Bladesworn - Power DPS

The community gave this build a rating, making it top-tier: Great

Focused on: Strike damage

Designed for: Raids and Fractals

Difficulty:

TBD

This build was last updated on May 20, 2022 and is up to date for the March 19, 2024 patch.

Overview

A power DPS build for Bladesworn.

Skill Bar

Axe/Pistol

Utility

Template Code

[&DQIEHzMWRCumAKYAqQCpAK8ArwDyGvIanACcAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA=]

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Equipment

Head
Berserker

Shoulders
Berserker

Chest
Berserker

Hands
Berserker

Legs
Assassin

Feet
Berserker

Backpiece
Berserker

Accessory
Berserker

Accessory
Berserker

Amulet
Berserker

Ring
Berserker

Ring
Berserker

Axe
Berserker

Pistol
Berserker

Sigil

Sigil

Rune
x6

Infusion
x16

Infusion
x2

• If you don't have stat infusions, you can run full berserker stats with one assassin stats accessory instead.
• In fractals, you can run full berserker stats and a Sigil of Superior Sigil of Impact instead of the Sigil of Superior Sigil of Accuracy.

Impact variant

In strikes where the boss gets Exposed, or at Keep Construct, it would be more beneficial to swap the Sigil of Superior Sigil of Accuracy for a Sigil of Superior Sigil of Impact.

Head
Berserker

Shoulders
Assassin

Chest
Berserker

Hands
Assassin

Legs
Assassin

Feet
Assassin

Backpiece
Berserker

Accessory
Berserker

Accessory
Assassin

Amulet
Berserker

Ring
Assassin

Ring
Assassin

Axe
Berserker

Pistol
Berserker

Sigil

Sigil

Rune
x6

Infusion
x18

Consumables

Food:

• or ascended versions

Utility:

Usage

Rotation

Opener

If possible, you can pre-cast Blooming Fire, Artillery Slash and Break Step to build up stacks of Fierce as Fire. Pre-cast both charges of Flow Stabilizer.

Start on your Gunsaber.

1. "To the Limit!" to start generating flow
2. Sheathe Gunsaber to trigger Unseen Sword
3. Dragon's Roar
4. Cyclone Axe
5. Gunstinger
6. Dragon Trigger
7. Dragon Slash - Force
8. Cyclone Trigger
9. Sheathe Gunsaber

Loop

Bladesworn's rotation follows a basic structure, but the exact skills used each loop can vary. The complete loop looks as follows:

1. Gunstinger, if available
2. Dragon's Roar
3. Tactical Reload, if available and you did not use Gunstinger this loop
4. Cyclone Axe
5. Throw Axe
6. Chop → Double Chop → Triple Chop
7. Throw Axe, if you did not use either Gunstinger or Tactical Reload
8. Dragon Trigger
9. Dragon Slash - Force
10. Cyclone Trigger, or Artillery Slash if Cyclone Trigger is not available
11. Sheathe Gunsaber

It would be slightly more optimal to move Dragon's Roar to after step 5 in the rotation, but as it is a priority skill it will interrupt the cast time of the previous skill if used too early so you would need very good timing for it to be reliable.

Video example

Loop Explanation

Most of the above loop is the same each time, but you use one extra skill depending on what is available. Gunstinger will be available every other loop and the non-gunstinger loops will alternate between using Tactical Reload and an extra Throw Axe. i.e. the pattern of extra skills is:

1. Throw Axe
2. Gunstinger
3. Tactical Reload
4. Gunstinger

The pattern then repeats from the start. Although Tactical Reload is available in the first loop, Throw Axe is used instead because it is more efficient to use Tactical Reload when you have zero charges of Cyclone Trigger rather than one. You only need consider this in the very first loop of the rotation though.

Outside of the opener, the exact order of skills actually isn't that important, though the rotation above was chosen for the following reasons:

• We want to use Gunstinger before Dragon's Roar both to front-load damage, but also to prevent Dragon's Roar sitting at maximum charges.
• Dragon's Roar will interrupt the cast time of skills other than Gunstinger if used too early. So it is safer to use it as early as possible to avoid this.
• As you sometimes want to use Throw Axe twice in one loop, the first use should come before the auto chain so that it is off cooldown again.

General Tips

• Use Flow Stabilizer off cooldown to generate extra stacks of Fierce as Fire.
  • Outside of this and the opener, the rotation is exactly the same as Bannerslave's.
• While charging Dragon Trigger, you can use Triggerguard and/or Flicker Step to generate extra charges of Fierce as Fire, to ensure you are at 10 stacks for Dragon Slash - Force.
  • If there is any danger of you getting interrupted while in Dragon Trigger, you can forgo this step so they are available for defence.
• Dragon Slash - Force alone is over half your total damage, so it is essential not to delay Dragon Trigger. If necessary, you can skip skills in your rotation if it is already available.