In thisWarhammer ChaosbaneBuild GuideI will be covering theHeavenly Herald Build for theImperial Soldier. The Empire Soldier can be played as a Tank or DPS, or some form of hybrid, but this Build will focus almost exclusively on DPS, with some buffs to aid in Co Op. This Build is meant for End Game players, but I will make recommendations of what to do as you make your way up to the cap of 50. This is the first of 4 such Guides, with 1 for eachClass.
Warhammer Chaosbane Builds: Imperial Soldier
The Heavenly Herald uses a combination of Skills and Equipment that all add up to a potent mix, with a heavy focus on
Fire Damage. This Build uses the devastating AoE Skill:Sigmar’s Wrath, in conjunction withJustice for the Empireto wipe out entire packs of enemies in mere seconds. When combined withMagnus' GiftandMeteoric IronShield, the damage you shell out is almost comical, and you can literally just stand there without having to attack to kill enemies, or you can run right through them using Break Through the Ranks.
Heavenly Herald Skills
In this section we’ll take a look at just what Skills we aim to use and why. These are the best combination I have found, but you’re able to switch these up a bit here and there without issue. This is particularly true while you are leveling and will not have all of these right away. Let’s start with the Basic and Advanced Skills or “Active Skills”.
Basic and Advanced Skills
Incisive Breakthrough - Mastered: The logic behind using this Skill instead of other Basic Attacks, is that it adds Counter-Attack Damage, which is quite high with this Build because many of the God Skill Tree passives add +% Counter-Attack damage. You can also use Defensive Strike - Mastered because it increases Block Chance, which will increase total damage due to Indestructible - Master. When you’re leveling up, you can use what makes the most sense here for the Skill Points you have, but one of these two should be used at Max Level.
Whirling Slash - Mastered: This Skill is useful all the way through the game, in each iteration, and really helps boost your damage until you gain Sigmar’s Wrath and Justice Of The Empire. You’ll find eventually you won’t need it, but if you attempt the higher level Chaos difficulties, it will once again come in handy. Consider swapping this out for Pistolier - Mastered during Boss fights.
Justice of the Empire - Mastered: This Skill pretty much obliterates anything in one shot, and just gets even more powerful with this Build because of the use of the Empire Herald Set. Use this to smash packs of enemies to bits and gain substantial Energy for doing so.
Banner of the Empire - Mastered: This Skill is a staple of the Build, and is particularly good in Co Op. It increases your Damage, reduces Damage you take, and reduces the Cooldown of Skills for everyone, so you’ll want to plant it any time you’re going to pop Sigmar’s Wrath, so that you may use it more often and get increased performance.
Sigmar’s Wrath - Superior: You won’t get this God Skill until later in your playthrough, but once you do you’ll start absolutely destroying everything. The Superior version of this Skill is my preference because it has a larger AoE radius, lasts about twice as long as the Mastered version, and boosts Co Oper damage. I think these things make up for the lower damage it deals.
Break Through the Ranks - Superior: This ability is used for mobility and allows you to get out of bad situations quickly, and away from Bosses that slow you in their AoEs. It deals a bit of damage, and the Superior version boosts this even further. When this is used with Magnus' Gift and Meteoric Iron Shield, you will set enemies on fire as you run through them, that kills then quickly. You can use the Mastered version at higher difficulty levels to reduce damage you take, as there are Skill Points available to do so.
Passive Skills
Bastion Against Corruption - Mastered: This Skill is one that you will use the entire game, upgrading it when you may. Since you will be in the thick of battle often it is extremely valuable, and the Mastered version increases your Block Chance as well. This will boost your overall damage when you have Indestructible - Mastered.
Tireless - Superior: This Skill will increase your Energy gain, and will grant you Energy regeneration when not in combat. This will help you build up Energy to use Break Through The Ranks, and will allow you to move about the map faster. A must have Skill for sure.
