Help with Guild Wars 2

[wookiee777]

I don't really like making threads asking for or help or recommendations like my last one, I don't plan on making another one but I'm truly stuck.

I can't find a profession or build that suits me in Guild Wars 2 and it's really starting to make the game sour. It's a great game, but I just can't find the right character. My main right now is a level 70 Necromancer who has been through 4 different builds. At first I used an axe and dagger, focusing on minions. My plan was to have as many as I possibly could to overwhelm enemy groups, it worked okay until my Death Magic had maxed and I realized that minions are mostly useless in higher level areas. There are only about two or three traits that help them out (one being a small health boost, the other a very small damage boost. And yes I know the damage boost comes from Spite) and I can't properly buff them.

My second build was focusing on causing bleeding on enemies, this build was powerful, but without the bonus to defense that Death magic gave, and having nothing to keep mobs off me, I died very often. Third build was using wells, hoping that AoE would be best since monsters often come in groups...that didn't last long either. My last build was a revised minion build where I only used the Bone Fiend, Flesh Worm, and Flesh Golem. This time I used Well of Blood among other skills and tried my best to make a character who could balance minions with buffs, but Necro's have very few buffs and I didn't do much better than my original minion build.

Basically, I like characters who summon or have some kind of minion and I like buffs (or boons as the game calls them). What class should I play or how should I revise my Necro so that he will do better in higher level areas, like Fireheart Rise and the Straits of Devastation? If it helps at all, in the original game, I have a Ritualist who focuses on Channeling and Restoration to support my henchmen and cause conditions on enemies. Sorry for a long OP again.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Necro pets are kind of feeble. They're not really any more of a "minion class" than Elementalists, IMO.

If you really want a strong "minion", you're looking at the BM Ranger, and you need to accept going that route that you're going to be exceptionally bad in WvWvW. However, there is little in PvE that will slow you down. You can even solo champions, albeit over an excruciatingly long period of time.

An alternative to the minion spamming necro would be a Guardian chucking out summoned weapons, which are quite powerful in their own right. Guardians are a very stable, solid class, it's possible you might enjoy it more than your Necro.

I like my Necromancer, but she's still quite low level (20). I'm currently running Dagger/Dagger and finding it very punchy, but it comes with all the standard shortcomings of melee.

If you really want a potent minion though, take the Ranger. Drop 20+ points into BM, and make sure you pick up Master's Bond. Have a DPS pet (Lynx, Eagle) out for normal mobs, and have a pair of bears for Champions. You can snooze your way to 80 and barely break a sweat.

 

[Shadowsetzer]

Mesmers can easily put out a bunch of illusions and phantasms to distract enemies, and boons/conditions are just as common with them as they were in the original game. Rangers have pets, of course, and still have traps and spirits to buff or debuff as appropriate.

Honestly, I think you should just try out all the classes; you'd be surprised how many different ways you can play them.

 

[Scarim Coral]

Well if you're willing to look at existing builds, you can try your luck with these two build sites.

http://www.gw2builds.org/ (You can find specific builds using the filter but the builds are out of date due to using traits from Beta weekends.)

http://en.gw2codex.com/ (It's more up to date but it has no filter so you may spend ages looking for the right builds.)

Yeah I try being an MM during the beta weekends but the minions aren't that great compared to the first game.

In GW2 my Nerco is just a conditions inflictor sort of attackter. I can inflict a bunch of condition to the group and while they can do the same to me, I can easily remove it with heal which actually benefit me more with more conditions or send it right back at them! Granted I haven't reach to the level 80's area just yet (soon) to see if that is still effective.

 

[wookiee777]

Snip SNIP Snip

I have considered a ranger before, but I was worried that the pet would not be able to take the abuse of any large crowds and would be useless. But I'll try it, thanks.

 

[madwarper]

My Necro is just shy of 30, and uses the Bone Fiend, Blood Fiend and Shadow Fiend.

While using dual wielding weapon combinations, my minions were dying quite often. Then, when I switched over to using a Staff, I noticed my minions starting lasting a lot longer. The first Mark grants regeneration to all allies nearby, including your minions.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

I have considered a ranger before, but I was worried that the pet would not be able to take the abuse of any large crowds and would be useless. But I'll try it, thanks.

With proper hotswapping, bears, and a few points in BM your pets can be as functionally immortal as anything in the game. The issue with Rangers is that a little TOO much power is on the pet, for some people's tastes.