Change Log
6/23
Updated Talismans for Impaler
Manual Build option
Some Formatting
3/25 Skills & Information updated for Impaler
3/24 Updated for Impaler
"Some Demonic Lancers bite off more than they can chew and end up causing their Demonic lance to rage out of control. . .
According to some eyewitnesses, these survivors wield mysterious black energy and have parts of their body blackened and horribly disfigured. They constantly roam, looking for something. It's not known what they're looking for, or if they're doing it of their own accord or for their Demonic lance.
One thing I'm sure about is that you must not display your power in front of the Impalers. The moment
their Demonic lance awakens, your power will become part of it."
Inflict Element?
Shadow
Skill Damage Type
Magical
Scaling Type
Percentage
Specialized Weapon
Javelin
Armor Type
Leather
Pros
Easy class and easiest lancer (IMO).
Long range & one of the best AoE in the game.
Falling Death.
Some Aerial options
Some skills can be used mid back-step for faster animation.
Top 3 Edgiest Class 🥵
Falling Death
Cons
Really long cooldowns on your best abilities.
Inflicts Shadow, 'forcing' you on to Shadow Element.
'Encroach' gimmick makes skill order slightly less flexible. Read more on this in the skill section.
Bad skill chains, aerial skills feel redundant/unnecessary.
This section recommends which skills to prioritize.
TL;DR Skill Build
Note: This is just my personal build. Skill point allocation may differ from person to person.
Put levels into Focus: Critical if you are not at 100% critical chance.
Darkness
Max
Increases your Critical Atk and Magical Crit Chance. Max this skill and increase it's levels further (up to 20) with the use of Buff Swap Enhacements.
Passive skills are easily discernible with their green hue. I won't go into detail for most of these since many of them are just raw damage increases. Max these skills.
Impaler Leather Armor Mastery
Increases your Intelligence, Vitality, Spirit, MP Recovery, Max HP/MP, Attack Speed, and Magical Crit Rate.
It's important to retexturize your armor to Leather Armor as this skill provides a substantial boost to your Intelligence.
Imperial Javelin Technique
Just changes your x-string attacks to be specific to the Impaler class. This skill is automatically granted.
Beam Spear Mastery
Increases your Magical Weapon Atk and Hit Rate.
Impaler's "battle passive." This skill is maxed out at 20 levels with skill points, but can be increased further using gear (explained later).
Encroach
This passive used to give extra Shadow Damage, but that effect has since been changed. Still applies Shadow Inflict though.
Increases Elemental Atk. Damage, +20% Skill Damage for [Black Plasma] class skills when used on encroached targets.
Budget battle passive. Same as above but may be cheaper to acquire.
Lance Overdrive
Increases Skill Atk.
Ruler of Darkness
Increases Skill Atk and Encroachment Duration.
Darkness over the Abyss
Increases Skill Atk. Improves some [Encroach] class skills.
Seizing Darkness
Increases Skill Atk. Changes the mechanics of some skills. Killer Lance can be used during backstep, Dark Barrier has an extra hit.
Backstep Upgrade
More or less a preference, but highly recommended. Can be useful to escape some long skill animations when an enemy is about to smack you or to quickly get out of being tossed around by knock-back.
I will mostly only go into detail on Impaler advancement-specific skills. For the most part, you can safely ignore any active skills lv.20 and below. The chart below provides a ranking based on the skill's damage.
GameChosun Damage:Cooldown Calculations
This just gives a general idea of how strong skills are in terms of raw damage. More importantly, it's important to take note of the Damage:Cooldown % (Last column). This means that some skills are overall better due to higher damage output in a sustain scenario.
Credit: GameChosun
These skills are categorized as [Encroach] class skills. Essentially, they mark enemies with a wave of darkness and apply Encroachment. This mark can be procced by the next section of [Black Plasma] class skills.
Dark Ambition - Lv. 15
Lv. 1
Filler Low level, low cooldown [Encroach] skill. Use this if you really have no other skills to apply encroach with.
Can be used during Backstep.
Despair - Lv. 25
Max
Throws out a wheel darkness. Pretty good AoE and encroaches everything it touches. I like to max this and use it to room-clear fodder mobs.
Dark Division - Lv. 60
Max
Good range and AoE. Medium Cooldown. Spreads Encroachment to all enemies surrounding the one that was hit. Max this ability.
These skills proc the Encroachment effect applied by the [Encroach] skills, making them deal 20% extra damage! These skills should always be used after encroaching enemies for maximum damage output.
