Another Death Magic Proposal

[Dignified Loser.7689]

It's been a bit since I've played, even longer since I've posted, but with the recent patch (for better or for worse) it seems that more significant changes are likely to happen. So, ignoring the sub-par changes to warhorn and focus, I want to throw out some ideas for the Death Magic traitline.

 

First and foremost, I believe minions should receive a 30% increase to their base health and a 15% increase to their damage. This is due to the proposed removal of _Flesh of the Master_ as well as the removal of _Necromatic Corruptions_' damage increase.

 

As for Death Magic itself, I believe in making protection a more significant part and keeping the aspect of "condition management" largely the same. Most minion traits have been consolidated and made to be inclusive of other potential "summoning" skills; these will be referred to as "summons."

 

Minor:

* Adept

* _Armored Shroud_: Gain bonus toughness while in shroud.

-Toughness: 180

* Master

* _Beyond the Veil_: Whenever you leave shroud, you and nearby allies gain protection.

-Protection (2s): -33% Incoming Damage

-Number of Targets: 10

-Radius: 600

* Grandmaster

* _Soul Comprehension_: Periodically gain stacks of _Soul Comprehension_ while below the life-force threshold; each stack of _Soul Comprehension_ increases the duration of protection you apply and increases the amount of life-force you gain from nearby deaths.

-Soul Comprehension (20s): +10% Protection Duration, +5% Life-force Gain

-Life Force Threshold: 50%

-Interval: 3s

-Maximum Stacks: 10

 

Major:

* Adept

* _Shrouded Removal_: Lose a condition when you enter shroud and every few seconds while you remain in shroud.

-Conditions removed: 1

-Interval: 3s

* _Dark Armor_: Gain protection while channeling.

-Protection (1.5s): -33% Incoming Damage

-Cooldown: 1s

* _Corrupter's Persistence_: Take less damage from poisoned foes. Poison nearby foes when you activate a healing skill.

-Damage Reduced: 10%

-Poisoned (2 stacks) (5s): -33% Heal Effectiveness

-Radius: 300

-Cooldown: 20s

* Master

* _Necromatic Corruption_: Whenever one of your summons die, summon a _jagged horror_. Additionally, summons take conditions from you. Whenever a summons attacks, it transfers conditions to its target. (10 second cooldown per summon.)

-Conditions Transferred: 1

-Interval: 10s

-Jagged Horror Summon Recharge: 3s

-Jagged Horror Lifetime Duration: 30s

-Jagged Horror Maximum: 5

* _Dark Defiance_: If you are disabled, gain protection. Incoming condition damage is reduced while you have protection.

-Protection (3s): -33% Incoming Damage

-Condition Damage Reduction: 20%

-Cooldown: 20s

* _Deadly Strength_: Gain expertise based on your toughness. Expertise gain doubles while in shroud.

-Gain Expertise Based on a Percentage of Toughness: 7%

-Gain Expertise Based on a Percentage of Toughness: 14%

* Grandmaster

* _Death Nova_: When you or one of your minions is downed, create a Lesser Poison Cloud. _Summon Bone Minions_ becomes _Summon Madness_.

-_Summon Madness_: Repeatedly summon minions that explode after a period of time if they are not killed (30s cooldown).

*Explosion Damage: 372 (1.25)

*Minion Damage: 98 (0.33)

*Number of Minions Summoned: 8

*Minion Lifetime: 6s

*Summon Interval: 1s

*Radius: 240

* _Unholy Sanctuary_: Regenerate health while in shroud. If your life-force is above the threshold, your shroud will activate and grant protection to nearby allies if you would take a lethal blow (30s cooldown).

-Healing: 130 (0.2)

-Life Force Threshold: 10%

-Life Force Threshold while Scourge: 25%

-Interval: 1s

-Protection (8s): -33% Incoming Damage

-Number of Targets: 10

-Radius: 600

* _Corrupter's Fervor_: Inflicting a condition on a foe grants stacking toughness and reduced incoming condition damage.

-Corrupter's Defense (8s): 30 Toughness, -2% Incoming Condition Damage

-Maximum Stacks: 10

 

Feel free to comment or discuss whatever; thanks for reading.

[JusticeRetroHunter.7684]

i get it...you want protection to be Death Magic's thing.

