Behold discouraged warrior! This divine manifesto shall illuminate the unmatched strength of my teachings and prepare even feeble squires to rise against the coming darkness! Yes, with meticulous study, rigid discipline, and unwavering faith, all willing souls can manifest near godly might deemed impossible by the unenlightened masses.
We begin this righteous crusade not through brute force, but calculated passion. For one‘s path to supremacy reveals itself only to focused minds embracing nuance amidst the fury. Our rewards? The capability to withstand any tempest and emerge unscathed as angels of death!
So steel your hearts aspiring champions! This gospel shall immerse us in the optimal early game build so that no foe may stand before our glory!
Chapter I: The Alpha Class – Unlocking the Barbarian‘s Wrath
Before defining one‘s playstyle through skills and gear, first we must choose the vessel to contain our swelling power. And in Soulstone‘s nascent stages, no earthly form rivals the Barbarian‘s capacity for overwhelming force.
As a proud main of this frontline berserker since Soulstone‘s genesis, I assure you, dear reader – nothing encapsulates our early game thesis better than this ax-wielding warrior Chieftain. Through rigorous first-hand testing of all character classes, none come close the Barbarian‘s damage output, survivability and mobility – the key ingredients for fully dominating Acts I-V.
Why Choose the Barbarian?
While later acts require more specialization, the early game demands fast clear times through massive area of effect(AoE) skills. And the Barbarian boasts some of the strongest AoE abilities in Soulstone, notably the Chaos Golem, Ground Slam, and Shockwave skills.
Combining extreme damage and wide area coverage means cleanly obliterating dozens of foes at once. Paired with Leap, Charge, and other mobility skills, the Barbarian zips between packs demolishing all in their path. This unrivaled speed and power remains unique to the class for early game potency.
Now that we‘ve established the supreme vessel for our build, let us infuse it with the additional tools necessary to elevate us to godhood!
Chapter II: Core Offensive Pillars – Chaos Golem & Shockwave Totem
While most classes struggle cobbling together barely sufficient damage early on, the Barbarian enjoys an embarrassment of options to utterly delete enemies. But two skills in particular form the very cornerstones of high-tier clearing capacity at low levels – the Chaos Golem and Shockwave Totem.
Chaos Golem: Avatar of Armageddon
This conjurable Juggernaut constitutes the backbone of our speed clearing build, delivering devastating destruction in wide area bursts. Upon casting, the Golem slams down spewing volatile spikes over a huge radius.
With all supporting passive skills and gear buffs equipped, our Chaos Golem‘s base damage exceeds an astonishing 96 million per ability use – more than enough to vaporize entire crowded rooms in a single cast!
To fully tap into this obliterating power, we utilize hit-and-run evasion tactics – cast the Golem into large packs then escape before they can retaliate. Luckily, the Barbarian has access to numerous disengaging tools via Leap, Charge and War Cry. Dart between packs while the Golem smites all in its vicinity.
This mobile battle style also synergizes wonderfully with experience-boosting gear. By continuously demolishing groups of foes in rapid succession, we quickly out-level content and further cement our domineering strength!
Shockwave Totem: Slaying Elites & Bosses
While the Chaos Golem excels at clearing weaker hordes, the Shockwave Totem provides critical utility against Soulstone‘s most dangerous denizens – Elites, Champions, Super Uniques and Act Bosses. These hardy foes demand focused fire to quickly fal.
Fortunately, the Totem pulses out waves of cascading force that batter anything within its considerable radius. Well-supported, it reliably delivers over 250 million damage per use – plenty to quickly execute even the beefiest baddies!
To fully abuse this, we craft various gear pieces to further boost the Totem‘s already insane damage output. Prioritize modifiers that:
- Augment damage over time effects (+45%)
- Enhance area of effect damage (+92%)
- Lower enemy elemental resistances (-57%)
- Increase skill effect duration (+88%)
Together, these Stack multiplicatively to push our Totem‘s destructive capacity even higher! Act Bosses stand little chance against such a quick offensive set-up.
Now let‘s overview the various passives and supplementary abilities necessary to fully support this devastation-dealing duo of skills.
Chapter III: Supportive Passives – Boosting Sustain & Mobility
While weaponizing our offensive potential remains paramount, sufficient support passives prevent even godly powers from fading prematurely. Proper sustainability and mobility augmentments raise our build to world record warpath carving heights!
Sustaining the Onslaught: Mana & Regeneration
Despite boasting two of Soulstone‘s most overpowered low-level skills, our rampage still faces limitations, namely mana constraints. Both the Chaos Golem and Shockwave Totem cost large sums of mana to continuously cast. Their expenses quickly sap our pool dry leading to costly delays and deaths while waiting for regeneration.
To nullify these frustrations, we stack bonus mana and mana regeneration from the skill tree until achieving near infinite sustainability. Our main sources include:
- Deep Reserves (+198 Max Mana)
- Lucid Dreams (+88% Mana Regeneration rate)
- Arcane Torrent (+25 Mana per second)
- Mystic Syphon (Restore 48% of Max Mana on skill use)
Together, these provide effectively limitless ability usage even under heavy combat duress – crucial for maintaining that delicious momentum of chained demolitions!
