General Gameplay Tips
and have identical Cooldowns and should always be used together. The order they are used in does not matter.
To get the most damage on this build, prioritise these facets and use weapon skills as often as possible without interrupting Auto Attack chains.
The first activation of Facets have no cast time and can therefore be used while casting skills.
is the exception to this rule; as a heal skill, it will cancel any ongoing skill cast, but its secondary skill has no cast time. It can be a good idea to prepare this skill if you know you are about to potentially take damage, and you can quickly recast it to avoid certain death.
's second cast, , Breaks Stun and gives you an easy way out whenever you are affected by crowd control. It can also be used offensively as it applies 10 Vulnerability, so try and use this in the first few seconds on a target to quickly increase your team's damage.
can be useful to help speed up yourself or allies with Superspeed.
is known in PvE for , which provides a significant portion of this build's damage, but the stance also has other powerful utilities.
helps you quickly reach your target rather than walking the whole way, and while the Energy cost would make you think that you'll lose out on damage, your damage uptime on the boss is usually far more impactful.
removes all movement-impairing conditions, Breaks Stun, and is even an Evade. You only have to worry about the backwards movement of the skill, but if you are ever in a sticky situation or find yourself afflicted by a lot of conditions, this is good to know about.
is a large radius Stun that can sometimes be useful to interrupt multiple enemies, or simply be your emergency Defiance Break option.
Sometimes you will want to slot in to have access to . This is a large area skill that grants Stability, and the target cap is only counted per section of the skill. Therefore, it can grant Stability to your entire squad when properly positioned.
Swords are the bread and butter of this build. You'll usually always want them as your primary set, with some situational adjustments.
Use , , and off Cooldown. Try to always combine .
You can complete three Auto Attack Chains between casts of , or two if you used the other weapon skills as well.
When using both damage-oriented weapon sets, you should pair Greatsword with and aim to use 1-2 times.
See the build variants for a detailed rotation.
Swords are the strongest damage set, but loses potency when striking multiple targets. When dealing with multiple enemies at once, staying on Greatsword will typically be higher damage.
Staff is kept in the secondary weapon set on standby for any Breakbar coming your way.
While Greatsword contributes more damage as a secondary weapon, damage output is not your primary concern as a support build. Take care of mechanics and let others carry the damage for you.
You can Weapon Swap to this set preemptively when you know a Breakbar is coming up so that you will be back on your higher damage weapons sooner.
In some encounters, depending on your group, it may even be worth replacing your off-hand Sword for an Axe to contribute even more Breakbar damage.
Greatsword is a strong, burst-focused weapon that scales with larger hitboxes.
It is also superior to Swords when it comes to cleaving targets.
Bosses like Samarog, Conjured Amalgamate, Icebrood Construct, and The Dragonvoid have large hitboxes where Greatsword is similar or as strong as Swords.
On encounters where Breakbar damage is not needed, it is always better to use Greatsword along with Swords. Sometimes you may want to use Greatsword as your only damage-oriented set if cleave or defense is more appropriate.
The boon extension from is extremely powerful and accounts for ~13% boon uptime, not to mention the passive Boon Duration given to allies while this upkeep is in use. You'll therefore contribute a lot more boon uptime than it may seem!
While is the default, it only somewhat increases the power of . The other alternatives can be useful in various situations.
- enhances Regeneration, providing strong passive group healing in addition to . Regeneration, however, is prioritised based on Healing Power and means this trait has no use if a healer is present in your party.
- can be great on encounters that involve a lot of movement or greater distances between objectives, although you can always make use of , , or to quickly cover ground.
Spirit Vale
Vale Guardian

You can use to Launch Seeker away from your group.
Be careful with to not shadowstep into (Blue circles), as this briefly locks you in place outside the target's hitbox.
If you are tanking on this encounter, consider using or with a Shield to Block this attack.
is great for getting back to the boss immediately if you do get hit by .
can be used to completely negate the damage from (Green circles), meaning you should have an easy time surviving the encounter.
During split phases, you can use in to strip Blue Pylon Power from the Blue Guardian. Use to break the Defiance of each guardian as well as the boss itself.
Gorseval the Multifarious

