Rapier / Ice Gauntlet PvP Build
This is one of the best weapon combos for PvP that you can use. The Ice Gauntlet provides amazing control with its powerful snares and immobilizes, while the Rapier provides great mobility and damage. This build does a great job trapping and locking opponents down, then punishing them with massive Rapier backstab damage. Defensively this build is very solid and can even be built in medium or heavy armor if you want to be more durable! This build is perfect for all forms of PvP combat and even does great in PvE!
The gear for this build can be found at any trader, as a lot of players are crafting and selling gear. Aim to get the specific perks that you need for the build, it’s not a huge deal if you don’t get the most ideal attributes for your gear.
Check out a video guide with gameplay for this build!
Start by putting 50 points in Constitution for the additional healing power and health, then put the rest of your points into Intelligence to maximize your damage. If you want to make this build more durable you can always put more points into Constitution.
Constitution
50: All health consumables 20% stronger. +10% logging speed.
Intelligence
50: +10% damage to light and heavy magic attacks. +10% harvest speed.
100: +10% critical hit chance. 5% chance for 1 Azoth when harvesting.
150: +15% to elemental damage. -10% decrease in weight of harvested items.
200: +10 mana after a dodge. +10% harvest speed.
250: +30% duration to damage over time spells. +10% yield increase when harvesting.
300: +30% damage on first hit on full health target. -10% reduction in Azoth travel cost.
Equipment
Our gear attributes are focused on stacking more Intelligence, with a secondary focus on Constitution.
The Rogue perk on the Rapier is fantastic for this builds playstyle, further increasing our backstab damage. The Ice gauntlet would be best with either the Keenly Jagged perk (bleed on crit) or the Keenly empowered perk (damage bonus on crit) as both will increase your outgoing damage. You can also use Keenly Jagged on the Rapier!
The important armor perks are Sundering Riposte for the additional damage bonus, and Refreshing Fleche for the cool down reduction. On the rest of the armor any Refreshing perk works great and will help reduce ability cooldowns further. Feel free to use some Ice Gauntlet perks on your armor if you want to as well!
With this gear loadout you should be in the Light Armor class which gives you access to a dodge roll. The roll is a very important part of your mobility and survivability; however, you can play this build in heavier armor weights, due to its trap-oriented gameplay. There is also no shield used in this build, as it does not provide us enough meaningful stats to justify its heavy weight.
Ideally, you want to enchant your armor with as many early game gems as you can find. Reducing incoming physical and magical damage are excellent early options.
As always, you want to try to use the best food and potions that you have available! Make sure you use regeneration potions for the additional mana sustain to!
Active Skills
Rapier
Riposte - 4/4 Upgrades
Riposte is an excellent counter attack skill. It is great for stunning an aggressive melee opponent so you can either break distance or counter attack. Lots of players like to spam attack when they are close to you so it is very easy to get a good riposte stun off, especially if you’re outnumbered. Riposte will also increase the damage you opponent takes thanks to the Sundering Riposte perk.
Evade - 5/5 Upgrades
Evade is arguably the Rapier’s best skill. It not only allows you to have a brief moment of invulnerability, but makes you more mobile, can be used to attack, and can cancel any ability or action! This is a very unique effect and gives the Rapier a high skill ceiling for PvP combat.
Fleche - 4/4 Upgrades
This is not only an amazing gap closer for attacking and getting away, but it is also a quick way to get behind an opponent and hit them with a really strong backstab. This combos especially well if you can trap someone in your ice shower immobilize, as they won’t be able to avoid the combo! If you land a critical backstab with fleche you also get a reduced cooldown thanks to the Refreshing Fleche perk.
Ice Gauntlet
Ice Shower - 4/4 Upgrades
This is an amazing skill that allows you to make a large line of ice, immobilizing and snaring anyone who walks through it. This is a great defensive skill, as it can stop large numbers of players from pursuing you. Its offensive potential however, is amazing with the Rapier. You can trap people in the ice shower, then gap-close behind them with fleche and backstab away, all while your opponent is stuck in place!
Ice Storm - 4/4 Upgrades
A powerful AOE ranged attack that lasts for a few seconds, damaging and snaring anyone caught in it. This skill is great for not only controlling the battlefield, but can deal a ton of damage when used in combination with ice shower.
Entombed - 3/3 Upgrades
Entombed is one of the best defensive skills in the game. You not only can protect yourself from a ton of damage, but you also quickly regenerate your manna. This allows you to stall and reset a fight quite easily and can also be used to stall for cooldowns! Entombed is also a fantastic defensive option when you get stuck in place by a skill like the great axe’s maelstrom.
