Build:N/D Soul Taker Scythe

The PvXwiki community finds this to be a good build. This build has received an overall rating in the range from 3.75 to < 4.75 and thus qualifies for the lower category of working builds: Good. This build has been designed for the following use: PvE general

Melee necromancer build that uses Soul TakerCoreNecromancer. Soul Reaping 11Soul TakerElite Enchantment SpellFor 23 seconds, your attacks sacrifice 19 health and deal +19 more damage. PvE only.5115 to trigger Dark AuraCoreNecromancer. Death Magic 15Dark AuraEnchantment SpellFor 30 seconds, whenever target ally sacrifices Health, Dark Aura deals 50 shadow damage to adjacent foes, and you lose 20 Health.10110 with the cleave effect from scythe attacks. Uses Anniversary Scythe "Sufferer" to deal weapon base damage without investing into a weapon mastery attribute. The involved health loss is countered by draining health points with Grenth's AuraEotNDervish. Wind Prayers 12Grenth's AuraFlash Enchantment SpellFor 20 seconds, you deal 21 less damage and steal 21 Health whenever you hit with a scythe attack. When you cast this enchantment you steal 21 Health from all adjacent foes.1010.

Attributes and Skills

Necromancer / Dervish 8 + 1 Soul Reaping 10 + 1 + 3 Death Magic 12 Wind Prayers Gain 9 Energy whenever a non-Spirit creature near you dies, up to 3 times every 15 seconds. Signet of Mystic Speed EotNDervish. Wind Prayers 12Signet of Mystic SpeedSignetFor 30 seconds, your next 3 self-targeting enchantments cast instantly. Flash enchantments do not consume uses of this skill.120 Masochism EotNNecromancer. Soul Reaping 11MasochismEnchantment SpellFor 32 seconds, you have +2 to your Death Magic and Soul Reaping attributes and sacrifice 4% of your maximum Health when you cast a spell.5120 Dark Aura CoreNecromancer. Death Magic 16Dark AuraEnchantment SpellFor 30 seconds, whenever target ally sacrifices Health, Dark Aura deals 53 shadow damage to adjacent foes, and you lose 21 Health.10110 Soul Taker CoreNecromancer. Soul Reaping 11Soul TakerElite Enchantment SpellFor 23 seconds, your attacks sacrifice 19 health and deal +19 more damage. PvE only.5115 Mystic Vigor NightfallDervish. Mysticism 0Mystic VigorEnchantment SpellFor 20 seconds, every time you successfully hit with an attack, you gain 3 Health for each Enchantment on you (maximum 25 Health).5¼15 Grenth's Aura EotNDervish. Wind Prayers 12Grenth's AuraFlash Enchantment SpellFor 20 seconds, you deal 21 less damage and steal 21 Health whenever you hit with a scythe attack. When you cast this enchantment you steal 21 Health from all adjacent foes.1010 Optional CoreNo Profession. UnlinkedOptionalOptionalOptional. Drunken Master EotNNo Profession. Deldrimor rank Drunken MasterStanceFor 72..90 seconds, your movement and attack speeds are increased by 10..15%. If you are drunk while activating this Skill, your movement and attack speeds are increased by 25..33% instead. PvE only.560   Template code

Variable Skill Slot:

• "I Am Unstoppable!"EotNNo Profession. Norn rank "I Am Unstoppable!"ShoutFor 16..20 seconds, you have +24 armor and cannot be knocked down or Crippled.
  PvE only.530 – immunity to knock downs, crippled condition and source of additional armour. Ignores normal effect stacking, its bonus armour is applied after other armour bonuses.
• Feel No PainEotNNo Profession. Norn rank Feel No PainSkillFor 30 seconds you have +2..3 Health regeneration. If you are drunk when activating this Skill you also have +200..300 maximum Health.
  PvE only.520 – with alcohol. The increased maximum health points allow to play two superior attribute runes with less involved risks. Change death magic to 11+1+3 and soul reaping to 6+3. Decreases effectivity of ShelterFactionsRitualist. Communing ShelterBinding RitualCreate a level 1..10..13 Spirit. Non-Spirit allies within its range cannot lose more than 10% maximum Health from a single attack. When this Spirit prevents damage, it loses 75..51..43 Health. This Spirit lasts 30..54..62 seconds.25145 and Protective SpiritCoreMonk. Protection Prayers Protective SpiritEnchantment SpellFor 5..19..24 seconds, target ally cannot lose more than 10% max Health due to damage from a single attack or Spell.10¼5.
• Putrid ExplosionCoreNecromancer. Death Magic 16Putrid ExplosionSpellThe corpse nearest your target explodes, sending out a shockwave that deals 126 damage to nearby foes.1015 – additional damage. Can be used to increase your damage range (nearby instead of adjacent), deal damage from distance (target foes near a corpse) and serves as a source of backup damage if either soul taker or dark aura have been removed.
• Grenth's FingersNightfallDervish. Wind Prayers 12Grenth's FingersFlash Enchantment SpellAll nearby foes are struck for 34 cold damage. For 30 seconds, your attacks deal cold damage. When this enchantment ends, you transfer 2 conditions to all nearby foes.510 – possible replacement for Mystic VigorNightfallDervish. Mysticism 0Mystic VigorEnchantment SpellFor 20 seconds, every time you successfully hit with an attack, you gain 3 Health for each Enchantment on you (maximum 25 Health).5¼15. Increased AoE spike (triggers Dark Aura via Masochism) Allows more frequent usage of one of the tear down attack skills below:
  • Twin Moon SweepNightfallDervish. Scythe Mastery 2Twin Moon SweepMelee AttackYou lose 1 Dervish enchantment and gain 15 Health. If an enchantment is lost in this way, you cannot be blocked, you strike twice, and you gain an additional 18 Health.7 – additional area damage triggering. Requires a dervish enchantment. Avoid removing Grenth's aura unless it is about to recharge or already ready to be reapplied. Raise scythe mastery to (2).
  • Eremite's AttackNightfallDervish. Scythe Mastery 2Eremite's AttackMelee AttackIf it hits, this attack deals +2 damage and removes a Dervish enchantment. If an enchantment is removed, you do an additional +2 damage and strike all adjacent foes.56 – additional area damage triggering. Requires a dervish enchantment. Do not tear down Grenth's aura as the large amount of hits produced by an area attack against multiple foes may cause your death by sacrificing too many health points. Raise scythe mastery to (2).

