Tier 4 First Intention Wardancer Build Guide
Last Updated:November 12, 2024|Changelog
Welcome to the Tier 4 First Intention Wardancer Build Guide! This build revolves around strengthening your core through a multitude of buffs, then quickly unleashing a flurry of blows against your enemy.
First Intention Wardancer can inflict reliable amounts of Stagger and Destruction, and her Counter is readily available.
- Good defense
- Good mobility
- Easy to learn
- Melee
- High APM
- If you're unsure when to transition, our Ark Passive Breakpoints guide could help you decide whether you should return to the Tier 3 Guide or continue.
- If you want a more mystical playstyle that focuses on unlocking your true potential, check out our Esoteric Skill Enhancement guide.
- For more information on some of the systems that make up your build, check out the guides below:
Builds
Ark Passive
Skills Setup
- Sweeping Kick, Leaping Dragon, Energy Combustion, Flash Heat Fang, and Lightning Kick are your main damage skills.
- Roar of Courage is your Synergy (Weakness Exposure) skill. Additionally, it provides +20% Crit Rate for 6 seconds, but only to yourself.
- Wind's Whisper is a self-buff skill.
- Sky Shattering Blow is your Counter skill. Besides that, it serves as a secondary self-buff skill.
- Ultimate Skill: Fist of Dominance is your Awakening. It is preferred over Ultimate Skill: Flash Rage Blow thanks to its damage reduction effect.
Alternative Skill, Tripod, and Rune Options
Wind's Whisper
- Purify - Allows you to cleanse your debuffs.
Ark Passive
Skills Setup
- Roar of Courage, Leaping Dragon, Wind's Whisper, and Blast Formation are your main ways to deal with large packs of enemies.
- Azure Dragon Supreme Fist and Sweeping Kick can both deal with Elite monsters on their own.
- Azure Dragon Supreme Fist is your primary way of dealing with Boss type monsters.
- Sky Shattering Blow serves as a quick mobility option.
- Ultimate Skill: Fist of Dominance is your Awakening. It is preferred over Ultimate Skill: Flash Rage Blow thanks to its wider area of effect.
Recommended Engravings
- Preemptive Strike
- Contender
- Raid Captain
- Cursed Doll
- Magick Stream
This build is optimized and meant to be used only in Kurzan Front. For Ebony Cube please use a Raid build.
Identity & Gameplay
First Intention Wardancer opts out of using Esoteric Orbs for Esoteric Skills, instead focusing on her martial arts skills and empowering them.
Using normal skills slowly fills up your Esoteric Orbs. When all 3 orbs are full, you can cast Esoteric Origin to empower your next cast of Leaping Dragon, Sweeping Kick, or Deadly Dive.
All attacks with a Back Attack affix receive +10% Crit Rate and +5% Damage when they land on the target's back-side indicator. It is important to position yourself accordingly as much as possible in order to take advantage of this.
This build focuses on a sequence that utilizes the Crit Rate buff from Roar of Courage and the Attack Power buff from Wind's Whisper to strengthen and unleash powerful skills. In the downtime that comes after this, you are free to use your secondary damage skills or perform mechanics.
Wardancer Identity
Rotation
Standard Damage Rotation
- Using skills in this specific order is recommended to maximize damage output.
- If Deadly Dive is not available, you should use Esoteric Origin to empower Sweeping Kick for that rotation.
- Since it lasts for 20s, but the cooldown is lower than that, you should remember to reactivate Energy Combustion towards the end of its cooldown and quickly reactivate it afterwards.
- Try your best to maintain your Synergy using Roar of Courage, even if you aren't planning to attack immediately after.
Stagger Check Rotation
- Using skills in this specific order is recommended for most stagger checks. However, each check can vary in duration, so you may need to readjust depending on the situation and your party's composition. Remember, you can also use a Whirlwind Grenade if you have one equipped!
Gems
Gems are another significant aspect of your build, as they directly impact the damage and cooldowns of your skills. You can equip up to 11 gems at a time. Here are the ones you should focus on in order to maximize this build's potential, listed according to their priority.
Damage Gems
- Sweeping Kick
- Energy Combustion
- Leaping Dragon
- Flash Heat Fang
- Lightning Kick
Cooldown Gems
- Energy Combustion
- Sweeping Kick
- Leaping Dragon
- Wind's Whisper
- Flash Heat Fang
- Lightning Kick
Engravings
Engravings are a core part of your build. You can equip up to five at a time, freely swapping between them.
Recommended Setup
- Grudge
- Raid Captain
- Adrenaline
- Keen Blunt Weapon
- MP Efficiency Increase
Bracelet
Bracelets provide beneficial effects to yourself or to your party members depending on the rolls they have.
The primary goal is to get the main stats used by this build - Swiftness and Crit. After that, you should be aiming for Special Rolls to get more damage. Please note that this system is heavily reliant on RNG, and you should not expect to get much more beyond your main stats early on.
Optimal Bonus Rolls
Swiftness
Crit
Circulate
Fervor
Hammer
Wedge
Alternative Bonus Rolls
Precise
Assail
Superiority
Weapon Power
Strength
Elixir
The recommended Elixir Set for this build is Master.
Credits
Written by Raeinor
Reviewed by Perciculum