"Optimal" Loadouts for Building Armor Kits (Patreon)

We looked at Magnetic builds last time and as my honest conclusion was 'don't do it'; this time, as per requests, we will look at some of the optimal builds you can make with your pieces.

First of all, optimally you should not ever mix up sets, yes it can look cool with the right work, but most of the time you're not going to be running a mixed set, precious few are good - hardly any stand up to the level that the Insanity Green Ring tank or Slambulance provide. So all of these are going to be either pure builds or a hybrid armor set build.

Note on the Hybrid armor sets: 

Because the three hybrid armor sets use multiple parts from White Lion, Lantern, Leather, Rawhide, Phoenix and Screaming Armor it can be a bit of a compromise to construct them. However, because of the nature of Lantern, Phoenix & White Lion Armor plus the general excess of arms you can often get away with making less of those sets and building 1-2 of the hybrid armor sets in their stead. The issue is Dancer Armor because it is constructed from Leather Armor, Screaming Armor & Rawhide, these sets are very, very premium and you always end up compromising when you build them. However, leather has become less important with the release of the 10th Anniversary survivors plus the upcoming options in the gambler's chest. So time will tell on them. I will list them here, but typically you're not going to be building them unless you secure extra sets of each.

 I don't really recommend getting extra sets anymore, the change in style for the newer narrative models makes the old ones look shabby in comparison.

Note on Narrative Sculpts:

There are a bunch of Narrative Sculpts that can cover the options listed here, where one is available (or coming in Gambler's Chest) then I have marked the list entry with an * if there is one.  Check the GC, Echoes I, Echoes II or the Gigalion to find the particular model.

Axe 

The optimal armor sets for Axe are relatively straightforward, you have Rawhide for the early game, Leather and Screaming which combine with the Counterweighted Axe for the mid game and then either CSA (Cycloid Scale Armor) or Warlord are your best choices in the end game. 

Therefore the recommended builds are: 

• Unarmored + Bone Axe 
• Rawhide + Greater Gaxe 
• One of Leather + CWAxe* or Screaming + CAWxe 
• Warlord Armor + Greater Gaxe if you are going deadly or Denticle Axe/Xmaxe if you have them. Warlord Armor struggles with a lack of strength late game so Lantern Glaive is the other option.
• Dragon or Phoenix Armor with Lantern Glaive (I prefer Dragon)
  

Bow 

Bow is a troublesome entity because it is in essence a Rawhide weapon. There's little need to put a bow on anything other than Rawhide, with the exception of the 'other' rawhide set 'Dancer Armor' - which is better with the cumbersome bows (until you get a master). Don't get fooled by the armor set art for Cycloid Scale, it absolutely should not be used with bows at all. 

So your builds are: 

• Rawhide + Catgut Bow with the Cat Eye Circlet*   
• Rawhide + Vespertine Bow 
• Rawhide + Arc Bow 
• Rawhide + Ink Blood Bow 
• Dancer + Arc Bow 
• Dancer + Ink Blood Bow

There is another option, and that is to use Gorment Armor with Ranged weapons, this works because Gorment Armor takes up less slots (means more room for arrows) and it also allows you to backpedal while attacking via Guard.

Finally we have one other Bow that doesn't fit into the normal builds, that's the Sunshark Bow - it's the bow with the highest skill ceiling and highest potential level of damage because of its 'melee' keyword. It works very well in combination with the Sunstalker Quiver and Phoenix/Dragon Armor, that's one of the highest strength builds in the game and has a ton of flexibility because it can carry three arrows). 

As a consequence here are three of the strongest offensive builds in the game right now (in order of power/strength): 

• Dragon Armor + Sun Quiver + Sunshark Bow 
• Phoenix Armor + Sun Quiver + Sunshark Bow   
• Gorment Armor + Sun Quiver + Sunshark Bow + Shield
  

Club 

Just like Bows, this is an odd one, it's in essence either Bone Club -> Gloom Hammer or Bone Clubs all the way down unless you manage to score a Riot Mace and can go the Deadly route. This is because of how powerful & efficient the Bone Club is, how effectively it works as a rawhide tank's main weapon; how strong it is with monster movement armor and how well it combines with the Lantern Armor at the end.   

• Unarmored + Bone Club* 
• Rawhide + Bone Club 
• Rawhide + Riot Mace 
• Screaming Armor + Bone Club or Gloom Hammer 
• Leather Armor + Bone Club or Gloom Hammer
• Phoenix Armor + Gloom Hammer 
• Lantern Armor + Bone Club or Gloom Hammer or Riot Mace 

You can put a Skullcap Hammer on the belt to provide a flex option, but outside of People of the Sun, the above ones are the only clubs that matter, Whistling Mace is too situational and weak to consider and while Scoopy Club is pretty amazing, you're unlikely to own more than one physical copy of those, so choose wisely where you put it. 

