Curse

drupal · Jan 05, 2007, 12:25 AM // 00:25

I always played ranger and armor isn't the most important thing because you don't stand at the frontline. I have no clue what i shut put on my dervish, 25 energy isn't very much since there is no expertise and some spells are in the range of 10-15e

on the other side is windwalkers +15 armor also not bad...

Please share your thoughts ;>

NinjaKai · Jan 05, 2007, 01:14 AM // 01:14

I think it comes down to your build at the end of the day. I mean I use builds that have Zealous Vow as my elite. This allows me to use more enchants in a short space of time. As such I use Windwalkers armor because I can normally maintain the enchants I use keeping the extra armor bonus.

Basically think about what type of build you'll be using then think about what insignia would best accompany that build.

Paperfly · Jan 05, 2007, 02:46 AM // 02:46

Dervishes generally don't need a high maximum energy rating unless they're using Avatar of Melandru with it's 25E cost.

I would recommend a +armour set (probably blessed, but whatever works best with your build) for at least chest and leggings. Hands and feet can be radiant, but that may not be necessary - unless you're offloading a longish attack combo maximum energy is less relevant than your recharge rate. I'd personally suggest Survivor's, and if you're having energy issues test with a Zealous scythe first before fiddling with your armour.

Late edit: I can't believe I actually spelt it Avater!

Kijik Oni Hanryuu · Jan 05, 2007, 05:32 AM // 05:32

I just use my skills to buff armor conviction>all and I pump my energy out the wazoo with radiant insigs.

Vexed · Jan 05, 2007, 06:06 AM // 06:06

I find with my derv I'm nearly always using Faithful Intervention and about 75% of the time I'm using Conviction.

Considering how enchantment-reliant the dervish is, it seems foolish not to let your armor reflect that and use blessed insignias, but +armor in stance could be just as useful depending on the builds you run, as stance removal isn't quite as prevalent as enchant removal.

I really don't see the benefit to +energy armor, dervishes have great e-management built in. I'll take smart e-management over a higher starting energy pool any day of the week. You can always focus swap if you get DP and need to use your avatar.

Seef II · Jan 05, 2007, 08:36 AM // 08:36

Blessed or Survivor's. Radiant is fine for PvE too.

strcpy · Jan 05, 2007, 10:26 AM // 10:26

Blessed has +10 armor while enchanted, windwalker has +5 armor per enchant up to +15. For many dervishes Windwalkers will give 5 more defense - I know mine usually has 3 or more on her.

I do not find radiant to be that useful. Dervish skills are cheap, mysticism gives a good bonus (and usually when you are needing it - to replace an enchant that has gone off), and our regen generally takes care of everything else. Though if you are running low on energy then radiant makes sense - as was said above a few Melandru builds can benefit from it quite a bit.

Personally Windwalkers is my choice. I also use a rune of Vitae as the extra rune instead of an attunement - energy has almost never been a problem and the few times it has the extra wouldn't help (I'm getting hit by a mesmer that is going to drain my energy one way or another).

Servant of Kali · Jan 05, 2007, 10:32 AM // 10:32

Windwalker insignia is the best in 99% cases.

If your build doesnt use many enchants for some reason (for instance my Zealous Vow build, or Vow of Strenght etc), you can use Blessed one, but that shouldnt be in more than 1% cases. Windwalker is uber, use it if possible.

Radiant insignia doesnt help much from what i saw. If you're using Melandru, simply have +30e wand/foci on a switch (and in case you get DP). Dont get fooled by max energy Dervish has; it's all you're gonna need in 99% cases.

Avoid Survivor. It's useless on a Dervish. If you're Dervish you're:
1) enchant heavy
2) offense-heavy
There's no time for warrior style of tanking. If you're tanking do it with enchants, and in PvE you'll tank 3x better than warrior and do 3x more dmg. Again, Survivor is useless IMO.

In conclusion, a Dervish without enchants is a bad Dervish. That's why you need Windwalker or Blessed and nothing else. If you dont use any enchants, start thinking on why you're playing Dervish instead of some other profession.

Oh, also, a bit offtopic - a Dervish without secondary profession is a bad Dervish. Im saying this because i've seen those who dont use secondary profession (in RA) or skill (in PvE). There are many non-Dervish skills which have awesome synergy with Dervish - pick one. If nothing else pick warrior for wildblow, or monk for RoF and prot spirit spam. Options are endless.

