Scourge - Blood Support

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

Focused on: Bunkering, Support and Boon removal

Designed for: PvP Conquest

Difficulty:

TBD

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

Overview

A tanky sPvP Scourge build made to support the team while keeping enemies pressured via constant boon removal. Usually seen in comps along with another dedicated support.

Skill Bar

Staff

Axe/Focus

Utility

Slot Changes

Utility

Viable choices for the optional slot include:

• Well of Darkness - the pulsing Template:Gw2wiki and Template:Gw2wiki takes pressure off your team. Currently the most popular choice.

• Well of Corruption - excellent AoE pressure.

• Summon Flesh Wurm - mobility, escape tool, and minor source of Life Force gain.

• Trail of Anguish - one of the few sources of Template:Gw2wiki Necromancers have access to, this is a strong stun breaker that could also help you get an important cast off right after.

Template Code

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Specializations

Variants

• Desert Empowerment with its Abrasive Grit synergy offers more group support if you don't mind giving up some extra AoE pressure on Desert Shroud by dropping Herald of Sorrow.

Equipment

Staff

Sigil

Sigil

Axe

Focus

Sigil

Sigil

Rune

Amulet

Usage

Elite specialization basics

Death Shroud is replaced by shade skills, but shroud related traits still work. Life force (LF) is no longer drained passively or upon taking damage, but instead serves as a resource used by F2-5 skills (F1, which places the shade, is free).

Manifest Sand Shade adds a bit of range to the build and acts as somewhat spammable source of damage especially with Sadistic Searing.

F2-5 skills go off around both the caster and the active shades.

General

Playstyle: your role is to aid your team in larger fights by constantly corrupting boons on enemies, sharing barrier with allies, and reviving the downed. Avoid 1v1s whenever possible.

The build has a lot of barrier applications. Keep in mind that you can't have an active barrier higher than 50% of your maximum health, although reaching the cap should be more than rare.

Do not spam your staff marks on the ground while out of combat, as a single dodge can undo them all. Placing Mark of Blood on chokes to detect enemies crossing in stealth is fine however, as it's a rather short CD and weak one.

The build only has 1 mass cleanse by default: Putrid Mark. Hold onto it as long as you can.

Ghastly Breach is a rather powerful skill, but also easily avoidable. Don't just drop it randomly at the start of the fight, wait for the right moment - look for a situation where you can make your opponent overcommit. Place it on enemies trying to revive their downed teammate, or under yourself on low HP to scare them off.

Feed from Corruption turns every form of boon removal into a potential source of self sustain.

Corrosive Poison Cloud is excellent at shutting down both ranged and direct damage based specs in general, including elite skills such as Lich Form. Meanwhile the Template:Gw2wiki helps at wearing out enemy bunkers and denying rez attempts by reducing healing received.

Template:Gw2sigil adds a bit of burst damage to the build. It's best used with Spinal Shivers and the detonation of Harbinger Shroud.

If taken Consider using Trail of Anguish before your heal for the Template:Gw2skill while under heavy pressure.

Support

Blood Magic traits and Scourge mechanics make this build exceptionally good at reviving allies:

• Garish Pillar triggers Transfusion, which restores both normal and downed health for all allies around you. This will also teleport downed people to the very first time they come in range of the skill. Channeling isn't interrupted when you begin to rez manually (pressing F by default), nor when you go into downed state, which means even if it won't fully revive you, it can still make it easier for allies to do so.
• Ritual of Life procs a Well that heals and revives.
• Last Rites cancels the regular downstate HP degeneration.

Try to share the barrier from Sand Flare, Sand Cascade, and the final detonation of Harbinger Shroud plus the condition conversion of Nefarious Favor with as many allies as possible. They'll have to be in range of either you, or your shade for the latter three.

Abrasive Grit causes your barriers to cleanse 1 condition from allies.

Life force management

As your shade skills cost LF, being efficient at managing this resource will be crucial for both your damage and sustain.

All staff skills generate life force:

• Necrotic Grasp is a rather weak skill and there's no way you'll be able to use it much under any pressure. It does however generate 5% LF per target hit, and you should use it for the occasional ranged poking. Alternatively, right after you won a fight (and no enemies are nearby who could rez their downed allies) you can use the downed bodies as batteries and just spam staff autos at them for a substantial amount of free life force.
• Marks are unblockable and generate 3% LF each. Mark of Blood and Chilblains can be used freely for just pressure and LF building, while Putrid Mark and Reaper's Mark are more powerful and should be kept for the proper occasion (Putrid for mass cleansing and Reaper's for interrupting).

Eternal Life makes it nearly impossible to run out of LF.