Juggernaut + Flurry of Steel

[Aphexii]

The only thread regarding the "juggernaut" skill was a bit misleading.

It is in fact possible to get "juggernaut", buy full heavy armor, unlearn it again and still wearing the full heavy armor!

Thought maybe some off you got discouraged to try it out, like me in the past

That opens many possibilities, like having finally a decent defense + the option to go hybrid or way better to pick up "flurry of steel" (having access to both final skills is huge, ok you may be wearing heavy armor without the benefits of "armor movement", still huge)
"juggernaut" into "flurry of steel" has to be tested yet, maybe Nate prevented this from been used.

Well the effect of the regular medium "armor movement" skill has to be tested. Maybe you can ignore this kinda essential skill and pick up another useful hybrid skill instead.

If this was common knowledge.... please tell me more :O
If this was just an oversight from Nate... don't read it and don't change it @_@

[Smallz]

The only thread regarding the "juggernaut" skill was a bit misleading.

It is in fact possible to get "juggernaut", buy full heavy armor, unlearn it again and still wearing the full heavy armor!

Thought maybe some off you got discouraged to try it out, like me in the past

That opens many possibilities, like having finally a decent defense + the option to go hybrid or way better to pick up "flurry of steel" (having access to both final skills is huge, ok you may be wearing heavy armor without the benefits of "armor movement", still huge)
"juggernaut" into "flurry of steel" has to be tested yet, maybe Nate prevented this from been used.

Well the effect of the regular medium "armor movement" skill has to be tested. Maybe you can ignore this kinda essential skill and pick up another useful hybrid skill instead.

If this was common knowledge.... please tell me more :O
If this was just an oversight from Nate... don't read it and don't change it @_@

There is a kinda of we will call it "Feature" available to rages also, if they are built right, and you have an extreme amount of patience.

[Aphexii]

You don't even need to train to lvl 10 "Juggernaut" , lvl 2 is enough to wear heavy armor.
And please tell me more about this "rage feature"

[Smallz]

You don't even need to train to lvl 10 "Juggernaut" , lvl 2 is enough to wear heavy armor.
And please tell me more about this "rage feature"

Rages are actually very capable with open hand when using killshot, if you build them as dodge rages. The problem is dodge rages suck until they get hard to hit, so you put 10 points in axes and maces(because open hand is considered an axe and mace for some reason) run them as berserkers until you get 10 in hard to hit, then you unlearn 5 pts from axes and maces and take those 5 pts in total carnage, forgo rampage, because it is not really worth much with open hand, and instead take sunder armor. now you have a rage critting with open hand even again heavy armor, and both end tier skills. slow them down, say 5 or 6, aiming wherever you want, with a blood lust low enough to be precise. and carrying very little weight. this build takes alot of fights and alot of patience. im curently finishing this build in blood gods right now and will be able to tell you more about how it holds up. but with the testing through the lower ranks, so far it seems surprisingly viable.

[Smallz]

I should also say that there are other builds using bare hands that seem to work also. such as speed rage builds and so forth and so on.

below is an example of a speed build

R O U N D 2
WHIRLING BLADE jumps up off the arena floor!
PU-ZERA looks to an off handed strike to deal damage.
PU-ZERA makes a vicious attack with his FLAIL.
Wicked hit destroys WHIRLING BLADE's collarbone sending shards of bone flying everywhere! (+240 Damage)

