Mysticism or Scythe Mastery?

Alright, I have my final dervish armor until I get the elite stuff, and I am debating how I want to rune up my armor. My dervish has maxed out scythe mastery and mysticism right now, and doesn't really use his secondary profession at all. I am not sure how much an extra few points into scythe mastery would affect the critical chance and/or extra damage, but I know that if I put a few more ranks into mysticism, I'll be getting another energy back when enchants end.

I am also going to look into insignias now, but for the time being I am assuming radiant would be good for extra energy, along with a vigor rune and an attunement rune or two. I figure extra energy means more enchants to start a fight off with, which means more energy returned during a fight.

for every good build i can think of the optimal attribute setup would be:
scythe 12+1+1
Myst 12+1


and dont use radiant insignias. you shouldnt need extra energy, you shouldnt be casting that many enchantments. use something that helps you survive. survivor's and windwalker's seem to be the best choices.

I agree with Lotus. Windwalker and Vitae on all available pieces. If you find yourself running low on energy, your build is probably too expensive.

Quote: scythe 12+1+1
Myst 12+1 Just IMHO: SM must be 12+2+1 (health loss neglected by Vigor runes) if it's main damage source.

^ Completely unneeded, especially for an upfront character. I'd run 14 with higher health over 15 with lower any day.

Majors on a caster since they're out of the immediate danger area, maybe (but still no). Upfront, definitely no.

what's the huge difference between 15 and 14 scythe? major and sup runes are unnecessary.

Quote: Originally Posted by Society

So something along the lines of SM on gloves, mysticism on head, vigor on chest, and vitae on pants and feet? I am very curious as to how much of a difference the extra rank in SM will make. It makes a big difference with mysticism since it would be three more health each time an enchantment ends, and possibly and extra energy, but what kind of extra damage are we talking about with the SM?

There is no energy difference in 13 and 14 Mysticism (+4 either way) and +1 extra health on enchantment end is pretty much irrelevant. On the other hand, 14 instead of 13 Scythe Mastery means more damage from your auto-attacks, increases critical hit percentage, and increases damage from the vast majority of your skills.

-Lotus- set you right in the very first response. The only suggestion I would add is take your leftover points and put 3+1 into Wind for [Attacker's [email protected]].

adding points into weapon mastery lines increases your damage alot. you can see the critical hit persentages on wiki, but it will also increase base DPS, skill damage, and attack skill bonus damage.

mysticism would be on a multiple of 3 at all times. theres not much of a reason to spec anywhere in between there as the health does nothing useful anyways. the only reason i would run 13 myst (for example) is if i had nothing betteer to do with the points and i wanted to be able to work through weakness.

I cannot find those percentages on the wiki. I found them for the assassain, but not for the dervish. This is why I am curious as to the amount of difference.

Also, I was thinking it was 3hp per rank, not 1hp. You're right, the one extra health is fairly irrelevant. So now I am thinking of a hood with +1 SM, a superior SM rune for +3, and maybe +1 mysticism and +1 wind prayers. Then could add a superior vigor rune and a rune of vitae to take some of the bite off of that superior SM rune.

*EDIT*

This is all I can find on the wiki for SM. The inherent effect section is blank.

http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Scythe_Mastery

dont use the superior scythe. dont use any superior runes actually (except vigor, duh), the health loss isnt worth it unless you are reaching some sort of major breakpoint.

You're using the wrong Wiki.

http://guildwars.wikia.com/wiki/Scythe_Mastery

Alright, so just a minor SM rune plus the SM hood? Seems like a waste. How about a major, since the superior vigor rune would counter it?

Thanks for the link, Kirzath!

Quote: Originally Posted by -Lotus-

Quote: Originally Posted by Darkside

Well I need a few nice scythe skills that I do not have yet, such as Lyssa's Assault, but I will have them soon. I plan on getting LA today by running Blacktide again and stealing it from Khayet. That will help a lot, as my current build is an energy-hog.

I use "Heart of Holy Flame", followed by "Pious Assault", "Chilling Victory", "Eternal Aura", and finally, "Twin Moon Sweep". I can't wait to get more of those five energy skills, it'll help a ton. I am using "Suli's Scythe" though, which is zealous in the sense that it removes one energy regen, but gives me one energy on hit, and it has helped IMMENSELY. I also have a plain, max-damage gold scythe (Nightmare Scythe) that I am waiting to apply Zealous and either Enchanting or Fortitude to.

If you need higher energy pools for particular casts, you get +energy weapon sets, not attunement/radiant; it's much easier to swap weapons than armor sets.

Flail can replace HoF provided you're not powering other adrenal skills. You can also run Whirling Charge with Dwarven Stability.

If you're going to run a lot of 10e attack skills, take Attacker's Insight. In reality though, most of the best attack skills are low-energy and low-recharge (e.g., Wounding Strike, Victorious Sweep, Mystic Sweep, Wild Blow, etc.).

I know, and I want those low-energy skills, but I can't get them yet. I am dying for victorious sweep. I did capture "Lyssa's Assault" today though. That should help for now.

play pvp for 15 minutes and you should be able to unlock victorious, mystic and eremite's