User:Jasminethetender/builds/derv

Dervish

=Lyssa's Avatar= This build uses the skill Avatar of Lyssa to its full potential. With low cost, super-fast, quickly repeatable attack skills and an upped attack speed, Lyssa's Avatar will deliver an extremely large amount of damage in a very short amount of time. Watch Lyssa's Avatar clip

Attributes and Skills
OR

Equipment

 * For the armor, this build requires a good amount of energy, so any radiant armor would help. Also, if blind becomes a problem, consider attaching a blindness duration reduction rune.
 * A Zealous scythe of Enchanting +20% with a +15% dmg while enchanted inscription is ideal.
 * If you are set up properly, you will have at least 500 health (with a minor rune of vigor) and 35 energy (without the avatar). If you feel that you don't need the zealous scythe, you may trade it in for a sundering one.

Usage
Before going into battle, cast Avatar of Lyssa then Watchful Intervention and then Heart of Fury. Pick out a target (prime targets for this build are Necromancers, Mesmers, Elementalists, Ritualists, Rangers, and Assassins), and attack. Spam the four attack skills in order, chaining one after the other in succession. Wild Blow recharges once for every two times each other attack skill recharges, so you can chain those while waiting.

If you are in a battle long enough for the Avatar of Lyssa to wear off, you will still do quite a bit of damage, so conserve your energy and use the attack skills when necessary. Also, if you need health, recast Watchful Intervention whenever it's not on you.

Counters
Counters to this build are your usual anti-melee incidents, but mostly blind.

Variants
Heal Variant.

Replace Watchful Intervention, Resurrection Signet,and/or Wild Blow or Protector's Strike with Mystic Regeneration and Mystic Vigor

Speed Variant.

This build can be customized depending on your tastes. If you want to have a speed boost, put in Sprint and take out the ressurection signet if you don't need it. You can also put your remaining attribute points into Wind Prayers and use Harrier's Haste. Or even then replace Heart of Fury with Whirling Charge.

Other Variant.

If you want more health, put in Mystic Vigor, which would give you lots of health with the maxed attack speed. If you want, you can take out Wild Blow if you need the ressurection signet, and in that case you can use Rush as a speed boost too as you won't be losing your adrenaline.

Energy Variant.

If you are concerned about energy usage, you can replace one of the attack skills or the ressurection signet with Zealous Renewal for a great energy gain after the enchantment ends.

Masters Videos
Here are videos of the build being used against every Nameless Master.


 * Watch Master of Axes
 * Master of Enchantments (You may watch how Protective Spirit hurts, but not too badly)
 * Master of Energy Denial
 * Master of Hammers
 * Master of Healing
 * Master of Hexes
 * Master of Lighting
 * Master of Spirits
 * Master of Survival

This was all done in a row, with no retries (besides Master of Enchantments because I gave up prematurely the first time, so I only tried him twice in total).

=Harrier's Grasp= This build uses the powerful effects of the Dervish elite skill Avatar of Melandru to give a constant Health bonus and condition immunity. In combination with powerful Scythe Mastery attacks that would normally incur a penalty towards the player, that is neutralized, resulting in an extremely powerful Melee build.

Equipment

 * Radiant's insignia is required to maintain your energy level.
 * A Scythe with "Guided by Fate" or "Strength and Honor" inscriptions.
 * If you want an even larger energy pool, look for the "I Have the Power" inscription.
 * Runes of Major Mysticism, Superior Vigor, Minor Wind Prayers, Minor Scythe Mastery.

Usage

 * Keep Avatar of Melandru active as much as possible, and as energy allows for.
 * Victorious Sweep, Wearying Strike, and Mystic Sweep are your primary attack skills.
 * Follow up Wearying Strike with Mystic Sweep for a fast Deep Wound spike.
 * Use Wild Blow to remove stances.
 * Featherfoot Grace should be used as a speed boost. Note the reduced duration for Conditions can be helpful when not under the effects of Avatar of Melandru.
 * Maintain Harrier's Grasp for chasing down kiting foes.
 * Resurrection Signet is to be used on fallen party members.

Counters

 * This build has no means of removing hexes and is vulnerable to the same types of hexes as most melee oriented builds such as Spiteful Spirit and Empathy.
 * Heavy Energy denial can be troublesome, especially if trying to activate Avatar of Melandru.
 * Heart of Fury can be used for an attack speed boost.
 * Fragility has a nasty effect on AoM because conditions are immediately removed.

Variants

 * Instead of Featherfoot Grace, consider Pious Haste, Enchanted Haste, Lyssa's Haste, or Harrier's Haste.
 * Harrier's Grasp can be replaced with other anti-kiting skills.
 * If under high energy constraints, such as not having an enchantment caster in your party, consider replacing an attack with an enchantment such as Guiding Hands, Intimidating Aura, or Zealous Renewal.

=Imbue Health AoM Dervish= This Dervish exists to both carry a considerable amount of offensive power while also bringing along condition removal and a potent heal to aid allies in times of duress.

Equipment

 * Armor:
 * Two major attribute runes, One superior rune of Vigor, Two runes of Attunement (+ energy).
 * Radiant insignias (+ energy).
 * Weapons:
 * Sundering Scythe of Enchanting, with a "Guided by Fate" inscription.
 * Vampiric Scythe as well, switching out as you need them.
 * A staff in case of Dealth Penalty, as DP will reduce your max energy below that required for your Avatar.

