Best Alchemist Build in Steelrising

The Alchemist class in Steelrising is the easiest to make into a hybrid build, as there are very few weapons that can work well by just leveling Alchemy. Power and Agility will be secondary until players feel their damage lacking. There are many tools to make Alchemy very powerful, as long as players are willing to have a bit of a slow start. These are all the things players need to know to make a good early, middle, and end game Alchemy build in Steelrising.

Making the Best Alchemist Build in Steelrising

Similar to the Bodyguard Build, the Alchemist has a slower playstyle in the beginning compared to other classes in Steelrising. Weapons that have an Alchemy Affinity will all scale with Power and Agility, except for Muskets. These weapons will only deal either Fulmination, Frost, or Flame damage while building up their respective Alchemical Affliction. Players should focus on Elemental Alchemy and Engineering to increase their damage and the duration of their status effects. Once players find a weapon they enjoy or an Affliction they like the most, they should focus on making that Affliction as powerful as they can.

Best Early Game Alchemist Build in Steelrising

Players will begin the game with points in both Elemental Alchemy and Engineering, the main stats to build upon for a powerful Alchemist build. Elemental Alchemy will increase Frost, Flame, and Fulmination damage while Engineering increases the rate at which Afflictions are built up. These are all the tools that players will have access to at the beginning to take advantage of their strengths:

• Weapon
  • Charleville 1780 Shield Musket - Deals ranged Frost damage, leaving enemies unable to act for a short time.
  • Romas Partisan - Has a high Power and Alchemy Affinity, dealing Physical damage. This can be Infused with its Special Move to deal Fulmination damage.
  • Glass Core Batons - The starting weapon of the Alchemist, dealing Physical damage. This can be Infused with its Special Move to deal Frost damage.
  • Fire Chain - Another weapon with high Power and Alchemy Affinity with its Infusion dealing Flame damage.
• Armor
  • Any - Armor should be used to cover the player's weaknesses. This can mean increasing the player's Balance or Endurance, as well well as increasing their defenses to avoid leveling Durability.
• Modules
  • Grade I Frost/Flame/Fulmination Catalyst Module - These modules will increase the damage and Affliction build up of their respective damage types.
  • Grade I Lasting Affliction Module - This module will increase how long an enemy will be afflicted with an Alchemy Affliction.
  • Grade I Long Infusion Module - This will increase the time that weapons can stay Infused with their respective Elemental Infusions.
  • Grade I Unstable Essence Module - One of the most important modules at the beginning, this module makes it so the player has a chance of recovering Alchemical Capsules whenever they deal damage or shoot with their Muskets.

Players will quickly learn that Frost weapons are the safest bet when playing with any build. Fulmination does a burst of damage when an enemy is Afflicted and Flame will cause damage over time. Whatever damage type players gravitate to, they can switch whenever they want with this build and experiment however they like.

Related: Alchemical Afflictions explained in Steelrising

Best Mid Game Alchemist Builds in Steelrising

By the time players reach the middle of the game, they should have an idea of which Affliction they like best and can build upon one or two weapons to deal Afflictions quickly. Modules make a big difference in how effective a player's damage will be, so stacking them is a great idea to avoid having to Freeze enemies every encounter. These are all the things players have access to in the middle of the game for their Alchemist Build:

• Weapon
  • Fire and Ice - An Agility and Alchemy focused weapon that deals Physical damage normally and deals both Flame and Frost damage when performing a Counterattack.
  • Frosted Fans - An Agility and Alchemy focused weapon that deals Frost damage.
  • Saint Elmo Batons - A Power and Alchemy focused weapon that deals Physical damage with a ranged Special Move that infuses the weapon and deals Fulmination damage.
  • Boreas Wheel - A Power and Alchemy focused weapon that deals Physical damage and has a powerful Special Move that deals Frost damage.
  • Charleville Bayonet - A ranged weapon that has a Counterattack for closed ranged attacks. This deals Flame damage.
  • Hephaestos Batons - These are arguably the best Alchemy weapons in the game, having both a ranged and Infusion Special Move in one. They deal Flame and Physical damage.
• Armor
  • Any - Armor should be used situationally for whatever threat the player is up against.
• Modules
  • Grade II Frost/Flame/Fulmination Catalyst Module - These modules will stack with their Grade I counterparts, making them even more powerful.
  • Grade II Lasting Affliction Module - Stacking these modules can have devastating results when used with Frost and Flame weapons.
  • Grade II Unstable Essence Module - Stacking these modules makes it much more likely to get Alchemical Capsules, but once players have a huge supply, this module can be replaced with something else more helpful.

Strategies for Alchemy builds tend to revolve around Freezing enemies and then switching weapons to either a powerful Physical weapon or a Flame or Fulmination weapon while they are stunned. This is the safest way of playing, but isn't the only way of getting through the game as an Alchemist. Flame and Fulmination do a lot of damage when Elemental Alchemy is fully leveled up and don't necessarily need to be swapped constantly.

Related: Best Soldier Build in Steelrising

Best End Game Alchemist Build in Steelrising

There aren't many changes in the late game of Steelrising for the Alchemist apart from getting better Armor and Modules. These are the new resources players will have access to by the end of the game:

• Modules
  • Grade III Modules - By the end of the game, players should have access to their Grade III versions of the modules they have been using. Stacking them is still a viable option, however, so Grade II modules shouldn't be sold.
  • Grade III Destruction Module - The best module in the game still has its uses even for an Alchemy build. This is due to the fact that most Alchemy weapons still deal Physical damage and the Destruction Module will increase this damage by a great amount.

By the end of the game, every enemy can be taken down in just a few hits, and in some cases, just a single Affliction of Fulmination or Flame. There are many different ways to play with Alchemy and because it can be used with Agility and Power, many players will gravitate towards Alchemy regardless of whether they picked the class at the start.

For more build guides for Steelrising, check out Best Dancer Build in Steelrising on Pro Game Guides.