High Level Legacy Heroes Builds
How to Use This Guide
This guide is for heroes who are promoted in your legacy across multiple playthroughs. It is highly unlikely that you will be able to get the exact ability you want every time you level a hero up, but the legacy system allows you to only promote a hero when you want to. An example scenario would be this:
You have a new warrior at the start of a campaign, and by the end they’ve gained Sentinel, Vigilance, Viciousness, Riposte, and Untouchable. You decide to go for a build that uses Sentinel and Vigilance, so you promote them to Local Legend (level 2). Next campaign you recruit them with Sentinel and Vigilance, and they gain Broadswipes during the campaign. So, you promote them to Fabled Adventurer (level 3). Next campaign you recruit them with Sentinel, Vigilance, and Broadswipes, but they don’t pick up any abilities you want to keep, so you don’t promote them.
The idea is across several playthroughs, you’ll eventually end up with a legacy level 4 or 5 hero with 4 or 5 abilities that synergize well and give you a very powerful hero from the moment you recruit them. This guide is intended to give target builds to shoot for with those heroes.
Warrior Builds
Warriors I’ve found are the best at charging in and occupying several enemies to allow other heroes attack without too much danger of being attacked. Both their gear and the stats they gain on level up contribute to being able to tank attacks either through armor/resist or block/dodge. They also deal quite a bit of damage. I have two warriors at high legacy level with different builds.
Build 1: The Sweeper
In my experience, this is the most effective build for crowd control. My Mythweaver using this build will often charge into a room of enemies, enter Sentinel, and then clear out the entire room basically alone while taking minimal damage. It’s also particularly good at preventing the more vulnerable heroes from ever getting attacked because enemies will tend to focus on the warrior because of proximity.
Essential Abilities
- Vigilance: The synergy between Vigilance and Sentinel is the core of this build. Extra reaction strikes each round is essential for crowd control and increasing the damage output of the hero and, by extension, the party.
- Sentinel: As noted above, Sentinel combines with Vigilance, taking crowd control to the next level by not only expanding the zone of control, but also by pinning enemies when they are struck.
- Broadswipes: Particularly in crowded areas, making a hero’s attacks hit multiple enemies is very strong, and when stacked with multiple reaction strikes, can easily lead to killing several enemies in one turn.
- Long Reach: There are two reasons this ability makes this build particularly powerful. When using a non-spear, it means melee enemies may be pinned outside of their attack range when hit with a Sentinel reaction strike. But what makes Long Range essential is that it expands the range of Broadswipes as well. With these two, there is a two tile zone of death surrounding the hero that is hit every time they attack.
Useful Abilities
- Paladin: I use Paladin on my hero because she has low speed from Elmsoul, but it isn’t strictly necessary. Basically it doubles how far they can move each turn and retain full effectiveness.
- Zealous Leap: Useful for the same reason as Paladin.
- Riposte/Snakestrike: While it doesn’t really fit into the build, being able to perform extra reaction strikes is very powerful with Broadswipes/Long Reach, particularly if you stack block/dodge, respectively.
- Untouchable: It can be useful to have immunity from a single attack on a turn if you think the hero may die otherwise, but it’s not essential.
- Viciousness: +1 attack damage is +1 attack damage, but not necessary.
Gear Recommendations
- Stack block/dodge OR armor/resist: I prefer using Brawlgard/Wildergard and stacking block with a Dueling Sword because of the increased Stunt chance, but either path works.
- Leaf or Fire weapon: A leaf weapon with high stunt chance can make the hero functionally unkillable because they will just keep gaining health. A fire weapon just takes the Broadswipes/Long Reach combo to the next level. Stone doesn’t have good synergy because of the pin, and you’ll rarely be attacking with a hero using this build so water isn’t that useful.
Build 2: Alpha Strike
While not quite as good at crowd control as Build 1, this build is very good at taking out dangerous opponents before they get a chance to attack. This capability is particularly strong against Shadow Hunters and Drathix that can otherwise be super dangerous, and I think a warrior using this build is essential against Deepists.
Essential Abilities
- Battledance: The core of this build, the ability to attack more than once per turn is essential because it can lead to taking down a dangerous enemy before they can act.
- Zealous Leap: Essential for making full use of Battledance because it allows you to reach enemies without consuming an action point.
- Windwalk: Similar to Zealous Leap, but with the bonus of being able to teleport deep into the enemy formation.
