Lily.1935

> @"Obtena.7952" said:

> > @"Lily.1935" said:

> > > @"Obtena.7952" said:

> > > Every class having a boon strip is not thematically supported. We need to support the idea that choices in this game are meaningful, not degrade them with giving all classes full access to a ever widening pool of skills.

> >

> > Never said every class.

>

> OK ... my mistake ... still, boon strip doesn't need to be given to the classes that don't currently have it ... for the same reason.

>

> > @"Dadnir.5038" said:

> > > @"Obtena.7952" said:

> > > Every class having a boon strip is not thematically supported. We need to support the idea that choices in this game are meaningful, not degrade them with giving all classes full access to a ever widening pool of skills.

> >

> > They managed to give it to warrior so I guess they can very well give it to any profession.

> >

> > Otherwise, I do agree with Lan Deathrider, before thinking of giving boon hate on every profession, ANet should probably first fix the difference of "impact" boon hate have between sPvP/WvW and PvE. I would say that the necromancer suffer more from this "difference of impact" than from ANet using him as their main mean to restrain boons in sPvP/WvW.

>

> Agreed, if the theme supports it, they can dole it out to whatever classes they want. Still, what I said is correct ... every class having a boon strip is not thematically supported. I mean ... you're a reasonable person from what I can tell ... clearly you don't think giving out more boon strip is a good idea ... and likely for reasons similar to what I posted. Do we somehow think we don't want meaningful choices when we choose a class? I think we do ... and giving many classes the same access to similar tools degrades meaningful choices.

Every class I mentioned has boon strip.

> @"Obtena.7952" said:

> Every class having a boon strip is not thematically supported. We need to support the idea that choices in this game are meaningful, not degrade them with giving all classes full access to a ever widening pool of skills.

Never said every class.

> @"lare.5129" said:

> > @"Lily.1935" said:

> > The Burden of being the Stop gap to self buffing classes shouldn't fall squarely on the shoulders of a single class.

> by that logic everyone should have avatar and spirits? who no evryone spam alacrity??

>

> >This leads to a lot of bad feelings and a call to nerf when it ultimately harms the overall format and further.

> nice words, but about they? what? where?

>

> > It hyper focuses balance on a symptom of a problem as opposed to the main problem.

> necro is not support all party alacrity .. is this problem?

>

> > Either You weaken boon application substantially in PvP and WvW or you can offer more and stronger counter play. One method is a major feel bad for players the other opens new possibilities.

> why we should be happy for "weaken boon application substantially" ?? It opposite cut game and make it "linear".

>

> > Mesmer Was the as good at enchantment removal as necromancer in Guild wars 1.

> yes, and in tetris game I make record in my class. Can we also add this to boon strip equation?

>

> >Mesmer is supposed to be a control class.

> it not supposed. If someone think and hope it is not that is was supposed.

>

> >Which they are but they don't preform as such as well as they should anymore.

> they should not. How say of greatest football player after lose game: "your expectations are your problems"

>

Actually, the rules for Basketball specifically were changed to prevent a specific type of player from rising to dominance again. The 3 point line.

And mesmer was more control focused in GW2 early on in its life and much into HoT. It was rolled back a lot especially after PoF which is a mistake imo.

But I'm not going to keep trying to convince you as you don't want to be convinced. So, good luck with whatever it is you do. I'm going to keep posting on issues arena net will figure out 5 years later.

That last bit is a joke rooted in truth but still a joke.

> @"lare.5129" said:

> > @"Lily.1935" said:

> > All the Classes I mentioned do have boon strip.

> ok

> >The issue is these options aren't usually as desired in comparison to some other traits and skills.

> why it should be same for them? Classess a diferent and we like it. Or we want one class whit different skins?

>

> > Why should they have more? Boon removal is necessary as a stop gap to prevent Boons from getting out of hand. And boons are far out of hand.

> it ok, so depend from situation some classes shoudl be choosesn

>

> > Mesmer should be as good as necromancer at boon removal. They are not.

> who say? not me.

>

> > Thief needs a bit more. They have it on a trait that effects steal.

> nice that thief have this bonus, but I still not see reason ask more because someone can better

>

> > Revenant has some on Mallyx and I believe a trait that specifically targets stability unless I'm mistaken.

