Most of the BladeMaster skills don't make sense

[Treble557]

and the Z key while in blade call, it ends blade call, right? so its only to be used at the VERY VERY end just after the second lightning rod?

[Treble557]

Also, is Singing Lark worth it at all over Pierce? Should I just take pierce all the way to defense pen at the bottom? or is singing lark better for soloing bosses and such

[Shimond]

1 hour ago, Treble557 said:

Also, is Singing Lark worth it at all over Pierce? Should I just take pierce all the way to defense pen at the bottom? or is singing lark better for soloing bosses and such

I use singing lark myself and see a noticeable gain in health emptying focus on that after a parry.  I suppose it depends on your goals, as I'm sure it does less damage over time than other focus using options.

[Ghobe]

2 hours ago, Treble557 said:

I just wish the tab key wasn't so.. awkward. Is there a way to make it not shitty feeling to use? or is it just a crap skill

Lunar Slash is an amazing ability, but you have to spec into it to see its use. For PvP, you'll mostly be using Form 2 for the 2-3 second daze on a 45 second cooldown. For PvE, you'll be using Form 1 for the high damage and amazing focus recovery(6 on a crit!).

 

3 hours ago, Treble557 said:

I have 40% crit atm and its inconsistent. :/

You may have 40% crit, but you also have a 60% chance to not crit. Against a single target, you have a 40% chance to use Flash Step twice, but only a 16% chance to use it thrice. However, adding even so much as 1 additional target can improve the odds dramatically(64% and 41% respectively).

 

1 hour ago, Treble557 said:

Can I get a quick run down of Blade Storm from you guys?

Blade Storm can only be used while Flock of Blades/Blade Call is active AND you're in Draw Stance.

 

1 hour ago, Treble557 said:

and the Z key while in blade call, it ends blade call, right? so its only to be used at the VERY VERY end just after the second lightning rod?

Pretty much. Do all the other damaging abilities and end up Blitzblade Scourge. However, Blitzblade Scourge's damage is pitiful if you don't spec into it, so unless you need the original skills of Basic Stance, you can opt to not use it at all if left unspecced.

 

1 hour ago, Treble557 said:

Also, is Singing Lark worth it at all over Pierce? Should I just take pierce all the way to defense pen at the bottom? or is singing lark better for soloing bosses and such

Singing Lark is an option if you're struggling to survive. Otherwise, don't spec it(never spec it in pvp). Though Pierce in general right now is a bad skill to invest in(not enough skill points to go around).

[Treble557]

Really. I suppose the videos I saw on Blade Masters soloing that epic yeti boss in the end game then had hongmoon levels so they had lots more skill points to go around. So they were using it alot. 

Hmm.. So, how long till we get hongmoon levels exactly? 

[Shimond]

I believe we're supposed to get them (or start to get them?) with the 2/10 patch next week.

[Ghobe]

8 minutes ago, Treble557 said:

Hmm.. So, how long till we get hongmoon levels exactly? 

We get the first 5 on the 10th.

[Kutsuu]

Glad this turned out to be a constructive thread. Nice job guys! Let the other stuff stay in the arena subforum :) 

[Navhkrin]

On 03.02.2016 at 1:57 AM, PayneX said:

The balance between skills in this game is absurd. Most of the skills for the BladeMaster don't make any sense.

I got like 7 stuns and only one skill that uses stun (Take Flight with 24 sec cooldown). Most of the stuns i just sit and look at the enemy. (then i hit the stunned enemy with normal attacks which make me cringe, because it's such a wasted opportunity, to only have a 24 second cooldown skill that takes advantage of those situations)

On airborn targets i can choose between Crash 645-790 dmg or Ascend 1575-1928 dmg.  Why would anyone ever use Crash if it has so much lower damage?

When i knockdown an enemy sometimes i use Stomp (which does 71-84 dmg and makes me cringe because a normal attack does 223-272 dmg). Seriously what the hell is wrong with that stomp damage?

