Let's Play Guild Wars 2!! - Page 16 - OG Myth-Weavers

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Let's Play Guild Wars 2!!

   
Quote:
Originally Posted by snakeman830 View Post
Well of Blood says otherwise. I use it to heal minions all the time.

AoE has always been a weakness of minion masters in any game.
Implying that you should have to sideline the very first minion you receive so that you can negate downtime, which incidentally also negates any mid-combat clutch healing (since your heal has a 40 second cooldown). That seems unintuitive and silly to me.

Well of Blood has a massive initial heal (larger than Blood Fiend's) and heals all allies in that location. I use it all the time because it can drastically improve the durability of minions and surprise people that try to fight them.

Really, it's in the best thing for you. As a minion master, you want to spec heavily into defense (On Necros, that's Death Magic and Blood Magic, which are the two lines with the best minion traits). You don't need the offensive traits because your minions don't scale with your stats. Using a staff as your primary weapon and dropping Mark of Blood at your target's feet when minions swarm is also a good move.

You will have lots of survivability and you will be constantly healing your minions for a ton with high-power, long duration Regeneration and Well of Blood for the more clutch heals. If you really need more clutch healing than that, you shouldn't be in that situation (Blood Magic can reduce the recharge by 20% anyway).

It might be worth using Lich Form instead of Flesh Golem as your elite as well. One of the skills you get puts down a mark that spawns 5 jagged horrors, and all of the skills it gives have formidable firepower.

Try This build. Recall that the #4 skill on the second weapon set causes regeneration, not swiftness. Alternatively, use dagger for blind and weakness (and ridding yourself of conditions). I think you will be surprised at how it works out.

Quote:
Originally Posted by snakeman830 View Post
Well of Blood has a massive initial heal (larger than Blood Fiend's) and heals all allies in that location. I use it all the time because it can drastically improve the durability of minions and surprise people that try to fight them.
I think you missed my point.

If your minions are low on health and you have to heal them between combats with your WoB, you're losing in-combat healing AND an additional minion slot. The fact that your minions don't heal when you're out of combat (and thus require an extra dump of resources, whether that be time or a skill slot) is a drawback that isn't balanced against their actual utility.

Conditions are useful even if you don't spend a single trait point increasing their power and utility. The fact that using a minion build starts (and ends) at the back of the pack, and also requires an expenditure of resources above and beyond your standard condition build just to be viable (nevermind actually powerful), can only mean that the necromancer needs some tweaks to bring those abilities up to par.

I'm sure that you derive plenty of fun in running the build you run. But this isn't about whether or not you personally enjoy it. It's about relative power levels, and the fact that there is a single "best" build for the class, which shouldn't be the case.

No, I didn't miss your point. I'm saying that losing one, low damage minion to keep 5 others up (Flesh golems do heal naturally, btw) a very long time is more than worth the tradeoff. Only bone minions and blood fiends can be sacrificed and re-summoned. I would much rather start combat with a few (one fewer), full health minions and be able to heal them all during combat than to have a half-health one die and have to wait the 30 seconds to be able to re-summon it. Blood Fiend is terrible for healing skill as you have to be in a situation where it isn't dead when you need the heal.

I am not specced into minion mastery at all and I find it very effective, even in PvP (let alone PvE). I'm specced on condition damage.

You use WoB in and out of combat as needed, I think.

Also, the Blood Fiend sucks. Sooo not worth using. I don't know why it's the starter heal skill but even for minion masters it's a terrible pet. Every time I've rolled a necro I've switched it with Consume Conditions ASAP.

It could well be that other necro playstyles just don't work as well for the way you play. I know of a number of highly effective Engineer builds that I just don't do because they don't work for the way I like to play.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kaitou Kage View Post
You use WoB in and out of combat as needed, I think.
With a 40 second cooldown timer, you're either using it in combat, after combat, or you're sitting around for an extra 40 seconds between battles. Which is more downtime than just blowing up your minions and resummoning them.

I haven't tried all classes yet, I am missing the ranger and the alchemist.

But I have tried all other until lvl 11 and so far the Guardian seems to be the most resistant and effective for solo PVE.

I am using the greatsword (like every other guardian out there) and haven't found another weapon that works well as a second choice. I am finding the gameplay repetitive and the combat a bit dull. I have a hard time imagining myself playing for 69 more lvls of the same thing over and over.

Which begs the question, at what lvl does the game change (or gets better) or does it remain the same until the end?

