1. Normal Tier (Levels 1–10)
This is the only tier that differs by weapon type.
Sword Classes
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Magic Classes
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Resources
Normal Damage Build Guide
This guide explains how Normal Damage Up (NDU) builds work, why they are strong in PvP, and how to choose classes, equipment, Anima Mastery slots, Stellar Link nodes, and Myth Level stats.Last Edited: September 29, 2026
Contents
Overview
A Normal Damage Up (NDU) build focuses on non-critical hits, with Normal DMG Up as its main damage bonus. The near absence of Normal DMG Reduction, compared with the widespread availability of Resist Critical DMG, makes NDU particularly strong in PvP. In PvE, crit builds usually deal more damage, although NDU can outperform them against a few bosses with extremely high critical resistance. This guide covers the damage mechanics, class rankings, stat priorities, equipment choices, and recommended builds for Anima Mastery, Stellar Link, and Myth Level.
1. Class Suitability Tier List
These tiers show how well each class fits an NDU build, considering its Critical Rate bonuses and damage variance. A lower-tier class can still deal more damage through faster attacks or other class strengths; this is not an overall DPS ranking.
Class bonuses involve trade-offs: classes with more Critical Rate or Critical Damage can have less base Attack or Penetration, while Wizard receives more Magic Attack instead. Attack, Penetration, and Skill Amp still benefit an NDU build, whereas crit bonuses do not strengthen its normal hits.
S Tier — Best Fit
These classes get useful offensive bonuses without class Critical Rate bonuses to work around. Their normal hits also have little or no damage variance.
Blader has no class Critical Rate bonus and only 10% damage variance on normal hits (90–100%). The suggested Min Damage pet slots remove that variance.
Dark Mage's normal hits have no damage variance. Its passives provide Magic Attack, Skill Amp, and Cancel Ignore Penetration without adding Critical Rate, so those bonuses all suit NDU.
Wizard receives Magic Attack and Penetration bonuses instead of free Critical Rate, so its class bonuses suit NDU. Its normal hits also have no damage variance.
Gladiator has no class Critical Rate bonus and only 10% damage variance on normal hits (90–100%). Its Attack and Cancel Ignore Penetration bonuses support NDU, and the suggested pet slots remove its variance.
A Tier — Good Fit, More Variance
Warrior's offensive bonuses suit NDU. Its lower damage floor is the main disadvantage compared with Blader and Gladiator.
Warrior has no class Critical Rate bonus, but starts with 20% damage variance on normal hits (80–100%). Ten Min Damage pet slots reduce that to 10% (90–100%). You can keep that remaining variance; more Min Damage is a choice to compare with other offensive stats.
B Tier — Optional Critical Rate Passives
You can leave their Critical Rate passives unlearned. That removes the unwanted rate, but these classes still trade some Attack or Penetration for crit bonuses elsewhere in their skills.
Crushing Blade can be left unlearned, avoiding its Critical Rate bonus. Force Shielder starts with 15% damage variance on normal hits (85–100%), so its normal hits vary more than Blader's or Gladiator's before Min Damage bonuses.
Warfare Matrix can be left unlearned to avoid its Critical Rate bonus. Astral Gun adds Magic Attack and Accuracy without Critical Rate, so it creates no conflict with NDU. Its normal hits also have no damage variance.
C Tier — Unavoidable Astral Critical Rate
Their Astral abilities add Critical Rate that cannot be removed. This makes them less flexible for NDU, though the target's Resist Critical Rate can still cancel that rate.
Astral Bow adds Critical Rate and cannot be unlearned. Force Archer's normal hits have no damage variance, and its faster attacks can still give it more DPS than a higher-ranked class such as Force Shielder. This tier reflects NDU synergy, not overall damage.
Fire Blade and Lightning Blade can be left off to avoid their Critical Rate bonuses, but Astral Enchant's Critical Rate cannot be removed. Skipping the blade buffs also loses their other offensive bonuses. Force Blader starts with 15% damage variance on normal hits (85–100%).
2. Core Combat Mechanics
A. The Hidden 25% Equipment Skill Amp Bonus
Normal hits get 25% extra from equipment Skill Amp. This bonus applies to that portion only, not the whole hit: 200% equipment Skill Amp counts as 250% for a normal hit before resistance.
B. Why Normal Hits Are Hard to Resist
Resist Critical DMG weakens critical hits. Players gain it from many gear and progression sources, and some high-end monsters have large amounts. Normal hits bypass this resistance.
