Skillet's Favorite Build
This is my go-to build for basic world exploration. If I'm gear grinding or adventuring through a new area, this is my build. It melts through all foes, even bosses, on Survivor difficulty and holds its own very well through Nightmare difficulty but it is a bit squishy for Apocalypse runs.
This is essentially a status damage build with effectively unlimited Relic charges. The basic strat is using Merciless to cause BLEEDING, then following up with the Huntress Spear charge melee attack to apply CORROSION. That makes for a quick kill even against beefy elites. As a bonus, when an enemy dies with these Status effects, the Vile perk spreads those Status effects to all enemies in a wide radius. This makes for pretty much effortless runs through world areas and dungeons and is also great against bosses who spawn lots of adds—kill one add and the rest start taking damage while you focus on the boss.
During boss fights or encounters with many enemies, pop Miasma and, if you need extra damage, Way of Kaeula. While your skills deal huge amounts of damage, you can use Huntress Spear and Merciless to lay down additional damage. Survivor difficulty bosses don't last long when you do this.
Archetypes
Primary
Secondary
Armor
Any armor you choose.
Relic
Enlarged Heart to grant quick, full healing on use.
Amulet
Cervine Keepsake to boost Movement Speed and automatically restore used Relic charges.
Rings
Slot 1: Ahanae Crystal to give a huge boost to Status damage dealt by Miasma.
Slot 2: Bisected Ring because I hate running out of Stamina (great with the Huntress Spear Charged Melee attack).
Slot 3: Anastasija's Inspiration to SLOW just about every enemy in the fight.
Slot 4: Zania's Malice to increase Weakspot damage.
Weapons
Long Gun
Merciless with the Twisting Wounds Mutator to apply increased BLEEDING damage.
Melee Weapon
Huntress Spear with the Vampire Blade Mutator to compliment Merciless BLEEDING damage.
Handgun
Enigma with the Maelstrom Mutator to increase damage to enemies suffering Status effects. I only use Enigma for the Chaos Driver mod or as a last resort in a pinch, so any weapon you like will work here. Just try to use one that applies a Status to enemies.
Traits
Flash Caster +10 to speed up casting Miasma and Way of Kaeula.
Longshot +7 because the increased range is nice. This is a "leftover" Trait, so substitute anything you like.
Swiftness +10 for speedier movement, but substitute anything if you like.
Vigor +10 because I like more Health.
Expertise +8 to reduce Skill cooldowns (note that the Ritualist gives you +2, so this will be maxed).
Amplitude +10 to give Miasma and Way of Kaeula longer reach.
Glutton +10 to make using the Enlarged Heart ridiculously fast.
Leech +10 because I like Lifesteal, but you can substitute anything here.
Siphoner +10 to work with Leech, but again feel free to substitute.