Starting a Rogue & level 1-66
Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2022 3:24 am
So you want to be a
Target audience: New to Rift or never played a Rogue.
Though i expect you to know how movement, combat, camera etc works.
Core mechanics to consider
Unique mechanics: 1 second global cooldown by default which means a faster rate to use abilities, maximum of 5 combo points on yourself applied by abilities and finisher with more effect per combo point consumed.
Your attacks work in a way that they all take the DPS- damage per second of the weapon you have in your MAINHAND (left slot)+ Attack power
Weapon speed or single hit damage does not matter for abilities.
Furthermore, auto attacks aka white hits grow more and more insignificant throughout the levels.
Your second melee weapon 1) provides the raw stats 2) uses its weapon damage only for auto attacks 3) Is required to activate a passive scaling, increasing your main hand dps by x 1.3 - any grey butterknife will activate this bonus.
Your ranged weapon needs to be equipped to allow the use of ranged attacks- the damage again takes your main hand damage.
Rift has NO penalty on 'dual wielding'. Any hit rating you see on your stat sheet is only for raid bosses and enemies with a lot higher level.
Stats:
Professions? No unique/ individual boni for professions. Gathering professions can be leveled up on high level (red) nodes. So a level 1 miner can gather every node for ores and level it up during 65-70.
Comprehensive game info for total beginners:
https://www.cadrift.net/gameplay/charac ... er-guides/
Sidekick and Mentoring (temporarily adjust your level for free stats)
viewtopic.php?p=134#p134
Character creation
Select a preset with a bow, not all presets give a bow but all give melee weapons. Don't quite need it and you may get one later but why not have one instead of have none.
We can change our specialization right after entering the game.
Race and Faction have no impact on a level 70 Rogue. High Elves and Bahmi have a leap which can be useful in open world exploration. Riftstalker also has a memory capture which can come in handy as reset point on jump puzzles.
-> Don't get too caught up in the creator. All its settings + a credit race swap are available in the in-game barber shop.
Rather make sure you like the animations and overall feel and don't hesitate to try some races/ genders before settling.
You 100% will change something on the appearance in the barber shop later on anyway.
ENTERING THE WORLD - first steps after loading in.
The approach presented below has the goal to be interesting, have frequent new tools and mechanics unlocked and have you learn game fundamentals with great performance results.
Speed level hacks may do a thing or two 'faster' but nothing of it has any value or reason.
The following provides something that presents the whole class with mechanics that are used in the current game.
For Rogue, this means discovering the 'true value' of each ability and how to weave things into buff and combo point cycles skillfully.
We start with Saboteur, then mainly use Bladedstalker and transition into Marksman.
Press N (default) to open your Soultree.
It should look something like this:
Press any of the middle icons marked in red to get a drop down menu. Select Saboteur.
You will have a popup warning like this. This looks dramatic but it only warns you that you disable the preset autopilot now. We do want this, so hit okay.
Select the 3 souls like here (exact position in the 3 sets not relevant). Put your first point into Saboteur like shown here and hit SAVE on the bottom right, then close.
You are able to customize your interface by default. Hit escape- EDIT LAYOUT and play around a little if you like.
Write /exportui and look for a confirming message in the chat- to create a backup in case you delete this character for another race etc.
Level 1 - 24 (32): Start of a legend. - First steps as Saboteur with the little bombs ofc
Open your spellbook by pressing P (default)
The window will have 3 tabs representing the 3 souls in use with their respective abilities in them.
You want:
Ranger- Call: Razor Beast
Riftstalker- Shadow Shift
Saboteur- Flashbang
On level 2 and two points in Saboteur you get Satchel Charge, which uses up your combo points for extra damage.
>You can also engage new targets with a finisher- if you have the combo points for it.
Saboteur allows for physical melee attacks applied from range and would not use a ranged weapon for them. Better get used to odd classifications like this
.
Use Flashbang and Satchel Charge until..
Level 4-10 - Sticky-bomb-business
Keep spending points into Saboteur- nothing to do wrong at the moment.
#show Fragmentation Sticky Bomb
suppressmacrofailures
cast Detonate
cast Fragmentation Sticky Bomb
//cast Time bomb
cast Satchel Charge
cast Flashbang
petattack
Why Saboteur?
Fragmentation sticky bomb consumes a resource that quickly replenishes out of combat- ideal for quick burst kills.
Your sticky bombs deal damage when applied to a target and additional, higher damage when Detonate is cast on an affected target.
Almost all your Saboteur attacks hit 3 targets and more by default without any aoe penalty. So full st damage on 3 targets from range.
