[Battleborn Guide] Deande V1. I spy with my little eye...someone's gonna die.

##EDIT:
Guys, would you be so kind to state your platform too? I found out the flow for melee being different for PC and consoles. Where console player might have troubles aiming, PC players don't have the same problem. Thanks!

** 2016.05.12 - V1.05** (Edited skill descriptions and helix choices here and there. Rewrote Ultimate part, since I found out something new yesterday the hard way)
I appreciate your input very much and open for constructive criticism.
Also, found out that another guide exists, worth to take a look, seems well-written and formatted
2016.05.17 - Edited flying kick descritption, found out some new uses for it.

##Foreword Frankly, I wasn't a big fan of Deande until recently. In beta it took considerable amount of time to get to the required rank, so I didn't exactly get the feel of this battleborn. Played her maybe to rank 5 and it wasn't the best experience as opposed to Gali and Ambra. But ever since I've unlocked her after release, I feel like that's definitely my type of character. So I started maining her and I've gotta tell you she's the beast. She has all the strengths with little weaknesses, so I sense some nerfs incoming rather soon, because very few people know how to counter her or what to do when she pops out of nowhere (pro-tip: CC her - stun/silence). This guide is mainly PVP-oriented. Here goes nothing...

###An early and possibly comprehensive guide on how to get K/D of OVER9000 to 0 with Deande and make people ragequit-and-go-to-reddit-to-demand-a-nerf-for-spymistress.

Contents:

1. Battleborn overview
2. Unlock requirements
3. Lore challenges
4. Core abilities
5. Helix Upgrades & Mutations
6. Legendary gear & gear loadout ideas
7. Play styles

##1. Battleborn Overview

Name: Unknown
Alias: Deande
Faction: Jennerit Imperium

Starting HP: 983
Shield: 300
Base Damage: 73
Alt. Base damage: 58/58/116 (x1-x1-x2 succession)
(values taken from BattleBornBible)

Weapon(Video): Tessurium War Fans (custom made)
Main attack: Melee combo (R2 || RT || LMB)
Secondary attack: Ranged - Deande throws her fans, attack has medium range, fans fly to side at the end of it (L2 || LT || RMB)
Quick melee: Throws fans on short distance // flying kick if sprinting. Thing to keep in mind with Flying kick is that it can be aimed in any direction, even upwards with the dash being more than enough to reach otherwise unreachable places, eliminating the need for some Double Trouble uses, and since it doesn't put anything on cooldown flying kick is one of the most cool tricks up Deande's sleeve. It can be used to reach enemy side thorugh center thralls camp in overgrowth with just jump+flying kick

Deande is deadly assassin with a wide range of means to finish you off, be it in close quarters or from a distance and can incorporate a variety of playstyles. She is versatile and agile, but at the cost of low HP.
She shines the brightest in late game, although some approaches and mutations let you wreck havoc at level 3.

##2. Unlock requirements

Deande is unlocked once you beat story mission Heliophage on advanced difficulty or reach command rank 38
I'd recommend duo of Oscar Mike/ISIC for that mission. May be challenging, but totally manageable. Trick is to clear all the trash targeting ISIC while he mows down bosses and tough enemies in turret mode. If you're not up to challenge, then it's easier to get to CR38 first while reading some guides on this Battleborn in the meantime.

##3. Lore Challenges

Deande's lore challenges are easy to complete without lots of grinding or group play. You can bring a friend to speed up getting The Seeds... one though.

Cloak and Dagger: Kill 500 enemies with The Element of Surprise - pretty straightforward one. You need to kill enemies in the span of 3 seconds on stealth end.

One Step Ahead: Stealth with less than 20% health, 30 times - self-explanatory.

War is Hardly Civil: Deal 10 000 damage to Rendain - easy-peasy lemon squizee. You can do it in one run.

Fan of the Empire: Deal 60 000 damage with Blink Storm - may sound like trouble, but it's not, just use the skill as much as you can in PVE and you will get it soon, just try to get tougher enemies into the cone of ability, weak ones waste the full potential

The Seeds Of Secret Orders: Play 5 matches on the same team as Ambra - easy one, especially when you get one friend to play as Ambra and take on on Heliophage to get the Hardly Civil and Fan of the Empire. Or just play PVP, some people seem willing to do you a favor (especially when Galilea is also aboard) by choosing Ambra.

Once you complete all the challenges, you will receive Deande's legendary item as a reward.

##4. Core abilities and skills

1st and foremost: Look at the map. It's the key to successfully playing not only Deande, but every kind of battleborn.

2nd but not any less important: Teleport to base to replenish HP. It's on B key by default on PC and down on d-pad of X-one/Ps4controller. Greatly improves survivability and reduces times when you go get a drink while standing at that healing station waiting to rush back intobattle.

Taunt: The most important thing to a successful killstreak. I prefer using this one for the best rage induction. You can get it from opening Jennerit faction packs.

