Warfare FAQ for newbies

[ffreakk]

As much as i think Warfare is the best mastery there is (well not exactly, but i just love Warfare), there seem to be no FAQ on this mastery here in the forum. Since im free and i bored, i ll be attempting on an FAQ. That said, im not a veteran in TQ, having started the game only a few months back, so if you know something that i dont, please enlighten me.

*/ Warfare/X possible combinations?
**/ Frequently Asked Questions.

Before we get down to business, i must say that im an offensive type of player, and also a die-hard fan of Dual-Wielding, since i feel its the essense of Warfare. If you are the type that cant live w/o a shield, you probably are gonna hate me a lot. One more thing is that the builds are in no way set in stones, they are just general guidelines/reference for new players to help them play in a generally more effective direction. The more advanced players may hav their own way of playing thats entirely different. With that said, here we go.

** Abbreviation used:

OA: Offensive Ability (affect your chance to hit & your chance to crit, as well as how "hard" you crit)

DA: Defensive Ability, the counter part of OA (affect your chance to "avoid" getting hit, "avoid" getting critted against, and even affect melee physical dmg taken).

DPS: Damage Per Second. One of the common measure of a Char's Strength. DPS aint everything tho, really.

AoE: Area of Effect.

DW: Dual-Wield.


*/ Warfare/X possible combination?

Warfare/Dream: The Harbinger

Dream is easily one of the most powerful support class for fighting classes (or casting classes for that matter). Thus, one can expect the Harbringer to be one of Warfare's most powerful classes.

While Warfare will focus on the traditional skills (Onslaught tree, Dual-Wield tree, Battle Standard tree, Weapon Training), Dream will provide strong support skills such as a Trance (Trance of Wrath or Trance of Covalesence is entirely up to one's choice.. As a more offensive player, i normally prefer to go w Trance of Wrath), not only that, Dream's Lucid Dream tree is arguably the best passive tree around. Last but not least, Phantom Strike is an AoE attack w HUGE dmg, and Distort Reality is an AoE attack w SUPER long stun effect. (edit: The "stun" from Distort Reality actually aint that great.. However, its true essense is in Temporal Rift, which, at maxed, give over 7 seconds of petrification, which no non-boss monster seem to hav resistance to. Making it a great panic button, as well as an awesome crowd control ability. However, it seems that all "disabliing time" are halved in legendary, thus makind Temporal Rift petrifying ability work only for around 4 seconds. At least this has been the case with me.)

A generic build for a Harbringer would be something like this:

TitanCalc by stonedonkey - A Titan Quest Calculator - Harbinger

Sand of Sleep is to disable the pesky range attackers until you get to them, Ancestral Horn is for bosses that you REALLY hate... All in all, while you can live w/o them, life is much easier _with_ them. If you are getting hurt by melee mobs feel free to pump Dodge Attack, a high DA is generally better tho, and the skill doesnt help against range attacks.

Note: With Trance of Wrath and a "xx% dmg converted to health" you can even life leech from undeads, and bosses, who hav 100% Vitality Dmg resistance.

Warfare/Spirit: The Spellbreaker

Spirit is another class that support melee really well (altho its inclination is more to the mage side). Its real essense is in the Deathchill Aura tree, the Dark Covenant tree, and the Lich King tree. Warfare, again focus on the traditional skills like Onslaught tree, Dual Wield tree, Battle Standard tree, Weapon Training

A generic Spellbreaker would look something like this:

TitanCalc by stonedonkey - A Titan Quest Calculator - Spellbreaker

Whether to pick Summon Outsider or Ancestral Horn is entirely up to you.. Altho as you already hav the Liche King, theres no real need for that. Unless, again, you REALLY hate that boss. Vision of Death, again is to deal w those pesky range attackers.

Note: w Necrosis and a "xx% dmg converted to health", you can life steal from even bosses and undead who hav 100% vitality resistance.

Warfare/Defense: The Conqueror

Your most traditional "Warrior".. This is the one build that most ppl wouldnt go Dual-Wielding. As much as i think it is highly debatable, and Dual-Wielding Conqueror is also good, i still ended up building Weapon/Shield Conqueror. The reason is that, Defense tree has 3 shield attacks thats somewhat similar to dual-wield, that is, they use both weapons and the shields to attack. Whats more, Defense tree also offer many skills that bolster and further enhance the defensive capacity of the shield.

