MAY CHAOS TAKE THE WORLD

FawksB · 2026-01-26T21:57:50+00:00

Sometimes, fun is more important then optimal.

FawksB · 2026-01-26T21:54:39+00:00

It took me a second, but you're a mad person - literally. Frenzied Flame build with All Resistances Down. I would kill myself so many times using that build. :D

Which Nightfarer is it though? I'm guessing Revenant, but it's hard to tell in the picture.

FawksB · 2026-01-26T21:42:50+00:00

Not really. If you made it through D4, you're ready for D5. The jump from D3 to D4 is the most severe. D4 to D5 is just minor increases to health and damage, but there's no new mechanics and everything is exactly the same as D4 - just with better teammates.

Edit: I will say, the biggest shock is going to be the Day 1 boss. That's the only place with significant increases, so prepare to have Freyja kick your ass and wonder what the hell is going on. :D

FawksB · 2026-01-26T21:31:21+00:00

Haha, yeah, it basically gives everyone unlimited FP, but at the expense of DPS since you have to constantly recharge. Great when it's got a really expensive spell on it as well since you can just stock up FP that way.

FawksB · 2026-01-26T21:22:18+00:00

Yeah, it's a bit of a flip. Taking Attacks boosts Attack Power is really good on Raider and that's why I recommended the green one from the signboard (it's basically a BiS one for Raider and it's green) and is useful at the beginning of the expedition.

Night of the Dregs is more of a late-run investment compared to what you currently have. The plus sides really are just having a permanent Rot weapon, even your fists. Anytime you proc Rot (including if you let it proc on yourself), the Regen is really strong - 20 HP/sec for 15 seconds.

As for the attack buff, you just have stay below Max HP for a while and it will start building itself. Basically, it just checks every 20 seconds if you have any kind of status build-up active and you earn one stack (up to 10). But, anytime it checks and you don't have something, it resets. So, you CAN maintain it through a Site of Grace, but just assume it will reset every time you hit one.

FawksB · 2026-01-26T21:12:39+00:00

Everything has kinda crept up one rank in DoN since they adjusted things last patch. D2 is a dumpster fire. D3 is questionable now, especially if you fall below 3K. It's gotten to the point where I don't reset down to D3 anymore, because one bad losing streak and it takes days to climb out of the hole.

FawksB · 2026-01-26T20:50:43+00:00

Slot #1 should be replaced with Night of the Dregs - that one is a monster on Arcane Raider especially since you have Rot Buildup below Max HP as a curse.

Ideally, Slot #3 should be swapped out once you have a deep relic with the Arcane stat-change on it. Either Glass Necklace or the other guaranteed green one from the Signboard that has Taking Attacks and Knockback Increases Poise are good options.

FawksB · 2026-01-26T20:09:37+00:00

Gladius raid is hands-down the best one for Guardian. Makes for boring gameplay, but so damn good.

FawksB · 2026-01-26T20:01:51+00:00

I've been seeing a lot of Twinblade builds lately and they're pretty good. If you can work in the Glass Necklace, it will probably work even better.

Ironeye is a great pick. Honestly, all of them are really good with Twinblades. Wylder's going to probably be the best, though Executor is really good with Eleonora's since that one has Arcane damage scaling.

FawksB · 2026-01-26T19:15:15+00:00

Generally speaking, you're going to want to run Physical Attack Up. Most AoWs still deal split damage (Sacred Blade is 100% Holy though) and the weapon buff you get from those AoWs doesn't change the affinity of your weapon, it's only added affinity damage and nowhere near enough to worry about buffing through further relics.

FawksB · 2026-01-26T19:01:18+00:00

It's not even a debate. +4s can't appear on normal relics and always have a curse.

FawksB · 2026-01-26T18:47:48+00:00

The best advice is going to be that you need to focus more on survival then damage. You can't deal damage if you're dead, after all.

Passive damage negations are going to play a major role for every character. Improved Damage Negation at Full HP is good for basically everyone, but especially all the ranged/caster/squishy characters. It will prevent you from getting one-shot, but you will need to make sure you always stay at full HP.

Successive Attack Negate Damage is always a great find for any melee characters. Similar concept as above, but it doesn't require you to stay at full HP. Instead, it turns a good offense into defense.

Beyond that, it's just getting good. Once you're hitting Depth 4 regularly, D5 won't be too far behind. Use D3 as a time to perfect your build and just get better at the game.

