So, I made a Blademaster a long time ago and just got back to playing her. Mostly experimenting with skills but I am pretty much trying to recreate my rather successful Titan Quest character with a similar build.
I was wondering what you guys use from the Soldier tree, if anything? I am honestly wondering whether to increase it above 15, as honestly I only use Cadence from that tree, plus a few points into some passive bonus skills. I otherwise concentrate on the passive X% chance on attack dual-wield skills (got most of them maxed out now), plus Shadow Strike as my right-click skill, Ring of Steel for stunning and escaping quickly when surrounded, and a few points into Pneumatic Burst and Veil of Shadow. Otherwise I want to concentrate on the passive Poison and Bleed damage increase skills.
So, do you think it is worth getting the final enhancer skill of Cadence, or Oleron’s Rage? On the Nightblade tree there is no ultimate skill but I am considering to max it out for Execution.
Also, I did not find any Devotion that would be dual-wielding specific, only sword/axe specific ones… or are there some?
Hello! By poison do you mean acid? Because poison is a damage over time effect, like bleed. If you wanted to specialize in DoT damage there’s really not much reason to go dual-wield over a shield. Also, poison and bleed unfortunately don’t have much synergy in this game through gear/devotions/skills.
It could still be good though, but I just wanted to have that clarified before moving forward.
I meant poison, not acid. I have a lot of items and components that enhance poison damage and duration. As I said, I want to specialize in DoT and attack speed. I don’t feel like a shield is good for a fast attacker character type - I feel a shield belongs on the slow bruiser tank type. Besides as I said, the passive dual wield attacks are my main forte.
As I said, I prefer this type of character. I don’t make characters in ARPGs to be MIn-Maxed powerhouses that are superb at damage dealing. I want to have builds that are fun to play.
Regardless, Soldier tree is definitely worth maxing. Notable skills that are typically must-haves…
Field Command. OA/DA/Armor are all very useful bonuses for you and you’ll want them as high as possible.
Transmuted Blade Arc. This skill deals the most Bleed damage out of any skill in the game that you can pick. If you’re going Bleed, you should get it.
Oleron’s Rage. Mainly for the OA bonus.
Scars of Battle. Reduced Stun chance and armor absorption bonus are both really useful to you, because that will free up your component slots that are typically used for those bonuses.
War Cry is not so much a necessity, but could be very useful for you to reduce oncoming damage since you’re a melee character.
I would recommend checking my DoT Primer thread in this forum to learn the specifics of how DoTs work, but long story short you’ll want as high of a weapon damage component as possible. Cadence is your best bet for this. I wouldn’t bother with Deadly Momentum because its bonuses are all physical except for Bleed, which is negligible. If you have a lot of physical conversion to acid it might be worth it, but you’d probably be better off with points elsewhere. I wouldn’t bother with Fighting Form either because you’ll be able to get decent AoE damage with Blade Arc and devotion skills.
Execution won’t be worth it because you’ll already be dealing more weapon damage with Cadence. Blade Spirit will be minimal bleed damage as well compared to what you can get from Soldier. You’ll want Justifiable Ends for Shadow Strike because it deals giant Poison damage.
Devotions I’d focus on getting Abomination for Tainted Eruption, Huntress for Rend, and Manticore for Acid Spray. I’d also try and pick up Flat Poison or Flat Bleed damage where I can find it.
Thanks for the info!
For me it was always a choice between Blade arc and Shadow Strike, because both are really right-clock skills. And the multiple targets damage that Blade Arc does is already done by several passive dual-wield skills, hence why I did not invest into that. Currently I have a Bloody Whetstone in my sword (I am using the Bloodreaper set) and I sometimes use the Decapitate skill, but it is hard to aim when it is not a right-click skill.
Will check field command, thanks.
Yeah I started in the direction of the Manticore, already got the Rat and Akeron’s Scorpion.