n/w or w/n? - Guild Wars Forums

miz redavni · Feb 16, 2011, 12:40 PM // 12:40

ok im sure this has been asked before but im going to ask it anyway.

first off id like to add that im a complete newb to gw. i just started mins ago and stumbled into this thread when looking for a good place to talk about this game.

i really like the idea of beating someone down with physical strength and at the same time ticking down their health with spells. i feel that it gives into the whole helplessness on their part.

i mean whats worst then losing hp to some strong attacks and at the same time losing health to small or big spells?

anyway back to the question, whats better, n/w or w/n?

-Reaver- · Feb 16, 2011, 12:59 PM // 12:59

W/N would work better - since you'll be at the front getting hit - but it will have energy issues.

Edit: That is, if it works at all. I don't mean to sound elitist, but you'll find later on in the game that'll you do a lot better focusing on just phys. damage dealer or magic damage dealer. But hell, while you're low level, have fun with it.

Steps_Descending · Feb 16, 2011, 12:59 PM // 12:59

Welcome to the game miz. Hope you enjoy your time here.

First off, there is a section better suited for such questions : http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/q...swers-f14.html. The thread should be moved by an admin.

As for the question, in most case, you're a lot more defined by your primary. So the short answer is : if you prefer mainly casting, n/w. if you prefer to be mainly hitting, w/n.
But in general, if you intend to be close to the front line, go Warrior. Necro have some cheap spells, so energy should be less of a problem.

Depending on which game you have, you migth want to check the dervish from Nightfall. It is a fighter/caster hybrid that might be better in the long run than w/n. It's going to havea massive skill overhaul soon tought, butit should just put more spells in their game.

miz redavni · Feb 16, 2011, 01:29 PM // 13:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steps_Descending

Welcome to the game miz. Hope you enjoy your time here.

First off, there is a section better suited for such questions : http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/q...swers-f14.html. The thread should be moved by an admin.

As for the question, in most case, you're a lot more defined by your primary. So the short answer is : if you prefer mainly casting, n/w. if you prefer to be mainly hitting, w/n.
But in general, if you intend to be close to the front line, go Warrior. Necro have some cheap spells, so energy should be less of a problem.

Depending on which game you have, you migth want to check the dervish from Nightfall. It is a fighter/caster hybrid that might be better in the long run than w/n. It's going to havea massive skill overhaul soon tought, butit should just put more spells in their game.

oh sorry.

i believe i bought all 3.

truth is im a wow player and i can already tell that this is pretty damn different. i guess im just trying to find my place in this game

thanks

oh btw is there a place i can go read about the roles of all the profs and prof combos? a version for dummies would be nice

aspi · Feb 16, 2011, 01:34 PM // 13:34

Hih Miz, Take a look at this : http://www.gwpvx.com/PvX_wiki
There are good builds there but it does not always mean it's the best around. in fact some are outdated and some are just not very good.

But by playing the game, prferably with humans you will learn much more, joind a guild for quicker learning. The combination you have chosen might work for a while but you will find out for yourself what works and what not. As long as you are enjoying the game everything works

Have fun.

MithranArkanere · Feb 16, 2011, 02:23 PM // 14:23

If you want both physical and spell casting, maybe you should try assassins and dervishes.

Assassins are bit more like necromancers and mesmers, putting pressure on enemies with hexes, while dervishes are a little bit more like elementalists and monks, being able to deal direct elemental damage with Point Blank Areas of Effect (PBAoE) and keeping themselves healthy while dealing decent damage.

Raven Wing · Feb 16, 2011, 02:34 PM // 14:34

A necro has weak armor and is generally bad at dealing physical damage and won??t have benefit from many warrior skills. I advise against n/w.
A warrior is as already said frontliner, got solid armor and is good at hitting people. Furthermore there is a handful of necro skills that suit well with a warrior. Weaken armor hex and touch spells are some. You WILL have energy problems, so you cant throw off tons of spells. Using a weapon with +5 energy mod helps a bit.
So if you are like you said in OP, try w/n.

drkn · Feb 16, 2011, 02:37 PM // 14:37

PvX contains certain builds. This is the place you'd like to visit to know more about the game.

