ArmageddonAsh.6430

What i would like to see. If you dont summon the tablet, the heals and effects happen around you instead. Maybe with like a passive healing effect that is slightly weaker than with the tablet out. Maybe having the effects at 75% their normal strength to compensate for the fact they are now happening around you.

> @"Phyrak.7260" said:

> Just realized

>

> This should have been a discussion rather than a question... kitten...

>

> Just for clarification, are we speaking to the number scaling of the abilities?

Well Anet would have to change all the weapons to make it so they have the same effects (healing, CC, Mobility and such) down from 20 skills into 5 skills. This wouldnt be a huge problem if Ele could weapon swap but the reason Engineer get away with it is due to the many Kits they have. They could i guess make it so this spec has weapon swap and make it so each weapon has the abilities from a specific attunement, so Scepter would likely be Air, Focus Earth but then you have more weapons than attunements so crossovers would have to happen

simply put: Wont happen. Ever

Why: Every single Ele weapon would need to be redesigned to function with a single attunement. Anet wont fix Ele as it is, you think they would do that for an expansion?

> @"dude.2950" said:

> I did consider putting it on staff but chaos storm has random daze compared to sw/pistol which can proc the sigil 3 times or even more if you are IH.

> Yes shield with sigil of draining is op especially if it passes through a zerg, but unfortunately it is difficult to aim properly with the changes that nerfed ToT.

I have it on both sets. X/Shield or X/Pistol has interrupts. Plus you have the shatter and the Mantra if taken as well. So you will always have access to interrupts. yeah the changes to Shield kinda make it a little bit crap these days imo :(

Throw it on a Staff, Drop Chaos storm and see the heals. With it having No cool down or ICD means it can be very cool. My Chrono had it on the shied and on the Staff, solid damage, like 1k per a proc plus the 1k healing can add that little bit extra. I havent tried any of the other interrupt ones.

Its the right move. They need to do this with other traits. Other classes. Other specs. Too many skills are too strong when combined with elite specs.

Dual Pistols. All. The. Way.

I would happily like to see Staff changed. Out of all the staff weapons in the game. I find it the most boring weapon to use and the most boring design of a staff. I would love to see a Melee or ranged version that isnt based around the use of Marks.

> @"DeceiverX.8361" said:

> SB on thief is taken strictly for IArrow. Otherwise S/D or D/P does literally everything about it that you just mentioned better and even your synergy mentionings are wrong. Without IArrow people would simply play D/P + S/D because to trigger the daze either requires the first attack to hit, AA's in MH dagger prior to the final pulse, DA traited + steal used in combo, or RNG for finishers from SB's AA's that aren't negated, all while requiring your opponent to stand in the field for the entire 4s. Unless you wish to tell me spamming CG to make it reliable is good because it can daze. In which case you're burning 8 init for a delayed daze, which is never worthwhile when Steal via SoH and OH pistol can do the same instantly for less/no initiative. D/D, S/D, and S/P have better evasion than shortbow as well, with the former two costing the same init, and the latter costing only one more initiative for 8x the damage and a longer evade.

That is again debatable, is it the strongest skill on the weapon? yes. That doesnt mean its ONLY taken for that skill. it is a VERY strong skill that pretty much every class and build wish they could have access to but its not the only reason its taken. While they have better options for damage elsewhere, its not taken for the damage. Its taken for the mobility, the ranged option, the evade and such. Would it be stopped being used if iArrow was removed? Most likely as as a weapon it needs the mobility that the weapon offers.

It does say something about the Necro Greatsword that it doesnt have a single skill that is important that people take the Greatsword for the skill. Its skills are either too slow, too telegraphed, too easy to avoid or all of the above. As i said, it would work fine on say Guardian or Warrior with their high base armor health (in warrior case) so they can go toe to toe with enemies while using it. Necro cant do that.

> @"DeceiverX.8361" said:

> Ranger GS is a lot worse than you think and you'd be laughed out of the ranger forums for saying what you said. AA3 is the same speed with a longer pre-cast and aftercast than reaper's 1/2, and the evade is completely negligible. With might, the first two hits of reaper's GSAA are almost the total of ranger's entire chain. Maul only hits hard with wombo-combo builds that are basically the ranger version of signet thief dedicating several traits and utilities to a single Maul; it's coefficient is just over half of Gravedigger's. Skill 4 in melee is seen as trash in competitive due to the animation locking. Skill 5 is considered to be relatively pointless and a waste of casting time in most cases due to the animation lock and better options and was only just recently adjusted to make its hit-tracking better after being a complete mess of a skill.

