Discover how to create the best Stun build in Avowed, with recommendations for skills, attributes, weapons, companions and leveling progression!
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Avowed is a first-person RPG developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Xbox Game Studios. Set in the Pillars of Eternity universe, the game takes place in the Living Lands, where you are uncovering a secret mystery. A Stun build in Avowed is great for tactical players who prefer disrupting enemies and controlling fights. However, careful positioning is required and is best paired with high-damage follow-up strategies.
Selecting the right companion is essential as they can save your life and give you opportunities to stun the enemies. Attributes play an important role in this build as your gameplay mostly depends on them, so allocate the points wisely. In this guide, we’ll cover the best Avowed Stun build and the gameplay tips along with gear to choose from.
Everything You Need To Know About Stun Build Guide in Avowed
A Stun build in Avowed revolves around maximizing stun damage to interrupt enemies. This allows you to disable them permanently and set up high-damage follow-up attacks. Our Stun build includes Great Hammer and Greatsword to inflict high stun effects on the enemy. Kai and Yatzli are the best companions, aiding you in intense combat. Their abilities allow you to stun a single enemy or a cluster of enemies during the ongoing battle. Might, Constitution, and Dexterity are the three main attributes to invest in. The more you invest attribute points in these stats the more your character can stun the foes.
Abilities like Charge, Barbaric Shout, and Stunning Blows are the best ones to unlock to inflict a stun status of effect on the foes. Kai is a reliable companion who excels in tanking enemies, drawing their attention, and providing you with opportunities to apply stun effects. Use the Barbaric Shout to unlock a powerful roar that interrupts enemies and bolsters your attacks’ stun potential. However, the build has lower direct damage output and is heavily melee-dependent.
Stun Build Pros | Stun Build Cons |
---|---|
Crowd Control | Lower Direct Damage |
Strong Against Single Targets & Groups | Heavily Melee-Dependent |
Synergizes With Melee Weapons | Less Effective in Large Battle |
Stun Build Features & Mechanics
Below are the essential best Stun build features and mechanics for Avowed:
- Background: War Hero
- Attribute Points: Might, Constitution, Dexterity
- Weapon Choices: Great Hammer and Greatsword
- Best Skills: Staggering Shot, Stunning Blows, Barbaric Shout, Bear Ally, Charge
- Recommended Companions: Kai and Yatzli
- Best Consumables: Fine Aedyran Mead, Fiorian Rice Wine, Darkest Rauataian Chocolate Cookie
Related:
Background
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War Hero is the best background for the Stun build in Avowed. This background stands out as the most suitable choice for players aiming to maximize their stun capabilities. Select the War Hero background to unlock unique dialogue options that reflect the character’s military history and esteemed position within the emperor’s forces. War Hero offers a robust foundation for players seeking a formidable melee combatant. The War Hero initiates with a spear, showing their specialized training and combat experience. This background has more health, stamina, and resistance to status effects. This is the best background to choose if your playstyle favors a stunning effect during combat.
Background plays a pivotal role in shaping your role-playing experience. It affects your dialogue options and determines your starting weapon during the tutorial. Your initial allocation of attribute points across six stats is also influenced. However, they do not restrict your access to any equipment or abilities as the game progresses. Regardless of your background, you can use any equipment and abilities. Avowed enriches your character’s backstory and provides initial attribute distributions and dialogue options by selecting the background.
Attribute Points
Might, Constitution, and Dexterity are the best attributes for the Avowed Stun build. These attributes emphasize physical prowess and durability, essential for a Stun build. Invest more points in Might to enhance overall damage output, which amplifies the impact of stun attacks. It ensures that your attacks are both powerful and effective in applying stun effects. Constitution boosts your maximum health and resistance to poison and bleed effects, allowing you to maintain pressure on enemies.
Dexterity, on the other hand, increases attack speed and action speed. This creates the opportunities to stun enemies using the equipped weapons. This is particularly beneficial when using weapons or abilities that have stun components. You can enhance your character’s ability to control the battlefield by allocating your attribute points to these stats. You can earn additional attribute points upon leveling up, offering opportunities to customize your build. Enhance your attribute points by using the consumables you acquire while progressing. You can select 27 attributes at a max level of 30. Below are the attribute points distribution for the build in Avowed.
