Understanding Blademasters
So, What is a Blademaster? A Blademaster is a physical, melee class damage dealer with High HP, great accuracy and evasion, and super high physical defense. They are called blademasters because they can master four different weapon types. Axes, Poles, Swords, and Claws. All offer Positives and Negatives.
Being that they are all available to the blademaster, many people believe that the only way to be a great blademaster is to follow all the weapon paths. While I do agree that Multi-path builds are the strongest, I would not try to force that belief on anyone, if you find yourself comfortable with one or two paths, by all means, be the best at that as you can possibly be, and you will find yourself excelling with your own blademaster.
Blademasters benefit from super high Physical defense, because they are a Heavy armor user and they also have a buff that multiplies their Physical defenses. On top of this, they benefit from having the second highest HP in the game, behind the Barbarians. Blademasters are, in my mind the best solo class in the game. Venomancers are a very good solo class, but lag when it comes to AOE's and multi mob attacks. Giving Blademasters a very strong edge in leveling speed, in the mid to high levels(60 & up).
In a squad, a blademaster is a damage control specialist. Their skill sets are designed in a way to help control mobs, to keep the squishies safe and to buy the other party members time to do what they need to do for the party to be successful. Blademasters can be on a front line, assisting the tank by offering AOE's, to control multiple mobs at once. They have stuns that can buy other members time to run for their lives if the real damage dealers and clerics find themselves being attack from mobs that were missed or that break away from the Barbarian. And they have skills that can create aggro against them, pulling mobs off characters and bringing them to the Blademaster. Yeah, it is true, the blademaster is not meant to be a tank and can end up being killed in the process, but, blademasters have to be willing to pay that price, in order to keep a party alive some times.
In order to be a great Blademaster, you need to be willing to sacrifice yourself sometimes. Using a skill like Roar of Pride when all hell breaks loose is going to cause all mobs in the area to most likely focus their aggro on you, and while blademasters have really good survivability, sometimes it is a price you will have to pay.
In a normal squad situation, you will have a Tank (Hopefully a barbarian and not you), two clerics, one blademaster, and the rest can be damage dealers. As a blademaster, your order of concerns will be #1, the Cleric, you keep the Cleric alive by all means nessecary, and #2 is the Barbarian. Your ability to apply damage to multiple mobs is vital to a barbarians survival, and you want to make sure all the aggro is focused on you or the barbarian, and you do this by attacking any mob that the barbarian is not focusing on. They usually can hold aggro for multiple mobs, but if you have a Wizard or Archer spiking damage on a specific mob, it can focus aggro onto that damage dealer. As long as you are assisting the barb, all aggro should stay between the two of you.
This mentality will give you much love by other characters and give you many chances to participate in party activities. And we all want to be a part of the fun.
Blademaster Weapons
Part two of my Ultimate Perfect world Blademaster Build Guide is about weapons and understanding what each one offers. As a blademaster you have four weapon paths to choose from. Some of you may focus on one while others will try their hand at all of them. I personally stick with Axes, and use the other paths for special situations.
I always recommend a blademaster use Garnet shards in their weapon, this is the Physical Damage shards, many people say use accuracy, but if you use any of my builds accuracy is not an issue, you are better suited to go with more damage.
Understanding how I rank weapons and what I consider important is going to be important for this section. I will talk about attack speed, this is in attacks per second. Anything below a one gives you less than one attack per second. Anything above of course is more than. I consider minimum damage, I consider maximum damage, and I consider DPS. For this Guide I am going to give averages of each for the base weapons in each category, up to level 100. I hope that just made sense. And if not, they are ranked in order under each class, and I also rank each class in DPS, but they are not in any specific order.
Axes (8.58 in DPS)- Axes are the weapon of choice by most Blademasters. They have high spike damage and the axe tree offers the most stuns and AOE's of all the trees. Axes come in 4 main forms, Dual hand axes, Dual Hammers, Poleaxes and Polehammers. Each one varies statistically, and each one has pros and cons. All Axe Class weapons share the same Range of 3.5.
1.)Dual Hammers-Attack speed is 0.83 attacks per second. Their average minimum damage is 1st, their average maximum damage is 3rd, and their DPS is 1st. This is the best choice in the axe class. In my mind at least.