Using only the macro will try to use the highest available ability. Detonate can only be used with a Sticky bomb on the target. So pressing this will alternate Sticky and Detonate perfectly.
Do not worry about combo points.
Satchel Charge and Flashbang will now only be used if you happen to run out of Saboteur Charges or energy.
Level 11-24 - even stickier-bomb-business
Make sure to unlock Volatility with 11 Saboteur, it makes your Detonate (used often) deal high damage. So in 2 global cooldowns, you deal damage from Sticky- and then damage from the detonating Sticky PLUS Detonate damage- lowkey broken.
Try this: Pull 3 melee mobs with Sticky bombs, then detonate them one by one for the higher follow up damage splashed onto everyone when they are close together.
https://rift.magelo.com/en/soultree#te/Btd0w/z
--------------------------------
Level 10 allows you to enter (intrepid) Instant adventures, i leave it to you to do those, quests or run dungeons with friends. This guideline is meant to do well on all leveling and will serve you well everywhere
-------------------------------
Double down on your Sticky bomb damage until level 23.
https://rift.magelo.com/en/soultree#t8q/Bkx4x0/z
-> You can replace 0 Ranger with 0 Board for Motif of Bravery.
Scatter Sticky Bomb can be applied with Fragmentation sticky and popped by one Detonate- but it costs a lot more Charge to do.
Macro x1 -> Manual scatter sticky -> Macro x2 -> manual scatter - etc
Level 24-66 - BLADEDANCER
Saboteur loses its bite on higher levels with the Soultree splitting damage boni onto too many unrelated mechanics.
If you enjoy Saboteur and want to try around more. You may at last want to switch off it around lvl 32-35.
Bladedancer makes great use of strong main hand dps- which is currently rather easy to come by.
You will face a couple more mechanics to consider so the earlier you get into them, the better.
(i lost an image here. it was speedrunning the Droughtlands elite arena on 2k dps on leveling gear (no boxes)
Time for Bladedancer. High octane melee shredder that gives strong vibes of Lightsabers but without fancy magic.
You will rely on ABSOLUTE melee superiority, relying on shock assaults and one shots or bailing out early when things turn south(won't happen).
https://rift.magelo.com/en/soultree#t8g/xna54Fw/z
Maximum number of points allowed in one soul= your level. Additional points go into Riftstalker as shown.
The basics: All Bladedancer finishers HEAVILY buff your next 3 attacks (deadly dance/ improved deadly dance). So you want to use 3 strong attacks and gain 5 combo points back in the process.
Only lvl 24 Precision Strike allows you to get back 5 combo points in 3 attacks.
Precision Strike (and Quick Strike) need to be used after another attack. So it goes like:
Finisher/attack - Precision Strike - Keen Strike - Precision Strike - Deadly Strike > repeat
Like in saboteur, the macros below try to use the highest available ability. If Precision Strike is not ready, it will use Keen Strike.
(any attack like Flash of Steel) -> Macro x3 - gives exactly 5 combo points in 3 attacks.
#Default:
#show Precision Strike
suppressmacrofailures
cast Precision Strike
cast Keen Strike
cast Quick Shot
#Aoe:
#show Twin Cleave
suppressmacrofailures
cast Precision Strike
cast Twin Cleave
cast Quick Shot
You now also have a charge, a sprint, an blink, an interrupt and a ranged attack to tag mobs.>
Meditative Trance is a powerful self heal and activates Deadly Dance but not allowing for Precision Strike.
Flash of steel+Meditative Trance > Macrox3 > Deadly strike is a great opener. Frequent Meditative trance may even be too much healing.
You can monitor your Precision Strike availability through the macro icon.
Always go for 5 combo points!
This nice and simple basis is your core gameplay for Bladedancer and gets spiced up by temporary combat buffs (Rhythmic actions or 'Dances') which heavily amplify you in various ways- only one can be active at a time.
-> Side Steps: +50% dodge (on top of your own dodge) will trigger Strike Back and allow for Reprisal.
Strike Back has no limit on how many targets it can hit. Stand in 100 melee mobs, dodge with Side Steps to strike back on every single dodged attack.
-> Blade Tempo: +30% damage flat- your weakest dance to practise with.
You have a lot of freedom with your offsouls!
Ranger for crit and pet until lvl 36
Bard for Motif of Bravery
Riftstalker for potent heal-on-kill
Tactician (dlc) for armor and heal proccs
Physician (dlc) for crit, free combo points, active healing and cleanse
If you want to go for crit, definitely double down and get all Dex+crit talents possible- like Assassin+Ranger. (You can run some >30% which is big)
Consider getting the addon Karuulalert!