- Intellect: 1
- Might: 12
- Constitution: 5
- Dexterity: 4
- Perception: 3
- Resolve: 2
Weapon Choices
Great Hammer and Greatsword are the best weapons for the Avowed Stun build. These weapons deal significant stun damage, allowing you to dominate enemies on a battlefield. However, using these weapons for the Stun build consumes stamina that can leave you vulnerable when it depletes. Greatswords are the best weapons when it comes to stunning some high-level enemies in combat. Greathammer, combined with the Stun abilities, can make you a lethal character.
Great Hammer is a formidable two-handed melee weapon renowned for their exceptional damage and stun capabilities. However, their considerable weight results in slower attack speeds and higher stamina consumption. Great Hammers offer high block efficiency, allowing players to defend effectively. You can acquire Great Hammer through exploration, defeating specific enemies, or purchasing from merchants. The Common Great Hammer can be looted from Steadman Ralke at Fort Northreach. You can even upgrade it at the workbenches using the required materials to make them more effective in combat.
Greatswords are two-handed weapons and are perfect for inflicting a stunning effect on foes. This will make the enemies vulnerable and give you free room to eliminate them with the highest possible attack. Use this weapon to balance reach, power, and blocking capability, making them effective for offense and defense. It is effective against multiple enemies due to its longer reach than smaller melee weapons. This is ideal for players who prefer heavy-hitting melee combat due to their damage, crowd control, and Stun effects.
Stun
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Stun is a unique mechanic in Avowed that players have a crucial role in combat, allowing you to temporarily incapacitate enemies and execute powerful attacks. Each enemy has a yellow stun meter under their health bar. This meter fills when they receive physical damage. The enemy becomes stunned when the meter is full. This makes them vulnerable to a devastating special attack.
The weapon you use to inflict stun status of effect on the enemy determines the rate at which the stun meter fills. Weapons like maces, rifles, and two-handed hammers inflict more stun damage per hit. Other weapons like swords, pistols, and daggers contribute less. However, the Axes offer a balanced approach, delivering moderate stun damage with normal attack speed. You can upgrade your weapons to boost their stun potential.
Stunning Blow and Staggering Shot
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Stunning Blow and Staggering Shot are the best passive abilities within the Fighter and Ranger skill tree. The Stunning Blows increases your attacks with maces and two-handed hammers to deal additional stun damage. Staggering Shot increases your attacks with bows and guns to deal increased stun damage. Synergize these abilities with your equipped to make them more lethal, inflicting more stun effects on the nearby froes.
Skill Selection
The game allows you to unlock skills at each level, starting at 2. One level gives you one more skill point to place in one of three skill trees. You can mix and match skill trees, but Fighter and Ranger synergize. Moreover, you can reset skills at any time with gold, though it gets more expensive the more levels you increase.
Levels 1-10 Skills
Charge, Piercing Thrusts, Barbaric Shout, and Devastating Criticals are the best skills to unlock at the initial stages. Invest skill points to gain the skills that can keep you alive in the initial stages of the game. Passive skills are used to increase damage, stun chance, or survivability, while active skills require essence, and you can’t use them due to their cost.
Below is a list, in order, of the skills for the Best Stun Build for Avowed from levels 1 to 10:
Level | Skill Name | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|---|
1 | None | ||
2 | Charge Rank 1 | Fighter | Dash forward and smash into anything in your way, interrupting enemies and dealing Explosive Damage to break enemy Blocks, destroy walls, and shatter frozen enemies for bonus damage. |
3 | Toughness Rank 1 | Fighter | Increases your Maximum Health by 20%. |
4 | Evasive Rank 1 | Ranger | Reduces the Stamina cost of Dodge by 25%. |
5 | Piercing Thrusts Rank 1 | Ranger | Power Attacks with daggers, swords, and spears deal +25% damage. |
6 | Barbaric Shout Rank 1 | Fighter | Let out a fearsome roar that interrupts enemies and empowers you against larger foes. Your weapon attacks become Uninterruptable and deal higher Stun. |
7 | Devastating Criticals | Fighter | Critical Hits with melee weapons deal 30% more damage. |
8 | Brawn Rank 1 | Fighter | Increases damage with two-handed melee weapons by 25%. |
9 | Scavenger Rank 1 | Ranger | When picking herbs, occasionally receive an extra Upgrade Material. |
10 | Power Slide Rank 1 | Ranger | Your slides pass through enemies and knock them down at the cost of 20 Essence. |
Levels 11-20 Skills
Power Jump, Stunning Blows, and Bear Ally are the best skills for the Stun build after reaching level 11. Upgrade your equipped abilities to make them more effective in combat. You need to enhance the Stun hit chance as you’ll be encountering high-level enemies equipped with heavy armor.
