Introduction

Hello, my name is Lopez. I’m a big Guild Wars 2 fan. Before Guild Wars 2, I played an extensive amount of MMORPGs. In World of Warcraft, I was a multi-season gladiator on my Death Knight. In Rift, I was a max-rank mage that usually ran a 51 warlock build. In Star Wars: The Old Republic, I was a high-ranked balance sage.

Now, in Guild Wars 2, I’m a condition necromancer. One of the most exciting features in Guild Wars 2 for me is the world vs. world, and I’ve spent a bulk of my game time taking keeps and defeating players in the Eternal Battlegrounds and borderlands. Now, I think my experience from other games and Guild Wars 2 has given me enough knowledge to write a guide on world vs. world. This guide is entirely built around condition necromancer in world vs. world, not structured PvP. Specifically, this build is mainly for roaming, meaning small group engagements. Because of the amount of condition cleansing in the game, this build is not good in zerg vs. zerg.

If you have any questions, feel free to send me in-game (Lopez).

Table of Contents

I. Why Condition Necromancer?

II. Weapon and Death Shroud Abilities

III. Traits

IV. Heals, Utility Skills, and Elite Skills

V. Gear

VI. Consumables

VII. Skill Priority

VIII. Tips for One-on-One Fights

IX.Tips for Group Fights

X. Other Tips

XI. Frequently Asked Questions

XII. Revisions and Additions

I. Why Condition Necromancer?

As always, the main answer is Epidemic.

Condition necromancer has the best area-of-effect (AOE) damage in the game. With Epidemic, condition necromancer can spread all the conditions on a target to up to five other targets. Not only can this be used for massive AOE damage if it spreads 25 stacks of bleeds, some stacks of confusion, burning, and poison, but it also has the benefit of spreading debuffs like blind, chilled, cripple, fear, immobilize, vulnerability, and weakness. This can shut down an entire group of players.

The mix of bleeds, poison, and direct damage is also great single-target damage. Once an enemy’s anti-condition defenses are broken through, bleeds and poison stack really fast to cause a lot of pain. It won’t be the burst of thief or mesmer, but it will be enough pressure to turn away raid groups and land kills.

That single-target damage also comes with the added benefit of being executed from range. While direct-damage builds tend to sacrifice damage at range, condition builds keep the same DPS and sacrifice burst instead. Being able to keep maximum range is a massive boost to survivability and damage potential, as will be explained later in the guide.

Condition necromancers also have awesome utility. Necromancers can apply poison, which reduces healing effectiveness by 33 percent, better than any other class. Epidemic can also be used to spread conditions like poison that will debilitate an entire enemy group. Corrupt Boon is one of the best boon removals in the game. Not only does it dispel boons on an enemy target, but it also turns those boons into conditions. Plague is also a very potent skill in group play. It provides a huge amount of toughness, and it also allows a necromancer to blind up to five targets for up to 20 seconds. This effectively crowd controls entire groups of enemy players. Flesh golem also allows condition necromancers to knock down entire groups and consistently snare one target — again providing a lot of beneficial crowd control for group engagements. Condition necromancers also have two fears, a crowd control that can act as a stun, a distance builder, and a knockback at the same time.

Even when not built for conditions, necromancers have incredible survivability. Death Shroud is one of the best survivability cooldowns in the game. When used effectively, it can negate stuns and crucial burst damage. Clever use of Death Shroud can turn around a close one-on-one or group fight. It saves lives!

However, all of that does come with one major downside: a lack of burst. Necromancers, as ArenaNet has explained, are masters of attrition. Their access to AOE damage, condition damage, solid utility, and deadly debuffs is balanced out by a total inability to spike down a target’s health. Again, the class still does great single-target damage, but it’s not the kind of damage that produces huge numbers.

The other major downside is condition removal. Some classes, particularly elementalists, guardians, and other necromancers, can be a total pain due to their condition removal. While it doesn’t completely negate condition damage by any means, it does make it so condition necromancers have to break through one to three layers of condition removal before they can start doing real damage. This slows the build-up to maximum damage, but it can be overcome through some tactics that will be explained in this guide.

Finally, necromancers are definitely lacking in mobility and are largely incapable of disengaging from fights. In group fights, it’s common for necromancers to be focused first because organized groups know necromancers are the easiest target to lock down and kill. Plague and Spectral Walk slightly help to address this issue, but they’re not enough. For the necromancer, this makes proper positioning and “pre-kiting” — building distance before an opponent reaches the necromancer — extremely important.

II. Weapon and Death Shroud Abilities

For condition necromancer, the obvious choices are scepter and dagger for primary damage and staff for longer range and utility. Trident is the best choice underwater due to its ranged capabilities, auto-attack, and crowd control.

Scepter and Dagger:

1. Blood Curse / Rending Curse / Putrid Curse: The first two attacks apply a bleed for 5 seconds default, and the third attack applies poison for 2 seconds default. Get ready to spam this a lot! When every other attack on scepter and dagger is on cooldown, this is the best damage option.

2. Grasping Dead: An AOE that applies cripple and three stacks of bleed for 7 seconds default. The cripple is great for building and creating distance on players, as well as securing kills on players trying to run away. The skill is probably the best damage cooldown while using scepter and dagger.

3. Feast of Corruption: Decent direct damage, and scepter’s main source for life force, which is used for Death Shroud. I use it when my other DPS abilities are on cooldown.

4. Deathly Swarm: Blinds and transfers three conditions from the necromancer to its target, with the potential to bounce to up to three targets. This ability is incredible. Coupled with Putrid Mark in staff and the Consume Conditions heal, a smart condition necromancer can turn damaging conditions to his/her advantage.

5. Enfeebling Blood: An AOE that applies weakness and two stacks of bleed for 10 seconds default. Pretty standard. It’s probably the second best damage cooldown while using scepter and dagger, and weakness is a very potent debuff on enemy players.

