Kain Build/Moveset Discussion

[MattJumps]

Thread is created for users to submit possible Kain-suited builds up for editting or sharing. Let me start by saying that I am in no way an expert in build making nor Kain-usage.

(Keep in Mind, this is all rather new)

==Equipment==
Earthbreaker (Hoplite's Gear needed)
Boghertz's Hands
Royal Crown (Bard's Gear needed)
Maximillian

==Offensive Abilities==
(BRV Attacks)
-Land-
O: Lance Burst
<O: Spiral Blow
O>: Cyclone (ground)

-Air-
O: Lance Barrage
^O: Celestial Shooter
vO: Crashing Dive

(HP Attacks)
-Land-
O: Jump
<O: (empty)
O>: Dragon's Fang (ground)

-Air-
O: Dragon's Fang (midair)
^O: Rising Drive
vO: Gungnir

Notable Abilities:
Assist Gauge Up Dash
Free Air Dash
Free Air Dash Boost
Master Fighter (aka, weapons adept)
EXP to Assist
Assist Critical Boost

Accessories:
Sniper Eye
A Comrade's Vow
HP=100%
Large Gap in HP
BRV=0
Empty EX Gauge
Pre-HP Damage (Opp)
Badge of Trust
Together as One
Side by Side

Summary:
I found chaining Kain's BRV and HP game without being blocked or dodged almost every single time. Therefore, I use the AST system to chain BRV -> AST -> HP. It also gave me a chance to manipulate Kain's great HP Wall Rush Abilities and giving him even more AST in return. Multipliers are handy for increasing HP Wall Rush dmg as well as maintaining AST charge. The Royal Crown (BRV Recovery +100%) is helpful when using Dragon Lance while AST then AST charging (Pressing X after assist combo, please correct my terminology) and using Rising Drive or Dragon's Fang.
Gungnir is also a great setup, or punishing HP attack, but, use with caution. Gungnir tends to leave Kain wide open if you miss.

A note on assists:
I designed this using Kuja as an assist character, and it works rather well. Snatch Blow makes a great AST after Wall Rushing an opponent on the floor, same with Strike Energy along walls and ceilings. I don't really utilize his HP attacks because they don't Wall Rush like Kain's, however it is important to note that Force Symphony leads to AST Charge (once again, correct my terminology).

Spoiler:

Regards.

[Aryo]

I personally have designed Kain as a 3 builds, One similar to your build with different boosters. And then one wall rush build, and one chase build. Having the luxery of choosing whether to chase or rush is great for me personally.

[tofu951753]

==Offensive Abilities==
(BRV Attacks)
-Land-
O: Lance Burst
<O:
O>: Cyclone (ground)

-Air-
O: Lance Barrage
^O: Celestial Shooter
vO: Crashing Dive

(HP Attacks)
-Land-
O: Jump
<O:
O>:

-Air-
O: Gungnir
^O: Rising Drive
vO: Sky Rave

Assists
Kuja or Cecil

Notable Abilities
Free Air Dash

Kuja assist is pretty simple on kain and can come between any atk. land the first hit of lance burst, lance barrage, celestial shooter, crashing dive, or crash them into a wall and u can combo into kuja for rising drive, or sky rave if ur at the top of the screen

as for the cecil assist, first hit of lance barrage, crash dive, or wall crash will combo into his air assist, which u then use free air dash to get close to them and combo into rising drive (this combo on a big stage does a lot of damage

imo, kuja assist is better since it combos from anything, but cecil assist is fun on places like cosmos' throne, especially since u drive ur opponent all the way from the ground to the ceiling

[MattJumps]

Interesting, I never considered using Cecil as the support, I still thing Kuja is far more versatile. Jecht also had some promise on the smaller stages, however, there was way too much movement from the original spot where the enemy was Wall Rush'd so I favored Kuja (Who tends to keep the enemy in one place as he combos them). Also, here are a few more tweaks that I've made to the build to make it more consistent:

==Equipment==
Earthbreaker (Hoplite's Gear needed)
Boghertz's Hands
Super Ribbon (Dancer's Garb needed)
Maximillian

Accessories:
Growth Egg
Growth Egg
Badge of Trust
Fiery Spirit
Battle Ring
Together as One
Side by Side
Chocobo Down
Chocobo Wing
Chocobo Feather

Summary: With this, you can maintain at least 1 bar of Assist just by chaining to an HP attack with a value a little over 980BRV. The BRV Recovery +100% from the crown isn't really missed, the recovery of the build is still quick. I don't notice at all the loss of the mulitplier, if anything it made me less worried about being hit. Also, the removal of Sniper Eye doesn't really affect the pacing of the build too much. I'm trying to find a different accessory than Battle Ring, which grants Free Assist (5% chance that the AST bar doesnt go down when using Kuja). I don't really have issues summoning the AST, rather, I used it because I couldn't think of anything else. I've considered using First to Victory (which'll allow you 2 bars of AST at startup), Destroyer (No Chance, prevents those pesky 1HP survivors), and Sturm and Drang (Physical Damage +3% Wall Rush BRV +40% Chase BRV +7%, since that basically sums up Kain's BRV game).

Tell me what you think ^^

[Cookies]

I have the urge to give Kain gungnir just because it feels right.

[Titanium Man]

I gave it to him too, but it's more short-ranged than you'd expect. Also, I suck at using angled attacks so I whiff with it often.

[Cookies]

Watching Dave, he just uses Sky Rave, Dragon's Fang and Rising Drive (with Jump ofcourse) so I'd probably be inclined to go with that, as it seems to work pretty well, but I just love gungnir.

[Sky Raider Kai]

I'm really torn between Dragon's Fang and Gungnir. I like Gungnir more since it gives me mid-range capabilities despite the slow startup, while Dragon's Fang will limit me to lesser mid-range.

I dunno what to do =\

[musicremedy]

I'm really torn between Dragon's Fang and Gungnir. I like Gungnir more since it gives me mid-range capabilities despite the slow startup, while Dragon's Fang will limit me to lesser mid-range.

I dunno what to do =\

Personally I'd say it depends on the stage; Gungnir is suitable for large stages with open space that allows you to capitalize on the added effect of the wall rush; I personally prefer Sky Rave over Dragon's Fang especially with Kain's Tactical Striker Ability

[suntok123]

To MattJumps:

Does your build work effectively in doing these great combos:



I ask that, because if your build does, then I am gonna use it for my Kain and attempt to master the combos from the video.