Brigand - Strongest and Easiest build ( OUTDATED with Atlantis)

Brigand ( Hunting + Rogue ) - Powerful and Easiest build - Full Guide updated with Ragnarök expansion ( OUTDATED with Atlantis)

1. Introduction to Brigand

After playing for a while and finishing the game on all difficulties I decided to make a guide for Brigand to make him more popular, because for some reason not many people play this build ( at least not in multiplayer ) despite it being one of the strongest ( if not the strongest ) and easiest builds. There are people who still prefer Haruspex ( Hunting / Dream ) over this for its stronger early game, more abilities and a little bit more defense and some life gain, but the more you progress through the game the less useful it becomes and with the right gear brigand overshadows Haruspex.
And yes I know there is not a "real endgame" you just progress through the same content on different difficulties and I guess every build can finish legendary, but Brigand makes it much more easier and faster than other classes, at least from my experience.

2. Pros

• Simple build.
  
• Extremely fast attack speed.
  
• Long range and you will kill most of the enemies before they even reach you, you can even kill them off-screen.
  
• One of the fastest legendary clear build.
  
• No need for level grind, all useful skills are maxed out around 69 lvl, rest are basically a filler.
  
• "Autoattack" build, uses LMB 99% of the time ( This can be pro or con depends which one you prefer )
  
• Very high dot ( damage over time ) with poison and bleeding, so if you have to constantly avoid projectiles from certain bosses or enemies, your dot will do the work for you.
  
• Can use a throwing weapon with shield for extra defense in a certain situations ( Ragnarok expansion needed ).

3. Cons

• Slower early game.
  
• Less defensive abilities compared to Haruspex ( the more you progress the less important it becomes ).
  
• Weaker to undead enemies ( bleeding doesn't work on them but you can switch to ranged or throwing weapon that has additional poison dmg ).
  
• Weak against vitality attacks and life leeches, only an issue on legendary at certain bosses, you have to outrange them.
  
• It might get boring since you lack any skill rotation, if you want a class with many abilities which you actively need to use, this is probably not for you.

4. Tips

• Later in game ( mainly on legendary ) you’ll be chugging those mana potions along with hp potions constantly, maybe every 3-4 enemy packs, but since there isn't really a meaningful way to spend gold anyway, it doesn't matter that much, so always have them in your inventory in large stacks.
  
• With BIS gear you have 80% pierce resistance even on legendary, so archers won't be a problem, but you have to watch out for ranged enemies with elemental dmg, they can kill you in 2 attacks if you do not pay attention. Focus them first or one-shot them with Lethal Strike.
  
• Watch out for enemies in Yggdrasil, 5th act. Most of them have thorns aura and they reflect dmg you deal to them back to you and it really hurts, if you are using a bow, especially on legendary difficulty and you can basically one-shot yourself. I would suggest you to switch to your secondary weapon that is not a bow. Look below for gear recommendations.
  
• Try to stay at max range from your enemies at all times if possible, mainly later in game on higher difficulties, even though you have super high dps, you are still a glass cannon type of class.
  
• What to upgrade in 5th act at blacksmith: ( Ragnarok expansion required ) Bow > necklace > ring. You can only upgrade ONE item per defficulty ( 3 in total ) so DO NOT upgrade anything that doesn't count as your BIS item.

5. Stats

I would say that your stat ratio is around 1.3 Dexterity to 1.0 Strenght, seeing that you will get mostly dexterity from your BiS gear so in early levels spend maybe a little more in strenght to even it out, but leave at least 5 points unspent if you need it for a certain weapon or armor piece.
Do not waste any points in Intelligence or Mana. On legendary you can boost your health pool a little bit if you find it necessary.

6. Build

Where to spend points if you are just starting :

LEVEL 1-5 :
Go for a Marksmanship as soon as possible, it will be your primary attack, don't forget to bind it on your LMB, spend 1 point in it and then max out Wood Lore It will give you good defensive boost and attack speed increase.