Staff:

1. Necrotic Grasp: Does direct damage through a piercing, slightly homing projectile. It’s a pretty terrible auto-attack. Spam it during downtime on cooldowns, but the terribleness of this attack is the main reason staff is only used for utility and damage at range. As long as moving in doesn’t hurt, it’s better to use scepter and dagger for damage just because of how bad this auto-attack is.

2. Mark of Blood: Ground-targeted AOE that applies three stacks of bleed for 8 seconds default in an AOE. It also applies a regen to anyone who’s close to the mark when it’s triggered, healing anyone in a target’s melee range. Great AOE and bleed application. It can also be a small increase to survivability when fighting melee.

3. Chillblains: Ground-targeted AOE that applies chill for 4 seconds default and poison for 6 seconds default, and it’s AOE. Using this on cooldown is a must to apply as much poison and chill as possible. On top of doing damage, the poison reduces an enemy’s healing by 33 percent, and the chill is a big snare that also slows down how fast cooldowns come back up. This skill can be chained with Putrid Mark to apply weakness, which, as X. Other Tips explains, is awesome.

4. Putrid Mark: Ground-targeted AOE that counts as a blast combo finisher and does decent damage, transfers all conditions from the necromancer to a target, and transfers one condition from each ally close to the triggered mark to a target. Probably the most overlooked staff attack. This can be used to transfer every condition on the necromancer to an enemy player. When paired with Deathly Swarm and the Consume Conditions heal, a smart condition necromancer can use damaging conditions to his/her advantage.

5. Reaper’s Mark: Ground-targeted AOE that fears for 1 second default. Probably the most potent crowd control in the game. Very useful for pushing back and controlling groups of players. The fear effect can be used to knock players off ledges, build distance, and stun them. It’s particularly awesome with the trait Terror, as explained in III. Traits. It can also be used to move players to the right places, as explained in X. Other Tips.

Trident:

1. Crimson Tide: Applies one stack of bleed for 5 seconds default and does moderate direct damage in an AOE around the target. In underwater situations, this is a condition necromancer’s go-to damage ability. Spam away.

2. Feast: Applies weakness and does decent direct damage in an AOE around the necromancer, and gives life force if it hits an enemy. Okay for the weakness and life force if enemies are already around. Try to use this ability on cooldown for the life force and weakness, which is explained in all its glory in X. Other Tips.

3. Foul Current: Shoots the necromancer at a target and leaves a trail that applies poison for 4 seconds default. It also drops a poison combo field, which Frozen Abyss (No. 5) can combo with to apply weakness. The poison stacks very quickly, so it’s typical to get about 12 seconds of poison on a target even if it moves out of the trail. This ability’s best use is closing distance on an enemy that’s far away. It can also be used to build distance by de-targeting all enemies and aiming in the right direction. The poison and weakness are enough of a reason to try to use this on cooldown, assuming melee range isn’t a problem

4. Sinking Tomb: Sinks a target for 2 seconds. Use this as much as possible. It’s a very potent crowd control.

5. Frozen Abyss: Does good direct damage, applies about 4 seconds default of chill while charging up, and applies seven stacks of vulnerability for 7 seconds default, but it has a long cast and requires melee range. It’s great for building distance underwater, and the chill also makes enemy cooldowns take longer to come back up. I try to use it on cooldown if getting in melee range isn’t a problem.

Death Shroud (Land):

1. Life Blast: Does decent direct damage. Mostly useless as a condition necromancer. I only use this when I need to stay in Death Shroud to survive.

2. Dark Path: Applies chill and three stacks of bleed for 5 seconds default, but it puts the necromancer in melee range. Beyond the chill and bleed, this is decent for catching up to a target. It can also be used on targets that are already close to the condition necromancer to quickly apply the bleed and chill before building distance. Another trick is finding stragglers in big fights and using it on them to get out of the thick of battle.

3. Doom: Standard single-target fear for 1 second default. Amazing crowd control with a relatively short 20-second cooldown. Very useful for pushing back and controlling players. The fear effect can be used to knock players off ledges, build distance, and stun them. It’s particularly awesome with the trait Terror, as explained in III. Traits. It can also be used to move players to the right places, as explained in X. Other Tips.

4. Life Transfer: Does AOE damage around the necromancer and builds up life force for every target it hits. This is only worth using for survivability. Remember the damage shown is cumulative for the entire channel; it is not representative of each tick’s damage.

Death Shroud (Underwater):

1. Life Blast: Does moderate damage and transfers one condition. Like its land-based alternative, I only use this when I need to stay in Death Shroud for survivability, even though the condition transfer can be nice, especially after Gathering Plague (No. 4).

2. Dark Water: Applies blind for 3 seconds default and poison for 7 seconds default. Worth using with every switch to Death Shroud.

3. Wave of Fear: Applies fear in an AOE cone in front of the necromancer for 2 seconds default. Requires small-to-medium range and facing the target. A downgrade from its land-based alternative, but still useful. The fear effect can be used to build distance and stun enemy players. It’s particularly awesome with the trait Terror, as explained in III. Traits. It can also be used to move players to the right places, as explained in X. Other Tips.

4. Gathering Plague: Transfers all conditions from party members to the necromancer. Very useful when multiple party members are struck with conditions, especially if it’s paired up with Consume Conditions to immediately remove the absorbed conditions.

III. Traits

For PvP, picking traits is about maximizing what a condition necromancer is good at while minimizing disadvantages. Here is my base build with the heal, utility skills, and elite skill I use most of the time. Unlike PvE, my skills don’t change much in PvP, but utility skills do change sometimes. Please look at IV. Heals, Utility Skills, and Elite Skills for a much deeper explanation of the heals, utility skills, and elite skills.

Keep in mind this is strictly a build for world vs. world and PvP in general. For information on my PvE build, click here.

Curses:

The standard tree for bleeds and conditions. It gives condition damage and precision, the two best damage stats for condition necromancer.

Minor traits:

Barbed Precision: Gives critical hits a 66 percent chance to apply one bleed for 1 second default. Decent damage.

Furious Demise: Gain Fury for 5 seconds default when entering Death Shroud. This is pretty amazing, especially when paired up with Barbed Precision and Superior Sigil of Earth. One way good and great condition necromancers are set apart is by maximizing fury through Death Shroud.

