Nightwing

## Overview

Nightwing is a powerful Bleed-based damage dealer, being one of the only damage dealers who can run bleed Out without losing much effectiveness, being able to overwhelm Purify users with sheer numbers of Bleed stacks, and have a great kit to innately buff itself. Its Light Shift build is also viable, able to apply significant amounts of buffs and Charge stack to itself to set up for lethal AOEs.

## Bleed Out

#### Equipment

* Katana
* Fin
* Cape
* Bead Chain

### Build Details

This build aims to put significant numbers of Bleed stacks on enemies to kill them with Bleed Out and Deep Wounds. Beating is run as our primary attack for maximum Bleed stack application and because it costs less mana. Even though it doesn't cause Bleed itself, Nightwing has two instances of the Bleed passive, making it one of the best monsters in the game at stacking Bleed quickly. Armor Bypass and double Giantsbane increase our damage further, and make Nightwing very effective against tanky monsters, while Critical Mass, Critical buffs, and Buff Charging allow Nightwing to buff itself as it attacks, powering up over time. Dodging and double Evasion gives Nightwing some of the best dodge chance in the game.

### Team Options

* One of the most powerful skills for a Bleed Out team is Splatter, which allows our Bleed stacks to persist after the primary target has fallen. The best Bleed support with Splatter is Sutsune, but she already has Bleed Out. Molebear is another great option, which brings Rampage to boost Nightwing's Crit and also has Deep Wounds for even more damage. Rathops is another option that can shield the team and apply Bleed with Skirmish.
* Nightwing has a bit of healing from Feast but would appreciate being paired with a dedicated healer, preferably one that can remove debuffs. Molebear is a great option here with Wonder Potion, Thanatos can heal and also apply multiple damage buffs to Nightwing while also having Deep Wounds, and Megataur can boost Nightwing's damage with Stampede while buffing it with Power and removing debuffs with Buffing Restore or Mega Restore.

## Bleed Support

#### Equipment

* Mandolin
* Tambourine
* Drum
* Buckler

### Build Details

Nightwing can also forgo its damage output to become a strong and very unique Bleed support. It still has access to Bleed Out and Deep Wounds, as well as having both Feast and Healing Shield, making it a surprisingly potent heal.

Shroud is our primary attack to use on turn 1, applying Agility and Spellshield to the team to make them harder to hit. We can then attack with Beating to build combo, buff ourselves, and apply some extra Bleed stacks that will make enemy Purify users less effective.

For equipment, we still want crit but also take every healing boost we can, to boost the effectiveness of our Feast proc. Buckler allows us an additional Barrier buff to help with toughness, and the extra Sidekick buff (which we can apply ourselves with Assistance) can help build combo.

### Team Options

* Support Nightwing needs another monster to apply Bleed stacks for it. This can either be done directly, with a damage dealer like Spinner, Vodinoy or Rampede, or indirectly, with Blood Drive support from Arachlich or Tar Blob, the former of which also has the combination of Feast and Healing Shield.
* Same as before, Splatter is a very important support skill for a Bleed team. Vodinoy and Molebear both have that plus Deep Wounds for even more Bleed damage, while Ucan can work here as well as a damage dealer.
* Nightwing doesn't have a way to remove debuffs, so having a teammate with access to debuff removal can help a lot. Molebear can remove debuffs with Wonder Potion (as well as allow Nightwing to do it itself), Sutsune has Mass Restore and can be a backup Bleed Out user if needed, and Bard has great buff support and access to Curse Breaker and Auto Restore.

## Charge Offense

#### Equipment

* Katana
* Coat
* Buckler
* Fin

### Build Details

Nightwing's Light shift is Heal Charging, and unlike most Heal Charging users that are supports, Nightwing uses it exclusively to apply Charge stacks to itself, leading to some very strong attacks once it's fully powered up.

Similar to the Dark shift build, we're attacking with Beating to apply Bleed to the enemy and supporting it with Deep Wounds, and we can buff ourselves with Critical Mass, Critical Buffs, and Buff Charging. Unlike that build, we take Lifesteal, triggering Heal Charging on each of our hits. We also take Buffing Heal, which allows Critical Mass and Assistance procs to trigger Heal Charging as well. Our general plan of attack is to use Beating on the first turn to set up our buffs and Charge stacks, and try for a team wipe on the second turn with Carnage.

Katana is still our best weapon for damage. Fin is still our best accessory for damage, Coat gives us a bit of toughness, since Light Nightwing gets less of that from its shift, and Buckler allows us to hold more buffs, including Sidekick which we can apply with Assistance.

### Team Options

* Nightwing needs to buff itself and trigger Buffing Heal to apply significant Charge stacks to itself, so it needs teammates that have multi buff auras. Charged Buff auras are also very good for Nightwing, since it's so good at applying Charge stacks to itself. Koi, Vaero, and Goblin Miner are all great options for this.
* While Bleed support is less important for this Nightwing build, it can still benefit from Splatter and Deep Wounds from the likes of Molebear, and also appreciates Sutsune's Bleed Out, since it's not running its own. Both these monsters can also heal Nightwing and cleanse debuffs on it.

## Checks and Counters

* Nightwing relies heavily on dodge, and as a result is scared of Shield Burst, Spark Shower, and Debuff damage.
* While not a counter to Nightwing specifically, bleed teams that use it are more vulnerable to losing their Bleed Out user than ones that rely on their supports for Bleed Out, and using Nightwing on a bleed team can be awkward because running it alongside Bleed Out supports can be redundant.
* The Light shift build can really only make a very dangerous attack once, because most of its Charge application comes from Buffing Heal, which doesn't trigger if it's already fully buffed.