And yet, i have seem MANY roamers using it and that is what counts, i dont care about Raids. I dont care for dungeons. I dont care for Factuals. I care for WvW and Roaming at that and in that area its VERY good. Its got everything you need for a GOOD roaming weapon. Damage. CC. Mobility. Defense. Is it perfect in all game modes? i wouldnt know i play WvW and thats where it works great.

Add in their access to Quickness and boom. Much, much better. The difference is, its MUCH easier to land those skills and those attacks thanks to them being better designed, adding in quickness access and such as well makes them much easier and more viable to use when roaming. Gravedigger is ONLY useful against people that are AFK and people that are downed.

Then you add in the very solid mobility skill so that you can actually get INTO melee to start using it, meaning that you already take less damage any skill that dazes or stuns a target is a useful skill if its cast time and such are reasonable and i think its reasonable plus - Maul - Hilt Bash - Maul with Quickness can be rather quick.

> @"DeceiverX.8361" said:

> I said **sword** on mesmer, not GS. Blurred Frenzy. The rest of the weapon is garbage yet MH sword is run on every single build including power and condi variants. The whole point was to mention basically every class has a weapon akin to reaper's GS that's used primarily for one or maybe two skills.

Ah, sorry. Though i still disagree, AA can hit like a truck, removes boons and your clones remove boons as well (IIRC) plus, you then have the options of what Offhand you want to take with it as well so then you have more choice of the 4/5 skills as well with Ranged options, Mobility options, Melee options and options for Condi or power builds with Stealth options as well. Sure Illusionary Leap is a bit crappy at times but that can be said for quite a few mobility/leap skills where they bug out. Yeah now you have to use 2-Handed options because using 1 hand weapons and then ignoring the off hand potential seems kinda bias against that weapon.

> @"DeceiverX.8361" said:

> Guardian GS is probably the most robust. Skill 3 is a worse gap closer than Grasp in any situation aside from a perma-stability target with it mostly used as a filler/blind tool than mobility. 4 is total filler and negligible. Arguably Guard has the most useful and individually impactful weapon skills of any profession, though. Staff is probably the better comparison now that I think about it.

I do really like Greatsword, though never had any issues with the Leap attack, reasonable cool down, though the range could be a little better the blind is a welcome addition as well. Solid auto attack, reasonable other skills that are made totally useless by their ICD or insane cast time and such are always a welcome addition to any weapon.

> @"DeceiverX.8361" said:

> Rev staff's AA is horrendous. It's third hit also has a 1s cast like reaper GSAA3 and the whole chain does more than 40% less damage despite being only .5s faster over the entire chain. Bad aftercasts as well, which the reaper doesn't suffer from as badly. Staff2 is slower than reaper's GSAA1/2 and does less damage than either + costs energy. The weakness is okay but generally not utilized heavily due to the energy cost and time involved - remember, Rev skills cost a shared resource amongst both weapons and utilities, so you can't look at them in a vacuum. Staff3 is generally filler at best with extra energy if locked into the weapon. 4's heal is awful.

That is debatable, i have gotten quite the damage from it myself, plus remember the access to quickness and fields make it that little bit better, the healing on the orbs could be a little sure but other than that i think its a solid auto attack, it lands on people, hits reason, fast chain time. Well, given that its an attack that procs Weakness and a possible stun of course its cast time is going to be slower than an auto attack. Yes it does less damage. Because thats NOT the point of the attack, the weakness and the stun is why its used. I personally think 5 energy cost isnt that bad too be fair. Low cool down as well. The energy cost on the stun part is what makes the chain a little expensive, so think the second part could be lowered a little and it would be perfectly fine. Yeah a 2 second projectile block is a filler skill? Necros would kill to have such a skill that isnt tied to a Shroud ability. Its a blast finisher + Removes 2 conditions, the healing isnt the best but you gotta have condi removal on Revenant.

> @"DeceiverX.8361" said:

> So we have... about five "good" skills of 20 on staff ele all gated behind swaps in different attunements? Kinda proves my point.

>

>

> To say GS on reaper is bad relative to other professions because 1 of the five skills is junk and its last AA is bad is stretching the truth really, really far.

"good" is dependant on your build and how you are playing. I have seen people roaming with Staff and doing very well using more than 5 skills. If you are a zergling then you are likely using less skills as its a ranged weapon on a VERY squishy class so you cant really get up in all the action like say a Hammer rev who will likely still rely on CoR for most of their damage. Every ranged weapon has its priority of skills to use. You can tell a good ele from a bad one as a bad ele will stay in Fire and just use that. The good ones know how to play it to its strengths.

