Ballus the Bull guide: skills, build and team roles
Overview
Ballus the Bull is a Rare Fire Tank from the Lightseekers Faction in Invokers: Titan Legacy. He brings two useful tools to a developing team: Bull Rage places Taunt on up to eight enemies in front of him, pulling their Combo Attacks onto Ballus and away from your damage dealers, and Bull Horn places Heal Reduction on one target. His Ultimate, Bull Rush, charges through a narrow path and places Burn on every enemy it hits. Taunt is scarce, and Ballus is one of a handful of Invokers who place it.
Fully Awakened and before Gear, Ballus has 289 ATK, 776 DEF and 9,016 HP. His ATK is high for a Rare Tank, while his DEF and HP are on the low side for a Tank. His attacks scale from both ATK and DEF, so DEF adds to his damage as well as his survival.
Ballus has no heal or Shield of his own, so a successful Taunt means he takes the attacks he draws. Bring a healer to keep him on his feet.
Skills To Prioritize
Bull Rage attacks the eight enemies with the lowest current HP in a six-metre semicircle in front of Ballus, so where he stands decides who gets taunted. Taunt grows from three seconds at Level 1 to seven at Level 10, and forces those enemies to attack Ballus with only their Combo Attacks. Max Level keeps seven seconds and lowers the cooldown from 24 to 22 seconds. Taunt needs Accuracy and an enemy that can be taunted, and Bosses are usually immune to Control Debuffs, so don't count on it as guaranteed downtime.
Bull Horn places Heal Reduction on one enemy. It's 50% from Level 1, 60% from Level 5 and 75% at Level 10, and its duration grows from eight seconds to 12 by Level 8. Max Level extends it to 14 seconds and lowers the cooldown from 24 to 22 seconds. It needs Accuracy to land, and 75% still lets part of a heal through.
Bull Rush places Burn on each enemy in the path, and the Burn also hurts that enemy's allies within six metres. At Level 10 the Burn ticks for 1.5% of MAX HP every two seconds for nine seconds, capped at 250% of Ballus's ATK per tick. Max Level extends it to ten seconds, raises the cap to 300% and lowers the Mana cost from 850 to 800. That cap comes from his ATK when the Burn is placed, so against a Boss with a lot of HP it's the cap that limits the damage, not the percentage. Treat Burn as extra damage, not the reason to build him.
Bull Crush, his first Skill, is a single-target attack with a ten-second cooldown that scales from ATK and DEF.
If you want Ballus to protect your team through waves, upgrade Bull Rage first, as Taunt reaches seven seconds at Level 10 and Max Level shortens its cooldown. If you want your Ballus ready for a fight where the enemy heals, upgrade Bull Horn first, as Level 10 raises Heal Reduction to 75%.
Build And Team Support
Ballus places Taunt, Heal Reduction and Burn, so build DEF first, then HP, then RES, with Accuracy on his Chestplate and as much Accuracy after that as the build allows. About 300 RES is enough for Bosses. Arena wants more, because a debuff that lands on him there can cost you the fight. Add Skill RECOV so Bull Rage comes back sooner. ATK raises the cap on his Burn, but not at the cost of the DEF and HP he needs to survive.
For Relic Sets, Defense Relics raise the DEF that his attacks scale from, and Health Relics add to his low HP. Accuracy Relics help Taunt, Heal Reduction and Burn land more consistently, and Resistance Relics help stop him being disabled in Arena. Fury Relics add Skill RECOV for Bull Rage. Against Sorgott, whose damage is mostly Manaburn that ignores DEF, Manaburn Tolerance Relics help more than extra DEF.
Pair him with a healer, because his own kit has neither healing nor a Shield. Your damage dealers do the damage while he holds the enemy's attention.
Arena, Bosses And Spires
In Arena, Bull Rage can pull attacks off fragile allies when it catches enemies that can be Taunted, and Bull Horn cuts a healer's output. Enemies outside the semicircle in front of him aren't taunted, so a spread-out team is harder to catch, and he needs enough RES and healing to survive what he draws.
Against Ulgorim, Taunt doesn't work because he's immune to crowd control. Use Bull Horn when Warchant starts: at Level 10 its 75% Heal Reduction cuts the healing from his Power Totems, and the ATK he gains from that healing, for 12 seconds. Ballus's native Blight Tolerance also softens the Blight from Ogryn Fury and the Bone Totem.
Against Hyxxis, Ensacment prioritises Tanks, and a Tank only loses 10% of his current HP each tick, so Ballus can take it instead of your other Invokers. Taunt doesn't work on her because she's immune to crowd control. Each Burn Bull Rush places on her also shortens Ensacment's cooldown by one second through her Sludger passive, so cast it knowing the next Ensacment comes sooner.
Against Sakiel, who takes 50% less damage from Burn and speeds up his Skills from Burn ticks, don't rely on Bull Rush. Bull Horn is the better Skill against Demon Sakiel, as it reduces the heal he channels after Cursed Wings, though 75% isn't the full 100% that stops it. Fire Omnissi is immune to Burn, so Bull Rush's Burn does nothing against her.
The Fire Spire is the clearest fit when your roster needs frontline control. Bull Rage can pull up to eight enemies onto Ballus, and Bull Rush's Burn also hurts the enemies around its target. Keep a healer behind him so he survives the attacks he draws.
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 Ballus'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.
