Minion Master build, please help improve.

[adrosx.9641]

Hello guys,At first sorry for my bad english.My current build:http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQJAnYjM0QTN2VDu0A7NWoGs4OYJMFO1AqAdApAwAYYB-jxRAQBYT5HAOBAU4BAIw9HspSwIq+TA1DAA-eWith that build my dps arent so bad, but are not too so great, i know, meta, blah blah blah.... )I have enough meta talkings , i want play how i like, and not how 99% people playing, since meta its best :P)Problem its one, my dps maybe arent so bad, but my minions dying so fast, in earlier content (~2 years ao) this build worked well, now it suck completely....Any ideas how i can improve it ?And, no, i dont play as a weaver in meta so dont bother yourself by writing that please :pensive:Thx in advance!

/edit. forgot to mention, i only play pve , open world, dungeons and fractals.

[adrosx.9641]

Anyone can help?

[Castleguard.2498]

@adrosx.9641 said:but my minions dying so fast

One of the primary problems with necro minions right now (at least in this regard) is that over the years overall damage has scaled up but minion survivability really hasn't. While they don't fall over to splash damage anymore, they die very quickly to conditions (including ones applied by splash aoe attacks), and they melt almost immediately when focused. That combined with poor (i.e. non-existent) ability to control minion movement (i.e. move them out of ground effects), leads to them splatting all the time.

The only trait which "improves" their survival is Flesh of the Master, which you've already picked up. The blood magic siphon traits help a little, but the healing your minions get from this pales in comparison to incoming damage. And you don't have a reliable way to remove conditions applied to them (other than Necromantic Corruption, which has a 10 second interval).

Now, all that being said, minion damage doesn't scale with your stats. This is, in a lot of cases, a bad thing, but as you said minion master isn't exactly a meta damage build and you don't mind that, so let's look at it from that angle. The best way to keep your minions alive is to ensure they don't get attention and get smashed. After that, you need a way to heal them. You're currently (per your link above) using a layout with a ton of condition damage, but only has a single skill that applies conditions. So:

Have you considered focusing more on a build in which -you- play more of a support role? Some things of note about this, is that staff 2's Regeneration applies to your minions, as does the barriers that Scourge applies. Additionally, Scourge's Nefarious Favor does an amazing job at keeping conditions off of your minions by converting them into boons.

Without swapping from Reaper to Scourge, a couple of immediate things I'd recommend, is swap Unholy Sanctuary to Corrupter Fervor. This will help with incoming condition damage to yourself, and boost your toughness a bit more making it more likely that PvE mobs will focus on you rather than your minions. Also, switch Bone Minions out for Shadow Fiend. It does more dps, has better survivability, and its Haunt ability not only applies blind, chilled and weakness, but is a solid source of life force. I would also consider using a different weapon set, as axe doesn't particularly lend itself to hybrid dps. Give staff a try.