Shape of Dreams: Best El’s Mercy Vesper Build

Vesper is the main tank character in Shape of Dreams, and he plays the role you’d expect. This powerful paladin uses a large hammer to deal heavy damage and protect both himself and his teammates with shields and healing. While he’s not very quick on his feet, you can customize his build to make him a surprisingly fast attacker.

This guide focuses on building Vesper to be a fast, powerful character with excellent self-healing and high damage output. While he might not heal quite as much as Aurena, he gets very close, making him a really enjoyable choice if you want to dominate in *Shape of Dreams* with a truly unstoppable character.

Best Discipline Vesper Build in Shape of Dreams

Abilities	Description
Discipline (Main Ability)	Vesper leaps forward and smashed an enemy, dealing Light damage (scaling with AD) and triggering attack effects. This skill’s cooldown is reduced by 8% when you attack an enemy.
El’s Mercy (Passive)	Vesper’s Attack Damage is increased. Every fourth basic attack is a guaranteed critical hit and deals Light damage (scaling with AP). Each time you attack an enemy, you gain Attack Speed (up to 24%). When the Attack Speed bonus reaches its maximum level, attacking an enemy will restore a percentage of your missing HP.
Frostbite	Your next 2 attacks are faster and are empowered. The first empowered hit deals Cold damage and grants Barrier. Meanwhile, the second hit deals more Cold damage.
Umbral Edge	Activate this skill to increase your Critical Strike Chance and deal additional Dark damage on attacks. Melee characters gain a 25% damage increase while the effect is active.
Purgatory	Deal AP damage to all enemies in a targeted area and restore HP for a random ally. If a boss is hit, health restoration is tripled.

In this version of the build, we’re swapping Cruel Sun for Discipline, a skill Vesper unlocks that allows him to jump between enemies. While the added movement is helpful – especially if you have one of his Constellations – the main benefit is being able to quickly reset his auto-attacks, letting you deal a lot of damage very fast.

We’re switching from Resolve to El’s Mercy. El’s Mercy is much stronger offensively, although it doesn’t heal as much. However, if you consistently attack enemies – even bosses – El’s Mercy can help you withstand a lot of damage and stay alive by restoring your health.

Okay, so as soon as I get El’s Sanctuary – Vesper’s Ultimate – I always sell it! Seriously, the moment I hit a Well or find a Shop, it’s gone. Then I take all that money and immediately put it towards getting new skills or making the ones I already have even better. It’s a huge help in progressing!

How Do You Play This Build?

This build focuses on quickly dealing damage by continuously holding down the basic attack button and using your other abilities. You’ll receive a lot of damage, but El’s Mercy and Purgatory will allow you to recover all the health you lose. Just remember that using Discipline and Vesper’s dodge (Heavy Strike) will reset your basic attack, letting you attack more often and increase your damage output.

This build is harder to rely on when playing on tougher difficulties, and especially on Nightmare mode, where healing is less effective.

What is Auto-Attack Resetting (& How Do You Do it)?

Auto-attack resetting, often shortened to AA resetting, happens when you use a special ability immediately after your character’s regular attack connects. This technique is popular in MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) games, which heavily influenced the design of *Shape of Dreams*.

Here, you strike an enemy once with Vesper’s hammer, then quickly use Discipline. Because Discipline automatically adds another attack after its initial hit, you’ll land three attacks in rapid succession. This same technique works with Vesper’s dodge and other skills that can be used right after a basic attack.

AA resetting pairs effectively with other characters from *Shape of Dreams*, particularly Lacerta, Aurena, and Shell.

Why Take Frostbite, Umbral Edge, and Purgatory?

This character build focuses on being durable and dealing consistent damage, making it great for beginners. Frostbite boosts your damage, provides a shield, and Purgatory heals you when it connects with an enemy. Umbral Edge significantly increases your damage output against tougher opponents.

I’ve been using my abilities a lot, and it’s really helping! I’m trying to be smart about it though – I usually hold onto Umbral Edge for tougher fights because it takes a while to recharge compared to my other skills.

What Essences Should You Use?

Momentum: Attacking an enemy reduces the attached skill’s cooldown. Use this on Discipline or Frostbite.
Paranoia: When you take damage, the attached skill’s cooldown is reduced, but it is automatically cast at nearby enemies. Use this on Umbral Edge.
Metal: When you kill an enemy, reduce the attached skill’s cooldown. Again, use this on Umbral Edge.
Starry Sky: When you attack an enemy, gain Attack Speed. If the attack deals Dark damage, the bonus can reach up to twice as much. Use this on Umbral Edge.
Voracity: After casting the attached skill, gain bonus Attack Damage and restore health per attack. Use this on Discipline.
Wind: Casting the attached memory increases your Attack Speed for 5 seconds. Use this on either Discipline or Frostbite.
Rigidity: Gain a barrier when the attached skill hits an enemy. Barrier strength is increased if the skill deals Cold damage.
Clemency: Attached skill heals you for a percentage of the damage dealt.

There are many Essences that could work well with this strategy, but because finding specific items in *Shape of Dreams* relies heavily on luck, you won’t likely find everything you need in a single playthrough. It’s best to have a general idea of what you want to build beforehand, and then adapt to the Essences and Memories you actually receive. For this particular build, here are the key effects and stats you should aim for:

High attack speed
High health
Cooldown reduction
On-cast effects.

If you plan to use this strategy on Nightmare difficulty, prioritize building up your defenses.

What Skills Should You Level Up?

Generally, it’s best to max out El’s Mercy first with this build. Your other skills won’t need immediate upgrades because El’s Mercy will provide enough damage when combined with them. Increasing El’s Mercy’s level boosts your overall attack damage, the extra damage from your fourth hit, and how quickly you attack with each stack.

After El’s Mercy reaches level 10, you have the following choices:

Upgrade Discipline for a faster and more consistency combat flow.
Upgrade Umbral Edge for stronger damage windows.
Upgrade Frostbite for thicker barriers and more Cold damage.

When choosing rewards in Chaos, always pick upgrades to your maximum health first. More health means your Heavy Strike will deal more damage, and you’ll be much more likely to survive. Once you reach 1000 HP, you can start focusing on improving your other stats.

Best Vesper Constellations in Shape of Dreams

Okay, so I’m building out my Constellation tree using the stats we talked about. Just a heads-up for anyone new to the game – you’ll need to get Vesper leveled up first before you can unlock a bunch of these awesome passives. It’s a prerequisite, basically!

Constellation Star	Effect
Pulverizer (Vesper – Destruction)	Increases Attack Speed by up to 15%
Aggressive Stance (Common – Destruction)	Increases Attack Damage by up to 8
Hurricane (Common – Destruction)	Increases Attack Speed by up to 10.5%
Reckless Fury (Vesper – Destruction)	Reduces max health by 20%, but increases Attack Speed by up to 30%.
Efficient Extraction (Common – Imagination)	Increases Dream Dust gained from dismantling Memories and Essences
Threat Detection (Common – Life)	Reduces Dodge cooldown by up to 22%
Trial Survivor (Common – Life)	Increases Armor by up to 12
Tough Skin (Common – Life)	Increases Maximum Health by up to 140.

2025-09-19 12:05