 

But if you ask me, Death Magic doesn't have anything to do with protection. Death Magic is supposed to be about manipulating the magic of Death to transfigure it into something as useful as the living. This is why Minions are a part of this tree.

 

At some point along the line, death magic got shoehorned into this weird defensive role by the community... Because it happened to have a lot of traits that deal with toughness. The changes you proposed is like...meh because necromancer really has no BUSINESS in sharing it's protection to 10 other allies. In other words, the necromancer gains nothing from these "buffs" in solo play (which is where it suffers the most) but gives it buffs in group play, which it already excels at.

 

Death Magic doesn't need these kinds of mechanics, but rather, just a more honed version of what death magic is supposed to be...the exploitation of death. If you look at Guild wars 1 as a reference, you can pick up plenty examples of potentially decent changes to the death magic line in order to stick to this theme rather than shoehorning it into some Tempest carbon copy.

Example1 (Based on Tainted Flesh from GW1) :

Dark Armor: Foes who hit you and your allies are weakened (5 seconds); Ally's are immune to weakness..

-Cooldown: 5s

-Radius: 600

 

Example2 (Based on Dark Aura from GW1) :

Dark Defiance: Every time you are hit by an attack that inflicts a condition, Deal damage to nearby foes.

Lose 1% of your health (Or Life force if you are in shroud) when dealing damage in this way.

-Radius 360

 

Example3

-Armored Shroud: (COMPLETE CHANGE) Minions now leave behind corpses. Corpses Last for 240 seconds before decomposting.

Grants 50 Toughness for every corpse in the area.

-Toughness: 50

-Radius: 5000

 

Example 4(Based on Order of Undeath)

Necromatic Corruption: Whenever one of your minions die, summon a jagged horror. For Every corpse in the area, your Jagged Horrors become stronger.

-Jagged Horror's gain increased movement speed (10%) increased damage (10%) and increased toughness (10%) for every corpse in the area.

-Jagged Horrors degenerate health (10-5% every 3 seconds for every corpse in the area)

-Jagged Horror Maximum: 5

-Effective Range - 5000

 

 

Not only that but the traits need to interact with OTHER traitlines, and not just it's own... a symptom of what i like to call the Elite Spec problem. (Most elite specializations synergize well with itself, and not other traitlines)

 

So for example a good synergy would be to change Soul comprehension into:

 

Soul Comprehension: Periodically gain stacks of Soul Comprehension while in shroud; Soul Comprehension changes might you apply into protection and increases the amount of life-force you gain from nearby deaths.

-Soul Comprehension (10s): +5% Life-force Gain

-Maximum Stacks: 10

 

As you can see a change like this instantly benefits by taking the SPITE trait line over Soul Reaping, because of the simple synergy of gaining might in spite will convert to protection when entering shroud. You can do these sorts of synergy changes with almost any skill as long as you understand the implications of those changes.

 

 

[Dignified Loser.7689]

> @"JusticeRetroHunter.7684" said:

>

> But if you ask me, Death Magic doesn't have anything to do with protection. Death Magic is supposed to be about manipulating the magic of Death to transfigure it into something as useful as the living. This is why Minions are a part of this tree.

>

> At some point along the line, death magic got shoehorned into this weird defensive role by the community... Because it happened to have a lot of traits that deal with toughness. The changes you proposed is like...meh because necromancer really has no BUSINESS in sharing it's protection to 10 other allies. In other words, the necromancer gains nothing from these "buffs" in solo play (which is where it suffers the most) but gives it buffs in group play, which it already excels at.

>

> Death Magic doesn't need these kinds of mechanics, but rather, just a more honed version of what death magic is supposed to be...the exploitation of death. If you look at Guild wars 1 as a reference, you can pick up plenty examples of potentially decent changes to the death magic line in order to stick to this theme rather than shoehorning it into some Tempest carbon copy.

> Example1 (Based on Tainted Flesh from GW1) :

> Dark Armor: Foes who hit you and your allies are weakened (5 seconds); Ally's are immune to weakness..

> -Cooldown: 5s

> -Radius: 600

>

> Example2 (Based on Dark Aura from GW1) :

> Dark Defiance: Every time you are hit by an attack that inflicts a condition, Deal damage to nearby foes.

> Lose 1% of your health (Or Life force if you are in shroud) when dealing damage in this way.

> -Radius 360

>

> Example3

> -Armored Shroud: (COMPLETE CHANGE) Minions now leave behind corpses. Corpses Last for 240 seconds before decomposting.

