[Fractal] Power Reaper is hugely satisfying to play in Fractals

[Turkeyspit.3965]

I couldn't have been more wrong about this elite.

 

At one point, I disliked Greatsword, I thought the spec moved too slow, didn't have enough utility, and the whole feast/famine system of damage dealing while in Reaper shroud made me sideline my Necro as a DPS, and then completely once they borked Shade mechanics to the point I didn't want to play Heal Scourge anymore.

 

Well that changed when I started playing again in January. I decided to learn Reaper for Fractals.

 

After about a month of playing, while I'm not going to comment on arcDPS logs or anything, for just general LFG'ing with random players, this has to be the most stress free build I've ever taken into a fractal. Compared to Guardian, my usual main for fractals, on Reaper I rarely worry about getting downed, and if things are really going badly, I can use shroud as a short lived life raft until the group can recover.

 

And utility? On Guard I used to like how I brought Quickness/Fury as well as some Condi cleanse or maybe reflects, but with Reaper, I can actively counter several of the nastier instabilities.

 

I started taking her into OW zones like S5 maps, running a bit more of a self-sustain build using Augury and shouts, and boy, what a carefree way to play the game, when your solution to pretty much any problem is: enter Reaper shroud.

 

So if you were like me, and had only played Core or Scourge, use your 2nd gear slot and get some cheap zerker gear, and give this elite a whirl (pun intended). Very fun indeed!

[Infusion.7149]

The thing about fractals is usually people aren't going to complain about DPS (unless it's _really_ bad and it's a boss dependent on DPS such as the reactor ooze or Amala) or discriminate against necros. Because wiping isn't "the end" , cleave is decent, and necros bring boon rips for some of the instabilities people tend to be more chill about it.

 

That's why if necros are to be used in more instanced content there needs to be less insane stats on enemies and boons instead. For example instead of giving an enemy 5000 power they could have 2600 power+ 25 stacks of might + fury+quickness.

[BlackBullWings.2734]

I'm on reaper fractals as well, it's amazing fun. and shredding through everything in reaper shrowd is extremely fun :)

[spankyed.4735]

 

> @"BlackBullWings.2734" said:

> I'm on reaper fractals as well, it's amazing fun. and shredding through everything in reaper shrowd is extremely fun :)

 

Hell YEAH!

[maidiance.6920]

I hated reapers as a healer because of many of them who would go low health, enter shroud - thereby denying me the chance to heal them - then at some arbitrary point exit it and then die.

Guards are definitely squishier, but no healing I provide ever goes to waste on them. I just wish more of them would change utils for condi cleanse, stab, etc.

I'm glad you're enjoying fractals though. :)

[Turkeyspit.3965]

> @"maidiance.6920" said:

> I hated reapers as a healer because of many of them who would go low health, enter shroud - thereby denying me the chance to heal them - then at some arbitrary point exit it and then die.

> Guards are definitely squishier, but no healing I provide ever goes to waste on them. I just wish more of them would change utils for condi cleanse, stab, etc.

> I'm glad you're enjoying fractals though. :)

 

It is I guess a necessary trade-off that you can't be healed while in shroud, as otherwise it would be a very OP mechanic for when you got low on health, but it is also a part of maximizing your DPS: avoiding damage to keep Shroud up longer, and also making sure to be above 90% health when entering shroud so Scholar rune damage increase kicks in.

 

I wonder how many Reapers even know about Shroud 3, but instead focus their rotation entirely on Shroud 4 and Shroud 1 rotations.

 

It's a bit of a YOLO build, since while in shroud you feel invincible. I started playing my Reaper more and more in S5 maps, and I've jumped into the middle of stuff I never would have dared do while on a Guardian. I find myself doing the same thing in T1/T2 recs - just charging into a pack of trash and deleting it.

 

Regarding utils, it's an education thing. You can always suggest to Reapers in your party that when No Pain, etc is up, they should be swapping to Well of Corruption and/or Nothing can Save You. Sure the BS could swap to SB or the Rene can swap to Mallyx, but I think it's better if everyone does their part. Heals and boons are one thing, but outside of an organized speed clear group, I don't agree that we rely on 'others' to bring CC, condi clear, or boon strip. That's the problem I see with Metabattle/SC/Discretize, in that those builds are always optimized, but you rarely see an optimized group in LFG.

[maidiance.6920]

Very good suggestions, thank you :)

[Lan Deathrider.5910]

Reaper hard carries a FotM group. Very strong and durable. Not optimal for a speed clear, which is were the meta-bros descriminate against necros, but the meta Bros fail to understand that a well played non meta comp is better than a poorly played meta comp.