Target the Weak: For each condition on a target, boosts direct damage by 2 percent. It’s not amazing since it only works on direct damage, not bleeds and poison. But it is an okay damage boost since all attacks have direct-damage components to them.

Major Traits:

II. Hemophilia: Increases bleed duration by 20 percent. Pretty standard, hefty damage boost.

VI. Terror: Fear deals damage every second, and it deals 50 percent additional damage if other conditions are on the target. A decent DPS boost, and adds a small element of burst to condition necromancer.

VII. Master of Corruption: Reduces the cooldown on corruption skills by 20 percent. Replaces Terror (VI). Great for Blood is Power and utility from Epidemic. For more information on corruption skills, check out IV. Heals, Utility Skills, and Elite Skills.

Death Magic:

Standard survivability tree. I consider it the second best tree since it provides much-needed survivability, some increases to boon duration, and greatly improves the staff.

Minor Traits:

Reanimator: Summons a jagged horror, which applies bleeds when it attacks, whenever the necromancer kills an enemy. More than one can be out at a time. Decent DPS boost.

Major Traits:

II. Greater Marks: Increases the radius of marks and makes them unblockable. Really great trait. It makes marks easier to aim, makes marks more effective at AOE, and allows the necromancer to do damage through block. It also enhances marks when used as traps, which can be useful in narrow alleys, tunnels, and platforms.

Soul Reaping:

Standard Death Shroud tree. I go into this for the survivability and to boost fear.

Minor Traits:

Gluttony: Boost life force generation by 10 percent. It addresses one of the main weaknesses of condition necromancer — low life force generation. Decent.

Last Gasp: Gain Spectral Armor at 50 percent health, with a 60-second cooldown. This trait is one of the best survivability passives in the game. Not only does it grant protection for more than 7 seconds, but it also helps with life force generation at low health — when life force is most necessary.

Strength of the Undeath: Boosts power on how much life force the necromancer has at the time. It’s OK for direct damage, but it does nothing for conditions.

Major Traits:

III. Path of Midnight: Lowers cooldown on Death Shroud abilities by 15 percent. This is an all-around great trait, but it’s particularly great when paired up with Terror, which means Doom (Death Shroud No. 3) can be used more often for high damage.

IX. Master of Terror: Increases the duration of fear effects applied by the necromancer by 50 percent. This ability is mainly for the crowd control, but it also comes with the upside of applying another tick of Terror on some fears, such as Reaper’s Protection. With this trait, using Reaper’s Mark (Staff No. 5) and Doom (Death Shroud No. 3) back-to-back will apply 3 seconds of fear — enough for three Terror ticks.

X. Soul Marks: Triggered marks give 3 percent life force. One of the major weaknesses of necromancers without this trait is life force generation; it’s very difficult to build up. Getting this trait allows much more reliable life force generation, which means more survivability and reliable fears (Death Shroud No. 3).

IV. Heals, Utility Skills, and Elite Skills

The build I linked earlier is what I run with a majority of the time. Unlike PvE, skills aren’t as fluid in PvP. Still, builds can easily change depending on play style or situation. Never be afraid to experiment.

Heals:

Consume Conditions: Main skill. Absorbs all conditions and heals, with each absorbed condition boosting the heal. I feel this is mandatory in PvP right now. Being able to get rid of all conditions and heal is a massive boost to survivability. Also, since well traits aren’t taken in PvP, Well of Blood’s cooldown is too long.

Utility Skills:

Corruption Skills: Corruption abilities provide utility on top of the occasional damage. The downside to them is they each apply a condition on the necromancer, but this self-applied condition can be quickly negated with Deathly Swarm, Putrid Mark, and Consume Conditions.

Blood is Power: Optional skill. Applies two stacks of bleeds for 30 seconds default on the target, grants 10 stacks of might to the necromancer, and applies two stacks of bleeds for 10 seconds default on the necromancer, all with a 24-second cooldown if traited for corruption skills. This ability is a huge damage boost. The bleeds are nice by themselves, especially when the self-applied bleeds are transferred to an enemy target. But the best part is the might, which grants 350 condition damage for 14.4 seconds. The might is retroactive, so it affects all bleeds already on a target. At lv. 80, this translates to 17.5 more damage per bleed tick for about two-thirds of the time as long as Blood is Power is used on cooldown. If I ever feel like I need more damage instead of boon removal, this is the best replacement for Corrupt Boon. I will also sometimes switch from Spectral Walk to Blood is Power during relatively static encounters — mainly keep sieges — to boost my damage. (Some people claim this ability sometimes does not work, but, in my experience, that’s not true. It has never failed me as long as I’m facing my target and within range.)

Corrupt Boon: Main skill. Dispels all boons on a target and turns them into conditions. For information on what the boons are converted into, click here. The best conversions are stability to fear, which is great for crowd control, and retaliation to confusion, which can be a lot of burst damage. This ability is incredible for shutting down boon-heavy builds, particularly guardians and elementalists, and it can be paired up with Epidemic to spread an extra load of conditions. Even if a target only has one or two boons, this skill can do a lot to reduce incoming damage and boost outgoing damage. (Some people claim this ability sometimes does not work, but, in my experience, that’s not true. It rarely fails me as long as I’m facing my target and within range.)

Epidemic: Main skill. Spreads all conditions on a target to up to five extra targets, with only a 12-second cooldown when traited. It can be used through line-of-sight, immunities, and dodges. Epidemic is the staple of the condition necromancer. It is the best AOE in the game game, allowing the spread of 25 stacks of bleeds, other damaging conditions, and any utility-based condition. In world vs. world, this ability is absolutely essential for shutting down groups of players. Its use is explained in further detail in VIII. Tips for One-on-One Fights and IX. Tips for Group Fights.

Signets: Useful for a variety of utility. I usually use one signet in my typical load-out.