Endure - Lv. 15
Preference (Lv. 1 or Lv. 0)
Put 1 level into this skill if you intend on using Killer Lance
Can be used during Backstep.
Dark Spiral Lance - Lv. 20
Preference (Lv. 1 or Dump)
Generic lance toss. Dump any extra SP if you don't intend on using Killer Lance.
Can be used during Backstep.
Piercing Drive - Lv. 25
Lv.1
Hold
Put 1 level into this and use it as a hold when needed.
Can be used during Backstep.
Killer Lance - Lv. 30
Preference (Max or Lv. 0)
Low cooldown skill. Throws out a couple of spears that explode for slightly larger AoE when hitting encroached targets.
Pick between maxing this or Dark Barrier. The damage between the two skills are very similar. Killer Lance has slightly higher damage (with the Encroachment effect) and lower cooldown, but a longer animation.
Can be used during Backstep.
Spiral Rush - Lv. 35
Max
Low-Med Cooldown, pretty decent damage. Throws out a spinning lance that sticks onto the target. Groups enemies together if the target is encroached.
Can be used during Backstep.
Diffusion - Lv. 35
Lv. 1
Hold
Use to hold enemies when needed. Spreads and holds surrounding enemies if the target is encroached.
Can be used during Backstep.
Dark Star - Lv. 40
Lv. 0
This skill does decent damage on paper, but since the skill animation is so long, paired with how the enemy can just leave the range of the skill, this skill is not recommended.
Max this ability if for whatever reason you decide to use the Culmination weapon (which is wack too btw).
Dark Light Explosion - Lv. 45
Max
Decent damage, medium cooldown, no reason not to max this ability. Sends out a spear in front of you and explodes after a brief delay. Increases the AoE explosion of this ability if the target is encroached.
Violent Pierce - Lv. 70
Max
Hold
One of your better skills, max this. Locks an enemy in front of you and pummels them with spears. Skill key can be pressed to make the animation faster.
Throw the Talisman on this skill to remove the long ass animation.
Partisan Skewer - Lv. 95
Max
Hold
A high damage, high cooldown skill that throws out a spinning lance that explodes after a brief delay. Basically Spiral Rush on crackroids.
Can be used during Backstep.
These skills have both functions of Encroaching enemies and can benefit from the 20% Skill Damage and [Black Plasma] effects. Basically, they self-apply encroachment for its own benefit as well as for other skills.
Dark Barrier - Lv. 30
Preference (Max or Dump)
Low cooldown. Quickly throws out a ball followed by an exploding lance.
Choose between this skill or Killer Lance to Max. This skill is faster + bigger AoE but has very slightly less damage. Dump any extra skill points into this skill if you choose to max Killer Lance.
Can be used during Backstep.
Falling Death - Lv. 75
Max
Pretty long cooldown, but this is your best skill. Max this.
Throw the Talisman and this skill covers the entire map for an extended peroid of time. You never have to worry about encroaching enemies if you can have permanent uptime on this ability (This skill's encroach field lasts 30 seconds).
Pre-cast this skill before the boss' spawn animation and have it up again by the time the boss spawns (Ispins, Warpath, Hall, etc).
Deadly Impulse - Lv. 80
Max
High cooldown, high damage, Max.
Jumps up and slams down in front of you in a large AoE.
"Do you think you’ve seen darkness?"
Fury: Dark Armageddon - Lv. 50
Automatically Maxed
Hold
1st Awakening Skill. You won't really be using this skill once you have your 3rd Awakening. You should have your 3rd Awakening skill bound to this one.
Annihilation of Darkness - Lv. 85
Automatically Maxed
Hold
2nd Awakening skill (2A). Jumps up and tosses a big zappy spear. Make sure you're facing the enemy when doing this otherwise it might miss. Leaves enemies encroached afterward.
Interdimensional Annhilation - Lv. 100
Max
3rd Awakening skill (3A). Big Screen-wide continuous damages. Leaves enemies encroached afterward.
Simply boosts the power of certain skills. Won't go too in-depth here, basically, just put max the TP upgrades for whatever skills you max.
Talismans can be farmed at exile mountains. If your character is already geared in a 105 set, soloing exile mountains should prove to be pretty easy. Talismans and runes can be bought and rerolled with Dark Night's Scar.
There aren't too many flexible Talisman options for Impaler. He pretty much only has 3 viable options 'cause they're just that good. However, I will still give an explanation on the talisman effects.
Rune colors should be Purple, Blue, Red (PBR) for the highest damage increase towards Falling Death.
