Daoist (Warfare + Neidan) - Advanced Easy Mode for the Rich

This Daoist is a dual-wield, physical melee damage based build that is able to clear all content in the game with ease, and is able to do so rather quickly. It needs access to rare loot to function well however.

Introduction

Classes: Warfare & Neidan
Type: Melee
All difficulties: yes
Hardcore: yes
Selffound: no



Pros

• Easy to play
  
• Extremely tanky
  
• Can clear all content in the game
  
• Very fast killspeed
  
• Excellent boss killer
  
• Does not care about undead

Cons

• Ridiculous item requirements for Best in Slot items
  
• Need to account for aura feed requirements
  
• Weak to energy leech
  
• Not a lot of defensive ability (not that they need it)
  
• Selffound is basically not possible

This Daoist guide is a dual-wield, physical melee damage based build that is able to clear all content in the game with ease, and is able to do so rather quickly. The Daoist has maxed resistances including physical resistances and laughs at the undead menace. They can clear Xmax content as reliably as they can farm Electrum.
They use a mix of increased physical damage, critical hits and reduce resists and armor to inflict massive damage. Daoists have access to the incredibly strong Aura of Tranquility and can cast area of effect abilities to lower incoming damage as well.
On the flipside, we have to account for the Aura of Tranquility’s heavy energy feed cost which means that we are either very brittle for most of the game or straight up use some things out of our hopefully well filled vaults.

This guide assumes that you are owning Titan Quest and ALL of its expansions as several abilities and items are based on various expansion packs.

To make all of it work, you need some specialized gear options to bring the build together however. This build therefore assumes you have a vault filled to the brim with valuable loot, specifically chest MIs and an assortment of weapons dealing physical damage, as well as the following legendary relics: Anubis’ Wrath (twice, with increased attack speed), Tears of Persephone (with resists), Stew of Eldhrimnir (with strength, bleed resist or %physical damage), Hecate’s Crescent (elemental resists).

Note that as of Patch #5 some things have been nerfed - such as the Aura of Tranquility's phyiscal resistance which has been halved. It still provides a lot of damage mitigation, just be aware that you may have to adjust some things in your build. Haven't tested the new changes yet, but the build should still be able to clear all content in the game with relative ease.

Attributes

The Daoist starts with 300 health, 300 energy and 50 points in all attributes. Good prerequisites for a successful experience.
Warfare nets us 1600 health and 80 points in both strength and dexterity. Neidan adds another 900 health, 240 energy, 120 intellect and 60 dexterity.
From quest rewards there are an additional 855 health, 52 Strength and 28 in both intellect and dexterity.
This puts us at 3655 health, 540 energy, 182 strength, 218 dexterity and 198 intellect before taking stats or equipment into account.
By the end of the game we are aiming at roughly 6000 health, 900+ strength and 430+ dexterity; we don’t care about energy or intellect.
Early on we are investing into strength and dexterity in roughly 3:1 ratio. All reward attribute points are being invested in health.

Masteries

The Daoist is rather straight forward to skill. Depending on your playstyle, there are viable variations for levelling purposes. I’ve started with Neidan and invested a few points into Shen Pao for levelling.
With Eternal Embers, it’s likely to achieve level 75+ during the campaign, which is more than we need to finish the core build.
You don’t need a lot of + skills to be effective with this build, and the guide does not max out at +4 as it has set its priorities to survivability as well.

Daoist TQ Calc[www.tqcalc.com]

Mastery: Neidan

Shen Pao
5 points in early game
Very useful early game skill. It’s useful for casters later on as well, but we will refund the points once we have enough levels and equipment to fund our frenzy rage. 5 Points will carry you deep into act 3 if you so choose, depending on your weapon – weapon effects can be applied to Shen Pao. After that you will have to invest more points or refund as the damage will fall off.

Huangdi’s Favor
2 points in early game
A spare point or two will carry you over until you invest in Onslaught.