You could ignore all of the other weapons and it is STILL a bad weapon for Necro. Its not a bad weapon in itself, its just a bad weapon for Necro. As i have said. They could keep this weapon EXACTLY the same, put it on another class and they would do much better with it. Necro isnt a toe to toe class, you will lose those fights and even more so with such a slow weapon with no mobility high cast times and so visible that makes some of them useless unless someone is AFK or downed kinda ruins it. For roaming its NOT a good weapon.

> @"DeceiverX.8361" said:

> You made this thread asking if GS was good in the PvP contexts with the admission that it feels weak. I've said it's good and given tips how to use it. I have four thousand hours on thief and rarely lose to any thief regardless of starting LF when playing my reaper because I understand the matchup. Most of the thieves/players I practice against are in the skill bracket of the top 50 in sPvP. Other esteemed reapers have also said that GS is a functional weapon.

Yeah and notice how many others that have come along saying the same. Its not that its weak its more that its poorly designed for Necro. It doesnt fit a class that is weak, has very little in terms of defense and cant go toe to toe with anyone without risk of dying quickly. Your number of hours played means nothing. I never really understand that people seem to think playing a long time as a class will mean they will win more. Its all about your enemy and Thief is a hard counter for pretty much any class that is slow, immobile and has huge cast times on pretty much everything. Very limited Stability and such dont help either. Sorry to break it to you, sPvP isnt the same as WvW. Never has been. Never will be. They are built to be different with different stats, builds and burst damage.

> @"DeceiverX.8361" said:

> Are there tweaks that could be made? Sure. But I don't think it'd come from buffing attack speed in AA3/GDigger unless they completely overdid it. GS's problems aren't about its melee potency, and reaper's woes shouldn't be fixed with some kind of insane teleport to match mobility powercreep. Put its pull on ammo to work to strip stability and all of a sudden the kit function very, very well.

The weaks needed to be made to make GS viable would need to be made to the CLASS and not the weapon as i have said. Its a good weapon, on the wrong class. Other classes with defense options, high health and armour, and who are more mobile would do great with this weapon. Think about this weapon on a Shiro Revenant. Quickness, Teleport, Stun break + Evade. I would say it would be a perfect weapon for Revenant add in the trait options and it would be great. The problem is, Necro has none of that.

> If you're here just to complain and make an echo chamber, don't ask a question about the validity of your beliefs. GS **is** a good weapon. It just doesn't do what you want it to do which is dealing lots of very quick damage. Just because it doesn't achieve that doesn't change the fact it's a good, functional weapon in conjunction with the rest of the reaper.

As i said, its a good weapon. Just not for Necro. Sure it works for PvE but hitting something that doesnt dodge, doesnt move, doesnt have mobility or anything else isnt really that hard. When it comes to players it is too easy to counter and it being on a class that cant go toe toe with anyone, cant chase people down or anything is what ruins it. Its the class at fault. Not the weapon.

Notice how some think its a good weapon (such as yourself) while many others also agree that it has too many issues and is kind of against the class itself to really be viable in a WvW roaming situation, Zerging? Yes it isnt that hard to make most weapons work there.

> @"DeceiverX.8361" said:

>and thief takes shortbow literally for skill 5.

> Ranger GS for Skill 3 half the time.

> Mesmer Sword for Skill 2 and nothing else.

> Guardian GS for 2/5

> Rev staff mostly for skills 4/5

> Ele staff for Fire5 if the situation demands.

I would disagree:

Showbow Thief: 3# = Evade + Cripple, #4 poison + Possible daze, 5# Insanely good. While its not the perfect weapon i wouldnt say its only used for skill 5.

Greatsword Ranger = Good Auto attack with evade, BIG hit #2 with low cool down, 3# Great for offensive and defense. 4# and 5# Daze and knock backs. Always welcome. Again. Another weapon that isnt used just for one ability. Maul hits for just as much (if not harder at times) than Grave digger with low cast time and cool down (unless >50% health target)

Mesmer Greatsword. Guessing you dont play Mesmer. As this is also wrong. Other than Mind Stab being a little difficult to land some times, all the abilities are useful and can deal insane damage. Useful both in melee and range.

Guardian Greatsword. Ignoring the Leap. The solid auto attack which procs Might, hits reasonable and quick. Really only meh skill i would say is 4# but still doesnt good damage, if you can keep them around. 5# is very good

Revenant Staff: Auto attacks deal solid damage and heals with added effects when traited. Low cool down access to Weakness with option for a daze if timed right. Projectile destruction and okay blind if enemies around and thats before the 4# and 5# skills. 4# could have a little lower cast time but solid heal, blast finish and remove 2 condis 5# still very, very strong

Ele staff: Ignoring most of the weapon sets options with healing, Fire, Water, Ice and Lightening fields with couple of blast finishers, CC, mobility and high damage options and projectile reflection. but sure, its only Fire 5# skill that is used.

