There’s a quiet thrill to the Lunar Lancer: you’re a spear-wielder who dances on the edge of gravity, pulling yourself through the battlefield and exploding into lunatic clarity. In 2025 the Lunar Lancer keeps its identity as a high-skill melee class in Trove that rewards good timing, precise pulls, and smart use of Lunacy—the moon-power mechanic that flips you into a short, terrifying burst-form. This Trove guide walks you through the Lunar Lancer Abilities, and the three builds: Tank, Burst DPS, or speed-Farm — with practical rotations, gem choices, emblem/flask picks and endgame tuning.
The Lunar Lancer Abilities & passive
The Lunar Lancer’s kit is deceptively compact but full of interaction. Below are the essential abilities and how you should use them in real runs.
Basic Attack: Your basic swings strike enemies in a line and every fourth basic triggers a wide-arc second hit (the Crescent Combo) that stuns. These basics are your moon-power generator and primary damage between cooldowns. Learn the rhythm—count your swings so you land the stun when you need to lock a pack.
- basics generate Moon Power; every 4th attack becomes a powerful, stun-capable strike.
Crescent Combo: A sweeping two-part attack: a back-and-forth wide arc with a charged second hit that stuns (longer stun when Lunacy is active). This is the primary AoE/CC tool and the opener for many pulls—use it when you can hit several enemies, and reserve the charge to finish or to interrupt.
- use Crescent Combo to stun and control; charge timing extends control when lunatic.
Grappling Spear: A defining mechanic: you grapple yourself to a target point, pulling you through enemies and dealing impact damage on arrival. In many interactions, the grapple will stop and explode if it hits an enemy, letting you pull into the middle of a clump—this is how Lunar Lancers initiate and reposition. Grapple also converts to a different effect while Lunacy is active. Learn to aim your grapples: miss them and you lose momentum; hit them and you control the fight.
- Grapple = engage, reposition, and AoE impact; practice target selection.
Lunacy: The core passive: as you attack and use abilities you build Moon Power (visualized as moons). When the meter fills, you activate Lunacy — a temporary empowered form that boosts damage, gives huge health regen, significant stability, movement speed, and defensive bonuses. Lunacy is your win button; it increases the second hit of Crescent Combo (longer stun/air) and modifies other abilities. Timing Lunacy for boss windows or heavy pulls is central to advanced play.
- Lunacy converts Moon Power into a high-value 10–12s transformation—save it for the right moment.
Shadow Lancer: With some class gems or ability modifiers you may spawn image/shadow clones that attack; some Lunar Lancer class-gem modifiers improve clone chance or change how your images behave during Lunacy. These are situational but can add DPS or distraction during longer pulls—test your class gem in practice runs to find the best synergy.
- class gems can alter images/clone behavior—experiment.
The Lunar Lancer Builds
Tank Lunar Lancer Build
If your group needs someone to hold the pull, control space and provide steady damage, the Tank/Hybrid Lancer is the role to pick. You lean into Max Health, Stability, and moderate Magic/Physical Damage so Lunacy’s defensive window becomes a sponge that lets your team DPS freely.
You’ll start pulls by grappling into the pack, use Crescent Combo to stun and lock, and then remain in the center detonating basics and charged hits. Lunacy becomes a recovery window — pop it when the pull gets messy or when the boss spawns adds. This role is forgiving: mistakes are often corrected by Lunacy’s regen and block synergy.
- Core stats (priority): Max Health → Stability → Physical Damage → Attack Speed → Critical Damage.
- Gems: focus on survivability + AoE: Explosive Epilogue for chained clears, Berserker Battler optional for damage windows. Invest lesser gems into Health/HP regen early.
- Emblems & flasks: Unyielding / Knight combos for defense; Death-Defying Vial is recommended for solo higher-risk pushes. Chronomancer emblem helps get Lunacy online more often for utility.
- Rotation (short): Grapple into clump → Crescent Combo (charge the second hit when clustered) → basic attack to stack Moon Power → Lunacy during boss/add windows → reapply control.
Burst DPS Lunar Lancer Build
This is the Lunar Lancer that makes me grin: surgical, timing-driven, and lethal. Burst DPS focuses on maximizing the damage you get out of Lunacy windows and charged Crescent hits. You play with cooldown awareness and Moon Power economy so that Lunacy lines up with boss vulnerability phases.
You’ll spend fights weaving grapples and charging Crescent Combos so that your Lunacy lands exactly when the boss opens. Gear focuses on Crit, Crit Damage, and Physical Damage (Lunar Lancer scales physical on many tooltips) with Light invested for late-game punches. Pyrodisc/Explosive gems amplify your burst by adding chained AoE explosions when groups die.
