Weekly Community Discussion (07/02/2020) - Build Terminology

​

Hey everyone! Today marks the 7th weekly discussion thread. Just a reminder that this is an open conversation between you and us, and your opinions are very appreciated! Also, make sure to stay updated with everything item related here.



This week, we’ll be talking about build terminology!

As some of you may know, the Wynn discord’s #class_builds section has recently seen a resurgence, with many proficient builders sharing their contrasting thoughts and views on different builds. Naturally, this has really pushed the boundaries of building with new and contrasting playstyles appearing and being adopted.

However, this has also caused certain terms to become slightly blurrier. An example of this is the word “hybrid”. A year or so ago, a hybrid build meant it had strong mana support (mostly through mana steal) and it was able to balance melee and spells pretty evenly and comfortably. Then the lifesteal baseline was increased and that became a significant factor in those builds. Nowadays, the term “hybrid” is loosely defined as it encompasses more than a single playstyle and new words have emerged which fall under the “hybrid” category (ex: super fast hybrid, spell steal, heavy hybrid…)

In addition, there are a lot of smaller build communities out there who aren’t as vocal as some of the class builds fellows. It would be awesome if they could join the conversation as well! Varying opinions in regards to building can bring about new ideas and concepts and we’d love to hear what you have to say.

We know the building landscape changes with time; new standards get introduced while older ones get abandoned. However, we do believe that clearing things up and properly defining playstyles is a good idea to introduce a lot of people to building and enlarge the community as a whole. So please don’t hold back on anything you want to share!

PS: try to include examples!

 

came here for the 1738... remy boys rise up

 

Of all the weekly discussions, i'm pretty happy to partake in memeing on this one

I actually wanted to make a youtube video that covered all the playstyles and what they do (with some cool graphics- I might actually get around to drawing the graphics sometime soon once I finish procrastinating on drawing SuperJ's pfp (story for another day though)).


But I digress. I personally subscribe pretty strongly to @highbread 's Build Spectrum, with the Axes being Tank/Glass and Spell/Melee. However for this discussion, I'll drop the glass/tank axis because that's more based on elemental tri and item choice instead of fundamental playstyle differences.

This is roughly what I see the wynncraft playstyles being sorted into:

Lets begin with "True Melee"
This one's pretty simple. True melee basically only has tierstack (Example). (This includes Cancelstack/Tiercancel/Downstack/Whatever it's called now (Example)). Pretty simple in concept, just take a stick and start whacking whatever unsightly zombie/skeleton unfortunate enough to be on the far end of the sharp end.
"Spell Assisted Melee"
I'd argue that this chategory chould technically also fit under "Hybrid" but for the sake of making this way too complicated I stuck it in its own place. Spell-Assisted Melee is a pretty simple concept- combining the versatility of spells with the single-target damage of melee. Most builds in this style fall under "Heavy Melee" (Example) but arguably tierstack + spells to CC/Proc Stealing for Greed Heals would fit here too.
"Hybrid"
Here we are, at the problem child, the nebulous in-between of Spell and Melee. I'd argue there's upwards of 10+ different terms for builds in this lovely purple range, ("Burst Spell" would fit here but it's limited to one weapon so rip), but I just chose the ones I've seen the most.
True Hybrid: (Example)
True hybrid is basically what it sounds like- using a mix of spells and melee to deal damage. In practice, this isn't exactly... exceptional at current, but it kind of works. Most builds in here are usually Earth/Water.
Fast Spellsteal: (Example)
This is kind of a spell-focused "True Hybrid". Fast spellsteal is using spells to deal the big damage, but also getting in many hits in for melee damage. I'd say this is pretty similar to True Hybrid at current. Usually wants some mana regen due to the kinda rare chance to proc mana steal.
(Heavy) Spellsteal: (ATLAS)
ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS
MR-Assisted Spellsteal: (Example)
Basically "(Heavy) Spellsteal" but with a bit of mana in case your rng sucks.
Spellspam (Example)
Your basic bitch spellcasting build with too much mana regen and a normie BPC. Or if you're cool, TWF Anime-infused build... Honestly this is my favorite playstyle. It's not flashy, but it's nice. You cast the fireball and the ice snake and the spin attack and the arrow bomb and the uppercut and the smoke bomb and the haul and the aura and the escape and the flamethrower and the wave and the web and the meteor and the up-air and the haduken and the expelliarmus and the unforgivable curses and the arrow storm.

