ZeftheWicked.3076

Ritualist gear Harbinger (necro e-spec from End of Dragons). It's very chill to play because majority of your damage comes from shroud autos. you just press F1 and enemies get machine gunned to death with condies. In group play on top of damage you'll be providing boons to allies. Quickness and fury being main ones, which you'll pulse when shrouded to nearby allies. If you want share more boons, Harb has options for that. Sustain - Harb is quite deceptive. He is the squishiest necromancer spec, but that does not mean he's glassy. The main pitfall here is that his shroud does not act as shield protecting your normal hp. But at the same time it does not prevent regular heals from reaching your hp unlike core and reaper shrouds would. The main selling point here however is that he is a necro which greatly alignes with your needs. As majority of necro's power budget is in his traits and utility skills, you can walk around with one set of armor, trinkets and weapons (here it's pistol + warhorn) and still have totally different experiences depending on your trait and utility skill choices.

By same logic i could say playing a warrior teaches you to be a monkey, because it's all about dodging and pressing god mode defenses at the right time, while running around in zeker gear and little else. Meanwhile playing a necromancer forced me to learn all about the less flashy but crucial game systems. Like attributes, boons, conditions, and what my skills and traits really do and how they interact with eachother. Each topic sounding simple, but in reality having much greater depth. Things playing a zerk warrior would not teach me.

Still better love story than Twilight.. Erm, I mean still better matchmaking and community than LoL..

You guys are totally missing the point OP is making. He's not telling you to let dps healers into your groups. He's telling a-net this role is a thing, but currently needs more of a push to be viable. And I totally agree. We already have totally viable dps boon builds that make room for dps healers. Power quickness Heralds and Scrappers, quickness condi harbs or firebrands - boons need not to be strapped to a healer. Problem is there's a lot potential for dps healer role but it's always shot down by something. Vindicators lack free stats that a power dps healer hybrid desperately needs. If not stats then at least strong base values on thier barrier and viktor skills in PvE. Scourges just recently suffered denial in that role through lowering their base barrier values but increasing healing power coefficients, along with traits that clearly separate healer scourge from dps scourge. Elementalists are dead on arrival for the role, because to heal they must go into water attunement which has bad damage output by default. And the list goes on... these are a-net fixes that need to happen not player ones.

These sunspears dogs are once again spreading malicious slander about the fine art of necromancy - it's past time they faced their judgement.. Scourges laugh at the very concept of projectile hate. Unless we count reflecting weak and generally not used staff autos. Similar fits of low volume, sinister chuckling can be heard when someone mentiones losing a hefty chunk of dps when using ranged weapons over melee. As for learning the game - Warrior and Necromancer are polar opposites to be sure. Warrior will teach you all about taking proper actions, necros all about creating good builds.

"Lizard caretaker" is still on the table as far as titles go.. Commander.

Your king approves.

There are few things that rub me the wrong way about this rework. Aegis, especially semi passive one does not fit on a warr. A-net made very clear that any warrior defenses are to be activated by a 100% controllable and predictable player actions. Critting is either rng (if below 100%) or total fail since you'd have to stop attacking enemy at all for solid few seconds if you wanted that aegis to happen when you really need it. Unsuspecting Foe is a great trait that is responsible for some fun and varied builds such as Cavalier or Crusader hammer zerker and what not. Additionally it works for both power and condi builds. Unlike Burst Precision which comes at cost of losing condition focused grandmaster trait. And that is a loss you may not afford as condi warr unlike giving up on the Blademaster trait. Speaking of condi - the grandmaster lost it's condition damage stacking. This is no small amount - 375 condition damage when fully stacked. I don't see anything that would compensate this. Back to the "defensive line" - 200 toughness isn't much of a reward for proccing a block. Guardians get more just for having a shield equipped. Once again - unsuspecting foe is far better at this, since it directly replaces the need for 1050 points of precision if used right. So that's 1050 point of tougness you can fit in there instead..

