Build:Reaper - Condi Dread Reaper

This is a rough draft. Once adequately written, it will progress to the testing stage, where it can be rated by the community. You can help by proposing changes with a comment.

Focused on: Condition damage

Designed for: Open World and WvW Zerg

Expansions required:

Difficulty:

Normal

This build was last updated on April 17, 2025.

Overview

A fun, frenetic, solo open world condition 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+ stacks of Bleeding, 25x Vulnerability, 25x Might, Fury, and Quickness.

The main downside is it provides few boons to allies and is mainly a solo build in PvE. Some conditions it inflicts like Fear, Chill, Blind, along with corrupting enemy boons and cleansing allies' conditions, are useful to allies though.

It can also be used in WvW with a few gear changes, explained in the Equipment section. The constant AoE Fears and AoE boon corrupt on Scepter are useful in zerg battles.

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Build and Stat Calculations

https://gw2skills.net/editor/?PSAFwk1aYZCJsmaWXbLpkVWpjrSfTF-DSJYmx/ZUgUNOVlCPJEEh2FEwKK/+JLP6bBVA-e

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Skillbar

Scepter/Warhorn

Sword/Sword

Utility

Weapon Variants

Scepter/Warhorn is a strong single target weapon set. Conditions applied by Scepter are empowered by the Curses trait Lingering Curse, and Scepter's autoattack chain applies Bleeding to a single target with all three attacks in the chain. Warhorn is taken for Fear on Warhorn 4.

On the second weapon set, we recommend double Swords. Sword/Sword is a strong AoE weapon combo that can quickly burst multiple Bleed stacks onto targets. Sword/Sword inflicts Fear, Vulnerability, Chill, and grants Might. All five sword attacks cleave and pierce, hitting up to five enemies, giving a high chance to proc Chilling Nova.

Usage of sword requires Expanded Weapon Proficiency with Secrets of the Obscure. Other weapon alternatives include:

Staff

Staff provides burst damage from range, and is the only other weapon besides offhand Warhorn and offhand Sword with a Fear skill, but deals low sustained damage.

Greatsword

Greatsword may also be a viable option. It loses a Fear skill 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.

Pistol/X

With Weaponmaster Training mainhand Pistol is an option. Pistol is a condition weapon, but focuses on Torment and Poison, rather than Bleed or Chill. 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.

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:

• "Suffer!" - Chills and transfers conditions.
• Spectral Ring - The only utility skill that Fears. Mandatory, do not replace.
• Well of Darkness - additional Chill (5 AoE pulses) and Blind (2 AoE Blind pulses also apply Chill via Curses trait Chilling Darkness). 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 and converts your and allies' conditions into boons.
• 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 WvW.

Elite skills

• "Chilled to the Bone!": Applies conditions, notably Chill, Stun, and with Relic of the Nightmare also Fear. Grants boons, notably Stability, Quickness, and Fury. Crucially, this skill and the relic are synced to the same 30s cooldown. Mandatory, do not replace.

Specializations

Variants

• Insidious Disruption - apply 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.

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

Scepter
Viper

Warhorn
Viper

Sigil

Sigil

Sword
Viper

Sword
Viper

Sigil

Sigil

Rune
x6

Infusion
x6

Infusion
x12

Relic

Equipment Variants

Stats

For more survivability and/or boon duration, replace some Viper pieces with Trailblazer or Ritualist stats. Try to keep Bleeding duration at 100%, possibly using Rune of Krait and Sigil of Superior Sigil of Agony together. 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).

Also, GuildJen has a guide for a Celestial variant of this build here. With the extra boon duration, it only requires three Fear skills instead of five to maintain full Quickness uptime. It uses two weapon skills and Reaper Shroud 3 for that, freeing a Utility slot and the Relic for other choices.

WvW

This build also works well in a WvW Zerg due to the constant CC and strong condi burst, but with a few changes. In WvW zergs, the conditions you inflict are constantly being cleared, sent back, or converted to boons, so Expertise and condition duration are less valuable. Instead focus on Condition Damage and survivability:

1. Replace all the Viper Armor and Trinkets with Dire or Trailblazer.
2. Use Rune of Necromancer. With full Dire armor and trinkets this gives over 27,000 health and over 2100 Condition Damage unbuffed.
3. Keep the Viper weapons for a base ~20% Crit Chance, but replace Sigil of Superior Sigil of Agony with Sigil of Superior Sigil of Bursting, Sigil of Superior Sigil of Doom, or Sigil of Superior Sigil of Torment.
4. Switch two traits to Plague Sending and Path of Corruption, for more condition clear and boon corrupt.
5. Alternatively, replace all armor, trinkets, and weapons with Celestial versions. Use Rune of Leadership. See GuildJen's guide for more details.

Sigils

If you overcap Bleeding Duration beyond 100%, replace Sigil of Superior Sigil of Agony with one of the following. Aim for 100% Bleeding Duration, then maximum Condition Damage, or alternatively sigils that apply Torment or Poison.

• Sigil of Superior Sigil of Malice
• Sigil of Superior Sigil of Bursting (WvW)
• Sigil of Superior Sigil of Torment (WvW)
• Sigil of Superior Sigil of Doom (WvW)

Runes

Rune of Trapper are preferred, but any of the runes below can work. 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 Berserker
• Rune of Necromancer (WvW)
• Rune of Renegade
• Rune of Sunless
• Rune of Krait

Relic

• Relic of the Nightmare is by far the strongest relic for this build, both in PvE and WvW. Nightmare's AoE Fear on a relatively short 30s cooldown helps maintain Quickness and Fury uptime, increases "Chilled to the Bone!" breakbar damage, and applies 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

1. Fear applies Quickness, Fury, and Chill. There are five abilities that apply Fear. Use them all aggressively on cooldown. This is the core of the build.
2. Chill applies Bleeding and Vulnerability. Besides Fear, there are three abilities, one whirl combo, and two passive traits that apply Chill (Chill of Death, Chilling Nova). Use these to fill gaps between Fear skill cooldowns.
3. Critical Hits apply Bleeding directly from the trait Barbed Precision and Sigil of Superior Sigil of Earth, and Critical Hits against Chilled targets cause a Chilling Nova explosion that Chills and Bleeds nearby targets.
4. Gain Might from hitting enemies that are Chilled, hitting enemies that are below 50% health, or autoattacking enemies while in Reaper's Shroud.
5. 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.

Standard Rotation

Open with Elite + Utilities

1. Elite: "Chilled to the Bone!"
2. Utility: Spectral Ring
3. Utility: "Suffer!"
4. Utility: Well of Darkness

Scepter/Sword

1. Sword 5 x2: Devouring Visage -> Consume
2. Sword 4 x2: Hungering Maelstrom -> Gormandize

If using Staff:

1. Staff 5: Reaper's Mark
2. Staff 3: Chillblains
3. Staff 2: Mark of Blood
4. Staff 4 (optional): Putrid Mark

If using Greatsword:

1. GS 4 Nightfall
2. GS 5 Grasping Darkness
3. GS 3 Death Spiral

Weapon Swap to Scepter/Warhorn

1. Warhorn 4: Wail of Doom
2. Scepter 3: Devouring Darkness
3. Scepter 2: Grasping Dead

Enter Reaper's Shroud

1. Shroud 3 x2: 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.
2. Shroud 5 + 4: Executioner's Scythe -> Soul Spiral: Ice Field + Whirl Finisher applies massive amounts of Poison and Chill.
3. Shroud 1: 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.

Exit Reaper's Shroud, attack with Scepter (single target) or Sword (AoE) until Fear cooldowns reset, then repeat the rotation.