I've seen a few movement Elektra guides, but nothing that quite matches my build. I like this build because it's good aoe, a unique playstyle, and an agile and movement-heavy.

 

Pros:

 

• Good aoe and clear. Cut a Swath and Clear the Air have big hitboxes.
• Very mobile. Lots of movement powers.
• Fairly tanky. When channeling Cut a Swath, Elektra has an extra +35% dodge chance, and she has 50% damage resistance for 5 seconds after using her signature.

 

Cons:

 

• Below average single-target damage.
• Blow Dart and From the Shadows have small hitboxes. If an enemy moves they are likely to whiff.
• Middling burst. Her signature is decent burst, but Elektra doesn't have much burst outside of her signature.

 

Misc:

 

• This build really wants the Salvaged Alien Weapon (SAW)   legendary. The build is possible without it, but dps will be lower, and there will be a lot more downtime spamming Blossom of Death. SAW is a big dps and qol upgrade.
• The rotation is active, difficult, and requires monitoring cooldowns. If you want a simple hero or build, this is not the guide for you.

 

 

Build Explanation

 

This build uses almost all movement powers, which takes advantage of the Salvaged Alien Weapon legendary's 25% cooldown reduction. The cooldown reduction allows Elektra to have an active rotation where most time is spent actively using cooldowns, and only using a few times in between cooldowns, which helps maintain the bleed dot.  is used instead of  because it's a dot, lower cooldown, and higher damage, despite blow dart's lack of movement tag.

 

  - This is the build's main trash clear power, and the filler in between cooldowns when fighting bosses. It's a big aoe channel power, so make sure you hold down the key/button when you use it. Against mobs hold this down until they're cleared. Against bosses make sure the target is marked before using this power for the 50% damage bonus. Start channeling this power when the other powers are all on cooldown, and channel until at least 2 cooldown powers are available.

 

 - Elektra's dash. Works like most other dashes, but it also applies stealth so it can break aggro.

 

 - Elektra's bleed dot and a janky pseudo dash. This is the only movement power Elektra has with no cooldown. You use this to apply the bleed dot, move around mobs when you're out of dashes, and when everything else is on cooldown. It's not the usual filler/spam/left-click, but that's basically how this works, except this one has pretty good clear and you don't use it often when fighting bosses.*

*Unless you're not using a SAW, then blossom of death is used quite frequently because there will be longer downtimes in between cooldowns.

 

 - Good clear and decent damage. Unlike most of Elektra's powers with a mark bonus, it's not terribly important if a boss is marked or not before you use it because it only applies CC effects. Clear the Air's main purpose against bosses is the damage and reducing the cooldown on .

 

 - A strong execute power, and one of the few powers from Elektra that can be considered burst. Behind you consumes the mark, so make sure you have  or  off cooldown so you can instantly reapply the mark for the 25% damage bonus. This power can also be used to kill non-boss enemies, including strong elites such as the demons in the Loki ICP wave, and the sentinels assisting Red Skull in the cosmic trial. Using this power near the start of a rotation and before applying dots and signature is advised because of  consume mark proc.

 

  - Good mobility power that puts Elektra right in front of her target. From the Shadows is also a low cooldown high damage power that applies mark status against elites and bosses, thanks to the Falling Leaf Strike Talent. Mark is the vulnerability equivalent for Elektra. This power's biggest drawback is its small hitbox, which can easily whiff against mobile enemies.

 

 - This power fires a dart that turns into a poison cloud after it hits a target. The ground aoe from the poison cloud is decent, but the dart has a small hitbox and can easily whiff if the target is moving. Fortunately, the power has a fairly low cooldown, and it's a good set it and forget it power for clearing small mobs. This power is one of Elektra's three powers that apply mark.

 

 - Elektra's signature, and a good one too. Good damage and aoe, and Elektra is completely invulnerable during this power. Not Even the Stars also applies Mark and thanks ot the Shadow Dance talent, grants Elektra the Slip into the Shadows   buff, a 50% damage resistance, critical damage, and brutal damage buff. Use  before applying dots against a boss in a patrol or raid so you can snapshot  and the cosmic insignia buff.

 

 

Rotation

 

The rotation is complicated. There's a set rotation for the beginning of a fight, but it breaks down after a cycle or two because the cooldowns don't perfectly line up.

 

To start:  ->  ->  ->  ->   ->  ->  ->  (hold) ->  ->  ->  ->  ->  x2 ->  ->  (hold)

 

I could go on, but it's a lot of rules of thumb and knowing conditionals. Basically...

