Top Support Gear in the Game: Part 9 - Critical Control (Patreon)

So, final part of this long list and these items are easily the best support items in the game. Each one of them provides an effect that can't be easily duplicated elsewhere and every single one of them (apart from one) can be constructed in the very early game and will have long lasting effects for the rest of the game.

Also, every single one of these is based around Blue Affinities, because Blue is the support colour in this game.

Blue Charm – Stone Circle

The best of the Charms provides an (almost) unique ability, only Spears have a similar trap cancelling power.  The Blue Charm gives you a 50% chance of negating the trap and providing a reshuffle on the hit location deck.  Not only does that mean you're avoiding the most dangerous hit location card, but also you get to refresh all the positive hit locations and potentially draw them again.  

The Blue Charm is difficult to activate, in the core game it often requires a blue savior (now the best savior imo), but when you start adding in expansions it becomes easier and easier to gain the benefits of it.  Also, in what was an utterly crazy move by the design team, the Screaming Armor has 2 and a half blue affinities by itself, meaning that you only need to provide 1.5 blue affinities in the rest of the grid in order to activate a Blue Charm on that armor set.

Finally, this ability stacks with Spear Specialisation, so you are even less likely to trigger the trap when combined with a spear user. The most effective way to set this up is by using Cycloid Armor, but there are other builds. Such as a Screaming Armor Blue Savior in People of the Lantern.

Rawhide Headband - Skinnery 

It's almost a shame that this utterly unique and powerful ability is attached to the game's starting armor set. AI manipulation is key to many of the top level strategies in the game, including such things as Chow Down/Antelope Crit farming and Flower Knight Cocoon farming. But it's also one of the strongest forms of damage mitigation in the game. The issue with AI damage mitigation is because it's stopping the damage happening at all, without any rolls or similar it's subtle and can be missed.

There is however one way of taking the Rawhide Headband all the way into the end game, and that's on Rolling Armor. Rolling Armor doesn't take up locations, so it can accept the Rawhide Headband without issue (apart from creating a 6 slot armor set).

Lucky Charm – Organ Grinder

+1 Luck, higher luck = more crits; more crits = safer attacks and more resources. 

It's easily activated, works with rawhide + 1 other support item (such as the two items coming up below), stacks and helps generate far more resources than it's lowly cost of 1 organ.

I don't think I need to sing the praises of this item much more than that.

Wisdom Potion - Gorm &  Cat’s Eye Circlet – White Lion 

Enough said, you all know why these two are good. They provide hit location scouting, in KD:M Hit Location scouting is king. :D Using both of them in the same hunt party is good, they have good affinities and having multiple circlets is also good.  

Here are these last 5 items in all their glory:

So, much blue.

And there we have it, while this is by no means a comprehensive list of every single useful Support gear card in the game, it's a lot of the greatest hits and it should (hopefully) give you some ideas for new builds.