How to Play an Aggressive Ammo Build

There are two key components to focus on when you’re looking to play an aggressive Ammo build. The first and most obvious is good Weapons. The second is an optimal level-up strategy.

Let’s begin with our ideal Weapons of choice.

One of Vanessa’s best Weapons is her Double Barrel. This Weapon has two things every item loves to have; a low Cooldown and Multicast. It also deals a ton of Damage.

Its only real drawback is its limited Ammo, but as you’ll later see, there are many ways we can mitigate this.

Double Barrel

It’s hard to ignore the sheer power and speed of Throwing Knives. Even without an infinite Reload combo it still offers some of the highest available damage, especially for just a single Small item slot.

Obviously the higher the Crit you have access to, the better. Though it’s still perfectly serviceable with an average to moderate Crit Chance.

Throwing Knives

Double Barrel and Throwing Knives are pretty far above many of the other Ammo items. These two items often present the majority of your burst Damage in a fight.

This makes Cannonball an incredible inclusion. For just a single slot it will nearly double your Damage output of your two best items.

The Ammo amount given scales with its tier, so try to upgrade it when you can. 

Cannonball

Apart from those three core Ammo items, the rest of your arsenal will vary. In general, it’s better to acquire multiple Small Weapons as this will play into key component number two; optimal level-up strategy.

Everyone knows it’s important to gain levels, but for an aggressive Vanessa build, it’s essential. Vanessa has a lot of Weapon buffs in her level-up rewards pool. These allow you to turn even the most mediocre Weapons into a real threat.

Let’s take a look at some examples.

No Pain No Gain is Vanessa’s prime early game choice. This is a flat bonus, meaning the Damage and Crit Chance values offered are the exact same no matter what level you are.

This is a crazy boost in the initial days, while also having a minimal drawback since early levels have low Max Health. Do be cautious of taking this in the later days though, as the 10% Max Health usually isn’t worth the +10/+5% bonus. 

No Pain No Gain

On the flip side, Force Amplifier and Showcase Arsenal can be great pickups later on for their solid, no-drawback Damage boosts.

Be sure to hang onto extra Weapons in your stash, even if you don’t need them. Unless you’re in need of gold, keeping these stored away will help amplify your Damage with Showcase Arsenal. It’s a good strategy to get the most out of your level-ups.

Force Amplifier

Showcase Arsenal

The other types of rewards you want to look for are Max Ammo buffs. Locked and Loaded is the clear choice for a direct increase, but provided you have a Friend, Scavenger Hunt has pretty good odds of finding Gunpowder.

Locked and Loaded

Scavenger Hunt

Gunpowder

So now that we’ve covered the “Why”, next let’s look at the “How”. By far the easiest way to get consistent XP with Vanessa is through her special interaction with The Docks.

Star Chart is a very easy item to find early on from Medium vendors. Grab this and you’ll have access to six gold and two XP every time you encounter The Docks.

Note: Astrolabe is an alternative to Star Chart, but is generally harder to find and is only available at Silver+ compared to Star Chart at Bronze.

Star Chart

The Docks Event

While the rest of the build can be pretty flexible, here are some great items to look for that Kripp used in his flawless run.

Bolas is a common early Ammo item that has decent damage, a short Cooldown, and offers great utility with its Slow effect.

In addition to being useful on its own, this opens the door for skill synergy later see examples listed at the bottom).

Bolas

Speed is the name of the game and Uzi is one of the fastest Weapons out there. Unfortunately it’s a Dooley item, making it harder to come by.

While not required, if you happen to see the Scout Trooper PvE Encounter, it’s an excellent potential drop. Bolas and Gunpowder are also available, making it a great fight to choose even if you don’t get Uzi. 

Uzi

Pet Rock is a great choice for an Ammo build since you generally won’t have any other Friends. It’s a solid Crit boost while still being a Weapon that can benefit from your level-up Damage scaling.

Pet Rock

This is a great accelerator if you have multiple Small items. There are very few items in the game that have “start of each fight” triggers. Holsters will kick start the build even quicker. 

Holsters

The final supporting item ties in nicely with the aggressive leveling game plan. On board it gives a respectable amount of Crit Chance to all your items. But best of all, the XP it provides will help continue your snowball as you speedrun to victory!

Wanted Poster

In terms of skills, the better ones tend to have an immediate disruption effect. Since the game plan is to win as fast as possible, Freeze skills are perfect for locking down the enemy before they get the chance to defend themselves.

Pick up whichever ones your items can support, the more the merrier.

Stunning Strike (Freeze On First Crit)

Quick Freeze (Freeze On First Haste)

Creeping Chill (Freeze On First Slow)