It allows for custom alerts on your screen which greatly helps with monitoring your Dance uptimes!
https://www.curseforge.com/rift/addons/karuulalert
You can install add-ons without restarting the game.
Just /reloadui when done.
Extract the zip folder in your Rift Addons. You can find the addon folder by:
1) Ingame- esc- popp up menu - click Add Ons - click 'open addon directory'
2) Or search for 'addons' in windows
Open Kalert with
/kalert
ingame, copy the link below in as shown
KA::A6DxjeNqtktFqwyAUhl8lT7BpolU5VyZG6M0YTXZXKDaxINgkNGbQsYefCRQK3aCMcBSO/nL
8+Plzb1qb1PY89IChhsGbq70srY47v5MlIxRlCOmCM8bLlAKK73QsFGvnTgGUCeZ1/7Hdm6PzLlw
Prum7cX+cpxzCPOWlbUdgqQAiCBA+LxwLivKtLndzh5fKUPy9vl0vp83yk/5Wk/FuPAN9xL1JEnE
pqRCKkrIgaSmfRm3tydsmuL7DZgXWykX7qmCHEdJH3DtV6oKyXKSSMaoEVfpp4jEOOYzzkDW87ae
jt0nRTwOQX/y9k+UmVxKJDLMMaxJD8Q+PSdOsAJ131fB3eE3XJlU/+eTdXCIDyJgHxVPEucS6YBQ
9zX2xny7EgH1ZvAL2D2CMBng
Level 26 - New finisher
You may now use Dauntless Strike and its 5% crit bonus as default finisher.
Level 31 and 32 - Powerful new toys back 2 back
https://rift.magelo.com/en/soultree#t8g/xna54GB90/zd
31 gives you Dancing Steel- 2 attacks/sec on 4 targets over 6 seconds. Pull 4 elite mobs, popp Side Steps and Dancing Steel- enjoy.
32 gives you a new Dance 'double coup'. This however only buffs builder attacks. Now your #Default and #aoe macro goes into overcharge mode. You also now have 3 dances with 21 second uptime and 60 sec cd- means you can now always have a dance active.
Example button to activate it effectively:
#show Double Coup
suppressmacrofailures
cast Double Coup
cast Precision Strike
cast Reprisal
//cast Binary Strike
cast Keen Strike
cast Quick Shot
-> A more advanced approach is to manually use available Reprisals only as Keen Strike replacement in between two Precision Strikes.
Level 40 and 41 - Even MORE powerful toys back 2 back completing the dream
https://rift.magelo.com/en/soultree#tr2 ... yliAyEw/zd
40 gives you a new dance Dualism.
#show Dualism
suppressmacrofailures
cast Dualism
cast Quick Strike
cast Reprisal
cast Keen Strike
cast Quick Shot
While it is active (21 seconds), Quick Strike (and precision strike) hit DOUBLE and give +1 combo point. So Quick Strike now acts just like Precision strike- with a lot more damage.
Dualism has NO impact on your aoe attacks! Only your two followup attacks
For single target, you may now cycle:
Dualism macro x3 and 1x finisher for 21 seconds. When it runs out:
Double Coup macro x3 and 1x finisher for 21 seconds. When it runs out:
Blade Tempo with #Default macro x3 and 1x finisher for 21 seconds.
With pauses in between fights etc, you may never need Blade tempo. Save Side Steps for aoe or as defensive cooldown.
41 Gives you ANOTHER aoe channel. It works pretty much the same way but is a frontal cone (with slightly more range) embrace your inner General Grievous.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/ ... 224738.jpg
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/ ... 224800.jpg
As mentioned, a couple elites are your speciality. Screenshots of a high crit BD- cleaving through the Droughtlands Cyclops arena.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/ ... 010658.jpg
Level 44. Those are all with the 5% crit from Assassin. It's not adding too much damage and Riftstalker is a lot safer.
Notice how Quick Strike is used 1/3rd of the time but does so much damage. #Dualism
I had those screenshots laying around so not pretty but at least authentic
Now you have all your core mechanics unlocked!
If you still enjoy Rogue, at last now is a great time to fine tune your Ui and keybinds. Adding Bladedancer macros over time always makes things messy.
Lvl 48 New world who dis - New continent with alot better quest rewards is available!
Level 40- 48 is the longest stretch in the game. Instead of grinding level 48-50, you can already jump into brand new zones.
You can enter the Storm Legion continent from level 48 onward. You will get at least 10x the exp from quests and Gear as good as lvl 50 raiding Tiers. This means lvl 50 within minutes. Storm legion even offers two separate lvl 48-60 continents and journeys!
