Deskrawl Warrior Leveling Build: Thorns, Hook and Mana

The September 29 Warrior thread contains both Thorns and Hook-based approaches. Jnc describes a Thorns setup with defensive investment and supporting chest/shoulder items; other replies recommend Hook and warn that Half Moon Slash needs more mana investment. These are equipment-dependent routes, not proof that one is always fastest.

Start by checking whether the character lives long enough for the setup to do its job. Health, Armor and Thorns investment recur in the early Warrior discussion. In HypnosPlays’ starter video narration, health, armor and Magic Resistance are priorities alongside Thorns damage, particularly when approaching the spider encounters. Use that as a defensive checklist, not a fixed talent-rank prescription.

Thornheart Cuirass is a recurring supporting item in player reports, but pay attention to the version you are looking at. The official Black Mist listing requires level 70 and shows increased Thorns damage with a Max Health penalty. That particular item is not early leveling equipment. The older posts discuss ordinary Legendary drops, and do not give a verified current farming recipe for every version.

A September 30 Thorns player described dying to overlapping enemy death explosions. A reply suggested Half Moon Slash, Deadly Hook and Earthstrike as ranged options for that situation. The useful lesson is to identify what is killing you: a higher Thorns number does not itself solve damage that arrives after the enemies are dead.

When ranged enemies or awkward packs are slowing progress, try Half Moon Slash before assuming you must own its Legendary ring. In the October 1 build discussion, TheSmashedCrab explicitly recommends trying it without the ring, especially with Deadly Hook. Other replies favor Thorns, so compare the encounter your character is actually failing rather than switching because someone calls a build easy.

Mana is the condition to watch. The early Warrior discussion warns that Moon Slash can require substantial talent investment related to mana. Keep your existing functioning attack while you test how often the new attack fires across a whole stage and its boss. If it stalls repeatedly, improve its resource support before replacing the rest of the setup.

Make those changes between runs. Patch 1.0.2 says that equipping a different ability during ordinary combat starts it on its full effective cooldown, and abilities and talents cannot be changed during leaderboard-tracked combat. A mid-fight swap is therefore a poor way to compare two builds cleanly.

A Whirlwind setup or a complete Harvest Moon set can be a later project. Keep your present farm stable while collecting the skills and items for that transition. Check the current unlocks rather than relying on conflicting older level claims, and compare an entire boss fight before abandoning the build that currently works.

Harvest Moon damage demonstrations are especially version-sensitive. Patch 1.0.2 fixed a six-piece collision issue that allowed a Half Moon Slash blade to damage the same enemy twice during one pass. An older high-damage clip is not proof that a newly assembled set will reproduce the same result.