Curse

Manic Smile · Dec 07, 2005, 11:37 AM // 11:37

http://static.flickr.com/18/71148499_02d719acd4_o.jpg

Profession: Necromancer/Mezmer

Name: Massive Blood Damage (It's how I advertised it in tombs or ToA)

Type: PvE/4 man PvP/Tombs/GvG

Category: Blood Spiker/ Blood Degener

Attributes:
16 Blood Magic: 12 attribute + 1 ragged scar +3 superior blood magic rune
13 Soul Reaping: 12 attribute +1 minor soul reaping rune
3 Inspiration Magic: 3 attribute

Skills Set: In order on my bar and the order to cast them in...generally

Main PvP Build

Awaken the Blood
Life Transfer {elite}
Life Siphon
Shadow Strike
Dark Pact
Vampiric Gaze
*EDIT* Leech Sig (instead of Barbed Sig)
Rez Sig

Firts off, in case I am stepping on anyone's toes I would like to apologize; however, I can honestly say I've used this build from the begining. I bought this game the day it came out and had Life Transfer within the week if not days as it's a cap from a mission boss. I have never posted anything about it so if someone got here before me then it's all yours to claim the build but perhaps I can offer a different perspective.

Truely this is a strait foward build, and that is the beauty of it.

Awaken the Blood - cast this with enough time for your mana to regen before you acutaly make contact with the enemy but try to give yourself as much time without having to recast it as possible. If you do have to recast it keep in mind that if you can make it in the second...the recharge time on the spell is one second shorter then the spell last in this build...you can manage to recast with a spell duration of 49 instead of the normal 46. While not a major issue sometimes 3 secs can be a big deal.

Life Transfer {elite} - Your best friend. This is a truely versitile spell, more so then I imagine most would think. It can be used as a direct offensive spell. I.e. cast it on what you want to die first "or" it can cast on something that you know won't die for a while and is not being targeted by the rest of the group. While this does spread the damage out in PvP which is generally bad it does give you a source of life as degen is regen for you, allowing you to spam Dark Pact to no end, which is truely enjoyable. Keep in mind with Awaken the blood up you do sacrifice 50% more life.

Life Siphon - Basicaly same idea as a weaker Life Transfer but with a better recharge time. You can double up on the first thing you want to kill...think monk or mez...or you can spread it around on everyone allowing you take all kinds of degen from enemies and still have a +10 regen going, better used in PvE.

Shadow Strike - Because of it's ablitiy to do double damage on a monster with over 50% life and give half of dmg back to your life do
this first of the direct damag spells. Most often I will Transfer, Siphon, Shadow Stirke and the opponent will be well below half
leaving Dark Pact to quickly clean house.

Dark Pact - If you got regen going spam this guy like crazy or until everything is dead. Just keep in mind you are sacrificing life and
don't kill yourself. Again Awaken the Blood causes you to sacrifice 15% of max life instead of 10%.

Vampiric Gaze - nice follow up to Dark Pact if needed as it heals you then Dark Pact is normally ready again.

Leech Signent - Slow recharge rate but very useful: free, almost instant, cancels spells or abilites and gives me back 5 Mana. Especially useful for smite hex and the like.

Rez Sig - because quick rez equals win, and you rarely die quickly.

Gear:

For armor I suggest the scar patterns as they give the most mana. For items casting increase is nice with +mana would be awsome but the wands with +5 I had never seen at the time I was using this so I made due with a collector blood staff. 50 mana is more then enough as most the spells are low cost or need enough time to recharge/let your life recharge to allow your mana to regen up enough to use them. Optamilly: Wand - Max Dmg, +5 mana healh^50%, increase blood casting speed 20%; Focus - +12 mana, Increase blood casting speed 20% Increase blood recharge speed/Blood Magic +1 20%. 30 life isn't a real big deal imo with all the degen going on. I usually either live with no problem or there is no saving me, rarely is it a matter of 20-30 life.

Comments:

If you get in a situation where you life is below half and you have no mana and no degen/regen up it is best to run away as you are most vaunerable in this situation, until you get enough mana to set up Life Transfer and Life Siphon again. It's ok to run, your party doesn't need you enough, usually in any one moment to miss you and you can solo fine. Should anything without anit-hex be foolish enough to follow, more the better. Lure them off, get your mana, and make them sad.

Alternate ideas:

You don't need soul reaping at 13. Especally in a PvP build where your group isn't about spiking. Without many things dieing you might want to instead take those remaining 49 attribute points and place them in another needed skill. While I do feel all skills except Awaken the Blood are nessisary, one spell can make a difference. Sometimes I go with Charm Animal for a distraction or a body for a fellow minnion master or just some extra physical damage. Or perhaps I'll sub monk and throw those attribute points into protection and use Protective Spirit on myself making myself even harder to kill or Aegis to help my party in sync with the protection monk. Rez sig can also be swapped out with any rez spell if it fits your needs better...i.e. rebiths better ranger for UW problems. Leech Sig can be switched out with Power Leak or Power spike if you wish to focus solely on spells. Perhaps more useful for pvp as anti hexs are you biggest problem.