> it not trait. it legend what u should choose before start

>

> > Engineer has it on Mine and no where else even though they used to have more.

> nice.Same - I still not see reason ask more because someone can better

>

The Burden of being the Stop gap to self buffing classes shouldn't fall squarely on the shoulders of a single class. This leads to a lot of bad feelings and a call to nerf when it ultimately harms the overall format and further. It hyper focuses balance on a symptom of a problem as opposed to the main problem.

Either You weaken boon application substantially in PvP and WvW or you can offer more and stronger counter play. One method is a major feel bad for players the other opens new possibilities.

Mesmer Was the as good at enchantment removal as necromancer in Guild wars 1. It is as much a part of their identity as it is for necromancer. Yet it has been neglected. Mesmer is supposed to be a control class. Which they are but they don't preform as such as well as they should anymore.

> @"lare.5129" said:

> >Engineer, Mesmer, Revenant and Thief all should have much stronger boon removal.

> ? why? mesmer and rev ok, But thief ? thief have booostrip? if no - no one care probably :)

All the Classes I mentioned do have boon strip. The issue is these options aren't usually as desired in comparison to some other traits and skills.

Why should they have more? Boon removal is necessary as a stop gap to prevent Boons from getting out of hand. And boons are far out of hand.

Mesmer should be as good as necromancer at boon removal. They are not.

Thief needs a bit more. They have it on a trait that effects steal.

Revenant has some on Mallyx and I believe a trait that specifically targets stability unless I'm mistaken.

Engineer has it on Mine and no where else even though they used to have more.

As the post Suggests. We need more boon removal in the format. This is something that is usually held almost exclusively by necromancer as it is nearly impossible not to run at least a little boon strip. But this isn't something that should be exclusive to them. They shouldn't only be the boon stripper in the game and Spellbreaker is a start but there are a lot of classes that should be strong at boon strip but are quite weak at it.

Engineer, Mesmer, Revenant and Thief all should have much stronger boon removal.

Although I'd also add that the boon strip at the end of the Mesmer sword auto should be removed and put on their skill 3 to keep with consistency as this removed the boon control roll from raids entirely.

Perhaps some might think this is part of necromancer's identity, but I disagree that strong boon strip should be their identity as boons are extremely important across all classes.

But let's discuss.

> @"Nimon.7840" said:

> Either a two handed weapon or two one handed ones. Like double sword/mace.

>

> Only 2 or 3 new weapon skills would be extremely disappointing for me.

>

> Necro has a support spec (scourge) even though it it's only shielding and reviving (lacks boons), a tanky spec (core), and one that lacks identity (reaper). Reaper is pushed to being dps, but still lacks a a bit of damage, while it was supposed to be a a slow and hard hitting bruiser (wvw build: ranger longbow 2 does more damage than reaper great sword 2, while necro has to be melee?, That's some really bad design/balance in my opinion)

>

> So with the expansion I'm expecting anet to push reaper in one direction, while the new elite spec goes into the other direction.

>

> I don't think we will get a shield. Unless it would be some kind of weird 900 range shield. Else it wouldn't go well together with the other weapons necro already has.

> Also if we only get a shield as second hand weapon, this elite spec won't ever be used due to poor Mainhand weapon choices (in pve) unless it gets a transform that gives extreme dmg.

>

> So I'm expecting some two-handed weapon (favourite would be hammer but that might be too close to the reaper gs, so maybe shortbow or longbow) or two one handed ones (double pistol, double swords, double maces)

>

Reaper is a Melee bruiser. There identity is extremely apparent. Their identity is more solid than Chronomancer and Scrapper. Although scrapper is also technically a bruiser as well a bit more of a mixed support bruiser. Where as Reaper is a control bruiser. Reaper is bulky and hits hard. The flaw of reaper is that its Sustain traits are underwhelming for that very job. Blighter's boon, Augury of Death and Soul Eater don't exactly work well to that goal. Where as the control elements of the Chill traits mostly do and the Pursuit traits to keep dealing damage work well enough. But they ARE a bruiser.

What is something you should take note of is that "Support" is not a monolith. Support comes in many forms. Like Bruiser is a form of DPS a Support can do quite a few things under the GW2 balance umbrella. Scourge is a Defensive support and Cindi DPS spec which tells you what its going to do. However a Chronomancer is a offensive support and DPS spec. And their roles in groups are vastly different even though they are both support. A Druid is a healer which also falls into that support catagory so the idea that its a "Support" doesn't tell us a lot.

