What is Soul Reaping ????

[pocarisky]

How does it works ?? Necessary to add points on it ? Please advise. Thx.

[Syvana]

When an enemy in the area dies, you gain 1 energy per attribute point that you have in Soul Reaping. It's awesome for PvE, but certainly not as useful as the primary skills of most other classes in PvP.

[pocarisky]

1 energy........1 maximum enery ???

[MADMEE]

no, soul reaping doesnt affect your max energy.

ok.. say you have 30 max energy and you go into battle, therefore using energy to cast spells.

now lets say you kil something when you have 10 energy out of your possible 30.

depending on your level of soul reaping you will get some energy added on to your remaing 10 energy.

so lets say you have soul reaping of 5.

you kill something when you have 10 energy then you get +5 added to it. so you then have 15 energy.

you may notice that when your standing around doing nothing and your minion dies, you will hear a sound and see some stars around you. thats you getting energy from soul reaping. And yes it works on anything that dies nearby.. enemies, minions, teammates :)

i currently have soul reaping of 9 (to get benefit from item) and i am finding it very usefull.

[Raei]

Simple answer to your question (one posted as the topic) is... A Necromancers best friend! :)

[pocarisky]

Seems it is going to be very useful.~! Thank you~!

[goblintrain]

When an enemy in the area dies, you gain 1 energy per attribute point that you have in Soul Reaping. It's awesome for PvE, but certainly not as useful as the primary skills of most other classes in PvP.

Actually, one of the beauties of soul reaping is that it is activated when anything, friend, foe, or neutral dies. it is even activated by the death of those Nature Ritual spirits that rangers cast, undead minions, & pets. It also seems to has a very large range, and so as long as things keep dying, you will keep getting energy. I always put points into Soul Reaping, but it doesn't need to be your first priority to still be very effective. I alot it points as my 3rd, or even 4th priority, depending on the build.

[Railen Shatterskull]

With a few points in Soul Reaping, and enough firepower to keep the beasties dying at regular intervals (or enough minions used as cannon fodder), you will have a fantastic amount of energy to spare. Considering the aforementioned 5 points in Soul Reaping, and say an average of 6 to 8 mobs in a group, that's 30-40 extra energy recieved during battle. A point here and there might not seem like that much, but it can really make a huge difference in a PvE battle. PvP, not so much, since the death toll won't be quite as high.

[goblintrain]

With a few points in Soul Reaping, and enough firepower to keep the beasties dying at regular intervals (or enough minions used as cannon fodder), you will have a fantastic amount of energy to spare. Considering the aforementioned 5 points in Soul Reaping, and say an average of 6 to 8 mobs in a group, that's 30-40 extra energy recieved during battle. A point here and there might not seem like that much, but it can really make a huge difference in a PvE battle. PvP, not so much, since the death toll won't be quite as high.

I notice ingame that even a few points of SR goes a lot further ingame than one would imagine. I frequently dump all my energy finishing off an opponent, and the energy spike from Soul Reaping gives me enough of a charge to begin engaging the next opponent. Grrr... i bet if i were playing any other class than a primary necro i would have to learn energy management from scratch.

[Eliam]

Last night I changed my build and dumped a lot of points into Death Magic and Soul Reaping, wow what a combo! Whenever anything dies I get enough energy to raise them as a bone horror, and everytime one of the horrors die it's free energy! They're like little batteries that attack the mobs :happy34:

This, as you can probably guess, ain't so hot in PvP, but for PvE...well I can't remember doing so well!

[ShadisLecrou]

Yeah, it's difficult in PvP. If it's a longer PvP game and you have people dying and respawning and you keep making minions, it can be just as effective as in PvE. However if it's a quick PvP game where once people die they generally stay dead, then it's minimally useful.

I wish they'd make it do something additional like make your Animation skills recharge slightly faster, or cast faster or something.

