[The mobility of bladesworn is overwhelming]

He'll never be as fast as this man.

[Reaper In WvW?]

11 hours ago, Nimon.7840 said:

Seems like a mess to me. Maybe not a mess, but a "good at nothing"- build.

 

You are basically wasting a lot of stats.

Healing power stat: wasted because you have nothing other than your healing skill that scales with healing power

concentration: wasted: you don't have many boons you give yourself, and the majority of the boons should be given to you by other professions.

Condition damage: is ok-ish, if you corrupt alot (which you actually don't), else you aren't doing a lot of conditions with that build.

Expertise: not a lot of condition sources with that build, wasted imo.

 

Why not play good old cele reaper from hot era? Could maybe swap axe/focus for GS.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PSABsid3lJwQYNsFWJOuL8tSA-z1IY1on/UaUIkpEobFQNjAfOL0PtBA-w

 

Sure this build won't be doing anything without support, but neither does your build except surviving a bit longer, because higher health pool.

 

That being said: cele isn't great. If you play against zergs with proper setup or guilds, cele Necro is pretty much useless in my opinion.

Conditions will be cleansed immediately and your power dmg isn't good either, because you don't specialize in it.

It isn't built for organized zerging - I realize I didn't state this, but it's for pugging. And when it comes to pugs, as long as you're doing damage and staying alive you're being useful.

The reason I like this build for pug zergs or roaming/small scale is because it's extremely durable and versatile. It has high enough hybrid damage to deal with high Toughness or high cleanse builds, and it has a ton of Corrupts for bombing. 

I agree that some of the stats are going to waste, but a Grieving, Sinister, Carrion, or some other kind of stat/mix isn't going to be as durable as Cele, and it's going to have a lot less Condition Duration and Boon Duration - if any. Boon Duration is actually pretty useful for Reaper too because you can get a lot of Protection, Stability, Might, and Quickness. 

By no means is the build top tier, but I can attest to the damage and durability having played a lot of it and a lot of Necromancer in general. At the very least the Corrupts and cleave are useful where most Power Reapers are just dying in the push.

[Reaper In WvW?]

In zergs, I had the most success with this. Lots of Corrupts, super tanky, lots of damage. Actually feels quite useful if you know when/where to use your Corrupts because you can also capitalize on it by going deep in the push. 

Honestly I hate how good Cele is on so many things, but Reaper was by far and long my favorite thing to use it with. Super fun to zerg surf frontline with and a pretty solid roamer too. 

(Empty trait slots are up to you. I prefer Decimate Defenses + Unyielding Blast because it makes Shroud autos with Dhuumfire really nasty.)

[Cele has to go]

Just reduce Cele's overall stats to Exotic level, Exotic's to Rare level, etc. 

Here's a Cele Harbinger build in Ascended.

And here's one in Exotic.

The difference per stat is only 2 and it makes it a pretty big impact on the stats overall. Could even knock it down to a difference of 3 and it'd still be usable, but I'll bet significantly worse on things that aren't already overperforming with it. 

The problem with blanket nerfs like this though, is that it often punishes the niche builds and does little/nothing to the builds that are a problem.
Making a change like this might stop a lot of people from using the stat, but I'll bet Cele Harbi's and Mechanists would still be doing just fine.

Usually I disagree with nerfing a stat, but in Cele's case, I do think it needs to be taken down a peg. And I think the best way to do it is just as I'd said above even if it doesn't kill off the worst offenders. ANet can always make more direct changes later (targeting specific traits/skills, etc. as they should be).

[Harbinger shouldn't be allowed to wear celestial gear]

19 hours ago, Sahne.6950 said:

Hey im sorry, didnt want to make it sound like that you dont agree with it being busted...

 

but you keep saying that you think its busted.... and then you say things like this:

You can beat celeharbinger with core engi.... Guess we have to nerf Core engie if you a so called "never been a very good player" can beat celeharbinger without problems with core engie....  You 100% have to show footage of this xD cuz i dont believe you.

