Scourge - Alacrity Support Condi Healer

This is a test build. You may comment and rate it.

Expansions required:

Difficulty:

TBD

Overview

A condi damage-based Scourge support build that brings easy full Alacrity uptime, a very robust amount of Might, and high Fury uptime to its subgroup, solid amounts of healing, and the signature support Scourge resurrectability. Most of the healing comes in the form of barrier and Regeneration, and as such, this build isn't amazing at burst healing. This is not a problem most of the time as even should the combination of barrier and regen fail the ease of resurrection should make most things recoverable.

This build also boasts a very solid amount of condition removal between Nefarious Favor and Abrasive Grit as well as the occasional Protection from Eternal Life.

It's important to note that a solid chunk of the Might comes from the application of barrier so if you take any of the build alternatives that alter barrier generation will also necessarily alter might generation.

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Skill Bar

Scepter/Torch

Staff

Utility

Weapon Variants

Replacing the Scepter with a Dagger will make life force generation extremely comfortable. If you're struggling with it, it's a very valid choice.
Using a Warhorn instead of the Torch can be useful if you're hurting for CC.

Skill Variants

Healing

Well of Blood replaces some of the barrier generation with more regen.

Utility

Serpent Siphon for extra barrier and regen as well as Aegis in case you're using this build to tank.
Well of Power for extra Might generation.
Epidemic can be useful in certain specific encounters.

Specializations

Trait Variants

Soul Marks can be useful if you're hurting for life force generation.
Vital Persistence for some extra self-sustain especially if you're tanking.
Soul Barbs for a healthy amount of extra DPS in exchange for less life force generation.
Both Herald of Sorrow and Desert Empowerment are necessary as they are the backbone of this build's Alacrity generation. Never touch them.

Equipment

Head
Seraph

Shoulders
Seraph

Chest
Seraph

Hands
Seraph

Legs
Seraph

Feet
Seraph

Backpiece
Seraph

Accessory
Seraph

Amulet
Seraph

Ring
Seraph

Scepter
Marshal

Torch
Marshal

Sigil

Staff
Marshal

Sigil

Rune
x6

Infusion
x18

Equipment Variants

Rune of Superior Rune of the Monk if you already have it and don't want to swap is fine, but the sixth rune bonus of +10% outgoing healing doesn't apply to barrier so it's less useful for this build.
You can make the weapons Seraph instead if you want to sacrifice some DPS for full uptime of 25 stacks of Might. The extra concentration is definitely unnecessary for the Alacrity, though, as this build has more than enough Boon Duration for that.
Plaguedoctor's provides a lot of vitality at the cost of some DPS.

Consumables

Food

if you want some extra Concentration.
if you don't need to heal as much and want more DPS.

Utility

if you need the extra healing but you might need to compensate elsewhere for the lost Concentration.

Usage

Healing

Desert Empowerment gives barrier whenever you use Manifest Sand Shade so you probably want to use it pretty often. Don't sit on two unused charges of it.
- Sand Cascade, Sandstorm Shroud, and Sand Flare are your big sources of barrier and should be used off cooldown.
- Serpent Siphon is another good source of barrier if you take it.
- Do remember though that your allies can only get up to 50% of their total health in barrier.
Garish Pillar basically off cooldown for the pulsing healing to your allies.
Mark of Blood (and Serpent Siphon and/or Well of Blood if you take them) will be your main source(s) of Regeneration.
- Dodge every now and then for the regen from Mark of Evasion.

Boons

Using your barrier skills off cooldown will basically guarantee full Alacrity uptime with a good fifteen or more seconds of leeway.
Blood Is Power, Desiccate, and Oppressive Collapse are your main sources of Might; spam them.
- You get it from Abrasive Grit whenever you apply barrier, too.
Using Desiccate off-cooldown should guarantee full Fury uptime, given its reduced recharge due to your permanent Alacrity, but it's very tight. Even without being very dedicated to it, though, it does provide high amounts of it, and if someone else is generating a little bit too it should be comfortable.

CC

Charge (necromancer)
Oppressive Collapse
Garish Pillar
Reaper's Mark
Chillblains
Grasping Dead
Wail of Doom if using a Warhorn.
Dark Pact if using a Dagger.

General Tips

You should always have at least one Shade active from Manifest Sand Shade for the bonus Concentration and Expertise from Sand Sage.
If you're using the Scepter, try not to interrupt your auto-attack chain for the Poison from Putrid Curse.
If you're not taking Fear of Death you might need to be a bit more aggressive in life force generation. Feast of Corruption, Harrowing Wave, and Necrotic Grasp are your friends. Soul Marks might help, too.
- On the other hand, if you take a Dagger main hand you will never need to worry about life force ever, at the cost of needing to be in melee range of the boss.

Notes on the upcoming patch

With the July 18th patch some of the numbers will change, but they'll all be to this build's benefit. According to the previews:

Manifest Sand Shade and Sand Cascade will generate a lot more barrier.
Sandstorm Shroud will provide some nice Protection for more reduced incoming damage.
Base Alacrity from Desert Empowerment will be 50% higher, so it'll be even more comfortable.
Oppressive Collapse will be on lower CD and larger radius so Might generation will be better.
Sand Sage will give a lot more Expertise and Concentration.
Between the lower CD and higher actual recovery value, Harrowing Wave will be better at generating life force.
The major traits changed aren't ones we use for this build anyway.

So overall the main differences will be that we'll need a lot less Concentration and even a little bit less Healing Power, allowing us to take more Marshal's pieces and maybe even a couple Viper's ones depending on how stuff shakes out. I'll test it all when that happens but until then this is available if anyone's interested in trying it out.

Scourge - Alacrity Support Condi Healer

Contents

Overview

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