Curse

ZigathonV · Feb 25, 2008, 06:59 PM // 18:59

Howdy folks. I've played A LOT of RPGs in my time and Guild Wars is most certainly the best one. I've now been playing for about four months and every one of my characters is a Necro primary. Even to the annoyance of my friends.
I've always enjoyed playing "vampire-like" characters. I really like the ability to heal myself while causing damage. Obviously, Necromacers are the way to go in Guild Wars. My favorite character by far is my N/W named "Zigathon Vouraun." Now, he's far from perfect... so don't get all high and mighty in the inevitable critizism I'm bound expecting to recieve.

So, here's the build:

Attibutes:
15 Blood Magic: 11 (+1 Scar and +3 Rune)
7 Soul Reaping
10 Swordsmanship

*I have yet to do the +15 Attibute Quests.

Equipment:
Survivor Ragged Scar Pattern of Superior Blood Magic. (51 AL)
Survivor Tyrian Tunic of Minor Vigor. (60 AL)
Survivor Fanatic Gloves of Attunement (51 AL)
Survivor Tyrian Leggings of Vitae (51 AL)
Survivor Fanatic Boots of Attunement (51 AL)

Weapon:
Furious Adamantine Falchion of Swordsmanship (Gold)
Damage: 14-20 (9 Sword requirement)
Inscription: "Let the Memory Live Again!"
Halves Skill Recharge of Spells (9%)
Double Adrenaline on hit (10%)
Swordsmanship +1 (17%)

Off-Hand:
Grim Cesta (Blue)
Energy +8 (6 Soul Reaping requirement)
Energy +15
Energy Regen -1
Health +30

Net result: 515 Health and 57 Energy (+3 Regen).

Skills:
Vampiric Gaze
Dark Pact
Touch of Agony
Pure Strike
Jaizhenju Strike
Final Thrust
Vampiric Touch
Well of Blood

All in all, I think its a very simple "Vampire with a Sword" hybrid character. I can go toe to toe with many strong foes and usually survive. I've single handedly taken out some bosses. Of course, without some Monk back-up, I'm still a squishy target at times. The Health sacrifices aren't too much of a problem with a Well of Blood (at 20 seconds with +6 HP Regen) active.

I'm trying to find Elite Skills as of now. I've yet to venture into the areas where they're located, unfortunately. The two I think would help this build the most are Life Transfer or Well of Power (a little Energy Regen with the Health Regen? Sounds good to me!) I just don't know which would be easier to get or which would help this build the most.

Additionally, I'm unsure if I should use Galrath Slash in place of Final Thrust. To me, the extra 2 Adrenaline isn't worth doubling the +27 damage each of them do. I want my spike NOW! By the time I'm able to get Final Thrust online, I can just use Touch of Agony to finish the foe... and its a waste to use it on the next mob that looks at me funny.

Well, I guess that's about all I can say at this point. I'm sure I'll be following this thread quite actively while you wolves tear my precious apart... so, I'll be offering additional insight into how I play this build when it happens.

Although, I'd like the opinions of others to be positivly constructed, as this game is really about making the kind of character YOU want to play. Those that wish to tell me "I'm doing it wrong," can go back to Pvxwiki. Even though I may be doing it wrong, I'm having a blast doing it.

Thank you for reading...

P.S. I failed to mention I currently own Prophacies, Factions, and in a few hours, Eye of the North.

dicecube · Feb 25, 2008, 07:15 PM // 19:15

why dont u switch secondary profs instead of making multiple /N primary characters

Qdq Swi · Feb 25, 2008, 07:16 PM // 19:16

If you find that this is 'interesting' or 'fun' then thats fine. But its not a good build.. There was a kind-of 'fanatic' here a while back.. who used to keep going on about how good 'meleemancers' (a mid-liner in the forefronts of battle) are.. And truth is.. theyr not.

Truth is.. Necromancers are mid-liners. They are 'squishys' (low armor). Squishy + Frontline = Bad combination. Wars + Frontline = Good combination.
Basicly casters with swords are bad idea... in high level areas you'l most probably die.. alot.

