The game offers four different musical instruments that act as weapons. Here, each instrument comes with its own music and ultimate and unique mods that set them apart from the other. Adding the proper mod and riff could make a simple starter instrument almost as powerful as late-game unlocks. Here is the guide for all the best mods and riffs for the music instruments in Fretless- The Wrath of Riffson.
Best Music Instrument in Fretless
Here we are going to list out all four weapons and their mods and riffs that could drastically change the instrument to function better in the game. Each segment can be geared towards its advantage, or you can make it solely damage-focused.
Eight-String Guitar
Effect: You will summon a demon Thall after you have 8 Invokes.
Mod Choices: Rabid Pickup/ Ghastly Strings/ Killswitch
- Rabid Pickup: Charge 2 Crescendo (Ultimate Ability) upon Invoke, Ignores Shield, and directly deals damage to enemies.
- Ghastly Strings: Echo deals 50% more damage but doesn’t ignore Shield.
- Grey Lilly Bridge: Every 6 times you take damage, charge 6 Crescendo, generates Shield, and deal 6 damage to all enemies.
Recommended Riffs:
- Pyro Chord: Deals damage and recovers HP. If you have the Gain status, then you will recover more health.
- Bouncing Flames: Release a fireball that ricochets to every enemy (once upgraded)
- Kindred Axe: Lose 5 HP to deal 10 damage to all enemies in the area. The damage will increase based on the HP lost.
- Pillar of Aegis: Inflict Filter on yourself, and add Compression status on enemies. You will generate shields, and your enemies will take more damage.
- Penta Punishment: Invoke and deal damage to the target equal to 5x Invoke count.
- Rite of Power: Heal 15 hp, receive Invoke, and add Gain status on yourself. Must be followed before the Pyro Chord for better HP recovery.
- Abyssal Pain: Deals 16 damage on normal health. If your health is below 50 HP, then you will deal 65 damage.
- Hellfire Strike: Deals 17 damage and applies Echo (damage over time) on enemies (only if you have taken damage this turn)
Another favorite mod here is Coil-Tap Knob, which allows the bonded enemy to take additional damage. It goes well together with the Ritual Bond riff, where a bonded enemy will lose HP when you do, with the Coil-Tap Knob mod, they will also take additional damage.
The Eight String is the last instrument you will unlock in the game is by far the best one. The sheer number of offensive capabilities is what makes this weapon the best choice. Once you have enough Invoke, you will summon a demon to launch four fireballs at an enemy. Some of the Riffs here come with their risk and reward, but it pays off in the battle.
Losing HP to deal damage might not sound great at first, but if you have Riffs such as Rite of Power to give you HP and Gain status, it makes sense to use those risk and reward skills. Eight String can also inflict Echo on enemies by using Hellfire Strike, and Pillar of Aegis allows you to generate shields while lowering the defense of the enemy. Eight String has been the go-to weapon for the later game as it leaves everyone that including the bosses, in dust.
Also Read: Fretless: How to get the Sapphire Skies Pedal
Synthesizer
Effect: Each FX you apply raises the Frequency by 1, and mods will trigger based on your Frequency.
Mod Choices: Granulator/ Rapid Attack/ Randomizer
- Granulator: All riffs will deal extra +3 damage, reset at the end of the next turn.
- Rapid Attack: Deal 14 damage to all enemies.
- Randomizer: Charge 10 Crescendo and active for one turn.
Recommended Riffs:
- Chaos Kick: Deals 12 damage and inflicts negative status Echo or Confusion.
- Additive Synthesis: Deals 18 damage and upgrades random negative FX on the target’s chain.
- Phase Wave: Inflicts Echo/ Compression/ Delay on enemies.
- Octave Jump: Apply Gain/ Feedback/ Filter on yourself.
- High Pass Drop: Adds 10 damage to a single enemy, and each different FX type on the target’s chain will add +15 extra damage.
