Build:Vampiric Axeman

Vampiric Axeman is a Character Build in Outward, created by OracleOfRune.

Summary

Vampiric Axeman
Abuse the power of Lifesteal combined with the Pain status and a massive amount of physical damage bonuses to dish out significant damage, all while you rapidly recover from your own wounds.
Breakthroughs			Required Faction
Equipment
Weapon	Off-Hand	Head	Body	Boots	Backpack
Whiplash	Guided Arm	Aegis	Assassin	Assassin

Quickslots
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8

Full Build Details

Legacy

Gotta play the game before you can play the game. This isn't strictly necessary, but you won't be very tanky if you use normal Kazite armor.

• (for the meme) Iron Knuckles (Unsuspected Strength: light incense [NC NF WF EF])
  (Note: Legacy Oni Mask is objectively better, but I like the look of Zagis' Mask. Fashion over function.)
• Kazite Armor
• Kazite Boots
• Bird Egg (friend)

Starting the Build

The core foundations of this build can all be gathered, crafted and purchased at the very beginning of the game.

Visit Burac as soon as you can with a Backpack, Waterskin and an equipped pair of Cloth Knuckles. He will teach you the Enrage skill. After that, you can ditch the fist weapons (for now anyways, thanks to legacy).

Fortunately the weapon that will be used for your entire play through can be obtained right away... kind of. Iron weapons are incredibly easy to find. However, the materials necessary to enchant them are a little more difficult to gather. But, much like Horror weapons, it is possible to find everything you need to get a Vampiric weapon started in Chersonese if you know where to look. To find out how to make them, see Creating Vampiric Weapons below.

Be sure to visit Eto and his training partner Oda after you get some cash, to learn their passive and weapon skills.

Any shield will come in handy. A Plank Shield can be found on the docks in Cierzo. One notable early upgrade is the Mushroom Shield sought after by a certain quest-giver in Cierzo. You can always deliver it to her after making good use of it.

Finally, Ammolite Armor is a fantastic early goal. The blueprints can be found in Cierzo, and gathering the materials makes for a perfect excuse to finally leave the comfort afforded by the town walls. Not only that, it also offers a nice bit of bonus damage on top of serviceable defensive stats.

Important Choices

• Two points of Mana minimum, four points maximum (I prefer two. Note that the passive skill Peacemaker will add an additional point's worth of mana)
• Warrior Monk (Master of Motion, Counterstrike)
• Cabal Hermit (Infuse Wind)
• Speedster (Anticipation)
• Join Levant (for Alchemical Experiment, Kirouac's Breakthrough, Zagis' gear)
• Specialist (Brawns) (Co-op only, since you can only access the Weapon Master or the Specialist, not both)

Additional Skills

Active

• Mana Push
• Spark
• Reveal Soul
• Conjure
• Rune: Dez (for Runic Protection)
• Rune: Egoth (for Runic Protection)
• Prime
• Moment of Truth
• Pommel Counter
• Simeon's Gambit
• Vicious Cycle
• Infuse Wind
• Call to Elements
• Blessed Boon
• Cool Boon
• Enrage
• Focus
• Mist Boon
• Possessed Boon
• Warm Boon
• Push Kick
• Fire and Reload
• Throw Lantern
• Dagger Slash

Passive

• Armor Training
• Efficiency
• Fast Maintenance
• Fitness
• Metabolic Purge
• Miasmic Tolerance
• Slow Metabolism
• Steady Arm
• Weather Tolerance

Combat

Vampiric weapons are slow. Start with Infuse Wind and Enrage to increase attack speed and Impact damage. Initiate by inflicting Pain and Confusion using Talus Cleaver, Probe and/or Shield Charge. From there, possible options include: Brace and Counterstrike to exploit an enemy's aggression, kicks and Shield Charge to quickly inflict Impact damage then combo basic attacks or use Scalp Collector (when you finally unlock it), Prime and Unerring Read to manipulate Alertness levels if necessary for Probe, on top of their usual effects. Try to end the fight with Scalp Collector. If you can land the killing blow on an enemy with this skill, you receive a nice buff for doing so. If not, they bleed. Win-Win.

Useful Skill Combinations

Skill Combo >	You can maximize your Infuse Wind uptime with Prime. This has the added benefit of dropping Alertness by two, granting easy access to Pain and Confusion via Probe between fights.
Skill Combo >	Runic Protection is very good, if not mildly inconvenient to use because it requires you to swap equipped items. It is worth it though.
Skill Combo >	Mana Spark lets you use a soul to recover half of your mana.
Skill Combo >	Summoned Ghost lets you recruit a soul as a temporary ally in combat.

