End Game PVE Duelist Build Guide in Aura Kingdom

This build is an end game duelist build, with a focus on PvE and is not a cookie cutter build for duelists to live by.  

(Holy attribute) 

Base Damage : 20406 

Base Crit : 662 

Base Speed : 513 

Base Evasion : 948 

Max HP +5% 

Crit Rate of Slash Cut +5% 

Every attack has an 8% chance to be blessed by the Light of Glory, which increases CRIT by 1251 for 15 seconds 

Why Choose this Weapon: First its the only easily acquirable 65 weapon (at the start of 60-65 content being introduced) and second plan is to use these weapons for the near perma crit rate proc to allow me to have really good crit in combat without requiring a huge investment in points. Later, you'll probably change up to the skytower weapons, some dislike them for several reasons, mainly their lack of HP as a stat and the fact that they have a really low proc rate (its less than the 8% as confirmed by SlitCrawler who has the only set of ST blades on the server) 

(Destroying Core [-defense] and Holy attribute) 

Base Damage : 19208 

Base Crit : 572 

Base Speed : 552 

Base Evasion : 821 

SPD +3% 

Damage against bosses +10% 

Every attack has an 8% chance to slash with a Forbidden Blade, which deals bonus Damage 

Notes: These are arguably better than 65 blades (even high %) mainly because they provide a zeal proc and the utility of shredding defense for everyone else in your party. In addition the bonus damage to bosses is really really useful. All in all these blades are retardedly good, which a high % 65 weapon though for the 5% hp, higher base stats, and the crit rate proc is more preferable to help you run 0 points in crit and still maintain a high crit rate. However, for the price, these are easily the most efficient duelist weapons in the game and because you are using a destroying core, its pretty cheep to recraft several times until you get a 120% or higher bonus attack stat. 

(Nocturnal Core and Flame attribute) 

Base Damage : 20275 

Base Crit : 572 

Base HP : 2110 

Base Evasion : 821 

Max HP +5% 

Damage against Bosses +10% 

Every attack has an 8% chance to trigger Winged Fury, which increases CRIT DMG by 35% for 15 seconds 

Reasoning: This is easily the best subclass weapon in the game as far as I am concerned. 5% Increased HP, 10% Boss damage, 35% Crit Damage proc (near permanent) in addition to being a craft-able piece of gear and as a result can have a core of your choice placed in it. The one down side is duelist/katar uses a fair number of katar skills so its important to make sure you craft a fairly decent% one especially because it technically is your end game weapon and allows you to be able to effectively tank both party and later Hard modes with relative ease because of the massive amount of leech provided from a nocturnal core + duelist passive. Also because sparks and flames is your primary aoe skill and second most used with the highest base damage + scaling that its important to craft your katars with a flame base. It is also recommended to craft a protector core as well in the event your want to assist your tank/party in a dungeon. 

Base Damage : 20406 

Base Crit : 572 

Base Speed : 552 

Base Evasion : 821 

CRIT +3% 

Duration of Purple Lightning +10 seconds 

Every attack has an 8% chance to channel Evil Spirits, which deals bonus Damage 

Notes: They are 105% with Flame element. Keep both these weapons and your normal blades on your skill bar and proceed to swap to Soulless and Sorrow to buff purple lightning and then swap back to your other weapons. Its a simple and elegant solution to the terrifying prospect of getting a well rolled Soulless and Sorrow with proper element and also saves me having to + up a new weapon for a while longer. Eventually, it is advisable using a 135% holy soulless and sorrow as my full time weapon, but there are more important things for me to get first, so this method will work until then. 

Set Stats: 

Base Speed: 953 

Base Hp: 3918 

Base Defense: 3124 

Base Evasion: 1412(+493) 

Max Hp: +2% 

Damage taken from bosses: -15% 

Damage taken: -5% 

Reasoning: Titan top is amazing, though rather pricey, it adds a lot of really good stats that will give you great survivablity if you dont plan on getting your gear up much, however at +15 there is an increased malice passive which is not good at all for a duelist. You already pull a lot of aggro and frankly no matter what you do you will never be able to main

Set Stats: 

Base Crit: 1062(+591) 

Base HP: 3644 

Base Defense: 2508 

Base Evasion: 1640 

Evasion: +2% 

Damage against bosses: +15% 

Reasoning: First of all, Revelation top half is trash for dps. While the damage stat is nice and the crit is helpful, the main issue with it is the set effect, it provides trashy speed and increased healing potency as well as crit damage versus bosses. All of these are probably the most useless stats for a duelist even though we effectively scale off all stats. Your build should be easily able to cap crit damage without the use of the set effect and as a result it makes the set effect useless. On the other hand devourer provides a lot of crit rate from the set effect as well as 15% damage to bosses which will quickly out scale the damage on revelation. In addition the evasion scales really well on a duelist and is far more useful in terms of survivablity. 

