on top of it all they have a good spike that can be dropped at 900 range. They can also pop breach and trail to help stop an enemy push. Reapers are more selfish, no barriers for party (barriers help prevent people from getting one banged), and low corrupts. Reaper's biggest spike comes from shroud 4, and if interrupted at all, such as your stab gets corrupted into fear or you get bombed out of your shroud, you lose that spike and find yourself struggling to output respectable damage.

It's not even that reapers are bad, they aren't bad. But there are better melee cleave options than reapers. Bomb kit scrappers have one of the highest melee cleaves ingame at the moment, and they have access to sneak gyro for squad stealth, or they could swap to mortar kit for ranged pressure. Heralds also have higher melee spikes than reapers due to roads & hammers, and they at the same time provide secondary stab, dwarf elite (50% reduction in damage), and they provide good boons. Reapers seem unnecessarily selfish and they don't even output the best melee cleave damage. That's the main issue and why reapers aren't meta for wvw zergs and organized guild squads.

Reapers are great for solo/small scale roaming however, they're much better at roaming than scourges imo.

[Josiah.2967]

From my own experience.PVP: CoreWvW: Scourge or Core

This is coming from someone who prefers playing Reaper when playing a Necromancer.

[SlitheSlivier.1908]

@gavyne.6847 said:Speaking only WvW, why is power scourge more meta than power reaper in wvw zergs? Because they provide barriers for the whole party, corrupt a lot of boons, and on top of it all they have a good spike that can be dropped at 900 range. They can also pop breach and trail to help stop an enemy push. Reapers are more selfish, no barriers for party (barriers help prevent people from getting one banged), and low corrupts. Reaper's biggest spike comes from shroud 4, and if interrupted at all, such as your stab gets corrupted into fear or you get bombed out of your shroud, you lose that spike and find yourself struggling to output respectable damage.

It's not even that reapers are bad, they aren't bad. But there are better melee cleave options than reapers. Bomb kit scrappers have one of the highest melee cleaves ingame at the moment, and they have access to sneak gyro for squad stealth, or they could swap to mortar kit for ranged pressure. Heralds also have higher melee spikes than reapers due to roads & hammers, and they at the same time provide secondary stab, dwarf elite (50% reduction in damage), and they provide good boons. Reapers seem unnecessarily selfish and they don't even output the best melee cleave damage. That's the main issue and why reapers aren't meta for wvw zergs and organized guild squads.

Reapers are great for solo/small scale roaming however, they're much better at roaming than scourges imo.

This makes sense, thanks. I know roaming, I've never had evenly a mildly hard time killing scourges with my reaper solo or small groups.

[Shroud.2307]

I may not give the best advice here, so take the following with a grain of salt.

Having played each spec extensively and with a variety of different builds, strictly speaking in the context of WvW, I think for Power builds Reaper will be the best choice whether large group or small, and often times solo. I do also think core is a very good choice, and more often than Reaper a better choice when solo. It handles kiting much better where as Reaper, strong as it may be in melee range, is very easy to avoid while in Shroud and can quickly have it's Shroud shredded through.

Power Scourge has some pretty solid damage application with multi-hits, but I don't think it outclasses either of the other specs unless in a zerg. Reaper is still easier and more durable in that setting, but I think Scourge can more consistently Corrupt Boons where as Reaper is more of a "burst" Corrupt with less uptime.

Personally, I prefer core Power Necro while solo or small scale. My cleave isn't as effective as it would be with Reaper or Scourge, but my single target damage is much higher, and the option to position myself on safer terrain while still applying heavy ranged pressure makes it a lot easier to avoid damage. Scourge can do this as well, but if we're strictly speaking Power builds, I think core is better here.

Obviously each of them have their strengths and weaknesses, so I'd say it's very much a matter of preference and situation. Objectively, I believe Reaper is the best of the 3 for Power builds. Subjectively, I think core is safer but strategically harder, and Scourge is mechanically hardest but provides more utility.

[KrHome.1920]

Core is so ridiculously durable that it is great for beginners in every 1v1 scenario in wvw. You have to misplay hard or run into a really good player to lose a 1v1. Even a decently played core minion master is a pain to fight and most builds can't burn through all the sustain in a 1v1.

But as soon as you are outnumbered or focussed 1v2... core necro sucks the most in the whole game. And that happens a lot in wvw.

Reaper adds the necessary mobility for wvw and that's why it is always the better choice. Even condi reaper (staff, scepter/wh, dire, reaper rune, shoutburst) is better in wvw than condi core as mobility is so important.

[Kumouta.4985]

For PvP:A glassy reaper's great at teamfights and decent at 1v1s. Mobility is good. Can win 1v2s, too, just by having that aoe and high dmg, though reaper does demand you to learn how to abuse los and the environment in general to survive. You can play a tankier ammy but that just has less potential.

A menders (glassier power doesnt work due to scourge's low dmg on shade skills;this allows you to support players while doing chip dmg) scourge is good for 2v2s and can bunker in 1v1s for a long time, but kinda falls behind in effectiveness for larger teamfights by being so easy to stunlock and having a hard time truly bursting people, though it can be built to have 8s of continuous stuns, allowing a good team to be much harder to stop.

Core can try to bunker, but the higher your rank is the weaker it gets. People do learn to just pinball you to death. I haven't seen non-bunker core builds of any kind, since core allows you to become a meat shield so well. So it's kinda unexplored, might be worth looking into a higher dmg core build. I imagine the 1200 range cannonballs can be decent for whittling down a target.