Iuris · Feb 16, 2011, 03:38 PM // 15:38

To avoid link storms:

A W/N is COMPLETELY different from N/W.

A W/N is a Warrior. He has heavy armour and practically no energy regeneration. He'll use warrior skills to whack people, and only use necromancer skills as secondary utility skills. You WILL NOT have enough energy to effectively use necromances skills that support melee - you need a dedicated caster to use those.

A proper W/N is a warrior using warrior skills (usually adrenaline based), and only using low energy spells to remove conditions or enemy defences.

A N/W on the other hand is a caster. If he doesn't stay out of harm's way, he WILL get eaten alive. No question about it. You have twice the energy regeneration of a warrior, half as much of an energy pool, AND your soul reaping will bring you extra energy when enemiexs die. This guy CAN afford to spam Barbs every 5 seconds, but someone else will have to do the actual hitting to make it work.

A proper N/W will be a caster only using a stance or two from the warrior's tactics line for extra protection.

GW will, in the end, NOT allow you to be a fighter/mage. It's team based - warriors run around hitting things and casters go around zapping things (or maybe boosting warriors). The other physical attack professions MIGHT come close to it, but really, it's best if each of the professions sticks to their own task and gets support from others.

djemonk · Feb 16, 2011, 04:15 PM // 16:15

I play a W/N. I've tried a N/W but never really seemed to get it to work the way I want it to. As other people pointed out, you'll have to be careful with your energy management. The solution to that is to always think of yourself as a warrior and use maybe 1 or 2 slots on your skill bar for N powers that complement your warrior powers. There's a touch life steal power that you can get pretty early on that is helpful. You can go with a minion guy and you should be able to maintain 3-5 minions but be forewarned that the "elite" people in this game will make fun of you. Still, it's a lot of fun.

My general strategy is to use 7 skills for warrior powers with a ranged Necromancer power that helps out in situations where it's tough to close with an enemy. If I know I'm going against tough, armored opponents, I bring a power that cracks armor, otherwise I just bring something that does damage to 2-3 enemies and leave it at that.

A W/N is a LOT of fun, provided that you don't let the general negativity of the people on the boards and in the game get you down.

Daesu · Feb 16, 2011, 04:21 PM // 16:21

Depends on how you want to play, if you like playing melee a warrior makes a better choice than a necro. A W/N is a much more popular combination than a N/W. A meleemancer N/W can work enough in low level areas, but not as well in the elite areas of HM.

Skyy High · Feb 16, 2011, 04:41 PM // 16:41

Put it this way: if you want to play a N/W swinging a sword and casting spells too, go ahead. You'll be able to get through the game in Normal Mode at least. Don't be surprised if you get a few funny looks (or worse) from your teammates, and don't be surprised when you need to reevaluate your playstyle if you ever want to play Hard Mode.

But, again, for NM, do whatever you want. It's a game, have fun.

Chrisworld · Feb 16, 2011, 05:07 PM // 17:07

You guys are aware that plenty of options exist for a Warrior's poor energy pool, right? I'm not suggesting you do this, I mean, it's all up to you. Insignias and runes exist to provide more energy for anyone. Radiant and Attunement. Now, you have Zealous sword hilts. I have a setup where I use energy runes and a zealous sword for those random fun times I might use a small caster type bybrid build on my Warrior, and +5 energy swords do exist in the end game content for Factions, I'm fairly certain.

Chthon · Feb 16, 2011, 05:32 PM // 17:32

Neither is very useful.

