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Guide to Buffing


Special Thanks to Warlock for creating this excellent guide. The original guide is posted on the Legends of the Fall members forum. The following version of the original guide has been slightly edited by the BFC, but the main concept and purpose remains the same.

Buffing and Buff Stacking in FE can mean the difference between a successful raid or an early trip to the local LifeNet Station. If you are looking for the best way to extend your lifespan, then read on. Also, buffs are important for both PVP and PVE, so nearly everyone will want to get a better understanding of how this system works, especially after the v1.4 revamp.

Here are the 12 main Effect Slots & how long they generally last:

Primary Skill (ex: Fortify) - 1 Hour
Secondary Skill (ex: Extended Care) - 1 Hour
Primary Mutation (ex: Ignore Pain) - 24 Hours (generally devote 19% of gamma to run)
Secondary Mutation (ex: Revitalize) - 24 Hours (generally devote 16% of gamma to run)
Stance (ex: Dreadnaught) - 24 Hours
Contingency Plan (ex: Dash) - 15-30 Seconds
Food (ex: Grilled Chicken) - 1 Hour
Drink (ex: Green Milk) - 1 Hour
Consumable (ex: Adrenalin Shot) - 1 Hour
Aura (ex: Defensive Coordination) - 1 Hour
Rest (ex: Tier 1 from Bunker Bar) - 5 Minutes to 1 Hour 30 Minutes
Warm and Refreshed (ex: Campfire Bundle) - 1 Hour

Q. How do I know what buff falls into what category?

A. In-game, hover over each skill/ability/consumable/mutation. The tooltip will tell you what category a buff occupies.

Q. How many Buffs can I run at a time?

A. You may have one buff active for each category, meaning you may have up to 12 buffs active at any given time.

Q. What do I do when I get a message saying "a more powerful buff is already active"?

A. This message occurs when you try to replace an already running buff with a new buff of the same category.

If the skill requirement for the already-active buff is higher than the skill requirement for the buff you want to apply you will get this message.

To remove the active buff, simply right-click it wherever your active buffs are displayed, and attempt to apply the new buff again.

Q. What buffs should I have active?

A. A good idea is to buff to match your character's strengths. If you're melee, buff melee-related stats and skills. Pistol, buff pistol related stats and skills.

An alternative line of thinking would be to buff hit point related stats to raise your maximum HP. The same line of thinking would apply to stamina.

A third line of thinking would be to buff primary, secondary, and tertiary armor.

A fourth to buff health or stamina regeneration.

All these ideas are viable. Structure your buffs in a way that supports your character by using similar buffs.

While you may only have one buff per category, the buff effects stack. Let's say you're running 5 + Health Regen buffs. Each of these + Health Regen bonuses stacks. Instead of a mere potential +15 Health Regen, you can potentially have +75 Health Regen. In addition, cast-able mutations and skills can add to your Health Regen, i.e. Accelerated Recovery, Revitalize, Encouragement, giving you even more + Health Regen.