Necromancer in GW2 when looking at the GW2 trinity, DPS, Support and Control, the Necromancer at its core is a control class. So all of its elite specs are control or a hybrid control. Control being Boon removal, limiting actions and movement, hard and soft CC. A Tank would also fall under the Control catagory IF arena net had a proper system to allow for tanks to thrive as such reaper would absolutely thrive as a DPS Tank. However that's my own personal complaint and I'll save it for another time.

So 3 Categories each with a wide diversity of what they can be. A DPS can be a bruiser, Glass cannon, DoT DPS, Sniper, so on and so on. So even if we got another Condi elite spec it doesn't mean it would play too similarly to scourge and the same is true for a power DPS spec.

So with this in mind, We could easily get a DPS Support spec once again but given the opportunities for a diversity within the guild wars Trinity that doesn't mean it'll play anything like the scourge.

For example a Bloodmage spec operate best in Melee similar to reaper but use conditions and might be a glass cannon as opposed to the bruiser type that Reaper is. Or perhaps a Minion Master is also a DPS support spec much like the Scourge and may very well be Midline but their skills buff the offensive abilities of allies as opposed to the defensive and lack the defensive utility like the free cleansing and access to an AoE uninterruptable fear.

Our options are very wide and quite diverse. We shouldn't limit ourselves to this idea of "We already have a DPS" or "We already have a support" because its a bit more complex and interesting in that. Just look at Deadeye and Daredevil. Both are high DPS specs but they do it in radically different ways and they're both loved elite specs.

Further Updates. Minion master and Shroud of darkness have both been changed to better fit the theme of the Elite spec. Minion master was WAY too good. Shroud of darkness is less powerful as defensive utility but gains potency and synergy with the rest of the spec. Discord Loses the sacrifice element to its design with this being moved to Shroud of darkness.

> @"Fueki.4753" said:

> For Shield to be viable for Necromancer in any way, Arenanet would have to rework main hand dagger to actually be a viable melee weapons, instead of the joke it currently is.

I look at shield more as a Midline control and supportive weapon as opposed to a frontline weapon. Considering the pairs are also Axe and Scepter as well as dagger.

> @"Dadnir.5038" said:

> For me the issue with shield is that from my point of view it's a tool to "block" attack and the necromancer's defensive design is to take most if not all damage. It's not that thematically the tombstone wouldn't be great but I feel like the necromancer's shield skills design would be bound to be a source of frustration for the players.

>

> Personally, I'd prefer Axe off-hand. Axe really feel like a "vicious" weapon which fit the necromancer's thematic. Mace/club could also fit the fantasy of a spellcaster for me. On another hand, I'm not thrilled by the idea of a hammer or a sword for the necromancer (Hammer basically give me a reaper 2.0 feel and sword a dagger 2.0 feel).

>

> I wouldn't be against longbow as a weapon, thought, on a "bone magic" e-spec if we think about Diablo 2 necromancer. Afterall, I can very well see _Teeth_, _Bone spear_, _Bone spirit_, _Bone prison_ and _Bone wall_ as a longbow skillkit (The kit wouldn't be very far from ranger's and guardian's longbow skillkits).

>

> Anyway, granted the LS schedule they gave us, we don't get any x-pac until august/september next year minimum so it's still far away.

That Highly depends if its a shroudless spec or not. If Its a shroud spec I'd agree with you that shield would be a bad idea. If Its a shroudless spec like scourge that doesn't have that use of major barrier without traits and its shroud is more utility than major defense than a shield wouldn't be nearly as frustrating as you assume it would be. From my perspective a Shield would be great for a Glass cannon Minion master Elite spec. One which sacrifices health for power with very very little actual defensive utility. Not that they really need it, the necromancer is so stacked with defensive utility.

What is offhand axe going to do? In terms of ranged offhands we have Dagger and focus. A power ranged off hand or a power melee offhand would be okay to have but not that great given the options we have now for its pair. The best option I see is Axe/Axe ranged which doesn't excite me personally as I'd just rather Focus be worked on than fiddle with an underwhelming offhand for an elite spec. Torch is great but I don't really want to tread that same ground again for the next elite spec.

