This build uses the Anniversary Scythe "Sufferer" alongside flash enchantments in a soul takerCoreNecromancer. Soul Reaping 18Soul TakerElite Enchantment SpellFor 35 seconds, your attacks sacrifice 21 health and deal +21 more damage. PvE only.5115 build. While the dealt direct damage of this build is not to be neglected, its main point is to trigger soul taker's health sacrifice, which in return triggers the damage from dark auraCoreNecromancer. Death Magic 18Dark AuraEnchantment SpellFor 30 seconds, whenever target ally sacrifices Health, Dark Aura deals 59 shadow damage to adjacent foes, and you lose 23 Health.10110 that is supplied by a hero. The scythe's native area attacks allow to trigger plenty of area damage, multiplied by twin moon sweepNightfallDervish. Scythe Mastery 3Twin Moon SweepMelee AttackYou lose 1 Dervish enchantment and gain 18 Health. If an enchantment is lost in this way, you cannot be blocked, you strike twice, and you gain an additional 22 Health.7 and accompanied by flash enchantments that also trigger health sacrifices through masochismEotNNecromancer. Soul Reaping 18MasochismEnchantment SpellFor 46 seconds, you have +2 to your Death Magic and Soul Reaping attributes and sacrifice 3% of your maximum Health when you cast a spell.5120, allowing for very large amounts of armour ignoring area damage. As a result, this build features one of the largest damage outputs against small and medium sized groups of foes in the game, outclassed only by Soul Taker Daggers against single targets. This power in offense is paid in health sacrifices that make additional healing mandatory.
EotNNecromancer. Soul Reaping 18MasochismEnchantment SpellFor 46 seconds, you have +2 to your Death Magic and Soul Reaping attributes and sacrifice 3% of your maximum Health when you cast a spell.5120
NightfallDervish. Scythe Mastery 3Twin Moon SweepMelee AttackYou lose 1 Dervish enchantment and gain 18 Health. If an enchantment is lost in this way, you cannot be blocked, you strike twice, and you gain an additional 22 Health.7
NightfallDervish. Scythe Mastery 3Eremite's AttackMelee AttackIf it hits, this attack deals +3 damage and removes a Dervish enchantment. If an enchantment is removed, you do an additional +3 damage and strike all adjacent foes.56
NightfallDervish. Earth Prayers 12Staggering ForceFlash Enchantment SpellAll nearby foes are struck for 34 earth damage. For 30 seconds, your attacks deal earth damage. When this enchantment ends, all nearby foes have Cracked Armor for 8 seconds.106
NightfallDervish. Earth Prayers 12Dust CloakFlash Enchantment SpellAll adjacent foes are struck for 34 earth damage. For 30 seconds, your attacks deal earth damage. When this Enchantment ends, all adjacent foes are Blinded for 3 seconds.106
EotNNo Profession. Deldrimor rank 10Drunken MasterStanceFor 90 seconds, your movement and attack speeds are increased by 15%. If you are drunk while activating this Skill, your movement and attack speeds are increased by 33% instead. PvE only.560
EotNNo Profession. Norn rank 10"I Am Unstoppable!"ShoutFor 20 seconds, you have +24 armor and cannot be knocked down or Crippled. PvE only.530
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Variants[]
Replace drunken masterEotNNo Profession. Deldrimor rank 10Drunken MasterStanceFor 90 seconds, your movement and attack speeds are increased by 15%. If you are drunk while activating this Skill, your movement and attack speeds are increased by 33% instead. PvE only.560 with a consumables-based IAS.
If "I Am Unstoppable!"EotNNo Profession. Norn rank 10"I Am Unstoppable!"ShoutFor 20 seconds, you have +24 armor and cannot be knocked down or Crippled. PvE only.530's properties are not needed, replace it with...
An ability that improves your offense, such as asuran scanEotNNo Profession. Asura rank 10Asuran ScanHex SpellFor 12 seconds your attacks cannot miss target foe. Killing a foe hexed with Asuran scan removes 5% death penalty. PvE only.55 (triggers dark auraCoreNecromancer. Death Magic 18Dark AuraEnchantment SpellFor 30 seconds, whenever target ally sacrifices Health, Dark Aura deals 59 shadow damage to adjacent foes, and you lose 23 Health.10110 through masochismEotNNecromancer. Soul Reaping 18MasochismEnchantment SpellFor 46 seconds, you have +2 to your Death Magic and Soul Reaping attributes and sacrifice 3% of your maximum Health when you cast a spell.5120 and helps to bypass blocking/missing) or ebon escapeEotNNo Profession. Ebon Vanguard rank 10Ebon EscapeSpellShadow Step to target other ally. You and that other ally are healed for 110 health. PvE only.5¼10 (if another ally with death's chargeFactionsAssassin. Shadow Arts Death's ChargeSpellShadow Step to target foe. If that foe has more Health than you, you are healed for 65..173..209.5¼30 is present).
