Snow Crows Logo
Purchase Guild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds while supporting Snow Crows. Purchase Now

Beginner Power Reaper

Published May 10, 2023 Updated Aug 30, 2024
Raids - March 2024 Balance
HazelTheLich meta team
I am no longer playing Guild Wars 2.
Beginner Power Reaper
Pros +
Plenty of CC Provides self boons Easy to learn Lots of cleave
Cons -
No ranged DPS Relies on resource management Requires accurate positioning Forced movement
Attributes
Power 2764
Toughness 0
Vitality 0
Precision 2008
Critical Chance 75%
Ferocity 1330
Critical Damage 238.6%
Condition Damage 0
Healing Power 0
Expertise 0
Condition Duration 0%
Concentration 0
Boon Duration 0%
Gear
Item Stat

Assassin'sHelm

Berserker'sShoulders

Berserker'sCoat

Berserker'sGloves

Berserker'sLeggings

Berserker'sBoots
Item Stat

Berserker'sBackpiece

Berserker'sAccessory

Berserker'sAccessory

Berserker'sAmulet

Berserker'sRing

Berserker'sRing

Relic
Primary Weapon Set

Berserker's GreatswordMain Hand
Secondary Weapon Set

Berserker's DaggerMain Hand

Berserker's SwordOff Hand
Other Items

Infusionx12

Infusionx6

Food

Utility
Traits & Skills
Skills

has no cast time, so cast it at any point in the rotation. For many encounters, this skill will be replaced with a situational skill. See the Full Guide for more details.
Skill Reference Guide
Dagger & Sword Default Keybind
2
3
4 4
5 5
Greatsword Default Keybind
2
3
4
5
Reaper's Shroud Default Keybind
2
3
4
5
Life Force Management

One of the challenges of most Necromancer builds is Life Force management. Practicing your build and learning encounters will go a long way towards effective resource management, but sooner or later you will need to generate extra Life Force. Mastering when and how to focus on gaining Life Force is the difference between a mediocre and great Reaper player.

In general, review the Introduction to Necromancer guide for a list of Life Force generated per skill. To summarize for this build though, do the following:

If currently on Greatsword:

  • If you can cleave multiple targets, Auto Attack and use when available, picking up the full rotation when Wells are available.
  • Otherwise, cast and (if available), Weapon Swap to Dagger and Auto Attack. When available, cast Wells .

If currently on Dagger:

  • Auto Attack on Dagger until your Wells are almost off of Cooldown.
  • Weapon Swap to Greatsword → → Opener loop

In either case:

  • Use for extra Life Force and some Damage.
  • Use if multiple targets are in range.

Remember, it is a major damage loss to enter Shroud just to get knocked out early, whether due to natural drain (5% per second on Reaper) or taking damage. If needed, exiting Shroud early is better than than being forced out.
Rotation & Extras
Step One

The signature mechanic of Reaper upgrades the Necromancer's to the melee focused .

The trait encourages a rotation of entering and regularly. To get used to this timing, start with the simplified rotation:

  • In Shroud, use Auto Attack Chains seven times before . This should take about 8 seconds.
  • On Greatsword, use Auto Attacks and enter off Cooldown.
Step Two

For this step, maximize your burst damage by learning the Opener Combo:

  3. Enter

Cast quickly after to cancel its long aftercast.

Use this at the start of combat and whenever there is enough down time for Wells to be off Cooldowns. Delay using the Opener if a burst window is about to happen.

Additionally, use this step to refine the Greatsword loop by integrating the Opener and :

  2. Fill with and Auto Attack Chains
  3. Opener Combo when Wells are about to be off Cooldown

Each Auto Attack Chain resets the Cooldown of . You may notice that has no Cooldown when the enemy is below 50% health. Step 5 will discuss this in greater detail.
Step Three

To further increase damage, add in the rest of the Shroud skills. This will complete the Shroud loop:

  1. Enter
  2. Auto Attack Chain x3
  4. Auto Attack Chain x3

can be used in place of Auto Attack Chains, but is severely buggy and will often miss entirely. It is used on Golem to bench but is often avoided in actual encounters.
Step Four

Next, add in Dagger skills. The loop is very simple since it only uses two skills:

Offhand weapon skills are not used in the rotation and should only be used situationally for things like Breakbar damage or emergency Life Force.

The full rotation then will be:

  1. Greatsword Dagger
  2. Shroud
  3. Dagger Greatsword
  4. Shroud

Remember that delaying the Shroud loop will be a damage loss, so the time outside of Shroud should be at most 8 seconds. Aim to enter Shroud as close to Cooldown as possible.
Step Five

For this last step, separate the rotation outside of Shroud into two parts: Above 50% and Below 50%. The Above 50% rotation is what you have learned up to this point. When the enemy is below 50%, since has no Cooldown, make the following changes to allow more casts of it:

  • Instead of Auto Attacking on Greatsword, spam
  • Drop from the Dagger Loop and only cast

Since does not generate Life Force, you may be starved for resources. Avoiding damage while in Shroud is essential to maximizing damage, but see the LF Management side bar for more guidance.

Comments

No comments here yet.
Login to join the discussion.

Was this build helpful?