2.)Dual Hand Axes-Attack speed is 0.83 attacks per second. Their average minimum damage is 3rd, their average maximum damage is 1st, and their DPS is 3rd. This is a great choice for those looking for the spike damage.
3.)Pole Hammers-Attack speed is 0.91 attacks per second. Their average minimum damage is 2nd, their average maximum damage is 4th, and their DPS is 2nd. This is a solid choice, if the right weapon is found.
4.)Poleaxes-Attack speed is 0.91 attacks per second. Their average minimum damage is 4th, their average maximum damage is 2nd, and their DPS is 4th. This would be a last resort, or only something I would consider if I liked the weapons add-ons.
Poles (8.67 in DPS)-Pole weapon are a weapon that gives your blademaster distance. The weapon range is longer, it is faster than axe, and it offers linear AOE's. Along with an additional bleed skill. Poles are a great weapon choice for mobs that tend to retreat, they give you the opportunity to continue doing damage while the mob is on the run. Poles also have different forms of the weapon. You have Pike, PoleBlades, and Clubs. Each one varies a little and I will cover them all. But all weapons share the same 1.00 attacks per second and the same 4.5m range.
1.)Pikes-Their average minimum damage is 1st, their average maximum damage is 3rd, and their DPS is 1st. This would be my first choice, but all the Poles rank REALLY close.
2.)Clubs-Their average minimum damage is 2nd, their average maximum damage is 2nd, and their DPS is 2nd. It is a solid option at the right price and with the right add-ons.
3.)PoleBlades-Their average minimum damage is 3rd, their average maximum damage is 1st, and their DPS is 3rd. This would be my last choice. Not that it is a bad option at all, just the way it worked out statistically.
Swords (8.89 in DPS)-Sword weapons are considered the ultimate 1v1 weapon for PvE. They are quick, they do decent damage and they offer one of the most Uber skills available. Swords are a love of mine. I have gone away from them a bit, but will always use them when I can. With the speed, you build Chi quickly and your DPS is solid. You lose out on the AOE's of the other two weapons, but that is why they are classified as a great 1v1 weapon. Swords have 4 different variations. The sword, dual swords, blades, and dual blades. All vary statistically, as show below. All swords have a 3.0m range. but speeds do vary.
1.)Dual Swords-Attack speed is 0.91 attacks per second. Their average minimum damage is 1st, their average maximum damage is 2nd, and their DPS is 1st. Dual swords are far and away the best choice. It is not even a question
2.)Dual Blades-Attack speed is 0.91 attacks per second. Their average minimum damage is 2nd, their average maximum damage is 1st, and their DPS is 3rd. Dual blades will give you that higher spike, giving them second.
3.)Swords-Attack speed is 1.11 attacks per second. Their average minimum damage is 3rd, their average maximum damage is 4th, and their DPS is 2nd. Not a bad choice at all.
4.)Blades-Attack speed is 1.11 attacks per second. Their average minimum damage is 4th, their average maximum damage is 3rd, and their DPS is 3rd. Lowest in most categories, this would not be a high choice for me.
Fists(8.93 in DPS)-Fist are all about DPS, they are super quick, and with any build that you will use fists, your dex will be pretty high, offering you the most crits possible. Although per hit damage is the lowest out of all the weapons, the speed makes up for it. Fists come in two forms, fists and claws, and we will talk about both. Ranges are the same and the smallest of all the Blademaster Weapons at 2.5m, and attack speeds are the same at a whopping 1.43 per second.
Claws-Their average minimum damage is 2nd, their average maximum damage is 1st, and their DPS is 1st. I like these better, bigger spikes and since Fists are all about DPS, these are definitely the choice.
Fists-Their average minimum damage is 1st, their average maximum damage is 2nd, and their DPS is 2nd.
So, there is your run down of all the weapons and what they are all capable of and used for. I hope this helps make your choice a little easier. For most people just starting a blademaster, I recommend using axes. They offer the most forgiveness and the most "Bank for you buck". They are and will always be my primary choice. To me all other weapons are specialty weapons and should be treated as such.
Blademaster Gear
Part three of the ultimate blademaster guide is going to cover gear. Gear seems mostly straight forward. Not like weapons really. But I will try to break it down in as much detail as possible.
