Windfall is one of the most interesting combat styles in Absolver. You get an avoid that is unaffected by your mobility, quick striking attacks that scale with dexterity, and (if you build right) lots of speed. Conversely, you can go with a tankier Windfall build but still avoid attacks like nobody’s business. It’s all up to you and the playstyle you feel most comfortable with.
In this Absolver guide, we’re going to go over the best way to build your Windfall character, including what attributes you’ll want to pay attention to and what your combat deck should look like.
Best Windfall Attributes
The most important part of a Windfall build, or any build in general, is the attributes. As of the launch of Absolver, there is currently no way to reset your stats — so you want to carefully think this part through. Some players have even chosen to save their stats during the main storyline until they’re sure they know what they want. If you follow these builds, you won’t have to worry about that, though.
The picture above is the build I’ve used for my main character at level 30 as I play through PvE. For this character, I went with sort of a balanced Windfall build. I wanted to focus on damage, but while learning the game, I also wanted to make sure I had enough Vitality to take a few hits without dying. This is a good build if you’re still learning the game.
If you’re looking for more of a damage Windfall build, then you will want to focus on Dexterity. If you’re a master of avoidance, then this will be the build you want to go with. You’ll want to equip lighter armor (see equipment section) as this will increase your damage scaling, mobility, and stamina amount.
You can put a few points into Vitality, Will, and/or Endurance as need be, but your priority will be getting as much damage as possible through Dex while keeping your armor light for improved scaling. I recommend the following at level 30:
- Strength: 4
- Dexterity: 20
- Vitality: 12
- Endurance: 13
- Will: 5
- Mobility: 22-25
The last build I recommend seems bit wonky, but I played it successfully for a while as I leveled and I’ve seen other players speak of their success with it as well. It’s a tanky Windfall build. This isn’t the best min-max distribution in the game, but it provides a fun playstyle that I think a lot of players will enjoy.
You wear medium-to-heavy armor (depending on your preference) instead of the lighter stuff and you spread your points around a bit more. Instead of focusing on Dexterity, you will put a few extra points into Endurance and Will while prioritizing both Dex and Vitality.
You lose out a ton in mobility with the increased armor as well as some stamina (hence the points in Endurance), but one of the best things about the Windfall style is that your avoid ability is unaffected by Mobility. If you’re great at avoiding enemies but still want a safer option in terms of health, this is a great build. I would recommend the following at level 30:
- Strength: 4
- Dexterity: 16
- Vitality: 16
- Endurance: 9
- Will: 9
- Mobility: 15~
Best Combat Decks for Windfall Builds
This is where you will need to experiment the most as a player. Combat decks are pretty subjective and depend on what you’re going for. The style you’re using will determine which moves you have access to in the beginning, but as you defeat more NPCs and players from different schools, you will acquire new moves.
Ideally, you will want to find moves that scale with your highest stats. If you’re playing a Windfall character, you will likely stick with moves that have a higher Dexterity (hand symbol) grade than Strength (muscle symbol), though Mobility (movement symbol) is also desirable if you want to keep your opponent on their feet.
You will also want to pay attention to the icons that accompany each attack. In the picture above, you can see some of the special properties granted by icons. For example, the ones with an arrow indicate that your body will go in that direction, allowing you to dodge certain types of attacks. If your opponent is utilizing a lot of high kicks without very many low kicks, you can use the string with your low kick in it more and avoid having your combo get interrupted.
As I’m going for a more balanced Windfall build, I still have mostly Windfall moves, but I have also included some Kahlt Method and Forsaken moves for the sake of making sure my combos don’t repeat any attacks. I like to pressure my opponent by mixing my attacks up, and this combat deck will help you do just that. If you notice, I also have two strings that end in the down-left stance which goes into a pure Windfall attack string with high Dexterity scaling moves. I can keep my opponent guessing which string I’ll be doing, but when their guard is down, I can hit them for a lot of damage with the pure Windfall style string.
If you are using the damage Windfall build, ideally, you will want to have primarily Windfall moves or any other style moves that scale well with Dex. You will want to avoid Strength moves like the plague, as they will do nothing for your damage. You will also want to throw in a few with good mobility ratings to ensure that you don’t get hit.
If you are using the tanky Windfall build, you will want to use mostly Dex moves as well, like in the damage build — but you won’t need to throw in very many for Mobility, as your score will be too low for it to matter much. The important part for this combat deck is ensuring that you have easy-to-land attacks as you’ll be less agile than the other builds but will have the health and armor to trade with other, beefier styles.
Best Equipment for Windfall Builds
Just like the combat deck, this aspect of your Windfall build is subjective. Ideally, you want to have as much defense as possible without sacrificing any mobility. Unfortunately, the armor that protects you is the armor that slows you down.
There are two types of defense: cut and blunt. Cut defense is important when going against swords and certain wargloves. Blunt defense is important when going against bare-handed opponents and some wargloves. In my experience, most of my PvP opponents have spent the majority of the fight bare-handed, so I tend to favor blunt defense
For both the balanced build and the damage build, you will want to go with lighter armor. Since your Vitality is a bit high with the balanced Windfall build, you’ll have some natural padding/extra health for defense and you’ll get better damage scaling with the light armor. The better damage scaling is most important for the damage build, so keep your armor as light as possible without becoming too squishy if using that one.
I’ve been using the Fang-Li set mostly with my balanced build. Look for equipment with a weight of around 1.0 or less to make sure your mobility stays in the 20s.
For the tanky build, you have more freedom in terms of armor. You can equip medium and heavy pieces, though I wouldn’t recommend going too heavy as you still want to have some semblance of mobility. You will want to keep your mobility at 15+ so don’t equip too many items that way more than 2.0. I would recommend using pieces from the pre-order set if you have it, one of the Tear sets, or items from the Forest Dweller set.
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I hope these Windfall builds help you kick some serious butt in both PvE and PvP! If you have any recommendations for builds yourself or ways to improve the ones listed above, let us know in the comments! Meanwhile, check out my Absolver review or Absolver Tips and Tricks guide for more content for this amazing fighting/action RPG game.
