Is Evade Window recommended for Switch Axe builds?

[Kak]

I've been using the Switch Axe for a long time now, but one skill I've never really tried out is Evade Window. I mostly use a standard Teo/Brachy build with Power Prolonger built in.

I've heard it really helps out for survivability, as anyone who's used the Switch Axe will know the side hops aren't great. Can anyone attest to how useful it is?

Thanks.

[Aelin Galathynius]

I used it when farming Fatalis. It's hilariously op if you get all 5 levels. You can just i-frame through everything with ease.

If you're using Teo/Brachy then health boost 3 should be the first defensive skill you go for but later when you get Fatalis gear with its absurd amount of slots evade window is a fun skill to put in.

[lexilogo]

Evade Window and Evade Extender are always decent skills, but Switch Axe does value them a little more than other weapons. Feel free to try slotting some pieces in and see how you like it.

[Faust Wither]

evade extender and evade window was really good, i have 3lv each of them. it make dodge more smooth for sure.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2270079665

[Maffeketel]

I'd definetly recommend it. It allows you to consequently deal damage to the monster and it's an amazing skill on the SA. It negates it's main weakness, which is it low moblity and it's lack of good evasive moves. This skill completely solves the problem and I tend to to use one or both of the evasion skills on all my SA builds.

The SA gets a lot more out of these skills then other weapons do. It increases your survivability and indirectly your DPS as you'll be able to stay on the offensive for larger amounts of time if you keep dodging every attack.

[Kak]

Originally posted by Aelin Galathynius:

I used it when farming Fatalis. It's hilariously op if you get all 5 levels. You can just i-frame through everything with ease.

If you're using Teo/Brachy then health boost 3 should be the first defensive skill you go for but later when you get Fatalis gear with its absurd amount of slots evade window is a fun skill to put in.

I see, thanks for the advice! It was actually Fatalis that prompted me to ask because I've yet to kill him (playing solo). I feel like my damage is pretty good but taking the odd hit that I feel like I could have dodged and carting because of it wastes a ton of time.

Originally posted by Maffeketel:

I'd definetly recommend it. It allows you to consequently deal damage to the monster and it's an amazing skill on the SA. It negates it's main weakness, which is it low moblity and it's lack of good evasive moves. This skill completely solves the problem and I tend to to use one or both of the evasion skills on all my SA builds.

The SA gets a lot more out of these skills then other weapons do. It increases your survivability and indirectly your DPS as you'll be able to stay on the offensive for larger amounts of time if you keep dodging every attack.

Thanks for the help. I really like the damage output on the SA but it definitely feels like there are a lot of situations where you have to work a lot harder to avoid damage than with other weapons.

Do you think you could recommend anywhere I could slot in the skills? This is my current build:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2271937809

(The Ghillie Mantle has two levels of Heavy Artillery and the Rocksteady has 2 of Speed Eating because I had no other ideas.)

I really like Power Prolonger so I'm looking to keep at least two levels of that. I was maybe thinking of taking away some of the Attack decos?

[Maffeketel]

Originally posted by Kak:

Originally posted by Aelin Galathynius:

I used it when farming Fatalis. It's hilariously op if you get all 5 levels. You can just i-frame through everything with ease.

If you're using Teo/Brachy then health boost 3 should be the first defensive skill you go for but later when you get Fatalis gear with its absurd amount of slots evade window is a fun skill to put in.

I see, thanks for the advice! It was actually Fatalis that prompted me to ask because I've yet to kill him (playing solo). I feel like my damage is pretty good but taking the odd hit that I feel like I could have dodged and carting because of it wastes a ton of time.

Originally posted by Maffeketel:

I'd definetly recommend it. It allows you to consequently deal damage to the monster and it's an amazing skill on the SA. It negates it's main weakness, which is it low moblity and it's lack of good evasive moves. This skill completely solves the problem and I tend to to use one or both of the evasion skills on all my SA builds.

The SA gets a lot more out of these skills then other weapons do. It increases your survivability and indirectly your DPS as you'll be able to stay on the offensive for larger amounts of time if you keep dodging every attack.

