Pole or Sword

Viktorian - Archosaur

I was wondering which of the two, Sword or Pole, was better at r8r, keeping in mind im going to make the other g16.

Zanryu - Lothranis

It pretty much depends on whether or not you care about purge. Both weapons can get defense levels, but only the pole will allow you to purge.

There's really no reason to use swords aside from a few niche skills and the defense levels

Ject - Sanctuary

pole for sure. can eventually make two r8r, one for purge and the other for def lvl. ( attack lvl if you dont feel like getting g16) just my opinion tho b:pleased

teikiatsu11

I personally picked the poleblade for the chance to get Spirit Blackhole since I'm horribly under-geared compared to others and purging increases my chances of survival. I'm also working towards crafting the r8r blade for defense levels since with the new primal update we gained the skill Star Smite which generates 50 chi when used with a sword (def lvl blade = better survival while gaining chi.)
It comes down to prefference if you're not a poor little noob like me then you won't need the purge add b:surrender but it is very helpful.

Another add I find slightly helpful is GoF on the r8r weapons with GoF you can potentially hit harder than a g16 weapon but you're relying on luck to get those zerk hits. If you're getting r8r as an attack weapon then pick whichever one you feel you can get away with sporatic spike damage, as a utility weapon it comes down to do you want to purge your enemy to make killing easier (poleblade) or sacrifice some attack levels for defense levels to survive and build chi (blade). You could also go for Square Formation to have a chance as sealing and freezing your target but I don't highly recommend going for this add as some are far better.

Other stats the weapons can get are here
Poleblade: http://www.pwdatabase.com/pwi/items/32268
Blade: http://www.pwdatabase.com/pwi/items/32266

I hope I was at least a little help in deciding b:victory

Zarkin_Baxil - Raging Tide

I have an r8r pole with Spirit Blackhole and an r8r sword with defense levels. I don't use the pole much in TW since I am now in a small faction and need the defense levels with the sword to pull cata. I use pole in NW to purge the flag runner if there is no veno around or r9rr archers. I also have g16 sword that I was using before I got the r8r one. I haven't gone back to it after getting the r8r sword since that one suits my purpose better. The way I look at it is the pole and sword are utility weapons used to set up the axe. I run around with the r8r sword gaining chi and for more survival then I start my stun lock and alternate between pole to purge and axe to stun. Once the purge goes off (I think my purge is broken b:surrender) the it's axe for the kill.

Jaabg - Sanctuary

Zarkin_Baxil - Raging Tide wrote: »

(I think my purge is broken b:surrender)

Here is how purge works. You duel a friend, every 3~5 hits the friend gets purged b:dirty.

You take it to nw, tw, every 5~8 minutes you get 1 purge if weapon is used constantly for that duration b:angry.

Zanryu - Lothranis

Jaabg - Sanctuary wrote: »

Here is how purge works. You duel a friend, every 3~5 hits the friend gets purged b:dirty.

You take it to nw, tw, every 5~8 minutes you get 1 purge if weapon is used constantly for that duration b:angry.

While enemy Archers purge you on the first hit they get.

teikiatsu11

Zanryu - Lothranis wrote: »

While enemy Archers purge you on the first hit they get.

Archers also seem to magically purge you through AD or IG.

Zarkin_Baxil - Raging Tide

Jaabg - Sanctuary wrote: »

Here is how purge works. You duel a friend, every 3~5 hits the friend gets purged b:dirty.

You take it to nw, tw, every 5~8 minutes you get 1 purge if weapon is used constantly for that duration b:angry.

Zanryu - Lothranis wrote: »

While enemy Archers purge you on the first hit they get.

QQ so true, so true.....b:cry

DeathVark - Raging Tide

Zarkin_Baxil - Raging Tide wrote: »

I have an r8r pole with Spirit Blackhole and an r8r sword with defense levels.

How do you get 2 R8 weapons/ I thought for a long time that once you pick the weapon you are stuck with it?

Zanryu - Lothranis

DeathVark - Raging Tide wrote: »

How do you get 2 R8 weapons/ I thought for a long time that once you pick the weapon you are stuck with it?

