Empress/Recommended Builds

This page demonstrates Empress's Recommended Builds in Dragon Marked For Death.
The following recommended builds are to be used as a reference. You can always experiment and form your own builds that suit your playstyle.
If you are looking for other details about Empress, please see the following subpages:
*Empress Overview
*Empress/Attacks & Abilities
*Empress/Elemental Contracts
*Empress/Basic Tech
*Empress/Advanced Tech
__TOC__
==Status Growth==
Empress has an evenly-spread Growth Rate throughout the game's progression. As such, the most recommended level stat allocations change based on her progress in the game. In general, the majority of Empress's abilities shine with Physical builds (or a mixture of Physical and Dragon Skill builds) for the entire game, but she is also strong with Dragon Skill attacks and Magical builds at the early game.
Final Status = Base Status + (Growth Rate * Level) + Equipment Status
The following tables show the Growth Rates for Empress and her Base Status values per Level.
Growth Rates per Stat
Empress 	 	 	 	 	 	
Growth Rate	30%	30%	20%	20%	20%	30%
Base Stats per Level
Lv 	 	 	 	 	 	
1 	5 	5 	5 	5 	5 	5
2 	5 	5 	5 	5 	5 	5
3 	5 	5 	5 	5 	5 	5
4 	6 	6 	5 	5 	5 	6
5 	6 	6 	6 	6 	6 	6
6 	6 	6 	6 	6 	6 	6
7 	7 	7 	6 	6 	6 	7
8 	7 	7 	6 	6 	6 	7
9 	7 	7 	6 	6 	6 	7
10 	8 	8 	7 	7 	7 	8
11 	8 	8 	7 	7 	7 	8
12 	8 	8 	7 	7 	7 	8
13 	8 	8 	7 	7 	7 	8
14 	9 	9 	7 	7 	7 	9
15 	9 	9 	8 	8 	8 	9
16 	9 	9 	8 	8 	8 	9
17 	10	10	8 	8 	8 	10
18 	10	10	8 	8 	8 	10
19 	10	10	8 	8 	8 	10
20 	11	11	9 	9 	9 	11
21 	11	11	9 	9 	9 	11
22 	11	11	9 	9 	9 	11
23 	11	11	9 	9 	9 	11
24 	12	12	9 	9 	9 	12
25 	12	12	10	10	10	12
26 	12	12	10	10	10	12
27 	13	13	10	10	10	13
28 	13	13	10	10	10	13
29 	13	13	10	10	10	13
30 	14	14	11	11	11	14
31 	14	14	11	11	11	14
32 	14	14	11	11	11	14
33 	14	14	11	11	11	14
34 	15	15	11	11	11	15
35 	15	15	12	12	12	15
36 	15	15	12	12	12	15
37 	16	16	12	12	12	16
38 	16	16	12	12	12	16
39 	16	16	12	12	12	16
40 	17	17	13	13	13	17
41 	17	17	13	13	13	17
42 	17	17	13	13	13	17
43 	17	17	13	13	13	17
44 	18	18	13	13	13	18
45 	18	18	14	14	14	18
46 	18	18	14	14	14	18
47 	19	19	14	14	14	19
48 	19	19	14	14	14	19
49 	19	19	14	14	14	19
50 	20	20	15	15	15	20
51 	20	20	15	15	15	20
52 	20	20	15	15	15	20
53 	20	20	15	15	15	20
54 	21	21	15	15	15	21
55 	21	21	16	16	16	21
56 	21	21	16	16	16	21
57 	22	22	16	16	16	22
58 	22	22	16	16	16	22
59 	22	22	16	16	16	22
60 	23	23	17	17	17	23
61 	23	23	17	17	17	23
62 	23	23	17	17	17	23
63 	23	23	17	17	17	23
64 	24	24	17	17	17	24
65 	24	24	18	18	18	24
66 	24	24	18	18	18	24
67 	25	25	18	18	18	25
68 	25	25	18	18	18	25
69 	25	25	18	18	18	25
70 	26	26	19	19	19	26
71 	26	26	19	19	19	26
72 	26	26	19	19	19	26
73 	26	26	19	19	19	26
74 	27	27	19	19	19	27
75 	27	27	20	20	20	27
76 	27	27	20	20	20	27
77 	28	28	20	20	20	28
78 	28	28	20	20	20	28
79 	28	28	20	20	20	28
80 	29	29	21	21	21	29
81 	29	29	21	21	21	29
82 	29	29	21	21	21	29
83 	29	29	21	21	21	29
84 	30	30	21	21	21	30
85 	30	30	22	22	22	30
86 	30	30	22	22	22	30
87 	31	31	22	22	22	31
88 	31	31	22	22	22	31
89 	31	31	22	22	22	31
90 	32	32	23	23	23	32
91 	32	32	23	23	23	32
92 	32	32	23	23	23	32
93 	32	32	23	23	23	32
94 	33	33	23	23	23	33
95 	33	33	24	24	24	33
96 	33	33	24	24	24	33
97 	34	34	24	24	24	34
98 	34	34	24	24	24	34
99 	34	34	24	24	24	34
100	35	35	25	25	25	35
====Physical - & ====
For a Physical build, it is recommended to evenly spread your level stat points into and , with taking priority, throughout progression.