All of these have MORE utility and options (except short Bow thief) than Necro Greatsword which is a slow weapon on a very slow class with no real defense options, no mobility, no way to engage quickly, no ways to disengage, skills that are easy to avoid and counter and easy to burst down from range

Any decent thief will run circles around pretty much any spec necro, using Greastsword just seems to make it that much hard because of how slow the weapon is in doing everything. Slow animations on every ability make most not worth even attempting. Gs4 and Gs5 while decent in PvE have huge tells, easy counters and for Gs4 the 2second ICD between pulses means even if you get it down, its not much of a threat due to how quick they can jump in, attack and then jump back out.

As for If they disengage count it as a win. No. Just no. The more times they disengage the worse the fight becomes for the Necro. At least other classes have abilities they can use to escape or be ready with invuls, blocks and such for the burst from stealth thats to come. Necro what does he have? Nothing. Its KNOWING what is coming but not have any tools to help counter that. Sure you can AoE spam the area with Marks or something but defensive ability wise, what do you have?

The Greatsword just feels to much like its a PvE weapon, in game modes with fast movement, teleports, blocks, invuls and everything else it just doesnt work. For Necro. I still think the EXACT same weapon would be fine on the likes of Ranger, Warrior and Guardian because they can go toe to toe with other classes, they have the abilities, healing and defense to do it. Necro simply doesnt.

> @"DeceiverX.8361" said:

> And GS not only **can** work for reaper but it **carries** reaper and can similarly also deal huge damage and change a fight **if played around its concept.**

>

> S/D does not burst and does not deal "insane" damage. Especially now with the nerfs cutting its damage by roughly 25% on average.

>

> It's an extremely strong set, but it does not achieve the ideal of a "burst assassin" as I mentioned above.

>

> Reaper GS is very strong weapon. But it does not fit the "slashy mobile fighter with a big sword" concept.

>

> GS, if used properly, is not slow and easy to avoid. If you refuse to acknowledge that, it's your problem, because I'm telling you this as a reaper player who's had tremendous success in solo play in WvW and typically wins in 1v1's against a number of thieves in the top 50.

It 100% does not carry Necro. Its concept is flawed. That is the problem. A VERY slow weapon in every aspect, on all its abilities in a world of everyone being faster, having better mobility, everyone having teleports, blocks and countless invuls. The weapon might work for PvE but PvP? WvW? Nope. Groups, Zergs where you just have to bash away at downed players maybe. However, against fighting against people. Everyone has the mobility to kite the slowest class in the game, which also happens to be the easiest class to interrupt as most of their skills have a little too long a cast time considering the very low access to stability effects.

It doesn't really matter the damage was reduced by 25% with its evades, teleports, stuns and such all built in. On a class that can SO easily disengage. Simply put: Any thief that gets caught by a Necro is a bad thief. Nothing else. Though i see plenty of Sword/Pistol Thieves, easy interrupt skills. Blinds, Blinds, Blinds. Teleports. Cripples and weakness on auto attacks.

Its a PvE weapon. No doubt about it. It works in a game mode where the targets barely move and dont dodge. Where you can pretty much face tank most things and still be fine. This is the OPPOSITE of WvW and PvP. Where everything is more mobile, has more ranged, more sustain, more burst, Blocks, Invuls, stealth and everything else it makes it a much weaker weapon.

I cant remember the last time i died to a Reaper in WvW, even longer since i saw a roamer Reaper with a Greatsword. Though if you have a 1minute fight and use the sword for like 5seconds in that fight, it kinda says something about the weapon. For a weapon to "carry" someone it needs to be the threat when using it. If most of your damage comes from Shroud or Axe then its not really the Greatsword that is carrying you?

> @"DeceiverX.8361" said:

> > @"velocity.4621" said:

> > don't listen to those tells you how to play, you like GS? use it, and most importantly, THIS....try to find a way for it to be useful, where it has advantages, weaknesses, once you find it, exploit that advantage, based on your playstyle!....simple as that, i don't use it simply because i don't like the way human female wield a GS... :p

>

> That's kind of the point I'm making, though.

>

> The GS isn't usable if you try to make it do what it's bad at. If you try to play around AA3 and Gravedigger, you'll never win a fight.

>

> The GS is amazing if you play to the strengths and design of the weapon. If there's a refusal to do so, your mileage in PvP/WvW will be quite poor. If the goal is to be a mobile gs warrior, necro does not accomplish this because it was not designed to. Warrior does.

