Goon Cursed Guide 1.1.5
Game version: 1.1.5
Mindstar build
I don't think Cursed have any attacks that specifically require 2 handed weapons anymore. All of those restrictions were lifted a long time ago. Cleave gets a boost when using a 2-hander, and I definitely feel like 2-handers get the most of the Rampage phys damage bonus, but Surge is really good and makes a great argument for dual wielding, especially now that you can't just rampage+movement infusion to move across an entire map.
Mindstars work fine for Cursed, but their build is different. A mindstar cursed would be a more defensive character. You raise STR only to the point where you can equip armor and max out talents (after gear boosts, of course) and then you put the rest of the points into Willpower and Cunning. They have an immensely shitty early game (just use two handers at this point) but should even out when T3 mindstars start to drop regularly, or sooner if you can get something good from a chest or are item-vaulting better equipment over.
For a Mindstar cursed, you would probably want to start with Cornac. Cornac is always the best choice for Cursed, but given that you are almost certainly going to go for AM if you are pumping wisdom and cunning this hard, you are going to want the extra category point anyway.
Your talent tree will probably eventually look something like this:
- Rampage - 5/1/5/1 or 0 - Mindstars don't do physical damage generally so don't max the second talent
- Slaughter - 1/1/1-5/0 or 1 - How much do you like Reckless Charge?
- Gloom - 5/5/5/5 - you can go less in any of these talents except Gloom, but if you're maxing out willpower why not go all the way?
- Endless Hunt - 1-5/1/1/1-5 - this is really all preference
- Strife - 1/1/1-5/0 - How much do you like Blindside?
If you want to you can unlock Predator, and eventually go 5/5/5/5. Or you can leave it locked, because at this point you have the game won anyway.
Generics are bog standard cursed, except instead of maxing out weapon mastery you leave it at 0 and get the mindstar tree. You will want to go Antimagic for Fungus, which you'll go 5/1/5/1 in. The AM tree is good itself, and you can invest in it or not as you see fit.
For the Mindstar tree, you will want to buy the tree in Zigur rather than unlocking it through an escort. There used to be a bug that caused it to be stuck at the inferior value if you took the initial mindstar mastery talent prior to buying the tree, but this has supposedly been fixed. Once the talent has unlocked, I would try to float the last 2-3 points in it with your respeccable generics until you have no escorts left, as every Alchemist is another free generic point. I haven't played with Mindstars in a long time so I can't speak on how many points you want to put into this tree, though I think I am probably going to make a Mindstar cursed today.
For the record, even if you don't dual wield Mindstars, using one in your offhand is better than using a dagger for DW cursed builds, even if the only thing you ever get is a point from an alchemist escort. You never have to put a point into dex off-handing a mindstar, it boosts your gloom, and most of your damage as a DW cursed is coming from your mainhand anyway.
Some people swear by a tanky sword-and-board Cursed, but I'd say always, always, always go two-handed. You'll be fairly resilient once you get rolling, and with Rampage active and a big fuckoff hammer in your hands, you'll be farting out such an utterly nightmarish amount of damage that most opponents will barely have time to gasp "oh f-" before you turn them into craters. Between that, Surge (always take Surge it's like ninety times better than the other sustains), Blindside, and Rampage's movement and resilience bonuses, you can bullshit your way into and out of virtually any situation simply by winning races. If you can't win the damage race, just win a foot race, and hide around a corner somewhere watching your foolish enemy with your psychic hate eyes while you heal up and premeditate another Rampage-fueled super homicide. Bonus points if you keep a mold or something alive in an adjacent room so you can just shout "LATER ASSDICKS" and murderport to total safety in a frenzy of violent hygiene like some kind of unholy bloodsoaked Mr. Clean.
