Two-handed cleaver build

This nimble two-handed cleaver is a damage finisher for wounded and lightly armored targets. It suits a recruit with strong melee attack, defense, health and a deep fatigue pool. This order takes Dodge, so useful Initiative matters too. For Nimble, aim for a combined body and helmet fatigue penalty near 15, about 90–100 HP after Colossus, and 45–55 resolve; these are goals, not cutoffs.

Gear and leveling

Rusty Warblade

Start with a shield and a one-handed weapon, then use any available two-handed weapon while leveling. Switch to a Rusty Warblade when you find one and the recruit can safely fight without a shield. This is a two-handed weapon; do not plan around Duelist or a one-handed Orc cleaver.

Immediate combat

Level	Perk
2	Colossus
3	Dodge
4	Gifted
5	Cleaver Mastery
6	Underdog
7	Nimble
8	Berserk
9	Recover
10	Killing Frenzy
11	Pathfinder

For a recruit protected while leveling, use these changes. Keep other levels unchanged; at 11, spend the normal and returned points. Student and Gifted.

Student route	Perk
2	Student
4	Colossus
11	Pathfinder + Gifted

Fight rhythm and limits

With Cleaver Mastery, Cleave costs 12 Fatigue and Decapitate 15. Repeated Cleaves and Berserk follow-ups can spend Fatigue quickly. Cleave causes bleeding; use Decapitate on a sufficiently wounded target, including one immune to bleeding. Bleed immunity alone does not make Decapitate worthwhile against a healthy target. Recover spends the whole turn to remove half accumulated Fatigue. If the first 4-AP attack starts from 9 AP and kills, Berserk restores AP to the 9-AP cap, enough to Recover or attack again. A later kill, or movement earlier in the turn, may leave too little AP for Recover. This single-weapon damage order spends its flex picks on Dodge, Underdog and Pathfinder; Reach Advantage adds defense after 2H hits, while Quick Hands plus a pocket Whip trades a damage pick for range and Disarm utility. Against armor-heavy enemies, coordinate with an armor-stripper or switch to a hammer.

See the weapon-build index, Rusty Warblade reference, Cleaver Mastery and combat guide.

Sources

Weapon and perk records; turtle225 and Abel’s In-Depth Perks Guide; 2H cleaver discussion; Berserk/Recover discussion; FeedingFriendly’s build video.