Curse

Miss Glads · May 21, 2007, 05:26 PM // 17:26

Yesterday in AB I was playing my PvP mesmer (I would never dream of taking one through PvE with all the hate) and I was called a noob, I don't really know why, maybe it was just the Luxon's being sore losers, or whether I was just playing badly (although I got my share of one v one kills).

This is the build I was using:

Spiteful Spirit
Spirit of Failure
Price of Failure
Insidious Parasite
Parasitic Bond
Energy Tap
Ether Feast
Resurrection Signet

I can take out most Warriors, Assassins and Dervishes, what I want to know is, is my build terrible and is SS a Worthless hex to use in AB?

ZenRgy · May 21, 2007, 05:38 PM // 17:38

Energy Tap is bad replace with something like power drain / leech signet.
You don't need a res in AB.

Everyone calls everyone a noob in AB.

It doesn't really matter what you run in AB, it's not exactly high-end PvP.

remmeh · May 21, 2007, 05:43 PM // 17:43

SS has always been pretty good and has often been overlooked in favor for Reaper's Mark on curse necros. SS was recently lowered to 10e and I haven't seen much use of it at all in gvg/ta. That being said, your build is a decent anti-melee hexer, but it honestly doesn't do anything to someone who just waits out your hexes or runs away. However, this IS AB which means that more often than not, the idiots on the other team will swing straight through SS/PoF/IP and end up dying.

The other thing I would mention is that putting SoF/PoF and IP on the same guy is anti-synergistic. The former two are miss hexes, while the latter is a hex that has an effect only on a hit.

one last thing... take out your rez sig... you won't need it for AB. Energy tap is pretty bad as well... take Power Drain/Drain Enchantment and Reckless Haste (imo).

Miss Glads · May 21, 2007, 05:46 PM // 17:46

ok, so if I replace Energy Tap with Power Drain what shall i replace res for? Reckless haste? that would equal 100% chance to miss, and trigger SS much more often, although would remove the need for Insidious parasite. What do you think?

moko · May 21, 2007, 05:47 PM // 17:47

Spiteful is fine to use in AB -- considering how there's usually a bunched up group (mob, shrine) and it's rather easy finding someone that constantly attacks or spams skills because the skill level in AB is rather low.

switch out Insidious for Recklass Haste (faster SS triggering), get Leech signet for for Tab, and possibly Drain Enchantment for the Rez. you could also go for another Interrupt here, but a bit of enchant removal is nice also, even if it's just against Lyssa's Aura at the Mes shrine.

Miss Glads · May 21, 2007, 06:00 PM // 18:00

ok, sounds good to me, I think I have those skills, if not I'll just do some RA or AB until I can buy them with faction, thanks a lot

Riotgear · May 21, 2007, 06:14 PM // 18:14

I tend to prefer necros in AB because the constant death feeds SR a lot, and mesmer survivability is low (Ether Feast is weak).

Try:
N/Mo
12+1+3 Curses
9+1 Soul Reaping
9 Healing Prayers
3 Protection Prayers

[skill]Spiteful Spirit[/skill][skill]Reckless Haste[/skill][skill]Price of Failure[/skill][skill]Insidious Parasite[/skill][skill]Rend Enchantments[/skill][skill]Parasitic Bond[/skill][skill]Restful Breeze[/skill][skill]Mending Touch[/skill]

(Use Price and Reckless on the same target. Do not use Insidious on the same target as Reckless/Price, as IP only triggers on successful hits. IP is also your main anti-ganker weapon.)

Sun Fired Blank · May 24, 2007, 06:48 AM // 06:48

Spiteful Spirit is very powerful if you can drop it on the right people. It's one of only a handful of things in AB that gives me serious pause for any profession that I use. That said: Try Arcane Echo'ing Spiteful Spirit. You can probably drop the Resurrection Signet for it.

Destinyy · May 24, 2007, 01:47 PM // 13:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sun Fired Blank

That said: Try Arcane Echo'ing Spiteful Spirit. You can probably drop the Resurrection Signet for it.

I was just wondering this, with SS echoed you can apply it to 4 targets in the space of 10 seconds. In 12v12, that's 1/3 of the other team out of action for 20 seconds or so... Not a bad thing imo...

I think ima have a bash on my SS necro in AB next time i need faction for game progression...

poobert · May 25, 2007, 11:08 AM // 11:08

SS, reckless haste, price of faliure, Archane echo. That is all you need to kill every warrior/dervish/assassin/ranger in AB.
Reapers mark is generally my option in pvp, however in AB SS kills faster.

Take drain enchantment. Get an enemy earth tank to follow you and use it as an energy battery

Just replace the res signet with it. Also replace energy tap for power drain. Never hurts to have one interupt.

Destinyy · May 25, 2007, 11:26 AM // 11:26

The thing I wonder is this... Does SS ever kill in PvP???