*cough* necro offhand dagger *cough*

Engineer is extremely versatile and can fill any role in end game (healer, power dps, condi dps, alac provider, quickness provider). He's got piano builds, low intensity build, whatever you want. Except boon hate - he sucks at that. The con is basically his theme and feel - if you're not into steampunk gadget master - well tough luck. And many of his skills tend to fit his theme - doing crazy things, but in a clunky and unwieldy way. This certainly isn't a profession for fans of smooth, resposive "dance of blades" playstyles. Warrior excels where engi is hurting - of all the 3 professions he is the only one with real boonhate options (albeit only as spellbreaker e-spec) giving him a place in competitive modes (meta spot in spvp). In PvE he frequently fills offensive support spot with his quickness/might/fury boonshare coupled with solid personal dps. He cannot however take the healer spot. While warrior has panic buttons to save party in a pinch (aoe stunbreaks, barriers, ressing) these are just that - panic buttons with matching cooldowns. Playwise warrior is all about pragmatism and player skill. When faced with regular enemies a warrior will plow through enemies with ease. By default warriors hit fast and hard while having very solid out of the box sustain (highest base healthpool, heaviest armor class, good passive healing). However a warrior's skill will be swiftly put to the test when facing something more serious. There are no lazy builds that will see you through anything, nor pets to keep heat off you. Instead there is an array of very powerful, game changing defensive skills, but with limited duration. You will have windows of vulnerability and will go down fast if you misplay, despite the health and armor. Warrior can easily enter "souls" mode when solo facing a champion or something of that nature - where downstate happens in seconds after you misplay, while taking any damage becomes a challenge if you play right. Also warriors don't do any "crazy" stuff. No portals for teammates, stealth, raising the dead, becoming invulnerable etc. It's part of their soldier no nonsence identity. Ranger - he sits between the two. In terms of what he can do - he's pretty close to engi. He cannot give party quickness, and that's about it. He can be the condi and power dps, he definetely can take dedicated healer spot with druid, can provide alacrity as well. Currently he holds extremely high dps benchmarks as untamed but these things tend to fluctuate so don't make that your nr 1 reason to pick it if you will. EDIT: Ranger now can remove boons as untamed I did forget that. In terms of potency in that role he's above engi, but below spellbraker. Combat wise he is mix of engi and ranger. He has warrior's simplicity, repsonsiveness and fluidity to his skills. But is not above using some unorthodox combat tactics such as traps and stealth. Additinally he is always accompanied by his pet, which is his profession mechanic. The pet is independent from the ranger stat wise givim him a lot of build options. Like the infamous bearbow where glassy dps oriented ranger is paired with tanky pet that draws aggro. The downfall of that is that part of your damage is held hostage by your pet and if it fails (gets kited, cc'd, killed) your won't be able to reach your optimal dps despite your character being played flawlessly. That being said, two things defninitely separate ranger from warrior the deeper you go. As you get better at ranger and unlock e-specs engi's piano play will rear it's ugly head. Unlike warrior's "keep it simple" commandment, ranger's e-specs are not afraid to get complex and expect you to work that keyboard (and wiki) to get results. Other is that in PvE a ranger is far safer to play than warrior and even engi due to pets. Rangers are one of best if not the best "Champion busters" even when your encounter knowledge/player skills aren't amazing (like champ runs at you - longbow 3 for stealth, now he has to focus your 50k+ hp bear)

There is a point - information that helps player plan out their gw2 goals and future. Example of that would be a peek at Soo-Won variant of Aurene legendaries. I don't have aurene's legendaries, but the last variant may change that. If it's prismatic darkness (void corrupted) then I want to start farming mats immediately, because this is a long term goal that requires commitment. But I'm not gonna do this hoping it's that. I need to see what i'm striving for. If it's something I don't like (like regular Soo-Won with water effects) then I'm out and will just play casually.

