Hunger Reaper Build Guide
Last Updated:July 20, 2024|Change Log
Welcome to the Hunger Reaper Build Guide! This build revolves around using Swoop Skills intertwined with Shadow Skills and Dagger Skills to deal highly fragmented constant damage in a fast-paced and extremely mobile playstyle.
Hunger Reaper can inflict significant amounts of Stagger and will often be in a favorable position to perform Counters. Her Destruction potential is average. While the main identity skill, Persona (Z), is not disabled, this build does not utilize it. Instead, it makes use of Chaos Mode to gain a sizeable increase in damage and speed. Entering Chaos Mode is done by first filling up the Persona Meter, and then the Chaos Meter, using Shadow Skills and Dagger Skills to do so. The Class Engraving enhances the effects of Chaos Mode, as well as making it easier to generate Chaos Meter.
- Good mobility
- Easy to learn
- Flexible in parties
- Positional gameplay
- Low defense
- Melee
- High APM
If you want a more tactical playstyle with concentrated damage, check out our Lunar Voice guide.
Builds
Need some tips for general content? Check out our Guardian Raids and Abyssal Dungeons guides.
- Rage Spear, Dance of Fury, Glowing Brand, and Silent Rage are your Swoop Skills. They comprise a large majority of your damage potential.
- Shadow Storm is a secondary damage skill, as well as your main meter generator if you happen to go out of Chaos Mode.
- Shadow Vortex is your Synergy (Poison: Corrosion) skill, as well as a tool to lower the cooldown of your Swoop Skills.
- Nightmare (X) is your Counter skill. This skill is part of your identity, and can also be used to quickly reposition yourself on the opposite side of the enemy.
- Lunar Eclipse: Cadenza is your Awakening. It is preferred over Solar Eclipse: Requiem thanks to it helping fill both Persona Meter and Chaos Meter.
Alternative Skill, Tripod, and Rune Options
Dance of Fury
- Weak Point Enhancement - Increases Destruction potential, at the cost of animation speed.
- Suppressed Move - Increases the skill's animation speed, at the cost of some damage and a smaller area of effect.
Glowing Brand
- Long Range Swoop - Allows you to jump over the enemy, at the cost of Stagger potential. This also causes the skill to require more precision, becoming harder to control.
Rage Spear
- Concussion - Increases Stagger potential, at the cost of Push Immunity.
Silent Rage
- Quick Prep - Lowers the skill's cooldown at the cost of some damage, allowing you to use it more often. This can lead to an overall increase in damage, but it requires better uptime.
Distortion
- Purify - Allows you to cleanse your debuffs.
Check out the Rune Guide for more details on Runes and how to obtain them.
This build is optimized and meant to be used only in Chaos Dungeons. For Ebony Cube please use a Raid build.
- Dance of Fury is your main way to deal with large packs of lesser monsters, thanks to its high chance of resetting its cooldown when it kills an enemy.
- Call of the Knife and Shadow Trap are mainly used to gather packs of monsters in one place.
- Glowing Brand and Rage Spear can both deal with Elite monsters on their own, as well as kill the Boss on the 2nd Floor when used together.
- Shadow Vortex is only used to lower the cooldown of your Swoop Skills, if they happen to not reset.
- Shadow Storm and Black Mist are filler skills. They can help you get back into Chaos Mode if you happen to lose it.
- Lunar Eclipse: Cadenza is your Awakening. It is preferred over Solar Eclipse: Requiem thanks to its larger area of effect. It also helps you quickly fill your Chaos Meter in the beginning.
Recommended Engraving Setup
While you can freely experiment with any engravings you want for this content, here's a recommended setup, based on the Engraving Support system:
- Preemptive Strike causes your attacks to deal immense amounts of damage to monsters that you haven't attacked yet, making it ideal for Chaos Dungeons.
- Contender is a stacking Attack Power effect that increases in strength once you kill a monster, making it ideal for Chaos Dungeons.
- Raid Captain provides damage based on your Bonus Movement Speed, synergizing well with the Buff Nodes scattered throughout Chaos Dungeons.
- Cursed Doll increases your damage with essentially no drawback in Chaos Dungeons.