Always use heavy armor. Never get tempted to try to build a super high dex blademaster and throw hin in some Light armor, this is true fail. If you want something along this route I would recommend you play an assassin.
Never buy your gear from the vendor. This is the bottom of the barrel gear. I will tell you to always make your own or buy something from the Auction house. Never settle for the junk. It really makes a difference.
Armor-For armor pieces, I look for bonuses like, +Vitality, +HP, +HP recovery, + speed, and reduce physical damage %. Waste bonuses like maximum endurance, and reduced requirements are lost on this build and if that is all your getting with a piece of gear I would try to do better.
Rings-Always Physical Rings. I like to stick with either quest rings or Legendary rings, Crazed lupines are usually pretty cheap and excellent ones to start with if you can. Misty forest rings are the goal for many Blademasters, I tend to agree, I like them a lot, but there are others, any that increase accuracy or offer +% critrates, are good. Any extra vitality you may be able to get out of the is good also.
Ornaments-I suggest you use Elemental necklaces and waist. Although it is not a terrible thing to use Physical ones, this is an area you can add to your magical defense without a huge lose in other areas of concern. If you use elemental, always look for +HP, and +MP bonuses here.
Shards- If you use any of my builds. I recommend you always use +HP shards. They are the Citrines. As a Blademaster you can never have too much HP, add it in any place you can. Although I don't want you to add it in the form of Vitality points. Anywhere else is a bonus.
Blademaster Statistics
Part four of the ultimate blademaster build guide is going to cover statistics. This section may be a little geeky, and I do apologize for that, but, I want to try to be as thorough as possible to help you determine what sort of statistical allocation you will want to implement.
Blademasters have many different possible combinations of point allocation to choose from. A lot of it will be weapon driven, some of it will be personal prefrence. But, this is by no means a no brainer section. PvP will play a role also. I tend to stay away from PvP, but have experience with PvP servers, so, I will offer you some information on that also.
One thing I think is often overlooked is the fact that Dexterity is focal in a blademaster build. Blademasters receive the most accuracy and evasion points per dexterity point, and in my mind should be exploited as much as possible. As a blademaster, you will always want to hit more and get hit less. There is gear that can improve this, but I feel it is just covering up an inadequacy that was created by a poor build.
Stat Options
Understanding that In order to wear Heavy Armor, you need 2.5 Strength Attribute points per level. This is what I will base all my options around. I am going to give you four builds. The first build it the multi-path build, it gives you the the opportunity to use all weapon paths without needing to choose lower level weapons, the second, my favorite choice, is a hybrid of sorts, adding a little bit of Vitality to the mix, Third will be a pole/Sword build, and lastly will be my PvP build.
1.)Multi-path build-For the multi-path build you will be going (3) strength and (2) dexterity every level. This leaves you no extra for Vitality, but gives you the chance to wield all weapons at the appropriate levels. This is not a build I would recommend for PvP. But is a very strong option for PvE, and for squad play. It takes extreme concentration to multi-path and takes a long time to understand what weapon should be used at what time. This is definitely a Hard-core approach to the Blademaster.
2.)Hybrid Build-For this build you will be going with an every other level point allocation approach, starting with level 3, you will go (6)strength, (3)dexterity, (1)vitality. This is my prefered build. This gives you access to Axes, Poles, And Swords for the appropriate levels, but you will haveto use a lower level set of fists. This works for me because I only use fist in very specific situations, and am not using them or DPS, I am only using them for there spell canceling. This is a good PvE build, because remember, Dexterity is a Blademasters best friend.
3.)Pole/Sword Build-I only call this a pole/sword build because those are the weapons you can use with this build. This build calls for (5)strength, (3)dexterity, (2)vitality, every other level, just like explained above. The very first Blademaster I build went with this build. You will have lots of HP and your Accuracy and Evasion are good, but you lose out on being able to carry the latest level of Axes. This, for some may be find, if you have less interest in AOE's, it is a great build to go with.