Signet of Undeath: Optional skill. Ranged, small-radius AOE revive that can be used in-combat and affects up to three downed players, with a 180-second cooldown. It also generates 1 percent of life force every 3 seconds. It’s a great choice for organized groups, even though the cooldown is quite long. I will sometimes swap Spectral Walk for Signet of Undeath if I’m grouping with someone.

Plague Signet: Optional skill. Makes the necromancer absorb one condition from each group member every 10 seconds, and it can be used to transfer all conditions on the necromancer to a target. It sounds better in theory than it works in practice, mostly because the 10-second pulse timer is too long. I generally recommend Well of Power over this for condition removal.

Signet of the Locust: Optional skill. Grants 25-percent move speed, and it heals the necromancer and damages a target when activated. It’s a huge speed boost. It is amazing for both getting to fights and engaging in them.

Spectral Skills: Spectral skills are typically better in theory than in practice. They provide very situational utility, so I rarely use them.

Spectral Walk: Main skill. Breaks a stun, provides 30 seconds default of swiftness, and can be used as a limited-time teleport. This ability is great for addressing necromancer’s main problem: the lack of an out. The teleport can be used for mind games with opponents to pull them into bad positions and to build distance, and the initial use breaks stuns and helps generate more life force, which is always useful.

Spectral Grasp: Optional skill. Pulls a target to the necromancer and chills. This can be good for pulling people off ledges, including keep and tower walls. If I decide to use it, I replace Spectral Walk with it since the extra mobility isn’t as great in sustained sieges.

Minions: Minions are just pets. They are not worth taking in PvP, especially world vs. world. They die too easily, and they don’t bring enough damage or utility.

Wells: Wells provide great utility. While I consider them essential in some PvE encounters, I feel they’re way too easy to avoid in PvP. Good players will always roll or walk out of them before they make too much of an impact. Still, at least two wells can be useful.

Well of Darkness: Optional skill. Player-based AOE that blinds every second for 5 seconds with a 1-minute default cooldown. This ability can be used in situations with tight corridors. This ability can be amazing for shutting down groups and players and keeping enemy players off allies.

Well of Power: Optional skill. Player-based AOE that removes one condition on allies and the necromancer every second for 5 seconds, and each condition removed turns into a boon, with a 1-minute default cooldown. For a full list of how the conditions are converted, click here. This is probably the best option for a necromancer looking for party-wide support and condition removal.

Elite Skills:

Plague: Main skill. Turns the necromancer into a virulent cloud that can apply conditions. This is massively useful for the AOE, 20-second blind and huge boost in toughness. It can turn entire fights around if used after full bleed application.

Summon Flesh Golem: Optional skill. Summons a golem that does damage and snares. The golem can also be commanded to charge, knocking down opponents in its way. This ability can be surprisingly effective against bunched-up groups. The damage and snare are also very useful in smaller fights.

V. Gear

Armor, Weapons, and Trinkets:

I stick with rabid stat combination, or condition damage, precision, and toughness. The precision is good because it turns the Barbed Precision trait and Superior Sigil of Earth into huge damage boosts. The toughness is good for two reasons: First, it’s a great boost to survivability, which is always wanted. Second, the toughness interacts with consumables to provide a decent boost to condition damage.

Tips for Gearing Up:

Getting a set with rabid stats — condition damage, precision, and toughness — can be a pain, but it’s possible with time and patience. This list should make the process a bit easier.

Exotic Gear:

Accessories, Amulets, Backpacks, and Rings:

• Trading Post: Tortured Root (accessory), Colossus Fang (amulet), and Plague (ring) are all available on the trading post, but they can be fairly expensive.
• Karma: Accessories, amulets, backpacks, and rings can be obtained at the Temple of Dwayna in Malchor’s Leap, which is accessible through the Tempests Waypoint.

Armor:

• Trading Post: Khilbron’s set.
• Karma: Head, shoulder, hand, and leg pieces from Click here for the full list and locations of the vendors on Dulfy‘s amazing website.
• Dungeon Explorable Modes: Caudecus’s Manor, Twilight Arbor, Honor of the Waves, and Arah provide the full sets.

Weapons:

• Trading Post: Mystic Wand (scepter), Malefacterym (dagger), Bramblethorne (staff), and Limitless Furnace (trident).
• Dungeon Explorable Modes: Caudecus’s Manor, Twilight Arbor, Honor of the Waves, and Arah provide all the rabid weapons.

Underwater Breather:

• Karma: The best underwater breather is masterwork — or green — quality. Buy the Gavbeorn Breather of the Afflicted at Gavbeorn’s Waypoint after the Temple of Melandru event. (Also, underwater breathers replace helmets underwater, so remember to slot it with a rune.)

Ascended Gear:

Amulets:

• Laurels: The best rabid ascended amulet is Hymn to the Prophets, which can be obtained from world vs. world laurel merchants for 20 laurel tokens and 250 Badges of Honor. Laurel tokens are gained from daily and monthly achievements, and badges of honor are obtained from world vs. world kills and jumping puzzles.

Accessories:

• Laurels: The best rabid ascended accessories are Fierceshot’s Arrowhead and Marriner’s Flask, which can be obtained with 40 laurel tokens and 50 Globs of Ectoplasm. Laurel tokens are gained from daily and monthly achievements, while Globs of Ectoplasm are obtained from salvaging.
• Guild Commendations: The best rabid ascended accessories are Fierceshot’s Arrowhead and Marriner’s Flask, which can be obtained with 12 guild commendations and 5 gold. Guild commendations are obtained from guild missions.

Backpacks:

• Mystic Forge: The best rabid ascended backpack is Endless Quiver, which is made at the Mystic Forge. Click here for the recipe.

Rings:

• Laurels: The rabid ascended rings are Khilbron’s Phylactery and Ouroboros Loop, which can be obtained from world vs. world laurel merchants for 25 laurel tokens and 250 Badges of Honor. Laurel tokens are gained from daily and monthly achievements, and badges of honor are obtained from world vs. world kills and jumping puzzles.
• Fractals of the Mists: The rabid ascended rings are Khilbron’s Phylactery and Ouroboros Loop. In fractals, they can be obtained through the chest or tokens from the fractal level 10 and higher daily quests. For more information on fractals and the fractal daily quests, check out my in-depth guide.