 

• Use  when all of your other (non-dash) powers are on cooldown. Hold the button/key until at least 2 powers are on cooldown. If that's too much to think about then just hold down the button until you see most of your powers come off cooldown and light up. If you're using a non-SAW legendary, channel this power for its maximum duration.
• Also, make sure a mark is applied before using . Mark is a big damage bonus for Cut a Swath and the indicator is two big red sais crossed together above the enemy's head.
• After consuming a mark with , use  or  to reapply a mark.
• Always  whenever it's off cooldown. Not Even the Stars is priority number one because it's Elektra's biggest source of burst and grants her the Slip Into Shadows buff .
• Generally,  should be used when  is on cooldown, and vice versa so they're reducing each other's cooldowns. Usually the timing works out this way naturally if you followed the starting rotation.
• If everything else is on cooldown (which happens), use . If you're using a SAW, it's usually only once or twice in between cooldowns. If you're using a non-SAW legendary, you'll be frequently using blossom of death .

 

 

Gear

 

Elektra is pretty easy to gear outside of Salvaged Alien Weapon because her slots 1-5 are mostly her own, and the two slots that use other gear have easy substitutes. Her artifacts can also mostly be terminal farmed, or are pretty easy to get in Midtown (). The one hard to get artifact has good, easy substitutes. In other words, outside of SAW, gearing Elektra is easy.

 

Slot 1:  Just like most of the cast, Elektra uses a Fragment because it's OP. However, she has a very strong slot 1 . Use Assassin Blade if you are starting out and/or don't have a Fragment to spare.

 

Slot 2: A crit rating cosmic is best in slot because SAW gives no crit rating. However, I need to test an X-men Uniform , because that is also a strong option. If you're just starting out, her own slot 2  is okay.

 

Slot 3: has a lot of strong stats and nothing beats a well-rolled one.

 

Slots 4:  have too much base damage, damage rating, and attributes for anything else to come close. 

 

Slots 5:  is way way way too good to consider anything else. The bonus from consuming the mark is ridiculously good, on top of all the other stats.

 

Artifacts: 

 

I think Sabretooth's Mane  is a top 4 dps item on Elektra, but  is very close. The issue is that Bandana/Mask you are reliant on the Elektra summon and there is more ttk variance. However, Bandana did give me my best result, a 1:56.

You can get an Elektra Bandana for 120 orders of the hand from the event terminal in Avengers Tower. It won't be cosmic, but finding a cosmic one is very difficult, and the normal Bandana has the same stats, just no cosmic affix.  

 

Good substitutes:

 

 - Always a strong artifact on fighting heroes, and Elektra is no exception. Elektra doesn't get as much benefit from attack speed as most heroes do because this build uses a lot of movement powers. 

 - Strong artifact on most heroes, it's not top 4 on Elektra because she needs crit more than attack speed. This is an ARMOR event artifact, you can buy it from Jocasta in Avengers Tower.

- Another good choice for a lot of heroes. This is an ARMOR event artifact, you can buy it from Jocasta in Avengers Tower.

 - This is a good hybrid survivability/dps choice.

 

Budget Starter Artifacts:  , , , and. These are all common drops and easy to find.

 

Legendary: If you cannot get a SAW , then use a ilvl 80  or a ilvl 70 .

 

Insignia: Other good insignias are Taskmaster and Bullseye (what I'm personally using). Eric O'Grady and Hawkeye are also good. Elektra doesn't have a lot of insignia choices. As for affixes, crit damage is always a must, but the secondary affix can be boss damage, melee damage, or health if you want a bit of ttl.

 

Relics: If you don't have Atlantis to spare, then  is okay.

 

 

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 side of each gem).
• 822+ - Fighting in the Soul 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 chance thanks to weird rounding errors.

The initial investment in Temporal Loophole is more for quality of life, it is better dps to take it at higher IP, but if you need more base damage at lower IP invest the first 150 points in Fighting instead.

 

Synergies: Angela and War Machine for Speed and Fighting, then physical + melee damage nodes. Juggernaut is taken because this build is mostly movement powers. Thor, Psylocke, and Winter Soldier are good substitutes if you're missing some of the synergies listed.

 

 

Videos

 

These videos were recorded at 1490 IP with a level 20 Ult.

 

1:59 TTK

 

 

1:06 Kurse

 

1:49 Ultron