Need some opinions on this build of mine.

Now, I know it needs some serious work, and I need some help tweaking it to be a balanced tanker/damage dealer. This is my build:

Scythe Mastery: 12 + 1 + 1
Mysticism: 10 + 2
Earth Prayers: 5 + 1 (somewhere between 3 and 7)

Avatar of Balthazar (for increased Armor and speed boost)
Vital Boon (for increased health, and to be paired with Meditation for heal)
Eternal Aura (to refresh Avatar of Balthazar)
Meditation (minor energy management, paired with Boon to heal also)
Chilling Victory (used as a finishing attack)
Twin Moon Sweep (extra attack, and to finish off Eternal immediately)
Eremites Attack (pretty nice, seeing as I concentrate on being surrounded)
Sunspear Ressurection Signet

Health: 517 (I think?) Energy: 34

I basically cast Avatar and Vital Boon before a fight, and Eternal Aura once I come into contact with an enemy for some minor damage. When things get hairy, and the monk or resto-rit is busy with other people, I use Meditation to heal end Vital Boon and heal myself and refresh my energy some.

Now, I am at the part where I broke out of the Kournan base with Zhed, so I can't go fetch some really nice skills that I don't know about

I don't make that much money either, so Superior Vigor's and stuff like that are a little...out of the question. Well, any ideas of how to correct this build, or is it just fine for the area of the game I am in?

There are a few things you should consider for a dervish build.

One of the main things that makes a Dervish so powerful and that even some Professions will pick it up is for one skill only:

[skill]mystic regeneratio[/skill] Mystic Regeneration

Its the Dervish's edge and secret weapon (though it can be used on a secondary). That being said, Mystic Regeneration is most usefull at 8 in Earth Prayers.

When considering damage, do not only consider attacking skills, the dervish deals great amounts of damage from its regular swing so an IAS is of great use. Luckily, again the Dervish has one of the best, longest lasting IAS besides the Paragon, which is Heart of Fury

[skill]heart of fury[/skill].

It lasts a great period of time, sets ennemies on fire when it ends and since its an enchantment, you can both extend it and get energy back from it.

You can also consider Aura of Holy Might

[skill]aura of holy might[/skill]

for brute damage, as for 10 energy, it has the effect of 3 skills packed into 1. Smites, increases your raw damage and then smites again.

If your trying to build up armor or resistance, Conviction is great and cheap, and one of the only Dervish stances in the Earth Prayers line at least.

[skill]Crippling Sweep[/skill] [skill]Armor of Sanctity[/skill]
Crippling Sweep and Armor of Sanctity.

[skill]Aura of Thorns[/skill] [skill]Armor of Sanctity[/skill]
Aura of Thorns and Armor of Sanctity.

is also awesome for reducing the damage to yourself.

The truth is, you will receive damage and alot of it, so spike prevention is worth mentioning.

[skill]faithful intervention[/skill]

Faithful Intervention is the only skill that I know of, that is an upkeep enchantment, that will last untill it is triggered, that has absolutly no upkeep at all. It serves both as a spike prevention and a buffer spell to help boost Mystic Regeneration.

[skill]Watchful Intervention[/skill]

Watchful Intervention is another spike prevention in the Dervish line, this one costs more energy but you can also cast it on others and its a slightly bigger heal, this one however triggers when your health is much lower compared to Faithful Intervention.

Another thing is energy

[skill]Balthazar's Spirit[/skill]
Balthazar's Spirit or

[skill]Essence Bond[/skill]
Essence Bond

can be useful.

When it comes to Dervishes and damage, I always opt for a Vampiric Scythe since its so powerfull for both damage and health some people also prefer Zealous.

I find that you have done excelent so far, the important thing is that you capture many elite skills throughout the campaign and that you collect enough skills so you don't rely on 1 build only. Here's some advice:
you can consider going /W for wild blow+ flail (these are awesome skills),
i would drop meditation if i were you because it's not a very good skill and there are better heals in the dervish line. Chilling victory is nice, eremites attack is also fine but i would drop twin moon sweep (eternal aura will eventually end right on time with or without TMS). You absolutely need an IAS so i would get heart of fury (this skill is amazing), and also you should consider mystic sweep and perhaps get another enchantment like mystic regen or whatever. I hope i helped you, you are doing really well so don't forget to cap skills and always make sure you have several options for builds.

thx

Thanks I will consider both of your advice

Ahoy, Zev the Lurker here. I think that this thread shows one of the problems I have when I try to play my Dervish. Maybe someone could help.

What I find is that becuase a Dervishes abilities are all found in enchants (or few stances) that are available that the skill bars really have very little (if any room) for variety or tweaking. For example, you need a Rez, an elite (80% of the time an avatar) lets say balths, and with an avatar you would be foolish not to bring eternal aura. If you want to stay alive you will need mystic regen, and faithful intervention to stop spike damage. Thats 5 skills so far, Mystic Sweep should be perma-glued to most bars, along with either Victorious/Lyssa/Chilling, and to make sure you have strong dmg Aura of Holy might.

And these are skills that I pulled together just by picking things which seemed necessary: Rez, IAS, IMS/Armor, Regen, Spike Heal, Fast Attack, Heal/Energy/Dmg attack, Overall Dmg increase on both attacks and aoe spell.

Maybe I am trying to do too much at once and I am stretching out the bar, but I see this as pretty much the balanced (and strong) bar for dervishes in a PvE setting. Is there more to gain from being more specific in a certain area of the dervish skills, or is using the broad range of buffs really one of the most effective ways to play?

Thanks in advance.

Well any general melee class follows the same basic rule

IAS
Attack Skill 1
Attack Skill 2
Attack Skill 3
healing
Free Slot
Free Slot
Resurect Skill

That taking up 6 of 8 slots 2 slots for variety usually isnt very much room for variety, its the choices you make.

I for one prefer Aura of Holy Might and [skill]reaper's sweep[/skill] to Avatar of Balthazar

I dont use Chilling Victory because of its cost, I prefer low cost spams like mystic sweep, eremite's attack, reaper'S sweep or lyssa's assault, mystic sweep, reaper's sweep in that order.

A fairly common build is something like

[skill]faithful intervention[/skill][skill]mystic vigor[/skill][skill]mystic regeneration[/skill][skill]heart of fury[/skill][skill]mystic sweep[/skill][skill]eremite's attack[/skill][skill]reaper's sweep[/skill][skill]rebirth[/skill]

[skill]watchful intervention[/skill][skill]mystic vigor[/skill][skill]mystic regeneration[/skill][skill]heart of fury[/skill][skill]mystic sweep[/skill][skill]eremite's attack[/skill][skill]reaper's sweep[/skill][skill]rebirth[/skill]

[skill]faithful intervention[/skill][skill]mystic vigor[/skill][skill]mystic regeneration[/skill][skill]heart of fury[/skill][skill]lyssa's Assault[/skill][skill]mystic sweep[/skill][skill]reaper's sweep[/skill][skill]rebirth[/skill]

[skill]mystic vigor[/skill][skill]mystic regeneration[/skill][skill]heart of fury[/skill][skill]conviction[/skill][skill]mystic sweep[/skill][skill]eremite's attack[/skill][skill]reaper's sweep[/skill][skill]rebirth[/skill]