Post by Kieran on Feb 3, 2011 20:28:54 GMT -5
Introduction:
From my experience, the Blade is very much a glass cannon - very focused on DPS but not too much on survivability. Because of this, I've focused on a build that maximizes DPS while also trying to be survivable enough to live to fight another day (mostly by talenting Constitution). Make no mistake though - even with the Constitution, this build is designed to severely punish the enemy before he
can retaliate, as you cannot sustain much damage.
Generic Preface:
All of my builds are meant to be equally playable in both PVE and PVP. Because of this, if you're a PVE-only kind of guy, feel free to remove the PVP advantages (mainly Nailed to the Ground and Crippling Challenge) and replace with the next Rank up - or allocate the advantage points somewhere completely different, as it's ultimately up to you. I would like to say though that even though my builds can do PVP, they also built to perform great in PVE, so it isn't like you're losing anything by having that PVP aspect to the build.
Powers:
Level 1: Reaper's Touch
Level 1: Reaper's Caress (R2)
Level 6: Teleport (R2)
Level 6: Thunderbolt Lunge (Essence Assault, Nailed to the Ground)
Level 8: Way of the Warrior (R2, R3)
Level 11: Scything Blade (R2, Swallowtail Cut)
Level 14: Parry
Level 17: Shuriken Throw (Chain Kunai, Crippling Challenge)
Level 22: Form of the Swordsman (R2, R3)
Level 27: Dragon's Bite (R2, R3)
Level 32: Inexorable Tides (R2, R3)
Level 35: Whatever travel power toasts your bagel.
Level 40: Reaper's Embrace (R2, No Mercy)
Talents:
+5 Strength/Dexterity
+5 Strength/Recovery
+5 Dexterity/Recovery
+5 Strength/Constitution
+5 Dexterity/Constitution
+5 Recovery/Constitution
Power Explanations:
Reaper's Touch: This is your energy builder and nothing more - I wouldn't recommend any of the advantages because the energy gain from Accelerated Metabolism isn't that much, the focus gain from Form of the Swordsman negates Three Edged Blade, and the damage is too low to warrant upgrading.
Reaper's Caress: While I originally didn't advocate this power, I just was informed that this power is going to be buffed in the upcoming patch(es). Thus, Rank 2 is recommended because it will allow for some respectable damage while simultaneously stacking bleeds Reaper's Embrace to rupture.
Teleport: Teleport works great with a Blade because you can teleport in right besides your target(s), and start unleashing Scything Blade on them. Also, I would highly recommend this power over any other travel power because it allows you to get out of dangerous situations very quickly and painlessly. Say you’re surrounded and being pummeled to death by a number of baddies – all you gotta do is pop into teleport, launch straight up, and keep going until you lose aggro. If you’re in a building, just use teleport to retreat the way you came until you’re in the clear. Since Archetypes mostly don't have good energy management and self heals, Teleport allows you to survive encounters where you would normally die. Additionally, teleport allows you to skip the hordes of hallway baddies that are a pain in the rear. Rank 2 is recommended for faster travel.
Thunderbolt Lunge: Although the damage from this power isn't that great, this is a great skill to close the distance to your enemies. Additionally, this power is awesome in PVP due to it's advantages - Essence Assault is an awesome three second stun, while Nailed to the Ground can even cripple annoying teleport-spammers. All in all, a solid PVP and PVE power.
Way of the Warrior: A fantastic passive that greatly increases your melee and bleeding damage, R3 is a must.
Scything Blade: As a fantastic AOE attack, this is going to be your spam skill for many levels. Not only does it do damage over a fairly large area, but it also does AOE bleeding if you charge it. R2 is a must, and Swallowtail Cut is also great to have. Swallowtail Cut takes the bleeding damage your target would normally suffer and changes it from a flat amount of damage to a percentage of the target's health instead. This allows you to do crud-tons of damage - the only drawback is that for Supervillains or higher, it just does the regular flat bleed damage (this restriction is understandable though, otherwise you'd be doing tens of thousands of damage to Supervillains per slash). But either way, R2 and Swallowtail Cut are the way to go with this power.