Usage

 * Before the upcoming confrontation and while clearly out of a ranger interruption range, activate Avatar of Melandru. Your HP should be at an impressive 685. Use Victorious Sweep upon targets with lower HP than yourself. Use Wearying Strike every 10 seconds to keep a Deep Wound upon your target. Since conditions do not affect you, you won’t suffer weakness from Wearying Strike. Always put Zealous Renewal back up once it drops while being careful not to use it prematurely.
 * Helping teammates: If you have the energy to spare, and you should, use draw condition to totally wipe out all conditions when it really matters. You won’t have to worry about them affecting you due to Avatar of Melandru. Use Imbue Health to give other party members a potent 300 HP heal (which you should easily be able to grant with your large HP pool), esp. when allied healer is unable to heal at the right moment.

Variants

 * You may want to swap out a skill for Mystic Vigor.
 * You may want to swap out a skill for Crippling Sweep, to prevent kiting.
 * You may want to swap out a skill for Watchful Intervention, for even more anti-spike protection.

Counters

 * Anti-Melee hexes can cause problems with attacking.
 * While Avatar of Melandru is down, like all Avatar builds, the build will lose some functionality. Mainly, you cannot use Draw Conditions unless in extreme situations, Wearying Strike is mostly out of the question, and Imbue Health will take a slight hit.
 * If you happen to get totally destroyed, your Imbue Health won't be too much help to your allies. Plus, healing yourself with Victorious Sweep will be harder to manage.
 * Fragility will decimate you. Since Avatar of Melandru applies conditions and then instantly removes them, the damage from fragility can be fatal. Be extremely wary of this hex!

=Golden Corruption=

This Dervish uses a rather short Assassin combo combined with Mystic Corruption for a long lasting daze to shutdown casters. Energy is controlled with Zealous Renewal and Heart of Fury works as an IAS.

Attributes and Skills
Optional One Optional Two
 * Jagged Strike
 * Leaping Mantis Sting
 * Golden Fox Strike
 * Golden Lotus Strike
 * Nine Tail Strike
 * Horns of the Ox
 * Twisting Fangs

Equipment

 * Full Radiant armor or Windwalker Insignia's
 * Silencing Daggers of Enchanting with 15% while enchanted

Usage

 * Cast your enchantments
 * Run to a foe and use your dagger combo, this will give a long daze effect
 * If have Jagged Strike, re-use it to cover the daze
 * Attack the caster to easily interupt them

Counters

 * Condition removing signets
 * Blind, Empathy etc
 * Enchantment removal

Variants

 * Watchful Intervention or Faithful Intervention over Mystic Vigor
 * If in Alliance Battles, you may use Pious Haste before battle for a speed buff
 * Temple Strike can be used instead of Golden Skull Strike for blind too cover daze at the cost of 5 more energy and increased recharge
 * If your want a snare, you can drop Mysticism to 11 + 1 + 1 and drop either Heart of Fury or Mystic Vigor for Harrier's Grasp and use the spare points for wind prayers

Equipment

 * Max Radiant armor with Windwalker insignias
 * A Furious scythe of Enchanting with 15% while enchanted

Usage

 * Before a battle begins cast your enchantments.
 * Pick a caster for a target.
 * Start off the battle with Crippling Sweep and build up Adrenaline.
 * When you have enough Adrenaline, use Skull Crack.
 * Re-use Crippling Sweep to cover daze and use Mystic Sweep on your foe

Counters

 * Mending Touch
 * Normal Melee counters (Blind, Empathy)
 * Enchantment removal

Variants

 * Mystic Sweep can be replaced for Distracting Blow or Eremite's Attack
 * Faithful Intervention can be replaced for Watchful Intervention
 * "For Great Justice!" if your having aderalaine issues
 * Mystic Vigor can replaced Faithful Intervention as you have a high attack rate

=Harriers Scythe=

This Dervish build uses Mysticism and Wind Prayers to heal and to deal damage. The build's name comes from the combination of Featherfoot Grace and Harrier's Grasp to deal massive damage whilst crippling fleeing foes.

Equipment

 * Radiant Insignia for energy.
 * Windwalker Insignia for more armor while enchanted.
 * Runes:
 * Major or Superior Rune of Scythe Mastery
 * Superior Rune of Vigor
 * Minor Rune of Wind Prayers
 * Minor Rune of Mysticism


 * Sundering, Vampiric, or Elemental Scythe of Fortitude or of Enchanting with a 15^50 or +15% while enchanted damage mod.

Usage

 * Cast and maintain Zealous Renewal as much as possible.
 * Use Reaper's Sweep on targets with health 50% or below.
 * Use Chilling Victory after Reaper's Sweep to deal massive spike damage.
 * Alternate attack pattern:
 * Use Chilling Victory to get your target to 50% or below health, then use Reaper's Sweep followed by Mystic Sweep for a fast spike.
 * Cast Harrier's Grasp then Harrier's Haste in order to catch and deal major damage to fleeing foes.
 * Use Wild Blow to deal critical damage and to remove stances.

Counters

 * Anti-melee conditions/hexes apply.
 * Enchantment removal will hinder this build.

Variants

 * Replace Mystic Sweep with Pious Restoration for a quick healing spell and a situational hex removal.
 * Replace Mystic Sweep with Mystic Vigor for a form of self-healing.
 * Replace Mystic Sweep with Dwayna's Touch for a sufficient self-heal.
 * Replace Reaper's Sweep with Wounding Strike for a situational attack.
 * Replace Chilling Victory with Victorious Sweep if you want a more sufficient heal.
 * Replace Featherfoot Grace with Harrier's Haste for a cheaper stance with bonus damage.

Equipment

 * Radiant armor.
 * Insightful Staff of Enchanting
 * +2 Earth Prayers rune, +3 Mysticism rune, Superior Vigor rune, and two Runes of Attunement.

