This is a fairly easy to figure out build but since it wasn’t very popular i decided to post it to show how good Shield Pierce can be.
Shout-out to veteran blademasters JoV and Superfluff who helped me in my early blademaster days which helped me understand that class combo.
While testing i realized this build works with any number of gearing choices and hence makes it a very newbie friendly build that is tanky and can farm the end game.
There’s a Dual-wield variant right below the first post
Setups-
Tactician -
Screenshot (with Inquisitor Seal, Deadly Aim and Deadly Momentum)-
GT link - https://www.grimtools.com/calc/mN4wBXlZ
Blademaster-
Screenshot (with Shield Wall, Deadly Momentum, Overguard and Pneumatic Burst)-
GT link- https://www.grimtools.com/calc/pZrE941V
New Players-
For new players this is a GrimTool Link that uses only faction gear (except the pants) -
>Tactician - https://www.grimtools.com/calc/m23wRn42
>Blademaster - https://www.grimtools.com/calc/4ZDWlOwV
-The devotion setup for New Players is drastically different than the BiS setup as I personally would recommend defense over offense to new players who are missing a lot of gear. With some decent gear one can and should respec to the BiS setup
- The devotion route isn’t meant to be followed in early levels and early level devotions depend on your situation. For example if you find yourself dying too much then get Turtle or Dryad. OR if you’re lacking damage then get Falcon Swoop (use two handed weapon).
When you think you are at a point where you have a good balance between attack and defense then respec into the actual build.
-For leveling tips check this out,
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1i-UuQYF5NV3R0WFVq9jxuiB2wzpbtwYCTWE_0C_bVho/edit (by Edelherb)
-The only item central here is the Dermapteran Slicer, when farming for it look for - %pierce bonus, flat pierce damage
It can be found in Royal Hive, it’s a popular drop so don’t worry. You’ll get it, perfect rolls isn’t necessary.
FAQ-
Why is this build newbie friendly?
The ease in capping resistances, the flexibility in gearing/devotions make this build ideal for new players.
Is there any point in playing the Blademaster if Tactician is better than it?
The Tactician is hands down the better of the two. The tactician manages to get offense while still maintaining a highly defensive devotion setup including heal skills and damage absorption skills.
Since Blademaster cannot compete against that, I decided to add more flavor to the Blademaster playstyle. Tactician playstyle gets boring quickly but the Blademaster has procs that keep things fresh.
So yes, I’d recommend trying both setups.
Which is more newbie friendly among the Blademaster and Tactician setups?
Both are equally newbie friendly but the Tactician’s end game is much more polished than the Blademaster.
Which item is key to this build?
Dermapteran Slicer is a 1h sword that is dropped by the giant insectoids known as Dermapterans.
The most popular place to farm them is The Royal Hive
Now this the central item to this build till you get Mythical Reaver’s Claw.
Unlike most forms of conversion, Physical to Pierce conversion is done through the percentage piercing value (denoted by %armor piercing) on the weapons.
So for a weapon like Derm Slicer which has 50% Armor Piercing it would mean that 50% the Physical Damage will be dealt as Pierce Damage.
The constellation Blades of Nadaan has a unique node that says “Increases Armor Piercing by 100%”. This means the base armor piercing will be increased by 100%.
Since Derm Slicers already have 50%, a 100% increase means we will deal 100% Pierce Damage.
This high Pierce conversion is what makes it central to this build, going for anything with lesser than 50 % base Piercing value would make you end up with some leftover Physical damage.
Is there any reason to be investing in Cunning?
Pierce and Cunning have gone hand in hand before the nerfs. I am trying my best to continue the tradition. While not quite a 100% Cunning build, it still pretty heavy in cunning. Soldier provides us the physique cost reduction to wear heavy armor and direct physique scaling.
Of course that’s not the only reason, Cunning provides us valuable OA which is required for our Crits.
Can the Tactician use the devotion route adopted by the Blademaster?
Yes, it’d require some tweaks to gearing, augments and components. But it’s doable. I won’t recommend it as you’d loose out on defensive procs like Stone Form and Healing Rain. You’d also be trading Shieldmaiden’s valuable shield stats.
Is The Untouchable better than Siegebreaker? Why doesn’t the Tactician use it?
The Untouchable is usable on both the builds. It is in my experience better than Siegebreaker.
The Tactician requires a lot of plus skills so I went with Wrathguard, a little tweaks would allow it to make use of The Untouchable
Why doesn’t the faction setup have Demrapteran Slicer in it?
Because it’s the faction setup meant to show which Faction Weapon will work here.
Do note that while it’s true the build functions with faction gear, I’d still recommend farming the Royal Hive for Dermapteran Slicers as a well rolled Derm Slicer can only be beaten by the Mythical version of Reaver’s Claw
How to grind faction rep?
For faction rep farming always remember to buy Writs of the respective factions (whenever they’re made available to you) to speed up your journey to Revered.
If you have Mandates of the faction from another toon then use the shared stash to pass it your char for even faster faction rep farming.
How flexible is the gearing?
I tested using Valdun set and Markovian set. Both of them gave me solid results. Like I said before the key item here is the weapon’s armor piercing ratio, the rest of the items are very flexible.
Is Menhir’s Bastion better than Oleron’s Wrath?
On this particular build where I am trying to focus mostly on cunning. Menhir’s Bastion is BiS because of the reduced physique requirements. The granted skill is useful in tough situations
Is Assassin better than Oleron?
Undoubtedly the nodes of Oleron are more attractive but the %bonus to Pierce damage and Cunning coupled with the shotgun proc make Assassin the go-to constellation.
In Closing-
Again thanks to JoV and SuperFluff whose guidance in my early Blademaster days, that knowledge from back then eventually helped me plan this build. Also credits to Cepheus for recommending the shield “The Untouchable”.
Lastly, to Edelherb for taking the time to provide leveling tips to new players.
The Dual Wield Variant can be found right below this post.
The build works with almost an entirely different gear setup and the only thing needed is the Slicer, making it one of the least gear dependent builds. The purpose of this guide is to show how well it works.
Just like this build the 2h Physical Forcewave Commando is also newbie friendly due to having tankiness, AoE and decent single target output and can farm the end game.
If anyone is interested in more Pierce builds then check out the Pierce based CDR Shadow Strike guide or Pierce based Phantasmal Blades Caster build
I did have fun working on this and I hope you guys enjoy this.
