Build Guide: Volcanic Mage

Overview

The Volcanic Mage is an endgame build for Kliff that transforms the humble Turning Slash into a screen-clearing nuke. By stacking five specific Abyss Gears onto a fire-imbued Turning Slash, a single charged attack launches forward darkness blades, triggers fire explosions beneath enemies, and deals 35% bonus damage on top of the base hit. While waiting for the next Turning Slash window, heavy attack spam sends out homing crows and tracking orbs that continuously stagger and chip down anything still standing.

The result is a build that plays more like a battle mage than a traditional swordsman. You spend most of your time spamming heavy attacks to generate passive projectiles, then unleash a fire-imbued Turning Slash for enormous burst whenever the moment calls for it. Spirit Siphon and Stamina Siphon keep your resource bars healthy, and Blinding Flash handles crowd control when you get surrounded.

This build requires several pieces of equipment scattered across the mid-to-late game, so it comes together gradually rather than all at once. You can start working toward it as early as Chapter 3, but the full setup is not complete until you have beaten the Crowcaller boss in Chapter 5 and collected the Darkbringer from the Pailune region.

How the Build Works

Five Abyss Gears form the core of this build. Each one triggers under a different condition, and when they all fire together the combined damage far exceeds what any single piece of equipment could produce.

The interaction works like this: when you fire-imbue Turning Slash, three things happen simultaneously. Wound of Darkness sends darkness blades along the ground. Volcanic Eruption detonates fire explosions under every enemy in range. And Momentum adds a flat 35% damage bonus to the entire Turning Slash hit. Between Turning Slash windows, you spam heavy attacks to send out Crow's Pursuit crows and Ator's Orb tracking orbs, which deal passive damage and (more importantly) stagger enemies that try to teleport or reposition.

The passive projectiles from Crow's Pursuit and Ator's Orb are what make this build feel like a mage. You swing your two-handed sword and a cloud of crows and glowing orbs fans out to chase down nearby targets. Against bosses that teleport frequently, these tracking projectiles are especially valuable because they interrupt repositioning and force the boss back into your melee range.

Required Equipment

The Volcanic Mage build requires six specific pieces of equipment. You do not need to equip all of them at the same time; several are used only to extract their Abyss Gears, which you then socket into your main loadout.

Vessel of Dark Pursuit (Primary Weapon)

The Vessel of Dark Pursuit is a Rank 4 two-handed sword dropped by the boss Antumbra's Sword at the Sanctum of Absolution. This is the weapon you actually wield. It comes with Wound of Darkness already mapped to Turning Slash, so every time you use Turning Slash, a wave of darkness blades fires forward along the ground.

How to get it: Travel to the Sanctum of Absolution in the southwest area of Hernand, directly south of Scholastone Institute. There is an Abyss Nexus fast travel point nearby. Enter the sanctum, solve the puzzle sequence, and defeat Antumbra's Sword. The boss fight rewards both an Abyss Artifact and the Vessel of Dark Pursuit.

Scorchflame Plate Gloves (Volcanic Eruption Source)

The Scorchflame Plate Gloves are a pair of unique gloves that contain the Volcanic Eruption Abyss Gear. You do not need to wear the gloves permanently. Instead, visit a Witch to extract the Volcanic Eruption Abyss Gear, then socket it into whatever armor piece you prefer.

How to get them: Make sure you have the Stab skill unlocked from the skill tree. Head to the Blue Ripple Hearth area. Near the hearth, there is a waterfall at the edge of a cliff. Jump off and approach the waterfall, then use a charged Stab attack directly into it. This breaks through the waterfall and reveals a hidden cave. Inside is a chest containing the Scorchflame Plate Gloves.

Once you have the gloves, take them to any Witch and select "Extract Abyss Gear" to pull out Volcanic Eruption. Then use "Create Socket" on one of your equipped armor pieces and embed Volcanic Eruption into it. The gear triggers fire explosions whenever you hit enemies with a fire-imbued Turning Slash.

