Some hepful BM tips to for beginners and vetrans

I made this breif tips and hints post to address some myths and misconceptions about Blademasters and choice of weapons and skills and role in the game.

1. The #1 thing i see in forums sometimes and hate seeing, is that ppl say one path is better than another path. Most BM's especially in 7x or 8x have 2-3 paths of skills. This is to compensate for weakness's within one path. Bladmeasters have a lot of skills that are great in certain situations.

2. The whole caping ur vitatilty at 50 thing. Honestly that's up to you to decide. the more vit you have the more hp and higher recovery rate you get which is nice if u want to grind w/out a charm or like to tank a bit even though ur not a barb(why any BM would like tanking idk, the repair costs suck). on the other hand if u can afford charms caping ur vit at 50 is ok maybe a bit lower if u wanted to. caping your vit at 50 allows for more attribute points into dexterity and strength which is really helpful because it adds to ur crit rate and over all dmg output.

3. Gears and weapons: Be creative, dont get calamites or the TT 60-70 swords, or poleblade TT weapons or fists just because u see other BM's with them. Get the weapon that best fits what you want to do in the game. If you enjoy TW and dealing alot of dmg and pvp activites calamaties are a great way to go, or any other weapon that gives you some nice adds for strength and dmg. if u want to be more defensive or compensate for a maybe low points in vit, u can always go w/ a weapon that gives u added health or vitatlity or an add that helps u get health such as regeneration. In short research your weapons in the higher levels, and find a one that works for you and what you want to do in the game. The same goes for your armor that you want to wear, have it suit what you want to do.

Skills:
You will learn more than just the skills in your skill path. It is important that you do so. Do not believe that just because ur main path is a poleblade or a fist BM that you only need to learn the skills in your weapon path. IMO every blademaster needs to have the axe skill path skills unlocked and ready to use. The AoE skills have a higher mana cost than most but the AoE addition and the extra stun are must needs in any form of PvP or PvE.
Axe Skillls to learn:
The whole path. Heavens Flame, Fissure, Highland Cleave, and Drakes Bash. it will make ur life so much eaiser especially for aoe grinding.

Sword Skills to learn:
All of them. I do have to admit even as a sword user there are some skill i feel are completely useless. Magebane at first i thought was kind of useful against the mobs that turn magic and phys around lvl 60. but it's easier just to stun the mob and stop the cast altogether than to slow it down w/ magebane. spirit chaser is like a stronger version of drakes ray, lvl it up slowly but dont rush to max it or anything. Atmos strike is the 2nd best sword skill imo. i love that skill it hits very hard and is worth every coin and spirt put into it. Finally myraid sword stance the Sword ulti is one of those situational skills to use. It is very strong no doubt, and worth maxing. However most of the times as a BM you will be using Heavens flame over any other ultimate. Myraid is used mainly to save ur party when u have a fail barb or weak cleric in TT against a boss that aoe's. so level Myraid slowly, if it's between lvling Heavens flame and myraid, lvl Heavens flame first then myraid. also that lvl 100 BM skill looks sxc sux that it has 15min cooldown though, its best used when ur about to die and low on health.

Poleblade skills to learn:
tbh i dont use a poleblade o.o, the idea of having a giant stick w/ a little blade at the end of it was werid to me b:surrender. However despite its apperance some skills are nice to have if u find urself in a situation ur current path cant handle. the best skill in this path is the ulti(ofc), the magic and phys def reduction is really nice when combined w/ heavens flame or used on a TT boss that has way to much pdef and mdef or a barb pulling cata in TW that isnt' purged(debuffed). Meteor rush is ok but depending on ur path atoms strike is better imo because of the +x% of weapon added weapon dmg. so if ur a pole user and have sword skills too, i'd use atmos over meteor rush. the rest of the poleblade skills are under ur discrestion to use and lvl once again i'm not a polebalde user =/. piercing winds seems nice to use for aoe grinding bleed on top of aoe dmg to multiple enemies. and far strike is nice for a ranged attack. as a sword BM i'd use farstrike over spirit chaser anyday.

Fists:
Fists are cool in their own way, and have alot of advantages. A BM using fists can succesfully keep agro because of the super fast attacks, constatnly hitting a mob that quickly raises ur threat lvl apparently. last week i saw a fist bm tank all bosses in 1-3 and keep agro from a veno(not the pet though). so there pretty cool in thier own way, but again BM's can tank ofc, just let the barb do it though. because they pay the repair costs and u dontb:chuckle. starting w/ one of my fav Fists skill is Shadowless kick.
This skill cancels aoe has a fast cast and channel time, this works on bosses too. so imagine all that aoe u get from a WB or TT boss. just use this skill and it goes away b:victory. i was told not to lvl that skill up to much though, and just use it for the effect if fists is not ur main path. vacuous palm is an ok skill, as a BM if u stunlock ur target they wont move anyway, so even if fists is ur main path imo use drakes bash over it. cyclone heal is nice for aoe grinding if it's ur main path. tbh using the fist utli as a secondary i dont really see any point in using it, the effect in comparison w/ the other ulti paths is really low. strength wise it's cool, but if ur going strength in an ulti u might as well use myraid or heavens flame. The lvl 79 fist skill bolt of tyresus however is awesome. i have a friend that uses fists and he just one shots a group ppl using this skill alone, and they arent dead thier frozen for 5 sec. that means u can switch to axe and aoe them and possibly use another ulti on them as well if u get the spark back within a few hits.

in regards to the other skills like bell, and roar of pride, etc the other BM guides that are stickied go into detail about those, and most BM's agree w/ what they say. (max bell,aelonin blade,roar of pride,phys marrow, etc)
hope u like my guide b:laugh if u have any other questions or comments plz feel free to reply ^_^. This is just some helpful hints and tips about being a BM. If u dont want to go by these tips u dont have to, it is ur char u do what u want w/ it. (just please dont do dumb things like putting points into magic)