PU-ZERA looks to an off handed strike to deal damage.
PU-ZERA tries to pulverize his opponent with his FLAIL.
PU-ZERA looks to seriously damage WHIRLING BLADE's armour! (-Sunder Armour-)
The blow to WHIRLING BLADE's shoulder lands with serious force! (+110 Damage)
WHIRLING BLADE unleashes a ferocious uppercut.
WHIRLING BLADE screams madly as she tries to devastate PU-ZERA's armour with a massive blow! (-Sunder Armour-)
Awesome shot to the upper arm squashes nerves and veins on bone shards! (+166 Damage)
PU-ZERA has minor cuts and bruises on his body!
WHIRLING BLADE moves with uncontrolled energy around the arena.
WHIRLING BLADE tries to hurt her adversary.
WHIRLING BLADE's FIST tastes victory and inflicts crippling wounds on PU-ZERA's lower back! (+151 Damage)
WHIRLING BLADE hurtles furiously around the arena.
WHIRLING BLADE ducks down and unleashes a deadly uppercut with her FIST.
WHIRLING BLADE's weapon screams through the air as it descends upon PU-ZERA! (-Rampage-)
WHIRLING BLADE's FIST tastes victory and inflicts gigantic injuries on PU-ZERA's bicep! (+437 Damage)
Fatigue weighs PU-ZERA down, slowing his attacks.
PU-ZERA has some pretty nasty cuts and bruises on his body!!
WHIRLING BLADE charges madly to and fro.
WHIRLING BLADE brutally smashes her FIST into PU-ZERA.
Whoosh...several ribs are driven into the lungs! (+151 Damage)
WHIRLING BLADE hurtles furiously around PU-ZERA.
WHIRLING BLADE ducks down and unleashes a deadly uppercut with her FIST.
WHIRLING BLADE aims for PU-ZERA's torso
Wicked hit destroys PU-ZERA's collarbone sending shards of bone flying everywhere! (+151 Damage)
WHIRLING BLADE pauses for a moment to catch her breath.
PU-ZERA is pleading with the Enforcer to spare his life!!!
R O U N D 3
PU-ZERA flashes frantically to and fro.
PU-ZERA whips around with his off hand.
PU-ZERA lashes out with awesome power and hammers his FLAIL downward.
PU-ZERA looks to seriously damage WHIRLING BLADE's armour! (-Sunder Armour-)
A mighty wound is opened on WHIRLING BLADE's cheekbone! (+261 Damage)

>> PU-ZERA SWITCHES TO STRATEGY 2
WHIRLING BLADE has taken some heavy damage from this fight!!
WHIRLING BLADE's FIST dances through the air barreling forward with focused power.
WHIRLING BLADE connects with her FIST creating titanic injuries! (+151 Damage)
WHIRLING BLADE howls like a wild animal and lashes out.
WHIRLING BLADE screams madly as she tries to devastate PU-ZERA's armour with a massive blow! (-Sunder Armour-)
WHIRLING BLADE's FIST tastes victory and inflicts beastly wounds on PU-ZERA's sternum! (+166 Damage)
PU-ZERA tiring quickly, is looking to finish the fight!
PU-ZERA's life is spared as the Enforcer steps in and commands WHIRLING BLADE to stop!
The Enforcer kicks the beaten gladiator and orders the loser to be removed from the sands!

[Aphexii]

After some basic testing with some heavy armor pieces, the rough impression is a good one.

Rough Update

Heavy armor without "Juggernaut":
- at least equal to medium armor with "Armor Movement" (still has to be tested if "Armor Movement" boosts slayer heavy armor or not)
- provides better bleed resistance (and little benefits like better stun resistance vs "Knockout" and possible other skills that target the head)
- better base armor value, for more deflection from low damage weapons
- more variety in armor/stat combinations (can't find a decent leather torso? the XXXL corner may have it)
- makes defending a specific body parts easier (especially the head, I would recommend every slayer to get a heavy helmet, there are only benefits without any real weight issue)

Heavy armor is all good, but don't go over the 25% weight limit with that. An encumbered Slayer won't be any good, just take as much heavy armor as needed.
Our posterboy "Blood Zombie" wears almost all heavy, only the torso is medium. (I guess it's for weight reasons)
"Mojito" is a bit skinny so he can only wear 3 heavy pieces. (arms and head)

As of right now "Armor Movement" is still mandatory for a mixed heavy/medium slayer. I'm on the way to build a full heavy slayer without "Armor movement" and "Juggernaut", to see if it affects anything or is (I hope) totally unnecessary. That would give all hybrids 10 free skill points for other things, like the shadow tree.