Runes:

The full set of Superior Rune of the Nightmare is, in my opinion, the best option. With the best food available, it allows fear from Doom (Death Shroud No. 3) and Reaper’s Mark (Staff No. 5) to tick twice, while increasing the duration of all other conditions. The full set also provides a 5-percent chance to automatically fear any melee or ranged attacker, which does damage through Terror and provides a small survivability boost.

However, these runes can only be obtained through Twilight Arbor explorable mode, so getting them may take a while. Until then, I recommend using two Superior Runes of Lyssa to get two ticks of Terror on fears and filling the other slots with Superior Runes of the Krait or Superior Runes of the Afflicted for extra bleed damage and duration.

Jewels:

Unfortunately, my build is stuck with the rare-quality Crest of the Rabid to maximize condition damage through condition damage, precision, and toughness. Like stated earlier, Exquisite Coral Jewels are also viable for condition damage, power, and precision, but it provides less condition damage overall.

Sigils:

For the scepter and staff, Superior Sigil of Earth is standard. It gives critical hits a 60 percent chance to apply a stack of bleed for 5 seconds default. This is a huge part of the build, and it’s why condition necromancers want precision.

For the dagger, it’s more about personal preference. I prefer Superior Sigil of Accuracy for 5-percent critical hit chance, but Superior Sigil of Agony is also viable for longer-lasting bleeds and Superior Sigil of Corruption is good if it’s possible to keep 10 to 25 stacks. I tend to avoid other proc-based sigils because they share an inner cooldown with Superior Sigil of Earth, so it’s better to grab a sigil with a passive boost.

Infusions:

World vs. world laurel merchants sell infusions with stats and bonuses against world vs. world guards and lords at the cost of 5 laurel tokens and 125 Badges of Honor. Get the Malign WvW Infusion, which gives condition damage, for offensive slots and the Resilient WvW Infusion, which gives toughness, for defensive slots. Laurel tokens are gained from daily and monthly achievements, and badges of honor are obtained from world vs. world kills and jumping puzzles.

VI. Consumables

Unfortunately, consumables are often overlooked. This is a shame because even the affordable options add 189 condition damage and 36 percent condition duration. That’s a massive damage increase! Since I realize consumables can be too expensive for some, I’ll list what I consider the affordable options and the best options.

Affordable Options:

Super Veggie Pizza: Food buff. This gives 60 condition damage and 36 percent condition duration. It’s the affordable, nearly max DPS food for condition necromancers.

Quality Tuning Crystal: Miscellaneous buff. This converts 5 percent of toughness and 3 percent of vitality into condition damage. It’s a massive damage gain, especially when paired with condition damage, precision, and toughness gear.

Best Options:

Rare Veggie Pizza: Food buff. This gives 70 condition damage and 40 percent condition duration. It’s the best DPS food for condition necromancers.

Master Tuning Crystal: Miscellaneous buff. This converts 6 percent of toughness and 4 percent of vitality into condition damage. It’s the best damage gain, especially when paired with condition damage, precision, and toughness gear.

VII. Skill Priority

Unlike PvE, there isn’t always a set rotation of skills that should be followed. In PvP, skills are a lot more situational. There’s no sense in blowing every scepter and dagger cooldown when the bleeds are just going to be cleansed off. Putrid Mark and Deathly Swarm are best saved when a few conditions are on the necromancer, and Reaper’s Mark is best used during clutch moments to lock in a kill.

However, when the layers of condition removal are peeled through and it’s time to maximize damage, there is some level of rotation that should be followed. In scepter and dagger, the skill priority is much like the typical PvE rotation: Grasping Dead (No. 2) over Enfeebling Blood (No. 5) over Feast of Corruption (No. 3) over Blood Curse / Rending Curse / Putrid Curse (No. 1). In staff, using Mark of Blood (No. 2) and Chillblains (No. 3) as much as possible is ideal. In optimal damage situations, it’s best to prioritize scepter and dagger over staff because scepter and dagger can apply more bleeds more quickly.

When condition removals are done, it’s also a prime time to use fear and sink to secure a kill before a target can heal. Loading up full bleeds on a target and double fearing it can create a massive health deficit that is too difficult to recover from, especially if poison and chill are on the target to lower the effectiveness of heals and make any defensive cooldowns even longer.

Optimal Burst Rotation:

In the most optimal burst situation, I will use scepter and dagger to Grasping Dead (No. 2) and Enfeebling Blood (No. 5), stack a few bleeds and some poison with Blood Curse / Rending Curse / Putrid Curse (No. 1), switch to staff, use Mark of Blood (No. 2), Chillblains (No. 3), Reaper’s Mark (No. 5), Death Shroud (F1 default), Doom (No. 3), and Dark Path (No. 2). This combination stacks a bunch of bleeds, keeps some poison and chill up, and secures a kill with two fears in a row.

Scepter and Dagger vs. Staff:

The key difference between the scepter-and-dagger set and staff is the scepter-and-dagger set is offensive while staff is defensive.

Staff’s abilities stack less bleeds and do less damage, but they have longer range, apply a stronger snare (chill is better than cripple), cleanse more conditions (Putrid Mark cleanses all conditions, while Deathly Swarm only gets up to three), and fear is amazing for controlling opponents.

On the other hand, the scepter-and-dagger set stacks more bleeds and poison, mostly thanks to scepter’s great No. 1 attack.

My advice is to swap to staff for more defensive situations (when building distance, long range), but stick to scepter and dagger as much as possible to maximize bleeds, poison, and overall damage.

VIII. Tips for One-on-One Fights

Condition necromancers have a solid mix of survivability and damage, which puts them in a great spot for one-on-one fights. The trick is to fight in a way that takes advantage of necromancer’s ability to wear down opponents. When I’m fighting someone one-on-one, I know I usually have the advantage the longer the fight goes on, so I do my best to keep my distance and wear my opponent down with bleeds and poison. In this section, I can’t give a script of how every encounter will go — that’s unrealistic, given the variance of player actions and builds — but I’ll provide tips on how to approach the different classes. Knowing how to deal with all the classes on an individual basis makes it much easier to deal with them in group settings.

