Reaper - Greatsword Roamer
The community gave this build a rating, making it second-tier: Good
Focused on: Strike damage
Designed for: WvW Roaming
Difficulty:
Normal
This build was last updated on September 21, 2023 and is up to date for the November 07, 2023 game patch.
Overview
A bursty Power Reaper build for WvW roaming. Its sustain is rather low, but sometimes the best defense is a good offense.
Skill Bar
Greatsword
Axe/Focus
Utility
Skill Variants
Utility
For the optional slot:
- - better LF generation plus a stun break and defense against strike damage.
- - ranged CC which stops enemies from escaping, and even helps with LF management.
- - condition transfer with good range that could also snare enemies on a low CD.
- - protects against projectiles, significantly reduces the damage dealt by melee enemies and even has poison for healing reduction.
Weapons
- Taking Staff over Greatsword is also a viable option, offering better ranger and more condition removal.
Template Code
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Specializations
Specialization Variants
Swapping Curses with Soul Reaping is also a viable option. This version of the build has lower sustain, lower crit chance, but higher burst potential and better mobility (also makes passive movement speed runes somewhat unnecessary):
Equipment
Head
Marauder
Marauder
Shoulders
Marauder
Marauder
Chest
Marauder
Marauder
Hands
Marauder
Marauder
Legs
Marauder
Marauder
Feet
Marauder
Marauder
Backpiece
Cavalier
Cavalier
Accessory
Marauder
Marauder
Accessory
Marauder
Marauder
Amulet
Cavalier
Cavalier
Ring
Cavalier
Cavalier
Ring
Marauder
Marauder
Greatsword
Marauder
Marauder
Sigil
Sigil
Axe
Marauder
Marauder
Focus
Marauder
Marauder
Sigil
Sigil
Rune
x6
x6
Infusion
x18
x18
Relic
Runes
- - good offensive stats and passive mobility boost
- - passive mobility, offers a middleground between Surging and Durability.
Relics
- - improved mobility with but this synergy is very easily disrupted by boon removal. This relic works much better with the
Soul Reaping variant which has .
Sigils
- over - trades some defense against conditions for
Quickness to make it easier to pull off either a or . Has synergy with Relic of Speed (if taken).
Consumables
Food
- - passive damage mitigation and great stats.
- - cheap precision bump with armor-ignoring damage procs that heal you.
- - active damage mitigation.
- - budget version
Utility
- or .
Usage
General
- Spectral skills are going to be the main Life Force (LF) builders
- Even at maximum LF you can consider using before entering . Both the
Protection and the extra LF from incoming attacks are going to increase the time you'll be able to spend in shroud.
- Even at maximum LF you can consider using before entering . Both the
- Build Life Force by killing critters or any PvE mob before fighting players.
- There's more to (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 ⇒ when your enemies jump after you.
- Activate SW ⇒ break line of sight ⇒ cast ⇒ 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 ⇒ (if using Flesh Wurm) ⇒ teleport back when they catch up to you.
- 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 will still play, potentially baiting out dodges or other defensive CDs), and send it only on a CD of 5 seconds.
- and are some of the best burst skills in the build, try to use them while the proc is active.
- Entering shroud acts as an instant defensive measure:
- Transfers conditions to enemies on your next attack via .
- Procs Lesser Enfeeble for
Weakness from which strikes foes after a small delay. If Lesser Enfeeble connects it'll immediately transfer conditions with Plague Sending. This is a really powerful interaction that could save your life even if you're stunned, as shroud can be activated while sitting in a CC.
- Leaving shroud cleanses conditions through .
Shroud
- Most of your burst comes from , where your damage is further increased by .
- Opening with is very common, as it helps getting your damage off uninterrupted while the damage reduction helps you stay in shroud longer.
- is the chain skill of this slot. This should only be used when either A) you need an emergency CC, or B) Infusing Terror is about to expire.
- should be used in the field created by for the
Frost Aura whenever possible.
- should primarily be used on CC'd or downed targets (as
Poison reduces the resurrection healing coming from their allies), but thanks to the permanent
Quickness while in shroud this skill is now much easier to land without any real setup.
- 's a single target skill for the most part, as it only stuns one target. can
Fear targets long enough to prevent enemies from dodging this skill.
- Use autoattacks when eveything else is on CD.
Greatsword
- is the only thing that justifies taking Greatsword, its strength is arguably on par with Well skills. Nightfall is fairly versatile and useful in many situations, especially when it comes to surviving vs melee players.
- The autoattack chain is just way too slow and will barely (if ever) be used.
- suffers from the same problem as the auto chain, but at least it hits way harder. This will mostly be used as a downed cleave skill when Shroud is on CD, but if you're feeling lucky you can try to use it for bursting in regular combat especially against bunkers. Much easier to land with some lingering
Quickness from .
- is excellent for stacking some vulnerability/life force.
- is a decent CC but can be hard to land against moving targets.
- After unloading skills 3-5 spend most of your time in Reaper's Shroud waiting for weapon swap to come off CD.
Related Builds
Spectral Onslaught - the Conquest PvP version of this WvW roaming build.
Ratings

Gave the build a small update, switched to the Curses variant, shout heal and once again slotted in Blood Bond. The build has a lot of damage and even sustain isn't bad, but requires proper CD management because if you get caught offguard just once you'll die, and it's still rather susceptible to CC. It's not bad, just not as good as Power options on some other classes, but it can absolutely dominate when mastered.

Im giving this 4 Stars because of how forgiving I've found it, while still being able to do MASSIVE burst damage. Its up there with Spellbreaker on builds I'd reccommend for new roamers. If you're struggling to sustain try taking the Death Magic line over Spite, helps with survivability and has a couple get out of jail free cards.

It can feel vulnerable against high mobility opponents. However, with good timing and patience you can burst many opponents from full to down very quickly. While primarily for damage, you can use shroud defensively if you're finding yourself running low on HP and unable to heal. Life force is a precious resource though, so try to limit your time in shroud to when you can take full advantage of it's strength.

very nice and fun build, it does really high damage
Comments
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