Build:Scourge - Condi DPS

The community gave this build a rating, making it top-tier: Great

Focused on: Condition damage and Utility

Designed for: Raids and Fractals

Expansions required:

Difficulty:

TBD

This build was last updated on September 19, 2022 and is up to date for the October 8, 2024 patch.

Overview

A condition DPS and utility build for Scourge. While not the highest DPS build, this build provides decent sustained DPS and bonus AoE cleave with Epidemic. It also provides incidental support for its subgroup by generating Might, cleansing conditions, and overhealing allies with barrier.

Scourge is mainly a utility class and excels in encounters where it can play to its strengths, namely Epidemic and defensive support. It also deals relatively high ranged damage and isn't reliant on Might or healing, which makes it good for roles such as flak kiting at Sabetha.

Skill Bar

Scepter/Torch

X/Warhorn

Utility

Skill Variants

Healing

• Signet of Vampirism is lower healing, but higher DPS than Summon Blood Fiend. Be aware that it will hit the closest enemy rather than your target, so in some encounters it might end up being unreliable.
• Well of Blood is the largest personal heal if you'd rather have safety than damage, and can heal allies without needing a target.

Utility

• Epidemic if you need cleave. Even post-nerf it is a strong skill.
• Trail of Anguish If you need Stability.
• Corrosive Poison Cloud if projectile absorb is needed.
• Sand Swell - 900 range portal, useful for mobility on certain fights.
• Spectral Grasp is a 1200 range 5-target pull.

Never swap out Blood Is Power.

Elite

• Summon Flesh Golem for more CC. It's a fairly large DPS loss to bring, but can be helpful in particular on encounters where the boss is unlikely to stand still long enough for all your pulses of Plaguelands to hit.

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Specializations

Trait Variants

• Use Parasitic Contagion for self heal at a ~15% DPS loss.
• Take Sadistic Searing if you are running any Punishment skills.

Specialization Variants

Taking Blood Magic instead of Soul Reaping is a major DPS loss, but provides more support through minor healing and Transfusion. Should only be considered in training runs or struggling groups where you're desperate for the sustain.

• Blood Bond is higher DPS and offers a tiny bit of group sustain, but if you need Blood Magic you probably need Ritual of Life.
• If taking Ritual of Life, consider using Well of Blood as your healing skill.

Equipment

Head
Viper

Shoulders
Viper

Chest
Viper

Hands
Viper

Legs
Viper

Feet
Viper

Backpiece
Viper

Accessory
Viper

Accessory
Viper

Amulet
Viper

Ring
Viper

Ring
Viper

Scepter
Viper

Torch
Viper

Sigil

Sigil

Warhorn
Viper

Sigil

Rune
x6

Infusion
x18

Equipment Variants

• Rune of Superior Rune of the Lich gains extra damage in cases where there are additional sources of life force, thanks to the extra vitality. This allows you to spam shade skills more frequently, and it is also easier to obtain that Rune of Superior Rune of the Nightmare.
  • If using Rune of Superior Rune of the Lich you should use (or ascended versions).

Consumables

Food

• • Using (or similar) would be a small DPS loss, but allow you to benefit from the ascended food buffs.

Utility

• or

Usage

Rotation

Opener

1. Manifest Sand Shade Have 3 before the fight starts
2. Blood Is Power Optional extra cast, may get cleansed by allies
3. Plaguelands
4. Blood Is Power
5. Desert Shroud

DPS Priority

After the opener, just use skills as they become available, with the following priority:

1. Desert Shroud off cooldown with Blood Is Power after
2. Devouring Darkness
3. Harrowing Wave
4. Oppressive Collapse
5. Grasping Dead
6. Haunt and Plaguelands off cooldown
7. Manifest Sand Shade making sure to keep 3 shades up
8. Scepter autoattack chain, making sure to get the 3rd attack

Video Example

General Tips

• Use Desert Shroud ⇒ Blood Is Power wherever possible to transfer the self-condis to your target via Plague Sending.
• Don't let Blood Is Power reach maximum charges.
• Try to finish your autoattack chains.
• If using Epidemic, use it whenever there are enemies near the main target.
• Feel free to use Nefarious Favor, Sand Cascade, or Garish Pillar if life force is over capping, or to support your teammates with cleanses, barriers, and CC.
  • Be aware that in very low-pressure encounters, too much barrier can actually end up robbing druids of CA generation.
• The cast time on Plaguelands is pretty long, so it is efficient to "precast" the skill just before the boss becomes vulnerable.
• On encounters where the boss becomes Exposed, you can do a huge amount of damage by lining this up with Plaguelands.
  • Ideally you want Plaguelands to be finishing its 10th pulse as the boss becomes broken, which usually means casting it at the start of the phase, or as soon as you see the defiance bar appears.
• Changes in attributes such as condi damage can change which condis are transferred first via Plague Sending. This is usually not an issue those, since Rune of Superior Rune of the Nightmare will transfer one extra condition, allowing you to do your opening as normal.

Breakbar

• Oppressive Collapse
• Your best option without losing DPS are soft CCs such as cripple, blindness, and fear from Garish Pillar.
• Summon Flesh Golem is one of the strongest crowd control skills the necromancer has, but you give up Plaguelands by taking it.
• In emergencies, you can swap to warhorn for Wail of Doom.

Pylon Kiting

Scourge is one of the classes best suited to Pylon Kiting at the Qadim the Peerless encounter. You should make the following modifications to the build:

Skills

• You probably want to change the healing skill to something such as Sand Flare as Qadim will be out of range of the passive lifesteal of Signet of Vampirism.
• Replace Summon Shadow Fiend with Sand Swell so that you can reach orbs quickly.
• Summon Flesh Golem is nice to have as you will rarely be in range to use Plaguelands. This allows you to help CC your pylon, as well as any distortions that aren't taken care of.

Traits

• Sadistic Searing might be a good option.

Other trait options will depend on the amount of sustain you feel you need to keep yourself alive:

• The most aggressive option is to run the Blood Magic specialization as described above. Using Garish Pillar off cooldown should be enough to keep you alive if no orbs are dropped.
• Alternatively (or perhaps in addition to, if you really need the healing), taking Parasitic Contagion in Curses provides a good amount of sustain provided you are able to maintain damage on Qadim.

Gear

• If you are running Blood Magic, you may find that you struggle with life force. In this case it might be advisable to have a Focus in your offhand so that you can hit the boss with Soul Grasp
• If you want to be as safe as possible, you can also use Rune of Superior Rune of Tormenting so give yourself good Regeneration uptime.