Rank 2 · Metal / Fusion / sustained waves and high baseline Soul
Iron Parade Drummer
The safest recommendation if you dislike ramp-dependent defenses. Heavy Hands multiplies Power, which feeds skill damage. Pocket Control multiplies Soul and Defense and rapidly reaches the dodge cap. Stagebreaker, Cyclone, Arena Breaker and Groove Cascade combine persistent damage, control and healing.
Spend exactly 69 class points
| Branch | Hard-point allocation | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Metal | Heavy Hands 20; Encore Slam 1; Stagebreaker Wave 17; Thunder Fill 1; Arena Breaker 1 | 40 |
| Fusion | Pocket Control 20; Triplet Rush 1; Cyclone Solo 1; Polyrhythm 1; Groove Cascade 1 | 24 |
| Punk | Fast & Loose 1; Ricochet Stick 1; Stick Storm 1; Crowd Ignite 1; No Tomorrow 1 | 5 |
With +39 All Skills, 21 Metal stones and 12 Fusion stones: Heavy Hands 164, Stagebreaker Wave 161 and Pocket Control 119. Pocket's rank component gives 1 + 0.10 × 119 = 12.9 times Soul and Defense before other applicable layers; dodge is capped at 50%.
Bindings and combat loop
Assignable non-ultimates: Stagebreaker Wave, Cyclone Solo and Ricochet Stick. Ultimates: Arena Breaker, Groove Cascade and No Tomorrow. Dedicated melee builds Fusion charges; Groove Slam triggers the Metal package.
- Build Fusion charges with melee and gather enemies with slow/pull effects. Move enough to maintain Rhythm Lines from the borrowed Harness.
- Place Groove Cascade into the cluster; strike with Stagebreaker along the pack's travel path. Stay near the follower and keep attacking for sustain.
- Spend seven charges on a long Cyclone Solo when available. Use Arena Breaker on the dense boss/elite group and keep them in the crater.
- Use Groove Slam at high Warbeat stacks and rotate other attacks while Stagebreaker travels. Do not overwrite a still-useful wave simply because its cooldown resets.
What limits it
The Union two-piece delays part of large hits; it does not provide the three-piece debt-cancellation game. You still owe deferred damage. Arena Breaker's crater uses 10% maximum HP per second on ordinary enemies and 2% on bosses before applicable processing; the player version is different from a follower's Arena Breaker Echo. Keep attacking to refill Soul.
Equipment and Acclivity plan
Manager for this build's damage support and farming. Use Legacy column 2.
| Slot | Equipped item | One successful craft |
|---|---|---|
| Instrument | Iron Parish War Snare | 6 × Metal |
| Offhand | Split-Time Shaker | 4 × Metal |
| Head | Crown of the Midnight Console | 4 × Metal |
| Body | Union Arbitration Tourcoat | 6 × Metal |
| Legs | Backline Railpants | 1 × Metal, 3 × Fusion |
| Gloves | Arcwright Fingercaps | 4 × Fusion |
| Boots | Double Kick Legs of the Machine God | 4 × Fusion |
| Belt | Red-Ledger Utility Belt | Infuse (see borrowed effects) |
| Necklace | Pendant of Royal Albert's Hall | Infuse (see borrowed effects) |
| Accessory 1 | Seventh Encore Band | Infuse (see borrowed effects) |
| Accessory 2 | Cinder Crowd Signet | Infuse (see borrowed effects) |
| CD | Platinum Album of Yesteryear | 1 × Fusion |
Two borrowed effects on each infused item
| Host slot | Effect 1 | Effect 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Belt | Marching Harness of the Endless Parade | Death Metal Skull Collector |
| Necklace | Hollow Hall Tambour | Diamond Studded Gloves of the King |
| Accessory 1 | Cathedral Reverb Charm | Tape Splice Grips |
| Accessory 2 | Single Stroke Engine of the Blast Tyrant | Comet Splinter Sticks |
Maintain Deferred Damage Union two-piece through the coat and belt. Borrowing Harness and Skull Collector keeps their unique mechanics active without losing that set count. Single Stroke and Comet are secondary basic/projectile pressure; they are lower priority than the defensive core and cast echoes.
All +All Skills totals and effective ranks are for this exact equipment list. Borrowing a relic's mechanic does not add its All Skills, weapon damage, Soul, cooldown or other stat lines. Infusion outcomes are random; this is the target result, not a deterministic recipe.
Manager: gear and ability rolls
Pocket Control, the Legacy reduction cap and deferred damage cover much of this Drummer's defensive need. Manager adds damage support and reward bonuses; the offensive echo package helps between your own large area attacks. Arena Breaker Echo adds another freeze opportunity, without copying the player's maximum-Soul crater.
On every item, target these common rolled lines: Promotion Power +32%; Manager Cooldown Reduction +32%; Soul Stolen per Hit +5%.
| Slot / item | Native ability | Additional perfect roll(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Road Case Relic Tablet of the Stage Office | No Tomorrow Echo | Fame +32%; Fortune +32% |
| Spotlight Rig Relic Laser Pointer of the Stage Office | Groove Cascade Echo | Elemental Vulnerability +34% |
| Stagewear Relic Trenchcoat of the Stage Office | Arena Breaker Echo | Soul +40 |
| Headgear Relic Executive Shades of the Stage Office | Center Stage Borrowed | Hype Wave Size +34% |
| Credentials Relic Press Pass of the Stage Office | OverDrive Mode Borrowed | Promotion Duration +34% |
| Signal Charm Relic Limo Key of the Stage Office | Loop Station Borrowed | Record Deal Bleed +34%; Disc Count +5 |
Open with your own melee charges and area control, then attack through the pack while Manager stays in range. Your Arena and the follower Arena should be viewed as repeated freeze opportunities, not additive freeze magnitudes. No Tomorrow supplies a separate damage/bleed pulse; it does not cast your No Tomorrow ultimate.
If scattered enemies reduce your area damage, replace No Tomorrow with Cyclone Solo. Replace Loop with Stage Takeover only when diverting non-boss pressure is more useful than its hits.
Acclivity on your character’s gear
- Belt: Harness + Skull Collector: preserve Song auras and the three-ultimate setup while retaining Union two-piece.
- Necklace: Hollow Hall + Diamond: add Song-aura orbitals and current-Soul discharge around your melee position.
- Accessory 1: Cathedral + Tape Splice: bank spender damage; apply your own statuses, then hit again for detonation and Groove recovery.
- Accessory 2: Single Stroke + Comet: add the stick-throw stream and impact splinters for ranged/basic pressure between spenders.