Indestructible - Mastered: This passive will increase your Block Chance, and will boost your damage based on your Block Chance. This damage increase will effect all Skills, so this is a lot, and you’ll want to keep this one slotted always.
Fan Skills
Fan Skills are not super important for the Build and you can choose whatever you like. I choseBlessing of Brilliance,Blessing of GodsendandBlessing of Luck. These increase your drop chance of Fragments and higher quality loot. You might want to useBlessing of Wisdomuntil you reach max level, however.
God Skill Tree
The God Skill Tree for the Heavenly Herald focuses primarily on the right-hand side, which is the side that increases Damage. You want to make sure to take anything node that increases your Damage, but beware of the skills that reduce Block Chance or total Damage in favor of Counter-Damage. Reducing your Block Chance will actually hurt your overall damage because ofIndestructible - Mastered, so don’t take it. In addition, you want to get to the nodes that giveCooldown Reductionas quickly as possible. This will drastically boost your overall DPS by letting you useJustice for the EmpireandSigmar’s Wrathmore often.
Heavenly Herald Equipment
What really brings the Heavenly Herald Build together is the gear, and in this section we’ll cover just what you want to use to maximize your DPS. First let’s take a look at Armor, because this is a huge part of it.
The Heavenly Herald will use theEmpire Herald Set (Meteoric Iron)because it removes the Skill Point cost of Justice Of The Empire, which is fantastic, but also adds a meteor effect to it. These meteors, that drop randomly from the sky, do incredible damage, and can some times even one shot Mini-Bosses during Relic Hunts. In addition, when you deal Counter-Attack Damage, all nearby enemies take a percentage of that damage. Since we have a decent amount of Counter-Attack damage with this Build, that also helps to kill enemies. Note that all 3 Heroic Armor Sets have the same stats otherwise.
Weapon & Shield
For our Weapon we will useMagnus' Giftbecause it sets enemies on fire, which increases the damage they take for each nearby enemy with the same effect. This stacks up quickly and you will notice a HUGE increase in DPS immediately after getting this Weapon. I urge you to try it and then go back to another Weapon for just a minute to see the difference in performance, you’ll be shocked.
For our Shield we’ll be usingMeteoric Iron Shieldwhich generates and AoE around you that slows enemies and deals damage to them. When combined withMagnus' Gift, this will also set enemies on fire, allowing you to just walk through them to deal tons of damage.This combo is deadly!
Accessories
For my necklace I have usedSacred Fire Medalbecause of the increased damage that it gives, but also because it reduces Cooldowns when you use a Potion, which should be somewhat often. For rings I have chosenSignet Ring of NullandSignet Ring of Fortitude. Ring of Null restores Health and Energy sometimes when you Critically Hit and Ring of Fortitude gives you a Damage Reduction when you Critically Hit. Both of these are great, and really give you some added surviveability while surrounded.
Final Tips
When using this Build I usually charge through the map withBreak Through the Ranksuntil I’ve gathered up huge hordes of enemies and then I drop my Banner and popSigmar’s Wrathand then start spammingJustice Of The Empire. This all but kills everything, but if not, start swinging away withWhirling SlashorPistolierto finish off any remaining foes.
Besides damage one of the things you want to be on the look out for is Cooldown Reduction. The more you can reduce the Cooldown of your Skills the more often you can spam them, really helping the performance of this Build. Keep that in mind when selecting gear as you are leveling up, and attempt to keep your Skills with the lowest Cooldown possible.
Your Banner has a very short Cooldown so remember to move it often, if you’ll be fighting in the same place for awhile.This is particularly true during Boss and Mini-Boss fights. The Energy cost is not overly high, so it’s definitely worth doing.
Lastly, you canBless your gearto increase the Stats that it has. Adding Red or Yellow Fragments for example, will just increase Damage, so consider doing this for all your gear. I’ll have a guide on what these Blessings do soon, so be sure to check that out.
Stay tuned for more Chaosbane content as be publish some more Builds for the other Classes.
