Which of these is the best all-round build for a D/W?

[Saiph]

All-round as in best suited for both PvE and PvP.

BUILD 1
Earth Prayers - 13
Scythe Mastery - 12
Mysticism - 9

Skills:
Reaper's Sweep
Mystic Sweep
Conviction
Vital Boon
Wild Blow
Mystic Regeneration
Faithful Intervention
Res Signet

BUILD 2
Mysticism 11 + 1 + 2
Scythe Mastery 12 + 1
Earth Prayers 6 + 1

Skills:
Avatar of Melandru
Zealous Renewal
Wearying Strike
Victorious Sweep
Chilling Victory
Conviction
Wild Blow
Res Signet

BUILD 3
Mysticism: 12 + 1
Scythe Mastery: 12 + 1 + 1

Skills:
Avatar of Melandru
Eremite's Attack
Wearying Strike
Victorious Sweep
Heart of Fury
Pious Haste
Wild Blow
Res Signet

[Marveric]

Well the first two demonstrate a repugnant lack of IAS as well as unbearably low Scythe Mastery values so I'd go with the third.

[Akirai Annuvil]

In the first one you're not using AoM. In the second you're using Zealous Renewal, over an IAS. So the third is pretty much the automatic victor, including all of the above.

[Saiph]

In the first one you're not using AoM.

So what if I'm not using AoM? It was simply replaced with another elite - Reaper's Sweep.

I'm still quite new to GW, but judging from the previous two posts, is IAS that necessary?

[djacob]

Fyi, I didn't vote as I don't want you to believe that any build translates from pve to pvp with absolutely no changes or even pvp to pve (at least not all areas of it). If I had to choose the best build for either pvp or pve, then I'd choose the third for pvp. Needs e-management in the forms of either a zealous scythe or necro battery, but you have AoM+wearying strike which is the only thing that high lvl pvpers will ever use on a derv, the other builds usually just get used in RA. The first build is the best of them for pve but I still wouldn't take it myself (although I did have such a build for quite a while and believe I didn't make any serious changes to it until after beating nf).

The reason I wouldn't take it now is because watchful > faithful unless you are in areas where your health NEVER drops below 50% and you just want mystic regen to give you more health per second. Also, as people have said, you don't have ias in two of those... and with such a build, it will be extremely important (especially if you are using a zealous scythe). If you plan on doing damage, being able to do it faster is a good thing. Last reason I wouldn't take it is due to a few pve skills, such as aura of holy might (I love this w/ VoStrength).

As for the middle build, the speccing into earth probably isn't a good idea as conviction is your only skill in that line. Also, it doesn't even gain that much other than at 3 and 8 earth so there is no reason to have 7 earth for that one skill.

[Akirai Annuvil]

So what if I'm not using AoM? It was simply replaced with another elite - Reaper's Sweep.

The elite's subpar. In a team, a derv takes up the same spot as a evi war, a frontliner who's job is to spike people dead. Reaper's is worse than evi at accomplishing this, so pretty much nobody seriously runs it. Wearying Strike is better at accomplishing this then reaper's, thusly AoM is a better elite than reaper's. It also adds some defensive measures etcetera.

I'm still quite new to GW, but judging from the previous two posts, is IAS that necessary?

Basically, a 33% IAS equals a 50% DPS boost. So yeah, if you wanna deal damage, you sorta gonna need the IAS.

Needs e-management in the forms of either a zealous scythe or necro battery,

Patient Spirit and RoF are good enough. Normally, I use a zealous after turning on the Form and after that your energy fluctuates a bit but is normally enough even without a zealous.

[Rym Of Melandru]

I myself run #3, except with Bull's Strike in place of Victorious for KD, and more often than not I use Frenzy instead of Heart; Heart's stripped way too easily, and you can only keep it running 1/2 the time, compared to indefinitely with Frenzy. And if things get bad, Pious Haste is a GREAT cancel stance.

Anyway, you can probably guess what I voted

[TheChosenDervish]

Fyi, I didn't vote as I don't want you to believe that any build translates from pve to pvp with absolutely no changes or even pvp to pve (at least not all areas of it). If I had to choose the best build for either pvp or pve, then I'd choose the third for pvp. Needs e-management in the forms of either a zealous scythe or necro battery, but you have AoM+wearying strike which is the only thing that high lvl pvpers will ever use on a derv, the other builds usually just get used in RA. The first build is the best of them for pve but I still wouldn't take it myself (although I did have such a build for quite a while and believe I didn't make any serious changes to it until after beating nf).

The reason I wouldn't take it now is because watchful > faithful unless you are in areas where your health NEVER drops below 50% and you just want mystic regen to give you more health per second. Also, as people have said, you don't have ias in two of those... and with such a build, it will be extremely important (especially if you are using a zealous scythe). If you plan on doing damage, being able to do it faster is a good thing. Last reason I wouldn't take it is due to a few pve skills, such as aura of holy might (I love this w/ VoStrength).

As for the middle build, the speccing into earth probably isn't a good idea as conviction is your only skill in that line. Also, it doesn't even gain that much other than at 3 and 8 earth so there is no reason to have 7 earth for that one skill.

My build is almost exactly like the first one except with 12 mysticism, 9 earth, and 15 scythe. Also, I use heart of fury instead of conviction. So it isn't necessarily BAD, just needs to swap out some skills

[Akirai Annuvil]

My build is almost exactly like the first one except with 12 mysticism, 9 earth, and 15 scythe. Also, I use heart of fury instead of conviction. So it isn't necessarily BAD, just needs to swap out some skills

No that's bad.

[djacob]

My build is almost exactly like the first one except with 12 mysticism, 9 earth, and 15 scythe. Also, I use heart of fury instead of conviction. So it isn't necessarily BAD, just needs to swap out some skills
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At first it can seem to be a very good set up as enemies will die immediately (in early areas of the game) once they go below 50% health, and won't take long to do so. I can remember having fun with such a build in Vabbi, but there are many builds which are more efficient which is why I never plan on returning to this build (especially since I have "Finish Him!" for any of my pve deep wound needs).

No that's bad.

I wouldn't call it bad myself (and never did if I remember correctly). I would however call it pve only as well as non-optimal even for that. Of course, people who don't have every skill from every chapter (or at least from the chapters that prof is from) are going to be running non-optimal builds in pve so I don't have any major issues with the build. Of course, if I was looking at it from a pvp perspective, I would call it bad as bringing it into pvp would get you laughed at (and getting laughed at imo is bad).

Reaper's Sweep is a decent deep wound in pve as it will hit multiple enemies (making it better than eviscerate) and does not cost nearly as much energy as AoM+wearying. In pvp I can understand taking AoM since there will probably be quite a bit of conditions used, but I consider it a waste of energy in most areas of pve. That being said, when I'm not using "Finish Him!" I'm using wearying strike+plague touch as that causes monks to heal themselves for much less. It lowers the divine favor bonus as well as making the actual spell heal for less or last for a shorter duration, plus the deep wound causes the amount of healing to go down as well.

Patient Spirit and RoF are good enough. Normally, I use a zealous after turning on the Form and after that your energy fluctuates a bit but is normally enough even without a zealous.

Thanks for explaining that, I don't pvp so I was not sure what was used primarily for e-management.