Tree of Savior Forum

"Bodyguard" Squire/Rodelero build - any thoughts?

Class and Rank Swordsman
#1

Hi there good people !~♪

This is actually my first submission to the ToS forums, so I hope it’ll not be too boring, and that it could be of some interest to some of you

tl;dr : I’m planning (well to tell the truth I’m already in the process of it) on building a Squire who could have some kind of utility in a small-to-medium party (basically playing with one or two friends and being able to protect their squishy arses), instead of just being a city-sitting, money-making blacksmith.
The general idea is to pick classes which would bring as much utility as possible to the build, instead of just following an “optimal”/“logical” path of one “type” of class (like the “tanking” pelt C3 - rode C1 - squire)

Hence I would go Swordsman C2 - Barbarian C1 - Rodelero C1 - Squire C1/C2 - Rodelero C2/C3

Now for a bit more detailed explanation of these choices and the resonning behind them, which I would love to have your insight on :

Swordsman C2 :

The main goal is to get Restrain, as a good way to reduce the overall damage output of a pack of monsters by regularly interrupting some of them. The idea behind was also to seek combos with Barbarian skill, but atm it seems that the Stun from Restrain is…bugged, or just innapropriate, as it is too short to be linked with other skills unless you make a guess that your next attack WILL be a Stun, and guess well. And actually, even if you guess well, it seems to not be considered as a Stun by other skills (Pommel Beat and Cleave don’t have their damage increased)
Lvl 10 Gung Ho is also a pretty sweet addition to the build

WHY not Peltasta C1 :

I know it’s a really popular choice at Rank 2, and to many people it would be way more fit to an “utility-somewhat-tanky” build
However, the only real interest of this class is Swash Buckling, which is a nice skill indeed, but which does not make a Swordsman a good tank - or more accurately a good…“aggroer” ?? - in itself
As far as I have understood the Swordies mechanics, waht makes you a tank / aggroer is actually your rank in the Provoke attribute, which allows you to aggro monstres with less damage output
Hence my choice to skip the “classic” Pelt Rank 2

Barbarian C1 :

The main goal here is to get a little bit of damages into the build, as well as some utility through Helm Chopper’s Stun and Embowel’s “get away from me”’ (the 7 AoE ratio of which I still need to check on)
Being able to carry a 2H Sword is also pretty neat, as I’ll be able to switch later on depending on the needs of the situation

Rodelero C1 :

I’ve read everything and its contrary on the Rodeleros, and there are actually not many discussions about them (poor bbs :cry: )
The idea behind this choice is obvious I guess : whatever “good” their set is, it is TECHNICALLY the most fit for an utility oriented build : lots of CC through all their skills, and a decent damage output, while getting as well the attribute which allows you to keep your shield up for some extra tanking (another reason to skip Pelt at R2)

Squire C1/C2 :

To be honest the main reason behind me wanting to go Squire is the freaking RP feel this class has :heart_eyes:
Build-wise, the idea is to be…well…a Squire, a support to the party who enhances stuff and provides boosts (if I decide to go for C2, even though I’m a bit disappointed by the food’s effects… …but damn the RP feel to that tent is just too much :sweat: )
Utility-wise, the nest-hook skill seems pretty appealing, and again would fit the general idea of the build

Rodelero C2/C3 :

Simply completing the build after my time as a Squire, unless I find something more appealing

Sorry it is such a long post ! :cold_sweat:

If anyone has any thoughts about the class choices, if you think I’m completely wrong and this char will look like nothing, if you want me to post a skill simulation, or if you simply want to bring your knowledge about these classes or Swordies in general, I’ll be glad to read you and to answer ! :3

Have a good day !~♪

#2

from what i know, peltesta gives you the ability to guard © increasing your block rate.
my personal build for whenever i become a squire would be
pelt>hop2>squire 2 > templar.

#3

Rodelero actually gives you this ability as well ; )

But I think this is a cool build too, I may have gone for it if I didn’t already have a Hoplite, destined to become Dragoon in a distant future x)

#4

But it is not as strong as Peltasta’s which has +25% Block and +50% Defense.