can be used as a source of Stability for the entire squad. If your group already has this covered, change to .
You will be able to use this ability twice during and the Stability should last about 9 seconds after casting the skill.
Be mindful that you still need to maintain for Quickness uptime.
Allies are also granted Stability when you swap into thanks to , and by using in this stance. Make use of these options to reduce how much Energy is expended on .
should be your go-to skill for the Breakbar. Use or if they are available to you.
During Spirit phases, use and to slow them down. applies 10 Vulnerability and can help kill the Spirits faster.
Sabetha the Saboteur
Keep or ready as an emergency for Knuckles' Breakbar.
can be useful to Block incoming hits. Use its follow-up strike for more damage.
Try to grab by being the closest player to Sabetha and safely letting them detonate away from the group.
You can deal with Sabetha's cannons, even while covering Quickness. and apply a lot of Vulnerability and allows you to take them down very quickly.
Salvation Pass
Slothasor

will be able to provide Stability to your entire squad. Ensure that you can use this ability a few seconds before finishing the Breakbar to mitigate Fear.
This skill should otherwise be avoided, as Evolved Slublings can convert Stability into Fear. This may suggest that Stability is not good on this encounter, however, issues that arise as a cause of this are always related to poor control of Slublings.
If your group already has mitigations covered, go ahead and use instead.
Help cleanse yourself and allies with if needed.
Use on every Breakbar.
Since the Breakbar occurs at defined health intervals, you can swap to Staff preemptively after using your Sword skills.
Consider taking if your group is really struggling with the Breakbar. Both Axe skills deal good damage to the Breakbar.
Bandit Trio

Use your Greatsword to cleave and take out bandits. Your Facets make it easy to keep up Might, Fury, and Swiftness on your allies.
Dealing with the mortars is an easy task for you. takes down the Breakbar easily. can also be used, and will hit all three bandits that spawn before Narella.
Bonus mission: Try to take out the bandits before they reach the mortar site. Might as well?
Matthias Gabrel

Use on the Breakbar when your ally is sacrificed.
You can bring if your group needs a source of Stability, as Knockdowns happen frequently in Downpour or by touching icy patches during Snowstorm.
Use to mitigate the damage when needed. is once again a useful tool to help cleanse allies of Poison. You can use to give Superspeed when you or allies need to deal with mechanics around the arena.
Stronghold of the Faithful
Siege the Stronghold

Use frequently to grant Stability to allies. This is helpful both on the ground and on the towers.
Use your cleave to deal with enemies quickly.
Mines can be cleared easily with .
The Immobilize from can help keep Warg Bloodhounds in place.
You can use to give Superspeed to Glenna.
Keep Construct

Use on the Breakbar once it comes up.
You can bring if your group needs a source of Stability.
Use to mitigate the damage when the boss casts (the Keep Construct will create rotating windmill AoEs and apply conditions).
Xera

Use on the Breakbar once it comes up. If necessary, help cleanse allies with .
You can easily tank this encounter by blocking with either or .
Bastion of the Penitent
Cairn the Indomitable

Bring if Stability is not covered for your subgroup. reduces incoming damage while active.
Try to be the one kiting as you have a lot of survivability compared to other classes.
and are both good movement skills to help you get back to the boss if needed.
Mursaat Overseer

Use your survivability to stay alive when others cannot. and can mitigate the damage from .
Take Protect and keep the Jade Soldiers from stepping on the tile your group is located on. You can also easily handle either of the other two encounter-specific roles.
Samarog

Herald can easily act as the healer for a subgroup. As the encounter has no passive damage, the enhanced Regeneration with in addition to is more than enough to sustain most groups. This assumes that players are not being hit by attacks on purpose or position themselves poorly.
Try to use on every breakbar. A good time to swap to Staff would be after using .
Heralds should avoid being the target for in order to contribute massive Breakbar damage, but if you end up being Fixated you can delay some damage from Samarog with .
During split phases, help your group by using on Rigom to keep him in place.
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Challenge Mode
Take and cast immediately when entering and again before leaving the stance. This should keep up Stability nearly permanently for the entire squad if they are within the range of the skill.
You should aim this at any unfortunate souls targeted by . You'll also grant Stability via and in this stance.
It's important to note that you still have a limited energy pool. Using twice means you need to skip Sword skill casts in this stance.
This is due to Quickness being maintained through upkeeps, and you can only afford 6 seconds of .
Keep in mind that conditions can not be applied to Samarog during the Breakbar and will only work if you cast it before .
Deimos

