Updated 2018/11/22

Frantic Sword Assault Shield Corrosive Cloud Corrosive Cloud

[Velocity/YOLO] Instinct of the Master of Arms [Masochist/Emergency Triage]

• Tactics build
• If using Masochist, run into traps on purpose in the clock tower and castle for a speed boost.
• Before starting HotK, swap Velocity to Emergency Triage if you don't already have it.
• Try to be under 50% health when a boss fight starts for immediate consistent crits
• You can try not picking up off stat scrolls in order to trigger the oneshot protection and immediately using Emergency Triage for an easy setup for under 50% health.
• Replace Velocity with something before HotK if we think of something

Pros: multiple speed boost synergies, consistent crits, high dps Cons: high risk, high skill requirement

Spiteful Sword Assault Shield [Knife Dance/Infantry Grenade] [Knife Dance/Infantry Grenade]

[Velocity/Tainted Flask] Instinct of the Master of Arms Vengeance

• Brutality build
• Requires a minimum amount of hp so some off-stat scrolls are required
• Knife Dance is stronger and will be the only Misc item in a shop, but gives Tactics sometimes. Infantry Grenade is consistently gives Brutality and is spammable, but is weaker overall and is not the only Grenade item in a shop.
• Block (don't parry) the first attack the boss to trigger Spiteful Sword crits and Vengeance damage bonus. Continue to facetank damage to maintain the buffs while attacking to recover your health via the rally effect.
• Before starting HotK, swap Velocity to Tainted Flask for more dps
• Use the Tainted Flask at the start of the fight and during Elite phases for the best uptime on it.

Pros: somewhat consistent crits, high dps, low skill requirement Cons: RNG reliance for both Knife Dance to give enough Brutality

Pyrotechnics Assault Shield Wolf Trap Corrosive Cloud

[Velocity/YOLO/Tranquility] Instinct of the Master of Arms [Masochist/Emergency Triage]

• Tactics build
• Roll for oil on wolf traps to trigger Pyrotechnics' crits
• If using Masochist, run into traps on purpose in the clock tower and castle for a speed boost.
• Before starting HotK, swap Masochist to Emergency Triage and Velocity to Tranquility.
• Try to stay away from the HotK to trigger the damage boost from Tranquility

Pros: Ranged, high dps Cons: Wolf Trap and Corrosive Cloud do not come from the same skill category in shops

Something to note for the stiletto/knife dance build is you can swap velocity for emergency triage right before hotk for extra survivability. This build is the one I’m keeping the closest eye on.

After trying the Sadist's Stiletto build, I found that it performs much worse than expected. It's usually not possible to get enough cdr from crits to refresh your Knife Dances on time when the Concierge roars or the Time Keeper runs away from you too often. It's still decent, but don't expect 100% uptime on crits.