There are skills like Stomp that make 71-89 dmg and there are skills like Five Point Strike that make 4059-4971 dmg. What kind of mathematician designed this game? It makes no sense.

Don't even get me started on Flock of Blades, the skill that actually made me choose this class only to find out it's broken and it isn't even a stance. It has 1 min cooldown and it does nothing else then waste it all in 1 hit for basically the damage of a normal hit. Where the hell is the 5 blade in the ground lightning pentagram or consecutive throwing one blade at a time in the enemy? All i heard is that this game has a billion updates until it catches up to a version where this skill was removed and bla bla bla, basically nobody knows because nobody understands korean.

 

 

They all make sense, sorry pal. I will call you an idiot. If you asked "why" i would have explained "how" they make sense, but you just went there and said "they dont make sense".

Your draw stances right click deals additional damage to stunned enemies. And if you manage your focus and spam it , it will deal more damage than air combo.

 

Airborne - Crash abilitiy deals AoE damage, which is why its better on PvE.

Stomp adds debuff and recovers 3 focus.

 

Flock of Blades - Blade call talent makes it deal MASSIVE damage

Normal Flock of Blades gives you alot of buffs and makes you escape from CC, very useful.

[TheRealBronx]

20 hours ago, Shimond said:

For people having issue with Blade Master AE damage I would strongly suggest morphing stomp into dive bomb.  This can be used twice in a row if you're fast enough when you do your own knockdown - and I'm sure you realize by now how short the cooldown on our knockdown is.  You can also fit one in after you do your air combos on non-boss mobs (bosses are never knocked down after the air for us).

 

Divebomb is actually bad imo. It can only be used on grounded targets, costs focus, and is bad dps.

 

Pretty much all BM skills hit the opponent off the ground. This skill is a waste of talent points. Don't take it.

[PayneX]

Sry @Navhkrin, i didn't realised how negative my post sounded only after i posted it.

 

Blade Master has amazing skills don't get me wrong, it's just that some skills are so much better then others that i end up only using fast fliker strikes on enemies.

 

So many skills are so situational that to me they still don't justify the use. Like Stomp that you say it ads a debuff that regenerates 3 focus but my normal attack is upgraded to regenerate 2 focus per hit and also steal life and doe more damage. I tried Dive bomb but i don't know why it takes so much time to execute it even thow it should be instant. It's like i fit 2 normal hits in the time Dive Bomb was executed.

 

Also regarding Flock of Blades, will it ever receive a skill named Consecutive Strikes? I see it on youtube and it's cool as hell. You trow a sword at a time in the enemy until you run out of chi balls or Flow of Blades stance is over.

[Shimond]

35 minutes ago, TheRealBronx said:

 

Divebomb is actually bad imo. It can only be used on grounded targets, costs focus, and is bad dps.

 

Pretty much all BM skills hit the opponent off the ground. This skill is a waste of talent points. Don't take it.

For the focus cost it's pretty good, and you can spec kick into a knockdown along with performing two divebombs in a row on people knocked down by that or anklebiter, and again it's area effect.  It also has the side effect of not allowing them to attack while you're hitting them :P

 

Opinions vary I suppose but I've found it very worthwhile.

[Ghobe]

7 hours ago, PayneX said:

I tried Dive bomb but i don't know why it takes so much time to execute it even thow it should be instant. It's like i fit 2 normal hits in the time Dive Bomb was executed.

Dive Bomb deals ~5.4x more damage than Breeze. And when the hongmoon skill for it unlocks, it will be our 3rd hardest hitting skill(trumped only by Blade Call and 5 Point Strike).

[SpartanGamer]

Ahhhh....Well...

 

For *cricket*s sake, never have I seen such bad advice and understanding of blademaster in one thread at once! Most of the advice(95%) given here is bad, and this statement of yours: 

"The balance between skills in this game is absurd. Most of the skills for the BladeMaster don't make any sense.

