Full Build Friday - Lucy [Human Witch]

Obviously, it wasn't only monsters that I was coming back with - the Full Build Fridays are back too! One of the last builds from last year was from Zenless Zone Zero, so I figured we might as well start back up with it. Keep in mind, this build is conceptualized entirely in a vacuum, with choices made in my best attempt to fit the character. These choices may not hold up in a campaign with different themes and should be adjusted accordingly.

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Get those engines roaring for Luciana Auxesis Theodoro de Montefio (aka Lucy) from Zenless Zone Zero!

Lucy from Zenless Zone Zero

LUCY

NAME Luciana Auxesis Theodoro de Montefio

SOURCE Zenless Zone Zero

BUILD GOALS

o    The daughter of a prestigious family, Lucy ran away from home and joined the Sons of Calydon biker gang in the Outer Ring

o    She is heavily involved in their Leaps and Bounds Express Services Company, bearing the title of Boar Thiren Overseer but serving as a sort of second-in-command to the gang’s leader, Caesar

o    She fights using a baseball bat and by commanding a trio of boar thirens, who fight with baseball bats, boxing gloves, and slingshots

o    Her special attack, Home Run, launches a guard boar in a Line Drive or Fly Ball before exploding to deal massive fire damage and activate Cheer On, increasing the attack of all allies

o    Walk-Off Home Run is her ultimate, which launches all the guard boars sequentially to deal massive fire damage and recovers the energy of her allies

o    Lucy’s guard boars can restore her own energy

o    When allies under the effects of Cheer On hit an enemy with a special attack, a guard boar drops from the sky to deal fire damage and extend the duration of the Cheer On effect

o    Through the Kaboom the Cannon W-Engine, she increases her entire team’s attack whenever a friendly unit hits an enemy

Summary of Goals: Lucy is ever-accompanied by her trio of boar thiren juniors who need to be at least somewhat combat capable. However, she does use these same boars to launch at enemies in violent explosions that bolster the attack ability of her allies, which is honestly a more prominent part of her kit. She can also drop boars on enemies even while off-field, so we might try to find a reaction or something to deal some damage out of turn. Outside of combat, she’s kind of the brain of the operations for the Sons of Calydon who is a capable and ruthless businesswoman.

LEVEL 1 

Ancestry & Heritage: Ifrit Human

o    Ability Boosts & Flaws: +Strength, +Intelligence

o    Ancestry Feat: Haughty Obstinacy

Background: Merchant

o    Ability Boosts: +Intelligence, +Charisma

o    Skill Increase: Diplomacy (T), Mercantile Lore (T)

o    Background Feat: Bargain Hunter

Class & Subclass: Wilding Steward Witch

o    Class Ability Boost: +Intelligence

o    Skill Increase: Acrobatics (T), Athletics (T), Crafting (T), Deception (T), Intimidation (T), Nature (T), Piloting (T), Society (T)

o    Known Spells: Cantrips – glamorize, guidance, ignition; 1^st – runic body, runic weapon, summon animal

o    Familiar/Master Abilities: Independent, Kindling, Manual Dexterity

Details

o    Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Intelligence, +Charisma (Str +2, Dex +1, Con +0, Int +4, Wis +0, Cha +2)

We start the build out simply enough with the human ancestry, which is honestly used for more mechanical purposes than anything else. We do spice it up a bit with the ifrit heritage, providing her with some fire resistance and giving her association with her element. As a human, she can gain Haughty Obstinacy, which is honestly a pretty perfect fit for her general personality. Now, given the status and nature of her affluent family, I did consider the noble background, but I think merchant ultimately fits her better given her family’s focus on business and her own highly mercenary attitude. Then, while I’m sure she would violently refute such a label, we’ll use the witch class for her. This gives her a mini-minion right off the bat, which we can use to represent one of her boar guards. To emulate this particular idea, we’ll begin with the independent and manual dexterity abilities so that it can run around on its own, but then we add the kindling ability as well, letting her blow up her familiar to empower a fire spell – sort of like how she bats them at enemies that ends in a big explosion. I know this doesn’t actually sacrifice them, but I think it captures the idea of it in spirit if nothing else. She does need a fire spell to make use of for this, so we have to grab ignition but she’s also a support agent, so I went to include spells such as guidance, runic body, and runic weapon, which can be used to enhance the attacks and even damage of her allies. She also gets summon animal from her patron, which I’ve actually managed to avoid mentioning until now. I like the primal spell list for her with all of its fire spells, and its ability to bring in summoned minions so I went for the Wilding Steward patron. This also lets her disrupt enemies with her wilding word, which isn’t quite in her purview but is handy.

