Virtus the Heavensent guide: skills, build and team roles
Overview
Virtus the Heavensent is a Legendary Light Tank from the Lightseekers in Invokers: Titan Legacy. His main appeal is protecting and recovering: Sacred Discipline takes part of the damage his allies receive, and Righteous Blessing revives fallen teammates with DEF Up. A team that loses its attacker early can still recover if Virtus stays alive and reaches Righteous Blessing.
His direct attacks scale from DEF, so building DEF improves his damage as well as his defence. HP still matters, because not all incoming damage is reduced by DEF, and taking redirected damage can exhaust a health pool even when his DEF is strong.
Fully Awakened and before Gear, Virtus has 383 ATK, 1,251 DEF and 12,294 HP. His ATK is high for a Tank, while his DEF and HP are among the highest.
His kit has no Taunt, so he doesn't force enemies to attack him. Instead, Sacred Discipline redirects a portion of the damage allies receive. That protects teammates wherever they're targeted, but it can put a heavy burden on Virtus himself.
Pure Fury gives Virtus personal Immunity. It blocks ordinary debuffs for its available charges and duration, but it isn't Willpower and doesn't protect against Control Debuffs. Holy Cleave can place Harden on him when it lands a critical hit, which gives Crit Rate a defensive purpose, but the buff is conditional, so a build with low Crit Rate shouldn't expect it to be always on. His fifth Combo Attack heals him for a percentage of damage dealt, which helps keep the front line standing while he keeps attacking. It isn't a fixed MAX HP heal and it doesn't restore the whole team, so a healer or Shield provider is still important when several allies send damage into him through Deflection.
Skills To Prioritize
Righteous Blessing combines an area attack, a revive for up to ten fallen allies and a DEF Up buff. At Level 1 it revives allies at 35% HP with 40% DEF Up for ten seconds and costs 900 Mana. At Level 10 it revives at 45% HP with 58% DEF Up for eighteen seconds and costs 850. Max Level reaches 55% HP, 60% DEF Up for twenty seconds and 800 Mana. These upgrades improve both the immediate recovery and the protection after it. It doesn't guarantee the revived allies survive the next hit, Block Revive can stop the revival, and Virtus has to survive long enough to build the Mana for it.
Sacred Discipline's Deflection redirects damage to Virtus rather than reflecting it back at the enemy. At Level 10 it redirects 38% for eleven seconds. Max Level reaches 40% for twelve seconds, with a shorter base cooldown. A stronger Deflection protects allies more, but asks more of Virtus.
Holy Cleave's Harden reaches 25% for thirteen seconds at Level 10, then fourteen seconds at Max Level, with the base cooldown falling to twenty seconds.
If you want Virtus to be your team's recovery anchor, prioritize Righteous Blessing, as each upgrade brings allies back with more HP and DEF Up for longer, and Max Level lowers its cost to 800 Mana. If you want him to protect allies through a long fight, consider upgrading Sacred Discipline first, but only once he can survive the extra damage: raise his survival, the Ultimate and the team's recovery together rather than maxing out redirection before he can carry its cost.
Build And Team Support
Build DEF first, then HP, then RES. Aim for about 300 RES for Bosses, and more for Arena. He doesn't place debuffs, so he doesn't need Accuracy. After that, add Mana Gen to reach Righteous Blessing sooner, and Skill RECOV to bring his active defensive Skills back faster. Crit Rate is useful for Holy Cleave's Harden, but judge it against the durability you give up to get it.
For Relic Sets, Defense Relics raise the DEF that his attacks and his survival both scale from, and Health Relics give him a bigger pool to absorb redirected damage. Mana Relics help him reach Righteous Blessing sooner, and Fury Relics bring his active defensive Skills back faster.
Partners that heal, Shield or control enemies keep him standing while his Ultimate becomes available, and he needs attackers and control alongside him to clear a floor. He doesn't cleanse the team's debuffs, so bring a cleanser too.
Arena, Bosses And Spires
In Arena, Virtus gives a lineup a way back after an enemy damage spike. Be wary of enemy teams that can remove him first, deny the revival or keep interrupting the Skills he needs to stabilise the fight.
Against Sorgott, Virtus's revive and DEF Up bring fallen allies back into the fight.
Against Galvos, who rewards buffs on your allies, Righteous Blessing's DEF Up helps with his damage mechanic. Even so, a revive can't make up for a team that doesn't deal enough damage.
Against Light Omnissi, be wary of the MAX HP cost attached to healing, which includes Virtus's own Combo heal. Against Astral Omnissi, be wary of stolen defensive buffs.
In the Light Spire, a multi-ally revive can rescue a difficult wave and make an early casualty less costly. His area Ultimate adds some damage, but pair him with the attackers and control you need to clear the floor. Don't build a Tank only because of his Rarity: ask whether your team needs revival and shared protection more than another damage dealer or a cleanser.
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 Virtus'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.
