Full Build Friday - Garuda the Gore Queen [Fleshwarp Barbarian] (Patreon)

I was holding off on doing Warframe builds for Operation Orias, but that had less for me to use than I thought it would. So I decided I should just go ahead and do a build I've been thinking about for a while - though honestly, I originally conceptualized this as a cleric build before a friend helped me realize that bloodrager was the way to go!

As always, 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.

Get your rain gear on as we dive into the gore of Garuda from Warframe!

GARUDA, THE GORE QUEEN

SOURCE Warframe

BUILD GOALS

o    A blood and gore-themed Warframe, a once-human being that has undergone corruption and been further enhanced with technology

o    She was released alongside the Nagantaka, her signature crossbow which features automatic firing capabilities

o    Passively, Garuda increases her damage with each enemy she kills and she can use her talons to slash at foes

o    Dread Mirror sends her pouncing upon a foe, damaging them and turning their lifeforce into a shield that floats in front of her. She can channel the gathered life force into an explosive projectile

o    With Blood Altar, she impales a foe on an altar she raises from the earth and siphons their health to restore herself and other allies within the area

o    She can sacrifice her own health to generate energy for herself with Bloodletting

o    Her ultimate is Seeking Talons, which allows her to charge up and expand the area before releasing her talons to carve apart targets in the area. This often leaves foes with extensive bleeding

Summary of Goals: Garuda has a heavy focus on sacrifice though not necessarily self-sacrifice. While there is a bit of that as a way to recharge her abilities, she sacrifices victims to fuel her defenses and to restore her allies. She should likely wield claws and crossbow, and as she kills foes, she increases her own power. There are some complexity to her abilities so it may take us multiple effects, but I’m confident we can create most of them with a certain combination of effects.

LEVEL 1

Ancestry & Heritage: Technological Fleshwarp

o    Ability Boosts & Flaws: +Constitution, +Strength

o    Ancestry Feat: Living Weapon – Claws

Background: Warrior

o    Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Charisma

o    Skill Increase: Intimidation (T), Warfare Lore (T)

o    Background Feat: Intimidating Glare

Class & Subclass: Bloodrager Barbarian

o    Class Ability Boost: +Strength

o    Skill Increase: Acrobatics (T), Athletics (T), Medicine (T), Stealth (T)

o    Class Feat: Sudden Charge

o    Gear: Arbalest, Tri-Blade Katar

Details

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

Given the very nature of Warframes, I still think the fleshwarp ancestry is one of the best options for them. Adding in the technological heritage brings us closer to the unique nature of Warframes. More specifically to our character, this ancestry allows us to make her into a Living Weapon with a set of claws to represent the talons she always has access to. I was a little unsure which way to go for her background. Warrior works in a pinch and does cover what we know of Garuda, but its skill feat does lead to some redundancies within her kit. That will become clear shortly but before that, we’ll actually be using the barbarian class, which might seem like a strange fit given the extraordinary nature of a number of her abilities, but I was reminded of the Bloodrager class archetype by a friend. This isn’t anything too crazy to start with, but will be something that we can expand on fantastically in the future. For the time being, I was originally looking at Raging Intimidation, but this build doesn’t actually end up investing too much in Intimidation and he already got Intimidating Glare from his background. So I ended up switching to Sudden Charge given the blitzing capabilities of Warframe in general and her dive at foes specifically when she first activates Dread Mirror.

LEVEL 2

o    Class Feat: Bloodrager Dedication

o    Skill Feat: Quick Jump

o    Skill Increase: Arcana (T)

o    Bloodrager Repertoire: Cantrips – gouging claw, slashing gust

o    Gear: psychopomp mask

LEVEL 3

o    General Feat: Fleet

o    Skill Increase: Athletics (E)

o    Gear: +1 tri-bladed katar, psychopomp mask, ring of discretion

LEVEL 4

o    Class Feat: Rising Blood Magic

o    Skill Feat: Powerful Leap

o    Bloodrager Repertoire: 1st – flense

o    Gear: doubling rings, +1 tri-bladed katar, necklace of knives, psychopomp mask