Hunting Mastery +4 points


Marksmanship +4 points


Wood Lore + 6 points ( Maxed out )


LEVEL 5-15:
What you need now is to add points to your Hunting Mastery for stat increase and focus on maxing out Marksmanship first.

Hunting Mastery +12 points


Marksmanship + 8 points ( Maxed out )


Art of the Hunt + 1 point ( it is a buff do not forget to have it active ! )


Call of the Hunt + 1 point ( because of very long cooldown, you don't want to spend more than 1 point now, it can be good for boss fights, but you really need cooldown reduction from
set helm and artifact later in game to make it work )

Puncture Shot Arrows + 9 points ( Not only it increases your pierce and bleeding damage but the most important thing here is that your arrows have a chance to pass through enemies )


LEVEL 15-25:
You will slowly max out your most important abilities and finish out hunting mastery.

Hunting Mastery + 16 points ( Maxed out )


Puncture Shot Arrows +3 ( Maxed out )


Scatter Shot Arrows + 12 ( Maxed out ) ( They provide huge aoe boost for early game )


Art of the Hunt + 2


Exploit Weakness +1 ( For a slight dmg boost on bosses )


LEVEL 25-40:
Now is finally time to spend some points in Rogue talent tree and you start off with
bleeding dmg then slowly shift to poison, but first finish off your Hunting tree.

Art of the Hunt + 9 ( Maxed out )


Volley + 6 ( Maxed out ) ( Nice dmg boost, more noticable with + to all talents and +-200% attack speed from BiS gear )


Gouge + 6 ( Maxed out )


Rogue Mastery + 24 ( This will again grant a nice stat boost )


Level 40-50:
After finishing your Rogue Mastery max out other skills that increase your bleeding damage, such as Anatomy and Open Wound and slowly focus to poison dmg.

Anatomy + 8 ( Maxed out )


Rogue Mastery +8 ( Maxed out )


Lethal Strike +1 ( Lethal strike works with mortal wound and it helps you one shot annoying casters or at least stun enemy heroes or other troublesome enemies, do not max it out yet )


Mortal Wound +1


Open Wound +12 ( Maxed out )


Envenom Weapon +2 ( it is a buff do not forget to have it active ! )


LEVEL 50-60:
Time to boost your poison dmg aswell.

Envenom Weapon +10 ( Maxed out )


Nightshade +8 ( Maxed out ) ( Noticable poison damage increase and slows enemies )


Toxin Distillation +12 ( Maxed out )


LEVEL 60+ :
At this point you should really have most if not all of your BiS gear.

Supposing you have at least your set helm, max out Call of the Hunt and Exploit Weakness, you can have around 60% uptime on that ability. (100% with your artifact)


Next is optional, you can max out Study Prey and Flush Out for a great potentional dmg boost, however I find it not necessary, if you are well geared. It is an "on use" ability and its radius is not that large. My biggest problem with it is that you can kill enemies with your LMB before you are even able to apply that debuff on them. Nonetheless if you find yourself having trouble dealing with undeand enemies go for that instead.



Other option would be spending talents in Lethal Strike and Mortal Wound so even on epic/legendary you are still able to one-shot most of your enemies. You want to focus it mostly on those annoying casters which can kill you with two spells or enemy heroes/ others that can quickly charge to you.

If you want to farm items from bosses :

You should focus on getting yout BiS gear at the latest in 3rd act on epic difficulty, so legendary can be a cakewalk for you. There are certain talents that might be helpful against bosses.
Put as many points as possible in Study Prey and Flush Out + Lethal Strike with Mortal Wound + Call of the Hunt and Exploit Weakness even if you do not have set helmet.


If the boss can't be slowed, stunned and he is super fast so you can't avoid his melee hits, it is advised to spend few points in Monster Lure ability, it serves as decoy that disctracts enemies.

