Top Builds - Are they still leviathan and engineer based?

[Coach's Coach]

I dunno about you guys but I have been playing Nova Drift since it first came to EA and I love it. I have a lot of hours logged into the game, but took a hiatus to let some new updates roll through, which was probably right before Enemies 2.0. I dropped in to play here and there but not much. Now I'm back since 1.0 release is imminent.

That said, what is the current meta game build for high scores, or just an absurdly OP build? When I last played it was Leviathan, and I don't imagine that has changed much. All my 2-3 million scores, my top 10 rankings, are either leviathan builds, or dart engineer interceptor overseer builds.

Has anybody found other builds viable for breaking into the 1.5+ million range regularly? Are there any new ones out there?

[Beltor]

Just last night i got a score around 2.5 mil with a weaponless and shieldless carrier. Didn't expect it to work, just goofing around.

[Coach's Coach]

Originally posted by Beltor:

Just last night i got a score around 2.5 mil with a weaponless and shieldless carrier. Didn't expect it to work, just goofing around.

This is my favorite thing about the game - discovering new, viable builds. Sometimes I go in knowing I want to do something I did before that works because I want to mess stuff up. Other times I'm willing to fail multiple times and I go in with no plan and just try out something that seems good in the moment.

[Botji]

Its a bit hard to really say because some people can frequently get above 1.5 million using "any build" while others might struggle using really strong builds.

The game has seen some score/power creep or whatever you want to call it so the old 2-3 million scores that used to be quite impressive are now less so but again that can vary a lot depending on who you ask.

[Draco18s]

I just got a 1.1M score while going after the Ya Basic achievement.
Ended up #5 on my personal highscore list (which I last reset ... Enemies 2.0 I think; major rebalance meant clearing my highscores seemed appropriate).

(Deflagration/Warp Strike with Essence Sap, a turret, and an ally; warp strike wasn't needed, but I like it and figured why not)

[yivrneyakumo]

pure viper is quite strong RN with the recent update! Other contenders for powerful builds are salvo spectre builds, mine architect builds, firefly builds, and tbh, I can't recall all of it off the top of my head. Though it does take a hefty amount of optimization and practice to get to the really, reaaally high scores, but 2 million for strong builds should not be too tough!

The foundation for most strong builds, though, is also a mobile craft and good piloting. you should try playing speedy and dodgy semi-glass cannons, you'll find that your other build's scores will also improve with practice.

[Coach's Coach]

Originally posted by yivrneyakumo:

pure viper is quite strong RN with the recent update! Other contenders for powerful builds are salvo spectre builds, mine architect builds, firefly builds, and tbh, I can't recall all of it off the top of my head. Though it does take a hefty amount of optimization and practice to get to the really, reaaally high scores, but 2 million for strong builds should not be too tough!

The foundation for most strong builds, though, is also a mobile craft and good piloting. you should try playing speedy and dodgy semi-glass cannons, you'll find that your other build's scores will also improve with practice.

I love salvo spectre, just makes so much sense.

[Draco18s]

I should try salvo spectre. In general I hate charged attack and salvo because the downside isn't worth the up side (which applies to Spectre's playstyle and Salvo's rocket pods).

But oh man, Salvo + Spectre + Barrage + Strafing Strikes? *Chef's kiss*
Combine that with Splinter and Ricochet and a single thrust+fire fills the screen with projectiles for ten seconds.

[Botji]

I can highly recommend Torrent with Antimatter, Barrage, Singular Strike, Polar Inversion and Homing Strike + survivability and self damage resist.

You would also want things like Snipe and Saturation Fire but the main thing is the above, after rounding out the build with these and mobility like Strafe you go into the late game with even more self damage resist and some Solar Hearts.

Does lots of damage but also creates a cloud of projectiles around your ship that eats up any enemy projectiles. 3x Shredder mine wave/s? no problem, just shoot and none of them hits you.

It can be a bit difficult sometimes since you need to balance the self damage you take with regeneration/damage resistance but in general its a really strong build where you eventually start doing +2-3k damage per Torrent projectile, even wave 300-400 bosses implode in a few seconds without doing much of anything.

Bonus points for using Viper and turning into a flamethrower.

[Draco18s]

Torrent + Singular Strike. 🤔

Gave it a go.
I don't think Polar Inversion is necessary (though it definitely fits the "theme" of the build) but Viper definitely is. Could also add something like Discharge/Infuse might work well.

Really suffers from projectile speed, unfortunately.

OK this is my new favorite build. 790,000 with Draft mode, usually I only get to about 450k.

[Botji]

Originally posted by Draco18s:

Torrent + Singular Strike. 🤔

Gave it a go.
I don't think Polar Inversion is necessary (though it definitely fits the "theme" of the build) but Viper definitely is. Could also add something like Discharge/Infuse might work well.