Keep in mind that because of your regen and the fact that your enemy is on borrowed time you can solo up to two non hex removing apponents fairly well. I can one on one Monks/Necros/Wars/Ranger/Elementals easily if they are not prepared for this build. I find it fun to rush strait in before anyone is ready and let the war come to meet me, then watch him try to run away.

Another option is to remove Vampiric Gaze and Dark Pact and replace them with their touch counter parts: Vampiric Touch and Touch of Agony as they do more damage and with the regen you can "CAREFULLY" go toe to toe with most opponents and nothing runs away from you...at first. Howver, keep in mind I have found it useful to be able to reach over and though obsticles to kill things this would remove.

BEWARE HEX REMOVAL especailly SMITE HEX. They are your worst enemy and can ruin an otherwise enjoyable crushing. If you realize your enemy has gotten wise to your dealings stick with the direct damage, following whoever your party is attacking at the right moment or spread the hexs around to give your apponents anti hexer something to do. Just be aware you are not very tough without your hexes and if they go RUN.

Funny note...in a GvG match I once ran off into an opponents hall killed the warrior who followed me, killed all the hall's guards one by one then killed the hero alone, I admit this is an extreme case but I had lots of fun doing it. It really didn't take long.

I've always wanted to try a 8 man team of this build with eveyone picking a different target...

Last Note: Thanks to all for reading my build and comments are greatly appriciated even if I defend my view strongly, everything suggested can only help.

Makkert · Dec 07, 2005, 11:46 AM // 11:46

I think this one is more suited to RA then to tombs...

jonnybegood · Dec 07, 2005, 11:51 AM // 11:51

if you do make an 8 man team , i would love to join you

Ac James · Dec 07, 2005, 11:53 AM // 11:53

Switch out Life Transfer for OoB. Then you can spam your spells alot more thus creating alot more dps.

And for the most part, this is a run of the mill blood spiker. The spike being Shadow Strike + Dark Pact + Vampiric Gaze.
James-

CAT · Dec 07, 2005, 12:02 PM // 12:02

As with James

All of your skills are right on the money aside from Life Transfer, the DPS is horrible compared to what you could be doing and its so easily removed its not even funny. When opening on a target you want to Shadow Strike - Pact - Gaze - Pact - OoB. Then between downtime of the rotations you can spam more pacts/gazes, use your 2 open spots(life syphon and barbed sig). Skills like mark of subversion, drain enchantment, and hex removal are good spread out between the necros to ensure a balanced team.

Manic Smile · Dec 07, 2005, 12:34 PM // 12:34

I dissagree, I trade off damage here(through having more mana, allowing you to spread the damage around more) for life...you need that regen, perhaps in a balanced well managed party you can forfit that loss but then you lose the ability to run off on your own to solo that war who thinks he's got you. That ability is the truely powerful aspect of this build. You generally don't need help...AT ALL. Lack of mana is rarely a problem as you often have to wait for regen to safely use dark pact and I find myself waiting for my party as timing is a powerful tool in this build. Your skills are fairly fast acting and high damage. Cast the degen initially and follow through with one round of direct damage and kill if you can but if you don't, wait a sec, the degen will still be in action and you can then time your damage to come right after or during your parties damage or perhaps switch to a weaker enemy, you don't need help killing things effectively. I know it's not your point but I could one on one your nec suggestion without probelm. Even when Life Transfer is removed the first time I find myself still being able to be effective. You just have to time things well, i.e. watch if the mez or monk is dead, lure something away, wait for a opeing in the anit-hexers casting, etc.

Since you seem fammiliar with the idea I urge you naysayers to give it a try, maybe it'll surprise you.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ac James

And for the most part, this is a run of the mill blood spiker. The spike being Shadow Strike + Dark Pact + Vampiric Gaze.
James-

Note my first paragraph, I realized the general idea would be heavily used about the time I started seeing other Necs use these spells in RA.

pagansaint · Dec 08, 2005, 02:09 AM // 02:09

Might want to consider using mesmer as your secondary, swap Vampiric Gaze or, since with Awaken the Blood up you take 150% sacrifice, Dark Pact for Arcane Echo and use it with Life Transfer, you can put 2 targets to 10 degen and you to a 10 regen (20 to overcome with degen from the opposition) for 12 seconds.

That is 240 damage to 2 targets, none too shabby, especially if you are covering with Life Siphon.