Switch out the least required out of eremite's attackNightfallDervish. Scythe Mastery 3Eremite's AttackMelee AttackIf it hits, this attack deals +3 damage and removes a Dervish enchantment. If an enchantment is removed, you do an additional +3 damage and strike all adjacent foes.56, staggering forceNightfallDervish. Earth Prayers 12Staggering ForceFlash Enchantment SpellAll nearby foes are struck for 34 earth damage. For 30 seconds, your attacks deal earth damage. When this enchantment ends, all nearby foes have Cracked Armor for 8 seconds.106 and dust cloakNightfallDervish. Earth Prayers 12Dust CloakFlash Enchantment SpellAll adjacent foes are struck for 34 earth damage. For 30 seconds, your attacks deal earth damage. When this Enchantment ends, all adjacent foes are Blinded for 3 seconds.106 for a defensive flash enchantment.
Mirage CloakNightfallDervish. Earth Prayers 12Mirage CloakFlash Enchantment SpellFor 6 seconds, you have a 72% chance to block incoming attacks. When you cast this enchantment, all nearby foes are struck for 34 earth damage.1010 – additional defense. Activation triggers dark auraCoreNecromancer. Death Magic 18Dark AuraEnchantment SpellFor 30 seconds, whenever target ally sacrifices Health, Dark Aura deals 59 shadow damage to adjacent foes, and you lose 23 Health.10110 through masochismEotNNecromancer. Soul Reaping 18MasochismEnchantment SpellFor 46 seconds, you have +2 to your Death Magic and Soul Reaping attributes and sacrifice 3% of your maximum Health when you cast a spell.5120.
Shield of ForceEotNDervish. Earth Prayers 12Shield of ForceFlash Enchantment SpellFor 13 seconds, blocks the next 1 attack against you. If an attack is blocked, all adjacent attacking foes are knocked down and suffer from Weakness for 17 seconds.1012 – additional defense. Prefer over mirage cloak if foes bypass blocking or you want to protect other party members with the weakness. Activation triggers dark auraCoreNecromancer. Death Magic 18Dark AuraEnchantment SpellFor 30 seconds, whenever target ally sacrifices Health, Dark Aura deals 59 shadow damage to adjacent foes, and you lose 23 Health.10110 through masochismEotNNecromancer. Soul Reaping 18MasochismEnchantment SpellFor 46 seconds, you have +2 to your Death Magic and Soul Reaping attributes and sacrifice 3% of your maximum Health when you cast a spell.5120.
Mystic RegenerationNightfallDervish. Earth Prayers 12Mystic RegenerationEnchantment SpellFor 17 seconds, you have +3 Health regeneration for each enchantment (maximum of 8) on you.10¼10 – selfhealing. Activation triggers dark auraCoreNecromancer. Death Magic 18Dark AuraEnchantment SpellFor 30 seconds, whenever target ally sacrifices Health, Dark Aura deals 59 shadow damage to adjacent foes, and you lose 23 Health.10110 through masochismEotNNecromancer. Soul Reaping 18MasochismEnchantment SpellFor 46 seconds, you have +2 to your Death Magic and Soul Reaping attributes and sacrifice 3% of your maximum Health when you cast a spell.5120.
