Lunar Lancer Guide: The only one you will ever need!

Overview

The Lunar Lancer is Trove's newest class released, and he has certainly not failed our expectations, as he has many different niches he fills, and those combined together, is what makes him unique. 

Forewarning

If you are looking to get into this class, it requires a level of dedication, time and resources. Not only is he the only class with spears as a weapon, but he takes time to learn and play at a proficient level. He is indeed on the squishier side, but he has tools and stats to make up for that. Don't give up if you can't fly through the early levels, you will pick up eventually! He is a class that is worth sinking your time into.

Abilities

Autoattacks

The Lunar Lancer wields a unique weapon, the spear. Its potential stats are identical to the swords, but differs in attacking patterns. The Lunar Lancer may jab and prod its opponents, and unlike a sword, the AoE of the spear is limited to enemies behind your target. However, the range of a spear is much longer than a sword and allows the Lunar Lancer to fight from a relatively safe distance, compared to other melees (think of the Dracolyte's flamethrower attacks, but slightly shorter). Different from most classes, the Lunar Lancer's movement speed is not affected by autoattacking. Unknown if bugged or not, this is a huge buff. Being the glass cannon he is, this allows him to kite efficiently.

Passive [Lunancy]

You gather moonpower per hit*, symbolized by the 3 waxing moons orbiting you. Once filled, you will transform into a hulking beast that takes 25% reduced damage and deals 50% more (*cough cough* op). I'll explain why. With your 1 already applying a multiplier of around 400%~ of your physical damage per strike, your passive makes this 600%. Six-wall-breaking-hundred percent. Combine this with a Martial Emblem- (*small heart attack) ... 1200%. Jesus Christ. What were you thinking Trion.

-An explanation for damage reduction below-

This is why its essential to proc your passive whenever. The 25% damage reduction scales well with any health giving or regenerating stats because it makes your health 25% more effective. Its like gaining 25% bonus health. Along with the damage steroid, you are an unstoppable freight train.

*Per hit = Autoattacks and abilities 

• Damage amplifies a ton
• Attack speed procs this even faster, hence why it is a core stat, despite your 1 not being affected by it
• ALSO: you gain a small boost of attack damage, attack speed, and more flat amount of health for the time being

M2 [Grappling Spear]

A unique mechanic to the Lunar Lancer, he throws his spear to a targetted location (hold M2 to aim trajectory). When it lands, it creates a small explosion, and embeds a spear on the block. IF within range, of around 15 blocks, the Lunar Lancer can click M2 again to shoot a grappling hook and pull himself towards the spear.

Things to Note: 

• The spear lasts around 8 seconds
• You only need to be 15 blocks closer to the spear when using grappling hook (great mechanic when you're out of jumps and falling.
• Relatively steep trajectory
• You will teleport to your hook if you are in your passive form
• A mob in the path of you as you ride your grappling hook WILL stop you, and deals a small damage to them. 
• You can grapple backwards! (fun kiting mechanic, will go over later)

1 [Crescent Combo]

This. This is your bread and butter skill. It has the majority of your damage packed into two AoE (AoE!!!) slices, and your only CC (the stun) in it. Using this will cost you over half of your energy, slow you down by 25%, but will hit like a truck. Never mind the truck, you will hit like a train. Lots of trains.

• Makes soloing dungeons with its beautiful AoE
• Massive damage
• If you are in your passive form, you will knock them up and stun them longer
• Slightly slow ability time, but you still can move and jump while using it
• Spam this if you have enough energy, as it is your biggest DPS

2 [Blessing of the Moon]

You call down a BIG spear to smote your enemies. This is your biggest damage dealer, it has a fast cast time and does devastating damage (500% of your physical damage), but in a group, its usefulness lies in its utility.

It gives anyone in your vicinity movement speed, healing over time, stability, and damages enemies over time. If your group is fighting within it, it could spell win or lose. However, if your team leaves the area, it becomes next to useless. Communicate and encourage your teammates to stand in your FREE, LIFE-SAVING, DAMAGE-DEALING ultimate. Man, sometimes people are so ignorant when playing PvE. The only bad part would be grouping up for the boss's/mobs' AoE attacks, but through test and trial, your healing will overcome it.

• Your passive will increase the damage over time of your spear (because it increases your damage)
• The spear's circle of influence is around 13x13 tiles.
• Best used in rounds with large group of mobs, as the AoE damage exponentially scales
• Do NOT be stingy with your ultimate, I see this too often and a lot of people keep it for their use, but it is worthless when used alone
• Use it on 3 or more people
• It provides a rallying point for people to gather around
• Great for battles in corners, when the boss cannot move or escape

So What Does This All Mean?