- Core stats (priority): Physical Damage → Crit Chance → Crit Damage → Light → Attack Speed (secondary).
- Gems: Pyrodisc + Explosive Epilogue are standard picks for burst + chain; Vampirian Vanquisher if you need sustain. Start with MD/PD and push Light for Long Shade scaling.
- Emblems & flasks: Martial + Surestrike for peak damage; Death-Defying Vial if you solo farm risky bosses. Use damage flasks in windows.
- Rotation (short): Pre-charge Crescent Combo to align with boss phase → Grapple to reposition for cleave → Use full Crescent charge(s) → Activate Lunacy at moment of max vulnerability → follow with basic swings and quick grapples.
Farming Lunar Lancer Buils
The Lunar Lancer is surprisingly efficient at speed clearing when you treat grapples as movement and the Crescent as a fast clear tool. This build prioritizes Movement Speed, Attack Speed, and energy regen so you can chain grapples across spawn points, stun with Crescents, and never stop moving.
You’ll pre-place yourself to intercept spawns, use grapples as quick reposition tools, press Crescent to stun and clear, and only trigger Lunacy for dense boss rooms or to survive overlapping packs. For route running, be ruthless about movement and fuel your lesser gems with MS/AS.
- Core stats (priority): Movement Speed → Attack Speed → Energy Regeneration → Moderate PD/MD.
- Gems: lesser gems into MS/AS; empowered gems like Explosive Epilogue still help with chain-clear.
- Emblems & flasks: Beamer / Trailblazer type combos for speed; Elysian Bandolier to reduce downtime.
- Rotation (short): Grapple-move → Crescent for quick stuns → basic swings to refill Moon Power while moving → Lunacy only at boss/cluster nodes.
Gear Stats & gem recommendations
The Lunar Lancer is flexible and the right gear depends on role. Below is a concise table of what matters per slot and per role.
| Slot | Tank/Hybrid | Burst DPS | Speed-Farm |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weapon | Health / PD / Stability | PD / Crit Damage / Light | PD / Attack Speed |
| Hat | Max Health / Stability | Crit Damage / PD | Movement / Attack Speed |
| Face | Max Health / Energy Regen | PD / Crit Chance | Energy Regen / Movement |
| Ring | Stability / Health | Crit / PD | Movement / Attack Speed |
| Banner | Health / PD | Light / PD | AS / Movement |
Gems:
- Core empowered picks: Explosive Epilogue, Pyrodisc (AoE chain), Vampirian Vanquisher (sustain).
- Lesser gems: scale according to role — Health/Stability for tank, Crit/MD for DPS, MS/AS for speed.
- Class gem: test any Lunar Lancer class gem you obtain — many modify Shadow Lancer or Grapple and can change your playstyle.
Emblems, allies & subclasses
Emblems and allies tune your role:
- Martial + Surestrike — default for DPS burst.
- Unyielding / Knight + Chronomancer — for durability and faster Lunacy access on hybrid/tank builds.
- Beamer / Trailblazer — for speed runs where summoned damage or movement matters.
Allies: Rapt Berserker for raw damage, Chronomancer Qubesly for cooldown reduction (useful if you want more Lunacy windows), and Earnie/Puck for sustain variants. Subclass choices depend on server options; choose ones that augment your weakness (survivability, cooldowns, or burst).
- pick emblems for role synergy; allies fill gaps in cooldown, sustain, or raw DPS.
Progression roadmap — early → mid → endgame
- Early (0–PR5k): Learn grapple timing and Crescent cadence. Focus on survivability and basic PD.
- Mid (PR5k–PR20k): Pick a role, get empowered gems like Explosive Epilogue and Pyrodisc, and experiment with class gems.
- Endgame (Long Shade / Shadow Tower): Invest in Mystic/Cosmic gem upgrades for Light scaling, tune emblems for the role, and add HP/Stability to leverage Combat Block if you stand in the thick of it.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Lunar Lancer is a class that rewards timing, aim, and a taste for theatrical battlefield entries. It’s less about button-mashing and more about doing the right thing at the right moment—grappling to the perfect spot, landing the stun, and letting Lunacy carry you through the chaos. With the 2025 meta’s Combat Block and Mystic gem mechanics, the Lancer can slide between tanky anchors and precise burst carries seamlessly. Practice the cadence, learn your grapples, and your spear will sing.