Bow would be interesting. Necromancer doesn't have a 1,500 range weapon although I really don't think they need that high of range. But I see bow as more a blood weapon than Bone. Shield is more a bone weapon to me as is hammer or mace. Bow is usually a "good" weapon in mythology being associated with gods and creatures who are one with nature or have a divine calling. Necromancer's design is centered around being the Antagonist or villain of stories and their weapons and especially elite specs reflect this identity. Their green coloring is specific likely having some inspiration from Disney villains always having green smoke. Not saying bows can't work they can, but their general theming doesn't quite work out in relationship to the class.

Swords have far more Mythology around them and are frequently cursed though not as often as blessed or used to denote divinity or royalty. Swords have also gained an association with the aristocracy as the poor were seldom able to afford such a luxury or at least a sword of quality. This had changed throughout history but the elegance of a sword with the predatory nature of the Aristocratic vampire showing a guise of humanity really plays well into imbedded classic tropes.

The Primary trope that Axe covers is more the butcher or slasher horror character. The issue with this is that this trope has been more than well covered by reaper. So it just doesn't offer much in terms of theme for a new spec that wouldn't be retreading old ground.

Sword is the most popular choice and Shield and Hammer are second. From an old poll I posted a while ago Shield was the second with Hammer as the third but it was a statistical tie.

I think it Honestly depends on the what the elite spec is designed to do. Each weapon does have thematic implications. Sword is heavily associated with vampirism. The shield is somewhat associated with Minions but that's not required. And Hammer is associated with minions as well due to Desmina in GW2 and Hector in Castlevania.

We don't really have a clue right now. Jhavi was speculated to be the next elite spec since she was wielding shield in a cinematic for Ice Brood Saga. She isn't currently wielding a shield. She is currently a scourge. Can't say if she'll evolve her abilities later on.

There is nothing certain. I'd be happy with a Minion master elite spec but I'd also be happy with a vampiric spec. I'd be more happy if it was a class cannon DPS and support spec. That's probably the most important for me.

> @"JohnWater.5760" said:

> > @"Opopanax.1803" said:

> > As a player who is on and off due to life being busy (not another game), my biggest lack of draw is old and uninspired traits and weapon skills being updated to be relevant.

> >

> > I so wish just a little time and care was done to tweak older and underutilized skills and traits were updated. It makes the new content more enjoyable when you have more build variety!

>

> You are totally right.

> There's a lot of unused skills because it's old and unbalanced.

Honestly the trait system is a bit outdated as well. I love the specializations but there really isn't a sense of Investment. The strength of an Adept compared to a Grandmaster trait is really only determined on their placement on the line but not based on investment since both are equal in what you can take. This isn't inherently a bad thing, however it doesn't offer much in depth for the player.

I'd like to see the Specializations updated to have more than 3 traits in each line. And how this relates to the conversation about the weapons is traits can be used to augment weapon skills pretty heavily. Look at Glacial hammer and Devouring darkness for example. Although I don't agree that it always has to be a strict upgrade to what its doing, many could be minor traits that just change some function of these skills.

The bridge between new and old players isn't maintained in the game. For better or worse, Dungeons are that bridge. But that's less a class issue and more an old design issue.

its a shame too because PvE balance is desperately needed. I don't just mean specific classes but also environments. Anet needs to adjust the enemies to properly be fightable without melting with the Ferocity and condition stacking power creep that occurred years ago along with Dungeon rewards to bridge the gap between new and old players.

For classes, since we are on the profession forums There are some issues with over stagnation of endgame metas like fractals and Raids. You look at team comps and the required becomes identical even across more casual groups.

Some classes I feel need some TLC. Necromancer, Elementalist and engineer all need some help in their support builds and Necromancer and Warrior probably could use some help with their damage builds. Although PvE gets most of the content, It largely gets ignored when it comes to balance which is a mistake in my opinion.

Outside of that Boons need to be checked better in competitive modes. After the numerous nerfs to Scourge and necromancer boons have only increased in power and run rampant. Scourge and core necromancer need some of their boon removal restored as well as Boon removal to be given more liberally across the board. Engineer, Mesmer, Thief should all have much higher boon stripping abilities. ESPECIALLY the Mesmer. On that note although i do believe Mesmer should have much stronger boon stripping than It currently does the boon strip from Mind Spike on sword Auto attack should absolutely be removed and a boon strip should be placed on Illusionary Leap or Swap instead.