Also, Provoke attribute is not nearly as strong as Swash Buckling and doesn’t let you bypass the DPS of other members of the party at higher levels when their damage is very high.

It is much better to have an instant AoE taunt rather than try to get your aggro through provoke mainly because you are still limited by AoE Ratio.

#5

Restrain is unreliable at S2, which is why builds that want Restrain go all in to S3.

Swashbuckling is too good to pass up. It will get you into any grind group for mobbing and let you tank any leveling dungeon with Peltasta attributes.

The only builds that shouldn’t take Peltasta 1 are builds going Swordsman 3 (for pvp or shadow clones) and Highlander/Barbarian full dps builds.

#6

After some tests on other Swordsmen characters, I kinda get the point…

Guess I overestimated the impact of Restrain as well : (

However, if what you say is true about the damage at higher level and the effect of Provoke, it…feels kinda sad regarding the capacity of the Swordies classes to act as, if not tanks, at least reliable aggro-targets =/

Thanks for the insight ! :3

#7

It is not difficult for a single target (like a boss) or small groups of mobs, depending on your AoE Ratio, IF you have a good amount of damage.

But for bigger groups you don’t have enough AoE Ratio to cover all of them and you will lose aggro on some since other classes have unlimited AoE skills (which means they are not restricted to AoE Ratio and deal damage to everything under the spell) making it much harder to keep everything under control. This is more apparent at higher levels when their DPS is much higher than yours.

Not only that, but there is also a limit as to how many mobs you can aggro at once, which Swash Buckling allows you to bypass too.

This is why Peltasta C1 is of high priority when it comes to PvE party content.

#8

I see ! That indeed makes Peltasta far more interesting, especially since Swordies C2 turned out to be pretty meh ^^’

I wondered, does Swash Buckling increase your aggro in itself when it’s used, making it easier for you to aggro monsters who are attacking someone else ? Or does it “only” pull the monsters and increase your aggro limit ?

#9

All of them: it pulls them to you, increases your aggro on them and increases the amount of mobs you can aggro at once.

There are a few scenarios where the DPS of someone in your party is so high that even though you use Swash Buckling, it will try to go back to that person after a few seconds of being under the effect of it. But it only takes 2 Swash Bucklings to completely override everyone in your party and those scenarios are not very frequent.

#10

Welcome to the forums. This is a solid first post, so I figured I would try and help you a bit.

First, just get pelstata. In addition to having swashbuckling, which you vastly underestimate the value of (no offense), they have probably the best passives attributes in the game, especially for a tank.

+25% HP during swashbuckling ,which has 100% up-time
+25% block for just wearing a shield
+18% evasion during guardian. Also 100% up-time even at level 1.
+50% physical defense while using guard.

If you don’t think those passives are amazing, especially late game, I don’t even know what to say.

Rodelero is getting a lot of buffs on kToS, and we will soon likely get (at least some of) them as well.

Restrain is good, but you can chop the proc rate in about half, which means you pretty much want to go either swordsman circle 3, or just forget it altogether. A 10% chance is still fine, but it’s not great. Most mobs die in ~10 hits anyways (more late game, but you’ll be partying, so it’ll be even faster kills than solo), so you won’t see it landing often. Just be warned.

Embowel is bad. It’s just bad. Barbarian isn’t bad, but Embowel is the wrong skill to take with them. You can ask pretty much anyone who plays Barbarian and they will confirm this.