Usage
Before engaging, cast in order of Enchantment duration:
 * Aura of Thorns --> Heart of Holy Flame --> Vital Boon --> Armor of Sanctity --> Mirage Cloak --> Pious Renewal then get near an enemy or a group of enemies and hit Mystic Sandstorm. This will result in:


 * 130 damage from Mystic Sandstorm to nearby enemies.
 * 75 damage from Mirage Cloak to nearby enemies.
 * +30 energy from Mysticism.
 * +12 energy and +60 health from Pious Renewal
 * +200 health from Vital Boon
 * 4 seconds of burning from Heart of Holy Flame
 * 15 seconds of bleeding from Aura of Thorns.

Casting Armor of Sanctity shortly after sandstorm can help reduce damage against those you inflicted bleeding and/or burning on.

The health and energy gain should leave you enough energy to repeat the process.

Counters

 * Massive enchantment removal before Mystic Sandstorm is launched.
 * Anything preventing the casting of enchantments on you.
 * Repetitive knockdowns and interrupts to fail enchantment spells.
 * Kiting.

Variants

 * Pious Renewal can be replaced with Arcane Zeal. This reduces your health gain after using Mystic Sandstorm, but it allows for more costly, more powerful enchantments to be used instead. For example:


 * By sacrificing a few points in Earth Prayers and placing them instead in Scythe Mastery, you can provide yourself with an acceptable alternative should you find yourself up against an enchantment-remvoing or interrupting foe.
 * Despite the health spike after casting Mystic Sandstorm, it's very easy to get killed while casting the enchantments. For this reason, Mystic Regeneration works very well when used as your first enchantment.

Attributes and Skills

 * Optional slot: Vital Boon, Extend Enchantments, Conviction, Mystic Regeneration, or Shroud of Distress
 * In AB or CM, Swap resurrection Signet for One of the above

Equipment

 * Full Radiant armor with runes of attunement.
 * Zealous Scythe of Enchanting with an Energy +5 inscription.

Usage

 * Cast Faithful Intervention before battle.
 * Find a Target and cast Vow of Strength, Death's Charge, Shadowy Burden, and Heart of Fury.
 * Let rip as many attacks as possible.
 * Use dash to anti-kite or get away from sticky situations.

Counters

 * Mass Conditions (Blind) pose the biggest threat to this build. Try and team with a monk.

Attributes and Skills
=Dark Silence Runner=

This build allows for a Dervish/Assassin to complete the Droknar's Forge run with a higher success rate than any other build yet. With the use of Vow of Silence and Dark Escape you can easily run past enemies while taking little damage. This build also combines the use of Fleeting Stability, Mystic Regeneration and Faithful Intervention to create a safe versatile run. This build can also run most of the entire game with no change at all.

Equipment

 * Armor: The Windwalker Insignia should be used for this build since you will be under multiple enchantments for most of the run. Apply a Rune of Major Vigor or a Rune of Superior Vigor and 2 Runes of Attunement for extra energy.
 * Weapons: A Staff with an enchantment lengthening mod and at least +15 energy since you will need energy more than armor. An inscribeable Insightful Staff with a "Have Faith" inscription will give you +20 energy while you're enchanted.  A Shield can be used but you will often find yourself lacking energy.
 * A sword of enchanting with a shield that lowers damage taken while enchanted and HP +45 while enchanted.

Before 1 Feb. Update Usage

 * Start: Cast Faithful Intervention at start and whilst not under attack if it is not currently on.
 * Or you can just run through them with either Dark Escape or Dash.
 * Lornar's Pass
 * Wurm Tunnel: Cast Fleeting Stability -> Mystic Regeneration -> Vow of Silence -> Deadly Paradox -> Dark Escape. As soon as Vow of Silence ends, cast Fleeting Stability -> Vow of Silence before reaching the Siege Ice Golems.  Then use Deadly Paradox -> Dark Escape to outrun them.
 * Grawl zones: Vow of Silence is not required to run past the Grawl unless there are Siege Ice Golems located close by. As long as you maintain Mystic Regeneration and Faithful Intervention and avoid the Grawl Crones you'll be fine.
 * Snake Dance
 * Make sure you maintain Fleeting Stability and Mystic Regeneration when running past Tundra Giants and Azure Shadows.
 * Always use Deadly Paradox before Dark Escape.

Counters

 * Grawl Crones can strip you of Vow of Silence and other enchantments with Chilblains and can cause almost certain death if Siege Ice Golems are nearby. Just stay out of their range and you'll be fine.

Variants
You can switch Dash for Signet of Pious Light for ending Fleeting Stability for extra health and can combine with Vital Boon for a quick health boost when needed.

There are many assassin skills which can be used instead, though they may leave you more exposed.

Pious haste provides a fast alternative though it has a downside of removing an enchantment when it ends. This also becomes energy extensive and can be hard to handle.

Equipment

 * Armor with Windwalker's Insignias is perfect.
 * An Icy Scythe is necessary +15% while enchanted and an enchanting mod would be useful.
 * The Soulbreaker is perfect.

Usage

 * Cast and maintain Frigid Armor, Conjure Frost and Mirror of Ice
 * Note: It is usually a good idea to let them end before renewing them so you gain the Mysticism bonus.
 * Keep a close eye on Mirror of Ice since it is often difficult to notice when it ends.


 * Cast Mystic Vigor before a battle and refresh it as soon as it ends.
 * Use your attack skills when their bonuses will be useful.
 * For harder targets chain together Victorious Sweep, Eremite's Attack and Mystic Sweep in that order for a large spike attack.

Counters

 * Enchant removal is not a direct counter but will slow an Icy Fighter down for a few seconds while they re-apply their enchantments.
 * Skills that harm you based on your enchantments will hurt quite badly.(i.e. Defile Enchantments, Melandru's Arrows, ect.)
 * Blind, Weakness, Crippled, and other standard melee counters.

