Hi, ive tried out a few sword and board builds ranging from lvl 30 to 65, depending on how i have enjoyed them. My main problem comes from unsecurity on whatever suits me the most. So im looking to you for help here.
What i am looking for is a tanky self sustained sword and board character that have the potential of clearing the game.
The 2 points i struggle the most on is that i am looking for a build that have on demand AoE and fast pace.
The character i am currently playing is a blademaster using blade arc, currently at level 28. It have worked wonders so far, but after reading up a bit, it seems that blade arc is a bit underwhelming for this sort of build?
My other options seems to be a new build with either cadence, savagery or fire strike?
The problems with savagery and cadence seems to be a lack of AoE though? Fire strike however seems to have decent AoE when upgraded?
To summarize, i am looking for a build that preferably use a sword and shield(can also consider dualwielding.), that have good AoE and are somewhat fastpaced.
Any shield build somewhat sucks when it comes to AOE. It’s like playstyle’s major downside. The pace is also kind of slow because of this. Usual solution is heavy investment into Blitz. Helps with both AOE and pace. You can pick up extra AOE skills from components like Shield Slam. Then you can bind to both some procs like Maul or Falcon Swoop.
An alternative is on block procs like targo’s hammer and trample, but it’s been a while since I last seen build like this.
Typically when one says shield he implies Cadence. Firestrike might be possible but I haven’t seen anything like this. Savagery is highly unlikely.
Maybe a Frostburn Blademaster is what you’re looking for. It can clear the game pretty easily and has really good AoE with Shadow Strike, Amarastas Blade Burst and Ring of Steel with Transmuter, Blade Spirit, and Veill of Shadow with Nightchill. Elemental Awakening and Lethal Assault are decent Frostburn damage buffs, and there are also pretty strong devotions to support this build.
Most of what my fellow brother Stupid Dragon says is true, however, I partially disagree with him on AoE potential.
As of now, we, S & B specialists, have four or five sources of AoE damage. None of them can compare to the ones other class combinations can offer, but nevertheless, they exist and they help.
First is Oleron’s Rage from Oleron Devotion. Average radius, good damage, procs on crits. So far, the most AoE damage we have in our disposal.
Second is Blitz, hits to five targets, often combined with Falcon for greater damaging potential and again, target hits.
Third is Targo’s Hammer. Since we are using a shield it procs almost all the time due to high chance of blocking and can get you through tedious situations, where you are surrounded.
Fourth is Cadence itself. Despite being the most damaging skill in our pool, it can only hit up to three targets with Fighting Form. Very local.
Now there are another two we can acquire through the playthrough. First is Siege, from Siegebreaker. Very good damage, hits everything in straight line.
Next are Shield Slam or Brutal Shield Slam. Reliable damage, can hit up to 3 targets.
That’s it, unfortunately.
If you are thinking about Blade Arc, don’t. S&B uses Cadence as it’s bread and butter.
Trample is irrelevant in my opinion. Although, it’s damage helps, no doubt.
About fast pace.
First of all, all classes have at least one skill in their disposal, which can hit big area. As was said, Blade Arc is one of these skills. Next we have Forcewave, which is just as good, or maybe even better. I prefer using Forcewave.
The trick is using this as a primal skill up to a certain point, where you simply respec to your main build.
Both Arc and Forcewave deal very good amount of damage, hit many targets and a reliable source of getting you fast through the beginning and middle parts of the game.
Builds.
The main build in the game, AS OF NOW, utilizing S&B is either physical or poison\acid Witchblade.
You can searh the forums for Drizzto’s builds for both.
Both are excellent top classes and tier 1 Crucible farmers.
Thanks alot for great info. Luckily i have a 61 witchblade from an earlier paythrough.
However as i just got back in to the game, i would like to play the game through on a different character, and the 3 possible builds would be:
Warder
Commando
Blademaster
With S/B ofc, what will the pros and cons be for these 3 mastery combinations?
Im leaning towards the warder currently, but for me it seems that this is the one that has the lowest damage? while the blademaster maybe the best one, but the most gear dependant? Commando looks like the one with lowest entry requirement. Am i mistaken here?
Both Bleed and Lightning Warder work better as 2H users.
Blademasters can be utilized through S&B, but as far as I’ve seen, most prefer generally using Dual Wield Blademaster, through Nightblade class.
Commando can also be built through Fire, using Cadence conversion, or Firestrike Line. Pick your choice between physical and fire.
I use Sword and Board Blademaster with Frostburn, and I think it is quite efficient to play as you don’t need that much gear for it. Damage source is mostly nightblade skills that deal frostburn damage, and devotions. If you have gear that applies more frostburn, fine, if not, no problem.
Most important is devotions choice, as you need some resistance reduction through viper and elemental storm and maybe manticore, and frostburn damage through amatok and leviathan constellations.
My 2 favorite shield build are the fire proc Commando and the aether Battlemage, both played in HC.
Both have nice/great aoe.
My fire proc commando : http://www.grimtools.com/calc/8NKPxO2D
That’s the one I would suggest the most. It’s fun and powerfull overall. It’s also probably the tankiest shield build. I literally facetank any Nemesis bosses with that commando, I even did HC Gladiator Crucible with it. It’s great!
It’s also the build I will play first in Ultimate at the release of the expansion since we don’t know anything about it, this build is ready to tank it up
My aether shield Battlemage : http://www.grimtools.com/calc/YVWWpGVJ
This one have a nice punch, but i’d say isn’t as tanky as my commando. Still pretty tanky. I wouldn’t suggest this build first though because you need gear to support aether damage.
The commando relly a lot on the proc comming for the devotion, so it’s easier to deal with overall
Leveling can be done with Deadly momentum+Bulwark+ Blitz(max blitz early, use some ectoplasm for mana issues) + slowly leveled cadence. Put 5 points in Overguard for tough moments.
Devostions: First bind Falcon swoop on blitz. After this you can play around with devotions as you see fit. Hawk for more OA, Anvil, Assassin’s Blade for debuff on cadence. When you gain over 30 devotion points you can start thinking of resetting your devotions and get Oleron. Just make sure you have enough to get anvil and Rhowan’s scepter too when you do"