Empress's and base Physical damage is fairly high at the baseline, so, as a first priority, it is recommended to increase Empress's for the benefit of Hit!! counts.
*Although it may not be obvious early on, without enough , most of Empress's attacks will begin to fumble and deal only 1 damage against enemies, indicated by grey damage text.
*Once you have a high enough amount of , you can allocate your remaining points to or .
*Increasing helps significantly overall, especially when challenging endgame quests such as Ancient Gods, so it is highly recommended to increase this stat beyond the level stat points cap by using the appropriate Accessories.
*During the midgame and endgame, Empress has access to increasingly -rich Weapons and Accessories, which can help deal some extra damage in Physical combos.
Hit!! Counts per Weapon
Weapon 	Hit 	Count	over Enemy
Sword 	2 Hit!!	10 	
Sword 	3 Hit!!	20 	
Sword 	4 Hit!!	30 	
Sword 	5 Hit!!	40 	
Small-sword	2 Hit!!	5 	
Small-sword	3 Hit!!	10 	
Small-sword	4 Hit!!	15 	
Small-sword	5 Hit!!	20 	
Small-sword	6 Hit!!	25 	
Small-sword	7 Hit!!	30 	
Small-sword	8 Hit!!	35 	
=====Recommended Elemental Contracts=====
Recommended Elemental Contracts
Contract	Info
 	deals 1.5x Physical damage
 	lowers enemy , making it easier to reach a high Hit!! count
 	gradually shaves off enemy health
====Magic - & ====
Empress's Magic-focused builds are dependent on her equipment and are most effective during the early game and midgame. You can put your first 50 level stat points into , then put the remaining points into or . Alternatively, for a mixed Magic-and-Dragon-Skill build, you can put your first 50 level stat points into , then put the remaining points into or .
Core Magic build Weapons include Rapid Foil at Level 35 and Rune Anelace at Level 45. At the early game and midgame, Magic builds can outperform Physical builds due to the way that Magical damage is calculated.
=====Magic Damage Calculation Samples=====
The following damage calculations are done in reference to the Ground Dragon Sword attack (for the respective Weapons) and an value of 14.
Final Damage = [M.ATK + ( / 2) + Magic Base] * Motion Value * Magic Motion Bonus
* M.ATK varies between Weapons
* Empress's Magic Base = 130
* Empress's Base = 14
* Ground Dragon Sword Motion Value varies between Weapons
* Magic Motion Bonus varies between Weapons
Magic Damage Calculation Samples
Weapon 	Calculation 	Variables
Rapid Foil 	1360 damage = [59 + ( / 2) + 130] * 3.00 * 2.20	
* M.ATK = 59
* Empress's Magic Base = 130
* Empress's = 14 (+20 from Rapid Foil)
* Small-sword Ground Dragon Sword Motion Value = 3.00
* Small-sword Magic Motion Bonus = 2.20
Rune Anelace	1271 damage = [80 + ( / 2) + 130] * 3.20 * 1.75	
* M.ATK = 80
* Empress's Magic Base = 130
* Empress's = 14 (+20 from Rapid Foil)
* Sword Ground Dragon Sword Motion Value = 3.20
* Sword Magic Motion Bonus = 1.75
====Dragon Skill-focused - ====
For a Dragon Skill-focused build, you can put your first 50 level stat points into , then put the remaining points evenly into and or .
This build setup works the best in the beginning. During the midgame and endgame, however, Empress has access to increasingly -rich Weapons and Accessories, at which point it is recommended to switch to and stat allocations.
If you want to maximize your Dragon Skill damage output, you can equip an Eye Amulet and Engraved Earrings for bonus Holy damage and raw increases.
=====Recommended Elemental Contracts=====
Recommended Elemental Contracts
Contract	Info
 	The Dragon Shot and Dragon Cannon pierce through terrain and are highly concentrated in an upward parabola, making it easy to "shotgun" enemies
 	The Dragon Shot and Dragon Cannon are highly effective against many enemies, such as aerial enemies, because the initial ball deals damage and the laser afterward has a homing effect
==Recommended Equipment==
The following Weapons and Accessories are recommended throughout your progression in Dragon Marked For Death.
===Recommended Swords===
Recommended Swords
Weapon 	Lv	Info
Placeholder	# 	
* Placeholder
===Recommended Small-swords===
Recommended Small-swords
Weapon 	Lv	Info
Placeholder	# 	
* Placeholder
===Recommended Accessories===
Recommended Accessories
Accessory 	Lv 	Main Stat(s)	Info
Leather Choker 	5-95 	5-75 	
*For builds
*Goes up to +9
Hastan Anklet 	6-96 	5-70 	
*For builds
*Goes up to +9
*Has the effect of "Jump distance +#%"
Metal Earrings 	8-98 	5-75 	
*For builds
*Goes up to +9
Engraved Earrings 	18-98	10-80 	
*For builds
*Goes up to +8
Ring of Life 	22-99	5-65 	
*For builds
*Has the effect of "Resist instant-death"
Dragon King's Crystal	50 	All 10 	
* For all-around builds
* Has the effect of "Resist instant-death"
* Has the effect of "Phys. dmg. taken -20%"
* Has the effect of "Magic dmg. taken -20%"
Category:Empress