The real issues here is not that i dont take responsibility for my own mistakes.... i am literally playing Tempest which shreds harbinger thanks to +100% projectilehate uptime....

The real issue here is that Harbinger is shamelessly overtuned and some peopel act like its a piece of cake killing them... even with CORE ENGIE.

Wish I could make a vid for you, but I haven't played in 6 months and I'm not able to either.

It's exactly as I'd said though. Be aggressive. My Engi build has a lot of damage ( 1 ) ( 2 ) and several CC's. My CC's are a lot more dangerous than a Cele Harbi's CC's because a nade Barrage or Pry Bar can cut your health clean in half even with a lot of armor. 
Sometimes I'd opt for Supply Crate if I felt the fight might go a little longer, but generally I preferred Elixir X for the versatility of the elite and how often Moa could insta-win a fight if waiting for the right moment.

And you said yourself, you shred Harbi's. So it has it's weaknesses.

Busted/broken, OP, etc. doesn't mean a given build will have 100% success. It just means it's low risk/high reward and most counters will be soft counters. Cele Harbi can still be dunked with the right builds, it's just obnoxious because it snowballs fights way harder than pretty much anything else. Once you're on the backfoot it's really hard to recover from the constant barrage of Torment and cover Condi's. Either flat out disengage if you have the mobility, or hard abuse LOS. Otherwise, the best way to fight it is high damage, aggression, projectile hate, and CC's.

EDIT:
Here's an old unlisted vid if you want to see the damage. Pointless zerging junk, but it gives you an idea of how I might be able to delete a Harbi.

[Harbinger shouldn't be allowed to wear celestial gear]

14 hours ago, Sahne.6950 said:

 

xDD

Here we go! Let me explain why everything youve said, is a joke at best.

Okey.... first of all....are you atleast aware that since almost 2 months your whole GM trait is not working..... AND YOUR BUILD STILL PERFORMS?

imagine any other build not having their GM-Trait..... just imagine how bad those builds would be...... meanwhile Harbinger mains dont even notice that something is completly not working....THATS HOW BAD THE BALANCING IS!  even without a GM-Trait it still is considered one of, if not, THE best roamingbuild....

"just cleanse smart and be aggressive....."   Yeah.... good luck cleansing when you are hit by a invisible gravity well on a 20 second cooldown... Or good luck reflecting his projectiles... oh wait... YOU CANT.... but atleast you can see when he is in shroud..... right.... right?  YOU CANT EVEN SEE WHEN HES IN SHROUD ANYMORE. The spec is a buggy and overpowered mess......

not evasive or mobilespec... meanwhile voracious arc is hitting you for 6k on a celebuild, while being a movementskill, evadeframe,dealing torment, and dazing.... ON A 10 SECOND COOLDOWN....

oh and the healskill..... name 1 skill that heals 10k (with regen) on a 20 second cooldown... while applying poison, and hitting upwards of 3,5k on a celebuild....  ILL WAIT!

 

Some Harbingermains dont realize that 90% of builds CAN NOT DEAL WITH THIS. They see that they are indeed dying to those 10% (if those 10% play better than them ofc) and think that Harbinger has counters and that other people could do this aswell.... But thats wrong. most build dont have the tools to deal with this. When you win against 90% of people running around simply because of the fact that you decided to play 🍔... there might be something wrong.

You need to understand that 90% of people dont have a chance even when they are doing everything right and applying your "tips". The sheer ammount of pressure and the sustainwall, that Harbinger has, paired with celestial is like a brickwall to most builds. If they are lucky they can run away. But 90% of builds have no chance winning a fair 1 on1 fight. NOT HAPPENING.

Just look at pvp. It has received some massive nerfs there and its on par with otherspecs (remember WIHTOUT a GM-trait still)... but the WvW version dodged all of those nerfs and is still reaking havoc.... now we add celestial ontop and you have a spec that is completly dominating even without a GM-trait...

