Pretty standard Duster build. If you need more damage, pick 1-A instead of 1-B for Sniper but otherwise this is what I use in a group setting. 

I'm not a fan of "Morning Coffee 1-A" skill because the decreased turn rate is unbearable and even with the less damage received, it's not worth it. Wild Fire is very easy to proc and provides a noticeable damage boost. 

2-A is bad as it decreases the maneuver spin attack and duster trail's range. This would be ontop of a sniper range decrese, so wouldn't be worth it in most situations. 
2-B is bad if you want to survive. 1-B is usually enough to allow decent chains of secondary use so there's no need to sacrifice armour to shave 10-20 steam off the secondary. 

Duster build

Sort of unorthodox, definitely not the ideal support role for Merlin, but this isn't an ideal build either.

Setup has to include Tesla/Fire Orbs, as these benefit the most from using Arc 1-A. If you have Viper, swap 1-A for 1-B.

Rest of build is pretty self explanatory, Merlin 3-A is vital for this build as it allows you to do large wipes at will, without the silly triggers of Merlin 2X - which for 2-B can even get you killed. I never recommend using any skill that increases damage received.

Merlin 4X is players' choice really. I picked 4-A since I can activate that resistance at will, instead of hoping for some on kill trigger. 

If you wish to emulate this build, but are lacking in skill points then simply don't use Armor 3-A, and tone down the points added into Arc 3-B. 

Merlin Build

Equipments:
Ice Organ III
Sprinkler III
M2 armor +7steam
All Engines
PB Damage m2: 30.91% (4ppl)


Xiitos Medic m2

I would suggest using the m2 armor that gives +36 armor and - 50% armor regen with this build 

m2 medic build

This build is aimed towards rookie pilots who desire faster progression and pilots who feel as though they've hit a roadblock in their career.

If you find that you have enough steam for your maneuvers consider swapping out the steam recharge skills for the armor repair skills.

Armor:
If you are lacking in damage as a result of damaged equipment it could be worth swapping Armor 1-B out for Armor 1-A

Old Faithful:
If you are lacking in range, then it may be worth swapping OF 1-A for 1-B. After all, you can't deal damage if you aren't hitting anything.

Engine:
If you find that you have more range than you need, then it may be worth swapping Engine 2-B for 2-A. This will help counteract the secondary steam cost from OF 2-A.

Crash Embracing XP Farmer

This is mainly for void prism , but works for all lasers too so knock your self out

(Quad) Laser build 

Not for the faint of heart. This build plays very close and very aggressive to land as many Hydro Shot bullets as possible on the target. A good alternate weapon is Frost Bite for its piercing property and longer range. 

Fire Shotgun and Poison Splatter are of course "the best" shotguns in the game concerning overall ease of use in as many situations as possible. But Hydro Shot offers great damage at greater risk, for those looking for an alternative playstyle.

Gnodab's Hydro Shot Bandit

The vast majority of damage boost skills are taken here, focusing on blowing things to smithereens at point-blank to close range, while also increasing EMP damage. Fire Shotgun offers superior burst and shot pattern, although I personally prefer Poison Splatter. Have Frost Bite on swap for Rei and Lightning-elemental enemies.

Gnodab's Full-on DPS Bandit

The goal is to play quiet and safely that's why i go range over damages. With that range i can permanently dps M2 even when im focusing on dodging.
Weapons : i recommand poison/ice combo.

Picpus Bandit

Picpus Steam Pally

Lost Old Faithful Configuration

Alright, now for some explanations on why I choose the skills I did:

Medic 1-A (Microsurgery): Choosing this skill saves your steam, and you don't really need that big of a heal aura because the group should be near you.

Medic 2-B (Death Panel): Death panel allows you to kill ghasts faster in order to gain more steam.

Wasp 2-B (Harvesting Prey): This allows you to quickly regain your still for each ghast that you kill allowing for more heals. I've tested this against the other skill Worker Efficiency, but +2 steam on kill gives you more steam faster at the end of spider/disco/phase 3.   

Medic 3-A (Socialized Medicine): In truth, you CAN choose Cost Cutting over this, but you can save people more with a bigger heal cloud. My logic for choosing this is if I have a tiny heal aura, it will make other players group around me, making it harder to see bullets and as a result taking more unnecessary damage. If I have a bigger aura, people will keep enough distance from me so that I can have enough space to see the bullets.

 

Wasp Medic Build For M2

Alright, some explanation on why I choose some skills over others:

Engine 1A (Alliance Power): More damage = faster kills on ghasts as well as a faster clear.

Sword 2-B (Heart Blade): The decreased regen from heart blade can be outregened by your heal aura. Steam Blade on the other hand drastically reduces your steam regen. I see a lot of newer players picking steam heart when using steam pally when they first try it out not realizing it is destroys your overall steam regen. 

Sword 4-B (Fortified): This is picked because damage reduction saves you from dying. There won't be many instances where you can use linked health effectively in M2. 

Paladin 4-B (Frenzy): This works wonders on ghasts as killing one ghast means you can move on to the next without reloading. 


Steam Paladin Build For M2

Bandit build focused almost entirely on defensive and utility skills to keep you alive, earning exp and learning boss patterns. By the time you're Level 80, you should be confident enough to switch over to a damage-focused build.

Bandit for Beginners

Standard Medic Build, useful from Pilot rank 1-200. With the highest survivability possible on this support.

You can change Socialized Medicine for Cost Cutting, depending on your playstyle.

Switch out Worker Efficiency for Harvesting Prey for bossruns like Meowza 1 or 2. ! Still depending on ur Secondary steam cost !

Have Fun and Good Luck while keeping the squad alive in these Moewza runs !