LEVEL 5

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

o    Ancestry Feat: Mutate Weapon

o    Skill Increase: Arcana (E)

o    Gear: +1 striking tri-bladed katar, doubling rings, bracelet of dashing, necklace of knives, psychopomp mask, ring of discretion

We are compelled to take a Bloodrager Dedication as our second-level class feat and through this, we can acquire the amazingly appropriate gouging claw spell, which naturally inflicts bleed damage to fit in with her theme. However, perhaps more important to the character is the fact that casting these spells causes Garuda to become drained, fitting in with the sacrifice theme that she also has going on. For the time being, we’re going to be looking for other spells that fit the themes of gore and blood she has going on, such as using Rising Blood Magic to add flense to her list of spells. With her skill feats, she’s going to enhance her jumping capabilities with Quick Jump and Powerful Leap, which is simply on point for Warframes – as is the addition of the Fleet general feat. Now, while we do have her wielding the tri-blade katars as her melee weapon, since they don’t have the agile trait, I still think Mutate Weapon is a good way to further represent her talons, making them deadlier, more accurate, and longer so that she can better ravage her foes.

LEVEL 6

o    Class Feat: Siphon Magic

o    Skill Feat: Rapid Mantel

o    Bloodrager Repertoire: 2nd – horrifying blood loss

o    Gear: +1 hide, +1 striking tri-bladed katar, lifting belt, doubling rings, Jack’s tattered cape, necklace of knives

LEVEL 7

o    General Feat: Toughness

o    Skill Increase: Athletics (M)

o    Gear: lesser grub gloves, +1 hide, beastmaster’s sigil, +1 striking tri-bladed katar, doubling rings, bracelet of dashing

LEVEL 8

o    Class Feat: Oracle Dedication – Battle Mystery

o    Skill Feat: Wall Jump

o    Skill Increase: Religion (T), Thievery (T)

o    Bloodrager Repertoire: 3rd – blazing dive

o    Oracle Repertoire: Cantrip – shield

o    Gear: greater beastmaster’s sigil, ring of the ram, lesser grub gloves, +1 hide, +1 striking tri-bladed katar, demon mask

LEVEL 9

o    Ancestry Feat: Gaping Flesh

o    Skill Increase: Arcana (M)

o    Gear: +1 resilient hide, boots of bounding, greater beastmaster’s sigil, lesser grub gloves, rending gauntlets, +1 striking tri-bladed katar

LEVEL 10

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

o    Class Feat: Basic Oracle Spellcasting

o    Skill Feat: Quick Climb

o    Oracle Repertoire: 1st – heal*; 2nd – death knell

o    Gear: sanguine fang, +1 resilient studded leather, shock weapon rune, boots of bounding, lesser grub gloves, +1 striking tri-bladed katar

While Siphon Magic requires some very specific circumstances, it is a very important aspect of this whole build. Through this, Garuda can regain a spell slot while also inflicting herself with the drained condition – resembling the health she sacrifices to regain energy with Bloodletting. That does give her two feats from her bloodrager archetype, which means that she can follow it with an Oracle Dedication. This can provide her with the shield cantrip as a nice early nod to her Dread Mirror though this won’t be the only way we explore it. It is important to tap into the divine spell list as it provides us with heal for an early effect of her Blood Altar and death knell. This is legacy content, but from my understanding, it should still be available, and it is a pretty perfect fit for her passive effect as it enhances her attack and damage for a lengthy period of time. It doesn’t keep stacking with itself like her passive does in Warframe, but effects like that aren’t really something that PF2e does. Given the innate athleticism of Warframes, we are obviously going to further explore those skill feats with Wall Jump perhaps being the most obvious choice among those featured in this block. Toughness is a bit more mechanical where it’s a good pick-up for a build that keeps reducing its health through the drained ability. I also like Gaping Flesh from among her ancestry feats just to further fit in with her theme of gory goodness.