(I thought about crafting, but it seems a bit pointless when you can weapons that are just as good from monsters. It seems a lot of effort for a bit of character customization )

Quote:
Originally Posted by Zell View Post
I haven't tried all classes yet, I am missing the ranger and the alchemist.

But I have tried all other until lvl 11 and so far the Guardian seems to be the most resistant and effective for solo PVE.

I am using the greatsword (like every other guardian out there) and haven't found another weapon that works well as a second choice.
I wasn't a huge fan of the guardian when I tried it during the stress tests, but when I did play it, I used a hammer instead of a greatsword. Loved the stuns that came with it.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Zell View Post
I am finding the gameplay repetitive and the combat a bit dull. I have a hard time imagining myself playing for 69 more lvls of the same thing over and over.

Which begs the question, at what lvl does the game change (or gets better) or does it remain the same until the end?

(I thought about crafting, but it seems a bit pointless when you can weapons that are just as good from monsters. It seems a lot of effort for a bit of character customization )
Have you been spending your skill points? Weapons are only half the character build. Then at level 11, you unlock your traits as well. Also, keep in mind that weapon swapping mid-combat is an important part as well, which keeps things fast paced and frantic.

As for crafting, I do it because I like crafting. It's a nice side-game for me when I get burned out on killing stuff. And it helps me fill the holes in my gear that I haven't managed to upgrade in a while.

Plus, crafting skills can make things that you normally can't buy from vendors and are hit-and-miss as drops from monsters (upgrade stones, 8+ slot bags, potions, etc).

Quote:
Originally Posted by Greyfeld View Post
With a 40 second cooldown timer, you're either using it in combat, after combat, or you're sitting around for an extra 40 seconds between battles. Which is more downtime than just blowing up your minions and resummoning them.
You're missing a major point: You can't blow up and re-summon most minions. Only the Blood Fiend (which sucks and is by far the worst clutch heal, since your fiend would surely be dead when you need it) and bone minions can be sacrificed and re-summoned.

And there is no issue with using the well in-combat or out of combat. The self-heal is massive and the benefits of a 10 second pulse AoE heal as well as a light combo field are substantial (follow it up with Putrid Mark to cleanse your minions of conditions and grant them and all other nearby allies retaliation). Yes, it has a 40 second cooldown, but it works much better than any other healing skill for a minion master. You should have a massive health pool anyway and your toughness is boosted by your traits, plus your healing is fantastic. Use a staff and drop Mark of Blood to heal minions in-combat (and add extra damage). Out of combat, or clutch heal, you use Well of Blood. If you need a clutch heal more often than once every 40 seconds, you're not going to win anyway, regardless of what healing skill you're using.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Zell View Post
I haven't tried all classes yet, I am missing the ranger and the alchemist.

But I have tried all other until lvl 11 and so far the Guardian seems to be the most resistant and effective for solo PVE.

I am using the greatsword (like every other guardian out there) and haven't found another weapon that works well as a second choice. I am finding the gameplay repetitive and the combat a bit dull. I have a hard time imagining myself playing for 69 more lvls of the same thing over and over.

Which begs the question, at what lvl does the game change (or gets better) or does it remain the same until the end?

(I thought about crafting, but it seems a bit pointless when you can weapons that are just as good from monsters. It seems a lot of effort for a bit of character customization )
Try going into the higher-level areas and participating in group events. The challenge is much higher and you will find yourself frequently weapon-swapping. Also, I second the choice of hammer as your secondary (on my guardian, it's primary). The sheer amount of control you get from the hammer is wonderful. If you really want a challenge, get yourself to level 30 and do Ascalon Catacombs. Or, just work on your personal story, as it rapidly ramps up the difficulty.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Zell View Post
Which begs the question, at what lvl does the game change (or gets better) or does it remain the same until the end?
What are you looking to have change, exactly? Some parts of the game are more boring than others, and admittedly killing monsters to level is always going to be at least a little grindy. You have to do events to really get the XP rolling in.

The monsters get a bit more complex as you level. They develop a few more tricks and it becomes harder to win by just standing there auto-attacking. Your utility skills will add some more flexibility to your character, too. Plus, there are dungeons, WvW, PvP, jumping puzzles...

Quote:
(I thought about crafting, but it seems a bit pointless when you can weapons that are just as good from monsters. It seems a lot of effort for a bit of character customization )
In my experience, crafting pays off bigtime in higher levels. Drops and karma rewards are not always consistent, especially if you're looking for certain stats. I hit level 60 last night and realized I was wearing a lot of gear that was about level 40-45, so I crafted myself up some new stuff. My weapons were level 40, too. Once I made new stuff, doing content of my level became so much easier.





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