Your capital city (Meridian/ Sanctum) will have an ambassador next to the portal with talk options.
- Business in your city teleports to Tempest bay
- Brevane sends you to cape yule (Best early quests)
- Dusken sends you to Kingdom Pelladane (More core story but more running around)
The early quests are meant to be done with ungeared characters and will deck you out with most gear slots in no time.
Lvl 50 - Planar Attunement - Fundamental story mission
A little sidetrack from questing: Level 50 allows for Planar attunements.
For that, you need to get attuned in the solo- Chronicle 'Ceremony of Attunement'.
You should receive mail as you hit level 50. This solo instance unlocks Planar attunements for you.
Planar attunements are some minor unlocks with separate exp systems.
Get into DEATH first, the Unlock Vampiric Essence in the second Death panel is amazing for anything solo.
After that you may enter War for mount speed and then Water for the water rift group summon.
More info on Attunement levels (PAXP) and tricks with quests and zones:
https://www.cadrift.net/gameplay/character/levelling/
Lvl 51-65 BLADESTALKER - Not going 61 Bladedancer
https://rift.magelo.com/en/soultree#tr2 ... B1laiBh0/A
Note that I switched points and made some changes. This 51+Riftstalker is known as Bladestalker.
There is a 51 Bladestalker under the presets but that one is just .. weird.
You can combine alot of things with 51 Bladedancer so feel free to go custom here!
Things you can try out:
Run 16 Ranger for the crit and the Fleeting instincts passive run speed.
Run 11 Physician for crit, direct heals, self cleanse and easy combo points out of combat.
Run 4 Tactician for some armor, heal proccs and raw 8 target ranged aoe that benefits from Blade and Soul Parity.
Run 0 Marksman for Swift Shot, shoot it at something for a run speed bonus. (Stacks with Fleeting instincts)
51 points into Bladedancer gives you Blade and Soul parity which affects all attacks and you will want to use Precision Strikes or your aoe channel with it.
Your Riftstalker teleports activate defensive- and crit boni.
When you have combo points before a hard fight, you can popp Meditative trance > Shadow Assault into your Dualism button.
> Blade&Soul parity (crit) is best for your aoe channels, non BD attacks& heals but second best for st.
> Dualism + Quick Strikes (double hits) is #1 for single target but nothing else. Even better when having Reprisal available to replace the 1 combo filler builder in the middle.
> Double Coup (flat builder bonus) is 3rd best for Single target. Can be used for emergency aoe with Twin Cleave & Meditative/Compound spam where it's +85% makes up for 2/5 swings not getting the +90% from deadly dance.
Sidesteps (dodge) is best for pulling elites or a gazillion small targets (strike back). Don't sleep on Riftstalker's Rift Disturbance, hitting 10 targets twice per use (but energy hungry).
When you hit level 66, your journey continues on Marksman
>> viewtopic.php?t=54 <<
I highly recommend the switch! Marksman is a top endgame soul and experiences absolute god status with legendary points!
You will make use of the dynamic combo point gameplay you learned with quickly gaining 2-3 at once - and come back to Bladedancer for pvp.
If that is too much re-learning, you can however continue with Bladedancer!
-> If something feels like it takes long or you start taking a lot of damage, remember Marksman :V
BD got the short end of the stick when it comes to legendary abilities. Plus it's aoe channels got nerfed from hitting 8 targets back in the golden days.
(Legendary Fated Blades very much destroys Bladedancer and makes for terrible gameplay.. so let's skip it for now)
Free to play:
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/ ... 044129.jpg
This plays very much as you know it, minus all the Riftstalker gimmicks (now too much effort for the crit boni)
66 Legendary Hellfire Blades is now a buff for passive bonus damage. One enemy hit = enemy+2 targets affected. The more you hit, the more Hellfire effects will appear.
Your BD aoe channel used to hit 8 (eight!) targets but they chopped it's legs off. Tactician torrent+HFB now already outperforms Bladedancer aoe..
67 Legendary Twin Cleave. Very weird legendary now allows you to instantly refresh a dance. Use it on the last second of a Dance even with no target. This allows you to run
Blade and Soul Parity x2 and Dualism x1 or
Dualism x2 + BnSp x1
68 Legendary Hundred Blades now has no cooldown but becomes a lot more expensive with every use. Idealy you use 2 Hundred Blades, one Dancing Steel, 1-2 Hundred Blades.
Together with Blade and Soul parity + Hellfire Blades this should reliably finish any aoe encounter. Try not to fall asleep channeling 6 sec back to back..
