Halberd Build Lv. 205 / Pole Dancer & Warhorse (UPDATE: NEW build added)

Halberd build - Lv. 205



Which build fits my play style? The Pole Dancer build is your GSW all-out damage glasscanon build and relys entirely on player skill to survive. The Warhorse build doesn‘t use GSW and is quite tanky while still maintaining good damage and motion speed.
Conclusion: Pick Pole Dancer if you want to do as much damage as possible and Warhorse if you also want some survivability.

Btw, skill descriptions etc. only exist for the Pole Dancer as for now. The Warhorse build only exists in video form, but I will add a written build later on.

Spoiler: Pole Dancer

In case you prefer the build in video form:


Update:
Updated the Video Guide and written Guide to post evasion change. Only the gameplay part has yet to be updated

Contents

• Playstyle
• Stat Points
• Skills
• Equipment
• Food
• Combos
• Gameplay (videos)

Spoiler: Playstyle

Spoiler: Offensive

This build can be used for playing in a party and soloing bosses.

If you are playing in a party you want to keep your distance to the boss. Cast your Dt combo at >12m so that Dt doesn't activate instantly. If you are sure the boss won't use an AoE attack in the next second move into the 12m range so that Dt activates. In parties you can use longer combos, because you are not the focus target.

If you are playing solo you can't keep distance to the boss and long combos are very dangerous. Instead you wanna use short combos.

Skills:
War Cry of Struggle: To use WCoS you wanna lower your HP to <55%. You can achieve this very easily with either Quick Aura or Kaikiri.
Decoy Shot: Only use it on immobile bosses (best example: Venena). On mobile bosses you wanna use WCoS and/or Chronos Drive
Buster Lance: If you wanna use Buster Lance as your dps skill you always want to precast Punish Ray. This will increase the damage constant and crit chance of Buster Lance. Buster Lance also refreshes the Punish Ray stacks.
Throwing Knife: Use it for proration if you can't close the gap to the boss (for example due to spikes).

Spoiler: Defensive

Since you will most likely be using GSW you basically have no survivability if you get hit. That's why this build provides you 3 extra defensive layers in addition to manual dodging aka moving around:

• The best defensive is to not get hit at all. If you use the same set up as me you will have very low aggro (<30%) and thus should not get focused at all if the tank is decent and you don't spam too much!
• If defensive layer 1 fails and the boss decides to focus you you have a very high chance of evading his attacks (evasion 75%)
• Besides having aggro or not the biggest challenge remains AoE attacks which can't be evaded. For this you wanna use Dive Impact. Dive Impact provides you with a 3 second i-frame. The downside is it costs 400MP and you have to be close to the boss to use it. An alternative to that could be Elegant Poise. It can be used at any distance and only costs 100 MP. Downside: It can not be used if you have a negative status ailment (namely the burn from Kaikiri) and you still get hit, so you loose some buffs (GSW, Brave Aura).

Spoiler: Stat Points

STR>AGI
For Lv. 205: 290 STR, 247 AGI

Spoiler: Skills

Spoiler: Skills: General

In this section I will evaluate some skills and their use for halberds. Please keep in mind that this is just my opinion.
Must have skills
Optional skills
Don't waste SP on these. Just use them as star gem.

Spoiler: Blade

War Cry Lv. 10 - great damage buff (+10% attack)

Spoiler: Shot

Long Range Lv. 10 - great damage buff for Dt (+10% damage)
Quick Draw Lv. 5-10 - Chance to restore 100 MP when you use skills is always great
Decoy Shot Lv. 10- even though it is a great MP recovery it falls short on mobile bosses. Can be replaced with WCoS

Spoiler: Magic

Impact Lv. 7 - must have for MP managment
Finale Lv. 1 - combo ender

Spoiler: Dual Sword

Reflex Lv. 1-10 - can be used as 100 MP combo opener and to reduce the evasion recharge time

