Reaper - Power Dread Reaper

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Focused on: Strike damage

Designed for: Open World

Expansions required:

Difficulty:

Normal

Overview

A fast-paced power Reaper build with strong damage, self-healing, life force generation, Barrier, and constant CC.

This build uses Fear with the traits Dread, Shivers of Dread, and Bitter Chill to maintain permanent Quickness, Fury, and 25x Vulnerability without the usual trait Reaper's Onslaught. We take the Reaper master trait Blighter's Boon instead, along with Soul Eater, Signet of Vampirism, and numerous Blood Magic traits like Blood Bank. The result is a tanky survivable build despite using full glass-cannon gear.

The main downside is it provides few boons to allies and is primarily a solo build. However, it does provide some leech to allies when running the Blood Magic traitline (which we default to here) instead of Soul Reaping. Additionally, conditions it inflicts like Fear, Chill, Blind, along with corrupting enemy boons and cleansing allies' conditions, are useful to allies.

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Skillbar

Sword/Sword

Dagger/Warhorn

Utility

Weapon Variants

We default to double Sword and Dagger/ Warhorn. Sword requires Expanded Weapon Proficiency with Secrets of the Obscure. Other weapon alternatives include:

• Greatsword: loses a Fear skill but gains a powerful, spammable, damage skill in Gravedigger, a strong CC/pull with Grasping Darkness, and AoE Blind with Nightfall.
• Axe: Gains boon rip with Unholy Feast and more range than dagger or greatsword, but loses self-healing and life force regeneration compared to dagger, and does less damage than dagger or greatsword. Applies Vulnerability, but not needed thanks to Bitter Chill. Usually not recommended.

Skill Variants

Healing skills

We default to Signet of Vampirism to increase passive self-healing in conjunction with Blighter's Boon, Soul Eater, and Blood Magic traitline, but any healing skill can be used. You could also consider:

• "Your Soul Is Mine!" - low 16s cooldown and life force regeneration.
• 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.

Utility skills

We default to the following utility skills, but only one is mandatory. Use any other two utility skills you prefer.

• Spectral Ring - The only utility skill that Fears. Mandatory, do not replace.
• Well of Power - breaks stun, grants AoE Stability and Might, and converts your and allies' conditions into boons, on a low 20s cooldown.
• Signet of the Locust^* - boon rip (AoE), potentially powerful active self-heal, passive movement speed, on a low 20s cooldown

Other useful skills to consider:

Offensive

• "Nothing Can Save You!"^* - boon rip (AoE) and makes up to ten of your next attacks unblockable.
• Well of Corruption^* - boon corrupt (AoE).
• Corrupt Boon^* - boon corrupt (single target).
• "Suffer!" - Chills and transfers conditions.
• Spectral Grasp - replaces Spectral Ring when underwater. Use on land for even more CC if needed.
• Signet of Undeath - passive life force generation, instant revive one downed ally.
• Signet of Spite - passive Power increase. The active ability applies some conditions, but has a long 40s cooldown and isn't worth casting in a power build.

Defensive

• 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.
• Plague Signet - alternate stun break and condition clear, passively reduces incoming condition damage
• Corrosive Poison Cloud - defensive skill that inflicts Weakness and blocks missiles.

^* Boon rip and corrupt skills are particularly useful for some challenging boss or champion monsters that gain Protection, Resolution, or Resistance, and who have a kill timer. Without a way to remove or corrupt those boons, it can take longer than the timer to kill them, failing the event.

Elite skills

"Chilled to the Bone!" in conjuction with Relic of the Nightmare is mandatory, do not replace it. Together they inflict Chill, Stun, and Fear, and grant Stability, Quickness, and 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

Variants

Soul Reaping

Replace Blood Magic with Soul Reaping for more damage and less self-heal, ally healing, and self-barrier.

Equipment

Head
Berserker

Shoulders
Berserker

Chest
Berserker

Hands
Berserker

Legs
Berserker

Feet
Berserker

Backpiece
Berserker

Accessory
Berserker

Accessory
Berserker

Amulet
Berserker

Ring
Berserker

Ring
Berserker

Sword
Berserker

Sword
Berserker

Sigil

Sigil

Dagger
Berserker

Warhorn
Berserker

Sigil

Sigil

Rune
x6

Infusion
x18

Relic

Equipment Variants

• Use all Assassin trinkets to get closer to 75% crit chance (100% with Fury). Mix in some Marauder gear for a larger health pool. Mix in some pieces of Zealot gear for stronger healing and larger Barrier.
• You could also experiment with a full Celestial gear set - armor, weapons, trinkets, all or none. This build doesn't benefit much from Condition Damage. However, the extra Concentration and Expertise means only three Fear skills, instead of five, are needed to maintain permanent Quickness, Fury, 25x Might, and 25x Vulnerability. So you can experiment with different weapons, utility skills, or relics without Fear.
• For sigils we default to Sigil of Superior Sigil of Force and Sigil of Superior Sigil of Strength, the latter to self-maintain 25x Might. In group events with alternate Might providers, you can swap that weapon for one with Sigil of Superior Sigil of Impact instead for maximum damage.
• For runes, Rune of Superior Rune of the Dragonhunter are preferred, but there are some alternatives. Any rune with Power and Ferocity can work. Rune of Scholar is next best. Rune of Deadeye has Power, Ferocity, and Precision if needed to hit 75% crit chance. Rune of Ogre has Power, Ferocity, and Vitality and is cheaper.
• 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

Budget consumables are acceptable for use in open world.

