Wayfinder Wingrave Build Guide

Wingrave Basics

As mentioned above, Wingrave is Wayfinder’s tank. He also has a bit of support healer thrown in for good measure. But that is not to say that he cannot still solo and lay on the damage when he wants to. As with any wayfinder, his build can change his role quite drastically. And in a previous guide I even sight him as my number one pick for wayfinders to solo with (though Niss is still number one in my heart).  All that said, Wingrave’s base stats, and abilities scream defense.

Here are his base stats:

• Max Health: 135.
• Resilience: 135.
• Weapon Power: 112.
• Ability Power: 169.
• Crit Rating: 56.
• Crit Power: 56.
• Break Power: 112.
• Physical Defense: 450.
• Magical Defense: 338.

As you can see, his two highest base stats, Physical Defense and Magical Defense, almost (and in some cases) more than triple his other stats. It’s not hard to see how this guy can tank. But that’s not even taking into account his abilities.

Wingrave’s passive ability is called Healing Pulse. It causes his melee finishers to heal him and one ally. His ability Righteous Strike is his one damage dealing ability, but when it damages an enemy it causes a healing AOE that hits Wingrave and his nearby allies. The Radiant Pulse ability forms a barrier in front of Wingrave like a riot shield made of light. This shield blocks projectiles and gives all allies behind it a defense boost. The ability Judgement marks an enemy with a golden halo. Wingrave or any allies that hit a marked enemy restore their own health. And finally we have Wingrave’s ultimate ability, arguably the strongest ultimate in the game. Divine Aegis creates a golden dome that lasts for several seconds. Wingrave and any allies standing within the dome get a HOT effect and are immune to damage as long as they remain inside it. This panic button is amazing and has saved my life many times.

Wingrave Radiant Dawn Build

The first build I want to discuss for Wingrave leans into all his defensive abilities and is best suited for group play. I’m calling this build the true paladin build. The crux of this build comes from our weapon of choice, the sword and shield Radiant Dawn.

First, let us look at Radiant Dawn’s ability. This ability is called Archon’s Blade. The name is badass, but the effect is eve better. The ability temporarily extends the range and damage of your melee attacks and also empowers your blocks so they greatly reduce stamina damage. This is huge for Wingrave, since, while he can dodge, he has the worst dodge in the game, so he relies on blocking a lot to avoid enemy attacks. But that tradeoff is fine, as he is well equipped to block attacks, even without Archon’s Blade, so good luck breaking his guard now. But wait, we still have Radiant Dawn’s base stats to go over. Here they are:

• Instinct: gives Resilience 144, and Weapon Power 180.
• Discipline: gives Physical Defense 300, and crit rating 180.
• Focus: gives Ability Power 180, and Max Health 120.

It probably comes as no surprise that the main affinity for this build is discipline. I am not a fan of that 180 crit rating, since Wingrave’s base crit stats are so low, and the sword and shield is not the weapon type you want to try and crit with, but that 300 Physical defense is just too good to pass up. That almost doubles his base Physical Defense. Both instinct and focus are fine secondary picks here. But personally I would choose instinct. Both the Resilience and Weapon Power are useful stats. The Max Health from focus is nice, but I don’t really like the ability power all that much.

When we’re looking at echoes and accessories to boost our stats, all the defensive options are good and should be prioritized. Sure, more weapon power doesn’t hurt (you at least), but this is a focused defensive build that largely relies on allies to do the bulk of the damage. All your defensive stats, those being Max Health, Resilience, Physical Defense, and Magical Defense, are great to boost. The stat you are looking to boost the most though for this build, is Magical Defense. This is because both Physical Defense and Magic Defense are our primary stats for this build, and our weapon gives us a huge boost to Physical defense. So to even it out, focus a bit more on magical defense from echoes and accessories. After that, I would put Max Health and Resilience as roughly equal to prioritize. Again, you can slot offensive buffs if they work with your echo slots and whatnot, but this build should really focus on defense as much as possible.

Though we don’t have any kind of taunt mechanic, this build still plays much like a stereotypical tank. In other words, we want to run out in front, meleeing with as many enemies as we can. Not only does this position us to take the brunt of the hits, but it allows for us to use our abilities such as Radiant Pulse and Divine Aegis to maximum effect. With this strategy your allies will be able to “get behind me” as Wingrave likes to say, while still piling on the damage.

Wingrave Titan’s Bane Build

Next up is a Wingrave build with a healthy does of DPS added to the tankiness. This build will trade in the sword and shield for one big two-handed sword. That sword is Titan’s Bane. Now, I say a healthy does of DPS for a reason. Wingrave is never going to be a pure DPS wayfinder like Kyros or Niss, no matter how you build him. However this build has a nice balance that makes Wingrave quite strong.

First let’s look at Titan’s Bane’s ability. This ability is called Molten Cleave. Molten Cleave consumes all your momentum and deals damage in a line AOE that also has an added DOT effect after the fact for good measure. Unsurprisingly this is great for piling on the damage. It is especially good for Wingrave, since he only has the one damage dealing ability on his own, that being Righteous Strike. But now let’s look at Titan’s Bane’s base stats. Here they are:

• Instinct: gives Weapon Power and Ability power both at 180.
• Discipline: Crit Rating and Crit Power both at 180.
• Focus: gives Physical Defense and Magical Defense both at 300.

Obviously we want to max out our focus. I mean Physical Defense and Magical Defense both at 300? Come on. But yes, I said this build wants DPS, so we will also grab instinct for that nice Weapon Power and Ability Power. Remember, this build is a balance between offense and defense. And this stat breakdown will achieve that balance nicely.

As far as echoes and accessories go, the stat that you probably want to focus on is one we haven’t covered yet in guide. That stat is Break Power. Two-handed Weapons are the best in the game at breaking an enemy’s guard. We want to lean into that, as breaking an enemy’s guard is the secret DPS strategy that other DPS weapons such as daggers can’t really make use of. If you break an enemy’s guard they will be stunned for several seconds. This lets you pile on uninterrupted attacks, and consequently damage, without needed to stop for pesky things like dodging, or blocking, or thinking. That being said you don’t want to go all in on Break Power alone. A healthy mix of Weapon Power and Ability Power on top of that will do nicely. Between Wingrave’s base stats, special abilities, and Titan’s Bane’s focus buffs, we’re pretty good on the defense side of things. So don’t worry too much about defensive echoes or accessories. With this build you’ll be cleaving your enemies into molten slag in no time.