Equipment

Weapon Sets

• 40/20/20 soul reaping.
• Vampiric Anniversary Scythe "Sufferer" of enchanting with "Guided by Fate".
• Shield set.

Armour

• 5 Blessed Insignias.
• Rune of superior vigor.
• 2 Runes of vitae.

Usage

Weapon Sets

• Prepare enchantments with your staff of enchanting before combat.
• Use the scythe during combat to deal melee damage and trigger your damage enchantments.
• Switch to your shield set when idle or when either Dark AuraCoreNecromancer. Death Magic 15Dark AuraEnchantment SpellFor 30 seconds, whenever target ally sacrifices Health, Dark Aura deals 50 shadow damage to adjacent foes, and you lose 20 Health.10110 or Soul TakerCoreNecromancer. Soul Reaping 11Soul TakerElite Enchantment SpellFor 23 seconds, your attacks sacrifice 19 health and deal +19 more damage.
  PvE only.5115 have been removed and you find yourself unable to renew them.

Build

• Maintain Drunken MasterEotNNo Profession. Deldrimor rank Drunken MasterStanceFor 72..90 seconds, your movement and attack speeds are increased by 10..15%. If you are drunk while activating this Skill, your movement and attack speeds are increased by 25..33% instead.
  PvE only.560
• Use Signet of Mystic SpeedEotNDervish. Wind Prayers 12Signet of Mystic SpeedSignetFor 30 seconds, your next 3 self-targeting enchantments cast instantly. Flash enchantments do not consume uses of this skill.120 so your enchantments MasochismEotNNecromancer. Soul Reaping 11MasochismEnchantment SpellFor 32 seconds, you have +2 to your Death Magic and Soul Reaping attributes and sacrifice 4% of your maximum Health when you cast a spell.5120, Dark AuraCoreNecromancer. Death Magic 15Dark AuraEnchantment SpellFor 30 seconds, whenever target ally sacrifices Health, Dark Aura deals 50 shadow damage to adjacent foes, and you lose 20 Health.10110 and Soul TakerCoreNecromancer. Soul Reaping 11Soul TakerElite Enchantment SpellFor 23 seconds, your attacks sacrifice 19 health and deal +19 more damage.
  PvE only.5115 have no casting time.
  • Note that they still have their aftercast delay of 0.75 seconds.
    • You can apply these enchantments right after an attack of yours has hit. This won't negate the aftercast delay, but skip the recovery phase of your auto attack.
  • Apply masochism first so it boosts the other enchantments. Reapply it before it runs out so it buffs itself.
    • Once masochism is active, try to cover the other necromancer enchantments with it, as they constitute the core damage dealing mechanic of your build.
    • As long as both masochism and dark aura are active all your spells will also trigger dark aura. Try to renew your enchantments before they run out to make use of this.
  • Don't reapply signet of mystic speed before all its charges have been used up. Reapplying the signet does not reset the active signet's remaining amount of charges.
• Maintain Grenth's AuraEotNDervish. Wind Prayers 12Grenth's AuraFlash Enchantment SpellFor 20 seconds, you deal 21 less damage and steal 21 Health whenever you hit with a scythe attack. When you cast this enchantment you steal 21 Health from all adjacent foes.1010 and Mystic VigorNightfallDervish. Mysticism 0Mystic VigorEnchantment SpellFor 20 seconds, every time you successfully hit with an attack, you gain 3 Health for each Enchantment on you (maximum 25 Health).5¼15 to counter your health loss.
  • If possible, cover soul taker and dark aura.
  • Mystic vigor uses up signet charges. Avoid using it while the signet is still active.
  • Renew Grenth's aura on recharge during combat. As long as masochism and dark aura are active this means a free extra trigger of area damage.
• Position yourself inbetween as many foes as possible and try to hit up to three targets at once.
  • The damage from dark aura is centered on you, not the attacked foe(s). Your positioning determines how many foes are struck with your damage.
  • Soul taker and thus dark aura trigger on every attack, not hit. A blocked or missing attack will still trigger damage. Skills which cause additional attacks, such as Eremite's AttackNightfallDervish. Scythe Mastery 2Eremite's AttackMelee AttackIf it hits, this attack deals +2 damage and removes a Dervish enchantment. If an enchantment is removed, you do an additional +2 damage and strike all adjacent foes.56 or Twin Moon SweepNightfallDervish. Scythe Mastery 2Twin Moon SweepMelee AttackYou lose 1 Dervish enchantment and gain 15 Health. If an enchantment is lost in this way, you cannot be blocked, you strike twice, and you gain an additional 18 Health.7, will cause additional damage.