Necromancers dont focus around life-steall/ vampirism at all. The blood-line lets the Necro down as a proffesion a whole. But if you like it and are having fun with it, then thats all that matters really.

Also you might want a max damage weapon.

You need to do your skill quests by the way.

p.s. Dont take what some people will tell you seriously, theyl be harsh, extremely critical and probably call you a 'noob' a couple of times. But if your having fun along the way, then thats fine right?

End · Feb 25, 2008, 07:31 PM // 19:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by Qdq Swi

Also you might want a max damage weapon.

At that point Id be more worried about max armor. If you do choose to frontline it the better the armor the better you'll be at it. The rest of what I would say was fairly well explained by him. Just the max armor I see as more important then the weapon.

ZigathonV · Feb 25, 2008, 07:39 PM // 19:39

Yeah, I'm not really worried about a max weapon right now. I just got that sword recently as well... from a very kind player.

Qdq Swi · Feb 25, 2008, 07:43 PM // 19:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZigathonV

Yeah, I'm not really worried about a max weapon right now. I just got that sword recently as well... from a very kind player.

I can farm u an inscriptable max damage sword that u can have if u like..

p.s. yeh forgot about the armor =/ silly me.

Pm me in-game for the sword... i might have 1 even now.. have to chek my mule.

Ign > Qdq Swi

Faer · Feb 25, 2008, 08:30 PM // 20:30

Meleemancers are trash. That being said, here are some constructive comments.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZigathonV

Attibutes:
15 Blood Magic: 11 (+1 Scar and +3 Rune)
7 Soul Reaping
10 Swordsmanship

*I have yet to do the +15 Attibute Quests.

You're better off with 14 Blood Magic, 12 Swordsmanship, and whatever else is left in Soul Reaping. Do your Attribute Quests, then...

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZigathonV

Equipment:
Survivor Ragged Scar Pattern of Superior Blood Magic. (51 AL)
Survivor Tyrian Tunic of Minor Vigor. (60 AL)
Survivor Fanatic Gloves of Attunement (51 AL)
Survivor Tyrian Leggings of Vitae (51 AL)
Survivor Fanatic Boots of Attunement (51 AL)

Get max armor, drop the Superior Blood rune for a Minor, replace the Minor Vigor with a Superior Vigor when you get the money to do it, drop both Attunements for Vitaes. You are trying to play melee with low armor and low health, which is a bad idea. If you are going to get up close and personal with armor that is not suited for such interactions, you need to get more health on your bar to serve as a reasonable buffer.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZigathonV

Weapon:
Furious Adamantine Falchion of Swordsmanship (Gold)
Damage: 14-20 (9 Sword requirement)
Inscription: "Let the Memory Live Again!"
Halves Skill Recharge of Spells (9%)
Double Adrenaline on hit (10%)
Swordsmanship +1 (17%)

Replace this with a max damage sword, you can replace the Furious mod with a Zealous (it works out to be much more beneficial to you in the end, but it doesn't matter really - you're playing a meleemancer, psh

). Get a perfect (10%) HSR inscription, and replace the Swordsmanship pommel with a max Fortitude one (+30HP).

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZigathonV

Off-Hand:
Grim Cesta (Blue)
Energy +8 (6 Soul Reaping requirement)
Energy +15
Energy Regen -1
Health +30

Net result: 515 Health and 57 Energy (+3 Regen).

Replace this with a shield. Seriously. You don't really need the extra energy the offhand will give you, because you have Soul Reaping, which is a source of infinite energy as long as you are killing things (and in PvE, if you aren't killing things, you are most surely doing it wrong). The shield (when properly modded) will give you a base +8AL, or +16AL if you manage to meet the requirement (for this route, get a Tactics shield, obviously), +30HP, and +10AL vs. the element of your choice; multiple shields, of course, means multiple elements that you can choose to have extra defense against, so buy/craft/find as many as you can.