Set Stats: 

Base Defense: 3304 

Base HP: 3918 

Base Evasion: 1761 

Base Damage: 2975 

Max HP: +5% 

When attacked, there is an 8% chance to gain Blood Spattered Armor, which causes DMG -30% for the next 5 attacks you receive. This effect is removed after you are attacked 5 times or after 1 minute, whichever comes first.

Reasoning: This is a really great top set, however, make no mistake this set will not make you a tank, it will just help you be tanky. This set is intended for PvP in addition to in PvE where you want to be tankier. The stats on it are amazing even though the actual proc isn't the greatest, but my main issue with the proc is the proc rate, not the actual proc itself. However having about 60% evasion seems to be about optimal for both getting the proc and then making effective use of it. 

Set Stats: 

Base Damage : 3198 

Base Crit : 1321 

Base Defense : 2430 

Crit (This is flat): +11% 

Crit Damage: +15% 

Every critical hit has a 15% chance to trigger a Cruel Rush, which deals double damage 

Reasoning: The Lethal beast set is by far the best set for a melee class purely because of the difficulty of effectively using the Lion's Roar set. Note: You will rarely have the time or the luxury of standing still to allow my autos to go off in between my skills. It also gives a huge amount of crit which allows you to avoid putting points into crit and the proc is very helpful damage wise. However, also consider lion's roar to be a very viable set for a more defensively oriented duelist. The reason for this is it will let you swap out all your crit damage stones for Eva 2% Damage Taken -2% (with the exception of 1 or 2) and as a result you will gain a lot of defensive stats (5-7k hp and 10% evasion) at the cost of 11% crit and a double damage proc. 

Set Stats: 

Base Defense: 2304 

Base Crit: 1061 

Base Evasion: 1641 

Base Hp: 3643 

Evasion: +3% 

Damage against bosses +15% 

8% chance of activating Insatiable Hunger on successful evasion, which increases SPD by 1183 and CRIT DMG +20% for 15 seconds 

Reasoning: This set is really really strong and also really underrated, it provides solid stats, is cheep to acquire and adds a lot of survivabilty because of its triple defensive stats in addition to a very strong dps proc and another 15% bonus damage vs bosses. It is far superior in my eyes to any other set and will give you much more survivablity than Revelation and far more damage than Titan as well as being much cheaper to obtain. 

You should attempt to get your secret stones for your skills, however with the exception of the Cross Slash secret stone and potentially an Azure Inner Strength, stats become more important than if they support your specific skill. Also its very important to pick up a pair of thunderous secret stones as they are incredibly good and scale better than normal secret stones per level. 

Use a combination of Crit Damage 4/6, Damage Taken -2% (on every stone), and DMG 2% after I reached enough crit damage to cap. Evasion is viable as well instead of Damage Taken -2%, though it is preferable to not base the builds around RNG as much as possible and prefer to build my character to be able to take a hit. 

Your goal should be to first be able to cap defense, or rather have the ability to cap your defense with the use of normal and readily available buffs. It is suggested to balance your defense to be about 65% unbuffed with eidolon. Which will allow you to reach cap pretty easily with the use of Guardian buff and a Green Stardust float. After that, put your points into HP as you can't get enough evasion/hp after capping my defense to feel comfortable running full evasion build. 

