Your primary job as Scourge is to corrupt enemies, you want to remain as close as possible to the commander, and only venture off slightly in order to land corrupts. You have limited access to stun breaks, so you are somewhat reliant on team members to keep you healthy and safe – so try to be clinical in landing your corrupts before returning to your group.
Try to cycle through your corrupting skills in order to chain as many as possible, that will cause other damage dealers in your group to generate downs much faster and is basically your most important task. While doing that, try to apply barriers to your subgroup by not saving your heal skill for self use, Note that your F2+F3 skills share the same cooldown time, and can cleanse and apply allies with barriers – these should also be used to help sustain your group.
Be mindful of well placement, try to place them in chokes or in places where enemies are forced to move to or linger at, in order to maximize their damage and corruption. It is generally better to wait for a call from your commander if you are not experienced in placing your wells, as it is much more devastating when synchronizing spikes.
Utility skills
gives barriers to allies, should be used before and mid – encounters, as a preemptive or defensive measure. This is NOT a self heal skill, use it to buff allies rather than heal yourself.
Your only reliable stun break + Stab + Corruption, consider this a panic button you press when you’re caught off position.
Pulses damage in an area, Best used on enemies that are struggling or unable to move in order to get the most damage out of this well.
Pulses corruption in an area – Place this either when called for by commander, or when you are certain you can get at least 3 ticks on multiple enemies
Corrupts, slows and damages enemies. This is a very powerful tool to block enemy pushes, negate ground and overall is arguably your most potent corrupting skill. Should be placed on enemies in melee combat.
Shades
7th July 2020 update notes regarding shades:
These have been changed back to triggering at both the necromancer’s location and their shade locations with each use.
Places a shade both on you and on the ground. Since the July patch big shades (Sand Savant) are viable, although Feed From Corruption still offers quite a lot in terms of boon steal.
Corrupts 1 boon on enemies, while cleansing 2 conditions on an ally into boons. Due to the relatively low (12 seconds) cooldown on this skill you can use it quite often.
Applies barrier to allies. Also on a 12 second cooldown, so share that barrier!
Fears enemies.
Damages and applies torment on enemies, while corrupting and crippling through activating Spiteful Spirit. Also applies considerable self barrier. This should be used when melee engaging, or after placing a Sand Shade (F1) from range (read Sand Shade’s description regarding if and when that should be done).
Important weapon skills:
Corrupts your target and enemies close by. This is your ranged corrupting skill, you should always try to land this when enemies get in range.
A 1,200 range single target, high damage and corrupting skill. This can be devastating on enemies with 3 or more boons, try to follow this up with for maximum single target spike.
Corrupts and damages around you. This is your other main corrupting skill, note that on targets that are below 50% hp it activates twice – use this when in melee range and especially on low targets.
Corrupts an area. This has a relatively high cast time, so you want to place it where your enemies will be in 1 second rather than where they are right now.
Skill usage and positioning
- Play smart with (F1 skill). Do not spam it just to deal more damage for it doesn’t do much on its own. All the real effects come from the shade skills (f2-f5) themselves, which pulse around both your character and the placed shades, which includes supportive effects such as barriers and cleanses for allies. Ideally shades should be placed in areas where both allies and enemies are present, to be combined with spamming f-skills right away, before the battle shifts elsewhere. Likewise, there’s no point in dropping a shade when all the other f-skills are on cooldown and there’s more effective skills ready to be cast.
- Scourges should not be played as a ranged class, they follow the commander rather closely, as part of the melee group. Their strongest skills have a very limited range and they have to be practically on top of their enemies to fully employ them. Barriers, support from party members and stolen boons make this possible. That does not mean that standing in red circles is a good idea, however;
- Harass and pressure the enemy at range with skills that have short cooldowns, don’t hesitate to use short-cooldown corrupt skills as well, especially if “small bombs” are called for;
- -Drop Well of Suffering and Well of Corruption where the commander wants them. Depending on the commander, the applicable command is usually “bomb”, “big bomb” or specifically “wells”;
- -Ghastly Breach is another long cooldown area denial skill that does a lot of damage and corrupts. It’s best used during melee engages either when the commander calls for it explicitly or over an area which is about to be saturated with enemies for the next few seconds. A good example is a choke the enemy is starting to push through (assuming the commander is planning to hold it). It can also be dropped in the path of a retreating enemy group for the same reasons. Use Ghastly if “big bomb” is called if the enemies are in its range or are about to enter it;
- Combine wells and Ghastly in melee range with spamming F-skills (most importantly F5) for maximum effect. F2-F5 skills have no cast time and can be activated while casting something else;
- The healing skill pads out allies’ health with some extra barrier. Since it also corrupts enemies around the scourge, it can be used offensively, e.g. cast just as the enemies arrive in melee range. This kills two birds with one stone;
- Communicate with the commander and let them know whenever wells or Ghastly come off cool down, this allows them to plan their actions better;
- Don’t forget to dodge to avoid taking unnecessary damage, especially when pushing through chokes.
Adapted from various sources such as Patch notes and Wiki. Thanks to Chair for writing parts of guide.