Note: With smart AI control play you can put just about any armor set on your Bone Club tank, they basically stand where the monster is going to be next and then hit it when it moves to attack them - it's why Bone Club + Rawhide works, you get a pseudo tank/support hybrid class survivor for a bit and that lets the others concentrate on damage more.

Dagger 

Dagger is a weapon that needs a lot of assistance, but this situation has changed with the advent of the newer promotional Daggers and the Backstabber SFA. So we should take a look at what works best with Daggers, and the answer is very straightforward. Cycloid Scale Armor numba 1.   

Outside of that, the other armor sets that have potential are the usual strength boosting ones, specifically Dragon & Phoenix Armor and to a lesser extent WLA/Screaming Armor.   My recommended builds tend towards the following: 

• CSA + Acid-Tooth Daggers 
• White Lion Armor + Hooked Claw Dagger (Gigalion Dagger) 
• Brawler Armor + Speaker Cult Knife (because of how this weapon interacts with the armor) 
• Dragon Armor + Nuclear Dagger/Acid-Tooth Daggers Screaming Armor + Nuclear Dagger 
• The new Halloween knife (DBK/Slenderman resource based) is another very powerful option, it's great on Dancer Armor or any of the above options.
  

Fist & Tooth 

While you do not need to build specific Fist & Tooth users because they tend not to use specific armor sets, there are a few builds which stand out above the others. They are all deadly focused, so the best sets for training F&T are Rawhide and CSA. Sadly Brawler Armor, despite its F&T focus, is not up to the job in comparison to those two (with the below exception). However, if you have access to the Speaker Cult Knife then you can open up what armor sets you want to use a lot more, Dancer Armor for example works well, but so does really any armor with a weapon that powerful (it even works with non on a Leyline Walker/Crystal Skin). The Brawler option tends to be better for Dagger (as above), but you can use it as pure F&T.

Grand 

Much like many of the entries above, Grand weapons benefit from the best armor sets possible. While there are multiple options in the field because of how strong Grand is; the most powerful and effective choices are the Rib Blade, Zanbato, Skleaver and Dragon Slayer (if you do not have access to the Skleaver). Outside of the classic meta 'Leather/Zanbato tank' for the mid game, Grand weapons tend to be DPS choices (spears and axes are better for tanks because of their various bypass monster "defense" abilities). 

It is also worth mentioning that wherever you see the Skleaver in a build, the Juggernaut Blade is almost as effective, the thing about the Skleaver is, it's the only non-slow Grand Weapon (just like the Rib Blade is the only one handed one) and it's easier to make than the Jugg.

• Unarmored + Rib Blade/Zanbato 
• Rawhide + Rib Blade/Zanbato 
• Leather + Round Leather Shield + Zanbato* CSA + Skleaver* 
• Dragon/Phoenix + Skleaver/Dragon Slayer
  

Katar 

Make no mistake, once you are out of the early game Katars are the premiere tank weapon alongside shields. There is only two useful offensive Katars in the game right now and that's the LBK & Hooded Scrap Katars, every other powerful Katar is defensive in its orientation and you should be leveraging it for that. This means that once you're outside of the early game, the armor sets that work change rapidly (another reason why WLA is not good, it doesn't work well with Katar design - or daggers for that matter). 

• Rawhide + LBK or Rawhide + 2x Hooded Scrap Katar (rare paired recommendation) 
• Rolling Armor + Shield + Digging Claw 
• Leather + Shield + Digging Claw 

You can also substitute in the Replica Lion Knight Claws if you want, the 8 strength one is an excellent tank weapon with support from the Sunspot Lantern.

Katana 

There are precious few solid builds for Katana and they all revolve around the Rainbow Katana + Blood Sheath because it is more powerful and easier to make than the Gloom Katana. Because the Blood Sheath hands out Sharp to the Katana, we're just looking for pure strength increases or flexibility. That means the following builds are worthy of consideration: 

• Dragon/Phoenix Armor + Rainbow Katana 
• Screaming Armor + Rainbow/Gloom Katana 

Screaming Armor tends to be the best choice in my opinion because reach weapons are a stronger fit onto Dragon/Phoenix Armor. If you're insanity abusing the Gloom Katana, you can put it on almost any gear, but it works best with Phoenix + Feather Shield or with a Screaming Armor set survivor in the group.