- Hunger helps you quickly fill up your Chaos Meter whenever needed, as well as granting you an Attack Power boost.
Gameplay & Skill Rotation
Hunger Reaper adeptly utilizes her skillset in tandem in order to unleash a flurry of Swoop Skills, Shadow Skills, and Dagger Skills. Some parts of her kit provide mobility, allowing you to skilfully dodge enemy attacks and reposition at the same time.
This build does not utilize Persona (Z). Instead, you fill up your Persona Meter and Chaos Meter, entering Chaos Mode and receiving the following effects:
- +15% Crit Rate
- +10% Attack Speed
- +10% Movement Speed
- -40% Cooldown for Nightmare (X)
Additionally, your Class Engraving grants you the following effects:
- +12/18/25 Attack Power during Chaos Mode
- +3/5/8% Crit Rate during Chaos Mode
- +50% Chaos Meter generation
Reaper Identity
All attacks with a Back Attack affix receive +10% Crit Rate and +5% Damage when they land on the target's back-side indicator. It is important to position yourself accordingly as much as possible in order to take advantage of this.
This build focuses on intertwining your Swoop Skills with Shadow Vortex, and using the rest of your Shadow Skills and Dagger Skills whenever possible.
Nightmare
Nightmare (X) is part of your identity and your main Counter skill. Normally, a Counter can only be performed by positioning yourself in front of the enemy and timing it correctly. Nightmare is unique in this aspect: it is a two-part skill where you first toss a dagger at the enemy, and can then reactivate it to teleport to the opposite side of where you're standing. The first part allows you to perform a Counter if you are in front of the enemy, while the second part allows you to do so if you are behind.
Maintaining Chaos Mode
Chaos Mode lasts for 15 seconds, from the moment you reach 100% Chaos Meter. Each time a Dagger Skill hits an enemy, or a Shadow Skill is used, this duration refreshes. Maintaining this buff is a key part of this build, especially thanks to the Chaos Enhancement tripod that some Swoop Skills benefit from. Normally, keeping Chaos Mode up comes naturally while you can attack the enemy, but it can only be done through Shadow Skills when you don't have a target. This is where Distortion becomes incredibly useful, allowing you to remain in Chaos Mode indefinitely.
Basic Rotations
Standard Damage Rotation
- Using skills in this specific order is recommended when the fight begins. After the initial rotation, your skills can often desync due to differences in cooldown. If this happens, your priority becomes using Shadow Vortex whenever possible if any of your Swoop Skills are on cooldown. Otherwise, try your best to prioritize Swoop Skills in the same order as depicted.
- At the beginning of the fight, you can use Lunar Eclipse: Cadenza to quickly enter Chaos Mode.
Stagger Check
- Using skills in this specific order is recommended for short stagger checks. For longer mechanics, simply follow your regular rotation. Remember you can also use a Whirlwind Grenade if you have one equipped!
Tripods and Gems
Tripod Levelling
Increasing the level of Tripods greatly enhances their effectiveness. You may only increase the level of 18 tripods at a time. Some of them cannot be leveled at all, or are left at level 1 - these tripods are omitted from the table, even if they are used. Here are the main tripods you should look out for in order to maximize this build's potential.
Skill | 1st Tripod | 2nd Tripod | 3rd Tripod |
Rage Spear | Ambush | Boneless | |
Glowing Brand | Chaos Enhancement | Testament | |
Dance of Fury | Chaos Enhancement | Shadow Dance | |
Silent Rage | Shadow Afterimage | Ground Smash | |
Shadow Vortex | Quick Prep | Swoop Activation | |
Reaper's Call | Sharp Dagger | All-Out Attack | |
Shadow Storm | Piercing Strike | Period | Shadow Zone |
Distortion | Quick Prep |
Tripods written in bold text are your highest priority, make sure to level them first!
For more information on where to obtain Tripod Amulets and how to use them, check out our Skill Tree System Guide.
Gems
Gems are another significant aspect of your build, as they directly impact the damage and cooldowns of your skills. You can equip up to 11 gems at a time. Here are the ones you should focus on in order to maximize this build's potential, listed according to their priority.
