Stoneshard: Beastmaster Build

So where to start, this build is meant as a gateway into whatever build you want to end up at. Want to be a dual-wielding swordsman? A knight in shining armor, wield the largest poleaxe in Aldor? Then look no further this build reaches peak at level 5, that’s right at level 5 your facing the toughest enemies in the game and collecting their belongings like stealing peasant stew from a child.

Okay, so what you need to get the ball rolling is
– a crossbow or bow
– preferably and someone who starts with athletics and ranged weapons preferably, so Dirwin or Velmir.
-steady aim and distracting shot
These are not a requirement but you may find it much easier to accomplish your goals with any or all of these, these next items will be a requirement.
-Mighty Kick, this will help you fight enemies in the early levels and probably the first skill you should get
-Leg Sweep, also the first skill you should get OR steady aim
-Disengage, perquisite to dash (will also save you headache if you make a slip up)
-Dash, this is your lifeline, as soon as you get this skill, your ready. (Fastest way to get is by getting to Brynn and buying the treatise from the print shop or getting lucky)
Now your level 4 or 5 you have the strongest melee weapon you’ve found in your adventures so far (and hopefully a bow) You’ll need some additional supplies; water, food, medicine, nets and claw traps.

The next step is finding a distant dungeon the easiest one to clear out is the Vampire Cult also known as Proselyte. There are two around the map, one hopefully close to Mannshire and one close to Osbrook, your gonna have to do some exploring to find them they could be almost anywhere buying maps from the elder/governors at the villages can help you narrow your search quite a bit.

Okay, so once you find one you should be able to peak your head inside and get a look of the land the main thing we are looking for is a O structure (Pic Related) once you find one of these your good to go! If there is not one of these right at the beginning or another big room don’t give up hope. You may need to come back with a spider flask from the alchemist in brynn or a nistrian flame flask from the rotating dock merchant in order to get to a room that’s gonna have enough space for you to bring the bear inside. So once you find a area similar to this one your going to want to break the materials blocking the passage way so it looks like this.

Once you’ve done this your going to want to find a campsite nearby no more than 3 tiles away, the dungeon will despawn if you go more than this distance away from the dungeon after reaching the second floor. Save your progress and search the tiles around the dungeon tile for your new friends, they can be found in almost any tiles besides the plains near Brynn they will not be found in the dungeon tile itself.

If you find a bear somewhere they will keep spawning there for a few days at least, if you die while trying to learn the method remember where you find one don’t forget where in case you die.
Alright! Keep your bear close we are almost back to the dungeon if you keep to much of a distance they will question your loyalty and go back to the woods they should never be more than 5 tiles away from you. When you enter the dungeon it shouldn’t be to hard to find a enemy, your going to want the bear to be aggroed as well as any enemy you find now you must force them to meet each other in this picture I ran from the left side of the screen and then up toward the door my bear was right below the center stone column in this room allowing the Enemy to Aggro on the bear as I ran past him while he was in his alarmed state. An important note on the alarmed state, you have ten turns to increase your distance or the bear will target you. So beside dash and distracting shot if you took it you have leg sweep which can immobilize enemies and buy you another turn to dash or distracting shot away you can also slow enemies down with your nets and clawtraps, for example if your going against a fiend with a axe I would recommend you throw the net while their two squares away and the bear is chasing you, this will likely cause him to fumble but possibly still pull you closer than you can dash away and he will be much closer to the bear by the time he is out of the net resulting in his quick demise.

Shooting a arrow at the bear is the easiest way to quickly aggro it so it will come to your aid just make sure you will have time to get out of the warpath. To lose the bears attention wait a few turns out of his vision either around a corner a few tiles away or outside the dungeon all together.

You may also find rooms where you can Combine two of these O formations which is the greatest amount of mobility you can get in dungeons like this and will easily allow you to pull all enemies from the dungeon.

Once you clear out the top floor your bear might be heavily wounded or in perfect health its important to check regularly on his health to make sure you don’t need a new bear before going to the second floor. There are few ways to go about the miniboss and the other enemies on the second floor, you can bring them back to your bear on the first floor or you can bring the bear to them and setup the same bear convener belt again on the second floor. The bear can kill most minibosses but he might need some help either by you or another bear, two bears can make retrieving loot a lot harder so beware. I would also recommend saving before you go into the second floor in case things don’t go as planned, it should also be noted that once you make it to the second-floor things should get much easier.

My first time trying this build I got several end game items and artifacts by level 10, without any weapon skills besides the two ranged ones. This method of play is not the easiest to just pick up and run with there will be headaches and time wasted before you master it. My advice is be patient and try this method for a few dungeons and see if you get that weapon of your longing for early instead of waiting till you’ve killed the troll and manticore and done all the Distant Dungeons 8 times and your level 25 and done with the game. If you want to get as much XP as possible shooting an arrow at every enemy the bear is going to kill will give you the full amount.

Let me know if you have any questions I’ve been extremely active on the Stoneshard Official Discord the last few days and would be happy to answer them there or on steam.