Just made this for someone on Reddit so thought I’d post it here to go along with the others. I intended to do one for every class to go along with the guides I’ve already posted but have been holding out for the game to get some much needed dev love and customer service upgrades. Not about to withhold something I’ve already put time into though so hope this helps some people.
Here’s a breakdown of the only two builds on HS I personally recommend to people, with the caveat that some other builds have higher burst damage potential (see bottom) but are more dependent on factors outside of your control for sustainability.
First, I recommend Handgun over Longbow. The reason for this is that Kruber has exceptional melee for dealing with hordes, which is where Longbow excels compared to Handgun. While Longbow isn’t bad, I consider the most important aspect of Kruber min:max to be utterly destroying all CW, SSV, specials, and bosses with a high degree of sustainability. The other reason I prefer Handgun to Longbow is personal taste, due to the Longbow’s clunky aiming mechanics and the fact that at the ranges you want to be shooting things in the head at, the Longbow reticle is simply wider than the targets’ heads, so you’re not in full control of your headshot success.
Handgun Build
This build puts your own sustainability firmly under your control and destroys every heavy target in the game. This build focuses on Power vs instead of crits. With it, you can spam shots as much as you want and always be able to grow back to a full pouch of ammo while decimating the only real threats in the game. You will likely score lower total damage and kills overall than you would with the Longbow build but you will have a more impactful team contribution with this vis a vis you teabag the things that need teabagging the most,100% of the time and especially when you most need it.
Talents: LRLMR or LMLMR
Lvl 5 - On Target and Outdoorsman are both superfluous when using Handgun, the spread for which is already tighter than you really need. Keem 'Em Coming gives you critical reload speed and it synergizes with your ult.
Lvl 10 - Make ‘Em Bleed and Hands Off! are both reasonable choices. I personally take Hands Off! when using Handgun because I’m sacrificing a lot of crit to ensure you have the consistent, raw power to eliminate the heavy targets that matter most, so you’re not proc’ing Make’ Em Bleed as much with this build.
Lvl 15 - I suggest Taal’s Blessing over the others here for consistency and sustainability. This is why I pointed out in the intro that some other builds have more potential. I suggest this over the headshot depends self-buffs because no matter how good you are, you simply aren’t always landing the headshots you need to make those perks consistently work, especially when you need them the most, and you’re reducing your ammo regen by 1/3rd to do it. This means that you’d even more dependent on headshots all of the time, meaning you have to spend more time aiming, meaning your killing less, all for perks that pretty only help vs CW patrols and bosses where you’re already extremely strong. You can potentially get away with Thrill of the Hunt but it synergizes poorly with the fact you’re aiming way more carefully than you need to if you’re running Taal’s Blessing just for a lil more burst DPS.
Lvl 20 - Self explanatory.
Lvl 25 - I’m Coming for Ya is pretty much mandatory. The other options don’t synergize well with what this career is all about: heavyweight problem solving.
Melee Weapon: Executioner’s Sword or Halberd
Since this build’s ranged weapon doesn’t help a ton during hordes, you need a good horde clear weapon. Both Ex Sword and Halberd provide.
Properties/Trait: Since this build still has max possible melee crit, I recommend Attack Speed +5%, Crit Chance +5%, and Swift Slaying.
Ranged Weapon: Handgun
Go Power vs Chaos +10%, Power vs Armour +10%, and Conservative Shooter. All of the problems you’re trying to solve are either Chaos or Armoured. Everything else gets wrect w/o devoting Power vs to it or still gets wrecked fast enough + stagger that it’s not worth devoting power vs to it. Chaos+Armoured all the way. Conservative Shooter is the last piece of the sustainability puzzle, allowing you to fire at will without having to worry about running out unless you really screw something up.
Necklace
Stamina +2, Health +20%, Boon of Shalya. Added lethality via more stamina for pushes. Much needed added survivability through stamina and health and Boon. I strongly encourage you to use Boon, as this career really needs to be able to get temp health returns in melee to reliably contribute.