If you are fighting against construct boss or any type of that enemy and you are struggling, use Disarm Traps in Rogue talent tree.

Talents you do not need on bosses if you have to take those abilities mentioned above - Scatter Show Arrows ( this is aoe ability ) you can also take out few points from Puncture Show Arrows.

7. Gear

Head:
Tracker's Hood - It's best if you have good recharge time roll, mine has -43%.
http://www.tq-db.net/equipment/trackers-hood

Chest:
Tracker's Armor - Good defensive boost and also adds +2 to your Hunting Mastery, however
you will not find any use for -50% dexterity requirement for all weapons.
http://www.tq-db.net/equipment/trackers-armor

Arms:
Tracker's Gloves - +40% Attack Speed is huge dmg boost for you, it is a must
have piece and also adds skills to your Hunting Mastery.
http://www.tq-db.net/equipment/trackers-gloves

Legs:
Athena's Battle Greaves - Why not having full set? Tracker's Leg Guard have
terrible stats and the 4-set bonus is not really worth it, even with +2 to exploing weakness.
http://www.tq-db.net/equipment/athenas-battle-greaves

Artifact :
Talisman of the Jade Emperor - Further reduces recharge time for 95-100% uptime on your Call of the Hunt ability + increases your elemental resistance by a lot and has a passive that makes you immune to all elemental dmg for a short period of time, only downside is that it activates randomly on attack so you can't time it as you want.
http://www.tq-db.net/equipment/talisman-of-the-jade-emperor

[Alternative] Blood of Ares - Great dmg boost + further increases
your attack speed and passive can help when enemies are too close
to you, even though it is meant for melee classes.
http://www.tq-db.net/equipment/blood-of-ares

Amulet :
Pendant of Immortal Rage - Biggest dmg boost from an item, you want it as soon as possible.
http://www.tq-db.net/equipment/pendant-of-immortal-rage

Ring 1 :
Apollo's Will - Not only it boosts your dmg significantly, but also increases projectile speed and adds to your skills in Hunting Mastery, probably best choice for a Hunter.
http://www.tq-db.net/equipment/apollos-will

Ring 2 :
Star of Elysium - Good damage boost and also good for suvival, it increases your health by a lot
and provides additional resistance. If you don't need bonus to survival, use second Apollo's Will.
http://www.tq-db.net/equipment/star-of-elysium

[Alternative] 2x Mark of Ares - You want it mostly for that 10% proc chance, however even when I had both of them it proc approx. every 15-20 hits so I don't think it scales well, or doesn't proc from pierce dmg. I would suggest you to stick to those two posted above.
http://www.tq-db.net/equipment/mark-of-ares

Main Weapon:

Gusir's Gifts - This bow was recently added in the Ragnarok expansion and you should get hold of it. It greatly increases your bleeding dmg with an additional proc for it, not to mention pierce dmg and another increase in projectile speed. ( It feels like you are shooting from a gun at this point )
http://www.tq-db.net/equipment/gusirs-gifts

[Alternative] Chthonian Needler - This was your best option before Ragnarok expansion was added and still is your second best choice. It's slightly faster and also increases your health, so there is still a place for this bow.
http://www.tq-db.net/equipment/chthonian-needler

Secondary weapon :
If there are many constructs or undeads and they surround you it is best to swap your weapons.

Priam's Gate - Increases your defensive, resistance and grants a lot of health, always use your shield with a throw weapon. ( You need to have Ragnarok expansion to make it work )
http://www.tq-db.net/equipment/priams-gate

Gorgon's Edge - Now that they added throwing weapons it is better to use them
instead of any melee weapon since they work with your Hunting Mastery.
If you want some extra poison dmg for undeads which are immune to bleeding, use this.
http://www.tq-db.net/equipment/gorgons-edge


[Alternative] Jagged Silk - This one converts your attack dmg to health if you
need that extra survivability. If you have the luxury of owning them both,
you can switch between them as you see fit.
http://www.tq-db.net/equipment/jagged-silk

If you have any questions about Brigand feel free to ask in comment section.
Thanks for reading.