You can also carry around a +12e HCT/HSR +30HP offhand if you wish, but I wouldn't recommend it over a good set of shields.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZigathonV

Skills:
Vampiric Gaze
Dark Pact
Touch of Agony
Pure Strike
Jaizhenju Strike
Final Thrust
Vampiric Touch
Well of Blood

Try this instead:

Vampiric Touch
Vampiric Bite
Auspicious Parry {E}
Sever Artery
Gash
Frenzy/Flurry/Flail/whatever IAS you want, because a "Warrior" without an IAS is bad.
Touch of Agony
Resurrection Signet

Touch and Bite are basically the same skill, and are easily spammable (loltouchrangers), so they sort of make sense for a melee blood user. Auspicious Parry is just there to help keep you alive, because again, you are playing melee with somebody who shouldn't be in melee range to begin with. If you can find an elite that works better, by all means use it (Well of Power is okay, but Life Transfer is just terrible; by the time LT has actually done enough to a target to be worthwhile, that target should have already been dead ages ago). The famous Sever/Gash combo is to provide the ever necessary Deep Wound (if you buy Nightfall, you can replace Sever with Crippling Slash, for a much more desirable effect; throwing Cripple into the mix is hot shit), which helps you kill things faster. The IAS will help you to... kill things faster. Touch of Agony is just quick damage, and Resurrection Signet is of course great to have if somebody happens to die in your party, other than you.

Meleemancers are bad, and unless Izzy does something really weird to some skills, they will always be bad. But, I suppose, if your goal is just to have fun with the game, and not to win in the most efficient way possible (which, to many players, such as myself, is the goal of the game

), you're off to an okay start. Just do whatever you feel like doing, and be prepared to take some kidney punches from people who think you are terrible because of the way you choose to play.

Qdq Swi · Feb 25, 2008, 08:45 PM // 20:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by Faer

Meleemancers are trash. That being said, here are some constructive comments.You're better off with 14 Blood Magic, 12 Swordsmanship, and whatever else is left in Soul Reaping. Do your Attribute Quests, then...

Get max armor, drop the Superior Blood rune for a Minor, replace the Minor Vigor with a Superior Vigor when you get the money to do it, drop both Attunements for Vitaes. You are trying to play melee with low armor and low health, which is a bad idea. If you are going to get up close and personal with armor that is not suited for such interactions, you need to get more health on your bar to serve as a reasonable buffer.

Replace this with a max damage sword, you can replace the Furious mod with a Zealous (it works out to be much more beneficial to you in the end, but it doesn't matter really - you're playing a meleemancer, psh

). Get a perfect (10%) HSR inscription, and replace the Swordsmanship pommel with a max Fortitude one (+30HP).

Replace this with a shield. Seriously. You don't really need the extra energy the offhand will give you, because you have Soul Reaping, which is a source of infinite energy as long as you are killing things (and in PvE, if you aren't killing things, you are most surely doing it wrong). The shield (when properly modded) will give you a base +8AL, or +16AL if you manage to meet the requirement (for this route, get a Tactics shield, obviously), +30HP, and +10AL vs. the element of your choice; multiple shields, of course, means multiple elements that you can choose to have extra defense against, so buy/craft/find as many as you can.

You can also carry around a +12e HCT/HSR +30HP offhand if you wish, but I wouldn't recommend it over a good set of shields.

Try this instead:

Vampiric Touch
Vampiric Bite
Auspicious Parry {E}
Sever Artery
Gash
Frenzy/Flurry/Flail/whatever IAS you want, because a "Warrior" without an IAS is bad.
Touch of Agony
Resurrection Signet

Touch and Bite are basically the same skill, and are easily spammable (loltouchrangers), so they sort of make sense for a melee blood user. Auspicious Parry is just there to help keep you alive, because again, you are playing melee with somebody who shouldn't be in melee range to begin with. If you can find an elite that works better, by all means use it (Well of Power is okay, but Life Transfer is just terrible; by the time LT has actually done enough to a target to be worthwhile, that target should have already been dead ages ago). The famous Sever/Gash combo is to provide the ever necessary Deep Wound (if you buy Nightfall, you can replace Sever with Crippling Slash, for a much more desirable effect; throwing Cripple into the mix is hot shit), which helps you kill things faster. The IAS will help you to... kill things faster. Touch of Agony is just quick damage, and Resurrection Signet is of course great to have if somebody happens to die in your party, other than you.