Useful Abilities
- Untouchable: This one is a bit debatable, but I find the extra protection it provides to be very helpful because of how often this hero will become the target of many enemies at once.
- Long Range: Extra range on Zealous Leap, Windwalk, and all attacks is very nice to have.
- Broadswipes: While not the main point of this build, hitting extra enemies is obviously nice
- Viciousness: +1 attack damage is +1 attack damage, but not necessary.
Gear Recommendations
- Water weapon: Takes Battledance to the next level, sometimes granting 3 attacks in one turn. Fire is also an option if spreading the damage out is more important.
- Stack stunt: This is a clear situation for Brawlgard/Wildergard and stacking Stunt chance to make full use of Water Stunts.
Hunter Builds
Hunters tend to be consistent damage dealers in drawn-out fights. They are also very good at picking off dangerous enemies before they get in range. They aren’t quite as good at that as Alpha Strike warriors, but the advantage is they don’t have to put themselves in harm’s way to do so. I’ve only personally played with ranged hunters because my warriors handle melee combat, but a melee hunter build can definitely work well.
Build 1: The Sniper
This build excels at dealing with ranged enemies and picking off dangerous targets before they get a chance to attack. The hunter’s natural speed helps a lot with positioning and avoiding enemies, and many maps have choke points that can be utilized by ranged attackers. I have a mythweaver hunter using this build who can clear rooms almost as effectively as my Sweeper build warrior, but with minimal danger of being attacked.
Essential Abilities
- Through Shot: The single biggest limitation I’ve found on Hunters is their damage output is lower than other classes. Being able to hit two enemies per attack helps deal with this.
- Piercing Shots: Turns are very valuable, and every turn spent entering stealth is a turn not spent attacking. Being able to ignore some armor/resist makes damage output more consistent and not dependent on always being able to stealth. Plus, when combined with Rogue, you’ll be able to get into stealth more easily and without forgoing an attack.
- Archery: Countering all ranged attacks is another way of increasing total damage output. It’s not ideal to be taking attacks in the first place, but it’s unavoidable against ranged attackers, so you may as well take advantage of it.
- Rogue: Even with Piercing Shots, it’s ideal to attack from stealth. This allows you to enter stealth without losing an attack and is doubly effective when combined with Piercing Shots.
Useful Abilities
- Bowmaster: Similar to Viciousness for warriors, the +1 attack damage is useful. I value this ability higher though because it also gives +1 range and eliminates the minimum range on bows. The reasons I don’t think it’s an essential ability is because the hunter’s speed makes range less vital and because some other abilities can be better in some situations.
- Ember Arrows: When it can be utilized, this leads to a stronger attack bonus than Bowmaster, and setting fires can be quite useful against enemies without high resistance. Combined with a Mystic with Elementalist/Ignite, it can be quite powerful.
- Quellingmoss: This can be pretty useful both for the damage over time and the ability to apply poison to a small area at once, particularly against large numbers of relatively weak enemies.
Gear Recommendations
- Stack Dodge: I find having high dodge chance to be the best gearing strategy for hunters because they get some bonus innately, plus then you don’t have to sacrifice speed by using the Greybark/Thornbark armor set.
- Any Weapon but Leaf: Hunters really shouldn’t be taking much damage, so Leaf stunts aren’t very useful. I prefer using Fire, but both Water and Stone can be useful. Just be careful about using Stone because it can make your warriors that rely on reaction strikes less effective.
Special Note
If you can get the Celestial or Mortifical Enhancements transformations on a hunter with this build, the attacks benefit from Piercing Shots, Ember Arrows, and attacking from stealth while not ending turn if the hero has more than one action point remaining. This essentially grants two attacks per turn. Transforming one arm does mean sacrificing a bit of damage and range by using a Crossbow rather than a Bow, but getting the extra attack is quite nice.
Build 2: Melee Rogue
I have not yet played around with this build so I can’t speak to its power, but with the Thornfang ability giving extra action points for melee kills, I can see a lot of appeal for building a melee hunter. The downside is that it doesn’t synergize as well with other hunter abilities. Ideas for this build come from the guide by joy.kafka.
Essential Abilities
- Thornfang: This makes the whole build work because it gives the potential for a bunch of successive attacks if you can chain kills together.
- Rogue: Being constantly in stealth is vital for this build both for ignoring armor/resistance and for some safety.