Normal DMG Reduction can reduce normal hits, but its known sources are limited to a few class skills. It has no regular gear or progression sources, and no monster with it is currently known.
Players have far fewer ways to resist normal hits than critical hits, which is a major reason NDU works well in PvP. Defense and other damage reduction still apply.
C. Normal DMG Up
Normal DMG Up increases the damage of non-critical hits. It applies after Defense and Normal DMG Reduction; 100% NDU doubles the damage remaining at that stage.
For the full breakdown, visit the Damage Calculation page.
3. Damage Variance: Sword vs. Magic
Sword classes have damage variance on non-critical hits (normal hits): these hits can roll below their maximum damage. Min Damage raises the low end of those rolls, with a different starting point for each class:
Dark Mage, Wizard, Force Archer, and Force Gunner: Their normal hits have no damage variance, so Min Damage provides no benefit.
Blader and Gladiator: Normal sword hits start at 90–100% of their maximum damage. The ten suggested Min Damage pet slots add +10%, removing that variance entirely.
Force Shielder and Force Blader: Normal sword hits start at 85–100%. The same pet slots raise that to 95–100%, leaving 5% variance.
Warrior: Normal sword hits start at 80–100%. The pet slots raise that to 90–100%, leaving 10% variance. This is a disadvantage compared with the other sword classes, but it does not mean you must remove the remaining variance.
Weapons can provide Min Damage through both epic options and slot options, so even Warrior can eliminate its remaining variance. These options usually cost more damage from other bonuses than they add, but the result depends on your total stats and the target's defenses.
Use the Build Planner to see how those weapon choices change your stats, then enter your character and target stats in the Damage Calculator to compare damage with and without the extra Min Damage.
4. Stat Priorities
Prioritize damage from normal hits and the stats that counter your target's defenses.
S — Normal DMG Up
Normal DMG Up is the build's main damage bonus. The matching PvE or PvP bonus adds to the general stat.
A — Skill Amp
All Skill Amp strengthens normal hits, and equipment Skill Amp gets the normal-hit bonus. Ignore Resist Skill Amp counters the target's resistance.
B — Penetration and Min Damage
Penetration helps overcome Defense, and Cancel Ignore Penetration protects it from the target's Ignore Penetration. For sword classes, Min Damage also raises the lower damage rolls. Eliminating all variance is optional; extra Min Damage may cost more damage from other bonuses than it adds.
C — Attack
Attack, Magic Attack, and All Attack Up raise the base damage that the other bonuses scale from.
No thanks — Critical stats
Do not spend selectable stats on Critical Rate or Critical Damage for a dedicated NDU build against high critical resistance. These stats do not strengthen normal hits.
5. Equipment, Rings & Accessories
Choose offensive bonuses that fit your class and target, and account for any Critical Rate an item adds.
A. Rings
Ring of Fighter +10 / Ring of Sage +10: Fighter adds Attack; Sage adds Magic Attack. Useful alternatives to rings that add Critical Rate.
Ring of Dr. Mazel: Choose the +50 Penetration slot. The ring also provides All Skill Amp.
Muddy Undead's Ring: Offers a +50 Penetration slot and All Attack Up, but adds +16% Critical Rate. Check that rate against the target's Resist Critical Rate.
Ring of Champion +10: Adds +12 Attack and Magic Attack, but no Skill Amp.
Agent Yul's Ring: Adds +100 All Attack Up and +14% All Skill Amp, but also +17% Critical Rate.
B. Earrings & Bracelets
Ascending Perius' Earring: Only one Ascending Perius' Earring can be equipped. Its Normal DMG Up slot and +15 Chaos upgrade provide up to +25% NDU.
Turmacan's Bracelet: At +15 Chaos, each adds +15% NDU. Their slots can also provide Penetration.
C. Weapons & Armor
Choose the highest armor grade you can afford, with Skill Amp in its epic options and slots. Max Critical Rate provides no benefit to normal hits, so take Amp instead.
Favor Skill Amp, Penetration, and Attack or Magic Attack. Critical Rate on gear can lower damage if it turns strong normal hits into weaker critical hits. See Damage Variance above for the trade-off when choosing Min Damage on weapons.
D. Bike
QW7: Choose Penetration for the epic option and every slot. All Attack Up is available as an epic option, but Penetration is usually better.
6. Anima Mastery (Pet System) Setup
2. Covenant Tier (Levels 11–20)
All ten slots give +110 Penetration to counter the target's Defense.
+11
+11
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3. Trust Tier (Levels 21–30)
All ten slots give +30% Normal DMG Up.