Leather Helm of the Fallen Kingdom (Momentum Source)

The Leather Helm of the Fallen Kingdom is one of the best early-game headgear pieces you can find. It comes with a free Abyss Core socket and the Momentum Abyss Gear already attached. Momentum provides a flat +35% damage bonus to Turning Slash, which is the backbone of this entire build.

How to get it: The helm is inside a chest at the Sanctum of Benediction in the Hernand region. This is one of the Abyss Restoration Challenges accessible in the early-to-mid game. Complete the sanctum's puzzle to unlock the chest.

You can either wear the helm directly (it has solid defensive stats) or extract the Momentum Abyss Gear and move it to a different helm that better suits your build. Either way, the 35% Turning Slash damage bonus is non-negotiable for this setup.

Darkbringer (Ator's Orb Source)

The Darkbringer is a unique two-handed sword with 22 base ATK, Critical Rate Level 3, and Refinement Level 4 out of the box. Its built-in Abyss Gear, Ator's Orb, summons tracking orbs every time you perform a stamina attack or heavy attack. The orbs hover briefly over the target, then collide for damage.

How to get it: The Darkbringer is found in the White Wastes Sanctuary, a hidden location in the northern Pailune region. The exact location is west of Silver Wolf Mountain, northeast of Five-Finger Mountain, and north of Whisperleaf Fortress. Follow the crows to reach a snow-covered pit containing a massive, partially unearthed skeleton. The Darkbringer is lodged in the skeleton's mouth. There is no boss fight or puzzle; just pull the sword from the dead giant's teeth.

For this build, you have two options. You can use the Darkbringer as your primary weapon instead of the Vessel of Dark Pursuit (you lose Wound of Darkness but gain strong base stats and critical rate). Alternatively, you can extract Ator's Orb from the Darkbringer at a Witch and socket it into one of your armor pieces. The second option is recommended so you can keep Wound of Darkness on your primary weapon while still generating tracking orbs from heavy attacks.

Tauria Curved Sword (Crow's Pursuit Source)

The Tauria Curved Sword drops from defeating Crowcaller, the boss of Chapter 5's Black and White questline. The sword itself is a one-handed weapon, but the Abyss Gear it carries, Crow's Pursuit, is what matters for this build. Crow's Pursuit launches homing crows every time you land a heavy attack, and those crows track enemies across the battlefield.

How to get it: Defeat Crowcaller at Crow's Nest during Chapter 5. Crowcaller fights with dual blades across three escalating phases. Parrying is the key mechanic in this fight: time your parries against his fast multi-hit combos to build his stagger bar. Grappling moves also deal heavy stagger damage. Once he collapses, unleash your highest-damage abilities. After defeating him, you receive the Tauria Curved Sword with Crow's Pursuit attached.

Extract Crow's Pursuit at a Witch and embed it into an armor piece. From this point forward, every heavy attack you land with your two-handed sword sends out crows that track and stagger enemies. This passive damage is constant and requires no additional input beyond swinging your weapon.

Spirit Siphon and Stamina Siphon (Resource Sustain)

Spirit Siphon (also called Spirit Transference) and Stamina Siphon (also called Stamina Transference) are Abyss Gears that restore Spirit and Stamina respectively whenever you land attacks. For a build that constantly spams heavy attacks and periodically dumps resources into fire-imbued Turning Slash, these two sustain gears keep you from running dry.

Both of these gears reward aggressive play. The more you attack, the more resources you recover. Since the Volcanic Mage build revolves around constant heavy attack spam, you naturally generate a steady stream of Spirit and Stamina without needing to stop and wait for regeneration.

Recommended Abyss Gear Loadout

Below is the suggested distribution of Abyss Gears across your equipment. You need enough sockets to fit all five core gears plus both sustain gears. Visit a Witch to create sockets on your armor if needed.

