which necro spec is da bes

[Stand The Wall.6987]

no take backsies

[Methuselah.4376]

Reaper just clears content that much faster than core and Scourge. It has decent damage, great aoe cleave, can shut down mobs with chill and blinds, has a pull/CC as part of its arsenal as well as stability on demand. I personally take the raid build in most PvE content, even in open world PvE because it is an inherently tanky profession which is further bolstered by Nightfall and Well of Darkness.

[Antycypator.9874]

Core necro is in my opinion (PvE) useless. Does no damage.Reaper... good cleave, excellent dps and burst, but I think it's boring. Hit F1 and Spin To Win. I hate that gameplay.Scourge — this is the only reason I keep returning to necro. I like condi, but honestly, many condi professions are just better and faster.

[KrHome.1920]

Core - useless in PvE, easy to counter in PvPReaper - the only serious necro spec: competitive in every game mode and a high skill cap, so you can actually get good with itScourge - dumb buttonmashing, because it has tons of skills you can press at once, but each with a very low impact - worst spec design in the game

If I could transform my legendary armor to heavy, I would switch to guardian. This is a well designed class with well designed elite specs.

[Axl.8924]

Reaper has the highest damage and only one truly viable.

[Shroud.2307]

Objectively, I'd probably say Reaper. Designed the best, thematically the best, feels the nicest to play, and the most versatile.

Subjectively, core.Honestly I'm not sure what it is anymore. Could have to do with my really bad keybinds and minor physical (disability) limitations, or could be because I've played so much of it compared to everything else.But at least in PvP/WvW, I strongly prefer core Power Necro. As time has gone on I've felt more and more like a unicorn at how uncommon it is to see other core Power Necros. 99% of the time if someone is playing core they're either; Minion Master, full Condi tank, Signet tank, or Carrion/Hybrid. I prefer to play full zerk (with a little Valk so I don't overcap crit chance) because I find it most fun, but I'm aware that it has a lot of losing match ups and is a generally bad duelist. I just enjoy how much of a presence I can have in team fights blasting people for huge numbers from range while still having enough pressure to kill if I'm forced to melee, or if I need to close the gap.

I've so many hours in this game, and so many just on Necro. Despite the majority of it being on core, I'm already burnt out on Reaper and Scourge. I think the main thing that keeps me enjoying core is that while playing it glass it feels like Necro on hard mode. I'm a lot more reliant on properly reading fights because I absolutely cannot afford to trade hits and I don't have the virtue of scaling defenses or mobility like most other things have. So it's kind of always high energy game play and it seemingly never gets boring.

[Axl.8924]

I think it depends on what you aim for.

For pve fractals reapers have high dps very tanky, and are desireable for low mid tiers. They are meta in Raids too

[Anchoku.8142]

Core is utterly worthless in PvE and flirts often with being a meme in competitive play.

Reaper is still great at mowing down trash mobs in PvE and many skills translate well to PvP. With the split in place, Reaper is balanced between game modes better than the other two spec's.

Scourge needs balance work, yet. Arenanet messed with it a lot, then stopped balancing. I do not find it much fun.

[Yasai.3549]

Reaper because I love Reaper's Shroud the most.Reaper Shroud truly embodies a walking death machine.

[Teratus.2859]

Reaper: I am death!!!Scourge: I am a plague!!Core: I am on fire and I don't give a Kitten!!

[Infusion.7149]

Scourge was busted at POF launch and remains the best carry for harder content (see Soulless Horror for epidemic, Boneskinner, Qadim the Peerless where PUGs use it for pylon , Sabetha , Sunqua Peak at its launch, or training runs of Vale Guardian). It remains used in WVW even as celestial scourges dropped out of favor , now in power scourge form. In PVP scourges have more potential in terms of team carry, a reaper cannot carry on its own and is hard countered by range and heavy CC. On top of this, a properly geared scourge can be played by just about any player. Oftentimes a scourge can top DPS if your other DPS players are not doing a proper skill chain or are too afraid to melee.