Pros: Definition of damage powerhouse, fun to use, high mobility, team friendly, innately tanky

Cons: New type of weapon -> more upgrading, clunky kit, very squishy without passive, low base health, takes some time to get gear and ramp up, can only auto attack/use 1 on your elevation (in order to attack something higher or lower, you must be at the same level as them)

Stats! (in order from first slot to the fourth)

• Spear: Physical Damage, Energy Regen, Jumps, Attack Speed
• Hat and Face: Max Health, Attack Speed, % Health, Health Regeneration
• Ring (at least Shadow lvl 3): Physical Damage and Energy Regen
• Emblems: Martial Emblem and Vampiric Emblem
• Allies: Prowling Shadow/Samantha
• Flasks: Death-Defying (If you are really insistent on not dying, and also is very efficient combined with vampiric) or Bandolier (If you are skilled enough to keep track of your health during fights)

Why these stats are prioritized above others:

Physical Damage: All your damage is multiplied! As shown before, 1 physical damage could be worth 12! Besides the extreme-case scenario, this should be on the sword and the ring.

Energy Regen: In combat, spamming your 1 is your best bet for damage and utility. 1 costs a lot of energy but does tremendous damage and stuns them, which means you take less damages. This indirectly transitions into being tankier.

Max Health and % Health: Max Health is the only option for slot #1 on hats and faces. % Health is something that is too strong to ignore. The only way to solo and survive U6 dungeons is being tanky and sustaining yourself, and these stats are meant for that. Tanks are always viable/needed in team play!

Attack Speed (best stat for its slot): Procs your passive even faster and attack speed is required for consistent output of damage.

Health Regen (fourth stat and optional): The 25% damage reduction may not seem like much, but it does indeed make you very tanky. Combine this with a monstrous amount of healing and you are quite literally invincible. If you really desired, you can replace this with movement speed, which is the only other possible option for face and hat.

Jumps on Spear: You do not need excessive amount of jumps. The third stat on the sword is best taken by this stat to leave room for % health on face and hat. However, jumps are still very important for dungeon hunting to scale walls and ledges.

The amount of health regerated the Prowling Shadow is a must on the Lunar Lancer if he is to stay alive. The % Health along with Max Health results in around ~4400 health per instance of damage dealt. (2.2%hp per attack)

Yet, if we combine this with the vampiric emblem which heals 10% of one's health per instance of damage. There is not a chance you will die without wanting to.

Mechanics/Tips and tricks

Kiting:

(THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU WILL EVER NEED TO KNOW WHEN PLAYING THE LUNAR LANCER *deep breaths*) This is the one mechanic that will differentiate the great Lunar Lancers from the really bad ones (there is no middle ground). Your spear has an exceptionally long range for a melee weapon, and you also do not become slowed when autoattacking. Use this towards your advantage.

Move backwards while autoattacking. This applies to every class but this one especially. Your squishy foxy life isn't going to last a few attacks in a U6 biome. Constantly move around to prevent being surrounded/flanked. Force the mobs to group up so you can move in once you have your passive charged up to slice n' dice them with your 1.

Hit and Run:

You must become one with the yo-yo. Literally. Remember that spears last for ~8 seconds. Launch a spear behind you and fight around that spear (~12 block radius). When you see a mob charging up its melee attack, you can press right click to jump back to safety. Rinse and repeat! It works even better in passive form due to the instant recall.

Maximizing that sweet, sweet DPS:

Weave in an autoattack or two while fighting with your 1. It helps build your Lunancy stacks and deals more damage since you shorten the time between those animations.

Levels Overview

• Levels 1-5: Try not to die while unlocking your abilities. Without proper stats, you are very squishy early on.
• Levels 5-10: You will pick up momentum and become familiar with your skills. Dungeons should be easy with the Lunar Lancer's kit.
• Levels 10-20: This is more of a grind then a specific stage, so try to enjoy it as much as you can. Don't forget to upgrade your gear along the way for an enjoyable experience!

Conclusion

The Lunar Lancer is certainly a powerful class with overwhelming numbers. Its strengths overshadows many of the classes they were supposed to be strongest in. However, its squishiness prevents it from being completely overpowered. It gives the player a satisfying feeling to gear up your fox to nearly two-shotting U6 mobs.

Aside from the damage and the numbers, the kit itself is unique, but does not add up. The Neon Ninja has a theme of mobility and stealth, but the Lunar Lancer feels like a bunch of abilities jumbled together and called a class. The abilities are currently a bit buggy, and I hope Trion will get around to fixing that soon asap (and hopefully not making more bugs in the process, haha).

About Me

A tryhard gamer who is obsessed with maximizing damage and exploiting every inch of a class (lvl 42 on 4 classes, I need a break). Has been playing the Lunar Lancer since Day 1 on the PTS and fell in love with the class ever since. Also enjoys creating music through note blocks!

Writer's Note

You are a champion if you have read this far. Thanks for reading my wall of text and hopefully you learned a thing or two about the Lunar Lancer. I am hoping to write more guides maybe on the Dracolyte, Fae Trickster, and possibly even Neon Ninja and the Gunslinger. Message me here or in-game (IGN is ChaosVoidNova) if you have questions or just want to talk to me! Thanks for your attention :3

P.S. Apparently I do suck at uploading pictures. If anyone would tell me how I can insert them into my guide I would be eternally grateful. Thanks in advance!

(My Imgur Link: http://imgur.com/a/h55W4)

EDIT: Rejoice my friends, for I have opened my eyes and found that there is an upload images button on the top of the page. (And I did this by myself too!) I'm planning to get more images once I reach radiant. Will update then! At S5 level currently.