> Grants 50 Toughness for every corpse in the area.

> -Toughness: 50

> -Radius: 5000

>

> Example 4(Based on Order of Undeath)

> Necromatic Corruption: Whenever one of your minions die, summon a jagged horror. For Every corpse in the area, your Jagged Horrors become stronger.

> -Jagged Horror's gain increased movement speed (10%) increased damage (10%) and increased toughness (10%) for every corpse in the area.

> -Jagged Horrors degenerate health (10-5% every 3 seconds for every corpse in the area)

> -Jagged Horror Maximum: 5

> -Effective Range - 5000

>

>

> Not only that but the traits need to interact with OTHER traitlines, and not just it's own... a symptom of what i like to call the Elite Spec problem. (Most elite specializations synergize well with itself, and not other traitlines)

>

> So for example a good synergy would be to change Soul comprehension into:

>

> Soul Comprehension: Periodically gain stacks of Soul Comprehension while in shroud; Soul Comprehension changes might you apply into protection and increases the amount of life-force you gain from nearby deaths.

> -Soul Comprehension (10s): +5% Life-force Gain

> -Maximum Stacks: 10

>

> As you can see a change like this instantly benefits by taking the SPITE trait line over Soul Reaping, because of the simple synergy of gaining might in spite will convert to protection when entering shroud. You can do these sorts of synergy changes with almost any skill as long as you understand the implications of those changes.

>

>

 

I actually agree with a lot of these, especially the idea of Minions leaving corpses and Soul Comprehension's interaction with Spite. I still think protection could have some larger role in Death Magic, but definitely not to the degree I suggested. Even if it's not a necromancer's business, some more "typical" defensive options, like protection, should be available rather than just impairing enemies with weakness, cripple, etc. That being said, I definitely prefer shifting Death Magic into what its supposed to be instead of turning it into some mediocre defensive traitline.

[derd.6413]

the bone minion change seems a bit off to me. also a bit too much protection.

 

maybe incorporate the new dark aura perhaps? (just spitballing)

[Dignified Loser.7689]

> @"derd.6413" said:

> the bone minion change seems a bit off to me. also a bit too much protection.

I dunno, I like the idea _Summon Madness_, but I don't particularly like _Lich Form_, which is the only way to access that skill at the moment. I agree that there's too much protection after having another look at it.

> maybe incorporate the new dark aura perhaps? (just spitballing)

I thought about it, but was unsure where to place it. Maybe incorporate it in place of so much protection?

 

[Dignified Loser.7689]

Some changes based on the little bit of feedback I got. It feels somewhat disjointed, but more thematically appropriate.

 

Minor:

* Adept

* _Dark Armor_: Minions now leave behind corpses. Corpses Last for 180 seconds before decomposing. Gain stacking bonus Toughness for every corpse in the area.

-Toughness: 20

-Maximum Stacks: 25

-Corpses per Minion: 1

-Radius: 1800

* Master

* _Beyond the Veil_: Whenever you leave shroud, you gain a Dark Aura and create a corpse.

-Dark Aura (3s): Surrounded by a dark aura that reduces incoming condition damage and causes torment each time you are struck (1-second cooldown per attacker).

-Corpses Created: 1

* Grandmaster

* _Soul Comprehension_: Periodically gain stacks of Soul Comprehension while in shroud; each stack of Soul Comprehension increases the amount of life-force you gain from nearby deaths and converts 1 stack of Might into Protection when you leave shroud.

-Soul Comprehension (10s): +0.5s Protection, +5% Life-force Gain

-Interval: 3s

-Maximum Stacks: 10

 

Major:

* Adept

* _Necrotic Hunger_: When you enter shroud consume nearby corpses, gaining Might and life-force for each corpse consumed.

-Might (1 stack) (12s): 30 Power, 30 Condition Damage

-Life Force: 2%

-Radius: 600

* _Shrouded Removal_: Lose a condition when you enter shroud and every few seconds while you remain in shroud.

-Conditions removed: 1

-Interval: 3s

* _Corrupter's Persistence_: When you strike a foe, gain Protection for each unique condition afflicting them.

-Protection per Condition (1s): -33% Incoming Damage

-Cooldown: 20s

 

* Master

* _Necromatic Corruption_: Whenever one of your minions die, summon a jagged horror. For each nearby corpse, your minions attack faster up to the maximum; for each minion you control, deal increased damage up to the maximum.