69 Legendary Call: Razor Beast completely loses it's pet summon and is a flat 20% damage cooldown.
-> 61 Bladedancer with Legendary Fated Blades (requiring both Twin Cleave and Empyrean Bolt- while still wanting Hellfire Blades- running Torrent anyways- takes way too many legendary points to be effective, only really starting when you are almost 70 already.
Again, consider the switch to Marksman, you will play it anyway at one point.
>> viewtopic.php?t=54 <<
If things are too convoluted, unclear or anything feeling off please do just toss in a response here i am happily going over it.
- 111ROGUE.png (77.23 KiB) Viewed 3076 times
Though i expect you to know how movement, combat, camera etc works.
Core mechanics to consider
Unique mechanics: 1 second global cooldown by default which means a faster rate to use abilities, maximum of 5 combo points on yourself applied by abilities and finisher with more effect per combo point consumed.
Your attacks work in a way that they all take the DPS- damage per second of the weapon you have in your MAINHAND (left slot)+ Attack power
Weapon speed or single hit damage does not matter for abilities.
Furthermore, auto attacks aka white hits grow more and more insignificant throughout the levels.
Your second melee weapon 1) provides the raw stats 2) uses its weapon damage only for auto attacks 3) Is required to activate a passive scaling, increasing your main hand dps by x 1.3 - any grey butterknife will activate this bonus.
Your ranged weapon needs to be equipped to allow the use of ranged attacks- the damage again takes your main hand damage.
Rift has NO penalty on 'dual wielding'. Any hit rating you see on your stat sheet is only for raid bosses and enemies with a lot higher level.
Stats:
Spoiler:
Comprehensive game info for total beginners:
https://www.cadrift.net/gameplay/charac ... er-guides/
Sidekick and Mentoring (temporarily adjust your level for free stats)
viewtopic.php?p=134#p134
Character creation
Select a preset with a bow, not all presets give a bow but all give melee weapons. Don't quite need it and you may get one later but why not have one instead of have none.
We can change our specialization right after entering the game.
Race and Faction have no impact on a level 70 Rogue. High Elves and Bahmi have a leap which can be useful in open world exploration. Riftstalker also has a memory capture which can come in handy as reset point on jump puzzles.
-> Don't get too caught up in the creator. All its settings + a credit race swap are available in the in-game barber shop.
Rather make sure you like the animations and overall feel and don't hesitate to try some races/ genders before settling.
You 100% will change something on the appearance in the barber shop later on anyway.
ENTERING THE WORLD - first steps after loading in.
The approach presented below has the goal to be interesting, have frequent new tools and mechanics unlocked and have you learn game fundamentals with great performance results.
Speed level hacks may do a thing or two 'faster' but nothing of it has any value or reason.
The following provides something that presents the whole class with mechanics that are used in the current game.
For Rogue, this means discovering the 'true value' of each ability and how to weave things into buff and combo point cycles skillfully.
We start with Saboteur, then mainly use Bladedstalker and transition into Marksman.
Press N (default) to open your Soultree.
It should look something like this:
- Roguestarter1.jpg (65.61 KiB) Viewed 3076 times
- Roguestarter 2.jpg (75.06 KiB) Viewed 3076 times
- Roguestarter3.jpg (60.09 KiB) Viewed 3076 times
You are able to customize your interface by default. Hit escape- EDIT LAYOUT and play around a little if you like.
Write /exportui and look for a confirming message in the chat- to create a backup in case you delete this character for another race etc.
Level 1 - 24 (32): Start of a legend. - First steps as Saboteur with the little bombs ofc
Open your spellbook by pressing P (default)
The window will have 3 tabs representing the 3 souls in use with their respective abilities in them.
You want:
Ranger- Call: Razor Beast
Riftstalker- Shadow Shift
Saboteur- Flashbang
On level 2 and two points in Saboteur you get Satchel Charge, which uses up your combo points for extra damage.
>You can also engage new targets with a finisher- if you have the combo points for it.
Saboteur allows for physical melee attacks applied from range and would not use a ranged weapon for them. Better get used to odd classifications like this
.Use Flashbang and Satchel Charge until..
Level 4-10 - Sticky-bomb-business
Keep spending points into Saboteur- nothing to do wrong at the moment.
- sticky.JPG (94.87 KiB) Viewed 3076 times
suppressmacrofailures
cast Detonate
cast Fragmentation Sticky Bomb
//cast Time bomb
cast Satchel Charge
cast Flashbang
petattack
Why Saboteur?
Fragmentation sticky bomb consumes a resource that quickly replenishes out of combat- ideal for quick burst kills.
Your sticky bombs deal damage when applied to a target and additional, higher damage when Detonate is cast on an affected target.