>

> As I said, it's like wanting to play S/D thief as a burst assassin claiming the kit is weak because it doesn't get results. It doesn't work. You can either opt to take the playstyle adjustment focusing on evasion staying on S/D, or switch to D/X to achieve the playstyle goal sought after.

The problem with that is, Sword/Dagger CAN work for Thief, it can dish out insane damage. Its not a weapon that has a HUGE niche and is VERY easily countered with VERY slow attacks, a AoE that has an insane ICD and a pull that has a huge tell.

People say about using the weapon right, in specific situations and such - but why? Wasnt this game meant to be play YOUR way how many other weapons in the game have so many limitations on how and when to use it? when compared to other Greatswords in the, they can all be used in pretty much any build or situations or anything else. This is partly because of one thing: Mobility. The weapons have mobility skills on them, on classes that have MANY teleports, charges, leap skills and such to make sure they are on someone 100% of the time. This is something that is VERY much lacking on the Greatsword for the Necro and Necro in general when it comes to mobility.

> @"Warkind.6745" said:

> If you use it in conjunction with a set like axe/X and keep track of your enemies damage negation, greatsword is as viable for solo play as any other necro build.

>

> It's sure not easy, but roaming on necro is already a pain in the ***.

So with it already being a pain in the ass, is it worth taking a weapon that has huge tells on its decent skills, long ICD on others, no mobility, slow auto attacks and everything else :/

Maybe if the trait was buffed to give more health per a second, maybe even a ranged damage reduction and such so that it actually FITS with the theme that they seemingly wanted - slow, unstoppable.

Its very interesting how some say its good, others say its trash. Kind of says something about the weapon. It doesnt seem to have a well defined and built up role in combat. I can defo see it being solid in group/zerg gameplay where you can (in zergs) just mash attacks as you swarm through the blob, Dagger works really well due to the fast attacks as does Reaper of course.

However, i am a roamer at heart. More fun. Less reliant on others for kills. This is the most important area. You can make ANY weapon set and ANY build work in a blob. This is where Staff works so well - Ranged + AoE = Tags, Tags, Tags. The problem is. I am not interested in just tagging something from range in group fights and in any other situation i find staff SO boring.

So, the consensus seems to be:

Roaming Solo: God no.

Roaming Group: Solid

Zergs: Solid

Groups: Solid

> @"CaptainCaveman.7248" said:

> The signet is worthless in pvp and thats the only mode I care about personally. Worthless. Please dont conjure up 1 in 1000 scenarios to make it seem all right. There is a reason why its not used by good players in spvp and it is not.

The same pretty much goes for Any game mode. You SHOULDN'T have a "heal" that requires you to be HIT. It is counter productive, get hit by 5,000damage. Heal for like 3-500 health. Makes sense. It needs a overhaul on the passive. The active is solid. The active can be VERY useful but the passive is what destroys it.

> @"X T D.6458" said:

> You can, I used to solo with my builds and used them for zerging but this was pre PoF. The problem with going solo is all the regular issues necro faces like lack of mobility, stability, etc. Depending on what build you use you might not have enough cleanses and support to sustain yourself. These problems are not necessarily tied to using a gs, just regular necro disadvantages.

>

> Personally I say Reaper is a lot stronger in small groups because it can get more sustain support that allows it to focus on damage.

Yeah. Thats the problem. I much prefer solo than going in groups :(

> @"X T D.6458" said:

> I used to run Power and Condi Reaper builds, both with GS. GS is still very viable especially after several buffs to power builds, but not for zerging. Reaper is a lot better for small group comps because it can dish out a ton of damage in a short amount of time, and GS is a great snare and spike weapon right before going for shroud bursts.

>

> GS, with Axe/personal preference is always a good combo. Warhorn is a good choice if you like to camp shroud.

What about during Solo play? I prefer going solo. So no defense from others or anything.

> @"DeceiverX.8361" said:

> Whatever man, I've been at the top of reaper players like Eremite since the launch of the reaper and have had zero issues killing thieves and rangers solely due to GS. If you learn to use the weapon, it's the best choice on reaper.

>

> You're also running triple melee on a class with limited mobility. It makes sense you're getting kited because you're doing nothing to actually address the fact you're slow and have no ranged pressure.

I am curious, You talking about PvP or WvW as with all the teleports, stealth, Range, CC and such Thieves should have an easy time. I mean, i have beaten bad thieves, its the good ones that KNOW what they are doing. They are the ones that can make it impossible to win. Triple melee? Dagger/Warhorn and Scepter/Dagger currently, I wouldnt call that Melee, if i were to ever drop something for a Greatsword, it would be the Dagger/Warhorn as you need melee and ranged options.