Boon stripping is an active form of play that Anet unjustly keeps nerfing when it should rightfully be spread out and improved across the board. Give me Acidic Elixirs that Corrupt boons into Poison on engineer. Give me Boon corrupt into Confusion on Mesmer. Lets improve boon removal on thief that converts it into life steal or something like that. Make it so Necromancer isn't the only Class that can dedicate to this niche(And I guess spellbreaker too).

On another Note, Some skills need to be seriously looked at. Minions and Turrets also need to be addressed as these are extremely popular Builds for new players and they under preform. Although Minions KINDA works there isn't an End game equivalent to this build and Turrets are only used to Afk farming.

> @"Anchoku.8142" said:

> For more support, what about going back to Necromancer's roots and add condition flipping, transfer or consumption? Arenanet never fixed Plague Signet's behavior in PvE. They simply nerfed it so we would not kill ourselves. There are loads of opportunities in Necro to beef up group condition management and I feel sad at the missed potential.

Necromancer in Guild Wars 1 was a support class too. You see this with things like Barbs, Mark of Pain, Order of Pain, Order of Vampirism, Tainted flesh, blood bond, blood is power, blood ritual, Dark fury, well of power, Order of Apostasy and Withering Aura. Where as monk buffed allies defensively, Necromancers Buffed them offensively mostly. A trait unique to them until Ritualist and then Paragon which both do that too.

Now Necromancer barely buffs people offensively its mostly defensive. Although Scourge is truest to the GW1 classic necromancer, its still quite a ways off. I'd like to see more of this offensive buffing outside of Scourge because it is a core part of the necromancer's identity.

> @"Asum.4960" said:

> > @"Lily.1935" said:

> > > @"Asum.4960" said:

> > > Good ideas and a lot of same conclusions I've come to and posted in the past on what could work.

> > >

> > > As for Sand Savant, I still think Scourge and this Trait would be a good spot for 10 man Alac, in addition to the pulsing barrier or healing in place of the base damage, making it a purely supportive option.

> > >

> > > Scourge is imo one of the easiest options to make compete with Renegade for the Alacrity, CC, off-DPS and Boon Strip role in Fractal's and Raid's (or Alac Heal Scourge + Quickbrand) to start increasing the variety of support specs/combinations.

> >

> > I'm on the other end thinking quickness should be the boon but I'd be happy with Alacrity for sure. Either would be great.

>

> Both works ofc, and I've played with the idea of party Quickness on Necro in the past as well, namely when the Death Magic Rework was announced, hoping for something like a "Frenzy of the Dead" GM which increases Minion Attack Speed and provides Quickness to nearby allies and such, making the whole minion DM Trait line tailored around Minion **and** party boon support to broaden it's usefulness.

>

> Since that didn't happen and we got Carapace instead, now for Scourge I suppose both Alacrity and Quickness could work well for a Sands of Time theme, but in terms of making supports somewhat interchangeable to make compositions more fluid, Scourge aligns a lot more with Renegade (Alacrity) than FB (Quickness) with the rest of it's toolset.

>

> Also in terms of internal consistency (for solo play and such), Scourge is a spec that is very CD dependant, but doesn't scale that much with Quickness compared to others, so I'm personally leaning more towards Alacrity Scourge, and maybe Quickness for Tempest to compete with FB.

>

> (Although I'm pretty sure neither is ever going to happen ofc., and it's more likely they will put everything into the next set of specs which will likely unfortunately just creep up so much in power that they will just replace the current specs, rather than compete with them offering variety)

>

> And yea, that **Serpent Siphon** still exists in it's current form and has never been touched (by Anet or players) is almost funny at this point.

I see your point. The theme of Scourge is mummies and their horror movies obviously. So that's why we got Serpent siphon. The viper's trap in Tomb robing movies which is why a stun makes more sense to me personally. But ya know.

A tempest that Grant's Quickness could be neat. My guild leader would love that for sure.

> @"Yasai.3549" said:

> Would be nice for Heal Scourge to have some Quickness sharing but it's never gonna be on the level of Firebrand and people won't consider it in a heartbeat as a replacement.

