Reaper - Balanced Condi Reaper

The community gave this build a rating, making it top-tier: Great

Focused on: Condition damage and Control

Designed for: PvP Conquest

Expansions required:

Difficulty:

Easy

This build was last updated on October 21, 2024 and is up to date for the October 8, 2024 patch.

Overview

A Condition Reaper build for PvP taking a more "balanced" approach than Procmancer, opting for extra survivability via either Death or Blood Magic.

The Pistol version continues to be popular in ranked while Scepter is played more at tournaments.

Skill Bar

Staff

Pistol/Torch

Utility

Skill Variants

Utility

Almost always keep Spectral Walk on your bar, but the other two skills can be freely swapped out for any of the following:

• Summon Flesh Wurm - another stunbreak and some vertical mobility. Being able to disengage to the highground can be invaluable for your survival sometimes.

• Well of Darkness - pulsing AoE Blind for survivability and Chill to put pressure on enemies.

• Well of Corruption - unblockable AoE boon removal that could cover an entire capture point on some maps.

• Corrupt Boon - great burst CD, especially useful against targets that rely on Stability. Can be used both defensively and offensively.

• "You Are All Weaklings!" - low CD stunbreak with shout synergy. Occasionally seen replacing Spectral Walk in full shout builds with Relic of the Reaper.

Weapons

• Scepter over Pistol - an equally viable option with better teamfight potential. Scepter with Lingering Curse on Curses is often used in organized 5v5s (tournaments), while the Pistol variant remains popular in ranked because it's easier to survive on it solo thanks to the extra CC/Weakness application.

• Play either Dagger or Focus offhand instead Torch if you don't own the Secrets of the Obscure expansion, as Weaponmaster Training is necessary for the current set.

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Specializations

Specialization Variants

Replacing Death Magic with Blood Magic is also a viable option:

Equipment

Staff

Sigil

Sigil

Pistol

Torch

Sigil

Sigil

Rune

Amulet

Relic

Equipment Variants

Amulets

• - better defense against Power-based burst damage.

Sigils

• Sigil of Escape over Sigil of Intelligence - improves your condition cleansing. Getting rid of several non-damaging conditions on weapon swap also increases your chances of transferring damaging conditions with Putrid Mark.

• Sigil of Savagery over Sigil of Intelligence - makes the stun from "Chilled to the Bone!" even longer when used on Staff.

Runes

• Rune of Necromancer - offers more damage if you don't need the passive movement speed boost from Lynx.

Relics

There are plenty of viable options here, especially if you're playing a less shout-focused version of the build:

• Relic of the Demon Queen - improves your healing reduction from Poison and adds more sources to the build.

• Relic of the Sunless - adds burst damage to your elite skill by creating an AoE field beneath your target when used. Compared to Cerus it has the benefit of always spawning the pool under an enemy so you don't have to worry too much about positioning. The best thing about this relic isn't even the conditions but rather the strike damage it deals over just a few seconds. Fury can make this proc stronger.

• Relic of Cerus - adds a strong offensive proc whenever you use an elite skill. Enemies under the eye can get hit multiple times, so the value of this relic goes up significantly if you can stun them right under the eye with "Chilled to the Bone!".

• Relic of the Adventurer - restores half a dodge roll's worth of endurance whenever you heal, improving your survivability. It's like a second Energy sigil.

Usage

General

• Fear applies Chill, and Chill applies Bleeding.

• Use "Your Soul Is Mine!" as often as possible, even out of combat. This is crucial for building Life Force (LF).

• On top of the Stability and AoE stun "Chilled to the Bone!" also applies Quickness when it strikes an enemy target in melee range. Using this right before entering Reaper's Shroud creates the perfect setup for your hard hitting shroud skills.

• "Chilled to the Bone!" has a very distinct animation which makes it easy to avoid, if you feel like that's going to happen then stow your weapon to cancel the channeling. This is also great for fake casting - you can use the skill, cancel it immediately with weapon stow (the whole animation's still going to finish, potentially baiting out dodges or other defensive CDs), and send it only on a CD of 5 seconds.

• Entering shroud procs Weakening Shroud, this is both defensive and offensive by nature. Being able to apply Weakness even when you're sitting in a CC could save your life, and instant offensive procs could effortlessly add extra pressure to your burst chains.
  • Quickly following up with Death's Charge to corrupt more boons through Path of Corruption is basically a 2 button burst combo that puts heavy pressure on every enemy around you.
  • Entering shroud counts as a weapon swap and as such could proc Sigil of Doom and Sigil of Exposure while on Pistol/Torch (if the sigils aren't on CD) which could then be applied to the enemy target via Weakening Shroud for increased burst and condition variety.
  • The condition transfer from Plague Sending is yet another thing Weakening Shroud could trigger on its own.

• Ideally try to use Death's Charge inside the field left behind by Executioner's Scythe to combo Frost Aura.

• Aside from Putrid Mark and Spectral Walk most of the cleansing is tied to trait procs like Plague Sending (when entering shroud) and Unholy Martyr (when leaving shroud, Blood Magic variant). With the Death Magic variant you periodically keep losing conditions while staying in shroud.

• There's more to Spectral Walk (SW) than just being a stun breaker with a bit of LF management, this skill allows for quite a bit of creativity. For example:
  • Activate SW ⇒ jump off a cliff while being chased ⇒ Spectral Recall when your enemies jump after you.
  • Activate SW ⇒ break line of sight ⇒ cast "Chilled to the Bone!" ⇒ teleport back at the very end of the channeling (this makes it harder to avoid and reduces the chance of getting interrupted, although the outcome is going to be a bit luck based).
  • Activate SW ⇒ Necrotic Traversal (if using Flesh Wurm) ⇒ Spectral Recall when they catch up to you. This works for stomping downed enemies as well, the channeling isn't interrupted by either of these teleports!

• For mobility use the following sequence:

1. Reaper's Shroud
2. Death's Charge
3. Exit Reaper's Shroud just before Death's Charge finishes (the ending of DC brings your character to a halt, which can be cancelled by dropping out of shroud early)

• Pistol-only Vile Blast is a great skill for quickly setting up other skills like Weeping Shots, "Chilled to the Bone!" or a shroud burst.

• Scepter-only Feast of Corruption is best used on targets that already have several conditions on them to maximize damage and LF generation.
  • "Suffer!" is a great setup for this skill, allowing you to deliver burst damage in an instant.

• On Staff try to use Putrid Mark AFTER Chillblains for a free AoE Weakness combo.

• Putrid Mark and Death's Charge are the best skills to use with Sigil of Intelligence.

Shroud burst rotation example

1. Infusing Terror
2. Death's Charge to your target
3. Terrify
4. Executioner's Scythe
5. Soul Spiral

Pistol burst combo example:

1. Harrowing Wave could serve as an opener as it has a very low cast time and doesn't really require setup, but it could also be used after Vile Blast.
2. Vile Blast to set up Oppressive Collapse (OC), which has a much more visible animation and would be harder to land. Note: OC in general works best against slowed/stunned targets - the AoE ring spawns under your target the moment you press OC, so enemies with Superspeed or mobility skills could even escape the ring before the skill finishes. If they manage to leave the ring in time they'll avoid the CC.
3. Oppressive Collapse
4. Weeping Shots

Scepter burst combo example:

1. "Nothing Can Save You!" for unblockable attacks.
2. Oppressive Collapse
3. Harrowing Wave
4. "Suffer!"
5. Feast of Corruption

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