There's also a silly loop you can do with the Lantern Helm's Earplugs ability + the Screaming Helm's insanity gain. This can set up the Gloom Katana (or Xmaxe) to have effectively 'infinite'3 strength.

Scythe 

We have exactly one Scythe available right now and that is the Dragon King's Nuclear Scythe. It is a weapon lacking in power until the cores are added to it, so you want to increase its strength through supporting methods. The best armor sets therefore are ones with large strength bonuses that benefit from reach (Phoenix/Dragon) and CSA. Now CSA falls of with the Nuclear Scythe if you are going with the Red Core (as they both give sharp) but it remains relevant if you are looking to do a deadly/luck build with the Blue Core, because you do not need to put a Red Core in the grid as well. This means the female in Dragon Armor in the Gambler's chest is useful, so that's one you do not need to build from the kits. 

• Dragon Armor + Scythe* 
• Screaming Armor + Scythe 
• Phoenix Armor + Scythe
• CSA + Scythe 

Given the stage at which you get the Nuclear Scythe (justifiable btw, that spec/mastery combo is too strong for the early game, I hope we never get an early scythe) and you are in the world of end game armors, so those four there tick the right boxes.

Shield 

See other areas for the narrative shield options, shield rarely comes alone. However, for custom builds, early on there are three which stand above the others. These are: 

• Rawhide + Knuckle Shield 
• Rawhide + Leather Shield 
• Leather Armor + Leather Shield + Zanbato/Counterweighted Axe** 

Mid to late game you'll see shields on almost any survivor who's near the monster and risks getting attacked or hit by reactions.   

Spear   

Spears are quite an essential weapon type in KDM as they provide things no other weapon can do. They're a flexible tank, DPS or trapper weapon and you tend to have one in your hunt party almost all the time. Therefore we're going to see a number of recommendations: 

• Unarmored + King's Spear 
• Rawhide + King's Spear/Amber Poleaxe (with Knuckle or Leather Shield) 
• Leather/Screaming Armor + Sky Harpoon/King's Spear 
• Phoenix/Dragon Armor + Sky Harpoon 
• Phoenix/Dragon Armor + Lantern Glaive* (We sort of have Phoenix + Glaive with Echoes II's Gladiator). 

In short, pick unarmored, rawhide, leather, phoenix or dragon armor and then choose a spear you like. There are few bad ones.

Sword 

Most of what makes Swords strong revolves around one of three things: CSA, Vagabond Armor and the True Blade SFA from the Flower Knight. The only other powerhouse is the Black Sword and that is something you just stick on any survivor without paying attention at all because it's ridiculous. So, if you want to build Vagabond Sets from spare leather that is one option, otherwise you should use the Aya model plus consider the following: 

• 1 or 2 Unarmored Survivors with Bone Swords 
• Scrap Sword + Rawhide Armor (ish, it's not that good)* 
• Phoenix/Vagabond/Dragon Armor + Ink Sword 

On the whole Swords tend to be a sideline weapon, though you might want to consider a Rawhide/Leather + Steel Sword option, because steel swords turn up fairly regularly and are top tier.

Thrown 

There is no reason to be building any thrown survivor outside of unarmored ones, and because they do not have a specific hand for the darts (only a belt kit) you shouldn't even bother with those unless you have dozens of spare unarmored survivors. No recommended builds.

Twilight Sword 

In general terms you are probably best off using one of the two Twilight Knight minis which are available, either Allison from the White Box set or the harder to get Alister from the 1st kickstarter survivor rewards (he's on the same sprue as Paul, Snow & Aya). The other method is to use the Twilight Sword with the 'monster movement' armor sets (WLA, SA, PA, DA) because they can overcome Cumbersome with alternative methods of locomotion. There is a White Lion Armor female coming in the Gambler's Chest, but I think overall it's just easiest to use Allison/Alister for now. This is not a high priority weapon to use as it's almost excluded from 2/3 campaigns and it's not essential in Lantern. No main recommended builds.

Whip 

The bottom of the shop weapon, with only 4 choices, two of which are the same weapon in different upgrade stages.  Whip more than anything is a weapon that needs help reaching the strength required to be potent, as a consequence the same three candidates turn up. Yup, Dragon, Phoenix and CSA - these are the armor sets that 'fix problems with weapons' constantly. Especially Dragon/Phoenix and their strong synergy with sharp. However, late game there is a build where the Whip shines and it uses a less often recommended (because of how generic it is) armor set. Rolling armor - one of the prime tank armor set choices.