Variants

 * Unlike most builds, the elite skill here is the optional slot. Many other elites are better for certain situations and play styles.
 * Armor of Frost and Armor of Mist are usually less effective than Frigid Armor but could be used instead.
 * Frozen Burst can be a very effective damage/snaring skill if you don't need a resurrect or feel like taking out an attack skill.
 * Blurred Vision costs quite a bit of energy, but keeps you pretty well protected.
 * Most attack skills can replace Victorious Sweep, some useful attacks are, Rending Sweep, and Chilling Victory.
 * Many players prefer using Reaper's Sweep instead of Mirror of Ice and Victorious Sweep.
 * Crippling Sweep is also very useful(usually in PvP) for some extreme anti-kiting.
 * Consider bringing Mystic Regeneration(in place of a attack skill) for PvE play and moving some points from Mysticism to Earth Prayers(3 or 8 are cut off points for Mystic Regeneration).
 * Consider bringing Banishing Strike when fighting in an Alliance Battle. It will do 130 damage (with 11 in Scythe Mastery) to all nearby minions, pretty much killing all of them.

Attributes and Skills

 * The optional slot may be filled by:
 * Grasping Earth,
 * Lightbringer's Gaze or,
 * Ward Against Foes
 * Glyph of Elemental Power
 * Fleeting Stability


 * Sunspear Rebirth Signet may replace the Resurrection Signet.
 * For more experienced teams, you may wish to replace the Resurrection Signet altogether, in which case Conviction is recommended.

Equipment

 * Radiant insignias on all armor pieces.
 * Any +5 energy weapon of enchanting such as the Totem Axe and Rajazan's Fervor.
 * An Earth Focus, with +health and +armor while enchanted mods, or a HSR mod, such as Hajok's Prism.
 * For more experienced players, the Aegis of Augh is definitely the way to go.

Usage
Upkeep Stoneflesh Aura, Mystic Regeneration, and Vital Boon. Cast Obsidian Flesh whenever it's charged. If you start taking an excessive amount of damage while Obsidian Flesh is down, cast Armor of Earth. If you're having some trouble with interrupts, use Glyph of Concentration, immediately followed by Stoneflesh Aura and Obsidian Flesh.

Counters

 * Non-Spell Enchantment removal
 * Interrupts
 * Dazed

Equipment

 * Armor:
 * Headgear with any mod
 * A max level armor with insignia and runes that boost your armor and/or energy.


 * Runes/Insignia:
 * Energy/Armor boosting insignia
 * 1 Superior Rune of Scythe Mastery.
 * 1 Minor mysticism rune
 * 1 Minor earth prayers rune
 * Best vigor rune you can afford


 * Weapons:
 * Any scythe will do. A zealous scythe with energy/health boost and/or armor penetration is suggested. Mhedi's Vow is a perfect unique scythe for this build.

Start

 * Cast Avatar of Balthazar and Vital Boon when you spawn in the FOW.
 * Run to the right, through the mobs, and circle around the large rocky outcrop where you can stop to let the patrols pass you. (You can use Mystic Regeneration to heal yourself when necessary).
 * When you meet the Snarling Driftwood, take them down quickly followed by the Doubter's Dryder that stands behind them. This must be done quickly because of the two shadow patrols that come past that point.

Killing
Important: Always keep away from the Ancient Skale!


 * While fighting the Snarling Driftwood, keep up Physical Resistance, Vital Boon, Mystic Vigor and Avatar of Balthazar whenever possible. Then when your health is low, cast Mystic Regeneration to keep your health up. Because of the three enchantments on you, your health stays high. And even when your health drops (which it shouldn't anyway), the enchantments on you provide enough healing power to stay alive. Keep on spamming the attack skills and when their health is at 1/3 you will also gain health from Victorious Sweep. The mobs should die quickly and easily.


 * The Doubter's Dryders are killed in a different way. First of all do not cast any enchantments on yourself because they will use Shatter Enchantment and Drain Enchantment which deal quite a lot of damage. Just lure them to a safe spot away from the Ancient Skale and attack them with your two attack skills. They should die quickly without any problems. Use Mystic Vigor, Mystic Regeneration and/or Vital Boon when your health drops below 250.


 * The Armored Cave Spiders are also very easy to kill. First kill the three Doubter's Dryders that stand in front of the cave. Then make the Armored Cave Spiders spawn and wait for them to spread out in front of the cave. Cast Vital Boon, Mystic Regeneration, Mystic Vigor and Physical Resistance before you proceed. Then lure one of them and pull him away from all the others, causing a group of 3 spiders to follow you. Wait until the three Armored Cave Spiders are together and pull them back further. Then just keep your enchantments up and Mystic Regeneration will provide you with enough healing power to stay alive and counter the poison. Spam your attack skills and they will die within 20-40 seconds.

Details

 * For a more detailed version on how to approach the mobs in FOW read the W/any Fissure Spider Farmer article, which describes how to attack and position yourself as you are farming in FOW.

Counters

 * Watch out for the Ancient Skale. You are almost certain to die if you don't rush through them, so always sprint away from them.

Equipment

 * Max armor with Windwalker Insigias, preferably, but whatever you see fit will work.
 * A Rune of Minor Scythe Mastery, Rune of Superior Mysticism, and a Mysticism headpiece.
 * A scythe with +15% while Enchanted and a perfect of Enchanting modifier (The Soulbreaker works fine) and a Zealous scythe such as the Eyes of the Forgotten.

Grasping Darknesses

 * Upon entry, take the quest from the Lost Soul to get the Grasping Darknesses to spawn.
 * Quickly lure the Darknesses towards the cliff, using Pious Haste, only one group at a time.
 * When lured, use Physical Resistance to cancel out Pious Haste.
 * Use Zealous Vow before the Darknesses reach you.
 * Begin attacking them using your attack skills.
 * When one group is dead, move on to the next group, rinse, and repeat.

