Veteran
52.5-60% Weak Spot Damage (Enemies with Bleed Stacks).
12-24% Rending on Enemy Weak Spot Hit for 3.5s. Stacks 5 times.
30-60% Rending on Critical Hit.
10% Critical Chance for every 0.3-0.45 second while aiming. Stacks 10 times. Discharges all stacks upon firing.
Trying to make a thematic and viable build that doesn't rely on Dueling Sword/Plasma meta. No judgements if those two are your favs, as Revolver and Combat Blade are also top of the heap weapons. Caveat that everything is my opinion, I don't purport to be a top tier player, just have fun, yada yada yada.
Combat Blade --
I prefer the MKIII but use whichever you prefer. The Vet talent Serrated Blade applies bleed on all melee hits and thus synergizes amazingly with the Mercy Killer blessing. Add in the Precision Strikes talent and you're doing 90% additional weakspot damage. Uncanny Strike is a must, the idea being you keep full uptime at 5 stacks then quickly switch to the Revolver (proccing Agile Engagement) to one shot even Crushers on Damnation difficulty with Focus Target. I typically pick Maniac and Flak for my perks, but those are definitely not set in stone. Mobility as the dump stat given it doesn't change maximum dodge count and the difference in sprint speed and dodge distance is negligible.
Other options for melee are any weapon with Uncanny Strike in the blessing pool (Shovel/Dueling Sword). Just swap out the Serrated Blade talent for something else like Field Improvisation.
Zarona Revolver --
The pocket sniper. With the Deadshot talent and the Surgical blessing, every shot should crit, proccing the Hand-Cannon blessing. Stacking Hand-Cannon with Uncanny Strike stacks will mean all armor becomes tissue paper. As mentioned above, Agile Engagement will also reward an additional 25% damage (on top of all the other amazing Vet damage buff talents). I like Carapace and Flak for my perks as IMO those are the vast majority of enemies you'll be picking off with ranged. Mobility as the dump stat as you'll have the combat blade out 90% of the time.
Curios --
Two toughness and one stamina is my default set up. That said, it's all personal preference.
Grenade --
I prefer Kraks for bosses and Bulwark packs but use what you prefer. Given I pick talents in each tree below the grenades, any can be selected without impacting the build.
Aura --
I GREATLY prefer Survivalist (so will your teammates). That said, just like the grenades, the build can fit any aura you prefer.
Ability --
Voice of Command is just flat out the best choice IMO as yellow toughness is so damn good. The stun has saved my bacon 100s of times. I'm not too proud to admit it's a massive crutch for me. Executioner's Stance honestly fits the vibe of the build much more. I'd use it in a premade team if yellow toughness was already covered (plus my buddies can carry, unlike me). Otherwise, I'm going VoC so I don't shame quit after getting whittled down to the ground by hordes in a pickup game.
Keystone --
Focus Target is chosen because it helps hit breakpoints on Damnation. It's also picked to squeeze in the stupid strong talents in the left and middle trees. If you want something more designed to bolster melee efficacy, then go for Weapon Specialist instead keeping Percision Strikes and Tactical Awareness (or just check out other melee builds on here). You could also elect not to use a Keystone given the Vet talents are so good.
Thanks for reading and Praise the Emperor!
