Introduction
The First Intention Wardancer is one of the highest mobility classes in Lost Ark. This build heavily focuses on Swiftness which increases the movement speed, attack speed and reduces the cooldown of all skills. This often leads to mana issues in the early game which can be countered by a Bard's mana regen buff. The Class Engraving increases the damage of all skills by sealing Elemental Meter gain.
In Tier 1 and 2, the Wardancer plays as a burst damage class because of the long cooldowns on her main damage skills, Sweeping Kick and Moon Flash Kick. During burst windows use your high damage dealing skills. Simultaneously she has one of the lowest cooldown and fastest animation Counter Attacks Sky Shattering Blow in Lost Ark.
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. With access to Tripod 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.
Energy Combustion adds a layer of protection to Wardancers who are a squishy class with low defensive capabilities. Additionally this skill has a long uptime and deals consistent damage to the enemy.
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.
Check out the Esoteric Skill Enhancement Wardancer for an alternative Wardancer playstyle. Check out the Guardian Raids and Abyssal Dungeons guides for an introduction to their content.
Raid Skill Build
- The usual Awakening skill choice is Ultimate Skill: Flash Rage Blow, since its can be activated instantly to trigger the Legion Raid gearset effect . Ultimate Skill: Fist of Dominance is still an option for a 80% damage reduction defensive button but the long animation is not ideal at higher end contents with much hectic mechanics or boss patterns.
- First Intention disables Elemental Meter gain, but increases damage for skills that doesn't require Elemental Meter. This means Energy Combustion does most of your damage as long as you stay close to the boss.
- Wind's Whisper and Roar of Courage are the 2 main skills used at the beginning of a Wardancer's rotation since they grant Attack Speed and Movement Speed. They also debuff targets with -10% Crit Resistance. Finally it also self-buffs with increased damage.
- Sky Shattering Blow is usually used as a Counter Attack. It also provides massive damage boost by keeping up Energy Combustion.
- Moon Flash Kick and Sweeping Kick are the staple damage skills in this build. They're quick, safe burst skills that don't force you to be stationary.
- Lightning Kick is your gap closer and your repositioning tool.
Alternatives
- During Tier 1 and 2 you want to use Skill Reduction on Energy Combustion's. Once you get to endgame for Tier 3 with high Swiftness and high level Cooldown Gems, it is possible to use Intense Battle instead without having to sacrifice much uptime.
- Roar of Courage Supreme Ruler Afterimage skill tree can be replaced with Quick Prep for lowering it's cooldown even more, but ideally not too far apart from Wind's Whisper which will not synergize the buffs burst window closely.
- Sweeping Hidden Dragon can replace Lightning Kick as gap closer damage filler and it is also great at proc-ing Conviction and Judgment combo.
Gameplay & Skill Rotation
Always have Energy Combustion up before engaging.
Lightning Kick can be used for getting in and out of fights as it has a low cooldown and offers great mobility. Unfortunately it does have a slight wind-up, making it difficult to use for dodging quick attack patterns or mechanics.
Main Damage Rotation:
- Energy Combustion
- Lightning Kick
- Flash Heat Fang
- Roar of Courage
- Wind's Whisper
- Sweeping Kick
- Moon Flash Kick
- Lightning Kick then basic attack cancel (described below) until Wind's Whisper and Roar of Courage are back up.
You can use Sky Shattering Blow to keep up the damage buff while your Energy Combustion is up and basic attacking to keep up DPS uptime.
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 and the Bleed rune to apply more damage over time.
There is something to keep in mind if the player has the Conviction rune slotted on Energy Combustion and the Judgment rune on Flash Heat Fang. You should wait for Conviction to proc before using Flash Heat Fang to proc the Judgment buff for 15% Cooldown Reduction and 100% Resource Regeneration before the start of the rotation.
Stats Priority
Tiers 1 and 2
First Intention Wardancers go for Crit and Swiftness. Maximizing Crit is not as important because Wardancers can grant themselves bonus Crit Rate and apply Crit Debuff on targets. So you want to go for a 55% Crit and 45% Swiftness build.
Tier 3
It's better to optimize Swiftness over Crit for Tier 3 and above as you can acquire Gems and Skill Tree levels. This is to maximize Cooldown Reduction so that skills like Roar of Courage and Wind's Whisper have higher uptime. High Swiftness also helps increase Movement Speed to synergize with Raid Captain.
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
- First Intention disables the Elemental Meter gain and makes Esoteric Skills unusable. The advantage is it increases the damage dealt by the remaining Normal Skills, which is what we're after.
- 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.
- Master of Ambush benefits Wardancers since they have many Back Attack modifiers.
- Awakening is for reduce awakening cooldown to synergize with Legion Raid gearset effect. preferably getting level 1 or 2 depending on the amount of your Swiftness.
- Lightning Fury is a good budget engraving for classes that does a lot of multi-hits.
Advanced Engravings
Note: The Advanced Engravings are the Best in Slot setup for Tier 3 content. The penalties attached to these can be hard to overcome for new players. Only use the following engravings if you are experienced with the boss fight!
- 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 a significant 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 go over 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.