Off the top of my head:
W/N can be a standard warrior w/ Plague Touch. Sometimes that's sort of useful.
N/W can use a spear and Auspicious Parry to power SY! spam. (Very awkward, but it works.)
"Meleemancer" is a joke build that can be marginally effective if you know what you're doing. (And it's normally N/D, not N/W.) Especially if you're just starting out, all you will accomplish is getting yourself killed a lot, so I don't recommend it.

syronj · Feb 16, 2011, 05:42 PM // 17:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daesu

Depends on how you want to play, if you like playing melee a warrior makes a better choice than a necro. A W/N is a much more popular combination than a N/W. A meleemancer N/W can work enough in low level areas, but not as well in the elite areas of HM.

Among my characters are a female Nightfall N/W and a male Canthan W/N. I like the characters too much to delete them, but if I had to do it over again, I would have created them differently. The male doesn't have enough energy for much spellcasting, and the female can't last in melee the way a true warrior could. Both are axe-users, though sometimes I've had the Canthan wield a hammer or sword. But the advice in the posts above is good and very detailed.

gremlin · Feb 16, 2011, 07:24 PM // 19:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by miz redavni

ok im sure this has been asked before but im going to ask it anyway.

first off id like to add that im a complete newb to gw. i just started mins ago and stumbled into this thread when looking for a good place to talk about this game.

i really like the idea of beating someone down with physical strength and at the same time ticking down their health with spells. i feel that it gives into the whole helplessness on their part.

i mean whats worst then losing hp to some strong attacks and at the same time losing health to small or big spells?

anyway back to the question, whats better, n/w or w/n?

In case I missed it being covered.
You can always change your secondary class in the game, not right away but the opportunity does come around.

So even if you go W/N or N/W and you find its not working you simply play the character as its main class till you can alter the second for something that works better for you.

Rites · Feb 17, 2011, 01:58 AM // 01:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by djemonk

A W/N is a LOT of fun, provided that you don't let the general negativity of the people on the boards and in the game get you down.

agreed

as a matter of fact, ANY class could be fun, but sometimes the "elite" like to bog everyone down with their "knowledge"

try both, see which one you like better (me personally i would go W/N, but thats cuz i prefer physicals)..
yes pvxwiki can offer builds, but dont be afraid to try something different

and if you find a build that YOU like according to YOUR playstyle, don't let the morons push you away from it

Haggis of Doom · Feb 17, 2011, 02:32 AM // 02:32

There's nothing wrong with having fun. Games have a special kind of charm to them when we understand them very little, so no need to go about things the optimal way.

BUT

Don't base your primary profession choice on something that won't work. It may be fun for a little while, before it stops working and starts making the game difficult and frustrating for you. Since you made a choice concerning the playstyle, your primary character cannot fulfill your needs/expectations anymore.

For example, my first character was a W/E for which I planned PBAoE spells (sturdy and wreaking havoc, what's not to like... right?). When that didn't work out too well, I ended up disliking the profession and deleted him. My current warrior is my third, and became my main because I grasped the concept and played the warrior to be a warrior, not something else.

That said, the assassin and the dervish are both frontline fighters which are more prone to cast spells than warriors. Also, an illusion mesmer with Illusionary Weaponary is fun to mess around with and seems to fit your goal well, but isn't a very good build.

sonofthort · Feb 17, 2011, 02:44 AM // 02:44

As most people are pointing out, it is not exactly optimal to play the role of a caster + physical, since a team coordinated effort will always be superior. However, there are fun things you can do with W/N. Take a look at this build:

http://www.gwpvx.com/User:Smity_Smit..._Hundred_Barbs

This is the typical w/n or n/w caster/physical build people are probably thinking of. Warriors can manage their energy just fine with this build, so they are probably ideal over necro primary. The only advantage you gain from necro is that you can spam barbs more and your damage is more largely invested in armor ignoring sources. For PvE, you might consider the hex mark of pain, although it is expensive, and again, would be much better if used by a dedicated caster.

