Sylvari, Charr, or Norn Necromancer?

[Deleted]

Hey all! Before I begin, I'm aware threads like this can be irritating, but I want the opinion of others. This is mainly about theme and the lore sorrounding the Necromancers of each race, though it will also be helpful if some races are statistically better at the class than others.

Ever since it was anounced, I've wanted to try out Guild Wars 2. I'm very cautious with buying games without trying them out first though, so I've been waiting patiently for a free trial. A free trial weekend is coming up, so I'm going to finally give it a shot! I can't decide on what race to play, though. I think I'm going to be a Necromancer - as I don't usually play the "sinister" class in fantasy games (Heck, look at my signature, I'm a Priest in WoW!). I've always found the concept of death magic grim yet so cool, but unfortunately, not many RPG's seem to have the class - and even then, they don't usually pull it off well! Guild Wars 2 Necromancers, with their blood magic and raising of the dead, seem to fit my idea of them perfectly. I've narrowed it down to 3 races;

Sylvari (Leaning towards this)
-I've always liked nature-based races and the general theme of forest elves/sprites.
-The fact that they're such a young race could suggest that they don't know the danger of Necromancy, which could be interesting to play. A being created out of pure nature, playing with the forces of corruption and shadow.
-From what I've read, the Sylvari racials seem pretty useful for a Necromancer. From my WoW experience of being a light armour-wearing class, snares are useful for keeping your squishy body intact. And while Necromancers have lots of pets to use as distractions anyway, more can't hurt! xD

Charr
-I like bestial races, as they're quite uncommon in the fantasy genre.
-Charr fit the ruthless personality of a Necromancer. Whatever it takes to win, right?
-I honestly don't like their racials, though. A shrouded sorcerer summoning the dead wouldn't really pull out a pistol and fire with it, in my opinion! Regardless, the extra damage could be useful.

Norn
-I like shapeshifting in concept. The racial forms look pretty cool, and could add a lot of versatility!
-They're like vikings. That's just awesome!

Since I haven't played the game yet, I'm not sure if some of my mechanic-wise points are valid or not. Can you only have one pet out at a time, like WoW? If so, then I would never use the Sylvari racial pets since I'd have zombies running around already. A wasted racial is never good! Anyway, thanks if you've taken the time to read this, and I hope you guys will share your opinions, be it statistical or theme-wise. Thanks in advance for any advice!

[Valeron]

I believe you can have up to 6 minions active. But there cannot be the same type active (i.e. a Shadow Fiend will replace an active Shadow Fiend).

While you cannot quite have a minion army like you could in GW1, you certainly can have more than you can in WoW for example.

and as far as racial skills are concerned, I wouldn't base your race choice on them. Choose what looks best to you aesthetically. Racial skills are designed to be weaker in general than normal skills.

[LilSaihah]

Pick based on visual and lore aesthetics. Racials don't really matter, they're not even active in sPvP, but there are some decent contenders for WvWvW;
Sylvari get Entangle, which can be a real pain to get rid of; because it's based on an object(the roots) a lot of the usual snarebreakers won't work on it
Charr don't really get anything worthwhile
Norn get Snow Leopard, which allows you to disengage from ANY FIGHT EVER on a 4 minute cooldown.

They share slots with your utility skills, though, and 99% of the time you'll want to use one of your class abilities over a racial. Entangle locks you out of Signet of the Locust, your closest thing to a heal if you don't want to explode your Blood Fiend, or any other utility skill you might want to use, zombie slaves included. Snow Leopard locks you out of Flesh Golem, which has one of the few uncapped AOE attacks in the game attached to it, is really nice control, and hilarious to watch.

[Scyth]

As Doozerjun has already said, racial skills are weaker than the one you get from your profession, and to be honest not really useful. Charr as a caster seems really weird to me at least, but you may find it differently. Norn look good as Necromancers and their Cultural light armor looks very good. My pick out of your 3 would be Sylvari though. I've seen some Sylvari Necromancers and it just..fits! However, if you want to be a special snowflake go with Charr/Norn as I haven't seen a lot of those as Necros.

If you have any other questions feel free to ask!

[Razael]

As Doozerjun has already said, racial skills are weaker than the one you get from your profession, and to be honest not really useful. Charr as a caster seems really weird to me at least, but you may find it differently. Norn look good as Necromancers and their Cultural light armor looks very good. My pick out of your 3 would be Sylvari though. I've seen some Sylvari Necromancers and it just..fits! However, if you want to be a special snowflake go with Charr/Norn as I haven't seen a lot of those as Necros.

If you have any other questions feel free to ask!

The sylvari as Necros is kinda cool. Mainly because you can toy so much with their visuals, make them look "rotting" wood, thorns, purple-ish, dark green, neon with dark colors, looks very evil.

[rhandric]

Personally, I prefer Sylvari, if for no other reason than it reminds me of Killeen

[kelevandros]

Before you make your final pick and if you care about the general look of your character much, I would suggest you browse at the various sites that have galleries of the in-game armor sets for the various races/armor types. It would give you a perspective of how you coud outfit your character in the future and see if the options there are interesting for your taste. I went with a norn necromancer and I can't say I find many light armor sets to look that good on my norn. I love him nonetheless

[Razael]

Before you make your final pick and if you care about the general look of your character much, I would suggest you browse at the various sites that have galleries of the in-game armor sets for the various races/armor types. It would give you a perspective of how you coud outfit your character in the future and see if the options there are interesting for your taste. I went with a norn necromancer and I can't say I find many light armor sets to look that good on my norn. I love him nonetheless

Wish i had done the same before i rolled a Charr Thief. I mean i like the whole Feline stalker vibe, but he does not look gracious at all , much less a thief. Wish i'd gone Human or Sylvari. WTB Race change.