Standard
Alternative - Paired with 2 pieces of Earth's Entropy Set
Note : having 1600 Swiftness pairing with Conviction and Judgment combo will let you have just 12 seconds of downtime for Dominion Fang Set effect, assuming Conviction and Judgment combo cooldown lines up well. Having Awakening level 1 or 2 with Conviction and Judgment combo can further increase the refresh window to 1 or 21 seconds.
Gear Sets
These are the specific gear sets for each tier.
Check out the Gear Set Guide for more details.
Notes :
- If speedrunning your alts, you can skip Abyss Dungeon Gear up to 1370 gearscore by just honing Chaos Dungeon Gear.
- If you're close to 1445 gearscore and were already doing Valtan/Vykas Normal Mode, you can skip crafting the Legendary Legion Raid Gears.
- If you have already crafted Relic Gears, hold onto them because once you unlock the Gear Set Conversion feature, you will be able to freely swap between Relic Legion Raid Sets.
"Play at your own pace" Route
Tier 1
340 gearscore
Seraphic Oath Set
460 gearscore
Boisterous Elemental Set
Tier 2
840 gearscore
Marvelous Earth Set
960 gearscore
Unyielding Will Set
Early Tier 3
1302-1370 gearscore
Twisted Dimensional Set
Tier 3 Argos Set
1370 -1415 gearscore
Preordained Diligence Set
or
Harsh Oath Set
(Harsh Oath set can be an option depending on Fist of Darkness and Shadowcleave levels)
Tier 3 Legion Raid Set
1415 - 1444 gearscore
Preordained Diligence Set Glove and Shoulder
Demon Beast Strength 4 pc
1445+ gearscore
Dominion Fang Full Set
or
paired with 2 pieces of
Earth's Entropy Set
(To maximize Back Attack damage)
or
2 pieces of Nightmare Flower Set
(For some comfy mana management)
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 |
| Lightning Kick* | Quick Recharge |
| Flash Heat Fang | Judgment Overwhelm Galewind |
| Energy Combustion | Conviction Bleed |
| Sweeping Kick | Galewind |
| Moon Flash Kick | Galewind |
| Wind's Whisper | Focus |
| Roar of Courage | Focus Bleed |
| Sky Shattering Blow | Bleed Quick Recharge Rage Purify |
| Sweeping Hidden Dragon* | Conviction |
- Galewind is ideal for reducing the skill animation for your highest DPS skills.
- Quick Recharge is used for skills closer to the end of your rotation.
- Focus reduces the mana cost of skills.
- Bleed works best on Sky Shattering Blow due to its short cooldown.
- Use Conviction with Energy Combustion before using Judgment with Flash Heat Fang to proc the 15% Cooldown Reduction and 100% Resource Regeneration effect (not Elemental Meter). The runes can be replaced with any others if you don't have it yet.
(*) Optional skill choices.
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.
| Lightning Kick* | Thunder Kick Flash Lightning |
| Flash Heat Fang | Fist of Darkness Weak Point Detection Adrenaline Rush |
| Energy Combustion | Combustible Armor Intense Battle Last Whisper |
| Sweeping Hidden Dragon* | Quick Prep |
| Sweeping Kick | Weak Point Detection Shadowcleave Pure Excellence |
| Moon Flash Kick | Intense Shock Single Strike Full Moon Kick |
| Wind's Whisper | Oath of the Wind Quick Prep Ready Attack |
| Sky Shattering Blow | Ready Attack |
(*) Optional skill choices.
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
Flash Heat Fang
Sweeping Kick
Moon Flash Kick
Energy Combustion
Lightning Kick*
Cooldown Gems
Flash Heat Fang
Sweeping Kick
Moon Flash Kick
Wind's Whisper
Roar of Courage
Sky Shattering Blow
Sweeping Hidden Dragon*
(*) Optional skill gems.
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
Optional Card Set
Optimal Damage Card Set
Summary
- First Intention Wardancers sacrifice their Elemental Meter to increase the damage of her other skills. This makes Sweeping Kick and Flash Heat Fang the main damage skills for this build.
- Always keep Energy Combustion up as it does great damage throughout the encounter.
- Buff up with Wind's Whisper and debuff the boss with Roar of Courage before using other damage skills.
- Swiftness and Crit are the main priorities for First Intention Wardancers, but balance them out as she has lots of Crit Rate buffs without needing it from raw stats.
- Your priority engravings to get to Level 3 are Grudge and First Intention. See the Additional Choices section for more Engravings.
Credits
Written by Rei
Reviewed by Raxxanterax
Changelog
- 3 September 2022
Updated Pros and Cons section. - 13 June 2022
Adjusted Gearsets section to include Vykas parts. - 18 May 2022
Updated Gearsets upgrade paths to include Valtan gears. Added extra Alternatives skills "Sweeping Hidden Dragon" and "Roar of Courage" Skill Tree. Added extra Optional Card Set. Adjusted Skill Tree Upgrades for "Sweeping Kick" and "Flash Heat Fang". - 11 March 2022
Updated Gear Set section to include Argos sets and added "Optimal Setups" in Engraving section. - 4 February 2022
Article updated for Tier 3 content. - 19 January 2022
Article published for Tier 1 content.