Nick_Balza wrote: »

You can go to popular solution with DC proc and your ult. Support yourself with CC (totem or grasp) to prevent stam classes from getting closer to you. Going in close combat against stam class - is a suicide for mage. If things are getting very bad - use Immovability pots and invisibility pots.

But range and control are your best friends. Max your damage and stay away from hand to hand fights.

Sounds good - doesn't work. /block or /roll dodge and 2 seconds later im on the defensive again. 90% im running around casting various heals on myself trying to sustain myself and turn the fight around and not finding a way to turn the fight around.

I have tried reddit, forums now, /z chat, pvp guilds, youtube and besides the cool guys with cool nitpicked 1vX clips it seems as if magnecro is a nonexistent spec in pvp.

To me it feels like the meta now heavily rewards burst oriented builds, going tanky is only useful if you're gonna play a dedicated healer and have a premade group with at least 1 competent burst killer in there, otherwise you're at the mercy of the RNG matchmaking. (sadly, no matter how much you heal wet noodle wielding potatoes, your team will still end up losing if nobody is getting any kills, well for now with deathmatch only queues anyhow)

As you yourself said, if you're building tanky you're literally not gonna kill anyone competent, because they can just heal through your damage regardless of what resistances they have lol

I know its cliche and everyone says it, and while build matters way more than many like to admit, in the end its still gonna come down to how good you are as a player, and knowing what to do in each situation, and how to use your skills.

Positioning yourself so youre a much harder target is the first thing when it comes to not being killed fast, practicing quickly breaking free from stuns and then instantly dodge rolling (or vs templars fighting back with CC of your own) is also crucial (which is why IMO heavy armor sucks at high skill no CP pvp, especially for mag builds, your dodge rolls will eat like half your stamina pool... you basically lose access to one of the best defensive options in the game)

I advise the break free + dodge roll instantly after combo since if it becomes ingrained in muscle memory for you to instinctively do that when your character gets disabled, you will basically avoid both stuns, immobilizes, fossilize, and even dark convergence automatically without thinking or having to pay attention to what hit you. In fighting games we call these "option selects", where one input will cover multiple scenarios for you, and the game decides which is the optimal for you to perform. (in this case the same input will help you get out of literally every disable that can be applied to you lol)

Another big one is using the terrain to your advantage, learning how to break line of sight to get some breathing room for extra heals is huge as well in pvp.

Last but not least, stick with your team in a BG. Even if they're not very good players, most people will still be able to help in a fight. Worst case scenario they're at least making you a harder target for the enemy teams.

As for how I would build necro, I would focus less on building to stay alive and way more on building to kill. If you're quicker to get the jump on your opponent and kill them before they can do the same to you, thats the best form of survivability in current meta lol

For sets, use stuff that gives u spell damage/magicka since it will also improve your heals, which in turn improve your survivability. Crafty alfiqs is an evergreen classic, maybe combine with a frontbar dark convergence or if ud prefer not to play it, pick anything which gives extra spell damage/magicka/penetration, or a bit of sustain doesn't hurt either. For mundus go with lover 100%, stat wise its the densest as far as added damage goes. Frontbar weapon should be sharpened, backbar either defending or powered.

Backbar skills I would slot spirit guardian, bone armor, rapid regen, expunge and modify, and a burst heal, with either the goliath ult or the resto staff ult (probably resto staff ult cuz of lower cost)

Front bar I would slot blastbones, skulls, totem, radiant magelight, a flex skill of ur choice (if using dark convergence go with graveyard, if not, id maybe go with the detonation skill from assault line), and for ult i would unironically go with dawnbreaker of smite, its very low cost and the damage scales with highest offensive stats. I honestly just feel like the only class where I wouldn't play dawnbreaker as my offensive ult is dragonknight since they have leap which is probably the best pvp skill in the game other than templar jabs.

Lastly, here's my thought process for how to approach fights, maybe it can help you too:

1. apply buffs + heals before engaging, keep paying attention to make sure theyre always up
2. set up burst combo if i have ult and see any targets, if not, just play defensively and chip away with heavy attacks etc. while sticking to team and helping with heals.
3. VERY important to pick targets for bursting down that are actually gonna die. understand your damage potential and only blow your burst combo on targets that are already weakened or are squishy to begin with.
4. if i used up my ult for burst, just disengage and play super defensive again until ult is back up

Hope I could help and good luck!