8. Video

Brigand gameplay showcase on legendary difficulty.

[Amokhunter]

2/2
Amulet: Aphrodite's Favor, Pendant of Immortal Rage, but Polydegmon and Myrmidon's Pendant can be viable and more defensive options.
Bow: Granted, Gusir's looks insane on paper, haven't played it yet so I throw in my greatest hits so to speak: (Brutal, Despot's, Impaling, Murderous, Savage, Veteran's) [Eldritch's] or [Brigand's] bow of (Devastation, Alacrity, Harrowing, the Eagle, the Hunt) and slap a nice Incarnation of Artemis, Rage of Ares or Valor of Achilles in there.

Secondary weapons:
Priam's Gate is a solid shield as for the weapons, I'm new to throwing weapons, back in my day we used an Onager for the ludicrous +22 HP/EN Reg to run away and get in a better position to resume shooting.

[Amokhunter]

1/2
I disagree with the Equipment section somewhat. AFAIK the following items would be better (or at least present an Option):
Helm: Tracker's Hood
Chest: (Juggernaut or Honor Guard's) [Ismene's Cuirass] (of Harmony or of the Gods or of the Glade) Alt: Alcyoneus’ Breastplate, same affixes (Ismene is more offensive, Alcy more tanky)
Wrist: (Hale) [Stonebinder's Cuffs] (of Alacrity) Seriously? Not recommending these is borderline criminal ^^
Feet: Lots of good MI options, provided you roll good Affixes, kidding Athena's is BIS. However, there are possible condenders out there (Revenant Greaves, Prowler's Legguard, and all the Resi/Speed MIs)
Artifact: Star of Ishtar, Talisman of the Jade Emperor, Golden Eye of Sun Wukong
Rings: Apollo's Will, Shadowformed Band, Mark of Ares, Star of Elysium. Apollo or Ares can be doubled for some extra oohhmph, I prefer the Shadowformed band for the "6% Attack DMG converted to health" and thus the one and only true life leech ring (afaik)

[Raikao]

The links are outdated. Like Tracker's Hood https://www.tq-db.net/en/equipment/tracker's-hood

That one's missing the '
most other links are just missing an en/ before equipment. Just wanted to mention it.

[Donco]

Great Guide. Iam now Level 25 and used 75 Skill Points (i have the 2 Bonus Skills from Act2), but in the guide i should have used 79 Skill Points by now. Did i forget some Bonus Skill Points or whats my failure?

[Vio]

For those wondering, this still works fine. It is "outdated" only in the sense that Atlantis offers some even better options.
- Like using a ghost-killing spear instead of a throwing weapon as secondary to do a quick 'Spear Dance' when surrounded.

[snoopy_the_ace]

I gave you the Super Star award because of the awesome work you did in presenting this build. Very well thought out and showing dummies like me a step by step procedure on building this type of character ....and with pictures!...I need pictures to help me understand how and what I need to do in order to try something like this ....Thanks to you I will try my best. Although I'm not a great gamer I do like playing this type of game. TQ, Grim Dawn, Diablo all of the games that have a single Hero to build and not some damn Town or Fort that needs to be built.

[EclYpse]

it's a good build damage wise, but I wouldnt call it strongest overall, since it's survivability is terrible and the resistances especially on legendary are lacking strongly.
also if you want raw dps for bosses, a spear instead of a throwing weapon is probably stronger because it boasts the highest single target damage in the game, for which I recommend "The wild Hunt" spear

[Mr Fantastic]

forgot to mention dual wielding maces

[Mr Fantastic]

warrior+defense is the easiest to play most OP build, it always was, it will always be

[Vadderung]

I am returning to TQ after a break, just got Atlantis. Is this guide still viable? Any tweaks?