Shoitaan · Jan 05, 2007, 11:07 AM // 11:07

I believe I have 3 radiants and 2 windwalkers. Gives me 30max energy and upto +30armour which serves me quite well

drupal · Jan 05, 2007, 11:29 AM // 11:29

Ok, thx. I just bought a zealous mod for my scythe, I hope that solves the problem. I'll buy Windwalker because I tank a lot.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Servant of Kali

Oh, also, a bit offtopic - a Dervish without secondary profession is a bad Dervish.

I'm D/Me because of the mesmer interrupts. Channeling might be a good idea.

Thanks for your help

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shoitaan

I believe I have 3 radiants and 2 windwalkers. Gives me 30max energy and upto +30armour which serves me quite well

Two Windwalkers don't double your armor ^^ The problem is that the radiant insignia gives the most energy on the chest and the chest is one of the most attacked parts.

NinjaKai · Jan 05, 2007, 04:14 PM // 16:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by Servant of Kali

Oh, also, a bit offtopic - a Dervish without secondary profession is a bad Dervish. Im saying this because i've seen those who dont use secondary profession (in RA) or skill (in PvE). There are many non-Dervish skills which have awesome synergy with Dervish - pick one. If nothing else pick warrior for wildblow, or monk for RoF and prot spirit spam. Options are endless.

It is possible to find synergy with a professions skills without needing a secondary. It all depends on what you want your build to achieve. That and if your smart enough to spend the time to make and test your builds. I just made a build for Dervish recently which has pretty good synergy using all of the Dervish attributes.

Servant of Kali · Jan 05, 2007, 05:53 PM // 17:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by NinjaKai

It is possible to find synergy with a professions skills without needing a secondary. It all depends on what you want your build to achieve. That and if your smart enough to spend the time to make and test your builds. I just made a build for Dervish recently which has pretty good synergy using all of the Dervish attributes.

Let's put it this way: I havent seen a single Dervish build yet, which would not have been better with the addition of one or more secondary Dervish skills.

Im not saying it's not possible, but i dont know of it. If you made one, im curious to see it

Is it for PvP or PvE, post skills, u can PM me with it.

Str0b0 · Jan 05, 2007, 05:58 PM // 17:58

The only skill I use from my secondary is a hard res. The build is posted under the Ebon Dust Aura build thread.

Paperfly · Jan 06, 2007, 01:01 AM // 01:01

Quote:

In conclusion, a Dervish without enchants is a bad Dervish. That's why you need Windwalker or Blessed and nothing else. If you dont use any enchants, start thinking on why you're playing Dervish instead of some other profession.

While I agree that you need to be enchanted most of the time as a Dervish, I don't agree that wearing three of them "99% of the time" is necessary or even desirable.

Scythe attack builds (who'll be wearing Faithful Intervention and Heart of Fury), condition spreading builds, and even builds that recycle/remove their own enchants a lot are perfectly viable and will average one-two enchantments most of the time, not three.

Servant of Kali · Jan 06, 2007, 01:10 AM // 01:10

Let's put it this way. If you're playing Scythe, you need Heart of Fury in 99% builds. It's the best IAS in the game. So, that's one enchant. Now, you only need 1 more enchant to get 10armor bonus for windwalker. Shouldnt be a problem.

Therefore windalker is best in 99% cases. in 0.1% cases u might need to use Blessed. But i would still like to see good dervish build with only one enchant.

Str0b0 · Jan 06, 2007, 01:36 AM // 01:36

I generally keep about 3 enchants on me at all times if not more. First run into an battle I have 5 enchants on me. That's using an Ebon Dust Aura Scythe build

drupal · Jan 06, 2007, 01:47 AM // 01:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by Servant of Kali

Im not saying it's not possible, but i dont know of it. If you made one, im curious to see it

Is it for PvP or PvE, post skills, u can PM me with it.

D/any Forge Runner, the FoW tank... very good builds without needing the second profession.