Guardian:

As a condition necromancer, the goal is to stay at range with snares and fear and wear through multiple condition-removing abilities. Once a guardian uses all his/her condition removals, unload every bleed possible and secure the kill.

Also, save Corrupt Boon for “Save Yourselves!” Many guardians will use it for the boons, which can be easily converted to free conditions.

If the guardian blocks, that’s an ideal time to switch to staff and fear through the block.

Warrior:

This fight can be a bit scary because warriors are capable of very high spike damage. Keep as much distance as possible with cripple, chill, and fear, and apply conditions.

If the warrior changes to a shield to block, that’s an ideal time to switch to staff and fear through the block.

If a warrior stuns or begins using Thousand Blades, popping Death Shroud to absorb damage is advisable.

If the warrior changes to rifle and kneels, that means s/he’s using Kill Shot. If this happens, wait about 1.5 seconds and dodge. If it’s not avoided, Kill Shot can really hurt.

Engineer:

Engineers can have a lot of conditions and crowd controls, but it’s easy to turn them on the engineer with Deathly Swarm and Putrid Mark. I always make sure to roll out of any ground-targeted AOEs and grenades when possible.

If an engineer drops a bunch of turrets, I will run out of line-of-sight or range of the turrets, and make the engineer come to me. Even if it means running away from an engineer, it’s better and safer than trying to deal with all the turrets and the engineer at the same time.

Many engineers will run an HGH build, which lets the engineer stack a lot of might. Against these builds, it’s best to save Corrupt Boon until might stacks are about 12 or higher. Doing this will usually strip the boons when an engineer’s elixirs are off cooldown, leaving him at a substantial disadvantage.

Ranger:

If a ranger is ranged, s/he’ll likely be using a shortbow and might even be built for conditions. If that’s the case, turn the conditions around with Deathly Swarm, Putrid Mark, and Consume Conditions.

If the ranger is melee, build distance with cripple, chill, and fear and cleanse any conditions.

If I ever get hit by the ranger elite skill Entangle, I will dispel the immobilize, typically with Consume Conditions, and immediately roll. This lets me avoid the reapplication of the root without having to destroy it.

Ranger pets can also be used to the necromancer’s advantage. Since necromancer’s condition application is mostly AOE, pets can be used to double the amount of conditions on a ranger. To do this, I make the damaging AOEs from scepter and staff hit both the ranger and the pet, then I target the pet and Epidemic. Voila, double the bleeds on the ranger.

If the ranger is built like a bunker with a strong DPS pet, keeping cripple on the chill and running around can do a lot to diminish the ranger’s damage.

The key to applying conditions to rangers is to wait for Healing Spring, a ground-based heal that strips conditions, and Empathic Bond, which transfers three conditions from the ranger to his pet every 10 second, to go on cooldown. (Empathic Bond is easy to detect because three conditions will suddenly disappear from the ranger.) Once both are on cooldown, unload on the ranger with condition application cooldowns and fears to put him severely behind.

Thief:

The key to fighting thieves is avoiding their opening burst damage, which can only be properly executed through stealth. If a thief stealths right by me, I will almost always Death Shroud or wait a second and then roll. This usually lets me avoid the entire opening burst from Backstab. If for whatever reason I can’t roll or Death Shroud, I will run away from the area where I saw the thief stealth. Since stealth is time-limited, I will usually be able to outrun the thief until stealth ends. As a very last resort, Plague is always an option to absorb an opener and make a thief essentially useless for 20 seconds.

Once the opener is avoided, it’s a matter of building distance with chill, cripple, and fear. When the thief re-stealths, I use the same tactics as before to avoid any burst.

Also, I make sure to drop AOEs, particularly marks, between where a thief stealths and my position, since a thief will move toward me if he wants to attack me from stealth. If I predict the thief’s movement properly, this can let me apply a bunch of conditions on the thief before s/he even opens. I can’t even begin to count how many thieves I’ve killed in stealth because they tend to be so squishy and vulnerable to AOE condition application while in stealth.

If a thief is built for heavy survivability by making his/her stealth remove conditions and heal, the fight can take a while, but with proper play, a condition necromancer should be able to outlast or, at the very worst, stalemate any thief.

Elementalist:

Elementalists are like guardians in that they have a few layers of condition removal, so the fights can take a while, but the condition necromancer should always have the upper hand.

If an elementalist is ranged, his/her attacks are very easy to avoid by moving. If an elementalist is melee, s/he will have a lot of mobility, but it shouldn’t be enough burst or damage to really scare a necromancer. Simply keep as much distance as possible, even against ranged elementalists, and avoid any AOEs and projectiles by staying on the move. Chill, cripple, and fear as much as possible to keep distance.

One trick elementalists love to use is mixing Churning Earth and Lightning Flash. This lets them charge up Churning Earth and teleport to a target at the last possible moment to do spike damage and apply eight bleeds. This is very easily avoidable. If I ever see an elementalist charge up Churning Earth (the elementalist will crouch and rocks will begin shaking around him/her), I will either fear to interrupt the cast (the 30-second cooldown will still trigger if the ability is interrupted) or get ready to dodge or Death Shroud once the elementalist teleports to me. One reason to use Death Shroud instead of rolling is the bleeds can then be transferred back to the elementalist with Putrid Mark or Deathly Swarm.

It’s a good idea to save Corrupt Boon for Armor of Earth. It turns the stability into fear, giving a free stun and distance builder, and the protection into vulnerability, which boosts damage against the elementalist very slightly.

The key to applying conditions on elementalists is to wait for them to switch out of water attunement, which is easily observed by looking at the elementalist’s attunement buff. As soon as a elementalist leaves water attunement, he will not be able to return to that attunement for about 9 seconds, which means he will not be able to access three potential condition cleansing cooldowns for at least 9 seconds. That makes it a perfect time to unload with condition-applying cooldowns to secure a kill.

