Reaper - Condi Dread Reaper

The community gave this build a rating, making it second-tier: Good

Focused on: Condition damage

Designed for: Open World

Expansions required:

Difficulty:

Normal

This build was last updated on October 23, 2025 and is up to date for the August 19, 2025 patch.

Overview

A fast-paced Reaper build with strong condi burst, sustained condi damage, and constant CC. This is primarily a Fear, Chill, and Bleed build. It leverages interactions between the traits Dread, Shivers of Dread, and Deathly Chill to rapidly stack 50+ Bleeding, 25x Vulnerability, 25x Might, Fury, and Quickness.

This is a soloing build, trading some group damage optimizations for self-reliant boon generation, increased survivability, and some sustain.

The main downside is it provides few boons to allies, though some conditions it inflicts like Fear, Chill, Blind, along with corrupting enemy boons and cleansing allies' conditions, are useful to allies too.

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Skillbar

Sword/Sword

Scepter/Warhorn

Utility

Weapon Variants

We default to double Sword and Scepter/ Warhorn because they stack Bleed faster than all other weapons, and their offhands both have a Fear skill. Sword requires Expanded Weapon Proficiency with Secrets of the Obscure. Other weapon alternatives include:

• Pistol/ Torch: The typical condi weapon set, but doesn't synergize as well with this build. It focuses on Torment, Poison, and Burn, and lacks all of Bleed, Chill, and Fear. However, Pistol #2 Weeping Shots with Quickness provides good condi burst, and can replace Scepter for an alternate single-target option. Requires Weaponmaster Training from Secrets of the Obscure.
• Greatsword: Loses a Fear skill but gains more AoE Bleed application with Nightfall and the trait Chilling Darkness, and a strong CC/pull with Grasping Darkness.
• Spear: Also loses a Fear skill but gains multiple sources of Chill, both on the moderately quick autoattack chain and skill 4. Includes a Daze, teleport, boon rip, and cleaves 3 enemies. Requires Lowland Spear Training or Lowland Spear Unlock from the Janthir Wilds expansion.
• Staff: Provides burst damage from range, and is the only other weapon besides Warhorn and offhand Sword with a Fear skill, but deals low sustained damage. Not recommended for PvE, but strong in WvW.

Skill Variants

Healing skills

We default to "Your Soul Is Mine!" because of its low 16s cooldown, but any healing skill can be used. You could also consider:

• Consume Conditions - A bigger heal and condition cleanse, but doesn't generate life force.
• Well of Blood - For group healing and a Light combo field.
• Signet of Vampirism - For passive healing in combat, and group leech when cast on a target.

Utility skills

We default to the following skills because they all provide Fear or Chill:

• "Suffer!" - Chills and transfers conditions.
• Spectral Ring - The only utility skill that Fears. Mandatory, do not replace.
• Well of Darkness - Inflicts Chill directly 5 times, and indirectly from Blind 2 times (via Curses trait Chilling Darkness), stacking 28 Bleeds. Dark combo field. If you replace this skill with something else, also change the Curses trait to Insidious Disruption or Plague Sending.

Other useful skills to consider:

• Well of Power - Breaks stun, grants AoE Stability, converts your and allies' conditions into boons, Dark combo field, on a low 20s cooldown. Arguably Necro's strongest defensive utility skill.
• Spectral Armor - Alternate stun break, regenerate life force quickly.
• Spectral Walk - Alternate stun break, lure attackers off cliffs in WvW then teleport back up while they fall to their deaths.
• Spectral Grasp - Replaces Spectral Ring when underwater. Use on land for even more CC if needed.
• Well of Corruption - Additional AoE boon corrupt for some bosses that gain Protection, Resolution, or Fury. Dark combo field.
• Corrosive Poison Cloud - Inflicts Poison and Weakness, blocks incoming projectiles, Poison combo field.

Elite skills

"Chilled to the Bone!" is mandatory, do not replace it. It has excellent synergy with Relic of the Nightmare. Together, they inflict Chill, Stun, and Fear, and grant Stability, double Quickness, and double Fury. Crucially, the skill and the relic are synced to the same 30s cooldown. Note - there is a 2s delay between casting the Elite skill and Relic of the Nightmare's Fear proc. Make sure to remain in range of any target you want to be hit with that Fear.