[Darkspider]

Soul Reaping is totally useless for me.
A. It isn't perminate. Why waste valuable attribute points into it when you can regenerate it naturally?
B. It's dependant on corpses. Sorry, but corpses don't fall out of the sky all the time.
C. It's only a single point. The elementalist gets 3.
D. It's only useful at all with 6+ points in it. That's too much just for an occasional energy boost.
E. There are NO skills that use it. Even the elementalist has a handful of Energy Storage skills. Necros have none.
F. It's virtually worthless in pvp.

I just listed 6 reasons why it's a waste. If AN raised the value recovered from 1 to 2 or 3, then it'd be useful.

[goblintrain]

Soul Reaping is totally useless for me.
A. It isn't perminate. Why waste valuable attribute points into it when you can regenerate it naturally?
B. It's dependant on corpses. Sorry, but corpses don't fall out of the sky all the time.
C. It's only a single point. The elementalist gets 3.
D. It's only useful at all with 6+ points in it. That's too much just for an occasional energy boost.
E. There are NO skills that use it. Even the elementalist has a handful of Energy Storage skills. Necros have none.
F. It's virtually worthless in pvp.

I just listed 6 reasons why it's a waste. If AN raised the value recovered from 1 to 2 or 3, then it'd be useful.

Spider, it is fair enough that you say it is useless for you, & you are certainly not alone in that persuasion. I value soul reaping very highly, but that is because i have learned from experience that ingame i depend on it much more than i am consciously aware. I think it's real value is only found in actual game-play, & not in theorycrafting.

While i wouldn't mind seeing a few skills linked to it, & something tells me there eventually will be, i hope Arena Net is very careful about it. I think that any skills tied to soul reaping should focus soley on energy management, & not go a dozen different directions, making Soul Reaping a "must have maxed out" attribute. I would like to see it handled more like Fast Casting than, say, Expertise or Strength.

One thing i think would really be nice for example is a targetable "wager" type skill, that would give the necromancer X seconds of increased ebnergy regen if target dies within X second time frame.

A realated idea for a skill that gives an Energy bonus up front, but takes it back with penalty if the targeted unit doesn't die within a certain time frame.

See the direction i'm going here? I think it would be nice if Soul Reaping had a couple of skills that gave the player more control in energy management. This would make the attribute more useful in the 4v4 PvP arena & other small battles. However, i would not want to see the attribute diverge from energy management in its focus.

Oh! Oh! Oh! Here's another idea! Since sacrifice skills are a distinctly necro domain, as is Soul Reaping, how about an Aura skill linked to Soul Reaping that gives an energy return every time a sacrifice skill is used? Sort of a Soul Reaping interpretation of Aura of Restoration. Eh?

[Raei]

IMO, every Nec should get it up to atleast 4-5 points, almost having a nice consistant flow of mana is really nice.

[Ascendant Evincar]

Yae like everyones bean saying soul reaping is great if you have invested into it. Getting 1-3 points everytime something dies is some what useless so thats why on my mellemancer I put down 6 letting me get alot more energy from an ongoing battle wich is pretty usefull.(sadly there are no skills linked to this ability like everyone said so investing a lot in it is quite dumb)

[Feynt]

Yes, undead minions and a decent amount of Soul Reaping can mean vital power when you need it. 5 points in Soul Reaping and 5 in Death Magic, and the rest in whatever elementalist attribute you want, and you're sitting pretty with tanks that give you energy when they keel over mid battle. Blood of the Master is also pretty capable of keeping your group alive until the next fight when you need them.

[Nerghul]

ok, i always thought that when u had points in soul reaping and an enemy died you couldnt use there body again for another corpse exploiting thing e.g. soul feast or animate bone horror. So are you saying that i will still get energy returned and i can use their corpses? Im trying to build a good PvE build till im 20 and then switch to some damage build..kind of hard with a necromonk tho...

[goblintrain]

ok, i always thought that when u had points in soul reaping and an enemy died you couldnt use there body again for another corpse exploiting thing e.g. soul feast or animate bone horror. So are you saying that i will still get energy returned and i can use their corpses? Im trying to build a good PvE build till im 20 and then switch to some damage build..kind of hard with a necromonk tho...