 

I want to start by saying that I'm not a Harbinger main, I'm a Necro main. Most of my time is on core Power. Sometimes core Condi, sometimes Power or hybrid Reaper. Never liked Scourge and didn't play a lot of Harbinger, but enough to know what it could do.

I started by agreeing that it's busted, so I don't know why you've gone on this spiel like I'd said it's perfectly balanced. I'm only making the point that everything has weaknesses and Harbinger is no different.

The only reason 

Quote

90% of builds CAN NOT DEAL WITH THIS.

is because 90% of players are built like they're in open world PvE.

I've never been a very good player, but capable enough to handle myself while roaming with extremely shoddy builds. I never had issues fighting Cele Harbs with core Power Engi (which had literally a single cleanse from Cleansing Sigil), and core Power Necro literally 3 shot most of the ones I fought. 
It's not unkillable, it just has very high pressure at range. Don't let it ramp up damage and it's a lot easier to deal with is all I'm saying. Not that it isn't busted.

The real issue here is that so many players react like yourself. Never willing to take responsibility for your decisions or to listen to advice. You just want to point fingers and call it a day because it's easier than admitting you're not as good as you think you are.

[Harbinger shouldn't be allowed to wear celestial gear]

I'm not going to say Cele Harbi isn't broken, because it is, but it's also easier to deal with than people care to learn.

This is Harbinger remember, maximum health will be reduced, it doesn't have protective Shroud, and it's not an evasive or very mobile spec.

I'm not trying to downplay the strength of it, but what makes it so strong is how quickly it snowballs a fight. If you use your cleanse(s) and stunbreaks wisely, the best way to deal with them is to be hyper aggressive. Don't try to work the field waiting for openings, as soon as the Harbi has you on the backfoot the fight is over. The amount of pressure and passive sustain it has means as soon as you try to back off to recover you're going to be stuck trying to kite while the Harbi is getting passive health back.

Counter or avoid the CC, dump your damage on them, and don't panic cleanse. 

I think I could agree that Cele is most obnoxious on Harbi or maybe Mechanist, but practicing against it and learning how it plays is the best way to lessen your frustrations against it.

[WvW Reaper after DP rework]

This change basically killed my long time favorite core Necro build, so I'm glad I'm not playing anymore.

I need my base crit chance at 47% so it's 100% in Shroud. I need that crit chance because with a core Power build I cannot afford to be trading hits and taking long fights. I don't have the mobility or defenses to attrition.

I've understood for a long time that glass core Necro is a suboptimal build, but it has its benefits and it has always been very fun to me. Having 100% crit chance for big Life Blast crits is what made it work at all because otherwise it just doesn't have the pressure to deal with any half decent player.

So I guess that's it for something I've enjoyed playing for several years. Too bad ANet loves to kill off niche builds all the time... Not like having fun is a part of playing video games or anything.

[It's SO much worse now. SO much worse.]

Make Necro great again? 

Hahaha...

... Unless?

[Idea, Improved Stats Based On Rank]

Should also get permanent +10% Magic Find bonus for every 10 Stonemist Defense, and a stacking defense bonus for every objective captured within X # of minutes, up to a maximum of 100% damage reduction. 

Ooooh also, also, add a new rank to Warclaw that grants all Boons to self and allies on mount and dismount!

[balance is awful please hire people that play multiple classes in wvw]

5 hours ago, Rider.6024 said:

ok SHROUD.2307.....by any chance do you happen to play a good deal of necro?

I do. I also play the violin. Do you need a note? 🎻

[balance is awful please hire people that play multiple classes in wvw]

Balance is bad because this community continuously refuses to learn and instead come here to complain unwilling to accept advice before they even post, or rant and bemoan the devs in game, on streams, or other mediums.

The game keeps getting dumber because the players keep demanding it. 

[Worst WvW solo and roaming experience class.]

From best to worst for roaming, something like this.