-Maximum Minion Attack Speed Increase: 15%

-Maximum Damage Increase: 15%

-Radius: 1800

-Jagged Horror Summon Recharge: 3s

-Jagged Horror Lifetime Duration: 30s

-Jagged Horror Maximum: 5

* _Dark Defiance_: If you are disabled, gain a Dark Aura. Whenever you gain a Dark Aura, nearby allies also gain a Dark Aura.

-Dark Aura (3s): Surrounded by a dark aura that reduces incoming condition damage and causes torment each time you are struck (1-second cooldown per attacker).

-Ally Dark Aura (3s): Surrounded by a dark aura that reduces incoming condition damage and causes torment each time you are struck (1-second cooldown per attacker).

-Number of Targets: 5

-Radius: 300

-Cooldown: 30s

* _Deadly Strength_: Gain expertise based on your toughness. Expertise gain doubles while in shroud.

-Gain Expertise Based on a Percentage of Toughness: 7%

-Gain Expertise Based on a Percentage of Toughness: 14%

* Grandmaster

* _Death Nova_: When you or one of your minions is downed, create a Lesser Poison Cloud. Summon Bone Minions now summons 3 minions instead of 2. Each time you rupture a Bone Minion, your Minion Skills are partially recharged.

-Recharge Reduced: 10%

* _Unholy Sanctuary_: Regenerate health while under the effects of an aura. When you gain an aura, damage nearby foes.

-Healing: 130 (1.2)

-Damage: 175 (0.3)

-Number of Targets: 5

-Radius: 240

-Interval: 1s

* _Corrupter's Fervor_: Inflicting a condition on a foe grants stacking toughness and reduced incoming condition damage.

-Corrupter's Defense (8s): 30 Toughness, -2% Incoming Condition Damage

-Maximum Stacks: 10

 

[Stand The Wall.6987]

I still want a gm trait that gives 1s of evade or invuln upon entering shroud.

[derd.6413]

corrupter's fever just sounds like Parasitic Contagion but with toughness.

 

unholy sanctuary is a bit too limited (given that necro doesn't have many ways to gain dark aura)

 

i still find it strange that death nova makes you take a specific utility skill.

 

the corpse mechanic is interesting but it probably requires a couple of redrafts

 

not a fan of Soul Comprehension at all

[MithranArkanere.8957]

> @"JusticeRetroHunter.7684" said:

>[..]

> But if you ask me, Death Magic doesn't have anything to do with protection. Death Magic is supposed to be about manipulating the magic of Death to transfigure it into something as useful as the living. This is why Minions are a part of this tree.

 

Death Magic is the necromancer's self-defense line. First and foremost, it's about keeping the necromancer alive. One of the 3 main ways to do this is by having minions take the hits. But minions are only one of the 3 lines of traits.

[melandru.3876]

> @"MithranArkanere.8957" said:

> > @"JusticeRetroHunter.7684" said:

> >[..]

> > But if you ask me, Death Magic doesn't have anything to do with protection. Death Magic is supposed to be about manipulating the magic of Death to transfigure it into something as useful as the living. This is why Minions are a part of this tree.

>

> Death Magic is the necromancer's self-defense line. First and foremost, it's about keeping the necromancer alive. One of the 3 main ways to do this is by having minions take the hits. But minions are only one of the 3 lines of traits.

 

false, blood magic is the line to keep necro alive

 

death magic is just a meme and has no spot in anybuild but gw1 nostalgia

[JusticeRetroHunter.7684]

> @"MithranArkanere.8957" said:

> > @"JusticeRetroHunter.7684" said:

> >[..]

> > But if you ask me, Death Magic doesn't have anything to do with protection. Death Magic is supposed to be about manipulating the magic of Death to transfigure it into something as useful as the living. This is why Minions are a part of this tree.

>

> Death Magic is the necromancer's self-defense line. First and foremost, it's about keeping the necromancer alive. One of the 3 main ways to do this is by having minions take the hits. But minions are only one of the 3 lines of traits.

 

To be clear, these definitions are derived from Guild Wars 1. Death Magic is the manipulation of Death...it involved utilizing “sucking the life of the dead for your personal benefit” cold magic and animating the dead.

