Pierce Phantasmal Blades Blademaster

A Nightblade throwing skill and the build's main source of Pierce/Bleeding damage. Bind the Unknown Soldier devotion's Living Shadow proc here (100% chance on critical hit).

A modifier for Phantasmal Blades that removes its cooldown at the cost of per-hit damage, enabling the rapid-fire spam playstyle this build is built around.

The other modifier for Phantasmal Blades. It lets the blades pierce through multiple enemies and grants ADCtH, draining health from everything it hits.

The base skill that unlocks the Night's Chill modifier.

Veil of Shadow's modifier. Strips Cold/Pierce/Acid resistance, and in this build it's the key source of Pierce resistance reduction.

A sustained-heal buff. Keeping it up at all times is the build's core survival pillar, backing up its "a few hits won't kill you" design. Bind the Tortoise devotion's Turtle Shell proc here (auto-triggers below 50% health, throwing up a damage-absorbing barrier).

A 1-point investment also useful for closing distance early on. Bind the Assassin's Blade devotion's Assassin's Mark proc here (100% chance on crit, shredding the target's Physical/Pierce resistance).

An AoE debuff that taunts enemies and lowers their damage output. Bind the Ulzaad, Herald of Korvaak devotion's Ulzaad's Decree proc here (20% chance on attack, a 6-second buff to Physical/Pierce/Internal Trauma damage plus armor and physical retaliation) — its recharge lines up nicely with War Cry's own cooldown.

Soldier's exclusive buff. A purely offensive skill that raises physical/internal trauma damage and OA, with no defensive component. Max it first once the Soldier mastery bar opens up.

One of several support passives unlocked along the Soldier mastery bar. Pour remaining points here alongside Veterancy, Decorated Soldier, and Squad Tactics to round out resistances and physical damage (Laceration is a Blade Arc passive and doesn't apply to this build).

• ▸Start as Nightblade, putting 2 points into Amarasta's Blade Burst and 1 into the mastery bar to level with. Sub in Hevill's Greatsword if you haven't found a 2H yet.
• ▸Spend a point in Lethal Assault when it unlocks, plus 1 each in Veil of Shadow and Night's Chill. Once you loot this build's starting weapon from a rotten corpse in Wightmire, respec out of ABB into Phantasmal Blades, Frenetic Throw, Heart Seeker, and Night's Chill.
• ▸On the Act 1 'Lost Elder' quest, lie to Greven and keep the talisman instead of handing it over. The resulting Bone Talisman relic carries the item skill Mana Infusion, which goes a long way toward solving the build's energy problem. Farming ectoplasm at Spined Cove also helps with energy regen.
• ▸Cronley's mobs around Old Arkovia/Four Hills can drop Murderer's Epaulets, a solid early shoulder slot. Keep activating shrines for devotion points.
• ▸By the mid-30s, finish the Nightblade mastery bar and start pouring points into Soldier, plus 1 into Blade Spirit. Craft the Rotating Rifle blueprint at the blacksmith as soon as it drops from a shrine-activated monster.
• ▸Around Homestead, chase Mogara's Fangs (up to its level 94 version) and Fleshwarped Casque. After unlocking Blood Grove, reset-buy Benevald's shop for the Frontloading Rifle blueprint.
• ▸Keep spending devotion points on the Order/Primordial side of the route, and pick the Cult of Dreeg first in the Forgotten Gods DLC. Farm the build's belt from gargoyle mobs around the Astral Fields, and once honored with Black Legion, buy and craft the Arcane Spark blueprint for your medal.
• ▸After hitting Elite, reset Benevald's shop again around level 60 for the Shrapnel Gun blueprint. Pick Cult of Solael in Forgotten Gods. Kill Kra'vall on Normal difficulty for a shot at the Kra'vall Shoulderguards.
• ▸Once you're honored with the Malmouth Resistance, work through their quests while farming Dreven Cole runs (the boss in the Chamber of the High Council), and buy Potions of Clarity from their faction shop — this dramatically speeds up leveling to 100.

• ▸Late-game, craft the weapon blueprint sold in the Cult of Dreeg shop (an upgrade over the earlier Shrapnel Gun).
• ▸Buy rings from the Malmouth vendor and pick up the amulet blueprint from the Cult of Solael shop (the final upgrade over Mogara's Fangs).
• ▸Shoulders: Kra'vall Shoulderguards. Pants: Dreeg-Sect Legguards (from the Guardian of Dreeg near Devil's Crossing). Boots: the commonly-dropped Mythical Final March, upgrading from Elite Legion Greaves.
• ▸Gloves: Rhowari Handguards from the Rovers shop or crafted Emberguard Gauntlets if nothing better has dropped yet. Upgrade the helm opportunistically for resistances/OA.
• ▸Medal: swap to Legion Mark of Blades once honored with Black Legion.
• ▸Weapon, rings, amulet, shoulders, pants, and medal are all target-farmable, faction-bought, or crafted. Mythical Final March (boots) and Zealot's Gauntlets (one glove option) are drops, though, so those two slots still involve some luck. The author cleared Rashalga, Kra'vall, Korvaak, and Theodin Marcell, plus SR26, in this exact setup.

• ▸Keep Pneumatic Burst up at all times, taunt/debuff with War Cry, then spam Phantasmal Blades.
• ▸Few buttons and simple execution make this controller-friendly.
• ▸It's tanky enough to shrug off a few hits, but still reposition out of damaging AoE pools rather than facetanking everything.
• ▸Most of the gear is target-farmable, faction-bought, or crafted, so it's less at the mercy of drop luck (though a few upgrades, like the Mythical Final March boots, are drop-dependent).

Since the build leans on stacking raw health to absorb hits, resistances just need to reach the cap. Night's Chill and Assassin's Mark strip the target's Physical/Pierce resistance, while War Cry indirectly reduces incoming damage by cutting enemy damage output.

Damage comes from spamming a fast, low-per-hit skill, so output drops when forced to kite off damaging floor effects. Energy sustain leans heavily on Mana Infusion and gear, so missing the Bone Talisman relic early makes leveling noticeably harder.

Farm Wightmire for the starting weapon, Cronley's mobs in Old Arkovia/Four Hills for Murderer's Epaulets, the Homestead area for Mogara's Fangs and Fleshwarped Casque, gargoyle mobs in the Astral Fields for the belt, and Kra'vall on Normal for the shoulder piece. Reset-buy Benevald's shop twice — once after unlocking Blood Grove and again around level 60 — for the weapon blueprints.