Degen N/Me

I STRONGLY disagree because mesmers would be a horrible choice for this build. he could buff up his fast casting so wat it doesnt matter how fast you cast, its fast enough as it is. and without the advantage of necro runes since most of it "is" necro spells, plus when u need energy, soul reaping helps more in that cast than fast casting. you NEVER EVER pick mesmers cuz they cast fast, that's a horrible idea. think strength, not speed. and that speed wont increase much if u dont even have fast casting up to 10 AT LEAST.

Updated attributes:
Blood: 12+scar blood+superior rune=16
Curses: 8+major rune=10
Illusion: 9
Soul Reaping: whatever is left+minor rune

Updated Skillbar:
1.)Life Transfer {E}
2.)Conjure Phantasm
3.)Faintheartedness
4.)Barbed Signet
5.)Rez Signet
6.)Awaken the Blood (cast first before battle)
7.)Parasitic Bond
8.)Soul Barbs

Armor: Tormentors, all of it
Weapon: Curses Staff with 2 +30 health parts
life transfer. for 11 seconds foe suffers health degen of 7 while you gain this as health. it cost 10 energy, takes 2 freakin seconds to cast and you wont get this back for 30 seconds.

this whole build rests on this one pieceofchit elite. healing breeze heals for 8 for 10 seconds.

am I the only one that sees a problem with this shity elite? 30 seconds for a recharge?!?! thats just stupid. not to mention when you get interrupted, cause with a 2 second cast you will, you'll still have to wait 30 seconds to get it back.

then you fall back on conjure. you got 9 in illusion JUST for conjure. again, healing breeze.

barbed sig-Sacrifice 8% maximum health. You steal 18-52 health from target foe.....52 health? thats worth a spot on your roster? a 20 second recharge?

faintheartedness isn't a bad skill but it cost 10 and only hits one foe. the 25 seconds of weakness wont keep that warrior from killing you. the degen is worthless with this spell.

soul barbs will dmg for about 25 with each hex. you have 4 hex's to cast so maybe you'll put an extra 100 dmg on a foe. but it will take you 5 spells to get there........ and 100dmg aint shite

parasitic bond is a good cover hex. it's cheap, you can spam it, you get a little heal from it.

every skill but res sig and barbed sig cost 10 energy. with soulreaping so low you have no way to get energy back. you'll cast awaken, soul barbs, life transfer, faintheartedness and be down 40. you gonna start spamming p bond after that?


i know, i know.....you want to stack degen and really keep the life falling. but it tops off at 10 degen. remove the hex. don't remove the hex. who cares. as a monk i'll heal right through it. put 10 degen on everyone on the team and the monk will heal through it.

i dont know if you guys are on crack or not but that is a horrible build. it's good against noob players that don't understand the very basics of the game.

res sig is nice.

life transfer. for 11 seconds foe suffers health degen of 7 while you gain this as health. it cost 10 energy, takes 2 freakin seconds to cast and you wont get this back for 30 seconds.

this whole build rests on this one pieceofchit elite. healing breeze heals for 8 for 10 seconds.

am I the only one that sees a problem with this shity elite? 30 seconds for a recharge?!?! thats just stupid. not to mention when you get interrupted, cause with a 2 second cast you will, you'll still have to wait 30 seconds to get it back.

then you fall back on conjure. you got 9 in illusion JUST for conjure. again, healing breeze.

barbed sig-Sacrifice 8% maximum health. You steal 18-52 health from target foe.....52 health? thats worth a spot on your roster? a 20 second recharge?

faintheartedness isn't a bad skill but it cost 10 and only hits one foe. the 25 seconds of weakness wont keep that warrior from killing you. the degen is worthless with this spell.

soul barbs will dmg for about 25 with each hex. you have 4 hex's to cast so maybe you'll put an extra 100 dmg on a foe. but it will take you 5 spells to get there........ and 100dmg aint shite

parasitic bond is a good cover hex. it's cheap, you can spam it, you get a little heal from it.

every skill but res sig and barbed sig cost 10 energy. with soulreaping so low you have no way to get energy back. you'll cast awaken, soul barbs, life transfer, faintheartedness and be down 40. you gonna start spamming p bond after that?

i know, i know.....you want to stack degen and really keep the life falling. but it tops off at 10 degen. remove the hex. don't remove the hex. who cares. as a monk i'll heal right through it. put 10 degen on everyone on the team and the monk will heal through it.

i dont know if you guys are on crack or not but that is a horrible build. it's good against noob players that don't understand the very basics of the game.

res sig is nice.
1) Life X-fer: 16 blood give +/-8 for 13 seconds...thats 208 dmg/heal...a total of 416 health being manipulated. if you think this is a 'piece' elite, you havent really played around with it enough. as for being interrupted, anything with a casting time with 1 or more seconds is interrupt bait is someone is watching you...would you then argue that all elites that take 1+ seconds are crap? also, regardless of whether they have a monk who heals this much, he still has to take the time to do so and you still get the health from it. saying "a monk can just heal that" like you just did is also an argument against swinging an axe at someone...a heal other can negate many axe hits

2) Conjure Phantasm: -5 degen...you say "again, breeze". they now have, with just those 2 spells, a -13 degen total. breeze is starting to fall short...