Weapon/Shield Conqueror: This is the approach that take Defense as the primary tree, and Warfare is -somewhat- a support. Instead of Dual-Wield tree, we max the 3 shield-attacks: Pulverize, Disable and Shield Smash. The rest of the Warfare skills (Onslaught tree, Battle Standard, Weapon Training) is maxed as per normal. Defense side will have Adrenaline Tree, Focus, Quick Recovery, Colossus Form, and all the passives from the right maxed, Shield Charge is also used to close up distance b/w you and range attackers, and also a kind of AoE in times of need. Basically, a generic Weapon/Shield Conqueror will look like this:

TitanCalc by stonedonkey - A Titan Quest Calculator - Conquerer

Dual-Wield Conquerors: While its by far the more unpopular choice, its possible (i will be trying a Dual-Wield Conqueror soon).. Warfare again the usual skills, uncluding Dual-Wield tree, Defense only up Adrenaline, Armor Handling, Colossus Form, and a little of Battle Awareness.. Rally tree if you want, but not necessary.. Also, since you are attacking much faster w Dual-Wield, pumping Concussive Blow may be a good choice.. Basically, a Dual-Wield Conqueror will probably look something like this:

TitanCalc by stonedonkey - A Titan Quest Calculator - Conquerer

Note: While its again entirely up to personal preference, Conquerors hav much less need for Ancestral Horn, since Colossus Form is a very powerful anti-boss skill already. Also, Batter is a short-cooldown 3 target attack.. While i dont like it, many people tend to take it as their secondary attack (RMB).

Warfare/Hunting: The Slayer

Now this is another class that calls for a reconsideration in Dual-Wielding. Hunting provide a passive buff thats (arguably) even more powerful than Weapon Training. The percentage DA bonus in Woodlore is the same as the OA percentage in Weapon Training, however Woodlore give more bonus for attack speed.. And also, to a large extent, DA is more impt than OA. Moreover, TQ favours piercing damage. That is to say that spear deals much more damage than axes or maces. While a spear probably doesnt deal more dmg than two maces/axes (dual-wielded), an extra shield does provide an extra defensive layer, not to mention the extra DA provided by Woodlore (at the cost of OA from Weapon Training of course). Last but not least, most DW-able weapons hav very low piercing stats, thus rendering Art of the Hunt/Call of the Hunt useless.

As a Spear/Shield Slayer, Warfare again will develop only Onslaught tree, Battle Standard (Weapon Dodge may not be necessary due to the inherently high DA coming from Woodlore bonus). Hunting tree will max Study Prey tree, Call of the Hunt tree, Woodlore, Volley, Monster Lure, Art of the Hunt tree.

Generally, a Spear Slayer will be something like this:

TitanCalc by stonedonkey - A Titan Quest Calculator - Slayer

Note: Only 1 point in Herbal Remedy for the good boost in poison resist/HP regen, further point are not worth it. More likely than not you will need Ancestral Horn as well, due to Slayer's lack of tankability. Note also that a Warwind w Spear will spin TWICE, which means you hit 9 enemies (at maxed) and each of them twice to boot .

Most notably, Dual-Wielding slayer might be one of the highest (if not THE highest) DPS class if you get hold of Thorny Maul (a Legendary Mace with insanely high piercing mods).. Thus able to ultilise both Hunting's Piercing mods as well as the inherently high DPS from DW-ing.

*** I thought its worth mentioning that Hunting's Marksmanship tree (esp Scatter Shot) is incredibly powerful before legendary.. They offer powerful Area of Effect (AoE) damage, enable one to decimate huge crowds within seconds. It is quite advisable for most comfortable gameplay that a Slayer would go Bow Hunter first, and then switch back to the original Spear/Shield build when he/she arent dealing enough dmg/suffers defensively.

Warfare/Rogue: The Assassin.

