[Limbo] is typically built for specific mission types like Mobile Defense, Defense, Defection, etc. This usually puts him in the position of either max range, minimum range and large amounts of duration. However, there is another way to show enemies a magic trick if you're willing to put in some effort on the frontline of the battle.

Introducing COMBAT [Limbo].

This build is SPECIFICALLY tuned, down to the EXACT amount of 22.5% duration with quality stats outside of this for a single purpose: To become a dimension hopping frontline terror in survival and exterminate. A major bonus of this build is the precise amount of control over the banishment duration of your enemies. To that end, I have used the Helminth system to subsume [Khora]'s Ensnare ability in place of [Limbo]'s Stasis. Read on for an explanation of how this actually works.

Special Note

You will be killing enemies with your weaponry, NOT your powers. Because of this, please be sure to bring something with Punch through, enemy-chaining, aoe effect, or simply put: weapons with incredibly fast TTK (Time to kill). My personal choices for loadout in patch 31.0.11 include the Tenet Arca Plasmor, the Epitaph, and the Jat Kusar, but feel free to take your deadliest to the plate with you.

I would Strongly encourage you bring a Panzer Vulpaphyla companion with you in missions due to the nature of [Limbo] naturally dragging his companion between planes with him. This allows you to spread Viral status to nearly every enemy in the tile with little to no effort and even provides the companion unbelievable survivability.

One final note. This build does require, MANDATORY, that you run a decaying dragon key in your gear wheel. this will reduce your shield maximum value and cause your aura/augur set bonus to reset your shield gate much quicker and more reliably.

Explanation of Mod/Arcane Choice

• Aura: [Brief Respite] allows you to [Regen] shields quickly when casting abilities, similarly to the augur mod set bonus. This is crucial to resetting your innate shield gate and staying alive.

• [Rolling Guard] and [Primed Sure Footed]: Survivability mods and the only ones you'll need at that. [Rolling Guard] allows you to cleanse status and take advantage of split seconds to get to relative safety between dimensions by rolling. [Primed Sure Footed] if you have it, but if not, nab yourself a Handspring for a nearly identical effect without being locked behind login days.

• [Transient Fortitude], [Fleeting Expertise] (RANK 4): I cannot stress enough how important this part of the build is. Fleeting MUST be rank 4 and Transient MUST be maximized to [Reach] the exact duration of 22.5%. This is the crux of the build, allowing brief banishes and warranting ability spamming. This also nets you 150% efficiency and 155% strength for above average rift torrent amp and the crucial efficiency to an ability rotating build like this.

• [Augur Reach]: You don't need a lot of range to make this build work and [Augur Reach] satisfies the meager amount you want without going overboard. you want to control the number of banished enemies as best as possible so banishing too many at once could be problematic. if you prefer larger aoe's on your abilities, you could run Stretch instead.

• [Natural Talent]: This completely changes how [Limbo] feels and makes [Limbo] quite literally more survivable. less time casting = more time fighting. combiine with Amalgam Barrel Diffusion on a secondary weapon to give you faster shifting into the rift as well.

• [Vigorous Swap]: This is a flex slot of sorts, but with the way this chaotic build plays, you will likely be switching weapons frequently the higher level of enemies you face. this provides a faster weapon swap and an increase in dps when doing so. pretty straightforward. Alternatively, you could flex this into even more power strength with Umbral Intensify/Intensify to crank your Rift Torrent damage increase even further.

• [Rift Torrent]: Since Rift Surge is the most valuable ability in this build, [Rift Torrent] will allow you to effectively slaughter enemies at any level with precise control. With this build, 155% power strength yields a 46% damage increase for each enemy surged. 20 enemies surged = 920% damage increase. if you apply [Umbral Intensify] instead of [Vigorous Swap], the increase per enemy is 59%. 20 enemies surged = 1,180% damage increase. The choice is ultimately your preference here.

• [Primed Flow]: You don't want to be running around with low energy reserves in case something goes south. This ensures you'll have MORE than what you need to get the job done.