For offensive stats, bump your speed to 20% and then proceeded to put all your points into damage. First of all, while damage itself does not effect DOT damage, skill points in damage do, and DOT tick rate caps at 30% speed, so with Macaroons/Gunslinger/Bow Buff, you will easily hit 30% speed and thus have maxed dot tick speed with significantly increased damage on each of your DOT ticks. Also on a duelist katar, 20% is all you really need for a seamless skill rotation for AOE or Single target DPS, any more is just luxury but not necessary, and capping speed is really only important for a purple lightning build that uses Soulless and Sorrow dual blades. You should opt to not put points in crit for several reasons. Your base crit rate is 60% without procs or buffs. Factor in Bel-Chandra/Weapon Proc/Purple Lightning/Various Party Buffs I can hit up to 80% crit chance and I am ussually hovering around the 70% range on my own buffs and bel. 

Stats: Damage, HP, Speed, DMG +9% CRIT DMG +12% 

Use this occassionally for party modes just to increase the clear time a little bit. 

Stats: Damage, HP, Defense, Damage of Flame skills +24%, Damage to Fire Targets +30% 

This accessories set because of the amazing base stats on it, and while not the best set in this current content its still very cheep and provides a lot of really good stats. Also the bonus damage of flame skills applies to Sparks and Flames and makes this amazing aoe a lot stronger. 

Stats: Damage, HP, Defense, Damage +9% (it's typo'ed, actual pieces say 1% but in reality it's 3), Damage against Dark Attribute Targets +30%. 

It is suggested to fully time this accessories set as it combines the stats of a level 65 accessories set with the increased damage stats of the 55 damage accessories. Factor in the 30% dark damage which is very useful against all of the current content and it is in my opinion the best accessories setpre dragon coin patch. 

Stats: Damage, HP, Speed, SPD +2086 CRIT hits have 16% chance to trigger "Bluster Gust," granting next attack additional DMG for 15 sec. 

Full time this accessories set now because it allows for some full build options, you are easily able to cap your speed with this set if you want or just hit 30% speed and funnel the rest of the points into damage or crit. There are many options for this set and they all seem viable but regardless it is easily the best accessories set available now. 

Stats: Cross Slash +9, Damage 3%, Damage delt +4%, and some random stats 

Use this set for very select circumstances, such as in Skytower on the 15th floor along with the cross slash mastery to provide continuous dps on the boss even during toxic net, however, put this on at the cost of survivablity. Though, on the 15th floor sky tower, you get 1 shot by venom shot regardless of what I wear so its just important to do the most damage possible. 

Base Speed : 393 

Base HP : 1621 

Base Defense : 218 

Max HP +1234 Every time you are attacked there is a 6% chance of triggering Talen's Energy, which restores 296 HP for 15 seconds 

Reasons: its an amazing defensive item and provides a lot of useful stats in addition to a massive amount of HP. The proc isnt the best, however, its still noticable and helps to sustain your hp. 

Base Damage : 1476 

Base Crit : 528 

Base HP : 1561 

CRIT +197 and CRIT DMG +5% 

Every attack has a 3% chance of triggering the Dragon's Fury, which deals 2307 damage to all enemies within 5 meters 

Reasons: Probably one of the best dps trophies in the game atm, however its next to impossible to get atm because it has been removed from the 10th floor sky tower box and will not be avaliable again till floors 16-20 get released.

Base Crit : 356 

Base Speed : 272 

Base HP : 1003 

CRIT +339 CRIT DMG +15% 

Reasons: Still an amazing dps trophy even though its slightly outdated, it provides a large amount of crit stats and a good amount of crit damage as well, really recommend using this if you are lacking some important secret stones. 

Base Damage : 1322 

Base Crit : 472 

Base HP : 1390 

CRIT +362 

Every critical hit has a 10% chance of calling on Malodnak's Fury, which increases Damage of the next attack by 45% if the target is a boss monster Effect lasts until an attack lands or 15 seconds have expired 

Reasons: Probably the second best dps trophy in the game, provides another zeal proc and a huge amount of crit, hp, and damage, all of which are important to have and very useful for end game dungeons. 

It is also recommended getting into fishing and trying to get a full set of elemental damage trophies, they all provide useful stats (because duelist scales off everything and with duelist/katar you have a skill of every element available to you) so you will never be in a situation where you are getting no benefit from a trophy. Use both darkness trophy and thunder trophy in lament along with your Emblem of the Immortal Dragon to increase my damage, as they both help more than a maladonaks against 100% of one type of element. 