Thanks for the help. I really like the damage output on the SA but it definitely feels like there are a lot of situations where you have to work a lot harder to avoid damage than with other weapons.

Do you think you could recommend anywhere I could slot in the skills? This is my current build:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2271937809

(The Ghillie Mantle has two levels of Heavy Artillery and the Rocksteady has 2 of Speed Eating because I had no other ideas.)

I really like Power Prolonger so I'm looking to keep at least two levels of that. I was maybe thinking of taking away some of the Attack decos?

Power prolonger is an excellent choice so I would leave that in. I noticed that you don't have critical boost in your build. If you have the decorations for it then I'd recommend slotting that in as it's a great skill to have on basically any weapon.

Evade extender and evade window are really important, but due to the lack of slots I'd recommend that you only pick one. You could also consider tool specialist for your build as that skill allows you to spam the ZSD and the increased mantle uptime is really strong on the SA.
Tool specialist and the evade skills tend to appear as a secondary skill on level 4 gems so they can be slotted in with other skills such as critical eye.

Attack boost is usually the last skill that I slot into my builds as it has rather dimishing returns compared to critical boost, critical eye and weakness exploit.
It all depends on the decoration that you have at the moment.

I'd also recommend replacing the ghillie mantle with the temporal mantle. You can put divine blessing jewels in the rocksteady mantle or tool specialist jewels. For the temporal it's best to only slot in the tool specialist jewels as it doesn't benefit from divine blessing.

[Kak]

Originally posted by Maffeketel:

Power prolonger is an excellent choice so I would leave that in. I noticed that you don't have critical boost in your build. If you have the decorations for it then I'd recommend slotting that in as it's a great skill to have on basically any weapon.

Evade extender and evade window are really important, but due to the lack of slots I'd recommend that you only pick one. You could also consider tool specialist for your build as that skill allows you to spam the ZSD and the increased mantle uptime is really strong on the SA.
Tool specialist and the evade skills tend to appear as a secondary skill on level 4 gems so they can be slotted in with other skills such as critical eye.

Attack boost is usually the last skill that I slot into my builds as it has rather dimishing returns compared to critical boost, critical eye and weakness exploit.
It all depends on the decoration that you have at the moment.

Yeah, making specific builds is a little awkward because there's a lot of decos I would like but don't have. I have a nifty Critical Boost/Evade Window deco which I reckon I'll definitely try to slot in.

I'm struggling to see a place for Tool Specialist. I can sacrifice Attack Boost and some Partbreaker for Crit Boost and Evade Window, but apart from that I don't think there's anything I can free up. Unless I make some kind of Lunastra build, but I really like Master's Touch.

[Maffeketel]

Originally posted by Kak:

Originally posted by Maffeketel:

Power prolonger is an excellent choice so I would leave that in. I noticed that you don't have critical boost in your build. If you have the decorations for it then I'd recommend slotting that in as it's a great skill to have on basically any weapon.

Evade extender and evade window are really important, but due to the lack of slots I'd recommend that you only pick one. You could also consider tool specialist for your build as that skill allows you to spam the ZSD and the increased mantle uptime is really strong on the SA.
Tool specialist and the evade skills tend to appear as a secondary skill on level 4 gems so they can be slotted in with other skills such as critical eye.

Attack boost is usually the last skill that I slot into my builds as it has rather dimishing returns compared to critical boost, critical eye and weakness exploit.
It all depends on the decoration that you have at the moment.

Yeah, making specific builds is a little awkward because there's a lot of decos I would like but don't have. I have a nifty Critical Boost/Evade Window deco which I reckon I'll definitely try to slot in.

I'm struggling to see a place for Tool Specialist. I can sacrifice Attack Boost and some Partbreaker for Crit Boost and Evade Window, but apart from that I don't think there's anything I can free up. Unless I make some kind of Lunastra build, but I really like Master's Touch.

Your armor pieces are completely fine! Youre using the old meta set before Fatalis so I'd leave those as is.

I'd take attack boost out and partbreaker depends on whether you feel comfortable taking it out. I have partbreaker on my SA build, but that's a Fatalis set build which basically allows you to slot everything that you need. You could consider taking partbreaker out for an evade skill.