As for Deande specific:

The Element of Surprise (Deande's Passive ability): For 3 seconds after uncloaking, all of Deande's skills and attacks deal 25% additionaldamage.
This is your core mechanic. You should build your game flow around it. This is what makes Deande an assassin. And it also tells you how long the combat should last. Of course there are many different situations in the field, but you ALWAYS should keep in mind your passive and try to utilize its full potential

Holotwin(Video): Cloaks Deande and deploys a decoy (20% health, 25% damage) to fight in her stead for 8 seconds. Upon death or expiry, the decoy explodes for 200 damage.
Your first skill and probably your most versatile tool in the box. This is your stealth, this is your sneak/assault/retreat/panic button depending on the situation. It has long initial cooldown, so you've got to plan ahead to minimize risks of being caught off-guard when it's on cooldown. This is why minimap is your best ally.

Burst Dash(Video): Deande charges forward, dealing 200 damage and pushing back enemies. Hit enemies are weakened, lowering their attack damage by 30%. OR if you select right helix upgrade on level 1 it changes to AOE attack with the same properties.
This is one way to play Deande. To build her helix to maximize the output of this skill.Also useful to kill groups of minions with modified version and get that last chunk of running enemy's health with dash. For console players I'd recommend getting used to this skill in private session pvp, since it can be frustrating to use double trouble and Vanilla dash at first. This skill can be used both as an opener from stealth or finisher.

Blink Storm(video): Upon activation, Deande unleashes a flurry of 10 strikes directly ahead ofher, stunning up to 5 enemies and dealing 50 damage per hit.
Initial cooldown - 70 seconds. Can be reduced with helix upgrade.
This Ultimate is so good it has this long ass cooldown. It can be the end for the full enemy team if you coordinate assault with your team. This ultimate ends your stealth and takes time to prepare AND is put on 10s cooldown if you happen to completely whiff it. So position yourself accordingly and don't forget that you can still rotate the camera to follow the enemy movement with ultimate's cone (seems obvious, but just in case).
Watch out for Galilea though! I found out that she can effectively cancel your ult by activating Desecrate. And she has plenty of time to do so, since Desecrate is insta-pop. It seems to work only if Galilea has her pull-in and silence mutations. Be warned, fellow Deandes out there.

##5. Helix Upgrades & mutations
This is getting too long already, so I'll just give you nice list of her helix options and just go over choices and situations
http://orcz.com/Battleborn:_Deande#Helix_Tree - Neat table with mutations
http://www.ign.com/wikis/battleborn/Deande - mutations with unlock ranks

So, my experience so far(bear in mind, I mostly play Incursion mode, rarely capture):
##LEVEL 1

• Double Trouble(l) - pretty much useless (I won't delete this part just to remind myself how biased I was). Very useful for closing huge gaps, can't really say for reaching higher places, need more practice I guess.
• Ground Zero(r) - For groups of enemies and PVE. Better choice at first for console players, since it has less waste potential. I still go with it most of the time, since you can easily debuff players that try to surround you or clear minions.
• Wonder Twins(m) - Kinda pointless. There are little to no situations where you'd need that, PVE maybe.

##LEVEL 2

• All Safeties Off(l) - Pretty obvious that it's the only choice, since most of the damage comes from twin explosion anyway. And with this skill twin's own damage becomes more of a threat too
• Refined Emitters(r) - The only possible benefit from this skill I can think of - more chance for holotwin to get in range with enemy for an explosion. But it's not your main strategy anyway, so go for damage.

##LEVEL 3

• Fan Appreciation(l) - 18% damage increase on thrown fans is a very nice bonus. This is a good option if you see yourself spending more time using alt.attack waiting for an opening in enemy line.
• Leechsteel(r) - Same as above, pretty useful option, plus it gives health from thrown fans too.
• Uppercut(m) - launches you and the enemy into the air and with good attack speed boost melee combo turns into infinite juggle, unless they know how to use quick melee/skills. Getting those mercs is no longer a problem with this skill
  Good choices here. All of them. Uppercut is only super-dope until more people learn to use quick melee

##LEVEL 4

• Calculated Risk(l) - This one is a tricky one to use but with great rewards. It adds half of the current shield value to attack AND removes shield from Deande after use. So basically, if you go in without stealth - you'll have no shield left when you reach the enemy for sure, but if you go stealthed - you'll have no panic button. Best used with Reyna by your side, since she can immediately shield you.
• Drain Dash(r) - No healer in team or if you have high HP enemies which can require more survivability from you to finish them off. Best used in PVE on groups of weak enemies - instaheal to full bar.
  Both upgrades are useful as hell, but it depends on what you're up to with your build

##LEVEL 5

• Silent Strike(l) - Depends on enemy team composition. Thorn/Miko/Oscar Mike present? Go for slows.
• Roguelike(r) - This is the choice if you build pure melee or use vanilla Burst Dash, cause she hits like a truck with this upgrade plus bonus from passive.
• Beast of Momentum(m) - Needs clarifying what type of enemy counts. Quicker escape? Personally meh.