4.)PvP Build-In a PvP build I am going to try to add as much vitality as possible. With the chance of being attacked by some pretty nasty Wizards, you will want this cushion, even charmed, blademasters can get smoked in a hurry if they are not careful here, and the extra vitality just protects you from mistakes. All the extra Vitality comes at a cost of course. You lose out the accuracy and evasion bonuses from the heavy dexterity builds I prefer to use. This build is also the exception to my shard rule too. I would keep the armor the same but use accuracy stones in your weapons. And you will definitely want misty forest rings. Probably two of them. (6)strength, (1)dexterity, (3)vitality, will give you a tank of a build. Personally I would rather see you go with a barbarian if this is what your looking for.
Blademaster Skills
Part five of the Ultimate Perfect World International Blademaster Build Guide is going to cover Skills. And there are a lot of skills to cover. I will try to not drag it out too long though. I will also not go crazy with what the skills are and their descriptions, there are other places on the web you can go to find that information.
Skills are always broken down like this for me. Passive, Buffs, Defensive, and Attack skills.
Passive skills
Weapon mastery-(Level it)Always Level these, these should be primary skills for you. They add increased damage output percentage, at the very minimum level your primary weapon, weapon mastery. At level 10, you gain a 60% damage increase.
Buffs
Aura of the Golden Bell-(Level it)This is your only buff, but it is a great one. Always keep this leveled, you can have it at level 10 by level 58. I would set that as a primary goal. At level 10, you receive a 60% physical defensive buff for all your squad members for 30 minutes.
Defensive
Diamond Sutra-(Level when you can)Personally I level this once, then I forget about it until I have nothing else worth leveling. At level 1 you immediately recover 20% of your Maximum HP, and an additional 250 over 15 seconds. The initial 20% is what matters and that does not change as you level this skill, it is the additional over 20 seconds that goes up. At level 10 it is 1600 over 15 seconds.
Alter Marrow Magical-(Learn it, max level 3)There is some debate about this skill. I recommend learning it and keeping it around 3, that gives you a 50% magical defense increase at a 50% physical defense cost. It can be useful, but you have to remember, it only lasts 30 seconds.
Alter Marrow Physical-(Learn it, max level 3)I treat this the same as the other marrow. Take it to about level 3. I almost never use the skill, but it could come in handy if your caught off guard.
Tiger Leap/Leap Back-(Learn It)Learn them, but I do not level them.
Attack
Ok, there are a lot of them, I will break them down, As General, Axe, Pole, Sword, and Fist, not really gonna explain them, just whether they are good or not.
General
Tiger Maw-(Never Level)Starting skill, does base damage +extra damage
Draw Blood-(Level when you can) This is your fist skill learned, It is a DOT(damage over time), I use it and love it. It is useful.
Stream Strike-(Learn it) This is your Aggro skill, and people think that the higher the level the more aggro, not true, you get the same effect, and it is not a stackable aggro, learn it, that is it.
Aeolian blade-(Level it) Love this skill, it does solid damage and offers a chance to stun, level it, it is one worth keeping.
Drakes Ray-(Learn it) This is ranged attack, but it does poor damage and is really not very good, learn it, but do not level it.
Ocean's Edge-(Learn it)Don't like this skill, it does have a slow, but I like stuns better than slows. Learn it, don't bother leveling it.
Fan of Flames-(Level it)It's not a great AOE, but it is a frontal AOE, damage is ok, but because it is an AOE, level it, you will use it. Especially if your main weapon path is not Axes.
Drake Sweep-(Level it) Another so-so AOE, this is a full radial AOE, so for you non-axe users, it is very important. Learn it and level it.
Roar Of Pride-(Level it)This is what a blademaster is, we stun, learn this skill and learn how to use it. Understand also that Stuns also generate aggro. That is very important to remember, when you decide to use it, that and this is an AOE.
Axes
Drake Bash-(Level when you can) Learn this and level when you can, at the cost of a spark I don't like this skill, none of the first weapon skills are great, and this one is no different, learn it because it does stun, but level it later.
Highland Cleave-(Level it)Your AOE's have arrived! Level this, it is a great skill, does all kinds of damage, and has a 10.0m radius.
Fissure-(Level it)Another killer AOE, level it as soon as you can, also has the 10.0m radius, and has a slow. It is a must.
Heaven's Flame-(Level it) The ultimate for Axes, AOE, massive damage and also DOT. It does come at the cost of 2 sparks, but in a time of need you will use it, and you will love it.
