Pet Warning! When rollling Pet affixes, be sure not to use +spirit recovery in the rare affix tier. It will brick Kitty's Lockheed Energy recovery when Just a Phase is active.

 

Kitty Pryde tends to be an overlooked hero, but she's honestly a strong hero with good aoe and healing. Personally, I find her a lot of fun to play, phasing in and burning enemies with your Lockheed aoes. This build can be used in all end-game content, whether that's Cosmic Patrols, Terminals, Danger Room, or Raids.

 

Build Explanation

 

This build uses all area powers so we can build around them. The physical and energy damage is pretty split (my estimate is 65-70% physical and 30-35% energy), so the build focuses on stats, area damage, and generic damage rating/base damage when gearing for flat damage. The build starts using the buff powers, ,  , and  to buff all of our other powers, which are mostly dots, with the exception of her hard-hitting signature.

 

 - This is Kitty's left-click/spender power (though it uses no resource). Hold this down when everything is on cooldown and you've applied her dots. It's not the most visually appealing power, but it has a good aoe, and this power's damage dwarfs every other basic/spender power Kitty has. If you want dps, this is the power to use. BTW, be sure to hold down the key/button when you use this power because it will snapshot whatever buffs you have, including .

 

 - Like the name suggests, this power lets you walk through walls, making it much better than your average dash. Also, unlike most dashes, this power will go to your cursor. On top of that, it's also a strong bleed dot damage layer thanks to the Phaase Rush talent in the fourth row. And finally, this power restores your Lockheed Energy if it connects with an enemy, helping sustain your trash clear. This power's only drawback compared to most dash powers is that it's slower than your average dash, but it's still fast enough to dodge the big red telegraphs.

When fighting bosses, use  and/or  before using this power so you get the 15% bonus damage from the Coordinated Attacks talent in the third row.

 

 - This is Kitty's buff power, and it's a very strong one thanks to the +25% damage, 1.4k health regen per second, and a bit of Lockheed Energy regen too. Also, with the Unseen Warrior talent and 50%+ power duration from end-game gear, this buff has a 12 second duration, or 60% uptime, making Kitty not only strong but generally able to heal from anything that doesn't one-shot her. The only drawback is that there's no more invulnerability when taking the Unseen Warrior talent, but having such a long uptime on this power more than makes up for the lack of invulnerability.

 

 - A strong cooldown layer that buffs your other Lockheed powers. Use this power after  for the 15% melee damage buff. Despite being area-tagged, the aoe on this power is small so I would not recommend using it as trash clear. I recommend reserving this power for stronger targets.

 

 - One of two Lockheed dots. Launches a fireball that explodes on impact and applies a dot. Good trash clear when running through terminals. When fighting bosses, be sure to use this power after  for the 10% damage bonus. Be aware that spamming this and  constantly can exhaust your Lockheed energy, so either run  or pay attention while clearing trash in terminals.

 

 - A fun power with a fairly big aoe and Kitty is invulnerable until she lands, meaning you can dodge attacks using this power if your timing is good. This power is okayish trash clear, but the damage is a little low so I would recommend using Kitty's dot powers for trash clear. The purpose of this power isn't the damage, it's the 15% melee damage buff it provides for 5 seconds, and the . From my testing, it doesn't seem like the melee buff time extends with power duration. Start boss fights with this power.

 

 - The other Lockheed dot. Unlike , this power has no impact portion, it blasts a fiery ground dot in front of Kitty, which stays for 8 seconds and is extended with power duration. Another good trash clear power, but like spitballs, pay attention to your Lockheed energy if you're spamming this power. When fighting bosses, use this after  for the 10% damage bonus.

 

 - Kitty's Signature, and a very strong one. This power has tons of burst, a big aoe, is completely invulnerable during the entire duration, and you can move while the power is active. You almost always want to use this off cooldown, except in moments when  is only a second or two from coming off cooldown. It can be worth waiting for the 25% damage bonus. 

 

If you do not have a  or , then you'll need to replace one of the Lockheed powers and use  to apply vulnerability. Personally, I dislike  because it's very slow, low damage (I am almost positive it is a dps loss), and the CC pulling enemies into the ground makes it hard to target them, but some people like it for the invulnerability frames and CC. YMMV.

 

 

Rotation

 

The rotation is not complicated, it's mostly using powers off cooldown, then applying Kitty's dots.

 

Starting rotation:  ->  ->  ->  ->  ->  ->  -> hold .

 

After the initial rotation, it's  ->  ->  ->  ->  every 8 seconds, and  and  off cooldown. I do recommend using signature either before or after the 8 second cooldown and dot rotation, because if it's used in between, it can desync the timing of the cooldowns and/or dots.

 

Gear

 

As you can see, none of the uniques are Kitty's, but there are substitutes for all of the gear if you don't have what's listed in this guide. There are also artifact substitutes.

 

Slot 1 - In the least surprising non-twist ever, is BiS on yet another hero. If you don't have one, then  is pretty good and also has health. Her own slot 1,, is okay, but it has no crit rating or health, and the attack speed is a bit wasted on this build because a lot of time is spent channeling quicksand.

 

Slot 2 - I have not found a good slot 2 cosmic to test, but I doubt it beats the absurd flat damage, stats, and power duration  provides. Her own slot 2,, is a good substitute, having similar stats. It mostly loses out to Kraven's because the proc has energy damage, and not the damage vs. vulnerable targets Kraven's has, and more fighting than int, which means a bit less crit damage.  are not bad because they have a lot of crit rating, but they have a lot less health than the other two options.