 

Blood Magic is also about self infliction to cast spells... sacrificial magic, not directly about healing but about using your own health pool to channel powerful magic.

 

 

[derd.6413]

> @"JusticeRetroHunter.7684" said:

> > @"MithranArkanere.8957" said:

> > > @"JusticeRetroHunter.7684" said:

> > >[..]

> > > But if you ask me, Death Magic doesn't have anything to do with protection. Death Magic is supposed to be about manipulating the magic of Death to transfigure it into something as useful as the living. This is why Minions are a part of this tree.

> >

> > Death Magic is the necromancer's self-defense line. First and foremost, it's about keeping the necromancer alive. One of the 3 main ways to do this is by having minions take the hits. But minions are only one of the 3 lines of traits.

>

> To be clear, these definitions are derived from Guild Wars 1. Death Magic is the manipulation of Death...it involved utilizing “sucking the life of the dead for your personal benefit” cold magic and animating the dead.

>

> Blood Magic is also about self infliction to cast spells... sacrificial magic, not directly about healing but about using your own health pool to channel powerful magic.

>

>

 

i think they moved the self harm aspect over to curses. (actually most "flavor" purposes have been shuffled around between gw1 and 2)

[Stand The Wall.6987]

hmm along the themes of tankiness, what about a trait that converts damage to life force? lets say 10-20%.

[MithranArkanere.8957]

> @"melandru.3876" said:

> > @"MithranArkanere.8957" said:

> > > @"JusticeRetroHunter.7684" said:

> > >[..]

> > > But if you ask me, Death Magic doesn't have anything to do with protection. Death Magic is supposed to be about manipulating the magic of Death to transfigure it into something as useful as the living. This is why Minions are a part of this tree.

> >

> > Death Magic is the necromancer's self-defense line. First and foremost, it's about keeping the necromancer alive. One of the 3 main ways to do this is by having minions take the hits. But minions are only one of the 3 lines of traits.

>

> false, blood magic is the line to keep necro alive

>

> death magic is just a meme and has no spot in anybuild but gw1 nostalgia

No. Blood is the ally support line.

Every profession has 5 core lines:

* 1 that focuses in a form of damage, usually Power - Spite

* 1 that focuses in another form of damage, usually Condition - Curses

* 1 that focuses in self-sustain - Death Magic

* 1 that focuses in party support - Blood Magic

* 1 that focuses in improving profession mechanics. - Soul Reaping.

 

> @"JusticeRetroHunter.7684" said:

> > @"MithranArkanere.8957" said:

> > > @"JusticeRetroHunter.7684" said:

> > >[..]

> > > But if you ask me, Death Magic doesn't have anything to do with protection. Death Magic is supposed to be about manipulating the magic of Death to transfigure it into something as useful as the living. This is why Minions are a part of this tree.

> >

> > Death Magic is the necromancer's self-defense line. First and foremost, it's about keeping the necromancer alive. One of the 3 main ways to do this is by having minions take the hits. But minions are only one of the 3 lines of traits.

>

> To be clear, these definitions are derived from Guild Wars 1. Death Magic is the manipulation of Death...it involved utilizing “sucking the life of the dead for your personal benefit” cold magic and animating the dead.

>

> Blood Magic is also about self infliction to cast spells... sacrificial magic, not directly about healing but about using your own health pool to channel powerful magic.

That was blood magic in GW1, blood magic included most health sacrifice skills. Curses had a lot too, but not as many. Death magic only had 3, all related to minions.

In GW2, the sacrificial line is Curses, as it includes the trait related to Corruption skills. Corruption skills replace the concept of blood sacrifice with self-inflicted conditions.

 

> @"Stand The Wall.6987" said:

> hmm along the themes of tankiness, what about a trait that converts damage to life force? lets say 10-20%.

If it's damage done, that would make more sense in Soul Reaping. Death magic already has Soul Comprehension , that gets more life force from kills.

Life force from damage in Death Magic would only fit the line if it was from damage received, not done.

[Stand The Wall.6987]

> @"MithranArkanere.8957" said:

> If it's damage done, that would make more sense in Soul Reaping. Death magic already has Soul Comprehension , that gets more life force from kills.

> Life force from damage in Death Magic would only fit the line if it was from damage received, not done.

I suppose you're right about it fitting in soul reaping better. soul comprehension is so bad tho!

hmm damage received might work, its dumb to require anything to function based off of you making mistakes, but hey if it works it works.

