Curse

Ammo · Aug 11, 2007, 12:40 AM // 00:40

I made a sand shards build the other day, and since im a bit new to derv i wanted to know how effective it is in pve/faction farming/etc.. anything with groups. It seems to work okay but not as well as i had hoped.

I use Twin Moon Sweep, but it doesnt show up as a double hit )even though i remove an enchantment) it just shows -25.

Evilsod · Aug 12, 2007, 02:29 AM // 02:29

Sand Shards is absolutely awful... its damage is so utterly crap compared to how much damage a scythe can actually hit for if you used an attack skill.

Francis Demeules · Aug 12, 2007, 02:49 AM // 02:49

The only thing I can say is you must try to hit 3 foes to have something good (-75 nearby with 15 earth If I remember correctly with 3 foes). Otherwise, I think its useless against 1.

MrFuzzles · Aug 12, 2007, 03:23 AM // 03:23

I just find the criteria for it to be way too situational. It's easier to bring mend condition if you get blinded, it's easier to bring wild blow if you're having problems with stances.

It's too hard to be consistently blind as there are currently (correct me if I'm wrong here) 2 skills in the game which blind you. One being elite. You cannot use monk henchmen while running this synergy.
It's too hard to consistently hit several foes that consistently block with it. It's just not viable at all against single targets.

Francis Demeules · Aug 12, 2007, 03:30 AM // 03:30

I presume you mean Signet of Midnight and the Assassin Faction skill (Luxon/kurzick) which I forgot the name.

MrFuzzles · Aug 12, 2007, 03:33 AM // 03:33

Yeah. Those are the only ones I'm aware of.
The assassin skill works pretty well on paper considering the heal and armor, except that the blind only lasts for 10 seconds and has a 30 second recharge.

Francis Demeules · Aug 12, 2007, 02:35 PM // 14:35

To have something effective is constatly hit 3 foes while missing for like -75 nearby and a Increase attack speed skill (perhaps trigger the AoE scatter in PvE)

Evilsod · Aug 12, 2007, 02:53 PM // 14:53

Even if you were hitting 3 foes getting a grand total of 75 damage you'd still do more by just hitting them with a scythe...

Francis Demeules · Aug 13, 2007, 03:07 AM // 03:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by Evilsod

Even if you were hitting 3 foes getting a grand total of 75 damage you'd still do more by just hitting them with a scythe...

Even behind you and all nearby foes by a single normal swing? I really think Sand Shard is for farming against a mob of melee or something like that.

Coloneh · Aug 13, 2007, 05:42 AM // 05:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by Francis Demeules

Even behind you and all nearby foes by a single normal swing? I really think Sand Shard is for farming against a mob of melee or something like that.

AoE scatter. you can only hit 3 at a time.

JNevermore · Aug 15, 2007, 04:51 AM // 04:51

Ok I'm just starting with my first Derv, and I was thinking it would be a really good farming build. You say it can't do much dmg abd it'll only be 25dmg per a miss with Sand Shards. If I'm hitting a group of 3 wouldn't that be 3 misses so 25 dmg x 3 = 75 dmg a swing? Or is that not very high?

Francis Demeules · Aug 15, 2007, 08:13 PM // 20:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by JNevermore

Ok I'm just starting with my first Derv, and I was thinking it would be a really good farming build. You say it can't do much dmg abd it'll only be 25dmg per a miss with Sand Shards. If I'm hitting a group of 3 wouldn't that be 3 misses so 25 dmg x 3 = 75 dmg a swing? Or is that not very high?

you must try to miss 3 foes at least, not hit them to trigger sand shards. 75 is fair enough but you must know that if you're blind and the others not, you can have some problems anyway. You need to require at least 3 foes to do a AoE nearby. Like Coloneh said, trigger AoE scatter... it can be used to scatter foes out from the group if we think of that...

Coloneh · Aug 16, 2007, 04:34 AM // 04:34

76 is pretty good if there wasnt the HUGE downtime. you still have to cast signet of midnight. and if you want to survive you also need to cast Epidemic every 15 seconds. plust your other enchantments.

boarderx · Aug 16, 2007, 12:34 PM // 12:34

[skill]sand shards[/skill]

is does do dmg to all nearby foes but in my days of derv-ing ive found sand shards to be crap, might work ok for farming but even then there are better ways to do it.