Specializations

 

Skill Variants

• Insidious Disruption - Inflict Torment every time your constant Fears hit an enemy.
• Plague Sending For additional condition clear, which this build sometimes needs against heavy condition enemies.
• Path of Corruption For additional boon corrupt.

Spite Alternatives

In a party or squad with other players providing group Quickness, you can change the Spite traitline to Soul Reaping (Burning), Death Magic (Poison + Carapace), or Blood Magic (party life steal + Barrier). These may be more useful in large open world map meta groups, bounties, public Convergences, and similar.

Equipment

Head
Viper

Shoulders
Viper

Chest
Viper

Hands
Viper

Legs
Viper

Feet
Viper

Backpiece
Viper

Accessory
Viper

Accessory
Viper

Amulet
Viper

Ring
Viper

Ring
Viper

Sword
Viper

Sword
Viper

Sigil

Sigil

Scepter
Viper

Warhorn
Viper

Sigil

Sigil

Rune
x6

Infusion
x6

Infusion
x12

Relic

Equipment Variants

• Dire or Trailblazer can be considered for a more survivable build or a WvW build. Try to keep Bleeding duration at 100%, possibly using Rune of Superior Rune of the Krait and Sigil of Superior Sigil of Agony together if necessary. Also keep in mind that Precision is valuable, as it causes Chilling Novas, Bleeding on Crit, and increases Condition Damage as a percent of Precision (trait + utility buff). Try to keep at least 30% Crit Chance.
• Celestial gear is also an option, in every slot - armor, trinkets, weapons. This remains a condition build with the same runes, sigils, relic, and traits as the main build. Though, as above, you may need Rune of Superior Rune of the Krait to reach the Bleed duration cap. Also, with Celestial's Concentration stat, we no longer need all five Fear skills to maintain permanent Quickness and Fury. Only three Fear skills are required, so you can experiment with different utility, relic, or weapons.
• Berserker's or other power-based gear is also an option for a power variant of this build. Change the Curses traitline to Soul Reaping for raw damage or Blood Magic for self-healing and Barrier. Change a few condi traits to power traits: Deathly Chill -> Reaper's Onslaught or Blighter's Boon; Chill of Death -> Awaken the Pain. Change Scepter -> Axe or Dagger with Sigil of Superior Sigil of Force and Sigil of Superior Sigil of Impact. Use Rune of Superior Rune of the Dragonhunter or Rune of Superior Rune of the Scholar.
• For sigils you should prioritize 100% Bleeding Duration, then Condition damage or Bleeding application. The following sigils could also be considered: Sigil of Superior Sigil of Earth, Sigil of Superior Sigil of Geomancy, Sigil of Superior Sigil of Agony, Sigil of Superior Sigil of Malice, Sigil of Superior Sigil of Bursting.
• For runes, Rune of Superior Rune of the Trapper are preferred, but there are some alternatives. Aim for 100% Bleeding duration, then maximum Condition Damage. Try to use the runes where the 5th and 6th runes give 100 and 125 Condition Damage respectively. Rune of Superior Rune of the Berserker, Rune of Superior Rune of the Necromancer, Rune of Superior Rune of the Renegade, Rune of Superior Rune of the Sunless, Rune of Superior Rune of the Krait.
• For the relic, Relic of the Nightmare is mandatory. Without any boon duration in the build, we need five Fears to maintain permanent uptime on Quickness and Fury. Nightmare's AoE Fear on the same short 30s cooldown as "Chilled to the Bone!" provides that fifth Fear. It also increases the Elite skill's breakbar damage, and spreads more Chill and Bleed.

Consumables

Use whatever food is needed to get Bleeding Duration to the 100% cap if needed, then prioritize Condition Damage and Precision.

