Scourge - Power Curses

Part of the current metagame

Our curator decided this build is in the current metagame regardless of rating. The community gave this build a rating, making it top-tier: Great

Focused on: Strike damage, Dps, Burst and Boonrip

Designed for: WvW Zerg

Difficulty:

TBD

This build was last updated on February 19, 2022 and is up to date for the April 16, 2024 patch.

Overview

A build designed to strip boons and lay down high area damage.

Skill Bar

Axe/Focus

Scepter/Dagger

Utility

Skill Variants

Desiccate Melee boon corrupt and damage.
Serpent Siphon Ranged boon corrupt and barrier.
Spectral Armor For extra lifeforce and stunbreak.
Sand Swell Defensive mobility and situational utility.

Template Code

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Specializations

Awaken the Pain slighly higher overall dps.

Variants

Nourishing Ashes if Life Force generation is an issue.

Equipment

Head
Marauder

Shoulders
Marauder

Chest
Marauder

Hands
Marauder

Legs
Marauder

Feet
Marauder

Backpiece
Marauder

Accessory
Marauder

Amulet
Marauder

Ring
Marauder

Axe
Marauder

Focus
Marauder

Sigil

Scepter
Marauder

Dagger
Marauder

Sigil

Rune
x6

Equipment Variants

Sigil of Superior Sigil of Force increased damage
Rune of Superior Rune of Antitoxin Best rune against incoming condition pressure.
Rune of Superior Rune of Durability Best rune against power based damage.
Rune of Superior Rune of Strength High damage and better might uptime, strong if not using Dumplings.
Rune of Superior Rune of the Pack If fury and boons are an issue.

Consumables

feast option with additional power and ferocity.

Usage

Elite especialization basics

This is how the shade mechanic works: if you have no active shade (Manifest Sand Shade) in the world, all your F2-F5 skills will proc around you. If you do have an active shade, all your shade skills, and related traits, will only affect the active shade area, not you.
Therefore, depending on you group playstyle, you may not want to place a shade at all, and behave yourself like a mobile shade, doing damage while in melee, and benefiting from the barrier and cleanse. However, being able to 900-range spike can be superior if coordinating shade cooldowns, and knowing when and where to place your Manifest Sand Shade. The self support aspect of the shade skills is mostly irrelevant, since you run with dedicated supports in WvW zergs.

Shroud

All of your shade skills will proc the strike of Manifest Sand Shade (F1), whichs means you want to instantly use then, as soon as you land your F1, to maximize damage.
Shroud traits proc as if the shade skills counted as that shroud skill.
- Nefarious Favor procs Path of Corruption
- Desert Shroud procs Plague Sending, and Spiteful Spirit around you
- All shade skills proc Reaper's Might
Nefarious Favor and Sand Cascade can be used before landing a shade, for extra barrier and cleanse.
Desert Shroud will continue pulsing if a new shade is summoned at the location of the new shade so there should be no worry about repositioning shades when needed.
Shade usage order (with enough life force)
- Using F1 Manifest Sand Shade ⇒ Desert Shroud ⇒ Nefarious Favor+Sand Cascade+Garish Pillar
- Not using F1 (on melee) Desert Shroud ⇒ Nefarious Favor+Sand Cascade+Garish Pillar

General

Scourge brings strong damage through his shade skills, barrier access and boonrip.

Positioning, reacting fast and timing your dodges well are key. You don't have evade skills nor immunities like other classes, and your support classes won't be able to babysit you all the time.
Well of Suffering and Well of Corruption are a significant part of your damage and boonrip outside of weapon skills. Place then on top of the enemy group, along friendly Winds of Disenchantment and your team pressure. Using your wells at the same time as the other Necromancers in your group is an enormous damage spike.
Sand Flare will be used for the group barrier share before and during extended engages.
Ghastly Breach is going to be dropped if the enemy is hard committing into a melee push, to panic disrupt then. Can also be used offensively on melee, to stack AoE fields on top of the enemy stack and lock then down through corrupts and conditions.
- Trail of Anguish can be used offensively, the same way as Breach, but you should save it to use as stunbreak if you feel pressured during fights.

Scepter

Devouring Darkness is your most important skill and one of the reasons why you run the Curses spec. Try to keep it on cooldown when you are in range. You can pre-cast it in 1,200-range, while moving towards the enemy, to avoid downtime.
- Since it has a 10s cooldown, you should be able to cast it twice per weapon swap rotation, as your opener and finisher. It also is one of your main sources of life force in the build.
Grasping Dead provides good AoE damage and should be used constantly to maintain AoE pressure.

Axe

Unholy Feast is one of your most powerful melee skills, try to use it as often as possible for AoE boon corruption and extra damage on low targets.
Ghastly Claws a strong life force generator and high single target damage skill. Useful for a quick downed cleave.
Rending Claws is a rather strong filler for single target damage.

Dagger, Focus and Torch

Harrowing Wave decent for melee damage and cleave as well as life force generator.
Oppressive Collapse single target CC. Use it to snare escaping players or interrupt channeled skills.
Enfeebling Blood for the extra AoE Weakness and corrupt. Bear in mind the cast and animation time.
Spinal Shivers deals even more damage on targets with boons. Try to land it on squish foes, like weavers and scourges. It's also a boonrip, not a corrupt skill.
Soul Grasp and Deathly Swarm won't prioritized, being only projectile filler skills. Try to land Soul Grasp on downed bodies, to ensure the projectile will connect, granting some life force and Vulnerability stack. Use Deathly Swarm whenever you might need some condi clear.

Staff

Staff auto attacks are low impact and its abilities relatively long cooldowns, so the best use of the weapon is to use its cooldown skills then swap out as soon as possible.
Use Mark of Blood and Chilblains to build area condi stacks.
Putrid Mark and Reaper's Mark usage should be more careful, don't be afraid to leave them off cooldown when swapping back to S/D.
- Putrid Mark is one of your limited anti-condition skills so use it carefully.
- Interrupt key skills with the fear of Reaper's Mark.

Weapon skills combos

Devouring Darkness ⇒ Weapon Swap ⇒ Unholy Feast ⇒ Desert Shroud(Spiteful Spirit) if running Spite variant
Spinal Shivers ⇒ Ghastly Claws
Devouring Darkness ⇒ Enfeebling Blood
- Add Grasping Dead, Harrowing Wave and Oppressive Collapse (if running Torch) in the mix for more damage.

Scourge - Power Curses

Contents

Overview