Combat Guide/Atlas of Discovery

Introduction

The following guide takes the player through the combat of the   Atlas of Discovery Expansion with as little effort as possible. This guide is targeted at people who have either completed or nearly completed the base game. Completion of at least the Air God Dungeon is recommended to follow the largest portion of this guide.

A lot of the combat for   Atlas Of Discovery is locked behind both the

Error creating thumbnail: File missing
Cartography

and

Error creating thumbnail: File missing
Archaeology

skills so progress those if you have locked combat areas/dungeons.

This Guide is NOT designed with the Ancient Relics Game Mode in mind. Players looking for more information about that Game Mode should visit the Ancient Relics Guide. There is also the   Barrier Guide which can be used as an alternative to this guide.

A simplistic order for completing   Combat:

  1. Acquire god gear sets from:
    Error creating thumbnail: File missing
    Air God Dungeon
    ,
    Error creating thumbnail: File missing
    Water God Dungeon
    and
    Error creating thumbnail: File missing
    Earth God Dungeon
  2. Find   Torn Chart
  3. Excavate   Ancient Market to get some starting gear
  4.   Blind Ghost
  5.   Vampiric Bat
  6. Find   Ancient Stone Tablet
  7.   Golem Territory
  8. Find   Old Route Chart
  9. Error creating thumbnail: File missing
    Unholy Forest
  10. Find   Torn Scrolls
  11.   Trickery Temple
  12. Find   Lost Cursed Text
  13.   Cult Grounds
  14. Upgrade god gear to   (B)
  15. Discover   Melantis
  16. Error creating thumbnail: File missing
    Mermaid Archer
  17.   Underwater City

How Atlas of Discovery affects Base Game Combat

  Barrier Combat

The primary mechanic added to the game in   is   Barrier, a powerful shield that is entirely immune to player attacks while active. In order to break barriers, the player must utilize

Error creating thumbnail: File missing
Summoning

Familiars that deal damage such as the

Error creating thumbnail: File missing
Golbin Thief

or

Error creating thumbnail: File missing
Unicorn

. Clear speed will be almost entirely determined by how fast you can break the   Barrier so make sure to prioritize summon max hit in your builds.

Higher hit chance weapons are strongly recommended during the entire combat section, unless the alternative is required for Damage Reduction or the alternative simply does more damage. This is because the familiar's hit-chance is based on the player's hit chance, the higher the hit chance, the better.

Because the combat mechanics in this expansion are rather complex, and minor changes in enemy, equipment and player stats can make specific items better or worse it is always recommended to use the Combat Simulator to verify how to get the most kills per hour or drops per hour.

Error creating thumbnail: File missing
Other Combat Changes

  Gem Slot

A new   gem equipment slot has been added which allows you to squeeze out higher summon max hit damage with gems like   Devouring Barrier Gem or give various non   Barrier modifiers such as the   Agile Gem which reduces player attack interval.

Error creating thumbnail: File missing
Points of Interest

Another mechanic added is

Error creating thumbnail: File missing

Points of Interest. Once mastered in

Error creating thumbnail: File missing
Cartography

, they can be travelled to to give the player both positive and negative modifiers.

Reccomended points of interest to use for combat are:

These can also be simulated in the Combat Simulator to avoid the expensive travel costs.

Error creating thumbnail: File missing
Unholy Prayers

Unfortunately

Error creating thumbnail: File missing
Unholy Prayers

were nerfed so don't worry about those.

Stats and Buffs

Having progressed through   combat will make   combat significantly easier. This is due to the huge damage increase in the   Spectre     Spider compared to

  Tortoise  
Error creating thumbnail: File missing
Dragon

, the summon set from

Error creating thumbnail: File missing
Necromancers Palace

and the endgame weapons from

Error creating thumbnail: File missing
Golden Cloud Mountains

.

Error creating thumbnail: File missing
Summoning

There are two main summoning synergies to use for   Barrier focused combat:

  •  
    Error creating thumbnail: File missing
    Level 115
      Spectre     Spider for huge summoning max hit damage
  • Error creating thumbnail: File missing
    Level 90
      Tortoise  
    Error creating thumbnail: File missing
    Dragon
    if you haven't unlocked the above synergy

Error creating thumbnail: File missing
Gear

  Base Game

Collect the first three god sets from:

Error creating thumbnail: File missing
Air God Dungeon

,

Error creating thumbnail: File missing
Water God Dungeon

and

Error creating thumbnail: File missing
Earth God Dungeon

. Collecting the fire god set from

Error creating thumbnail: File missing
Fire God Dungeon

will also be helpful but not strictly required. It is only for endgame clear speed improvement when you have enough damage reduction already.