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4. Transcendence Tier (Levels 31–40)
All ten slots give another +40% Normal DMG Up.
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7. Normal Damage Up Sources and Estimated Totals
An endgame NDU build can reach approximately 568% combined Normal Damage Up in PvE or 559% in PvP. About 439% comes from general Normal DMG Up; the matching mode-specific bonus adds about 129% in PvE or 120% in PvP.
Shared sources (~439%)
- Stellar Link: +92%
- Anima Mastery: +70%
- Equipment: +65%
- Mythical Level: +43%
- Collection: +42%
- Buffs: +30%
- Platinum Special Mastery: up to +28%
- Achievements: +25%
- Artifact: +20%
- Crests: +14%
- Essence Runes: +10%
Additional PvE sources (~129%)
- Mythical Level: +44%
- Collection: +26%
- Diamond Merit: +23%
- Force Wing: +18%
- Artifact: +18%
Additional PvP sources (~120%)
- Mythical Level: +44%
- Diamond Merit: up to +58%
- Force Wing: +18%
These estimates assume completed progression, NDU choices, and two maximum-grade Platinum Special Mastery rolls. The listed buffs must be active to reach the totals; available choices and system caps affect what you can reach.
8. Stellar Link Build
This PvE NDU layout applies to every class. The board shows the node choices and completed line bonuses.
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15
15
5%
5%
5%
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You gain these extra line bonuses when every node in the respective line shares the same color. For PvE, it is fine to start by settling for any Emptiness color in Lines 1, 3, and 5 because the reward for completing those lines is large, while Lines 2 and 4 mainly give PvP-oriented stats.
Daedalus of Emptiness
Normal DMG Up+14%
Defense+105
Icarus of Emptiness
PVP All Skill Amp.+9%
Resist Skill Amp+12%
Vulcanos of Emptiness
All Attack Up+120
DMG Reduction+70
Minerva of Emptiness
PVP Critical DMG+30%
Resist Critical DMG+30%
Pluto of Emptiness
Critical DMG+30%
Ignore Penetration+100
9. Myth Level Build
This PvE NDU layout applies to every class. The board shows all 78 Myth Level node selections.
Get the recommended stats on each node first, then roll for higher tiers. Your Holy Power rank can come later. See Myth Level Data for node details or use the Myth Level Planner to choose your nodes.
10. Honor Medal Build
Captain
Full STR; DEX or INT works too if you adjust your stat distribution.
+10
Lv. 10
+10
Lv. 10
+10
Lv. 10
+10
Lv. 10
General
Full All Attack Up.
+15
Lv. 10
+15
Lv. 10
+15
Lv. 10
+15
Lv. 10
+15
Lv. 10
+15
Lv. 10
Commander
Full All Skill Amp.
+3%
Lv. 10
+3%
Lv. 10
+3%
Lv. 10
+3%
Lv. 10
+3%
Lv. 10
+3%
Lv. 10
+3%
Lv. 10
+3%
Lv. 10
Hero
Full Penetration.
+15
Lv. 10
+15
Lv. 10
+15
Lv. 10
+15
Lv. 10
+15
Lv. 10
+15
Lv. 10
+15
Lv. 10
+15
Lv. 10
+15
Lv. 10
+15
Lv. 10
Legend
Full Cancel Ignore Penetration.
+18
Lv. 10
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Lv. 10
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Lv. 10
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Lv. 10
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Lv. 10
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Lv. 10
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Lv. 10
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Lv. 10
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Lv. 10
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Lv. 10
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Lv. 10
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Lv. 10
11. Platinum Merit Build
Coming soon.
12. Diamond Merit Build
Coming soon.
13. PvE vs. PvP
PvP: NDU is particularly strong against players with high critical resistance: normal hits bypass that resistance, and players have almost no access to Normal DMG Reduction. The few skills that provide it give only small amounts.
PvE: Crit builds usually deal more damage, especially with party debuffs and burst buffs. NDU becomes worth considering against bosses with unusually high critical resistance; compare both builds against that boss in the Damage Calculator.
14. Switching from a Crit Build
Switching to NDU can mean expensive changes across most of your gear, Honor Medal, Anima Mastery, and other systems. Changing only your Anima Mastery, for example, can weaken your current crit build before your normal hits deal enough damage to make up for it.
Save enough Alz to make the main changes together. Buy replacement gear as good deals appear and prepare the other changes ahead of time, then make the switch in one large batch. Use the Build Planner to plan your full build and the Damage Calculator to see how it would perform against your targets before making those changes.