Lv70 Moonlord Skill Build (PVP/PVE) Guide

As promised, this will be the first Lv70 skill build guide in awhile.

Similar to the previous Lv60 skill build guide, this one will consist of PVE and PVP Skill Builds

Before moving on to reading the actual written guide, take 10mins of your time and watch some of the insights that I’ve talked about in this video below.

This video will help you further understand some of the points I mention below.

Skill builds are up to the player’s playstyle. In this guide, it will basically give you guidance on how you can decide to spend the rest of your skill points from a Generic skill build.

These SP allocations that proceeds after the Generic Skill Build will define your skill build to work for your own playstyle.

The guide will be in the flow as follows:

• Generic Warrior Tree (PVE)
• Generic Swordmaster Tree (PVE)
• Generic Moonlord Tree (PVE)
• Generic Pure PVE Dungeon Grinding Build
• Generic Pure PVE Raid Build
• Generic Pure PVE Counter Slash Build
• Generic Warrior Tree (PVP)
• Generic Swordmaster Tree (PVP)
• Generic Moonlord Tree (PVP)
• Generic PVP Skill Build with Lv11 Counter Slash
• Generic PVP Skill Build with Lv11 Line Drive
• Generic Hybrid Skill Build (PVP/PVE)

Insights for each build will also be shared so that you can see if your own ideas resound with mine.

Warrior Tree (PVE) (Generic)

What I mean by Generic is the bare minimum required for you to learn ultimate skill in your Swordmaster tree,thus the 45SP is needed.

This is probably how you would allocate your first 45SP for your warrior tree.

Key things to note

Notice that for the one with Lv21 Circle Break, you only have Lv1 Aerial Evasion.

Some hardcore PVE Skill builds going around have Aerial Evasion at Lv1 (30s cooldown)

This is viable because usually, you won’t find yourself using Aerial Evasion in Nests or Raids more than 1 time in a row especially if you’re able to dodge boss mechanics.

In the case of Desert Dragon Nest, there are instances where Aerial Evasion invincibility frames will help negate some damage taken or get you out of sticky situations. (golden spikes at dragon stage, when getting hit by roar from flower stage etc.)

That being said you won’t find yourself needing them within the next 30 seconds most of the time.

This is especially true for the Swordmaster class since we have three skills to recover namely, Counter Exile, Relieve and Aerial Evasion.

So if your skill build requires you to only have 45SP spent in the warrior tree, by all means go for Level 1 Aerial Evasion.

Go with caution and recommended only for the most skillful of players.

Circle Break vs Impact Wave

This is where going Lv21 Impact wave will be advantageous.

The 3 SP that is needed to learn circle break (Impact wave is unlocked at Lv1, so no SP is needed to learn this skill) can be used to level up Aerial Evasion to Lv4 (18s Cooldown)

However, as noted in the video shown above, Circle Break does more damage over time (11s cooldown vs 13s cooldown) and is much more consistent compared to impact wave.

You have to hit at least 3 hits of impact wave for its damage to be even close to circle break damage given the same gears.

That is not easy to achieve on small-medium monsters thus making circle break a better skill to level up on if you’re going pure DPS PVE skill builds.

With that let’s proceed to the Swordmaster tree.

Swordmaster Tree (PVE) Generic

Key Things to Note:

This is pretty standard.

Provoking Slam is at Lv8 because there’s no increase in the damage increase debuff (Capped at 50% DMG increase)

Brave is kept at Lv8 (14s Buff duration) since Provoking Slam Buff only lasts 15 seconds anyway.

So if you want to stack provoking slam and brave together for burst damage situations, using brave after you use provoking slam will mean 1 second of the p.slam debuff has already been over.

Crescent Cleave is left at Lv11. If you want to go for Lv15 make sure you use a skill accessory for it to get it to Lv16. If such a commitment is given to Crescent Cleave, make sure you use the damage plate as well.

For Cyclone Slash as mentioned in the video, it is either Lv1 or Lv16.

For Lv1 you avail yourself 15 SP which can be spent on learning skills like Line Drive up to Lv11 for burst damage (more for dungeons compared to nests or raids).

Know that Line Drive skill cooldown is 27seconds and cyclone slash is 13seconds.

Lv16 Cyclone Slash Damage (x2) is higher than Lv11 Line Drive.

In other words, Lv16 Cyclone Slash is better than Line Drive for monsters that don’t die in 27 seconds or more (i.e raids and nests) which makes it a better choice if your skill build is for nests and raids.

With that let’s move on to the Moonlord tree

Moonlord Tree (PVE) Generic

The one that is debatable in the Moonlord tree will only be whether you should get Flash Stance to Lv6.

If you have 5SP that is better spent somewhere else, I’ll suggest leaving flash stance at Lv1 since the board damage increase is only 31% from Lv1 to Lv6.

However do note that the piercing effect of Flash Stance is  very useful for dungeon grinding.

Aside from that the rest is pretty standard.

With these explanations we now move on further to construct specific builds for specific needs.