No it's not. Some "bad" is very objective and plain to see. Like a profession having just one good build that works in endgame, while in terms of quanity it's "options" (skills, traits, weapons) are the same as everyone else's. But these options suck leaving it with only one real choice.. Same applies to cosmetics. Norns (females) have great hairstyle choices, both long and shorter. Especially with self hairstyle kits. And last time i checked majority of men prefer women with long hair over short. So we have two mainstream groups that are being catered to (long hair ftw vs "I prefer it short"). Human females don't get that comfort. Majority of hairstyles are short, so that's one of the above groups (the much smaller one unless you're totally dellusional into what general male populace is into) get a field day, while the biggest one is practically completely ingnored. And that's not even mentioning the absolute tragedy that are human male faces. Humans embody the "quantity over quality" except as a cautionary tale rather than a valid approach..

Customizable with bad options. I'd rather make Norn females with fewer but much better hairstyles. That being said it's true that our Fashion Wars 2 needs some major attention in terms of hairstyles and faces.

I'm still waiting for human females to have more than one option when it comes to really long hair.

I can wait *licks his sharp teeth while giving the gw2 main webpage a very hungry stare...*

I voted Asura...but after a thought I'd go with Sylvari. Charr - catcows are nr 1 on my big NO list. I hate governments and the more oppressive the more I hate them. And it's obvious that as a Charr you have a simple choice - be a soldier or be nobody. This does not sit with me at all and their culture is something I would avoid like the plague. Also with their militarsm it's pretty obvious they'd set out to conquer all around them were it not for internal threats keeping them busy (Ghosts, Branded). Humans - while not as bad as the Charr, there's a lot of rotten apples in there. Upper echelons are busy pulling cloak & dagger kitten on one another while at lower ranks of society half the population lives in nearby bandit cavern, while other half is trying to make honest living while being raided by said bandits, centaurs or just taxed by the queen (with little Seraph protection to show for it). Also pretty sure that's once you're born into certain social class, it's pretty hard to move up compared to other races. Norn - I absolutely love Norn societal structure. Loose tribal bonds, no political hyenas trying to fleece ppl to the bone. Every Norn seeks his own legend, and is rewarded for being their own man, rather then falling into rank and file. Except many of them come with Grawl level IQ and their idea of being legendary is who can bring the bigger skull and drink more ale before dropping under the table. By far that's the biggest turn-off for me. Asura - The huge pro of this race is that they take Norn's self-made philosophy and put it to much better use - brain over brawn, scientific achievements over alcohol tolerance. Once again this race (like the Norn) is one of dreamers and trailblazers. Additionally their philosophy shows it's superiority where it comes to societal roles - there is no "bottom of the totem pole". A farmer in any of the above races will certainly not be enjoying respect nor status. Charr that raises cows may be helping the wheels turn, but it's obvious he drew short end of the stick. Asuras however are geniuses by birth and everything is a field for improvement and progress! One who develops new way to grow crops is just as big as someone who found new energy source! That being said they are bogged down by what Norn are not - goverment. Arcane Council comes with it's own set of shady politics, questionable goals and lack of transparency. Not to mention red tape and disturbing tolerance for inquest presence (then again same could be said about the Norn keeping Sons of Svanir in their capitol). Sylvari - and this brings us to my final choice. Sylvari are somewhat a mix of all races but the charr, in many ways taking best parts while suffering lesser flaws. Having Mother Tree as your ruling body is definitely a better deal than what Asura, Humans or Charr got. While flawed in her own ways (hiding the truth, preference for firstborn over latter generations) she for one is not corrupt and actually cares for her children. You don't see her trying to kill off political opponents to gain more power or consort with shady factions to further her own agenda. As mentioned by Astral Poring she is unforgiving and brutal torwards Nightmare Court - except in my book that is a huge merit. Let's take a look at Krytan politicians using bandits to further their own agenda, countless victims be damned. Or Arcane Council having shady dealing with Inquest. And let's not forget said Inquest living comfy in Rata Sum, while Sons of Svanir having a bowl in Hoelbrak. That kitten doesn't fly in the Grove. There's only one place Nightmare Court can stay in Sylvari Capital - the prison cells. Other than her being least corrupt and warmongering of all the governing bodies for the races, there's also the perk of there being no prejudice against one's life path (as long as it's not criminal). All Sylvari share the dream and in there they often see their calling. From fighting Dragons to tending to gardens. As such these roles are respected and Sylvari very often excel at them. No Sylvari is being pointed out by his peers as loser for having a calling to things like agriculture, education, hand crafts etc. Due to that it can be argued that Sylvari enjoy the most amount of freedom of all races even despite having a clear ruling body. Also when was last time you went to the Grove and saw someone get their teeth kicked in a drunken brawl or robbed by common alley bandits? By far the best managed capital.