Charm
Power vs Chaos +10%, Power vs Armour +10%, Decanter. Again, this lets you wreck CW and gives you boosts vs Champs and Chaos Bosses (the only bosses that present any challenge anyways). Some people argue for Concoction but I prefer Decanter.
Trinket
Crit Chance +5%, Curse Resistance +33%, Shrapnel. Self explanatory.
Longbow Build
This build has good overall performance but sacrifices some heavy hitting for improved ranged performance vs hordes, somewhat artificially inflating its performance on the scorecard. It’s still a totally viable way of doing the class but, as every other character in the game already does precisely what this build seeks to do, often much better, I do encourage Handgun instead as it fills a unique and valuable niche. This build focuses on min:maxing crits and crit interactions, and its potential crit rate is pretty extreme.
Talents: MMMMR
Melee Weapon: Mace, Ex Sword, Halberd, or Sword
You can’t go wrong with Ex Sword or Halberd but the fact that the Longbow is so effective vs hordes means you can actually be super defensive in your melee selection with this build. Both Mace and Sword over high mobility blocking, with Mace offering (stupidly imo) 4.5 base stamina (compared to a shields 5 base stamina because, “logic”). If you decide to go Ex Sword or Halberd for a hybridized melee/ranged approach I recommend Attack Speed, Crit Chance, and Swift Slaying. If you prefer for your offense to be almost exclusively ranged, I suggest Mace or Sword with Stamina +2, Block Cost Reduction +30%, and either Off Balance or Parry.
Ranged Weapon: Longbow
Crit Chance +5%, Crit Power +20%, Scrounger. Again, this build is going balls out on min:maxing Huntsman’s awesome crit potential. Scrounger + Makin’ It Look Easy + Waste Not, Want Not makes for excellent sustainability. It’s a lil RNG dependent but more than enough to ensure you’re never wanting for ammo between pickups.
Necklace
If you went with Ex Sword or Halberd, go Stamina, Health, Boon. If you went with Mace or Sword, go with Health, Block Cost Reduction, and Boon. Technically, Natural Bond works decently with the Longbow build but since your ammo sustainability it’s a guarantee I don’t recommend it.
Charm
If you’re using Ex Sword or Halberd, choose Attack speed and Crit Power. If you’re using Mace or Halberd, choose Crit Power + Power vs Chaos.
Trinket
Crit Chance + Curse Resistance.
Pro Tips
Regardless of which build you choose, be cognizant of the following:
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Weapon swaps can be whorish on Kruber
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If you’re out of ammo, using your ult gives you 1 ammo, giving you an opportunity to replenish your ammo with a carefully aimed headshot
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If you’re really hurting on ammo and you’re in a good team of super-aggro players, don’t be afraid to communicate that you need to headshot a few ambients via voice comms to make sure someone doesn’t stagger what you’re aiming at and screw you over.
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With either build, don’t waste time going for the perfect shot every time. Be technically proficient and be able to quickly get headshots but settle for body shots, especially when you know it’s going to be a kill anyways and you don’t need the ammo. With the Handgun build, you only need a few headshots to be fully back in business at full ammo and with the Longbow build, your insane crit rate + scrounger means you can spam into hordes until the cows come home.
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Don’t be afraid to use your ult during hordes. A lot of people tend to sit on their ults too much, so keep in mind that power +20% works on melee too. Especially good vs chaos hordes, since you’re already stacking power vs for em. This is a great way of making sure you’re always winning the temp health race while going balls out horde-diving.
Alternative Builds
You can throw sustainability to the wind and trade all of your ammo regen abilities/traits for damage boosting ones. I don’t recommend it, personally, as sustainable builds still perform great and they’re a lot more fun. With non-sustainability focused approaches you’re really pulling your punches and holding out for moments that may never come.
Hope this helps.
I was like “f this.”