Smite Crawlers

 * Use Pious Haste and run to the Smite Crawlers.
 * When you reach them, cancel Pious Haste with Physical Resistance.
 * Cast Zealous Vow AFTER canceling Pious Haste.
 * Next, cast Mystic Vigor, Rending Aura, and Mystic Regeneration in that order.
 * Begin attacking the Smite Crawlers.
 * Continue the trip, attacking the Smite Crawlers on your way, until they're all done. Then, repeat the run.

Counters
The daze and interrupt from the Grasping Darknesses could be an uisance.

Video
Sorry about the low resolution and no sound, but otherwise, it would have been more than 100 MB.
 * http://files.filefront.com//;7079942;;/

=130 HP Dervish= This is a build designed to farm bosses as a Dervish, by bringing your health down to 130 health, so that Protective Spirit lowers damage taken to a maximum of 13. It is in many ways similar to the 55 Monk build, but dervishes can not lower their health below 130 whilst wielding a scythe, because of the inherent +25 health on Dervish chest pieces. This particular build wields a scythe, thus negating the effects of any off-hand item you have equipped. Watch 130HP Dervish clip

Equipment

 * Any kind of armor other than armor with the survivor insignia or health boosting runes will do, as long as it has a total of 5 superior runes on. Note that armor level does not matter for this build, so a set of armor purchased in Kamadan will serve this builds purposes just fine.
 * A customized Scythe with a "Guided by Fate"/"Strength and Honor"/"To the Pain!" inscription. A scythe grip of Enchanting and a Sundering or Zealous scythe snathe can make things easier.
 * A Zealous scythe is recommended while facing only one foe; if you don't use one you may not gain enough energy to recast all 3 enchantments. Note that energy mangement when facing a single foe may become easier by dropping Balthazar's Spirit and Essence Bond.
 * Dwayna's Grace, Lyssa's Bedlam, Scythe of Corruption, or Suli's Scythe would work well for this build. The Soulbreaker also works.

Usage
Whenever you enter an explorable area cast Balthazar's Spirit and Essence Bond and wait for your energy to regen. Before approaching the monster(s) you want to kill, cast the first 3 skills on your bar. Aggro the monster(s) and keep your enchantments up while spamming your attack skills. If you're having trouble staying alive, consider deliberately getting yourself killed; the resultant Death Penalty will lower your health and therefore make the build more effective.

Mystic Regeneration is quite effective at keeping your health up, however enemies with fast attack speed or powerful health degen spells can render it useless. Try not to face your target alone, make sure he has company. When you aggro a group, make sure they are more or less mobbed up. With the help of Mystic Vigor, you will gain about 25 health each hit; with 3 targets in one hit you will gain 75 health per hit. With fast attacks and the assistance of Mystic Regeneration, you should survive quite easily.

Mystic Vigor is your anti-spike skill. When you get spiked, it should only take one hit from you while enchanted with Mystic Vigor to bring your health back up.

When there are only 1 or 2 enemies left, it's useful to just use Mystic Vigor instead of Mystic Regeneration, to conserve energy.

For some bosses, it is more effective to insert Mirage Cloak into the build instead of Eremite's Attack, to help counter the onslaught of melee attackers. This variation can often be used without having to harvest Death Penalty first, and also gives nice AoE damage. Note, however, that Mirage Cloak will lower the effectiveness of Balthazar's Spirit and Essence Bond, so don't attempt to use it unless you have a zealous scythe equipped.

Counters

 * Blind
 * Weakness
 * Blurred Vision
 * Enchantment removal
 * Avatar of Grenth
 * Health Degeneration exceeding 20 pips
 * Health Stealing
 * Energy Denial (Spirit Shackles)
 * Chilblains this skill can ruin many of your farming runs

Variants
Replace Reaper's Sweep with Wounding Strike.

Replace Reaper's Sweep with Arcane Zeal if you are having trouble with energy management.

Replace Reaper's Sweep with Mystic Twister.

Replace Reaper's Sweep with any form except for Avatar of Melandru, which gives +150 health boost. Avatar of Balthazar and Avatar of Dwayna are particularly useful here; the former with its armor boost(doesnt matter due to Protective Spirit) and armor-penetrating damage; the latter with its hex removal and healing, which can negate the need for Mystic Vigor. Avatar of Lyssa works wonders against Mage Bosses, as they are constantly casting spells on you, you dish out +38 damage on a target that is casting a spell.(Remember you will only have about a minute to kill each group, however, if you rely on a form to make the build work.)

Replace Mystic Regeneration with Healing Breeze and take healing prayers instead of earth prayers. Not as effective, but works if you haven't come far enough in the Nightfall campaign to get Mystic Regeneration, unlock Mystic Regeneration with Balthazar Faction, then buy it off the skill trainer.

Replace Eremite's Attack or Mystic Sweep for Fleeting Stability to counter knock down.

Replace Eremite's Attack or Mystic Sweep for Heart of Holy Flame when fighting undead for double damage.

Equipment

 * Armor
 * Two Radiant Insignias and three Survivor Insignias.
 * One Rune of Attunement & Vitae
 * Weapons
 * Zealous Scythe of Enchanting with a "Guided by Fate" inscription. (Scythe of Corruption is ideal)

Usage

 * Cast Extend Enchantments, one of the shields or HH, and Mystic Vigor before attacking them.
 * Let the enchantments end by Extend Enchantments and recast.
 * If you have Shield of Deflection, cast it, then let it end and recast it. For Shield of Absorption cast it as soon as it is available.
 * Use Mending Touch on yourself and on allies.

Counters

 * Enchantment removal.
 * Spiteful Spirit, Insidious Parasite, etc...

