Scourge what?

I am a returning player, and I am considering running a corruptor, and I am wondering what scourge is. I read through some guides that have briefly talked about it, but it seems to be understood by everyone what it is. Expect me. Is there a guide that does a good job of explaining it, or some documentation I can go look at? Or would one of you nice corruptors explain it to me. I get the general idea, but I it a rough idea, not a firm understanding.

I'll have to rustle something up for you but as the power description says Scourge is a 2.5% chance for double damage for every point of a mob's health under 50%.

So...
for a mob at 49% health a corruptor has a 2.5% for Scourge (double damage)

for a mob at 25% health a corruptor has a 52.5% chance to scourge

for a mob at 10% health a corruptor has (calculation wise) a 100% chance to scourge.

Now at that point the mob will be so low in health it won't really matter, but Scourge can really add some nice damage for the AT.

Scourge really comes in handy when facing bosses or AVs with high hits point, meaning that you can land more than a few Scourge attacks on an enemy which will surely end the fight sooner. Does this help?

Scourge is the Corruptors inherent power in which it kicks in when a target is below 50% HP. Once a target is below 50% HP, every attack has a chance to scourge and do double damage, this chance increases the lower the targets HP gets.

Scourge also make AoE attacks very important, especially powers like Rain of fire that do constant widespread damage over time. Each little bit of power has a chance for Scourge that can kill large groups of enemies quickly.

One of the reasons I picked fire/dark after reading a guide. Use dark to slow and bunch up the bad guys, and then unleash fiery AoE death upon them, capping with Rain of Fire for the Scourge kill.

It really is amazing to watch.

Yes, that helps tremendously!

By adding some numbers to the general description I had, it really brings a lot of things into focus. Thanks

Now that We've got the technical stuff down, I'd just like to say that Scourge is, essentially, a power that lets you rub salt on an enemy's wounds and/or kick them while they're down. It's the most villainous inherent power in the game.

I find that Scourge affect my playstyle in that my priority will be to get my target into "Scourge range" where even a weak attack will now finish a mob. As I solo quite a bit I also find this a good time to unleash an AOE to start on my next target at the same time I'm finishing my current one.

Overall point being that Scourge has made Cors my favorite AT to play.

Yeah, I like the description that Scourge is the power that you use to kick foes while they're down. Sort of like how Domination is the power that lets you "play" with your victims for a while before killing them. Definately a villainous concept.

In practice, IMHO Scourge supports the Corruptor's main role in a team, which is to watch his teammates' backs and pick off stragglers. If a Corruptor concentrates solely on foes that are already half defeated, he can multiply his damage considerably. I think it's also telling that the Corruptor is the perfect counterpart to the Stalker. The Stalker can take out a huge chuck of a foes' HP with his first blow, and then the Corruptor can take down the foe while he's weakened.

In general, Scourge is said to only add about 7-21% to a Corruptor's overall damage. But if used intelligently, like that, it can help the Corruptor deal much more damage, and save him Endurance while providing a use for very low damage attacks. And again, Scourging an AoE on a spawn of foes that are nearly finished off can definately improve your damage.

In teams, scourge means that your attacks are extremely effective as follow-ups. If you're on a team with a good number of AoE's they use, and you have buffs/debuffs, use an the beginning moments to use your secondary or use single target attacks on the 'hard' targets. When your team lets loose their AoE, follow up with yours for a good chance at finishing things far quicker.

Not something you'll do in every circumstance, mind you, but a good thing to keep in mind.

P.S. scourge=love when fighting AV's/Heroes/Gian Monsters. The more the hitpoints, the more time you spend doing double damage. They are one of the best, if not the best, team members archetypes for those fights for this reason.

The great thing about Scourge is that it really encourages you to play your class roll properly. Early on in the fight, you should be using powers from your secondary to debuff the enemy. Once you're done with that, your teammates should have the mob into scourge range.

The important thing to remember about the corrupter, and really any support class, is that your personal damage isn't nearly as important as the effects your powers have on team damage.

I find that it's the rare player who is overusing their support powers and needs to just blast more. YMMV. That said, I agree. My only point was that in a big team, you're likely going to see far more effect on your team's total output by running assault and throwing Enervating Field (for example) on each spawn than just spamming your aoe powers.

Yes, fair point. Personally, I never complain about that, unless the party is being horribly killed as a result. Killing them quickly is why I threw the anchors on in the first place.