Rites · Feb 17, 2011, 02:47 AM // 02:47

what determines a bad build? just because 30blah players don't like a build, IF you make it work for you and you like it, then i would state that as a good build

My main- ranger from 4 years ago
everyone told me it was dumb to play a pet ranger, it isnt strong enough, doesnt do enough DPS blah blah. over the years i have watched other professions get tweaks, buffs, nerfs etc... i stuck to my pet ranger and added barrage and volley. they tweaked pets a little, but still people complained that AI sucked. all that mattered to me is that I enjoyed the game. using my ranger i have beaten all campaigns, EotN, and have vanquished over 75% of each. and because i play a certain way, i choose not to use the EotN PvE skills because i feel they are unbalancing
so again, its about what works for you, not what the community says

go to the community for tips, ideas, etc.. but what it will ultimately boil down to is do you wanna be just another pvxwiki drone, or are you willing to play according to what you like?

Feb 16, 2011, 12:40 PM // 12:40	#1
miz redavni Pre-Searing Cadet Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: kri Profession: N/Rt	n/w or w/n? ok im sure this has been asked before but im going to ask it anyway. first off id like to add that im a complete newb to gw. i just started mins ago and stumbled into this thread when looking for a good place to talk about this game. i really like the idea of beating someone down with physical strength and at the same time ticking down their health with spells. i feel that it gives into the whole helplessness on their part. i mean whats worst then losing hp to some strong attacks and at the same time losing health to small or big spells? anyway back to the question, whats better, n/w or w/n?

Feb 17, 2011, 02:47 AM // 02:47	#20
Rites Krytan Explorer Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Deep in the belly of Texas Profession: R/	what determines a bad build? just because 30blah players don't like a build, IF you make it work for you and you like it, then i would state that as a good build My main- ranger from 4 years ago everyone told me it was dumb to play a pet ranger, it isnt strong enough, doesnt do enough DPS blah blah. over the years i have watched other professions get tweaks, buffs, nerfs etc... i stuck to my pet ranger and added barrage and volley. they tweaked pets a little, but still people complained that AI sucked. all that mattered to me is that I enjoyed the game. using my ranger i have beaten all campaigns, EotN, and have vanquished over 75% of each. and because i play a certain way, i choose not to use the EotN PvE skills because i feel they are unbalancing so again, its about what works for you, not what the community says go to the community for tips, ideas, etc.. but what it will ultimately boil down to is do you wanna be just another pvxwiki drone, or are you willing to play according to what you like? Last edited by Rites; Feb 17, 2011 at 02:49 AM // 02:49..

Feb 16, 2011, 12:59 PM // 12:59	#2
-Reaver- Ascalonian Squire Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Ontario, Canada Guild: Liars, Cheats, and Thieves [Liar] Profession: R/	W/N would work better - since you'll be at the front getting hit - but it will have energy issues. Edit: That is, if it works at all. I don't mean to sound elitist, but you'll find later on in the game that'll you do a lot better focusing on just phys. damage dealer or magic damage dealer. But hell, while you're low level, have fun with it.

Feb 16, 2011, 12:59 PM // 12:59	#3
Steps_Descending Wilds Pathfinder Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: IN my pocket plane. Obviously! Guild: Little Tom's Pocket Plane [THom] Profession: Me/Mo	Welcome to the game miz. Hope you enjoy your time here. First off, there is a section better suited for such questions : http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/q...swers-f14.html. The thread should be moved by an admin. As for the question, in most case, you're a lot more defined by your primary. So the short answer is : if you prefer mainly casting, n/w. if you prefer to be mainly hitting, w/n. But in general, if you intend to be close to the front line, go Warrior. Necro have some cheap spells, so energy should be less of a problem. Depending on which game you have, you migth want to check the dervish from Nightfall. It is a fighter/caster hybrid that might be better in the long run than w/n. It's going to havea massive skill overhaul soon tought, butit should just put more spells in their game.

