Introduction
Esoteric Skill Enhancement Wardancers focus on the Specialization Combat Stat, which increases the damage of all Esoteric Skills like Esoteric Skill: Rising Fire Dragon.
In Tiers 1 and 2, the Wardancer plays as a burst damage class because of the long cooldowns on her main damage skills, Esoteric Skill: Call of the Wind God and Esoteric Skill: Blast Formation. This build is less mana intensive than the First Intention version, but it still requires proper positioning to deal optimal damage.
In addition to being a burst class, they are a synergy class because of the Attack & Movement Speed buff of Wind's Whisper and Crit Resistance debuff of Roar of Courage which she provides for the team. During the burst window, use your high damage skills.
With access to Skill Tree Levels and Gems in Tier 3, her cooldown issues mostly get resolved alongside high Swiftness stacking and can move on from being classified as just a burst class. They can also further increase their burst damage by going for high Specialization.
Energy Combustion Is paired with Esoteric Extortion to help generate Esoteric Meter. Additionally this skill has a long uptime and deals consistent damage to the enemy.
Check out the First Intention Wardancer for an alternative Wardancer playstyle.
Check out the Guardian Raids and Abyssal Dungeons guides for an introduction to their content.
This build guide assumes you have a Character at Level 50 before transitioning to it. Check out the Wardancer Leveling and 1-50 Leveling guides to reach Level 50.
Raid Skill Build
- It is recommend to use Ultimate Skill: Flash Rage Blow for the 2 Spenders build, since it can be ended early for an instant cast skill. It is also really good for activating Dominion Set effect. Ultimate Skill: Fist of Dominance is another great choice because of the damage reduction you get during the animation.
- Esoteric Skill Enhancement increases Esoteric Skill damage based on the number of orbs you have filled. If you have 4 orbs and use 2 orbs for a spender, your skill will deal 32% (8x4) extra damage if your engraving is at Level 1. If you decide to use a 2nd spender at 2 orbs, it will only deal an extra 16% damage. The good single target choices are Esoteric Skill: Rising Fire Dragon, Esoteric Skill: Call of the Wind God, Esoteric Skill: Spiral Impact and Esoteric Skill: Blast Formation.
- Sky Shattering Blow is usually used as a Counter Attack, but it can be upgraded to a tier 2 Skill Tree for a damage buff with Ready Attack.
- Wind's Whisper and Roar of Courage are the 2 main skills at the beginning of a Wardancer's rotations since they grant party members Attack Speed and Movement Speed and debuff targets with reduced Crit Resistance (which translates to increased Crit Rate). It also self-buffs with increased damage.
- Flash Heat Fang helps proc the Judgment and Conviction rune combo for Cooldown Reduction and increased resource regeneration increase before starting your damage rotation.
- Energy Combustion does really good damage over the course of an encounter due to its near permanent uptime when standing next to the boss. It also generates a decent amount of Esoteric Meter.
Extra Notes for 340 Skill Points below
- 3 and 4 spenders requires at least 356 skill points above to be functional and not sacrificing too much damage from having missing skill tree nodes, so it is recommended for beginners to play with the 2 spender build until you have the gears and skill points prepared for the 3 and 4 spenders builds.
- Esoteric Skill: Rising Fire Dragon is used below 296 Skill Points because it does more damage with the available Skill Points. When you get 296 Skill Points, swap it to Esoteric Skill: Call of the Wind God for higher damage. It's also good at buying time for cooldowns since it's a holding skill, but can be awkward to use against agile bosses. at late game it is a preference choice between them as Esoteric Skill: Rising Fire Dragon provides better utility like Destruction Check and Stagger Burst, while Esoteric Skill: Call of the Wind God provides higher damage output and a Stagger Check that doesn't lock you in place.
2 Spenders Alternatives
- Esoteric Skill: Call of the Wind God can be replaced with Sweeping Kick for another main damage dealing skill. If you do choose to play this 1 spender build, go for Swiftness and Crit instead of Swiftness and Specialization. You can refer to First Intention Wardancer rotation as it will be almost similar except having a spender instead of Lightning Kick that is used at the end of the rotation.
4 Spenders Alternatives
- Esoteric Skill: Call of the Wind God last skill tree choices are made depending on which gear sets you are using, Summon Storm is use if you are using Hallucination Set and Raging Storms is use when you are using Entropy Set as this tripod does not remove the Back Attack property of this skill.
- Esoteric Skill: Spiral Impact's 2nd skill node can be swap with Ready Attack for Entropy Set build to increase damage of your next skill.
Gameplay & Skill Rotation
Due to the lack of mobility skills aside from the generic spacebar dodge, Esoteric Skill Enhancement Wardancers have to be precise with their spender skills.
*Generate to max Esoteric Orbs(Bubbles as referred from skills tooltips) before you start the rotations listed below.
Main Damage Rotation:
Roar of Courage > Wind's Whisper > Esoteric Skill: Call of the Wind God > Moon Flash Kick > Esoteric Skill: Blast Formation > Flash Heat Fang
Maintain Energy Combustion uptime as much as possible.
