Awesome guide, thanks. 
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Thanks for the advice, wish I came here first, wouldâve prevented me from re-rolling my first character. Is there any saving of a Pelt2>Cata1 build? I wasnât aware that Cataphracts couldnât wield one handed spears.
Youre going to be Sword/Blunt and board + 2H Spear until you get to Dragoon, if youre going for it. Cataphract sadly has no 1H spear attribute, but Dragoon has both. Throwing in a Hoplite rank is an option, but it would most likely compromise C3 Cataphract/Dragoon. I wouldnât do that.
Hi, for pve and boss hunting,
Sword>pelt>hoplite>cataphract3>dragoon
Or
Sword>pelt>hoplite3>cata>dragoon
Which 1 is better?
Hey there, Cathexis!
Thanks for being so generous with your time spent on helping others =)
Stat distribution im aiming for at the moment is 80-100 DEX, bonus points in to CON, rest is STR.
The aim for the build is to be as good as possible in PVE while being viable and not locked out of PVP (mainly GVG) when PVP gets more love from the devs.
My questions on the build:
- Max Stabbing or Pierce?
- Leave Spear Throw at 1? It feels kind of sluggish and clunky, is it worth cutting w/e is left unmaxed in previous question even further to have 5 Spear Throw?
- What skills are best maxed on Dragoon having my buildâs goal in mind?
- Any advice you can give?
Also there is the question of crit rate to crit chance formula. There are different posts on reddit, the forums, etc about the matter - some say its 233 crit rate = 100% base crit chance (before mob resists), some say its (crit rate - mob resist)*42/my level.
Which is closer to being true in your opinion and how much crit rate (and thus DEX) would i need to have at least 45% crit chance⌠and is it worth losing STR for the DEX needed for that crit chance?
Yeah, there is no problem as it is just a different way to deal damage and build a Dragoon.
You donât have the same flexibility when it comes to stat allocation because of the lack of Finestra but you instead get a lot of PvP utility from all the Highlander skills.
And pretty much everything in your kit has synergy since you can use them with 2H Sword at the beginning and then later on you can use either 2H Spear or 1H Spear+Dagger.
You could also use Cross Guard to increase the damage output of the Pierce skills from Dragoon.
You are pretty much going to need to stick with it until you get to Dragoon and you get the attribute for 1H Spears.
I donât think there is too much problem, just get a random sword and your shield to taunt then swap to your 2H weapon to deal damage and repeat.
So:
Swordsman->Peltasta C2->Cataphract C3->Dragoon or Templar (if you wanna make a guild).
Mobility? First one.
Raw damage? Second one.
Although I would change the second one for Doppelsoeldner instead of Cataphract.
Stabbing.
Yeah, it is worth maxing it out. It is a pretty nice filler to have on your rotation. But if you would rather keep it low, that is fine too, you can add those points into Pierce instead.
This changes a lot from person to person.
The best thing to do is to reach Dragoon, get level 1 of each skill and see which ones you like more and max those. Some people like Gae Bulg, others donât, etc.
- Get level 1 of Rim Blow.
- You might want to get level 1 of Synchro Thrusting for early levels, but it is not necessary.
- Leave Mordschlag at level 1 and put those points into Double Pay Earn instead.
I canât confirm or deny the accuracy of those formulas. I think that in practice we land more critical hits than what the formulas say we should do.
Canât give you an exact number, but you donât need too much of it to consistently land critical hits, especially with the amount of multi-hits you will have on your build.
If anything, the amount of DEX you are planning on having (80~100 DEX) is more than enough to fulfill this role.
You are not really losing STR for DEX in this build because of the critical hits, it is mostly because you want to be able to hit people on PvP and GvG who have higher than average evasion as well as have some extra help for your Finestra when facing people with really high critical resistance. So I think it is fine to make that trade.
For CON, you might want to add a few more points if you are looking into PvP or GvG, depending on how comfortable you feel with your HP.
This is one of the best serious in depth guides Iâve ever read for a video game.
Very well done.
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Appreciate your reply that was very helpful, thank you. Iâll most likely go with the suggested h3 > corsair > dop > drag, seems to have a lot of versatility without sacrificing the damage either. c:
Good day. I came across your nick from Reddit. There were theorycrafters on best stats allocation for Fencer, and you were mentioned.