TwinRaven · Dec 08, 2005, 03:19 AM // 03:19

I've run an almost identical build since I created my very first necro...The only difference is I rotate through Well of Blood, Vampiric Touch, Strip Enchantment or Mark of Subversion instead of Dark Pact. I tend to use any of the above because of heartiness issues (I don't usually like to make sacrifices unless I'm running a death necro-just a personal preference) and sometimes a person of a specific profession has pissed me off and now I'm burning down all the_______I can find (I don't hold any real grudges, but I went outta my way to kill a dozen or so rangers after one shut me down so bad I got off one spell (Awaken the Blood) before a tank and a pet creamed me)...VERY embarrassing to admit.

...I have a bit of a selection of gear ranging in blue/green/gold single and off-handed items, but my favorite (I suspect may be a collector's item....bought it for 500g) is a grim cesta with +12 energy, +15 energy, -1 energy regen, +30 health (blue)...with tatoos and a gold truncheon with +5 energy I walk in to the battle with 68 energy, when I've drained the first opponent I switch to both green blood nec items (Gordac's toys...the Needle and Hook Blood)...I end up with a base of 51 energy, but start recharging a bit quicker and a 20% chance to hit +1 Blood Magic.

The build is simple and elegant in its own way....spikers burn my ass a bit, but if they aren't concentrating on me, I can drain one dead in just a few seconds...trick is running past them at an imaginary target...if they don't turn to hit you, do a "drive-by" casting and stay back...funny how they often avoid a moving target if they don't see the attack...awareness is an issue for so many folks.

There are a few nay-sayers for the build as it has a definite weakness to spikers as most the skills take a bit of time to use/cast and you can be suseptable to shut-downs.

In order: 1]Awaken Blood (skill booster), 2]Life Transfer (degen), 3]Life Siphon (more degent...usually where your victim may seem a little nervous), 4]Shadow Strike (before your victim reaches 50% health ((-55,-55) and +55 to you)...usually gets the "holy-chit" response and casters and rangers will often turn and run if they are inexperienced or lack confidence), 5]Vampiric Gaze, 6]Barbed Signet, 5]Vampiric gaze again...If they are still standing, and you have it equipped, 7a]Mark of Subversion on a caster...ouch! you just stole 97 health if they were casting on one of your teammates(more if AtB is still on)....7b]Vampiric touch does 77+ dam if you feel like getting up close and personal...All toll, you are capable, after AtB adjustment, of well over 500pts of damage/degen in about 25 seconds...simple, powerful, often the last one standing...hence the final equipped skill....8]the res sig.

Tried and true...deadly and sexy...I call it my Succubus build.

Manic Smile · Dec 08, 2005, 07:41 AM // 07:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by TwinRaven

...I call it my Succubus build.

That's a cool name for your build, it's fitting as well, wish I'd thought of the paralell there....stealing life to live thingy. Especially since I am female ig.

Manic Smile · Dec 08, 2005, 07:45 AM // 07:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by TwinRaven

There are a few nay-sayers for the build as it has a definite weakness to spikers as most the skills take a bit of time to use/cast and you can be suseptable to shut-downs.

I own spikers if they don't have anti hex support. If I manage to get both degen/regens up before they really nail me, and it's quite possible with meteor/firestorm being slow and easy to run away from, it's usually over. The worst is to be in this situation then have your opponents smite off your hexes and heal the nuker just as your standing in the AoE finishing the nuker off.

I just realized I'm being redundant...uh...call it support of your comment.

Manic Smile · Dec 08, 2005, 08:09 AM // 08:09

I tried the Arcane Echo on the life transfer...it doesn't seem to have the same flow for me. I know it might have an overall higher damage impact on an enemy party but it hurts me in the department of finishing off any single character which is what I enjoy...but that's just personal style.

Serps · Dec 08, 2005, 08:30 AM // 08:30

I find it strange thet you'd use stuff like LT and LS which are either slow to cast, slow to regen or both, without using parasitic bond to cover them with.

pagansaint · Dec 08, 2005, 08:35 AM // 08:35

Life Siphon itself is a good cover hex for Life Transfer without having to devote points to Curses for Parasitic Bond

Nessaja · Dec 08, 2005, 08:42 AM // 08:42

My Toes!!

As far as I know I was the first to post it on any board, but on the other hand. The build is SO logical that it doesn't take more then half a braincel to figure it out.

For Arenas, you might want to get death magic to 9 so you can use (and damage with) Morgriffs Scepter, I like 10/10 better, fast cast can seriously help you in spiking. Also, you might want to bring consume corpse, This will give you a higher total of energy given when one person is dead then with 13 in soul reaping (about 20 energy) and also health back and you also deny other necros from using a body.

