The Blademaster is the melee damage dealer class. Always at the front of the battle, Blademasters can hold back a handful of players with their powerful AoE (Area of Effect) skills. Ranging between pure power, DOT (Damage Over Time), stunning, or pure speed, Blademasters have the greatest variety of all the characters in Perfect World International. Not only in skills, but also in weapon choice and stats. All of this makes the Blademasters the most creatively open class, which is also why it's amongst the most popular.
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Pros:
- High Physical Defense and HP
- Can have a variety of stat builds based on Vit, Dex, and Str
- Can use multiple weapons when fighting for greater skill choice
- Good class for stun and AoE (Area of Effect) skills
- Can grind multiple mobs at once
- Very strong AoE (Area of Effect) damage increasing debuff
Cons:
- Low magical defense
- Can be boring to play as you mostly just use auto attack
- Doesn't specialize in anything
- Too many skill choices (can be very expensive in later levels)
- Expensive repair costs
- Low damage output compared to wizards, archers, clerics, and psychics at low and mid levels
- Can be killed very easily if using either of the "Marrow" skills against enemies that deal both physical and magical damage
Blademaster Weapons
Damage Chart: Lower-Low-Medium-High-Higher
Attack Speed Chart: Slower-Slow-Medium-Fast-Faster
Blade:
Medium range, Fast attack speed, Lower-Medium damage
Dual Blade:
Medium range, Slow attack speed, Medium-High damage
Sword:
Medium range, Fast attack speed, Low-Medium damage
Dual Sword:
Medium range, Slow attack speed, Medium-Medium damage
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Pike:
Long range, Medium attack speed, Low-Medium damage
Poleblade:
Long range, Medium attack speed, Lower-Medium damage
Club:
Long range, Medium attack speed, Low-High damage
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Dual Axes:
Medium range, Slower attack speed, Low-Higher damage
Poleaxe:
Medium range, Slow attack speed, Lower-High damage
Dual Hammers:
Medium range, Slower attack speed, Medium-High damage
Polehammer:
Medium range, Slow attack speed, Low-Medium damage
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Fist:
Short range, Faster attack speed, Lower-Lower damage
Claw:
Short range, Faster attack speed, Lower-Low damage
Note: The ONLY shards that should be placed into Blademaster weapons should be physical attack stones, or accuracy stones.
Blademaster Armor
Even though it's possible to use Light Armor, it's not really ideal, as Blademasters will spend most of their time fighting up close, so you should equip Heavy Armor at all times. In order to wear Heavy Armor, you will need 5 strength and 1 dexterity every 2 levels. Armor sockets should be filled with HP increasing stones, to supplement your vitality, and prevent mobs which use magical attacks from killing you quickly. Magic defense stones might seem like a better idea than HP stones, but they only work for magic attacks, while the HP stones help protect from magical and physical attacks. Extra stats could be Strength, Vitality, or Dexterity depending on your choice of build and weapon.
Blademaster in PvP
Blademasters differ a lot in PvP depending on which path you take. Sword Blademasters are the best tree for fighting single targets but inferior for group/mass PvP. The Pole Blademaster is the path with an extra DOT that's stackable with draw blood for extra DPS and have the best range of the paths, this makes them ideal for attacking kiting ranged classes. Axe Blademasters are all about stunning the enemy and reducing it's defense, while dealing high spike damage. And Fist Blademasters are the best path of PVE because of their DPS but are lacking in PvP. However, this changes once a Blademaster reaches the Sage/Demon cultivation level. At this point, most Blademasters who plan to PvP frequently opt to go for the Demon path, in order to make use of the increased attack speed that the Demon Spark gives. At this point, most Blademasters utilize Fist/Claw weapons for single target PvP, and Axes for group PvP. Most players also fight with two or more weapons to take advantage of the great skills, that the other weapon paths have. For instance, as a Fist Blademaster you might use an axe weapon to take advantage of the extra stun skill that the axe path has. So when the enemy is running, you can use the axe for stunning, and when the enemy is stunned, you can switch back to fists for the faster damage. This is really easy since you can drag your weapon onto your speedbar for quick and easy switching.
Blademaster in PvE
In general PvE, Blademasters are the best solo grinders because they can grind multiple mobs once they get all of their AoE skills. In squads, Blademasters have essentially 3 tasks:
1-Tank: Blademasters often act as a back up tank in case the Barbarian should die midway through a boss fight, or they can act as the primary tank should the squad be unable to find a Barbarian (NOTE: Acting as the primary tank should only be undertaken by an experienced Blademaster, as it can be difficult to keep aggro from other classes such as wizards, assassins, or other high damage causing classes).
2-DD: A Blademaster should use the strongest skills they have to attack the boss, while also being mindful to not take aggro from the primary tank. Heaven's Flame (Axe path 2 spark skill), Myriad Sword Stance (Sword path 2 spark skill), or Glacial Spike (Spear path 2 spark skill) are all great DD skills, especially Heaven's Flame, as it boosts the damage the boss takes by 55% at level 1, and by 100% at level 10 (it also has a range of 12 meters, like the other 2 spark skills).
3-Crowd Control: This task basically boils down to protecting the other members of the squad (especially caster classes) from random mobs whose attention they might attract. The AoE stun Roar of the Pride, the Axe AoE attacks, and the Spear/Sword ranged skills make this an easier task for Blademasters than for most other classes. Only Archers can really compete with Blademasters in this regard, though they lack the number of AoE skills and stuns that a Blademaster can bring to bear.
Blademaster in Territory War
As Barbarians has a different job in Territory War, Blademasters work as the tank class here. Not only because they are a melee class, but also because they have their great AoE skills which can stop a whole party in its track. Combined with a bunch of damage dealers and a Cleric, you have a very deadly squad on your hands. However this also means that Blademasters are very often killed as some of the first in the party, but in a way, that's what they are meant to do in order for the fight to be won.
Blademaster Basics
- Lyndura's Blademaster Class Guide
- Blademaster Common Stat Builds
- Beginners Guide - Blademaster ( Heavy Build )
- _mizukiashi's_ advice
- Frequently Asked Questions - Blademaster
- Blademaster Build