So I just got my Reaper spec

[Biff.5312]

And I gotta say - it's boring. I mean, it doesn't require all the evasion and effort of my core build, but now I just walk up to a champion with a GS and smack it. I mash buttons (I haven't even read what they do yet because it doesn't matter) and sit there and the mob/s dies and I barely get scratched.

Is this a spec intended only for pve/wvw or something? In the open world it seems invincible.

[Zero.3871]

congratz! you finally found the only mode for reaper where he is useful.

[czerwoni.9563]

@Zero.3871 said:congratz! you finally found the only mode for reaper where he is useful.

i use reaper in pvp but i have a scourge on my team back me up and a minion master running around somewhere lol

[KaporHabakuk.6219]

Yeah,pve reaper is quite boring,still more funn than core necro :)

[Elva.6372]

@Zero.3871 said:congratz! you finally found the only mode for reaper where he is useful.

Yeah, WvW not too fun on Reaper -but a GOD in open world PvE ( I don't know fractals).

@KaporHabakuk.6219 said:Yeah,pve reaper is quite boring,still more funn than core necro :)

I have three! Reaper, Scourge and Core Necro Minion Master. Each plays differently enough for me to fit whatever mood I am in and what I want to do at the time.

Sometimes just roaming the PvE zones doing events, harvesting, exploring or doing Personal Stories/LW, etc.

[KaporHabakuk.6219]

I see elva,thou necro is really dat boring in any form in PvE,at least in long term :(.I suggest you try soulbeast or holosmith,heck even berzerker can be really funn and stuff is dieing left and right.Its just more active play.Am trying renegade now,and even that is more funn,thou i die a lot,when alone :).

[Lanhelin.3480]

Reaper without minions but pets from Rise only (a/o Death Nova, sometimes I find Unholy Sanctuary more beneficial though) and traited wells is pretty fun in pve. It also provides decent support in group content (protective wells, other players don't bleed when downed and quite a bunch of different combo fields almost continuously). With Viper gear and Deathly Chill a staff as secondary weapon provides a decent ranged option too, if ever necessary.

[Elva.6372]

@"KaporHabakuk.6219" said:I see elva,thou necro is really dat boring in any form in PvE,at least in long term :(.I suggest you try soulbeast or holosmith,heck even berzerker can be really funn and stuff is dieing left and right.Its just more active play.Am trying renegade now,and even that is more funn,thou i die a lot,when alone :).

I did try out Soulbeast, it was fun, but I reverted back to Core Ranger. My other ranger is a Druid.

For me to counter the problem of becoming "bored" I just play different Professions, it does help you start appreciating the others and relishing some of their attributes.

Of course, I have always enjoyed core ranger game player for roaming about the PVE world.

[Anchoku.8142]

Reaper seems to have been designed primarily for PvE. Necromancer had no good power cleave build and was unpopular for that reason among others.

HoT gave Necro's a front-line power build capable of a great deal of AoE with both greatsword and shouts. It works best in a massive crowd of trash mobs. Sustain scales fairly well with mob count using chills and other condi for debuffing, trash deaths and cleave for rapid LF generation, and self might stacking for better dps.

Unfortunately, in group instances Defiance trashes the debuffing, limited or non-existent adds nerf LF gen and dps, and self might stacking or sharing has less value. Raid designs, themselves, are what nerfs Reaper because Reaper was so well tuned to tank trash mobs.

There is no trait or build that converts Necro's 5 target power-condi AoE to the 1 or 3 target power-boon build Raid design favors. When you look at Scourge, you may see signs of a shift toward more group support instead of a reliance on condi resisted by Defiance.

[Methuselah.4376]

Y'all are crazy! Reaper is heaps of great fun! :open_mouth:

[ZDragon.3046]

@Biff.5312 said:And I gotta say - it's boring. I mean, it doesn't require all the evasion and effort of my core build, but now I just walk up to a champion with a GS and smack it. I mash buttons (I haven't even read what they do yet because it doesn't matter) and sit there and the mob/s dies and I barely get scratched.

Take into account that you are likely killing much faster than you could with core meaning there was no reason to evade if your foes die darn near instantly (assuming pve)

Is this a spec intended only for pve/wvw or something? In the open world it seems invincible.

Its not for everyone I enjoy reaper a ton more than core at least until core and its shroud gets some decent QoL improvements.I enjoy reaper miles more than scourge for example.

When i play scourge i dont feel like im being crafty or very skillful. I cant tell if im doing well or not because some times foes die quick and some times they dont its hard to know if the spec is hard to play or if it carries hard because AOE's for days. It just feels lost and too focused on sandshade sand shade sand shade.