Below is a list, in order, of the skills for the Best Stun Build for Avowed from levels 11 to 20:
Level | Skill Name | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|---|
11 | Charge Rank 2 | Fighter | Increases the distance traveled during Charge by 100% |
12 | Barbaric Shout Rank 2 | Fighter | Barbaric Shout grants Temporary Health and Taunts all nearby enemies. |
13 | Power Jump Rank 1 | Fighter | Press crouch while in the air to slam to the ground, interrupting nearby enemies. The area of effect and amount of Stun dealt increases based on your fall height. |
14 | Stunning Blows Rank 1 | Fighter | Power Attacks with maces and two-handed hammers deal +25% Stun. |
15 | Retribution Rank 1 | Fighter | After taking damage from an enemy, your next attack within 5 seconds deals +70% of the original damage you received. |
16 | Bear Ally Rank 1 | Ranger | Summon a bear ally to aid you in battle for 30 seconds. |
17 | Stunning Blows Rank 2 | Fighter | Power Attacks With maces and two-handed hammers deal +40% Stun. |
18 | Power Jump Rank 2 | Fighter | You are immune to non-lethal fall damage while Power Jumping. The damage dealt to enemies scales with the height of your fall. |
19 | Brawn Rank 2 | Fighter | Increases damage with two-handed melee weapons by 40%. |
20 | Barbaric Shout Rank 3 | Fighter | Increases the duration by 10 seconds. |
Levels 21-30 Skills
Upgrade your abilities to the higher rank to make them more effective and deal more Stun hits during intense combat. The more your abilities are of high level the more you get chances for the Stun hits.
Below is a list, in order, of the skills for the Best Stun Build for Avowed from levels 21 to 30:
Level | Skill Name | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|---|
21 | Staggering Shot Rank 1 | Ranger | Power Attacks with bows and guns deal +40% Stun. |
22 | Inspiring Triumph Rank 1 | Fighter | Killing enemies restores 10% of your Companion’s Maximum Health. |
23 | Stunning Blows Rank 3 | Fighter | Power Attacks with maces and two-handed hammers deal +50% Stun. |
24 | Brawn Rank 3 | Fighter | Increases damage with two-handed melee weapons by 50%. |
25 | Power Jump Rank 3 | Fighter | Power lump costs 0 Essence. |
26 | Charge Rank 3 | Fighter | Increases the Stun dealt by Charge by 50% |
27 | Piercing Thrusts Rank 2 | Ranger | Power Attacks with daggers, swords, and spears deal +35% damage. |
28 | Staggering Shot Rank 2 | Ranger | Power Attacks with bows and guns deal +70% Stun. |
29 | Bear Ally Rank 2 | Ranger | Your bear ally roars when summoned, Taunting enemies and increasing the damage it deals. |
30 | Staggering Shot Rank 3 | Ranger | Power Attacks with bows and guns deal +90% Stun. |
Best Stun Skills Explained
Staggering Shot, Stunning Blows, Barbaric Shout, Bear Ally, and Charge are the best skills for the Avowed Stun build. Staggering Shot is a passive ability that enhances the stunning potential of your power attacks when using bows and firearms. Stunning Blows is a passive ability that increases the stun effect of your power attacks when wielding maces and two-handed hammers. Barbaric Shout is an active ability that allows you to unleash a powerful roar, disrupting enemies and enhancing your combat capabilities. Bear Ally allows you to summon a beat to help you in combat. Charge is an active ability that enables you to dash forward, disrupting enemies and dealing explosive damage upon impact.
- Bear Ally- Summons a bear to fight alongside you, drawing enemy attention.
- Staggering Shot- Increases the stun dealt by power attacks with bows and guns.
