Aethis the Sorrow guide: skills, build and team roles
Overview
Aethis the Sorrow is a Legendary Water Melee Attacker from the Lightseekers Faction in Invokers: Titan Legacy. He turns the debuffs your team places into damage. Retribution Rain deals more damage for every debuff on the target, Weeping Edge turns every debuff into Ultimate Mana, and critical hits shorten his cooldowns, so a team that keeps a target debuffed gets a damage dealer that cycles his Skills quickly.
His damage scales from ATK. He places no debuffs himself and has no Bleed or Burn, so his additional damage depends on teammates who place debuffs. He can look after himself for a while: Tearful Ax Shields him for a share of the damage it deals. He's still a Melee Attacker, so still pair him with a Tank and a healer.
Skills To Prioritize
Retribution Rain is his main damage Skill. It deals 10% more damage for every debuff on the target at Level 1 and 20% at Level 10, up to a limit that starts at 100% extra damage. The limit rises to 125% at Level 3, 150% at Level 7 and 200% at Max Level, so at Level 10 it takes about eight debuffs to fill the limit and at Max Level ten.
Weeping Edge hits twice and each hit gives him 10 Ultimate Mana for every debuff on the target at Level 1, rising to 20 at Level 10. Its cooldown falls from 28 seconds to 23 at Max Level. A critical hit shortens Weeping Edge's cooldown, by 5 seconds at Level 1 and 10 at Level 9. Its cooldown falls from 30 seconds to 25 at Max Level.
His Ultimate, Swords of Lament, costs 900 Mana, falling to 875 at Level 5, 850 at Level 8 and 800 at Max Level. It hits one enemy four times. Each hit shortens a random Skill's cooldown, by 2 seconds at Level 1 and 6 at Level 10, and each critical hit fills his Titan Mana, 50 at Level 1 and 125 at Level 9.
Tearful Ax Shields him for 30% of the damage it deals at Level 1 and 60% at Level 10, and the Shield lasts 3 seconds at Level 1 and 6 at Max Level. His fifth Combo Attack shortens a random Skill's cooldown on each critical hit, by 1 second at Level 1 and 2 at Max Level.
If you want Aethis to deal as much damage as he can, prioritize Retribution Rain, as Max Level raises its damage limit to 200%. If you want him to cycle his Skills, upgrade Swords of Lament first, as Level 10 shortens a random Skill's cooldown by 6 seconds on each of four hits. If you want him to be sturdier while attacking, consider Tearful Ax, as Level 10 turns 60% of the damage it deals into a Shield.
Build And Team Support
Aethis relies on critical hits for cooldowns and Titan Mana, and he doesn't use Bleed or Burn, so build Crit Rate to about 75–80%, then as much Crit DMG as the build allows. Past that threshold, Crit DMG is worth more than more Crit Rate. Put Mana Gen on his Talisman for Arena, since Swords of Lament fills Titan Mana. Add Skill RECOV to bring Retribution Rain and Weeping Edge back sooner.
For Relic Sets, Crit Rate Relics help him reach the threshold, and Crit Damage Relics, or Predator for ATK and Crit DMG, raise each hit. Attack Relics raise the hit Retribution Rain multiplies. He has native Daze and Manaburn Tolerances.
Bring teammates who place many debuffs, such as Gralmund the Guidestone, and a Tank and a healer to keep him alive up close.
Arena, Bosses And Spires
In Arena, Aethis rewards a team that debuffs one target: Retribution Rain grows with each debuff, and Swords of Lament fills Titan Mana on critical hits. Be wary of enemy Invokers who cleanse debuffs, as Retribution Rain loses damage with every debuff they remove.
Against Fire Omnissi, his native Daze and Manaburn Tolerances match both of her Corruptions. Fire Omnissi is immune to Burn, so Aethis's damage has to come from other debuffs on her. Be wary of her Scorched Breath, which places Crit Rate Down, because his Skills lean on critical hits. Tearful Ax's Shield also helps him last through the Burn her attacks place on him.
In the Water Spire, good teammates in his Rarity are Gralmund the Guidestone, who places ACC Down, RES Down, Crit Rate Down and ATK Down and extends debuffs, and Tassia the Lost, who places area ATK Down, Shock, Launch and Blind and heals. Gralmund's debuffs feed Retribution Rain directly, and Tassia keeps the team standing.
Awaken
Awakening boosts an Invoker's stats significantly. Bonuses from Relics, Accessories, the Trophy Room, Tactics and Titan leader bonuses apply to base stats and Awakening stats alike, so unlocking the Awakening nodes is critical to maximise Aethis's potential.
Unlocking each Titan node at Star 2, 4 and 6 adds a second to Titan Invokation, taking the total from 12 seconds to 15.
Review the Awakening guide for more detail.