The exact armor pieces are flexible. What matters is that you have enough Abyss Core sockets across your equipment to fit all seven gears. Prioritize armor with multiple sockets. The Plate Gloves of Cursed Soul (two sockets) and Odeck's Protector Plate Boots (two sockets) are strong choices because each can hold a core gear plus a defensive core.

Required Skills

The Volcanic Mage build draws skills from two branches of the skill tree. The Stamina tree provides your offensive skills, while the Health tree provides Elemental Imbue (fire). You also need a few Spirit tree skills for defense and utility.

Stamina Tree

Health Tree

Spirit Tree

How to Unlock Fire Imbue

Fire imbue is not available by default. You must complete a specific puzzle sequence to unlock the Elemental Imbue system, and then unlock fire as your first element.

1. Unlock Elemental Imbue: Progress through the Health branch of the skill tree until you can purchase Imbue Element at Level 1. This costs one Abyss Artifact.

2. Complete the Tree of Slumber: Find and complete the Tree of Slumber puzzle. Upon completion, you automatically unlock Flame Strike and Flame Lv. 1, which enables fire as an imbue element.

3. Unlock Elemental Turning Slash: Once you have Imbue Element at Level 1, Elemental Turning Slash becomes available automatically. You can now fire-imbue your Turning Slash.

To perform a fire-imbued Turning Slash in combat, activate your fire imbue first, then execute Turning Slash while the fire buff is active. The timing is forgiving; you have a window of several seconds after activating the imbue to land the attack.

Combat Rotation

The Volcanic Mage has two modes: heavy attack spam for sustained pressure and passive projectile generation, and fire-imbued Turning Slash for burst damage. You alternate between these two modes depending on the situation.

Sustained Pressure (Default Loop)

1. Swing heavy attacks continuously. Each heavy attack sends out Crow's Pursuit crows and Ator's Orb tracking orbs.

2. The crows and orbs track enemies automatically. You do not need to aim them.

3. Enemies hit by the tracking projectiles take stagger damage. Against bosses, this slowly builds the stagger bar even when you are at range or repositioning.

4. Spirit Siphon and Stamina Siphon restore your resources with each hit, so you can sustain this loop indefinitely.

Burst Damage (Turning Slash Window)

1. Activate fire imbue.

2. Execute Turning Slash (quick or fully charged).

3. Wound of Darkness fires darkness blades forward.

4. Volcanic Eruption triggers fire explosions beneath nearby enemies.

5. Momentum adds +35% damage to the entire Turning Slash hit.

6. Return to heavy attack spam while fire imbue recharges.

The quick (non-charged) Turning Slash is useful when you need instant burst: when an enemy staggers and you want to capitalize immediately, or when you are about to get hit and need to squeeze in damage before dodging. The fully charged version takes longer to wind up but deals significantly more damage, making it ideal for bosses when you have a wide opening after a full stagger.

Crowd Control

When surrounded by multiple enemies, use Blinding Flash to stun everything nearby and create space. Follow up with a fire-imbued Turning Slash while the enemies are still blinded. The combination of Wound of Darkness, Volcanic Eruption, and the base Turning Slash damage will clear most groups in one or two hits.

Boss Strategy

Against bosses, the Volcanic Mage build follows a rhythm: build stagger, burst during openings, and use passive projectiles to maintain pressure between burst windows.

General Boss Rotation

1. Open with heavy attack spam. Crow's Pursuit and Ator's Orb tracking projectiles begin building the boss's stagger bar immediately.

2. Use Parry and Counter from Keen Senses to survive the boss's attacks while maintaining offensive pressure.

3. When the stagger bar fills and the boss collapses, activate fire imbue and hit with a fully charged Turning Slash for maximum burst.

4. Use Nature's Echo before the burst window if Spirit allows. The spectral copy doubles your damage output during the stagger opening.

5. After the boss recovers, return to heavy attack spam and repeat.

Handling Teleporting Bosses

Several late-game bosses teleport frequently, repositioning across the arena mid-combo. This is where Crow's Pursuit and Ator's Orb really shine. The tracking crows and orbs chase the boss after it teleports, dealing stagger damage even when you cannot reach it with melee. This effectively removes the boss's ability to reset the fight by running away, because the projectiles keep the stagger bar climbing no matter where the boss goes.