[Deleted]

As far as racials go, you can count Norn out straight off the bat. Since you're new, it's good to point out that racials aren't extras so to speak, they take utilityslots away from class-based skills, and Norn ones aren't as effective, even if the cosmetics are appealing.
Had the longest debate with myself on the same profession as well, others were easy to choose but deciding on my Necros race took a while. Ended up going with a charr, just to have the most bloodlusty Necromancer possible.

[Deleted]

Thanks for the replies all! I've looked at the cultural armours for each of the races, and I must say, I like the Norn armour the best. The Tier 1 set, with all of its ram skulls, feels very necromancer to me for some reason! I'm not fond of the Sylvari armours, however, as they seem too... leafy. For a Necromancer, anyway. The Charr sets are pretty cool as well. I like the idea of being a Charr Witch Docter or Shaman, even if they don't have those things in their legions.

There are pros and cons about each race, so I'll look at character creation and see which one simply looks the best for me. Thanks for all of the advice about the racials - I suppose anything seems overpowered compared to the WoW racials! xD

[Kelimbror]

I like the idea of being a Charr Witch Docter or Shaman, even if they don't have those things in their legions.

I made my Necro a Charr and it's more perfect than I thought it would be. Your story is what you make it, not just what the game presents to you. something about the charr face with witchdoctor paint on it is pretty smashing. In the end, I would just boil everything down to aesthetic. If you don't pick what looks the best to you, you'll be headed to reroll street in no time.

[Razael]

The Charr sets are pretty cool as well. I like the idea of being a Charr Witch Docter or Shaman, even if they don't have those things in their legions.

Well, the Flame Legion formerly lead the Charr and those dudes were/still are into gritty stuff like gods, dark magic and fire. Lots of fire. So its not unheard of for Charr to be able to be casters, commune with the dead and use magic in general.

[Valeron]

saw lots of charr elementalists, mesmers, and monks in gw1

firestorm, meteor shower, firestorm

didn't have an interrupt in your party? good luck

[Razael]

saw lots of charr elementalists, mesmers, and monks in gw1

firestorm, meteor shower, firestorm

didn't have an interrupt in your party? good luck

Don't remind me. Doing them HoM points and i have like 2 Mesmer heroes and another 2 heros with Mesmer secondaries just for interrupting bastards like those. I really love getting one shotted almost at the end of a mission then having to redo it <.<.

[TheVerveNerd]

The Sylvari necro concept is one that I've explored and I was pretty happy until I realized Traehearne was a necro as well, and then I was meh about it.

[Razael]

The Sylvari necro concept is one that I've explored and I was pretty happy until I realized Traehearne was a necro as well, and then I was meh about it.

The thing about Trahearne is , he's every class. He uses necro minions, but wields a greatsword (which necros can't), and then wields it like a Mesmer , shooting lazors, and does Guardians whirlwind ability from their greatsword skills. Totally OP.

[Deleted]

Well, the Flame Legion formerly lead the Charr and those dudes were/still are into gritty stuff like gods, dark magic and fire. Lots of fire. So its not unheard of for Charr to be able to be casters, commune with the dead and use magic in general.

Interesting. I suppose it would fit, then - I'm not completely familiar with Guild Wars lore, so I didn't know about the Flame Legion. They sound awesome! It's too bad they're evil. Ah well, I could always theme my Charr as an outcast of that legion (Even if that would deem him honourless!) If I find the right people, I might roleplay. The idea of a Charr being totally cool with magic and one of the few Charr Shaman who isn't evil could be interesting.

[Kelimbror]

Interesting. I suppose it would fit, then - I'm not completely familiar with Guild Wars lore, so I didn't know about the Flame Legion. They sound awesome! It's too bad they're evil. Ah well, I could always theme my Charr as an outcast of that legion (Even if that would deem him honourless!) If I find the right people, I might roleplay. The idea of a Charr being totally cool with magic and one of the few Charr Shaman who isn't evil could be interesting.

I believe when you pick your personal story options in the beginning, one of the choices is to have an uncle or something of that ilk who was a shaman/caster/whatnot. So it's there, just not prevalent.

[Razael]

I believe when you pick your personal story options in the beginning, one of the choices is to have an uncle or something of that ilk who was a shaman/caster/whatnot. So it's there, just not prevalent.

Your father i think. You can pick whether your father was a Honorless Gladium, Flame Legion Shaman or a Loyalist soldier.
Anyways heres some lore on the flame legion if you wanna get a bit of insight on them and their way of thinking, so you can shape your character. http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Flame_Legion

[Deleted]

Your father i think. You can pick whether your father was a Honorless Gladium, Flame Legion Shaman or a Loyalist soldier.
Anyways heres some lore on the flame legion if you wanna get a bit of insight on them and their way of thinking, so you can shape your character. http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Flame_Legion

Thanks! It's an interesting read. I actually rolled a Charr Necromancer, and I'm loving it. It just looks so awesome! xD I chose the Sorcerer/Shaman background for my father, so it's like it runs in the family.

I've decided on Harror Festerclaw the Charr Necromancer. Thanks for your opinions, everybody!