Destroyers are DDs - and not blessed with a great amount of DEX to make good use of a shield.
Tallum Heavy and a two-handed weapon. Until you are high level enough to measure up in PvP against whoever you are fighting, at least +STR, maybe +DEX. After that, might want to switch to an HP build depending on your preference.
Tallum Heavy, Infernal Master Focus, +5STR +4DEX.
Some prefer Maj heavy over Tallum for the stun resist, but for single target hitting Tallum imho is better thanks to faster skill recharges.
Rage and Frenzy are the keywords here, so a cursed dagger is also a nice to have item here.
Fast exp build for AoE:
Maj heavy, +5STR (+4DEX if you can take the dmg) and Tallum Glaive Wide blow(some prefer Health, depends how big trains you pull and where you pull.)
Again, some prefer Tallum for the speedboosts, so it is a deal between the two.
Frenzy and Rage can be used in AoE too, especially if you have a dedicated puller. Cursed dagger, conversion homu and all helps here too.
PVP then, for A-grade
Tallum or Majestic heavy, personal preferences matter here, but Majestic with stun resist _might_ be overall the better one of the two if you dont mind the slight decrease in attk speed.
Tats depend on the style, wether you wanna be a hard hitter or a dmg soaker.
+5STR +4DEX _can_ be used, but you will be somewhat low on HP. You can also go for +4STR only, Or go without tattoos.
Then again, you can also go +CON and wear a Nightmare heavy set for even more added dmg soaking. Root resistance is nifty too :)
For weapons, Dragonslayer Health, switch to Infernal Master Focus when you've taken enough dmg to cancel the Health SA out and bash away. Dmg is your friend. You can also carry a blunt if you wanna stun(you do, trust me) but it is a secondary weapon, only for stuns. Polearm is also nifty in some situations, so might keep one in inv too.
Frenzy gives much more dmg output with 2handers than it does with 1handers, so that is one of the reasons to go 2handed style. And face it, a Destroyer should always aim to Rage, Frenzy/Guts, Zealot if he wants to make the most of his dps and at that stage, 2handed swords are the ultimate choice. 1-hitting about any other classes on criticals is what counts.
Blocking a few hits or arrows with low dex and bad blockrate aint worth the reduction in dmg.
You got the HP, CP and skills to survive without a shield, a shield is only a hindrance as it lowers your dmg output.
Thanks very much for your outstanding support and advice. Once more I got awesome information to help me carry out my sub and I must confess I am getting in love with this destroyer...its a great character and I enjoy thoroughly playing it.
For Carmille: Now I understand why shield is not a must have for destroyers...You convinced me to go through the 2-handed path..:)
Just one question: Why the cursed dagger or the conversion homunculus?
Please enlighten me...:)
Best regards,
RedBaron
Cursed Dagger = Risk.Haste SA.
This SA greatly increases your attack speed when HP is below 60% and since Frenzy/Guts refresh rates are dependent upon attack speed, having a Rsk.Haste dagger equipped at the moment you activate those skills, the refresh of them is massively reduced.
A Homunkulus + Conversion SA = Lowered HP instantly.
Conversion reduces your HP and gives you MP. Generally it's the -HP you'd want. Just equipping the Homu then allows you to safely reduce your HP far faster than if you let mobs chew on you. This then let's you reach 30% HP and the skills that need to be below that threshold to use them that much faster. Just equip the Homu the change to the Cursed Dagger. You will lose the HP and MP from the Homu/SA but the HP lost will remain lost, thus speeding the 30% trigger point.
In general though, both of these can be a bit tricky to pull off, and can require a set of buffs that you may not have access to all the time. But the gear above, makes a difference when you do.
A cursed dagger (risk haste) is a good investment for any destroyer - since your breakpoint is 30% not 60% though and you can't have health when you activate your emergency skills, I don't feel a homun would help too much, but that's just me: It's definitely a popular pick. :)
And you want the CursedDagger specifically because it is the cheapest of the weapons that can give you a 13% boost in Attack Speed.
Myself, I have Tallum Heavy. But when I can afford it, I will get Majestic Heavy also. Some of the 60+ mobs I have encountered just have too much stun power, so I want the extra stun resist when I go to those places, especially if I am poling.
Thanks very much for your good advice. Always learning in this big world of L2..:)
If you see a noobish destroyer trying to change from lance to cursed dagger to homunculus to aoba and becoming dead in the process to a young keltir then its me!!!!
With my Destroyer i find that not modifying the base stats will work better to my advandage, more so when u encounter mobs that can stun or in PvP when you fight against someone with stun capabilities.
My setup will be this: NightMare HEAVY + 2H blunt -Destroyer hammer (Cuz im poor, later on maybe that new A grade tongue of something :) )
And i will remove the +4STR tattoo i have.
With the NM set i will hit 50 CON and that on its own is a prety effective tool against stunners :)
You also have frenzy that blocks stuns and it works very well. I think that with this setup, i will not get stun at all or at least nver as much as i can get stun right now.
I running without any DEX tattoos right now and its working well, i would NOT advise a -8 CON on a destroyer, a destroyers strenght his is CON, u remove from it and you start to loose alot.
If you go tattoos, maybe try 1 at a time OP, and test it out. Everything that was said now makes sence but ive tried it and doesnt work that great on my Destroyer.
The setup i give u will be ok for PvE n PvP im sure. obviouslly you can go with the other setups and they will work ok as well, mine is just more even i believe.
And yes, i will use that homu conversion trick as well, it seams to hlp us out alot us destroyers.
Thx for that risk dagger trick, that one i didnt know about.
hope it helps
Cheers!!
PS i always have prophet & SE buffs, so it works great... But then again, who plys this game without buffs :p