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Playing the two new professions in Random Arenas may seem familiar to those used to Rangers and Warriors, because they must deal with some of the same considerations during combat. Paragons, for example, need line of sight, and Dervishes need to get in close to hit their targets. Nonetheless, there are key differences as well. Paragons can elect to stay far back, out of enemy range, and support the team with Chants and Shouts, while Dervishes can position themselves carefully to take advantage of their area effect scythe attacks, looking for opponents clumped closely together.

Dervish Considerations

Skills
By default, Dervishes begin with:Twin Moon Sweep, Vital Boon, Wounding Strike, Pious Haste, Zealous Renewal, Resurrection Signet

Suggested skill unlocks:
Crippling Sweep, Irresistible Sweep. These two attacks help you catch running targets or opponents with a lot of defensive skills. Adding these to your Skill Bar means you've got a lot of attack skills. But that just means you'll have more responses to differing situations. It doesn't mean you should try to use all the attacks all the time.

Crippling Sweep
Irresistible Sweep

Equipment
Because of the inherent Health bonuses available on all Dervish armor, Dervishes don't feel the negative effect of superior runes as strongly as other professions. If you have a Rune of Superior Scythe Mastery unlocked, by all means apply it to your armor. Tack on some Vitae runes and a Superior Vigor and you still have more Health than a lot of players you'll encounter. Plus your high weapon mastery means you do more consistent damage, have better bonuses from attack skills, and are more likely to score critical hits (which do more damage). Don't worry about Attunement runes on your armor, though. The four arrows of natural Energy regeneration and the bonus Energy gained from the Mysticism attribute mean you will rarely run out of Energy.

If using the default skills including Wounding Strike, slap a Barbed Scythe Snathe and Scythe Grip of Fortitude on one of your weapons. Make a vampiric and elemental for swapping and experiment with them against different targets. In a group of enemies, the vampiric scythe bonus damage tends to add up while healing you.

Tactics
Like Warriors, Dervishes constantly seek to close in on a target. So they suffer from some of the same problems such as snares, body blocks, kiting opponents, and terrain. In Random Arenas, when you get snared, think of it as an opportunity to heal and regain some Energy as you limp around. If you're chasing someone when you get snared, stop and look for a closer target. Often, the most efficient target to attack is the one closest to you. You'll spend less time getting to the target, meaning you can unload your attack skills sooner and continue to pressure the other team.

Also consider switching when you have to stop and cast Enchantments. If your current target has gotten to far away, switch to a closer one. Consider this also when using Wounding Strike. Switching targets lets you spread Bleeding at will. Bleeding causes Health degeneration and affects each opponent equally. Compare this to your normal scythe attacks, which become less deadly when an enemy has good armor.

To maximize your damage, look for groups of enemies. Melee characters, in particular, tend to form little packs as they chase the same target. Wait for the target they're chasing to stop moving. This puts them all in a nice little formation for you, where you can run up and strike all of them with a single blow. Hitting multiple targets vastly improves your damage efficiency.
When focusing on a single target, combo your skills and alternate your Enchantment casting for the best effect. One effective combo works like this: Vital Boon > Twin Moon Sweep > Wounding Strike > Zealous Renewal > Wounding Strike > Twin Moon Sweep. By the time you execute this combo, you've got your target Bleeding and Deeply Wounded, besides having done a bunch of damage and, if you're lucky, hitting foes adjacent to your target.

Secondary Profession Suggestion
Dervish/RangerApply Poison, Troll UnguentWilderness Survival: 6
Unlock a Poisonous Scythe Snathe
Apply Poison
Ranger - Wilderness Survival - Preparation
Energy: 15
Activation: 2
Duration: 24
Recharge: 12
Preparation. For 24 seconds, foes struck by your physical attacks become Poisoned for 3..15 seconds.
Troll Unguent
Ranger - Wilderness Survival - Skill
Energy: 5
Activation: 3
Duration: 10
Recharge: 10
Skill. For 10 seconds, you gain +3..10 Health regeneration.

While you may not have Energy to continuously use Apply Poison, it makes for a high-pressure start to a match, if used correctly. As you approach the other team, stop and activate Apply Poison. Make sure your team is with you and head for a group of enemies, perhaps with a movement speed boost from Pious Haste. Use Wounding Strike and you can have up to three people Poisoned and Bleeding right away. In Random Arenas, such a powerful opening completely destroys some teams, as they don't have the healing capacity to recover from it.

If the other team survives the initial assault, wait for Wounding Strike to recharge, and hit a target that has no Conditions on it yet. Try to strike as many different targets as possible to get the Health degeneration spread out amongst the other team.