Darksiders Genesis

Darksiders Genesis

47 ratings
Strife Creature Core Setup (Hotstreak/Anarchy/Clone)
By Colbat
Quick "Guide" For my Perosnal Favorite Build for Strife, suited for Story and Arena alike.
   
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Introduction
Quick Disclaimer:
I am doing this guide solely because I have been asked for it by enough people that it's worth to post.
I do not intend to Min-Max my Builds further than necessary for my own goals (100% game completion), so please don't expect regular updates if anything gets changed or rebalanced in the future.

At this point in time I have yet to finish the Story mode fully. Right now I'm still missing 7 Cores, so some things might change if they are worth equipping (hope so but won't expect it, the builds already pretty strong and plays perfectly into my Playsyle for Strife).
UPDATE:
I've finished Story, Apocalyptic and 2/3 of the Leviathans Maze. There were some useful/powerful Cores still hiding, so I updated the Guide to match my current Strife Build used for all of apocalyptic Difficulty and later on hopefully successfully clearing the Endless Arena with more than 70k points. :)

Hope this can be of use to others. Have Fun playing, I'm enjoying the Game and Gameply greatly :)
Quick Tips
Quick Tips:
  • Use all your Cores, irrelevant of the effect, until you can completely fill the whole Tree! Your Stats get increased for all active Slots, with an additional boost for every correctly corresponding core.
  • Try to fill the 2/3 Star slots with 2/3 Star Cores to get an additional increase in Stats until you can acquire the stronger ones.
  • Many strong Cores can be bought from Vulgrim, don't be afraid to spend some Souls for them, especially early on to fill 2/3 Star Slots with 2/3 Star Cores. You'll get more Souls than you can spend before long!
  • There are Cores to increase your Soul acquisition (ex.: Mammon (First Major Boss, therefore easily farmable). Very useful to get a major boost in Souls early on.
  • Don't be afraid to take a disadvantage on a core, especially once levelled to 2/3 Stars they are by far outweighed by the beneficial effect on them.
Skill Tree Listing
The following is the exact arrangement of the Cores:

Start - Nephillim Brute

Abyssal Slot 1 - Moloch
Abyssal Slot 2 - Houndmaster

Left Wing
[Attack - 1 Star] - Grubling
[Wrath - 1 Star] - Tidehunter
[Health - 1 Star] - Duskwing
[Health - Major] - Grinner
[Attack - 2 Star] - Gholen
[Wrath - Major] - Dreadwalker
[Health - 2 Star] - Fallen Husk
[Attack - 3 Star] - Fallen Hound
[Attack - 1 Star] - Feral Tidehunter
[Wrath - 2 Star] - Wraith
[Health - 3 Star] - Tidehunter Shaman
[Attack - Major] - Hollow Fiend
[Wrath - 3 Star] - Legion


Right Wing
[Wrath - 1 Star] - Acid Flea
[Health - 1 Star] - Demonic Magus
[Attack - 1 Star] - Flame Legion
[Wrath - Major] - Blight Cannon
[Health - 2 Star] - Scarab Hulk
[Attack - Major] - Ashworm
[Wrath - 2 Star] - Skeletal Soldier
[Health - 3 Star] - Legion Bomber
[Health - 1 Star] - Corrupted Angel
[Attack - 2 Star] - Armored Legion Champion
[Wrath - 3 Star] - Legion Champion
[Health - Major] - Tormented Gate
[Attack - 3 Star] - Spectral Angel


Bottom Part
[Attack - 1 Star] - Angel Champion
[Health - 1 Star] - Hellhound
[Universal - 3 Star] - Phantom Guard
[Universal - 1 Star] - Grub
[Universal - 2 Star] - Armored Flea
[Universal - 3 Star] - Flea Hulk
[Universal - Major] - Jailer
[Universal - 1 Star] - Fallen One
[Universal - 2 Star] - Broodling
[Universal - 3 Star] - Stormcaller
[Universal - Major] - Leviathan
Necessary Cores/Upgrades
The following are either the absolutely necessary Cores/Upgrades, or those whose worth by far outweigh any other, therefore wise to farm as soon as possible/early on:

Cores:
Major:
Grinner
Bellial
Hollow Fiend (First Chapter, complete 3 times as it is a guaranteed drop!)
Tormented Gate (Shop!)
Ashworm (Shop!)
Dreadwalker
Jailer (Shop!)
Blight Cannon

Minor:
Spectral Angel
Phantom Guard (Shop!)
Legion
Flea Hulk
Legion Bomber
Tidehunter Shaman
Nephillim Brute
Fallen Hound
(Skeletal Soldier) -> Mainly to counter the 1 Biggest weakness of this build: Wrath Buildup


Upgrades:
Hotheaded
Deadeye
In a Roll
Evade Counter (Both)

Rapid Fire
Evade Combo
Quickstep


11 Comments
Josqua 27 Aug, 2024 @ 2:17pm 
The Level 3 Nephilim Vindicator major core is completely overpowered on a ranged focused build with strife, as the esplosions cause good additional damage and disrupt enemy movement for a short moment, especially if you also get as many cores with buffs to the shadow clone skill as possible since the clone's attacks can also trigger the explosions, causing insane amounts of area damage and good crowd control when spawning multiple clones at once.I'd say its an absolute must have core aswell, it along with all possible shadow clone upgrades made apocalyptic difficulty quite easy for me to beat.
Psilock37 3 Nov, 2020 @ 5:43pm 
If you get the first two Leviathan cores, you can just cheese the third behind the ladder climb section by jumping up around the pillars where the big Trickster Door is behind Vulgrim. Then, map your attack and jump to the same key and spam it in the second to last indent in the platform to the left.
Smaug 10 Apr, 2020 @ 5:27pm 
Thanks for the tips, I'll give it another go
Colbat  [author] 9 Apr, 2020 @ 10:34am 
Oof, Honestly no Idea anymore, It's definitely been too long.

Although it might be hard at first, I'd suggest just going for the first Leviathan Core at the very least, if you use strife and use inflight combo strike or the uppercut you can hardstop your momentum directly above a pillar, just look for your shadow and use combos to propell yourself to safety
Smaug 8 Apr, 2020 @ 10:32pm 
Ah thanks. Sooo, say you couldn't secure the Leviathan core, any suggestions on a replacement?
Colbat  [author] 8 Apr, 2020 @ 2:17pm 
The Abyssal Slots are Unlocked by completing the Abyssal Armor Sets, If i remember correctly both are 5 Pieces each, hidden within the levels.
One for Strife, One for War, both stay active on both Chaarcters.
Smaug 8 Apr, 2020 @ 11:34am 
I'm sure it's just something I haven't seen yet, but what are the 2 "Abyssal Slots" right after the start? Thanks for the guide!
Colbat  [author] 19 Dec, 2019 @ 9:08am 
If I remember correctly about 2k Life and over 500 Damage. As I finished the Game I don't have it on my Harddrive anymore to look it up, but the Stats can only be increased through the Creature Core Tree so yours should be the same as mine given you play the same Tree^^
Dan 18 Dec, 2019 @ 3:05pm 
What are your stats?
Colbat  [author] 12 Dec, 2019 @ 4:03pm 
Guide has been Updated with all Cores now known to me, as well as the Experience of clearing apocalyptic (Harder than expected to be honest)