The Deathcap [Minion Master Elite spec]

[Aslakh.3072]

Definitely the best elite specialisation suggestion I've seen on these forums. I like how it takes minions which are currently considered passive and makes them engaging. An aoe target to get them to leap somewhere before engaging was quite a clever way to make them more controllable. It has potential to be more engaging and interesting than even scourge which is more engaging and interesting than reaper (opinion). While I would still probably main scourge (nice balance of offense and defense while this is clearly more offensive oriented) I would definitely make a Sylvari Necromancer just to run this spec if it ever became official in a similar format.

[Lily.1935]

> @"Aslakh.3072" said:

> Definitely the best elite specialisation suggestion I've seen on these forums. I like how it takes minions which are currently considered passive and makes them engaging. An aoe target to get them to leap somewhere before engaging was quite a clever way to make them more controllable. It has potential to be more engaging and interesting than even scourge which is more engaging and interesting than reaper (opinion). While I would still probably main scourge (nice balance of offense and defense while this is clearly more offensive oriented) I would definitely make a Sylvari Necromancer just to run this spec if it ever became official in a similar format.

 

You flatter me. Careful you might inflate my ego a little too much.

[Lily.1935]

> 1. [F1] **Summon Spore Horror**: Summon a Spore Horror. Spore horrors degenerate health over time. You may control up to 5 of them at any one time. These minions explode on death dealing damage scaled to your power and their crit chance is based on your current crit chance including Fury. approximate cost, 1,600 life force. No recharge. 1/2 second cast time. _Each Minion causes shroud skill 1 to trigger only on death, not on summoning. So combination with traits like Unyielding blast, Dhuumfire and Reaper's Might will in fact combo with these minions. Otherwise they function like normal minions._

> 2. [F2] **Putrid rebirth**: Call target location damaging foes, each Spore horror leaps that that location and damages foes, sacrificing themselves then summon 3 new Spore horrors at your location if 4 or more horrors were sacrificed this way. If not, spawn a single spore horror instead. Approximate cost of 2,200 life force. 3/4 second cast time. 7-8 second cool down. _The first strike you will do will achieve the boon corrupt of something like path of corruption while the later hits will not. Even if you have no spore horrors this skill will now spawn one for you._

> 3. [F3] **Vile Miasma**: Breath a vile cloud in a cone out from you that poison's and confuses foes. Your spore horrors release spores into the air that poison and confuse your foes around them. 300 range in a cone in front of the player. 120 radius around the horrors. Life force cost, around 2,400. 3/4 second cast time. 10-12 second cool down. _Never forget that Arena net promised us that the necromancer would apply confusion. NEVER FORGET!_

> 4. [F4] **Discord**: Conjure an aoe blast of horrifying toxins that poison your foes and cause fear. Spore horrors are sacrificed and create the same AoE blast. Life force cost, 3,300, approximation. 1 second cast time. 180 Radius around yourself and the minions. cool Down 15-20 seconds.

> 5. [F5] **Cadaverous shroud**: Gain 2 stacks of stability and your spore horrors become bonded to you. All damage you would take is redirected to those minions for a time. Minions take the burden of health sacrifice. Summon a spore horror if you have none. No cast time. Duration 8-10 seconds 25-30 second cool down a 4,600 life force, approximation.

 

I'm considering some changes to this to make it a bit easier to use.

 

1. [F1] **Summon Spore Horror**: Summon a Spore Horror. Spore horrors degenerate health over time. You may control up to 5 of them at any one time. These minions explode on death dealing damage scaled to your power and their crit chance is based on your current crit chance including Fury. approximate cost, 1,600 life force. No recharge. 1/2 second cast time. _Each Minion causes shroud skill 1 to trigger only on death, not on summoning. So combination with traits like Unyielding blast, Dhuumfire and Reaper's Might will in fact combo with these minions. Otherwise they function like normal minions._

2. [F2] **Undead Leap**: Call target location damaging foes, each Spore horror leaps that that location and damages foes and causes crippling. Approximate cost of 2,200 life force. 3/4 second cast time. 7-8 second cool down. _The first strike you will do will achieve the boon corrupt of something like path of corruption while the later hits will not. Even if you have no spore horrors this skill will now spawn one for you._

3. [F3] **Vile Miasma**: Breath a vile cloud in a cone out from you that poison's and confuses foes. Your spore horrors release spores into the air that poison and confuse your foes around them. 300 range in a cone in front of the player. 120 radius around the horrors. Life force cost, around 2,400. 3/4 second cast time. 10-12 second cool down. _Never forget that Arena net promised us that the necromancer would apply confusion. NEVER FORGET!_

4. [F4] **Discord**: Conjure an aoe blast of horrifying toxins that poison your foes and cause fear. Spore horrors are sacrificed and create the same AoE blast. If you have 4 or more spore horrors, summon 3 spore horrors at your location. If not, summon 1 instead. Life force cost, 3,300, approximation. 1 second cast time. 180 Radius around yourself and the minions. cool Down 15-20 seconds.