Meleemancers are bad, and unless Izzy does something really weird to some skills, they will always be bad. But, I suppose, if your goal is just to have fun with the game, and not to win in the most efficient way possible (which, to many players, such as myself, is the goal of the game

), you're off to an okay start. Just do whatever you feel like doing, and be prepared to take some kidney punches from people who think you are terrible because of the way you choose to play.

Spot on, Although wouldnt Sunspear Rebirth be better than Rez Signet (If the OP gets NF). Talking of which.. If the OP gets EOTN... Drunken Master could possibly replace the IAS, I find it fun to run.. tipsy while killing shizzle is... well... funny ;p, even when I'm not using a sword.

Btw.. that build is... half decent.. for a meleemancer mind. I might go round in AB playing it lol ;p just to tick people off =).

ZigathonV · Feb 25, 2008, 10:33 PM // 22:33

Thanks for the advice. I like the idea of having two of the Vampiric touch skills, however, it does justify my use of the Grim Cesta.
My skills are now:
Vampiric Gaze
Touch of Agony
Vampiric Touch
Vampiric Bite
Jaizhenju Strike
Pure Strike
Quivering Blade [E] (I just captured that a few minutes ago).
Well of Blood

I may switch to a +2 Blood rune for the added health, as well.

Pyro maniac · Feb 25, 2008, 10:38 PM // 22:38

Are you serious ..

If you're not, you're a caster: stay in caster range. Blood magic is bad as well

nebuchanezzar · Feb 25, 2008, 11:17 PM // 23:17

First, please take the shield advice. Seriously.
Second, max armor.
Third, lose Quivering Blade unless you put Plague Touch on your bar. You DON'T want to be Dazed.
As some thoughts, focus on Adrenaline based attack skills if you feel you don't have enough energy with a shield in your offhand. Consider Auspicious Parry as it is great defense for you. Grenth's Balance might be a fun elite for you too in a meleemancer position.
Enjoy your game.
GL and HF.

ZigathonV · Feb 25, 2008, 11:18 PM // 23:18

Yeah, I'm serious, lol. I've made it quite far into the game using this build. As a matter of fact, its the only character I have at level 20. With the equipment I have, its not very hard to take out mobs at all.

Vampiric Gaze - This skill stops runners. By the time they start running, this is usually enough to finish them off. I should also mention that this pulls... but that should be obvious.

Quivering Blade - Small Adrenaline cost +30 damage. The drawback hurts a bit, but it doesn't happen enough to be of much concern.

Touch of Agony - Really cheap damage, usually a finisher.

Pure Strike - Basic Sword attack.

Jaizhenju Strike - Second basic Sword attack. I usually have one of these ready for use at all times.

Vampiric Bite - Self-heal, big attack.

Vampiric Touch - Self heal, big attack X2. Again, one is always ready for use. Actually, due to the 2 second charge times, both are usually ready.

Well of Blood - Great for when the party is suffering from widespread Health Degen. Also, saves a bit of the Healer's energy for emergency heals.

I'm currently debating switching out something (unsure what) for "Watch Yourself!" I can free up some Attribute points to at least get 9 or 10 Armor out of it.

I'd consider using a shield if there was one that gave me at least +10 energy as well as any Armor bonuses. Of course, I'm probably just grasping at straws there.

As far as Max Armor goes, I don't have much gold right now, and 51 AL on most of it isn't a very big difference to me at this time.

EDIT: Well, I juggled some numbers around and they now sit at Blood: 14; Soul Reaping: 7; Swordsmanship: 10; Tactics: 5. This has allowed me to remove Touch of Agony for "Watch Yourself!" giving me and those in earshot +12 Armor.
My reasoning being that with my low armor and health, using a skill that sacrifices health probably isn't a smart idea when on the front lines in the late stages of the game.

itsvictor · Feb 26, 2008, 12:44 AM // 00:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZigathonV

Yeah, I'm serious, lol. I've made it quite far into the game using this build. As a matter of fact, its the only character I have at level 20. With the equipment I have, its not very hard to take out mobs at all.