Mesmer:

When I fight mesmers, I always try to keep my distance. Even though the main Greatsword attack does get stronger the further I am, it’s better to take the slightly boosted damage than it is to leave myself close to a mesmer’s phantasms and illusions in case the mesmer uses Mind Wrack to shatter the clones on me for spike damage. Distance also helps me avoid the more threatening melee weapons most mesmers use.

It’s important to know mesmers are very vulnerable to conditions. The only tools they have to cleanse them — Arcane Thievery and Null Field — have long cooldowns and are limited in how much they cleanse.

That also means illusions and phantasms are very vulnerable to conditions. I always take advantage of this by making sure my AOEs hit as many clones as possible and by spamming Epidemic. If done properly, this can take out a lot of clones before they even reach me.

Another alternative to killing clones is Life Transfer (Death Shroud No. 4). It doesn’t do that much single-target damage, but the AOE can take down squishy clones very quickly.

When a mesmer does use Mind Wrack, it’s very obvious because the clones will stop what they’re doing and begin moving to their target. As a condition necromancer, it’s always advisable to kite the clones and kill them (they’re easy to one- or two-shot) or use Death Shroud to soak the burst damage.

Necromancer:

Strangely enough, necromancer is one of the best counters to necromancer. Condition builds have a lot of ways to transfer and cleanse conditions, so it can be a bit like fighting a guardian or elementalist in that there are condition-removal layers to work through before a necromancer can be killed.

The trick is to use the condition transfers as sparingly as possible to balance damage coming in while maximizing damage going out. If done properly, I can usually get another necromancer to waste his condition removals and then transfer all remaining conditions on me to kill him/her.

If a necromancer is built for power, s/he won’t have as many condition transfers, and the damage will be easier to avoid. Build distance with chill, cripple, and fear, and keep conditions off as much as possible.

When a necromancer uses Death Shroud, it’s a good idea to try to interrupt the Life Transfer, which has a rather obvious animation, with fear. This makes it so the necromancer is able to soak up less damage in Death Shroud since Life Transfer provides life force.

IX. Tips for Group Fights

Playing in or against a group can be a completely different than playing one-on-one. For starters, not always being the center of attention opens up some leniency for dealing damage. Here are some tips that make condition necromancers more effective in group battles.

Maximizing range:

The biggest survivability a ranged class has is not a skill or a piece of gear. For condition necromancers, it’s not even Death Shroud. Instead, it’s range. Keeping as much range as possible is a huge deal in PvP. It’s the best way to avoid any damage.

Part of doing this means using the right weapon. Scepter and dagger have shorter ranges than staff, so sometimes it’s better to sacrifice damage from scepter and dagger to not get too close to a huge group of players. This is entirely a personal call, but it’s something that will become more obvious with more play time.

But the biggest part of maximizing ranged is predicting opponents. This is all a matter of getting familiar with the game’s mechanics. The key factors to watch out for is that movement should be done before it’s too late. When a group of players starts moving towards me, I will start moving away from them as soon as possible. It’s not just about building distance; it’s about keeping distance.

Maximizing range applies in both small and huge encounters. It’s a very important aspect of surviving and, in the long term, maximizing damage by staying alive as long as possible.

Now, sometimes it is better to move in for more damage. I don’t just sit in staff and drop marks all day; I often move in to deal superior damage with scepter and dagger. Again, this is entirely situational, and it’s something one can only get used to with a deeper understanding of game mechanics.

Epidemic use:

One of the most important aspects of a condition necromancer is understanding who is vulnerable to conditions and who isn’t. In general, guardians, elementalists, and other necromancers can cleanse a lot of conditions, while warriors, mesmers, and rangers do not. Thieves can also be a bit more difficult to apply conditions on due to stealth.

Knowing this makes it a lot easier to choose a target to apply bleeds on. In larger fights, I will almost always target a warrior, mesmer, or ranger, apply as many conditions as possible, and then use Epidemic. Even with those classes, I’ll usually have to deal with one condition removal, but after that, it’s really easy to apply conditions and send them out to their entire groups.

Baiting:

Baiting opponents into a bad position is a very good tactic. Condition necromancers are OK at this because they have so much survivability. To do this, I will usually move close to an opponent, grabbing his/her attention. After that, I will run back toward my group. If I really have someone’s attention, s/he will follow me. If I’m baiting an entire group of people, I will usually use Death Shroud or Plague to make sure I can soak up any ranged damage before I get back to my group.

In an organized group, this can be very effectively done with corners and walls. Baiting opponents around a corner and into a larger group is a very common flanking tactic, and it can make sieges easier by sending a group of enemies back to a spawn point.

X. Other Tips

These are tips that generally apply to both one-on-one and group fights.

Using Death Shroud:

In PvP, the main uses of Death Shroud are survivability and fear. Using it for survivability is all about predicting burst through indicators — getting stunned, a thief stealthing, a warrior using Thousand Blades, mesmer clones moving in to shatter — and activating Death Shroud to soak up any spikes in damage. It’s also a good idea to switch to Death Shroud and soak up conditions when Deathly Swarm, Putrid Mark, and Consume Conditions are on cooldown. If Death Shroud is being used for survivability, it’s also a good idea to use Life Transfer to regain life force while in Death Shroud.

It’s also a good idea to use Death Shroud to fear as much as possible. The ideal way to do this is to pop into Death Shroud, use Doom (No. 3), and pop out. For condition necromancers, popping into Death Shroud will also grant fury, which can go really well with a stun like fear to apply some extra damage through more bleeds and critical hits.

Remember it’s possible to use Death Shroud and Doom (No. 3) while in any crowd control. This can essentially act as a stun breaker if used properly. I have feared plenty of deadly channeled attacks while stunned by saving Death Shroud for the proper moment.

Kill critters:

This is pretty basic, but while running to a zone or fight, one-shot as many critters, or gray-named mobs, as possible to gain life force. I will usually arrive to a keep or tower with close to full life force just by killing a bunch of critters.