 

 

[Dignified Loser.7689]

> @"derd.6413" said:

> corrupter's fever just sounds like Parasitic Contagion but with toughness.

Doesn't _Parasitic Contagion_ heal you for a percentage of your condition damage? I'm not sure how _Corrupter's Fervor_ is all that similar.

> unholy sanctuary is a bit too limited (given that necro doesn't have many ways to gain dark aura)

Fair enough, but maybe it could encourage future updates to give necro more finishers.

> i still find it strange that death nova makes you take a specific utility skill.

The idea was to be similar to Curses' _Lingering Curse_ changing one of the scepter skills. Changing a utility skill might be too specific though. Maybe having a weapon skill be able to summon a jagged horror or affect minions in some way could make _Death Nova_ a little more interactive?

> the corpse mechanic is interesting but it probably requires a couple of redrafts

No doubt, but once the idea was thrown out it made me think of the necromancer from Diablo 3 and it's corpse mechanic, both of which I enjoyed.

> not a fan of Soul Comprehension at all

Do you have a suggestion to make it better? I'm assuming it's the interaction with might and protection that's making it unappealing.

 

[derd.6413]

> @"Dignified Loser.7689" said:

> > @"derd.6413" said:

> > corrupter's fever just sounds like Parasitic Contagion but with toughness.

> Doesn't _Parasitic Contagion_ heal you for a percentage of your condition damage? I'm not sure how _Corrupter's Fervor_ is all that similar.

 

they both increases the necro's survivability depending on how much condi's he's throwing around

 

> > not a fan of Soul Comprehension at all

> Do you have a suggestion to make it better? I'm assuming it's the interaction with might and protection that's making it unappealing.

actually i don't like any of it

[Dignified Loser.7689]

> @"derd.6413" said:

> they both increases the necro's survivability depending on how much condi's he's throwing around

Fair enough, I think _Corrupter's Fervor_ and _Parasitic Contagion_ approach it differently enough even if their roles are similar.

> actually i don't like any of it

Noted. I'll throw around some other ideas for _Soul Comprehension_ to see if they can better fit the bill.

 

[JusticeRetroHunter.7684]

> @"MithranArkanere.8957" said:

> No. Blood is the ally support line.

> Every profession has 5 core lines:

> * 1 that focuses in a form of damage, usually Power - Spite

> * 1 that focuses in another form of damage, usually Condition - Curses

> * 1 that focuses in self-sustain - Death Magic

> * 1 that focuses in party support - Blood Magic

> * 1 that focuses in improving profession mechanics. - Soul Reaping.

>

Like i said in my initial comment above, This is exactly what i was referring to when i said that the community has appointed death magic to a specific role, in Death Magic's case, to be a "defensive" trait line....appointed by the community.

 

Not only does this line of thinking sort of hurt build diversity overall, but it's just simply not a true statement to begin with....it's just really your own perception of what you think Spite is, or what Blood Magic is, based on the idea that the traits roughly align with healing, dealing damage, or giving toughness etc...

 

As of right now, and to my knowledge, Guild Wars 2 has no official description of what Death Magic is supposed to be (Or any school of magic for that matter).... So using Gw1 as a base is a good starting point.

 

I can go into why the 5 bullet points you've listed is utter croc, but i think most people can figure out why that is without me explaining it.

[Dignified Loser.7689]

Some more changes.

 

Minor:

* Adept

* _Soul Comprehension_: Enemies now leave behind corpses that only you can use. Corpses Last for 180 seconds before decomposing or until you are out of range.

-Corpse per Enemy: 1

-Maximum Number of Corpses: 30

-Range: 2400

* Master

* _Beyond the Veil_: Whenever you leave shroud, you gain a Dark Aura and create a corpse.

-Dark Aura (3s): Surrounded by a dark aura that reduces incoming condition damage and causes torment each time you are struck (1-second cooldown per attacker).

-Corpse Created: 1

* Grandmaster

* _Dark Armor_: You and your minions deal increased damage and gain bonus toughness for each nearby corpse.

-Dark Armor (9s): 20 Toughness, +1% Damage Increase

-Interval: 3s

-Maximum Stacks: 15

-Radius: 1800

 

Major:

* Adept

* _Necrotic Hunger_: When you enter shroud consume nearby corpses, gaining Might and life-force for each corpse consumed.