I played my assassin in AB alot and every time I see SS on me i just stop attacking and kite for a bit

SotiCoto · May 25, 2007, 11:45 AM // 11:45

Just a warning: Elementalists are not nice to come up against with an SS necro (especially Water Elementalists for me). Touch-Rangers are worse. I run from them... very fast...

My SS Necro is the only thing I use in Alliance Battle. I don't often use Price of Failure (despite obvious synergy) because since the skill nerfs it is unreasonably expensive and not strictly necessary... plus my I almost always have my skill-bar full of other things I need to use. My skills:

[skill]Parasitic Bond[/skill][skill]Pious Haste[/skill][skill]Enfeeble[/skill][skill]Insidious Parasite[/skill][skill]Spiteful Spirit[/skill][skill]Mark of Pain[/skill][skill]Reckless Haste[/skill][skill]Chilblains[/skill]

Now... a few reasons why I pick these particular skills:

Parasitic Bond... duh. Easy heal. Dump it on everyone... ESPECIALLY minions. First thing I do when I see a minion hoarde is to try and spam PB on at least 5 of them.

Spiteful Spirit is obvious, and goes nicely with Reckless Haste on anyone attacking.... though spellcasters are usually a waste of RH... so I don't bother. Best targets are AI melee... since they can't help but attack. Shrine Warriors and Flesh Golems are good.

Insidious Parasite and Enfeeble on any Warrior (and to some extent Assassins) is quite funny to watch (provided there aren't hex-stripping monks around). My typical surreal survival tactic is ... if I'm getting hurt.... to dump IP, Enfeeble and Parasitic Bond on the nearest warrior... (if they're attacking someone else, I then leg it... or if they're not, I deliberately aggro them). Once again, Shrine Warriors and Flesh Golems are good targets.

Mark of Pain is just an extra bonus when AB gets seriously congested... and a fun thing to dump on Monks. It is usually the first thing I replace in a hurry. Useful if you happen to be watching carefully what your team-mates are attacking. Put it on a Flesh Golem target and the other minions will feel the pain. Don't use it in PvE at all since I always have Sousuke using Greater Conflagration.

Chilblains. No synergy as such... Expensive... Poison is unpleasant... But if I had a few gold for every time I'd helped my team out against a Shadow Form sin, Spellshield Monk or Obsidian Flesh Ele or Dervish ..... I'd be a rich guy. Chilblains is the alpha in the ench-strip pack.
Plus it is absolutely hilarious to watch a Shadow Form sin attack me... just to have me Chilblains his sorry little butt down and SS him as he desperately tries to self-heal. Lawlz.

And the strange piece on the bar: Pious Haste.
I don't use enchantments. I don't need them. Pious Haste is a constantly maintainable 33% speed boost at 0 Mysticism, and genuinely the best unpointed running skill in the entire game without a shadow of a doubt. And the one key survival advantage my SS necro has over most other SS necros.... is that my one can out-kite Rampaging Thumpers, Dervishes, Warriors, Assassins (unless they SP me, but then I just IP and SS them and they give up quick)... the works. The number of times I've been called n00b for running away is quite funny... but the funnier thing is that it usually keeps me alive.

Maybe I should consider going secondary Paragon at some point and taking Can't Touch This instead of Pious Haste to dissuade those bloody Touch-Rangers.... curse their black hearts!

Syntonic · May 25, 2007, 06:13 PM // 18:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by remmeh

SS has always been pretty good and has often been overlooked in favor for Reaper's Mark on curse necros. SS was recently lowered to 10e and I haven't seen much use of it at all in gvg/ta. That being said, your build is a decent anti-melee hexer, but it honestly doesn't do anything to someone who just waits out your hexes or runs away. However, this IS AB which means that more often than not, the idiots on the other team will swing straight through SS/PoF/IP and end up dying.

The other thing I would mention is that putting SoF/PoF and IP on the same guy is anti-synergistic. The former two are miss hexes, while the latter is a hex that has an effect only on a hit.

one last thing... take out your rez sig... you won't need it for AB. Energy tap is pretty bad as well... take Power Drain/Drain Enchantment and Reckless Haste (imo).

It isn't overlooked I don't think. It just doesn't really add much to most teams since you can bring better damage in other ways or shutdown a given person far better in other ways. What a necro is great at is inhibiting melee by mass degen and slower attack rates plus higher miss rates with some enchant hate thrown in. Most people don't run hex removal in AB plus there are rather huge mobs at times with people not knowing what SS does and simply attack through it without any thought as to when to stop. SS adds up like insidious parasite but it's normally far better if they can't do anything at all rather than punishing them for doing actions. SS is more like an anti-heal (limited mitigation with damage based on player skill level) while the standard reaper's mark bar/corrupt enchantment bar is more like offensive prevention with minor damage by degen.

Thomas.knbk · May 25, 2007, 07:45 PM // 19:45

The only candidate for sub-optimal skill choises is the price-spirit-parasite combo, because Parasite only works when your opponent hits with an attack.
That shouldn't matter though if you use it on two different targets.