TL;DR Recommended Talismans
Beyond The Void
Must Have
In my opinion, the best non-awake skill in the entire game. Encroaches pretty much the entire map, aim-bots any enemy on the map with spears.
Very high damage, braindead skill, can never miss. Pre-cast this ability before the bosses' spawn animation to have it up again by the time the boss spawns in.
Details
Creates a rift that covers the sky.
- Encroaches a broach area.
- Encroaching range: 2,000 px
Atk. +14%
Talisman Addition Effects
- Increases the rift's Encroached enemy-detection range.
- Enemy detection range: 2,000 px
Additional Atk. +20%
Deadly Impulse
Highly Recommended
Faster cast time, lower cooldown, leaves an instant encroach field. Great damage increase to an already good skill. No reason not to go this talisman.
Details
Thrusts his spear into the ground, manually Encroaching the area. Encroaching the area.
-Encroachment-spreading motion deleted in Ground mode
- Thrusts his spear into the ground, instantly creating an Encroaching Zone.
- Can be cast in midair.
Atk. +13%
Talisman Addition Effects
- Cooldown -10%
- Additional Atk. +19%
Single-Pointed Concentration
Must Have
Greatly reduces the cast time and lowers cooldown. Pretty much a must have since you don't want to be locked in place casting a skill.
Details
Small lance throw count -5
Big lance post-throwing delay -20%
Cooldown -10%
Atk. +44%
Talisman Additional Effects
- Small lance-throwing disabled.
- Resonating motion basic speed +100%
- Hitting the skill key repeatedly doesn't increase resonating motion speed.
- Additional Atk. increase rate +114%
Bursting Black Plasma
Trash
Don't bother with this skill, the time it takes for all the lances to fall and hit the enemy is too long, they will have moved out of the way before the skill even finishes casting.
The talisman increases the effect duration even further than it already was, so it's even more detrimental.
Details
The fallen lances remain for 10 sec.
- After all the lances fall, hit them with an Encroachment skill to explode them.
- Lance explosion Atk.: 360% of multi-hit Atk.
Talisman Additional Effects
- Lance-dropping range +25%
- Lance drop count +2
- Atk. +9%
Spiral Vortex
Not Recommended
Increased mob grouping, higher damage, but it's just overshadowed by the top 3 options. Better for sustain damage with niche gear builds.
Details
Throws a lance in Black Plasma Intensification mode.
Atk. +19%
Talisman Additional Effects
- Lance size +30%
- Black Plasma Intensification-mode enemy-pulling strength/range +30%
- Additional Atk. increase rate +15%
Ultimate Annihilating Explosion
Not Recommended
Spear explodes instantly, lower cooldown, great damage increase to the base ability, but again, overshadowed by the top 3 options (Deadly Impulse is just better!).
Details
Infuses Black Plasma one more time.
- Infused lance size +20%
-Lance flying speed +100%
-Cooldown -10%
-Atk. +11%
Talisman Additional Effects
- The lance explodes upon touching the ground.
- Additional Atk. increase rate +21%
Tightening Darkness
Not Recommended
Adds aim-bot to the skill so that it's much less likely to miss (Hits the closest enemy in front). Doesn't do much else, so the talisman isn't really necessary.
The base skill is already sufficient at what it does (mobbing).
Details
The lance of darkness detects and flies to the closest enemy in front.
- Atk. +16%
Talisman Additional Effects
- Lance of darkness shattering detection range +10%
- Additional Atk. increase rate +20%
Enchants are basically adding extra stats onto your gear. Although they are considered add-ons, they are not optional. They are relatively easy to obtain in this patch with many competitive options to farm and choose from.
Enchants can come in the form of Beads or Cards. They have essentially the same function, but beads do not require upgrading, whereas cards will often have to be upgraded to acquire the highest stat values.
Use this as a guideline if you have no idea what types of enchants to get. Impaler has Shadow Inflict on almost all his skills, so it's highly recommended to run Shadow Element, but its technically not required anymore. Since he is a Magical Percent class, you want to look for enchants with Magical Atk and/or Intelligence.
An important note is to ensure you have at least 100% critical chance. Make use of the DFOpedia in-game to find what enchants you're missing and where you can obtain them.
Top & Bottom
+ Magical Atk
+ Intelligence
Head/Shoulder
+ Magical Critical Chance
+ Skill Atk
Stark card is a relatively cheap option
Belt & Shoes
+ Magical Critical Chance
and/or Intelligence
Bracelet, Necklace, Ring
+ Shadow Damage
Sub Equipment
+ Magical Atk
Weapon
+ Shadow Damage
Earring
+ All stat
Magic Stone
+ All Elemental Damage
Avatars extra equipment that are usually associated with cosmetics. For this section, I am mainly referring to Clone Avatars. These equipment pieces come with colored emblem sockets that can be equipped with emblems of the respective color that increase your stats.