Sky Shattering Blow > Flash Heat Fang, can be use outside of main rotation.
If you have the Conviction rune slotted on Energy Combustion and the Judgment rune on Flash Heat Fang, make sure that Conviction has proc'd before doing Flash Heat Fang to proc the Judgment buff for 15% Cooldown Reduction and 100% resource regeneration.
During skill downtime, hold down the movement button while tapping basic attack repeatedly to perform a basic attack cancel. The damage racks up along with Energy Combustion ticking.
Stats Priority
There are a few different variation of this build from playing with 2 spenders to 4 spenders depending on how much Specialization you invest for a more spammy build with high buffs uptime to a more selfish bursty build depending if you like looking at bigger visual numbers popping out.
2 Spenders : Full Swiftness from all your accessories while having Specialization only on Necklace and 1 ring, this setup focuses on having low cooldown reductions for a much frequent rotation uptime while also having some Specialization to help boost your Esoteric Skills damage.
3 Spenders : You can go for 1000 Specialization - 1400 Swiftness setup with Swiftness-Specialization Necklace then Swiftness on both earrings , Specialization on both rings and pet on Swiftness stats.
4 Spenders : -
Hallucination Set - Full Specialization from all your accessories while having Swiftness only on Necklace, this stats setup is for the comfy version of the 4 spenders build sacrificing lesser damage but you'll be able to play the build more comfortably without chasing bosses backs and you get crits compensated by Hallucination Set.
Entropy Set - Full Specialization from all your accessories while having Crit only on Necklace. If you want to push for the high damage ceiling on this build, Crit stats is important as you have a lot of Crit Damage provided from Entropy Set while the high Specialization will further boost your Esoteric Skills damage.
Bracelet
Bracelets provide beneficial effects to yourself or to your party members depending on the rolls.
Note: Bracelets should not be your top priority to optimize since it'll be much more efficient to optimize your other gear first. Bracelets are costly! So slowly build towards a Main Stat and a Sub Stat. Anything else is extra!
Check out the Bracelet Guide for more details.
Possible Special Effects to Roll:
Optimal
Combat Stats(Specialization + Swiftness or Crit(Entropy Set 4 Spenders))
Circulate
Fervor
Hammer
Wedge
Ambush(Entropy Set 4 Spenders)
Alternatives
Basic Effect(Strength)
Precise
Assail
Superiority
Sawtooth Blade
Weapon Power
Harvest
Expose Weakness
Dagger
Engravings
Class Engravings provide powerful benefits that can significantly change playstyle. Battle Engravings are generally used to increase damage. Below are the recommended Engravings for this build.
Check out the Engraving Guide for more details.
Starter Engravings
- Esoteric Skill Enhancement enhances Esoteric Skill damage by the number of orbs you have before using a spender. For example, if you have 4 orbs filled, your 1st Esoteric Skill used will do an additional 32% (8x4) damage. If you decide to use a 2nd spender skill at 2 orbs filled, it will only deal 16% extra damage. It can be kept at Level 1 if you have points for a Level 1 engraving, otherwise max it out.
- Raid Captain is a solid choice since Wind's Whisper provides movement speed and we're aiming for high Swiftness.
Add-On Endgame Engravings
- Keen Blunt Weapon* is a good damage engraving if you have more than 60% Crit Rate.
- Adrenaline is great for supplementing your low Crit Rate when at the higher end of Tier 3. High Swiftness with Cooldown Reduction from Equipment Skill Tree and Gems, will allow you to upkeep Adrenaline stacks.
- Master of Ambush benefits Wardancers since they have many Back Attack modifiers.
- Awakening is for reduce cooldown to synergize with Legion Raid gearset effect. preferably getting level 1 or 2 depending on the amount of your Swiftness.
- Grudge* increases damage done while also increasing damage received. The engraving is a highly effective damage increase without needing specific positioning, making it worthwhile even with the penalty.
- Cursed Doll* is an easy Attack Power increase at the cost of 25% healing penalty. The healing penalty can be punishing for inexperienced players not familiar with boss mechanics.
- Increases Mass* is a decent alternative option for Cursed Doll if you manage to over-cap 140% attack speed.
(*)These Engravings should only be used at Engraving Level 3.
Optimal Setups
Engravings are listed in order of priority from left to right.
Recommended
Pre-Ancient Accessories setup
Note : Having Awakening level 2 and at least 1400 Swiftness pairing with Conviction and Judgment combo will let you have 14 seconds of Dominion Fang Set effect refresh window, assuming Conviction and Judgment combo cooldown lines up well.
Gear Sets
These are the specific gear sets for each tier.
Check out the Gear Set Guide for more details.
Early Game
250-1100 gearscore
Providence Set
1250-1340 gearscore
Dimensional Set
Early Tier 3
1340 -1414 gearscore
Erupting Waves Set
Piercing Gaze Set
Craft any combination of the legendary gear sets listed above and try to push to 1415 as soon as possible.