Useful Abilities
- Long Reach: Extra attack range helps a lot for this build, since positioning is vital for being able to set up a kill chain
- Viciousness: The +1 damage can be the difference between getting a kill and not
- Windwalk: Useful for the same reasons it is for Alpha Strike warriors.
Gear Recommendations
- Stack dodge or armor/resistance: Both armor sets have their advantages when engaging in melee fighting; however I think the traveltraff/ghosttraff is better because it doesn’t reduce speed.
- Water or Fire weapon: Really any weapon has some advantages. Bonus action points feed the strengths of this build, and splash damage makes getting kills easier. Stone seems slightly less useful because the pin is not as strong, and the extra health from Leaf doesn’t help much if you’re constantly in stealth, but it could be useful in a pinch.
Mystic Builds
Mystics have the most versatility of all the classes, but they are also the most vulnerable to being quickly killed because they have lower armor and block/dodge than the other classes. More enemies do physical damage than magic damage, so their naturally high resistance doesn’t offer a ton of protection. I find getting the full potential out of mystics to require more setup than for the other classes, but the payoff can be massive.
Build 1: Elemental Crowd Control
Splintersalvo is the ability with the greatest potential damage output in a single turn from my experience. It has a large target area, high base damage, and shreds armor. Usually, you’ll only be able to use it 2-3 times per mission, but those attacks can often win a fight. Plus, having interfused fires that don’t burn out means you can “kill it with fire” liberally. Both are products of Elementalist, and this build is designed to make the most out of that ability.
Essential Abilities
- Elementalist: Gives access to Splintersalvo in the first place. Making interfused fires never burn out is also very helpful because the scenery will sometimes not have any better interfusions, or sometimes not having many objects at all. Shackles can be good for delaying a dangerous enemy from reaching your party, and Infernal Rain isn’t as good as Splintersalvo because it’s single target but it is pretty powerful.
- Openmind: The biggest limitation for mystics is having to spend actions interfusing, which is made even worse with the limit of two objects. Plus, Splintersalvo requires two objects in the first place. Being able to interfuse with more objects really makes Elementalist shine because you can, for example, have a fire but also two wooden objects to use.
- Arches: Some maps won’t have a lot of wooden objects. This ability can not only supplement that, but make it so you don’t have to move your hero into danger to reach the object you want to interfuse. The pin to the surrounding area is a nice bonus.
- Ignite: Being less reliant on the scenery by lighting fires at will is helpful, plus it can sometimes mean a double attack on an enemy if you light the fire under them and then Fireleash them.
Useful Abilities
- Long Reach: Can sometimes be the difference between reaching a vital piece of scenery and not being able to attack until next turn. Also means it’s easier to place your attacks since the enemies can be a bit further from the interfused objects.
- Naturalist: Has some good synergy with Arches and can mean getting a bit of extra damage in against armored targets. Vinewrench is also quite strong.
Gear Recommendations
- Embergown/Ravenwing: Extra spell damage is key, as ideally, your mystics shouldn’t be taking many hits. As they say, death is the best form of CC.
- Fire weapon: With the large number of enemies hit at once by some attacks, the extra splash damage can sometimes hit multiple times per turn. Water is situationally useful because it can allow you to interfuse again after attacking. Stone can also be useful but I don’t recommend it if you have a warrior using Sentinel/Vigilance. Leaf is not that useful because it won’t provide enough health to allow you to take many extra hits. Plus, if this hero is taking a lot of hits, something has probably gone wrong already.
Build 2: Party Enchanter
Something unique to mystics is the ability to buff the rest of the party in multiple ways. While a hero using this build won’t be all that strong on their own, they make everyone around them stronger. In general I find this to be less useful than a hero who has strong attacks in their own right, but if you have multiple mystics in the same group, it will be better to have one who attacks and one who buffs because there often won’t be enough objects to use for attacks. Plus, this can be combined with other builds because the only truly essential ability is Spiritblade.
Essential Abilities
- Spiritblade: +1 damage to all adjacent allies, plus burning attacks from interfused fires. This pairs especially well with ranged hunters that have Ember Arrows.
- Openmind: More interfused objects = more use from other abilities.
I don’t think there are many truly essential abilities for this build because it can go in many different directions. It’s really up to personal preference and what the random abilities on level up are.
Useful Abilities
- Long Reach: More range is always nice.
- Ignite/Arches: I list these together because they both pair with Spiritblade. I think Ignite is more valuable because it has greater synergy at the cost of being more limited in where it can be used, but they are both good choices.
