35 replies to this topic

[Erhnam]

How hard is to tag mobs at level 80 DE zergs? I have no problem getting loads of mobs with my levelling necro (currently 76), and was wondering if this changes at 80

Im going Staff-Dagger/Wh, with wells.

Cheers!

[Drekor]

Necros are arguably the worst class for mob tagging, I'd strongly suggest you actually make an alt for farming DEs or solo farm since we do that very well.

[caveslug]

To be fair some DE can get so crowded it can be hard to tag mobs as any profession. Mob health should also scale based on the number of people, so everyone has a chance to tag them.

[Piteous]

I hardly get any drops in the 80,s area whether im trying to tag mobs during an event or solo grinding. The map before the 80's area, forget what it's called, I get a drop almost ever mob.

[axamander]

Marks work just fine for me.

[Requiamer]

Depend on what De really, some DE are pretty nasty to tag if the mobs are invulnerable for some time because class that have long lasting aoe with short casting time will always have an edge on you. The best is the DS 4th skill to me, but it have a long cd and casting time so you need to use it properly, also i'm not sure how well it does if you have no Soul reaping traits. Marks are good too most of the time they make wonders, but if they trigger when mobs are invulnerable you will get nothing.

Edited by Requiamer, 17 October 2012 - 06:36 AM.

[Dhogoth Noctum]

I'm a condition necro and I have no problem with my current build and set:

Scepter skills > Marks > Epidemic > (sometimes) DS

[Khaleeshi]

What I have been using so far, with "ok-ish" outcome:

- while the mobs are running in and you know about where the fight will take place: staff-marks
- the moment they arrive: wells + Scepter 2 (+ maybe Dagger #5) + on CD Epidemic and/or DS #4


Really not sure the Necro is so bad. How about poor Memsers e.g.?

Edited by Khaleeshi, 17 October 2012 - 10:59 AM.

[Erhnam]

So basically Ill have to make sure not to watse my marks/wells when the mobs are inmune (which already happened to me before and Im no longer failing at this )

My next character will probably be an engi or warrior, but that will take time

Cheers!

[masmer]

Epidemic is the best tagger in the game. That 600 radius. Marks are also a great tagger, as is Axe #3 if you have one.

Edited by masmer, 17 October 2012 - 05:13 PM.

[Pariah]

I also used the AoE skills from my Scepter/Dagger combination a lot (#2 and #5) plus wells, just as you said, don't waste them when the enemy isn't active yet.

[Drekor]

Khaleeshi, on 17 October 2012 - 10:59 AM, said:

What I have been using so far, with "ok-ish" outcome:

- while the mobs are running in and you know about where the fight will take place: staff-marks
- the moment they arrive: wells + Scepter 2 (+ maybe Dagger #5) + on CD Epidemic and/or DS #4


Really not sure the Necro is so bad. How about poor Memsers e.g.?

Mesmers have GS 2, 3 and 4. All of which are good for tagging. They aren't guardian/warrior quality tagging but it's not the end of the world.

masmer, on 17 October 2012 - 05:13 PM, said:

Epidemic is the best tagger in the game. That 600 radius. Marks are also a great tagger, as is Axe #3 if you have one.

Epidemic requires target to already have decent conditions which doesn't happen. Mobs die in under 2 seconds and you need to do a decent amount of damage in that time. Even wells aren't that great at this because they only tick once per second. Meanwhile I can go on my guardian and hit whirling wrath and tag every mob 5 times over. The loot difference I get on my guardian or warrior vs my necro is unbelievable.

[Ingway]

During big dynamic events it is hard, even if you hit him for a load of damage you won't tag it some times.

[snethss]

i was doing fine, but it's been bad lately.  I tried speccing full power and marks and it still is not that great.  I need a group, to make it work well.

I only do DE in off hours now because of this.  Too many people in the popular areas.

[Bloggi]

For 'farming' in areas with massive zergs, go with the zerg. Being in a team of 5 makes a massive difference to the amount of loot you get. Necros actually have good AOE skills for tagging, but their damage alone doesn't get the tag. It gets results only when combined with a team.

Somewhere, I've read that in such areas, you need to do in excess of 2K damage to a foe to get a tag. A necro can't easily get that sort of damage in a repeatable burst and on a low CD. Their AOE skills will not burst for that sort of damage in a single hit. Lich form could get you near 3K on a crit on autoattack even when speccing for defense. But still, at most 30 seconds of autoattacking on a 3 minute cooldown. Wells are also off a long cooldown, even when traited for reduced CD.

Something funny yesterday when I brought my necro to the Asura starting area to do an event and complete my dailies...another player called me out and immediately said to roll something else because the necro sucks. Admittedly they ain't good at farming on their own, but even a warrior/ guardian would do much better in a team of 5 than on their own.

Edited by Xekk, 18 October 2012 - 12:55 AM.

[Newsinz]

I to have had no problem tagging mobs even in Orr Zergs I manage to DoT everything up.  Hit 2 times spread conditions bam done. I normally get at least a 10 stack spread and then BiP which boosts my damage and I manage to get drops often.