3) Barbed Sig: my guess for this is energy management of some sort...its the only reason i can see to use it over vampiric gaze. the sig is free, you damage your opponent for about 60 while only gaining 20-30 health *shrug* ill try this build tonight but it seems liek a gaze would be a better option...

4) Faintheartedness: the 25 seconds of weakness combined with a -3 degen (bumping that warrior you are worried abouts total to -16 and thus almost completely ignoring the monks breeze) will hold him off long enough for you to kill him. dont forget, you are gaining life from life transfer at a rate of 16 health/tick. most weakened warriors do less damage than that...

5) Soul Barbs: it lasts 30 seconds...long enough to cast quite a few more than 4 hexes on your target. it also has the benefit of doing its damage no matter who is casting the hexes so your allies can help if they choose.

6) Parasitic Bond: -1 degen making the total -17 and heals you for about 120 health in 20 seconds. by itself only slightly useful but i can see it helping in this build...

the thing that i think youre missing is that degen caps at -10 as far as the damage it can do...you can still have -17 degen on you, it just means that the first +7 pips of regen you get do nothing. a -17 degen means you are pretty much without fail losing 20 health/tick no matter what you do. sure a monk can help out (and most likely this would be on him first) but this isnt meant to kill a monk solo....its meant to stack on so much damage along with an assist chain so that no monk can heal through it. imagine having a -10 degen, taking 20-25 for every hex thrown on you, and then having a ranger or warrior beating on you at the same time.

i can see that this build would be pretty devastating if used properly...i am curious tho, did you actually try it yet? maybe you should....its getting rave reviews

1) Life X-fer: 16 blood give +/-8 for 13 seconds...thats 208 dmg/heal...a total of 416 health being manipulated. if you think this is a 'piece' elite, you havent really played around with it enough. as for being interrupted, anything with a casting time with 1 or more seconds is interrupt bait is someone is watching you...would you then argue that all elites that take 1+ seconds are crap? also, regardless of whether they have a monk who heals this much, he still has to take the time to do so and you still get the health from it. saying "a monk can just heal that" like you just did is also an argument against swinging an axe at someone...a heal other can negate many axe hits

2) Conjure Phantasm: -5 degen...you say "again, breeze". they now have, with just those 2 spells, a -13 degen total. breeze is starting to fall short...

3) Barbed Sig: my guess for this is energy management of some sort...its the only reason i can see to use it over vampiric gaze. the sig is free, you damage your opponent for about 60 while only gaining 20-30 health *shrug* ill try this build tonight but it seems liek a gaze would be a better option...

4) Faintheartedness: the 25 seconds of weakness combined with a -3 degen (bumping that warrior you are worried abouts total to -16 and thus almost completely ignoring the monks breeze) will hold him off long enough for you to kill him. dont forget, you are gaining life from life transfer at a rate of 16 health/tick. most weakened warriors do less damage than that...

5) Soul Barbs: it lasts 30 seconds...long enough to cast quite a few more than 4 hexes on your target. it also has the benefit of doing its damage no matter who is casting the hexes so your allies can help if they choose.

6) Parasitic Bond: -1 degen making the total -17 and heals you for about 120 health in 20 seconds. by itself only slightly useful but i can see it helping in this build...

the thing that i think youre missing is that degen caps at -10 as far as the damage it can do...you can still have -17 degen on you, it just means that the first +7 pips of regen you get do nothing. a -17 degen means you are pretty much without fail losing 20 health/tick no matter what you do. sure a monk can help out (and most likely this would be on him first) but this isnt meant to kill a monk solo....its meant to stack on so much damage along with an assist chain so that no monk can heal through it. imagine having a -10 degen, taking 20-25 for every hex thrown on you, and then having a ranger or warrior beating on you at the same time.

i can see that this build would be pretty devastating if used properly...i am curious tho, did you actually try it yet? maybe you should....its getting rave reviews thank you, you are seriously one of teh few intelligent reviewers

holden, i bet you havent even tried the build. just do it and see for yourself. its an assist build, its not meant to take someone out all by yourself, unless their monk is dead, then you possible could.