Beds, Buffs and Consumables

Sleep is important. Highly recommend Calygrey Bone Cage or Luxury Tent if you can't sleep in your own home.

Be sure to seek out, craft and use consumables that grant the following important buffs. It isn't necessary to fully load up on effects for every random bozo or schmuck you encounter. Try to save a full set or two of buffs for particularly threatening foes.

General Use and Exploration

• Health Recovery
• Stamina Recovery
• Energized
• Speed Up

Offensive Effects

• Discipline (Also granted by Brace and Focus)
• Rage (Also granted by Enrage)
• Impact Up
• Physical Attack Up

Defensive Effects

• Barrier (Effect)
• Elemental Resistance
• Impact Resistance Up
• Protection (Effect)

Creating Vampiric Weapons

• Enchant an iron weapon with Thirst: ice incense, [NC WC EC SC]
• When it is Quenched, bring it to a Blood Altar in the Antique Plateau
• Enchant it with Whiplash: (ether incense, [NC WF EF SC])
• Poltergeist: (ether incense, upgraded [WF EC], at Ghost Pass) is an enchantment that may be useful for secondary weapons, rather than Whiplash

Other Weapon Options

Some secondary weapons to mix things up or to keep in your pockets as a backup for when your primary weapon breaks.

• Lexicon (Fechtbuch)
  If you have enough room in your backpack or pockets for your shield, it might be worth swapping to the enchanted Lexicon for the massive damage bonus. Unfortunately, the enchantment isn't available until the endgame. It's worth keeping one around regardless because you can use it to cast Runic Protection.
• Cage Pistol
  I haven't really mentioned Pistols at all until this point because, like Runic Protection, pistols might be a bit of a burden. If you find that you are able to quickly swap away from and back to your shield before the enemy can engage, consider shooting your enemy with a gun to initiate combat. The Heroic Kingdom will kindly provide you with pistol upgrades as you progress in the faction and as you work your way towards crafting the Cage Pistol. This particular pistol is likely the only way that you will be able to inflict the Weaken and Sapped debuffs without sacrificing another portion of the build.
• 2h Sword (Vampiric or Zagis' Saw (Crumbling Anger: decay incense, upgraded [WC WF EC], at Face of the Ancients))
  Moment of Truth is great for healing with the Vampiric Greatsword. Pommel Counter means Zagis' Saw can inflict Pain and Confusion without using Probe.
• Spear (Vampiric or Tsar (Whiplash: see above))
  I just like spears. The spacing-oriented playstyle offered by this weapon type is unique among weapon types. Simeon's Gambit and Vicious Cycle are fun too.

Why these weapons? What about those weapons?

Frankly, any Vampiric weapon works, and works well. However, I've chosen to direct a spotlight towards the axe, spear and greatsword. To illustrate why, I'll briefly talk about a few other options.

• Vampiric Greataxe: This weapon is a beast, and the subject of the most difficult decision you must make. As a greataxe it has the most damaging moveset in the game, rivaled only by one-handed axes. Therefore it directly competes for the position of primary weapon in this build. In my opinion, weapon skills are the deciding factor in this contest. Warrior's Vein competes with Counterstrike (but you can use both at once, so not really) and Scalp Collector; it is faster than Counterstrike and applies Extreme Bleeding to you and your enemy both. Talus Cleaver enables you to inflict more damage via Pain; Execution hits the enemy hard when they are down. If you choose to use this weapon, you do not need the Vampiric Axe or the Inner Marble Shield, and you will need to apply Pain and Confusion with Probe.
• Vampiric Halberd: This weapon directly competes with the Vampiric Greatsword for the same niche. The halberd exchanges damage and impact in favor of faster attack speed. They both have wide-sweeping normal attacks, special attack combos that reposition the user and neutral specials that attack quickly and step away. Once again, I believe weapon skills are the deciding factor. Frankly, I've never had much success with Splitter. If you choose to use this weapon, you do not need the Vampiric Greatsword.
• Vampiric Sword: This weapon and the Vampiric axe are two sides of the same coin. They are both fast. They both have weapon skills that inflict the Pain status. Swords have The Technique, a weapon skill that attacks many times in quick succession. Axes have special attacks that attack many times in quick succession. If you choose to use this weapon, you do not need the Vampiric Axe.

See Also

• Character Builds