-Might (1 stack) (12s): 30 Power, 30 Condition Damage

-Life Force: 2%

-Radius: 600

* _Shrouded Removal_: Lose a condition when you enter shroud and every few seconds while you remain in shroud.

-Conditions removed: 1

-Interval: 3s

* _Corrupter's Persistence_: When you strike a foe, gain Protection for each unique condition afflicting them.

-Protection per Condition (1s): -33% Incoming Damage

-Cooldown: 20s

 

* Master

* _Necromatic Corruption_: Whenever one of your minions die, summon a jagged horror. Minions now leave behind a corpse when they die.

-Corpse per Minion: 1

-Jagged Horror Summon Recharge: 3s

-Jagged Horror Lifetime Duration: 30s

-Jagged Horror Maximum: 5

* _Dark Defiance_: If you are disabled, gain a Dark Aura. Whenever you gain a Dark Aura, nearby allies also gain a Dark Aura.

-Dark Aura (3s): Surrounded by a dark aura that reduces incoming condition damage and causes torment each time you are struck (1-second cooldown per attacker).

-Ally Dark Aura (3s): Surrounded by a dark aura that reduces incoming condition damage and causes torment each time you are struck (1-second cooldown per attacker).

-Number of Targets: 5

-Radius: 300

-Cooldown: 30s

* _Deadly Strength_: Gain expertise based on your toughness. Expertise gain doubles while in shroud.

-Gain Expertise Based on a Percentage of Toughness: 7%

-Gain Expertise Based on a Percentage of Toughness: 14%

* Grandmaster

* _Death Nova_: When you or one of your minions is downed, create a Lesser Poison Cloud. Your dagger skill _Enfeebling Blood_ causes corpses it strikes to rupture, creating Lesser Poison Clouds.

-Number of Corpses: 3

* _Unholy Sanctuary_: Regenerate health while in shroud. Life-force from nearby deaths heal you, even while in shroud.

-Healing: 130 (1.2)

-Healing from Life Force: 100 (0.3)

-Radius: 900

-Interval: 1s

* _Corrupter's Fervor_: Inflicting a condition on a foe grants stacking toughness and reduced incoming condition damage.

-Corrupter's Defense (8s): 30 Toughness, -2% Incoming Condition Damage

-Maximum Stacks: 10

 

[Dadnir.5038]

> Enemies now leave behind corpses that only you can use. Corpses Last for 180 seconds before decomposing or until you are out of range.

 

Hell no! Having corpses remaining behind serve no purpose except making the game more laggy. This will just end up being another visual pollution and a strain on the servers.

 

Death magic is, ultimately, the damage reduction traitline and, despite the (too many) minions traits, it is not not far from being "viable". A few minor change could bring it to viablity, there is no need for a whole rework bringing more issues than fixing anything.

- _Putrid defense_ merely need to additionnaly release a lesser poison cloud (the same as death nova) when your health fall below 50% on a reasonnable ICD.

- _Beyond the veil_ just need to add a leap finisher when you leave shroud. (to exploit our combo field)

- _Unholy sanctuary_ need to be reworked granting barrier instead of making you enter the shroud. Which would allow to remove the life force requirement and save your life wether you got life force or not.

 

Minion trait can be ignored, at this point it's obvious that ANet is deadset on keeping them for flavor.

[Dignified Loser.7689]

> @"Dadnir.5038" said:

> Hell no! Having corpses remaining behind serve no purpose except making the game more laggy. This will just end up being another visual pollution and a strain on the servers.

Good point, I hadn't really considered how the corpses would affect the servers and game as a whole.

> Death magic is, ultimately, the damage reduction traitline and, despite the (too many) minions traits, it is not not far from being "viable". A few minor change could bring it to viablity, there is no need for a whole rework bringing more issues than fixing anything.

> - _Putrid defense_ merely need to additionnaly release a lesser poison cloud (the same as death nova) when your health fall below 50% on a reasonnable ICD.

> - _Beyond the veil_ just need to add a leap finisher when you leave shroud. (to exploit our combo field)

> - _Unholy sanctuary_ need to be reworked granting barrier instead of making you enter the shroud. Which would allow to remove the life force requirement and save your life wether you got life force or not.

>

> Minion trait can be ignored, at this point it's obvious that ANet is deadset on keeping them for flavor.