if you do wanna do sand shards
[skill]signet of midnight[/skill]
[skill]epidemic[/skill] if you wanna blind all adj foes
[skill]sand shards[/skill]
[skill]heart of fury[/skill] IAS to trigger shards faster
[skill]Vital boon[/skill] self heal
[skill]Twin Moon Sweep[/skill] (i know you said this didnt trigger but im pretty sure it does, and use this skill after vital boon for a spike heal, be sure you arent removing sandshards)
[skill]Conviction[/skill] good armor buff
[skill]armor of sanctity[/skill]good dmg reducer (the derv's stoneflesh aura, lol)

im not saying this would be the awesomeest thing ever but i think that is how i might try running a shards build, feel free to swap skills to suit your play style

gl, hf

MrFuzzles · Aug 16, 2007, 03:22 PM // 15:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by boarderx

[skill]armor of sanctity[/skill]good dmg reducer (the derv's stoneflesh aura, lol)

With that build, you would only get a damage reduction from foes suffering from blindness.

boarderx · Aug 16, 2007, 07:58 PM // 19:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrFuzzles

With that build, you would only get a damage reduction from foes suffering from blindness.

oh yeah sry, but i guess if you have SF eles it'll work, ignore the Armor of Sanctity, brain fart here at work, lol

Isil`Zha · Aug 20, 2007, 08:01 PM // 20:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by Evilsod

Even if you were hitting 3 foes getting a grand total of 75 damage you'd still do more by just hitting them with a scythe...

Try 225 grand total. Hit hits each foe 3 times, not once - 75 to each.

Now, I wouldn't base a build around Sand Shards, but it can be quite useful. First, it's a cheap, long lasting enchantment good for all those "for each enchantment on you/if enchanted" skills that Dervishes have.

The biggest thing it adds to your build though is the ability to always do damage - they can have ward against melee, aegis, guardian, and whirling defense protecting them while you're blinded and you'll still do damage.

Against a single foe it won't do tremendous damage, but if they were already low on health and attempted to shut you down, or put up defenses to survive, it can make the difference.

While it can be exploited to do very high damage, it's too conditional to base the entire build around it. But heck, blind + 4 opponents = 400 damage per swing, no attack skills. (Twin moon sweeping it would do 800, ect.)

For most situations, yes, it's better to just hit with your scythe... Sand Shards is for preventing you from being shutdown by blinding, or shutout from doing damage through blocking. After all, 14 DPS is better than 0 DPS... heck, 14 DPS is the same as an auto-attacking Assassin on a 60AL target. It's even better on high armor targets like Warriors where that Assassin's is 5 DPS and your blinded Dervish is still 14.

Isil`Zha · Aug 21, 2007, 01:18 AM // 01:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coloneh

AoE scatter. you can only hit 3 at a time.

Wrong. Misses don't count as hits towards the 3 hit limit - you can have an unlimited number of misses, just as long as they're within the arc, or you haven't already hit 3 foes. This does not violate the 3 hit rule since you haven't hit anything.

If you know anything about Guild Wars, you should know that the descriptions are very specific and apply just as they sound. (Ward Against Melee for instance doesn't do anything to Rangers shooting you with Bows.) The wording for how skills work are very precise.

MrFuzzles · Aug 21, 2007, 06:12 AM // 06:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by Isil`Zha

Wrong. Misses don't count as hits towards the 3 hit limit - you can have an unlimited number of misses, just as long as they're within the arc, or you haven't already hit 3 foes. This does not violate the 3 hit rule since you haven't hit anything.

That's not true at all. It only triggers when you "fail to hit"; when your target blocks your attack or when a "miss" pops up. Even if you're blinded, you will only be able to miss 3 mobs.

http://scrap.5elements.net/gwscreens/gw277.jpg

3 misses, 12 damage numbers. It could only be 12 if there are 4 mobs in that bunch which take 3 hits each, and they're clearly so close together that they're all within my arc. If I had "missed" all 4, there should be 16 damage numbers (let alone 4x "miss").

Coloneh · Aug 21, 2007, 07:24 AM // 07:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Isil`Zha

Wrong. Misses don't count as hits towards the 3 hit limit - you can have an unlimited number of misses, just as long as they're within the arc, or you haven't already hit 3 foes. This does not violate the 3 hit rule since you haven't hit anything.

If you know anything about Guild Wars, you should know that the descriptions are very specific and apply just as they sound. (Ward Against Melee for instance doesn't do anything to Rangers shooting you with Bows.) The wording for how skills work are very precise.

Yeah.... your wrong. you swing the scythe at up to three foes. also thats not what i was talking about. I said AoE scatter. Mob AI is designed so that only 3 foes will stay around a foe that is using AoE damage, additional foes will just run away.