- Stunning Blows- Enhances the stun effect of your power attacks with maces and two-handed hammers.
- Barbaric Shout- Unleash a fearsome roar, interrupting enemies and empowering your weapon attacks with increased stun and uninterrupted actions.
- Charge- Charge is essential for reaching targets out of range. Don’t spam the ability, as it can drain your essence.
Companions
Kai and Yatzli are the two best companions for the Avowed Stun build. Yatzli is an area damage and debuff specialist and Kai is the tank companion, complementing your playstyle. Kai’s Fire and Ire ability fires a powerful shot from his blunderbuss, dealing significant stun damage to a single enemy. His abilities are designed to control the battlefield by drawing enemy attention and applying stun effects. This is an excellent choice for players who enjoy stun-centric strategy. Yatzli’s Arduous Delay of Motion slows down an enemy for 10 seconds. Her blast ability allows her to attack and burst into a small area of effect.
While her passive increases area stun effects, the other abilities offer crowd control by slowing and freezing enemies. Kai excels at drawing enemy attention and absorbing damage. His Leap of Daring ability allows him to charge into battle and gather enemies. This creates opportunities for you to attack from a distance. The Second Wind ability allows Kai to revive himself once per encounter. Yatzli’s abilities, like Essence Explosion and Minoletta’s Missile Battery, can deal significant damage to a cluster of enemies. Yatzli is a ranged magic damage dealer who excels in delivering high burst damage from a distance.
Kai
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Skill 1 | Skill 2 | Skill 3 | Skill 4 |
---|---|---|---|
Fire and Ire | Unbending Defense | Leap of Daring | Second Wind |
Fires a powerful shot from his blunderbuss | Regenerate Health and increase his Damage Reduction by 25% | Crashes down upon the enemy, Stunning and Taunting all nearby enemies | Revives himself when his health is reduced to zero |
Yatzli
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Skill 1 | Skill 2 | Skill 3 | Skill 4 |
---|---|---|---|
Essence Explosion | Minoletta’s Missile Battery | Arduous Delay of Motion | Blast |
Increases the size of the blast caused by Essence Explosion. | Increases the rate of fire for missiles from Minoletta’s Missile Battery. | Creates an area of effect that afflicts all enemies within its radius. | Deals explosive damage, breaking enemy Blocks, destroying walls, and shattering frozen enemies for bonus damage. |
Stun Gameplay & Tips
Use Kai and Yatzli as your companions in Avowed. They can provide you opportunities to deal massive damage to the enemies. Allocate your points in Might, Constitution, and Dexterity to enhance your stun capabilities with the equipped weapons. Get your hands on the Great Hammer and Great Sword to inflict high stun effects on the enemies. Use skills like Barbaric Shout, Charge, and Parry to stun the foes. Barbaric Shout emits a powerful roar that interrupts enemies, makes your attacks uninterruptible, and increases stun damage.
Use the Charge ability to initiate the combat as it allows you to dash forward, smashing into enemies to interrupt and deal explosive damage. Allocating attribute points in Might increases physical damage, enhancing the impact of your stun attacks. Constitution, on the other hand, enhances your health pool, allowing you to withstand frontline combat. Follow up with Barbaric Shout and Shield Bash to keep enemies incapacitated. Resolve in another attribute that improves your resistance to being stunned, ensuring you can maintain offensive pressure.
Weapons and Armor
Beginner
Slot | Item | Bonus |
---|---|---|
Weapon 1 | Fine Great Hammer | 111 Physical Damage 108 Stun 25 Stamina Cost 3% Critical Hit Chance |
Secondary Weapon | The Philosopher’s Riddle | 284 Physical Damage 260 Stun 20 Stamina Cost 3% Critical Hit Chance |
Armor | Stealgar’s Pride | 18% Damage Reduction -35 Maximum Stamina -30 Maximum Essence |
Gloves | Death Knight Gloves | -10% Stamina cost while blocking |
Boots | Arcanist’s Boots | +10% Move Speed |
Trinket | Berath’s Blessed Ward | -5% damage from Vessels |
Ring | Ring of Pain Amplification | +15% Critical Damage |
Ring | Ring of the Founder | +10% Damage against enemies will full Health |
Locations
- Fine Great Hammer (Great Hammer)- Location is Dawnshore. Can be purchased from Gwyneth in the Market District of Paradis, Dawnshore.