The Lone Survivor - by "CloudYMorty"

Points can be taken from
Armor 2B
Assault 1B
Armor 3A
Assault 3A if you don't like high turn-rate
Assault 3B if you don't care about ability

Points can be added to
Assault 3B
Engine 2A
Assault 1B
Armor 2B
Engine 3B

Basic Assault Build

If you have less points than necessary, here are the skills in order of most importance:
Armor 1B
Engine 2A
Armor 2A
Engine 1B 
Medic 1A
Medic 3B
Wasp 2B
Blaster 2A
Blaster 1B
Armor 3A
Engine 3B

If you have more skill points, here are the best skills to invest in:
Armor 3A
Wasp 3B
Blaster 3A
Engine 3A
Blaster 4A

If you enjoy reviving people, you can exchange Medic 1A for Medic 1B.

Basic Medic Build

Cheap build for new pilots. Support the group with frequent bullet wipes.

Don't worry about doing lots of damage, keep your Arc locked on and make some good bullet wipes for your group. Try to learn boss patterns and be in the right place at the right time to wipe bullets.

With the range of Tesla / Arc 1-A, you can usually lock on to the boss and then forget about it while you focus on your movement. You'll easily do enough damage to get loot over the course of a fight.

Weapon: Tesla I (2x Yellow Steel) or T9 Arc
Ability: T9+ for the radius
Engine: Steam recharge, Speed for zooming
Armor: Best you can afford to lose, Elem advised in spooky dungeons

Early Support Merlin

M2 OF support build

duck's engineer build i guess? Glass cannon engineer + damage reduction choices since damage doesn't affect turrets

Engineer Life is Pain

the generic xp farm build that xelor had, but with "better" choices

better xp farm build

This build relies heavily on Assault 2-A (Pickpocket) to maintain a high steam level for both bash maneuver and boost clouds, as well as stacked damage reduction used to increase effective armor before bashing.

Damage reduction sources: 
*Bash = 40%
*Rebel armor = 10%
*Gambler = 25% (on kill)
*Lucky Rabbit = 25% (on superspeed end)

Assault max cloud uptime/safe bashing

Mix build of damage + steam regen for Laser Siege Tank. Just try to flak your way out and not get hit.

Damage + Steam Regen Siege Tank (Laser)

Survivability-based build for Laser Siege Tank. Siege Tank already has a decent Steam Recharge without any bonuses, but if you want then you can use one of the skills or equip an Engine for that.

Safe Tank Build (Laser)

This build uses Desperado (3-A sword skill) to boost dps output when below 50% armor. 

The idea is to nullify the effects of armor self repair once below 50% armor with Heart Blade to make extensive use of Desperado.

 This build becomes somewhat usable once armor cap has been reached (at 89 armor with T10 armor + Armor Shell + maxed stiffs).

Ancient Depths is optional, i'd recommend getting used to the current maneuver to make use of Snapper.

Pally bootleg frenzy build

This is close combat fight with stinky smelly gross damage. Fun build to fart on your enemies? Well here you go!

(Warning, just try not to die)
4B may be bugged atm



Ol' Faith the Farting Shotgun King

Offensive setup for maxed Maidens, or Viper/Orbs users. 

Suggested Equipment: Viper/Fire Orbs

This setup takes into consideration the fact Viper and Fire Orbs do not benefit as much as tiered/elem arcs from Arc 1B. On the contrary, using 1A and stacking +ammo lets you use both weapons as if they had 1B, but without the damage penalty. Arc 4B is crucial for survival, as Viper will spam the confuse damage bullets. Pay attention when triggering Maiden 4A, as it'll let you use Fire Orbs twice with 6 orbs, incrementing your dps by a fair deal. 

Various tips:
1. Viper's bullets can be slow. Have Shieldmaiden's back face the enemy and the bullets will acquire a 20-33% movement boost;
2. Fire Orbs have a 360° lock-on range, and, when used along with Arc 1B, they stop shooting 6 orbs every 2 seconds, so use Fire Orbs only with Arc 1A;
3. Fire Orbs are deadly versus bosses with many minions (Rei), since they pierce. When fighting such bosses, lock on the boss and NEVER let the attack go.

Shieldmaiden

Setup focused on using Merlin to exclusively get SB damage and chain wipes. It's a build meant for throwaway Merlins and for players that know they'll die when meleeing bullets while positioning. Can also be used on maxed Merlins, but beware of Meowza lag bombs.

Crucial to pay attention to the double vortex stack. Use Tesla to damage enemies and trigger the On Kill skills. At higher levels, move around exclusively through teleports to combat the +30% damage taken with Merlin 4A.

Merlin Support

You get to have big damage while also being able to heal pretty quickly, even more so while killing enemies!

Damage Healing Quad

Steam Machine Pally

Less risk more safe with the power of 55 % Damage Reduce ! (Basically it was my beta test build. Don't mind me *w *)
(Number) = Players require

Sniper

Damage + 25 %,50 %(2),60 %(5),70 %(8) + 100 %(On kill)
^ 170 % At peak.
Range - 30 %,15 %(3), + 5 %(4)
Ammo + 45 %(4)
^ Not trig on Scythe of Zed,Phantom Curtain
Cooldown - 25 %(2)
Damage Received - 35 % ,55 %(3)
Turn Rate + 30 %
Armor Repair + 55 %,130 %(4)
Maneuver steam cost - 15 %(2),35 %(5),60 %(8)
Camera view + 5 %(3)

99 % Survival rate for Raptor !

Attack while super speeding with Zed Dragon and switch to a sniper for shielding.

Steam recharge: +130% + 1.5/s
Secondary steam cost (sniper):  -60%
Damage (dragon): +130%

Plane builds

Check out the builds posted by other players. If you want to share what you've been using, create your own build!