Variants

 * For additional armor and evasion/health regeneration, switch Shield of Absorption for Shield of Regeneration or Shield of Deflection and replace Wounding Strike with Wearying Strike.
 * Healing Hands variant

=Vermin Farmer= This is a D/Mo build for solo-farming the Vermin in Xaquang Skyway. The build relies on the inherently high AoE damage of scythes combined with skills such as Mirage Cloak, and Vow of Strength. The build uses Essence Bond and Balthazar's Spirit to power the build, and Mystic Regeneration, Fleeting Stability to stay alive.

As a farming build, the build is extremely easy to use allowing a wide margin of error (ie. farming while reading a book), while the choice of skills (most of which have little or no activation time) allows a decent speed. While the AoE only affects 3 targets unlike Triple Chop and Cyclone axe, the new AI system where, if damaged, only 3 foes will be aggroed makes this a relatively small issue.

Equipment
(Earth Prayers needs to hit 13 in order for Mystic Regeneration to hit +4 which is imperative when fighting Shreader)
 * Scythe of Enchanting
 * Runes need not be adhered to strictly as long as you hit the breakpoints

Usage
The maintained enchantments and Conviction can be kept up indefinetly with no consideration as they do not waste activation time. Mystic Regeneration should be kept up for healing, as should Fleeting Stability (although you might not need to refresh it while fighting the smaller groups if the mob is about to die anyway). Vow of Strength should be kept up for increasing your damage. While the defensive mechanism of Mirage Cloak is unneccesary, the bonus damage could help, so keep it up as well, just remember not to renew until it expires so damage takes effect. Also, you might want to cast this last so you don't have to wait for energy as the blocking can sometimes slow down your energy gain. Mystic Vigor is optional, but can give you a larger margin of error against Shreader Sharptongue's group.

While fighting, you might want to reposition so all three of your aggroed foes are damaged. Though this is unnceccesary, it will speed up the run. While fighting Shreader Sharptongue, simply target him first and deal with the rest.

This build can also be used to farm bosses or other areas, especially ones where knock down is used.

Variants

 * Reaper's Sweep, Wild Blow and Mystic Sweep may be used to replace Vow of Strength, Mirage Cloak, Mystic Vigor, or Conviction while dealing with bosses or fewer foes to give higher output.
 * If a warrior secondary is used, Bonnetti's Defense may be used for energy and Faithful Intervention could be added to trigger Mystic Regeneration or Vigor. Similarily, Flail and "Watch Yourself!" could both improve the run-speed seeing as they both have no activation time or energy cost, making it more effective against a single foe.
 * Sympathetic and/or Ancestor's Visage can be used in areas with interruption. Zealous Vow can then be used for energy management.

Equipment

 * Windwalker and Radiant Insignias
 * A Zealous Scythe of Enchanting
 * Runes of Attunement

Usage

 * Cast Contagion, Dark Aura, and Mystic Regeneration
 * Engage target, and use Signet of Agony, followed by Wearying Strike.
 * Signet of Agony will deal 15 damage to all adjacent enemies, as well as cause you to bleed, and to sacrifice 10% health. The sacrifice will trigger Dark Aura, dealing 38 damage to all adjacent foes. Contagion will cause the Bleeding to be spread to all nearby foes, and will cause you to sacrifice 6% health, triggering Dark Aura a second time, for another 38 damage to adjacent foes.
 * Wearying Strike will apply Deep Wound to hit enemies, and will give you Weakness. Contagion will instantly spread Weakness to all nearby enemies, and trigger Dark Aura a third time.
 * Use Plague Touch to get rid of Weakness, and use Wearying Strike a second time.
 * Re-apply Dark Aura and Signet of Agony as soon as they are available.


 * Mystic Regeneration will give 9 points of health regeneration (or more with extra enchantments), to help offset the sacrificing and bleeding. It also acts as a cover enchantment for the two Death Magic enchantments, which are critical to the build.


 * Conditions applied from foes will trigger Contagion and Dark Aura. This can make the build more powerful, as long as you know what to expect. If you know that your enemies will be dealing conditions, try to time it so that their conditions and your conditions are not being applied at the same time, as the health sacrifices could become overwhelming.

Counters

 * Enchantment stripping will greatly reduce the effectiveness of this build. The Death Magic enchantments must be kept covered.

Variants
Optional skill slot:
 * Armor of Sanctity. Ths will reduce damage by 13 from all foes suffering from a condition. It will also increase Mystic Regeneration's effect to +12 regen (+9 with Bleeding).
 * Conviction. This will provide +24 armor.
 * Faithful Intervention. This can act as a safety heal, but could be triggered unintentionally.
 * Heart of Fury. 11 seconds of IAS, follwed by Burning.
 * Zealous Renewal. A cover enchantment to help with energy management.
 * Reap Impurities. Gain health from enemies suffering from conditions.
 * Victorious Sweep. Gain health from foes with less health.
 * Consume Corpse. Corpse denial, self-healing, energy management.

Equipment

 * +5/per enchantment on chest and leggings, Radiant Insignia on other parts
 * Use Rajazan's Fervor or Totem Axe to gain extra energy and extended duration of your enchantments.
 * Use Stalwart Carapace Shield to get some additional armor and HP bonus.

Usage

 * Use Extend Enchantments followed by Mystic Regeneration, Fleeting Stability and Vow of Silence before entering any combat where enemies use both KD and slowing spells and then use Harrier's Haste when it ends use Pious Haste if you are stripped of important enchants while recasting start with casting Pious Haste to remove VoS. Be sure to not have Pious Haste on you when you are recasting your enchantments. If you get hexed use Pious Restoration while enchanted if you remove Fleeting Stability follow up with balanced stance (if there are KD oponents). If there are no slowing spellcasters in the area you can skip Vow of Silence, just as you can skip Fleeting Stability if there are no KD enemies.

