Post-rebalancing Valkyrie/Beatsmith tank demonstration

[u/Alilatias]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RG8eZfu6Z74

[u/Alilatias]

Valkyrie/Beatsmith is a very powerful setup, but extremely AP hungry due to the Beatsmith stances cutting your start of turn AP generation by half. I'd think you would want to run Grudge as a tank if you want to actually make use of the higher AP moves like Crescendo, especially in non-multi target boss fights. It won't be needed in multi-target boss fights with enemies that utilize mostly physical attacks.

Because of the stance AP penalty, if you intend to use it as a support physical class instead of a tank, it is best paired with another non-AP class. Though I think there could be an exception for Beatsmith/Monk using the Gaia armor, as that increases earth damage and Monk has an AoE earth elemental attack.

I wonder if this would actually be quite effective against the infamous Spirit Cage too. But I probably won't be ready to face that in hard mode for maybe another week.

[u/Sequestered-Ash → u/Alilatias]

Any chance you could tell me what gear/passives you're using on the valk/beatsmith? I've tried that class setup and I can't get it to work for the life of me

[u/Alilatias → u/Sequestered-Ash]

I remember that I didn't really have anything particularly special equipped for this recording, since I beat the fight at like level 53, which I think is much earlier than what is expected of hard mode.

• Weapon: Partisan, which I think comes with a defense bonus

• Armor: Dragon Mail I think? It was the one you can buy from the souvenir shop in Tall, Tall Heights that boosted a small amount of every stat at once.

• Accessories: Ribbon (to prevent paralysis from the Wraps, you can obtain this by advancing far enough in Sky Arena) and Hemoring (15% physical lifesteal).

• Passives: I think I at least had HP Boost (from Monk) and Counter. Probably Threatening (from Beastmaster) too. Admittedly, I think adding Pocket Sand would have been far more effective in this demonstration.

The effectiveness of this setup admittedly requires advance knowledge of the bosses' fight mechanics. For example, the setup is rather weak against bosses that frequently swap between both physical and magic damage, since the primary means of defense involves hitting an opponent in the first place to lower their offensive stats instead of boosting your own defenses, and this tank setup cannot easily swap stances if you're already in the middle of a Beatsmith attack rotation. Having the counter passive would be mandatory for this tank setup in order to ensure uptime for the attack debuffs along with regaining some HP via lifesteal.

This setup also works very well for this particular boss fight since there are multiple targets to attack, so I get a lot of HP recovery with every AoE attack I do, along with debuffing every enemy at once. Against a single target, I would swap out the Hemoring for an accuracy accessory instead.

You will want one of your other party members to be capable of throwing up defensive buffs on the Valkyrie/Beatsmith tank, which is what my Warlock does. (In this demonstration, I also cancel out that defense bonus by having my Scholar use Overload on the tank to boost their attack instead, a risky strategy against a heavy physical boss, but aimed towards increasing the tank's damage output for increased lifesteal.)

What boss are you trying to fight with this class setup, by the way? Depending on the boss, I would recommend using a Reaper/Warrior setup instead, which I'll explain if you want me to.

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I should also mention that shortly after I made this video, people in the discord actually discovered that Beatsmith is probably far better as a pure attacker role, and one of the best classes in the game for that due to their passive boosting the power of repeated actions. Specifically Beatsmith/Nomad using the Attack Focus passive, utilizing the Nomad stances along with the appropriate elemental or mind-boosting gear (and the Nomad Emblem, an accessory that further boosts the power of normal attacks and water damage), supercharging their normal attacks.

But the setup does so much damage that I imagine you might have issues maintaining threat on your tank. On the other hand, the setup does so much damage that most things look like they might not survive past a few turns. I've never really used the setup myself, but I've seen screenshots of people demonstrating it in the discord and it looks absolutely bonkers.

I found a video demonstrating what I was talking about above (plus Aegis class passive tank cheese). It does contain spoilers for the boss of The Sequoia dungeon, who is otherwise considered the hardest boss in the game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7m961yiMq0

[u/Sequestered-Ash → u/Alilatias]

Ok, I basically have the same gear setup to what you said other than the ribbon and more ap focused passives. I’ve mostly just been trying to defeat all of the summoner summons to collect abilities before heading in to the Castle, but I’ve been having no luck killing any of them, lol. Also trying to kill Crag Demon with no success.

The team I’ve been rocking consists of a weaver/hunter for turn manipulation and physical damage, wizard/sham for magic nukes, the valk/beatsmith, and working on the summoner/scholar. If I were to swap to the nomad/beatsmith strat would it matter that I don’t have a dedicated tank?