Consequences & Mutual Suffering
Maxed out & x/6
This Skill and its mod will be highly useful throughout the game. With sufficient point investment enemy resistances will drop by 25% making them vulnerable to our attacks as well as easier to leech off of. Mutual Suffering doesn’t need a lot of points to be effective; at 2/6 it will spread to enough enemies to be active. With extra points, will easily fill the screen with debuffs.
Consequences should be maxed by act 5, normal.

Aura of Tranquility & Melding Armor
Maxed out
This powerful aura ability will easily carry us over any and all rough seas, once we have the energy regeneration to feed it.
On the upside, we get 27% physical and elemental resistances and the same amount of damage absorption, which means we basically cut down received damage by roughly 1/3rd. Add to that increased dodge and projectile dodge and enemies will have a hard time to actually hit us before doing any damage, much less serious damage. It’s also one of the few skills that add actual physical damage resistance via skill, and a huge amount by that as well, making us highly resistant against common attacks in the game.
However, starting energy cost per second is 5, and this unfortunately means that we only use 1 or 2 points at most in normal, and even then we can only activate it sporadically until we get to use act 5 relics.
In epic, an investment of 4 to 5 points in Aura of Tranquility will help tremendously to offset missing resistances.
Only in Legendary difficulty – and once we can comfortably regenerate 20+ energy per second – do we add the mod to aura of tranquility, and max out both skills.

Potent Elixir & Essence of Jade
10 / 12, maxed out
This skill is nicely complementing our Warfare skills once we are not dependant on drinking potions anymore. Still, having the option to get highly resistant to bleed, vitality and life leech effects in addition to some life and energy regen can help lategame.
Until Legendary however, it is sufficient to only put 1 point into the main skill and instead invest in Essence of Jade which will boost our run-, attack- and cast speed considerably unless we are under the effects of a potion. Once we are selfsufficient with energy regen and have enough life leech this will reliably help us clear the game faster.

Weakest Chakram
Maxed Out
This skill is our most expensive skill to use and for good reason. While not as potent as battle standard it weakens enemies considerably in a large area around us for roughly 20 seconds by both lowering their resistances and their damage. Because the area of effect is bound to the player it can help us weaken large groups of mobile enemies if we need it.

Mastery: Warfare

Onslaught, Ignore Pain, Hamstring & Ardor
Maxed out
This will be our main attack skill once we have enough points in our masteries and then enough points to max out Onslaught. This will be around end of act 3, Normal in most cases.
Either way, Onslaught is a reliable auto attack ability that doesn’t cost much energy to use; while a lot of people recommend maxing Ardor first after, Ignore Pain can help offset the lack of other defensive measures around act 3 and 4, Normal difficulty.

Weapon Training
Maxed out
Should be maxed over the course of Normal difficulty; the skill considerably boosts attack damage and offensive ability to help us hit and crit enemies.

Dual Wield, Hew, Cross Cut, Tumult
Maxed Out
It’s not necessary to invest here too early, you can also use a shield for some additional defense for most of Normal difficulty, but in epic Hew, Dual Wield and Tumult should all have received additional points. Tumult can help us with a 1 second stun if it proccs which is why I rate it higher than Cross Cut.

Dodge Attack
Maxed Out
Helps out by increasing the chance to dodge incoming melee hits, together with other skills we have a significant chance to dodge incoming hits.

Battle Standard & Triumph
Maxed Out
The classic battle standard boosts or damage, skills and absorption, among other things. For normal, a point in Battle Standard and a few in Triumph are enough as we mostly only need it against bosses, and it isn’t until Epic Difficulty that the standard itself gets tanky enough to take a few hits itself.
Popping one in Legendary difficulty will usually cut down kill times of bosses to a few seconds while also helping us survive.

War Wind
1 point (can be maxed with spare points)
We do enough damage on our own that we don’t need to actively invest points here beyond it being a mobility skill.

