[Guide] Swordsman's Battle Manual (All classes) - By Cathexis

[Cathexis]

But my only problem is the hoplite, i don’t know but i find a spear shinobi a bit unreal, i know it’s because of hoplite’s skill but isn’t there another class i could peak that would still be good in pvp ?

Barbarian. You would be using a Sword+Dagger as a Corsair/Shinobi, although you could also bring out a 2H Sword and switch between them.

[kevin_ganhao]

I see, and is it still viable for pvp ? I mean can he compete with other characters well ?

[Cathexis]

I see, and is it still viable for pvp ? I mean can he compete with other characters well ?

Swordsman in general is at a disadvantage in PvP because currently it is extremely unbalanced.

But sure, Barbarian gives you stuns that you could use during PvP and that will become more useful/powerful when they balanced the game out.

And well, just like on any other game, it comes down to your skill as player to determine your performance in a scenario like PvP.

[kevin_ganhao]

One more thing i remembered, can u stun someone with your clones if you use restrain ? I’m a sword c2 - barb c2 atm, i tought i could go for the shinobi even if i don’t have peltasta if i can restrain people with my clones, I don’t want to restart a new character again xD

[Cathexis]

One more thing i remembered, can u stun someone with your clones if you use restrain ? I’m a sword c2 - barb c2 atm, i tought i could go for the shinobi even if i don’t have peltasta if i can restrain people with my clones, I don’t want to restart a new character again xD

Nope, your clones can’t use Restrain, only you.

[cheehou8]

Dear Cathexis,

Do you think that Doppelsoldner circle 2 has a chance to get buffed or balanced a bit for future patch?

[Rusca]

Hi @Cathexis. I’m really thankful for your wonderful guide and I’ve been following your guide and I’m currently on Swordsman>peltasta>hoplitec2. Is it okay to go cata 1 next just for the mount then hoplite c3 > dragoon. or should I go cata 3 and skip dragoon because you said it’s not worth it to just get only 1 circle for cataphract? And is dragoon skills too good to trade for cataphract or not? I want to be decent in pvp too btw. Thank you for reading this.

[Kheotic]

Hi @Cathexis and others. I may have made a mistake with my build going to pelt2. Still only level 68. I’m looking to tank pve content, but still be able to pvp. Any classes to maybe salvage wasting a rank, or should I re-roll (which I do not have a problem with).

[Derael]

You can go for pelt2rode3 build, finishing with doppel/fencer/dragoon. It can be very good regardless of what people say, especially if kToS rodelero buffs come to iToS.

[Cathexis]

Do you think that Doppelsoldner circle 2 has a chance to get buffed or balanced a bit for future patch?

I do think so. I also think that every class in the Swordsman tree will go through a balance change at some point in the future.

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Hi @Cathexis. I’m really thankful for your wonderful guide and I’ve been following your guide and I’m currently on Swordsman>peltasta>hoplitec2. Is it okay to go cata 1 next just for the mount then hoplite c3 > dragoon. or should I go cata 3 and skip dragoon because you said it’s not worth it to just get only 1 circle for cataphract? And is dragoon skills too good to trade for cataphract or not? I want to be decent in pvp too btw. Thank you for reading this.

There will soon be a change on kTOS where every character is able to ride a mount now. We still have to see specifics about it, but that is an option you might want to consider before deciding on moving forward as I do believe that change will come to our version too.

Unless you really want Cataphract without creating a new character then I think you could do a Hoplite C2->Cataphract C2->Dragoon type of build. Although it wouldn’t be as efficient as the other options, it would fit what you are looking for if that is of interest to you .

Otherwise you could also do a Corsair->Doppel->Dragoon or Corsair C2->Doppel / Dragoon build to have more PvP tools on your build without going into Cataphract.

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Hi @Cathexis and others. I may have made a mistake with my build going to pelt2. Still only level 68. I’m looking to tank pve content, but still be able to pvp. Any classes to maybe salvage wasting a rank, or should I re-roll (which I do not have a problem with).

I don’t think it is necessary to reroll, unless the path that you want to follow is radically different from what you have right now.

What were you planning to choose after that? Do you have a high ranked class that you are aiming for?

You still have plenty of circles remaining, so you could do something like:

• Swordsman->Peltasta C3->Corsair->Fencer->Doppelsoeldner

• Swordsman->Peltasta C2->Hoplite C2->Doppelsoeldner->Dragoon

• Swordsman->Peltasta C2->Rodelero C2->Fencer->Doppelsoeldner

• Swordsman->Peltasta C3->Corsair C2->Fencer or Dragoon or even Shinobi

• Swordsman->Peltasta C2->Cataphract C3->Dragoon

Or other combinations. Even though they might not be as strong as other paths, you will have the advantage of a higher level of Swash Buckling and most of your damage tools come from the higher rank classes anyways, so you are not losing out on too much.

[xechidna]

HUZZAH!!! i finaly got barb C2 and had 1 point into Warcry to test the previous interaction of War Cry with boss traps/totems.

War Cry DOES consider the totems/traps, so, if you are facing a boss that doesnt have adds, you can still have your War Cry with 5 targets with Boss+4 traps!

SPREAD THE WORD!!! WAR CRY WORKS ON BOSS TRAPS!

so, yeah its nice, since its only lvl 1 its not much, but at my lvl, 50 damage is still kinda significant. well, 60 if we count the -10 def that the boss had because of War Cry.