Antisocial · Dec 08, 2005, 09:54 AM // 09:54

Hey you've put together a quite nice build, since most people get them online(copy paste in their skill bar

Just as you did, i made my own build as well:

1.Life siphon
2.Life transfer
3.Dark pact
4.Vampire gaze
5.backfire
6.Barbed signet
7.Res signet
8.Energy drain

Thoughts and comments are more than welcome.
Weaknesses at this moment are:
Smite hex, and im focussed on 1 enemy at the time, if they go down FAST(5 secs etc.). It takes some time to spike the next enemy(cuz of recharge of Life transfer)

Sky Fang · Dec 08, 2005, 10:08 AM // 10:08

Ummm... if you're going to be using something along the lines of backfire then isn't it feasible that soul leech would be more fitting with the build? It would certainly end up giving you the advantage over the caster (especially important vs. monks) as they would either be afraid to cast - effectively removing them as a threat, totally out of the game or they would be stacking more damage on them and healing you for more than life trans. ever could (particularly with the low energy cost builds monks seem to have a tendency towards nowadays). You could keep backfire on too if you like for that extra anti-caster power, or you could lose your dom spells and place them in another attribute, say - sould reaping (so you're not at odds with your energy in the fire isles arena or when another team comes straight for you after you take out for first target in the HoH). Warriors and rangers can be dealt with in a million ways :P and it won't be ocften you'll be in a party without the obligatory W/Mo that will attack the enemy warrior instead of the called target anyway...

Sky Fang · Dec 08, 2005, 10:11 AM // 10:11

Ummm... if you're going to be using something along the lines of backfire then isn't it feasible that soul leech would be more fitting with the build? It would certainly end up giving you the advantage over the caster (especially important vs. monks) as they would either be afraid to cast - effectively removing them as a threat, totally out of the game or they would be stacking more damage on them and healing you for more than life trans. ever could (particularly with the low energy cost builds monks seem to have a tendency towards nowadays). You could keep backfire on too if you like for that extra anti-caster power, or you could lose your dom spells and place them in another attribute, say - sould reaping (so you're not at odds with your energy in the fire isles arena or when another team comes straight for you after you take out for first target in the HoH). Warriors and rangers can be dealt with in a million ways :P and it won't be ocften you'll be in a party without the obligatory W/Mo that will attack the enemy warrior instead of the called target anyway...

Manic Smile · Dec 08, 2005, 04:32 PM // 16:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nessaja

My Toes!!
The build is SO logical that it doesn't take more then half a braincel to figure it out.

yep...that's why it was funny to see it suddenly pop up everywhere all at once in RA after a month or so.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sky Fang

Ummm... if you're going to be using something along the lines of backfire then isn't it feasible that soul leech would be more fitting with the build? It would certainly end up giving you the advantage over the caster (especially important vs. monks) as they would either be afraid to cast - effectively removing them as a threat, totally out of the game or they would be stacking more damage on them and healing you for more than life trans. ever could (particularly with the low energy cost builds monks seem to have a tendency towards nowadays). You could keep backfire on too if you like for that extra anti-caster power, or you could lose your dom spells and place them in another attribute, say - sould reaping (so you're not at odds with your energy in the fire isles arena or when another team comes straight for you after you take out for first target in the HoH). Warriors and rangers can be dealt with in a million ways :P and it won't be ocften you'll be in a party without the obligatory W/Mo that will attack the enemy warrior instead of the called target anyway...

Interesting...I was orginally way back when I first made my first character Nec/Mez just for that reason, that and I wanted to stack dengens though I later droped that...but I was never really able to get it to work as well. I'm not sure about Soul Leech either way to be honest but what do you use against that warrior or ranger smacking you around. With LT I make them run.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Antisocial

1.Life siphon
2.Life transfer
3.Dark pact
4.Vampire gaze
5.backfire
6.Barbed signet
7.Res signet
8.Energy drain

I have tried this varient before or something very close to it. Problem is, you either have to give up some attribute points in soul reaping or blood magic. Lower Blood Magic is not feasible so it's soul reaping. You're using both domination and inspiration which makes you weak on the mana matience while backfire with so little attribute points in domination isn't scarry at all, maybey 50 dmg? So you either need higher Domination with mana problems which might work with proper timing, or the build I posted, but instead with some mana stealing / counter spell, which would be useful...in place of the barbed signent, as a way to counter anti-hexing.

xxhell · Dec 08, 2005, 04:55 PM // 16:55

nice.. i love reading a bunch of differnt guides then putting together my own build based around 5 or 6 builds(no im not an idiot im senceable with it..)

DavenXion · Dec 08, 2005, 06:00 PM // 18:00

I love it when classic builds make a come back as "The New Hot Thing".

BTW, I think you can delete posts when you double post *or quad-post as the case here may be or even edit previous posts when ya only have one line of text to add and you are your own last poster.