Reaper seems weak

[Kovac.4372]

To be clear, I just unlocked the greatsword so this my first impression.

I've been playing around Dry Top and well my necro in full berserker gear deals noticeably less damage than my warrior in full berserker gear. The Greatsword attacks seem slower too. It takes a relatively long time to take down single opponents, even those normies ... veterans and up take even longer. It takes roughly twice as long to down an enemy than on my warrior I'd say.

Will unlocking the rest of the stuff in the specialization improve things or will the reaper always feel weaker in comparison?

[Jethro.9376]

GS on reaper is designed to be slow and heavy hitting.Once you fully unlock the spec you're dmg will improve.

[DARKstrider.9245]

Perhaps use this as a baseline for reaper. It shows which skills to prioritise to get the damage out:https://snowcrows.com/raids/builds/necromancer/reaper/power/

[SoftFootpaws.9134]

Reaper GS is Power+Condi meta, you need to take Rampager (+Krait runes) or Viper (+Nightmare runes), not Berserker, and take "Chilling Darkness"+"Chilling Nova"+"Deathly Chill", or you are losing alot of DPS due to not making use of trait synergy.

You probably also want "Bitter Chill" from Spite.

Reaper Necro requires alot of extra effort to play on pure Power, such as a focus on Might stacking.EDIT: Here's one of my partner's builds for Marauder gear (Pow,Prec,Fer,Vit): http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQNAR3dnMbClbidbCW2A0bilcBDKA0AWBUbh1QzKeKuFHjA-jBCBQBaU5HW2f4kKBDwRIAAXUB9p7Rhq/UhHEAhACMFA-e

[Sephylon.4938]

Condi reaper does less dps than power reaper though, and hybridizing won't make you deal more damage.

[Holykitten.3064]

I love my Power Reaper and have 0 issues with open world or story content. (It’s not meta, so unless you play with a static group of friends, Fractals and Raids are off the table.)

First impressions are well and good, but if you’re not using the full traitline, your “review” is kinda pointless.

Hybridisation of Power and Condition damage will result in a loss of DPS. Condition Reaper does less DPS than full Power. (Benchmarks - https://snowcrows.com/benchmarks/)

Here’s my build. It's a Bruiser Shout build. I know, It looks like poop on paper, but I've been using this for openworld since HoT released and it's always been a lot of fun and effective!I even use this build with a few tweaks for WvW roaming.http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQNBHhF6kZTocTsbTwxGgeTsgLYUnh2wzKuKuFLjQDgAQLA-jBSBABUq+DAPBAzUC+wpAALle4pvhq9HuSZAZAqGDA-e("Rise" can be swapped out for anything else you want really. Food/utility choices shown are because I posted this build for people looking for Gauntlet - Turai Ossa tips. This build got me that kill)

[Aetatis.5418]

use shroud (1+4 mainly) regularly. mobs will die very quick.

GS alone is slow. it is supposed to be slow (and hart hitting as someone mentioned - although the hard-hitting feels like a meme since several professions GS hit harder)

[Kovac.4372]

@Haleydawn.3764 said:First impressions are well and good, but if you’re not using the full traitline, your “review” is kinda pointless.

Getting there will take some time xD

[Khisanth.2948]

This is also why it's a bad idea to be running around with incomplete trait lines. It's fine when leveling when you don't have a choice but the same can't be said for elite specs. Depending on where you are at in the unlock you could be missing half your damage.

[MedievalThings.5417]

They made shroud degen faster a while back...that is the only downside to reaper. Reaper is easy mode, does ridiculous damage and has great ability to survive most anything. Give it some time, once you gear you will see how good reaper can be.

[evilsofa.7296]

I use this build on my reaper:

https://www.reddit.com/r/GuildWars2Builds/comments/7ykdzn/pve_open_world_power_reaper_a_frosty_alternative/

If you are working from old information, be aware that Spectral Grasp now pulls 5 enemies to you and isn't buggy anymore.

This build got some nice buffs in the August 28 2018 patch. Don't be deceived into thinking the quickness on Reaper's Onslaught is worthless - it's pulsating, and there's more to that than you might think.

[Kanimae.1735]

Calling a speak weak without even having fully unlocked it is kind of quick on the draw don't you think? That's like saying a non-elite spec class is weak when you've only reached level 4 and don't have half your skills yet.

[sephiroth.4217]

@"evilsofa.7296" said:I use this build on my reaper:

https://www.reddit.com/r/GuildWars2Builds/comments/7ykdzn/pve_open_world_power_reaper_a_frosty_alternative/

If you are working from old information, be aware that Spectral Grasp now pulls 5 enemies to you and isn't buggy anymore.