Lornar's Pass

 * Be aware of Grawl Crones that can cast Chilblains and strip you of your enchantments if you get close.
 * If you have to recast your enchantments while a wurm is attacking you, use Balanced Stance to not get knocked down.
 * Avoid avicaras while recasting enchantments at all costs since they can remove one or two before you get the cover of Vow of Silence
 * Try to avoid traps, if you happen to trigger one keep running until you lose your enchantments and then quickly put up Mystic Regeneration and Vow of Silence to try to make it to the nearest safe zone.

Dreadnought's Drift

 * When running past the Tundra Giant try to dodge some attacks since your armor is not that great

Talus Chute

 * Stop before the group of Avicaras in the start and recast your enchantments.

Counters

 * Skills that strip enchantments.

=Avatar Forge Runner= This build is designed to run from Beacon's Perch to Droknar's Forge, with the use of Dervish skills.

Equipment

 * +7 extra energy armour - Radiant Insignia
 * +10 armour while enchanted works well since you are enchanted most of the time - Blessed Insignia
 * + 20% enchantment mod on a scythe or a Rajazan's Fervor or Totem Axe will do


 * If using a one handed weapon equip a shield like Malinon's Shield

Usage

 * Use Avatar of Balthazar before engaging any creatures for the +40 armour and increase running speed by 33%. To get past Tundra Giants, Frost Wurms, and Ice Golems, use this with Fleeting Stability.
 * Pious Restoration should be used against all Hexes.

Healing

 * Before enemies, make sure your Health is max or near max.
 * Take some time to heal if you can find a safe location to heal. Vital Boon and Faithful Intervention should be enough.
 * Use Faithful Intervention first and then use Vital Boon so if a creature strips Enchantments, Vital Boon will be triggered - its 2nd ability is to heal you when it ends or when someone removes it.* Before running past Ice Imps use Vital Boon. If you are hexed cast Pious Restoration to remove the slow down hexes that the Ice Imps use.
 * Use Avatar of Balthazar and then cast Fleeting Stability, covering it up with Faithful Intervention and Vital Boon. This way, when you are getting attacked by a Frost Wurm and going through the Wurm tunnel, the enchantment remover just removes Vital Boon.
 * Entering the Troll Cave, lure the Mountain Trolls out before entering, so you don’t get body blocked by them.
 * In the Wurm Path use Fleeting Stability and Avatar of Balthazar go get past the Wurm quickly.

Dreadnought's Drift

 * Before engaging any enemies use Avatar of Balthazar and Fleeting Stability and cover it up with Faithful Intervention and Vital Boon in case you met some Tundra Giants.

Snake Dance

 * Use Avatar of Balthazar and Fleeting Stability and cover it up with Faithful Intervention and Vital Boon because there are a lot of Tundra Giants to knock you down, along with some Azure Shadows.
 * Make sure you run away from Stone Summits and their mobs to get to Camp Rankor.

Camp Rankor

 * Here is a rest stop and you can swap some skills if you think healing is needed.

Talus Chute

 * Same thing really, Avatar of Balthazar and Fleeting Stability and cover it up with Faithful Intervention and Vital Boon because there are Azure Shadows and large Avicara groups near the start.

Counters
Strip enchantment skills would put you off if the skill is still recharging.

Variants

 * Watchful Intervention can be used if more healing is needed and more cover for Fleeting Stability against enchantment removing creatures.
 * Extend Enchantments could be added if you wanted to extend your enchantments.
 * Avatar of Dwayna can replace Avatar of Balthazar if you want more skills to get rid of hex.
 * Avatar of Melandru can replace Avatar of Balthazar if you want more condition removers.
 * Smite Hex can be used for quick hex removal.
 * Mending Touch can use for removing condition if needed.

Attributes and Skills
D/Mo


 * Add in Mending Touch and/or Rebirth if you decide to go D/Mo. If you do not think a resurrection skill is needed, it is recommended to bring either Mystic Sweep or Eremite's Attack.

D/W


 * Add in Wild Blow and/or Resurrection Signet for D/W. If you do not think a resurrection skill is needed, it is recommended to bring either Mystic Sweep, Eremite's Attack, or Distracting Blow.

D/A


 * Add in Signet of Malice and/or Resurrection Signet for D/A. If you do not think a resurrection skill is needed, it is recommended to bring either Mystic Sweep, Eremite's Attack, or any Assassin utility skills.

Equipment

 * Armor: Windwalker's Insignia armor with a Scythe Mastery hood (70 AL).
 * Runes: Major Scythe Mastery, Minor Mysticism, Major Earth Prayers, Vigor, Attunement x1
 * Weapon: Sundering or Zealous Scythe of Fortitude with energy+5 inscription.

Usage

 * When entering combat, activate Faithful Intervention, Armor of Sanctity, and Mystic Regeneration to give you max health regeneration (20hp/second).
 * Use Conviction. At this point, you will have at least 109 armor (70 from normal armor, 15 from windwalker's, and 24 from conviction). This does not include Armor of Sanctity's damage reduction, which is 18 less damage from all sources.
 * Find a target.
 * Try as much as possible to spread Deep Wound. My suggestion is to use Wouding Strike followed by Victorious Sweep to deal some significant damage. Then, move on to another target and do the same thing. This will greatly help your party's overall damage output and you can easily serve as a tank with Armor of Sanctity.

Variants

 * Reaper's Sweep can replace Wounding Strike as you see fit.

Counters
=Reaper's Vow= This Dervish uses Zealous Vow to allow almost infinite spamming of attack skills, while Earth and Wind Prayers help with healing and condition removal.
 * Enchantment removal.
 * Hexes.