Rare avatars are upgrades to clone avatars that also include having platinum emblem sockets on the top and bottom pieces.
Note: If you are still short of 100% Critical Chance, you should slot in Crit Rate emblems until you are able to cap the stat.
Red Emblem Sockets
Intelligence
Intelligence + Magical Crit Rate
Yellow Emblem Sockets
Attack Speed
Attack Speed + Movement Speed
Intelligence (Event only)
Green Emblem Sockets
Magical Crit Rate
Intelligence + Magical Crit Rate
Blue Emblem Sockets
Movement Speed
Attack Speed + Movement Speed
Platinum Sockets
Shadow Javelin Mastery
Encroach (Budget)
Darkness (Buff)
Multi-colored Emblem Sockets
Any color emblem can be used here
Intelligence if you've capped on crit
Magical Crit Rate otherwise
Darkness' level can be increased past 10, up to 20, with the use of Fragmented Abyss: Darkness Gear. This gear increases the strength of your buff skill and can be farmed and bought in Operation: Hope or from Shireen in Elvenguard. You should at least have a full set of Fragmented Abyss Gear to power up your buff skill.
Creatures and titles are further ways to min-max your damage. You should at least consider having on budget options so that you are straight up not missing damage due to missing equipment.
Titles and creatures can be differentiated into two types. Damage type and Buff type. Having both is not a heavy requirement but allows you to further min-max your character and increase your damage.
How to hit +20 Buff Skill
For maximum min-max you have two options. This is an expensive option, but luckily Lancer Platinum Emblems tend to be relatively cheaper than other classes. You will also need a set of Rare Avatars for this to work.
Option 1:
Full Fragmented Abyss: Darkness set
Warped Special Accessories
+3 Darkness Title
(x2) Darkness Platinum Emblems
Rare Avatar Top Option set to Darkness
Any +1 Buff Creature
Option 2:
Full Fragmented Abyss: Darkness set
Warped Special Accessories
+2 Darkness Title
(x3) Darkness Platinum Emblems
Rare Avatar Top Option set to Darkness
Motion Aura Avatar
Any +1 Buff Creature
Buff Enhancement Example
Using the distorted special accessories cause I don't actually have a true +20 lul.
Damage Titles increase your character's damage by a substantial amount. Any title with a damage modifier will suffice, but you should eventually look into grabbing yourself a decent title as you progress your character (+10-15% Damage Modifier). Some Titles (Platinum) additionally increase the damage of skills in a certain level range (Falling Death is Lv. 75).
Buff Titles increase the level of Darkness by up to 3 levels. This is naturally a raw damage increase, although not as much as the damage title.
Platinum Damage Title Example
Ideally you want Lv. 75 Platinum Title for Impaler.
+3 Buff Title Example
Damage Creatures are another form of damage increase, providing extra stats and an extra level one of your passive skills. Most creatures come with an ability that can be used. Any creature with a damage modifier will suffice, but you should eventually look into grabbing yourself a decent creature as you progress your character (+15-18% Damage Modifier / Darkness over the Abyss +1).
Buff Creatures increase the level of Darkness by 1. This is naturally a raw damage increase, although not as much as the damage creature.
Some creatures double up as both Damage and buff (provides +Damage Modifier and +1 Darkness.
Damage Creature Example
Buff Creature Example
Auras are another form of damage increase, providing extra stats and an extra level one of your passive skills. Most creatures come with an ability that can be used. Any creature with a damage modifier will suffice, but you should eventually look into grabbing yourself a decent aura as you progress your character (+5% Damage Modifier or more).
Motion Auras act similarly to Rare Avatar Top & Bottoms, they contain a Platinum Emblem Socket that can increase the level of Darkness by 1.
Damage Aura Example
Important Note: This section details on some beginner-friendly item builds that can be accessed early on in the 110 cap. Unless the epic item is absolutely essential for a certain build, I will avoid recommending epics that require more end-game farming (Ispins, Warpath, etc). Subsequently, I will not be recommending any custom pieces, but if you want to have an idea of what kind of customs to keep, take a look at this chart.
110 Cap Epics can be bought from Meryl Pioner's Equipment Selection Boxes using Ominous Crystals. Make use of the in-game Equipment Navigator to find where to farm 105 epics.