>

>

I'd like more support in general on necromancer. I feel they need some in Spite, Curses and Death magic. I don't think this would compare to Quickbrand either to be honest. This is much harder to pull off and is more reliant on alacrity to work on scourge.

For core, it would be interesting in WvW with blood magic as bursts of support.

> @"Asum.4960" said:

> Good ideas and a lot of same conclusions I've come to and posted in the past on what could work.

>

> As for Sand Savant, I still think Scourge and this Trait would be a good spot for 10 man Alac, in addition to the pulsing barrier or healing in place of the base damage, making it a purely supportive option.

>

> Scourge is imo one of the easiest options to make compete with Renegade for the Alacrity, CC, off-DPS and Boon Strip role in Fractal's and Raid's (or Alac Heal Scourge + Quickbrand) to start increasing the variety of support specs/combinations.

I'm on the other end thinking quickness should be the boon but I'd be happy with Alacrity for sure. Either would be great.

> @"ZeftheWicked.3076" said:

> > @"Lily.1935" said:

> > > @"Nimon.7840" said:

> > > I think that would be too strong for wvw (well TBH, there's some other things that need serious adjustments in wvw)

> > > But I don't think that we will see any kind of bigger balance patch any soon.

> > >

> > > So nothing going to happen.

> >

> > I'm curious as to how it would be too much for WvW when Firebrand exists.

>

> The #3 skill reset on enemy kill part. Though it wouldn't be broken for scourge, since his fear is attached to skill 4 (we all know scourge is your fav), the other two necros could become very team quickness spammy, which would mean either necro loses the reset, or trait stays as it - solo benefit only.

In small team skirmishes it wouldn't reset so quickly. In zergs I could see Core necromancer getting a lot of use out of it as a support. But reaper seems like it would be lacking as I'd imagine the radius would be similar to blood is power's range. So like 240 radius. So they'd need to be in melee to get utility from it which in zergs can be difficult to pull off. Not just that but Stability blocks this trait from triggering. I was toys with it in South sun yesterday.

Why ya got to jab at my baby? But seriously, a core support Necro could be really cool. Pull allies, heal them and fear to give quickness. I think it's got a lot of hoops to jump through to make it work. And I do think it's just inferior to Firebrand.

Like. Make a build. Show me. I'm willing to change my mind on this for sure.

> @"Nimon.7840" said:

> I think that would be too strong for wvw (well TBH, there's some other things that need serious adjustments in wvw)

> But I don't think that we will see any kind of bigger balance patch any soon.

>

> So nothing going to happen.

I'm curious as to how it would be too much for WvW when Firebrand exists.

> @"Anchoku.8142" said:

> Good ideas here, Lily. Scourge is not an elite I like to run because it feels clunky and has only two purposes: annoy people in WvW and help PUGs as a barrier (shroud) donor. After so many nerfs when there was no split between PvE and WvW Scourge feels bad to me in a lot of content and prefer another profession over using it. When PoF came out, Scourge was a solid PvE dps option for those not wanting to give much barrier. Unfortunately, that led to extreme over-performance in WvW.

Thanks.

I do like scourge now. Its favorite way to play. But it is quite difficult to use and the payoff for preforming well on scourge is pretty minor for their offensive set. While their healing set is fun it's more a fail safe in groups which I feel it could be more than that.

I actually really like this trait, but there Is one change I'd like to make and its real simple. Could this apply Fury and Quickness to allies around you when you fear rather than just yourself? Same Duration. I honestly feel this could make for some unique builds for sure.

This is probably the most difficult Topic to talk about in comparison to the other's I've posted recently. My [reaper](https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/discussion/117073/reaper-suggestions#latest) and [Death Shroud](https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/discussion/117391/death-shroud-suggestions#latest/) Where easier to post about as the conflicts with them are a bit easier to pinpoint. Now, not everyone agrees on how to solve these issues, but they were still easier to pin down. Scourge's problems are difficult to pin down at least for some of them and many of the solutions are difficult to actually apply. I'm going to try and keep my suggestions fairly simple like the last two posts but even with that effort this will get a bit more complicated.