Using the Bow Against Abyss Bosses

Some endgame Abyss bosses (particularly Spire bosses) have mechanics that require you to deal damage from range to fill their stagger bar. For these encounters, switch to your bow and use Focus Shot to rapidly fill the stagger bar. Focus Shot fires multiple arrows simultaneously when upgraded, and each arrow contributes to the stagger gauge. Once the boss staggers from the ranged buildup, switch back to your two-handed sword for the fire-imbued Turning Slash burst.

Keep a decent bow in your secondary weapon slot for these situations. The bow does not need Abyss Gears for this purpose; you are using it purely for stagger buildup, not damage.

Stat Allocation

When spending Abyss Artifacts on stat upgrades, the Volcanic Mage build needs a balanced spread. Unlike pure melee builds that dump everything into Stamina, this build needs all three stats because fire imbue draws from the Health tree and Spirit powers your defensive abilities.

The exact ratio depends on which skills you use most. If you rely heavily on Nature's Echo and Blinding Flash, push Spirit higher. If you find yourself dying to boss attacks, invest more in Health. The Stamina floor of 5 is important because dropping below that makes heavy attack spam unsustainable.

Food and Consumables

Bring plenty of food to boss fights. Spirit food is especially important for this build because fire imbue consumes Spirit, and running out of Spirit mid-fight means you lose access to your burst window.

• Grilled Meat (100+): Standard healing food. Bring at least 100 to any endgame boss fight. There is no cooldown on eating, so you can heal as often as needed.

• Spirit food: Any food that restores Spirit. Keep a separate stack ready for moments when you need a surprise Turning Slash but your Spirit bar is low. Eating Spirit food mid-fight lets you squeeze in an extra burst window that the boss does not expect.

• Stamina food: Less critical than Spirit food because Stamina Siphon handles most of your Stamina needs, but keep some on hand for extended boss fights where you chain multiple Turning Slashes in quick succession.

Equipment Acquisition Order

Since the build requires equipment from several different game stages, here is the recommended order for collecting each piece as you progress through the story.

You can start using the build partially as soon as you have the Vessel of Dark Pursuit and Momentum (items 2 and 3). The Turning Slash combo feels strong even without the full set. Each additional Abyss Gear you collect adds another layer of damage until the build reaches its full potential after picking up the Darkbringer.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Tips

• You do not need to fully charge Turning Slash every time. The quick version triggers all the same Abyss Gears (Wound of Darkness, Volcanic Eruption, Momentum) and is much safer to execute. Save the fully charged version for guaranteed openings after a boss stagger.

• Spirit food can win fights by letting you fire off a surprise Turning Slash when the boss thinks you are out of resources. Keep Spirit food on a quick slot.

• Against groups of enemies, use Blinding Flash first to freeze everything, then fire-imbue Turning Slash through the crowd. The forward darkness blades from Wound of Darkness plus the eruptions from Volcanic Eruption will wipe most packs.

• Crow's Pursuit and Ator's Orb do not require any aim or targeting. Just keep swinging heavy attacks and let the projectiles do the tracking for you.

• When fighting a boss with a teleport mechanic, do not chase it. Continue heavy attack spam against empty air if needed. The crows and orbs will find the boss after it reappears and keep the stagger bar climbing.

• Extract Stamina Siphon from the Hwando as soon as you get it. The Hwando is a strong early weapon, but its Abyss Gears are more valuable in the long run than the weapon itself.

• Keep your bow upgraded enough to be useful for Focus Shot stagger building. You do not need to invest heavily in the bow, but a completely neglected bow will take too long to fill stagger bars on endgame bosses.

• The Volcanic Eruption gear triggers specifically on fire-imbued Turning Slash. It does not trigger on frost or lightning imbue. Make sure fire is your selected element before every burst window.

Related Build Guides