Spirit Build Guide (Pre-Full Release w/ Speculation)
Preface
With the upcoming full release of Arcane Odyssey, Spirit builds will finally be getting the ability to actually use their class, with four new spirit weapons becoming available alongside the Eagle Patrimony getting its full skillset, coming up to a total of five weapons available for use.
Due to this, it’s important that players understand what each rite does and what each spirit weapon is good at when going into the next update. Thus, I have decided to make this guide to help new and returning players who might be interested in using the spirit builds available in game on full release.
Spirit Basics
The Spirit stat is one of the four main stats that the user can invest into as they level up, with its main form of attack coming in the form of Spirit Weapons, which all have five slots to use their skills known as rites. Spirit builds can equip up to three spirit weapons total, and these weapons have a similar customization system to regular weapons.
Spirit Weapon Obtainment Method
Every spirit weapon, besides the Eagle Patrimony given to the player at level 1, is obtained by fighting a miniboss that uses said spirit weapon. Each miniboss will only spawn around in their specific sea, and not all of them are a guaranteed drop.
The minibosses that drop their specific weapon, alongside their drop rate for the spirit weapon (with the initial drop rate of the boss and the total drops the boss has) and designated sea, are as follows:
Staff of Night — Dusk, the Dark Oracle — ⅛ drop chance (¼ to get a drop with two drops from the boss) — Bronze Sea
Tidestone Band — Laelus, the Thief — Guaranteed drop — Bronze Sea
Crystal Orb — Delamere, the Blessed Knight — 1/15 drop chance (⅓ to get a drop with five drops from the boss) — Nimbus Sea
Ember Staff — The Crone, the Murderous Witch — 1/14 drop chance (½ to get a drop with seven drops from the boss) — Nimbus Sea
Spirit Rite Tomes
Similarly to regular weapons, Spirit Weapons have skills (called Rites instead) that they can disarm from their weapon as tomes and can reapply to other spirit weapons.
Unlike regular weapons, however, spirit rites aren’t limited by the weapon type, meaning that any regular Spirit Rite (aka all of the rites that start with “Spirit”) can be applied to any spirit weapon.
Also unlike regular weapons, every spirit weapon has two unique spirit rites that (so far) can ONLY be applied to the weapon they came from. This makes it so every spirit weapon has three slots that can be applied to any spell and two slots that are tied to the weapon.
Ultimate Arts
Spirit weapons have their ultimate art attack as their fifth spirit rite on their weapon. This rite has its regular stat requirement overridden, and will instead require 220 stat points + the base level requirement of the weapon (ex: an ultimate art on the Tidestone Band will require 260 spirit stat points, as it is a level 40 spirit weapon.)
Imbuements
For Spirit hybrid builds, the first awakening allows the user to imbue spirit energy onto their other stat’s attacking method. Spirit energy can be imbued onto magic, fighting styles and weapons, giving them the most imbuement potential of all the stats. When imbued with spirit energy, attacks will gain a size increase with no drawback.
Alongside this, spirit hybrids can also imbue their specific spirit weapons onto all of the other attacking methods, which alongside the previous effect mentioned, will also imbue a synergy tied to the weapon (ex: Eagle Patrimony’s imbuement will add lightning synergies to whatever it’s imbued with).
Spirit weapons can also be imbued with magics similarly to weapons, gaining new stats on their attacks and gaining the status effects and synergies applied by the magic or fighting style imbued onto it (Ex: if Water Magic or is imbued onto a spirit weapon, any attack used by the weapon will apply soaked).
General Spirit Rites
Below this is going to be all general spirit rites categorized based on what they do along with a general description going over what type of move it is and how it should be used.
Later on I will also add the base stat requirements for each rite alongside personal tiering for each based on how good I think it is.
Ranged
Ranged
Spirit Blast
Type: Blast Projectile
A basic blast attack and currently the only rite in the base game before the update. While it has gained a reputation for its subpar damage output, it’s still a pretty reliable attack to have in my opinion. You shouldn’t drop this attack until you have a good amount of alternative attacks o chose from, whether it’s other regular spirit rites or other unique spirit rites, as it can still work fine as a secondary option if another skill is on cooldown (imo).
Spirit Hound
Type: Sticking Blast Projectile
A wolf shaped blast that, upon either hitting a surface or a player, will pulse a second time, thus dealing two instances of damage. In pretty much all aspects, this attack is a direct upgrade to spirit blast and should likely be on one of your spirit weapons to use as an endlag punish attack.
Spirit Barrage (Subject to Change)
Type: multi-projectile attack (potentially)
Although this attack hasn’t been showcased yet, my main guess is that this will be a multi-projectile attack. If so, then it will likely be a good dps option to have on one of your spirit weapons.
Area of Effect/AoE
Area of Effect
Spirit Burst
Type: Self Explosion
A basic self explosion spell that deals damage in a sphere around the user. For the most part, this rite will only really be useful if the enemy is low and is trying to rush the user down, and otherwise is okay for PvE combat.
