Gameplay GAQ
General
Why should I play this class?
- Wardancer is a straightforward class to play, revolving around her two buff skills and dumping all her damage skills in this buff window.
- She has one of the best synergies amongst the DPS classes, providing both attack speed and crit rate to her party.
- A variety of builds for both the back attackers and non-positional enjoyers.
How does my identity work?
Her identity consists of 3 orbs/bubbles/balls (up to 4). Hitting enemies with certain skills (normal skills) fill a portion of these orbs, allowing her to use another set of skills called Esoteric Skills, which consume a number of orbs on cast instead of mana. For that reason, Esoteric Skills are commonly known as spenders.
How do I decide on a build?
Both have their strengths and weaknesses. It’s a matter of personal preference.
Here’s a short summary of the builds.
Esoteric Skill Enhancement
Utilizes Esoteric skills and the gauge system within the buff window.
Increases the number of maximum orbs to 4 and damage of Esoteric Skills by +8/10/12% per full orb at the instant of cast.
Pros
- Expands on the orb management identity and the spender skills.
- Higher burst capability.
Cons
- Strict skill rotations.
- No mobility skill.
First Intention
Utilizes normal skills with no gauge system within the buff window.
Increases damage by +30/40/50% but skills no longer fill up the Esoteric Orbs, which consequently make Esoteric Skills unavailable.
Pros
- No gauge management.
- Skill slot budget for a mobility skill.
- Flexibility between back attack or non-positional builds.
Cons
- Dominion Fang + Conviction/Judgment management.
- Need to maintain high uptime to optimize damage.
What are the key pieces of my build?
Runes
Esoteric Skill Enhancement benefits from Wealth Runes and high Specialization to build meter.
First Intention makes good use of Conviction + Judgment runes to help with Dominion Fang uptime.
Skill Points
While both class engravings have options to lower a skill to compensate for lower skill points, it is important to be able to gain access to utility tripods.
Why is Yearning important?
It’s considered a part of a build despite not being on your character.
Swamp of Yearning is used by supports and gives +8/10/12% Damage and Attack/Move speed to the party. This is a Relic Set they use that has a golden ring.
Esoteric Skill Enhancement
Playstyle
Wardancer as a class revolves around the buffs, Wind’s Whisper and Roar of Courage. Esoteric Skill Enhancement, or Eso, focuses on building as many esoteric orbs as possible before using an esoteric skill, or spender, within the buff window. This creates a rigid but smooth rotation.
Which build should I go to?
4 Spender Hallucination Standard
Pros
- Makes use of high investment
- Access to burst DPS
- Hit master playstyle
- Only requires two wealth runes (one gold, one purple)
Cons
- High requirements on quality of accessories
4 Spender LazOreha
Pros
- Higher Burst DPS
- Easier one cycle
- Hit master playstyle
Cons
- Card set mandatory
- No damage outside of main burst cycle
Which build does the most damage in Trixion?
4 Spender Hallucination Standard > 4 Spender LazOreha
Why is 3 Spender not recommended?
4 Spender is easier on horizontal than 3 Spender and does not need the 2nd purple wealth unlike 3 Spender, while also having a budget version (Increase mass).
Should I be casting at <4 bubbles?
Short answer, yes. BUT this is assuming that all cooldowns are up and all attempts have been made to recover bubbles back up. While it is acceptable to do so, ideally enough EC uptime should allow consistent 4 bubble cycling of skills.
First Intention
Playstyle
First Intention is the more simple build for Wardancers. It does away with Esoteric Orb management and focuses on comfort, speed, and reliability.
Similar to Esoteric, it focuses on the buffs from Wind’s Whisper and Roar of Courage to dish out high damage on your non-esoteric skills.
What should I do between my skill cooldowns?
Generally, stay close to the boss to get EC ticks. Other than that, you can auto-attack cancel (1, 2, any input buffer, 1, 2), use SSB to get a Ready Attack buff to enhance your EC, or just dodge.
What’s an input buffer (for auto-attack canceling)?
An input buffer generally just means any movement from your character to cancel them out of continuing the chain of attacks. You can click away from your character then tap your attack key again, on top of your character, hold your movement key, etc. Whatever helps your rhythm.
We use an input buffer because it’s faster than waiting for your character to wind their fists down.
Why auto cancel?
Aside from looking cool, it also allows you to have a generous window to move out of incoming attacks. Additionally, it does more damage than just holding down your attack key and finishing the entire chain of attacks, which end with kicks that will lock you in place. We want to be fluid and quick enough to leave our animations ASAP, so having this bit of player input helps you improve your Wardancer gameplay.
Be the first to comment