 

Slot 3 - Nothing beats the good stats and power duration of  . Her own slot 3,, is basically a worse Coat of the Skull, with a proc that has bad uptime. Unfortunately, there's no other good slot 3 choices.

 

Slot 4 -  is a powerful slot 4 on heroes who have fighting and intelligence as their dps stats, and Kitty is no exception. A lot of damage, brutal rating, and brutal damage, with a decent amount of power duration too. If you don't have a Skrull Uniform, use her own slot 4 or . I'm not sure which one is better damage, if I had to guess, Batrocs.

 

Slot 5 - is far and away bis, not only having a lot of flat damage, crit rating, and brutal rating, it also lets Kitty ignore  and have a full set of Lockheed powers. If you don't have a Cobra's Hood, Kitty's own is a good slot 5.

 

Artifacts: 

FYI, you can get an Elektra Bandana for 120 orders of the hand from the event terminal. It won't be cosmic, but Elektra Bandana/Mask is the #1 bis artifact, and finding a cosmic one is very difficult.

 

It is worth mentioning that I didn't do a ton of testing with artifacts. That being said,  is very extremely best in slot, and  is very likely best in slot. Elektra is broken because she scales off your stats, and hard to beat 1k damage and brutal rating.

 

The question is what should fill the other two slots? It's basically some combination of , , , and .  is probably better than , but testing artifacts on Kitty is difficult because signature brutals can swing her damage and ttk a lot. That being said, I'm pretty sure  is in the top 4 because Kitty is incredibly crit-starved thanks to her slots 2-4 providing almost no crit rating (she only gets it from the fighting stat on those slots). That being said, any combination of these four artifacts in the two remaining slots works.

 

FYI, you might think Kitty has no bleed, and  would not work with her kit because nothing is labeled as a bleed power, but her dash is a bleed, which is a property preserved from pre-BUE. The dash was tagged as a bleed, now it doesn't have that label, but the programming still tags it as a bleed and it does trigger the crit proc on Sabretooth's Furry Mane.

 

Good substitutes:

 

 - Use this if you do not have for the vulnerability. Replace  or . You can get this artifact from Dani Moonstar, the danger room vendor, so it's simply a matter of merits and reroll patience until you get one. Save up the merits for a cosmic version. It can also drop from the Sentinel wave in Midtown patrol. 

 - Armor artifact. It's a matter of reroll patience and armor drives acquiring this.

 - This is a good hybrid survivability/dps choice.

 

Cosmic Artifact Affixes: DO NOT USE -10% SIGNATURE COOLDOWN. Kitty's signature has a 30 second cooldown  which syncs perfectly with Elektra Bandana/Mask's cooldown. Get +1 all attributes for dps then a combination of health, defense, deflect, and/or dodge for ttl. -15% spirit cost reduction is also good if you're running out of Lockheed Energy when clearing terminals.

 

Budget starter artifacts: , , , and. These are all common drops and easy to find.

 

Ring: A physical/energy  is exactly the same dps, use whichever version has better rolls. FYI, the crit and brutal proc is tied to the health roll. Be sure the health roll is green, because that's the most important roll for Xavier ring.

Legendary: No, Kitty is not a summoner, and Lockheed doesn't benefit from summon damage, but  procs are strong and provide even more healing for Kitty. I tested , which in theory should be better dps, but Trident was consistently winning. I guess you can use a   to tank up but I honestly think it's unnecessary because Kitty has so much healing. For ilvl 70, use .

 

Insignia: I am not 100% positive Weapon X is the best insignia, but it's definitely a good one. The best is likely a crit rating or area damage + crit damage Cyclops or Groot insignia (the little summons are strong!). Unfortunately I don't have any good Cyclops insignias. Other good insignias are Taskmaster, Eric O'Grady, Falcon, and Drax the Destroyer. Gamora and Star-Lord are decent too.

 

Relics: If you don't have Atlantis to spare, then is a decent substitute.

 

Infinities and Synergies

 

Infinity:

I have well over 1000 IP. However, most people don't have this much IP so here's what I would prioritize.

• 0-152 IP - 37 points in Temporal Loophole, and 1 point in the infusion node (right side) in the Time Gem.
• 152-302 - 150 points in Mental Focus in the Mind Gem
• 302-452 - 75 points in Strike Through in the Power Gem.
• 452-602 - 6 points in Fighting in the Soul Gem
• 602-802 - 200 points in Potency in the Reality Gem.
• 802-822 - 1 point in each of the remaining infusion nodes (they're on the right in each gem).
• 822+ - Intelligence in the Mind Gem. You can also invest in Mind Over Matter in the Mind Gem and/or Superhuman in the Power Gem. If nothing else, invest 6 points in both of them because that will give you +1% critical and brutal thanks to weird rounding errors.

 

Synergies: Beast, Ultron, and War Machine for Intelligence and Fighting, then the area damage and crit rating nodes. Thor and Winter Soldier are good substitutes if you're missing some of the synergies listed.

 

Videos

 

These videos were recorded at 1167 IP, Level 20 ult.

 

1:19 TTK. I will admit, this TTK had freakishly good signature luck. My average was a mid-1:2x to low 1:3x.

1:16 Kurse

1:46 Ultron