Hexbow
Busted Builds: The Hexbow
We return to our build discussions today with a concept that has always fascinated me with the Crestfallen system- the skilled archer archetype. In my mind I see a Green Arrow-esque character who has an arrow for every situation. This build, while in future CP gaining could become a damage focused character instead relies on status infliction to debilitate it’s foes rather than outright damage. While this build is intended to be a starting character of 60 CP I will include my thoughts on progression past that point.
To begin, we start with the Elven Lineage for two reasons- they are able to buy the Ranged Weapon Bow skill cheaper, and they begin with Innate Energy granting them 2 energy and spells to go along with it. I will outline my suggested spells later in the build. Our CP spend at this point is 3.
For our first foray into a category we will be spending the CP to unlock the Group Combat Skill Category, which is where the bulk of our skills will be coming from. From this category we will be picking up the skills Hamstring, Stagger, and Waylay.
Hamstring allows us for the cost of 1 stamina to be able to fire 3 attacks for “Hamstring slow” which causes the target to be unable to run and double all counted action counts. Stagger allows us for the cost of 2 stamina to be able to fire 3 attacks for “Stagger daze” which causes the target to be unable to notice or remember anything around them for 5 minutes, forgetting everything that happened in that time period if left unattacked or uncured for the full duration. And finally, Waylay allows us for the cost of 2 stamina to be able to fire 3 attacks for “Waylay sleep” which will incapacitate a target until battle end or the condition is removed.
With these 3 skills our build has gained the tools to slow enemy fighters, possibly keeping them from delivering a killing blow to an ally by doubling their action count, giving us a tool to temporarily stun a target to sneak by them without their remembering we were even there, and the ability to take a high priority target out of the fight indefinitely. At this point in our build we have spent an additiona 35 CP for a total of 38 CP spent.
At this point the build really stands on it’s own, but can use a bit of fluffing for more utilization. We move into Magical Combat at a cost of 10 CP and purchase 3 uses of Energy, giving us 3 more energy and 3 more basic spells known. This increases our CP total to 54 with the 16 Cp spent. From here I round out the build with 3 purchases of Stamina from the General Skill Category to round us out to our 60 Cp.
This rounds our Hexbow out at 5 Energy and 8 Stamina, which allows for a creative use of our abilities as needed, either slowing an entire group of 8 enemies, taking 4 targets out of combat entirely, dazing their way past a group and leaving them to forget they were ever there, or a mix of all 3.
My suggestion for the basic spells learned for the build are as follows:
Weakness/Remove Weakness: This halves the damage being dealt by a target to be halved until removed. Note that this reads all damage and is particularly useful against spellcasters or creatures with elemental packet attacks.
Sleep/Remove Sleep: What can I say, the Sleep condition is so strong when played correctly, you want as many ways to use it as you can. Equally if there are goblins running around this helps you protect your team from THEIR Waylay attacks, which makes this spell a must for the build.
From here I finish out my version of the build with Entangle Foot, Entangle Arms, and Entangle Body and their respective removal spells. Each of these cause the target to be unable to use the target limb, pinning them to the spot with Entangle Foot or Entangle Body, and they last until removed. I like the control this gives us along with the ability to remove them from ourselves and our allies, rounding out the crowd control options we have as a support fighter.
This leaves us all with a versatile support fighter that can afflict enemies at range, with enough character resources to keep themselves useful through multiple encounters without too much downtime.
The spells are merely my suggestions and a player may wish to pick up more useful support spells such as Silence or Hex, however I feel these spells could be saved for future learnings or spells learned in-game.
Future additions to the build I could see focusing more on the group combat aspect, becoming a long range aid to the rest of the fighters by firing more damage at targets engaged in combat already, or perhaps picking up a the healing magic specialization to better support your allies.
My personal path to advancing this build would be our Spell Creation system. I would focus on creating more unique spells to bolster our support abilities. One such idea would be a Repel Arrow spell- a spell that allows the “Arrow” fired from an attack to act as the item center for the Repel condition.
What do you think? Is this build busted? Let us know at an upcoming Discord Hangout or just stop in and tell us so!