Spirit Shockwave
Type: Placed Explosion
A basic placed explosion spell that deals damage in a flat shockwave radius from wherever the user launches the attack. Similarly to spirit burst, this rite will only really be useful if the enemy is low; however, unlike spirit burst, this spell is not limited to the enemy rushing down the user. Generally speaking, I would say this spell is better than spirit burst, but it’s not by a large margin.
Spirit Rain
Type: AoE Zone
A longer lasting AoE zone that is summoned above where the user summoned it. This rite lasts a while longer after being summoned even while the user moves around, as well as dealing high damage. The area also expands in size the higher up the user goes. This rite is pretty much an upgrade of spirit burst, as it doesn’t lock the user into place for its duration, and it should likely be the main AoE attack on a kit (aside from another exclusive spirit rite that I will go over later).
Melee
Melee
Spirit Drain
Type: Grab
A basic grab move that slams the opponent into the ground at the end. Despite what people thought based on the name, the rite does not steal hp from the target when hit. Due to the general jankiness of grabs, I would advise against using this rite for the most part. While it can also function as a semi movement option, there are much better rites for this actually built around movement.
Movement
Movement
Spirit Walk
Type: Dash
A unique movement rite which has a diagonal dash that can be used three times with each dash on a separate cooldown. Not only does Spirit walk cover a lot of distance when all three dashes are used, but it’s also very useful at tripping up the enemy due to the up - down - up pattern the dashes have. This rite should always be used in kits unless a better option comes around, as it’s by far the best mobility tool for spirit weapons as of current.
Spirit Rise
Type: Leap
A rather basic movement rite that causes the user to leap in the air similar to airstep and magic leap. Uniquely, Spirit Rise can angle its leap based on the user’s movement direction, with the leap going upwards if the user isn’t moving when using it, while the other leap spells have the direction built in. There’s no real reason NOT to have this skill, as it’s useful to have for extra air movement in and out of combat.
Spirit Flight
Type: OoC Aerial Travel (Subject to change)
While this rite hasn’t been shown off yet, it seems to be basically the same as the magic flight spell from World of Magic. Going off of such, it likely will only serve as an Out of Combat travel method and probably won’t be good in battle.
Support
Support
Spirit Wall
Type: Defensive
This rite creates a barrier in front of the user, blocking any attacks that connect with it. Given that this rite seems to be similar to the magic barriers from Arcane Adventures, this rite likely will block a few ranged attacks before breaking. Considering this, Wall is very likely going to be a useful utility skill for a long time, and should definitely be used.
Spirit Weapons
Below this is the five spirit weapons that will be available on full release, alongside their base level requirement, imbuement synergy, general role (based on their built in rites) and a personal ranking based on the regular tier list rankings. After the descriptions for the weapons unique rites, I will also give an overview about how I feel the weapon should be used as well as my justification for its tier placement.
(Note: The Ember Staff is going to be unfinished until it gets showcased for everyone, and the tier list rankings will be subject to change when these weapons become available on full release)
Eagle Patrimony
Eagle Patrimony
Level Requirement: 0
Imbuement Synergy: Lightning
General Role: Melee & Speed Mix
Ranking: B
Rites:
Astrapikis (Melee)
Type: Wide Slash
The user creates a slash attack in front of them, before it pulses again with a lightning effect, dealing damage twice. While this rite can potentially deal high damage on hit, it’s also rather short in length both vertically and in front of the user, with most of the length being towards the sides of the user. While not impossible to use, this rite is rather difficult to work with if the user isn’t going for a rushdown build.
Astropos (Support)
Type: Speed Buff
The user encases themselves in spirit energy, giving them a speed buff to all of their rites. Although the exact amount hasn’t been told yet, it can be assumed that the speed buff is about the same as the speed mode of lightning magic, which should make the buff pretty noticeable.
Overview:
While I might see it as overall weaker than the other available spirit weapons, the eagle patrimony is fine for a weapon available from the start of the game. It’s built in rites, while somewhat difficult to work with, are still good under the right circumstances. Astrapikis can deal high damage if both pulses hit and Astropos will likely be notable enough of a buff to justify using it. Still, this weapon doesn’t have as great of options as the other spirit weapons available to the player, and as such I think that it should only really be used as a secondary or tertiary option on a build.
Staff of Night
Staff of Night
Level Requirement: 40
Imbuement Synergy: ?
General Role: Utility Support
Ranking: A
Rites:
Nichtetheis (Ranged/Support)
Type: Beam + Debuff Utility
The user fires a (potentially hitscan) beam attack from the staff, which on hit will apply blindness and slowness. This can help disorient enemies in a fight and can make follow up attacks easier to hit for the player, making it a pretty useful attack overall.
Nichtaplia (Support)
Type: Resistance Buff
The user encases themself in a ball of spirit energy, which causes any incoming attack to have its damage reduced by 30% at the cost of slowing down the user’s movement. This rite has a rather fast toggle and lasts for three hits before breaking. While the buff may be up for a short time, it’s still a pretty significant damage reduction amount for a rite that still lets you attack while it’s active.