Generic Pure PVE Dungeon Grinding Build

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Remember the things that I’ve written above to make some references.

Key Skills to Note:

• Lv21 Circle Break (For DPS)
• Lv6 Eclipse (For DPS and suction effect for rounding up of monsters)
• Lv11 Line Drive for Burst Damage
• Lv6 Flash Stance (For Monster clearing via piercing effect)

You will have 4SP spare for you to allocate based on your playstyle.

One choice will be to add eclipse up to Lv10 and get a skill ring for it to hit Lv11.

Remember, this is a dungeon grinding skill build which I’ve decided to make a generic one for since there’s a skill expansion ticket where hardcore PVE players can have 1 for dungeon grinding and the other for raids.

Which brings us to our raid skill build

Generic Pure PVE Raid Skill Build

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Key Skills to Note:

• Lv21 Circle Break (For DPS)
• Lv16 Cyclone Slash for Decent Damage Over Time
• Lv1 Parry and Parrying Stance (Survivability for key boss mechanics)

You will have 12SP to allocate depending on your playstyle

Eclipse isn’t needed here since its board damage isn’t fantastic even at Lv6.

Getting it to Lv11 isn’t worthwhile as well since you will need to use a skill ring to hit Lv11

For those who have the cash weapon costume that adds 1skill level to relieve, I’ll suggest getting relieve to Lv5 (6 with cash costume weapon) because its cooldown will be ridiculously low at 15 seconds.

With that even with Aerial Evasion at Lv1, you will be able to get out of some sticky situations quickly, not to mention the cleansing of debuffs as well.

That will mean 8SP that you can add.

Playing it safe, you can add 3SP to Aerial Evasion to keep it at Lv4 if you’re not comfortable with a 30second cooldown Aerial Evasion which leaves you at 5SP.

You can add 4SP to crescent cleave to get it to Lv15 (then skill accessory it to hit Lv16) for great damage on large bosses.

Be sure to use a damage plate on crescent cleave if you decide to do so.

The last SP, I’ll personally add it to sweeping kick since as mentioned, I find it awkward without it when playing.

This brings us to our final Generic Pure PVE build which has to do with Counter Slash as mentioned in the video.

Generic Pure PVE Counter Slash Build (Possible Nest Solo Build)

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This is not a mainstream build and whether it is made for Nests Solo is also debatable.

Proceed with this build with care because it will require to have in-depth knowledge on every boss mechanic in nests or raids for it to be useful

First and foremost, for those who didn’t watch the video, here is the context being its viability.

Pre 70 cap, a Counter slash build was not viable. Why?

In T3 Era, counter slash and counter wave were 2 different skills and had a 1 second cooldown.

This made it viable in skill builds and in nests where you can activate parrying stance and counter slash/wave away on the boss to deal some decent damage while in a defensive stance. (eg. Naga Queen boss in manticore nest)

However since T4, counter slash and wave is combined to be just 1 skill “Counter slash” where you can decide to slash or wave depending on using right or left mouse click.

In addition, the cooldown mechanism has changed.

At Lv1, counter slash has a cooldown of 5seconds, at Lv6 a cooldown of 3seconds and finally at Lv11 a cooldown of 1second

In other words, since Lv11 counter slash is not possible before 70 cap, a counter slash build is thus not viable.

However with Lv70, we can now get counter slash to Lv10 and skill ring it to get it to Lv11, reducing the cooldown of the skill to 1second.

It is highly recommended to get at least lv2 parrying stance for this build so that you are able to counter slash 11 times.

The board damage at Lv11 is 550% +10,000 which is significantly high for a skill that is only 1second cooldown.

For this build to work, you will need to know every boss mechanic as mentioned above.

You need to discover the boss skills that allows you to parry 11 times in a row which allows you to make the investment of 11SP deep into the parry tree worth while

Do we need an action speed plate for Counter Slash?

Answer is No. The action speed plate increases the animation of counter slash so quickly that the cooldown for counter slash wouldn’t be up.

Using the 20% Damage plate will be wiser since the animation of counter slash with 1s cooldown is just right for using the skill.

Skills like Aerial Evasion and Relieve are leveled to 4 since if used for solo-ing nests, you want your passive defensive skills to come off cooldown as fast as possible.

For the last 8SP, you use 1 SP to get parrying stance to lv3 if you can full utilize the 15s of the parry effect.

And possibly the rest in Mana Recovery (Mind Conquer) since you never know if solo-ing nests might be a dent on your MP reserves depending on your gears.

With that I’ll just share my own Pure PVE Skill Build that I’ll be using for my own personal playstyle.

AikawaKazu Pure PVE Skill Build

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Key Notes:

• I love drop kick and sweeping kick just for funzies (Had 1 SP left so I added into drop kick as well)
• Aerial Evasion and Relieve at Maximum Levels (18s CD for AE and 3 Debuffs cleanse for Relieve, might consider getting weapon costume for Lv6 relieve)
• Eclipse Lv1 For suction effect when I clear dailies in dungeons
• Parry and Parrying Stance Lv1 for Survivability for Annoying Boss Mechanics
• Raid focused build with Lv16 Cyclone Slash

Rest are pretty much self-explanatory.

