On the surface, this build looks similar to ShizutheNight's Dual-Stance build, but that build uses a different talent in the fourth row that has since been nerfed. Unlike what Bugle says, the Deliberate Tempo talent does not grant 500% extra damage, it's now 100% extra damage, rendering the talent useless. It might sound like one talent change is not a big deal, but it fundamentally changes how the build is played because the build revolves around low cooldowns now.

 

Anyway, I'm writing this guide to have a properly updated Dual-stance guide on Bugle. Every other build I see is a grandmaster 4 or 5-stance build, and I'm not a fan of that build.

 

Pros

• Excellent single target damage.
• Damage resistance and invulnerable powers make this build decently tanky.
• Mobile, lots of powers that place Iron Fist right in front of his target.
• Fury of Five Hundred Fists is a low cooldown nuke power with a sustained active hitbox that also doubles as decent clear, despite not having an area tag.

Cons

• Little Aoe - Only Iron Fist's signature is area-tagged in this build.
• Zero damage over time powers. If Iron Fist is not hitting, he is dealing zero damage.
• If Iron Fist botches the stance order, then the build and rotation can be bricked until stances are fixed.

 

Build Explanation

 

 

This build is combining Leopard and Tiger stances. All of the stance combo powers,   and , are associated with the stances and receive the 100% damage bonus from the Follow Through talent. Leopard and Tiger stances give Iron Fist's signature, , two powerful bonuses, a guaranteed critical hit, and a cooldown reset on all of Iron Fist's Stance Opener and Combo powers, which is the rest of his powers used in this build.  lowers the cooldown on  and , helping sustain the Blended Styles talent. Basically, dual-stance Leopard and Tiger is a constant flurry of low cooldown nukes that is best described as sustained burst damage.

 

 - This is Iron Fist's left-click/filler/spender power. Unlike most left-click powers, Fury of Five Forces is not a large part of Iron Fist's damage profile. Instead, Fury's primary purpose is to apply vulnerability, a rare property on left-click powers.

 

 - Iron Fist's dash. It's a fast dash and it has a mental damage component which can proc hybrid items such as Power Doop.

 

 - An invincible power that hits 9 times within a circle. Despite Seven Armies Sundered being a large circle, it is not an area of effect power and the power will randomly target whatever is in the circle. Due to this property, Seven Armies Sundered is actually not an effective clearing power, but it is still a strong power for its single target damage and invulnerability. 

 

 - Fury of Five Hundred Fists is an amazing low cooldown (4 seconds) 50% damage resistance target-directed nuke. This is the one power that gets bonuses from both Leopard and Tiger stances, which further buffs the power and grants the power 6 extra damage instances. Fury of Five Hundred Fists is Iron Fist's biggest damage source, and it's also a pretty good clear power.

 

 - One of the two stance opener powers in this build. Leopard Claw puts Iron Fist in yes, Leopard stance. Unlike most of Iron Fist's stance openers, Leopard Claw does advance Iron Fist toward his target, making it a decent starting power when fighting a boss.

 

 - This build's other stance opener. Tiger Scratch is the strongest stance opener, and puts Iron Fist in Tiger stance. Unlike Leopard Claw, Tiger Scratch is a point blank range power, and is best used in the middle of a rotation.

 

 - A directed single target power that puts Iron Fist right next to his target. Good Fortune Thunder Kick also lowers Iron Fist's stance opener cooldowns and does a decent chunk of damage. Primary uses of this power are mobility and lowering stance opener cooldowns.

 

 - Iron Fist's signature, and it's a fairly strong burst damage power that rushes straight to the target. With the Leopard and Tiger stance buffs, Like Unto Iron is a cooldown reset on Iron Fist's other powers, and a guaranteed critical hit, making it an important layer in Iron Fist's Rotation. Like Unto Iron has a fairly large aoe chi wave that is good clear, but the wave requires good positioning because Like Unto Iron is a targeted power.

 

 - This power is not on this build's skill bar, but it is triggered every time  is used thanks to the row 5 talent, Crimson Hammer. Crimson Hammer is a big offensive buff with a 4 second duration. Bugle's tooltip is incorrect, the real buff is +1,200 crit and brutal rating, and +1,800 critical and brutal damage. Crimson Hammer is a big reason why Elektra's Bandana/Mask is powerful on Iron Fist, she inherits the buff every time she appears.

 

FYI, You do not want to push Iron Fist's signature cooldown below 20 seconds with gear like  or  because Crimson Hammer has a 20 second cooldown. If  has a cooldown lower than 20 seconds, then Crimson Hammer will only active every other signature, instead of every signature. In addition, the aforementioned items are significant dps losses compared what is available in their slots.

 

 

Rotation

 

 

It's worth noting that Seven Armies Sundered  has an interesting property. If you press Ninjutsu Dash  while the Seven Armies Sundered is active, Seven Armies Sundered will still have an active hitbox while Iron Fist is dashing. In other words, Iron Fist can cancel Seven Armies Sundered into a dash, then use a power like Good Fortune Thunder Kick or Fury of Five Hundred Fists to close the gap against an enemy.

