“The result shows you have zero chance to win!”
Overview
David
Scholar
Watchers
Elite
Single Damage
Utility
5: Back corner provides maximum safety for a fragile INT Rifleman. Position 5 minimises targeting risk while David fires Cautious Shot at the lowest-AGI enemy.
4: Alternate back-row slot when position 5 is occupied by a higher-priority carry.
3: Middle-back fallback; still behind the front line but slightly more exposed.
David is a Watchers Rifleman whose Cautious Shot targets the lowest-AGI enemy with TAC DMG, making him a niche sniper for picking off slow, high-value targets. His Flash Gathering and Loaded March passives (+25% Gathering Speed, +20% Troop Load) make him one of the best gathering heroes in the game, providing significant economic value outside of combat. His PvP ceiling is low due to a gathering-focused kit with only modest damage scaling.
Pros & Cons
- Cautious Shot targets the lowest-AGI enemy — useful for sniping slow, high-value targets like certain tanks and supports.
- Crippling Blow adds +80% TAC DMG on skill, providing decent burst on Cautious Shot casts.
- Flash Gathering grants +25% Gathering Speed, making David one of the best gathering heroes for resource farming.
- Loaded March provides +20% Troop Load, increasing resource yield per gathering trip.
- Watchers faction — slots into Watcher lineups for faction bonus contribution.
- Two of four skills (Flash Gathering, Loaded March) are non-combat, halving his effective combat kit compared to other Elite heroes.
- No UW means no scaling path — his damage ceiling is permanently capped.
- Lowest-AGI targeting is unreliable — in many matchups, the lowest-AGI enemy is a low-value front-row tank rather than a priority carry.
- 299 VIT makes him extremely fragile, and his non-combat passives provide no survivability.
Skills
Deals 132/150/168/185/220% TAC DMG to the enemy with the lowest AGI
Lineup Gathering Speed +12.5/15/17.5/20/25% when gathering.
When Gathering, Troop Load +10/12/14/16/20%
Casting "Cautious Shot" will deal an additional 40/48/56/64/80% TAC DMG.
Gear
Hurricane + Apocalypse is the standard INT DPS pairing. Hurricane handles TAC DMG scaling, Apocalypse provides crit burst. Resolute is a survival fallback. David has no exclusive gear sets as an Elite hero.
+15% Crit and +30% Crit DMG at 4-piece. When Cautious Shot crits with Crippling Blow’s +80% TAC DMG bonus active, David deals his highest possible single-hit damage. Best paired with Hurricane.
#1 Best
Death immunity provides a safety net for a hero with 299 VIT. The scaling ATK bonus as HP drops adds some offensive value. Useful when David lacks healer support.
#2
+8% TAC DMG and +24% Focus DMG at 4-piece. David’s Cautious Shot deals TAC DMG — Hurricane directly amplifies his primary damage type and boosts focus skill damage for Crippling Blow procs.
#3
David is an INT DPS with half his kit dedicated to gathering. When used in combat, prioritise DMG Bonus and INT on offensive slots, HP% and VIT on defensive slots. Do not roll STR or WPN-related stats.
DMG Bonus, INT, Crit Rate
DMG Bonus amplifies all TAC DMG output. INT directly scales Cautious Shot damage. Crit Rate enables critical hits with Crippling Blow’s +80% TAC DMG bonus.
HP%, AGI, VIT
HP% for survival. AGI reduces targeting risk from AGI-based skills. VIT supplements his base 299 to prevent early death.
HP%, VIT, DMG Mitigation
Pure survival substats. David’s 299 VIT base demands HP% and VIT investment to avoid being one-shot by AOE damage.
DMG Bonus, INT, Crit Rate
Same offensive priority as weapon — maximise TAC DMG output through DMG Bonus, INT, and Crit Rate for Cautious Shot burst.
Recommended lineups
Archetype tags describe playstyle. Each card shows recommended gear (helmet icons), APC parts, and War Beast. Open APC · View details for part skills and calculator link.
Beast 
Dual-sniper lineup. Crimson Predator’s ATK, DMG Bonus, and Crit Rate feed both Kelly’s and David’s TAC DMG burst. The lineup prioritises killing priority targets fast.
Primary tank. Castle and Tough Wall provide front-line durability. Lunn absorbs damage so the back-row snipers can operate freely.
Secondary tank. Mental Control redirects attacks to Suzuki Ren, further shielding the back row. Castle adds personal block and DMG Mitigation.