DPS

• Prioritize Flatbread Ascended food.
• / / /
• / /

Farming

• Prioritize Flatbread Ascended food.
• /
• (and variants)

Usage

Core mechanics

Fear is a key mechanic of this build. Inflicting fear on an enemy grants Quickness and Fury to you and inflicts Chill on enemies, thanks to Dread and Shivers of Dread. Review your sourcess of Fear and use them all aggressively on cooldown. No Concentration or boon duration is needed for 100% uptime on Quickness, Fury, 25x Vulnerability, and 25x Might (from hitting Chilled enemies), as long as you're casting all five Fear skills on cooldown.

Chill inflicts 4x Bleeding and Vulnerability thanks to Deathly Chill and Bitter Chill. Besides Fear, there are three abilities, one whirl combo, and two passive traits that Chill (Chill of Death, Chilling Nova). Use these to fill gaps between Fear skill cooldowns.

Critical Hits inflict Bleeding directly from the trait Barbed Precision and Sigil of Superior Sigil of Earth. Critical Hits against Chilled targets cause a Chilling Nova explosion that Chills and Bleeds nearby targets. Gain Might from hitting enemies that are Chilled, hitting enemies that are below 50% health, or autoattacking enemies while in Reaper's Shroud.

Weapon Notes

Sword/Sword

Mainhand sword autoattack stacks Bleed faster than any other weapon with this build, even Scepter. Sword autoattack inflicts Chill on the third attack of the chain. Each Chill inflicts 4x Bleed. Sword's autoattack chain takes 2.08s to complete, or 1.39s under Quickness (2.08s/1.5=1.39s). [4x Bleed]/[1.39s] = 2.88 Bleed/second. Offhand Sword also contributes to Bleed stacking by inflicting both Fear and Chill, along with Vulnerability and Might. All sword attacks cleave and pierce, hitting up to five enemies, giving a high chance to proc Chilling Nova.

Scepter/Warhorn

Scepter inflicts Bleeding, Poison and some Torment, and is greatly improved by Lingering Curse. This trait increases the base duration of Scepter conditions, enabling Scepter Bleeds to exceed the 100% duration cap. Scepter's slightly slower autoattack chain and lack of Chill application mean it does not stack Bleed quite as fast as Sword. Scepter's autoattack chain completes in 2.4s, or 1.6s under Quickness (2.4s/1.5=1.6s). The full chain inflicts 3x Bleed (one per attack). [3x Bleed]/[1.6s] = 1.875 Bleed/second. Lingering Curse also changes skill 3 from single target into an AoE boon corrupt skill Devouring Darkness. Warhorn is taken for the Fear of Wail of Doom.

Alternative weapons

Pistol/ Torch is a condition weapon set that focuses on Torment, Poison, and Burn, rather than Bleed, Chill, and Fear. Pistol gains an additional Stun with Vile Blast, but loses the boon corrupt that both Scepter 3 Devouring Darkness and Sword 3 Gorge provide. Pistol's autoattack Vicious Shot bounces between three enemies, providing more AoE condi cleave than Scepter's single-target autoattack, but less than mainhand sword's 5-target autoattack. Torch gains some AoE knockdown CC, but loses the crucial offhand Fear this build is based around. However, pistol #2 Weeping Shots with Quickness provides good single target condi burst, and can be used in place of Scepter for that if needed. Both require Weaponmaster Training from Secrets of the Obscure.

Greatsword lacks access to Fear which may cause gaps in Quickness uptime. But it gains Nightfall which, when combined with the Curses trait Chilling Darkness, can rapidly stack Blind -> Chill -> Bleed. Greatsword's autoattack inflicts Chill on the third attack. It takes 2.88s to complete, or 1.92s with Quickness (2.88s/1.5 = 1.92s). [4 Bleed]/[1.92s] = 2.08 Bleed/second, slower than Sword autoattack chain, but faster than Scepter. Though Greatsword auto can hit up to 3 targets, potentially proc'ing Chilling Nova on them, spreading AoE Bleed faster than single-target Scepter but slower than 5-target Sword. Finally, Grasping Darkness is a strong AoE pull that groups together many monsters, or damages breakbars.