Counters

• Enchantment removal.
• Attack punishment hexes.
• Spellcasting punishment hexes.
• Snares.
• Kiting foes.
• Unreachable foes.
• Desecrate EnchantmentsPropheciesNecromancer. Curses Desecrate EnchantmentsSpellTarget foe and all nearby foes take 6..49..64 shadow damage and 4..17..21 shadow damage for each Enchantment on them.10215 .

Notes

• Dark AuraCoreNecromancer. Death Magic 16Dark AuraEnchantment SpellFor 30 seconds, whenever target ally sacrifices Health, Dark Aura deals 53 shadow damage to adjacent foes, and you lose 21 Health.10110 causes scattering.
• Asuran ScanEotNNo Profession. Asura rank Asuran ScanHex SpellFor 9..12 seconds your attacks cannot miss target foe. Killing a foe hexed with Asuran scan removes 5% death penalty.
  PvE only.55 is not needed as Soul TakerCoreNecromancer. Soul Reaping 11Soul TakerElite Enchantment SpellFor 23 seconds, your attacks sacrifice 19 health and deal +19 more damage.
  PvE only.5115 and Dark AuraCoreNecromancer. Death Magic 16Dark AuraEnchantment SpellFor 30 seconds, whenever target ally sacrifices Health, Dark Aura deals 53 shadow damage to adjacent foes, and you lose 21 Health.10110 trigger even when missing the target.
• It can be advantageous to bring Vigorous SpiritPropheciesMonk. Healing Prayers Vigorous SpiritEnchantment SpellFor 30 seconds, each time target ally attacks or casts a Spell, that ally is healed for 5..17..21 Health.5¼4 or Blood BondFactionsNecromancer. Blood Magic Blood BondHex SpellFor 3..10..13 seconds, target foe and all adjacent foes are hexed with Blood Bond. Whenever an ally hits one of them with an attack, that ally gains 5..17..21 Health. If one of these foes dies while hexed, all allies adjacent to that foe are healed for 20..84..105 Health.518 in your team to counter the health loss caused by your skills. This is especially useful when there are mild amounts of enchantment removal, resulting in a risk that you lose your self-preservation dervish enchantments.
• This build can be played with scythes other than Anniversary Scythe "Sufferer". However, you'll deal little to no damage with your scythe attacks, and due to Grenth's AuraEotNDervish. Wind Prayers 12Grenth's AuraFlash Enchantment SpellFor 20 seconds, you deal 21 less damage and steal 21 Health whenever you hit with a scythe attack. When you cast this enchantment you steal 21 Health from all adjacent foes.1010 a large share of the bonus damage from Soul TakerCoreNecromancer. Soul Reaping 11Soul TakerElite Enchantment SpellFor 23 seconds, your attacks sacrifice 19 health and deal +19 more damage.
  PvE only.5115 will be negated.
  • Consider dropping soul reaping to 1 or 2 points (take a major rune) in order to use the highest req. scythe possible, up to req 6.
• Each scythe attack sacrifices 40 health per target hit (due to Dark AuraCoreNecromancer. Death Magic 16Dark AuraEnchantment SpellFor 30 seconds, whenever target ally sacrifices Health, Dark Aura deals 53 shadow damage to adjacent foes, and you lose 21 Health.10110 and Soul TakerCoreNecromancer. Soul Reaping 11Soul TakerElite Enchantment SpellFor 23 seconds, your attacks sacrifice 19 health and deal +19 more damage.
  PvE only.5115) and heals for 41 (due to Grenth's AuraEotNDervish. Wind Prayers 12Grenth's AuraFlash Enchantment SpellFor 20 seconds, you deal 21 less damage and steal 21 Health whenever you hit with a scythe attack. When you cast this enchantment you steal 21 Health from all adjacent foes.1010, Mystic VigorNightfallDervish. Mysticism Mystic VigorEnchantment SpellFor 20 seconds, every time you successfully hit with an attack, you gain 3..13..16 Health for each Enchantment on you (maximum 25 Health).5¼15, and the Vampiric Scythe mod), for a net gain of 1 health.

See also

• Soul Taker Scythe
• Soul Taker Daggers
• Soul Taker Axe
• Build:N/A PvE Contagion Bomber