Swordsman Class Guide

Understanding the Swordsman Class

To understand the builds that will be suggested, first lets dissect what makes the Swordsman class unique.

The Swordsman is great at targeting single enemies at a time, with huge DPS. This makes the Swordsman great at fighting bosses or other players, as there is only one target. Once multiple enemies are introduced, this is where the Swordsman's weakness is revealed - due to low ability to cast Area of Effect (AoE) skills. The Swordsman's is not very well equipped to deal with several enemies at once, meaning the class is limited on PvE.

Now that we know the key stats, let's get into the Swordsman build:

1. Skills

Your core skill will obviously be Empyrean Sword, this is class-dependent and cannot be changed (unless you change class).

2. Spirits

Spirits are a bit more open ended than Skills due to how many there are, how long it takes to unlock them all, and how many slots you have open. Instead of giving a definitive set, I will instead offer you a selection of spirits.

For Spirits, I find that speed stat buffs tend to greatly increase DPS. Other spirits offer increased damage, or dealing attack as bonus true damage. The DPS difference between these tend not to be significant, so go for whichever Spirit you have that is higher rated (for example, choose a Rare SSR over a normal SSR if they both have the stat buffs). For example, choose Demonflame over Skysong.

Alternative Spirits

If you do not have the above Spirits unlocked, some other choices would be:

3. Gear Refines

I wouldn't recommend wasting your Refining Sand early-game on refines, but as you begin to progress through the refining levels, refines will have a huge impact on your gameplay. Here you can get the exact stat bonuses that you need.

Whilst obtaining a pure Speed build will take some time (and a lot of Refining Sand), some other stats you could look for should you not wish to commit that much Refining Sand would be Focus, Attack, and Crit - but again, these are place fillers. Speed is king.

4. Mounts

Should you be lucky enough to get some of the special mounts, I would recommend the following mounts, in order of best to worst, for PVP:

Best PVP Mounts

Slayer Gourd offers a 30% increase to all skill damage, which is a huge benefit. Whilst unfortunately no mounts offer an increase in speed, skill damage is always welcomed in any classes.

The Bad Boy mount deals an additional 500% Attack True Damage on Active Skill cast - which whilst Nebulight has a 50% chance of doing 1000% Attack True Damage, I have placed Bad Boy higher due to consistency of activation, although that is purely personal preference to risk.

Best PVE Mounts

For PVE, mounts that allow for AoE will take priority here - due to the possibility of multiple enemies. Although if in a singular boss fight, then choose the PVP mounts:

Typically in PVE fights, you lose because you run out of time as opposed to dying. This is why Jadesky is ranked number one, because should you be able to maintain 70%+ of your HP, you will receive a massive Global DMG increase of 45%. Whilst I know I said we would prioritize AoE, this increase is too good to ignore.

Skybrand comes in second due to the large AoE damage, which is exactly what we are looking for to compliment a class which is typically bad for AoE (and thus PVE).

I have put Stormflame Wheels in 3rd because of its ability to help clutch up in a boss fight. Often lots of PvE fights are 30 seconds long, meaning you have time to receive up to a 20% increase in Crit and Crit Damage stats - which is a huge buff.

5. Relics

Rather than recommending specific Relics, as often it is fate that decides which Relic you get, I will instead tell you what kind of stats to look out for - so you can focus on upgrading Relics with those traits.

Any relic with speed, attack or damage increases you should give upgrade priority to. For example I have Phoenix Plume which "For every 10 levels gained, Attack increases by 270" - this means as I progress through the Stages, I will increase the impact of that relic. By upgrading that relic, the "Attack increases by 270" will also increase in value, so in actual fact, my relic gives me an increase of 285 attack per 10 levels.

6. Vessel

The last section we will look at is Vessels. As you upgrade the Vessel, you will gain access to more Socketing Glyphs. Try to ensure to put relevant stats within these slots. Like the artifacts, choose options that will give increases to speed, attack, or damage.

You can also synthesise and deploy other Vessels. For example, the Wordly Scroll Vessel offers a base 1.02% crit increase, which for a class such as Swordsman would be very welcome. Whilst I personally prefer less RNG in my classes (which is why I tend to move away from crit stats), in this case where it is the only relevant option, I will choose crit.