Profession suggestion for PvE Hard Mode?

What you dont seem to realize is warriors defenses are not as effective as the necro's, for protecting the team, like Enfeebling Blood and minions. Except for overpowered SY which a Paragon can use to a much better degree than the warrior himself. Which definitely helps your case since this thread is discussing pure damage?

Necros are good, but definitely not the best.

I lol'd. SY is 82% mitigation from elemental and physical while Enfeebling is 66% on only physical. Oh, and you don't need much spec in Enfeebling for it to be effective.

PS: SS sucks, Foul Feast > Blind / Weakness and targetswitching / enchant removal > blocks. You've said nothing that would counter anything I've said.

The difference between 82 and 66 isn't much. And while SY! effects elemental damage, it can only help 7 out of 8 members. Weakness helps everyone despite being physical only. Also, do I really have to explain the other non-mitigation utility that a curse necro brings? What I said still stands: assassins and warriors don't have much of an advantage in utility.

You can counter blind and block with enchant/stance/condition removals, just like you can counter hex removal with cover or aoe hexes(pve only). What I said still stands: hex removal is not as common as blind/block.

What people dont seem to understand is that mobs attack and cast 33-50% faster in hard mode.
That translates to 33-50% more [Spiteful Spirit] DPS.
Every SS becomes a Moebius/Blossom spam for its duration.
With [Arcane Echo], you have -2- of them.
Let's not forget the necro can spam [Necrosis] while SS does its work.

This huge shift in damage potential from normal to hard is why the necro out-DPSes everyone. People can deny it all they want and keep repeating that necromancers are only a support class, but that doesn't make it true.

1 SS necro(make sure to carry Barbs) + 3 meleers > 1 orders necro + 3 meleers > 4 meleers with outside splinter support > 4 SS necros > 1 SS necro > 1 melee with outside splinter support

stuff about SS [[Spiteful Spirit] depends on your opponent being stupid, which is why it rawks PvE. To say that it matches Blossom DPS just tells me you haven't played Assassin much though.

Following this, I'd rather have DPS sources that can be buffed (eg physical ) especially in HM.

The thing about SS (and passive DPS skills like it) is that it encourages stupid play. Cast it, then stay alive long enough for the monster to die from brain explosion. Much better to actively deal focused damage... helluva lot faster. You can vanquish with anything, as already stated, but speed = win.

As for SS, you do understand slapping Mark of Pain on a target will deal far more DPS depending on how many physical attacks hit it, right? The AP MoP Nuker is far more powerful than an SS for the simple reason it buffs up melee and can deal consistent AoE damage. Omg, Tyla's using my point.

In any case, MoP+10 fiends is still faster than MoP+1 warrior. MoP is a necro skill not a warrior skill though.

Although damage is important, staying alive is also important. What is the point of equipping all damages if you cant keep your team alive? Yeah I understand that, but the OP was looking for the best damage, and how well a profession can support his team probably wasn't what he was looking for.

If he posted on this thread instead of letting it get derailed he might get a better answer...

Omg, Tyla's using my point.

In any case, MoP+10 fiends is still faster than MoP+1 warrior. Dervish with Splinter Weapon will trigger it twice if it hits the MoP'd target with both Splinter and the scythe. That makes it ~80 damage added onto AoE. Also attacking at roughly 1.2 seconds with Heart of Fury up.

Warrior using Whirlwind Attack buffed by Splinter Weapon, also attacking every ~1 second will deal the same.

Dervish with Splinter Weapon will trigger it twice if it hits the MoP'd target with both Splinter and the scythe. That makes it ~80 damage added onto AoE. Also attacking at roughly 1.2 seconds with Heart of Fury up.

Warrior using Whirlwind Attack buffed by Splinter Weapon, also attacking every ~1 second will deal the same. Last I remember, Splinter is physical damage, not armor ignoring but of course it helps. And Splinter would trigger MoP but fiends targeting is usually sufficient for me anyway. Having some melee to hold up and bunch up the group from fleeing would also help.

MoP especially works well against Rit or Monk monsters because casters tend to bunch up in PvE and these would heal themselves, keeping themselves alive while monsters around them are dying from MoP triggering off them. When monsters around them have all died from MoP, cast Barbs and finish them off. Heroes dont know how to work this correctly.

Yes, with splinter, orders, and strength of honor, blossom DPS goes through the roof. No, SS can't match a tricked out blossom spam in hard mode.

...but -2- Spiteful Spirits can match it. 1 Blossom spammer would give SS and its echoed copy a run for their money... before adding buffs.

EDIT: yes, I meant in HM.

1 Blossom spammer would give SS and its echoed copy a run for their money... before adding buffs.

EDIT: yes, I meant in HM. That's what I thought when I was considering which character I would make my main and I ruled the Necro out pretty early.

When running Sabway, for example, setting Livia as the SS/Barbs is effective enough. On the other hand, I can guess an Assassin hero certainly wouldn't be able to spam Moebius/Death Blossom as well as I do, switch targets, use Golden Fox/Wild Strike effectively on stance blockers, etc, and much less survive Hard Mode with 70 Armor, etc. Even if the hero managed all that, he/she wouldn't have access to Critical Agility which I think is key for the spam (33% IAS is huge!).

I noticed Weapon Spells are extremely strong on an Assassins' hands, too. I have Warmongers on Livia and Splinter on Olias. Splinter adds a lot to AoE damage, and Warmongers simply doesn't let a Monk cast any spell at all, whenever I see a boss I micro it, and kill.

Overall I'm pretty happy with the sin for now, and she outdamages my Ele HEAVILY (besides having the advantage to shutdown while attacking). Fun to play and powerful - played with my friend this weekend and had a few successful HM missions and vanquishes already.

Whenever I get bored I'll try some Warrior/Derv/Para build on the sin. She seems pretty versatile.

When running Sabway, for example, setting Livia as the SS/Barbs is effective enough. On the other hand, I can guess an Assassin hero certainly wouldn't be able to spam Moebius/Death Blossom as well as I do, switch targets, use Golden Fox/Wild Strike effectively on stance blockers, etc, and much less survive Hard Mode with 70 Armor, etc. Even if the hero managed all that, he/she wouldn't have access to Critical Agility which I think is key for the spam (33% IAS is huge!). That is not a fair comparison. The fact that heroes run necros better than assassins doesn't mean assassins are more useful to the team than necros. If necros are not useful, you wouldn't be running sabway.