As for the spells that she gained from her bloodrager this block, there’s a few blood option at second rank, but I think blazing dive may actually be a good fit at third rank to represent the way that she leaps up and dives opponents as part of her Dread Mirror. The issue is just the damage type is a little off.

LEVEL 11

o    General Feat: Robust Health

o    Skill Increase: Religion (E)

o    Gear: +2 striking tri-bladed katar, sanguine fang, bloodknuckles, +1 resilient studded leather, boots of bounding, wounding weapon rune

LEVEL 12

o    Class Feat: Surging Blood Magic

o    Skill Feat: Vasodilation

o    Bloodrager Repertoire: 4th – weapon storm

o    Gear: +2 resilient studded leather, +2 striking tri-bladed katar, daredevil boots, sanguine fang, shock weapon rune, thundering weapon rune

LEVEL 13

o    Ancestry Feat: Deepvision

o    Skill Increase: Religion (M)

o    Gear: +2 greater striking tri-bladed katar, +2 resilient studded leather, greater doubling rings, daredevil boots, sanguine fang, bloodknuckles

LEVEL 14

o    Class Feat: Expert Oracle Spellcasting

o    Skill Feat: Risky Surgery

o    Bloodrager Repertoire: 5th – impaling spike

o    Oracle Repertoire: 4th – bloodspray curse; 5th – healing well

o    Gear: keen weapon rune, +2 greater striking tri-bladed katar, greater sanguine fang, +2 resilient studded leather, daredevil boots, instinct crown

LEVEL 15

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

o    General Feat: Sanguine Tenacity

o    Skill Increase: Athletics (L)

o    Gear: +2 greater resilient studded leather, keen weapon rune, greater ring of the ram, +2 greater striking tri-bladed katar, greater doubling rings, moderate boots of free running

We can pick up Surging Blood Magic to gain two important spells. Weapon storm can actually be used to represent her Seeking Talons, filling the field with her replicated weapons and working solidly outside of the lack of bleed damage from this spell specifically. There’s also impaling spike, which is an important aspect of her Blood Altar – in the initial creation of it. She’s going to find the next part of it through her Expert Oracle Spellcasting, which will let her take healing well. It doesn’t quite have the constant healing effect that we want for her Blood Altar, but the concept is there. I take Vasodilation and Risky Surgery alike, even though we aren’t developing her Medicine too deeply, to further explore the themes she was designed around and give her some more blood-related powers on the skill side of things. This is further covered with her Sanguine Tenacity, which does also mesh quite nicely with her nature as a bloodrager, letting her mitigate the effects of her own drained condition. The inclusion of Deepvision as her ancestry feat is entirely mechanical as it simply provides her with darkvision.

LEVEL 16

o    Class Feat: Impaling Thrust

o    Skill Feat: Cloud Jump

o    Bloodrager Repertoire: 6th – wall of force

o    Oracle Repertoire: 6th – blessed boundary

o    Gear: major sanguine fang, +2 greater resilient studded leather, greater boots of bounding, keen weapon rune, +2 greater striking tri-bladed katar, moderate rending gauntlets

LEVEL 17

o    Ancestry Feat: Gripping Limbs

o    Skill Increase: Arcana (L)

o    Gear: +3 greater striking tri-bladed katar, greater shock weapon rune, major sanguine fang, +2 greater resilient studded leather, keen weapon rune, greater ring of the ram

LEVEL 18

o    Class Feat: Exultant Blood Magic

o    Skill Feat: Water Sprint

o    Bloodrager Repertoire: 2nd – blood vendetta; 3rd – fireball; 4th – mutilate; 5th – blink charge

o    Gear: bracers of strength, +3 greater striking tri-bladed katar, quickstrike weapon rune, major sanguine fang, +2 greater resilient studded leather, greater boots of bounding

LEVEL 19

o    General Feat: Feather Step

o    Skill Increase: Religion (L)

o    Gear: +3 greater resilient studded leather, bracers of strength, greater boots of free running, +3 greater striking tri-bladed katar, greater shock weapon rune, major sanguine fang