HUZZAH!

I missed this comment the first time around, so I just tested this too and its pretty friggin great!
I love it!

[zack_cass]

Yea tested it multiple times and I think somebody already mentioned it before. It works great, that’s why I like Warcry more than Frenzy cause that Frenzy thing need to hit 20 times to get max stack =/

[guillaume_bergevin]

i use maintain stacks on frenzy all the time, cause if you are unfortunate and you hit a trap once with frenzy (boss+traps are different targets then just boss) it resets the stacks, that and i get to have the max stack faster since its reduced, but it wont fall off ever.
I believe ‘maintain stack’ attribute is preferable to keep on all the time, both because of my laziness to change it all the time depending on bosses, and because its simpler and never falls. At worst, in a boss where you CAN actually keep hitting him safely, the time to get from 10 to 20 auto attacks is still an issue.

But yeah, warcry is great and instant. wont always have the optimal number of targets, but at worst its +90 damage for you (30 for 1 target, +30 from attribute, + 30 from the def malus for the boss)

[nuzulspyware08]

Is it true that moving while Trot is active consume stamina?
Can we use stamina pill on arena and GVG?

[Cathexis]

Is it true that moving while Trot is active consume stamina?

You use stamina when walking, running and also when using your mount. Trot doesn’t increase significantly the amount of stamina you use when moving.

It also takes a while to drain, so nothing to worry about.

Can we use stamina pill on arena and GVG?

You can in PvP and open field GvG.

We don’t have specifics about structured GvG, but I imagine you will be able to as well.

[omichlodis]

i read the Cata build before but I’m thinking about a build that have nice damage and high Crit. How about for later phase especially at R7?

The problem is that you are already using your R7 with Templar, so it leaves you no room for acquiring new combat skills.

Hoplite C3 gives you good Critical Rate with Finestra and Doppel gives you Cyclone plus Deeds of Valor which has good synergy with a High STR build. But in this case, it is a lot of potential that isn’t really used because you don’t have enough skills on your set to have a full rotation.

Cataphract on the other hand has a low cooldown Earth Wave and overall has a faster rotation of skills before going into Dragoon, at least compared to the Hoplite C3 build. It doesn’t have Cyclone, but it has Impale and the mobility which are pretty good tools for PvP in general.

So I would say that the Hoplite C3->Doppelsoeldner->Templar would work, but mainly for PvE (party play) as it doesn’t get enough tools to use for an environment like PvP.

It could change if Templar remains as a 1 circle class, but we won’t know that until Rank 8 gets introduced which could be pretty far into the future.

Ya i’m planning it for PvE mainly.
How about Hoplite C2 > Corsair C2 > Templar instead?
Which one better and which stat?

[Cathexis]

Ya i’m planning it for PvE mainly.How about Hoplite C2 > Corsair C2 > Templar instead?Which one better and which stat?

I think it is a little better. You don’t have Cyclone for AoE, but at least your down-time on skills is much lower compared to the other build and you can use Double Weapon Assault to fill the gaps.

You could also do Corsair->Doppelsoeldner->Templar, if you would like to have a little bit of each class too, covering more combat styles with it.

That said, if you would still rather go after the Hoplite C3->Doppelsoeldner->Templar build, then you could do it with the reasons that I mentioned on that previous post.

[omichlodis]

I think it is a little better. You don’t have Cyclone for AoE, but at least your down-time on skills is much lower compared to the other build and you can use Double Weapon Assault to fill the gaps.

You could also do Corsair->Doppelsoeldner->Templar, if you would like to have a little bit of each class too, covering more combat styles with it.

That said, if you would still rather go after the Hoplite C3->Doppelsoeldner->Templar build, then you could do it with the reasons that I mentioned on that previous post.

Which one that you think better from those 3 especially for PvE?
Oh and considering it’s only Hop 2, The stat build will be 3 STR : 2 DEX?

[bephamoth]

Hi again @Cathexis !
I would like to ask you a question about weapons choice.

Do you think it’s a good choice to go for dual wielding Doppelsoeldner instead of 2 hand swords?
Yes you can’t use C2 skills of Doppelsoeldner, but between rank 4~6, Isn’t it better to go for some Arde Dagger, Golden Falchion or Catacombs Sword instead of lvl 75~170 two handed swords (wich does’nt seems awesome).

Is the difference between 2h sword attack damages that bigger than dual wielding attack damages?

(Add i m Pelta C1 so i don’t have any specific benefit from 2h swords).

[rafaelfy]

@Cathexis Hi, I’m a brand new player. I’ve read yours and Autentis’ guide. I’m interested in going Swordsmen that can tank and I’ve narrowed it down to three possible tank builds from everything I’ve read so far:

S1 > P1 > H1 > Cata3 > Dragoon

S1 > P1 > H2 > Cors2 > Dragoon

S1 > P1 > H3 > Doppel > Dragoon

H3, Dopp, Dragoon seems like the strongest combination and I could go Full STR with 15 Finestra, but the other two builds have the mobility from Cata3 and the utility/money of Corsair2’s jolly roger. I’m only 35 and all the walking makes me really yearn for more movespeed, so I’m heavily leaning towards the Catagoon build but I want to know how the three hold up compared to each other.

I’m currently leveling my Peltasta so I have until I max out my Hoplite 1 to decide.