Tier 3 Legion Raid Set
1415-1490-1580+ gearscore
2 Spenders
Dominion Set
3 and 4 Spenders comfy setup
Hallucination Set
4 Spenders Ambush Damage push
Entropy Set
The name of your set will change with every higher tier gearset you acquire, but the set effect will remain the same. Look for the keyword of your set when recrafting it so you don't easily get lost.(e.g Entropy, Hallucination etc)
Sidereal Weapon
Recommended Sidereal Unity Effects for your Yongah are Thirain and Balthorr.
Check out the Sidereal Weapon Guide for more details.
Runes
Runes enhance Skills with extra bonuses. All Rune drops are account bound and have limited availability, so placement of Runes on the correct Skills is important. Below are the recommended pairings.
Check the Rune Guide for more details.
| Skills | Runes |
| Esoteric Skill: Call of the Wind God | Galewind |
| Esoteric Skill: Blast Formation | Galewind |
| Energy Combustion | Conviction Wealth |
| Flash Heat Fang | Judgment Overwhelm |
| Moon Flash Kick | Wealth |
| Wind's Whisper | Focus |
| Roar of Courage | Focus Wealth |
| Sky Shattering Blow | Wealth Bleed Rage Quick Recharge Purify |
| Sweeping Kick* | Galewind |
(*) Skill Preferences.
- Wealth is the most important rune for this Wardancer builds to make the build function, but if you don't have the 2nd epic grade Wealth, then prioritize your runes from Legendary to Rare with Sky Shattering Blow > Energy Combustion > Moon Flash Kick for the 2 and 3 Spender builds. It is recommended you to get at least all the Wealth needed for the 4 Spenders build to be functional.
- Rage can be an option to help self-boost some attack speed when needed especially if you're playing Entropy Set 4 Spender build that can help making the burst sequence more comfy.
- Galewind is ideal for speeding up your best damage dealing skills.
- Overwhelm is used to further improve the Stagger we apply.
- Focus reduces the mana cost of skills.
- Bleed is usually just a filler rune when you have nothing else better to be slot into the skills it can at least contribute 1-2% of your overall damage and it's usually slot into skills that provide damage buffs like Sky Shattering Blow and Esoteric Skill: Spiral Impact.
- Use Conviction with Energy Combustion before using Flash Heat Fang with Judgment to proc the 15% Cooldown Reduction and 100% resource regeneration effect (not Esoteric Meter). The runes can be replaced with any others if you don't have it yet.
Gear Skill Tree
While Gems add benefits to skills, you can also increase the effects of Skill Tree themselves. Skill Tree levels go up to 5 and each level can increase the damage, cooldown reduction or buff that they provide.
For more information on how to add equipment Skill Tree and how to get them, please visit our Skill Tree System Guide.
| Flash Heat Fang | Fist of Darkness Weak Point Detection Adrenaline Rush |
| Energy Combustion | Esoteric Extortion Intense Battle Last Whisper |
| Moon Flash Kick | White Flame Kick Single Strike Full Moon Kick |
| Wind's Whisper | Quick Preparation Ready Attack |
| Sky Shattering Blow | Ready Attack Abundant Resources(optional) |
| Roar of Courage | Esoteric Extortion(optional) |
| Esoteric Skill: Call of the Wind God* | Lightning Storm Growth Attack Summon Storm |
| Esoteric Skill: Blast Formation | Weak Point Detection Flame Explosion Great Explosion |
| Sweeping Kick* | Weak Point Detection Shadowcleave Pure Excellence |
(*) Skill Preferences.
Gems
Gems grant bonus damage and cooldown reduction to specific skills. You can only equip 11 of these Gems at a time so it is recommended that you prioritize the Gems for your most important skills.
Please visit our Gem System Guide for more information like how to create higher tier Gems.
Attack Gems
Esoteric Skill: Blast Formation
Esoteric Skill: Call of the Wind God*
Moon Flash Kick
Flash Heat Fang
Energy Combustion
Sweeping Kick*
Cooldown Gems
Esoteric Skill: Blast Formation
Moon Flash Kick
Flash Heat Fang
Wind's Whisper
Roar of Courage
Sky Shattering Blow*
Sweeping Kick*
(*) Skill Preferences.
Card Sets
Cards are an endgame system for maximizing your character. Below are the recommend sets for this class.
Check out the Card Guide for more details on how to obtain them.
Budget Card Set 1
Budget Card Set 2
This card set does not replace Light of Salvation set or Kazero's Legion Commanders set, but it can be use if you're new to the game and has set to get your Light of Salvation/Kazero's Legion Commanders set +18 or +30 yet.
Optional Card Set
Optimal Damage vs Kayangel Gate2-4 and Sonavel
Optimal Damage Card Set
Summary
- Esoteric Skill Enhancement Wardancers build high Esoteric Orbs for Esoteric Skills damage and use the skills base on amount of Esoteric Orbs you have to get maximum damage increase.
- Unleash your burst with Wind's Whisper and Roar of Courage for optimal damage.
- Always keep Energy Combustion as it does decent damage while also being 1 of your main way to generate Esoteric Orbs.
- Specialization is the main priority for Esoteric Meter gauge and damage increase to Esoteric Skills.
Credits
Written by Rei
Reviewed by Raxxanterax
