Noob scourge question

[BadSanta.6527]

Hey all , was looking in to scourge 

just wondering if I want to play support why not use axe instead of secpter?

[Joxer.6024]

scepter is condi as is you.

[BadSanta.6527]

35 minutes ago, Joxer.6024 said:

scepter is condi as is you.

but if you play support healer ? 

[Zex Anthon.8673]

1 hour ago, BadSanta.6527 said:

but if you play support healer ? 

You should use dagger then for the life force generation.

[Asum.4960]

On 1/21/2023 at 4:42 PM, Zex Anthon.8673 said:

You should use dagger then for the life force generation.

Dagger isn't needed since Eternal Life was added in early 2020. Together with Signet of Undeath and reasonable Vitality, they allow the spamming of all Fx skills on CD - so Dagger is utterly redundant on Heal Scourge since ~3 years. 

And since Necromancer doesn't have any proper Support weapons, you might as well get some minor DPS with Scepter. 

On 1/21/2023 at 2:23 PM, BadSanta.6527 said:

just wondering if I want to play support why not use axe instead of secpter?

Just depends on what Gearset you use. 

If you use something like Shaman you'd want Scepter (which is my preferred setup), but I suppose you could also go something like Magi with Axe, although considering how dreadful Axe is to camp due to it's pathetic Auto Attack, I don't know if there would be much point to that (not that untraited Scepter is all that much better though). 

 

Going the condi variant allows you to hybridise more depending on group needs though, depending on how flexiable your setup is (in terms of legendaries). 

You really only need Mercy Runes to super hard carry in groups with constant mass downs, otherwise Transfusion+Well of Blood² is more than enough for the occasional res, and you can swap to Tormenting Runes for much more DPS, for example (and you can take this hybridisation further, all the way to the full cDPS Viper's+Nightmare with just running BM over SR, as low carry safety net for intermediate groups/easier encounters with beginner groups).

Edited January 22, 2023 by Asum.4960

[Infusion.7149]

Generally scourge is run on condi, the only place people ran axe was on WVW power scourge

[ZeftheWicked.3076]

Scourge has no goodies for power specs. No free crit chance, no free ferocity/crit damage, no nothing.
But there's plenty for condi builds.

And axe is pure power while scepter pure condi.

Edited January 25, 2023 by ZeftheWicked.3076

[Dadnir.5038]

The main area where you'll use scourge in a powerbuild is WvW and the reason you'll favor scepter over axe in this build is due to:

1- Traited scepter offer two 900 range aoe.

2- Scepter#3 will do it's boon corruption job more reliably than axe#3 because it's a 900 range delivering an aoe while axe's aoe is centered around you.

For nigh everything else, condi builds will be dominant and scepter will be your best friend in such builds.

[Nimon.7840]

If you run a full heal scourge (something like magi-stats) it doesn't really matter what weapon you run.

Imo:

 

- staff is good to keep up regeneration

- scepter, if you have some sort of condition dmg in your stats

- axe, if you need more vulnerability

- dagger, if you need self sustain or an immobilize

 

Offhands:

- warhorn, great cc and the only weapon skill that heals people directly

- torch good cc and some might generation

- dagger if you need more boon corrupts

- focus if you need boon remove

 

There's basically no really bad choice overall, but imo also not a very good choice like on other specs (for example rev staff, or druid staff).

But dagger and focus offhand have a lot less use tan the other options.

 

There's lots of combinations that are perfectly fine.

1. Staff+ x/warhorn: best healing option

2. x/torch + x/warhorn: most cc

3. Scepter/torch + scepter/x: best condition dmg (depending on traits you might want to use dagger offhand to transfer self inflicted conditions from blood is power)

4. Staff + axe/x: best power burst option, for small adds or very short phases

 

 

 

[The Boz.2038]

Axe is ~putrid, unless you are power reaping, and even then, consider staff instead.

[Yasai.3549]

On 1/21/2023 at 10:30 PM, BadSanta.6527 said:

but if you play support healer ? 

If you play support healer then forget about doing Power based damage, period. 
Power without Precision and Ferocity is an utter waste of time, and Support build stats do not grant you high amounts of any of these. 

But you know what you will be getting? Might, and that means Condition Damage. And scepter is an extremely good weapon set, as mentioned by all the other players. You only need to camp Scepter and Torch iirc to do your job as Healscourge. Doesn't get any simpler than that.