Rank gear and a pocket cleric:)

Triage_ - Archosaur

I have read that the rank gear is not really that great for blademasters....that being said if you were to have two toons would a rank 8 cleric and a well geared blademaster allow you to farm/tank bosses and generally do many of the things in game?

I am thinking, maybe I rank my cleric and than play around on my bm alt unitl it gets higher level....Basically I like many different toons but I am trying to find the best combination that will allow me to make money on the game and have fun. I know its all about what I want to do...but I would like to be able to help my friends/family with boss quests and gave good gear so I can do higher level things.

I have a sin(94)....but all I see is rank 9 sins these days and from what others have told me...even a rank 8 sin is sorta underpowered...please forgive me if that is incorrect. I also have an archer (99b:surrender) but honestly besides TW the archer is a bit frustrating with its damage penalty for anything that gets too close....In TW, FC and BH many of the bosses are way to tough to kill as an archer. Atleast an archer without fists and interval

ShadowsFlame - Raging Tide

BM and a cleric combo is good for farming and making money and probably participate in every instance in game except normal nirvana where they don't take the cleric.
These two classes are really good at helping others as well, bm and cleric are almost always needed in squads.

R8 sins are ok in PvP but you need alot more than r8 to be accepted into the society PvE wise. SO i would say leave the sin as a BP hoe till you get more money to play with it. Archer is a fun class PvP wise imo. If u want to have some end game PK or TW fun id say gear up the archer as well.

Triage_ - Archosaur

Thanks for the info:) I think the cleric could be my main toon.....I enjoy it, especially if I had a farming tank that could tank the bosses and aps them down quickly....Given that I will have a cleric healing do you think a bm with fists or a clawcher would be a better tanking toon...I think the clawcher gets more aps easier....but the bm could have bp and bell and HA....I am correct in assuming bm don't really benefit that much from the rank gear correct?

P.S - What is better on a bm....more strength (multiplier of damage) or dex....greater crit rate?

ShadowsFlame - Raging Tide

If u want to tank stuff go bm. Archer is inferior to a bm in every possible way with claws. BMs have better defense, more hp and marrows + HF on their side while archers dont even have bp. I am pretty sure you want to get into nirvana squads as well. As an archer you wont be allowed. Btw don't over estimate aps. A 3.33 bm can do the things you want to do better than a 5 aps archer.

And yes bms don't need rank gears compared to most other classes. So getting them and not getting them is entirely upto you.

I think more attack from str is better than the crit you get by spending the same amount of points in dex. So putting more than 200 dex is not really advisable for a bm in my opnion.

Sakubatou - Sanctuary

Sounds like you've got a good idea of what's happening.

Before I had good refines, and sometimes even still just so I can be lazy, I'll dual my cleric with my bm or sin. Bms are a great mix of damage output and tankability. We don't have as much defenses as a barb but can out-dd them in most cases. We don't have as much dd as a sin but can way out tank them. In fact, I prefer my barb/bm when soloing or dualing to my sin simply because the dd difference isn't that huge but tanking is much more relaxed. Cleric + Bm is a good combo because BMs are so versatile.

You are also right that rank gear for BMs is pretty 'meh. R8 axes and all R8r weapons and gear are nice, and R1, R2, and R9 are nice. But there's not much in between.

Archers do get easier aps with their rank plate but as has been pointed out, their dd is lower, they aren't as tanky, no marrows, no paint. Just an overall loss for archers, although I wouldn't say HFing is a benefit for BMs when soloing/duoing because the time it takes to HF your own damage you don't really gain anything.

And more strength on a bm for more damage. Dex will cap out around 200 (20 dex per crit point, 193 req for most 95+ claws).

Severos - Raging Tide

BMs aren't even made to be aps (yes i know you'll start saying that BMs have skills for claw/fist and they use them, but the in the starting fist/claw was for archers at first place) trust me when i say that R9 axe BM +3 is better than 5aps BM +6 (tested on a private server) ofc if the axe BM is a real axe BM not aps BM using axes and you'll need a bit of training but you'll be able to do real good damage, that's for pvp.

as for pve i still prefer axe BM because they can do pulls in lunar nearly half the map solo with charm R9 +7BM (tested on private server too) so yeah, if you learn to play BM the axe way you'll own ppl/pulls, but unfortunately our dear "pro" society only takes the "pro" aps BMs to nirvy, so if you want to farm nirvy on BM go aps *sight* other than that go axe all the way

Maelael - Heavens Tear

Severos - Raging Tide wrote: »

BMs aren't even made to be aps (yes i know you'll start saying that BMs have skills for claw/fist and they use them, but the in the starting fist/claw was for archers at first place) trust me when i say that R9 axe BM +3 is better than 5aps BM +6 (tested on a private server) ofc if the axe BM is a real axe BM not aps BM using axes and you'll need a bit of training but you'll be able to do real good damage, that's for pvp.

as for pve i still prefer axe BM because they can do pulls in lunar nearly half the map solo with charm R9 +7BM (tested on private server too) so yeah, if you learn to play BM the axe way you'll own ppl/pulls, but unfortunately our dear "pro" society only takes the "pro" aps BMs to nirvy, so if you want to farm nirvy on BM go aps *sight* other than that go axe all the way

While you can outdamage non sharded 5APS +6 G13s with R9 +3, well geared on both ends the 5APS will win out. Im talking DoTs in the APS gear, +10-+12 refines, etc. However in your scenario, long run (at least 60 seconds) that APS will win out due to chi management.

Bottom line is both are useful. Axes for PvP (save some stun lock strategies), Axes for TW, Axes for AOE, and 5APS for single target.

Great example is FF - Axe down all the groups, single target 5APS the bosses. I can clear everything in 20-25 minutes if Im focused and abuse my run skills. Normally I just shoot for 30 mins to death of harpies in BR. Lately its been faster given Im downing most bosses in 1 spark cycle with +12 G16 fists.

And I dunno wtf is wrong with your server, Ive joined and seen WCs for 3.33-4aps squads with low refines. They're out there just fine on HT.

ShadowsFlame - Raging Tide

Severos - Raging Tide wrote: »

BMs aren't even made to be aps (yes i know you'll start saying that BMs have skills for claw/fist and they use them, but the in the starting fist/claw was for archers at first place) trust me when i say that R9 axe BM +3 is better than 5aps BM +6 (tested on a private server) ofc if the axe BM is a real axe BM not aps BM using axes and you'll need a bit of training but you'll be able to do real good damage, that's for pvp.

as for pve i still prefer axe BM because they can do pulls in lunar nearly half the map solo with charm R9 +7BM (tested on private server too) so yeah, if you learn to play BM the axe way you'll own ppl/pulls, but unfortunately our dear "pro" society only takes the "pro" aps BMs to nirvy, so if you want to farm nirvy on BM go aps *sight* other than that go axe all the way

You have no idea what this thread is about do you? She wants a class to tank stuff while healing on cleric and we suggested aps bm over archer. And r9 is not the only rank gear. She means r8 most likely.
Its pretty stupid to compare r9 weapon to +6 deicides in PvP. R9 axe will win easy.
I don't think her main focus in PvE is pulling lunar either. I don't know why someone would **** their charms and use tonnes of other stuff to stay alive when you can pay 3m to a bh squad and take all the drops. And also tell me more about how profitable it is to solo/duo bosses with your r9 axe bm.