Runes:

Superior Vigor is not strictly necessary, major vigor will be fine. Blessed on all pieces is highly recommended for all and necessary for soloing.

Pcons

The build benefits greatly from Corn and Pie, but no pcons are strictly necessary. If you want to reliably solo content, I recommend

• Corn
• Apple
• Egg
• Cupcake
• Pie
• Lunars (Optional)
• War Supplies (Optional)
• Red Rock (For Priest of Menzie)

Using the build

Nesting your enchantments

This is crucial for the build’s success. Nesting refers to “hiding” enchantments you don’t want stripped. For example, I don’t want to strip Vow of Strength, so I make sure to cast the skill I do want to strip (Staggering Force) after I cast Vow of Strength.

Base Enchantments

These are the enchants you always want to have up, and that you do not want to strip:

• Mystic Regeneration
• Vow of Strength
• Mirage Cloak (sometimes)

To achieve this, you always want to cast Mystic Regeneration first, then Mirage Cloak, before beginning your attack sequence. If there are Shadow Warriors present, you do not want Mirage Cloak active or they will knock you down when you block them.

Attack sequence

Skills need to be cast in a specific order for the spike to be effective.

Vow of Strength → Sand Shards → Staggering Force → Death's Charge → Eremite's Attack → Distracting Blow (if D/W) → Auto Attack

Let’s break it down.

Vow of Strength comes first so we make sure it doesnt get stripped. We want to nest it as deeply as possible, because Mesmers will strip you. Sand Shards and Staggering Force come right before the Shadow Step.

It’s vital to target something other than the enemy you want to kill. Sand Shards only damages adjacent foes, not your target, so if you want to kill the monk do not target it.

After we’ve Shadow Stepped in, we use Eremite's Attack to strip Staggering Force . This deals bonus damage and inflicts cracked armor on the entire group. Next, we Auto Attack. This is because Sand Shards will still be active and Staggering Force / Eremite’s Attack will be on cooldown. Continuing to Auto Attack will deal huge damage to the group and usually clean up anything that wasn’t killed in the initial spike.

Solo

To solo groups as a derv, the process is very similar. Maintain all of your enchantments all the time, for max Mystic Regeneration buff, but use Ebon Battle Standard of Honor immediately after stepping into the group, followed by Staggering Force → Eremite’s Attack. Be sure to time this so Staggering Force is recharged before you step in, and always keep a staff equipped until spike when Shadow Beasts are in the ball. Equipping a staff will prevent the Shadow Beasts from casting Spiteful Spirit on you, and we want to delay this until the very last second to stay alive.