Feb 16, 2011, 01:34 PM // 13:34	#5
aspi Desert Nomad Join Date: Jan 2010 Guild: eeew Profession: N/Rt	Hih Miz, Take a look at this : http://www.gwpvx.com/PvX_wiki There are good builds there but it does not always mean it's the best around. in fact some are outdated and some are just not very good. But by playing the game, prferably with humans you will learn much more, joind a guild for quicker learning. The combination you have chosen might work for a while but you will find out for yourself what works and what not. As long as you are enjoying the game everything works Have fun.

Feb 16, 2011, 02:23 PM // 14:23	#6
MithranArkanere Underworld Spelunker Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: wikipedia.org/wiki/Vigo Guild: Heraldos de la Llama Oscura [HLO] Profession: E/	If you want both physical and spell casting, maybe you should try assassins and dervishes. Assassins are bit more like necromancers and mesmers, putting pressure on enemies with hexes, while dervishes are a little bit more like elementalists and monks, being able to deal direct elemental damage with Point Blank Areas of Effect (PBAoE) and keeping themselves healthy while dealing decent damage.

Feb 16, 2011, 02:34 PM // 14:34	#7
Raven Wing Jungle Guide Join Date: Nov 2005 Guild: The Imperial Guards of Istan [TIGI] Profession: N/	A necro has weak armor and is generally bad at dealing physical damage and won??t have benefit from many warrior skills. I advise against n/w. A warrior is as already said frontliner, got solid armor and is good at hitting people. Furthermore there is a handful of necro skills that suit well with a warrior. Weaken armor hex and touch spells are some. You WILL have energy problems, so you cant throw off tons of spells. Using a weapon with +5 energy mod helps a bit. So if you are like you said in OP, try w/n.

Feb 16, 2011, 02:37 PM // 14:37	#8
drkn Forge Runner Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Wroc??aw, Poland Guild: Midnight Mayhem Profession: Me/	PvX contains certain builds. This is the place you'd like to visit to know more about the game.

Feb 16, 2011, 03:38 PM // 15:38	#9
Iuris Forge Runner Join Date: Nov 2006 Guild: Crazy ducks from the Forest Profession: W/	To avoid link storms: A W/N is COMPLETELY different from N/W. A W/N is a Warrior. He has heavy armour and practically no energy regeneration. He'll use warrior skills to whack people, and only use necromancer skills as secondary utility skills. You WILL NOT have enough energy to effectively use necromances skills that support melee - you need a dedicated caster to use those. A proper W/N is a warrior using warrior skills (usually adrenaline based), and only using low energy spells to remove conditions or enemy defences. A N/W on the other hand is a caster. If he doesn't stay out of harm's way, he WILL get eaten alive. No question about it. You have twice the energy regeneration of a warrior, half as much of an energy pool, AND your soul reaping will bring you extra energy when enemiexs die. This guy CAN afford to spam Barbs every 5 seconds, but someone else will have to do the actual hitting to make it work. A proper N/W will be a caster only using a stance or two from the warrior's tactics line for extra protection. GW will, in the end, NOT allow you to be a fighter/mage. It's team based - warriors run around hitting things and casters go around zapping things (or maybe boosting warriors). The other physical attack professions MIGHT come close to it, but really, it's best if each of the professions sticks to their own task and gets support from others.

Feb 16, 2011, 04:15 PM // 16:15	#10
djemonk Guest Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: New York City Guild: Guildasaurus Rex Profession: W/N	I play a W/N. I've tried a N/W but never really seemed to get it to work the way I want it to. As other people pointed out, you'll have to be careful with your energy management. The solution to that is to always think of yourself as a warrior and use maybe 1 or 2 slots on your skill bar for N powers that complement your warrior powers. There's a touch life steal power that you can get pretty early on that is helpful. You can go with a minion guy and you should be able to maintain 3-5 minions but be forewarned that the "elite" people in this game will make fun of you. Still, it's a lot of fun. My general strategy is to use 7 skills for warrior powers with a ranged Necromancer power that helps out in situations where it's tough to close with an enemy. If I know I'm going against tough, armored opponents, I bring a power that cracks armor, otherwise I just bring something that does damage to 2-3 enemies and leave it at that. A W/N is a LOT of fun, provided that you don't let the general negativity of the people on the boards and in the game get you down.