Dodging:

Dodging is a huge deal in PvP, but it’s rarely used correctly by most players. First of all, never roll twice in a row at the start of a fight. I see so many people do this, and it’s a complete waste.

The best times to use dodge are when big burst damage is obviously coming, including stealth and Thousand Blades. In these situations, it’s almost always a good idea to dodge to avoid big burst.

If I’m low on health and my heal has a few seconds left on its cooldown, I will also dodge to ensure I survive just long enough for it to come up. This has saved me a walk back countless times.

Dodging properly is all about building the right experience and knowledge, but one universal truth is to be thoughtful with dodges. I strongly advise against spamming dodge on cooldown, as way too many players seem to do.

Fear:

The most obvious use of fear is its stun and interrupt, but one often overlooked aspect of the ability is the fact it moves people away from the necromancer. Not only can this be used to knock enemies off ledges, but it can also be used to move enemies into deadly positions.

For example, fear can be used to move enemies into the necromancer’s allies. One easy way I do this is by going into Death Shroud, using Dark Path (Death Shroud No. 2) to jump by a target, position myself so I’m facing my group, and fearing. If I use both Doom (Death Shroud No. 2) and Reaper’s Mark (staff No. 5), I can usually push a target pretty deep into my group.

It’s also possible to use fear to push an opponent further into his/her own group. The main reason to do this is to put someone in the middle of a large group for Epidemic, which can sometimes maximize the amount of people afflicted by conditions.

Weakness:

This is the most under-appreciated condition in the game. In simple terms, it makes 50 percent of non-critical hits do half the damage. This can be a huge damage decrease depending on players. Even glass cannons usually only have around 50 percent critical hit chance, which means weakness reduces about half their attacks by 50 percent.

Weakness also makes endurance, which is used to roll, recharge much slower, which can be a huge deal for securing a kill.

XI. Frequently Asked Questions

Why not a healing power, condition damage, toughness?

Precision is a massive damage gain due to Superior Sigil of Earth and Barbed Precision. That set also has much less condition damage because it prioritizes healing power.

I don’t think giving up condition damage and precision for healing power is worth it, especially because I don’t ever feel like my survivability is lacking. It’s very easy for a lot of players to fall into the trap of focusing on too much survivability after a bad experience. A lot of people did it in WOW’s arenas. But the real solution is working on living longer through proper tactics and strategies, not throwing away a huge chunk of damage for some limited survivability.

Why not carrion gear (condition damage, power, vitality)?

Carrion gear is a damage downgrade for condition builds:

1. Less condition damage: The lack of toughness on carrion gear means there’s a reduced benefit from consumables and Runes of the Undead, which leads to lower condition damage.

2. Less bleed ticks: Less precision means less Barbed Precision and Superior Sigil of Earth procs.

Vitality is also worse than toughness for condition necromancers because necromancers have enough base health without any gear, so I would argue it’s also a survivability downgrade.

Why not a hybrid gear set-up?

The main reason hybrid builds, meaning builds that combine power and condition damage, are mediocre in Guild Wars 2 is because the stats from the main DPS archetypes — condition damage, precision, and toughness in rabid and power, precision, and critical damage in berserker — scale better when taken together.

For example, with berserker gear, precision is geared toward making critical strikes more frequent, but in the same set-up, critical strikes actually get stronger. So every percent of critical strike chance (21 precision at level 80) actually becomes better as the critical strikes triggered become stronger through power and critical damage. The math behind this is simple: With no extra critical damage, 1 percent chance to crit, or 21 precision, only adds about 0.5 percent DPS. With 50 percent extra critical damage, that 21 precision suddenly adds about 1 percent DPS because the critical strikes triggered are now doing double the damage.

It’s the same concept with condition damage, toughness, and bleeds in the rabid set-up. With rabid gear, precision triggers more bleeds, while condition damage and, to a much lesser degree, toughness all add to bleed damage. So each point of precision becomes stronger with each point of condition damage and toughness because the more frequent bleeds also tick harder.

In other words, it’s better to focus on two or three main stats, especially as each individual stat gets higher, because of how the stats synergize with each other. If a hybrid approach is taken to gearing, the lack of focus actually makes a build do much less damage in the long term.

XII. Revisions and Additions

June 3, 2013: Updated V. Gear with information about ascended gear obtained through world vs. world.

May 31, 2013: Updated VIII. Tips for One-on-One Fights with tips for engineers, elementalists, and rangers.

May 29, 2013: Updated III. Traits with a revised build that gets Master of Corruption instead of Lingering Curse.

May 25, 2013: Updated the build to use Spectral Walk to accommodate for a metagame that is increasingly punishing necromancer’s lack of mobility.

May 13, 2013: Updated III. Traits with a new build that goes further into Soul Reaping.

April 19, 2013: Switched my recommended runes in V. Gear to the full set of Superior Rune of the Nightmare.

April 9, 2013: Added a question and answer to XI. Frequently Asked Questions.

March 24, 2013: Updated III. Traits with a much stronger, PvP-centric build after doing some testing. It’s much stronger for world vs. world and structured PvP, but the downside is this build no longer goes hand-in-hand with my PvE build. I also updated V. Gear with ascended gear and infusions from the latest patches.

Feb. 10, 2013: Updated III. Traits to reflect testing with Terror.

Feb. 9, 2013: Updated III. Traits and IV. Heals, Utility Skills, and Elite Skills to reflect testing with wells and Summon Flesh Golem.

Feb. 1, 2013: Updated II. Weapon and Death Shroud Abilities, particularly underwater abilities, to reflect changes since the guide was written.

Jan. 30, 2013: Overhauled V. Gear to make tips for gearing up a lot easier to navigate and read.

Jan. 28, 2013: Updated tips for gearing in V. Gear to reflect the new patch.

Jan. 1, 2013: Added a question and answer to XI. Frequently Asked Questions.

Dec. 31, 2012: Added a comparison between staff and the scepter-and-dagger set to VII. Skill Priority. Added a note about replacing Corrupt Boon with Blood is Power in IV. Heals, Utility Skills, and Elite Skills, thanks to prowagratis on Reddit for the suggestion.