"Vanguard" character builds

General Discussion
1

Hey there. :slight_smile:

Can we have a little discussion around Vanguard centered character builds?
I’m quite sure Vanguard is the go-to specialization for a lot of players, maybe even the majority?

I would like to hear how and why you choose your perks around the Vanguard specialization.

Personally, I have deleted my 4 old characters and started the story over again.
Two of those were lvl. 31 Vanguards, with a little different specs here and there.

My first new character will also be a Vanguard, probably because I don’t want to change a winning recipe, and because I love the “gunner” combat style, circling around enemies while hammering them to pieces with the KVM 59!

As I’m writing this I’m currently lvl. 15, and I have not yet made up my mind on all the perks.
But I’m thinking the following:

Vanguard Perks

Combat, left
1 p. Aim Speed
1 p. Hip Shot Accuracy
2 p. Weapon Recoil
3 p. Weapon Sway
(Sacrificing stamina perks and Armor Damage from other trees in order to gain weapon handling. Helps a lot for sniping too.)

Combat, right
2 p. Reload Speed
1 p. Run And Gun
2 p. Armor
1 p. Armor Damage
2 p. Trigger Happy
1 p. Vanguard (Specialization)
(Considering 2 p. on either Trigger Happy or Armor damage. Thinking Trigger Happy pays off the most overall?)

Survival, left
1 p. Stamina Amount
2 p. Running Speed
2 p. Carry Capacity
1 p. Steady Feet
(Not much to think about here. I don’t think the short distance you can sprint matters very much. Running Speed is far more important. Steady Feet is a must-have.)

Survival, right
1 p. Stamina Recharge
3 p. Health Amount
(Same as before, don’t think stamina matters that much.)

Tech, right
1 p. Chemist
1 p. Lockpicking
2 p. Salvage
(It was either this, or I could go for the Tech, left tree and choose Component Damage, but since this is currently my only character, I feel like I need Lockpicking, and I need Salvage to make sure I can keep the KVM 59 and the PVG 90 well fed.)

What do you think about my picks here? Would you do something differently? :slight_smile:

2

No I think I would do pretty much the same skills. I just finished leveling my second character to 31. My next character is gonna be a Vanguard build.

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3

IT is a decent build. My main only has one point in combat left, and uses the others in tech left I believe, to get component damage. I also have 3 armor instead of 2. Other than that, that is a good build for moving, and tanking damage.

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4

My ‘Vanguard’ set up is damage resistance / medic / support:

Combat L: Aim Speed / Hip Shot Accuracy / Weapon Recoil II
(I prefer sway in rifles for realism and don’t snipe from afar too much anyway)

Combat R: Reload Speed II / Run and Gun / Armor III / Armor Damage II / Trigger Happy II
Capstone: Vanguard
(All Armor and resists picked, since mostly auto, Armor Damage II)

Support R: Throw Distance / Healer / Veteran Guerilla / Heal Amount III
(for Heal Amount III, Standards will get me to 100% in 99% of scenarios, will also make sure my team is healed when needed)

Survival L: Stamina Amount / Running Speed / Carry Capacity II / Steady Feet
(ditto @NJR87)

Tech R: Chemist / Lockpicking / Salvage II
(More resist to gas, lockpicking since it is my only Character, and salvage, was prior to crafting, but still enjoy it without having to craft as much)

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5

My build is about getting maximum possible kevlard and speed. Gun play are all my handling, with exceptions of “trash skills”, which had to be picked a lot. All these skills are maxed out: vanguard, Armor, Heal Amount, Health, Sprint speed, Carry cap., Aim speed, Reload speed, Gas resistance.
Steady feet for surviving a barrage and getting away with it.
I have a couple points to waste so I spent 'em for quality of life - I maxed throwing distance and added one point to accuracy, last one to the tech view.

Overall this build allow to tank a single rocket barrage, MG burst in the face or even two consecutive concussion rifle hits, but can’t protect from stupidity that got you into tanking said barrages or bullets in the first place.

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6

My “Gunner” (Vanguard) build skills are visible in here, 3rd char: What is your skill build?

As far as skill selection goes;

Combat L: Aim Speed lvl 1 / Hip Shot Accuracy lvl 1 / Weapon Recoil lvl 1

These were the last three skills i picked. These help to fire without ADS while giving less recoil.

Combat R: Reload Speed lvl 2 / Run and Gun lvl 1 / Armor lvl 1 / Armor Damage lvl 1 / Trigger Happy lvl 2 / Vanguard

Here, i focused on reload speed and damage with automatic fire, and of course: Vanguard as well.

Support L: None
Support R: None

Survival L: Stamina Amount lvl 2 / Running Speed lvl 2 / Carry Capacity lvl 2 / Steady Feet lvl 1

Faster and longer running + more carry capacity and less likely to be knocked down.

Survival R: Stamina Recharge lvl 2

For faster stamina regeneration.

Tech L: Spotting Intel lvl 1 / Inquisitive Mind lvl 2

For scoping out machines with binos (e.g component HP) and faster leveling up when doing missions.

Tech R: Chemist lvl 1 / Lockpicking lvl 1 / Salvage lvl 2 / Mechanic lvl 1 / Explosives Expert lvl 2

Here, i went with best salvage, decent chance to find machine components (e.g vision mods) and i also maximized the effectiveness of m/49.

Note: this is old build. Made long before Rivals and experimental weapons were a thing.

If i were able to respec her right now, i’d remove 2 points from Inqusitive Mind and put one into Armor (to gain 10% explosive damage resistance) and another into Armor Damage (for additional 5% damage towards machine armor).

For even additional fine tuning: i’d remove 2 points from Explosives Expert, 1 from Mechanic and put the 3 points into: Weapon Recoil (for additional -15% recoil, to handle KVMs better), Run and Gun (for additional -10% spread while moving) and Armor (for +10% gas resistance).

After respec + fine tuning, end result would be:

Combat L: Aim Speed lvl 1 / Hip Shot Accuracy lvl 1 / Weapon Recoil lvl 2
Combat R: Reload Speed lvl 2 / Run and Gun lvl 2 / Armor lvl 3 / Armor Damage lvl 2 / Trigger Happy lvl 2 / Vanguard
Support L: None
Support R: None
Survival L: Stamina Amount lvl 2 / Running Speed lvl 2 / Carry Capacity lvl 2 / Steady Feet lvl 1
Survival R: Stamina Recharge lvl 2
Tech L: Spotting Intel lvl 1
Tech R: Chemist lvl 1 / Lockpicking lvl 1 / Salvage lvl 2

With this, m/49 would be retired and KVMs would be main weapons.

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7

I did a full power Vanguard power build.

It’s on the channel, and final picture shows the specifics as to why.

Alias

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8

I have 2 Vanguards:

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9

I have one tricked out Vanguard and have started another. It was not until I was at level 12 that I found out there was a level cap, which at the time was disappointing and at times annoying, and I only mention it because I would have perhaps allocated my skills differently.

20201218084859_1
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It has done a fair job against everything I have come up against (reapers will still take tons of ammo and tens of minutes to kill.)

Note to devs: It would be cool instead of just saying there is a level cap, continue to count XP to some next level (32 or MAX) and when reach allow the player to reclaim one skill point, so they can delete and re-allocate where they would prefer it.

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10

Thank you for your replies. :slight_smile:

Just for the record, none of you have persuaded me to change any of my picks yet… :laughing:

11

But that wasn’t our goal, or was it? :thinking:

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