Curse

Ono Doken · Apr 16, 2007, 04:56 PM // 16:56

This is my Level 20 Necromancer/Warrior. I created her when Guild Wars first came out back in 2005 (in the Prophecies campaign).

We had a blast back then: She would use various life draining and stealing skills to suck her enemies dry! It has probably never been one of the most efficient builds for the Necromancer but it was fun at the time.

When I quit Guild Wars I wasn't expecting to play it again but here I am

Now I'm finding that my old build isn't working like it used to and it's not really that much fun getting kicked around by regular monsters.

This is why I thought that maybe you guys could help me get this Necromancer up and running again.

I am looking for recommendations on Necromancer builds for both general PvE and farming, not limited to specific campaigns or secondary professions.

How are you using your Necromancer for PvE and why?

Dutch Masterr · Apr 16, 2007, 05:47 PM // 17:47

i just finished playing through each campaign with my necro...the only builds that are really needed/wanted are spiteful spirit nuker, spoil victor nuker, mm and in high-end areas, bip.

P A L P H R A M O N D · Apr 17, 2007, 05:39 AM // 05:39

There are lots of fun things to do with a Necro . . . all of the above suggestions are fun, with SS being a good bet for farming, like outside of Rihlon Refuge in NF. MM is good too, though since you are an older player, be warned that there is a minion cap, depending on how many ranks you have in Death Magic. Spoil Victor is great for bosses, especially for the evil guys towards the end of NF ;-)

Bip is a useful support build, helping the energy management of the Elementalists and Monks in your party. I also like Blood magic builds, running Life Transfer, Life Siphon, Vamp Gaze, Blood Pact, etc. You can use builds along those lines to farm a bunch of creatures in the desert in Tyria (Hydras, Sand Drakes, Rockshot Devourers). I also absolutely love a super condition build, which runs Enfeeble, Virulence, and Epidemic, and maybe also two Illusion Hexes and Accumulated Pain (you will obviously need a Mesmer secondary). When played in the right order, you can inflict poison, disease, deepwound, etc, on as many enemies that were dumb enough to clump together.

As far as secondaries go, pick whatever you like and fool around with builds, since now it is very easy to switch your secondary.

Ono Doken · Apr 17, 2007, 07:47 AM // 07:47

Thanks for your suggestions. At the momemt, I'm picking up the SS build for further testing.

As I understand it, you suggest that a Necromancer needs to be able to fill all the roles as nuker, support, super condition (?) and in some cases minion master. So I'll be trying to get around all of them.

I'm still interesting to hear more from the Necromancer community. You don't have to reveal your secret farming locations or personal tricks, I just want to know how people utilize their Necromancers in the PvE environment.

strcpy · Apr 17, 2007, 08:30 AM // 08:30

Echo SS - other than having "arcane echo" and "spiteful spirit" the rest changes around quite a bit. It's got me through pretty much everything.

A minion master is pretty unique in the Guild Wars environment - a necro is really the only profession that can do it well (a ritualist can somewhat fill that role, but not very good), though that role isn't that uncommon in RPG's. It is amusing to do a minion bomber - a minion master that assumes their minions will die quickly and uses Death Nova.

Those are my main two uses, mine took some time off between the release of Factions and Nightfall and has recently started getting a lot of play time again. I sorta got tired of playing her, though she is still one of the most effective builds I have even after the recent Soul Reaping nerf. An echo SS build has about the best PvE damage output of any class out there.

WildmouseX · Apr 17, 2007, 04:42 PM // 16:42

when i first started playing i tried the N/W the same as you discribed, but the build started failing once it got higher levels - since then i've run my necro as MM or SS depending on the group needs.

i did however make a W/N, and used the same principal as the N/W and it works very well in all three campaigns.. demonic flesh +endure pain was netting me 1,000 hp. fun little tank.

oh and for MMing, i personaly prefer [skill]order of undeath[/skill] instead of [skill]animate flesh golem[/skill] which alot of other people like... it's a difference of havein 1 minnion that can dish out 60 dmg and 9 that only do 20 --VS.-- haveing 10 minnions that dish out 45-50 dmg....you can counter OoU's health sacrifice by maintaining 4 vamp horrors in your pack.

qdq_swi · Apr 19, 2007, 11:37 AM // 11:37

an efficent build is a build that can counter many foes of different profs...
what ul be wanting is a build that deals dmg while reducing dmg by others... so use spoil victor as ur main stream of dmg... us faintheardedness and parasitic bond to deal with the eles and such... then just use vamp gaze... dark pact etc.... it works for me... doesnt get much aoe so i sumtimes switch to mm...

Razorwood · Apr 19, 2007, 02:33 PM // 14:33

If you like blood magic you could always try Vampiric Spirit so steal more HP, I personally love that elite, but the biggest downside is Vampiric Spirit doesn't always steal from the enemy you are attacking.

And as long as you have Signet of Lost Souls I haven't found the plus 3 energy cost for skills a problem even after the Soul Reaping change.

VS also helps to cover the saccing cost of the skills by returning HP.
Going from memory I use:

[skill]Vampiric Spirit[/skill][skill]Dark Pact[/skill][skill]Blood Drinker[/skill][skill]Blood of the Aggressor[/skill][skill]Jaundiced Gaze[/skill][skill]Vampiric Gaze[/skill][skill]Signet of Lost Souls[/skill]

In the last slot you can take BR, a res, enchantment stripper, depending on the area you are playing.

Or you could spec a bit in curses and use

[skill]Enfeebling Blood[/skill] and[skill]Oppressive Gaze[/skill] you'll need to drop a skill though, but this build has plenty of room for tweaking.

I use the following weapon
Vanahk's Staff
* Energy +10
* Dark damage: 11-22 (Req 9 Blood Magic)
* Halves skill recharge of spells (20% chance)
* Halves casting time of Blood Magic spells (20% chance)
* Halves casting time of Blood Magic spells (20% chance)
* Health +30

Mainly because I like the double HCT, the +30 is a bit of a pain though since a lot of the skills sac HP, to get around this I use a Sup Blood rune and no vigor. Then I use a minor SR run and 3 attunements.