• Rawhide + Silk Whip 
• Rawhide + Leather Whip 
• Dragon Armor + Silk Whip 
• Phoenix Armor + Leather Whip Dragon/Phoenix Armor + Ring Whip (with the intention of oxidising it) 
• Rolling Armor + Oxidized Ring Whip
  

Less optimal armor set choices: 

White Lion Armor is one armor set that I can't recommend you do much with, the single strongest build you're going to look at is a White Lion with Bone Dagger build for Red Charm nonsense plus one with the LBK(s) because it can be fun and it looks good. 

Silk Armor should be kept in the box for the moment, we need to see what changes it gets in Campaigns of Death, at the moment it is like Leather, a very unfocused set that struggles, but you can build an OK Silk/Round Leather Shield/Silk Body Suit/Zanbato tank from it in the mid game... if you ignore the L3 requirement for the head piece.  Overall Silk Armor looks nice and has amazing boots/head, but it's best off left alone or used in mixed sets.

That just leaves a main recommended list, well it's a little tough, but here are the options I advise my clients to select from: 

Unarmored 

1-2x Bone Sword, 1x Bone Axe, 1x Catgut Bow + Circlet head, 1x King's Spear, 1x LBK, 1x Rib Blade Rawhide 1x Catgut Bow + Circlet head, 1x King's Spear, 1x Knuckle Shield,  1x Arc Bow + Circlet Head, 1x Bone Club, 1x Riot Mace, 1x Zanbato + Leather Shield, 1x Paired Hooded Scrap Katars, 1x Vespertine Bow, 1x Scimitar, 1x Greater Gaxe

I think you can see a problem with how ubiquitious Rawhide is, fortunately Leather can kind of substitute for it on the table with a small stretch of the imagination.  Echoes of Death II's Ranger has meant that one doesn't need the Catgut Bow + Circlet entry so much anymore. 

Leather Armor 

1x Counterweighted Axe + Leather Shield, 1x Zanbato + Leather Shield, 1x Vagabond Set with Scrap or Ink Sword, use parts for Dancer/Warlord 

White Lion Armor 

1x  King's Spear, 1x LBK(s), 1x Bone Daggers, 1x Cat Fang/Hooked Claw Knife - Gadrock covers the Beast Knuckle + WLA build. 

Screaming Armor 

1x spear of some kind (King, Sky Harpoon), 1x Katana, 1x Lantern Glaive, 1x Greater Gaxe. There are few wrong choices with screaming, it's only "bad" with Ranged gear. 

Gorment Armor 

1x Sunshark Bow + Shield, 1x Sky Harpoon/Spear + Shield, I used to recommend 1x Greater Gaxe + Shield, but Basalt has replaced that need. Likewise a Riot Mace survivor comes with Echoes II now.

Phoenix Armor 

1x Lantern Glaive, 1x Sunshark Bow + Quiver, 1x Ring whip and consider turning the last one  or two into Warlord/Brawler armor parts. 

Dragon Armor 

1x Sunshark Bow + Quiver, 1x Lantern Glaive, 1x Nuclear Knife, 1x Nuclear Scythe - but there are so many good reach options here. 

Rolling Armor 

1x Ring Whip + Oxidised Shield, 1x Digging Claw + Oxidised Shield 

Lantern Armor 

1x Bone Club + Skullcap Hammer, 1x Gloom Hammer and part the other two off into Warlord Armor. 

Dancer Armor 

Whatever they desire, there are too many to list. I like the Ink Sword, Arc Bow and sharp weapons, because this armor set cannot help your late game punch without the Momentum Drive fighting art. 

Warlord Armor 1x Greater Gaxe and 1x Denticle Axe/Xmaxe or 1x Lantern Glaive

Brawler Armor 

1x Fists (female), 1x Speaker Cult Knife + Fist (male) 

Cycloid Scale Armor 

This one is REALLY hard, because it makes so many melee weapons better. My preference is for the following options, but there are no wrong ones as long as the weapon isn't Sharp and doesn't have Range/Reach. In short, if it would be good in the blind spot and get better with sharp, use this. 

1x Paired Acid-Tooth Daggers, 1x Silk/Leather Whip, 1x Skleaver, 1x Denticle Axe But there are so, so, so, so many options here it's not even funny.

Abbreviations used 

CSA: Cycloid Scale Armor PA: Phoenix Armor Warlord: Warlord Armor Rawhide: Rawhide Armor WLA: White Lion Armor DA: Dragon Armor RA: Rolling Armor SA: Screaming Armor LBK: Lion Beast Katar