##LEVEL 6

• Burst Brawler(l) - if you go for BD build
• Escape Plan(r) - allows for more distance covered in stealth mode(both retreat and advance)
• Ire's Echo(m) - if you don't use BD build and enemy team consists of blind melee mostly, otherwise - PVE skill.

##LEVEL 7

• Fan O' War(l) - increases general damage output, for when you don't have the luxury of popping BD before landing melee combo.
• The Culling(r) - good to have if you use vanilla BD as an opener and have high attack speed and roguelike + uppercut, cause it can melt foes pretty fast all while juggling them like little tools they are

##LEVEL 8

• Deadly Reach(l) - on one hand...THE RANGE
• Energized(r) - on the other hand...THE FREQUENCY. One thing to note though. Any second this skill is not used after cooldown is counted towards wasted potential. I'd go with range.

##LEVEL 9

• Improved holographics(l) - for when you don't sport BD burst build, increases your tactical advantage, by using twin more often
• Lingering Light(r) - Uselesss...But I'd like to see someone(probably me) give it a go and use it with Refined Emitters + Ire's Echo just for funzies
• Deft Hands(m) - Way to go with IF you focus on maximizing BD burst output.

##LEVEL 10

• Doppelgangup(l) - Way to go, cause hey! free holotwin! And it can finish-off those stunned enemies too!
• Gathering Storm(r) - -10 seconds, really?..

##6.Gear

Deande's Legendary: Fan of the retreat

• • 10% Attack Speed
• -5% Cooldown Time
• Deande Only: Activating Holotwin causes your shields to immediately begin recharging.
  I'll update values once they fix legendaries.

What gear should I use with Deande?

First obvious choice(aside from legendary): Jennerit type Gauntlets. I'd go with green ones, since they give nice boost to attack strength and bonus of attack speed is almost always active with melee characters, but the activation cost is much lower.

Attack speed gear: Jennerit type Swords. Same as above, netting you a F ton of attack speed.

Another useful option - gear that looks like a pin (sword in a circle) - also Jennerit type. Gives you bonus skill damage.

IF you plan on maximizing Burst Dash output

Shield strength gear // Skill damage gear // Cooldown reduction gear for obvious reasons

##7. Play Styles

This part is completely subjective and based on my own experience and some ideas I have in mind.

First approach is to play her without relying much on skill damage output, just pure melee DPS relying only on Uppercut mutation. In that case stack as much attack speed as possible in items.
As for helix, I'd go with:

1. whatever you feel more comfortable with, probably GZ for consoles or people starting out.
2. Left
3. UPPERCUT - this is what you rely upon here.
4. drain dash - more failsafe
5. Silent strike - to get that first combo to completion and abuse Uppercut later
6. Escape plan
7. Fan of war - more failsafe.
8. Deadly reach - for killing them off
9. Improved holograhpics
10. Doppelgang
    You would want to start your game by getting gear activated and buildables built. Or you can support initial charge with your fan throws. Don't rush in headfirst though - you'll die. Instead get a good look on enemies from a distance. On 2 minute mark you should go grab mercenary from your camp. Deande is very good at this even on level 1. Thrown fans have good damage and they crit for so much. Once you reach level 3 you should have understanding of enemy movement so you plan accordingly to start taking them out. If they have healer - make him your primary target, don't engage with melee much, avoid tanks for now.

Second approach is to try and maximize burst damage relying on Burst Dash skill. It's best utilized in late game, namely once you get to lvl9. These are the choices:
Gear: +max shield, +skill damage, shield recharge or cooldowns.
Helix:

1. Double trouble - to leave that truck hit
2. Whatever
3. Whatever. I'd go with Leechsteel.
4. Calculated risk - with +shield item it can add decent amount of pain
5. Roguelike - some may say it's stupid, but in this build we maximize our damage so I say: What's dead can't run.
6. Burst Brawler - it's not even a choice now.
7. Fan O'War if you finish with Burst Dash. Culling if you open with it.
8. Totally depends on the game now. It's range vs frequency. I'd go for range in incursion mode.
9. DEFT HANDS - like if truck hit wasn't enough in itself, not it bypasses shields. Extremely useful on enemies under 30% HP with full shield.
10. whatevs.
    This build is less damaging if you choose AOE burst Dash instead, but is still an option to consider.

Third option is your situational choice, you adapting to battlefield. It doesn't exactly give you any good setups, you rely mostly on your own skill as a player. So you can take leechsteel and drain dash if you need more sustain in order for your team to push.

Jeez. that's a lot of text but I'm glad that I did something that might help you to improve your performance. I'll try to update it as soon as i learn anything new about Deande's skills, setups and other stuff. Feel free to point out incoherencies and mistakes, cause I've spent hell of the time writing in a language that's not my native... Cheers!