Anyway, straight to the point⌠I NEED HELP :â(
I have read ample of guides and discussions and builds on Fencer from many different sites, and yet I am being extremely indecisive⌠Afraid of making the wrong decision. I know you said that there is NO wrong decision because it is dependent on how you want to play your character but⌠You know⌠Fickle mindsâŚ
Iâm currently Barb C3, and following with this build that I made -->
I would appreciate it if you could throw me some light on whether this build will work late game. Changing to Rank 6 is just in the corner, and I think I can still opt to Doppelsoeldner with my current build up to Barb C3. But Fencer is elegant af. And after reading your awesome guide here, I had a split second thought of dropping Fencer C2, and go for Doppelsoeldner C1 so I will have some AoE skill e.g Tornado.
But please, I will appreciate ANY input 
Wait, and what about Pain Barrier?
Itâs clearly said in the description that it protects against knockdown⌠Wrong description?
Hey man, how are you?
Sorry that i sent a inbox message but i really need your personal opinion because i was doing my build following your guides.
The build in effect that im following is that:
(PvE)
STR 9 : 1 DEX
CON: All the points acquired from statues, quests, etc.
Swordsman > Peltasta > Hoplite C3 > Doppelsoeldner > Dragoon
Stat distribution: Full STR or High STR.
You gave me this skill build:
I am thinking to put 5 at guardian with the free Peltasta points and i would like to ask you why do you think is better to put skills on Spear Throw instead of Stabbing.
Finally i really like to ask you about the equipament (im lvl 88/06), i have the Grand Spoonton Spear +2, and armor mixed. Gloves + 5 dex. A Necklace +4 CON, and i dont remember the other.
I want to do special attention on ask about the gems, because i have my storage full of gems, and i really want to know what gems i will use, to became lvl up, and release space at the storage.
I know that are a lot of questions, but if you can really answer this, i will finally decide how to finish my build, thank you so much in advance, and i will be waiting for your response.
Destinado:
Server: Klaipedia
Team Name: Nassau
PJ: Destinado
Steam: MatiDestinado
Skype: mati_destinado.
@Cathexis Thanks for reply. Iâve already lvl56 Hi2 now. Crosscut+Skyliner combo is really strong.
Well the main reason i make that weird build is because i donât really want to play too mainstream build. Another reason is iâve already play a lot of swordsman and almost all of them choose pel at rank 2. So itâs boring for me to choose pel again. Iâve also seen some build similar to mine. Itâs like Sw>Hi3>Hop2>Dra. Hi3 for Skull Swing? Your guide said it reduce physical def to 0. Which is really impressive for fighting boss? but i think i prefer Cyclone and DoV over it. So what do u think?
So i have always misunderstand that Cross Guard make user become vulnerable to Pierce dmg after blocked enemies attack. That mean itâs good to combine w/ hoplite skill isnât it?
One more question. Iâve seen some build ignore Gae Bulg. Is it good to have it for PVE? I max it in my build because i think Atk/Def zone is good for party. I also not sure one thing. Is Atk/Def zone still there until the duration end or it instantly disappear after i pick up my spear.
Thanks for advice.
Ive not encountered it, or I donât think I have?..
If I have encountered it, then itâs certainly not working as intendedâŚ
But to be honest, not much knocks down so I rarely use it myselfâŚ
Also I wanted to comment on this @Cathexis
From what I saw in KTOS
because enemies in the late game deal so much Magic dmg, highlanders were usually welcome for boss killing in earth tower due to crown.
When I played KTOS I was ignorant of crownâs usefulness so I never got it.
But in current iTOS (lvl140) I have all its atributes and itâs incredibly strong on Magic bosses, all of them so far deal 1 dmg to me with magic after a crown, but idk how much of a difference its going to makes in the late game.
For end game pve, as a tank/offtank. Iâm suggesting this because Iâm not sure how good a hoplite1 would be on higher levels instead of pelta2.
Well, Im at lv 70 with this character with a few achievements and I donât really know if itâs worth a reroll now to get the pestalta.
What would you say? Swashbuckling is worth the reroll?
Projected path:
Taking recommendations on point expenditure. A lot of 1 pt skills are taken just for utility or extra damage attacks. I regret not having enough points to max Zornhau but thought the constant uptime, higher stack cap, and lack of stack dropping for Deeds would excel far better in a dungeon than an extra thousand attack power every 15 seconds.
