How do i use the bird effectively?

[Stret]

I just started playing the Elite difficulty, the bird is fun but he is way riskier than crown prince, and i can't find anything in him that outperforms just getting a ton of elemental scrolls and ascensions as crown prince. Is there something i'm missing? any particulary strong combinations?

[ZirzoR]

Leap builds are really strong with bird, or if you can get easy kill early to stack cleave then that's the build.

But always go for stuff like on armor break or steel skin, to make sure that you dont take too much damage, or any dmg at all to be fair.

I always like the wild-hunt shotgun with hail of bullets and just leap into the fray and blast while taking 100% reduced damage. (Dont take the last point in steel skin, its way worse.)

Otherwise, just going for elemental share is strong. (Lightning sword + Corrosion weapon like aura of venom, then just blast them to bits with miasma)

But you would have to unlock those gemini stuff in the red talent tree for that to work.

[lollars]

bird is the most difficult character in higher difficulty because amour dont regenerate on its own he can be strong but you need the right talents and scrolls but so can all the other characters

on elite you can just build in 1 direction amour getting back on hit talents for new bird player are essential

[Artan]

I don't play the bird much but when I do I go for weapon damage over skill damage as a priority and try and reduce CD and armour returned on leaps, ignoring cleave. Weapon is my main damage (I use shotguns) aiming to pick some from the following ascensions if offered them:

Combat Expertise:
Victory Rush, Hail of Bullets, Close Combat, Fully Equipped

Fleeting Scud:
Steel Armour, Gigantic Explosion, Iron Scud, Regen Hit, Last Breath

Going this route usually offers ample weapon damage and survivability from armour regen from leaps and good CD reduction on leap. Any scrolls that reduce primary cooldown help the survivability too.

I pair the shotgun with a high crit weapon such as a 5.4% crit Strike Wing and go for the Gemini "Weapon 1&2 share CritX bonus but -50% stability."

When using this Gemini pairing the scroll "Hawkeye Sight" (+2.0x CritX; however, -50% weapon DMG when not triggering a Crit Hit. Weapons with a Scope gain 2x zoom.) is very strong as it applies an extra 2.0 crit to each weapon and so is a good boost to the Crit Gemini pairing.

[Eudicots]

Bird is a character that excels in using multi-projectile weapons and is the best character in game when it comes to regenerating health as a tank.

Ascensions:

Fleeting Scud:
The two best options in this tree are Regen Hit and Iron Scud. Regen hit is something that you will only need to upgrade +1 or +2 at most depending on your run. It is the best option to recover armor since its base 15 sec cooldown makes it fairly reliable. Iron Scud is amazing since it increases your ability to tank attacks as well as your movement speed. This option can be fully maxed since the bonuses are well worth the investment. Steel Armor is an option you should pick if all other ascensions are unusable for your build. It is a descent way to keep yourself alive but it isn't as good as the other options. All other skills should be ignored since you are on Elite. Leap Builds as a dmg build should only be attempted on Reincarnation since there is a blessing that will greatly increase its dmg.

Fatal Wings:
If you have the option to get Easy Kill within the first few (1-3) goblets then you can attempt a cleave build. This ascension is required to fully maximize a cleave dmg build since it will increase your secondary skill dmg on kill. If you do not get this ascension early then I would avoid this entire tree if there are no better options. Defensive Cleave, Death Mark, and Fierce Wings can be used in hybrid builds, but they are a last resort.

Combat Experience:
This tree will depend on which weapon you intend to take to the end of the game. Weapons with small clips benefit from Hail of Bullets and it can greatly improve your dps on weapons like the mortar, wild hunt, etc. Victory Rush is a solid choice for any shotgun or weapon that has multiple projectiles and it can also be used with a skill dmg build. Any weapon that consumes 1 ammo for multiple shots will benefit from this. Close Combat and Fully Equipped are the best options in this tree since they can be used with any weapons and build. Nova Shockwave and Last Stand are a lot harder to incorporate into a build since they need the ascension All or Nothing from the Fleeting Scud tree to be a reliable option.

Weapons:
Bird is a character that can boost the dmg of every weapon type in the game, but I will give you my preferred options based on the categories.
Shotguns: Illusion, Pupil, Porcupine, Wild Hunt (Hail of Bullets)
Pistols: Sunder
Submachine Gun: Scalpel (Double-shot mode must be used to benefit from Victory Rush if it is +3)
Snipers: Sting, Strike Wing (Not the best option, but if a godly one drops it will work)
Launcher: Deafening Mortar (Hail of Bullets)
Injector: Thunderclap Gloves
Melee: All three are viable, but I do not like using melee exclusively on this character since there is a better character for this.

Scrolls:
Fish or Bear Paw (Can allow any weapon to take advantage of Victory Rush +3)
Veteran (You are usually close to enemies)
Copper Miner (You are usually close to enemies)
Paranormality (All Armor will greatly increase your Regeneration)
Deft Hands (Will improve your dps and ammo conservation against normal enemies)
Resolute (No downside since Armor doesn't recharge)
Gold Medal (15% armor recover on skills/dash)