Burst Boost (2pc Guardian Ebony Odogaron, 2pc Gore Magala) – Consistency
Ву Ruwi.
Burst 5 is a very strong skill on Sword and Shield. Due to SnS being able to dish out fast combos, it is capable of meeting the 5-hit requirement of Burst easily, giving it virtually permanent uptime.
Furthermore, Burst 5 heavily benefits elemental builds (it gives 18 raw and 140 elem!), and Artian elemental weapons, which are the current Best-in-Slot for Sword and Shield, are better than Artian raw weapons on everything except in specific matchups that have little to no elemental hitzones like Arkveld.
It deals slightly lower damage on average compared to 4pc Gore Magala armor with Black Eclipse II, but Burst 5 offers more uptime that ensures you are still dealing a consistent wave of damage over a period of time.
Weapon Skills
- Offensive Guard 3 – Gives +15% more attack after a perfectly-timed guard. Fun fact, you’re actually capable of triggering this outside of a Perfect Guard.
- Critical Boost 3 – Increases critical hit damage by 34%. Very strong weapon skill that is a significant boost to your damage.
- Master’s Touch – 80% chance not to consume sharpness when you crit. SnS’s combos eats through sharpness, so it’s good to have a skill like Master’s Touch which preserves it. If you don’t have this yet, use Razor Sharp or Handicraft instead.
Armor Skills
- Burst 5 – Gives up to a maximum of 18 raw attack and 140 elemental attack after 5 hits. Has virtually no downtime.
- Weakness Exploit 5 – Gives +30% affinity when hitting weakpoints. For the sake of consistency we’re not considering the extra +20% affinity when hitting wounds. This is also a more consistent choice over Agitator and I personally advise using WEX more for the average player.
- Maximum Might 3 – Gives +30% affinity when your stamina is full. Very strong skill on SnS as well. Wilds made it so that this skill now has a “grace period” when your stamina depletes. You’re given one free instance of stamina depletion before the next one removes Maximum Might, so one Perfect Guard or one roll won’t instantly take it off.
- Antivirus 3 + Black Eclipse I – Black Eclipse I inflicts you with Frenzy. Antivirus helps cleanse Frenzy. Frenzy, when cured, gives 15% affinity. Antivirus gives an additional +10% affinity when Frenzy is cured, giving a total of 25% affinity.
All this will give you a total of +15% attack, 18 attack, 140 elemental attack, and +85% affinity. With a 3 ATK production elemental Artian with 4 ATK 1 SHARP reinforcement, you will be running 90% affinity.
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Black Eclipse II (4pc Gore Magala) – Damage
Black Eclipse II offers the highest damage ceiling for Sword and Shield, but has downtime that can vary depending on player skill. It gives you +10 raw attack while you are inflicted with Frenzy, and gives you an additional +5 raw attack after clearing Frenzy.
As such, to make the most out of this build, you want to be on your feet as much as possible to attack in order to keep uptime on that sweet +15 raw attack. With at least 1 level into Burst, you get a total of ~20 raw attack.
Weapon Skills
- Offensive Guard 3 – Gives +15% more attack after a perfectly-timed guard. Fun fact, you’re actually capable of triggering this outside of a Perfect Guard.
- Critical Boost 3 – Increases critical hit damage by 34%. Very strong weapon skill that is a significant boost to your damage.
- Master’s Touch – 80% chance not to consume sharpness when you crit. SnS’s combos eats through sharpness, so it’s good to have a skill like Master’s Touch which preserves it. If you don’t have this yet, use Razor Sharp or Handicraft instead.
Armor Skills
- Weakness Exploit 5 – Gives +30% affinity when hitting weakpoints. For the sake of consistency we’re not considering the extra +20% affinity when hitting wounds. This is also a more consistent choice over Agitator and I personally advise using WEX more for the average player.
- Maximum Might 3 – Gives +30% affinity when your stamina is full. Very strong skill on SnS as well. Wilds made it so that this skill now has a “grace period” when your stamina depletes. You’re given one free instance of stamina depletion before the next one removes Maximum Might, so one Perfect Guard or one roll won’t instantly take it off.
- Antivirus 3 + Black Eclipse II – Black Eclipse II inflicts you with Frenzy. Antivirus helps cleanse Frenzy. Frenzy, when cured, gives 15% affinity. Antivirus gives an additional +10% affinity when Frenzy is cured, giving a total of 25% affinity. Black Eclipse II gives an additional +10 raw attack when afflicted with Frenzy and +5 raw attack when it’s cleansed.
There are some free open slots which can be filled based on personal preference.
- +1 Burst – Burst 2 gives +10 raw attack.
- +1 Flayer – A point into Flayer gives the occasional “extra-hit” proc that adds to your DPS.
- Shock Absorber – To avoid being staggered by non-Shock Absorber users. Looking at those Dual Blade users…
- +1 Partbreaker – Gives an extra kick to your Focus Strikes.
- +1 Evade Window – Adds a few extra frames to your sliding slash invulnerability. Can also help if you have to panic roll for some reason.
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