Rogue was never my favourite class. True, i used to love Assassin in D2 and all, but Rogue in TQ is totally different.. Its more of a poison/disable/support class than a strong class on its own. And i particularly didnt like it cos of its lack of synergy w Warfare. Rogue is pretty decent when paired with Hunting tho, or a few other classes. No matter, it turn out that Assassin is quite the popular choice for a starter class for many people.

There are many ways to play an Assassin: Physical-focused build, Poison build, Bleed build, Trap build, you name it, you hav it, im only going to cover the Physical-focused build, as i think its the most suitable w Warfare (Warfare ---> physical dmg). For a Physical dmg focused Assassin, Warfare again develop the DW branch, Battle Standard, Onslaught tree, Warwind tree, Weapon Training, you are likely to need Ancestral Horn as well, since Assassin also lack good means of defense. Rogue Mastery will be needing only the Envemon Weapon tree (in fact, only need to max Mandrake and Nightshade). Blade Honing if you are using a bladed weapon. A few points into Flash Powder.. As a (in my opinion) not-so-strong class, there will be times that you ll need a panic button, for Assassin, i pick Flash Powder over War Horn, since its cheaper and less skill points taken.. Altho if you hav spare skill points/mana, War Horn is stronger (esp w the sure stun).

Generally a Physical-based Assassin will look something like this:

TitanCalc by stonedonkey - A Titan Quest Calculator - Assassin

Note: If you are using a bladed weapon, it will be a good idea to up Blade Honing (as mentioned) as well as Lethal Strike (a super powerful 1-shot nuke, works better w higher Piercing weapons tho.. And no, it doesnt work w Thorny Maul).. Again, theres REALLY a lot of ways to play Rogue, so you d best visit Felexitus' Rogue FAQ in the Rogue forum for more info.

Warfare/Nature: The Champion

As much as the name say so, i highly doubt that Champion is the strongest class in TQ. That said, Champions are not too bad really. While a Champion doesnt hav much in the way of defense other than a (pretty) large pool of HP, and the wolves to help him divert some attention (doesnt really work well tho, ppl normally ignore the wolves and go straight for you), hes quite powerful on the offensive side. 1stly, he has a powerful debuff thats -somewhat- similar to Hunting's Study Prey (Plague), and he has powerful buff Strength of the Pack (from wolves) Heart of Oak and Permanence of Stone are all great skills as well. While some ppl might choose to go w a Weapon/Shield Champion due to the lack of defensive skills, i prefer to go Dual-Wield. However, a lack in Skill Points may lead to you having to sacrifice something else.

Again, the usual Warfare skills (DW tree, Onslaught tree, Battle Standard, Warwind, Weapon Training).. Nature Tree will max Heart of Oak, Call of the Wild tree (other than Maul), Plague tree (esp Susceptibility).

Generally, a generic DW Champion will look something like this:

TitanCalc by stonedonkey - A Titan Quest Calculator - Champion

Alternatively, a Weapon/Shield Champion will look something like this: (quite similar tho)

TitanCalc by stonedonkey - A Titan Quest Calculator - Champion

As you can see, w/o Dual-Wield, i added skills to War Horn to help against crowd-control..

Note: I generally dont find the need for a lot of Elemental Resistance, so i leave Permanence of Stone at 1 point. But if you are dead set on having them maxed, feel free to do so. Just beware abt shortage of skill point. Also note that Heart of Oak early game is a 1-point-wonder. Put 1 point there early for the 10% total speed mayb a good idea. Also, pets in general (and in this case, wolves specifically) gets A LOT of HP bonus as the difficulty level rises. So it might be a good idea to lay off putting points into them early, and only start to develop them at epic or so.

Warfare only: The Warrior

Now, playing single class is really quite difficult, since most classes dont really hav that many useful skills to offer (even Hunting, yea).. And by level 40+ you probably wouldnt know where to put ur skills.. And by lvl 60, you REALLY cant put ur skills anywhere.

Again, max the usual skills for Warfare (DW tree, Onslaught tree, Weapon Training, Warwind, Ancestral Horn, Battle Standard), then put your points wherever you want, they dont really matter that much. Hamstring does seem a little useful tho, a little like Nightshade for Rogue, just that they dont attack slower.

A Warrior at even-remotely-useful-skills-all-maxed will look something like this:

TitanCalc by stonedonkey - A Titan Quest Calculator - Warrior

All warriors will eventually look the same tho. And War Horn will really be your life-saver many times.