EotNNecromancer. Soul Reaping 18MasochismEnchantment SpellFor 46 seconds, you have +2 to your Death Magic and Soul Reaping attributes and sacrifice 3% of your maximum Health when you cast a spell.5120
NightfallDervish. Scythe Mastery 3Twin Moon SweepMelee AttackYou lose 1 Dervish enchantment and gain 18 Health. If an enchantment is lost in this way, you cannot be blocked, you strike twice, and you gain an additional 22 Health.7
NightfallDervish. Scythe Mastery 3Eremite's AttackMelee AttackIf it hits, this attack deals +3 damage and removes a Dervish enchantment. If an enchantment is removed, you do an additional +3 damage and strike all adjacent foes.56
NightfallDervish. Wind Prayers 12Rending AuraFlash Enchantment SpellWhen you cast this enchantment, all nearby foes take 34 cold damage. For 30 seconds, your attack skills remove enchantments from knocked-down foes. When this enchantment ends, nearby foes are affected by Cracked Armor for 8 seconds.106
NightfallDervish. Mysticism 0Heart of Holy FlameFlash Enchantment SpellAll adjacent foes take 5 holy damage. For 30 seconds, your attacks deal holy damage. When this Enchantment ends, all adjacent foes are set on fire for 2 seconds.1010
EotNNo Profession. Deldrimor rank 10Drunken MasterStanceFor 90 seconds, your movement and attack speeds are increased by 15%. If you are drunk while activating this Skill, your movement and attack speeds are increased by 33% instead. PvE only.560
EotNNo Profession. Norn rank 10"I Am Unstoppable!"ShoutFor 20 seconds, you have +24 armor and cannot be knocked down or Crippled. PvE only.530
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Always cover heart of holy flameNightfallDervish. Mysticism 0Heart of Holy FlameFlash Enchantment SpellAll adjacent foes take 5 holy damage. For 30 seconds, your attacks deal holy damage. When this Enchantment ends, all adjacent foes are set on fire for 2 seconds.1010 with rending auraNightfallDervish. Wind Prayers 12Rending AuraFlash Enchantment SpellWhen you cast this enchantment, all nearby foes take 34 cold damage. For 30 seconds, your attack skills remove enchantments from knocked-down foes. When this enchantment ends, nearby foes are affected by Cracked Armor for 8 seconds.106 and prepare the latter before combat, so it's available right again after removing it for the first time with eremite's attackNightfallDervish. Scythe Mastery 3Eremite's AttackMelee AttackIf it hits, this attack deals +3 damage and removes a Dervish enchantment. If an enchantment is removed, you do an additional +3 damage and strike all adjacent foes.56.
Avoid removing heart of holy flameNightfallDervish. Mysticism 0Heart of Holy FlameFlash Enchantment SpellAll adjacent foes take 5 holy damage. For 30 seconds, your attacks deal holy damage. When this Enchantment ends, all adjacent foes are set on fire for 2 seconds.1010 with a teardown attack unless area damage through more dark auraCoreNecromancer. Death Magic 18Dark AuraEnchantment SpellFor 30 seconds, whenever target ally sacrifices Health, Dark Aura deals 59 shadow damage to adjacent foes, and you lose 23 Health.10110 triggers is more important in that situation than doubled single target damage.
40/20/20 soul reaping for soul takerCoreNecromancer. Soul Reaping 18Soul TakerElite Enchantment SpellFor 35 seconds, your attacks sacrifice 21 health and deal +21 more damage. PvE only.5115/masochismEotNNecromancer. Soul Reaping 18MasochismEnchantment SpellFor 46 seconds, you have +2 to your Death Magic and Soul Reaping attributes and sacrifice 3% of your maximum Health when you cast a spell.5120 and wanding.
A long or flatbow for luring.
Shield set. To be used when you're idle or about to die.
Maintain drunken masterEotNNo Profession. Deldrimor rank 10Drunken MasterStanceFor 90 seconds, your movement and attack speeds are increased by 15%. If you are drunk while activating this Skill, your movement and attack speeds are increased by 33% instead. PvE only.560.
Maintain soul takerCoreNecromancer. Soul Reaping 18Soul TakerElite Enchantment SpellFor 35 seconds, your attacks sacrifice 21 health and deal +21 more damage. PvE only.5115 and masochismEotNNecromancer. Soul Reaping 18MasochismEnchantment SpellFor 46 seconds, you have +2 to your Death Magic and Soul Reaping attributes and sacrifice 3% of your maximum Health when you cast a spell.5120 during combat.
Micro your hero to use dark auraCoreNecromancer. Death Magic 18Dark AuraEnchantment SpellFor 30 seconds, whenever target ally sacrifices Health, Dark Aura deals 59 shadow damage to adjacent foes, and you lose 23 Health.10110 on you during combat. See Notes: Dark Aura.
Counter knock downs and crippled condition with "I am unstoppable!"EotNNo Profession. Norn rank 10"I Am Unstoppable!"ShoutFor 20 seconds, you have +24 armor and cannot be knocked down or Crippled. PvE only.530.
Maintain and renew your flash enchantments during combat.
Prefer attacking balling targets for maximum damage.
Place yourself inbetween as many foes as possible: You are the damage center.