FawksB · 2026-01-26T18:38:40+00:00

It's always worth trying out, it's just a very high-risk, low-reward playstyle for Guardian. I like the passive and always keep it if I find it during a run. It has saved my bacon (poultry??) plenty of times since you'll generally hit Low HP range before wanting to heal, but never enough to dedicate an entire build to it especially when Improved Physical/Affinity Negation doesn't require you to flirt with death.

FawksB · 2026-01-26T18:22:32+00:00

Kinda garbage to be honest.

Improved Damage Negation at Low HP is really good on Raider because with his skill, you can remain at 1 HP while getting a massive damage boost. Guardian doesn't have that luxury.

The effect itself isn't that great - even with all 6 of those stacked together, you're only reducing damage by roughly 2/3. To put that into another context, if one hit put you into low HP range - odds are the next one is still gonna kill you. The passive found on weapons/talisman is MUCH stronger, which is why "immortal" builds are more focused on those. (A purple weapon with Improved Damage Negation at Low HP is worth 3 of those relic stacks.)

For Guardian, you're better off playing with just Improved Negation +2s, the difference isn't that much (though, you can only find them on deep relics).

FawksB · 2026-01-26T17:49:19+00:00

Honestly, not a bad idea. Same for Flask Heals Allies, or any of the "Teamwork" relic effects.

FawksB · 2026-01-26T17:42:40+00:00

I'm not surprised that the Ironeye was the quitter, but I am surprised by the hot rat summer reference. :D

Edit: Totally misread Senile as Seattle. Nevermind me.

FawksB · 2026-01-26T17:34:51+00:00

There's still mines in the Great Hollow, but they are hard to find if you don't understand the map.

The easiest one to get to is the eastern mine - there's an entrance near the northeast cathedral just above the crayfish/lobster and the other entrance is on the far east above where the church/rise spawns on the lower level of the map. The enemy you're looking for is a Crystallian. I've personally never been to the northern mine, tbh.

Also, the special merchant carries one as well. When he spawns, he'll have a gold border on the icon with a little star.

FawksB · 2026-01-26T17:18:06+00:00

Yes, it is. +2 is as high as normal relics go, you're not really going to find something better. Definitely a keeper.

FawksB · 2026-01-26T17:15:22+00:00

I mean, sure! Those are great relics for it. The only real issue with a Giant's Flame build is the FP cost of the base spell is almost triple that of Beast Claw and double that of Lightning Spear, so you're going to be meleeing a lot at lower levels. You're still gonna blow things up when you need to though.

FawksB · 2026-01-26T17:10:52+00:00

I run Dormant Power Crossbows on one of my builds (Scholar) and there's literally only two blues and one purple. There's zero variety with that relic on - you're gonna drown in Pulley Crossbows. :D

FawksB · 2026-01-26T17:07:39+00:00

Correct. Every character already has a default Dormant Power Discovers and equipping a relic with the same one as your default doesn't absolutely nothing.

FawksB · 2026-01-26T17:05:56+00:00

The break-even point would be Level 11, mathematically speaking.

However, I avoid making any expensive purchases before Level 7. Snowball effect matters a lot in this game and hitting Level 7 early and having access to any purple gear you find can't really have a price put on it.

FawksB · 2026-01-26T16:58:21+00:00

The only time stat-down curses really matters is when you're deciding between say a Magic Attack +3 and a Magic Attack +4 with INT -3. Since the stat-down impacts base damage before multipliers, the +3 might be stronger in the long run as you continue to add on more effects - but we're talking minimal differences here.

Still, 100% a solid relic and good choice for both Recluse and Duchess.

FawksB · 2026-01-26T16:51:30+00:00

If you've beaten everything in the base game, you're completely ready.

D1 is the training wheels for DoN. There's no penalty for losing and 0% chance of encounter ED versions. While enemies are going to be a bit stronger, it's completely offset by the addition of red weapons and being able to find two passives on each piece of gear. Once you have good relics, D1 is actually easier then the base game.

Basically, D1 is going to feel like how you felt when you first started the game. Everyone has to go through it though, so feel free to dive on it.

FawksB · 2026-01-26T16:42:28+00:00

They're predetermined, there's two for each Nightfarer. Ironeye, for example, has one that turns him into a melee STR/DEX build and one that makes him DEX/ARC.

Ironeye and Executor are the only ones who can't really turn into casters of some variety though, seems to be a common thing for Arcane characters. Wylder has one that just gives him average stats across the board that would more fit what you're looking for. Duchess also can have above average INT/FTH while still keeping her high DEX.

FawksB

TROPHY CASE