Guild Wars 2 Necromancer Profession Guide -- Build An Army Of The Dead

We've put together this Guild Wars 2 Necromancer guide to get you up to speed on the wicked Profession of death in ArenaNet's massively multiplayer role playing game. This handy guide gives you all the most important info about the Necromancer from Guild Wars 2 at a glance.

You Should Play A Necromancer If: The Necromancer is your go-to class for summoning terrifying abominations, eldritch horrors, and the obtainment of mastery over life and death. Necromancers in Guild Wars 2 don't quite fit the tropes we've gotten accustomed to, as they actually make pretty good melee fighters and have good survivability thanks to Death Shroud. If you like to solo PvE, the Necromancer is a fantastic choice.

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Read on for the rest of our in-depth Guild Wars 2 Necromancer guide.

How You Play A Necromancer:

Summon, summon, summon. A Necromancer is at her best when she's sending her minions out into the field to do battle for her. While a Necromancer can wield a small variety of weapons, that's not their true calling. Other than summoning minions, playing a Necromancer is about learning to master the Profession's unique trait: The Death Shroud.

The Death Shroud is a state unique to Necromancers that they can enter after building up a substantial amount of Life Force. While playing a Necromancer, you'll notice above your hotkeys a bar filling up as you use your weapon and utility skills. Once this bar is full, you can activate the Death Shroud. The Death Shroud turns you into basically a Super Saiyan version of the Necromancer. Your Life Force will slowly drain, but it also acts as a secondary set of hit points. Congrats, you just doubled your survivability! You'll also gain new, more powerful abilities while using the Death Shroud.

Here is a list of every Necromancer skill that builds Life Force:

Necromancer Equipment: Necromancers wear light armor and can use a small assortment of weapons. It's not much, but it's enough to give some variety. In their main hand Necromancers can use an axe, dagger, or scepter, while in their off-hand they can equip a dagger, focus, or warhorn. They can also wield two-handed staves.

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Choose a weapon that fits your playstyle, keeping in mind you'll want to use it to build Life Force. The Necromancer Profession is fairly well balanced for solo play, and like so much of Guild Wars 2, you can't go wrong. When it comes to weapons, pick whatever you like that's going to help you build Life Force the way you want.

Necromancer Traits: At level 11, and every level after, each character earns a Trait Point that can be spent to enhance their attributes. Each point that you spend will increase two primary or secondary attributes, and every 5 points unlocks either a Minor or Major trait. A Necromancer's traits are divided into Spite, Curses, Death Magic, Blood Magic, and Soul Reaping.

Spite

• +10 Power per point spent
• +1% Condition Duration per point spent
• Improves - Signets, Death Shroud (minor), General Damage

Curses

• +10 Precision per point spent
• +10 Condition Damage per point spent
• mproves - Warhorn skills and the Wells, Corruptions, and Spectral utility skill lines

Death Magic

• +10 Toughness per point spent
• +1% Boon Duration per point spent
• Improves - Staff skills, Survivability, Minions and Wells

Blood Magic

• +10 Vitality per point spent
• +10 Healing Power per point spent
• Improves - Dagger skills, Marks (staff skills), Wells, and Minions.

Soul Reaping

• +1% Critical Damage per point spent
• +1% Life Force Pool per point spent
• Improves - Death Shroud (major enhancement), Spectral skills

What do you think of the Necromancer in Guild Wars 2 so far? The facial tattoos are totally badass, and ArenaNet has made what could've been a niche class into a greater starter package with an undeniable “cool” factor.

Let us know in the comments below how you've set up your Necromancer's weapons, skills, and traits. Also, be sure to check out our other Guild Wars 2 guides, including our Guild Wars 2 Warrior guide, the Guild Wars 2 Mesmer Guide, the Guild Wars 2 Elementalist Guide, the Guild Wars 2 Guardian Guide, the Guild Wars 2 Engineer Guide, the Guild Wars 2 Ranger Guide, the Guild Wars 2 Thief Guide, our Guild Wars 2 Beginners Guide and our Guild Wars 2 Beginners Tips, and stay tuned for more Guild Wars 2 guides.