I got like 7 stuns and only one skill that uses stun (Take Flight with 24 sec cooldown). "

 

*drinks a shit ton of coffee*

Mate, you have multiple skills that procs additional damage on cc'ed targets-- one being stunned! You just only have one move that is activated off of a stun or daze...Your kit is loaded with cc and abilities that proc additional damage on cc'ed targets. The whole kit of a Blademaster is designed for combo/cc rotations, and the dps skills involved in those rotations have additional damaged procc'ed when the target is cc'ed. 

 

You obviously are new to Blademaster and have no idea what the *cricket* is going on with their kit, lmfao, so let me try and simplify things and elaborate on the tiny details. I am by no means a scrub, and far from being great, but I have the basics down and know the go to combo rotations well enough to get me to 1800 elo on my BM. But before I begin let me *cricket*ing say this-- DO NOT LISTEN TO THOSE PLEBS ADVERTISING FACKING DIVEBOMB! HOLY MOTHER *cricket*ING -__________________- SHIT! And to you divebombing addicts, RESIST the temptation to divebomb. Do not hit that *cricket*ing f key when you see those potatoes on the ground-- no matter how good they look, no matter how satisfying it will feel to plunge your tiny sword deep within their lying, helpless bodies, DO NOT HIT THAT *cricket*ING F KEY. Better yet, just unspecc divebomb to be completely sure. *cricket*s sake, man. *cricket*s sake...

 

*drinks a shit ton more coffee*

 

#stressed#*cricket*ingdivebombers#addicts

 

Well, now on to how you should be using BM to maximize dps:

 

1) Use basic stance for chi regen and to get off vital ccs

2) After you gained enough chi or have pulled off a cc on a target, go into draw stance by either pressing "q", hitting the target with bladedraw or "4", or ss'ing-- if you have it specced to switch to draw stance, which it should be for pvp. 

 

Your basic stance does little damage. But it has tons of abilities that regen chi upon hit and cc, obviously, so you utilize those abilities until one or both are met, and then switch into draw stance. 

 

Draw stance is your primary source of dps-- it only has two cc abilities, but the hardest and FASTEST hitting moves. It also just so happens that the strongest moves in draw stance, your bladedraw(4) and honedslash(rmb) proc additional damage on cc'ed targets, adding more synergy with the two stances.

 

...Is it making more sense now? 

 

If you spec your bladedraw(4) to tier 1 stage 2, you will gain additional damage on stunned, dazed, or groggy targets, which is believe is a good bit more than the damage of the ability itself, essentially more than doubling your bladedraw(4)'s damage! Your honedslash(rmb) also procs additional damage on stunned, dazed, or knocked down targets, as well as twice the prior amount done to targets affect by bladestorm. It's a shit ton of damage. And it has very fast animations! And what do you know? Your kit is literally *cricket*ing loaded with stuns, dazes, and knockdowns. It's *cricket*ING HEAVEN FOR US DRAWSTANCE USERS! YOU *cricket*ING HEAR THAT YOU FACKIN' DIVEBOMBING ADDICTS!!!!

 

Your honedslash(4) is your primary dps move in draw stance, and anytime someone is knockeddown(only after their ground counter is blown) you should be using it, not divebomb. You'll deal more damage with it due to the additional damage procc'ed and since it's faster you'll get in twice the amount of moves you would if you were using divebomb. 

 

If you want to know more about how to combo, and why it's done that way, just let me know. I'll be glad to help you *cricket*ers. 

 

 

 

 

[Ghobe]

@SpartanGamer

You need to calm down sir. You're far too hyper for responding to a thread from 3 weeks ago. Although people shouldn't be specced into Divebomb(not for the reasons you're giving...which are none), it's not a bad skill. The only thing that's bad about it is that it costs 2 skill points to have it. You can also fit in a pair of Divebombs on a boot knockdown and duration specced anklebiter without needing to worry about ground counter or blowing Lightning Draw/Blindside to do damage that's almost equivalent to Honed Slash(7.0 compared to 7.5). Though that last point is moot once you have your T5S1 Lightning Draw that will just blow up someone that's on the ground.