Obviously I don't think this list is very rigid. It very much depends on the situation, stats used, etc., but in general this is how I would tier each spec for roaming which includes; 1 v 1, small scale (<10 v 10), and outnumbered.

Although Daredevil is pretty limited in build options, I still think it is worthy of being top tier just for the sheer versatility in fights. It may not be the best duelist, but nothing controls the field like a Thief. And in WvW roaming, being able to do that is about the strongest tool you can have.

I understand some people will very strongly disagree with my list, and that's fine. Just please don't be coming at me with the "you're wrong" nonsense, because I don't think there is any way to be right about this either. There are just too many things to consider for a tier list to be objectively correct.

[Unkillable Celestial Catalysts?]

Your options:

1 player can't kill them? Bring another.
2 can't kill them? Bring another.
3 can't kill them? ...
Bring a; Necro, Thief, or Mesmer.
BOON HATE.
Quaggan tonic and flee.

Kind of getting outside the topic here but, there are lots of things that are obnoxious and/or very difficult to kill 1 v 1 in WvW. Catalyst ain't unique, and like everything it has its weaknesses. 

This is another matter of Celestial being too good. 
I don't think it's ever good to blanket nerf things, but Celestial is a special case where the bottom line is that it offers too much and makes every other hybrid stat irrelevant.
It doesn't matter if only some things can get the maximum value out of it. It doesn't matter if it's only a issue in roaming. The stat is bloated, limits diversity, and makes some things stronger than they have any right to be.

Personally, I enjoy Cele. I like how it feels to use, and I do sometimes use it. I'm not going to complain if ANet never nerfs it, but it absolutely deserves to be.

[So who is in the WvW team? (+Apr 22 studio update)]

I've been playing for nearly 9 years now, and all of it has been WvW. This year may be the last year I play this game at all - a lot of things are changing for me.

I've always been optimistic and believed Alliances will come when they're done, and have enjoyed my time regardless of what ANet says. But every time they bring it up and nothing changes, it makes me think a little differently about why.

ANet isn't my friend, and I know that. They're a company. If they make money from me, it doesn't matter how they make me feel (within reason, of course) because I'll be replaced by new players if I leave. 
I've always chosen to ignore their promises so I can better enjoy myself by not risking a feeling of let down. But they continue to push it with nothing to show, and it starts to feel to me like -

It isn't that they're done with you and failing to deliver on promises knowing you'll be replaced by new players so it doesn't matter... It's that they want to keep what few players they have because they're losing them faster than they're being replaced. 

We're being lead on. I'm sure anyone could tell you this, it isn't a revelation. The point I'm making is that they don't keep reminding us of Alliances and doing nothing about it because they don't know how to handle their business. They're doing it to keep long time players playing as an investment in case new players can't replace them.
If you want to make a point, leave.

I'm sorry my thoughts are so disjointed here, just saying what I feel without bothering too much organize it. 

[Viable sPvP necro build w/out wurm or spectral walk]

Honestly if I were to not use SWalk or Wurm, I'd go for a core Necro build with Wells and just be a giant pain in the behind for melee builds.

Spectral Ring, Well of Blood, Plaguelands. The other two slots could either both be Wells too, or you could do like, Spectral Armor + Corrosive Poison Cloud.
Although I very rarely use it, I seriously think Well of Blood is quite a good heal, and if you're going to be mostly stationary you'll be able to get full value from it.

For obvious reasons it wouldn't be a stellar build, but I think it could have some viability against things that are a little slower and need to be on top of you for most of their damage.

Like this?

[leveling up wvw rank]

Pop a Birthday Booster and other WXP-type boosters and hop on the win train on Sea of Sorrows if you're NA. Play OCX and it's basically the same as EOTM.

[It's scourge time again]

19 minutes ago, jalmari.3906 said:

 

No one who really cares about pvp balance cares about wvw balance. WvW has no balance to start with.

 

I don't care about PvP balance because I don't do it.