Level 1 Lucy, Page 1

Level 1 Lucy, Page 2

Level 1 Lucy, Page 3

LEVEL 2

o    Class Feat: Beastmaster Dedication

o    Skill Feat: Intimidating Glare

o    Gear: enercycle

LEVEL 3

o    General Feat: Ancestral Paragon – Inner Fire

o    Skill Increase: Diplomacy (E)

o    Known Spells: 2^nd – blazing armory, blazing bolt, final sacrifice

o    Gear: +1 staff, enercycle, mudlily

LEVEL 4

o    Class Feat: Rites of Convocation

o    Skill Feat: Bon Mot

o    Gear: staff of fire, +1 staff, lesser everair mask, enercycle

LEVEL 5

o    Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Intelligence, +Wisdom (Str +3, Dex +2, Con +0, Int +4.5, Wis +1, Cha +2)

o    Ancestry Feat: Noble Resolve

o    Skill Increase: Society (E)

o    Known Spells: 3^rd – fireball, haste, horde of underlings, the four hunters

o    Gear: +1 striking staff, flaming star, staff of fire, lesser everair mask, enercycle, mudlily

As is tradition, we take an archetype in the second block, using the Beastmaster Dedication to add a boar companion to her coterie. I’ll let you decide which is Grassy, Woody, or Bricky, but we will eventually have all of them in her kit. Maybe you could have the summon she swaps in with Rites of Convocation be her third boar for now. This will mainly help her replenish her boar minions because we unlock how we’re going to represent her Home Runs, summoning animal with a 3^rd-rank spell so that she can call forth a boar. Boars have ferocity, which means once it triggers that and manages to survive an enemy’s attack, she can hit it with a final sacrifice to turn it into the grand explosion she’s known for. Through her skill feats, she picks up Intimidating Glare based on how she treats her boar guards whereas Bon Mot covers some of her snider remarks, such as those that she often makes at Caesar’s expense. She’s picking up two ancestry feats with the help of Ancestral Paragon to gain Inner Fire, which should be remastered into ignition. This could save her a cantrip spell slot, but you might not want to sacrifice using her Charisma instead of her Intelligence. She also has Noble Resolve, which has some similar reasoning behind it as using her Haughty Obstinacy earlier, but starts her off with that bonus against mental effects.

Aside from the aforementioned final sacrifice, a key point of her kit, you can find blazing bolt and fireball for some direct fire damage as well as blazing armory, which lets her arm her allies with some extra damage, especially when she starts heightening it. There is also the four hunters or haste as buffing options though its offer doesn’t entirely fit the buffs that she typically hands out. A much more recent release is horde of underlings, which Lucy could employ to summon an entire gang of boars to the battlefield.

LEVEL 6

o    Class Feat: Mature Beastmaster Companion

o    Skill Feat: Courtly Graces

o    Familiar/Master Abilities: Cantrip Connection

o    Gear: +1 explorer’s clothing, +1 striking staff, warcaller’s chime of destruction, staff of fire, necklace of knives, lesser everair mask

LEVEL 7

o    General Feat: Prescient Planner

o    Skill Increase: Diplomacy (M)

o    Spells Known: 4^th – elemental gift, radiant heart of devotion, Ymeri’s mark

o    Gear: wand of rolling flames (2^nd-rank), +1 explorer’s clothing, diplomat’s badge, +1 striking staff, flaming star, staff of fire

LEVEL 8

o    Class Feat: Incredible Beastmaster Companion

o    Skill Feat: Leverage Connections

o    Gear: barding saddle, moderate everair mask, wand of rolling flames (2^nd-rank), +1 explorer’s clothing, +1 striking staff, warcaller’s chime of destruction

LEVEL 9

o    Ancestry Feat: Multitalented – Bard Dedication

o    Skill Increase: Occultism (T), Performance (T), Society (M)

o    Spells Known: 5^th – flame dancer

o    Gear: +1 resilient explorer’s clothing, barding saddle, ash gown, wand of rolling flames (2^nd-rank), diplomat’s badge, +1 striking staff

