Builds & Tactics

***Susano LW Build:***

Below are details of how to create a solid Susano Living Weapon build for the abyss. There are a few different layouts that numerous people have adopted and modified to squeeze every last ounce of damage out of this build, but this particular set up has worked for me personally as well as many other players.

* First, you will need 5 pieces of Susano (4 pieces with Yasakani Magatama)
	+ Both melee weapons and your ranged weapons will need to have Grace of Susano and for special effects you will need:
	+ Melee
		- CTA
		- Familiarity damage bonus A-
		- pierce guard close combat
		- close combat damage
	+ Ranged
		- Agility damage bonus A- and really anything else that boosts the damage for your ranged weapons
			* long range attack damage
			* fire damage (hand cannons and matchlocks)
			* ranged bulls-eye bonus, etc.
* Next, you need 3 three pieces of Tatenashi (2 pieces with Yasakani)
	+ It doesn't necessarily matter which pieces of your armor you choose to be Tatenashi, but to keep your agility at B rating you will need to make your head and arms Tatenashi. These are the lightest pieces of ones armor and makes your overall weight as light as possible. If you are still over weight just add weight reduction to a few pieces of your armor.
* Lastly, you need 4 pieces of General of Kigetsu (3 pieces with Yasakani)
	+ If you followed my lead on the last two pieces of your armor then that obviously means you will need your chest piece, legs, and feet imbued with General of Kigetsu armor.

Now that you have all these pieces of armor and weaponry the next large and tedious task is getting all of the right special effects on your armor.

* Head
	+ Tenacity (Recurrent Damage)
	+ Inheritable special effect: Attack +xx
	+ Elemental damage reduction (guarding) 30-35%
	+ Bonus for absorbing amrita (increase attack)
* Chest
	+ zero ki bonus (increase attack)
	+ bonus when surrounded (increase attack)
	+ Inheritable special effect: Attack +xx
	+ damage reduction (status ailment suffered)
* Arms
	+ Attack +xx
		- it is preferred to be a starred effect but does not have to be
	+ bonus after dash attack (increase attack)
	+ (optional) Increase close combat attack
	+ Inheritable special effect: Elemental damage reduction (guarding) 34-35%
* Legs
	+ bonus for status ailment suffered (increase attack)
	+ (optional) Everlasting ki
	+ (optional) Running speed
	+ inheritable special effect: Elemental damage reduciton (guarding) 34-35%
* Feet
	+ Bonus after purification (increase attack)
	+ Zero ki bonus (increase attack)
		- yes this is the second appearance of this special effect
		- I don't know if it stacks with the other effect. all i know is this is how my build is set up
	+ (optional) Running speed
	+ (optional) Everlasting ki
	+ Inheritable special effect: Attack +xx

For your accessories you'll obviously need a yasakani magatama or something that has the same special effect, but as for the special effects you should look for.... keep an eye out for things like: living weapon attack enhancement, yokai close combat damage, living weapon durability, living weapon duration, increase attack (+value), and things of that nature.

By now, you may be wondering "How do I utilize all of these special effects?" Worry not I'll give you a run down. Although, keep in mind you do not necessarily need to buff your character every time you run around in the abyss. The only instances you absolutely need, or at the very least, should consider using your buffs is when you face a gauntlet boat or obviously when you are heading into a boss fight. With all that being said here is a list of things you'll need in your item wheels

* Magic: pleidas talisman, extraction talisman, leeching talisman, and sloth talisman
* Ninjustu: Quick-change scroll, tiger running scroll, paralysis groundfire, suppa scroll (optional), and cat-walking scroll (optional)
	+ while the last two scrolls are optional I highly suggest using them as they help sneak around boat missions. Thus, making the abyss more of a breeze and killing burly yokai a cinch.
* Consumables: large spirit stones, mud jars, and yokai water pots
	+ You don't necessarily need large spirit stones but they are the easiest and quickest to farm and they are most efficient in that you only need to use one to fill up your amrita gauge.
	+ The mud jar is for afflicting your character with a minor status ailment so you can utilize the specified bonus above
	+ The Yokai water pot is for purifying after you've reached the end of your ki bar.

Now, if you want to know how and in what order to use these items I can help there as well. So if I'm running towards the boss I jog down the corridor and use pleidas, extraction, leeching, and quick-change. Then when I've reached the end of the path I throw a mud jar and a yokai water pot. Next, I use reaper (kusarigama skill) in the yokai water pot and run my ki down to zero, purify, use a spirit stone, use summer's twilight (kusa skill), tiger running scroll, use living weapon, run in and bum rush the boss(es). If this sounds complicated it's really not that bad. You just have to adjust your item wheels to something that is fluid and make sure the set up works for you. Also, if you haven't noticed I threw in some skills that are specific to the kusa and they are not necessary per say. Just skip these steps.

Finally, I'll leave you with some important notes.

* Spirits you'll need
	+ Kato (main)
	+ Narikama Tanuki (secondary)
		- kato is used for the skill damage, close combat attack, and attack enhancement
		- narikama is used solely for the strong attack damage it provides

Lastly, as for what type of weapons to use and what stats you will need I will leave you with this: Use whichever weapon type you are most comfortable with, and when you do this your stats will be dictated by what weapon you choose to use. For example, I use a Kusarigama as my main and a spear as my secondary. I wanted to use kusa for its living weapon strong attack and I chose the spear for two reasons. It scales with body and skill like the kusa and it also has a charge attack that is handy for sneaking around and one-shotting almost all (if not all enemies) enemies from behind. However, like I said use whichever weapons you feel most comfortable with. Although, I suggest you use weapons that are somewhat compatible with one another in that they share stats in which they scale.

Well, that's all that I have for you! Let me know if I missed anything, if something needs to be added, or if you have any general questions. If you need any guides for farming or anything related to this build you should be able to find it strewn about the internet.