Understand Kestrel
Useful when…
- Ranged throws with a separate charged option.
- Area damage from bounce or recall explosions, with different falloff behavior.
Throws and explosions
An uncharged throw deals 73.6 Impact, 9.2 Slash, and 9.2 Puncture damage, with 12% critical chance and status chance. Its bounce explosion deals 126 Blast damage out to 3.6 m with 40% falloff; its recall explosion deals 252 Blast damage in the same radius with no listed falloff. A charged throw takes 1.2 seconds and deals 147.2 Impact, 18.4 Slash, and 18.4 Puncture damage, with 14% critical and status chance. Its bounce explosion deals 252 Blast out to 4 m with 40% falloff; its recall explosion deals 504 Blast with no listed falloff. These are separate attack events and values.
Melee handling and investment
Normal melee attacks deal 58.8 Impact, 12.6 Slash, and 12.6 Puncture damage at 10% critical chance and status chance. The listed melee range is 1.2 m; attack speed is 1.08, and heavy-attack wind-up is 1.2 seconds. Two polarities, Madurai and Naramon, can fit matching mods. The throw data shows slightly higher critical and status percentages than normal melee, so choose upgrades with the attack mode you actually use in mind.
Alternatives
Glaive is another glaive described as usable both in melee and as a thrown weapon. Kestrel Prime has a higher mastery requirement of 11 and its own throw, charged-throw, and explosion values. Argo & Vel is a sword and shield whose heavy attack sends out a ricocheting glaive; it is a different weapon type, not a Kestrel variant.
Limitations and tradeoffs
- Charged throws require 1.2 seconds.
- Throw, bounce explosion, recall explosion, and melee attacks have distinct damage and falloff.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Do not confuse bounce and recall explosions: their damage and falloff differ.
- Do not treat the charged throw's 1.2-second charge as part of the uncharged throw.