****Notice**** The last two classes are Hybrid classes, which i dont really hav much experience in cos i absolutely totally suck at mages. As much as i still try to write an FAQ for them, you ll be better off getting more advises from other places in the forum before you go and make yourself a Battle Mage or a Thane.

With that said, let us proceed to the last two Warfare/X classes.

Warfare/Storm: The Thane.

Elemental dmg in TQ is calculated based off Intelligence, whether that is a spell, a (staff) weapon attack, or just simple elemental dmg imbued within your weapon and trigger simultanously with your weapon attack. That means to properly enhance Elemental Dmg, you will hav to pump your intelligence, which means spread-out distribution of stat points. Furthermore, 65 Int increase Elemental dmg by 10%, as opposed to 50 Str for 10% of Physical dmg.. Considering that Physical dmg (w end-game gears) far out-do that of Elemental dmg (only as far as i know), investing in Str sounds like a more logical choice. (if you would like to hav more elemental dmg, check out the post "Intelligent fighter" in the IT Gameplay forum, or ask for more advise there.)

My build of a Thane still hav Warfare developing the usual skills (DW tree, Onslaught tree, Battle Standard, Ancestral Horn, Warwind, Weapon Training). Storm side will max Squall (easily one of the best debuff in TQ, reduce resistance is a great debuff, not to mention impaired aim thats good against range attacks, who are the main worries later in the game), Spell Breaker/Spell Shock (good anti-(some)heroes/bosses spell, need to be casted in conjunction w Squall to be really effective), Eye of the Storm for Elemental resistance (if you dont need the resistance, just take points off it as you see fit). Maxed Heart of Frost for the slow effect, 1 point in Storm Surge will give the (chance) area stun, which will likely save your life more than once, defnly worthwhile of just a mere 1 point.

Generally my Thane will look something like this:

TitanCalc by stonedonkey - A Titan Quest Calculator - Thane

Note: War Horn is your panic button. If your Storm Surge doesnt save you, use War Horn to save yourself.

Warfare/Earth: The Battle Mage

Again, due to the fact that i dont like to hav spreaded-out stats distribution, i will not focus on Elemental dmg here.

Earth tree offers quite a fair bit in the way of defense. First and foremost, the Core Dweller is a very powerful tank, esp in Legendary. The Core Dweller even hav Provoke, which is make it much more helpful in attracting enemies attention to itself (thus less attention on you), leaving you free to wreck havoc. Heat Shield is a 1-point-wonder for 15% dmg resistance. Get it. More points arent really worthwhile tho. Brimstone (+%dmg) is a total no-brainer.

Again, Warfare max the usual skills (Onslaught tree, DW tree, Battle Standard, Warwind, Weapon Training). Earth max Brimstone, Core Dweller Tree (other than Wild Fire), 1 point into Heat Shield.

Basically, my Battlemage looks something like this:

TitanCalc by stonedonkey - A Titan Quest Calculator - Battlemage

Note: 1 point to Stone Form to help delay your death by 8 secs, which will hopefully allow you to drink 1 potions and stay alive. Keep Heat Shield always on for the 15% dmg resistance, its great.

That should cover the gist abt all the Warfare classes. Now we ll move on to the

*** BIG NOTE *** Due to a recent discovery by Kalyan, http://www.titanquest.net/forums/spo...tml#post186746, i have added Hamstring as a maxed skill in all of the builds.. This highly diminished the need to pump much OA, and let you focus your gears on other things like DA, various resistance and such..


(*) Early game skill points distribution:

I believe that one should play his/her own game, since self-discovering is half the fun .. But recently many people seem to pose questions abt how to distribute their skill points early game, plus theres also a few arguments on whether or not to take Dual-Wield early game.. So i decided to add this section here.. Also note that since this is a Warfare FAQ, i ll only cover how to start w Warfare, and it might not be the better choice in some cases (like Thane and Slayer, where starting w Hunting or Storm is much more efficient)..