Reaper doesn't stack well (unlike Power DH pre FMW elite nerf or power chronos) if you have proper supports for quickness, shroud drops when deprived of life force, and every single healer hates reapers but loves heal and blood magic hybrid scourges. Many random reapers don't drop in and out of shroud which means the soul barbs damage bonus is not attained (aka it's a ~32K benchmark class in that case if you assume ~50% uptime on shroud). In addition, any scenario cannot be fully optimized for : if you run curses instead of soul reaping then you can maintain a higher crit chance out of shroud but then you lose 300 ferocity (Death perception) in shroud and 10% bonus damage (Soul Barbs) that are attained by running soul reaping. If you run decimate defenses for crit chance then you will lose 10% damage bonus from Soul Eater and lose the sustain outside of shroud as well.

That said, scourges could have had a minor PVE buff since boon corruption does no breakbar damage. If the damage on punishment skills was increased a bit to be competitive with condi specs when run without blood magic (it does less than spellbreaker), the blood magic hybrid variant (currently ~23K DPS) would be more popular. People say it doesn't provide alacrity or quickness, but with nefarious favor it turns all that chill spam into alacrity. Right now the most popular utility besides Epidemic is _Blood is Power _which isn't even a scourge skill.

The only place core necro is used is in PVP as a core condi necro and by some WVW roamers running trailblazer ,celestial, or dire mixes.

[Flumek.9043]

Reaper.

It adds what was missing to necro. And what is most commonly wanted for casuals, fast melee cleave.

[Dadnir.5038]

@Infusion.7149I'm pretty sure most players saying reaper don't chose it for it's performance within the game, but simply because it's the least cluncky out of the 3. At the very least, that why I voted for reaper personally.

If we had to compare each spec to a vehicle:

• Core would be an old car.
• Reaper would be a sport car.
• Scourge would be a van.

Sure the van is useful and got plenty of room for friends but, hey, you could drive the sportcar...

[Sobx.1758]

@Dadnir.5038 said:@Infusion.7149I'm pretty sure most players saying reaper don't chose it for it's performance within the game

Interesting, I'm pretty sure most players saying reaper chose it exactly for it's performance within the game. :D

[Lan Deathrider.5910]

@Teratus.2859 said:Reaper: I am death!!!Scourge: I am a plague!!Core: I am on fire and I don't give a Kitten!!

What he said.

That said Core terrormancer is a terror to fight against if you have stability built into your build.Scourge played well is very capable.Reaper doesn't give a flying Skritt what you think. Reaper gonna reap.

[Stand The Wall.6987]

buncha heathens

[Lily.1935]

Scourge for myself. I want to play a caster and when nearly every class is a gish Its nice to have something that's a bit closer to a traditional caster. Its a bit of a Niche as most other players seem to favor Martial characters over casters which I personally find a bit strange, but whatever.

I would like more pure caster types like the Scourge although another Gish would be fine in the future too. Core Necromancer just doesn't cut it. It is a pure caster, or as close to one as a class can get in GW2, but it just feels really bad to play.

Scourge also plays into the form of play I really like which is that 360 battlefield control and requirement of paying attention. They require a different thought process for playing than anything else in the game which makes their style extremely unique and one you can't even get close to on any other class. This is also the closest we've gotten to the feel of a Ritualist in GW2 and likely ever will which is nice. It hybridizes with the necromancer tools much of what I enjoyed from Ritualist and Mesmer from GW1 with a bit of that Necromancer flavor thrown in which makes it my personal favorite by a long shot.

That isn't to say I dislike reaper. I actually really like reaper. It is the spiritual successor to the dervish from GW1 and its greatsword is the most fun to use hands down. For a Gish it is one of my favorites.

[Atille.5047]

Reaper achieves more of what it sets out to do, however I sorely lack the 'both" option here for different reasons. (-core, of course, because Scourge is just basically Core 2.0.).

Reaper has it's share of problems, like lower than average DPS output despite not being heavy on support for the squad/party, taking damage in shroud tanking your already lower-than-average DPS, shouts being legitimately bad and barely useful all around in all gamemodes and a fairly rigid setup of 2 wells + SoS in utilities with not a lot of flexibility without sacrificing some of it's relatively tame output. A good chunk of traits are also entirely obsolete or just not useful, like Chilling Victory (spite exists), Augury of Death (nobody runs shouts) Blighter's Boon and Deathly Chill (dead playstyles on top of competing with hands-down mandatory trait). It does, however, feel extremely good to me and I absolutely adore having a giant scythe, cleaving trash mobs/people in half, sounds greatsword makes, overall it's feels extremely smooth to play and should it's kinks ever be ironed out by at least a tame buff or some slight adjustments to damage here and there... Overall, while it's trait choices are basically just "Soul Eater or Decimate?" (which is obviously a no-brainer that depends on your goals/build and doesn't actively change back and forth past that) are fairly limited due to a good chunk of traits just existing for taking up space, it feels very good at melee range, isn't too easy to play - yet simple enough to not actively struggle even on a bad day - and hits the "vibe" spot-on.

Scourge tried to be a support, but as one person said - Necro's an amazing healer, just always a little late to the party, so it's healing output is great only once their patients are already dying. It really doesn't synergize with boon duration much despite having it as a passive bonus for having shade(s) out, because it's boon output for a support is pitiful outside of some might here and there and a sporadic convert (which is 100% not reliable), and there's no actual green numbers happening from Scourge itself either - it's just yellow. That being said, Healscourge is a very functional carry tool and excels in several situations, and also it's perfectly valid to play as a plaguedoctor hybrid (which feels like the intended way to play this spec, tbh). Viper's variant of Scourge is probably my favorite condition DPS class at the moment for how much it brings - and I find it's 30-ish K bench (wouldn't mind either a couple K's more or improved rampup tho) to be reasonable once you realize that a single scourge reduces all incoming damage to an entire raid by 20%+ according to combat logs by barrier tanking, cleanses everyone super-frequently by basically just existing, brings Epi for some of the best-feeling cleaves you can get in this game, and Then also significantly contributes to might upkeep, all while wearing full DPS gear, and it's strange how often people overlook the impact of a single scourge on a raid just due to a subpar DPS number. It legitimately fixes a lot of core condi necro's issues, such as death shroud being slow and bad and largely single-target and barriers are a fun mechanic that does feel satisfying to negate damage with for yourself and others. Oh, and it has a bunch of dead-ish traits in there too, ones you'll just never really pick in any gamemode, but it's not as bad as it's power brother and you CAN make most of it work.

Overall, between the two elites I'm using both quite evenly, since where Reaper fails Scourge tends to excel and vice versa.

[Axl.8924]

@"Lily.1935" said:Scourge for myself. I want to play a caster and when nearly every class is a gish Its nice to have something that's a bit closer to a traditional caster. Its a bit of a Niche as most other players seem to favor Martial characters over casters which I personally find a bit strange, but whatever.

I would like more pure caster types like the Scourge although another Gish would be fine in the future too. Core Necromancer just doesn't cut it. It is a pure caster, or as close to one as a class can get in GW2, but it just feels really bad to play.

Scourge also plays into the form of play I really like which is that 360 battlefield control and requirement of paying attention. They require a different thought process for playing than anything else in the game which makes their style extremely unique and one you can't even get close to on any other class. This is also the closest we've gotten to the feel of a Ritualist in GW2 and likely ever will which is nice. It hybridizes with the necromancer tools much of what I enjoyed from Ritualist and Mesmer from GW1 with a bit of that Necromancer flavor thrown in which makes it my personal favorite by a long shot.

That isn't to say I dislike reaper. I actually really like reaper. It is the spiritual successor to the dervish from GW1 and its greatsword is the most fun to use hands down. For a Gish it is one of my favorites.

What do you mean gish?

Personally it would work out quite well if they buffed scourge for pve dmg condi or somethin. I do like casters, but anet is goin for some reason in favor of melee with excuse of: It must be risk reward and you must have all damage dealers in melee range.

[Lily.1935]

@Axl.8924 said:

@"Lily.1935" said:Scourge for myself. I want to play a caster and when nearly every class is a

gish

Its nice to have something that's a bit closer to a traditional caster. Its a bit of a Niche as most other players seem to favor Martial characters over casters which I personally find a bit strange, but whatever.

I would like more pure caster types like the Scourge although another Gish would be fine in the future too. Core Necromancer just doesn't cut it. It is a pure caster, or as close to one as a class can get in GW2, but it just feels really bad to play.

Scourge also plays into the form of play I really like which is that 360 battlefield control and requirement of paying attention. They require a different thought process for playing than anything else in the game which makes their style extremely unique and one you can't even get close to on any other class. This is also the closest we've gotten to the feel of a Ritualist in GW2 and likely ever will which is nice. It hybridizes with the necromancer tools much of what I enjoyed from Ritualist and Mesmer from GW1 with a bit of that Necromancer flavor thrown in which makes it my personal favorite by a long shot.

That isn't to say I dislike reaper. I actually really like reaper. It is the spiritual successor to the dervish from GW1 and its greatsword is the most fun to use hands down. For a Gish it is one of my favorites.

What do you mean gish?

Personally it would work out quite well if they buffed scourge for pve dmg condi or somethin. I do like casters, but anet is goin for some reason in favor of melee with excuse of: It must be risk reward and you must have all damage dealers in melee range.

A gish is a hybrid spell caster and martial fighter. its a D&D term which is why I posted a link with the first use of the term. They tend to use magic to self buff or modify their abilities in some ways, so think Red mage or a spellsword. Mesmer, guardian and revenant are probably the gishiest of the gish of GW2. Almost all casters in GW2 fight as a gish. Which gish are cool because they tend to be difficult to use and rare. in GW2 they're common which for me removes a lot of their uniqueness.

[MarkoGold.7126]

just delete necro its a useless class.

[Anchoku.8142]

@Dadnir.5038 said:@Infusion.7149I'm pretty sure most players saying reaper don't chose it for it's performance within the game, but simply because it's the least cluncky out of the 3. At the very least, that why I voted for reaper personally.

If we had to compare each spec to a vehicle:

• Core would be an old diesel VW sedan that burns a ton of toxic oil despite the owner hoping it dies.
• Reaper would be a harvester combine that coincidentally is diesel, too.
• Scourge would be a fire truck that is also an old diesel that leaves a cloud of particulates even as it motors off to create or stop a fire.

Sure they are all useful and got plenty of room for friends but, hey, you can drive a diesel!

Made a few adjustments. ( ^ ^)

[Lily.1935]

@Dadnir.5038 said:@Infusion.7149I'm pretty sure most players saying reaper don't chose it for it's performance within the game, but simply because it's the least cluncky out of the 3. At the very least, that why I voted for reaper personally.

If we had to compare each spec to a vehicle:

• Core would be an old car.
• Reaper would be a sport car.
• Scourge would be a van.

Sure the van is useful and got plenty of room for friends but, hey, you could drive the sportcar...

As someone who's owned a sports car, owned old cars and driven vans and trucks, I despise driving, so this sounds like comparing bad choices with other bad choices. I'll just take an electric or hybrid car over any of those. Small and practical. So that's lost on me. I THINK what you're trying to say is reaper is clearly obviously the best and most fun, but I owned a sports car and driving one during the winter is one of the worst experiences I've ever had. Both my old car and my current hybrid and especially a van were all far superior driving during the winter and didn't make me want to cry. Actually, I did cry driving the sports car. Got stuck all the time on the smallest snow bank. Even during its best performance, the summer, it wasn't a much better than my current hybrid. Considering all the horrible downsides of a sports car, I'll take a hybrid over it any day.

As for least clunky? That's debatable as I feel scourge is exceptionally fluid game play and far more rhythm based than reaper is. Its not nearly as easy to understand. Like, reaper is simple and effective. Reaper is more popular because Most of what scourge is is Niche in GW2. Power is more popular than condi, DPS is more popular than healing, death metal is more popular than mummies, melee is more popular than casting spells. All of that combine leads to reaper being more popular. It has nothing to do with this idea of chunkiness or your bizarrely ill informed car analogy.

Here's my comparison that makes little sense!Core is a lutereaper is a bass guitarscourge is a lyre

[Stand The Wall.6987]

@Dadnir.5038 said:If we had to compare each spec to a vehicle:Core would be an old car.Reaper would be a sport car.Scourge would be a van.@Lily.1935 said:Here's my comparison that makes little sense!Core is a lutereaper is a bass guitarscourge is a lyre

heres the real deal:core is a boss cannon lightning strikereaper is a typhoon wrecking ballscourge is an earthquake devastator

[Anchoku.8142]

@Stand The Wall.6987 said:

@Dadnir.5038 said:If we had to compare each spec to a vehicle:Core would be an old car.Reaper would be a sport car.Scourge would be a van.@Lily.1935 said:Here's my comparison that makes little sense!Core is a lutereaper is a bass guitarscourge is a lyre

heres the real deal:core is a boss cannon lightning strikereaper is a typhoon wrecking ballscourge is an earthquake devastator

So flattering; everyone should be Necro! Thanks, StW!