- Earthscribe: Both setting up bone walls and granting temporary health are useful for defense. While it’s true that if you’re defending, you’re not attacking, sometimes it’s better to be sure a hero doesn’t die.
- Inspiration: I find this ability situationally useful. It’s better paired with hunters than warriors because bringing your mystics into melee range means they’re more likely to get attacked. It does limit positioning options, which is why I don’t consider it essential.
- Elementalist: Purely useful for this build for keeping interfused fires lit. You can also pick it up if you want to make this hero good with crowd control at the same time.
- Compulsion: Sometimes, repositioning enemies can be just as good as attacking.
Gear Recommendations
- Dustydrab/Heatherdrab if you take Inspiration because it will help make full use of that; Embergown/Ravenwing otherwise because the spell damage is more likely to be useful.
- Any weapon: Which weapon is best depends on what direction this hero goes.
Build 3: Shooty Mage
While mystics are not primarily designed to attack with weapons, they can hold their own. I recommend an elementalist build over this one, but the physical damage can be especially powerful when combined with a few transformations. The main thing to keep in mind is that mystics can’t withstand as many attacks as the other classes. What really makes this build work is the combination of Vigorflow and Openmind.
Essential Abilities
- Vigorflow: The extra attack damage is what makes this build work.
- Openmind: More interfusions = more extra damage.
Target Transformations
- Celestial: The Shooting Star attack benefits from Vigorflow, plus it’s ranged and doesn’t end turn if the hero has more than one action point.
- Mortifical Enhancements: Ditto
Theoretically, transformations that grant non-turn ending melee attacks also work, but you don’t really want your mystics getting into melee range in general.
Useful Abilities
- Indignance: This works even if you’re the one who moves into proximity of the enemies. I haven’t tested if it benefits from Vigorflow yet but it’s definitely useful to output extra damage.
- Soulsplitting: When combined with Openmind, this really helps mitigate the mystic’s natural squishiness.
- Earthscribe: Same as for Soulsplitting, but giving some extra options as well.
- Long Reach: Extra range is always useful.
Gear Recommendations
- Dustydrab/Heatherdrab: The extra armor and resistance are very useful because mystics with this build will be in harm’s way more often.
- Weapon: If you don’t transform both arms, having a crossbow or wand is useful. I’d recommend fire or water in this case. I recommend ranged weapons in general for this build.
I’ve found that a full shadow transformation for a Warrior is surprisingly good. The damage output from Dread Harvest is excellent and the healing it brings allows for a lot of gearing flexibility.
SO this is my first comment, ever since I tried this guide:
I tried out Warrior Builds 1 and 2, as well as Hunter builds 1 and 2 and all I can say is that they are powerful, very powerful! my only problem with the Warriors is that like many things, they are situational – the Warriors took out lots of melee enemies (very useful against horde/trash monsters, like AoE/RoN) but they were very weak if the enemy had lots of Deepist Slingers or Drauven Darts, with the ability to break armor (I used to have Build 3 Warriors, ie “heavy archers”, and Build 3 Hunters but decided to try something different). You might think that all those Slingers, Horn Childs and Spectiks are stuff to sniff at, but at higher levels of difficulty, trust me – they aren’t to be sniffed at.
Great guide, helped me with making my characters a lot stronger, I wanted to share a discovery that I think should be noted.
If you end up acquiring Vost (The bow the Minotaur uses at the end of ch 4 of the deepist campaign) and you have a good archery based hunter, then its 100% worth it to get ambush, especially if you have a good means of repositioning enemies such as a naturalist mystic or a botanical hero.
It turns out that when a hunter makes an ambush attacks, the ambush does not end immediately and instead it waits to see what happens in case the enemy ends up repositioned for some reason. Since Vost has knockback on it, it makes it so that a well placed ambush can cause the hunter to shoot multiple ambush shots. Combined with grayplane and a large enemy, you can end up making as many as 4 ambush attacks on the same foe, which is just a stupid amount of damage.
Great guide; I have followed and profited much from it. I am so far not sold on Sentinel, however. Not being able to control positioning is a big deal – as my Warrior has a tendency to jump into spots that are overall disadvantageous.
Ignite + is insane for damage Mixed with fireleash you can hit 3-4 enemies with the right build and doing 14-15 damage is huge.
If you mix it with spirit blade you can also use a single action to grant a melee or ranged attack to your best fighter or hunter. It’s been an amazing build for me.