Use the mantles for the tool specialist jewels.

[Aelin Galathynius]

Originally posted by Maffeketel:

Originally posted by Kak:

I see, thanks for the advice! It was actually Fatalis that prompted me to ask because I've yet to kill him (playing solo). I feel like my damage is pretty good but taking the odd hit that I feel like I could have dodged and carting because of it wastes a ton of time.



Thanks for the help. I really like the damage output on the SA but it definitely feels like there are a lot of situations where you have to work a lot harder to avoid damage than with other weapons.

Do you think you could recommend anywhere I could slot in the skills? This is my current build:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2271937809

(The Ghillie Mantle has two levels of Heavy Artillery and the Rocksteady has 2 of Speed Eating because I had no other ideas.)

I really like Power Prolonger so I'm looking to keep at least two levels of that. I was maybe thinking of taking away some of the Attack decos?

Power prolonger is an excellent choice so I would leave that in. I noticed that you don't have critical boost in your build. If you have the decorations for it then I'd recommend slotting that in as it's a great skill to have on basically any weapon.

Evade extender and evade window are really important, but due to the lack of slots I'd recommend that you only pick one. You could also consider tool specialist for your build as that skill allows you to spam the ZSD and the increased mantle uptime is really strong on the SA.
Tool specialist and the evade skills tend to appear as a secondary skill on level 4 gems so they can be slotted in with other skills such as critical eye.

Attack boost is usually the last skill that I slot into my builds as it has rather dimishing returns compared to critical boost, critical eye and weakness exploit.
It all depends on the decoration that you have at the moment.

I'd also recommend replacing the ghillie mantle with the temporal mantle. You can put divine blessing jewels in the rocksteady mantle or tool specialist jewels. For the temporal it's best to only slot in the tool specialist jewels as it doesn't benefit from divine blessing.

Don't put the heavy artillery in the ghille, when you fire the cannons the ghille deactivates and so do the decorations in it.

[Maffeketel]

Originally posted by Aelin Galathynius:

Originally posted by Maffeketel:

Power prolonger is an excellent choice so I would leave that in. I noticed that you don't have critical boost in your build. If you have the decorations for it then I'd recommend slotting that in as it's a great skill to have on basically any weapon.

Evade extender and evade window are really important, but due to the lack of slots I'd recommend that you only pick one. You could also consider tool specialist for your build as that skill allows you to spam the ZSD and the increased mantle uptime is really strong on the SA.
Tool specialist and the evade skills tend to appear as a secondary skill on level 4 gems so they can be slotted in with other skills such as critical eye.

Attack boost is usually the last skill that I slot into my builds as it has rather dimishing returns compared to critical boost, critical eye and weakness exploit.
It all depends on the decoration that you have at the moment.

I'd also recommend replacing the ghillie mantle with the temporal mantle. You can put divine blessing jewels in the rocksteady mantle or tool specialist jewels. For the temporal it's best to only slot in the tool specialist jewels as it doesn't benefit from divine blessing.

Don't put the heavy artillery in the ghille, when you fire the cannons the ghille deactivates and so do the decorations in it.

Yes youre right, do not put heavy artillery in the Ghillie mantle. I totally forgot to mention that.

[Kak]

Originally posted by Maffeketel:

Your armor pieces are completely fine! Youre using the old meta set before Fatalis so I'd leave those as is.

I'd take attack boost out and partbreaker depends on whether you feel comfortable taking it out. I have partbreaker on my SA build, but that's a Fatalis set build which basically allows you to slot everything that you need. You could consider taking partbreaker out for an evade skill.

Use the mantles for the tool specialist jewels.

I do like Partbreaker because sometimes it can be a struggle for me to even get the 1st Fatalis head break, let alone the second, but I can experiment and see if I can get on without it.

How does Tool Specialist work if it's on a mantle? Don't I have to be wearing it for the effects to come through?

Originally posted by Aelin Galathynius:

Don't put the heavy artillery in the ghille, when you fire the cannons the ghille deactivates and so do the decorations in it.