- Signal Silence: Adds a copy of the next FX on your chain to an enemy that deals 14 damage.
- Crooked Boost: You will deal 10 damage to all enemies, and each different FX type on the chain will add +10 damage
Instead of the common guitar, here you have a Synthesizer that also deals quite a lot of damage. The highlight of the weapon is the effects. Chaos Kick and Phase Wave were the most used riffs; both can inflict Echo status on enemies, which has helped me countless times, defeating many common enemies and bosses at the last breath.
Also Read: Fretless: The Wrath of Riffson: All Status Effects & how to remove them
Acoustic Guitar
The hit counter here tracks all the hits made by your riff. You will deal 2x damage for every sixth hit.
Mod Choices:
- Ceramic Pickup: Start combat with 15 Shield.
- Copper Strings: Your passive ability now applies Echo.
- Tonewood Speakers: Applying Echo will give you 2 Crescendos. Also applies Echo to all enemies.
Recommended Riffs:
- Dreadnought Hit: You will deal 20 damage to the target and upgrade all Echoes on the target’s health.
- Stereo Spread: Apply Echo to all enemies.
- Howling Chorus: Trigger Echo on all enemies and recover 6 HP.
- Overtone Kick: Deal damage to the target equal to 5x Echo on their chain.
- Whirling Plucks: Fire four projectiles at random targets, each dealing 3 damage.
- Ringing Echo: Apply Echo on the enemy and also increase your hit count by 1.
- Riser: Deal 8 damage to all enemies and generate 4 shields for each enemy hit.
- Tab Shot: Deals 13 damage to the target.
- Acoustic Blast: Fire two projectiles at an enemy, dealing 10 damage.
The very first weapon you unlock in the game, and it can carry you to the end of the game with ease. I burned through most of the game using the Acoustic; it hits hard, as most of the riffs here are straight damage-focused. Riffs such as Tab Shot and Acoustic Blast will clear out most of the initial stages without switching over to any of the other riffs. But once you unlock more riffs for the Acoustic, it is a great damage dealer, as most of the riffs are based on the Echo status. Adding more Echo will lead to more damage, thanks to the Overtone Kick riff. Adding Echo also raises your hit count if you switch over to the Ringing Echo riff. For defense, you have Riser, which also deals damage and raises shields.
Bass Guitar
Effect: You will do Slap damage and gain 1 Slap when you hit an enemy. The Slap resets when you have more than 10 Slaps at the end of your turn.
Mod Choices: Triadic Pickup/ Spaghetti Strings/ Gold Tuners
- Gold Tuners: Feedback on your chain deals 100% more damage.
- Triadic Pickup: Add 1 Slap when you take damage from Echo, Feedback, and Delay.
- Spaghetti Strings: Upgrade all Filte and Feedback on your chain when the Slap resets.
Recommended Riff List
- Upright Tribute: Doubles current Slap.
- Groove Shock: Deals 1 Slap damage x3 times to a random target.
- Low and Lateral: Recover HP and Shield. Trigger Feedback damage against any random enemy.
- Refracting Strike: Deals 8 damage and adds a shield to yourself if the targeted enemies are ready to attack on the next turn.
- Broken Bypass: Deals Slap damage to the enemy, ignoring the enemy’s shield.
- Headstroke Heave: Deals 5 Slap damage to all enemies.
- Superconductor: Applies Feedback to yourself and also adds 2 Slaps.
- Power Slap: Deals damage to the enemy equal to 5x of your current Slap.
Bass is the second weapon you obtain in the game, and it can hit heavy, but requires quite a lot of riffs. The name of the game here is the number of Slaps, which you can keep track of at the top left of the screen. Most riffs will generate at least one or two slaps, and riffs such as Power Slap will deal damage based on the number of slaps in your counter. Here you also gain the infliction of Feedback on the enemy, so when an enemy hits, they will receive damage. A great counter move that does come in handy, especially against the enemy that resorts to blocking.
