High DPS guide (good for Halarin)

This guide will demonstrate a simple high damage build that is both incredibly powered in the early game and capable of incredible levels of damage in the late game, which is particularly desirable if you are trying to kill Halarin, God of Healing.

Why use this build?

Well, there are several reasons. If any or all of these apply to you, you should at least give it a shot:

1. You enjoy dealing massive amounts of damage.

2. You want a way to plow through the early levels before they get challenging.

3. You need a way to out-damage Halarin's ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ 3,000 heals.

4. You enjoy a high risk, high reward playstyle.

Now that we've gotten that out of the way, let's get to the actual build.

Race, Weapon, and Abilities

Ok, now there are several aspects to this build. Some are flexible, but some are not. I will explain each step along the way.

Race

There are several good racial options for this build. However, I highly recommend using the Lich. While the Lich does have gimped damage and attack speed, the Renewed Focus ability more than makes up for it. If for whatever reason you can't or won't use the Lich, you can use any of what I like to consider the "powerhouse" races, such as Giant, Minotaur, and Orc. Halfling is also acceptable, but there will be more risk involved

Weapon

You will be using the Dagger. This is not negotiable. The bonus damage that you gain from backstabs, attacks while invisible, and stunned enemies is the crux of the build.

Abilities

First and foremost, you want the Shadow Strike ability. The high damage plus the fact that it attacks from behind makes it incredibly powerful when used with the Dagger. This ability will be dealing a lot of damage.

The second ability is up to you. I'd recommend a utility ability rather than a damage dealing one. Spirit Walk is generally my preferred ability for a quick escape in a pinch. Anything that disrupts enemies or increases mobility is perfect.

Items and Shops

Now, while this build is very good early on, you will not be doing the massive amounts of damage required without items. Now, as there are many different items in the game, it is impractical to focus on any individuals. Instead, I will tell you what effects you want to focus on.

Wise Man - You will want to visit this guy as often as possible. This is the easiest and cheapest way to increase your damage. You will want to upgrade the Dagger and Shadow Strike. If you're playing as the Lich, Renewed Focus is also worth upgrading. Those three skills will all benefit each other, so you really can't go wrong here. I tend to prioritize Dagger > Shadow Strike > Renewed Focus, though it is very flexible, and if one is on sale, you should go for it.

Attack Damage - Your focus will be on this aspect. The Dagger and all the relevant skills act as multipliers of your damage, so you want this to be as high as possible. In general, if you see an item that boosts just attack damage, you probably should get it.

Skill Power - This is a good secondary skill, as it will boost your damage, though not as much as upgrading damage directly. You should not target it, but if a Skill Power item is on sale, it may be worth picking up.

Attack Speed - Ignore it. The damage you deal will be in single, explosive strikes. Don't forget, a lot of the Dagger's damage comes when you're behind an enemy, and most of them turn around quite quickly. You'll have to invest too much money to get a high enough attack speed.

Item Sets - A few of the set effects are absolutely delightful for this build. One lets you do a critical attack (1.75x damage on a single physical attack or ability) EACH SECOND (that's a LOT of extra damage). One will damage nearby enemies for 50% of the damage you deal (great for clearing out groups). Basically, these are worth looking out for. This is where I usually spend the majority of my money (the Wise Man is a close second).

Bazaars - Go to them. Always go to them. Not only will they sell you an additional item set piece, but they offer very powerful items that cannot be found elsewhere. Remember to always use a Dust of Appearance on these guys if you have one.

Standard shops - Obviously these are useful for the cheap heals and the potions, so you should visit them when you get the chance. Most of the other items should be avoided unless you're on the last stage as other shops will generally give you more bang for your buck. There are two exceptions. First of all, I'd recommend grabbing the pendant of your god of choice if you see it, and for the love of god, if the Lich Hand shows up, you pick it up there and then. This item will let you deal damage a LOT faster. The only excuse for not picking it up is if you can't afford both it and the cheese. On this build, it is OP for its cost.

What god should I choose?

Now, all of the gods can give you some nice bonuses if you gain their favot, and I'll quickly run through them:

Sepicles - Boosts movement and attack speed and reduces cooldowns. Boost increases with favor level

Furore - Deals bonus damage in the form of lightning whenever you deal a total of 500 damage. Lightning damage increases with favor level

Halarin - At the end of each day, whether there is combat or not, you are partially healed. If your health is full, you will gain a stack of Halarin's Blessing, which boosts attack speed and damage (maximum of 3 stacks). These stacks disappear if Halarin heals you. Amount healed, and the boost from the blessing increase with favor level

Proctus - Percentage-based damage reduction. Amount increases with favor level

Necrus - Summons a skeleton swordsman to fight by your side. Number of skeletons increases with favor level.