LEVEL 10

o    Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Intelligence, +Charisma (Str +4, Dex +3, Con +0, Int +5, Wis +1, Cha +3)

o    Class Feat: Additional Companion

o    Skill Feat: Shameless Request

o    Gear: elemental wayfinder (fire), +1 resilient explorer’s clothing, greater staff of fire, barding saddle, wand of rolling flames (2^nd-rank), +1 striking staff

The class feats for this block are all about enhancing Lucy’s boar – and then adding a second one with Additional Companion. This gives her three little piggies, emphasis on ‘little’ for her familiar, even if she can’t have all of them on the field at once. That being said, I would mix some things up to keep them unique. In my case, I built Woody as a boar but Bricky is a war pig and you could further differentiate them with your choice of the savage or indomitable advancements fitting it the best since neither of them have Strikes with the finesse trait. Now, regrettably, we won’t have them wielding slings or bats, but I think you could flavor their weapons as something else and the war pig’s hoof attacks could be its boxing gloves. Now, given her family and the demands that she occasionally makes of them, I think Courtly Graces and Leverage Connections both suit her. Likewise, Shameless Request follows a similar theme as those, letting her make outlandish demands – I mean, requests of others. Prescient Planner represents her forward thinking, and then she uses Multitalented for a Bard Dedication, which will help her generate the buffs she best known for. Her big buffing spells for the block are elemental gift and flame dancer, the latter of which lets her very directly add some damage to her allies.

Level 10 Lucy, Page 1

Level 10 Lucy, Page 2

Level 10 Lucy, Page 3

Level 10 Bricky

Level 10 Woody

LEVEL 11

o    General Feat: Fleet

o    Skill Increase: Piloting (E)

o    Spells Known: 6^th – explosive barrage

o    Gear: +2 striking staff, elemental wayfinder (fire), moderate cape of illumination, +1 resilient explorer’s clothing, barding saddle, ash gown

LEVEL 12

o    Class Feat: Anthemic Performance

o    Skill Feat: Express Driver

o    Familiar/Master Abilities: Spell Battery

o    Gear: +2 resilient explorer’s clothing, +2 striking staff, crown of witchcraft, elemental wayfinder (fire), greater staff of fire, greater flaming star

LEVEL 13

o    Ancestry Feat: Charred Remains

o    Skill Increase: Piloting (M)

o    Spells Known: 7^th – volcanic eruption

o    Gear: +2 greater striking staff, +2 resilient explorer’s clothing, greater ash gown, crown of witchcraft, elemental wayfinder (fire), moderate cape of illumination

LEVEL 14

o    Class Feat: Specialized Beastmaster Companion

o    Skill Feat: Push It

o    Gear: hellfire boots, +2 greater striking staff, major staff of fire, +2 resilient explorer’s clothing, crown of witchcraft, wand of rolling flames (3^rd-rank)

LEVEL 15

o    Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Constitution, +Intelligence, +Charisma (Str +4.5, Dex +3, Con +1, Int +5.5, Wis +1, Cha +4)

o    General Feat: Prescient Consumable

o    Skill Increase: Diplomacy (L)

o    Spells Known: 8^th – clone companion

o    Gear: +2 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, hellfire boots, greater ring of the ram, +2 greater striking staff, hexing jar, greater ash gown

From that bard archetype, Lucy can take Anthemic Performance at level twelve, which might just be the best way to represent her buffs as it increases both attack and damage rolls – and enhancing Attack in ZZZ enhances the damage of the affected character. Naturally, we also have to enhance Woody and Bricky with a Specialized Beastmaster Companion. I think bully or wrecker fit them best and you could even split them between the two if you wanted to go that route. I did actually switch up the build a tiny bit and invested in Piloting some more, even borrowing a few skill feats for it given her association with the Sons of Calydon biker gang. Express Driver is a real useful feat for a character that is part of a logistics and delivery company and Push It lets her bring the Speed into active usage. She also enhances Prescient Planner into Prescient Consumable before rounding out her feats with Charred Remains. This is a neat ifrit feat that can turn an area fire spell into hazardous terrain as a free action, making it harder for enemies to close in on her. Speaking of those spells, while I’d mainly be looking to use her buffing alongside her summon animal and final sacrifice combo, this block does also features the likes of explosive barrage and volcanic eruption for more fire damage.