Soul Reaping is a passive benefit. It does not consume corpses. Also, both Soul Reaping and corpse exploitation make no distinction between friend & enemy corpses. You can even exploit the corpses of fallen allies, and still resurrect them. It is simply a resource. Some PvP teams actually use "Vengeance' as a primary res so that fallen allies can be raised at full health/energy for 30 seconds, die again at no death penalty, and provide another corpse/trigger soul reaping.

As a necro monk, look into your support role powers, that would be my advice. They are probably the best combo for minion masters.

Good luck

[Nerghul]

are bone horrors really worth it tho? they seem so weak. and i hate the whole health degen thing. I can see how monk skills could help them stay alive longer, but i wonder if its worth it? for PvE they provide corpses and help meat shield but are they worth it for PvP?

[TheQuickness]

U people all underestimate undead minions in PvP...they actually are very useful if used with proper strategy.

I personally play HoH all the time and since my guild has gone nowhere and i refuse to leave and find a better one because i like having the cape i want (^^) I always play with pick-up teams. So what I do is equip either horror or minions and a res spell (bloodstained boots speed casting of rez a bit too i think) and whenever an ally dies, I create a minion or two and bring them back. Its like they multiplied O_O. It works very well until I get to the actually HoH where others pick up on it quickly and kill me...then my team doesnt res ><

Soul reaping just gives me the energy to do this...i tend to usually have about 3-5 energy minimum(lest a mes bother me) and when someone dies...bam up to about 15 for horror, once thats done casting i have about 8-9 and only have to wait a tiny bit to start rezing ally. Best thing is you dont have to worry about the horror/minions because they RARELY get targeted.

Kind of makes u the designated ressurecter and frees up monks to concentrate on healing, which is by the way, much easier with buff from blood ritual or the elite version on them.

The build doesnt do much on its own but it works well with a team. Bottom line...dont underestimate the usefulness of undead.

[Feynt]

Especially of note is the fact that EVERYONE seems to ignore undead minions. We all know they'll die eventually on their own, so it's usually better to ignore them and deal with the ones that won't die without our "help." In that sense, undead are awesome, and more high level ones are better.

I've seen lots of undead in one fight, a necromancer on the enemy team raised six bone minions from a combination of one of his allies and two of mine. That group, combined with the remaining warrior on their team swept over our remaining two tanks, healer, and elementalist.

[Nerghul]

is there some way to make more then 1 bone horror from a corpse? or is it always gonna be 1:1? :confused:

[goblintrain]

is there some way to make more then 1 bone horror from a corpse? or is it always gonna be 1:1? :confused:

Yes there is. The spell is called "Animate Bone Minions". It creates two bone horrors from a corpse, but they are lower level than regular horror, & it costs 25 energy. You can get this skill after ascension. The skill trainer at your base town in the southern shiver peaks provides it. I'm sure it can be captured as well, but don't know which boss uses it.

As for making minions more effective, Major & Superior runes. Between a superior rune & a headpiece, you can get your death magic up to 16, produce level 18 Horrors/Fiends, or level 14 twin horrors from the Bone Minions skill. Minion Masters are one of the builds where i believe it is definitely worthwhile to take that health penalty from using a major/superior rune so you can maximize your death magic.

There are other ways to maximize them as well. Most common, use death nova on your minions, especially ones at low health, then use "Taste of Death" to kill them & activate the nova. Another is to combine them with "Tainted Flesh". Undead are naturally immune to disease, so you can use tainted flesh to innoculate your allies against disease, & just let the disease spread through your enemies ranks.

[Nerghul]

Yes there is. The spell is called "Animate Bone Minions". It creates two bone horrors from a corpse, but they are lower level than regular horror, & it costs 25 energy. You can get this skill after ascension. The skill trainer at your base town in the southern shiver peaks provides it. I'm sure it can be captured as well, but don't know which boss uses it.

As for making minions more effective, Major & Superior runes. Between a superior rune & a headpiece, you can get your death magic up to 16, produce level 18 Horrors/Fiends, or level 14 twin horrors from the Bone Minions skill. Minion Masters are one of the builds where i believe it is definitely worthwhile to take that health penalty from using a major/superior rune so you can maximize your death magic.

