Read a post here on how many people have beaten Kas before, but that every strategy involved included praying that Kas didn't TPK you with Dragon's Breath before you could act.
The build here is a reliable way to avoid that on Dark difficulty, having a W/L of 48/2 against her. Character used for these tests had a starting bonus of +1 Strength, +1 Toughness, +1 Agility.
If you're not keen on becoming a Kitsune for Kitsunetsuki, here is similar build you can use that is much less reliable.
And a dumb gimmicky build that one shots her, low chance though.
The build here is a reliable way to avoid that on Dark difficulty, having a W/L of 48/2 against her. Character used for these tests had a starting bonus of +1 Strength, +1 Toughness, +1 Agility.
For class, go Thief and choose Eye for Weakness and Pierce Through.
For stats, go with Strength, Agility, and Willpower.
For equipment,
For powers,
For your party, you'll want Glacial Guard Etheryn and Wayfarer Brint/Brienne as well as their rest bonuses for +10 Initiative and +10 Attack Power.
For pre-buffing, you'll want to begin by taking a Cunning boon. Before the fight, use Brazenberry Ale (+30 Attack Power) on both of your party members and Blessed Water (+10 Accuracy) on yourself. After that, you'll use Razorcup Nectar (+10 Accuracy, +25 Spellpower/Attack Power for whole party) to replace the Cunning boon.
Initiative is high enough that you will always go first.
Accuracy is high enough that weapon attacks will never miss. Kitsunetsuki still has a rare chance on missing one of it's spell attacks, failing to debuff properly. If you go with a starting bonus of +3 Agility, the chance of failure will be less than what I faced.
Fight will go,
Kitsunetsuki > By The Horns/Aurora Arrow, Smite Evil > Execute/Suppressive Fire, Shell Cracker
Fight can end as early as Smite Evil or Execute if you're lucky.
If you're using the Rogue Scholar Attire, the guarantee of going first is gone, but there is still a high enough chance to still win making the build Winter City viable if you grind to level 9 beforehand.
For stats, go with Strength, Agility, and Willpower.
For equipment,
| Primary | Control Rod | Catalyst, +15 Accuracy, +15 Spellpower |
| Offhand | Narevan Grimoire | +10 Initiative, +10 Leadership |
| Head | Cobalt Cap | +5 Initiative |
| Neck | Free Slot | - |
| Shoulders | Free Slot | - |
| Armor | Panoply of the Holy City | +10 Initiative If you picked another reward from Lumia or are doing the Winter City fight, use the Rogue Scholar Attire for +5 Initiative instead |
| Waist | Fertile Girdle | +10 Initiative |
| Hands | Golden Carrot Bracelet | +5 Accuracy |
| Feet | Winged Sabatons | +3 Initiative |
| Ring | Lucky Strike Ring | +5 Accuracy |
| Ring | Lucky Strike Ring | +5 Accuracy |
| At-Will | Recharge | Recharge | Encounter | Ultimate |
| Channeler Stance | Shell Cracker | Free Slot | Smite Evil | Kitsunetsuki |
| +20 Accuracy for Spell attacks | +50 Accuracy for Weapon attack, +50 Armor Penetration | - | +50 Accuracy for Weapon attack, Bonus Holy damage | Spell attacks to apply Sundered, Disarmed, Silenced, Blinded, and Staggered for 6 turns |
For pre-buffing, you'll want to begin by taking a Cunning boon. Before the fight, use Brazenberry Ale (+30 Attack Power) on both of your party members and Blessed Water (+10 Accuracy) on yourself. After that, you'll use Razorcup Nectar (+10 Accuracy, +25 Spellpower/Attack Power for whole party) to replace the Cunning boon.
Initiative is high enough that you will always go first.
Accuracy is high enough that weapon attacks will never miss. Kitsunetsuki still has a rare chance on missing one of it's spell attacks, failing to debuff properly. If you go with a starting bonus of +3 Agility, the chance of failure will be less than what I faced.
Fight will go,
Kitsunetsuki > By The Horns/Aurora Arrow, Smite Evil > Execute/Suppressive Fire, Shell Cracker
Fight can end as early as Smite Evil or Execute if you're lucky.
If you're using the Rogue Scholar Attire, the guarantee of going first is gone, but there is still a high enough chance to still win making the build Winter City viable if you grind to level 9 beforehand.
If you're not keen on becoming a Kitsune for Kitsunetsuki, here is similar build you can use that is much less reliable.
Class, stats, party, and pre-buffing remain the same.
Equipment remains the same except for the Primary and Head slot.
For powers,
Fight will go,
Influence > By The Horns/Aurora Arrow, Assassinate
The fight is shorter compared to the Kitsune build, but the problem lies in landing Influence.
Even with a +3 Agility starting bonus, Influence will attack with only 103 Accuracy against Kas's 130 Evasion (debuffed -15 through Frigid from Etheryn) leading to a 73% hit rate and success rate of this build working.
Equipment remains the same except for the Primary and Head slot.
| Primary | Sanctified Gladius? | +5 Armor Penetration, +10 Spellpower A lot of weapons work for this, best ones are ones with A.P., Penetrating/Holy damage. Still need to figure what works best |
| Head | Cobalt Cap > Silver Mask | +5 Initiative > Silver Mask power upgrades If you're not keen on switching equipment items mid-fight, you can start with the Silver Mask equipped but expect worse outcomes on Initiative rolls |
| At-Will | Recharge | Recharge | Encounter | Ultimate |
| Charge Weapon | Free Slot | Free Slot | Influence | Assassinate |
| Bonus Holy damage | - | - | +10 Accuracy, Disarmed and Silenced for 4 turns w/ Silver Mask | +500 Attack Power, +100 A.P. |
Influence > By The Horns/Aurora Arrow, Assassinate
The fight is shorter compared to the Kitsune build, but the problem lies in landing Influence.
Even with a +3 Agility starting bonus, Influence will attack with only 103 Accuracy against Kas's 130 Evasion (debuffed -15 through Frigid from Etheryn) leading to a 73% hit rate and success rate of this build working.
And a dumb gimmicky build that one shots her, low chance though.
Class, stats, and party continue to remain the same.
Equipment changed to the following,
Pre-buffing remains similar except you also apply Brazenberry Ale to yourself instead of Blessed Water.
Powers remain the same as Assassin build.
Fight will go,
Hysteria procs on stance, switch to Mastbreaker and Champion's Belt, Assassinate
Hysteria doesn't proc, Influence and die
Since this all relies on procing Hysteria, build has a 33% chance to work.
Equipment changed to the following,
| Primary | Tyrant's Axe > Mastbreaker | 33% Chance for Hysteria (+40% Damage), switch to Mastbreaker if it proc's |
| Waist | Fertile Girdle > Champion's Belt | +10 Initiative > Switch for +10 Attack Power if Hysteria procs |
| Hands | Giant's Gloves | +15 Armor Penetration |
| Ring | Iron Band | +5 Armor Penetration |
| Ring | Iron Band | +5 Armor Penetration |
Powers remain the same as Assassin build.
Fight will go,
Hysteria procs on stance, switch to Mastbreaker and Champion's Belt, Assassinate
Hysteria doesn't proc, Influence and die
Since this all relies on procing Hysteria, build has a 33% chance to work.
