Introduction

PvP as a Modo is not easy. You’ll need to know when to utilize Demon, Human, and Modon form, and what the unique advantages of each one are depending on the situation at hand. As I see it, the pre-ascended Modo is truly the "Jack of all trades" as people call it, and when you ascend, you are forced into a much more limited role, but become exponentially better at completing that role. A well-built 125+ T4 Modo will dominate in T4 wars, that’s a fact. But up until that point, don’t expect to come out on top. Once you hit 135 and become T5, you lose your edge until level 141 at which point you can max Sky Seeker. The following is a comprehensive guide that you should generally adhere to to make your Modo ideal.

Pre-ascended Builds

The General Pre-ascended Modo:

Here, I’ve laid out the general format you’ll want to follow with everything you’ll need if you don’t want to be restricted to a specific build.

Intiate: Always go for Vigilance. Most builds leave it at 6/7, you can go for 7/7 if you have leftover skill points.

T1: Demonic Posture, Ghoulish Night, and Upheld Oath are pretty much vital for every build. Demonic Posture is your primary PvP mode until level 141, Ghoulish Night gives Modos the infamous speed, and Upheld Oath is great for Sleep/Stun immunity.

T2: Restrained Resentment is the most important thing here. Max that, and the rest is up to you. Modon Form is a good second choice to have maxed, and obviously vital if your playstyle depends on bleeds. You shouldn’t waste too many points in this tier.

T3: Soul Contract is an important passive that should be maxed if possible. Nimble Spirit is a great shield and should also be maxed in most cases. Suprise Assault is your first real offensive move, and correctly tomed, will stun just about anybody pre-ascended (and even ascended in many cases). With tomes, it can be used to infinitely stunlock, so this is vital for a Demon build, and I suggest it for other builds as well.

T4: Shadowheart Umbra gives 60% critbonus when maxed, so it’s a good passive to have. Other than that, the skills you’ll want vary by what build you’re making. Spiritual Charm for Modons, Miasmic Frenzy and Vile Edict for Humans, and Forest of Laughter for Demon. There’s a lot of ways to go here.

T5: Max everything, regardless of what build you have. Kangba is critical for Humans, and good to throw out in PvP when switching between forms, Self-Righteousness is an amazing buff for just about everything, Sky Seeker speaks for itself and offers great crowd control, and Dance of Chaos is a powerful Demon skill, especially necessary if you didn’t have enough points for Forest of Laughter.

These are general builds for preascended Modos. Pick the one that best suits your playstyle. Keep in mind that some have points left over, so distribute into whatever seems best for you.

Specific Builds:

Demon with Modon support:

Modon with Demon support:

Human with Modon support:

Be careful about using the Human/Modon build, not many pre-ascended Modos choose to specialize in Human form, but I hear that it does work.

Ascended Builds
Fuwa:

(This build relies on a heavier Modon support)

(This build relies on heavier Demon passives and less Modon support)

A note on PvE builds

PvE builds are fairly useless. If you have a tome reset on hand or can acquire one, then to be more efficient at grinding, max Exterminate (in the Rage tome) and Third Life (in the Heresy tome). Both are good for grinding, but neither are useful for PvP. If you follow a PvP build, you won’t need a Jaki stone to reset your skills. All the skills you could possibly need for grinding are most likely already in your PvP build (such as Restrained Resentment and Self-Righteousness). Using these skills in conjunction with Charge and Heavy Blow (have the Heavy Blow -2.0sec c/d ring equipped) is a pretty good way to grind.

Gear and equipment

Charm: As a Modo, your primary charm is Spirit Wings. I suggest that every Modo have one of these before focusing on obtaining a secondary more specialized charm. These play a larger role when you ascend, and depending on your affinity it will differ between people. After you have Spirit Wings, you can get Sea of Blood for pure Seeker Damage, or Heavenly Disaster for both damage and accuracy. Having tried both, I recommend Heavenly Disaster, as the accuracy makes a huge difference and will boost your income (if you Seeker grind) by about 100g per 5 hours.

Esper skills: You’ll also want an esper with Sky Seeker +1. In addition to any other skills you may want, FoL, Kangba, etc, Sky Seeker is the one skill crucial to all three ascended affinities, and absolutely necessary for a pre-ascended Modo. Having 3/2 Sky Seeker will make your bleed much more powerful, especially if you don’t have the tome points necessary to fully tome it. You can obtain Sky Seeker scrolls by obtaining three Mysteries of Gem, which will cost you a bunch of Sweet Lollipops and Universal coins. You can try at most once per. week.

Gear: Having the proper equipment is also important, like any faction, so of course always focus on refining your end-game gears.

Essence: A good essence is also important. Always get closed star for PvP, but if you want to have a secondary open star for grinding, that’s fine too. I have a closed star Scorpio Essence, but beyond that gets extremely expensive on both gold and affinity. Strive for Libra Essence, and continue for a Scorpio if you have the resources. Everything about these essences will enhance your ability to PvP.

Rings: A Modo also needs good rings. Insight of Heaven and Grace of Heaven are your best choices in my opinion. Grace of Heaven provides skill evasion, which might be useful especially if you’re squishy, but Insight of Heaven will give you better accuracy against targets with high skill evasion. If Sky Seeker is a big part of your playstyle, you might want to consider Insight of Heaven over Grace of Heaven. Of course, you should upgrade these. Consider having another set of rings for grinding, Might of Heaven is the most popular choice.

Esper: For Ascended players, I always recommend having either a Demon Torch, a Sinister Orb, or a Soul Scepter. Sinister Orbs are good if you can afford one, but I recommend Demon Torch as your best bet for a 135 esper. If you plan on getting a 135 esper, I do not recommend getting a Death Wand. The esper skill on the Demon Torch/Sin Orb is just too good to pass up. As for 105 espers, it’s all up to you. Our faction esper is pretty decent, so do a bit of research and pick one that you like. Learn how to bloodsmelt properly, if you do it right it doesn’t cost a whole lot of money and will give you good stat boosts that you’ll need in PvP.

Necklace: Honestly doesn’t matter very much. I have the 4-star Eminence of Earth necklace, but Skyseal necklace is fairly popular (although they removed the lotto, so I’m not sure if you can find one nowadays) and Necklace of Ascension is also good.

Credits go to Saikusus.