5. [F5] **Cadaverous shroud**: Gain 2 stacks of stability and your spore horrors become bonded to you. All damage you would take is redirected to those minions for a time. Minions take the burden of health sacrifice. Summon a spore horror if you have none. No cast time. Duration 8-10 seconds 25-30 second cool down a 4,600 life force, approximation.

 

I figured changing the way the Minions Cycle through their damage would be more conducive to combos. But the line would have a pretty obvious tell, letting players avoid the blast. So you could have your minions Leap in, use Vile Miasma or discord right after causing some damage and a bit of **Discord**(PUNS!) among the enemies. Switching it over to Discord as the recycling skill seemed like a good idea too. What do you guys think about this potential change? Should I update it to be like this as opposed to my previous version? I feel this might be a bit more synergistic.

[Lily.1935]

A few more clean ups to make the spec more cohesive. Minions don't have a passive leap anymore but rather the skill 2 will cause them to leap. It has a long range targeting so the minions will begin pursuing the target and leap once they get within a certain range.

[derd.6413]

i would rather see anet improve the death magic traitline line and minion-skills then try to cover it up with an e-spec

[Lily.1935]

> @"derd.6413" said:

> i would rather see anet improve the death magic traitline line and minion-skills then try to cover it up with an e-spec

 

This isn't a cover up. Its an extension.

[Timarius.2895]

Personally I would call them Virulent Horrors as a play on Virulence from GW1, but I have to say I'm sad about the sacrifice skills because I know whenever I bring those up as a blood based life stealing for healing specialization I get complaints about being able to kill yourself with your own skills and how that doesn't fit into Guild Wars 2. All in all, this is an interesting idea, but I'd love it more if it were reworked into a condition spreading monster like Virulence + Epidemic in GW1.

[Teratus.2859]

As long as it doesn't change anything that cripples my MM tank build then sure this would be a fun way to make a second MM build that functions differently.

[derd.6413]

> @"Timarius.2895" said:

> I get complaints about being able to kill yourself with your own skills and how that doesn't fit into Guild Wars 2.

 

did these ppl forget corruption skills are a thing?

 

 

[Timarius.2895]

> @"derd.6413" said:

> > @"Timarius.2895" said:

> > I get complaints about being able to kill yourself with your own skills and how that doesn't fit into Guild Wars 2.

>

> did these ppl forget corruption skills are a thing?

>

>

 

But then you're just using logic. That never goes well on any forums I've been to.

[Lily.1935]

> @"Teratus.2859" said:

> As long as it doesn't change anything that cripples my MM tank build then sure this would be a fun way to make a second MM build that functions differently.

 

I took you into consideration when designing this. Not you specifically, but people who like to do that. This isn't a replacement for that build more an alternative to it. Plus I did provide a more sustained minion set up for it too. The Top line is more focused on Minion damage and numbers than the sacrificial nature of the bottom line and the poison focus of the middle.

[Lily.1935]

> @"Timarius.2895" said:

> > @"derd.6413" said:

> > > @"Timarius.2895" said:

> > > I get complaints about being able to kill yourself with your own skills and how that doesn't fit into Guild Wars 2.

> >

> > did these ppl forget corruption skills are a thing?

> >

> >

>

> But then you're just using logic. That never goes well on any forums I've been to.

 

I think anet will eventually change their mind about health sacrifice. A good chunk of the community wants it. So it'll happen. Its just a matter of when and how. I've been playing a lot of D3 lately and using a blood nova build in it has been quite rewarding. Its risky and when I've been away from the build for a while I die a few times but quickly adjust and find it extremely fun to use.

 

Players liked to be challenged. We like depth in play style and a lot of options. If everyone liked it easy and simple to use everyone would have just used Deadeye for DPS in many of the raid encounters. And although some people do, others are just not interested by that. Games like Dark Souls wouldn't be successful either if people didn't like challenge. Difficult builds for necromancer, such as the sacrificial builds and suicide builds were not that easy to use, you needed to be very mindful in GW1. And necromancer wasn't extremely popular in GW1, but it really filled a niche that really drew players like me to it. GW2 doesn't have that niche in the game currently, and as fun as scourge is for me its still lacking some of that more deep game play you got in GW1.

[Timarius.2895]

> @"Lily.1935" said:

> > @"Timarius.2895" said:

> > > @"derd.6413" said:

> > > > @"Timarius.2895" said:

> > > > I get complaints about being able to kill yourself with your own skills and how that doesn't fit into Guild Wars 2.

> > >

> > > did these ppl forget corruption skills are a thing?

> > >

> > >

> >

> > But then you're just using logic. That never goes well on any forums I've been to.

>

> I think anet will eventually change their mind about health sacrifice. A good chunk of the community wants it. So it'll happen. Its just a matter of when and how. I've been playing a lot of D3 lately and using a blood nova build in it has been quite rewarding. Its risky and when I've been away from the build for a while I die a few times but quickly adjust and find it extremely fun to use.