Really suffers from projectile speed, unfortunately.

OK this is my new favorite build. 790,000 with Draft mode, usually I only get to about 450k.

Polar Inversion is to somewhat help with the low projectile speed, once it starts hitting a enemy it pulls them towards you and deeper into the stream where more bullets hits them. Without it you are almost guaranteed to be pushing enemies away so less of your bullets are actually hitting them/takes longer to kill them.

The projectiles speed can also almost entirely be overcome with Strafe, Torrent inherits a lot of your own speed when you fire so if you are shooting while boosting forward your shots gain a lot of speed. This is also where Polar Inversion synergies with the build, your bullets that you fling forward(and to the sides with Homing Strike) pulls at enemies far away closer to you so more bullets will still be hitting them as you slow down from the forward strafe boost.. of they survive the first shots ofc.

I kinda consider Polar Inversion to be a semi-core mod for this type of build.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3120141417
Example of how it can look around wave 100, screenshot taken moments after killing Seraph and easily just sitting in front of it ignoring the 4x railguns it was shooting at me. Antimatter just eating them up.

Its a powerful build and it looks really cool too after it gets everything going

[Draco18s]

Oh yeah. One run is sitting at #10 on my personal leaderboard (and that was with drafting). Just finished a run that ended just shy of that score (1,018,000 vs 1,021,000).

I've been skipping the polar inversion just because it hasn't felt necessary. Early waves before you get the build together? Sure. Running it via draft, not so much. You just melt anything you get into your range anyway.

And yes, Strafe helps a lot. As for inheriting speed, that's true of all weapons. You just notice it more with the slower ones like Torrent.

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/870341956734169158/1190481929552805888/image.png

[BrziKorak]

I got a build idea off the discord months ago, but it still took effort to make it work well. It's called "Lionfish". Battery + Swords + whichever shield you like best. Fair warning, it relies on wild mods:
1) Death blossom, Propulsive munitions, 3-6 Energised shields; you can fit some other things in it but these are crucial
2) Tempest break and Infuse are mandatory for performance, you can branch into Singular or Deflagration if it fits your style, Void slice can also be a treat to work with
3) Elegant construction and Priority zero, Tactical link for staying power, Self destruction is pretty much free damage
4) Emergency systems and Blink

Some mods can kill the effectiveness here, so obviously Rapid reconstruction is not happening to allow Tempest. Increases to fire rate and especially burst (never take Double tap) just hurt the build, since the Infuse energy bolts get huge damage from slower weapons. Mobility from Blink/Strafe/Slice adds a lot. Crash damage from Skirmish and maybe Phantom later on is also a plus. The core idea of Lionfish is to (ab)use shield popping, recovery, and the swords to block off a huge portion of enemy damage while also tearing everything to shreds. Got a 3.3M score today in non-draft Annihilation, personal best with it was 3.8M

[Hanako]

Has anybody found other builds viable for breaking into the 1.5+ million range regularly?

My current favorite build is based around this:

Spectre
Temporal Shield + Sanctuary
Blades + Antimatter + Infuse

An infused blade will hit and spin and keep throwing zaps. Enemies just melt.

Stealth means you have time to reposition your Sanctuary when you need to, and many big enemies are hopelessly weak/confused when slowed down by Temporal Sanctuary.

The main weakness is those guys that line up all along the edges of the screen and fire at once making a criss-cross pattern across the whole screen.

But mostly I die because I get exhausted from a long play session and lose my focus. Last run was at nearly 4 million.

I know Leviathan is super popular but honestly I can't get the hang of it at all.

[Draco18s]

Yeah I can't get Leviathan to work either.

[Coach's Coach]

Originally posted by Hanako:

Has anybody found other builds viable for breaking into the 1.5+ million range regularly?

My current favorite build is based around this:

Spectre
Temporal Shield + Sanctuary
Blades + Antimatter + Infuse

An infused blade will hit and spin and keep throwing zaps. Enemies just melt.

Stealth means you have time to reposition your Sanctuary when you need to, and many big enemies are hopelessly weak/confused when slowed down by Temporal Sanctuary.

The main weakness is those guys that line up all along the edges of the screen and fire at once making a criss-cross pattern across the whole screen.

But mostly I die because I get exhausted from a long play session and lose my focus. Last run was at nearly 4 million.

I know Leviathan is super popular but honestly I can't get the hang of it at all.

I loved the Leviathan builds when I played research first so I could banish anything I wouldn't need. If you manage to do that and then spec into Levi with (I think it was) Dying Star and Hidden Power you have a grand ol' time. I remember everything just bursting into nothingness as it came on screen, and then crash damage with blink taking care of other enemies. I forgot how that build went though, it was awhile ago.

I really want to see a strong shield-focused build. Something that takes advantage of Sentinel. I'm gonna go play around with something stupid like a Sentinel Halo or Amp.