Damage Gems
- Rage Spear
- Glowing Brand
- Dance of Fury
- Silent Rage
- Shadow Storm
Cooldown Gems
- Rage Spear
- Glowing Brand
- Dance of Fury
- Silent Rage
- Shadow Vortex
- Shadow Storm
For more information on where to obtain gems and how to use them, check out our Gem System Guide.
Stat Priority
This build utilizes Specialization and Swiftness.
- Specialization is the primary stat. It directly increases the damage of your Swoop Skills.
- Swiftness is the secondary stat. It offers a boost in cooldown reduction, as well as attack and movement speed.
Standard Setup
- Specialization + Swiftness
- Specialization
- Specialization
- Swiftness
- Swiftness
- Specialization + Swiftness
Gear Set
Entropy Set
This set is optimal thanks to the large amounts of Crit Rate, Crit Damage, and positional damage it provides.
The name of your set will change every time you acquire a higher tier of gear, but the set effect will remain the same. Look for your set's keyword when recrafting it to find it more easily (e.g Entropy, Hallucination etc).
Check out the Gear Progression Guide for step by step instructions and early game gearing.
If you are interested in Sidereal Weapons, click here for more details.
Engravings
Engravings are a core part of your build. Typically, most engravings will be used at level 3, but there are some that can be used at level 1 or 2 in addition to the others, after reaching item level 1540 and unlocking Ancient Accessories.
Relic Gearing Build (5x3)
- Hunger
- Grudge
- Ambush Master
- Raid Captain
- Adrenaline
Ancient Gearing Build (5x3+1)
- Hunger
- Grudge
- Ambush Master
- Raid Captain
- Cursed Doll
- Adrenaline Lv 1
Engraving Explanations
Core Engravings
- Hunger strengthens your identity, significantly increasing your damage.
- Grudge increases damage done while also increasing damage received. The engraving is a highly effective damage increase without needing specific positioning, making it worthwhile even with the penalty.
- Ambush Master provides a massive boost to Back Attack skills, which comprise most of your damage.
- Raid Captain synergizes well with your identity and your Swiftness substat.
- Adrenaline provides an additional source of Crit Rate and Attack Power. It is naturally easy to upkeep.
- Cursed Doll is a significant Attack Power increase at the cost of -25% healing. The healing penalty can be punishing for inexperienced players who are not familiar with boss mechanics, but it becomes easy to overcome with time.
Level 1 and 2 Engravings
- Adrenaline provides an additional source of Crit Rate and Attack Power. It is naturally easy to upkeep. If you choose this option as a level 1 engraving, run Cursed Doll at level 3 for an Attack Power increase, at the cost of -25% healing.
- Ether Predator is a good option, providing a ramping Attack Power and Defense effect as the fight goes on.
Check out the Engraving Guide for more details.
Bracelet
Bracelets provide beneficial effects to yourself or to your party members depending on the rolls they have.
The primary goal is to get the main stats used by this build Specialization and Swiftness, with Crit being an acceptable substitute for either. After that you should be aiming for Special Rolls to get more damage. Please note that this system is heavily reliant on RNG, and you should not expect to get much more beyond your main stats early on.
Optimal Bonus Rolls
Specialization
Crit
Ambush
Circulate
Fervor
Hammer
Wedge
Alternative Bonus Rolls
Precise
Assail
Superiority
Weapon Power
Dexterity
Check out the Bracelet Guide for more details.
Elixir
The recommended Elixir Set for this build is Master.
Check out the Elixir Guide for more details and general stat recommendations.
Card Sets
Cards are an endgame system that helps maximize your character's damage. Here are the recommended card sets for this build.
- Deep Dive is used early on as it is fairly easy to obtain.
- Light of Salvation is the standard endgame option, but it can take a long time to acquire 30-piece Awakening.
- Kazeros's Legion Commanders is used as an alternative to Light of Salvation, in content where enemies have a weakness to Dark Damage.
- Three Umar Families combined with A Voice Calls with is used as an alternative to Light of Salvation, in Guardian Raid content exclusively.
Check out the Card Guide for more details on how to obtain cards and interact with them.
Early Game Damage Card Set
End Game Damage Card Set
Credits
Written by Raeinor
Reviewed by Starlast