I have no problem using 3 or more enchants. Faithful Intervention/Heart of Fury, Mystic Vigor and Mystic Regeneration are always up.

ensoriki · Jan 06, 2007, 02:22 AM // 02:22

Quote:

a Dervish without secondary profession is a bad Dervish. Im saying this because i've seen those who dont use secondary profession

......A dervish who thinks this...is a close minded dervish

Wind walker is nice and all, but if its about energy management a good combo is

Arcane zeal+ meditation +zealous renewal
Pious renewal+meditation/other enchant
Zealous vow....From what highest energy Regeneration in game if all conditions are met

ss1986v2 · Jan 06, 2007, 03:47 AM // 03:47

wind walker if you want the armor bonus and radiant if your build is energy intensive. you should have at least two enchants as a dervish, making it just as good as blessed with the potential to be better.

as for the secondary issue, the dervish has some of the best in-class synergy in its lines of most any class, just as good as warriors. dipping into your secondary is fine (i love RoF along with mending touch), but you can run a perfectly fine build without ever touching your secondary:

avatar of choice
enchant of choice
enchant of choice
mystic regen
conviction/attack skill
attack skill
attack skill
rez

and ta da! you have a derv that can sustain itself through normal pve pressure without needing a monk to babysit him and that still is able to pump out plenty of dmg. and no secondary needed, unless you just have to have a reusable rez. i tend to have melee classed bring sigs for quick combat rezes, and leave it to the monks and support characters to handle after battle rezing.

Servant of Kali · Jan 06, 2007, 10:08 AM // 10:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by drupal

the FoW tank... very good builds without needing the second profession.

That FoW tank would be better off using secondary. Sure he doesnt need it, but would benefit more from it.

Dunno, if you're talking about Forge quest (havent done other areas in FoW with Dervish sry), then D/Mo with Dwayna for me, beats Balthazar or anything i've seen other people play. You'll get tons of hex on you, which monk cant as efficiently remove in a fast way (without wasting too much energy) - and you can spam RoF and other stuff constantly to remove them. Having no hexes on your when you're fighting first groups, then in the cave, and near forge guy himself, means you can kill stuff much faster, survive better, and not be a threat to any tank near you (if there's one, and there shouldnt be). Not to mention that mending touch is priceless sometimes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ensoriki

......A dervish who thinks this...is a close minded dervish

Come up with a Dervish-only build for PvP or PvE, i'll come up with a better one who uses secondary. Go on. Dont call me close minded unless you can prove it.

Quote:

Arcane zeal+ meditation +zealous renewal
Pious renewal+meditation/other enchant

Meditation is a bad skill which needs a buff.
Arcane Zeal + Zealous Renewal is a horrible skill combination in my oppinion. If you're attacking you're not casting spells, and if you're casting spells you're not attacking. If you're not attacking Renewal is bad, and if you're not casting spells you're wasting elite. If you're doing bit of both you're wasting both skills and their potential.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ss1986v2

but you can run a perfectly fine build without ever touching your secondary:

avatar of choice
enchant of choice
enchant of choice
mystic regen
conviction/attack skill
attack skill
attack skill
rez

As i said, post the full build. Then i'll post one which uses secondary profession, and is better than this one.

Balthazar + Conviction is good in areas with too many enchants strips (like in DoA, which is less than 1% of the game), but in more or less all other areas Dwayna + RoF + Prot spirit + Mending Touch beats it in tanking capability without having less dmg. Since i dont even see Dervishes in DoA who cares what's better build there when no build is good enough as of yet. Not to mention that there are a lot of game areas where's you'll take 100dmg or more even with higher armor, but with prot spirit u wont. Plus, these enchants can be helpful for your teammates as well. What if someone in your team needs a fast RoF or prot spirit to avoid dying? Numerous times in PvE someone would die in the group if i didnt do fast proting until monk had energy and reflexes to heal him back, or we simply killed enemy.

As for your avatar of choice, it comes down to Balthazar. Why? Dwayna is better with Mo secondary, Lyssa is better with Assassin or even Paragon secondary. Grenth is better with Warrior secondary. Melandru in itself doesnt badly need secondary, but i've used secondary on it too simply because it's seemed better (warrior or paragon was what i used here i think).

When making a build i always take into account team synergy as well. Do i benefit my team? Do i drain too much monk energy? Do i use skills which synergize nicely with those that team uses? Etc.