Sword starter guide
From Duels Content
Contents |
[edit] Lessigfan's New Player Guide to Path of the Sword
Disclaimer - I am not a top player, so I can't help you be one. I can help you be an average player. This advice is very general and will lead to very generic builds. There are lots of reasons to deviate that will turn out better. Don't feel obligated to stick with this advice - go blaze your own trail! If you've been playing for more than a month or two, don't bother reading this - it won't help you. But if you're frustrated, you're having a hard time winning any duels, you just want a generic & decent build, or you're totally at sea - this advice is for you.
[edit] Generally
Unlike path of the staff, it seems like swordies really don't need to choose between shield and offhand weapon. This is slightly deceiving. Unless you've invested in shield mastery, a shield will be very cumbersome to you, and you may be better off picking up a lower power offhand and packing on higher armor equipment. If you have invested in shield mastery, a DW is viable in niche cases, but not as a general rule.
[edit] Order to getting skills
- 1st get a weapon mastery. This will confine you to only using weapons of this particular type - if you use one outside your mastery, you will do poorly. I can't tell you which one to get, if you pull a great item from one type, go with that. Very generally - blunt has the most speed/per weapons and some top resist/str/dodge weapons, stealth has the most spd/per and dodgy weapons, edged has the most strength/stamina weapons. Stealth also has several offhand only weapons with armor, while edged has some unique items (like woodcutters, cosmosabers, and others). Personally, I think stealth is weak for warriors but strong for assassins; edged is weak for assassins but strong for warriors; blunt is strong for both.
- 2nd get armor. No, not ambidexterity, not DP, not shield mastery. Get armor. Every swordie needs to have this.
- 3rd you have some options. Quickness & fortitude are both good choices.
Next you'll want to do high path stuff. The next set of skills will depend largely on which high path skills you select. Here is a brief rundown of what the skills are good for, and which ones to avoid.
- Ambidexterity - quite good if you're using both hands, in fact if you never use a shield, ambidexterity will often out damage quickness. Don't get this if you have any points in adaptive offense.
- Fortitude - a must for all warriors, and important for many assassins. If you want the strength bonus (and typically you will) make sure you've got 143 stamina in the loadout manager before fort kicks in.
- Defensive power - good if you've got high enough dodge & resist. This is a must for many assassins.
- Offensive power - with the recent change, this is usable for many heavy hitters, though not key.
- Shield mastery - a necessity if you're using a shield.
- Probably avoid adaptive offense. If you use a shield or you have ambidexterity, you won't need it. If you have a T3 skill, you won't be able to invest. If none of those are true, it can be helpful.
- AVOID enchanted shield. Yes it can be good, but it generally isn't worth it, unless you have a very specific strategy.
[edit] Attributes & Gear
This really depends on the high path skills you choose. Very generally, you'll probably want lots strength/stamina for a warrior, and some smaller amount of speed & perception. For an assassin, you'll likely want quite a bit of dodge/speed/per and some smaller level of strength/stamina.
[edit] What if I've messed up already?
If you've screwed up your base attributes, it probably isn't a big deal. Unless you've put all your points in something totally useless, like resist, you can probably make up the gaps with your gear.
If you've screwed up your skills, it may matter. If you've invested in good stuff, but in a bad order, you'll be fine - you'll have a losing streak for a while but level out of it. If you've invested in 4 high path skills, or useless low path skills, a respec or starting a new avatar may be the best option.
The devs also offer free respecs periodically. Keep an eye out for those, you may be able to resurrect an old character.
[edit] Where to go from here?
See the similar Assassin Guide or the similar Warrior Guide.
