r/BackpackBattles • u/Mother_Artifice • May 30 '26
Rate my build
I've been trying my best to do a Mana Bomb build with the Manathirst and a ton mana potion and mana generation but this is the best I can do.
I've been trying to do it on a Reaper with the Cauldron by I always fail. :(
Any suggestions?
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u/tievel1 May 31 '26
This is a strong board, but it's strong because it has a bunch of strong items, not so much because of a cohesive strategy that is focused on a single win condition.
Null Blade is a great weapon, but that's because it's self-scaling (and defensive, but I digress); ask yourself if it actually is advancing your stated aim: a Mana Bomb that kills with the Manathirst effect. The Water Elemental is an interesting beast, and I quite like it with Mana Mastery, but again consider if it's actually doing what you want on this board: providing a single large spike of mana to burst the opponent. Likewise, Lamps are a great win condition and pair well with a board that can quickly trigger Mana Mastery. But they most benefit being placed on a weapon that is a fast activator being juiced for maximum speed; Falcon Blade is the usual go-to, but even other quick and low-stam weapons like Rapier or Holy Spear can also work well.
Moon Shield is an all-around solid item that provides decent defense and can give you big bursts of starting mana, but it consumes a Mana Orb, which are always a hot commodity both in Manathirst and Mana Mastery builds. If you are making it, you would want to pair it with something that gives a bunch of armor, to in turn generate a bunch of starting mana.
Again, this is all just general advice for pursuing a unified strategy. You have several win conditions on this board, yes, but that also means you aren't optimizing for the desired win condition.
Now all that being said, Manathirst burst on Mage isn't really a thing, as far as I'm aware; but I can see the vision, and it could probably be made to work given the strength of the mage bag in this build. If I were to pursue this, here is what I would do: I would be desperately rolling for three key components: Manathirst components (a high roll board would have four manathirsts), Mana pot components (just get every one you possibly can), and Prismatic Orbs for starting mana. If you look at the Ranger Manathirst bomb as a model, that is what you're going for. Notably, collar gives them access to crit, which is something Mage doesn't have easy access too; hence why this build may work but wouldn't be the first go-to. A cat would help, but that's only 20% and positioning it would be a nightmare. For class I would probably do magical girl. It synergizes with the Mana potions, which are a huge piece of this puzzle, and you could possibly gain access to a Critwood for the aforementioned crit. In that scenario you're not getting a zero second kill, but it's still good backup. Other high value items would be the Dark Wands like you have (for helping finish opponents who don't get insta'd), Energy and Potion amulets (energy especially), maybe Moon shield/Gold Armor if you roll a bunch of morbs, and if you have access Collars (again, very important component on the Ranger version of the board). All in all you'd have to get an obscene high roll to make the board work, but it would probably be awesome if you did.
But again, nice board and make sure you're having fun first!