the other day i was running a healing build, a mo/rt and i had breeze and word of healing, etc; and someone actually used this EXACT build spell for spell against me. i had a very hard time managing a warrior and a bunch of hexes on me. soul barbs did 20 dmg per hex, degen was massive, and in the end he kept spamming parasitic bond for the dmg for soul barbs and completely owned me. and when people tried to attack him, life transfer and barbed signet made sure he didnt go down without a fight. this is probably (not to brag) one of the best degen builds out there, when i use it i go on streaks in the CA of more than 10 wins at least if you got another offensive ally with you. if you degen your teams target, you'd be suprised.

thank you, you are seriously one of teh few intelligent reviewers

holden, i bet you havent even tried the build. just do it and see for yourself. its an assist build, its not meant to take someone out all by yourself, unless their monk is dead, then you possible could.

the other day i was running a healing build, a mo/rt and i had breeze and word of healing, etc; and someone actually used this EXACT build spell for spell against me. i had a very hard time managing a warrior and a bunch of hexes on me. soul barbs did 20 dmg per hex, degen was massive, and in the end he kept spamming parasitic bond for the dmg for soul barbs and completely owned me. and when people tried to attack him, life transfer and barbed signet made sure he didnt go down without a fight. this is probably (not to brag) one of the best degen builds out there, when i use it i go on streaks in the CA of more than 10 wins at least if you got another offensive ally with you. if you degen your teams target, you'd be suprised.
yes yes sartori and wretchman i've tried the build. im not a total ahole. this thread has been alive for weeks. and i've tried many different variations of degen builds. just like you im sure, when i started messing with the necro i freaked out and couldn't get enough. i got every skill and did everything possible.
i have no energy with this build. not for the long hall. and i dont see using an elite with a 30 second recharge and 2 second cast. ever.
it could be that im not intelligent. it sure could be that i dont play this game very well. all that i said is just opinion and though I stand by it, if any one reads what i said and decides against this build without first trying it, shame on you. get the skills and give it a whirl.

you did call the build amazing. someone was bound to give another side to the story. i think there are better things to do with a necro than degen.

Why should I try it? There are tons and tons of necros running around in CAs that stack degen with life transfer and they're not very effective. Why is this build any different? my point exactly.
fool, you dont know how builds operate until you play it and play it right after playing with it so many times. u can take the best uber monk healer build and still suck and ull complain the build sucks, but it is just you in this case. same here. if you play this degen build right, its better than some other necro builds, according to the past reviews. ud think after some of these good comments you'd actually try it to see for yourself. some things are looked upon in life and taken lightly judging the front looks. just try the build. not just this, but try any build and practice. u dont just pwn with best skills, u gotta practice with the build and play it the best you can as a person.

so ill forget u even said something dumb like that and im giving you one more chance to go try builds and comment on its performance AFTER u tried it.

my only issue was energy. i ran out often and found myself waiting to be able to get a solid combo off. i dont see a way around that tho since life transfer really is the killer and most ebergy management skills are elites :\ maybe finding a way to up the soul reaping attribute would be a good idea....
'energy is a problem but i dont see any way managing it. no way i can fit channeling and inspiration, thats why barbed signet is in there, in case you run out of energy. soul reaping wont help, its not like people die left and right whenever you need energy'

Lol, I see how this works. If I try it and don't like it, you'll just say "U weren't playing it right, you n00b". Nice try, but I'm not biting. You can get some other sucker to waste their time on it. Not trying to call you out, but it's obvious you haven't tried it and seen it perform. I wouldn't call you a "n00b" if you didn't do well, it just takes practice. You think people can pick up uber healing builds and become the best monks of all time out of nowhere? No, it takes practice to develop skill that must be associated with the build.

How am I wasting people's time? That's their time, their desicion, I am not enforcing you do this build, but it is here for you able to try. Some people here think it's amazing, maybe you should ask them how they play it.

If you don't like this build then screw off.

Not trying to call you out, but it's obvious you haven't tried it and seen it perform. I wouldn't call you a "n00b" if you didn't do well, it just takes practice. You think people can pick up uber healing builds and become the best monks of all time out of nowhere? No, it takes practice to develop skill that must be associated with the build.

How am I wasting people's time? That's their time, their desicion, I am not enforcing you do this build, but it is here for you able to try. Some people here think it's amazing, maybe you should ask them how they play it.

If you don't like this build then screw off.
jeesh wretchman, it's just a degen build. i'm not sure what skill there is to develop besides being patient with your 2 second cast times.

i played with a degen necro/monk last night that brought remove hex. with a 7 second recharge she was able to drop life transfer and siphon from the foe necros throughout the match when they were not. she took on two of them at the end and eventually won the match for us. she took on two other necros though. all three had degen builds. im not saying i think she could take two mesmers or two rangers but the remove hex added some substance to her build imo.

@OP: Your build will run out of energy in about 6 seconds. Phantasm is a very expensive hex. I'd take a inspiration spell for energy management. A migrain/e-denial will make it useless also.