"Flurry of Steel"
Just got it yesterday back to lvl 10, can't tell anything new. The only annoying thing is, if your glad switches strategies after "Flurry of Steel" triggered... well it seems you won't get any bonus attacks, even if it's the first attack of the fight. That is from Gauntlet fights.
Besides that, "Flurry of Steel" does its job, just barely provides 1~2 bonus attacks, if triggered early. (Everything tested with a "Pole Axe", 270 Agi and mixed heavy/medium armor with < 25% weight)

[Aphexii]

What do we got after almost two full seasons?

4 slayer with a hybrid heavy/medium armor combination: our OG "Blood Zombie" and his minions "Mojito" , "Sentinel Regis" , "Oren Giantsbane".

A very convenient split between two standard 30/70/0 slayer, one with 4/5 heavy armor pieces and one with 3/5 heavy armor pieces. (torso is always medium armor, only the legs change)
And two flurry specs 0/100/0, again one with 4/5 heavy armor pieces and one with 3/5 heavy armor pieces. (torso is always medium armor, only the legs change)

All four are already capable top 10 candidates, which is a good sign.


All four have quite similar stats: (Sentinel Regis is still in the process of changing skills, but it seems he will stick to "Flurry of Steel")
Sentinel Regis / Blood Zombie / Oren Giantsbane / Mojito

Str: 267 / 258 / 84 / 102
Int: 109 / 102 / 116 / 127
Agi: 92 / 93 / 276 / 275
Stm: 194 / 183 / 206 / 172
Size: 117 / 120 / 96 / 102
Pres: 129 / 216 / 216 / 85
Chi: 226 / 217 / 188 / 159

The only significant differences are Int/Size and Pres/Chi, Int/Size is linked to your build and amount of heavy armor. (4/5 heavy have lower Int and higher Size)
Pres/Chi illustrates the core approach from each stable master. Usually Chi is favored over Pres.

I cant speak for the other guys, but my idea for Pres/Chi is quit simple. Chi => more and bigger Crits , Pres as low as possible to stay longer in the fight (Mojito often prolongs the fight 2 extra rounds in which the "Blood Bath" dot does the most important work or the higher Pres from the opponent forces them to quit unnecessarily early. This backfires of course in lower initiative best observed vs Theatrics and more deaths than the usual glad will experience)

For a flurry slayer Int has to be somewhat higher, ~125 Int works best to trigger all skills reliably often, under 125 you won't trigger "Flurry of Steel" as often and everything above 130 does nothing noticeable (had 150 Int for some weeks). All those "missing" stat points are substituted by a higher "Crit Rank" from armor skills. The core of a flurry slayer should still be a fast cluster of very big crits to end the fight in one go, especially good vs trixster who can't handle so much damage in one round.
The common "Eviscerate" is ~900 dmg, sometimes ~1400dmg if some skills trigger. 900 dmg is to be honest low damage output for such skill. Armor skill may be helpful, extra damage, crit rank, armor penetration, etc...

Regarding match ups:
It's the usual, "Weak Spot" as the main damage output, hoping for a "Blood Bath" in between and "Eviscerate" for good measure. Additionally "Flurry of Steel" as an opener is appreciated.
The worst match up is vs War glads. They seem to have a big initiative advantage over any slayer with heavy armor without "Juggernaut". All other match ups are relative fair.

[Smallz]

What do we got after almost two full seasons?


I cant speak for the other guys, but my idea for Pres/Chi is quit simple. Chi => more and bigger Crits , Pres as low as possible to stay longer in the fight (Mojito often prolongs the fight 2 extra rounds in which the "Blood Bath" dot does the most important work or the higher Pres from the opponent forces them to quit unnecessarily early. This backfires of course in lower initiative best observed vs Theatrics and more deaths than the usual glad will experience)

For me it depends, I seem to have settled on two arch-types of slayer, at least for now. The slower slasher version whos heavy plated up and opts for a slower more methodical approach. Think Samuari wading in with slow calculated sweeps. For this, I lean more toward Pres. Then the faster/lighter armored "Striker", which I try for the opening shot, big and quick, a "jumper" style. These I focus on Chi.

This is solid work, thanks for the insight. I do also agree that int above 150 seems to hit the diminishing returns mark and becomes over the top, that 125 to 140 mark seems to be pretty good.