Poles
Piercing Winds-(Level it) Unlike other first level special skills, I think this is one to level. It is the major reason I even ever use poles. It is a linear AOE, id does ok damage, and it is a DOT, that is stackable. Level this one.
Farstrike-(Level when you can)This is another Linear AOE, it does good damage, but, it is just so-so to me.
Meteor Rush-(Level it) This is a linear AOE, it deals damage and it also knocks back the mobs a certain distance. This is a much better skill than farstrike in my mind and I would place it higher on the list of things to do also.
Glacial Spike-(Level it) I only say to level this because of the radial AOE. I am not a huge fan of this skill. The damage is good, but the lowering defenses is not anything so special. This skill could be better.
Swords
Mage Bane-(Learn it)I hate this skill, learn it because you have to. Otherwise, Aeolian is a better skill, other than the fact that it has 100% accuracy, I give no special thought to this skill.
Spirit Chaser-(Learn it)Another skill I don't have much use for, it is a ranged attack, it does ok damage but not great. Learn it and level it if you feel, but it is not that impressive.
Atmos strike-(Level it)This does really nice damage, plus it is a knockback. It is really useful as a finisher skill, or if you plan to follow it up with a spirit chaser.
Myriad Sword Stance-(Level it) This is why I recommend Swords. This is the uber Blademaster skill, it is a AOE, Does incredible damage, and reduces mobs attack rate for 15 seconds. I love this skill.
Fists
Vacous Palm-(Learn it)This is an ok skill, it does decent damage and offers a slow, but I would not bother going more than level one, unless you have all kinds of extra spirit.
Shadowless Kick-(Level it) I am not overly impressed with the fist skills, mostly, but for all Blademasters, you should get at least level 1 of this skill. It is a spell cancel skill, and it does damage, but the important part is the spell cancel, you can use the skill unarmed or with fists, and for exclusive fist users, level it, the damage is pretty good.
Cyclone Heel-(Level it) This is a nice little radial AOE for Fist users, it does ok damage and increases your attack speed, for a time. Level it.
Drakes Breath Bash-(Level it) Linear AOE, Does really good damage plus it adds fire damage to all your attacks for 15 seconds. It is a solid fist skill.
You may notice that I didn't talk about a few skills. Like your Cloud sprint. It is a skill that can be taken or left, learn at least level 1 early then wait on it, in my mind at least. You will need level 10 to get will of the Bodhisatva, which is nice to have, but I would not pressure yourself over it. Wait till you have spare Spirit.
Also not covered is Budha's Guard, it is a squad heal, I would learn it when you can, but we are talking about level 100! no hurry, and at the cost of 4,000,000 spirit and 3,000,000 coin. It is nice but not a must have.
I would also recommend learning all of these, but not in a big hurry on them. Smack, Flash and Bolt of Tyreseus. They are great skills, but they are a long ways away for most Blademasters. The skills talked about above are way more priority.
Blademaster Genie Skills
Part six of the Blademaster guide is going to talk about Genies and Genie skills. This is an area subject to personal prefrences. Whatever you do with your genie is not going to make or break your Blademaster. I am only going to talk quickly about a couple skills. And there is two train of thoughts here. Self preservation and squad play. I use two different genies, and it may be something you may want to consider.
Self preservation
Second Wind-This is a Strength based Heal. I love this when I am soloing. It comes in handy when Diamond sutra is on cooldown.
Relentless Courage-This is a strength based skill too. It increases Attack speed, movement speed and Channeling speed. Nice little bonus to speed up kills
Balance-This is nice for a blademaster who has so much Physical defence. It balances you, by absorbing whatever form of attack your weaker to. So, in a blademasters case, elemental
Squad
Acidic Ripple of Poison-AOE reduces max HP of enemies for 10 seconds, has a chance to cancel spells also.
Electro Dance-Does metal damage and stuns in an AOE pattern.
Alpha Male- A must in my mind It is an AOE Aggro, and for blademasters, can be the difference of saving a party or watching a party wipe.
Final Thoughts
So, this concludes my Ultimate Perfect World International Blademaster Build Guide. I hope it helps you in your very own quest for the Ultimate blademaster. I hope it gives you some things you may not have thought about. Or hope it makes you want to start your own blademaster. They are a great class. One that is often under appreciated. Thank you for reading.
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