Masked Fearmonger — guide

In short

Masked Fearmonger is an Epic Attack champion of the Banner Lords with Spirit affinity, built around a Fear chain: his A2 applies Fear and a Speed debuff, while A1 and A3 gain bonuses against feared targets. He shines in Chimera and in single-target pick-offs in Arena and Faction Wars, but elsewhere he is a narrow one-target nuker. Build priority: Attack, C.Rate/C.DMG, Speed and Accuracy.

Strengths

• A3 Handy Axe ignores 35% of the target's DEF when it is under Fear or True Fear — solid burst on one target at a 6× ATK multiplier.
• If A3 kills, he gains a 30% Speed buff, Revive on Death and Block Debuffs — he can flip a trade out of nowhere.
• A2 Ghostly Machete lands Fear for 1 turn and a 30% Speed debuff for 2 turns at 75% (100% with books), and on a kill spreads True Fear to two more enemies.
• The passive Taste of Despair fills his Turn Meter by 50% whenever an enemy's HP drops below 20% — a great finisher tool.

Weaknesses

• His whole kit is single-target with no AoE — he cannot clear waves or farm.
• Everything depends on Fear and on getting kills: miss the kill and the chain falls apart, and bosses often ignore Fear entirely.
• Low base numbers: 1 398 ATK and 97 SPD, so gear has to do the lifting.
• 13 215 HP and 1 024 DEF — paper thin, he folds to the first AoE.

Where to use

Best in Chimera (3.0), then Arena (2.5) and Faction Wars (2.5), where a single-target nuke plus someone to finish the job works. He is average in Clan Boss and dungeons (2.0 each) and close to dead weight in Hydra and Hard mode (1.0) and Doom Tower (1.5). The site author's call is blunt: Faction Wars only.

Stats and gear

ATK% first — all three active skills scale off it. Push C.Rate to 100%, C.DMG to 150–200%+, SPD to 170–200 and ACC to 200+ so Fear and the Speed debuff actually land. For sets, Savage for the penetration or Lifesteal for survivability, rounded out with Speed and Accuracy. The listed relics are Molten Deathbell and Gorecrescent.

Masteries and blessings

Offense tree: In For The Kill, Foekiller, Piercing Strike, Bloodthirsty Prowess — the standard penetrating-damage package. Take Support or Defense as the second tree because his HP/DEF bases are low. For blessings, lean into single-target damage: Crushing Rend or Soul Reap.

Tombs

If you do book him, start with A2: the +10% and +15% debuff chance upgrades take Fear to a clean 100%. Then A3 for the −1 cooldown at level 4. Given the author's verdict, though, books are better spent elsewhere.

Verdict

Food. Keep at most one copy for Banner Lords Faction Wars — nothing else justifies the slot or the books.