Almost all your Saboteur attacks hit 3 targets and more by default without any aoe penalty. So full st damage on 3 targets from range.
Using only the macro will try to use the highest available ability. Detonate can only be used with a Sticky bomb on the target. So pressing this will alternate Sticky and Detonate perfectly.
Do not worry about combo points.
Satchel Charge and Flashbang will now only be used if you happen to run out of Saboteur Charges or energy.
Level 11-24 - even stickier-bomb-business
Make sure to unlock Volatility with 11 Saboteur, it makes your Detonate (used often) deal high damage. So in 2 global cooldowns, you deal damage from Sticky- and then damage from the detonating Sticky PLUS Detonate damage- lowkey broken.
Try this: Pull 3 melee mobs with Sticky bombs, then detonate them one by one for the higher follow up damage splashed onto everyone when they are close together.
https://rift.magelo.com/en/soultree#te/Btd0w/z
--------------------------------
Level 10 allows you to enter (intrepid) Instant adventures, i leave it to you to do those, quests or run dungeons with friends. This guideline is meant to do well on all leveling and will serve you well everywhere
-------------------------------
Double down on your Sticky bomb damage until level 23.
https://rift.magelo.com/en/soultree#t8q/Bkx4x0/z
-> You can replace 0 Ranger with 0 Board for Motif of Bravery.
Scatter Sticky Bomb can be applied with Fragmentation sticky and popped by one Detonate- but it costs a lot more Charge to do.
Macro x1 -> Manual scatter sticky -> Macro x2 -> manual scatter - etc
Level 24-66 - BLADEDANCER
Saboteur loses its bite on higher levels with the Soultree splitting damage boni onto too many unrelated mechanics.
If you enjoy Saboteur and want to try around more. You may at last want to switch off it around lvl 32-35.
Bladedancer makes great use of strong main hand dps- which is currently rather easy to come by.
You will face a couple more mechanics to consider so the earlier you get into them, the better.
(i lost an image here. it was speedrunning the Droughtlands elite arena on 2k dps on leveling gear (no boxes)
Time for Bladedancer. High octane melee shredder that gives strong vibes of Lightsabers but without fancy magic.
You will rely on ABSOLUTE melee superiority, relying on shock assaults and one shots or bailing out early when things turn south(won't happen).
https://rift.magelo.com/en/soultree#t8g/xna54Fw/z
Maximum number of points allowed in one soul= your level. Additional points go into Riftstalker as shown.
The basics: All Bladedancer finishers HEAVILY buff your next 3 attacks (deadly dance/ improved deadly dance). So you want to use 3 strong attacks and gain 5 combo points back in the process.
Only lvl 24 Precision Strike allows you to get back 5 combo points in 3 attacks.
Precision Strike (and Quick Strike) need to be used after another attack. So it goes like:
Finisher/attack - Precision Strike - Keen Strike - Precision Strike - Deadly Strike > repeat
Like in saboteur, the macros below try to use the highest available ability. If Precision Strike is not ready, it will use Keen Strike.
(any attack like Flash of Steel) -> Macro x3 - gives exactly 5 combo points in 3 attacks.
#Default:
#show Precision Strike
suppressmacrofailures
cast Precision Strike
cast Keen Strike
cast Quick Shot
#Aoe:
#show Twin Cleave
suppressmacrofailures
cast Precision Strike
cast Twin Cleave
cast Quick Shot
You now also have a charge, a sprint, an blink, an interrupt and a ranged attack to tag mobs.>
Meditative Trance is a powerful self heal and activates Deadly Dance but not allowing for Precision Strike.
Flash of steel+Meditative Trance > Macrox3 > Deadly strike is a great opener. Frequent Meditative trance may even be too much healing.
You can monitor your Precision Strike availability through the macro icon.
Always go for 5 combo points!
This nice and simple basis is your core gameplay for Bladedancer and gets spiced up by temporary combat buffs (Rhythmic actions or 'Dances') which heavily amplify you in various ways- only one can be active at a time.
-> Side Steps: +50% dodge (on top of your own dodge) will trigger Strike Back and allow for Reprisal.
Strike Back has no limit on how many targets it can hit. Stand in 100 melee mobs, dodge with Side Steps to strike back on every single dodged attack.
-> Blade Tempo: +30% damage flat- your weakest dance to practise with.
You have a lot of freedom with your offsouls!
Ranger for crit and pet until lvl 36
Bard for Motif of Bravery
Riftstalker for potent heal-on-kill
Tactician (dlc) for armor and heal proccs
Physician (dlc) for crit, free combo points, active healing and cleanse
If you want to go for crit, definitely double down and get all Dex+crit talents possible- like Assassin+Ranger. (You can run some >30% which is big)
Consider getting the addon Karuulalert!