Parry: While this is the only defense for the Blade, it's hard to justify spending any advantage points here.
Shuriken Throw: The reason I recommend this power over Smoke Bomb is because Smoke Bomb merely wipes threat and places you in stealth for 12-20 seconds. As teleport basically helps you out in this regard already, Shuriken Throw is a much better choice. While it doesn't do much damage, it has access to the awesome Chained Kunai advantage, which basically transforms this power into a ranged interrupt that drags the target to you and simultaneously knocks it down. Moreover, Crippling Challenge applies a powerful damage debuff to your target, ultimately making this a fantastic PVE and PVP power.
Form of the Swordsman: This power applies stacks of focus to you, which give you energy and increase your damage at the same time. A phenomenal power that is best leveled up to Rank 3.
Dragon's Bite: A great source of DPS, it does fantastic on a tap and even better when charged (as it applies 1 second of Rush for each stack of Focus on you). While Cull the Weak may seem like a good choice, the circumstance restrictions on it make it not worth picking up. Thus, I recommend taking this power up through Rank 3.
Inexorable Tides: While Masterful Dodge is arguably the best defense in the game, I recommend Inexorable Tides for a number of reasons. First, the Blade is a source of DPS - it's not meant to be a tank. Secondly, Inexorable Tides provides an amazing source of crowd-control, thus kinda serving as a defense in its own right. Additionally, this power knocks opponents UP in the air, so not only are they immobilized for the duration of their impromptu "flight", but they also take falling damage when they Come Back Down To Earth (Titan A.E. anyone?). Besides, what could possibly be funner (which is totally a word!) than juggling your enemies! BLADE USES SEISMIC TOSS... IT WAS SUPER EFFECTIVE! Totally rank up to R3 for increased airtime.
Reaper's Embrace: This power is a great source of single-target DPS. I recommend grabbing Rank 2 for increased damage, and then grabbing No Mercy for the awesome chance to stack two bleeds on the opponent. Not only would these bleeds do a lot of damage over time, but upon activating this power again, they would rupture and do even more damage. BLADE USED TOTALLY BRUTAL MOVE... IT WAS CHUCK-NORRISLY EFFECTIVE!!!
Talent Explanations:
As for the Talents: Strength allows you to do more damage, Dexterity increases your chance of landing criticals while also increasing your dodge (which thus increases your survivability), Recovery reduces the amount of time you have to spend using your Energy Builder which consequently equates to increased damage, and Constitution allows you to survive longer (which also increases your damage! Yeah... not dying is a good thing...).
I recommend getting the ones listed because by choosing +5s for +8s essentially gives you two extra Talent points than you would get by sticking with +8s (10 compared to 8). Additionally, there is a complex system of Diminishing Returns for most Characteristics once you get beyond 200-220, so over-leveling your stats can have marginal results later on while balancing them out guarantees that you have good, high level stats in multiple Characteristics.
Extra Note:
I would like to quote GammaBreaker on the subject of Crippling Challenge's side effect: "Crippling Challenge, while an essential block-breaker in PVP, is also a *taunt* in PVE. It will make whatever you're shooting come over and sock you in the chops. Even if it's a cosmic boss being tanked by a Behemoth."
So please be aware of this when you use a power with Crippling Challenge. And again, ultimately, if you don't like this or don't want to do PVP, feel free to remove it and spend the advantage points elsewhere. But do know that Crippling Challenge is almost required to play PVP, as it is a powerful debuff and it breaks through blocks.
It's really your call, though.
Conclusion:
And that's it! If you have any input or advice for improving this guide, please feel free to let me know! Also, if you have any questions, please feel free to ask me either by PM or in-game! And if I have errors anywhere in my guide, please let me know and I’ll fix them as soon as possible!
UPDATE:
Upon realizing an important mechanism for Crippling Challenge, I have updated the build to place it on Shuriken Throw by de-ranking Parry and removing one rank from Reaper's Caress. Additionally, I invested the extra advantage point into Teleport so that you will now never be Left 4 Dead - PUN INTENDED!!!