> @"DeceiverX.8361" said:

> Have you considered flickering shroud charge (900 range) with it (~750 as it pulls from the back of the hitbox as well)?

>

> There's so much denial about taking any semblance of investment for move speed being horrible and yet every other class does. SotL is even a very potent heal with the new trait and multiple targets AND deals damage that can't be negated.

Do you mean Deaths Charge? Since when was that 900range movement? As its never felt like that and i am sure its like 4-500 range. Maybe 600. not too sure but its never felt like a 900 range skill. I would have rather it be a proper teleport skill. As its not very fast moving, doesnt go that far either.While the healing is good IF you're in a zerg or group, solo (which is what i prefer) its kinda wasted. A 1.7k (ish) heal on a 30second cool down isnt that great too me.

> @"DeceiverX.8361" said:

> Reaper's sustain is crap because of the degen nerfs but if you build for mobility and midrange play, it's not exactly like you're going to get kited extremely easily if you understand the matchups with classes and builds which kite, as you'll be able to negate their combos, punish them during their downtime, and make superior trades.

Build for mobility? How so? Even with 25% movement speed, taking ALL the teleport/movement skills its still not as fast as others and thats ignoring that you have gone for FULL mobility and others are just using weapon skills and such for theirs. I am curious as to what your build is though. Mind sharing?

> @"DeceiverX.8361" said:

> GS is only slow on its third AA chain and Gravedigger. Otherwise when you factor in precast/aftercast delays, it's not much slower than most other GS's, and like I said, AA and Gravedigger are the two worst parts of the weapon and shouldn't be attempted to make work. Skills 3-5 are what define GS.

To complete the chain, its a near 3 second cast time. How many Dagger auto attacks could you get in during that time? Its not just the 3rd hit that is slow. All 3 of them are slow. It is in fact the SLOWEST Greatsword auto attack chain in the game, all others complete in at MOST half the time. This is of course not accounting for after cast or anything on auto attacks. Gravedigger has pretty much no use against anyone unless they are stuck in CC (unlikely) or they are downed.

> @"DeceiverX.8361" said:

> Frankly, the most punishing matchups right now for reaper are spellbreaker and holosmith because they have sticking pressure and the ability to just dunk you in melee.

Too be fair, Spellbreaker doesn't really count as that affects EVERYONE due to how broken balanced they are. Holosmith for me has been hit and miss, won some. Lost others. The problem is. Necro has pretty much the worst staying power in the game. Can't go toe to toe with anyone due to all the blocks, invuls and such everyone else has.

> @"DeceiverX.8361" said:

> Skills 1, 3, 5 all give LF and a lot of it. GS5's pull is one of the best weapon skills in the game in my opinion. It requires practice to use, but a high-power ranged AoE pull + chill is super, super strong. It's a ranged interrupt that can close a gap and is worth using any time your opponent tries to flee. I think part of the problem so many reapers have is that they let their opponents get out of range before trying to close the gap. As soon as your enemy starts running you should be dropping shroud to GS combo CC-lock them. Forward move -> 4 -> 5 -> 3 or Forward move -> 5 -> 3 -> 4 will lock most people down and can be followed up with a CttB which due to the boon removal on 4 will also stunlock, double chill, apply massive vuln, and enable AA's, gravediggers, or RShroud combos.

yes it has lots of life force potential but with how low the auto attack is, you wont be landing many of them, Gs3 is possible and Gs5 is SO easy to avoid and dodge, huge tell and not very fast. Yes its great when you land it. The problem is you dont land it against most classes because they have simply got too much mobility, teleports and range for it to be a significant threat. It might lock most BAD players down. That is the key, only bad players get hit by it. Though that do, will have the stun breaks, teleports and such to get out of it before too much damage/punishment has been made. Also with the 2second ICD on Gs4, you have to time it perfectly for the pull to pull them in at the right time for a pulse of the boon removal and you forget, most classes can pump out boons like there is no tomorrow.

> @"DeceiverX.8361" said:

> Dagger has the best potential LF generation of all necro weapons but is the worst at actual combat imho. Axe's burst generation and massive ranged damage (it's basically ranger rapid fire) with combined ranged/AoE boon hate and vuln stacking have serious synergy with the reaper. Dagger's immobilize is too easily-cleansed by reaper's bad matchups, such as Thief/Daredevil (UC/Withdraw/IR/DS/RFI), ranger (WS Traits, LR), mirage (EM), and warrior (Resistance), making it more or less just a win-harder weapon into already-favorable melee matchups. With Axe, you have tremendous ranged power and much better anti-group play from Axe 3. Paired with OH dagger, it has double AoE corruption, AoE cripple, ranged AoE Weakness, single-target multi-hit ranged nukes, vuln stacking, AoE condi transfer, and ranged AoE blind. With Death's charge and Spectral Armor followed by Axe 2, reaper can out-trade a lot of ranged-heavy builds while also denying their combos via the projectile destruction Charge offers, while also gaining a ton of LF in the process.