Equipment

 * A Vampiric Scythe of Enchanting with a "Guided By Fate" inscription.
 * Windwalker's Insignias on your armor.
 * A Rune of Clarity on an armor piece, Runes of Attunement on everything else.

Usage

 * Cast your enchantments before going into battle. Use Whirling Charge to speed up your attacks.
 * Spam Victorious Sweep and Mystic Sweep for damage. Use Chilling Victory as a powerful finisher.
 * When low on energy, auto-attack to gain some back.

Counters

 * Heavy enchant removal
 * Standard anti-melee counters, though the durations of conditions are greatly reduced.

Variants
Mysticism Variant:

By moving points from Earth Prayers to Mysticism and using a minor rune, this allows you to have an IAS active all the time by cycling Whirling Charge and Heart of Fury.
 * Pious Restoration for areas with dangerous hexes.
 * Conviction can help with survivability
 * Wild Blow and Protector's Strike are great attack skills to spam, with a Warrior secondary
 * Crippling Sweep can help prevent kiting
 * Mystic Sandstorm can be used for a finisher, or to counter energy denial.
 * Mystic Twister can also be used for AOE damage.
 * Signet of Pious Light can be used for emergency healing.

=Pious Sandstorm= This build takes advantage of Pious Renewal's energy and health gain when removing multiple enchantments with Mystic Sandstorm, resulting in spike damage and bringing you back to near full health and energy to remove downtime.

Equipment

 * Radiant armor.
 * Insightful Staff of Enchanting
 * +2 Earth Prayers rune, +3 Mysticism rune, Superior Vigor rune, and two Runes of Attunement.

Usage
Before engaging, cast in order of Enchantment duration:
 * Aura of Thorns --> Heart of Holy Flame --> Vital Boon --> Armor of Sanctity --> Mirage Cloak --> Pious Renewal then get near an enemy or a group of enemies and hit Mystic Sandstorm. This will result in:


 * 130 damage from Mystic Sandstorm to nearby enemies.
 * 75 damage from Mirage Cloak to nearby enemies.
 * +30 energy from Mysticism.
 * +12 energy and +60 health from Pious Renewal
 * +200 health from Vital Boon
 * 4 seconds of burning from Heart of Holy Flame
 * 15 seconds of bleeding from Aura of Thorns.

Casting Armor of Sanctity shortly after sandstorm can help reduce damage against those you inflicted bleeding and/or burning on.

The health and energy gain should leave you enough energy to repeat the process.

Counters

 * Massive enchantment removal before Mystic Sandstorm is launched.
 * Anything preventing the casting of enchantments on you.
 * Repetitive knockdowns and interrupts to fail enchantment spells.
 * Kiting.

Variants

 * Pious Renewal can be replaced with Arcane Zeal. This reduces your health gain after using Mystic Sandstorm, but it allows for more costly, more powerful enchantments to be used instead. For example:


 * By sacrificing a few points in Earth Prayers and placing them instead in Scythe Mastery, you can provide yourself with an acceptable alternative should you find yourself up against an enchantment-remvoing or interrupting foe.
 * Despite the health spike after casting Mystic Sandstorm, it's very easy to get killed while casting the enchantments. For this reason, Mystic Regeneration works very well when used as your first enchantment.

Equipment

 * Armor: Radiant Insignia for energy mixed in with Survivor's Insignia for health. Radiant Insignia should be used on the chest area for maximum energy.
 * Weapons: Any good Scythe should do.
 * Runes: In addition to the runes outlined in the Attributes table, take a Rune of Attunement and the best Vigor rune you can afford. Nightfall characters - such as all Dervishes - get a Rune of Minor Vigor from an early quest.

Usage

 * Before running into battle, activate your enchantments.
 * Only activate the first 2 enchantments from left to right, then as you reach your target (hopefully targets) activate the other 2 enchantments from left to right. This should cause some damage to multiple foes.
 * The very first attack should be Twin Moon Sweep to ignite your enemies on fire. Activate Mystic Sweep to add some more damage.
 * Because of Mystic Vigor you should gain a fair amount of health each hit. Soon mystic vigor should be about finished and same with Vital Boon and they should be reactivated seeing how they should be recharged.
 * After activating them use Heart of Holy Flame again followed by Twin Moon Sweep to once again ignite them.
 * At this point Zealous Renewal should finish and you should gain all your energy back.
 * Repeat this proccess until the targets are taken out.
 * If at a point you are low on health activate Avatar of Melandru for some health and to cancel any conditions.
 * Vital Boon can be used for quick healing via casting it, and then using Twin Moon Sweep to quickly strip it and heal yourself for 200+ health. Of course, you can always let Vital Boon run out normaly, but this above method is for speedy healing.

Counters

 * Energy denial and draining.
 * Enchantment Removal can do some damage to this build but since ending any of those used, except Mystic Vigor, gives you benefits, it's not that bad.
 * Blindness, Weakness and Crippling can obviously slow this build down by preventing it from hitting with most of your attacks, lowering the effectiveness of your attacks, and stopping you from attacking fleeing targets. However, since you have Avatar of Melandru, you can quickly negate these effects.
 * Interrupting Avatar of Melandru - by the time the 30 second recharge has elapsed, it is possible for the Dervish to have been killed.

Variants

 * You might also choose to swap out Heart of Holy Flame for Conviction or Balthazar's Rage, which can be used for backup healing as well as increased armor levels from Conviction.
 * Mystic Sweep can be replaced with another attack such as Victorious Sweep and Chilling Victory.
 * Avatar of Dwayna may also be a good choice, if you want hex removal and healing.
 * If you have a Zealous or Vampiric scythe, it may be a good idea to switch Heart of Holy Flame with Heart of Fury for the IAS.