Back-row support. Heal amplifies Laurel’s sustain output. Alpha Bless provides round 1 team shields and Crit Immunity.
Primary DPS. Hurricane and Apocalypse maximise Kelly’s TAC DMG output. Kelly targets the highest-AGI enemy, complementing David’s lowest-AGI targeting for dual threat coverage.
Secondary DPS. Hurricane and Apocalypse amplify Cautious Shot’s TAC DMG. David targets the lowest-AGI enemy — often a tank or slow support — while Kelly handles fast threats. Crippling Blow’s +80% TAC DMG on skill provides respectable burst.
A budget Watchers lineup pairing Kelly’s AGI-targeting snipe with David’s lowest-AGI targeting. Together they attack from opposite ends of the AGI spectrum, threatening both the fastest and slowest enemy heroes. Lunn tanks from position 1, Suzuki Ren provides secondary front-line presence, and Laurel adds support utility. Three Watchers provide the +10% ATK/HP faction bonus. Functional through S2 but limited by David’s gathering passives consuming two skill slots.
Beast 
Gathering lineup prioritises survival over DPS. Metallic Dragon’s HP, DEF, and DMG Mitigation keep the lineup alive if ambushed during resource collection.
Front-line filler. Castle and Tough Wall provide basic tanking in case the gathering lineup encounters a PvP attack. Roland’s combat contribution is minimal here — he fills the tank slot.
Core gatherer. Flash Gathering +25% Gathering Speed and Loaded March +20% Troop Load are the reason David is in this lineup. Gear is defensive for survival in case of an ambush — Heal and Self-Healing keep David alive.
Secondary gatherer. Park Ji-Mi’s gathering bonuses stack with David’s for maximum resource collection efficiency.
Gathering filler. Provides additional utility passives and faction flexibility.
Back-row damage dealer for ambush defense. Kaya’s Zombie Slayer +40% EXP passive also adds value if the gathering line encounters PvE content. Hurricane and Apocalypse provide combat capability as a last resort.
A dedicated gathering lineup that maximises resource collection speed and troop load. David’s Flash Gathering (+25% Gathering Speed) and Loaded March (+20% Troop Load) are the core. Park Ji-Mi adds additional gathering bonuses. Roland, Qian Qian, and Kaya fill the remaining slots with whatever gathering or load passives they offer. This lineup is not designed for combat — it exists purely to farm resources efficiently. Use the Plunderer APC for its exclusive gathering bonuses.
Synergies
Kelly targets the highest-AGI enemy while David targets the lowest-AGI enemy. Together they threaten both ends of the AGI spectrum, forcing the enemy to choose which threat to protect against. Both are Watchers, contributing to the faction bonus.
Park Ji-Mi’s gathering passives stack with David’s Flash Gathering and Loaded March for maximum resource collection efficiency. Together they form the core of any dedicated gathering lineup.
Ultimate weapons
No ultimate weapon data.
Counters
- Any full-combat Elite carry (Hard Counter) — David’s two non-combat skills (Flash Gathering, Loaded March) mean he effectively fights with only two damage skills. Any Elite hero with four combat skills outperforms him in a straight fight.
- High-AGI carries (Soft Counter) — Cautious Shot targets the lowest-AGI enemy. High-AGI carries are never targeted by David, meaning his damage lands on the enemy’s most expendable front-line hero rather than their carry.
- Low-AGI high-value targets (Situational Counter) — When the enemy lineup has a low-AGI hero in a critical role (certain tanks or supports), David’s Cautious Shot bypasses front-line targeting to snipe them directly. This is niche but can disrupt specific compositions.
Rating
D Tier. David is rated D because half his kit (Flash Gathering, Loaded March) is entirely non-combat. Cautious Shot and Crippling Blow provide functional single-target TAC DMG, but the combined damage output is significantly below any Elite hero with four combat skills. He has no UW and only four skills. His primary value is gathering, but this does not translate to PvP or PvE combat viability. Quickly outclassed by higher-rarity alternatives and only useful very early on if at all.
Videos
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Unofficial:
Skins
None
Trivia
- David is one of the few combat heroes who cannot be obtained through regular recruitment—only via limited-time purchases—and he is one of the hardest heroes to get.
- Only two heroes originally had the “Increased load” skill; he was one of them, alongside Irma, until Loong was introduced as the third with the skill named “Forager Dragon.”