Dagger is great for Life Force due to the fast auto attacks. When combined with Warhorn Its VERY good for life force. popping Warhorn 5 and then going into Shroud. Can be very useful. Dagger does unfortunately have its issues. The Life Siphon skill just SUCKS. Like REALLY sucks. The mmob skill could also be much better. Axe Skill is basically a SHORTER range version. Against a Ranger. I know that i would go with the Rapid Fire over it every day of the week. It is good that it follows through stealth. Though once its ended. You dont really have much.

Any Ranged build that loses to a reaper or Scourge, is simply not very good. Ranger, Druid, Soulbeast, pretty much everyone with range will be at the advantage, high mobility, damage, sustain and everything else. They have it. Necro doesnt. Ranged Vs Ranged. Necro loses. That simple. When i play my Soulbeast, i find fighting Necros, Reaper and Scourge among the EASIEST fights. Stealth, Sustain, Knockback, Condi removal, burst damage from 1,500 ranage among other things are all what Necro is weak against.

> @"DeceiverX.8361" said:

> As mentioned, it's a CC and utility weapon with heavy execution potential. It keeps foes engaged in melee and prevents escapes while harshly punishing ones that do stay with blinds/corrupts and leeching bolts whirl finisher with Soul Spiral, which deals siphon damage that ignores immunity effects like Signet of Stone and Endure Pain.

>

> GS is a weapon that needs to be learned to be used to fully benefit from it. It's absolutely devastating if the full measure of its kit is utilized.

>

> I think a lot of people also neglect to build any semblance of mobility on the reaper and don't understand why they get kited. Equip SotL and Signets of Suffering and stop taking the new complete garbage Speed of Shadows. I guarantee you'll perform way better. Incorruptable movespeed in and out of shroud is huge and only really justified ignoring if building BM wells for holding points in sPvP.

CC weapon? Really? One EASY to avoid CC doesnt in my opinion make for a good CC weapon. Where is the utility? full melee, no mobility, easy to counter CC and the Skill 4 has many weaknesses and counters. The 2second ICD really hurts it for quick play. you could pull someone in and they could still get out before any boon removal. It doesnt keep anyone in melee. Its very slow. The chill on the auto attack means nothing as it wont land against anyone. How does it prevent escapes? with teleports and such being 9-1,200 range?

Greatsword is a weapon that should be on a class that can use it. Necro isn't that class. They are too slow. No real access to skills and such that can make it more viable like Quickness and such. Would be a solid weapon for Guardians and Warriors. Builds and classes that CAN stay in melee and be a tank even in full zerk gear. Necro isnt that class.

I personally am running Travelers. I wouldnt waste a Utility slot for movement speed. Of course it means you cant take Durability or anything but better that than losing a utility slot.

> @"Nimon.7840" said:

> You mean like scourge made reaper and core almost unused?

Yeah, though that is for different reasons. That is because of the Power creep. Scourge doesnt actually fix or help with any of the hard counters that Necro suffer from, what it does bring however is more AoE conditions, Boon corrupt and such. Offensive better than the rest but all it really has for "defense" is the Barrier which is just as crap.

> @"Nimon.7840" said:

> As far as I tested it's pretty good build.

> We'll you have 25k hp with this build. That already covers a lot of dmg.

> If you are fighting a good ranged enemy, it won't matter, if you have 2.2k armor or 3k.

> They will just kill you.

>

> I came up with this build because I wanted to have heavy burst, while still having sustain.

>

> I personally don't like blood magic. It doesn't offer enough.

> The first traits are all bad.

> Second traits only vampiric presence is good

> As for last ones, only unholy martyr is good. But: the minor passive traits suck.

>

> Mark of evasion? No dmg and no real good sustain

> Vampiric is way too low dmg and healing

> Last rites is useless.

That is very true. Necro has too many counters to really worry about defense. Every class has builds that make killing ANY version of Necro rather easy. Blood Bond is rather good, it works with Signets of Suffering and gives you a decent heal when it procs as well, like 2-3k iirc. The only annoying thing, it can porc as people just use defense skills or go downed, wish it was unblockable or something. Yeah the leeching traits are a mixed bag but at least they work in Shroud and the Vampiric Presence does get buffed when you are in shroud. The minors are as you would expect - minor.

> @"pah.4931" said:

> The reason GS is so good for power reaper is because the alternatives are not good.

