Outward Battle Skald Build (Frost)

Outward Battle Skald Build

Relatively easy to get early on in the game, the Battle Skald is all about weaving heavy hitting Frost spells into the fray between your melee dancing. It also has the hardest hitting melee potential out of all the builds, which really helps cement the whole ‘Spellblade-esque’ playstyle rather solidly.

Faction: Blue Chamber (required for Crimson Plate Armor and Crimson Plate Boots, as well as a faction reward that increases your health by 40 for successfully negotiating with the Giants)

Recommended Attribute Distribution

• Health: 80
• Stamina: 80
• Mana: 80

The above can be achieved by investing 4 points into Mana when prompted to at Conflux Mountain.

After picking up the Warrior Monk’s breakthrough and both the Blue Chamber’s Peacekeeper Elixir and 40 bonus health, head back to the Conflux Mountain and invest a further 6 more points (for 10 points invested total) into Mana, for a final result of:

• Health: 150
• Stamina: 125
• Mana: 220

Core Skills

Breakthrough skills trees and the skill itself will be bolded, and I will list the skill trainers in rough order of convenience – I group skill trainers by area, so if you are following this build step by step, also check out the ‘Equipment’ section in order to find what you need to buy from these areas.

Kazite Spellblade (Cierzo, Chersonese):

• Fitness (50 silvers)
• Spellblade Awakening (500 silvers)
• Infuse Frost (600 silvers)
• Elemental Discharge (600 silvers)

First Watcher (Conflux Mountain, Chersonese):

• Reveal Soul – you have no use for Sigil of Fire, so pick this when prompted. This combined with Spark refills your Mana tank really quickly.

Second Watcher (Conflux Mountain, Chersonese):

• Cool (50 silvers) – this is only necessary after you picked up either (or both of) Infuse Frost and Sigil of Ice, but if you want to save yourself a return trip, you should pick up the skill now.

Shaman (Cabal of Wind Tower, Chersonese):

• Mana Push (50 silvers) – may as well pick this up while you’re still in Chersonese, and it’s cheap. It’s a bit of a pain to get to though, due to it being locked behind the Ghost Pass, so feel free to skip this and come back after you’ve acquired the Sigil of Ice.

Philosopher (Monsoon, Hallowed Marsh):

• Mana Ward (50 silvers)
• Leyline Connection (500 silvers)
• Sigil of Ice (600 silvers)

Warrior Monk (Monsoon, Hallowed Marsh):

• Focus (50 silvers)
• Brace (50 silvers)
• Steadfast Ascetic (500 silvers)
• Perfect Strike or Master of Motions (600 silvers) – both are really good, personal preference.
• Flash Onslaught or Counterstrike (600 silvers) – same here, both are great, personal preference.

Wild Hunter (Berg, Enmerkar Forest):

• Enrage (50 silvers)

Mercenary (Levant, Abrassar):

• Armor Training (100 silvers) – I know it’s a bit of a travel just to pick up one passive, but seriously, buy this.

Supplementary Skills

Wandering Mercenary (Fang & Claw’s Inn, Monsoon, Hallowed Marsh:

• Moon Swipe (50 silvers) – Halberds / Staves only. You probably don’t need more AoE, but if you feel like you do, this is a really solid pick up for it.

Alternative Breakthrough Skills

Instead of going into Warrior Monk, you can opt to abandon that tree entirely and invest into either Mercenary or Rune Sage instead. Investing in Rune Sage actually provides less overall Mana (40 Stamina is converted into 80 total Mana, and you have an abundance of Health so no worries there).

Rune Sage (Berg, Enmerkar Forest):

• Rune: Dez (50 silvers) – Blue
• Rune: Egoth (50 silvers) – Purple
• Well of Mana (500 silvers)
• Arcane Syntax (600 silvers)
• Internalized Lexicon (600 silvers) – only if you are plan to use the Rotwood Staff, or if you want to free up your Off Hand slot.

Rune Sage provides:

• 40 mana less mana overall
• Runic Protection buff (improved with Runic Prefix, locked behind breakthrough)
• Runic Heal (consumes Runic Protection, big burst heal)

Mercenary provides:

• 10% movement speed increase
• 40% reduction to stamina costs for sprinting
• 2 free quick slots (skills / consumables)

It’s really personal preference.

Equipment

Helmet: White Priest Mitre (bought from Laine the Alchemist in Monsoon, Hallowed Marsh)
Armor: Crimson Plate Armor (follow and join the Blue Chamber faction quest line)
Boots: Crimson Plate Boots (follow and join the Blue Chamber faction quest line)

Backpack: Light Mender’s Backpack (quest acquired at Spire of Light, Hallowed Marsh)
Tent: Mage Tent (bought from Shopkeeper Suul in Levant, Abrassar)
Food: Pot-au-Dey du Pirate (3x Fish, Salt) or Ocean Fricassee (Larva Egg, Fish, Seaweed)

We use everything we can to gain bonus Frost damage. The Wide Blue Hat might be better, as it offers 10 less damage in exchange for an additional 20% mana cost reduction (that’s good), but it looks silly in my opinion.

The backpack can be tricky to get if you’re just starting out, so feel free to pass it up until you’ve got some passable gear and more confidence with the combat system. Now, onto weapon choices.

Weapon 1: Skycrown Mace (Face of the Ancients, Enmerkar Forest) + Light Mender’s Lexicon (Voltaic Hatchery, Chersonese)

This is what you see equipped in the first screenshot above. Not too difficult to get early on, heaps of melee damage while still giving you the capacity to repeatedly blast enemies with your Frost spells.

Weapon 2: Rotwood Staff (Necropolis, Berg, Enmerkar Forest)

You need to have the Compasswood Staff first in order to acquire the Rotwood Staff. The Compasswood Staff can be claimed by killing the golem boss in The Walled Garden, Abrassar. The Necropolis can be found inside the city of Berg – head up the stairs in Berg that will bring you to a door past a big fountain to enter the Blue Chamber, and once inside, head past the large central platforms to access the stairs behind it. Follow it down / drop down from the center platform to find the entrance to the Necropolis.

This gives up melee power for even more Frost damage on your spells, and has the highest mana reduction of all the different set ups for more blasting goodness. Moon Swipe is also a good addition to the build (quick slot it in place of one of the potions).

Weapon 3: Brand (pieces scattered in every zone) + Light Mender’s Lexicon (Voltaic Hatchery, Chersonese)

Not as hard hitting as the Skycrown Mace, even after factoring in both the Chill and Pain debuffs built into the weapon, but it’s still a valid option as it makes your Frost spell hits the hardest after applying the Chill debuff on enemies. Plenty of guides out there on how to get the weapon if you fancy it.

Combat Buffs

Buffs in general aren’t necessary to any build, but they’re a nice boost in power if you’re expecting a particularly tough or risky fight.

We’re going to be running 3 Boons (all boons last a base of 240 seconds, or 4 minutes) and one casted buff (180 seconds).

Boons:

• Discipline (Focus skill, blocking with the Brace skill, Discipline Potions)
• Rage (Enrage skill, Rage Potions)
• Cool (Cool skill, Cool Potions)

Spell Buffs:

• Infuse Frost (remember, this consumes your Cool boon, so make sure to reapply it after!)

I’d recommend keeping a few Cool Potions (Clean Water + Gravel Beetle) on hand because of how easy they are to make and how often you eat through them.