How To Use The Build Calculator
My goal here is to give you a short and simple explanation of how to get started using the build calculator. This is what you're here for after all. Let's get started.
When you go into the build calculator you will see the character class on the top left side with a picture of the class. You can click on that to change classes.
Next up, you will see Skills, Character, Paragons, Config, Stats and Level to the right of the character class.
You can click on these tabs. Paragon Points and Talent Points will automatically adjust as you allocate them in their tabs. Level you can adjust right away to increase or decrease base stats.
You can choose to fill in the information for each tab in any order you would like but to keep things simple for learning we will just go in order from left to right.
SKILLS
Just like in-game, you will notice that anything without skill points allocated to it is grayed out and you have to "unlock" them by placing points into the connecting skills. Left click to allocate one skill point, right click to remove one.
For your convenience there is a number listed under each skill set classification that tells you how many more points need to be allocated to unlock the next skill set.
That's really all there is to setting your skills!
CHARACTER
Next up we have the character tab. This is where you will create or modify your gear, active skills and class bonuses.
To add items to your equipment slots you just click on the slot you want to add an item for and choose from either adding a unique item to that slot or creating your own item. Currently, if you choose a unique item you will not be able to modify the values of that item other than the item power. The values for each of these modifiers are set to the maximum possible roll for the selected item power. This will be changed in a future update. Created items on the other hand can have the values of modifiers adjusted so let's go through that.
In this example we will create a new helm. Click on the Helm section and click Create Custom Helm.
From here you can edit the item power, the upgrade level, add an aspect, a gem and even select which modifiers you want all from the drop down menus. Once you have your desired settings you simply click Save at the bottom right and your item is added to the character sheet and its properties modify your overall character stats and abilities.
You can hover your cursor over the item slot to display the item's stats. You can always modify the current item by clicking on it again.
To add active skills to your skill bar simply click on a square shown at the bottom of the character section and then click on the skill you wish to place there. The same can be done for class specializations.
PARAGON
From the paragon tab you can allocate nodes just like you would for your skills, simply left click on the node that you want to allocate and right click to remove it. You can also reset the board by pressing the "Reset Board" button in the top right corner of the paragon board that you want to clear.
Free form mode has a toggle button in the top right as well. If you toggle this on it will allow you to allocate paragon nodes without having to have them connected with the rest of your board. This can be used to make it so you don't have to erase all your selected paragon nodes just to alter something in the middle of your paragon board. Just toggle this, make the changes you want and once everything is connected back the way it should be you can toggle this off if you wish.
Once you have filled in a "gate node" at the edge of it's board you will be prompted to select another paragon board from a list.
Now that you have added another paragon board you can use the mouse wheel to zoom in and out and left or right click and hold it to drag around the boards. At the top right of the new paragon board you will notice there are two new buttons, Rotate and Delete Board. They do exactly what they sound like they do!
CONFIG
The Config tab allows you to adjust various settings for the Player and Enemy. It's pretty self explanatory but just to give a few quick examples you can set things like what world tier it is or if it's a boss or elite mob and if they are vulnerable or not. You can even select how many enemies are in the equation for calculating your character's stats.
STATS
Last but not least, the Stats tab. Here is where all the calculations will be displayed from the simulation of the build you have designed. There is an Offensive, Defensive, Utility, Resource and Movement section that will display the stats of your build. Some examples of this would be things like damage to close enemies or crowd controlled enemies or cooldown reduction etc.
I hope this has been of some help to familiarize yourself with the Build Calculator. This is a powerful tool to help you make the most of your time spent in Sanctuary. No longer just guessing about what to do next with your build, now you can actually plan it out before spending hundreds of hours on a build you're not even certain about!
