As the name suggests, the Wartales Pirates of Belerion DLC brought swashbuckling and skulduggery to the game The new Pugilist allows you to add pirates to your ranks, so here I’ll talk about the best Pugilist build guide in Wartales.
I picked up my first Pugilist in the Dry Dock Tavern on Per-Bast Island, which you’ll find southwest of Knight Island just south of where you get your first ship in Tiltren. It’s a really strong class, so it's well worth adding to your roster.
Best Pugilist Build in Wartales
Pugilists in Wartales rely on Dexterity and not Strength for damage modifiers. They have two stances (attack and defense) which they can switch between once each round for free, altering the effect of many of their abilities. This makes them complex but rewarding to play. You'll find the best Wartales build for a Pugilist below.
Best Pugilist Skills in Wartales
My Pugilist build turns them into a killing machine that can be even more devastating than the Ranger. It is purpose-built to deal massive damage to the toughest opponents, making it perfect for taking down tanks and other heavily armor opponents.
| Level | Skill Name | Description |
| 2 | Valorous Audacity | You won’t usually want to be engaged, as you’ll do your best work against strong opponents your tanks should be engaged with. This will reward you within 1 Valor Point for finishing a turn next to but not engaged with an opponent. |
| 3 | Bruiser | This specialty allows you to wear medium armor so you can take an attack or two. You also get the Skullbreaker ability. For 1 Valor Point you will attack an enemy twice, ignoring Gaurd. Better still, in Attack Stance, you’ll add half the enemy’s Guard to your damage. If their guard is down, switch to Defense Stance to apply Fragility instead, increasing damage by 30 percent. |
| 5 | Personal Challenge | (Passive) As long as you attack while in a Stance, you’ll also perform an Attack of Opportunity. This will ramp you up from two to three attacks when using your skills, which is lethal. |
| 8 | Fatal Touch | This special attack can only be used versus an opponent with higher Max Health than you, and less than 50 percent Max Health, so is quite situational. However, as a tank killer, it’ll happen more often than you expect. It does big damage plus, if you kill the opponent, you get 2 Valor and your movement is reset, allowing you to move to the next target. |
| 10 | Unstoppable | (Passive) You can move through enemy ranks, allowing you to get to exactly where you need to be. |
| 12 | Thrashing | (Bravery) While it can only be used once per battle, Thrashing is probably the best Bravery skill in the game. You attack 10 times, with each hit doing higher damage than the last. In Attack Stance you attack five more times, while in Defense Stance you instead heal for 3 percent of your Max Health per hit. Massively OP. |
Best Pugilist Equipment in Wartales
Around level 10, you’ll find nice Bandit’s Katar drops from both bandit and pirate encounters in Grinmeer or at sea. These give a 30+ Dexterity bonus (depending on star quality) as well as Opportunist Bust. In the Attack Stance, this applies Poison, while in the Defense Stance, you get an extra attack for each Defuff on the enemy.
Crafter Medium Armor works brilliantly, especially if you perfect the armor so that you can add armor layers. I go for Layer of the Falcon, as it adds both Dexterity and Critical Hit chance. I lean towards a Light Helm for this build, as the Celerity bonus (increased damage for each Debuff the opponent has) is more significant than the defensive bonuses of a medium helm.
Best Pugilist Attributes in Wartales
As a Bruiser Pugilist, you can completely ignore Strength. From most important to least, I rank the other attributes as follows:
- Dexterity: I suggest getting your Dexterity up around 50 as quickly as possible. It increases your Damage as well as your Critical hit stats, so it's a win-win.
- Constitution: Carrying Capacity is a pain on Wartales, and Constitution raises that alongside your Maximum Health. Raise your Constitution any time you feel you’re becoming too vulnerable in battles.
- Movement: Once you get Unstoppable, movement shouldn’t be much of an issue, but as battles get larger it is often useful. I’d get it up to at least 12 sooner rather than later.
- Willpower: As you shouldn’t be getting engaged, this feels unnecessary. However, if Morale is an issue, spend a couple of levels getting it to 15.
- Critical Hit: Due to the sheer number of hits you’ll do, the Critical Hit chance feels like a waste of Attribute Points. Raise Dexterity instead as you don’t need this random element to be devastating.
How to play Pugilist in Wartales
During battle preparation, put your Pugilist Bruiser close to but behind a tank that you intend to get straight into battle. Make sure no enemy units will be able to get to and engage you. When you move your tanks and heavier units into engage, be sure to leave space for the Pugilist to join without fear of being targeted themselves.
Attacking from behind is preferable, but not necessary. Be sure to set a stance before attacking to take advantage of any added damage and effects, and whenever possible end your turn next to an enemy (but not engaged) to take advantage of Valorous Audacity. However, don’t risk getting engaged while there are still heavily armored or high Maximum Health units you can assist on.
For more on Wartales check out How to get a ship in Wartales Pirates of Belerion (map) and How to upgrade your ship in Wartales Pirates of Belerion here at Pro Game Guides!
Published: Dec 18, 2023 06:13 am