It allows for custom alerts on your screen which greatly helps with monitoring your Dance uptimes!
https://www.curseforge.com/rift/addons/karuulalert
You can install add-ons without restarting the game.
Just /reloadui when done.
Extract the zip folder in your Rift Addons. You can find the addon folder by:
1) Ingame- esc- popp up menu - click Add Ons - click 'open addon directory'
2) Or search for 'addons' in windows
- kalert.JPG (55.09 KiB) Viewed 3076 times
/kalert
ingame, copy the link below in as shown
KA::A6DxjeNqtktFqwyAUhl8lT7BpolU5VyZG6M0YTXZXKDaxINgkNGbQsYefCRQK3aCMcBSO/nL
8+Plzb1qb1PY89IChhsGbq70srY47v5MlIxRlCOmCM8bLlAKK73QsFGvnTgGUCeZ1/7Hdm6PzLlw
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Level 26 - New finisher
You may now use Dauntless Strike and its 5% crit bonus as default finisher.
Level 31 and 32 - Powerful new toys back 2 back
https://rift.magelo.com/en/soultree#t8g/xna54GB90/zd
31 gives you Dancing Steel- 2 attacks/sec on 4 targets over 6 seconds. Pull 4 elite mobs, popp Side Steps and Dancing Steel- enjoy.
32 gives you a new Dance 'double coup'. This however only buffs builder attacks. Now your #Default and #aoe macro goes into overcharge mode. You also now have 3 dances with 21 second uptime and 60 sec cd- means you can now always have a dance active.
Example button to activate it effectively:
#show Double Coup
suppressmacrofailures
cast Double Coup
cast Precision Strike
cast Reprisal
//cast Binary Strike
cast Keen Strike
cast Quick Shot
-> A more advanced approach is to manually use available Reprisals only as Keen Strike replacement in between two Precision Strikes.
Level 40 and 41 - Even MORE powerful toys back 2 back completing the dream
https://rift.magelo.com/en/soultree#tr2 ... yliAyEw/zd
40 gives you a new dance Dualism.
#show Dualism
suppressmacrofailures
cast Dualism
cast Quick Strike
cast Reprisal
cast Keen Strike
cast Quick Shot
While it is active (21 seconds), Quick Strike (and precision strike) hit DOUBLE and give +1 combo point. So Quick Strike now acts just like Precision strike- with a lot more damage.
Dualism has NO impact on your aoe attacks! Only your two followup attacks
For single target, you may now cycle:
Dualism macro x3 and 1x finisher for 21 seconds. When it runs out:
Double Coup macro x3 and 1x finisher for 21 seconds. When it runs out:
Blade Tempo with #Default macro x3 and 1x finisher for 21 seconds.
With pauses in between fights etc, you may never need Blade tempo. Save Side Steps for aoe or as defensive cooldown.
41 Gives you ANOTHER aoe channel. It works pretty much the same way but is a frontal cone (with slightly more range) embrace your inner General Grievous.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/ ... 224738.jpg
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/ ... 224800.jpg
As mentioned, a couple elites are your speciality. Screenshots of a high crit BD- cleaving through the Droughtlands Cyclops arena.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/ ... 010658.jpg
Level 44. Those are all with the 5% crit from Assassin. It's not adding too much damage and Riftstalker is a lot safer.
Notice how Quick Strike is used 1/3rd of the time but does so much damage. #Dualism
I had those screenshots laying around so not pretty but at least authentic
Now you have all your core mechanics unlocked!
If you still enjoy Rogue, at last now is a great time to fine tune your Ui and keybinds. Adding Bladedancer macros over time always makes things messy.
Lvl 48 New world who dis - New continent with alot better quest rewards is available!
Level 40- 48 is the longest stretch in the game. Instead of grinding level 48-50, you can already jump into brand new zones.
You can enter the Storm Legion continent from level 48 onward. You will get at least 10x the exp from quests and Gear as good as lvl 50 raiding Tiers. This means lvl 50 within minutes. Storm legion even offers two separate lvl 48-60 continents and journeys!
Your capital city (Meridian/ Sanctum) will have an ambassador next to the portal with talk options.
- Business in your city teleports to Tempest bay
- Brevane sends you to cape yule (Best early quests)
- Dusken sends you to Kingdom Pelladane (More core story but more running around)
The early quests are meant to be done with ungeared characters and will deck you out with most gear slots in no time.
Lvl 50 - Planar Attunement - Fundamental story mission
A little sidetrack from questing: Level 50 allows for Planar attunements.
