Building for Damage: DPS Survivor Example Builds (Patreon)

There are essentially 4 builds that DPS characters will rock in the early game. They are all built around the same structure, which is Lucky Charm + Rawhide + optional Monster Grease. When you are using White Lion Gear then you will need to use another item to get the second blue affinity, the two top choices are the Cat Eye Circlet and the Fecal Salve.

When you have the Gorm as an expansion, you can also use the following variant.

There is also the rarer Riot Mace version of this build and you gain access to the Wisdom potion to provide the second blue for all DPS builds.

In all cases the principle is the same. It's Rawhide + Lucky Charm + 1 other left or right blue half affinity, with Deadly if you can manage it and Monster Grease because early on you are probably also doing the tanking for the hunt party.

Generally you'll look to build 2 or 3 of these survivors early on, this is because DPS is pretty much the only class early game survivors can manage.

Leather Scrap Sword:

This one is a little more unconventional on the build front. It is a solid example of how you can use a sub-optimal gear card to turn another one that's just a little too weak into something powerful.

Because of the Monster Tooth Necklace + Bone Dagger in this build, the Scrap Sword has turned into a (2/5+/5/Deadly) weapon, which is very decent for fighting most mid game monsters. The cost on making these two items is very low (2 bone + 1 scrap) and that's a very acceptable price to pay in order to turn a scrap sword (which can be gained from a debris pile) into a reliable and potent offensive weapon.

Unfortunately this build doesn't work as well with Vagabond Armor because you can't wear the headpiece. There are variants that will work out for you though, so experiment!

Rolling/Cycloid Whip DPS

If you are looking to take advantage of weaker weapon types, Cycloid Armor is absolutely the best choice to make. This version however splashes the two relevant armor pieces from Cycloid in combination with Rolling Armor, which makes your survivor more durable (and gives you access to the calcified upgrade route). 

If you are looking to limit the amount of times you hit a Sunstalker, this is one way to get access to the best you can aim for. The Hunter Whip is now 5+ accuracy and strength 3+1d10 on wound checks. That's enough base weapon strength for most monsters you'll encounter!

Cycloid Scale with Denticle

However, when you go pure Cycloid Armor you gain an insane amount of power from the armor set alone. You'll notice that this 'build' has a whole 3 empty slots. This is because the Cycloid Scale is giving your survivor extra evasion, extra survival, an inbuilt Fecal Salve and the amazing Sharp + accuracy bonuses. You can literally put whatever you want into the other three slots, if you want to be cautious and tanky you could take a shield + monster grease.  You can rebuild your grid slightly so that you use blood paint with dual axes, etc etc.  You can also have just about any weapon in the game with this armor set, it's the best base canvas for you to build onto, which is why I've supplied so few gear cards in this build. There is no right answer (don't put bows on Cycloid Scale armor however, they don't really benefit from it).

Screaming Rainbow:

This build demonstrates how powerful the Screaming Armor set is without using the Spear specific bonus. The Rainbow Katana in this build is one of the best late game offensive weapons you can use, sure you can only get the mastery if you beat an L3 Sunstalker, but you don't need it as even without Slam, you are hitting like a truck. This is one of the top level 'beast mode' builds in the core game, and it's perfect for people who like to roll lots of dice to attack with.

Speaking of which here's a version of a real meme DPS build

Red Charm White Lion:

The aim with this build is to ignore monster toughness and just flat out wound on a 6+ all the time. This plays into the strengths of the White Lion armor set by leveraging all that speed into guaranteed 6+ wound rolls.  The Pulse Lantern can be anything with an up red (another bone dagger is the cheapest option, but it doesn't add any utility because bone daggers are not paired) and the Speed Powder could be a Frenzy Drink or whatever else you deem appropriate.

The lifespan of survivors like this is rather low, so don't do this with anyone you care about, but it's good fun for people who want to roll lots of dice.

Here's another version of that style of DPS, using the best Daggers in the game. You really want Timeless Eye on this one if you can manage it.

The Gorn can be replaced with Armor spikes, or any other down blue. 

The main aim here is to trigger the perfect hits, however the back up plan is to use the monster tooth necklace to get the ATDs up to a respectable 6 base strength (with the armor set bonus) even when you are not pouncing.

Essentially I could go on for ages and ages with builds, because DPS characters have the largest options in the entire game. They can use almost any armor and just about any weapon they desire, which is why people tend to gravitate towards them because that's seen to be more 'fun'.  

So what I'm going to do is throw it open to you guys, you give me the weapon or armor set, and I'll provide a possible build in response, if you want to exclude certain expansion gear from the build, let me know when you comment. I'm going to limit this to one build per commenter however, so think carefully before you put it up.