What Is My Dervish Doing Wrong ?!?!??

Ok so I have a D/Mo and I listened to an "Advanced Poster" on these forums so I thought he would know what the hell he was talking about, but apparently not. But, anyways, he told me to do this and that with my Dervish and I listened (note all he did is told me what runes to put on my armor and where to put my attribute points. But apparently that little advice made a very big deal). If you're wondering what the big deal i'm talking about is, it's that Die Against Level 10 Mobs When I'm Level 7!!!!! Now before I didn't die once and to my suspicion I suspect that I shouldn't be dieing every time I go out of an outpost/city. Oh, by the way my dervish is level 7 and here is his status:
Equipment:
Head=> (amr.=25, scythe mastery +1) with Superior Scythe Mastery Rune Chest=> (amr.=25, something) With Rune of Minor Earth Prayers Hands=> (amr.=25, something) with Rune of Major Mysticism Legs=> Instani Gloves (amr.=25, something) with no runes (but I did plan to put one attunement rune here) Feet=> SunSpear Shoes (amr.=25, something) Attributes: This includes my rune boosts!
Note: I didn't put any points into any /Mo attributes! Scythe Mastery 9 (5 without runes) Earth Prayers 6 (5 without runes) Wind Prayers None, as I don't see the need for any here... Mysticism 7 (6 without runes)

A superior rune is going to do you a lot more harm than good at level 7. It'll be worth the health tradeoff (according to the poster you mentioned), but right now +3 scythe mastery doesn't justify it. Just use a minor for now and upgrade later when you've got more health and good Vigor runes.

Just to add to what Marty said. A superior rune is NEVER a good idea for a frontliner. If you're ahead of the party soaking aggro, you need to concentrate as much on defense as offense, and 75 less hp is 4-5 less attacks that you can survive.

On top of that, you have both a major and a superior...

take my advice, forget the massive over reliance on stats. Sure, you won't be able to do full damage with your scythe, but at the very least you'll stay alive long enough to kill something.

In low level areas, not being able to meet minimum weapon requirements isn't a deal breaker, most of the damage will come from the skills you use, not base weapon damage.

What works at level 20 does not necessarily work at level 10. Superior runes are one of those things.

Also, if it's not enough, make sure you didn't forget to upgrade your armor and make sure your monks aren't complete failures.

You could always get a ferry to the docks and get max armor? <_<

Quote: Originally Posted by JonnieBoi05

You could always get a ferry to the docks and get max armor? <_< This. Also try to get your hands on some Survivor insignias, those help a lot.

Could you please post your build? Maybe that has something to do with it? :O

I dont know if you're already doing this, but whenever you go out make sure you take a full team of heroes and henchmen as a lv 7 cant do much by himself, even on noob island

Quote: Originally Posted by ccfrecc
(amr.=25, scythe mastery +1) with Superior Scythe Mastery Rune
(amr.=25, something) With Rune of Minor Earth Prayers
(amr.=25, something) with Rune of Major Mysticism
Major AND sup runes on a lvl 7? what do you have like 100hp? All you need is a minor scythe and minor mysticism, rest should be health for pve.

Oh and just checking, you are bringing a full party correct?

Quote: Originally Posted by Covah

Major AND sup runes on a lvl 7? what do you have like 100hp? All you need is a minor scythe and minor mysticism, rest should be health for pve. Thanks guys and that is exactly what I was thinking, I just wanted to cross-reference it with some more experienced players. And to add to that yes I do have about 120 HP . So i guess its back to the drawing board. Thank you all for your help and I see that this is an excellent community for guild wars.

Quote: Originally Posted by ccfrecc

Quote: Originally Posted by trcvrs

Ick, superior runes on a front-liner...

I use a Major rune on my Dervish, but I'm also fully leveled up with fully-kitted out armor, and know how to play the profession rather well. At a low level, it's not recommended. At all. It'll do you much more harm than good.

Builds are not important at a low level. You don't have the attribute points nor the skill selection to really make them work well. Your play style will change a lot as you play more, level up, and unlock more stuff (mine certainly did).

But for now, definitely ditch the runes for minor ones, and make sure you're going out with a full party. And don't worry if you die sometimes. It happens to everyone, especially when you first start out.

Superior runes later in PvE isn't too bad for certain classes, but I wouldn't recommend it on any frontliner unless you're farming something.

At low levels, stick with minors and focus on unlocking good skills. Have an idea what you want to unlock and do so in terms of priority or you'll be broke as a joke.

You'll get lots of practice as you grow in level and you'll pick up certain habits like knowing when to fight, when to pull back, ect.

You can only gain that from experience.

The classic minor vs. superior rune debate.

With how much skills have been buffed since the beginning of the game, I think it's safe to say that superiors are simply better. If you're having trouble deciding, the following line should be definitive:

Only run minor runes if you are scared.

Quote: Originally Posted by trcvrs

The classic minor vs. superior rune debate.

With how much skills have been buffed since the beginning of the game, I think it's safe to say that superiors are simply better. If you're having trouble deciding, the following line should be definitive:

Only run minor runes if you are scared. Being new to the game, I expect he's going to be H/H a lot. I would advise him to stick with minors until he has a better grasp on what he's doing. Having a larger HP buffer can be the difference between life and death, rather than slightly faster kills.

Quote: Originally Posted by syphonus

Being new to the game, I expect he's going to be H/H a lot. I would advise him to stick with minors until he has a better grasp on what he's doing. Having a larger HP buffer can be the difference between life and death, rather than slightly faster kills. Just because he's a noob, doesn't mean he has to be scared! Plus, if he runs minors all the time, he'll just learn to be scared all the time. But if he runs superiors, he'll learn to be brave

If he really needs training wheels, run majors.

So you effectively have -100+ health and NO superior viggor rune?

And being at lvl 7 youre left with what 100-175 hp? Youre not gunna be able to survive anything like that.

I mean i usualy stay unmodded up to max armor. Up until youre at max health you have no need for anything more than a minor rune in something, because otherwise the health sacrifice would be too much. Max damage is nice, but if youre not able to survive to use it whats the point?

Get a scythe that matches your req and use that, use minor runes, and maybe a few energy or health runes, you dont need to rune out your armor at such a low level, its perfectly doable without.

(i went to lvl 17 unmodded and with a non max scythe and had no problems meaning yours is probably your health defficiency as everyone has posted above)

Since you are new, I would advise minor runes until you get up there in levels, and thusly health.

Assuming level 20, Superior vs Minor runes in PvE is an endless debate. Frankly, Minors aren't nearly as important in PvE because AI is stupid, and it can't generally plot to spike against you. Once you get the hang and grasp of things, you won't see much of a difference between using one superior instead of a minor.

However, multiple Major/Superior runes is generally frowned upon in any scenario, and I wouldn't suggest it even to regular players unless you have a way of raising your health in the build itself, through skills, to cover it's cost.

The general rule beyond "if you can handle it, do it", is that unless you NEED the superior rune to get to a crucial attribute level for a build's skill(s), minor is probably better.