From my experience, the Blade is very much a glass cannon - very focused on DPS but not too much on survivability. Because of this, I've focused on a build that maximizes DPS while also trying to be survivable enough to live to fight another day (mostly by talenting Constitution). Make no mistake though - even with the Constitution, this build is designed to severely punish the enemy before he
can retaliate, as you cannot sustain much damage.
Generic Preface:
All of my builds are meant to be equally playable in both PVE and PVP. Because of this, if you're a PVE-only kind of guy, feel free to remove the PVP advantages (mainly Nailed to the Ground and Crippling Challenge) and replace with the next Rank up - or allocate the advantage points somewhere completely different, as it's ultimately up to you. I would like to say though that even though my builds can do PVP, they also built to perform great in PVE, so it isn't like you're losing anything by having that PVP aspect to the build.
Powers:
Level 1: Reaper's Touch
Level 1: Reaper's Caress (R2)
Level 6: Teleport (R2)
Level 6: Thunderbolt Lunge (Essence Assault, Nailed to the Ground)
Level 8: Way of the Warrior (R2, R3)
Level 11: Scything Blade (R2, Swallowtail Cut)
Level 14: Parry
Level 17: Shuriken Throw (Chain Kunai, Crippling Challenge)
Level 22: Form of the Swordsman (R2, R3)
Level 27: Dragon's Bite (R2, R3)
Level 32: Inexorable Tides (R2, R3)
Level 35: Whatever travel power toasts your bagel.
Level 40: Reaper's Embrace (R2, No Mercy)
Talents:
+5 Strength/Dexterity
+5 Strength/Recovery
+5 Dexterity/Recovery
+5 Strength/Constitution
+5 Dexterity/Constitution
+5 Recovery/Constitution
Power Explanations:
Reaper's Touch: This is your energy builder and nothing more - I wouldn't recommend any of the advantages because the energy gain from Accelerated Metabolism isn't that much, the focus gain from Form of the Swordsman negates Three Edged Blade, and the damage is too low to warrant upgrading.
Reaper's Caress: While I originally didn't advocate this power, I just was informed that this power is going to be buffed in the upcoming patch(es). Thus, Rank 2 is recommended because it will allow for some respectable damage while simultaneously stacking bleeds Reaper's Embrace to rupture.
Teleport: Teleport works great with a Blade because you can teleport in right besides your target(s), and start unleashing Scything Blade on them. Also, I would highly recommend this power over any other travel power because it allows you to get out of dangerous situations very quickly and painlessly. Say you’re surrounded and being pummeled to death by a number of baddies – all you gotta do is pop into teleport, launch straight up, and keep going until you lose aggro. If you’re in a building, just use teleport to retreat the way you came until you’re in the clear. Since Archetypes mostly don't have good energy management and self heals, Teleport allows you to survive encounters where you would normally die. Additionally, teleport allows you to skip the hordes of hallway baddies that are a pain in the rear. Rank 2 is recommended for faster travel.
Thunderbolt Lunge: Although the damage from this power isn't that great, this is a great skill to close the distance to your enemies. Additionally, this power is awesome in PVP due to it's advantages - Essence Assault is an awesome three second stun, while Nailed to the Ground can even cripple annoying teleport-spammers. All in all, a solid PVP and PVE power.
Way of the Warrior: A fantastic passive that greatly increases your melee and bleeding damage, R3 is a must.
Scything Blade: As a fantastic AOE attack, this is going to be your spam skill for many levels. Not only does it do damage over a fairly large area, but it also does AOE bleeding if you charge it. R2 is a must, and Swallowtail Cut is also great to have. Swallowtail Cut takes the bleeding damage your target would normally suffer and changes it from a flat amount of damage to a percentage of the target's health instead. This allows you to do crud-tons of damage - the only drawback is that for Supervillains or higher, it just does the regular flat bleed damage (this restriction is understandable though, otherwise you'd be doing tens of thousands of damage to Supervillains per slash). But either way, R2 and Swallowtail Cut are the way to go with this power.
