User:Ekko/Sandbox/Weapon Ideas/Necromancer
Necromancer[edit]
The necromancer has access to ten possible weapon sets: one two-hander, 3 main-hands, and 3 off-hands. Taking into account weapon switching, it has a total of 90 weapon combinations.
Two-Handed[edit]
Staff[edit]
A necromancer with a staff loves to apply conditions, especially to areas. They also have a lot of support (and some of that is conditions), but seemingly no unique way to generate life force. Necrotic Grasp is straightforward, instant-recharge direct damage. Reaper's Mark applies vulnerability and bleeding to a group of enemies at once, and Chilblains does the same for chill and poison. Reaper's Touch adds weakness to the mix, as well as dropping swiftness on your allies, making it a great way to deal with melee foes attacking squishies; the attacker deals less damage and your ally (or you) can get away easier. To round it out, Putrid Mark transfers conditions from allies to foes, adding support and YET MORE CONDITIONS.
Main-Hand[edit]
Axe[edit]
The axe is a close-range, direct damage weapon. Rending Claws does damage and spreads bleeding, while Ghastly Claws just does damage over a short time. Unholy Feast damages and cripples everyone around you, and is improved by conditions already on your foes--it pairs well with an offhand weapon that applies more conditions. The Claw attacks may be area of effect, I'm not sure.
Dagger[edit]
The main-hand dagger is also a damage-focused weapon, although with a longer range. Necrotic Bite deals direct damage and awards life-force at melee range (from a distance with a trait that you should definitely slot). Life Siphon gives you extra self-healing as well as damage over time, which pairs well with Dark Pact, which damages and bleeds enemies, but forces you to sacrifice health.
Scepter[edit]
The scepter is a ranged, condition-spreading weapon. Curse allows you to spam poison, and Grasping Dead cripples and bleeds foes in an area. Feast of Corruption "rips effects" off of a target to damage them, dealing damage for boons and conditions removed, obviously pairing well with the other skills.
Off-Hand[edit]
Dagger[edit]
The off-handed dagger is a support weapon. Enfeebling Blood weakens your target, helping protect allies from damage, and Mark of Blood applies regeneration over an area while also providing AoE damage.
Focus[edit]
Life Blast delivers direct ranged damage that's increased by the amount of life force you have--a good complement for a dagger's life-force generation and a helpful ranged attack for an axe. Spinal Shivers applied chilled and vulnerability, snaring a foe and making them take more damage, setting them up for a close-ranged smackdown.
Warhorn[edit]
The warhorn makes it really unpleasant to be next to the necromancer. Locust Swarm steals life from nearby foes over time, helping you weather unwanted melee attention. Wail of Doom is a stand-out skill here: it dazes enemies in an area around you, making them useless for a short while, and giving you or allies time to switch weapon sets or otherwise react to enemies that got too close.
Weapon Combinations[edit]
Axe/Dagger[edit]
Not a superb pairing, but the dagger offers a little helpful utility to the axe's damage. Enfeebling Blood adds another condition, offering a little protection if you're getting hit, and additional damage from Unholy Feast. Mark of Blood gives healing and AoE damage, which is nice, but not exactly huge for you.
Axe/Focus[edit]
This is one of the two best off-hands for the axe--it adds a lot more versatility. Life Blast is a solid ranged attack to round out your melee abilities, always a welcome addition. Spinal Shivers snares enemies and makes them take more damage, softening them up for your melee-range attacks. It also drops 2 conditions on them, for extra Unholy Feast damage. A solid offensive pairing.
Axe/Warhorn[edit]
Another strong option for the axe (and in general), the warhorn adds more area-of-effect capacity. Locust Swarm offers some self-healing and additional damage to nearby foes, and everyone loves more of that. Wail of Doom offers its fantastic daze, which is helpful insurance, considering you're a scholar in melee range. It also primes them for Unholy Feast, if you want to use it not to escape but to make them unable to defend themselves.
Dagger/Dagger[edit]
Oddly, this isn't a stellar combination. Enfeebling Blood doesn't get you anywhere special, apart from adding a little support capacity. Mark of Blood is useful, both as AoE damage (which you otherwise lack) and extra healing, to help soften Dark Pact's health cost. You're not giming yourself, but it's just kind of lackluster.
Dagger/Focus[edit]
This is probably the best of off-hand for the dagger. Life Blast rocks with your ability to generate lots of lifeforce, even though you already have a lot of ranged damage. Spinal Shivers amplifies the damage you do, rounding this off nicely.
Dagger/Warhorn[edit]
The warhorn makes melee a less scary place to be, but I'm not sure if it's worth the lack of damage you get out of it. Both Locust Swarm and Wail of Doom help keep you alive if you're being attacked by enemies, and Locust Swarm's life-stealing can help fuel Dark Pact's sacrifice. That said, you're probably not going to be in melee enough to devote a whole weapon to it, but it's not a bad option if you're feeling pretty vulnerable. This probably has the most survivability out of all the necromancer options, though--life force generation for Death Shroud and lots of self-healing.
Scepter/Dagger[edit]
This is a more support-oriented combination for the scepter, and it's a solid choice. Enfeebling Blood adds another condition for Feast of Corruption, and weakness is always nice. Mark of Blood gives healing and AoE damage, helping with support and adding more damage over time that's not condition-dependant.
Scepter/Focus[edit]
Spinal Shivers makes Feast of Corruption very, very happy. Life Blast offers direct ranged damage, which is always nice, especially since you don't have much of it. It's a good pick--more directly offensive than scepter/dagger, but with less support.
Scepter/Warhorn[edit]
Melee isn't a place you wan't to be, so the Warhorn is both a super-helpful and completely useless: it'll help keep you alive and safe (for a little while) if you attract unwanted attention of the stabbing variety, but you never want to be in that position. No conditions (other than daze, which you don't want to rip off) and no ranged support makes this a little underwhelming, except maybe in PvP.
Suggestions[edit]
As always, coming later. Probably.