Now, for this build, if you want to maximize DPS, you should gain Furore's favor. Fight at his temples and destroy those of any rivals you see. Sepicles and Necrus should be avoided on this build as they simply aren't useful enough. Halarin can be helpful, and you will easily have the DPS necessary to deal with his temples, but half of the benefit of his blessing is useless to you. Proctus is good if you find yourself taking too much damage. I prefer Furore because if all goes well, you will be proccing multiple lightning strikes per hit, and that adds up.

Ultimately, it's up to you how you want to deal with the gods.

The Overworld

Now, to maximize the damage you deal, you will need a lot of money. This means lots of fights and more danger. It is in your best interest to seek out dangerous zones and minibosses. With each step, make your way towards the boss, while always making sure to try to uncover as many places as possible. Always seek out shops, temples, and Wise Men. Use the items you get from dangerous zones to your advantage, and always remember to use the Dust of Appearance for a shot at finding treasure in the mountains and expanding shop stock.

Basically, you want to prioritize gold gain and favor so you can best augment your build.

Combat

You will be using hit and run tactics with this build. All the damage comes from individual heavy strikes.

To start off, in a battle with multiple enemies, your first move should be to Shadow Strike an annoying enemy followed by an immediate Dagger Strike to the back.This will usually kill them outright. If you're playing as a Lich, you can use Renewed Focus to reset Shadow Strike's cooldown and do it again. If upgraded, Renewed Focus will amplify the effects of Shadow Strike even further, dealing additional damage. If you managed to find the Lich Hand (immediately refreshes a single cooldown), you can repeat the process a third time without waiting for the cooldown. Your other skill can be used as an escape, to stun problematic enemies, or simply to deal a small amount of additional damage. In general, you will not want to be trading blows with the enemies while waiting on your cooldowns. The major downside to this build is you tend to be a little squishy, and you have to get up close and personal, which makes it very difficult to avoid many boss attacks. Don't worry, the damage your strikes do will more than compensate.

When fighting certain bosses, it may be better to skip the dagger strike in favor of not dying. Either way, do not stay close for more than a single extra hit.


Halarin - This is the best use for this build. Halarin can eat a ♥♥♥♥ with his passive heals, his massive active heals, and his minions. Use the hit and run tactic to knock a few chunks out of his health. When he summons his minions, kill them. He only summons a limited amount, so there's no reason to have to deal with a bunch of things on-screen. Unfortunately, this means you may have to take him down from full health after each wave of minions. On the run where I killed Halarin, I had managed to hit him for a combined 7k+ damage on some hits (Renewed Focus bonus, + maxed Shadow Strike + 8 strikes of maxed Furore lightning all at once), which was more than enough to out-DPS him even when waiting on cooldowns.

End

Thanks for reading. If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to leave a comment. I do not claim to be an expert on this game, but I'll be glad to help in any way I can.

Alternative, "BS" method

NOTE: This section contains information about content the developers consider "lore-breaking." If you wish to keep to the original intent of the game, you may wish to ignore this section.

Now, there's another way of getting massive DPS. It's a little OP in my opinion, and it cannot be achieved through randomization; you must use a custom run, so it can be viewed as less than legit.

Basically, you will be using the Mysterious Challenger, who can be unlocked by going into "Advanced Options" and checking the box regarding bonus content. The reason to use him is because of the absolutely OP racial ability. This ability will summon a follower, similar to the Human ability. However, this follower hits much harder, will buff you and your followers when you summon him, you will receive a buff when he dies, AND he will revive once. Your damage adds up really quickly. I'm no expert at the game, but I have not lost a single game using the MC because of this ability. Now, as your damage will be buffed with linear values as opposed to multipliers, you can basically ignore the Attack Damage aspect and focus on Skill Power and item sets. You will want to upgrade the racial ability as soon as possible to make it even more OP. If you want to, you can simply farm up damage boosts by continually summoning squires and hiding. If you do this enough, you'll eventually be able to one-hit anything, as I do not believe the damage boosts have a cap. At least, the game mentions no cap, and I have not encountered any. When combined with the Lich Hand, you'll be unstoppable.

This method can make the build a little too easy, but it allows for disgustingly high hits. I have to say, it is very satisfying to see one hit take out more than half of a god's health.