A Guide on All Skills to get for Bladers with Recommended Skill Levels

[MrFatty]

Got a question. You know for FB, im new. And i dont know what to add for the stats. Dex? Str? I have no idea. Anyone help me?

[Shunsui007]

what is stun lock combo? well my pve combo is vi 12 ls 12 dt 15 vi 12 bs 9 .... and repeat

[Hash]

Got a question. You know for FB, im new. And i dont know what to add for the stats. Dex? Str? I have no idea. Anyone help me?

1. This is the BL section not the FB section
2. For a fb Dex is the best stat. So get enough int and str for gears n pump the rest into dex

[cadacus_ater]

what is stun lock combo? well my pve combo is vi 12 ls 12 dt 15 vi 12 bs 9 .... and repeat

In theory, it might be possible to use this as a higher damage "stun+down" combo (might be able to use BS > DT):
--VI 20 > LS 12 > DT 15 > BS 9 > SG 20 (repeat)
Or if you put DT 12 you might be able to use:
--VI 20 > LS 12 > DT 12 > BS 9 (repeat) (note you might need LS 9 if you are having trouble with cool time)
If you want more stun time than this, either put VI at 18 or be prepared to look into slightly more advanced combos, usually using more than 5 different skills.

EDIT: True "stunlock" combos use VI 18 and usually cast VI one skill or two skills before LS and then again just as the 5 second stun is wearing off:
VI 18 > LS 12 > skill A > VI 18 > skill B > skill C (repeat)

Since VI has a stun of 5 seconds, stunlock combos attempt to use VI 18 every 5 seconds or so; often this results in 2 skills between each VI 18, with the 2nd skill being a "down" skill. Between stuns, you will usually try to use skills with "down" to fill the time needed to cast VI again, ideally BS or DT (sometimes SG), and use VI right after one of these skills. Keep VI at 18 or 20 for optimum damage. With VI 20, true stunlock is not really possible, but stun+down is; in such cases, you want to use VI before a skill without down as much as is practical.

DT 15, LS 12, BS 9 and VI 18
An example of a good stunlock combo:
VI > LS > DT > VI > DS* > BS > VI > LS > DT > VI > BS
*Can use SG or DS here...DS is faster, SG has more aoe.

DT 15, LS 12, BS 9, and VI 20
A stun+down combo:
VI > DS > LS > DT > SG > BS > VI > LS > DT > SG > BS

For some nice AoE, you could omit VI entirely and use a 4 skill down combo:
LS > DT > BS > SG > LS > DT > BS > SG> LS > DT > BS
While it is slower with a lower DPS than some combos, this combo is good for large groups of enemies.

Note - The primary reason my skill build uses LS 9, VI 20 and DT 20 is that it offers the best balance of utility and damage for PVP and PVE that I've found. In PVP, I've found that putting DT and VI at 20 allows you to compete a bit more effectively in 1-on-1 combat. For PVE I've built my primary combo to have decent AoE, high DPS and a shorter total cast time for both large groups and single targets. For more info on combos with DT 20 and VI 20, go to the following post: http://forum.cabal.com/showthread.ph...l=1#post133857

[packetj]

Never thought of using DT when in BM2? This is very useful and efficient in MWAR.

I think DT should be at least at lvl12 for spamming purposes. For me I didn't see DT as a finisher skill, rather it's one of those that are spammable.

Nice guide though.

[locosup]

If you have all of your blader skills capped out you will surely cut out during combo.
I never have all the skills maxed because i personally dont wanna sit here comboing so
i change the lvl of skills so the combo i wanna run out will do so without any breaks and
without me having to combo making it easier for me to auto attack and kick back.

[cadacus_ater]

Granted, maxing skills does cut back on the combos you can use, but many times you can work around this just by using alternate skills or fillers. If you are into pvp especially, you will generally want to max all of your skills, except for LS, BS, and DT. You could keep FK at 9 for more frequent use, but for pure pvp, you will only use this skill once, so best to max it for higher damage.

This is part of the reason why I didn't get the new trans buffs, because I use all of my skills already for different situations (and I hate parting with Mirage Step in pve). Also, to all BL, if you have the buff concentration as a BL...GET RID OF IT ASAP. It is a wasted skill slot since we have the highest attack rate value of any class.

You need to experiment to find the balance that works best for you. My guide is just a list of skills I consider worth getting/keeping and I recommend these skill levels because they offer high damage with a fair amount of combo flexibility for any situation. The only skills you may not want to max if you focus on pve are LS, BS, DT, and VI (I recommend VI 18 or 20, see my previous post for why). You should have no trouble making a good 4-5 skill pve combo with all the other skills at 20, assuming you have all the recommended attack skills.

For people who like stunlock combos, you should generally keep VI at 18, DT at 15 (or 12 if going for a 4 skill combo), BS at 9, and LS at 12 (or 9 if you want a 4 skill combo) to use 4 or 5 skill combos made to attempt a stunlock. Please note though, that DT 15 and LS 12 do less damage combined than DT 20 and LS 9 combined, especially in pvp. If you are going for damage, DT 20 and LS 9 is one of the better options, unless you don't mind BS 20. I would recommend against BS 20 for damage if you are still doing any amount of pve.

Sorry for the post length. I like explaining things in detail.