Battle Rage & Crushing Blow
Maxed Out
This is a mid to late game skill to further boost our damage and offensive ability. It triggers quite often while having a rather short cooldown, so a few points invested in epic will go a long way to help us crit reliably while doing some good extra damage. Should be maxed in Legedary.

War Horn
Maxed Out
I didn’t touch this skill until Legendary difficulty, mostly to have some means of CC when I need it. We have better forms of lowering enemy armor later on, so Doom Horn isn’t necessary.

Levelling Progression

Starting with a few points in Neidan Mastery and getting Huangdi’s Favor will carry us until we get the mastery bar far enough to get Shen Pao and that one to at least level 3. A decent weapon can help further boosting its effects, which is why I prioritized magic effects over physical damage early on. Also put 3 points into Consequences.
From there on, it’s a race to Warfare mastery level 32, with a few points put into Weapon Training for increased attack speed.
Once there, I’ve added points to Shen Pao until level 5 and put the rest of the points into Neidan until mastery level 32. From there I saved up enough points to skill battle standard for the Typhon fight in act 3 and Onslaught. I’ve built both Ingore Pain and Ardor simultaneously. I’ve maxed Consequences and put one into Mutual Suffering.
After that I’ve slowly put more points into Neidan until Level 40 and put a few points into Weakest Chakram.
From there you can decide whether you want to max Dodge Attack or progress in some other way.

Around the ascent to Mount Olymp Shen Pao and Huangdi's Favor will sharply fall off damage wise, so at that point they should be refunded and the points be invested into the Onslaught tree instead.

Alternatively, forgo Neidan and simply head down the Warfare: Onslaught Path from the beginning. It can be tougher as you will be in the enemy’s face directly from the get go – Shen Pao allows you to attack from range and dance around the enemy – but you will not have to refund points and get access to Ardor early on. You could also get access to Ancestral Horn to help you out in the meantime.

Note: Especially in the early game - act 3 to act 5 Normal difficulty - the Daoist can feel brittle as you don't have the resources to reliably keep the Aura of Tranquility running at this point. You can use a shield instead of a second weapon to provide some extra defense at this point. For instance, the Exotic MI gear dropped by the Arachnids in act 3 are decent and relatively easy to obtain.

Equipment

This is where things get difficult.
To make this build work, you need to have at least 20+ energy regeneration in the endgame, and before that you will often struggle to have enough to get your Aura of Tranquility going for long enough. While energy potions are potent, they are not a good solution with energy leeching enemies thrown into the mix.
With that in mind the goals for equipment are the following:

• Maxed out resistances whenever possible
  
• Enough energy regen to fund our Aura of Tranquility and other abilities
  
• Damage
  
• Life
  
• Secondary resistances for qol
  
• Something against undead

For this to work, I opted to use two relics: Hekate’s Crescent[tq-db.net] and the Stew of Eldhrimnir[tq-db.net].
The latter increases energy regeneration by 6 / 9 / 12 respectively, which is the base of our regeneration, while adding some extra % strength in the mix as well. Hecate will then boost energy regeneration by 60% / 90% / 120% which means we will have enough energy to use our abilities without having to cut corners with our Aura. It still means we will have to manage skill levels a bit until we can socket legendary versions of those relics.
It unfortunately also means that we will have to use non-legendary armors; and getting good rolls on MI items can result in several hundreds if not thousands of runs to get the desired item. Worse still, the Best in Slot variants of several items are “of the Tinkerers”, which only drops with exceedingly small chances in Atlantis and Tartarus – for several armors this would mean to run Tartarus a couple thousand times. For your sanity, I recommend using a mod to increase chances to drop equipment or simply buy from a vendor mod.

So the two most important equipment slots are torso armor and the ring slot. They will decide which equipment we will wear in the rest of our slots. Both the torso armor and at least one ring will have to be rare to accommodate for our need to socket the above mentioned relics.