To start:  -> Hold  ->   ->  ->  ->  ->  -> 

After each signature:  ->  ->  ->  ->  ->  -> 

 

After the post-signature sequence, it's mostly a matter of hitting powers off cooldown until the signature is up, then repeat the post-signature sequence.

 

Notes:

• After landing the first stance opener, always hold .
• You can swap the stance order, but I prefer starting with  because it moves to target, whereas  only hits at point blank range.
• Alternating stances is very important. If you accidentally use the same stance twice in a row, the Blended Styles talent will bug out and Iron Fist will need to swap stances twice before the talent activates again. If you can, use your signature in Leopard stance so you get the cooldown reset and can swap stances afterward.
• It is important after each signature to only use once stance, and stagger the next one, or else Iron Fist can run out of chi (his resource).
• Canceling  into  then  or  is not required, but it makes the rotation more active and I enjoy the rhythm. Also, as I mentioned earlier, Seven Armies Sundered will still be active while dashing, so it's basically a free damage layer.
• A bit of investment in the Deep Thought IP node, or the 150 spirit cosmic affix guarantees the rotation working. If neither choice is possible, then the second stance post-signature might need to be delayed longer to sustain chi.

 

 

Gear

 

 

Iron Fist is not difficult to gear, outside of wanting specific cosmic affixes to push his signature cooldown lower. Elektra's Bandana can be bought with Orders from the Hand from a vendor, and outside of his slot 4, Iron Fist has good Uniques.

 

Slot 1:  Yes, as always, Fragment of Twilight is best in slot. Good substitutes are  and his own  until you can find or craft a Fragment..

 

 

Slot 2: The best option is a cosmic with crit rating, crit damage, and brutal damage. A boss damage or +4 attributes cosmic is also very good. Cosmics can be a pain to find so  and  are good placeholders while searching.

 

Slot 3: The spirit cost reduction and the triple stacking proc giving nearly 900 crit rating makes Iron Fist's  best in slot by a mile.

 

Slot 4:  is best in slot on almost every hero whose archetype fits two of three attributes when the proc is active, and Iron Fist is no exception. Skrull Military Uniform can be found in hightown. Until you can get your hands on a uniform, a cosmic slot 4 or  are good placeholders. Iron Fist's  are an underwhelming slot 4 and should only be used when starting out, try to replace them ASAP.

 

Slot 5:  Nothing can beat , it simply provides too many attributes and great offensive stats to consider anything else.

 

Artifacts:

 

As mentioned before,  can be purchased from the Event Terminal to the left of the stairs in Avengers Tower. Always a good starter artifact, and it is best in slot for Iron Fist thanks to his Crimson Hammer buff.

 

Good Substitutes:

 

 - Very close to being a top 4 artifact, Siege's is especially helpful for Like Unto Iron, which is a guaranteed critical hit. The proc is actually not very good on Iron Fist because he has terrible proc rates.

 

 - A good choice for any hero, Gem of the Kursed has

 

 - I would prioritize the two artifacts above over Sacred White Gorilla Necklace, but it's still a good offensive choice, and it adds a bit of defense.

 

 - This is a decent hybrid dps+survivability artifact.

 

 

Budget Starter Artifacts:  , , , , and . The first four are common drops and easy to find. The medal of Valor is a reward for beating Chapter 10.

 

Insignia: Not sure She-Hulk is the best insignia, but it's a strong one. Other good choices are Daredevil, Iron Fist, Captain America, and Taskmaster. Eric O'Grady and Falcon are decent.

 

Relics: If you don't have Atlantis to spare,  are pretty good.

 

 

Infinity Points and Synergies

 

 

Infinity:

I have slightly over 1600 Infinity Points (IP), but that's unrealistic for most people, here's what I would prioritize.

• 0-150 IP - 150 Points into Mental Focus in the Mind Gem.
• 150-302 IP - 37 points into temporal loophole and 1 point into the infusion node (right side) in the Time Gem.
• 302-452 IP - 75 points into Strike Through in the Power Gem.
• 452-602 IP - 6 points into Fighting in the Soul Gem.
• 602-740 IP - 46 points into Superhuman in the Power Gem
• 740-764 IP - 6 points into Mind Over Matter in the Mind Gem.
• 764-784 IP - 1 point into the remaining infusion nodes on the right side of each gem.
• 784+ IP - Invest into Fighting in the Soul gem. Dump any remaining IP into Potency in the Reality Gem.

 

Synergies: Ant-Man and War Machine for the +1 to dps attributes, Loki for the signature cooldown reduction, then the rest in  melee and physical synergies. If you do not have all of the synergies listed available, then She-Hulk, Psylocke, Thor, and Winter Soldier are good substitutes.

 

 

Videos

 

 

Videos are 1613 IP, Level 20 Ult.

 

1:11 TTK

 

Kurse 1:02 

 

Ultron 1:38

 

150 IP, ilvl 70 legendary, no ilvl 69 gear, raid uniques, or event gear.

2:41 TTK

 

Kurse 1:48 

 

Ultron 3:17