Spoiler: Halberd

Dragon Tooth Lv. 10 - main DPS skill
Dive Impact Lv. 1 - becomes green if you want to solo bosses. Provides 3 sec i-frame.
Chronos Drive Lv. 10 - decent MP recovery (390 MP with max motion speed). As long as we don‘t have more SP you will need to decide between this and Gattling Knife
Punish Ray Lv. 10 - only skill this if you use Buster Lance
Halberd Mastery Lv. 10 - stat increase
Critical Spear Lv. 10 - not needed if you only use WCoS as MP recovery
Quick Aura Lv. 10 - basically constant extra ASPD. Lasts for 4 minutes and doesn't cost MP.
War Cry of Struggle Lv. 10 - you only wouldn't use this if you play a "tanky" halberd version without GSW
GSW Lv. 10 - ASPD and motion speed buff but makes you *very* fragile
Buster Lance Lv. 10 - very decent damage and can be used from range. Can be a valuable 2nd dps skill option (see comparison video to Dt in the Gameplay section

Spoiler: Mononofu

Shukuchi Lv. 1 - gap closer
Kaikiri Lv. 10 - only use this if you use Decoy Shot for MP recovery

Spoiler: Guard

Light Armor Lv. 5-10 - shorter evasion recharge time
Advanced Evasion Lv. 10 - shorter evasion recharge time
Mirage Evasion Lv. 1-10 - allows you to evade during Decoy Shot and WCoS

Spoiler: Dagger

Throwing Knife Lv. 10 - can be used for proration. Especially usefull for bosses who have "can't touch this" phases like Mom Fluck (spikes)
Spike Dart Lv. 1-10 - can be used as 100MP combo opener
Gattling Knife Lv. 10 - Can be a DPS addition if you can‘t reach the boss due to spikes and the likes. Always pick together with Amazing Throw. For Solos it gets a 100% damage through Double Stab and can deal amazing damage
Amazing Throw Lv. 10 - Additional hits for Gattling Knife
Double Stab Lv. 1-10 - increases the damage of the next dagger skill by 100% after a succesful evasion

Spoiler: Assassin

Backstep Lv. 1 - great to dodge AoEs (still very useful with manual evasion)

Spoiler: Survival

HP Boost Lv. 10 - only useful if you play a "tanky" halberd. Otherwise you are a 1HKO with GSW anyways.
MP Boost Lv. 10
Play Dead Lv. 10 - with GSW one tiny mistake will cost you your life. Faster reviving compensates that a little bit
First Aid Lv. 10

Spoiler: Support

Brave Aura Lv. 10 - great damage buff (+20% damage, +x% weapon attack), nothing more, nothing less

Spoiler: Dancer

Elegant Poise Lv. 1 - should only be used without Kaikiri (see Playstyle section)

Spoiler: Battle

Attack UP Lv. 10
Whack Lv. 10
Critical UP Lv. 10
Intimidating Power Lv. 10

Spoiler: Dark Power

Demon Claw Lv. 10 - Can be a decent secondary dps option for suicidal builds

Spoiler: Skills: My personal setup

Note: I am only able to use that much skills because I own multiple star gems.

Spoiler: My Star Gems

Lv. 10 Light Armor Mastery (relict of pre-evasion change, I wouldn't buy it again)
Lv. 10 Throwing Knife
Lv. 10 Attack UP
Lv. 10 Halberd Mastery
Lv. 10 Quick Aura
Lv. 10 Reflex/Lv. 10 Play Dead
General tip: If you don't swim in spina I advise to skip Halberd Mastery and Light Armor Mastery. All other star gems can be used for other classes as well. In the case that you can‘t afford any star gems you will loose 30 SP (Don‘t skill play dead without a star gem). In that case I personally would drop Throwing Knife Lv. 10, Advanced Evasion Lv. 10 and Demon Claw as 2nd dps option.