Equipment: Weapons

Okay. The important part. Weapons.
The Daoist uses whatever physical weapons they can get a hold of. I’ve used Einherjar’s Fate[tq-db.net] and a Blacksteel Executioner[tq-db.net] and got through pretty easily. The latter has an important stat which is to reduce enemy armor by 200+, which will melt enemy armors which in turn further increases our damage; but it’s also important to get the right affixes on the items as well. Ideally, you want two affixes on your weapon for maximum effect.
Basically you can use whatever you want as long as you keep your attack speed up to 200% which will be pretty easy with Ardor, Weapon Training and Essence of Jade skills.
As bonus damage has to get through separate armor calculations it might be a better idea to just go for % based increased physical damage and attack speed instead in late game.
Also a recommendation to use Wrath of Anubis[tq-db.net] relic with increased attack speed completion bonus which will solve the leeching issue late game, as well as most of our potential attack speed issues.

Notable Weapon options: Goldfang Khopesh[tq-db.net], Khtonion Razor[tq-db.net], Molten Jian[tq-db.net], Terrakotta Guard Dao[tq-db.net], Head Hunter’s Axe[tq-db.net]

Notable affixes: ruthless, savage; of alacrity, of annihilation, of chaos, of havoc

Equipment: Armor & Jewelry

Chest Armor
We are on the hunt for specific Monster Infrequent items – MIs – with good base affixes.
I opted for Anaplekte’s[tq-db.net] because it has a high base value of pierce resistance as well as a reduced entrapment time which will make fighting Ichtyer and anything else that likes throw nets around a lot easier.
Other good MIs for this slot are: Alcyoneus’ Breastplate, Batrachos, Harness of Valhöll, Homados, Ismene’s Cuirass, Masterforged Cuirass, Porphyrion’s Breastplate, Quiver of N’Imh, Prowler’s Cuirass (very high dex requirement though), Soldier’s Chitin

Useful preffixes: transcendent, veteran, resistant, mountaineer’s, impenetrable, honour guard’s
Useful suffixes: of supremacy, of glory, of grace, of harmony, of the gods, of immortality, of might, of the tinkerer (Atlantis & Tartarus only)

Note: of the Tinkerer allows us to slot in a second relic / charm and thus increase resistances further compared to most other suffixes. Because of its flexibility it can be viewed as BiS but is painfully difficult to get on anything other than Atlantis gear. As of now, Act 1 – 4 gear has a low chance to drop with this affix in Tartarus.


Ring
We need one Robust Ring of the Tinkerer, the other slot is free to use as you need it. Robust will increase our strength by more than 20% and our life by ~10% so it’s worth farming.
The reasoning for using the “of the Tinkerer” suffix from Atlantis is Tears of Persephone which will disarm all undead threats in the game, especially the Legendary difficulty ones. Tears of Persephone can also roll with high resistance completion bonuses which will help us cap our resists, so it’s a 2 for 1 deal. The other relic is of course, Hecate’s, ideally with elemental resists bonus, to help with our resists and energy regen.
Alternatively, a Ring of Gaia also boosts our energy regeneration considerably while providing resistances, so Hecate’s could be changed to a Legendary Demonblood.
The second ring is free, I would recommend something to further increase your resistances like the Crest of Murong[tq-db.net].
Other options are: Apollon’s Will, Celestial Band, Star of Elysium


Gloves
Not too many options here. We should have sufficient attack speed and don’t necessarily need +skills but both are of course welcomed.
I’ve used the Gauntlets of the Necrolord[tq-db.net] to boost the traditionally difficult to obtain vitality and bleed resistances. The gloves also come with a bit of attack speed and one skill and good armor values as well.
Stonebinder’s are of course an option, but decently rolled ones are basically impossible to find and surprisingly enough they don’t bring a lot to the field that we cannot get elsewhere.
Other options: Bracers of Kunlun, Bracers of the Red Sea, Conqueror’s Bracers (offensive option), Jarngreipnr, Tactical Dispositions (set item Art of War)


