Excal Build Assistance

[GorgonKain]

http://goo.gl/R32ozI

 

This is what I have right now. (Link is to warframe builder). I am playing up the direct melee combat rather then the waves, sliding in, blinding, then attacking for finisher damage. 

 

I am wondering what people think of this. Is it viable endgame? How could it be improved? Will the -32% Power Duration make a significant impact on the Exalted Blade slide blind? How much does Power Strength really effect my damage, and is it noticeable with the finisher bonus?

 

Also I would really like to know if using a "Longsword" type weapon increases EB's attack speed. I have seen this posted a few places, but can not confirm it. 

 

All help is much appreciated!

[SwiftPotato12]

When you slide, the blinding effect does nothing for finishers. It blinds them, yes, but has no effect aside from that.

 

I would advise against negative with anything, especially duration, but 32% isnt too big of a difference. Its preference really. For the play style it sounds like you are going for, I would try to get some positive duration if not no negative duration at all. Power strength makes a noticeable difference, but I would recommend using channeling/finisher built melee weapons.

 

The Longsword type does extra damage with EB AFAIK, but it may be attack speed, or both.

Seeing as melee mods effect EB and not base stats, any weapon can be used really. Pick one you like, mod it up, and use it.

 

Personally, I run a balanced excal with a channeling Dragon Nikana(Can't wait to get Nikana Prime as a replacement). I've not gotten around to testing the new shadow of debt mods, so I'm not entirely sure how that would work as of right now.

 

Builds:

Excalibur: http://goo.gl/HP6Rhn     This is a build I threw together off the top of my head. You have no negatives, QT and rage core, decent energy with primed flow(replace with regular flow if you don't have primed), and radiant finish for the finisher damage. I'll get my actual in game build and upload a screenshot of it later.

 

Dragon Nikana: http://goo.gl/NK98eH    My melee build is far from optimal, and I encourage you to find a better one >.> Life strike is used for sustainability. Get hit with QT and Rage on the build, you won't die(most of the time) and you'll gain energy. If done right, you gain 2-3x what you spend on life strike.

 

 

Hope this helps!

Edited February 17, 2016 by SwiftPotato12

[GorgonKain]

When you slide, the blinding effect does nothing for finishers. It blinds them, yes, but has no effect aside from that.

 

I was under the impression that blinded enemies took stealth and finisher damage, and exalted blade was considered a finisher. 

So this only applies when Radial Blind is used?

Edited February 17, 2016 by GorgonKain

[Dawn11715]

I was under the impression that blinded enemies took stealth and finisher damage, and exalted blade was considered a finisher. 

So this only applies when Radial Blind is used?

 

they still take more melee damage from my experience (like they always do, then they dont see you) , you just cant perform finishers.

[S0V3REiGN]

Have you tried him without flow? I feel that mod is overrated including the primed version outside of a select few builds. Max effeciancy will always be king and with a rage already on your build I can't see how you can run into energy issues. I think you can slide a (p) continuity in that slot or you could run a 4/5 fleeting and streamline for +75% effeciancy giving you +10% more duration back.

[Acebaur]

Yes with some tweaks it could be endgame viable. Ok well first duration is still important because of EB which is affected by both Efficiency and duration. I'd drop Radiant Finish, it's overkill and you are better off having more efficiency in the form of streamline in there because using Radial Blind on high level enemies will still allow you to one or two shot them anyway.  If you have a Primed Continuity then use that instead of Constitution but if not that's fine. 

 

Next dump Flow, it's a crutch and you don't need it. I get by just fine without it and just having Rage to refill my power. Instead slot in more power in the form of Transient Fortitude. Even with all the extra negative duration you should still be at around .63 EB drain per second. 

 

Finally get Handspring instead of Power Drift. Getting knocked down can mean death for Excal so it's important to be able to recover quickly enough to stay alive.  

 

As for the weapon, EB is considered it's own weapon and it takes nothing from the weapon you are using except the mods. So it's a longsword and you'll always have that bonus.  You'll want to make sure you have Life strike on your melee as you'll die a lot without it. Unranked is perfectly fine to get you to full health in one swing. Other than that you'll want Pressure point, Spoiled Strike, Beserker and then mod the elements for the factions. And you should be good to go

Edited February 17, 2016 by Acebaur

[bad4youLT]

get rid of steel fiber , I done some testing my self , and I found out what ridirection and QT are more usefull when it comes to survivability

[SwiftPotato12]

I was under the impression that blinded enemies took stealth and finisher damage, and exalted blade was considered a finisher. 

So this only applies when Radial Blind is used?

They still take damage, but no bonus damage (I.E Finisher damage. Stealth is only if you are invisible or undetected, which is finicky as all hell with radiant finish. Arcanes are real nice for that)

Edited February 17, 2016 by SwiftPotato12

[.Tabris]

Hi GorgonKain,

 

 

The build you shared is pretty much an 'end game' one (if such a thing even exist, but anyways)

 

 

First things first: the sliding build gets the Stealth 4x multiplier, but no the finisher stats (notice how we don't do the finishing animation on slide blind?). The normal Radial Blind #2 power gets the finisher bonus and the Augment Bonus.

 

 

That said, power mods affect Exalted Blade all the way, same as general damage mods from the melee weapon, and the Steel Charge Aura.

 

 

There's also the built in passive combo: Exalted Blade is a one-handed long sword, so it actually does 275 base damage (250 + 10%). *no mods, of course

As for the build: I personally run with a Streamline instead of Flow, both for the efficiency and for the duration (I've never done the proper math, but it's like the "effective health" gained from armor mods, only with Energy cost ((did that make any sense, lol))).

 

 

Radiant Finish is a great mod, but works better if you are actually killing them off after the #2 RB, not the slide, so I use Transient Fortitude instead.

 

 

Well, hope I helped ;)

 

*oh, forgot to mention, none of this matter without the proper melee weapon build (yes, you need Life Strike)

Edited February 17, 2016 by .Zefir

[GorgonKain]

http://goo.gl/R2rnQK

 

Mkay, this is what I am looking at now. Thanks everyone for the great advice and responses! 

 

 

get rid of steel fiber , I done some testing my self , and I found out what ridirection and QT are more usefull when it comes to survivability

 

Individually or combined, because I just don't see the slots for both. Also, it seems like I don't do a ton of blocking, I am swinging too much for the toggle to matter.

 

Edit: I finally found the the 10% Damage Buff and Attack Speed buff information. It is an Excal passive for all Sword type weapons, including Exalted Blade, but is not affected by the actual weapon you are using. As mentioned above, EB is considered a seperate weapon entirely. 

Edited February 17, 2016 by GorgonKain

[Acebaur]

Looks solid!  Happy hunting ;)