 

Note: I am not saying spec into Divebomb. Just stop treating it like it's the worst thing on the planet. There are much worse skills to spec into.

 

Oh yea, and your 1800 means nothing if you didn't get it like a week ago. With how rampant bots are right now, even bronze level players have made it up to like 1700. The inflation is real.

[PayneX]

finally someone that is making some sense ..like SpartanGamer said, stomp/divebomb is just wasted DPS on knocked down targets ..honedslash is very efficient

..i got to lvl 40 and i maximized my DPS by jump/dive stunning enemies, putting me direct into draw mode so i can use honedslash, and then finish them off with quick flicker strikes ...block/counter with cyclone if they attack putting me in blade stance fast recharging my chi back then go back into draw stance and continue with flicker strikes

 

but it bummed me out that there are so many skills with a cool factor that you can't use if you want to stay efficient, like:

-hitting knocked down enemies with stomp feels rewarding and looks cool, but it's wasted DPS

-hitting airborn targets with Crash looks way cooler than Ascend, but it's wasted DPS as Ascend does triple the damage

-Flock of Blades is the coolest looking skill in the game, but you never use it in pve because of the super long cooldown/attack delay

 

combat feels too mechanical, i never liked skill rotations, because in order to stay efficient i always have to do the same fkin moves, over and over and over ...that's why i gave up and started playing Wicher 3

 

don't get me wrong, this game is a masterpiece ...but it's such a shame ..for someone like me who preferes responsive combat rather then cooldown based skill rotations, this game could have been so much more

[TheRealBronx]

So what's your favorite Divebomb combo?

 

I personally like Boot into Divebomb, but Anklebiter works well too.

 

Divebomb master race.

[SpartanGamer]

5 hours ago, Ghobe said:

@SpartanGamer

You need to calm down sir. You're far too hyper for responding to a thread from 3 weeks ago. Although people shouldn't be specced into Divebomb(not for the reasons you're giving...which are none), it's not a bad skill. The only thing that's bad about it is that it costs 2 skill points to have it. You can also fit in a pair of Divebombs on a boot knockdown and duration specced anklebiter without needing to worry about ground counter or blowing Lightning Draw/Blindside to do damage that's almost equivalent to Honed Slash(7.0 compared to 7.5). Though that last point is moot once you have your T5S1 Lightning Draw that will just blow up someone that's on the ground.

 

Note: I am not saying spec into Divebomb. Just stop treating it like it's the worst thing on the planet. There are much worse skills to spec into.

 

Oh yea, and your 1800 means nothing if you didn't get it like a week ago. With how rampant bots are right now, even bronze level players have made it up to like 1700. The inflation is real.

I literally have cancer after reading this...

People shouldn't be speccing for divebomb for exactly the reasons I'm giving and more, which I didn't elaborate on because I thought my prior advice to be sufficient. And any reasons why they shouldn't, would not be primarily for the reasons you're giving. There are many things bad about it, but I'll touch on that in a second. Sure you can fit in a pair of divebombs after a knockdown(x), if you have your knockdown(x) specced to tier 1 stage 2 for the defensive cancelling skills-- so they cannot ground counter your divebomb. But that is literally the only way to guarantee a divebomb or multiple divebombs. On to the part with "hitting a pair of divebombs on duration specced anklebiter", which I believe you need to put two points into anklebiter that only gives the extended knockdown a probability of procc'ing, is an incredibly poor combo and waste of skill points-- not to mention your anklebiter will now cost 3 focus! If you were to look at the focus cost of that combo(anklebiter(3) > divebomb(f) > divebomb(f) ) that's already 7 chi used, which is 70% of your chi bar...You would literally need to make sure you have 7 focus, so in a lot of cases, in order to pull off that combo, you would need to regen focus...For such a chi and dps inefficient combo, not to mention it is easily counterable, and most of the time you will not pull off an anklebiter > divebomb counter because your opponent will have 3 potential escapes-- two of which have super low cooldowns! Any time you knock an opponent down they will have their tab, a ground counter(which will counter cc you if you're close enough), and an "f" to roll out of the knockdown. And divebomb being COMPLETELY reliant upon a knockdown, makes it an incredibly UNRELIABLE move. This is not to mention it has weaker dps compared to honedslash because it is slower and does less damage, and is essentially a waste of skill points-- alongside with speccing into anklebiter. 

