Scourge - Power Scourge

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

Expansions required:

Difficulty:

Easy

This build was last updated on March 24, 2025 and is up to date for the February 11, 2025 patch.

Overview

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

Skill Bar

Axe/Focus

Greatsword

Utility

Variants

• Offhand Sword

Template Code

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Specializations

Variants

• Awaken the Pain
  slightly higher 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
Demolisher

Accessory
Demolisher

Amulet
Demolisher

Ring
Demolisher

Ring
Demolisher

Axe
Marauder

Focus
Marauder

Sigil

Sigil

Greatsword
Marauder

Sigil

Sigil

Rune
x6

Infusion
x18

Relic

Equipment Variants

Stats

• Feel free to use as much Berserker's gear as you can without dying
• The given setup aims for maximum Effective Health
  • You can swap Marauder's to Demolisher's to make healing more efficient in exchange for increasing your chance to be spiked from 100%

Relic

• Relic of Cerus
• Relic of Speed

Sigils

• Superior Sigil of Frenzy

Consumables

• Peppercorn-Crusted Sous-Vide Steak
  • Fried Oyster Sandwich
    personal food option
• Superior Sharpening Stone

Usage

Overall Priorities

High

• Wells
• Boon rip

Moderate

• Shades
• Sustained pressure
• Single target damage

Low

• Support

Surviving

• This build has moderate passive defense
• This build has no mobility skill access
• This build has low active defenses
  • Be conservative with
    Trail of Anguish
    , it is your only stunbreak
  • Don't use
    Sand Flare
    if the cast is likely to be interrupted

Expand Active defense priority Trail of Anguish - for stunbreaking Dodge Sand Flare Sand Cascade Desert Shroud

Detailed Explanations

Wells

• Try to save your Well skills for the commanders call
  • If you aren't using voice communication, use your wells at the same time as the other Necromancers in your group
• Cast
  Well of Corruption
  before
  Well of Suffering
  , due to the longer cooldown
• Only use your Well skills at the same time, do not use one early and desync their cooldowns
• When using ground AoEs like
  Well of Corruption
  or
  Well of Suffering
  , try to place them so that one edge is on the enemy group and the other edge is in the direction they are moving to

Boon rip

• Use
  Ghastly Breach
  and
  Nightfall
  when the enemy group is pushing towards you or your group is in melee
• Save your final charge of
  Manifest Sand Shade
  when there is 15 seconds or less left on
  Desert Shroud
  's cooldown
• While
  Trail of Anguish
  is your only stunbreak, it can be used for boon rip if you feel your party support is good enough

Shades

• Your shade spike consists of casting
  Manifest Sand Shade
  before casting, in order:
• Desert Shroud
• Nefarious Favor
• Garish Pillar
• Sand Cascade
  • These are all instant and can be cast at the same time, but drop skills from bottom to top if limited on Life Force

Sustained pressure

• Use
  Unholy Feast
  immediately after Weapon Swap and use it again immediately before swapping back
  • Delaying your Weapon Swap slightly for the cooldown is fine

Expand Skill priority Well of Corruption + Well of Suffering - always together, on call Ghastly Breach Desert Shroud Axe Unholy Feast Spinal Shivers - only on single target Ghastly Claws Soul Grasp - only if low on Life Force

Single target damage

• Use
  Spinal Shivers
  ⇒
  Ghastly Claws
  ⇒
  Rending Claws
  pick off isolated players

Support

• Barrier lasts 5 seconds after application before decaying
• Use
  Sand Flare
  and
  Sand Cascade
  before pushes and during extended engages
• Pay attention to allies with
  Illusion of Life
  used on them, apply barrier before the buff times out
  • Illusion of Life
    begins flashing on the buff bar at 5 seconds remaining
• Use
  Nefarious Favor
  as a desperation condition clear if you have no other options