Use eremite's attackNightfallDervish. Scythe Mastery 3Eremite's AttackMelee AttackIf it hits, this attack deals +3 damage and removes a Dervish enchantment. If an enchantment is removed, you do an additional +3 damage and strike all adjacent foes.56 to perform an area attack. In hard mode this usually kills an entire group of foes if it has about 8 targets in your range.
Use twin moon sweepNightfallDervish. Scythe Mastery 3Twin Moon SweepMelee AttackYou lose 1 Dervish enchantment and gain 18 Health. If an enchantment is lost in this way, you cannot be blocked, you strike twice, and you gain an additional 22 Health.7 to perform a double attack with twice as many soul taker triggers, leading to up to 6 AoE damage packages at once.
If you have the energy for it, chain your quickly recharging flash enchantments into attacks for even better damage compression.
See Notes: Damage for an overview of how much damage you can expect to deal.
If you can't reach targets with your melee attacks, switch to your staff. Wanding allows to deal soul taker on top of wanding damage.
Counters[]
Frequent enchantment removal.
Deep enchantment removal.
General anti-physical.
General anti-melee.
Lack of healing.
Notes[]
By dealing dark damage "Sufferer" will bypass profession and species based armour bonuses against physical and elemental damage, making it more effective against i.e. warriors than normal scythes.
Using this build with any other scythe will cut down its attack base damage to a minimum.
If your attacks miss or get blocked soul takerCoreNecromancer. Soul Reaping 18Soul TakerElite Enchantment SpellFor 35 seconds, your attacks sacrifice 21 health and deal +21 more damage. PvE only.5115's health sacrifice and thus dark auraCoreNecromancer. Death Magic 18Dark AuraEnchantment SpellFor 30 seconds, whenever target ally sacrifices Health, Dark Aura deals 59 shadow damage to adjacent foes, and you lose 23 Health.10110's damage are triggered nonetheless, making 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 much less prominent a skill choice for this necromancer compared to non-soul-taker melee builds.
The health loss on player and dark aura hero make it mandatory to bring additional healing compared to other builds.
Dark Aura[]
On top of the standard support like strength of honorCoreMonk. Smiting Prayers Strength of HonorEnchantment SpellWhile you maintain this Enchantment, target ally deals 5..21..26 more damage in melee.-110215 and splinter weaponFactionsRitualist. Channeling Magic Splinter WeaponWeapon SpellFor 20 seconds, target ally has a Splinter Weapon. Target ally's next 1..4..5 attacks deal 5..41..53 damage to up to 3 adjacent foes.515 this build can be supported by dark auraCoreNecromancer. Death Magic Dark AuraEnchantment SpellFor 30 seconds, whenever target ally sacrifices Health, Dark Aura deals 5..41..53 shadow damage to adjacent foes, and you lose 5..17..21 Health.10110.
Heroes use dark aura themselves during and outside of combat on all party members with a health sacrifice skill, excluding soul takerCoreNecromancer. Soul Reaping 18Soul TakerElite Enchantment SpellFor 35 seconds, your attacks sacrifice 21 health and deal +21 more damage. PvE only.5115 and masochismEotNNecromancer. Soul Reaping 18MasochismEnchantment SpellFor 46 seconds, you have +2 to your Death Magic and Soul Reaping attributes and sacrifice 3% of your maximum Health when you cast a spell.5120.
Therefore, if you want your hero to use the skill on you automatically, you need to bring a health sacrifice skill like blood renewalPropheciesNecromancer. Blood Magic Blood RenewalEnchantment SpellFor 7 seconds, you gain +3..5..6 Health regeneration. When Blood Renewal ends, you gain 40..160..200 Health.15%117 with you.
It will be used on all party members with health sacrifice skills, including healers with spirit lightFactionsRitualist. Restoration Magic Spirit LightSpellTarget ally is healed for 60..156..188. If any Spirits are within earshot, you don't sacrifice Health.17%514 or blood is powerCoreNecromancer. Blood Magic Blood is PowerElite Enchantment SpellFor 10 seconds, target other ally gains +3..5..6 Energy regeneration.33%1¼. This may cause downtimes during combat or the hero lagging behind outside of combat.
You can assign a hotkey for Dark Aura on your hero for best results.
Set a custom hotkey for Action: Order Hero # to use Skill # in the controls options to force heroes to use certain skills. I.e. if you put Dark Aura on skill slot 2 of hero 1, you need Action: Order Hero 1 to use Skill 2.
