Phranox — guide

In short

Phranox is an Epic Spirit Attack champion from the Knights Revenant. He is a pure single-target nuker: a huge hit on an unbuffed enemy, buff steal plus [Block Buffs] on his third skill, and Decrease ATK on his default. He shines in Classic and Tag Team Arena and in Faction Wars, so build him for attack, crit and accuracy.

Strengths

• His A2 hits for 9.2×ATK against a target with no buffs — one of the heaviest single-target hits in the Epic pool.
• A3 hits three times, each hit with a 50% chance to steal a random buff, and applies [Block Buffs] for 2 turns if the target has no buffs left afterwards.
• A1 has a 40% chance to place a 50% [Decrease ATK] for 2 turns — useful in Arena and against bosses.
• Tomes fix his cooldowns nicely: the last level of A3 cuts 1 turn, so the skill comes back much faster.

Weaknesses

• Zero team utility: only debuffs on one target, no AoE, no buffs, no crowd control.
• His damage depends on the target having no buffs — shields, immunity and support buffs gut both A2 and A3.
• Low base stats: 1,409 Attack and 97 Speed. Without decent gear and speed tuning he simply never gets a turn.
• Weak in PvE: Dungeons, Hydra, Hard mode and Doom Tower all sit at 2.0 out of 5.

Where to use

First of all Classic Arena (3.5) and Tag Team Arena (3.5): strip or steal the buffs and delete one dangerous target. Then Faction Wars (3.5) and Chimera (3.5) as a single-target damage dealer. Clan Boss (3.0) only if you have nobody better — he brings no utility there. Hydra, Dungeons, Hard mode and Doom Tower (2.0) are not his content.

Stats and gear

Classic nuker spread: Crit. Damage gloves (with Crit. Rate close to 100%), ATK% chest, Speed boots. Rough targets: 2,500–3,000+ Attack, 100% Crit. Rate, 200%+ Crit. Damage, 200+ Speed and 200+ Accuracy, otherwise his debuffs and buff steal will miss in Arena. Resistance is not needed. From the build list take Savage, Lethal or Cruel for damage, with Offense or Divine Offense as filler. Irethi Coronet and Orb of Transfixion are fine relic picks to push his damage further.

Masteries and blessings

For PvE (Dungeons, Clan Boss, Doom Tower, Faction Wars) go down the Offense tree with Pierce Defenses and Boss Slayer — that is his main damage against big targets. For Arena (1v1 and 3v3) use the nuker setup with Targetfinder (accuracy for his debuffs and buff steal) and Invigorated. The site lists no specific blessings for him, so in Arena take whatever boosts a nuker's damage and in PvE whatever helps him survive and hit the boss.

Tombs

Book A3 first: the final level cuts 1 turn of cooldown and the earlier levels add debuff chances — that skill is what makes Phranox useful against buffed targets. Then A2 for the +30% damage, and A1 last since it only adds damage and debuff chance.

Verdict

A narrow single-target nuker for Arena and Faction Wars who gives his team nothing. The site author's call is blunt: into the vault (fusion) — only build him if you need the faction or an Arena finisher.