Character Guides - Cook - Sample Builds - May 30, 2020

Body Field Effect

Role - Massive damage combo

Required Soul Triad trees to invest in - Stun Strike, Pummel, Viper Cudgel

Optional Soul Triad trees to invest in - Strength, Provoke, Life Shield

Weapon - Chakram or Titan Boomerang

Cook will be mainly holding his ranged weapon and making use of his Stun Strike -> Pummel -> Viper Cudgel combo, which Stuns an enemy for a long time to allow for Pummel as a follow-up for Knockdown (and possibly Pushback/Steel Pushback for invincibility), which then allows the incredibly powerful Viper Cudgel to deal damage with Knockdown's 50% damage boost.

As far as optional trees, Strength is a clear go-to, since with the Titan Boomerang, Cook can deal 5x damage to an already high damage combo (and its long cooldown synchs up with Viper Cudgel by combo's end). Provoke and/or Life Shield are there to provide tanking for others during his combo's downtime, and Chakram is a good choice here to let Cook's basic attacks contribute damage while waiting on his long cooldowns to end.

Provoke Tank

Role - Tank, Knockdown

Required Soul Triad trees to invest in - Provoke, Discus Doom, Life Shield

Optional Soul Triad trees to invest in - Pummel, King's Rays

Weapon - Blade Boomerang, Boulder, Sleeparang, Titan Boomerang or Gallant GCDN-48

Cook's tanking is quite simple -- use Provoke to force all enemies to target him and Life Shield to heal himself and boost his Defense. Discus Doom is present to allow for both extra damage while Cook is blocking/taking hits and is used for many Weapons that revolve around this build. Pummel is an option for its Steel Pushback (all Provoke tanks love invincibility), while King's Rays is there for all-enemy Knockdown (enemies won't be dealing damage if they're laying down).

Weapon choice depends on the sub-goal of the player's Provoke tank build. Blade Boomerang or Titan Boomerang if wanting more damage out of Discus Doom (with Titan Boomerang being relying more for Fatality), Boulder for Earth Field Effect teams, Sleeparang for Mind Field Effect teams or the Gallant GCDN-48 if going for a more precision ranged tank.

Fire Field Effect

Role - Large area damage over time

Required Soul Triad trees to invest in - Field Flame, King's Rays, Life Shield, Discus Doom

Optional Soul Triad trees to invest in - None

Weapon - Burnarang

Cook's job here is to spread as many flames as possible and make sure the Fire Field Effect is active at all times -- the more flames in play, the more damage each of Cook's flames deal. Field Flame is needed for the flames itself and its Conflagration passive (for Far Shot to spread fire), King's Rays for Field Effect maintainance, Knockdown and Dragon's Breath (for Viper Beam to create fire) and Life Shield for Field Effect maintainance, survival and Incendiary (for Viper Blast to create fire). Discus Doom is needed to spread fire faster, and the Burnarang doubles the damage of Cook's flames.