Bad BM

mystichaos

I really suck at being a Blademaster. I always get my behind kicked by mobs. If it's anything 1 level or higher than me, I might not even be able to beat it... at least not without sitting and fully healing after every monster.

I'm level 20, by the way. My armor is all level 3, save for one level 2 quest reward and one level 4 chest. Aside from that, there's one other level 3 quest reward piece of equipment. My weapon is a level 3 set of hammers. Most of my stuff is just bought from the store as soon as I can equip it.

My stats are:
Vit: 24 (965HP)
Str: 58
Mag: 15 (477MP)
Dex: 19

In combat, I always keep Aura of the Golden Bell up. I usually start my attack with Drake's Ray from max range. After that, I follow up with Draw Blood to get it set up early so that it has plenty of time to do all of it's damage. After that, I go between Drake's Ray, Stream Strike, or Aeolian's Blade, depending on what cooldown runs out first. If I just straight up attack (as in, no ability) it's only between abilities when none are available because of cooldowns or mana shortage. That means I don't do straight up attacking very much at all because there's almost always an ability available.

So, my question is: why do I suck so much? What is it that I'm doing wrong? Is it my gear? My stat distribution? My sequence of ability use in combat? My lack of non-ability attacking? Or, though I seriously doubt it, is this just normal for Blademasters? Please help me out here. Any tips would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Warwounds - Lost City

well ur first mistake was adding mag u dont need any at ALL for ur stat build second im level 25 and i have not died once since ive played the game and i kill monsters 3-5 levels above me no problem with a few skills and normal attacks and i rarely use skills othar than draw blood because im always meeleing...DONT EVER BUY EQUIPS FROM NPCs ive bought all my stuff since my first level at auction house its much cheaper...my only question would be what kind of blademaster are you....or want to be?

Bobncut - Sanctuary

The points you put into MAG are costing you. Believe it or not, you may also be putting points into VIT at too fast a rate. This is costing you STR and DEX. These are the really critical points for any blademaster. For us, the best defense is usually a good offense. The VIT is not so far out of line that you cannot fix it gradually over the next few levels, but don't rush to put more points into it as the way to survive longer in fights.

Those MAG points, though, may warrant a small investment in point reset. Of course, then you will probably be sitting and resting every couple of monsters because your skill-based attack style will eat up mana. But, that is a much more normal problem for a blademaster and has some relatively easy solutions too.

livebynights

i think that if you hadnt put ur points into mag, then ud have plenty of other points to distribute to strength and vitality, but i see where ur coming from more mag=more mp for skills, im new to the game and i havnt run outta mp yet. just try to distribute ur points a lil more towards strength and vitality thts my view on a good Bm

mystichaos

Ah, I see. Thank you, that explains a lot.

So, relying less on skills and more on just attacking is a good idea, then?

Also, so far I've been thinking about going with axes/hammers and possibly polearms.

Oh yeah, and I was also wondering about learning abilities... is there an advantage to not learning some of them at all? Like, will learning all of them early on make it impossible for me to learn some later on?

Thanks again.

Bobncut - Sanctuary

Being able to get by with more normal attacks in your mix is one good way to deal with the problem most blademasters have with mana. Another is to use potions or craft equivalent items at the apothecary. Resting is usually okay if you are not in a rush (or in a squad that is go-go-go). For a while I used the cheapest mana charm. It would go off all the time, but since blademasters have so little mana to refill, it lasted a very long time.

There are some skills that are not worth raising too much because, although they are good starters, you will stop using them soon and will want the skill points for things you are using. There are also skills you will want to prioritize because you will not be able to afford to level everything at once (particularly after level 30 when the multiple weapon trees are available). Read guides and the forum for a lot of good guidance on what to invest in first.

Tarterus - Lost City

I really think that Stream Strike is stupid because the damage isnt as much as Tiger Maw and it eats up chi that could be used for your AoE stun. (lvl23) Btw, using Tiger Maw has worked for me so far and I believe that as with the other classes, it will become a vital skill in later lvls. Correct me if Im wrong but is that not true? Yes, normal attacks are YERY important because of the mana problems. I had a BM and was losing mp a lot so I poured points into magic but found that the mp increase was not enough to actually matter so I regretted it very much because I could have put those points into strength or dexterity.

Sir_walter - Heavens Tear

Your Dex is way too low you probably miss alot. Dont put anything else in mag focus on bringing your Dex up. i did put a few in Mag also in begging it has not hurt my char's lethality, I'm dual sword user but for BM's Dex is important even for axe users. If you cant hit you cant kill ! you should have been putting at least 1 point per level into Dex.

Malibu - Heavens Tear

mystichaos wrote: »

I really suck at being a Blademaster. I always get my behind kicked by mobs. If it's anything 1 level or higher than me, I might not even be able to beat it... at least not without sitting and fully healing after every monster.

You use life powder?? If not try using it (crafted at apothery).
+50 Hp recovery per second for 10 minutes

Blksunrising - Lost City

Make focus and life powders then flourish orbs

they give you extra recovery in magic and life

with extra mp recovery BM's have full mp pretty much the whole time you
have one of those magic powders running.

Youll kill faster.

Life powders are good it keeps your hp up.

The mag was unnecessary as you know

if you wanna start a new character it wouldnt be a bad idea.

Or go axe/hammer BM just remember to not keep your dex as low as your weapon req.

Keep it average
Pump str
forget about vit if you want to just Pve
Do vit 1 point every level if you want or every other.

I still level with my build that now has 29Vit 224Str and 42Dex at lvl 55
its been doing me great for Solo PvE which is all i want at this moment