Spoiler: Blade

War Cry Lv. 10

Spoiler: Shot

Long Range Lv. 10
Quick Draw Lv. 5 (would get lvl 10, but lack SP)
Decoy Shot Lv. 10

Spoiler: Magic

Impact Lv. 7
Finale Lv. 1

Spoiler: Guard

Light Armor Mastery Lv. 10
Mirage Evasion Lv. 1

Spoiler: Survival

MP Boost Lv. 10

Spoiler: Support

Brave Aura Lv. 10

Spoiler: Dagger

Throwing Knife Lv. 10
Gatling Knife Lv.10
Amazing Throw Lv. 10
Double Stab Lv. 1

Spoiler: Battle

Attack UP Lv. 10
Critical UP Lv. 10

Spoiler: Mononofu

Shukuchi Lv. 1
Kaikiri Lv. 10

Spoiler: Dual Sword

Reflex Lv. 10

Spoiler: Halberd

Dragontooth Lv. 10
Dive Impact Lv. 1
Chronos Drive Lv. 10
Halberd Mastery Lv. 10
Critical Spear Lv. 10
Quick Aura Lv. 10
War Cry of Struggle Lv. 10
GSW Lv. 10

Spoiler: Assassin

Backstep Lv. 1

Spoiler: Equipment

Spoiler: Gear

Here I will share my personal setup. Note that the refinement of the armor and additional doesn't really matter. It doesn't add enough survivability for you to survive with GSW.

• Weapon: 4th Anniv Halberd IX (Atk%, CDmg%, CDmg, STR%)
• Subhand: Lil Empress Dagger
• Armor: Heaven Feather Garb/Adv Garb (Atk%, CDmg%, CDmg, CRate)
• Additional: Bear Hat
• Special: Hallucination Spore/Muscle Talisman V

Other viable options include:

• Subhand: Odd-Shaped Knife, Chocolate Knife (must have for some bosses if you don't use hallu spore), Fallen Angel Dagger (can be dangerous on a low HP build), Wood Choco Dagger , ..., Arrows (sorry, haven't really bothered much with arrows. I prefer Daggers)
• Additonal: Devil Circlet, Full Beard, Reindeer Headband, Tyrant Mask, ...
• Special: Dark Talisman (Power)

Spoiler: Xtals

My setup (if you can "only" afford 1 slot equipment I would recommend the first named xtal for each piece):

• Weapon: Mardula, Neo Maton Sword
• Armor: Usami, Tuscog
• Additonal: Yashiro Azuki's Dad, Baphomela
• Special: Tuscog, Guignol

Other viable options include:

• Weapon: Gwaimol, Pomie Chan
• Armor: Ornlarf (only if you play a "tanky" version), Mom Fluck
• Additonal: Tusocg, ...
• Special: Venena, ...

Spoiler: Food

Personally I use the following buffs:

• Weapon Attack
• MP
• Crit
• AMPR
• Attack, but any other attack buff will do (STR, AGI) or -Aggro

Spoiler: Combos

Ofcourse there are way more viable combo options than I will show here. Feel free to come up with your own combos. You won‘t find Brave Aura or Quick Aura in any combo. I cast them manually.

Spoiler: Party

100 MP: GSW > War Cry (Save) > Impact (Cons) > Dt (Smite) > Finale (Smite) (Damage combo)
500 MP: Impact > Dt (Smite) > Finale (Smite) (Damage combo)
200 MP: Kaikiri > Decoy (Save) > Chronos Drive (Swift) (MP combo)
100 MP: Reflex > Dive Impact (Save) > Finale (Smite) (Defensive combo)
400 MP: Reflex > Impact (Cons) > Demon Claw (Smite) > Finale (Smite) (Damage combo)

Spoiler: Solo

500 MP: Impact > Dt (Smite) > Finale (Smite) (Damage combo)
200 MP: Kaikiri > Decoy (Save) > Chronos Drive (Swift) (MP combo)
100 MP: GSW > War Cry (Save) > Finale (Smite) (Buff combo)
100 MP: Reflex > Dive Impact (Save) > Finale (Smite) (Defensive combo)
400 MP: Reflex > Impact (Cons) > Demon Claw (Smite) > Finale (Smite) (Damage combo)