DPS

• Prioritize Steak Ascended food.
• /
• /

Farming

• Prioritize Steak 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 and Vulnerability on enemies, thanks to Dread, Shivers of Dread, and Bitter Chill. 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, as long as you're casting all five Fear skills on cooldown.

Besides Fear, there are three abilities, one whirl combo, and one passive trait that Chills (Chilling Nova). Use these to fill gaps between Fear skill cooldowns. Critical Hits against Chilled targets cause a Chilling Nova explosion that Chills nearby targets.

Gain Might from critting enemies, hitting enemies that are below 50% health, or autoattacking enemies while in Reaper's Shroud. Gaining Might or any other Boon heals you thanks to Blighter's Boon.

With the Blood Magic traitline the self-healing and life force generation refills Reaper Shroud faster than you can spend it, unless you're taking heavy damage. And Blood Bank converts 10% of healing into Barrier, or 100% of healing at full health. You constantly have Barrier, full life force, and fast health regen.

This is a power version of Condi Dread Reaper, and plays and feels almost exactly the same, except it does strike damage instead of condition damage.

Weapon Notes

Sword/Sword

Sword autoattack, Sword 3, and Sword 4 inherently heal, further increased by traits like Vampiric Presence and others listed in the Defense - Healing section below. Sword #2 and #5 regenerate life force. Mainhand sword autoattack inflicts Chill. Offhand Sword inflicts Fear, Chill, Vulnerability and grants Might. All sword attacks cleave and pierce, hitting up to five enemies, giving a high chance to proc Chilling Nova.

Dagger/Warhorn

Dagger autoattack provides both constant life force regen, and healing with the traits Overflowing Thirst and Vampiric Presence and others listed in the Defense - Healing section below. Dagger #3 Dark Pact -> Dagger #2 Life Siphon provide a strong burst of healing. Warhorn is taken for the Fear of Wail of Doom, and the self-heal of Locust Swarm.

Alternative weapons

Greatsword loses a Fear skill but gains a powerful, spammable, damage skill in Gravedigger, a strong CC/pull with Grasping Darkness, and AoE Blind with Nightfall.

Damage

Rotation Opener

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

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

If using Greatsword:

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

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

1. "Chilled to the Bone!"
2. Weapon Swap to Dagger/Warhorn
3. Wail of Doom
4. Enter Reaper's Shroud
5. 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.
6. Executioner's Scythe -> Soul Spiral: Ice Field + Whirl Finisher spreads massive amounts of Poison and Chill.
7. 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.
8. Exit Reaper's Shroud, attack with Dagger (melee) or Sword (ranged) until Fear cooldowns reset, then repeat the rotation.

Defense - General

Non-healing 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.
• "Chilled to the Bone!" provides Stability, Stuns, and Chills.
• If using Staff, Putrid Mark cleanses your conditions.
• If using Greatsword, Nightfall spreads AoE Blind.

Defense - Self-healing and Barrier

With Blood Magic there are numerous sources of self-healing and barrier:

Passive Healing

• Overflowing Thirst
• Vampiric
• Vampiric Presence
• Blood Bank
• Soul Eater
• Blighter's Boon
• Signet of Vampirism

Active Healing

Use any of these as needed.

• Dodge -> Mark of Evasion -> Lesser Mark of Blood
• Signet of the Locust
• Signet of Vampirism - use this only as a last resort, so as not to lose its passive self-healing while on cooldown.

Sword/Sword: Sword skills 1, 3, and 4 heal.

• Enervation Blade -> Enervation Echo -> Deathly Enervation
• Path of Gluttony -> Gorge - Gorge is optional since it costs health to cast, don't cast if you're very low on health.
• Hungering Maelstrom

Dagger/Warhorn: Dagger 2 heals, and is stronger after casting Dagger 3 to self-Bleed. Warhorn 5 siphons life from nearby enemies.

• Dark Pact -> Life Siphon - casting in this order will maximize the self-heal.
• Locust Swarm

Reaper's Shroud: Life Reap -> Life Slash -> Life Rend - all apply Might, which heals you thanks to Blighter's Boon.

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.