Blade Question(s)

Saven · Post by **Saven** » Fri Feb 24, 2006 6:54 pm

Hey all. Just curious as I'm hitting a crossroads with my character.

I'm a pure STR blade/fire character. I've been mainly concentrating on blade while using fire as an enhancer.

That said, I'd like to know if the knockdown and subsequent fallen foe attack skills are the way to go, or if it's better to pour the SP into the multihit chain. I'm at the tail end of level 17, so the two knockdown related skill trees open up for me in just over a level from now.

Worth travelling that road or leave it alone? What are some of the opinions on the best skills to take as far as the blade is concerned?

Demarthl · Post by **Demarthl** » Fri Feb 24, 2006 7:32 pm

get both, seen plenty of high levels use both of them effectively

Devotia · Post by **Devotia** » Sat Feb 25, 2006 2:23 am

Unless you've been SP farming like a maniac, I'd stick to one for now. If your physical damage is doing the bulk of the work, go with the knockdown. If your magical damage is, however, grab the chain attack, since even 3 hits of the chain is more embue damage and more chance to start burning.

One advantage of the knockdown skill is you get to stop KSers in their tracks, which is (I assume) VERY nice.

banzaimonkey · Post by **banzaimonkey** » Sat Feb 25, 2006 2:38 am

Sword users don't have as much ability as a glaive user to frontload damage, so chain is very useful for doing that. However, a sword user isn't going to be very effective at all in PvP without the knockdown abilities because they have sustained damage and added survivability (rather than raw DPS), so if you plan to PvP I'd say you need knockdown. If you go toe to toe with a glaive user they'll simply out-DPS you, so you'll need something to turn the tables. For PvE, however, chain is probably more mana efficient.

Your shield probably won't be viable as a counter in PvP until later in the game when you have a few points in +blocking and have a high block shield, so you can block over 30%. The defense increase is rather piddly too. Seems to me like shield users are late bloomers, after they've had a chance to rack up their skills and unlock the full potential of their build. Using them also requires a bit more finesse than a glaive build does.

I have a sword user and I plan to get both, but I'm currently SP farming. It sounds like you're placing your points relatively quickly, so you may want to focus on either chain or knockdown atm.

Enjoi · Post by **Enjoi** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 2:20 am

WOW! I've got an idea...

neenee · Post by **neenee** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 10:46 am

feel free to share it.

Shujaa · Post by **Shujaa** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 12:02 pm

I would get at least 1 point in the Knockdown/Stab skills each, if you're running short on SP (like I was), then don't level them any further until later on when you feel you need to.