need help chosing what type of blade master

I had a problem with choosing recently as well, so hopefully I can help.

Basically there is axe/hammer, spear, fist and sword. Each one has a different purpose.

Axe/Hammer: Great for TW and probably the easiest to level. Eventually they get AOE skills that attack in a circle around the character, so, easier to kill mobs. Generally though, in order to be actually useful, they sacrifice vitality for strength and that can be a gamble. They are generally slower, and axes have a large varriation between min and max damage.

Spear/ polearms: I don't know a whole heck of a lot about spear's and polearms, they have aoe skills that attack in a straight line which is also useful but probably not as much at the circular aoe for axe. Spears use a lot of dex which gives them a high critical rate and good speed. I've heard stories about how spear users are absolute beasts that can dish out huge damage quickly.

Fist: A lot of people either love them or hate them. I've been told that after level 50 or so, they are the easiet to level (very high speed and very high crits). They Fists are probably the prettiest, they make your hands glow If you go with fist, prepare to be mocked by a bunch of obnoxious jerks who think fists are useless.

Sword: Quick attack, some aoe, great one on one. Swords are probably not the easiest to level, they just might take a little longer. As far as I can see, they are like fists in terms of high crits and speed, but with a little more punch behind every attack. I've personally chosen to go with swords, I love 'em Also, you plan to duel people (1 on 1) then blade is probably the best choice.


Blademaster isn't a hard class to level, but as long as you enjoy getting into someone's face and beating them down, your pretty much good here. Blademasters are damage dealers, and if you're looking for a tank class, back away, while they can become tanks they will never be as good as barbarians. All you need to choose is what is most important to you, PVP, PVE, or aesthetics (the prettiness of the weapon/ skills). Good luck with your choice

Shadowdragon - Harshlands wrote: »

Raein pretty much hit the nail on the head with his post. But I'm going to add to that, spears take just a lil more dex than axes, but less than swords. If you're going heavy armor, then axes have most vit, while fist have the least. Reason being:

Heavy armor: 5 str every 2 lvls

Axes 6 str, 1 dex (fits heavy armor req)
Spear 5 str 2 dex (fits heavy armor req)
swords 4 str 3 dex (doesn't fit therefore need 5 str)
fists i forgot, but they need the highest dex, and still needing 5 str for armor so thats leaves 1 point for vit.

I'm a sword master too, and I have low vit compared to most axe bms, but that only matters if I get hit High dex = they miss miss miss and I hit hit critical.

So shadow, you're doing a 4 str 3 dex build? How is it, having to wait until you can add strength to equip new items? And is having so much dexterity keeping you alive enough?

(P.S. I'm a girl ;P)

Im going to go axe/hammer I think I enjoy AOE A LOT

now I need to find out what class to make in city of heroes(I play 2 mmos at once one free and one pay that way if i get bored with one i can play the other
)but so far this game is awsome and im liking it way more then most free mmo's


edit: forgot to say thank you

I have a little different take on the difference between the skill trees.

Axe: High STR, wide weapon damage range (so, high peak damage - which is how you win in PvP against charms), circular AOEs. This path may be most what people think of as a classic warrior - wading in and doing a lot of damage. People who play this style well, tend to rely A LOT on skills. They like to grind by rounding up a crowd of mobs and spamming AOE skills until the mobs or they die. They live for the high spike of damage during PvP (and don't talk much about all the low damage draws they get in between those).

At the other extreme is Fist: High DEX, consistent lower damage per hit with a very fast natural attack rate. Skills in this tree are more useful as an infrequent helper to a flurry of normal attacks. This makes normal PvE extremely easy - pick a mob, hit a skill, watch as your toon goes slap-happy and frequently crits the mob to death. While that kind of PvE may not level as fast as the Axe AOE grinds (that really kick in by late 60s), it is extremely efficient. You build up Chi very fast, so you can use sutra or spark erupts more often for even more efficiency. In PvP, the spark erupts or crits are the fist tree's hope for winning. Higher DEX means higher accuracy and evasion, too, so this build is actually more like an archer (where an axe-type is more like a barb) in terms of classes it is strong and weak against. It is probably the only style that can think reasonably about light armor at mid to high levels - relying on evasion to protect against physical attacks and focusing more on the magic.

Sword and Pole are between these. Sword is closer to Fist (low reliance on skills, but a slower higher-peaking weapon for when you do) and Pole is closer to Axe (with a high reliance on skills, but a high enough DPS for normal attack grinding when you want to). Both of these middle types also gain some limited range attack ability and a knock-back skill. Pole has linear AOE, but not really enough to do AOE grinding. Sword has a massive-damage ultimate attack, but how often are you going to use that? Basically, these middle styles are for people who really like the flexibility of the blademaster class as they have even more of the good-at-everything-but-great-at-nothing aspect than Axe or Fist. Or, you could say, they are safer ways to do what Axe or Fist specialize in.

Bobncut - Sanctuary wrote: »

I have a little different take on the difference between the skill trees.

Axe: High STR, wide weapon damage range (so, high peak damage - which is how you win in PvP against charms), circular AOEs. This path may be most what people think of as a classic warrior - wading in and doing a lot of damage. People who play this style well, tend to rely A LOT on skills. They like to grind by rounding up a crowd of mobs and spamming AOE skills until the mobs or they die. They live for the high spike of damage during PvP (and don't talk much about all the low damage draws they get in between those).

At the other extreme is Fist: High DEX, consistent lower damage per hit with a very fast natural attack rate. Skills in this tree are more useful as an infrequent helper to a flurry of normal attacks. This makes normal PvE extremely easy - pick a mob, hit a skill, watch as your toon goes slap-happy and frequently crits the mob to death. While that kind of PvE may not level as fast as the Axe AOE grinds (that really kick in by late 60s), it is extremely efficient. You build up Chi very fast, so you can use sutra or spark erupts more often for even more efficiency. In PvP, the spark erupts or crits are the fist tree's hope for winning. Higher DEX means higher accuracy and evasion, too, so this build is actually more like an archer (where an axe-type is more like a barb) in terms of classes it is strong and weak against. It is probably the only style that can think reasonably about light armor at mid to high levels - relying on evasion to protect against physical attacks and focusing more on the magic.

Sword and Pole are between these. Sword is closer to Fist (low reliance on skills, but a slower higher-peaking weapon for when you do) and Pole is closer to Axe (with a high reliance on skills, but a high enough DPS for normal attack grinding when you want to). Both of these middle types also gain some limited range attack ability and a knock-back skill. Pole has linear AOE, but not really enough to do AOE grinding. Sword has a massive-damage ultimate attack, but how often are you going to use that? Basically, these middle styles are for people who really like the flexibility of the blademaster class as they have even more of the good-at-everything-but-great-at-nothing aspect than Axe or Fist. Or, you could say, they are safer ways to do what Axe or Fist specialize in.

Great post =)b:victory