I'm down with these suggestions. Full reworks are fun to think about, but they ultimately tend to be too problematic when trying to incorporate them into a pre-existing system. I still would like some new bells n' whistles in Death Magic, or, at the very least, something other than the current iteration of _Soul Comprehension_.

 

[Sigmoid.7082]

> @"JusticeRetroHunter.7684" said:

> > @"MithranArkanere.8957" said:

> > No. Blood is the ally support line.

> > Every profession has 5 core lines:

> > * 1 that focuses in a form of damage, usually Power - Spite

> > * 1 that focuses in another form of damage, usually Condition - Curses

> > * 1 that focuses in self-sustain - Death Magic

> > * 1 that focuses in party support - Blood Magic

> > * 1 that focuses in improving profession mechanics. - Soul Reaping.

> >

> Like i said in my initial comment above, This is exactly what i was referring to when i said that the community has appointed death magic to a specific role, in Death Magic's case, to be a "defensive" trait line....appointed by the community.

>

> Not only does this line of thinking sort of hurt build diversity overall, but it's just simply not a true statement to begin with....it's just really your own perception of what you think Spite is, or what Blood Magic is, based on the idea that the traits roughly align with healing, dealing damage, or giving toughness etc...

>

 

Its based on the stats the traitlines used to provide as it gave you.

* Spite gave power and condition duration

* Curses gave condition damage and percision

* Death Magic gave boon duration and toughness

* Blood magic gave healing power and vitality

* Soul Reaping gave crit damage and increased life force.

 

Even to this day each line still does pretty much what it originally did and was made to do. None of this was the community deciding it should be something its just how it was made.

 

Each class has lines that are designed the exact same way. When you look at the [specialization page](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Specialization) the traitlines are ordered this same was for all the classes bar Rev. Even then rev still has lines that follow the same order. Back in the point buy spec system this is how they were ordered in game likely to allow you to pick up and new class and understand that #1 is power, #2 is condi, #3 is defence ,#4 is support and #5 profession mechanic.

 

 

[Lily.1935]

When looking at Death magic there is more than just the 2 themes we see on the wiki. Poison being the other major one that shows up quite a bit. Both Death Nova and Putrid defense have some minor synergy with each other.

 

To start, I've learned over the years not to touch the Minion traits. The Forums just don't like that. People here do not want the minions to be changed in any way. Which is fine, its the only solid theme the spec has. If you're building a minion spec, its the only reason to go into death.

 

As for the other traits, I feel I could make some simple changes that could greatly improve them.

 

* Putrid Defense: Keep the 10% damage reduction but increase poison duration by 20%.

* Move Banshee's Wail from blood and Bring it over to death. Change Banshee's wail to turn Wail of Doom into Call to the Grave. Call to the grave becomes an Unblockable fear. Warhorn skills grant protection for 2 seconds. Make it a grandmaster and remove Corrupter's Fervor.

* Remove Deadly Strength and replace it with Withering Aura. Withering Aura casts lesser corrosive poison cloud at your location when you enter shroud. 20 second cool down, lasts 4 seconds.

* Unholy Sanctuary: Remove the healing in shroud. Grant 150 toughness while in shroud or while under the effect of barrier(doesn't stack). When you take a lethal blow gain 4k barrier and increase your toughness by an additional 150 for 10 seconds. 30 second cool down.

 

My personal goal with these changes is to give death some utility. A lot of the problems with death is its lack of real utility. I kept the Dark Defiance as I feel it isn't a bad trait. But I also feel the necromancer really needs another fear. Giving it to warhorn and moving it to death makes sense to me. But I might just be tired. Who knows! As it stands with these changes a player could justify using death magic on a scourge, reaper or even core necromancer. Which is the goal of my changes. Casting a short duration CPC is more scaling defenses that the necromancer desires, unholy Sanctuary has been a meme for a long time, but I feel replacing it with granting barrier is a good solution to the issues we see now. Such as it not activating while on a scourge or failing to activate while below the life force threshold. I moved the bonus toughness from Corrupter's Fervor to it to make the choice quite enticing for players.

 

[Stand The Wall.6987]

> @"JusticeRetroHunter.7684" said:

> Like i said in my initial comment above, This is exactly what i was referring to when i said that the community has appointed death magic to a specific role, in Death Magic's case, to be a "defensive" trait line....appointed by the community.

 

uh no pretty sure anet designed the classes that way.