Does that not say something? It's basically the "best" of a bad bunch? :(

> @"pah.4931" said:

> Nightfall (#4) is one of the best abilities in the game (it's so good it makes Soul Eater worth taking in some cases)... Grasping Darkness (#5) is good and it's fun landing skill shots and in a world without 987875 stability access and 90987345 evade access and classes with extreme mobility with hardly any downside, it would be great. Death

You really think so? because i have used it and it been totally countered either by mindless boon application, constant teleports in and out and by the fact it has a 2second ICD kinda makes it meh against anyone that isnt asleep as its easy to get out of. Curious how Soul Eater makes it better?

Gs5 is good against someone AFK or fighting someone else. ANyone else unless they are nearly on top of you to begin with have a HUGE telegraph and a slow projectile like effect to avoid or dodge it. Yeah it would be great in that game, shame that isnt this game lol

> @"pah.4931" said:

>Spiral (#3) is OK; the vuln application is good, the LF generation is decent is good, and it's not hard to land. The AA and Gravedigger are both bad and get worse against better players. Which is weird, because Gravedigger is terrible design for PvE too (usually if something is lame in PvP it's because PvE... but GD is an anomaly).

Yeah Gs3 isnt too bad, could be better. Could be worse. Kinda says something as this would be a pretty bad skill for most classes. The damage is kinda meh at best and such but on Necro its considered pretty good. Yeah the AA has WAY too long a cast time to complete the chain, the damage is decent but other weapons do more damage, faster in my opinion. I would take lower dmaage and faster hits than a hard hititng slow attack that wont hit anyone. Gravedigger is prime example of whats wrong - looks flashy, looks cool but function wise its below par. Easy to avoid and pretty much only good to spam on downed people.

> @"pah.4931" said:

> BUT... staff is just for extra control and small poke damage and dagger is still not great... so Greatsword it is! If dagger ever gets the redesign it desperately needs, then you'd have a legit choice (axe / warhorn is too good for PvP). Until then... Greatsword it is!

Gods. I hate staff. So boring, easily the worst implementation of a staff weapon so far. Its just SO boring to use. I wish it was something like a Melee weapon, keep the effects and such such but remove the mindless and boring AoE mark aspect and it would be kinda decent

> @"Nimon.7840" said:

> http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQNAnYRnc0Albi90A22A0bildBLOKmF3iUXhzQWAKqlACAA-jlSBQBIU9HKcCA2whAYGLIQz9Dy3RAAAPAA8oPwkKBzoyPSBknkN-w

>

> That's my current build. I also tried rune of durability and warhorn. It really depends on what you are fighting.

> Same goes for healskill. If you don't meet many Condi builds, use the shout instead. Then you can consider the shout trait.

Interesting build, how do you perform when roaming? Very low armor and toughness must make things extra difficult to that range burst. You dont have much you can do about it. Add the limited access to mobility without running Travellers must be hard as well.

This is my build currently:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQRBLRhG2JNiQ1mY5NgnNA9mYpXwmyaDh5V8TcKeFhGTFgAAA-jFDBQBuSJ4S1CwgTAQWUmBgjAAFOIAM8BAIo9H0nGBzo0APq/kIdBiCYrA-w

> @"Nimon.7840" said:

> Going into shroud will heal you for [1(swiftness)+1(retaliation)+1(stability)+5(might)]×172=1376

>

> Placing down your well and standing inside of it, then going into shroud will give you even more heal.

That healing isnt too bad, though i run Blood Magic so Life leeching and condition consumption for like 21% Life Force is quite nice for me. Never really used Wells before, might have a look, I could drop Nothing Can Save You

> @"Nimon.7840" said:

> I'm not so happy with my sigills though. I really like having hydromancy on gs, but most of the times I go into shroud while having GS, and in shroud I wanna have sigill of strength. To have higher burst and more healing.

I use Draining/Bloodlust and Accuracy/Blood on mine (Scepter/Dagger and Dagger/Warhorn) As i am not a fan of ones that can proc when i dont want them, such as when swapping into Reaper Shroud out of melee and such.

> @"fost.9167" said:

> Most people probably see base necro and think a free kill. I enjoyed it, and im getting bored of scourge :p

That isnt because of being base Necro. That is what being a Necro does. Weak against pretty much every aspect of combat - Mobility, CC, Sustain, Burst, Teleports, Blocks, Invuls. Weak to everything. Best at....Nothing!? I can't lie. When i see a Necro. No matter the spec. I am pretty confident that i can win. Know their weaknesses and they have a LOT of them. It is just too easy to hard counter Necro (any spec) with very effort.