Necro Elite Spec: The Harbinger

[misterman.1530]

3 minutes ago, SummonMinion.7306 said:

The blight mechanic as a risk-reward system for damage for necro is very nice. However, the loss of the inherent damage reduction and second health bar for your shroud mechanic is concerning. Necro's lack of active defense was compensated for the "face tank with hp" concept but Harbinger doesn't bring any active or scalable defense to make up for this. Hopefully the 2 movement skills in shroud and overall greater cc access makes up for this. I'm excited to test this out in actual combat.

 

Sidenote: WOW the healing & LF values on that healing skill are TINY. It's like a worse reaper's heal shout with vigor. Really hoping those values aren't real seeing as the skill also applies vitality reduction with blight (-10% temporarily).

 

Yeah. That healing looks weak. I don't think think I would ever slot it. Can't see the benefit at all. Vigor and 10% life force? Will that be worth it?

[Xanhawk.3806]

4 minutes ago, LucianDK.8615 said:

could someone make a writeup for us with hearing issues?

If something isn't done before I get home, I'll work on one tonight.

 

There should be other content creators covering everything within the next few hours however.

[Asum.4960]

Dang, this is going to be squishy at 11k HP without Shroud, Barrier, Blocks/aegis, Invulns etc., this is going to need some serious Trailblazer with Tormenting Runes to stay alive solo^^

Although I suppose with Pistol likely outshining Scepter, Parasitic Contagion is a much more attractive option now outside of group content with supports, trading 200 Condition Damage for massive sustain.

 

The possibility for Quickness Sharing as boon support is interesting, although I'm not sure how it's supposed to compete with Quickbrand for high end play with  it's Aegis spam as well as all it's optional utility in Stab and Reflects, etc. 

Great to have more options though. 

 

What I'm really impressed with though is the Trait lines and Anet finally doing what I wanted for years, in enabling multiple playstyles per spec. 

Great to see it catering to both Power and Condi enthusiasts as well as having a support avenue. 

 

I feel like Power Harbinger is going to struggle compared to Condi as this spec almost seems to require Tormenting Runes/Parasitic Contagion to stay alive and not drain LF constantly to top up health. 

 

The Utilities I'm probably least impressed with, both in terms of Icons and effect. Sacrificing 10% max health for a little bit of Might and Fury for example hardly ever seems worth it in any gamemode, not even as boon support role with the amount of stacks, duration and cool down. 

 

The Shroud itself seems like a joy to play though with the extremely high damage potential and mobility.

Edited August 13, 2021 by Asum.4960

[misterman.1530]

1 minute ago, ovenglove.9528 said:

Pvp wise it seems like it is going to play very differently. I am not sure with blight, and no damage reduction on shroud it is going to work as a teamfighter. Maybe as a +1. I am wondering where the sustain is, are the movement skills enough? If it has massive damage, it seems like it could be a high skill cap spec compared to other necro specs.

 

Pve wise it seems like it will bring more than other necro specs to a team.

I want to see how it works as a solo. Solo roaming in PVE or WvW for example. Will it have enough to compensate for the lack of sustain? Or will you need a support person, as he alluded in the video, to help keep you alive. 

I think the movement skills might be used to get away. I was hoping for some sort of Invis rather than two leaps though.

[DraconusShade.4590]

1 hour ago, Dadnir.5038 said:

A bit disappointed that it's torment yet again but, the spec look both very different than the common necromancer and very strong in damage and support (It will probably need some tuning down in support).

I don’t think support will need tuning down since Necromancer will be the only support directly sacrificing max health in order to support their teammates. That’s the way they justified how powerful the Harbinger is and I completely agree. If you think about all the stuff Willbender gets to do for nothing at all and look at Harbinger sacrificing 20% max health while in combat and taking damage I think it’s completely fair for the amount of support they offer.

[misterman.1530]

1 minute ago, Asum.4960 said:

Dang, this is going to be squishy at 11k HP without Shroud, Barrier, Blocks/aegis, Invulns etc., this is going to need some serious Trailblazer with Tormenting Runes to stay alive solo^^

 

The possibility for Quickness Sharing as boon support is interesting, although I'm not sure how it's supposed to compete with Quickbrand for high end play with  it's Aegis spam as well as all it's optional utility in Stab and Reflects, etc. 

Great to have more options though. 

 

What I'm really impressed with though is the Trait lines and Anet finally doing what I wanted for years, in enabling multiple playstyles per spec. 

Great to see it catering to both Power and Condi enthusiasts as well as having a support avenue. 

 

I feel like Power Harbinger is going to struggle compared to Condi as this spec almost seems to require Tormenting Runes to stay alive and not drain LF constantly to top up health. 