And yes Thrust is my one and only Piercing attack. It has no cooldown and is low cost with basically no added attack power. I think a better option than spending a Doppel point on Punish.
I think you didnât fill all the points on your build?
- Level 3 Bash is usually the recommended level so you can get the attribute that gives it a knockdown.
- Get Cross Guard from Highlander.
- Pouncing is not necessary if you are aiming for PvE. It could be good for PvP, but it is untested/unproven.
- Embowel doesnât really do anything, so I would leave it at 0.
- If you decide to spend those Barbarian elsewhere I would max out Frenzy and get War Cry as high as you can. You can take points from Helm Chopper too as long as you keep it at level 1.
- You want to get Attaque Composee, it is pretty much the reason for going into Fencer C2.
- Preparation isnât that good past level 1, so I would put those points somewhere else too.
For your Rank 6 I think it is best if you pick Fencer first, then you can pick either Doppel if you want more AoE or Fencer C2 if you want more damage on your current skills and Composee for Rank 7.
I think either way is fine and you shouldnât have any problems in the late game. The only drawback of your build is that you donât have Peltasta so that could or could not give you a less fun experience on party content (especially Earth Tower).
Hey, I do respond to messages but I usually answer those after posts because I get many and takes a while to get through all of them.
That is fine. That is what I do because I prefer the higher duration on it.
That skill build has exactly 8 free points to use, which are used to max Stabbing.
You are most likely going to go for:
- Weapon and Off-hand: Green (Critical Rate) or Red (Physical Attack if you feel comfortable with your Critical Rate).
- Shirt: Red (HP)
- Pants: Red (HP)
- Gloves: Red (Critical Attack) or Blue for PvE (SP Regen). Then Green for PvP (Accuracy).
- Boots: Yellow (HP).
At least those are the ones I recommend, but you could get creative with your build if you would rather something else on them.
If I had to choose between Skull Swing and Cyclone+Deeds of Valor, I would choose Doppel without a doubt.
You can combine them, yeah. Spear Lunge will make them vulnerable to Pierce while Cross Guard will deal additional damage with Pierce attacks (50~70% of the original attack) to the target you blocked.
My recommendation is to get to Dragoon, get level 1 of each skill and see which ones you like more.
Some people like Gae Bulg, others donât. So it comes down to preference and playing style.
That is for Highlanders and Doppel C2 in general. They still reduce the magic damage quite significantly.
The problem is that we donât have any guess for the formula it uses. I am not sure about Earth Tower, but I have seen it still work at level 270+. Although it was with a high level of Crown since many people level it up for the duration, so it there is a possibility that it behaves differently with something like level 1, but that is unknown for now and needs testing.
You have to take into consideration that you canât use 1H Spear+Shield if you donât take Hoplite, at least until you get to Dragoon which is a long way to go, so that could be an inconvenience.
So it depends on if you think that a higher level of Swash Buckling could be more useful for what you are looking to do in the game rather than being able to use 1H Spear and getting Stabbing+Pierce for most of your early and mid levels.
Mmm, depends on how high you value party play. Peltasta certainly does make party content easier, but I donât think it is necessary to reroll if you would rather keep moving forward with your character.
If you are more of a person who likes to do more than just deal damage in a party and make life easier for others, then I think it is worth it to take Peltasta.
Looks good, oriented towards late game utility and PvP / GvG.
I think that you will have to try level 1 of Zucken and Redel one you get to Doppel C2 and then decide which one you like more for your character. Some people highly prefer one over the other, so it changes from person to person.
Giving up on Cata C3 (and going C2) for Pelt C1 would be a dumb decision?
Thank you so much for all your answers. I want to know finally, what is the best spear to use at the end-game for PvE. Im actually using the Grand Spoonton that have a high bonus on Critical Rate (+80), can you tell me what you think is the best option, at lees for the next change?
Really thanks for all man, if i finish this build i would do a post and obiously i will mentioned.
Not exactly dumb, but it wouldnât be optimal as you really want to maximize your efficiency as a Cataphract.
I think that if you really want to mix Peltasta C2 with Cataphract then giving up Hoplite is the less worse option as you can easily get by without 1H spear by using a sword.
This: