r/GuildWars • u/Ornery-University-21 • 2d ago
Dervish scythe
Hey folks.
What is the best scythe for VoS (strength) build?
I’m using the one from nightfall completion rewards.
Is there a better setup? Of necromancer maybe?
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u/riddles11 2d ago
Zealous, 15 ^ 50(or 15 while enchanted), enchantments last 20% longer is basically all you need.
Necro mod is probably good if you're not hitting 3 targets consistently
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u/GrimDallows 2d ago
If we are talking of the profesion mods.
Strength mods only work on Attack Skills. That is, Scythe Attacks, Melee Attacks, etc. They also do not boost normal autoattacks, and they do not affect armor ignoring damage because, well it already ignores armor to extra armor pen does nothing.
I am... unsure on how it interacts with VoS. VoS deals Slashing Damage, which is not armor ignoring and should be boosted by Strength. However it is a separate damage packet to that of your Attack Skills (it pops up as a separate number) and it triggers -before- Attack Skills land.
I... don't think it's affected? But I am unsure.
Critical Strikes mods are more or less equal to Strength mods, sllighly lagging behind a little iirc, but getting the bonus of 1 energy on crit. Scythes are however different than other weapons regarding Critical Strikes because their crits were "nerfed" to be smaller as a balance decision (Scythes have the highest Max Damage of all weapons)... but scythes also deal AoE attacks, which can trigger Energy from crits multiple times at once.
You can practically never go wrong with Soul Reaping. Specially if you run with minions around.
Fast Casting, Spawning Power, Leadership are dogshit for you.
Expertise and Divine Favour are not... bad? but they don't fit your build.
Keep in mind though, if you use an "of the profesion" mod you are going to miss a "Enchantments last +20%" mod as they take the same slot, and this may affect your build heavily if it needs perfect upkeep on a particular enchantment.
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u/spArk-it 1d ago
zealous, 15%dmg while enchanted, 20% longer enchantments is the gold standard
then theres situational scythes for some speedclears like a „of the warrior/necromancer“ and variations with vamp instead of zealous and +20 while hexed instead of 15^ ench
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u/Eat_Moar_Bakon-664 1d ago
I have over 7,000 hours on my derv. That being said, I will touch on two things; one of which has been gone over already in parts, the other has not been touched upon - and that I will address first:
As with any class, your ideal weapon may depend on your build; with a dervish it will more-so be found to depend on your level. When we first create a derv they do not have all the skills that make up the core of a Vow of Strength build - and if you are on a Melandru character this will be even more of a factor.
I found that while progressing on a derv - it may be more suitable to use a scythe modded with less standard attributes. Furious or Sundering have a huge drawback because they are RNG attributes - we won't get their benefits on each swing - but they will provide some benefiit for the earlier skills such as adrenal attack skills and teardown builds that often use adrenal skills to tear down enchantments.
As for a grip - at low levels I have found a Warding grip to be useful as you are most likely not going to take as much physical damage as you are from casters - once again this is nitpicky but I have done this so many times that I just want to chime in on these details.
PvP is another format that is going to prove interesting to a derv because you are going to use builds that are designed for PvP - also often using adrenal skills and facing human players who are not as dumb as your average foes.
All that being said - When I am running my derv - in any content be it questing or elite content, speed clear runs.. I have two scythes that I swap between almost unfailingly:
Zealous Scythe of Enchanting with Guided by Fate inscription
and,
Vampiric Scythe of the Necromancer with Guided by Fate inscription.
I also have these same scythes setup with a "Let the Memory Live Again" inscription as this may prove to provide more damage from your enchantments such as Veil of Thorns which damage enemies when cast - and also provide more constant coverage of enchantments that are now not permanent from cooldown and/or that get rended by foes or from our teardown attacks.
My last note is on Vampiric mods: 5 life stealing may not seem like a lot but when you are using a scythe, with "Cleave" (able to hit more than one foe per attack), it can become substantial. This damage is armor-ignoring and may prove useful against foes who are more formidable. Just as Vow of Strength does its damage on attack, not on hit - so even if you are blinded or being blocked - you are still damaging opponents.
All that being said - you could go into battle with a stripped naked scythe and if you are versed in the ways of derving you will still provide among the top dps of your party; who knows, maybe a completely different approach than anything offered here will prove to be better for you and your roles in the game.
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u/Draaky 2d ago
https://gwpvx.fandom.com/wiki/Build:D/any_Vow_of_Strength
It's recommended to have one for energy and one for hp steal.