Be careful with and as to not dash into .
is a good combo if used to Block one or more hits of .
can also Block . will also mitigate the attack, but the damage-over-time effect will apply regardless.
Utilizing the Greatsword allows you to play very offensively on this encounter.
Use and to slow down Prides.
Hall of Chains
Soulless Horror

Power oriented builds are typically avoided due to the risk of bursting down the Tormented Dead while it is near the group.
Despite this, Herald provides substantial boon output and Breakbar damage to carry groups.
You can tank this encounter fairly easily. Take both and for increased survivability.
Consider playing Condition Quickness Herald for this encounter instead, as it has better tools to mitigate conditions.
Dhuum

Herald makes an excellent tank on this encounter. You can use to ignore the damage from at Dhuum's center to reposition yourself early.
A common mistake when tanking Dhuum is being too far on the opposite side of him that the group is outside the range of boons. However, Herald's boons are all 600 radius and gives you a lot more freedom to position yourself.
You can help cleanse allies with after each if you have a Staff instead of Greatsword.
Mythwright Gambit
Conjured Amalgamate

Try to stand a bit behind your group in order to block the orbs coming in. Even though you rely on , it is better to protect your DPS players.
If you are doing Challenge Mode and your group is unable to block the lasers, can protect your squad at the loss of significant damage. You can likely serve as your subgroup's healer if you are taking this stance, as the pressure is rather low.
Twin Largos

and apply a lot of Vulnerability, which is typically lacking on this encounter. Use them immediately when beginning each phase.
You can tank this encounter if needed. can be taken for increased survivability.
Consider tanking with Condition Quickness Herald, as it has better tools to mitigate conditions.
Qadim

Start stacking up boons with Facets as soon as the encounter begins, Swiftness and Fury at a minimum.
Extend boons with and give your lamp-team Superspeed with as they leave.
's can be very useful for your group during the boss phases, as well as providing safety against the giants in Qadim's menagerie. Prepare if you are helping in this phase, as it will Blind the giants, and Stun Break if you have already been hit by their attacks.
Be sure to use on every Breakbar in the encounter, except for Qadim's second and third phase.
You can tank this encounter, as no toughness is required and the range of Herald's boons easily reaches the group. You can use Staff to Block or cleanse yourself from attacks.
will not prevent you from going downstate to the bouncing fireballs on Challenge Mode. Use Dodge or .
The Key of Ahdashim
Cardinal Adina

can be useful to protect yourself from projectiles from Hand of Eruption during split phases.
can protect your squad against these attacks with for the entire phase if necessary, but this should be a last resort.
Cardinal Sabir

or can allow you to skip Sabir's .
Use Flash Discharge when starting to ensure you get multiple hits on the Breakbar. Be extremely careful when aiming this ability, as you can easily slip past Sabir and end up in a Tornado.
Consider taking if the group lacks Breakbar damage.
Qadim the Peerless

Use to easily break Qadim the Peerless's pylons.
is a great skill to save your allies from the shockwave at 40%, 30% and 20%. This skill can grant Stability to the entire squad, but make sure to place it ahead of time, not last second.
Mount Balrior
Decima, the Stormsinger

Be sure to use on the Breakbars at 75% and 40% health.
should help you stay alive when needed, as this encounter has heavy damage pressure at times. Make sure to pulse plenty of Protection to your party with .
If the group is failing to deal with the mechanics leading up to , 's can be a effective tool when other options are lacking.
Greer, the Blightbringer

While its single-target damage is lower, Greatsword can be a good alternative to Swords in order to stay at a safer range and having more free mobility with and an additional Block with .
Staff is a good tool here for both Breakbars and survivability. Use to deal with the Breakbars at 80%, 50%, and 20% health.
You may frequently be hit by crowd control, so keep or ready to get out of a sticky situation.
can also be an option if your party needs more Stability, or if you are personally struggling to stay alive, and projectile mitigation is already covered.
is an option to help block projectiles, but ideally this is covered by your healer. Although it comes at a significant damage penalty, you can replace the Invocation Trait Line with the following traits to maintain while providing Quickness longer.
Ura, the Steamshrieker

Use to take down the Breakbar every 5% of the encounter. Weapon Swap to this set preemptively after using your primary weapon skills, so that you can Weapon Swap after the Breakbar.
Greatsword is a good alternative if you need to help cleave Geysers around the arena.
If you are targeted by , use or to reach the boss before or after the walls appear.