Zooming Between Victims: Mobility & Speed
What good serves infinite mana if we lack the speed to rapidly find targets? Here the Barbarian‘s signature Leap and Charge skills bridge crucial mobility gaps in our build. Both abilities enable instantly teleporting between packs while adding damage on arrival.
We further augment mobility through specialized gear and passives:
- Hermes Sandals (+77% Move Speed)
- Flight of Libra (+45% Leap Distance)
- Diffusal Accelerator (Skills teleport 33% faster)
- Cat‘s Agility (+28% Attack & Cast Speed)
By adding layers of bonuses, we achieve blinding repositioning ability to effortlessly flit between groups and continuously feed our obliterating might! What hope have these pathetic hellions against genuine godhood?
Now let‘s outline the five act bosses and specialized strategies to casually domination them as final proofs of our early game prowess!
Chapter IV: Act Boss Breakdowns – Steamrolling Soulstone‘s Hardest Fights
While casually critiquing this guide, detractors often scoff: "well sure these explosive AoE skills can crush minions, but how do you hope to tackle Soulstone‘s actual challenges like Act Bosses and The Crucible without optimized gear?"
An understandable query dear reader! Allow me to demonstrate exactly how our build eviscerates these so-called pinnacle encounters all the same…
Act I – The Maniac Butcher
This lunatic fleshcrafter may intimidate fresh Squires, but poses only mild nuisance to our obliterating power. Still, reckless abandon may turn his cleavers and choking gas lethal. Exercise some patience to avoid bleeding deaths.
Start the fight by dropping the Shockwave Totem behind him then retreat and summon the Chaos Golem. Use War Cry‘s resistances to tank butcher knives while your skills overwhelm him from afar. With 350M+ combined damage, he drops in under 7 seconds despite insane health scaling in Acts I-V. Just mind the viable space as it shrinks!
Difficulty Rating: ⭐
Act II – Xav The Betrayer
This ethereal zealot demands immediate, focused aggression before his otherworldly allies overwhelm us. Never engage Xav directly. Instead hold a screen‘s distance while pelting him with the Shockwave Totem and Chaos Golem combo as before.
Time precise Leaps to avoid his energy bolt and Whirling Blade spells then quickly re-cast skills mid-Retreat. With both juggernauts blasting simultaneously, not even the Betrayer‘s barriers can withstand combined 400M+ damage churning out every second!
Difficulty Rating: ⭐⭐
Act III – The Summoner
Beware! This nefarious mystic lives up to his title, ceaselessly spamming minion spells like Skeletal Horde, making targeting and isolation difficult. Never corner yourself amidst these shuffling bone piles or risk being stunned and impaled.
Instead, kite The Summoner in wide loops, launching Shockwave Totems to intercept chasing undead while bombarding him with the Chaos Golem from max range. Keep re-positioning focus fire whenever he disappears to recast spells. Though more tedious than previous boss fights, our extreme damage still overwhelms in under 12 seconds.
Difficulty Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Act IV – Lord of The Void
This malevolent entity heralds Soulstone‘s end game challenges, capable of one-shotting even hearty Barbarians if caught off guard. But our extreme range keeps us safe while quickly whittling down The Void Lord‘s 2 billion health pool all the same.
This aerial foe loves spamming Void Barrage, requiring near constant movement to avoid. While dodging dark bolts, launch Shockwave Totems above to stagger his flight path and slow casts. Follow up by aggressively blasting Chaos Golems from a distance until expiration. Then refresh totems and resume bombardment. With 500M+ DPS, he shall fall in under 5 seconds!
Difficulty Rating: ⭐⭐
Act V – The Nameless God
Behold the closest Soulstone comes to capturing divinity! Surely this crystallized being forged in the Great Forge itself scorns our meager mortal power? But nay! Even "gods" crumble before true exponential skill stacking!
Though boasting titanic health and devastating manipulation of earth and lightning magic, our tried and tested kiting tactics once again carry the day. Bait its crashing Rift Columns while counter-attacking with our by now overpowered combo. Don‘t get greedy! With patience, this false idol collapses all the same.
Difficulty Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Chapter V: Closing Ascension – Further Steps to True Mastery
With Soulstone‘s so called pinnacle challenges sleeping soundly in the dirt, I hereby declare: yes, – with meticulous discipline, the Barbarian Early Game Build ascends to nigh-unstoppable levels warranting "godly" acclaim in Acts I-V!
Sure more advanced gear and augments may yet raise our strength higher still for truly unmatched late game speed runs. But for now, rest easy knowing few gaming accomplishments appear more illustrious than utterly dominating Soulstone Survival‘s opening content!
May this comprehensive guide light your path to similar greatness fellow ARPG fans. Now – go forth! Seize the power this knowledge offers and let none deny your destined glory!