LEVEL 16

o    Class Feat: Lead the Pack

o    Skill Feat: Legendary Negotiation

o    Gear: greater flaming weapon rune, +2 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, major staff of elemental power, hellfire boots, +2 greater striking staff, major flaming star

LEVEL 17

o    Ancestry Feat: Blazing Aura

o    Skill Increase: Society (L)

o    Spells Known: 9^th – falling stars

o    Gear: +3 greater striking staff, greater flaming weapon rune, greater cape of illumination, +2 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, hellfire boots, greater ring of the ram

LEVEL 18

o    Class Feat: Coven Spell

o    Skill Feat: Power Slide

o    Familiar/Master Abilities: Spellcasting

o    Gear: crown of intellect, +3 greater striking staff, wand of rolling flames (7^th-rank), greater flaming weapon rune, +2 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, major staff of elemental power

LEVEL 19

o    General Feat: Incredible Initiative

o    Skill Increase: Piloting (L)

o    Spells Known: 10^th – primal herd

o    Gear: +3 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, crown of intellect, clockwork helm, +3 greater striking staff, greater flaming weapon rune, greater cape of illumination

LEVEL 20

o    Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Intelligence, +Wisdom (Str +5, Dex +4, Con +1, Int +6, Wis +2, Cha +4)

o    Class Feat: Pack Takedown

o    Skill Feat: Biographical Eye

o    Skill Increase: Survival (T)

o    Gear: +3 major striking staff, +3 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, greater crown of witchcraft, crown of intellect, major crown of the fire eater, wand of rolling flames (7^th-rank)

In the interest of getting all three piggies on the field, we work Lead the Pack and then Pack Takedown into her build. The last of these two works particularly well for the spin attacks that they will make during part of Lucy’s attack combo. Outside of that, we do actually finally return to the witch class to take a Coven Spell feat, granting her a reaction to bolster the damage of her allies and resembling the boar she launches from off-field when an ally uses a special attack. My other idea behind representing that is actually falling stars, which I think is a better representation visually, but only happens on her turn. Legendary Negotiation might feel like an odd fit given her fiery nature, but it makes use of her Diplomacy investment, a skill that she can also combo with Biographical Eye to learn about others and make the most out of them. She works Power Slide into her build as well because what motorcyclist wouldn’t try to work this into their build? Her heritage also leads to the inclusion of Blazing Aura, which is a damage-dealing reaction that buffs her teammates. Sure, it’s only once per day, but it is honestly amazing and the fact that it scales off of her spell DC is even better.

Level 20 Lucy, Page 1

Level 20 Lucy, Page 2

Level 20 Lucy, Page 3

Level 20 Bricky

Level 20 Woody

FREE ARCHETYPE SUGGESTIONS: We’ve honestly got the main archetypes that we want for. The only other options I would consider is something like Trick Driver or an equivalent option that Starfinder eventually releases. She could maybe takes some Bard Spellcasting and mainly pick up buffing spells, such as heroism, but she’d have to switch around some of her skill increases to go any farther with it. With her freed-up class feats, I’d look at the likes of Enhanced Familiar, Detonating Spell, and perhaps Major Lesson for a Lesson of Bargains given her business focus.

BUILD CONCLUSION

Lucy is an ifrit human witch, gifted magic by a wilding steward patron and having a background as a merchant, which works with her Courtly Graces to reference her affluent background. For her current position as a member of a biker gang, we have her Piloting skill and its skill feats while her Diplomacy should help her get the best deals as part of the Leaps and Bounds company. A club or staff stands in for her bat as a weapon, and we represent her boar trio with her familiar and the paired animal companions from her Beastmaster archetype. Using the witch familiar specifically works nicely since it means that Grassy will gain more abilities with her leveling. She could also summon more boars with the summon animal spell, which she can then launch at enemies in a fiery explosion with final sacrifice in an attempt to replicate her Home Run abilities. Doing so should activate her Cheer On benefits and while early on, she has guidance, runic weapons, and elemental gift, the courageous anthem that she gets from her bard archetype is probably the best way to represent her effects. She can’t entirely recover the energy of her allies, but the Spell Battery familiar ability can help her regain spells or ‘energy’ of her own. For the raining boars created when an ally with Cheer On uses a special attack, she can use Coven Spell to bolster their damage and flavor it as one of her falling boars – or she can use falling stars to rain down on foes a bit more actively.

Brash and boisterous, this blonde biker babe belittles and bosses about boar buddies to bludgeon and bomb baddies in blistering bursts while bolstering her own bravado-bearing band.

Lemme know what you think and what other builds you would like to see!

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Have a fantastic Friday!