Generally, i would start w Warfare by adding 2 points into Mastery and 1 point into Onslaught every level.. Once i maxed Onslaught, i proceed to max the Mastery tree, then put 1 point into Battle Standard as well as Battle Rage.. Then 1 point each into Dual-Wield, Tumult, Cross Cut, Hew, then max them in that order.. Next skills to max are Weapon Training and Ardor, max them however you like, it doesnt really matter.. From this point on, how you proceed up ur skill tree is entirely up to you, theres too many variables to have a general strategy any further..


(**) Dual-Wield early, pros and cons:

Beside Onslaught, Dual-Wield is the signature skill tree to a Warfare class.. It is also a very powerful skill tree which, in my opinion, should be maxed right after the basic skill Onslaught.. But why? Doesnt Weapon Training or Ardor give attack speed, therefore, more obvious bonus?.. I ll agree that if you are gonna just spend a few points into the Dual-Wield tree, dont spend any at all, since its not worth it.. But once decently developed, the whole tree becomes really powerful..

Why is early Dual-Wielding better than Weapon Training or Ardor? (i believe those are the only skills in question, im not gonna explain why we dont take Ancestral Horn).. 1stly, Dual-Wielding is probably the only way for a Warfare character to deal AoE dmg (Tumult and Cross Cut).. Sure, it doesnt increase ur attack speed or dmg, but hitting w both weapons instead of one is ALREADY increased dmg n attack speed.. Besides, who needs attack speed if you are killing people in just 1 hit? With the early development in the Dual-Wield tree, you are likely to OHKO monsters by the time you sink a few points into the tree itself.. Making extra attack speed of little use.. Lastly, Tumult and Cross Cut are pretty stylish eh?

Frequenly Asked Questions: (honestly nobody ever asked me this, just some questions i read here and there, and some i made up on my own).

0/ How should i distribute my stat points?

Other than the the Hybrid builds (which need to put Int into consideration).. You should put about enough Dex to meet the gears' requirement.. The rest of the points go to Str for more dmg since STR ALWAYS GIVE MORE DMG. OA and DA are much more efficiently acquired thru gears..

But if what you are looking for is just a generic guideline, 2:1 is your Golden Ratio for TQ Str : Dex

1/ Why do you put 1 point in Battle Rage and Triumph all the time, if they so good why dont you max them?

Battle Rage: Another 1-point-wonder. 1 point for the (chance) +50%OA is awesome, anymore points in there is worthless tho.

Triumph: Ppl say its bugged.. All the debuffs only apply to your standard.. Dont put any points in..

2/ Dodge Attack is THE best skill!! MAX IT ASAP!!

Yea, its decent and, all. But with a really high DA (1700+) you are virtually (almost) immortal to all melee mobs. Even 1400 is more than enuff for a good part of the game. Weapon dodge is really that good only when your DA is abysmally low. Anyway, if you are getting your butt skinned by melee mobs, add points in as you see fit.

3/ Warfare-ers are the "master of combat" they obviously deals the most dmg right? RIGHT?

I really wanna say yes, i do.. But no. Spear Hunters tends to hav higher DPS than other classes (even if you are a DW-er, yes). However, the trade off is that they hav little/no Crowd control. W good high-end gear, a DW-er can match, or even surpass Spear Hunters tho. TQ really do favor piercing dmg A LOT.

4/ No crowd ability? Pttfffff, so we are the most powerful melee class?

I would think yes, but the general opinion is that defense make a stronger melee mastery than Warfare. As they trade some offensive power for A LOT of extra defensive power. And they hav the gay Colossus form too. Still its Warfare for me, but hey, at least the majority's opinion does count for something, huh? .

5/ I dont hav enuff skill points!!

Prioritise and sacrifise. Try to make up to the difference by gear. Most build usually have enuff skill points tho, u just hav to plan them carefully.

6/ I hav too many skill points!! (low-blowed by guy number 5/)

this feel like a total rip-off from Felexitus' FAQ .. Anw just put your points anywhere, then if you arent happy, you can always buy them back from the Mystic (brilliant system by Ironlore tho).

7/ Do you recommend any item?