While not necessary, it is recommended you redeem these boxes during a 'Soup Day.' Meaning redeeming these boxes when the quality (Inferior->Superior) rotation falls during a day when the quality is Superior. Superior quality items provide a small increase in stats over Inferior quality, but more importantly, allow you access to a future epic sub-equipment Optical Combat Glasses which rely on having a full set of Superior Quality epics.
⭐ Aspect-Devoured Javelin
Increases damage to all of Impaler's skills by 10%
Lv. 1-100 skills +1
Stat stick. Also benefit's all of Impaler's Battle Passives, Shadow Javelin, Encroach, Lance Overdrive, Ruler of Darkness, Darkness over the Abyss, and Seizing Darkness. This weapon is just much stronger on Impaler. Use this.
Javelin of Culmination - Impaler
Accumulate stacks (up to 100%) +10% for each enemy encroached per sec.
At 100%, gain the Black Plasma Enchancement Buff which beefs up your skill Dark Star.
Skill is casted instantly and drops an additional instance of spears.
Not recommended over the Aspect-Devoured weapon. Gets rid of the reason Dark Star is so bad and beefs up the skill a decent amount, but it's really not worth sacrificing the damage you would otherwise gain for your better skills (Falling Death).
Basically the recommended 'default' nowadays. Offers a lot of versatility in stats ranging from cooldown reduction, speed, defense, and power. This build for the most part gets rid of your HP bar (Setting it to 1% permanently). Instead, your Mana becomes as if it were your HP, gaining a much higher mana pool as a result. This build actually makes you decently beefy as you can tank through some gimmicks that would otherwise one-shot you.
Note: Saders (Except Male Saders) become unable to heal you since they cannot restore your mana.
This set requires the pieces below to be farmed at Destroyed Castle of the Dead and/or bought with Shattered Dusk Crystals. Promised Time for Victory may not be available immediately as it is an Ispins exclusive epic, so use a placeholder epic until then.
Manipulation
Power Plant
Promised Time for Victory
Example Equipment Set
Optional Slots
Magic Stone: Obviously a placeholder until you can obtain Promised Time for Victory.
Ring: You may want Adaptable Two-Toned Ring for more cooldown reduction since Impaler wants a lot of it..
One of the best starter builds. Can be used in conjunction with a bleed bracelet, and easily replaceable with better epics in the same slot when it is time to upgrade your build. This build revolves around using at least the 3 core pieces below. In exchange for a higher mana cost, your skills gain more damage. You may apply a standard skill build.
Ender's Gaze
Genius Engineer's Multi-tool Belt
Genius Engineer's Thick Protective Boots
Example Equipment Set
Optional Slots
Bracelet & Top: Use whatever status damage you want.
Sub-Equip: Optimal Combat Glasses (Needs average 90% quality on all your equipment).
Impaler's skills have pretty high cooldowns, and this build provides a ton of cooldown to your skills (~50% cdr). The set essentially requires the bracelet to function and some consumable to activate all of its equipment effects (Warlord's Cry / random throwable items). You can buy cheap rocks to throw from Siusha in the Moonlight Tavern.
This build may not be accessible immediately since you need an Ispins-Exclusive epic Long-Cherished Wish.
Long-Cherished Wish
Example Equipment Set
Optional Slots
Ring: One-touch Smart Remote Controller (needs Black Dragon fuse bracelet).
Earrings: Choose between Corrupt Soul, Hazy Lament, Law of Gravitation, or Acrobatic Rhombus.
Where to get Consumables
Another build that offers lots of cdr for Impaler. This is a lot more flexible than sleep since it only uses a couple of slots. I recommend this to players because Impaler is forgiving and easy to play. Thus, having the added difficulty of manually casting your skills is less of a burden.
Essentially, High-tech Mobility Enhancing Boots provide 8% Skill Attack for skills cast via command inputs and 400% increase to Command Perks for cube-consuming skills.
This means that:
- Falling Death, Dark Impulse, and Abyssal Invader will get -25% MP Cost & -25% Cooldown
Customs may be necessary to make it viable further into the endgame (Ent-Spirit Shoulders).
High-tech Mobility-Enhancing Boots
Example Equipment Set
Optional Slots
Necklace: Heightened Fury Necklace
Sub-Equip: Optical Combat Glasses / Holy Grail of Dawn (Will require even more difficult key binds).
Magic Stone: Balled Dragon Breath
My Manual Setup
This are just what I use for myself, notice I don't actually command input Despair and Dark Barrier out of laziness.
Yes, Putting skills on just 'Z' and 'Space' count has manual inputs.