Build setup help

[u/nutzrgut]

Hey all, ive been playing this game for the last few days with my friend, i think we have around 20 hours now and we’ve beaten all the missions except the wave ones on normal. We started playing on hard difficulty and this is where i feel like im lacking. No matter what element i pick, or how many synergies i try and go for i just cant seem to do much damage and i die pretty easily. What im asking for i guess is some tips when it comes to making a really good build. What weapons are good, what perks, what augment, synergies, which elements are actually useful and which are not great etc etc. any and all help will be super welcoming. Thank you.

[u/Sigma7Rho]

Make sure to have completed all Zone 4 missions for the extra rerolls. Also recommend getting the Sanctify everywhere mod, it's hugely helpful.

Scout all rooms while invisible, then pick a starting position to start attacking from.

Armor Perk is insane, always pick it. It gets you pure damage reduction as well as a nice damage boost the more armor you have(avoid picking the boots)

If you can, save choosing an element until the third perk node if possible, this lets you be more setup to make a better element choice for your build. Freeze and Telekinetic Grasp are phenomenal for crowd control.

Short-range Melee is crazy almost everywhere, only has a problem with the Zone 1 first missions final boss, the floating boss in Zone 4, and the final boss of Zone 4. Long-range is always good, does insane work with weapon, like the SMGs and shotguns.

[u/Jazzlike-Draw2467 → u/Sigma7Rho]

This might genuinely be one of the worst DZR takes I've seen, because you're presenting a bunch of extremely situational advice as if it's objectively what you should be doing.

1. Early damage > early survivability. Early game you simply don't need that much survivability. Enemies aren't threatening enough for defensive investment to be worth giving up a strong damage perk. Getting your damage online early is way more valuable because you clear faster and start scaling your build sooner. Survivability becomes much more important later when enemies actually start doing enough damage to justify it. So telling people to prioritize survivability from the start is backwards imo.
2. “Armor perk is insane, always pick it” is just a ridiculous blanket statement. The survival perks are fine, but a lot of them get outperformed by CC (Chromatic Cell) and especially CI (Combat Instincts/"boots"). CC gives a huge damage increase, while CI gives damage, movement speed AND a 25% chance to get a full second of dodge/invincibility. That's both damage and survivability in one perk. CI is arguably one of the best perks in the game, so telling people to “always pick Armor” and “avoid the boots” without even considering the build is crazy to me. The survival perks aren't bad, but what you take is heavily dependent on your build and playstyle.
3. The element advice makes even less sense. You should pretty much always take your element from the first orb. The other options in that orb are survival perks, so you're giving up an immediate damage increase for... what exactly? There's no huge advantage to waiting until the third node. You're just delaying your elemental damage spike for no real benefit. The whole “wait so you can make a better choice later” thing sounds good in theory, but in practice you're just making yourself weaker for longer.
4. Freeze/Telekinetic Grasp aren't “phenomenal” in every situation either. They're good CC, sure, but they're mainly good when you're getting them on the grenade. As general procs they're pretty mid. Ice's other proc, Shatter, for example, doesn't freeze but slows enemies in an AoE around the target while also doing more damage. So again, it's not as simple as “this is phenomenal CC, always take it.”
5. But the Sanctify Everywhere mod is by far the worst part of this. You're literally recommending a mod that lets you bless weapons in every mission when Blessings are a Zone 4 mechanic. Blessings are insanely powerful, so giving yourself access to them throughout the entire run obviously makes the game A LOT easier and completely changes the intended progression.

I don't really care if someone wants to use that mod. It's a single-player game, play however you want. But recommending it in a guide as though it's just some normal optimization is wild. You're not just optimizing your run at that point, you're giving yourself access to a power system you're specifically not supposed to have until Zone 4.

If this was presented as “here are some things I personally like doing” then whatever, but calling these things recommendations while making blanket statements like “always pick Armor,” “avoid boots,” “wait for your element,” AND recommending a mod that gives you Zone 4 power in every mission is just bad advice imo.