There was an update a while back, a new instance for twice re-awakened characters called Undercurrent Hall (UCH) can be run for items that allow you to turn G13 Nirvana weapons/armor into R8r weapons/armor. This allows Blademasters to obtain multiple R8r weapons.

Evryn - Morai

Depends... If you want to use the pole for the primal 1-2 of Primal Shadowblade / Primal Farstrike to almost have a guaranteed crit at 20m, you'll need a polearm with strong base damage - I'd even go so far as to say a Warsong one is the one you need then.

If you just want a standby weapon for PVE utility (glacial trigger weapon) then make the pole a purge weapon R8R.

teikiatsu11

Zanryu - Lothranis wrote: »

There was an update a while back, a new instance for twice re-awakened characters called Undercurrent Hall (UCH) can be run for items that allow you to turn G13 Nirvana weapons/armor into R8r weapons/armor. This allows Blademasters to obtain multiple R8r weapons.

Actually it was availible back when they released HDD but doing that dungeon was annoying and no one ever wanted to go do it b:surrender UCH just made it a practical option b:chuckle

DionDagger - Dreamweaver

R8r GoF sword with FLash and ToP? GG.

Zanryu - Lothranis

DionDagger - Dreamweaver wrote: »

R8r GoF sword with FLash and ToP? GG.

You don't even have the skill required to comment on your own class, please don't comment on mine.

teikiatsu11

DionDagger - Dreamweaver wrote: »

R8r GoF sword with FLash and ToP? GG.

At one point yes it was incredibly powerful but, at least on my server, having several R999+10~12 with JOSD or Deity and S or A cards even at +12 with Flash it isn't very powerful even with a zerkcrit. Warsoul 2nd cast can be pretty powerful with Flash but that's a lot of coin for most BM's to spend on a weapon that won't see very much use.

Loshon - Archosaur

Zanryu - Lothranis wrote: »

It pretty much depends on whether or not you care about purge. Both weapons can get defense levels, but only the pole will allow you to purge.

There's really no reason to use swords aside from a few niche skills and the defense levels

Swords are fun. what more reason do you need to use one?

Kniraven - Lost City

R8R Defense Level Sword is much more practical to get, and superior in most situations.
With a sword you can spam primal blade skill for +50 chi every 6 seconds and gain chi quickly while in full defense mode before switching back to axes for attack.
In group pvp you can increase your defense and quickly gain chi while performing to the fullest your primary role as a control class. Roar, Smack Dragon Rising, Blade Hurl, Flame Tsunami, Reel In, can all be performed with the sword (with +50 chi spam between) and you can change to axes for heavens flame.

Defense level bonus is also a more common add than spirit blackhole, and you can always get the spirit blackhole r8r pole later for whenever you're doing fullt buffed 1v1s lol

teikiatsu11

Kniraven - Lost City wrote: »

R8R Defense Level Sword is much more practical to get, and superior in most situations.
With a sword you can spam primal blade skill for +50 chi every 6 seconds and gain chi quickly while in full defense mode before switching back to axes for attack.
In group pvp you can increase your defense and quickly gain chi while performing to the fullest your primary role as a control class. Roar, Smack Dragon Rising, Blade Hurl, Flame Tsunami, Reel In, can all be performed with the sword (with +50 chi spam between) and you can change to axes for heavens flame.

Defense level bonus is also a more common add than spirit blackhole, and you can always get the spirit blackhole r8r pole later for whenever you're doing fullt buffed 1v1s lol

And to think if it weren't for Star Smite most BM's wouldn't even care to get the R8R sword b:chuckle

The R8R def level sword is best to get for group PVP as Kniraven said because it will keep you alive while you build chi and for some BM's once you hit end game gear it gives you the option to get rid of Cloud Eruption from your genie and restat it for Faith.

The R8R poleblade with Spirit Blackhole is good for single target PVP (mostly against barbs, seekers and other BM's) I personally chose this one before the primal update due to lack of veno's in my faction so I could try to purge some of the enemy cata barbs.

I rarely use my R8R purge poleblade but I tend to use the R8R def level sword a lot since I tend to run around with a lot of casters/archers behind me and if the enemy is too focused on killing me the heavy DD behind me is safe to wipe them out. b:pleased