Tristan

Edit (2/17/25): Transitioned this guide to the Old Scrolls of Garbelius format—otherwise unchanged.

Edit (1/28/25): @LittleSara reached out to me to make me aware of an excellent single-target build for Tristan, as showcased by Exemplar in this video. I really like the nuking potential of it, so I wanted to throw it in the guide!

Edit (1/28/25): Fixed a tiny error and also included some clarifications in the Notes section.

Edit (1/27/25): Swapped out Feast Axe for Tuning Hammer, and double-pentacle for sword-cup.

Edit (1/26/25): Fixed a few typos and swapped the engraving suggestions.

Hey guys! Here’s my Tristan guide! She really seems like a great DPS with a lot of unique mechanics. I hope you find this guide helpful and, as always, if you have any questions or comments, let me know!

Overview

Tristan is an absolute powerhouse of a DPS, who has the ability to deal both physical and magical damage, and deal damage in big AoEs, as well as enter a berserk state for a few turns per battle, sending her to new heights of damage potential and (depending on her star level), allowing her to become unkillable for 1 or 2 turns.

Trait

Tristan’s trait, [Crimson Fury], offers her quite a bit, and lays the foundation for the most important part of her kit. The main thing it does is give her an active skill, also called [Crimson Fury]. This skill can only be used once per battle, gives her [Unlimited Resolve] for 1-2 turns (depending on star level), releases an AoE attack around her, cuts her HP by 90%, allows her to [Act Again], completely refills her NRG, and sends her into her [Berserk State] for 2-4 turns (depending on star level). In her [Berserk State], she gains [Toughness], [Immunity to Disrupt], 25% increased DMG, and 80% reduced healing received (none of which can be dispelled or immunized). On top of all of this, her AoE attacks deal magical damage, based on her P.ATK (similar to Nungal and Dantalion). And, if that wasn’t enough, she also preemptively increases her damage dealt and removes multiple dispellable shields from targets with [Shield], and at higher star levels gains extra Crit, Crit DMG, CD reduction, and NRG cost reduction on her non-[Instant] skills. Her trait kinda does everything. All things told, in simple terms, she cuts her health almost completely and becomes an enraged monster that can easily destroy her enemies.

Basic Attack

Since damage is her main focus, I suggest picking her [Fatal Attack] basic attack, since it does more damage. The problem with her other basic attack is that it only procs its added effect on [Injured] enemies, and does noticeably less damage.

Reaction Skill

For her reaction skill, [Street Style] is the obvious choice. It both reduces melee damage received by 20%, and allows her to [Block] any [Preempt] or [Strike Back], as well as counterattack any [Strike Back] once per turn.

Skill 1

The biggest attack in Tristan’s arsenal is [One-Punch Burial], which starts off with a punch on a single opponent, who then gets knocked back by 1 tile. Then, all enemies within 2 tiles of that opponent get hit by a powerful fire AoE. This is her big nuke, and you can expect it (especially in her [Berserk State]) to cause massive damage. If you’re facing her in PvP, this is the big one to watch out for. As a side note, if she isn’t in her [Berserk State], she then teleports to the side of the nearest ally within 4 tiles, which can be good for a quick escape!

Skill 2

[Blazing Blood] is a solid passive skill that adds an increasingly large percent of Tristan’s M.ATK to her P.ATK stat, depending on how low her health is (15% at [Healthy], 25% at [Injured]). Additionally, these effects get doubled when she is in her [Berserk State]! Since her [Crimson Fury] skill cuts her health so much, this helps her damage output even more when she’s going berserk. Simple, but effective.

Skill 3

For her final skill, I suggest [Fervent Lunge]. This skill is actually two different [Instant] skills in one, and toggles from [Fervent Lunge] to [Fervent Headbutt] after its first use. Lunge allows her to teleport to any tile within a 1-tile radius of her, and gives her [▲ DMG II] for 1 round. She can then use Headbutt, which allows her to [Charge] up to 3 tiles away into an enemy, and knocks them back 2 tiles. These skills are excellent for getting Tristan into position (as well as her targets into position) for her [One-Punch Burial] skill.

Equipment

For a weapon, I strongly suggest either Gale Sword or Tuning Hammer to boost her P.ATK, with a preference for Gale Sword, since it also boosts her Crit DMG. While Brutal Axe can be good on her, in most serious content you will be debuffing the enemy’s DEF considerably, making this weapon drop off in usefulness, consequently. For a trinket, she has her very own signature gear, Blood Luxite Amulet, which drastically increases her damage output for her AoEs. If you’re not going for her signature gear, then I suggest the Origin Hourglass, as she makes use of both her P.ATK and M.ATK to do damage. For a tarot, I suggest Magician, since she will often be using a mix of her AoEs and single-target attacks. For engravings, I suggest sword + wand, either for extra ATK. When rolling stats, aim for P.ATK, though M.ATK can also be useful to some degree.

Additional Notes

All things told, Tristan has 2-4 turns of [Berserk State] uptime per battle: that’s it. As such, you have to make the most out of these turns, and time them well to do so. When she’s berserking, her damage is basically unparalleled, but when she isn’t in that state, she isn’t as strong as, say, Auguste is. Once she’s in her [Berserk State], you’ll want to make sure she’s properly buffed by her allies, and then use her two [Instant] skills, followed by her [One-Punch Burial], targeting as many enemies as possible for maximum effect. You can leave her near enemies after this, as her [Unlimited Resolve] will keep her alive (unless she gets kicked off of a ledge—watch out!).

I recommended [Furious Pursuit] as her RK 1 skill for some serious single-target nuking potential.

[Controlled Demolition] is a more situationally useful skill that can be used to set up a secondary explosion after [One-Punch Burial], which does 20% of the enemies’ HP as piercing damage, and inflicts [Vulnerable II] on them, within 2 tiles of the targeted enemy. Overall, though, you’ll see more use from her other skills.

As an alternative way of using her, particularly against single-target content, like bosses, you can give her a Flying Blade Armguard, plus her [Furious Pursuit]. If you have Homa, you can use her to place [Baloor] on Tristan (and ideally inflict her defensive debuff on the enemy, as well). On Tristan’s turn, you use the Armguard, then her two Fervent skills, then [Crimson Fury] , followed by the Armguard and her two Fervent skills again, and then [Furious Pursuit]. This allows [Baloor] to do a big chunk of damage to the boss, before Tristan uses her final attack and does massive amounts of damage to it. Thanks to @LittleSara for bringing this strategy to my attention, and to @Exemplar for showcasing it in one of his videos (link is included in Patreon post)!