I have one acronym to say:PvE.

Moloch Vein · Feb 26, 2008, 01:11 AM // 01:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZigathonV

Vampiric Bite - Self-heal, big attack.

Vampiric Touch - Self heal, big attack X2. Again, one is always ready for use. Actually, due to the 2 second charge times, both are usually ready.

7 in Soul Reaping and no e-management skills does not make you a touch ranger. That's a constructive criticism.

Oh, and why do posts keep disappearing here?

Billeh · Feb 26, 2008, 01:30 AM // 01:30

After playing with my necro for a while, I think my favorite elites atm are Spiteful Spirit and Spoil Victor. Since you like the blood aspect of a necro, I would recommend Spoil Victor. Although, Life Transfer should be a perfetct elite until you get farther into the game.

Cherng Butter · Feb 26, 2008, 03:11 AM // 03:11

Pure and Jaihjenzu Strike are poor sword attacks. Go with Sever Artery + Gash for a Deep Wound combo, with maybe Final Thrust or Sun and Moon slash.

Now, in an effort to be kind of creative and keeping with your meleemancer theme, I came up with:

Swordsmanship: 12
Death Magic: 11+1+1
Blood Magic: Leftovers?
Soul Reaping: 6+1

[skill]Dragon Slash[/skill][skill]"For Great Justice!"[/skill][skill]Dark Bond[/skill][skill]Animate Bone Minions[/skill][skill]Withering Aura[/skill]

I thought of the best self defense a Necromancer could get, and I thought of Dark Bond. And you could play some cheesy necromancer fighting alongside his minions! You could throw in some other attack skills([skill]Sun and Moon Slash[/skill][skill]Sever Artery[/skill][skill]Gash[/skill]), an Increase Attack Speed ([skill]Flurry[/skill] or Drunken Master), some other necromancer skills like [skill]Animate Vampiric Horror[/skill] or [skill]Taste of Death[/skill]. I'm not exactly sure how Dragon Slash works at 12 Swordsmanship, but you should be spam it pretty well with For Great Justice up. Maybe you could even run Save Yourselves! lawlll

femaro · Feb 26, 2008, 03:34 AM // 03:34

I would suggest you just capture some more skills and try out a more commonly used build. If you do that compare the dmg output of the builds. Also it might be fun for you to do something else with your necro. Necro's offer a wide variety of different skills.
I wouldn't get stuck on that build idea too much, because it will simply fail in all matters against other builds.
I bet once you open yourself up to a greater GW understanding you will enjoy the game more anyways.
femaro

Moloch Vein · Feb 26, 2008, 01:43 PM // 13:43

Actually running SY! on a N is perfectly feasible.

ZigathonV · Feb 26, 2008, 04:57 PM // 16:57

So far things have been working out pretty well with a skill bar consisting of:
Vampiric Gaze
Vampiric Touch
Pure Strike
Vampiric Bite
Jaizhenju Strike
Galrath Slash
"Watch Yourself!"
Well of Power

Not exactly the most diverse of bars, but it works.
I also dropped the Swordsmanship mod from my sword in favor of a Fortitude mod giving me +25 Health. 540 HP and 57 Energy is a comfortable zone to be in, for me anyway.

Div · Feb 26, 2008, 08:25 PM // 20:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by Faer

Replace this with a max damage sword, you can replace the Furious mod with a Zealous (it works out to be much more beneficial to you in the end, but it doesn't matter really - you're playing a meleemancer, psh

). Get a perfect (10%) HSR inscription, and replace the Swordsmanship pommel with a max Fortitude one (+30HP).

Zealous is bad since he's going to spend half his time using his spells and not actually attacking. Zealous only gives you an advantage if you land a hit every 3 seconds, otherwise it's taking away energy. It's kinda like when Chiizu almost vamped out 1v1ing me because I had SoD/Aegis :S