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Build: Searing Star

By Ybneth

Hello Drifters,
This is a guide for my Searing Star build which carried me the longest way - over wave 250.

First of all, i have no idea if someone posted that alredy or if the name is taken, it just sit in my head over night - it might also happen this is fairly common build.

This build is focused around shield Halo , shield radius, shield power, max shields, shield cooldown, global damage and damage scaling from thrust, which will ultimately end in using no weapon at all thanks to Super Mod: Hidden Power .

Award

Created by

Ybneth
Offline

Category: Classes, Walkthroughs, Weapons

Languages: English

Posted

Updated

5 Jan, 2023 @ 3:34pm

5 Jan, 2023 @ 3:53pm

1,464	Unique Visitors
21	Current Favorites

Guide Index

Overview

Gear

Mods

Wild Mods

Super Mods

Optional Mods

Last Words

Comments

Gear

Weapon - This doesn't matter, pick whatever you are comfortable with, i started with Split Shot

Shield - Halo. This is the ultimate damage in this build, and it's 360 degree radius ensures it will hit everytime no matter of positioning

Ship - Sentinel, since he's giving +25% shield effect radius, +10% shield effect power and +10% shield damage resistance ( -10% rate of fire doesn't matter)

Mods

- Shield Durability > Reflexive Shields > Omni Shield - For maximum shields and shield dmg resistance and effect power of Omni

- Shield Effect Radius > Radiant Shield > Weaponized Shields - This is for maxing out shield range and effect power/damage

- Candescence > Corrosion > Purification - This will add up to the damage by raising your burn damage, ignite duration and some teeny tiny hull and shield steal for each burning enemy

- Shield Cooldown - ehm ... for shield cooldown (Volatile Shield is optional for extra 5% of shields)

- Efficiency > Conversion - Efficiency will make your cooldown faster since you won't be firing a weapon and Conversion for sqeezing max shields from your hull

- Hull Strength - to boost Conversion

- Improved Thrusters > Deadly Wake - Sentinel is slow, so pick this, and Deadly Wake will help you unlock Hidden Power

Wild Mods

- Galvanic Outburst - Mainly for shield effect power, it will also do some serious damage when struck, so stack that up

- Energized Shields - This is key mod - it's making your shield cooldown faster and adding damage depending on how fast you move

Super Mods

- Hidden Power - +40% global damage, +5% maximum hull, maximum shields, shield effect radius, shield effect power, and thrust, 10% faster shield cooldown and regeneration rate - only drawback is that you can't use your weapon which you don't need anyway

Optional Mods

- Bravado - for having better Sentinel in general (i had one and it was enough)

- Transmogrification - if you want to find those wild mods faster, watch out, since you lose all of your rerolls

- Evolutionary Niche - for upgrading your ship's stats - stack that as you wish

- Ataraxia - i went for that in the end, it's just matter of preference. If you don't want it, just keep stacking Wild Mods

Last Words

And that's about it. I had a blast playing like this, it was something new - for me.

Keep in mind that your damage is bigger the faster you are going, so don't be shy, and circle/zig - zag/Drift around enemies, to burn/scorch/singe the Nova out of them. Also the bigger your shield is, the longer cooldown it has, so stack accordingly.

You shouldn't lose your shield at all - since how big it is, atleast it didn't happen to me. Just dodge for a while if that happens.

This is not meant to be a crash build, so avoid contact damage at all costs. If something slams into you, or shoots you, it's fine, just don't let it be a constant.

As you can see, only reason why i ended here was because i absolutely didn't expect those huge vag ... hammers to pincer me in between.

9 Comments

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CrazyJ 22 Feb @ 10:13am

I prefer a modified version of this where I swap the hidden power for charged shields and missiles.

Not sure if it's actually better, but I like the boosted range and dps bomb when needed.

UnderseaPanic 13 Jan @ 7:42pm

It's a shame that the literal kryptonite is burn damage. Being so large, it's nearly impossible to get out of it, especially after wave 240 where the enemies get insane fire rates. Times I've died to crashing myself into something, countable on my fingers. Times I've died by burning to death, countless.

UnderseaPanic 13 Jan @ 7:41pm

This is definitely one of the best builds out there, and I've been using it for a long time. I have a slightly different one that heavily relies on contact damage to trigger damage effects. You mix Halo with shield cooldown and the lightning wild mod on top of dying star and... *chef kiss* it's amazing. You just have to balance crash/impact damage with your regen so you don't drive yourself to death (literally).

I've been around since day 1, and the leviathan is by far my favorite body type to use... even after all the balances and changes. No other body can quite achieve anywhere near the same amount of power in such a small time frame. You get Halo, Hidden power, and at least a single lightning wild mod... You can easily clear wave 60 with no more than 2 crashes into a single boss. Even station Omega will turn to dust.

compuguruman 1 Sep, 2024 @ 9:46am

I just got my highest score ever from something kinda like this, 3.4 million, I just happened to see this when i had no build ideas and branched off from it a little.

The JLT 19 Aug, 2024 @ 9:27am

I've found that using missiles with charged shields will get you further. moving ataraxa to mandatory first picks for the amazing boosts at 5 and 10 is decidedly a good idea. Hidden power is cool, but adding infuse with charged missiles is decidedly op as hell.

Ybneth [author] 18 Aug, 2024 @ 10:58pm

Hey, that's good to hear!

Voidspawn 16 Aug, 2024 @ 9:53am

Just tried this and reached wave 233, this build is crazy

Ybneth [author] 14 Apr, 2023 @ 12:55am

That's great to hear dude!

Zzoyd 13 Apr, 2023 @ 12:55am

Got me over my first million mark!

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