Good Boy(s) Only

[Wuorg]

In my efforts to do solo weapon runs, I noticed when playing the Beast Huntress that her Hound does surprisingly high damage. So I thought, why not do a run where I don't attack and don't pick up any abilities? Basically just let the Hound do all the work lol.

Early game is hard to survive, so I am here for tips/advice. Any reason to use another character with Huntress's Mark? What about using two Hounds vs one + some other Mark?

I noticed only the initial Hound counts for "Main Weapon" upgrades, but I don't know if that really matters or not.

[Veganomaniac]

Damage numbers really don't say much about how effective he for a main weapon only run.
Sure, he does good dmg, especially if you let him sit within a pile of mountain idols and he can just bite away, but he doesn't clear the screen and never will.
If you're not gonna use your default attack, I think the ONLY way to do it is with shield maiden. Get her to block to invincible levels and then just afk while the doggo kills stuff....

[Wuorg]

Originally posted by Veganomaniac:

Damage numbers really don't say much about how effective he for a main weapon only run.
Sure, he does good dmg, especially if you let him sit within a pile of mountain idols and he can just bite away, but he doesn't clear the screen and never will.
If you're not gonna use your default attack, I think the ONLY way to do it is with shield maiden. Get her to block to invincible levels and then just afk while the doggo kills stuff....

Believe it or not, I was just able to do a 5 artifact run with 2 Hounds, Spellcaster's Gloves (Hyperfocus), and holy relic + potions build. Once I realized you could get the full +400% damage bonus from Spellcaster's Gloves, the whole thing got a lot easier! The relics and potions just helped me stay alive and mobile, with a nice power boost early on from the reliable trickle of power ups. Granted, this was on Haunted Caverns, but still.

Edit: Oh, and using Reverberant on her final dedication/proficiency traits did gangbusters too. Gave both Hounds +2m base range, +3m base area, +120% damage, and an additional +400 base damage for the main Hound. Still wasn't enough to clear the screen, but still did respectable.

[Thrrax]

Try Warlock with Hound.

[Wuorg]

Originally posted by Thrrax:

Try Warlock with Hound.

Bet

[Wuorg]

Originally posted by Thrrax:

Try Warlock with Hound.

After a couple of tries, I was able to do it with the same setup. It was definitely worse than double Hounds with Huntress, if a lot tankier. It really seems like the run hinges on how fast you get to those tier 5 dedication/proficiency traits. In light of that, not having access to that +400 base damage trait is rough, not to mention the lack of the very helpful second source of DPS. It was kind of neat going for an elemental Hound, since I didn't have to pick the Physical boosting traits, necessarily.

Edit: Oh, also the level up bonuses from Huntress were sorely missed too.

[Ulyaoth]

Originally posted by Wuorg:

If you plan to do it again with BH and Double Hounds,
keep two Double Potions and use them on Ethereal Shift Physical / Melee for 120% AS for the doggos.
They will start to rampage everything down very fast, as long as it is in their range.

Downside of this build is the lack of range, but they can shredd in a larger AOE as well.

[Wuorg]

Originally posted by Ulyaoth:

Originally posted by Wuorg:

If you plan to do it again with BH and Double Hounds,
keep two Double Potions and use them on Ethereal Shift Physical / Melee for 120% AS for the doggos.
They will start to rampage everything down very fast, as long as it is in their range.

Downside of this build is the lack of range, but they can shredd in a larger AOE as well.

Since you seem pretty knowledgeable, could I ask a semi-related question?

Do those Gatherer's Charms that "refill potions" give you back Reverberant Tinctures? In my brief testing, they didn't seem to, but it would slot into my build very nicely if they did...

[Ulyaoth]

Originally posted by Wuorg:

I have no idea.
Never used the Uncommon Versions and since it seems random what gets refilled on trigger,
I am not planning to do so.

From what I red, some say it only refills some Potions, some say it refills all.
It feels like a huge gamble to me, even when it would fill up all.

If you want to test this for yourself, (Drunkard) can be triggered more than every 3 minutes.
Combine this with Fighter's Headband (Potions), to drop 2 Potions on every single Champion, Elite or Boss spawn.
Not sure if Healing Magic from Holy Relic counts as Potion for gatherer's Charm,
but you could give it a shot with Holy Relic (Duality).


My guess would be you want to use Double on:
- Power Throw > 400 Base DMG
- Hound Range
- Both Ethereal Shift

While the 400 Base dmg sound nice, think twice if you really need that amount of damage boost, since you can use other sources like Blood-Soaked Shirt and Blood Catcher.
Mask of Madness (Conversion) or War Chief's Visor (Damage), Copper/Wooden Ring to boost into crit, Invocator's Grasp (Elites) for a large dmg boost.
Finally either Pace Setters (Unrest) or Berserker Boots (Aggregation).

[Ulyaoth]

Dubidu... Wooffff

Beast Hunress with Mark of the Beast - no Torment Shards
Mask of Madness (Conversion)
Blood Catcher (Enhancement)
Copper Ring (Boost) + Wooden Ring (Boost)
Blood-Soaked Shirt (Undying)
Invocatotr's Grasp (Elites)
Berserker Boots (Aggregation)

Banish: Vitality, Elemental Surge

Demonic Exchange I-III (Force)
Ethereal Shift A (Melee) x2
Ethereal Shift B (Physical) x2

Weapon Proficiency - Piercing I-IV + Power Bite I-IV
Proficient Stance - RelentlessI-IV + Ruthless I-IV
Dedication - Flight I-IV --- Tier V Hound Reach x2

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3351228425
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3351228472
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3351228495

The 3 Lords at the end got humiliated and died in ~5 seconds,
this was really hilarious to watch.