>

> Players liked to be challenged. We like depth in play style and a lot of options. If everyone liked it easy and simple to use everyone would have just used Deadeye for DPS in many of the raid encounters. And although some people do, others are just not interested by that. Games like Dark Souls wouldn't be successful either if people didn't like challenge. Difficult builds for necromancer, such as the sacrificial builds and suicide builds were not that easy to use, you needed to be very mindful in GW1. And necromancer wasn't extremely popular in GW1, but it really filled a niche that really drew players like me to it. GW2 doesn't have that niche in the game currently, and as fun as scourge is for me its still lacking some of that more deep game play you got in GW1.

 

You don't have to convince me. I absolutely want a vampire themed sword wielding necromancer that stabs people for life steal and sacrifices their HP to buff and heal their allies.

[Lily.1935]

> @"Timarius.2895" said:

> > @"Lily.1935" said:

> > > @"Timarius.2895" said:

> > > > @"derd.6413" said:

> > > > > @"Timarius.2895" said:

> > > > > I get complaints about being able to kill yourself with your own skills and how that doesn't fit into Guild Wars 2.

> > > >

> > > > did these ppl forget corruption skills are a thing?

> > > >

> > > >

> > >

> > > But then you're just using logic. That never goes well on any forums I've been to.

> >

> > I think anet will eventually change their mind about health sacrifice. A good chunk of the community wants it. So it'll happen. Its just a matter of when and how. I've been playing a lot of D3 lately and using a blood nova build in it has been quite rewarding. Its risky and when I've been away from the build for a while I die a few times but quickly adjust and find it extremely fun to use.

> >

> > Players liked to be challenged. We like depth in play style and a lot of options. If everyone liked it easy and simple to use everyone would have just used Deadeye for DPS in many of the raid encounters. And although some people do, others are just not interested by that. Games like Dark Souls wouldn't be successful either if people didn't like challenge. Difficult builds for necromancer, such as the sacrificial builds and suicide builds were not that easy to use, you needed to be very mindful in GW1. And necromancer wasn't extremely popular in GW1, but it really filled a niche that really drew players like me to it. GW2 doesn't have that niche in the game currently, and as fun as scourge is for me its still lacking some of that more deep game play you got in GW1.

>

> You don't have to convince me. I absolutely want a vampire themed sword wielding necromancer that stabs people for life steal and sacrifices their HP to buff and heal their allies.

 

Specifically with health sacrifice you need to be the aggressor to gain your health back. Although a vampiric spec that uses health sacrifice could work, it wouldn't primarily be a healer because of this. it would have some uses for support for sure, as it did in GW1, but that specific idea of healing and killing yourself in the process like a traditional healer wouldn't work as well as you might think.

 

I am designing a vampire spec. Its just a bit of a struggle for me since I preferred Death and curses in GW1 as opposed to blood.

[Timarius.2895]

> @"Lily.1935" said:

> > @"Timarius.2895" said:

> > > @"Lily.1935" said:

> > > > @"Timarius.2895" said:

> > > > > @"derd.6413" said:

> > > > > > @"Timarius.2895" said:

> > > > > > I get complaints about being able to kill yourself with your own skills and how that doesn't fit into Guild Wars 2.

> > > > >

> > > > > did these ppl forget corruption skills are a thing?

> > > > >

> > > > >

> > > >

> > > > But then you're just using logic. That never goes well on any forums I've been to.

> > >

> > > I think anet will eventually change their mind about health sacrifice. A good chunk of the community wants it. So it'll happen. Its just a matter of when and how. I've been playing a lot of D3 lately and using a blood nova build in it has been quite rewarding. Its risky and when I've been away from the build for a while I die a few times but quickly adjust and find it extremely fun to use.

> > >

> > > Players liked to be challenged. We like depth in play style and a lot of options. If everyone liked it easy and simple to use everyone would have just used Deadeye for DPS in many of the raid encounters. And although some people do, others are just not interested by that. Games like Dark Souls wouldn't be successful either if people didn't like challenge. Difficult builds for necromancer, such as the sacrificial builds and suicide builds were not that easy to use, you needed to be very mindful in GW1. And necromancer wasn't extremely popular in GW1, but it really filled a niche that really drew players like me to it. GW2 doesn't have that niche in the game currently, and as fun as scourge is for me its still lacking some of that more deep game play you got in GW1.

> >

> > You don't have to convince me. I absolutely want a vampire themed sword wielding necromancer that stabs people for life steal and sacrifices their HP to buff and heal their allies.

>

> Specifically with health sacrifice you need to be the aggressor to gain your health back. Although a vampiric spec that uses health sacrifice could work, it wouldn't primarily be a healer because of this. it would have some uses for support for sure, as it did in GW1, but that specific idea of healing and killing yourself in the process like a traditional healer wouldn't work as well as you might think.

>

> I am designing a vampire spec. Its just a bit of a struggle for me since I preferred Death and curses in GW1 as opposed to blood.

 

It wouldn't just be for healing. My idea was that the shroud has various abilities that require sacrificing HP instead of life force, and instead of having life force you get a much larger HP pool.