There are other ways to maximize them as well. Most common, use death nova on your minions, especially ones at low health, then use "Taste of Death" to kill them & activate the nova. Another is to combine them with "Tainted Flesh". Undead are naturally immune to disease, so you can use tainted flesh to innoculate your allies against disease, & just let the disease spread through your enemies ranks.



cool thanks i will go check that out today. so you think minion master is a good build for a N/Mo?

[SillySil]

I was just wondering. Is Soul Reaping in pvp without the minions as good as any other attribute? And as a primary?

The main reason I'm asking this is that I want to build a necro without death magic or with a low (6) attribute to death.
But I'm also a bit interrested in the question if SR is underpowered. If there is just one build to use the primary with a n/n. It seems to me it is not good enough. To compare it with the elementalist. It doesn't matter you choose water or fire. You want the primary attribute of the elementalist.

[Nerghul]

I was just wondering. Is Soul Reaping in pvp without the minions as good as any other attribute? And as a primary?

The main reason I'm asking this is that I want to build a necro without death magic or with a low (6) attribute to death.
But I'm also a bit interrested in the question if SR is underpowered. If there is just one build to use the primary with a n/n. It seems to me it is not good enough. To compare it with the elementalist. It doesn't matter you choose water or fire. You want the primary attribute of the elementalist.
It is still a good attribute in PvP, but isn't enhanced as with the minions. they really help the energy gain. But like you im still looking for a good build, i think im going with a minion build that i can enhance with my monk secondary.

[UndeadBehlial]

Heres a great MinionMaster combo (PvP, but could work in PvP) I learned in the alpha (that, IMO, would merit a few in Soul Reaping).

First, kill something, as always.

*Animate Bone Minions

*Death Nova the minions

*Taste of death them when they get into a fight or mob. You will gain quite a bit of life, and will damage/poison all your enemies.

A pretty good elite for this setup would be, actually, Tainted Flesh, as you can cast that on whatever the target is - say... monk?

For gear, use all tatoo/scars but the boots that make targeting corpses faster.

[Nerghul]

cool thanks. now i gotta work on getting my attributes settled and find this signet of capture lol

[goblintrain]

I was just wondering. Is Soul Reaping in pvp without the minions as good as any other attribute? And as a primary?

The main reason I'm asking this is that I want to build a necro without death magic or with a low (6) attribute to death.
But I'm also a bit interrested in the question if SR is underpowered. If there is just one build to use the primary with a n/n. It seems to me it is not good enough. To compare it with the elementalist. It doesn't matter you choose water or fire. You want the primary attribute of the elementalist.

A lot of of PvP folks really dislike necro primaries and SR in particular in the PvP context. IMO, a lot of the argument comes down to a "is the glass half empty or half full" scenario. I mean, if you let the fact that everything you do in a GW battle has some sort of pre-requisite and can be countered discourage you from using it, then you might as well stop swinging your weapon, because a monk is just going to heal your target anyway. Don't bother exploiting corpses because some one already died, meaning that one team already has an advantage. While there is a grain of truth in both those arguments, i think most people understand that you are better off using the tools at your disposal than avoiding them because they might fail, or might not make the decisive difference.

That said, for PvP, one thing i wont disagree with SR detractors about is that it could use some linked skills to allow the Necro player more decision making power in how this energy management powers of attribute are applied. As i've stated many times before though, i think any skill additions should be patterned off the Mesmer's Fast Casting model. What i mean by this is that though Fast Casting only has one linked skill, that skill complements the speed casting theme of the attribute. In a similar way, Soul Reaping, as an energy management attribute should stay focused specifically on energy management, and not diversify into multiple functions like may of the other primary atrtributes linked skills do.

Why do i think it is important to keep SR focused on one function? It is because, not every necro build demands SR energy management as a full priority. If a build doesn't need SR for energy management, then don't compel players to spread thier focus & develop it anyway because it has other bells & whistles attached to it. Leave SR simple so that if if the energy management is not a priority, players can invest thier attribute points in the common attributes or in thier secondary profession and not feel gimped for choosing to do that.

Anyway... i hope that makes at least a little sense. ;)