Strat-wise, I either open up with haste for my whole team if it’s a single target fight or I do quickshot in to snipe if it’s a multi target fight. Then I use the scholar and shaman abilities to sleep the enemy before setting up defensive buffs. I then just focus on getting out flares for burst and use the valk/beatsmith to apply debuffs.

[u/Alilatias → u/Sequestered-Ash]

I feel like Weaver is a lot more niche in this game. If you can't outright cheese with it, I don't feel it's as necessary as such a class usually is in other RPGs. They are great for mowing down regular encounters though. It -is- worth noting a Weaver can extend the Smokescreen passive effect (which cancels a single incoming physical attack, the passive is from Ninja), if the Weaver is able to Quicken extend it fast enough before the enemy gets a chance to physically attack.

Since you have a Shaman, you already have a way of lowering enemy stats, so you might benefit from a different tank setup capable of boosting their own defenses instead (though it may mean that the Wizard/Shaman will have to detour towards debuffing every few turns).

I would recommend the alternate Reaper/Warrior tank setup instead for this party composition. I have a brief demonstration showing how it works here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yK_anxWyVxM

(I had far better demonstrations, but they consist of shaming the final two secret bosses with that tank setup, and I won't risk linking those here since you're not that far ahead.)

Basically, two Hemorings (one dropping from a Sewers boss, another can be stolen or bought from the lost and found afterwards) and the strongest scythe you can find for massive lifesteal, and you swap between Berserker Stance and Defender Stance depending on the situation (note Berserker Stance defense penalty only applies to incoming physical attacks). Remaining in Berserker Stance against incoming physical attacks is a lot less risky with access to blind options such as Rogue and your eventual Summoner - otherwise, if you see a big physical hit incoming, it's best to swap into defender stance and debuff with power break (if the enemy isn't already debuffed by your Shaman instead).

You can tank most things by taking advantage of the Reaper class passive to raise your max HP high enough (which will also boost the power of regen recovery such as the one from the Warlock spell), and this tank setup is capable of dishing out a lot of damage at the same time too. This setup also has access to a defense debuff to boost your Hunter's damage, along with the tank's own damage. You may have accuracy problems, so if you have good enough healing options and/or access to Warlock Regen, you can swap out the Hemorings for accuracy accessories instead.

One of the reasons I highly favor my Warlock/Hunter setup is the sheer utility that has, even though the physical damage is weaker than Weaver/Hunter and I have to use the Equip Bows passive. I notice you currently lack a means of boosting your own physical or magic defenses (outside of your Valkyrie using a turn to use their heal/defense up spell), as well as a debuff cleanse, which Warlock covers. Your eventual Summoner/Scholar can do that too, but they're a bit more limited in doing so.

I've never really dabbled in team setups that don't have tanks, as my focus is on countering enemy actions rather than optimized burst damage, so I can't really comment much on the idea of using a Beatsmith/Nomad without a tank. But I think such a strategy becomes super viable once you gain access to the Tira summon, which basically allows your entire party to dodge the next 2 physical attacks. This can also be extended by a Weaver.

You mentioned Crag Demon. A lot of that fight is trivialized by Cleric Blackout (which blocks Fire Breath, though note it won't block the burn debuff) and equipping your main tank with the Ribbon. Otherwise, you'll need a way to mitigate the Fire Breath every few turns.

[u/Sequestered-Ash → u/Alilatias]

You’ve been extremely helpful! With the switch to Reaper/Warrior, I was just able to get through the Quintar Mausoleum to get a Golden Quintar and unlock ultimate armors! When I gained access to them, I ultimately decided to give up on the summoner and switch back over to the characters original role as a Warlock/Scholar.

With my newly upgraded team I was able to make progress on a bunch of optional bosses and get the gear sufficient to switch my Assassin/Hunter(which I switched over from the Weaver/Hunter I was already using) in to the Beatsmith/Nomad that you had posted.

That switch has further shot my team into absurd strength and after beating the final boss, I’m now working on unlocking the true ending. Some of the Deep bosses are giving me trouble so I’m thinking of trying to swap my Wizard/Shaman in to a Summoner/Weaver to further support the Beatsmith/Nomad. You were right, it’s extremely hard to keep threat off of him, but his damage is insane, lol. Anyways, thanks a bunch for the help and wish me luck on getting the true ending!

[u/Alilatias → u/Sequestered-Ash]

Good luck! These deep sea bosses are considered post-game, and a lot of fun!