 

finally a weekly discussions where selvut can't shoot down any and all opinions

 

the highbread hybrid....

in all seriousness:

heavy hybrid - combination of heavy melee and spells. examples of items include: shaggy boots, blind thrust, dawnbreak, bete noire (arguable)

fast hybrid - generally has higher attack speeds. combines raw melee AND/OR tierstack to combine high melee dps and spell damage. leictreach, basically all of EWA. virgo is also an option, albeit glassy.

spellsteal - dropping down a weapon's attack speed to make stealing easier. basically heavy hybrid but without the heavy. could be labelled as a false hybrid in that sense, as melee only serves a purpose for stealing. atlas atlas tenuto tenuto
and peaceful rest, i guess? i dont really know or care


having a hybrid that's none of the above is more or less impossible. any attack speed slow or slower can be defined as spell steal and any attack speed normal or higher can be used for fast hybrid.

"but breadman, what if i have a fast speed but no focus on melee da-"
oh yes. these are called non-viable hybrids. dont use them or i will come to claim your soul.

 

cursed necrosis fast poison/lifesteal hybrid

 

My general understanding of build terminology is this:
Melee: High Melee Damage
Tank: High Defense and defenses
Spell: High Spell Damage/Mana Regen
Loot: Loot Bonus/Quality
thats pretty much it. Thank you for reading.

 

Doesn't super relate to the topic but it falls under class builds terminology, There are a lot of abbreviations that we use so im going to list them really quick
sd: spell damage
mr: mana regen
ms: mana steal
ls: life steal
ws: walk speed
lb: loot bonus
tier: attack speed tiers
quad: a build that uses 4 different elements (ex https://wynndata.tk/s/zjguh3)
rainbow/penta element: A build that uses all 5 elements
and 3 letter combo such as twa (thunder water air) or tfa (thunder fire air) refers to the elements used in the build or archetype.
hr: health regen

a ton of items we use shorthand to talk about, there are so many it is hard to list them off but I can give a couple so you can try to see what you are looking for, if you are ever confused you can also just ask.
Soul Signal: ss
Third Eye: teye
Diamond <Insert LI thing>: Dia <thing>
bpc: boreal patterned crown
obby: obsidian framed helmet
abyss: abyss-imbued leggings
heph: Hephaestus forged greaves

Most of these will just kinda be used in context, usually you can figure them out by following the convo


other terminology
rainbow slap: This is a bad thing, it means that your build is rainbow (5 elements) and has no real direction. Signs of this are if you are using morph, gravity, vaward, or items of similar nature.

if you guys want more stuff ill add them, just let me know

 

Isn't it usually referred to as hpr?

 

Usually I see hr and I personally use hr but both can be used. I mean everyone shorthands stuff a little different.

 

Also, don't forget ws, lb, and LQ

 

Introducing the perfect playstyle: Heavy Hybrid!
Heavy hybrid is a type of spell steal build that utilizes heavy melee items to reach super slow and use their raw melee to have competent melee dps!
What allows this build type to function is that heavy melee items tend to also have support for element damages or mana steal.
Unlike faster attack speed hybrids, players can easily use both melee and spell seamlessly.
I personally like using chain lightning with these builds as it often has the power to eliminate weaker enemies while providing great spell support.
Build I just threw together: https://wynndata.tk/s/qu6kds

 

Surprised no one’s mentioned poison builds or lifesteal tank

 

cursed cactus steal afk farm build

 

Walkspeed build,HPR tank, spell tank, also whats this build classified as?

 

fast hybrid

 

G L A S S C A N N O N

 

my man the current build meta has had "heavy hybrids" as a centerpoint for at least a solid year

anyway looking for a glassy true spell-assisted melee-focused true hybrid rainbow cactus tank with tierstack and loot grind focus, maybe a stack-cancelling twa lmao twf pentaelemental -hpr ws ls chainquake upstacker would be fine too. bonus points for atlas tenuto momentum breezehands and if you manage to get some sidecancelstackstealing into the build. no mythics or killstreak.

 

Spoiler: some abbreviations i use but might not be common

aic: anima-infused cuirass
mpc: moon pool circlet
sjw: steamjet walkers
dstat: diamond static
dhy: diamond hydro
dsol: diamond solar
dsteam: diamond steam
dfusion: diamond fusion
ephe: the ephemeral
dc: dreamcloud
ttide: torrential tide
rte: return to ether
mega: megabyte
giga: gigabyte
rune: rune of safe passage
ftw: follow the wind
ddust: diamond dust
okr: old keeper's ring
kb: knucklebones
rhc: redbeard's hand cannon

 

https://wynndata.tk/s/yhoqxk
sorcery heavymelee
Self-explains.

________________________________

Spell cost spell build.