Rush to Scholar

[ste3e]

Scholar grants no instakill. Meaning that when the Fallen squeezes his fingers in attempt to squish the consciousness from Rush, it wastes a turn instead of botching the union. While no instakill can also be got by some other classes, Scholar gets it far earlier, before Eagle’s Nest in fact. But to get to Scholar is fraught, and there seems little on the web detailing the process. So I thought I’d write this. It being one way of rushing to Scholar.

The progression is Fighter to Monk. Monk to Marauder. Marauder to Scholar. It means flipping str and int, mystic and items all over the place, but in doing so they remain within limits to reach the requirements: that int is first to reach 41, that mystic/item are balanced.

A) Fighter to Monk

Rush starts as a fighter with str 26, int 24, invocations and items (via storyline). Mystic and items are balanced. To become a Monk, items need to be significant (2 more than mystic), and str needs to be higher than int and at 29. Thus Rush has only 3 levels of str increase to make items significant.

1) Place Rush in back ranks of a union and spam healing with items. Turn off invocations because using these increases mystic. Ensure Rush is the only healer in the union. Allow union to suffer damage just to let Rush heal them.

2) Equip a non or low str weapon, sword, katana, etc. And never use it except as last resort, because every time the weapon is used str is increased toward level up. You want to slow the progression of str to allow items time to become significant.

B) Monk to Marauder

Marauder is the opposite of Monk. Rush has 6 levels to flip from str + items, to int + invocations. Marauder requirements being int 35 with invocations significant. Int must reach 35 before str otherwise Rush will become Swashbuckler, Samurai, Bludgeoner, Axeman, Lancer or Runemaiden, depending on weapon used. Assuming that is, that invocation use has not made mystic significant over items.

1) Place Rush as head of mystic union and spam invocations. Use remedies when got, but ensure remedies do not outpace invocations or Rush will become a Healer. Never use the weapon unless no other option presents.

2) Turn items off. Maybe keep vivication to raise the dead. But if possible let someone else handle that.

C) Marauder to Scholar

Rush now has 6 levels of int gain to bring items back into balance with mystic. Scholar requirements being int 41, and mystic/item balance.

The situation is problematic. On the one hand int has to stay ahead of str, and that means using invocations or remedies. On the other hand using invocations and remedies pushes up mystic leaving it out of balance with items. Best to spam item healing. Allow sword use when healing is not available. Just keep a close eye on the stats and ensure str never reaches int. TLRPlanner is excellent for this.

1) Remove Rush from leader of mystic union and place him as second. Make him sole healer using items only. And spam item healing again until mystic and item are balanced.

2) If str catches up to int, use invocations, even though it also increases mystic.

3) If items gets ahead of mystic, Rush will become a Warrior or a Scout. If mystic remains significant when int reaches 41, Rush will become a Mysticknight or Cavalier depending on which of invocations or remedies is higher. Hit the sweet spot with item/mystic balance and he will be a Scholar.

D) Post Scholar.

Locking in Scholar can be done by turning off all mystic and item arts, or at least, retaining mystic/item balance. My preferred option is to use the bludgeon bonus that Scholar offers, equip Rush with a 2H claymore (bludgeoning weapon) and build Rush as a strong hitter that cannot be one shot. With str significant and mystic/item balance, Ordainer is the only other class Rush might become.

The Ninja option befuddles me. Certainly it also gets no instakill. But it requires foregoing str required for the katana in order to secure mystic significance, while simultaneously foregoing int development to secure katana weapon arts a dual wielding. Means your neither strong or intelligent. Just carrying katana weapons.

[PinkPаптҥэя]

No Instakill does not help against the insta-deaths from the Fallen, Milton, Blaster (in Hard Mode) etc., since those are due to Overkill. It only helps against death from Curse or the actual unit getting enthralled, so the skill is actually not very helpful in the game.

As far as Ninja for Rush in NG+, getting from level 6 to 13 in mystics to achieve mystic significance for the class switch (assuming disabling all items from the beginning) should be easy enough, moreso when using growth boost equipment.
Using a Ragna-Rock and a Blood Chalice that would equal to 25 successful uses of Remedies or Psionics.

[Vymorna]

I had a few failed attempts to get the Scholar class for Rush in the past, so thank you for the suggestions in this thread - will give this method a try. One question, is there a viable path to Scholar from the early Mystic classes (Sorcerer or Magus)? I think I tried aiming for them previously, didn't achieve either and ended up with Mysticknight or something in the end. Or are they out of reach for Rush?

[PinkPаптҥэя]

Originally posted by Vymorna:

One question, is there a viable path to Scholar from the early Mystic classes (Sorcerer or Magus)? I think I tried aiming for them previously, didn't achieve either and ended up with Mysticknight or something in the end. Or are they out of reach for Rush?

Achieving (and keeping) Mys/Item Balance while not letting Weapon become significant should do the trick.

BTW, the easiest way to Scholar for Rush is to use only Remedies until at least INT 41 (base stat !!) and then switch to Herbs until the class change.
(Couple of herb uses in the early game are OK, but as soon as Remedies are available, use those.) (I was wrong here; this will lead into the Cavalier trap...)

For my suuggested way to Scholar, see chapter 'Rush's Skill and Class Development' in my guide:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=531214170

[Vymorna]

Thanks! I'll have another go and see how I get on

[Vymorna]

Failed again, I didn't pay enough attention to Mystic/Item balance and Mystic got too far ahead. Does herb/potion use contribute to raising STR? I had a lot of trouble keeping INT above STR so it would be useful to know what impact specific actions have on stat increases.

Does using normal attacks lead to combat art significance (even if the arts learnt are only wield-type instead of weapon based)? I disabled all Rush's combat arts as soon as they popped, but something I was doing must've been increasing the combat skill level, because after INT 41 his class changed from Healer to Cavalier, locking me out of Scholar. Maybe because my Item level was too low?

[PinkPаптҥэя]

Oops, that lead into the Cavalier trap.
That means the only way is constantly monitoring Mys/Item balance.
I corrected my above post and added a link to my guide, which explains some of the class options for Rush.

While Combat arts are contributing more towards STR gains and Mystics more towards INT, most of the stat gains come from winning battles (and surviving them of course).
Items do not contribute to neither.

[Vymorna]

Got it, thanks. I've had a look now at the Rush class options section in the guide and noticed that Cavalier is one of the classes you recommend. I'll stick with it since the 'healer' Rush setup is working fine for me up to this point, and I want to actually finish a play-through!

[PinkPаптҥэя]

What's great about Cavalier is that you get the 'Defend' command, optimal for tanking, as it halves the damage taken for the units in union slot 1-3 and gives the units in union slot 4-5 the option of reassessment for using healing arts, if they have those at their disposal.

[ste3e]

Originally posted by PinkPаптҥэя:

No Instakill does not help against the insta-deaths from the Fallen, Milton, Blaster (in Hard Mode) etc., since those are due to Overkill. It only helps against death from Curse or the actual unit getting enthralled, so the skill is actually not very helpful in the game.

My problem with The Fallen has always been that he botches the head of the union, and that means lost turns. No instakill stops that, giving you the precious turns needed.

[PinkPаптҥэя]

Nope, as I wrote already above, he's doing Overkill; the 'No Instakill' skill does not protect against that.