## Manifest Sand Shade

**Increase the Torment Duration:** The torment duration on this skill should be raised in all game modes by a second. Scourge doesn't have much of a Burst damage yet the duration of this application suggests otherwise. The damage output and the duration does not match its initial design so it should be raised.

## Serpent Siphon

Change the function of this spell from sending out small damage and barrier packets to an area strike that Stuns for a second and poisons as well as grants a small bit of barrier to allies.

## Sand Swell

* **Give evade on this skill while casting it.** Shout out to KROOF for this suggestion, I hadn't even considered it before, but this was a great suggestion as this skill can be quite clunky to use and this would smooth it out.

* **Increase range to 1,200.**

## Ghastly Breach

* **Reduce the recharge time At least in PvE**

* **Have it grant Fury to allies in addition to might**

It would be nice to have a support option as an elite which this skill is trying to do to some extend, but doesn't quite get there. Giving it a bit more frequency in use and upping the support factor could help this skill out a lot.

## Herald of Sorrow

* **Return its old function with a 10 second internal cooldown**

This trait frustrates me because it does something Sand Savant honestly should do, which is provide barrier to allies. I do feel it corrupting a boon is honestly fine. We need more boon removal in the game. An additional suggestion to this is to have it convert all boon corruption the necromancer has on other weapons into a specific condition like Burning or torment which could be quite interesting but also make it easier to cleans from.

## Blood as Sand

* **Replace this trait with an offensive trait**

* **Vengeful Summoning:** Summoning a sand shade now applies 2-3 seconds of Fury. While you're under the effect of fury gain 250 Healing power and Condition damage.

Raw defense isn't what this elite spec needs. Support and condition damage are. This could be quite nice as it offers another boon that the Scourge could grant to allies which they desperately need.

## Sand Savant

* **Replaces Desert shroud with Embalming Shroud:** Embalming shroud deals no damage but rather Pulses packets of barriers to allies.

* **Embalming shroud should pulse a boon:** Several ideas of boons come to mind. A single unique one would be nice but Fury or Quickness would be the best options in my opinion with Regen a close 3rd.

I would be happy if it also provided a boon to allies but this way it can change Sand Savant into a proper support trait at least. Since Desert shroud is the most potent damage potential of the Scourge, I'd prefer it to be removed for something more supportive.

## Feed from Corruption

**Grant a 1% damage bonus for each boon on the scourge**

I don't think Feed needs a whole lot to get going. Something else to help it out would be nice. A damage buff like this could help as scourge should be about boons at least partially.

## Lingering thoughts

This isn't the only things I was thinking about when looking at the scourge. I also wanted a means to gain 20% Burning and Torment duration on top of what they have but that might not be needed. Hopefully the suggestions I have made resonates with some people. I do think these changes would help quite a bit. And there are other suggestions I have outside of the elite spec which I feel could also help out the elite spec. But we'll save that for another time.

My thoughts on it are it pushes reaper far beyond core and scourge in open world. Before I'd have told you Scourge and reaper were close enough that their differences in DPS was minor enough that either choice was solid especially with scourge's higher target cap and ranged advantage, now with the ability to have quickness out of shroud without harming my DPS but improving it as I get access to fury now there is no question as to which spec is superior for open world.

It makes reaper extremely self sufficient, more so than before. Although you would never take it in raids or organized fractals it is fantastic. In WvW I found it especially effective with Lich Form as well.

I have one Tiny change I would make to the trait though. I'd Make it apply Fury and Quickness to 5 Allies around you as well. This would open up a Boon support build for Scourge which could share Quickness, Fury and might. Although they'd loose out on blood magic because they're still locked into Soul reaping as they need the reduction in recharge time and they need the alacrity to make this work but it would be a fun power boon support build for sure!

> @"XECOR.2814" said:

> I think instead of merging life transfer and tainted shackles skill. You can let the tainted shackles skill be as it is and add the "condi fetching from allies on each pulse" effect on life transfer.

>

> I would also love wave of fear instead of the doom but the functionality changes, it becomes aoe which can be bad for the balance but on the other hand it becomes visible and small range hence can be avoided so idk.

>

> Your suggestions is what everyone wants but it will make the build very oppressive. Another thing is that anet will never do it because they dont have time to change what already works semi decently.

>

Merging Transfusion and the condi transfer and condition transfer isn't a bad idea actually.