For that, you need to get attuned in the solo- Chronicle 'Ceremony of Attunement'.
You should receive mail as you hit level 50. This solo instance unlocks Planar attunements for you.
Planar attunements are some minor unlocks with separate exp systems.
Get into DEATH first, the Unlock Vampiric Essence in the second Death panel is amazing for anything solo.
After that you may enter War for mount speed and then Water for the water rift group summon.
More info on Attunement levels (PAXP) and tricks with quests and zones:
https://www.cadrift.net/gameplay/character/levelling/
Lvl 51-65 BLADESTALKER - Not going 61 Bladedancer
https://rift.magelo.com/en/soultree#tr2 ... B1laiBh0/A
Note that I switched points and made some changes. This 51+Riftstalker is known as Bladestalker.
There is a 51 Bladestalker under the presets but that one is just .. weird.
You can combine alot of things with 51 Bladedancer so feel free to go custom here!
Things you can try out:
Run 16 Ranger for the crit and the Fleeting instincts passive run speed.
Run 11 Physician for crit, direct heals, self cleanse and easy combo points out of combat.
Run 4 Tactician for some armor, heal proccs and raw 8 target ranged aoe that benefits from Blade and Soul Parity.
Run 0 Marksman for Swift Shot, shoot it at something for a run speed bonus. (Stacks with Fleeting instincts)
51 points into Bladedancer gives you Blade and Soul parity which affects all attacks and you will want to use Precision Strikes or your aoe channel with it.
Your Riftstalker teleports activate defensive- and crit boni.
When you have combo points before a hard fight, you can popp Meditative trance > Shadow Assault into your Dualism button.
> Blade&Soul parity (crit) is best for your aoe channels, non BD attacks& heals but second best for st.
> Dualism + Quick Strikes (double hits) is #1 for single target but nothing else. Even better when having Reprisal available to replace the 1 combo filler builder in the middle.
> Double Coup (flat builder bonus) is 3rd best for Single target. Can be used for emergency aoe with Twin Cleave & Meditative/Compound spam where it's +85% makes up for 2/5 swings not getting the +90% from deadly dance.
Sidesteps (dodge) is best for pulling elites or a gazillion small targets (strike back). Don't sleep on Riftstalker's Rift Disturbance, hitting 10 targets twice per use (but energy hungry).
When you hit level 66, your journey continues on Marksman
>> viewtopic.php?t=54 <<
I highly recommend the switch! Marksman is a top endgame soul and experiences absolute god status with legendary points!
You will make use of the dynamic combo point gameplay you learned with quickly gaining 2-3 at once - and come back to Bladedancer for pvp.
If that is too much re-learning, you can however continue with Bladedancer!
-> If something feels like it takes long or you start taking a lot of damage, remember Marksman :V
BD got the short end of the stick when it comes to legendary abilities. Plus it's aoe channels got nerfed from hitting 8 targets back in the golden days.
(Legendary Fated Blades very much destroys Bladedancer and makes for terrible gameplay.. so let's skip it for now)
Free to play:
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/ ... 044129.jpg
This plays very much as you know it, minus all the Riftstalker gimmicks (now too much effort for the crit boni)
66 Legendary Hellfire Blades is now a buff for passive bonus damage. One enemy hit = enemy+2 targets affected. The more you hit, the more Hellfire effects will appear.
Your BD aoe channel used to hit 8 (eight!) targets but they chopped it's legs off. Tactician torrent+HFB now already outperforms Bladedancer aoe..
67 Legendary Twin Cleave. Very weird legendary now allows you to instantly refresh a dance. Use it on the last second of a Dance even with no target. This allows you to run
Blade and Soul Parity x2 and Dualism x1 or
Dualism x2 + BnSp x1
68 Legendary Hundred Blades now has no cooldown but becomes a lot more expensive with every use. Idealy you use 2 Hundred Blades, one Dancing Steel, 1-2 Hundred Blades.
Together with Blade and Soul parity + Hellfire Blades this should reliably finish any aoe encounter. Try not to fall asleep channeling 6 sec back to back..
69 Legendary Call: Razor Beast completely loses it's pet summon and is a flat 20% damage cooldown.
-> 61 Bladedancer with Legendary Fated Blades (requiring both Twin Cleave and Empyrean Bolt- while still wanting Hellfire Blades- running Torrent anyways- takes way too many legendary points to be effective, only really starting when you are almost 70 already.
Again, consider the switch to Marksman, you will play it anyway at one point.
>> viewtopic.php?t=54 <<
If things are too convoluted, unclear or anything feeling off please do just toss in a response here i am happily going over it.
