Empress/Recommended Builds

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## Enemies

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

## 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

#### Physical - STR & AGI

For a Physical build, it is recommended to evenly spread your level stat points into STR and AGI, with AGI taking priority, throughout progression.

Empress's STR and base Physical damage is fairly high at the baseline, so, as a first priority, it is recommended to increase Empress's AGI for the benefit of Hit!! counts.

* Although it may not be obvious early on, without enough AGI, 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 AGI, you can allocate your remaining points to STR or VIT.
* Increasing STR 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 PIE-rich Weapons and Accessories, which can help deal some extra damage in Physical combos.

##### Recommended Elemental Contracts

*Main article: Empress/Elemental Contracts*

Recommended Elemental Contracts
 Poison | Poison gradually shaves off enemy health

#### Magic - INT & PIE

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 INT, then put the remaining points into VIT or PIE. Alternatively, for a mixed Magic-and-Dragon-Skill build, you can put your first 50 level stat points into PIE, then put the remaining points into INT or VIT.

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 INT value of 14.

**Final Damage = [M.ATK + (INT** **/ 2) + Magic Base] \* Motion Value \* Magic Motion Bonus**

* M.ATK varies between Weapons
* Empress's Magic Base = 130
* Empress's Base INT = 14
* Ground Dragon Sword Motion Value varies between Weapons
* Magic Motion Bonus varies between Weapons

Magic Damage Calculation Samples
* Empress's Magic Base = 130
* Empress's INT = 14 (+20 from Rapid Foil)
* Small-sword Ground Dragon Sword Motion Value = 3.00
 Rune Anelace | **1271 damage** = [80 + (34/ 2) + 130] \* 3.20 \* 1.75
* Empress's Magic Base = 130
* Empress's INT = 14 (+20 from Rapid Foil)
* Sword Ground Dragon Sword Motion Value = 3.20
* Sword Magic Motion Bonus = 1.75

#### Dragon Skill-focused - PIE

For a Dragon Skill-focused build, you can put your first 50 level stat points into PIE, then put the remaining points evenly into STR and AGI or VIT.

This build setup works the best in the beginning. During the midgame and endgame, however, Empress has access to increasingly PIE-rich Weapons and Accessories, at which point it is recommended to switch to STR and AGI 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 PIE increases.

##### Recommended Elemental Contracts

*Main article: Empress/Elemental Contracts*

Recommended Elemental Contracts
 Thunder | 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.