  Throne of the Herald

Ensure you have the following armour from

Error creating thumbnail: File missing
Necromancers Palace

. This will be BIS save for a few items near the end of  :

Collect the three weapons from

Error creating thumbnail: File missing
Golden Cloud Mountains

as these are the BIS for most   encounters:

Acquiring the   Superior Max Skillcape will also be helpful.

Error creating thumbnail: File missing
Herblore

Error creating thumbnail: File missing
Prayers

  •  
    Error creating thumbnail: File missing
    Battleborn
    is goated so pretty much always use this
  • Error creating thumbnail: File missing
    Battleheart
  •  
    Error creating thumbnail: File missing
    Valor
    /
    Error creating thumbnail: File missing
    Avidity
    /
    Error creating thumbnail: File missing
    Divination
  • Error creating thumbnail: File missing
    Piety
    /
    Error creating thumbnail: File missing
    Rigour
    /
    Error creating thumbnail: File missing
    Augury
  •  
    Error creating thumbnail: File missing
    Holy Aegis
  • Error creating thumbnail: File missing
    Stone Skin

  Consumables

Make sure to run in Combat Simulator to find out what to use! These are just recommendations.

Atlas of Discovery Combat

Early Game Atlas of Discovery

After collecting the first three god sets from:

Error creating thumbnail: File missing
Air God Dungeon

,

Error creating thumbnail: File missing
Water God Dungeon

and

Error creating thumbnail: File missing
Earth God Dungeon

the player will be well equipped to start combat. Immediate goals are to begin gathering   Barrier damaging equipment. The first gear the player will get is actually from the   Ancient Market in

Error creating thumbnail: File missing
Archaeology

. Remember

Error creating thumbnail: File missing
Cartography

and

Error creating thumbnail: File missing
Archaeology

are crucial to progressing   Atlas Of Discovery combat.

Major Goals

  1. Excavate   Old Summoning Amulet and   Ring of Summoning from   Ritual Site
  2. Farm   Barrier Gem from   Ancient Market to create   Tortoise (you only need one for   gem slot if you have a lot of   Spectre     Spider already)
  3.   Lesser Summoning Amulet from   Blind Ghost
  4. Craft   Ring of Barrier Touch
  5.   Sapping Barrier Gem and   Barrier Sapping Gloves from   Vampiric Bat
  6. Excavate   Ancient Silk from   Bazaar to craft   Ancient Infernal Cape
  7. Optionally; Max all skills for the   Max Skillcape
  8. Excavate   Ancient Stone Tablet from   Monuments
  9. Farm 11   Draining Barrier Gem from   Golem Territory to upgrade your gloves to   Barrier Draining Gloves and to equip one in your   gem slot

Mid Game Atlas of Discovery

After completing the early game the next goal is to unlock the   Cult Grounds dungeon as fast as possible and farm it to upgrade your god gear to   (B). The difficulty starts ramping up here. If you are struggling to defeat these dungeons check the individual strategy guides on each dungeons page.

Major Goals

  1. Find   Old Route Chart
  2. Complete
    Error creating thumbnail: File missing
    Unholy Forest
    once
  3. Find   Torn Scrolls
  4. Complete   Trickery Temple once
  5. Find   Lost Cursed Text
  6.   Adaptive Summoning Amulet from
    Error creating thumbnail: File missing
    Cult Imp
  7. Farm   Cult Grounds until you have enough   Barrier Exalted Shard and   Siphoning Barrier Gem to upgrade your   air god and then   earth god armour to (B). The helmet for both should be skipped if you have the   summon set from  .   Barrier Dust can be farmed from either
    Error creating thumbnail: File missing
    Cult Imp
    or
    Error creating thumbnail: File missing
    Cult Member
  8. Equip   Summoner's Blessed Ring from   Cult Grounds unless you are using the   summon set from  

Late Game Atlas of Discovery

The main goal of late game is to find   Melantis, collect the three weapons from   Underwater Ruins, finishing   Underwater City and then acquiring endgame clear speed items for the subsequent   pet farms.

Major Goals

  1. Optionally; Finish
    Error creating thumbnail: File missing
    Into the Mist
    at least once for the   passive slot
  2. Discover   Melantis through following a trail of clues (solution here for lazy people)
  3.   Engulfing Vortex Longbow from
    Error creating thumbnail: File missing
    Mermaid Archer
    .   Devouring Barrier Gem in your   gem slot. Optionally;   Water Pulse Staff from
    Error creating thumbnail: File missing
    Merman
    and   Hasty Trident from
    Error creating thumbnail: File missing
    Merman Guard
    can be acquired but they are easily replaced
  4.   Underwater City (guide higly reccomended!). Equip   Eradicating Gloves (m) as soon as they are found (for those using   summon set play around with the Combat Simulator to decide whether to use them or not)
  5.   Devouring Barrier Shield for   shield slot and   Knight's Summoning Defender for   passive slot are both reccomended for further farming