Are we done with this conversation?

[[Concept in progress] Soulflayer]

Shroud: Soul Shroud

Weapon: Hammer

Mechanic explanation: 
Entering Shroud replaces weapon skills with Shroud skills and converts Life Force to Endurance.
Dodging consumes Life Force (you can dodge twice and can refill dodges with Life Force).
Normal Endurance drains over time while in Shroud.
Normal Endurance or Life Force reaching 0 does not end Shroud, but Life Force must be at the threshold to enter Shroud.
Shroud does not protect health.
4 consecutive dodges is possible (consume two normal dodges, enter Shroud, consume 2 Shroud dodges), but Life Force does not refill without using skills, and normal Endurance cannot refill while in Shroud.

( ADDITIONAL NOTE: Signet of Undeath would be modified for this spec to have a much longer interval between Life Force pulses to prevent it from being a mandatory pick )

Shroud skills
Gain a shadowy sword and shield, and convert your Life Force to Endurance. 

Shroud Skill 1
Chain: Cleave foes in front of you.
Life Force: 2%
Number of targets: 3
Range: 130
Chain: Cleave foes in front of you and rend their armor.
Life Force: 2%
Number of targets: 3
Range: 130
Vulnerability: x2 (4s)
Chain: Thrust your sword in to your targets gaining Life Force per foe struck.
Life Force per target: 3%
Number of targets: 3
Range: 180

Shroud Skill 2
Strike the ground dealing damage in the area. Foes directly beneath the attack take additional damage.
Recharge: 10s
Number of targets: 3
Radius: 240
Life force from foes beneath attack: 10%
Combo field: Ice

Shroud Skill 3
Sacrifice Life Force to empower your attacks for a duration. This skill Fears foes in the area when it ends.
Recharge: 18s
Channel time: 2s
Number of targets: 5
Duration: 6s
Radius: 240
Damage increase: 10%

Shroud Skill 4
Block attacks and steal Life Force from foes around you.
Recharge: 25
Damage: (x6)
Life Force per hit: 3%
Number of targets: 3
Duration: 3s
Radius: 240

Shroud Skill 5
Rush forward, blocking attacks in front of you and launching foes at your destination.
Recharge: 30s
Launch: 450
Number of targets: 3
Combo finisher: Leap
Range: 800

Heal
Gain a Barrier and heal yourself. If the Barrier is not removed, consume that Barrier for an equivalent heal.
Recharge: 24
Barrier: 3,150
Healing: 4,920

Utility 1
Strike foes in front of you with a ghastly claw. Striking the maximum number of targets grants access to a secondary attack.
Recharge: 25s
Number of targets: 3
Range: 450
Pull foes to you.
Number of targets: 3
Range: 450

Utility 2
Shadowstep to your target. If this skill reaches your target, transfer damaging Conditions you are suffering from.
Recharge: 30s
Damaging Conditions transferred: 3
Range: 600

Utility 3
Create an explosion by conjuring the energy of deceased enemies in the area. If no corpses are present, this skill instead grants a small amount of Life Force.
Recharge: 40s
Number of targets: 5
Life Force if no targets are present: 10%
Range: 600
Radius: 240

Utility 4
Consume your Life Force to launch yourself forward, striking foes in your wake. The more Life Force is consumed, the further you travel.
Recharge: 60s
Number of targets: 5
Number of strikes: 6
Distance traveled at half Life Force: 400
Distance traveled at full Life Force: 800

Elite
Tear at your targets' soul, preparing to deal heavy damage to them and nearby foes. Convert damage dealt to an equivalent barrier. Moving out of range ends this skill and negates the damage. If this skill hits no targets, the recharge is halved and no effect will take place.
Recharge: 90s
Duration: 5s
Interval: 1s
Number of targets on initial strike: 1
Number of targets on detonation: 5
Damage converted to barrier: 100%
Radius: 240
Range: 450

[Why do so many people choose wvw as a 1v1 dueling lobby?]