 

And about going into draw stance when an opponent is knocked down-- you will never waste your lightningdraw(4) on only a knockdowned target. You should only be using lightningdraw(4) on stunned or dazed opponents because you want to get the additional damage procc'ed from those cc. In the case of a knock down, you will almost always use q, and since it costs no chi and is on an 8 second cd, you don't have to worry about "blowing" it. 

 

Note: I am saying do not spec into Divebomb. Treat it like it's the worst thing in the planet. There are much better skills to spec into. 

 

Now let's look at the damage of Divebomb compared to honedslash(this is based off of my own equipment, but the ratios are the same):

 

Divebomb tier 3 stage 2:    

 

2627-2893

 

HonedSlash(no skill points):  

 

2179-2400 

-- inflicts additional 1210-1331 damage upon hitting enemy with bladestorm, grab, phantom grip, and grapple

--inflicts additional 650- 715 damage on stunned, dazed, or knocked down opponents

 

So with that in mind, we can assume that, when comparing when to use either Divebomb or HonedSlash, the enemy is knocked down. Comparing both moves minimum and maximum values of damage:

 

Min Values

 

Divebomb-- 2627

HonedSlash-- 2829 

 

Max Values

 

Divebomb-- 2893

HonedSlash-- 3115

 

We can easily conclude HonedSlash is the better damage choice. Not only that, but it is much faster, meaning you can get in two for every one divebomb! So if an opponent is knocked down for 2 seconds, that's only one divebomb for between 2627-2893 damage total, but with honedslash that's 5658- 6230 damage total. 

 

Not only that, but let's say you get into your V, and use bladestorm on the opponent and apply stun, daze, or a knockdown on the opponent, you're combining the additional damage procc'ed from bladestorm with the other damage from your 3 ccs with a damage min-max of 4039- 4446 ON EACH HIT. That's insane dps. This is why you should be primarily concerned with dps'ing, i.e using your chi, with drawstance abilities. Why waste skill points on an inferior move that is also UNRELIABLE and inefficient!

 

Is it making sense now?

 

...You really need to read your moves, or listen/read to high elo/pro BM players. You will never see high elo BM players using divebomb. 

 

The basic strategy as a BM is to bait out the opponents tab with knockdowns and dazes, so that you can get them into a stun lock combo, using your v and/or drawstance abilities. You will not be wasting chi with basic stance combos! Your chi should be reserved for the draw stance dps! Now as to why you should only be using dazes and knockdowns to bait their tab out is because they have multiple counters, or rather "more", counters against dazes and knockdowns. Majority of opponents will only have one escape from a stun-- their tab, and the best BM combo rotation as such will rely on stuns for this very reason. Once their tab is blown, you can stun lock them for insane amounts of damage, and if you have your "V" specced to bladecall, you can 100-0 them. 

 

For instance-> 

 

Bait combo

 

Sprint > LMB -- free stun, can bait their tab out easily, but can only be done in the beginning of the match.

 

z > x > q > rmb + rmb > e> c(opponent already getting chunked and now dazed for a possible air combo or lightning burst may  freak out and blow tab prematurely)

 

potential continuation:

> lmb+lmb > f > rmb> lmb

> lightningdraw(additional damage on daze)> rmb(procced additional damage on daze)

 

etc, etc.

