Does Necromancer play like it does in gw1? I was a N/Me in GW1 and I enjoyed interrupting people while sitting back etc
Does Necromancer play like it does in gw1? I was a N/Me in GW1 and I enjoyed interrupting people while sitting back etc
About the only part that works the same as GW1 Necro is condition control. You can pull them off allies, send them to enemies, convert them to buffs, etc. But conditions are often so short that they're rarely worth worrying about. Pets are momentary distractions to enemies and don't do much in the way of damage. And Necro damage seems lower than most other classes. All-in-all, the class still needs some work.
I think twice so far on my way to 37 in PvE, and pretty much only to zerg deaths in WvW. I haven't done any dungeons yet, so I'm not sure if any bosses there have super charged monster only skills that might be important. And considering that a lot of the conditional sending/converting skills have 1 minute cooldowns, you wouldn't be able to consistently react to anything doing lots of conditions. Unless you're talking about that super bleed stack build that hunters were using in beta, then yes, just a plague sending signet at the right time would turn the tables on them. But carrying a certain skill in PvP for the chance that you might encounter another class that might have a certain build isn't too helpful.
Trying to figure out why my level 9 Ranger has dual-weapon switching, but my level 27 Engineer does not. It could sure use the ability to bust out my shield mid-fight when I need to block projectiles!
Engineers and Elementalists only have access to 1 weapon during combat due to their unique mechanics (kits/attunements)
I've been doing battlegrounds as engineer with a heavy focus on dual pistol condition damage (extending burn duration and damage a lot, it's pretty powerful) and that seems to work a lot. Haven't done a huge amount so far but I've yet to find anyone in randoms who bothers to remove them and they certainly pay for it. I got the trait so that one of my elixirs removes conditions and it's pretty handy to have around.
Engineer is just awesome in pvp, I put points into extending buff durations and the movement speed+ I get from the one elixir lasts for so long, it's fantastic.
Good to know on both accounts. It bothered me that Necro wells had a recast of 60 seconds and only lasted 5, but I guess if you factor in balancing it around a group it makes sense. That way everyone has to pitch in, and you can't just count on one person to handle everything.
What have you guys been using for traits on Mesmer? Currently using a combination of Greatsword/Staff, sometimes Sword/Pistol.
Greatsword - wand/torch for now, but I'll most likely swap the wand to the sword. I like having an extra stealth ability for when my GS cooldowns are all on.
for the warriors out there, what weapon are you using for PvE? I tried Axe/Axe and Greatsword, I am missing something or is axe/axe pretty useless? Greatsword does way more damage, has better mobility and IMO better AoE, is stuff like swords/maces/hammers useful in PvE or are they more PvP oriented with all the bleeds/stuns they have?
I feel like I'm too much of a glass cannon right now with GS, but switching to something else makes me kill way slower and I end up taking more damage/die if there's more than 2 mobs, I'm level 40
Sword/Pistol and Greatsword is a really good PvE DPS spec. When you get to lvl 40, get 15 in Dueling, for Phantasmal Fury & Sharper Images, and then work up to 20, in Illusions, for Compounding Power and Illusionist Celerity. This lets your clones bleed on critical hits, they have 20% critical chance, and they attack 20% faster. Just with the bleeding alone, my undergeared Mesmer started slaughtering even leveled mobs and at 45, it's even better. The rest of the build will be 15 in Chaos and 15 in Inspiration to give my clones Phantasmal Healing (AoE regeneration) and Illusionary Membrane (Protection on regeneration) for survivability, leaving you with 5 points left over to spend wherever you want.
I can usually comfortably take 2 mobs at a time, and depending the mobs themselves, sometimes up to 6 with good maneuverability. Axe actually seems better if you don't use the 3 and 4 skill, instead using 2 as your opener then just auto-attacking the mob to death unless you get a good pack and wanna pop 5. I've dumped all my skills into Power/Precision and run with all signets up on the right bar. I gear also for the noted stats if I can help it. If your gear isn't behind, you shouldn't be having too much difficulty aside from the types of mobs you'd expect to lay the pain like champs/bosses.
I haven't hopped back to GS to see how it feels at 53, though. Figured I may as well get the 5k axe kills since I'm at like 3k+ now. Only other weapon I haven't mentioned that I use for niche purposes is a rifle. If it's something I know I can't melee, odds are I can just kite it in small circles using the snare shot and plinking away. It's fucking cheesy, but I blame Anet being harsh against melees with some of their lacking telegraphy on moves. And since I'm pretty much walking proof you don't need all the stuns and shit for basic PvE, stuff like Maces and Hammers are useless to me even though I carry them "just in case" for a scenario I've yet to hit.
I've thought about switching to a hammer, but I'm just not compelled to yet. I run with sword/axe and rifle, and I still like it. I still have a cripple on 3, even if it isn't ranged, but I love the maneuverability with leaping, and the auto-attack hits multiple targets and causes bleeds. The Burst on axe is nice, but I really love the bleed stacks sword's burst causes -- it's saved my ass a few times, especially when I catch multiple things in it. It gets even better if I've built up +Malice from my rifle's corruption sigil, which gives +5 (at minor) Malice for every kill until downed.
I'm going to try running with hammer/longbow for a while once I get a good sample of each, just to try something different -- put points into Defense/Tactics instead of power and precision, and see how that works out for me.
[e] Also, Mace mainhand is pretty lackluster, but I did quite enjoy mace offhand -- Vulnerability and ranged conal knockdown and the cooldowns are managable.
Anyone doing anything interesting with Thief?
I'm just using sword/dagger and killing things without too much trouble.
Stacking precision and power at the moment with more focus on precision.
Someone mentioned dagger/pistol and short bow in another thread. Working out pretty good for me thus far. I've only put points into precision and debating on the next thing to work on. I'm wondering if anyone's come up with a decent trait build as well.
For random PVE and DE's, you're best off just using S/P. Shouldn't really take much damage if you keep black powder up and you can cleave 3 mobs with sword. I generally pull 3-5 and kill 3 at a time. Shortbow offhand in every spec of course. It's just too good.
Hammer is good in situations where your fighting veterans that hit very hard and you have poor control, chill etc. Weakness, Knockdown, Knockback help alot. Control is what the hammer excels at, unfortunately its going to be one of those unpopular weapons because it isnt full glass cannon.
Sword/Mace Axe/Mace are what i prefer using as my melee options, the only reason to ever mainhand a mace is when your mace/shield tanking something.
I really want to start using /mace more, but I get so much utility out of axe 5 -- not even just the aoe damage (though that helps bunches with lewtz) but the incredibly rapid generation of Adrenaline is nearly priceless.
I've been working on a shoutheal build for group play, using warhorn condition removal with sword mainhand for maneuverability, and I'm trying to work out whether longbow or hammer would be better for an offswitch. There's a sigil that grants a chance to heal allies on crits, I think it is, which could be much more useful in an AoE weapon with more chances to crit (it has a CD, but this build won't have a stellar crit rate).