[Wuorg]

Originally posted by Ulyaoth:

Originally posted by Wuorg:

I have no idea.
Never used the Uncommon Versions and since it seems random what gets refilled on trigger,
I am not planning to do so.

From what I red, some say it only refills some Potions, some say it refills all.
It feels like a huge gamble to me, even when it would fill up all.

If you want to test this for yourself, (Drunkard) can be triggered more than every 3 minutes.
Combine this with Fighter's Headband (Potions), to drop 2 Potions on every single Champion, Elite or Boss spawn.
Not sure if Healing Magic from Holy Relic counts as Potion for gatherer's Charm,
but you could give it a shot with Holy Relic (Duality).


My guess would be you want to use Double on:
- Power Throw > 400 Base DMG
- Hound Range
- Both Ethereal Shift

While the 400 Base dmg sound nice, think twice if you really need that amount of damage boost, since you can use other sources like Blood-Soaked Shirt and Blood Catcher.
Mask of Madness (Conversion) or War Chief's Visor (Damage), Copper/Wooden Ring to boost into crit, Invocator's Grasp (Elites) for a large dmg boost.
Finally either Pace Setters (Unrest) or Berserker Boots (Aggregation).

Fair points.

I did some testing with the Gatherer's Charm. It *can* refill Reverberant Tinctures, but it seems quite rare. Since it says "refill," I thought I'd try to see what happens if you only use a certain potion--maybe it only gives you potions that you aren't already full up on. Unfortunately, it only sorta works that way. As far as I can tell, it seems like once it is charged up it picks a potion to refill, and if you don't have space for that one it just waits until you do before moving on. Regardless, I was only ever able to get one additional Reverberant Tincture before running out of traits to pick, so it hardly seems worth it when considering what else you could be equipping in that slot, even when considering all the rerolls you also get out of the deal.

Edit: Oh! And also Holy Light does *not* count for it.

[Wuorg]

Originally posted by Ulyaoth:

Dubidu... Wooffff

Beast Hunress with Mark of the Beast - no Torment Shards
Mask of Madness (Conversion)
Blood Catcher (Enhancement)
Copper Ring (Boost) + Wooden Ring (Boost)
Blood-Soaked Shirt (Undying)
Incoaotr's Grasp (Elites)
Berserker Boots (Aggregation)

Banish: Vitality, Elemental Surge

Demonic Exchange I-III (Force)
Ethereal Shift A (Melee) x2
Ethereal Shift B (Physical) x2

Weapon Proficiency - Piercing I-IV + Power Bite I-IV
Proficient Stance - RelentlessI-IV + Ruthless I-IV
Dedication - Flight I-IV --- Tier V Hound Reach x2

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3351228425
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3351228472
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3351228495

The 3 Lords at the end got humiliated and died in ~5 seconds,
this was really hilarious to watch.

Right lol? It took some figuring out to survive early on, but once you get rolling those pups really take off!

[Ulyaoth]

Originally posted by Wuorg:

Right lol? It took some figuring out to survive early on, but once you get rolling those pups really take off!

i just ran around like a headless chicken until ~15:00.
Dont know why, but it settled at this point.
Even 5:00 - 4:00 with the green Cubes was pretty easy and the Boss psawing at 4:00 died so quick before the last green Cube.

In the end, it was more afk farming.
The healing from BSS and BC was insane (200-300 HP per tick)

[Wuorg]

Originally posted by Ulyaoth:

Originally posted by Wuorg:

Right lol? It took some figuring out to survive early on, but once you get rolling those pups really take off!

i just ran around like a headless chicken until ~15:00.
Dont know why, but it settled at this point.
Even 5:00 - 4:00 with the green Cubes was pretty easy and the Boss psawing at 4:00 died so quick before the last green Cube.

In the end, it was more afk farming.
The healing from BSS and BC was insane (200-300 HP per tick)

BSS is wild with them. I used:

Fighter's Headband (Potions)
Holy Relic (Duality)
Holy Relic (Blessing)
Warrior's Fervor (Lingering)
Berserker Boots (Aggregation)
Blood-Soaked Shirt (Undying)
Spellcaster Gloves (Hyperfocus)

That Warrior's Fervor buff got so silly that by the end the poor Hounds were drifting all over the place and having a hard time attacking the things near me lol...I could practically hear the tire skid sound every time they zipped passed me.

[Ulyaoth]

Originally posted by Wuorg:

Fighter's Headband (Potions)
Holy Relic (Duality)
Holy Relic (Blessing)
Warrior's Fervor (Lingering)

The "manly" setup XD

I always try to juggle between enough damage to oneshot most, some durability to not get oneshotted by an unlucky projectile and a ridiculous amount of AS and MuSt.
Movement Speed was awesome too.
I probably would exchange Berserker Boots with Spike Boots for better CC,
since the AS was just over the top at then end.

[Wuorg]

Originally posted by Ulyaoth:

Originally posted by Wuorg:

Fighter's Headband (Potions)
Holy Relic (Duality)
Holy Relic (Blessing)
Warrior's Fervor (Lingering)

The "manly" setup XD

I always try to juggle between enough damage to oneshot most, some durability to not get oneshotted by an unlucky projectile and a ridiculous amount of AS and MuSt.
Movement Speed was awesome too.
I probably would exchange Berserker Boots with Spike Boots for better CC,
since the AS was just over the top at then end.

haha, I haven't been able to do it on Chambers of Dissonance yet, so you must be doing something right!