You are left with quite a few options:

If you still want restrain and squire based:
Sword > Pels > Sword > Rodelero > Squire > Squire > Squire

A spear based tank (gain some good boss killing potential here):
Sword > Pels > Hoplite > Rodelero > Squire > Squire > Squire

Tanky, squire based build:
Sword > Pels > Pels > Rodelero > Squire > Squire > Squire

Rodelero focus, has slithering which can block magic attacks:
Sword > Pels > Sword > Rodelero > Rodelero > Rodelero > Squire

Restrain Focused:
Sword > Pels > Sword > Rodelero > Rodelero > Sword > Squire
OR Sword > Pels > Hoplite > Rodelero > Sword > Sword > Squire

I would advise against barbarian circle 1. It’s okay. Cleave is great on stunned targets, and it scales pretty well. That said, you’ll only be getting it to level 5, which isn’t a lot of damage , especially if you’re getting tanky.

Don’t get Squire circle 2. It’s definitely a class that you want to either get 1 circle in or go all out.

1 Like
#11

Wow, thanks a lot for your reply ! ~

Yeah since my post I’ve dived a bit more into Peltasta attributes and gameplay, and I have to agree I completely underestimated Pelt C1 ^^’

Same thing about Restrain, I understand now why you (and many other people) advise to go for it lvl 10 or not to take it at all.

However, a few questions regarding the builds you suggested if I may :

Sword - Pelt - Pelt - Rode - Squire3
–> Is going Pelt 2 really that useful ? ( I’ve heard that the wannabe-Ragnarök-Shield Boomerang skill is pretty much useless, and that the skill which increases your block rate has too much of a downside in attack reduction)

I must add to clarify things that I don’t especially intend to get tanky, I’d like to focus more on some medium-damage-dealing and utility, therefore going something like DEX/STR with a decent amount of CON. But for my “tanking”, I’d like to rely more on…well my actual damage and CC (as they say, “If they dead, they CC” : D), but I don’t actually know if it’s viable at higher levels

About not going Squire C2 : Isn’t level 10 Weapon/Armour Maintenance worth going C2 ? (and those tent and table though… : ( I secretely hope for a food buff in the future : ( )

About not getting Barbarian C1 : If I consider your builds and skip the ones including Restrain, I’m left with the one going Pelt C2 which I previously discussed, and the spear based one going Hoplite
In the end, isn’t going Hoplite C1-only as limited as going Barbarian C1-only ? I already run a Hoplite (currently C2), and I feel that the potential of the class really shines at higher Circles (well, you may say that it’s the same with Barbs, which I would have to agree to, buuuut…)
I thought that, if I have to pick a class which I would throw only one Circle in, I may as well go for Barbs to get as much damage as I could out of it. (Another purely personnal thing, but…I’d like this character to use a sword and not a spear ^^’ … …I know, I’m annoying- )

Soooo…do you really think that Barbarian C1 is not worth it damage-wise in late game, even if I go for STR/DEX ?

Anyway, thanks again for your thorough reply ! :wink: (btw do you know how to do the game emotes on the forum, I’ve seen some on other posts but never found the function…)

#12

I see ! That’s really nice of a skill then, much more useful than I saw it before o/

#13

Glad you were able to get some useful info out of my ranting!

Pelt 2 isn’t super useful, no. Your third rank is a bit of a weak one for you. Shield lob isn’t very good. None of the Peltasta attacks are particularly good though in all fairness. High guard, however, does has its uses. It again isn’t that amazing. I’m not a big fan of Pelt past circle 1 until it gets some deserved buffs.

In PvE, if you want to be useful to groups, you’re going to be the tank. Squire doesn’t have any damaging skills, so you’re basically out 1-3 circles of damaging skills. These are also the later circles, which are very important for damage.

As a tank, however, this won’t matter much, as your main jobs are to a) not die, and b) not let your teammates die. Barbarian doesn’t really help with either of these. It has some nice skills when you get them, but they will slowly feel off.

This mostly comes from my personal testing. I am barbarian circle 3 and from what I’ve played with Helm Chopper doesn’t scale well with attack. It’s best as a 1 point skill (though it is strike damage which is nice). Cleave and Seism scale well with attack, so they are great late game, but the base of cleave is pretty low at just level 5. The thing about cleave that is so good is the +180% damage vs stunned targets. That’s HUGE, so a bit of damage loss scales hard too, and the difference from 5 to 15 is quite a drop off.