Invite the hero to your party.
Click on the number next to the hero in the party window. This opens the hero control panel.
Hold down left shift and left click once on Dark Aura. A red crossed circle shows that it is disabled.
Target yourself (standard hotkey: F).
Use your custom hotkey.
Once you've installed the custom hotkey only steps 5 and 6 will be needed.
Dark auraCoreNecromancer. Death Magic Dark AuraEnchantment SpellFor 30 seconds, whenever target ally sacrifices Health, Dark Aura deals 5..41..53 shadow damage to adjacent foes, and you lose 5..17..21 Health.10110 Mechanics:
The caster loses health points. If the skill is provided by a different character in the party you don't suffer from both soul taker's and dark aura's health loss/sacrifice.
The enchanted character is the center of the damage, not the target of the weapon attacks.
Causes scattering.
Ends if the caster dies.
Damage[]
The following table assumes that the player is under the effect of soul takerCoreNecromancer. Soul Reaping 18Soul TakerElite Enchantment SpellFor 35 seconds, your attacks sacrifice 21 health and deal +21 more damage. PvE only.5115, strength of honorCoreMonk. Smiting Prayers 8Strength of HonorEnchantment SpellWhile you maintain this Enchantment, target ally deals 16 more damage in melee.-110215 and dark auraCoreNecromancer. Death Magic 18Dark AuraEnchantment SpellFor 30 seconds, whenever target ally sacrifices Health, Dark Aura deals 59 shadow damage to adjacent foes, and you lose 23 Health.10110.
The vampiric prefix is treated like "armour ignoring bonus damage".
The health gain from the vampiric prefix is removed from the player's health loss.
Other support skills such as splinter weaponFactionsRitualist. Channeling Magic 16Splinter WeaponWeapon SpellFor 20 seconds, target ally has a Splinter Weapon. Target ally's next 5 attacks deal 53 damage to up to 3 adjacent foes.515 are ignored.
Flash enchantments can be chained right before or after an attack for additional triggering of dark auraCoreNecromancer. Death Magic 58Dark AuraEnchantment SpellFor 30 seconds, whenever target ally sacrifices Health, Dark Aura deals 179 shadow damage to adjacent foes, and you lose 63 Health.10110 through masochismEotNNecromancer. Soul Reaping 18MasochismEnchantment SpellFor 46 seconds, you have +2 to your Death Magic and Soul Reaping attributes and sacrifice 3% of your maximum Health when you cast a spell.5120, allowing for even better spikes and pressure than indicated in this table.
The "armour ignoring bonus damage" against the scythe targets already includes the dark aura damage. Do not add the "armour ignoring damage to targets adjacent to the player" on top of it!
Each auto attack
Scythe target(s)
Additional area damage from dark auraCoreNecromancer. Death Magic 18Dark AuraEnchantment SpellFor 30 seconds, whenever target ally sacrifices Health, Dark Aura deals 59 shadow damage to adjacent foes, and you lose 23 Health.10110
Health loss
1 target
Attack base damage + 101 armour ignoring bonus damage.
59 armour ignoring to adjacent to the player.
Player: 16 Hero: 23
2 targets
Attack base damage + 160 armour ignoring bonus damage.
118 armour ignoring to adjacent to the player.
Player: 32 Hero: 46
3 targets
Attack base damage + 219 armour ignoring bonus damage.
177 armour ignoring to adjacent to the player.
Player: 48 Hero: 69
Twin Moon Sweep
Scythe target(s)
Additional area damage from dark auraCoreNecromancer. Death Magic 18Dark AuraEnchantment SpellFor 30 seconds, whenever target ally sacrifices Health, Dark Aura deals 59 shadow damage to adjacent foes, and you lose 23 Health.10110
Health loss
1 target
2x attack base damage + 202 armour ignoring bonus damage.
118 armour ignoring to adjacent to the player.
Player: 37 Hero: 46
2 targets
2x attack base damage + 320 armour ignoring bonus damage.
236 armour ignoring to adjacent to the player.
Player: 64 Hero: 92
3 targets
2x attack base damage + 438 armour ignoring bonus damage.
Mirage Cloak – additional defense. Activation triggers dark aura through masochism.
Shield of Force – additional defense. Prefer over mirage cloak if foes bypass blocking or you want to protect other party members with the weakness. Activation triggers dark aura through masochism.
Mystic Regeneration – selfhealing. Activation triggers dark aura through masochism.