I’m going a half raid half dungeon build because even though I have the skill expansion ticket, the other skill build is reserved for my Pure PVP skill build.

This meant that I need to comprise in some areas for my PVE skill build which you can see in the build above.

Remember the key is to look at the generic builds and then allocate the SP to define your own skill build.

Please don’t blindly follow my build 

Let’s move on to PVP Builds

Warrior Tree (PVP) Generic

Key points to note:

• Lv6 Rising Slash Standard (for 2 lifts)
• Lv5 Relieve (Cleanse 3 Debuffs, possible at Lv70, useful in Ladder against classes that can inflict multiple debuff status)
• Lv5 Mind Conquer (Extremely important in drawn out matches in Ladder or Lost Temple)
• Lv1 Dropkick for opportunties to knock back opponents after a jump dodge or Aerial Evasion
• Lv1 Sweeping Kick for wall combos, knock down after stagger/flinch

Rest self explanatory!

Generic Swordmaster Tree (PVP)

Key points to note:

• Lv1 Triple Slash and Lv1 Front shove for Utility
• Lv10 Eclipse (Make sure to +1 for Lv11 with Skill Ring)
• Lv9 Brave for 50% SA Debuff
• Lv16 MLS for Damage
• Lv13 Half Moon Slash for Maximum Damage
• Lv8 Provoking Slam for 25% DMG Increase Debuff
• Lv6 Counter Exile for Damage

Moving on to Moonlord Tree

Moonlord Tree (PVP) Generic

Key points to note:

• Lv6 Flash Stance (Right click does decent damage in PVP aside from the usefulness of the stagger effect that can be launched at long range)

With that let’s move on to the actual overall builds for various types of PVP

Generic Pure PVP Build with Counter Slash

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Key points to note:

• Warrior Tree is following the Generic PVP Setup
• Eclipse Lv10 +1 with Skill ring (Lv11)
• Counter Slash Lv10 +1 with Skill ring (Lv11) does over 12,000 DMG in Compensation ON PVP
• Brave Lv9 for 50% SA Debuff

Aside from the explanation mentioned above, do know that unlike PVE, counter slash cooldown in PVP is not 1 second but 20 seconds

So this is really a 1-off burst damage that you must hit.

Basically you use parrying stance in situations where your opponent cast some damage over time skills or when they are on the offensive (spirit boost etc)

Be sure to use the “wave” version of counter slash with the right click instead of left click to land some damage.

If you’re lucky to get a parry when you’re attacked, it also gives you a chance to do quick burst dmg in PVP if parrying stance is on cooldown.

Sometimes you will be forced to walk into skills like Poison Spray to activate your parry (when stance is used) so that you can utilize this investment into counter slash Lv11.

Definitely viable for ladder since parrying stance is a great addition to counter moments like iron skin, spirit boosts etc.

This time you can also attack while in a defensive stance to deal some damage to your opponents.

This will keep them wary the next time they charge in.

The rest of the skills are added to maximize skills damage in PVP.

Let’s move on to a Pure PVP Build without Counter Slash

Generic Pure PVP Build with Lv11 Line Drive

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Key points to note:

• Warrior Tree is following the Generic PVP Setup
• Eclipse Lv10 +1 with Skill ring (Lv11)
• Lv11 Line Drive (Over 14,000 DMG without damage plate, over 20,000 DMG with P.slam and Brave)
• Brave Lv9 for 50% SA Debuff

The only difference is that the SP spent in Counter Slash are now spent to learn Line Drive.

With Lv70 cap you no longer need a skill ring to hit Lv11 for line drive which is definitely great for PVP moonlords.

Line drive into half moon slash (or vice versa) is definitely a great combo to land some quick burst damage.

With HMS EX extra hit, it makes this combination almost impossible to dodge by average PVP players.

For some modification, you can put HMS to Lv11 to free up 2SP and that allows you to learn Lv1 Parry and Parrying stance for a ladder inclined version of the build.

OR you can simply add 3SP to make MLS to Lv19 just for that slight increase in PVP DMG for a skill that is used so often by Moonlords.

You can also consider to learn circle break lv1 for utility if you’re one that knows how to read a good timing to use circle break.

I haven’t really thought of a PVP Build that I would go for yet so I’ll leave my PVP Build out for now.

And last but not the least a Generic Hybrid PVP/PVE Build for those who don’t the luxury of a skill expansion ticket.

Generic Hybrid PVP/PVE Build

Key points to note:

• No actual DPS skill in Warrior Tree, Lv6 rising slash for PVP Purposes
• Lv5 Mind Conquer (MP Recovery) for PVP Purposes in Ladder
• Lv1 Eclipse for mob suction effect for relative ease in dungeon clearing
• Lv1 Parry and Parrying Stance for Survivability in Nests and Raids
• Magic Tree Skills at their Optimal Levels of 11 or 16
• Flash Stance Lv6 useful for both PVP and dungeon in PVE