LEVEL 20

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

o    Class Feat: Vicious Evisceration

o    Skill Feat: Divine Guidance

o    Gear: +3 major striking tri-bladed katar, +3 greater resilient leather, titan’s grasp, greater boots of free running, amplifying aeon stone, quickstrike weapon rune

We already have impaling spike for Blood Altar, but I can’t imagine there’s a Garuda main in the world that wouldn’t appreciate more ways to impale people, which leads to the use of Impaling Thrust. This is actually one of the reasons that I went for the tri-bladed katar rather than a slashing, claw-based weapon. Exultant Blood Magic gives us plenty of other spells with a variety of good options, but when we end on Vicious Evisceration to share our drained condition with others, set ourselves up for the use of Fort save spells, and just generally get a feat that sounds like a perfect fit for her. Cloud Jump and Water Sprint continue to expand on her Athletics options though Divine Guidance might seem like a strange inclusion, but is honestly mostly a nod to her name directly and the fact that she’s been investing in Religion.

Regarding spells for this block, it’s important to start the discussion with her sixth rank spells. Wall of force or blessed boundary are likely a better way to represent her Dread Mirror’s shield, but you might also consider field of life for a continual healing effect along the lines of her Blood Altar. My issue with it is largely due to the fact that it heals all living creatures whereas healing well can explicitly only be activated by your allies. So field of life needs specific circumstances to be useful. Other than that, fireball could represent the big boom of her charging up her Dread Mirror and blink charge might be another way to represent the initial leap that she does onto an enemy.

FREE ARCHETYPE SUGGESTIONS: A free archetype game would mostly free up barbarian feats for Garuda to take. She’ll be able to explore her archetypes a bit more deeply, maybe getting more oracle spells through Master Oracle Spellcasting or Mysterious Breadth, and tapping into even greater power from the bloodrager with options such as Bespell Strikes or Hematocritical. For her barbarian feats, a few options that come to mind are Swipe, Renewed Vigor, and Sudden Leap with the last of these possibly resembling the pounce of her Dread Mirror.

BUILD CONCLUSION

Garuda the Gore Queen is a technological fleshwarp barbarian with a bloodrager’s instinct and a warrior’s background. While we can represent her Nagantaka as a heavy repeating crossbow, this particular build instead focuses on her innate talons. The fleshwarp ancestry provides us with Living and Mutate Weapon, but I have further equipped Garuda with tri-bladed katars for some more mechanical purposes, such as avoiding the damage reduction from our rage when it comes to wielding agile weapons. This rage damage might be a nice tie-in for the extra damage she gets on kills, however, we can get a bit more exact by using an oracle archetype to acquire death knell, a spell to harness the power of a departing soul. With the basics established, I want to point out that representing some of these abilities will take multiple turns and effects to pull off. But when you have abilities as action-packed as Dread Mirror, I think I deserve a little grace. To start, we’ll want Sudden Charge, blazing dive, or blink charge for the pounce and initial damage. Then, you’re going to cast shield, wall of force, or maybe bledssed boundary for the protective mirror. Finally, you can launch something like fireball or a similar spell for the explosive projectile. As an added bonus, there’s also the extra rage damage from being drained to possibly represent her charging up the spell. After that, we have impaling spike or Impaling Thrust to pin an enemy in place before we cast healing well beneath them as a rough approximation of her Blood Altar. Fortunately, after that, things get a bit easier. I was initially stymied by Bloodletting until I realized that bloodrager has Siphon Magic and while it’s somewhat circumstantial, becoming drained to regain a spell slot is a perfect parallel for sacrificing health to regain energy. That jus leaves her Seeking Talons and for this, we’re looking at the likes of weapon storm to really capture the shape of its area though I think slashing gust could fit in as a more reusable option. Beyond that, there’s always blood related options to be found among her spells with special mention going to mutilate, feral shades, and horrifying blood loss.

Born for battle and bathed in blood, this bionic butcher brutalizes baddies abounding with blades and bewitchment, bringing bane to even the most boisterous of brigands.

Let me know what you think, what other builds you would like to see, and have a fantastic Friday!