• Arcanes: Energize + [Flow] will always net you energy in case you run into Leeches and you can bail to get energy through these means. The second is personal preference, but make sure not to try using armor increases as these will not affect anything but your health, and this build hinges its survivability on shields and invulnerability phases from Rolling Guard. I'd recommend arcanes to increase your DPS from your chosen killing weapon. If it's your primary, try Arcane Rage/Acceleration. If Secondary, try Arcane Precision/Velocity. If Melee, try Arcane Fury/Strike. Just make sure it empowers your weapon of choice.

How do you use this build?

1. ENGAGE WITH BANISH: [Limbo] engages enemies by banishing them and rolling into the rift after them. Anyone you banish this way will be knocked down. the enemy is banished for a total of 5.6 seconds after you kick them into the rift. At this time, you can take them out OR move to the next step.

2. SURGE TARGETS: Enemies in here are gonna hop out so you can Rift surge targets in the rift. This makes it so when their banish would end, they INSTEAD get rebanished, falling down again and resetting their banish duration. This lets you keep enemies locked in the rift for as long as you would like by constantly surging them over and over. in addition, [Rift Torrent] amps your damage for each surged enemy, allowing you to nuke enemies with EXTREME DPS. You will regularly see a damage amp of 1000% or more with this build and playstyle.

3. "CROWD CONTROL": I Subsumed Ensnare into this build from [Khora] but if you don't have the helminth system, stasis will still have it's uses, even if briefly. while riftbound enemies could fight back given a moments' notice, you use larva to clump up large groups of enemies and take them out without retaliation. in addition, Clumping up enemies that are surged will spread the surge to nearby enemies in OR out of the rift when you kill enemies. This effectively gives you a rift variation of [Saryn] spores, just less DOT and more damage amp. Keep in mind, Ensnare can crowd control enemies THROUGH the rift plane allowing you to prevent attacks as you exit and start banishing enemies for your rotation.

• Cataclysm is a tool, not a crutch: Cataclysm still has a respectable 20.8 meter radius, allowing you to smash and grab a large aoe of enemies and drag them into the rift, Surge them, and close the cataclysm immediately after, knocking down everyone and keeping them in the rift. you can then re-surge them AGAIN and begin going on your rampage again. this combo is a large commitment and you will probably want to larva up a bunch of these enemies right away and get to killing.

FAQ

• "If you're spamming your abilities this much, won't energy be an issue?"

  Energy is not an issue in the slightest with this build. While in the rift, you passively generate 2 energy/second. additionally, every time you kill an enemy, you regain 10 energy. with 150% efficiency, banish and larva both cost 13 energy and rift surge costs 25. Essentially, if you kill enemies and perform the proper rotation of abilities, you will always GAIN more energy than you lose. this isn't even factoring in Arcane Energize or the large bursts of energy you will gain from wiping a larva full of riftbound enemies (10 enemies dying = 100 energy for you).

• "Without Helminth, what do i DO with stasis in this build? Isn't it functionally USELESS in this build?"

  If you don't have access to the Helminth system, Stasis still has its place. Time-stopping enemies will buy you a moment to Re-Surge enemies, especially in a cataclysm combo. as an alternative, you could utilize SPOILER MODE and the likes of Magus Anomaly to group up enemies. Otherwise, moving from enemy-to-enemy will still work, just less efficiently than using Ensnare/Larva.

• "Why not just go max range, max duration? Why a build that requires so much effort to play properly?"

  Because this build lets you be what I want [Limbo] to be: A tip of the hat and a swing of my blade to wipe a tileset of enemies. It also lets me run an unorthodox low duration build of Limbo that confuses the hell out of people when they see it.

• "I ended up dragging too many enemies into the rift plane, what do i do!?"

  Simply use your crowd control ability of choice on 2 and simply opt not to surge your targets again. This means they'll fall back out of the rift plane like normal when the 5.6 second banish times out. Engage at your leisure, but when you fight, unleash hell.

One final note that i feel is of paramount importance: This is merely one way to play [Limbo] for combat. From my experience (and it seems many others' as well now!), the results speak for themselves, but there are plenty of ways to play [Limbo] in game. Experiment, modify this build to your liking and most importantly, have fun doing it!

Now that my galaxy brain description is done, Cheers.

Happy hunting, Tenno.