- The Philosopher’s Riddle (Greatsword)- Location is Dawnshore. Found in the ruined building on the northwest of Castol’s Folly in Dawnshore.
- Stealgar’s Pride- Location is Dawnshore. Found in a boarded-up cave underneath Watcher’s Mirror on the eastern cliff as part of the Treasure Map.
- Death Knight Gloves- Location is Emerald Stair. Kill Captain Aelfyr at the end of the Emerald Stair chapter.
- Arcanist’s Boots- Location is Dawnshore. Found in a chest on top of the Lighthouse southwest of Claviger’s Landing.
- Berath’s Blessed Ward- Location is Emerald Stair. Complete the side quest “Elder Offerings” in Emerald Stair and don’t report the food theft.
- Ring of Pain Amplification- Location is Emerald Stair. Obtained from Dolina as a reward for defeating Amadio and the Xaureps in the Fortified Xaurep Camp in the northeastern Grim Wetlands of Emerald Stair.
- Ring of the Founder- Found in the Ancient Grotto, on the body of the Idol of Secret Hatred Totem Piece.
Advanced
Slot | Item | Bonus |
---|---|---|
Weapon 1 | Inevitability | 333 Physical Damage 351 Stun 25 Stamina Cost 3% Critical Hit Chance |
Secondary Weapon | Hel’s Tongue | 284 Physical Damage 260 Stun 20 Stamina Cost 3% Critical Hit Chance |
Armor | Councilor’s Garb | +50% Stealth Attack Damage |
Gloves | Sentinel Gloves | +15% Stun |
Boots | Berserker Boots | -10% incoming Fire, Frost, and Shock Damage |
Trinket | Cartographer’s Companion | +1 Dex, +2 Perception |
Ring | Disciple’s Ring | +60 Maximum Essence |
Ring | Ring of Greater Overseeing | +20% area of effect damage |
Locations
- Inevitability (Great Hammer)- Location is The Garden. Found embedded in a dead Maegfolc’s chest in the southern part of the Broken Aqueduct.
- Hel’s Tongue (Greatsword)- Location is Shatterscarp. Found atop Twin Offerings Overlook, past the Bounty target Xaurip Chief Grithin, and up by the Ancient Memory.
- Councilor’s Garb- Location is Galawain’s Tusks. Kill Kostya toward the end of the Main Story Quest “Our Dreams Divide Us Still.”
- Sentinel Gloves- Location is Galawain’s Tusks. Found in the building on the north side of Ash Forest Outpost. Head up the stairs towards where you rescue Petru, but take a right to jump over and drop into the building.
- Berserker Boots- Location is Galawain’s Tusks. Found in a chest in the Outcast Cave Camp west of Warden’s Rest.
- Cartographer’s Companion- Location is Galawain’s Tusks. Found on a dead dwarf near the Bounty target Urvolnau west of Berath’s Bounty.
- Disciple’s Ring- Location is Galawain’s Tusks. In a chest inside Razvan’s Hut in the Lost Village.
- Ring of Greater Overseeing- Location is Galawain’s Tusks. Found behind a destructible wall in the Northern Warden Tower.
Consumables
Fine Aedyran Mead is a consumable that grants you +2 Perception and +10% Maximum Essence. Fiorian Rice Wine provides you with +20% Maximum Stamina. Darkest Rauataian Chocolate Cookie is another best consumable that gives you +1 Perception and Dexterity, +10% Movement Speed. You need to take three points into the survivalist skill in the ranger tree. Once unlocked, you can craft advanced food and buffs that drastically increase your survivability, damage, and regeneration.
FAQs about Stun Build in Avowed
What is the best Stun build in Avowed?
The best Stun build uses Great Hammer and Greatsword to inflict high stun effects on the enemy. Might, Constitution, and Dexterity are the best attributes for the Avowed Stun build.
Which is the best Background for Stun build?
War Hero is the best background for the Stun build in Avowed. This background is the most suitable choice for players aiming to maximize their stun capabilities.
Which are the best skills for Stun build?
Staggering Shot, Stunning Blows, Barbaric Shout, Bear Ally, and Charge are the best skills for the Avowed Stun build.
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