Choosing a Chronomancer
AQW currently has 14 chronomancer’s as of creating this guide, and for a new player it can be pretty hard to learn what each chrono excels at and its drawbacks. This is not intended to be an in-depth guide, but I will go over pros and cons for each chronomancer in order to help you reach a conclusion.
Chrono Shadowslayer/Shadowhunter
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| High DPS, can delete most bosses in 4 seconds or less | To get the most out of your DPS, it usually runs Ravenous + Lament (requires forge) |
| Great in Ultras due to it’s fast nuke cycle, nuke CD is 3 seconds at max haste | Dodge rotation usually requires a Felicitous Philtre to reach that 86.3% max dodge threshold, otherwise there is some RNG |
| High base damage, it’s 4 skill does absurd amounts with ravenous even ignoring the nuke itself | Gunslinger mode becomes viable when you can reach 8+ chaos rift stacks, otherwise it's better to use the regular rotation |
| Has simple dodge rotation, killing one-shot bosses like the lich in /frozenlair | This does mean in order to fully maximise that DPS you’ll be limited by ping, but otherwise still great DPS |
| Great single target farming class (think YnR or LEW), for high HP mobs you can simply spam 4 and get results (literally does everything wtf) | Requires learning how dodge rotation and gunslinger rotations work (this one less) |
| Can get even more DPS by utilising gunslinger mode | The difference between running potless and with just a felicitous philtre is large, so it’s recommended to run CSS with it |
| Scales primarily off LUK, the improvement to the class given by a single Felictous Philtre is massive, and greatly helps its consistency. It’s also REALLY cheap. | |
| Braindead base rotations that get you very good results (literaly 44444452), recommended by most players because of how stupid good it is |
Refer to Chrono ShadowSlayer for an in-depth explanation in class usage, or just this video by Wanderlust.
Last updated 3rd February 2024
Shadowstalker/Shadowwalker of Time
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Infinite scaling nukes in a party, can be used to clear azalith in 3 minutes or less | Requires potent honor potion in solo situations to get anywhere near 1.5 million nukes, otherwise you’re capped at 300k nukes |
| Chainkilling bosses solo with 1.5 million HP within 7.5s | 7.5s isn’t the fastest, there are chronos that can nuke faster and kill lower HP ranges <600k faster |
| Basically can kill any boss within a 7s threshold in a party after 2-4 kills ramp up | Chainkilling requires having braincells, as it’s an active rotation with small amounts of rest, you need to manage nukes over 10s |
| Can clear azalith with minimal team supports, LR + LOO and you have a 3 minute run setup | In 7 man comps for azalith, it can do 1 minute clears, but there are faster options like TCM doing 46s clears. |
| Can farm to an extent due to its multi target moves with short-ish cooldowns | Not a great farmer, a lot of classes will beat it |
| Provides team with max dodge due to its inbuilt taunt + dodge setup | |
| Has dodge that is quite easy to use |
Refer to Shadow Stalker of Time guide for an in-depth explanation.
Last updated 3rd February 2024
Timeless/Corrupted Chronomancer
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Has potential to have the highest DPS in the game, unmatched DPS | Transience Hourglass is perhaps the most complex in its usage, if you skill issue you will die |
| Can kill bosses under 1 million HP in usually 1 shot, assuming correct setup can go higher | Some chronos can nuke bosses faster depending on the HP of the boss, example CMP or CSS |
| Has versatility for a variety of situations due to its hourglasses. Tank, dodge, regular | It’s other hourglasses are often overshadowed by transience because DPS means everything |
| Complexity has very high rewards, if you like the challenge you will be rewarded | Is somewhat inconsistent on crit, requires felicitous philtre to help reach consistency, it still nukes really high without critting |
| With forge and pots, you can do one of the fastest azalith clears assuming 7 man comp | Transience requires penitence and dauntless to use effectively, otherwise it’s more difficult and the setup is usually not worth it |
| Not used in ultras generally, but can be | |
| Can be overwhelming to understand initially, due to its multiple hourglasses and effects |
Refer Timeless Chronomancer guide on an in-depth explanation on how to use it.
Last updated 3rd February 2024
Empyrean/Eternal/Immortal Chronomancer
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Has large nuke coefficient, naturally high nukes without pots or much setup | CDK generally nukes higher due to its modifier boost with minimal supports |
| Decent performance solo, has a HoT and some damage resists | Nuke cooldown is not the best, a lot of chronos like CSS, TCM, CMP can kill faster for majority HP ranges |
| Can clear Azalith faster than CDK in 7 man comps | Requires Dauntless + Lament to get the most out of it, buffing its crit chance and haste |
| Nuke cooldown is only 8s at max haste | Functions okay with just Lament but nuke cycle is longer |
| Struggles to survive vs hard hitting bosses |
Refer to Empyrean Chronomancer guide for an in-depth usage guide.
Last updated 3rd February 2024
Chronomancer Prime
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Doesn’t require support, is sustainable solo | Struggles to survive vs hard hitting bosses |
| Can deal 300-400k nukes with guaranteed crit | Outperformed by CSS due to its much faster nuke cooldowns and dps |
| Can be used for majority of farms, e.g Armour of Awe | Doesn’t have the highest nuke, and this can be an issue for bosses with higher HP |
| Low nuke cooldown, 6 seconds at max haste | |
| Easy to reach its potential with minimal forge | |
| Refer to Chronomancer Prime guide for an in-depth usage guide. |
Last updated 3rd February 2024