Legs
As with the helmet, Leg armors mostly supplement defensive stats, although there are some good offensive choices as well.
Athena’s Battle Greaves[tq-db.net] basically give us everything we ever want – resistances, run speed, health, defensive ability, even a physical damage boost. It’s a tough package to beat.
Other options are: Barbarian’s Spiked Greaves (offensive option), Blade Master’s Footing (offensive option), Calves of Enceladus, Classification of Terrain (set item (Art of War), Hervor’s Fine Steel, Thracian Shin Guards


Helmet
The helmet itself is again mostly used to fill defensive needs. A skill is welcomed which puts a hallowed MI item on the forefront, but again, they are very difficult to get.
I used a Hallowed Ismene’s[tq-db.net] of the Tinkerer for tons of poison and vitality resistances as well as a skill, but also for style reasons and two sockets filled with a Legendary Erebus Crystal (with resistance completion bonus) and a Jade Emperor’s Serenity (again with elemental resists). Depending on what is missing, you can use anything you want here.
Other viable options: Anaplekte’s Skullcap, Blacksteel Helmet, Helm of Valhöll, Master Forge Helmet, Nomad Helmet, Porphyrion’s Helmet, Red Coast Helmet, Revenant Crown, Sentinel’s Helmet, Soldier's Skullplate, Helm of Darkness, Pan’s Headdress, Poseidon’s Helm


Amulet
Can be whatever you want it to be. I’ve used a Torc of the Ancestors[tq-db.net] to further increase my resistances, but also add some secondary stats and an extra skill and some extra damage increase, as well as some physical resistance.
Other options: Amulet of Hygeia, Blessing of the Gods, First Emperor’s Resolve


Artifact
Mostly a free choice here, although not too many options available. For early game you want something with either attack speed or leech; Soul Shiver[tq-db.net] from act 2 is a good option until you get access to divine artifacts.
Lategame I recommend the Strength of Pangu[tq-db.net]; it’s a great mix of defensive and offensive stats and can roll with 15% chance to stun or 15% elemental resistance completion bonus, and it boosts our physical resistance by another 20%, which can be enough to max out physical resistances!
Other options: Orb of Sihai Longwang, Star of Ishtar, Blood of Ares, Symbol of Polymath, Silver Heart (if having trouble with demons / undead)

Closing comments

Overall the Daoist is strong, durable and correctly equipped downright overpowered.

Links:
Titan Quest Database[tq-db.net]

Runesmith guide (german, TQ Fanseite)[titanquest.4fansites.de]

Melee Diviner guide (german, TQ Fanseite)[titanquest.4fansites.de]






Thanks to everyone keeping this game alive!

[Swanky]

@Goose Pants see topic Levelling Progression

[Goose Pants]

Thanks. What mastery do you recommend first, warfare or Neidan?

[Swanky]

@Goose Pants
Late game you don't need to spam Energy potions, the build should mostly feed off itself.
Early game it can be a bit tricky and you might need to switch the aura on or off depending on the situation. You can of course substitute with anything that gives regeneration rate but it might hamper you in other parts like resistances.

[Goose Pants]

Also, this build doesn’t have to spam energy potions does it?

[Goose Pants]

Hi, I just got the game on pc and would like to try this build. How difficult is it in normal and epic when I would lack energy regeneration?

[ZLOJ]

@Swanky Thank you. I acutally found that. I just can't find the taskmasters themselves. Do you know where they hide? :)

[Swanky]

@ZLOJ
Molten Taskmasters can drop it. You can check the TQ Database for information on dropchances if you check the loottables on the item itself.
https://tq-db.net/en/search/molten+jian

[ZLOJ]

Hi. Where did you drop molten jian? I want to farm for one but can't figure out what mob drops it. I definitely dropped one during my playthrough but now I can't remember where.

[Andran]

Ring of Veleda solves a lot of problems, it has +10 Energy regen, +50% Energy regen and is a very useful item in itself, since it has +50% bleeding resist and +50% poison resist. Found it off epic Surtr.

[Swanky]

It's not as you also want to use Essence of Jade to reliably boost your speed and it's not active if you constantly chug down potions.