Overview:
Although it probably won’t be a good main option for a spirit weapon, the Staff of Night is very likely going to be the best utility option for spirit builds. Nichtethesis allowing the user to debuff the enemy from a range can make it easier to trip up the enemy, and having a fast toggleable damage reduction is very useful even considering the slowness it applies to the user. I could also potentially see this weapon being higher as well if people were to push it more aggressively.
Crystal Orb
Crystal Orb
Level Requirement: 80
Imbuement Synergy: Light
General Role: Zoning Pressure
Ranking: S
Rites:
Aithoro (Ranged/Aoe)
Type: Pulsing Blast Projectile
The user fires off a blast projectile that, upon hitting a surface or player, will begin to pulse continuously for an extended period of time (total of ~20 pulses after the initial blast), with each pulse covering a large area. If spirit hound was an upgraded spirit blast, then this skill is basically an upgraded spirit hound. It is by far one of the best zoning tools in the game, as it cuts off a large area for an incredibly long amount of time alongside threatening super high damage if the enemy stays in it for too long.
Aithiraki (Support)
Type: Minion Summon
The user summons an invincible spirit minion to assist them in battle, with this minion being able to use spirit blast and spirit burst. This minion has the same movements as other npcs, meaning it is capable of dashing and jumping, and it also inherits the imbuement on the spirit weapon. While this rite may sound weak on the surface due to the minion only using blast and burst, it’s overall a good spell to have considering that the minion is completely invincible and does not take any additional energy to be used after summoning, meaning the user is free to attack while their minion is active.
Overview:
The Crystal Orb is by far the best option for a zoning playstyle spirit build. Aithoro is absolutely insane for a spell, as it commands an incredible amount of area over time, and Aithiraki is great as a way to force the enemy to pay more attention. This weapon is great as a main or secondary option for builds and will likely stay as such for a long time.
Tidestone Band
Tidestone Band
Level Requirement: 40
Imbuement Synergy: Water
General Role: Melee Gap Closer
Ranking: S
Rites:
Thalakyma (Ranged/Support)
Type: Piercing Projectile + Projectile Wall
The user fires a blast shaped like a tsunami which can pierce player and terrain, as well as being able to absorb any projectiles that come in contact with it. The projectile itself is very wide, meaning it can function pretty well as a projectile wall. This rite is useful both as a way for the user to approach and as a way for the user to guard against incoming attacks.
Thakrousi (Melee)
Type: Crash
The user encases themself in spirit energy before launching forward and causing an explosion around themself. The explosion deals high damage and inflicts slowness on anyone hit by it. This rite is good at closing the distance between the user and enemy, and is also somewhat useful as a guard move if the user is being rushed down.
Overview:
While it’s likely harder to apply to combat compared to the crystal orb, I still think that the tidestone band is a useful spirit weapon for both early game and late game. Thalakyma is useful both as a guard option and projectile, and thakrousi is a good melee rite to have as an extra option on spirit + strength builds.
Ember Staff (WIP)
Ember Staff
Level Requirement: N/A
Imbuement Synergy: Fire
General Role: N/A
Ranking: N/A
Rites:
Flomva (N/A)
Type:
Floganymais (N/A)
Type:
Other Spirit Build Features
Sensing
Spirit Sense is the sensing type unique to Spirit builds, and it is mainly based around the health of other players and enemies. The size of the player glow is based on how the health compares to your own player health, with larger glows representing higher health amounts, and the color is dependent on the current health percentage of the enemy (likely going from green → red). Spirit sense can also sense animals, sharks and sea monsters by default, and at higher sensing levels (Pure Spirit builds only), users can sense underwater structures, shipwrecks, and ghost ships when those come out, making it good for general sea exploration.
Armors
Spirit builds have three armor sets tied to their stat, being the Alitheia set, the Oracle Armor set, and the Oracle Robes set, as well as two extra accessories being the Oracle Bracelet and the Oracle Amulet (Currently at poor quality).
- The Alitheia set gives the user Intensity and Regeneration when worn.
- The Oracle Armor set and the Oracle Amulet (Poor) give the user Defense and Regeneration when worn.
- The Oracle Robes set gives the user power and regeneration when worn.
- The Oracle Bracelet gives the user Attack Speed and Regeneration when worn.
As shown above, the spirit stat has Regeneration as its recurring stat across its armors, which gives the user an extra form of longevity during fights by increasing the health gained through regeneration.
Dodge Reflex
Ekrix is the dodge reflex unique to spirit builds, which grants a temporary damage resistance based on the % investment into Spirit (Minimum of 10% and a Maximum of 40%). Ekrix can also function as an instant reflex, which is currently determined by the agility stat. This will be changed on full release to something else with the removal of agility (which currently hasn’t been revealed).
Topic Updates
6/29 - Changed some information regarding imbuements and hybrid builds, as I learned that spirit builds will no longer require a slight amount of hp per cast on full release and that fighting styles cannot be imbued onto spirit weapons (plight of the juggernaut).