Edited by Newsinz, 18 October 2012 - 08:15 AM.

[Ehragus]

I have traited big marks and 20% cd on staff skills. It helps à bit but you need à group. I also have a 80 guardian and the difference is huge. On him i just have to stand in the middle and do my spin and i tag every mob..

[takarazuka]

Sometimes it's best to avoid the heavily botted areas like Penitent Waypoint and the other at the end of the tunnel (forgot the name).  Those DEs are botted by AOE farmers and can be a pain regardless of what you do.  Staff with greater marks is really the easiest thing to use since #2 is such a short cooldown.

[Lorkmar]

I have not played very recently as I have been very busy with other things, but I was playing with Greater Marks after it was fixed. I tried it and noticed that I was able to tag everything since I could get a few stacks of bleed plus some direct damage on a larger area right away. I definitely saw a big increase in kill credit doing the same events.

[snethss]

if you havent played recently, everything dies in about 2 seconds.  Conditions do nothing. You can't stack 10 of anything in 2 seconds.

People have caught on to the DE rotations and it's cutthroat/botted.

[Motoko]

After a bit of practice you learn where the enemies will spawn in certain DEs.
I use three different methods to tag things.
1). staff marks (2+3+4+5) are placed down preemptively on where enemies will spawn/stop being invulnerable.
2). The two damaging wells. Can be preemptively placed if timed correctly.
3). Death shroud skill 4- Life transfer.

Any of these three should be very good at tagging groups and you should always have one of these three available for tagging between waves. Also most importantly is to get in a group. It can be as simple as saying "LFG" or right clicking their name and adding to party.

I have been farming shelter/pentinent for a while with this and get about 30-40s and usually a rare per event.

[Piteous]

From what I learned from my guildies is a party is the way to go.

[Crytical]

There sure are a lot of bots roaming around or just camping at event start points. If you're having trouble tagging it's because of them of course. However try use any form of AoE you have. As a Ranger when I wish to tag mobs I will use traps and have traits to make them have a larger radius.

-Crytical

[SpelignErrir]

Epidemic or 10 points in death magic for Greater Marks.

[runemima]

snethss, on 19 October 2012 - 04:31 AM, said:

if you havent played recently, everything dies in about 2 seconds.  Conditions do nothing. You can't stack 10 of anything in 2 seconds.

People have caught on to the DE rotations and it's cutthroat/botted.

so... does "tagging" mean "killing before anybody else?"
why does it bother you that other people contribute to the damage... isn't it scaling properly in some places?
i am puzzled by this thread... as a level 50 ele i have never felt like someone "stole" kills in GW2. i don't even feel like they are "my" kills.

[snethss]

it only becomes an issue when there are 10 people attacking the same mob.  Not everyone that hits the monster will get loot credit.  You need to have enough contribution.

A party helps.  You still need to tag the mob, but your party's damage adds to your overall contribution.


This was never a problem for me until end game DE as well.  Even at 80, this is a more recent problem with more people learning the DE rotations.

[Copenhagen23]

Join a party and user greater marks. I have no issues tagging. Life transfer is a beast fotr tagging .

[Copenhagen23]

Join a party and user greater marks. I have no issues tagging. Life transfer is a beast fotr tagging .

[brickforlife]

Most of necro tagging relies on density. I find it ridiculously easy to tag mobs when there's a ton of them. I drop both damaging wells spaced out so that it covers a larger area. I then use DS#4 after the wells have run out to tag another 5. Dodge backwards and just place marks while waiting for cooldowns. Ideally after you finished placing your marks you have something like 5 seconds before wells become avaliable again. The great thing about staff is that the projectile is penetrating so it goes through enemies really nicely. Combined with a power build, I hit for 1500 crits and 900 normal which is enough for tagging.

[GSSB Lunaspike]

Erhnam, on 17 October 2012 - 11:11 AM, said:

So basically Ill have to make sure not to watse my marks/wells when the mobs are inmune (which already happened to me before and Im no longer failing at this )

My next character will probably be an engi or warrior, but that will take time

Cheers!

Warriors are worse at this than necros. People need to stop with the fanboy nonsense. Warriors are the most OP profession in the game, but we can't do aoe nearly as good as necro. To be fair you won't be getting that much tagging done with the way bots aoe. It's just worse for us.

Out of my 80s the easiest one to farm aoes on is the guardian. He isn't as good as warrior in anything else except aoe farming. i can put a staff on him and just aoe press 1 repeatedly. Also if you spec into it 30 points in bottom trait it turns his virtue of justice into an aoe flame burst trigger every 4 attacks. It really is super easy to do.

So if you need an alt that's o.k. leveling, but is amazing at DEs then go guardian. It's boring as hell, you kill most stuff by simply outlasting it. Their damage is medium, but they have high survival through armor their hp is in the bottom tier while both Warrior and Necro are top tier.