Guild Wars 2: Life force special sort of energy

The Guild Wars 2 necro is still nice to see descriptions, videos, and screenshots straight from ArenaNet.

Seeing as how this class reveal was possibly the worst-kept secret of Guild Wars 2 to date, we saw a fair amount of the necro last week at Gamescom. The Death Shroud skill garnered a fair amount of attention, and while we didn't get an official video of the skill, ArenaNet described it pretty well in the reveal.

"A necromancer feeds on death and decay," says the class description. Keep that in mind and it's easy to see that a downed necro is maybe not someone whom you want angry with you. Other classes will remain prone on the ground when they hit zero health, utilizing their downed skills to try to finish off a nearby enemy and rally. Meanwhile, the necromancer goes straight into Death Shroud and becomes a spectral shade with a series of abilities that are almost as dangerous to enemies as the regular skills. Shadow Fiend, for example, is a spectral minion that a necro can summon while in Death Shroud.

Death Shroud isn't limited to a downed state for the necromancer -- it can be activated at any time if you've got enough life force built up, but there's a hitch. While clearly awesome, Death Shroud is unfortunately temporary. Once you either make a kill or run out of life force, the vengeful-ghost act comes to an end, and you'll return to your regular skill set.

Life force, by the way, is a special sort of energy used by the necro. Think of it as adrenaline, only green and for the undead. Necromancers can gain life force through kills that happen nearby, through utility skills, and through weapon skills.