*Took me actually forever to make it, lol
Foreword
I have been a fan of Tricksters since I have assembled my first gimmicky Trickster build 1,5 years ago. It’s a class that in all of its iterations relies on damage in order to survive, however it’s also one of the hardest classes to balance and make a consistent build of. Since the nerf vendetta against Bleeding Tricksters, they became a second fiddle to Bleeding Warders: inconsistent, much less damage and pretty unpleasant to play. Well today the Bleeding meta changes one more time and Bleeding Trickster once again steps into the spotlight.
The Build
1.2.1.2 Update
Decided to reimagine this old build of mine. I did attempt full hybrid approach before but it was long ago before Vitality damage buffs. I realised that in modern meta build needs better sustain and tankiness and amassed as much Vitality damage and flat to Vines as possible without sacrificing Bleeding part. As a result build does work as a true hybrid and while most of its damage is coming from Bleeding stacked Vines still have a decent leech from all the Vitality damage stacking and shared resist reduction.
1.1.9.8 Update
Facelift for the old bleeding classic! Build is pretty quick and reliable. Sometimes an energy potion is required. Ravager facetanking is a bit hard but doable.
1.1.7.1 Update
Made some quality of life improvements to the build: Attuned Lodestone’s proc’s damage reduction does help so decided to use it here. Changed pants to Wendigomane to get some of that sweet OA and also physical resist. Also just had to soft cap Pneumatic Burst since it gives a whopping 14% total speed now at soft cap. Build just mows thru enemies, still the strongest Bleeding build out there.
1.1.6.2 Update
Changed a medal component for smoother mana management and tested this build in the current (more brutal patch). Thanks to @banana_peel who kindly agreed to test it and record a video.
<<<< GRIMTOOLS >>>>
<<<< OLD 1.1.9.8 GRIMTOOLS >>>>
*Craft for Slow resistance
Again with the bloody questions
So how bad is “budget version”?
Actually as fast as the original version, so pretty damn good!
DA look so low. What’s up with that?
With the decent OA’s shred it’s enough to consistently survive in Crucible and SR 75-76.
Isn’t Savagery damage and Vines damage partly Vitality? How does it work?
It works pretty well. Even with low %Vitality damage Savagery is decent as another ADCtH source and it helps against targets with high Bleeding resistance
Shouldn’t something like full Bloodrager + Gutripper gun be better?
Nope, we need full Wildblood set to unleash the true power of Grasping Vines and for amazing tankiness.
This Stun resist and Freeze resist looks like a recepie for disaster in SR.
Hey, this isn’t even a question! And build does just fine because of adtch from Vines does not stop while you are frozen/stunned.
Gear/Skills and Devotions/Leveling
Basically every piece of gear is bis here, but some pieces can be changed. In particular pants can be swapped for decently rolled Reaper’s pants (with Blood Pact and Blade Spirit bonuses). And if you don’t have rings of Orissia you can use Deathlord Bands/Belgothian Sigils even Bladetwister or some faction ring without losing too much damage.
Skills and devotions are balanced towards damage because build’s sustain allows it. It’s possible to skip the Unknown Soldier in favour of a more defensive map with Scales of Ulcama, but build doesn’t die in Crucible and comfortably farms 75-76 already, so there is little need for that.
For leveling check leveling/beginners guides on this forum. This is an endgame build and it works as advertised once you equip all the core items/skills/devotions in the exact order at character’s level 100
Gameplay
In Crucible build facetanks everything. However, it’s recommended to avoid Mad Queen when her red aura is on: the possibility of death is really small but it is possible. Our playstyle is more about applying all our bleeding sources and moving to the next target. Cast Grasping Vines into each corner of the map to take care of trash, focus on fatter targets, bring them to half hp, move on to the next one. Try to gather everyone on waves 160 and 170 in upper left corner where (possibly) slower vanilla nemesis spawns.
In Shattered Realm aggro bosses one by one and you are going to be fine. Some boss combinations can be facetanked together, in my tests I managed to facetank couples like Fabius + Iron Maiden or Reaper + Moosielauke or Moosie + Ben’Jahr and some more. Avoid Grava’s nullification. Never attempt facetanking Mad Queen when her red aura is on. Use hit and run tactics with her. Sometimes you are going to need a mana potion in SR, so have those ready.
Stats
General with Savagery charges
Grasping Vines damage with all the procs
Videos
1.2.1.2 Ravager of Minds 2:28 kill
1.2.1.2 Crucible Gladiator 150-170 3:48 run
1.1.9.8 SR 75-76 7:30 run (no short rooms)
1.1.7.1 Crucible Gladiator 150-170 4:31 run
1.1.7.2 Crate of Entertainment kill by Retal_Abuser
1.1.7.1 romanN1’s Crucible Gladiator 150-170 4:45 run
1.1.7.1 Crucible Gladiator 150-170 4:47 run
1.1.6.2 Crucible Gladiator 150-170 5:14 run
1.1.6.2 Shards 75-76 9:17 run (1 death)
1.1.6.2 banana_peel’s fastest 4:50 run
My 1.1.6.2 Crucible 150-170 5:37 run
Shoot2033’s super fast 4:50 run
Grey-maybe’s SR 75-76 run - 11:46
In Conclusion
I want to thank @Shoot2033, @Slev1n, @banana_peel and @grey-maybe for kindly agreeing to test this build and record the videos for this guide. I might not going to be able to upload videos myself in the next week or so due to internet problems.
P.S. Caught my Zoya thinking about the game balance and how Tricksters are usually the ones who are hurt the most.
But ofc QoL suffers
Zoya is indeed a very bloody girl xD