[cadacus_ater]

A follow up on my previous post with a few additions (lengthy, but I put a bit of work into this, hoping to save some other people a little of the trouble):

After looking rather extensively at various skill setups, I've found that while it may be an option, pve combos with LS 20 are not very good for dps in pve, unless you plan on using short combos (under 20 seconds) with a random LS thrown in when it is cooled, but this isn't good for AoE damage. The best dps is usually with LS 9, since it tends to be the hardest hitting pve skill, but combos with LS 12 can come fairly close, depending on how you structure your combo. For those who are more serious about dps, you gain a fair amount of dps by replacing DR as a filler with something like DS > VI, however you may have to do some tweaking to your combo to get things working right. I've looked at several potential pve combos using DS instead of DR and it is definitely possible to make good stun+down combos with VI 20, LS 9 or 12, BS 9, and DT at 9, 12, 15, 18 or 20. For VI 20, LS 9 or 12, BS 9 and DT 20, it is possible to use 6 skill stun+down combos, but the combo can become complex when your best 'fillers' in pve are SG and DS depending on how you set it up.

As for fillers in pve, Impact Stab can be used in pve combos, but it is worse than DS in aoe and doesn't buy as much time. Though you can use TMS if you really wanted to as a filler, this is bad for dps and aoe: try to use TMS only to continue your combo on a new monster in pve. DR is a good filler for time, but as mentioned earlier, its dps is less than DS. If you don't want to use DS in pve, however, DR is the next best filler in terms of cast time and dps.

It is always ideal to experiment to see what combos and skill setups of VI, BS, LS and DT work best for you.
For those following my suggestion of putting DT and VI at 20, I thought I'd post a few of the pve combos I came up with, to give people some ideas.

--With LS 9, BS 9, DT 20, VI 20, SG 20, and DS 20, use VI and then start your combo immediately:

LS > DS > BS > VI > LS > DS > SG > DT > VI > LS > BS
My personal favorite, this is one of the best combos I've found with good stun+down and fairly high dps (compared to other combos with these skill levels). Allow yourself to break at the 11th skill (BS) and use VI before comboing again. If you want to continue past the 11th skill, use SG then VI to loop back to the beginning.

LS > DT > BS > VI > LS > DS > SG > BS > VI > LS > DT
An alternative to the above combo; slower, but higher damage and slightly better AoE. I highly recommend this one for large mobs of enemies. Not as simple to loop, but can continue after 11th skill with the following skill string: [BS > VI > LS > DS > SG > BS > VI > LS > DT] x N, which is the last 9 skills of this combo repeated as many times as you can manage. If the mob isn't finished by this combo, you can revert to LS > SG > BS > ... since DT may not cool off for use as the second skill.

LS > BS > VI > LS > DT > BS > VI > LS > DS > SG > BS
Another alternative combo; even slower, but with even higher damage and great AoE. It is much easier to restart after a break on the 11th skill; just use VI between each combo. Can loop with a skill string comprised of the last 9 skills: [VI > LS > DT > BS > VI > LS > DS > SG > BS] x N. Also highly recommended.

--Combos for LS 12, BS 9, DT 20, VI 20, SG 20 and DS 20 can be more difficult and may require you to break on the 11th skill, though if you want to continue past that, you could try something like VI > DS > Assault or VI > TMS to loop back, but it might be a bit harder. Starting with VI again before you combo:

LS > DS > SG > VI > BS > DS > DT > VI > LS > SG > BS
One of the best I could find that had good stun+down. There may be easier versions, but this is one of the most optimal uses of stun from VI 20 I could find with this skill setup. Testing this on my computer, I was able to use VI, hit combo, and proceed with LS, DS, SG, VI without VI failing to cool in time. Again, looping with this setup is a bit trickier, but it is possible.

[cadacus_ater]

I might as well add a chart with cast times and cool times to help people with making their own combos. It's missing some info, but if you are following my recommendations, it should suffice. [EDIT: I added other attack skills and lvl 3 and 6 for those who want to combo with skills besides the final ones I recommend. Usually, you will level non-keeper attack skills to 3, then 6, then leave them at 9 until it's time to delete them.]

Notes on combo building - Why you broke when your fillers were as long as the cool time:
Please note that combo cast times are approximate, they can vary based on when you hit the button for the next skill. Often you may find you cast skills in combo slightly faster than the combo times given, especially for skills with longer execution. When building a combo, a good rule of thumb is to try and allow for around 0.5 seconds more than the given in-combo cast times to allow your next skill to cool. You might be able to get away with only an extra 0.3 seconds if you are good at delaying the combo, perhaps even less than that. An interesting principle to keep in mind is that the skill you break your combo on should be cast with it's normal cast time, rather than its in-combo cast time, buying you extra time to cool a skill, but at the cost of stopping your attack for a short while. Don't forget the delay time of starting your combo either (not quite sure what it is exactly, maybe around a second). For Bladers, the best skills to break on in pve are usually BS or DT, but you could break on skills like DS, VI, or even LS (since their normal and combo times are so close) if you wanted to minimize your time out of combo.

EDIT: An example of what I'm getting at with breaking and cast times (LS 9, DT 15, VI 20, BS 9)...
LS, DT, BS, SG, VI, LS, DT, BS, SG, VI, LS...here you will either break on LS, the 11th skill in the combo, or try to continue with DT. If you break, LS should finish its full skill animation and, as a result, be cast in the normal 3 seconds rather than the in-combo time of 2.8 seconds.

[cadacus_ater]

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