Hoplite has a few tricks up their sleeve in circle 1 that I feel you may find enjoyable. You already play them, so I really don’t need to explain anything to you. Finestra is amazing, period, though level 5 the duration is a bit short. Stabbing and Pierce are great PvE. PvP, your job will be mostly CC with arrest especially shining here. You pretty much won’t a PvP star with this build though. It’s going to be tough. Swordies already have it rough.

You definitely CAN go Squire 2. Your maintenance skills will improve of course. The food table needs some buffs though. Once you get 2 circles in though, you basically have 2 combat circles wasted (they don’t provide large in game benefits to combat directly), so most consider this a full support character anyways. It’s definitely an option though, and might be what you want to end up doing.

Sadly, I do not know how to do in game emotes here. Perhaps they attached an image. There is nothing wrong with wanting to go sword and board, by the way. It’s a perfectly valid choice.

#14

Aaaah, tough choice it is indeed…

Hoplite DOES seem like a better choice of course, Finestra being just amazing (even though, as you said, at lvl 5 the duration is…well, encouraging you to go Hop C2 8D)
BUT…y’know, sword and board…

Guess I’ll still go Barb, just because it’s the “less bad” choice for my R3 regarding my very personnal preferences ; but I totally get your point about damage scaling in late game (though, that’s really awful that we are not able to know how each skill actually scales with our stats ><’’)

About PvP, I don’t especially plan to play it much anyway, or just for fun and probably with other characters x) (but wow, does Arrest really work against players ? Like…with the number of targets increased by the skill lvl and all ? Oo)

I suppose I’ll have to figure out later on if I want to sacrifice my party utility/bit of damage for more support utility with Squire C2…

Well for the time being, time to farm those levels : D

#15

Arrest is a very, very good skill. It even works on bosses. It doesn’t prevent their movement skills though. That said, it’s your only combat skill.

I’d still recommend against barb 1, but it is your character of course. Just know this: Helm Chopper has a SUPER small radius, like smaller than your autoattacks with a one handed sword small. Cleave hits fairly weak except on stunned targets, and then it hits exceptionally hard. Most of barbarian’s good skills are circle 2, and most of their good attributes are circle 3.

#16

Sorry for the lack of reply on my part since last time !

I’ve actually been farming exp more than I should have, and farming knowledge for exams the rest of the time x)

I’m now Rodelero LvL 5, and I feel pretty comfortable so far
I’ve noticed the really small AoE animation of Helm Chopper, however for the time being I manage to pull mobs efficiently to get the most out of it
Rodelero brings another Stun to the CC-fest with Montano, which is mechanically really cool (monsters fall down and THEN are stunned, leaving plenty of time for a skill/AA and then a Cleave), only dowside is that it has a really small AoE ratio (guess it’s 3, but it’s pure speculation as it is not indicated)
Peltasta skills and attributes mix up really well with all of this as well

I really feel that I would be struggling without the damage brought by Cleave and Helm Chopper for the time being, sooo at least level-up-wise they are relevant
But of course I don’t know if they’ll still be later on

Even though I did not completely followed your precious advice, thank you again ! (and who knows, maybe someday you’ll hear of me, ranting that I should’ve followed the teaching of Master Vanic x) )

#17

I’m glad you were able to get some help from what I wrote. None of us are masters here; we’re all learning. The game is still very new and changing all the time.

One major pro of barbarian is that if the changes go through on our side as well, cleave will change from +50% crit chance (which frankly is mediocre) to Slash damage vulnerability instead, which is amazing. You might be able to set that up into some good combos in the future.

Rodelero are a really cool class, and once they get the buffs they have coming on kToS, they will be a really solid pick. Their damage is just a bit low now, even for a tank class, which makes it a pain when paired with Peltasta.

Overall if/when we get the kToS buffs for Barbarian and Rodelero , you are going to see a huge step up in your damage output, so that will be really nice. I’m sure you’ll be bashing and cleaving faces in all day long.