[WvW] Anyone got any good Scourge builds for small scale/roaming?

[Shroud.2307]

This spec is a bit of an enigma to me. For the longest time I hated it, but eventually warmed up to it. Although I still haven't played a whole lot of it, I do enjoy meme'ing with my crappy "condi nuke" build from time to time. That however is the issue, the build is a meme and doesn't work so well against good players.

I've tried making "actual" builds a few times but never seem to settle on something I like the look of. Barrier is the biggest issue for me because I want a lot of it so I can endure lengthy (possibly outnumbered) fights, but Healing Power doesn't seem to add a whole lot to Barrier. Full Apothecary is only like a 1k difference for most sources, and I question whether it's worth it to invest in Healing Power at all for such a (seemingly) small increase.

But then because I don't have a lot of experience with Scourge, I also don't know if that increase is more significant than I give it credit for or not. Maybe it just looks like it isn't much on paper but is actually a lot in practice.

Anyway, tldr; I've experimented with crafting a variety of builds but have never settled on one that looks "good". I also have only limited experience with Scourge so that may affect my thoughts on what's good and what isn't as I've only ever put one build I've made to actual use.

Note:I don't want to do full zerker or Grieving for two reasons; I main core Power Necro and it's my favorite build, period. Not terribly interested in playing the same basic thing but instead with Scourge. And second I'd like to be a bit of a bruiser, so builds like Apothecary, Trailblazer, Celestial, etc. are more appealing, but if there are better stat combinations that aren't full glass I'd be interested in learning.

[KrHome.1920]

@Shroud.2307 said:the build is a meme and doesn't work so well against good players.No scourge build does.

Your build isn't even bad. I would change the heal to sand flare and pick abrasive grit and sadistic searing instead of fell beacon and herald of sorrow.

Scourge is the worst roaming spec in the game followed by core necro, because the latter has at least some pretty ridiculous sustain options to postpone its inevitable death for a minute even against a competent opponent.

I am not joking: you can craft better staff elementalist builds for roaming than any scourge build.

Note:I don't want to do full zerker or Grieving for two reasons; I main core Power Necro and it's my favorite build, period. Not terribly interested in playing the same basic thing but instead with Scourge. And second I'd like to be a bit of a bruiser, so builds like Apothecary, Trailblazer, Celestial, etc. are more appealing, but if there are better stat combinations that aren't full glass I'd be interested in learning.Your only option for a roaming scourge (if you really want to cripple yourself with this spec) is trailblazer. Forget about power builds as you would need too many different attributes to have enough sustain and deal enough damage. Celestial on the other hand spreads yours stats too wide. Cele does only work in the zerg, because you get additional 25 might, protection and stuff. On your own this attribute combination does not work.

Why trailblazer:

• condi damage and vitality are no-brainers
• expertise is a must have as the base condi duration for scourge in WvW is a joke
• toughness is very good to increase the practical effectiveness of your barriers and healings

[Shroud.2307]

@"KrHome.1920" said:Your build isn't even bad. I would change the heal to sand flare and pick abrasive grit and sadistic searing instead of fell beacon and herald of sorrow.

I dunno, I think it's bad in the sense that it doesn't really do anything other than a lot of damage. It doesn't have much Corrupt, 0 investment in Barrier, and no reduced Shade cooldowns. It does an obscene amount of Torment/Burn/Fear damage and has decent "sustain" through Parasitic Contagion, Torment runes, and food, but it's so easily shut down if I miss a couple skills. I label it as "meme" because I can delete people extremely fast, but the same can be done to me.

I will give your suggestions a try though- I could see Abrasive Grit being a moderate damage increase too.

Scourge is the worst roaming spec in the game followed by core necro, because the latter has at least some pretty ridiculous sustain options to postpone its inevitable death for a minute even against a competent opponent.

I am not joking: you can craft better staff elementalist builds for roaming than any scourge build.

I could believe that, I've seen/fought some Staff Ele's that were surprisingly scary (but still generally an easy win).

I don't mind playing one of/the worst roaming specs though, I've been doing it for 7 years so I know what the consequences are. As long as I'm not hard countered by 75% of the builds I meet then that's pretty much good enough for me. The only time I gave up roaming with Necro was shortly after PoF release because I literally could not compete with anything even in 1v1's.

Your only option for a roaming scourge (if you really want to cripple yourself with this spec) is trailblazer. Forget about power builds as you would need too many different attributes to have enough sustain and deal enough damage. Celestial on the other hand spreads yours stats too wide. Cele does only work in the zerg, because you get additional 25 might, protection and stuff. On your own this attribute combination does not work.

Why trailblazer:

• condi damage and vitality are no-brainers
• expertise is a must have as the base condi duration for scourge in WvW is a joke
• toughness is very good to increase the practical effectiveness of your barriers and healings

Alright well that makes figuring out a build a lot easier then. As I had said in the OP, I was already thinking Healing Power might not be worth the investment, and definitely don't have interest in playing something glassy.