1stly, due to the low attack speed cap in TQ (and even lower cap on DW-ers, not by much tho), slower Weapons (think maces/axes/hammers.. and no, u cant dual-wield Spear, or Bow for that matter) are generally recommended for DW-ers. Uber powerful Legendary items includes Sapros the Corrupter, Thorny Maul, Scepter of the Shadowking, Iris, Coven Nex, etc. You will probably hav to farm a lot for them tho. Green items however can also be very powerful. Look for those w good affixes, and give them your best piece of Relic, they are VERY likely to out-damage even the strongest Legendary weapons.

As to the rest of the equips, there are too many, and each is impt for differnt builds. However, there are a few Modifers to focus on: +DA/%DA, pierce resistance (the rest aint as impt) %dmg/att speed/pierce dmg (no-brainer) % to dodge projectile (for some build this is more or less worthless, some others they are PURE GOLD) +HP (duh!) +skill (esp +all skills). While good green weapons tends to out-dmg the Legendary ones, its hard to find jewelries/armor that are better compared to their Legendary counterparts. There are, just VERY rare (refer to the Most Wanted Monster Infrequents for more information).. Some of the items, your chances are like 1 over 2.7 billions o.0.. Given that u farm the right monster.

8/ I love you! Can i hav your fone number?!

Im sorry but thats confidential. You can send me your picture 1st, and then i ll think about it. Dont be too hopeful tho

Lastly, i would like to mention again that those are just guidelines based on my own experience for new players to hav a general direction to look into. They are in no way set-in-stones or unchangable. The game dynamics lets the same class have many different builds. Many players (esp veteran players) may have their own way of playing that might be very different from what i posted. As long as you are contructive about it, your opinions are always welcomed.

[Batman]

You, sir, get a Sticky. Nice work.

[dyords]

great work man!

now i have a question, i have lots of swords in my vault (purples, blues, sabreteeth, etc.) and i wanna try dual wield. what would you suggest? or are swords not that good in TQ?

[aeoNemesis]

Nice Guide.

[SilentHawk]

Originally Posted by dyords

great work man!

now i have a question, i have lots of swords in my vault (purples, blues, sabreteeth, etc.) and i wanna try dual wield. what would you suggest? or are swords not that good in TQ?

Pick a sword with % damage bonus and % attack speed bonus. Then, for your other weapon, pick a high damaging mace or axe. A decent sword + thorny maul with blade honing up on assassin...mmm....

[ffreakk]

I think since swords hav fast-very fast attack speed.. Theres really no need to look for more attack speed, IMO. Sockets like "Legendary Peng Claw w 20% dmg bonus" is nice, esp on a good Sabertooth . And i totally agree w SilentHawk on the other hand holding a hard-hitter weapon (something like Veteran Stygian Scepter of Havoc is nice).

While i really do think that DW-ing two swords is a bad idea, holding just 1 swords does hav its merit. As it (to a large extent) takes care of the Attack speed problem, and let you focus all abt dmg on your gear and your skills (also means that you can take points off Ardor and put them else where if your att speed is capped).

@ SilentHawk: As far as i know, Blade Honing doesnt work w Thorny Maul.

PS: Hey, stickied! Awesome .

[SilentHawk]

I know it doesn't work with /just/ Thorny Maul. I thought it worked as long as you had at least one sword equipped though. =p Or does it work but only for the sword and not the mace?

[ffreakk]

I loaded up my assassin and did a test run on Rhodes beach (also to help the locals w the Crab disaster).

When i activated Blade Honing, the DPS count jumps considerably. However when i hit, the hits by Thorny Maul in particular doesnt jump at all in dmg.. So i s'pose the DPS board is again fooling you.. Blade Honing does not work w Thorny Maul.. If you are carrying a sword and the Maul, only the sword will get dmg boost.

[Argantes]

Originally Posted by ffreakk

Triumph: Ppl say its bugged.. As far as i can see it works well in my com. But since EVERYONE says it doesnt work, i ll take it as it is. 1 point is for the +%stun resistance (which still work well). Dont put point in if your stun resistance >100%.

AFAIK that stun resistance thing mentioned in Triumph is -50% debuff against enemies rather than buff to your own build

but otherwise ok, nice guide

[ffreakk]

Thx Argantes.. Wrote that at 3AM, mustnt be thinking too straight.. Fixed it.

Thx too for the compliments .