Feb 16, 2011, 04:21 PM // 16:21	#11
Daesu Furnace Stoker Join Date: Oct 2008	Depends on how you want to play, if you like playing melee a warrior makes a better choice than a necro. A W/N is a much more popular combination than a N/W. A meleemancer N/W can work enough in low level areas, but not as well in the elite areas of HM.

Feb 16, 2011, 04:41 PM // 16:41	#12
Skyy High Furnace Stoker Join Date: May 2006 Profession: R/	Put it this way: if you want to play a N/W swinging a sword and casting spells too, go ahead. You'll be able to get through the game in Normal Mode at least. Don't be surprised if you get a few funny looks (or worse) from your teammates, and don't be surprised when you need to reevaluate your playstyle if you ever want to play Hard Mode. But, again, for NM, do whatever you want. It's a game, have fun.

Feb 16, 2011, 05:07 PM // 17:07	#13
Chrisworld Krytan Explorer Join Date: Aug 2010 Guild: Gameamp Guides [AMP] Profession: W/	You guys are aware that plenty of options exist for a Warrior's poor energy pool, right? I'm not suggesting you do this, I mean, it's all up to you. Insignias and runes exist to provide more energy for anyone. Radiant and Attunement. Now, you have Zealous sword hilts. I have a setup where I use energy runes and a zealous sword for those random fun times I might use a small caster type bybrid build on my Warrior, and +5 energy swords do exist in the end game content for Factions, I'm fairly certain.

Feb 16, 2011, 05:32 PM // 17:32	#14
Chthon Grotto Attendant Join Date: Apr 2007	Neither is very useful. Off the top of my head: W/N can be a standard warrior w/ Plague Touch. Sometimes that's sort of useful. N/W can use a spear and Auspicious Parry to power SY! spam. (Very awkward, but it works.) "Meleemancer" is a joke build that can be marginally effective if you know what you're doing. (And it's normally N/D, not N/W.) Especially if you're just starting out, all you will accomplish is getting yourself killed a lot, so I don't recommend it.

Feb 17, 2011, 02:32 AM // 02:32	#18
Haggis of Doom Lion's Arch Merchant Join Date: May 2009 Guild: TGB Profession: W/	There's nothing wrong with having fun. Games have a special kind of charm to them when we understand them very little, so no need to go about things the optimal way. BUT Don't base your primary profession choice on something that won't work. It may be fun for a little while, before it stops working and starts making the game difficult and frustrating for you. Since you made a choice concerning the playstyle, your primary character cannot fulfill your needs/expectations anymore. For example, my first character was a W/E for which I planned PBAoE spells (sturdy and wreaking havoc, what's not to like... right?). When that didn't work out too well, I ended up disliking the profession and deleted him. My current warrior is my third, and became my main because I grasped the concept and played the warrior to be a warrior, not something else. That said, the assassin and the dervish are both frontline fighters which are more prone to cast spells than warriors. Also, an illusion mesmer with Illusionary Weaponary is fun to mess around with and seems to fit your goal well, but isn't a very good build.

Feb 17, 2011, 02:44 AM // 02:44	#19
sonofthort Krytan Explorer Join Date: Mar 2006 Guild: The Legends Of Melee [SSBM] Profession: Mo/	As most people are pointing out, it is not exactly optimal to play the role of a caster + physical, since a team coordinated effort will always be superior. However, there are fun things you can do with W/N. Take a look at this build: http://www.gwpvx.com/User:Smity_Smit..._Hundred_Barbs This is the typical w/n or n/w caster/physical build people are probably thinking of. Warriors can manage their energy just fine with this build, so they are probably ideal over necro primary. The only advantage you gain from necro is that you can spam barbs more and your damage is more largely invested in armor ignoring sources. For PvE, you might consider the hex mark of pain, although it is expensive, and again, would be much better if used by a dedicated caster.