This build got some nice buffs in the August 28 2018 patch. Don't be deceived into thinking the quickness on Reaper's Onslaught is worthless - it's pulsating, and there's more to that than you might think.

Spectral grasp is super buggy on some PvP maps, get obstructed a lot even when on flat ground at point blank range.

[Biff.5312]

@Kovac.4372 said:To be clear, I just unlocked the greatsword so this my first impression.

I've been playing around Dry Top and well my necro in full berserker gear deals noticeably less damage than my warrior in full berserker gear. The Greatsword attacks seem slower too. It takes a relatively long time to take down single opponents, even those normies ... veterans and up take even longer. It takes roughly twice as long to down an enemy than on my warrior I'd say.

Will unlocking the rest of the stuff in the specialization improve things or will the reaper always feel weaker in comparison?

By 'weak' it seems you mean low dps. Reaper is basically unkillable. Since I made mine I have not been even downed once, let alone dying. It's more than a fair tradeoff for a little less damage in open world pve. I actually got bored because reaper is OP.

[Anchoku.8142]

Temper your expectations. Reaper does fair damage but will not get top dps...

... unless you take advantage of shroud and it's ability to help you crit more often and face-tank.

Necromancers have to develop a few suicidal tendencies to be most effective.

Use that LF to get in there and eat more damage. The more LF you use, the higher your dps up-time. Reaper can maintain fair dps for quite a while where other professions may have to back off.

[Kovac.4372]

@Biff.5312 said:

@Kovac.4372 said:To be clear, I just unlocked the greatsword so this my first impression.

I've been playing around Dry Top and well my necro in full berserker gear deals noticeably less damage than my warrior in full berserker gear. The Greatsword attacks seem slower too. It takes a relatively long time to take down single opponents, even those normies ... veterans and up take even longer. It takes roughly twice as long to down an enemy than on my warrior I'd say.

Will unlocking the rest of the stuff in the specialization improve things or will the reaper always feel weaker in comparison?

By 'weak' it seems you mean low dps. Reaper is basically unkillable. Since I made mine I have not been even downed once, let alone dying. It's more than a fair tradeoff for a little less damage in open world pve. I actually got bored because reaper is OP.

Well I did only unlock the shroud upgrade today and now it's quite strong actually. Quite the difference between having just the GS and now the GS plus the shroud.

[Tanner Blackfeather.6509]

@Kovac.4372 said:

@Biff.5312 said:

@Kovac.4372 said:To be clear, I just unlocked the greatsword so this my first impression.

I've been playing around Dry Top and well my necro in full berserker gear deals noticeably less damage than my warrior in full berserker gear. The Greatsword attacks seem slower too. It takes a relatively long time to take down single opponents, even those normies ... veterans and up take even longer. It takes roughly twice as long to down an enemy than on my warrior I'd say.

Will unlocking the rest of the stuff in the specialization improve things or will the reaper always feel weaker in comparison?

By 'weak' it seems you mean low dps. Reaper is basically unkillable. Since I made mine I have not been even downed once, let alone dying. It's more than a fair tradeoff for a little less damage in open world pve. I actually got bored because reaper is OP.

Well I did only unlock the shroud upgrade today and now it's quite strong actually. Quite the difference between having just the GS and now the GS plus the shroud.

Remember that you're also playing with essentially an empty trait line currently. Imagine the difference between playing with two traitlines equiped and playing with three equiped. The former is naturally going to feel a lot weaker.

[WJHB.8130]

Reaper is a great solo spec. It has 2 health bars, a ton of hp, life steal, and minions to pull aggro. However you won't be taking top dps numbers (although dmg is pretty decent and satisfying since most skills are hard hitters but slow). If you are looking to shred apart mobs instantly I suggest looking elsewhere but just know that you probably won't be surviving as long.

[Doghouse.1562]

@Kovac.4372 said:

@Haleydawn.3764 said:First impressions are well and good, but if you’re not using the full traitline, your “review” is kinda pointless.

Getting there will take some time xD

Is this your first character into HoT? If it's not - just look for an HP train, and go get those expansion HPs - they're worth 10 each, remember.

I'm an alt-oholic. I have roughly 4 dozen lvl 80 characters, all fully-trained. From repeated experience, I can tell you that it's not hard to fill out both the HoT and PoF elite lines in an evening or so, provided you can get the character into the zones and have the basic masteries to manoeuvre around once you're there.

P.S. Of those characters, my go-to, do-anything open world/PS characters are both Reapers - but Sc/D Sc/F viper builds. Probably not meta, but still. Almost unsquishable; not the highest dps but quite decent, and even do more damage healing whilst downed than standing up. About the only time they die is if they're absolutely swamped.