 

you will blow tabs on opponents using these bait/ high dps combos, esp if they are at half or less hp. The only way to get out of a daze without tab is their "f" roll, which has a very short opening to use-- like 0.5 seconds. It is hard to "f" roll out of a daze, so you will bait a lot of tabs. 

 

You probably are bronze or silver, and have never played against opponents that know how to counter cc moves and have good reactions, so you use divebomb and have experienced success with it. In cbt I was 1923(plat), before the recent wipe I got to 1853 elo, and now I'm currently 1796. I actually just lost to a destroyer since I burnt tab and got perma stun locked/ani cancelled to death. Literally, divebomb is really only good in pve, but horrible in pvp. 

 

As a BM, being around ~1800 is impressive. The most impressive feat for that elo out of all classes because you're playing against so many counter matchups at a decent rating level, it requires a ton more skill and knowledge as an underpowered class to compete. 

 

Need I say more?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[SpartanGamer]

3 hours ago, TheRealBronx said:

So what's your favorite Divebomb combo?

 

I personally like Boot into Divebomb, but Anklebiter works well too.

 

Divebomb master race.

FACKING DIVEBOMB ADDICT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

>_____________<

 

GG. I'm going to go drink bleach now. 

[Kutsuu]

Just now, SpartanGamer said:

 

GG. I'm going to go drink bleach now. 

 

Don't tease us like that... 

[Ghobe]

4 hours ago, SpartanGamer said:

You probably are bronze or silver, and have never played against opponents that know how to counter cc moves and have good reactions, so you use divebomb and have experienced success with it. In cbt I was 1923(plat), before the recent wipe I got to 1853 elo, and now I'm currently 1796. I actually just lost to a destroyer since I burnt tab and got perma stun locked/ani cancelled to death. Literally, divebomb is really only good in pve, but horrible in pvp. 

Let's see...I just spent not even an hour in pvp to go from 1603 to 1797(12 win streak) and now that my rating is higher than your rating...OMG I BET YOU'RE LIKE SILVER OR BRONZE! YOU DON'T KNOW HOW GOOD DIVEBOMB IS I BET YOUR OPPONENTS DONT EVEN COUNTER LOL NOOB DERP DERP DERP

 

4 hours ago, SpartanGamer said:

...You really need to read your moves

I do? What about you?

What did you keep saying? Ground Counter works on divebomb? lol..."Remove Defense" must be a hard concept to understand for someone that's only 1796. Derp derp derp.

[SpartanGamer]

30 minutes ago, Ghobe said:

 

"

4 hours ago, SpartanGamer said:

...You really need to read your moves

I do? What about you?

"

Let me rephrase that to "you really just need to learn how to read."

 

Go back and reread what I said about divebomb and your anklebiter. Never did I say divebomb didn't cancel defense... IT'S THE *cricket*ING ANKLEBITER I SPECIFICALLY SAID THAT DIDN'T COUNTER DEFENSE. YOU NEED  A *cricket*ING KNOCKDOWN TO PROC YOUR BELOVED DIVEBOMB! YOUR *cricket*ING RETARDED COMBO WITH ANKLEBITER > DIVEBOMB CAN GET COUNTERED BECAUSE YOU CAN GROUND COUNTER AND F ROLL THE *cricket*ING ANKLEBITER. 

 

...Holy shit, man, congrats on your elo, but you're really starting to sound completely retarded. 

[Ghobe]

1 minute ago, SpartanGamer said:

...Holy shit, man, congrats on your elo, but you're really starting to sound completely retarded. 

All I'm doing is mimicking you. See how you sound?

[SpartanGamer]

1 minute ago, Ghobe said:

All I'm doing is mimicking you. See how you sound?

Hey man, it's probably just inflation. You know...Bunch of bots running around atm.

[Ghobe]

Just now, SpartanGamer said:

Hey man, it's probably just inflation. You know...Bunch of bots running around atm.

I mean, no shit. I'm still fighting people that are easier than what I had to fight before I hit 1600 over a week ago.