But if the opponent is not prepared, the 10-15 degen is insane, also the great thing is, Wars can't touch you since you have a whopping 10 regen on your HP.

Interupts are also problematic due to the long recharge of LT. Which is also your main health regen spell.

@ender6: Arc echo 15en + 2x10(Life Transfer) + 2x10 (life siphon) all spells are 2 sec cast, they inturput your LT... your screwed. With Arc echo, you have to sacrifice something, either energy managment or many cover hexes. Um, that's why i suggested mantra of resolve. Arcane Echo would be applied prior to attack. I have no idea where you are going with 2x10 life siphon. Why must every thing be cast twice? If you are implying that life siphon is the cover hex well that is just plain silly. Takes too long to cast and costs to to much. But at either rate I wouldn't bring arcane echo, hell I think the entire build is too costly in the way of energy. Drop the 10 engery hexes and replace them with 5 energy hexes.

The build I would employ would be

Mantra of Resolve (cast priort to battle)
Soul Barbs (cast on primary target)
Parasitic Bond (Cover soul barbs immediately) Spam
Life Transfer (next hex)
Wasterl's Worry (next hex) Spam
Mind Wrack (next hex)
Ether Lord (some sort of energy managemnt here -- when energy hits 5)
Rez sig


The two hexes marked spam i would spam the target with quick cast times, and take advantage of Soul Barbs, I would also work Mind Wrack into the spam rotation to help take advantage of WW. I run a similar build, but I don't use Life Transfer + a few other alterations. I think spiking with soul barbs means you want spammable hexes, and health degen isn't necessary in the least. You rapid fire hexes at a target with SB on it and LT becomes an after thought. Use signet of midnight and improve your defense. Will serve the function as LT in the end, it will keep you healthy by keeping the warriors at bay. Or how about GB. Allow yourself to get pummled by the warriors, while you hex your target (monk) to death. And as your Health nears zero toggle to a warrior and steal back half your life. PB's will wear off and heal you the rest of the way.

(but now I've gone and altered the whole build)

Um, that's why i suggested mantra of resolve. Arcane Echo would be applied prior to attack. I have no idea where you are going with 2x10 life siphon. Why must every thing be cast twice? If you are implying that life siphon is the cover hex well that is just plain silly. Takes too long to cast and costs to to much. But at either rate I wouldn't bring arcane echo, hell I think the entire build is too costly in the way of energy. Drop the 10 engery hexes and replace them with 5 energy hexes.

The build I would employ would be

Mantra of Resolve (cast priort to battle)
Soul Barbs (cast on primary target)
Parasitic Bond (Cover soul barbs immediately) Spam
Life Transfer (next hex)
Wasterl's Worry (next hex) Spam
Mind Wrack (next hex)
Ether Lord (some sort of energy managemnt here -- when energy hits 5)
Rez sig

(but now I've gone and altered the whole build) I don't quite know where you're going with this build, it seems a little off degen. It's not quite hp degen, cause LT is the only real degen you have, and it's not quite energy degen, cause you said that ether lord is primarily for energy management. Although your build does do dmg it does not do enough dmg against any particular characters for any kind of real concern.

Even if you get LT off a simple healing breeze, +9 at 16 healing, would pretty much cancel out your LT. Plus you have no way of interupting or removing healing breeze, unless you're relying on the fact that you'll have a enchantment remover or interupt person on your team.

Furthermore, if you go toe to toe with a good e-denial mes they'll make sure u won't have enough energy to pull off any useful hexes.

I think you're build is a little bit of everything, I personally think it's better to concentrate on one type of build like the necro degen that was originally posted.

If you don't care about how the degen comes from:

Virulence (e)
Blood Drinker
Plague Sending
Epidemic/Worstel's Worry
Vile Masma
Soul Barbs
Parasitic Bond
Rez Signet

The idea is:

Cast Blood Drinker, then Plague Sending, then Virulence. This will give Bleeding, Poison, Disease and Weakness. Then cast Empidemic. Cast Soul Barbs (either before BD or after Epidemic), then cast Vile Masma and Parasitic Bond. Cast PB &/or WW unrelentingly.

Anyone within range of Epidemic will be suffering from health degen of 10. Blood Drinker and PB are your only healing (other than your party's healers).

Vile Masma is a nice addition to your health degen, since it requires a condition and if Blessed Light comes into play, PB is removed and 1 condition is also removed, but Vile Masma and Bleeding will continue. With PB and WW continually being cast, Soul Barbs will stay active and PB & WW will continue to be removed, leaving VM to stay on.

As for energy management, hmm.... patients and soul reaping would be it.

Please note, Domination Magic is left at 0. Its there to trigger Soul Barbs and as a cover hex. Love this Build..Please advise the attributes for this. Thank you