Spoiler: Gameplay (videos)

Spoiler: General

Damage Test Dragon Tooth vs Buster Lance on Venena Ultimate:
https://youtu.be/fUfeXUT7Zf8

Spoiler: Solos

Spoiler: Mom Fluck Ultimate (3:28 min)

Mom Fluck Ultimate Solo (3:28 min):

Spoiler: P.Avatar (8:04 min)

P.Avatar Solo (8:04 min)

Spoiler: Candela and Handmade Cookie

Candela and Handmade Cookie Solo:

Spoiler: Ifrid Ultimate (0:42 min)

Ifrid Ultimate Solo:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYmAZOdR2oE&t=7s (0:42 min)

Spoiler: Iconos Ultimate (1:08 min)

Iconos Ultimate Solo (1:08 min):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkCv2RI2l0Y&t=43s

Spoiler: Warhorse

 

I'm looking forward to a successful mom fluck run. Its testing a solo build with the all around aoes. A full playstyle can be displayed.

 

I got turned on by reading the title

 

That‘s the spirit.

 

why didn't you use buster lance smite combo with a 1mp opener it would be only 2mp?

 

If I understand you correctly you propose something like Reflex > Buster Lance (Smite) > Finale (Smite)? That would be 300 MP in total: 100 for Reflex and 200 for smited Buster. So thats only 200MP less than the Dt version and Dt has phy pierce. Additionally you always loose your punish ray buff to upgrade buster lance to grand buster lance if you use any other skills in between. In general Dt is definitly superior imo and in respect to normal buster lance vs smited buster lance the normal buster lance wins imo. 200MP less and shorter animation (no combo starter) and you can use one additional skill in between before you have to reapply punish ray.

 

buster is 100mp, so reflex buster(smite) finale(smite) would be 100+100+0 = 200mp and not 300mp
i dunno if the mp requirements change with p ray since i don't have it and my buster is only lv1

 

Edit: Yes you are right. For the above reasons: mainly the missing physical pierce and the additonal combo time I prefer to use it manually

 

that happens when ya don't have any skill after smited skill i.e. reflex buster(smite)

 

Yes you are right. Somehow got confused there. But during one reflex cast I can probably cast already another buster lance. Also let's say I want to use any little combo in between (e.g. flash stab > decoy or GSW > War Cry): Those 2 skills use up 2 of my punish ray stacks and then my combo opener will use the last one. The little damage increase you might get will probably mitigate if you consider reapplying punish ray as it's quite a long cast (scales with CSPD).

 

Big Pp

 

does dt and buster lance only benefit from long range %? what about short range?

 

The skill long range from the bow skill tree benefits all skills who have a maximum cast range of >8m. So it doesn't matter from which distance you use Dt to get this bonus. For the usual SRD and LRD it depends entirely on the distance you cast Dt. If you cast it at <8m you get SRD and if you cast it at >=8m you get LRD.

 

oh ok thank you, i thought the LR bow skill and LRD are the same mechanic, apparently not.

 

Finally, a comprehensive skill tree with descriptions! Good job!

 

Update: Thanks to a suggestion of @Yunan I have added Demon Claw to the build as 2nd dps option.

 

Update: Added Candela and Handmade Cookie Solo. Not the best time but didn‘t feel like trying my RNG luck with boss attacks more often. The Candela battle is a good example for the Demon Claw usage and the Handmade Cookie battle shows you the use of the Dive Impact i-frame.

 

Finally after a lot of sweat and tears I got the Mom Fluck Solo for you. And you are right it definitly is the perfect display of the build. You can see evasion, dive impact i-frame uses and throwing knife and demon claw uses during spike phases.

 

Just watched it. You are really killing it. You play as if your character is actually dancing, very beautifully yet deadly.

This is what it looks like when you MASTER a weapon, like legit I'm not joking this guy is talented. Keep up the good work!

Can you solo Pyxtica though?

 

Keep that dog away from me please!

Thank you for the kind words