I’m a returning player whose curiosity about Re: Build got the best of me. I have a few characters sitting around now who will need new jobs, and I’m mulling over what to do with them.
I have a habit of playing hybrid characters-- spellswords, if you will. In Tree of Savior, that option more or less exists in the Cleric class. Previously, I attempted two builds that way: Krivis / Sadhu / Monk (which didn’t pan out, though not as bad as you would think) and Krivis / Paladin / I never got far enough to decide on Kabbalist or PD. Due to the circle system and skills with flat bonuses, it was a pretty nasty bargain regardless, since many attacks would inevitably become useless. With Re:Build’s new skill modifiers, it looks like there are better opportunities for me to create slightly less sub-optimal builds to feed my stubbornness.
I’ve done some reading (including the Intermediate Guide thread) and experimentation with the itos calculator, and a created a few sample builds. I will present them in pairs in the order in which they were created. The second pair is likely more effective, but I’ll get to that later.
Quick important items of note:
- I am aware that certain abilities are not functioning currently, such as Conviction’s elemental buff. I am willing to assume that this will be fixed in the future.
- Some classes are presently under- or over-tuned. As such, I’m not going to put altogether too much stock in present balance. Number tweaks will inevitably come. Skill synergy is arguably more important, as is being an interesting class. If I took Druid simply because it’s powerful and then it were brought back into line, I’d be rather displeased with the character.
- I would like to avoid class overlap where feasible. I have two Clerics and probably will not swap either to another base class.
- Hybrids are very rarely optimal builds. I am willing to accept that there are better options; I only seek to minimize the sacrifice.
- Because these are hybrids, each will have to contain one of Paladin, Inquisitor, or Monk, because those are the only melee damage options for Cleric (as I understand, Zealot’s damage is calculated like a physical attack, but it is thematically magical).
- PvP is not in the cards. I have Smash for that.
--------------------------- Pair One ---------------------------
Krivis / Monk / Zealot
- Zealot and Krivis seem to play quite well together with crit stacking and Zalciai, plus Melstis for buff increases. Obviously, Druid could do the same thing arguably better with Sterea Trofh, but then I’d be a Druid.
- As far as I can tell, this might have a potentially strong burst window by stacking Fanaticism, Beady Eyes, Golden Bell, doubling their duration with Melstis, and then putting Stigma and Zalciai down. If Monk’s damage is buffed and that combination actually works, then the damage output would theoretically be pretty nasty. That’s a pretty big if, though.
- AoE is perhaps more limited as long as Energy Blast is weak. Zaibas can’t do it all, which leaves Illusion all day.
- Magic capabilities are suspect; basically Zaibas, plus pseudo-magical Illusion.
- Badly squishy. Very, very badly squishy.
- Monk is presently viewed as underperforming.
Paladin / Inquisitor / Plague Doctor or Kabbalist
- Regardless of third choice, this is going to be a durable and versatile selection. Good defense, extra healing from Healing Factor or Ein Sof, debuff immunity or HP buff-- either way, the antithesis of the squish above.
- With Plague Doctor, there is potentially some interplay with Conviction’s bugged buff, if/when it is fixed.
- Heavily invested in physical damage again; the third class has basically all the magic you’ll get.
- Basically relies on Inquisitor being presently strong.
--------------------------- Pair Two---------------------------
Krivis / Zealot / Paladin
- Would make good use of presently-bugged Conviction debuff with Zaibas, Illusion, Immolation.
- Paladin’s defense helps Zealot not die as quickly, while Zealot should still play well with Krivis as mentioned before.
- Paladin alone doesn’t put out that much physical damage compared to Inquisitor or Monk.
- Somewhat suspect AoE options: Zaibas charges go out quickly, and once Demolition is on cooldown, you’re sitting on Illusion again. That may be somewhat of an edge case, though?
Inquisitor / Exorcist / Plague Doctor
- Build should have very strong damage options all over the place. Inquisitor and Exorcist are both well-equipped in that regard, and Plague Doctor just has to not get in the way.
- Conveniently delivers in significant quantities both magic and physical damage, though the magic damage is mostly holy-type. Quite heavily invested in Holy broadly, which might be a problem?
- Durability may not be the best, though PD is still a boon.
- All three classes are currently excellent, which is probably why it’s a good enough option to get example mention in the Intermediate Cleric thread. However, I see a lack of long-term synergy here-- these three seem to all but deliberately ignore one another. Just some number adjustments here and there in patches could take this from a great option to a terrible one.
Please share your thoughts on any or all of these builds, or the concept of a spellsword in Tree of Savior broadly. There’s also always room for additional suggestions if you have a build you’d like to share.