 

The Utilities I'm probably least impressed with, both in terms of Icons and effect. Sacrificing 10% max health for a little bit of Might and Fury for example hardly ever seems worth it in any gamemode, not even as boon support role with the amount of stacks, duration and cool down. 

 

The Shroud itself seems like a joy to play though with the extremely high damage potential and mobility.

 

I was thinking that if you have 4-5 Harbingers in a WvW zerg  - and they all pop the elite skill, will the boons stack as high as they seem to be able to? It might be interesting to see a group Invis, run into the middle of an enemy group, and harbingers pop their elite. The damage coefficient would be monstrous. Even if 1 harbinger pops the elite, then the next waits 2 - 3s to pop theirs, etc. Will be interesting to see the effect.

[LucianDK.8615]

4 minutes ago, Asum.4960 said:

Dang, this is going to be squishy at 11k HP without Shroud, Barrier, Blocks/aegis, Invulns etc., this is going to need some serious Trailblazer with Tormenting Runes to stay alive solo^^

 

The possibility for Quickness Sharing as boon support is interesting, although I'm not sure how it's supposed to compete with Quickbrand for high end play with  it's Aegis spam as well as all it's optional utility in Stab and Reflects, etc. 

Great to have more options though. 

 

What I'm really impressed with though is the Trait lines and Anet finally doing what I wanted for years, in enabling multiple playstyles per spec. 

Great to see it catering to both Power and Condi enthusiasts as well as having a support avenue. 

 

I feel like Power Harbinger is going to struggle compared to Condi as this spec almost seems to require Tormenting Runes to stay alive and not drain LF constantly to top up health. 

 

The Utilities I'm probably least impressed with, both in terms of Icons and effect. Sacrificing 10% max health for a little bit of Might and Fury for example hardly ever seems worth it in any gamemode, not even as boon support role with the amount of stacks, duration and cool down. 

 

The Shroud itself seems like a joy to play though with the extremely high damage potential and mobility.

What is it that reduces the harbinger that low?

[Anchoku.8142]

Of note in the Tuesday balance patch is that Lingering Curses will apply to all weapons so Necro is not confined to camping scepter.

[misterman.1530]

1 minute ago, LucianDK.8615 said:

What is it that reduces the harbinger that low?

 

Blight. Every new skill (elixirs) applies it. 

[DraconusShade.4590]

53 minutes ago, Dadnir.5038 said:

Yeah, I was surprised by the low amount of health the healing skill give (below 2k on 25s CD) but I thought that, counting blight that can reduce your health by 50% these 2k can make quite the difference when you've grown back your health to 100%.

 

I didn't catch whether the shroud have the 2nd health bar or not thought...

It kinda does? Not exactly the way it is now where the shroud takes damage instead of you. Harbinger shroud is just an effect and you still take damage to your health while in it and you can be healed while in it. Sustain comes from when you exit it, your life force is constantly consumed to heal you if you are below your max HP while in combat and outside shroud. That way life force is still a sustain tool but in a more passive way.

[misterman.1530]

Just now, Anchoku.8142 said:

Of note in the Tuesday balance patch is that Lingering Curses will apply to all weapons so Necro is not confined to camping scepter.

 

I saw that. That will be nice. Scepter is not usually my go to weapon - Lingering Curses with the Pistol, Torment Runes, Maybe Trailblazer gear. Should be interesting.

On another note - I bought some Chaos Guns (for the legendary Quip) when I thought Necros would get a pistol. Price has already gone up. FIrst time since release that I speculated on the TP and might actually see a return on my investment!

[ChronoPinoyX.7923]

4 minutes ago, Asum.4960 said:

Dang, this is going to be squishy at 11k HP without Shroud, Barrier, Blocks/aegis, Invulns etc., this is going to need some serious Trailblazer with Tormenting Runes to stay alive solo^^

 

The possibility for Quickness Sharing as boon support is interesting, although I'm not sure how it's supposed to compete with Quickbrand for high end play with  it's Aegis spam as well as all it's optional utility in Stab and Reflects, etc. 

Great to have more options though. 

 

What I'm really impressed with though is the Trait lines and Anet finally doing what I wanted for years, in enabling multiple playstyles per spec. 

Great to see it catering to both Power and Condi enthusiasts as well as having a support avenue. 

 

I feel like Power Harbinger is going to struggle compared to Condi as this spec almost seems to require Tormenting Runes to stay alive and not drain LF constantly to top up health. 

 

The Utilities I'm probably least impressed with, both in terms of Icons and effect. Sacrificing 10% max health for a little bit of Might and Fury for example hardly ever seems worth it in any gamemode, not even as boon support role with the amount of stacks, duration and cool down. 

 

The Shroud itself seems like a joy to play though with the extremely high damage potential and mobility.

Considering they literally called it a glass cannon in the livestream, I expect Power Harbinger players to run this with Marauder if they really wanna sustain that reduced HP. But of course, we all know there's going to be the absolute build where it's just full Berserker with no care for HP reduction just to maintain maximum DPS if they're going Power over Condi. 

 

I genuinely can't wait to see how this one plays out on the Power side of thing, but personally I'm gonna see how Boon Support Battery Necro plays out with Harbinger cuz that's sounding like a great way to play this a la GW1 style

[Asum.4960]

50 minutes ago, LucianDK.8615 said:

could someone make a writeup for us with hearing issues?

Shroud stacks a 2% max health debuff on you (Blight) every second you are in it, to a maximum of 25 Stacks, aka 50% Health reduction. Elixiers, the Utilities, also apply 10-20% Blight each.

Lifeforce constantly drains to heal you and to remove Blight (or healing up the difference as max health increases again with Blight timing out, not sure) while out of Shroud. 

Shroud/Lifeforce does not grant you a second health bar anymore, neither is there any Barrier or Blocks etc. on the kit.

Lifeforce still drains while in Shroud. 

Pistol and Shroud are 900 Range but benefit from melee with pointblank shotgun like skills, as well as small range AoE auras pulsing Power Damage or Torment from Grandmasters while in Shroud.

Traits incentivise staying at max Blight (50% health reduction) by granting 1% increased damage (Condi or Power, depending on Trait) per Blight Stack, for a maximum of 25%.

Spec has both a Power damage and Condi Damage line, as well as an AoE Boon Share line via Elixiers, primarily Quickness though. 

Harbinger Shroud comes with two mobility skills, a Dash as well as Leap with evade and a daze.

Edited August 13, 2021 by Asum.4960

[LucianDK.8615]

7 minutes ago, misterman.1530 said:

 

Blight. Every new skill (elixirs) applies it. 

Is it always 50% or blight gradually stacking to 50%?

[yann.1946]

This looks really exciting to me. 🙂

 

I only have 1 complained in that build craft will not be that interesting in the sense of trait choices. Although a minionmancee buffing it's minion might be cool? 

[DraconusShade.4590]

1 minute ago, LucianDK.8615 said:

Is it always 50% or blight gradually stacking to 50%?

Stacking up to 50%. But remember that any time you have lost Hp your life force will auto heal you.

[Drarnor Kunoram.5180]

6 minutes ago, LucianDK.8615 said:

Is it always 50% or blight gradually stacking to 50%?

2% per stack of Blight.  Shroud gives 1 stack/second, Elite elixir gives 10 stacks, and all other elixirs give 5 stacks.  Blight stacks last for 25 seconds.

[LucianDK.8615]

Do you gain extra skills from going into shroud, or is the function only to heal up blight?

 

Does the Harbinger have aoe/cleave?

 

[Sigmoid.7082]

Anyone notice CMC gaining more LF when he gains quickness from deathly haste?

[ChronoPinoyX.7923]

3 minutes ago, LucianDK.8615 said:

Do you gain extra skills from going into shroud, or is the function only to heal up blight?

Works like the other shrouds, so you get shroud specific skills. Also it doesn't heal blight, it generates blight per second while you're in it. 

[Asum.4960]

10 minutes ago, Sigmoid.7082 said:

Anyone notice CMC gaining more LF when he gains quickness from deathly haste?

That's just the invulnerable dev test golems repeatedly "dying", you can see the LF uptick everytime a golem does the death flinch, which, since they don't heal up, happens repeatedly at what seems to happen to be same 3 sec interval.

 

E:

Either that or a bug/dev tools. I at least didn't spot anything granting LF on Boon gain/Deathly Haste.

Edited August 13, 2021 by Asum.4960

[Lily.1935]

After seeing it I'm excited for this elite spec, however I do personally feel they should have access to the utility skills since they're not giving an extra health bar. This spec seems exceptionally frail.

[Asum.4960]

Just now, Lily.1935 said:

After seeing it I'm excited for this elite spec, however I do personally feel they should have access to the utility skills since they're not giving an extra health bar. This spec seems exceptionally frail.

Yea, I was really surprised to see this type of Shroud still losing Utility access while in it.

[Tungsten Monarch.6058]

45 minutes ago, misterman.1530 said:

 

Yeah. That healing looks weak. I don't think think I would ever slot it. Can't see the benefit at all. Vigor and 10% life force? Will that be worth it?

Runes of Torment solves this issue.

[Infusion.7149]

It should have the QoL of at least being able to see cooldowns on utility skills.