Parry: While this is the only defense for the Blade, it's hard to justify spending any advantage points here.
Shuriken Throw: The reason I recommend this power over Smoke Bomb is because Smoke Bomb merely wipes threat and places you in stealth for 12-20 seconds. As teleport basically helps you out in this regard already, Shuriken Throw is a much better choice. While it doesn't do much damage, it has access to the awesome Chained Kunai advantage, which basically transforms this power into a ranged interrupt that drags the target to you and simultaneously knocks it down. Moreover, Crippling Challenge applies a powerful damage debuff to your target, ultimately making this a fantastic PVE and PVP power.
Form of the Swordsman: This power applies stacks of focus to you, which give you energy and increase your damage at the same time. A phenomenal power that is best leveled up to Rank 3.
Dragon's Bite: A great source of DPS, it does fantastic on a tap and even better when charged (as it applies 1 second of Rush for each stack of Focus on you). While Cull the Weak may seem like a good choice, the circumstance restrictions on it make it not worth picking up. Thus, I recommend taking this power up through Rank 3.
Inexorable Tides: While Masterful Dodge is arguably the best defense in the game, I recommend Inexorable Tides for a number of reasons. First, the Blade is a source of DPS - it's not meant to be a tank. Secondly, Inexorable Tides provides an amazing source of crowd-control, thus kinda serving as a defense in its own right. Additionally, this power knocks opponents UP in the air, so not only are they immobilized for the duration of their impromptu "flight", but they also take falling damage when they Come Back Down To Earth (Titan A.E. anyone?). Besides, what could possibly be funner (which is totally a word!) than juggling your enemies! BLADE USES SEISMIC TOSS... IT WAS SUPER EFFECTIVE! Totally rank up to R3 for increased airtime.
Reaper's Embrace: This power is a great source of single-target DPS. I recommend grabbing Rank 2 for increased damage, and then grabbing No Mercy for the awesome chance to stack two bleeds on the opponent. Not only would these bleeds do a lot of damage over time, but upon activating this power again, they would rupture and do even more damage. BLADE USED TOTALLY BRUTAL MOVE... IT WAS CHUCK-NORRISLY EFFECTIVE!!!
Talent Explanations:
As for the Talents: Strength allows you to do more damage, Dexterity increases your chance of landing criticals while also increasing your dodge (which thus increases your survivability), Recovery reduces the amount of time you have to spend using your Energy Builder which consequently equates to increased damage, and Constitution allows you to survive longer (which also increases your damage! Yeah... not dying is a good thing...).
I recommend getting the ones listed because by choosing +5s for +8s essentially gives you two extra Talent points than you would get by sticking with +8s (10 compared to 8). Additionally, there is a complex system of Diminishing Returns for most Characteristics once you get beyond 200-220, so over-leveling your stats can have marginal results later on while balancing them out guarantees that you have good, high level stats in multiple Characteristics.
Extra Note:
I would like to quote GammaBreaker on the subject of Crippling Challenge's side effect: "Crippling Challenge, while an essential block-breaker in PVP, is also a *taunt* in PVE. It will make whatever you're shooting come over and sock you in the chops. Even if it's a cosmic boss being tanked by a Behemoth."
So please be aware of this when you use a power with Crippling Challenge. And again, ultimately, if you don't like this or don't want to do PVP, feel free to remove it and spend the advantage points elsewhere. But do know that Crippling Challenge is almost required to play PVP, as it is a powerful debuff and it breaks through blocks.
It's really your call, though.
Conclusion:
And that's it! If you have any input or advice for improving this guide, please feel free to let me know! Also, if you have any questions, please feel free to ask me either by PM or in-game! And if I have errors anywhere in my guide, please let me know and I’ll fix them as soon as possible!
UPDATE:
Upon realizing an important mechanism for Crippling Challenge, I have updated the build to place it on Shuriken Throw by de-ranking Parry and removing one rank from Reaper's Caress. Additionally, I invested the extra advantage point into Teleport so that you will now never be Left 4 Dead - PUN INTENDED!!!
*
).