17 hours ago, Cyprien.4208 said:

Anet gave them not only one arena but two.... one in obsidian sanctum and one in edge of the mist and still too stupid to learn how to use it.

ANet also gave us Silverwastes and Drizzlewood yet there are an awful lot of lost people in WvW treating it as those.

I'd argue it takes a lot more stupidity to interrupt a duel and not learn from that mistake than it does to not want to use maps designed for pre-planned fights - which duels rarely are.

At the end of the day, people are going to play the game in ways you don't agree with. But as long as it's not against any rules, the only person you're doing harm by being angry about it is yourself. 

[Soulreaping and elite specs]

Throwing my two cents in,

This is true of just about every class.
Warrior, Discipline.
Thief, Trickery.
Ranger, Beastmastery
Guardian, Virtues.

The class mechanic trait line has a lot of value in most/all of their specs.

It is good to have diversity and to not feel like anything is mandatory, but I think so long as there's flexibility, it's okay.
Necro is fortunate in that many traits and utilities are good/great and flexible between game modes. Personally I think Necro has some of the best trait selections of any class because there are few that are just outright bad in every area of the game. For the majority of them, they might be bad in one place but great in another.

To be clear, I'm not disagreeing with the OP either. If a new spec came out that made Soul Reaping less appealing, great. But I also don't think it's an issue as long as there's flexibility, and there is.
Thief is in much worse shape wherein Trickery is quite literally mandatory to make any build work, and Warrior isn't far behind with it's dependence on Discipline. 

[Why do so many people choose wvw as a 1v1 dueling lobby?]

5 hours ago, ArchonWing.9480 said:

In any case, you might actually wonder why you should give anyone courtesy,

Just want to add to this,
Roamers tend to remember how you treat them. If you respect a 1 v 1, if you corpse jump them, if you dance around with them in Tonic form, they'll remember you.

I don't say this as some kind of threat - but if you're crashing duels, getting heated about it, and keep coming back trying to prove a point or something, you're not going to make friends... On your server, or the one you're against.
And with relinks being a thing, you could be making two enemies at once.

What other people choose to do with their time is their business.
It sucks when you think you're helping someone but end up looking stupid for it, but you'll earn a lot more respect owning it than you will getting mad about it.
Say nothing and leave, or ask if it's a duel. Get no answer? Who cares - move on.

Also, also.
If someone is being a total salt stack going off on you for interrupting the duel... That's not okay either, but it doesn't give you the green light to grief them. Ignore them, or best case scenario if you want to be petty, hang around and throw blueprints on them if they lose any duels.

EDIT:
Not directing this at you btw, @ArchonWing.9480 Just building from your thoughts.

[Why do so many people choose wvw as a 1v1 dueling lobby?]

WvW also isn't a karma train lobby, and there is little incentive to treat it as such, yet we have entire servers that avoid fights entirely to do so.

It is an open world of PvPvE. The rules are; don't hack, don't exploit.
Anything beyond that is self imposed. Your frustrations are your own - they don't make the rules.

[Repel the enemy attackers!]

10 minutes ago, ArchonWing.9480 said:

I can't really say that I've acutally missed defense credit or at least I don't remember.

But I do think ressing the guard should really count.

I don't even bother ressing the useless quartermaster as a result.

Poor Quarter Master 😥. I always res the NPC's, I feel bad just leaving them there.

Probably not helping though, just going to rally someone.

[Dhuumfire Bugged on Harbinger (Fix it ASAP please)... Also Blight tooltip heal on application?]

I'm almost positive that the intended duration is 1s. It's not bugged, just the tooltip is wrong.

The reason it is this way is because Harbinger auto attacks are so fast, and it's easy to access Quickness. So they did the same thing they did with Scourge and just changed the duration when slotted with Harbinger.

Of course, ANet may prove me wrong when ever the next patch comes about, but I'm just passing along what I've heard.