Oops, I had no idea that was the case. The Ghillie is a pretty recent change to my build (usually I just wait for Fatalis to start flying, and then he doesn't seem to be able to hit me on the ballistae as much).

[Faust Wither]

if you looking for killing fatalis, probalby lunastra and gold rathian works better, as for weapon use alatreon because it easy to charge it since it use elemental phial, and just watch out for charging fire breath mostly it will one hit you.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2271962409

[Maffeketel]

Originally posted by Kak:

Originally posted by Maffeketel:

Your armor pieces are completely fine! Youre using the old meta set before Fatalis so I'd leave those as is.

I'd take attack boost out and partbreaker depends on whether you feel comfortable taking it out. I have partbreaker on my SA build, but that's a Fatalis set build which basically allows you to slot everything that you need. You could consider taking partbreaker out for an evade skill.

Use the mantles for the tool specialist jewels.

I do like Partbreaker because sometimes it can be a struggle for me to even get the 1st Fatalis head break, let alone the second, but I can experiment and see if I can get on without it.

How does Tool Specialist work if it's on a mantle? Don't I have to be wearing it for the effects to come through?

Originally posted by Aelin Galathynius:

Don't put the heavy artillery in the ghille, when you fire the cannons the ghille deactivates and so do the decorations in it.

Oops, I had no idea that was the case. The Ghillie is a pretty recent change to my build (usually I just wait for Fatalis to start flying, and then he doesn't seem to be able to hit me on the ballistae as much).

Oh so this build is designed with Fatalis in mind? Then I'd recommend keeping partbreaker 3 and creating a ZSD build. Fire resistance 3 is also something to consider and the evade skills are very important for Fatalis.
I'd highly recommend tool specialist 5 for Fatalis as it allows you to mindlessly spam the ZSD, which makes the fight very trivial.

If you need more slots then you could consider using Alatreon pieces to fill the gaps. These pieces have a lot of great slots and the skills can be beneficial. Heavy artillery 2 is very beneficial throughout the fight and if you have a heavy artillery gem you can get this skill to it's max level with just one gem.

Tool specialist reduces the charge time of your mantles so if you have one mantle on the other one will recharge faster for the duration of the mantle that youre using. It's a nice skill to slot into mantles. If youre building a ZSD spam build then it becomes even more important to get tool specialist as high as possible.

[Maffeketel]

Originally posted by Faust Wither:

if you looking for killing fatalis, probalby lunastra and gold rathian works better, as for weapon use alatreon because it easy to charge it since it use elemental phial, and just watch out for charging fire breath mostly it will one hit you.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2271962409

This is definetly a really good build for Fatalis! I'm not sure whether I still have mine because I believe I replaced it with a full Fatalis gear build.

[Kak]

Originally posted by Maffeketel:

Oh so this build is designed with Fatalis in mind? Then I'd recommend keeping partbreaker 3 and creating a ZSD build. Fire resistance 3 is also something to consider and the evade skills are very important for Fatalis.
I'd highly recommend tool specialist 5 for Fatalis as it allows you to mindlessly spam the ZSD, which makes the fight very trivial.

If you need more slots then you could consider using Alatreon pieces to fill the gaps. These pieces have a lot of great slots and the skills can be beneficial. Heavy artillery 2 is very beneficial throughout the fight and if you have a heavy artillery gem you can get this skill to it's max level with just one gem.

Tool specialist reduces the charge time of your mantles so if you have one mantle on the other one will recharge faster for the duration of the mantle that youre using. It's a nice skill to slot into mantles. If youre building a ZSD spam build then it becomes even more important to get tool specialist as high as possible.

Yeah, I'd say it's built with Fatalis in mind more than anything (my generic build is fine VS most other things but I want to tweak things a bit for him).

I might farm Lunastra and Gold Rathian (mainly the former) to see if I can make a build that works for me. I love Master's Touch but if I choose a weapon like the Alatreon Switch Axe, I have a ton of natural purple sharpness to work with anyway.

Edit: I'll also look into Alatreon armour, but I really don't like hunting him so I'm not sure how much I'd be willing to farm for his gear.