Head Card: Damage Versus Bosses Mastery with HP 2% 

Chest Card: Crit Damage Versus Bosses Mastery with Damage Taken -2% 

Face Card: Cross Slash Mastery with Damage Taken -2% 

Ornaments: Deadly Wink Mastery with HP 2% and Meridian Activation Mastery with HP 2% 

Weapon Card: Lotus Strike Mastery with Crit 1% (Might be changing to Damage 2% soon) and Shadow Brand Mastery with Crit 1% 

Later on, when the eligos and cleopawtra cards become available, get another back and weapon accessory to put these cards in as they specifically modify duelist passives and both of them will give me massively increased survivablity. 

General (Swift Cruelty): Provides a buff that increases damage by 7% which is amazing 

Attack (Zeal): frankly its the best for any dps class and using anything else is just Brilliant, callousness purely provides eye candy stats but they are minimal compared to what zeal will give you 

Advanced Skill (From the Shadows): Another 7% bonus damage modifier and frankly anything else but Suffocating Flames is pretty crummy, It is recommended getting both these masteries and adjusting them based on personal preference and situation 

Defense (Courage or Extreme Speed): HP and -% damage taken are both highly desirable stats after you have capped your defense as these will both directly add to your survivablity with nothing lost. It is also recommended to have extreme speed for situations where you need to dodge a lot of red carpet or purely want to move quickly through a dungeon you don't need the extra damage reduction or HP. 

Tactical (Break Defense or Organized Sabotage): Most drastically effects your damage output and usefulness, however its also a good idea to pick up Organized Sabotage as its also a really great mastery and helps to prevent you hitting the floor. 

Special (Best Defense): Honestly there really isn't any other option, unless you are trying to cap both defense and evasion then I would look into Capoeira. The other 2 should not even be considered. 

Current envoy for a level 74. It is really encouraged to not carbon copy this, as it's a very offensive oriented envoy and will not give everyone the same results.

Duelist is a very skill oriented class, and with the addition of katar it requires a lot of individual skill and personal knowledge of the class and how it works to use it effectively. If you are looking for a simple class to play, duelist is far from it. It is argueable that with the exception of a Guard and Bard (both of which require very little mechanical skill but a lot of awareness regarding your party and position) Duelist/Katar is the hardest class to play. It has many downsides, squishy, melee, limited or non existent crowd control. However, duelist also has the highest single target damage in the game by a lot and has the potential to even tank dungeons effectively due to its massive amount of sustain and rather evasive nature. In general it should be your goal to learn how to manage your cooldowns to sustain a constant aoe damage rotation (its really not that hard so I'm not going to spoon feed it) as well as a strong single target dps rotation on a boss. This rotation requires you to quickly stack up your 5 stack of cross slash and then maintain them while using as many high damage skills as possible. Be careful though, as cross slash does insane dps and will cause you to pull a lot of aggro especially if the tank is spamming roar. It may become necessary to control your dps if you are too squishy to handle the occasional aggro pulls, this is best done by limiting your cross slash stacks some or letting the tank have a bit of time on the boss before you jump on it (only works if they don't roar spam, then they will just constantly reset aggro and never build much malice for a solid aggro hold). As you learn your skills and your class, your rotations will become more fluid and you will be able to adapt to different situations more fluidly. 

Food: 

It is recommended to adapt the food around your play style and your own personal build/gear. Always use a stardust float of some kind as well as some offensively oriented food, either Fish Fillet - Crit+Crit Damage (Mushrooms from Navea), Macaroons - Speed Food (Navea Vanilla), Tender Steak - Damage+Double/Triple Damage (Green Alspice), Eggs - HP+Received Healing (Eggs), Milkballs - Defense+-Damage Taken (Highland Wheat Flour), or Veggies - Crit+Double/Triple Damage (Blue Speckled Eggs). It honestly depends on a variety of factors.

Note: Green Fish Fillet and Purple Stardust Float are currently equipped as well as a level 93 katar buff and 2-star Endora buff 

MS Hard: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0VjDnoOE9k&feature=youtu.be 

AT Hard: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SadtpeTFZ1U 

MS Party: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWpjCVDXUus&feature=youtu.be 

GG Party: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daZmv1LFbfo&feature=youtu.be

Credits: Special thanks to RayneeDay for sharing his build and creating this guide.