So maybe this particular spec (reaper) just aint for you.

[Biff.5312]

So maybe this particular spec (reaper) just aint for you.

That's what I figure. I'd rather play the core build. It's nowhere near as effective but I LIKE having to expend some effort in killing things.

So far I've found that each expansion spec I've tried other than daredevil has been a huge letdown. I haven't reached any of the PoF ones though so there's hope yet.

[DeceiverX.8361]

@Biff.5312 said:

So maybe this particular spec (reaper) just aint for you.

That's what I figure. I'd rather play the core build. It's nowhere near as effective but I LIKE having to expend some effort in killing things.

So far I've found that each expansion spec I've tried other than daredevil has been a huge letdown. I haven't reached any of the PoF ones though so there's hope yet.

I mean aside from Deadeye they all pretty much trivialize the game because everything from the expansions is just way, way stronger than core. And even then, DE makes open-world trash mobs way easier to clear over core thief and DrD.

Elite specs were not intended to add more power but ANet massively failed in this regard.

[Agrippa.1693]

@DeceiverX.8361 said:Elite specs were not intended to add more power but ANet massively failed in this regard.

Hmm, you have an ANet quote on that one? Don't get me wrong, you might be absolutely right ... but they might be called elite specs for a reason?! If you would compare them with elite skills in GW1, they definitely added more power to a build! You didn't have to take one with you, you could use all slots for normal skills, but builds were generally just better if you took one.Maybe same with Elite specs in GW2?

[Anchoku.8142]

Elite specializations help sell the client packages so whatever their original policy may have been, it is clearly in their benefit to make elites a bit more desirable than core.

[Biff.5312]

@Agrippa Oculus.3726 said:

@DeceiverX.8361 said:Elite specs were not intended to add more power but ANet massively failed in this regard.

Hmm, you have an ANet quote on that one? Don't get me wrong, you might be absolutely right ... but they might be called

elite

specs for a reason?! If you would compare them with elite skills in GW1, they definitely added more power to a build! You didn't have to take one with you, you could use all slots for normal skills, but builds were generally just better if you took one.Maybe same with Elite specs in GW2?

I think he's referring to the policy of avoiding 'pay to win' situations. If you have to buy the expansion (to get the elite spec) to be as capable as someone using the core game/build, then it's not in keeping with the supposed effort to make sure there is no advantage available that requires people to pay cash to get.

[thehipone.6812]

Aggro more things. Still too easy? Aggro even more.

[DeceiverX.8361]

@Agrippa Oculus.3726 said:

@"DeceiverX.8361" said:Elite specs were not intended to add more power but ANet massively failed in this regard.

Hmm, you have an ANet quote on that one? Don't get me wrong, you might be absolutely right ... but they might be called

elite

specs for a reason?! If you would compare them with elite skills in GW1, they definitely added more power to a build! You didn't have to take one with you, you could use all slots for normal skills, but builds were generally just better if you took one.Maybe same with Elite specs in GW2?

From Colin, Lead Designer (no longer at ANet):https://np.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/3opycg/arenanet_unveil_the_future_of_competitive_guild/cvzfp12/

General talk about profession goals with him (4:38):

There were tons of posts on the old forums about making the elite specs a "side-grade" (a quote people often use because it was ANet's words), but a lot of those posts are obviously no longer accessible. The comparison of masteries to elite specs was frequent in that masteries were not intended to be direct upgrades for more power but more or less convenience and use within context of a given map or environment.

The "Elite" spec name is a complete misnomer from the intentions of not adding power; it was originally intended to have a more pointed focus towards one specific gameplay aspect for a given class, and they were "elite" because they did a bit more for changing how the class plays than other specializations which we call trait lines, because they change how the profession is played. The best example here is comparing Daredevil to Acrobatics for the thief; it does not change the dodge uptime per se (perma-vigor and initiative regeneration on S/D Acro core and better bulk cleansing) so much as it changes the way the profession can utilize dodges as a whole. Obviously when combined, the thief becomes extremely slippery with tons of dodges, but the intended tradeoff here is that it will take the cost of a full trait line; you miss out on a huge amount of damage, reliability, or other aspects of the class by opting out of DA/Tr or even CS by putting in double the emphasis of dodging.

In essence, it's all awkward terminology and people have misconstrued what "elite specializations" are supposed to do without knowing the history of the content and just going by what they think based on dictionary definitions without context. To be frank, they should have gone with the term "Adaptations."

Needless to say, they weren't supposed to add power. They failed this mission pretty massively.

[Dralor.3701]

Try to use that reaper/GS in a pvp/WvW and you will have a vastly different experience.