Just grab a couple of like-minded people and go do strikes/raids your way. Most professions and specs have very solid self-boon capability and as long as they go bruiser builds instead of full dps glass cannons healers aren't mandatory. Speaking of which, you could still grab yourself a scourge healer - the one healer that has next to no boons to share with party and his healing is weak. Instead he gives beefy barriers and resses like a champ.

Crowd control does not work on downed opponents as far as i know save lauches.

Scourge is a unique healer and it is good for him to be such. God tier ressing and boon hate are his advantages while boonshare is the loss. This is good. It builds diversity. If anything a-net should follow this example and give each healer certain unique advantages over others, while having them take a distinct loss somewhere else. Currently scourge is a great pick for offmeta boonshare dps specs that want to see some end game action. He does not invalidate half of their sales pitch (boonshare), while providing great safety net for the party if things go sour. That being said, protection and resolution are two boons that should find their way into scourge's kit. They absolutely fit this spec's approach to "healing" which is focused on incoming damage mitigation and revivals, rather than pumping large green numbers.

I was thinking of melee power DPS. The profession is quite deficient in this regard, it's high time we got it...

Damage balance is fine. I main a necro in pvp for years now and trust me - if anyone knows day 1 when damage went overboard after a patch it's a necro. Currently the balance looks fine. There are professions and builds that will melt you in seconds but they have counterplay. Such as projectile hate. If things were truly bad then there would be no spellbreakers in meta for one thing. Yet here they are and doing well.

Tested it right now. It still has around 40% fail rate - trait equipped, voracious arc performed in full, trait does not trigger. Other than that not sure if it's by design or an error but healing tics work in similar fashion to scourge (1 tick per second instead of packets of 3) and immediately drop off if you exit shroud, be it willingly or due to to life force running out. Test scenario - first regular pve combat after ensuring i took some damage (so there's something to heal), later same scenario but with downed npcs nearby (so double confirmation if trait triggered or not since it heals downed npcs). Testing zone: Verdant Brink - Noble Ledges.

in spvp it's balanced because distortion makes you surrender the point. That's why mesmers aren't great bunkers because while they can survive for ages they auto surrender the node in doing so.

"Necromancer is the answer" - me. There are pros, there are cons, here's a list of them. Cons: - early game core necro is a boring until high levels. - lowest mobility of all professions until you get mounts, then it doesn't matter anymore - very different from other professions (he's a more of a stat checker, while others are action-oriented) - slow in everything he does (but gets remedied later on) Pros: - the best mobber in my opinion (ability to pull packs of mobs from miles away, great AoE, great durability) - very forgiving to play - lotsa margin for error, both yours and team's (healer scourge is hard carry for bad teams) - insanely good e-specs compared to core - easy to pilot - great build depth - there are tons of ways to build your necro and they'll all be viable. As for minimal effort I would say necro e-specs fit the bill nicely. Reaper just needs to pull mobs with spectral grasp than go shroud and destroy with his spin to win. Harbinger goes shroud and machine guns enemies with his autos. Scourge requires button presses due to profession mechanic. But is the best resser in whole game and is known for extremely reliable damage output no matter the situation.

CPC did eat a nerfbat - 6s uptime compared to previous 8s in competitive. Your points about it are valid, unlike a-net's approach to the issue. Once again in their traditional fashion they gutted perfectly good core traitline because of one elite spec overperforming.