Spear also lacks access to Fear but includes a Chill on its autoattack chain. Its autoattack chain completes in ~2.4s, or 1.6s under Quickness (2.4s/1.5 = 1.6s). [4x Bleed]/[1.6s] = 2.5 Bleed/second, slower than Sword but faster than Scepter. Spear also hits 3 targets, potentially proc'ing Chilling Nova. Spear has an additional Chill on its fourth skill and Daze on its third skill. Spear requires the Janthir Wilds expansion and either Lowland Spear Training or Lowland Spear Unlock.

Staff is the only other weapon besides Warhorn and offhand Sword with a Fear skill. It provides burst damage from range, but it deals low sustained damage. Sword/Sword is more effective at stacking Bleed due to its faster attack speed, cleave, and pierce. Not recommended for PvE, but useful in WvW zergs.

Damage

Rotation Opener

With our opener we're aiming for two quick Fears from Spectral Ring and the weapon skill. Open from 900 range or closer with Sword/Sword:

1. Spectral Ring on top of enemy
2. Devouring Visage -> Consume
3. Hungering Maelstrom -> Gormandize

If using Staff:

1. Spectral Ring on top of enemy
2. Reaper's Mark
3. Chillblains
4. Mark of Blood

If using Greatsword:

1. Grasping Darkness
2. Spectral Ring on top of enemy
3. Nightfall
4. Death Spiral

Close to within melee range, then cycle through Fear and Chill skills:

1. "Chilled to the Bone!"
2. Well of Darkness
3. "Suffer!"
4. Weapon Swap to Scepter/Warhorn
5. Wail of Doom
6. Grasping Dead
7. Enter Reaper's Shroud
8. Infusing Terror -> Terrify: Double tap for a quick AoE Fear. Use on cooldown. Killing a mob reduces its cooldown by 50%, so in large packs it's almost spammable.
9. Executioner's Scythe -> Soul Spiral: Ice Field + Whirl Finisher spreads massive amounts of Poison and Chill.
10. Life Rend -> Life Slash -> Life Reap: autoattack in Reaper's Shroud for a few seconds for Crits to cause a Chilling Nova explosion and to allow Fear cooldowns to reset.
11. Exit Reaper's Shroud, attack with Scepter (single target) or Sword (AoE) until Fear cooldowns reset, then repeat the rotation.

Defense

Defense mainly comes from constant Fear disabling enemies, and permanent Chill increasing their ability cooldowns.

• Sidestep and walk or dodge out of enemy attacks.
• Constant Fear prevents incoming damage.
• Permanent Chill reduces the rate of incoming damage.
• Weakness prevents critical strikes and causing glancing blows (50% of normal damage).
• Blind causing the enemy's next attack to miss.
• Reaper's Shroud is as a second health bar and has a natural 33% damage reduction.
• Infusing Terror provides Stability and further reduces damage taken.
• Use Consume Conditions in condition heavy fights. If more is needed, run "Suffer!", Well of Power, and/or the trait Plague Sending.
• "Chilled to the Bone!" provides Stability, Stuns, and Chills.
• Sword skills 1, 3, 4 heal a little bit, along with Warhorn 5.
• Scepter 3 Devouring Darkness and Sword 3 Gorge can corrupt boons on enemies. Use them to remove Fury, Protection, or Resolution on powerful enemies.
• If using Staff, Putrid Mark cleanses your conditions.
• If using Greatsword, Nightfall spreads AoE Blind.

Crowd Control

Breakbar damage happens naturally by cycling through the Damage rotation. The strongest breakbar abilities are "Chilled to the Bone!" and Executioner's Scythe. Omit those from the damage rotation if needed to reserve them for active breakbar phases, but both are on relatively low 30s cooldowns and generally don't need to be conserved.

• Sword Devouring Visage - 1.5 seconds of Fear.
• Warhorn Wail of Doom - 1 second of Fear.
• Utility Spectral Ring - 2s of Fear.
• Reaper's Shroud Infusing Terror ⇒ Terrify - 1 second of Fear.
• Reaper's Shroud Executioner's Scythe - 1.5 seconds of Stun.
• Elite skill "Chilled to the Bone!" - 2 or 3 seconds of Stun, plus Fear with Relic of the Nightmare.