Cursed is the killedudesiest class in the game, so you really benefit from going full killdudes and using a two-handed brutalizer of a weapon. It is also the fastest class in the game by an extreme margin, and by extension, it is the best class at running away from shit. When you're the best at getting into murderin' range, the best at murderin', and the best at getting out of enemy murderin' range, you should basically build your strategy around maximizing your murder output and minimizing the amount of retaliatory murdering you incur (by murdering everything so thoroughly that it is unable to countermurder you). Two-handed is perfect for that.
Fairly detailed twohander build for early game.
If you have questions or criticisms, PM me (Magres) on SA or ask in thread.
Race: Cornac - the cat point goes into Rampage, no exceptions. Rampage is death. Rampage is destruction. Rampage is wonderful. Rampage is so good that you can easily clear the T1 and T2 dungeons with Rampage and bump attacks. That said, Cursed has lots of fantastic talents to play with.
At level 1, put a point in Slash, Stalk, and two points in Rampage. On the Generic side, 0/1/1/1/0 in Combat and 1/0/0/0 in Cursed Form are fine.
When you grab your first item, suppress the affliction. The Cursed Aura tree is weird and hard to deal with but really strong if you put a ton of points into it and the RNG likes you and gives you the right items. Not the kind of thing you want to be dealing with before you know how to play the rest of Cursed.
1-10:
Class points: you want to max Rampage ASAP, and be at least 5/1/1/0 in the tree by level 10. Put a point in just about everything in the other four trees you have unlocked, a lot of them are excellent one point wonders. Cursed wants lots of skills, not a couple of heavily leveled up skills.
Generics: go 1/5/0/0 in Cursed form (the Cursed Form tree sucks except for the second skill, which gives you a lot of immunity to a bunch of nasty status effects) and pump the first four skills in Combat training, or bank some generics to throw into AM and Fungus. Make sure you get at least 3/5 in armor training, plates are nice and you'll have the Strength to wear them. Get as much Weapons Mastery and Combat Accuracy as you feel like you need to hit things reliably and hit them hard. A point or two in both of them should do you fine.
Level 10 category point goes to an Inscription slot. Run Wild, Regen, Regen, and Movement. Rampage+Movement may have gotten nerfed, but it's still going to make you run crazily fast. Breaking 1000% movespeed is very easy, and will get you out of some very silly mistakes.
10-20:
Class points: Max Surge. ASAP. It's the best skill Cursed gets, after Rampage - it's 54% bonus movespeed on a sustain that costs nothing to keep up. You can leave Rampage at 5/1/1 for the moment, the biggest thing is getting the extra turns those abilities give. You'll max them eventually, but not yet. Ignore the fourth Rampage skill entirely, it's bad. Reckless Charge at 3/5 is a decent breakpoint, 2->3 adds 2 range and lets you knock medium creatures out of your way. Preternatural Senses aka Hatevision is awesome, and 5/5 will give you radius 7 telepathy for ALL enemy types, radius 10 telepathy for any enemy you're stalking, and lets you largely ignore stealth and invis. Blindside, combined with Hatevision, makes for an excellent combo, as Blindside is a teleport and not a Rush type movement.
Generics: AM, Fungus, Combat Training. Yup. You'll wind up eventually doing 5/1/5/1 in Fungus and 5/4/5/X in AM (X is probably another 5). Prioritize maxing the first Fungus skill, then getting a point in the next two Fungus skills, then getting a point in the second and third Antimagic skills, then getting the Antimagic Silence to 4, the third Fungus skill to 3 (whenever it changes to 2 Equilibrium per turn), then maxing out Antimagic Shield, then maxing out the third Fungus skill, then Manaclash, imo. Pump Combat Training as you see fit.
For going Antimagic, you'll want to go do the AM challenge at ~15, then step into Tempest Peak to set the level for it ASAP, then go finish your Tier 2s and then Tempest Peak. Bank points for when you get Fungus, and 5/5 that first skill ASAP, because it owns.
Stats wise for all this, add points to STR/WIL as needed to unlock skills and generics, and dump the rest into CON.
Once you hit level 20, you're probably heading into Dreadfel, and then it's time for the East! That's as far as I'm comfortable writing a detailed guide for.
