Spellsword Build Help

[PalletTown]

So far, scouring the past posts the past suggestions were:

Thief Class
Dawnsword
Blue Flame Blade Power
Maybe Chrysanthemum Petal

I was wondering if the forum had any other suggestions on attire and powers to fill out the rest of a spellsword build.

 

[Sacremas]

Class: Any. Warrior will give attack power and survivability, Thief will give the raw damage as long as you can apply negative status effect first and with level 7 perk can either extend that or grant great duelist boosts, while White Mage can now add bonus Holy damage on level 7 potentially, and Black Mage can manage better crit for your spells and a weakness to them with the level 7 perk, or great summons to distract enemies for you, Charmer is the worst of the options but still comes with some innate good stances and buffs and lets you be more of a bard-like "swashbuckler" type of distracting roguish character that uses some spells along the way, and the highest sexiness bonus even if you don't focus on it, as long as you avoid heavy gear, which will make a Tease an attack that could end up dealing more damage than many spells against enemies weak to it. Gun to my head and pick one, I'd go for Thief however.

Abilities: Strength for Attack Power, Agility for Accuracy and Willpower for Spells. For boosting any of those, Lupine, Catfolk or Wyld Elf respectively are your bets. Get Cunning, Endurance or Presence depending on need from Drinks and other Boons.

Weapon: Sanctified Gladius, or Flametonge, the issue with Dawnsword people don't seem to understand is that unlike them, it's not a Catalyst, and so it won't apply its bonuses to other abilities that aren't weapon-tagged, which they will, and they have Spellpower inherent as well. An alternative would be El's Scythe or the Spiraled Blade as a two-hander. Chrysanthemum Petal just got nerfed to be much less useful here as offhand, at least for spellblades, use a focus or a twohander instead.

Other gear: Whatever gives you high spellpower, attack power and crit, with secondary focus being keeping you alive, Evasion-boosting stuff is great here, since it won't even check your resistances. Thief's Ring is good to keep enemies from focusing on you, as are Everblossom Hood to heal you and lower your threat whenever AOEs and similar hits you, but both of those options are going to be instead of items like the Big Hat or Circlet or Guldring that could boost your offense.

Powers: Charge Weapon for that nice Holy damage bonus, including an AOE every time when combat starts. Power Wave for delivering that damage, including hitting flying enemies with your sword with no penalties, then either another Weapon-tagged power, or something like Whitefire or Celestial Smite to deliver more of that sweet Holy damage, or an AOE, with Smite Evil or Deadly Shadow for Encounter power or a Summon, and Assassinate for your Ult.

 

[Ranirain]

Class: Any. Warrior will give attack power and survivability, Thief will give the raw damage as long as you can apply negative status effect first and with level 7 perk can either extend that or grant great duelist boosts, while White Mage can now add bonus Holy damage on level 7 potentially, and Black Mage can manage better crit for your spells and a weakness to them with the level 7 perk, or great summons to distract enemies for you, Charmer is the worst of the options but still comes with some innate good stances and buffs and lets you be more of a bard-like "swashbuckler" type of distracting roguish character that uses some spells along the way, and the highest sexiness bonus even if you don't focus on it, as long as you avoid heavy gear, which will make a Tease an attack that could end up dealing more damage than many spells against enemies weak to it. Gun to my head and pick one, I'd go for Thief however.

Abilities: Strength for Attack Power, Agility for Accuracy and Willpower for Spells. For boosting any of those, Lupine, Catfolk or Wyld Elf respectively are your bets. Get Cunning, Endurance or Presence depending on need from Drinks and other Boons.

Weapon: Sanctified Gladius, or Flametonge, the issue with Dawnsword people don't seem to understand is that unlike them, it's not a Catalyst, and so it won't apply its bonuses to other abilities that aren't weapon-tagged, which they will, and they have Spellpower inherent as well. An alternative would be El's Scythe or the Spiraled Blade as a two-hander. Chrysanthemum Petal just got nerfed to be much less useful here as offhand, at least for spellblades, use a focus or a twohander instead.

Other gear: Whatever gives you high spellpower, attack power and crit, with secondary focus being keeping you alive, Evasion-boosting stuff is great here, since it won't even check your resistances. Thief's Ring is good to keep enemies from focusing on you, as are Everblossom Hood to heal you and lower your threat whenever AOEs and similar hits you, but both of those options are going to be instead of items like the Big Hat or Circlet or Guldring that could boost your offense.

Powers: Charge Weapon for that nice Holy damage bonus, including an AOE every time when combat starts. Power Wave for delivering that damage, including hitting flying enemies with your sword with no penalties, then either another Weapon-tagged power, or something like Whitefire or Celestial Smite to deliver more of that sweet Holy damage, or an AOE, with Smite Evil or Deadly Shadow for Encounter power or a Summon, and Assassinate for your Ult.

Correct me if i'm wrong but Sanctified Gladius doesn't have catalyst tag tho? So it doesn't apply catalyst buff to spell. Its spell power buff is really good tho so it's still ok for a spellblade. Also Catalyst tag is not "that" important since it only apply to crit and acc stat of the catalyst, so technically flametongue blade doesn't provide any benefit as a catalyst since it has no crit and acc modifier to begin with. Again corrext me if i'm wrong, but i'm pretty surr that's how catalyst works.

Also from what i understand, wave spells like power wave and holy shock doesn't take catalyst tag into consideration, but take the weapon's own acc and crit, and take either armor or spell penetration depening which is higher. So it's still good for a spellsword to have dawnsword due to its acc and crit mod if you planning on making a wave slashing spellsword

 

[Sacremas]

Correct me if i'm wrong but Sanctified Gladius doesn't have catalyst tag tho? So it doesn't apply catalyst buff to spell. Its spell power buff is really good tho so it's still ok for a spellblade. Also Catalyst tag is not "that" important since it only apply to crit and acc stat of the catalyst, so technically flametongue blade doesn't provide any benefit as a catalyst since it has no crit and acc modifier to begin with. Again corrext me if i'm wrong, but i'm pretty surr that's how catalyst works.

Also from what i understand, wave spells like power wave and holy shock doesn't take catalyst tag into consideration, but take the weapon's own acc and crit, and take either armor or spell penetration depening which is higher. So it's still good for a spellsword to have dawnsword due to its acc and crit mod if you planning on making a wave slashing spellsword

Crap, you are absolutely correct, I was sure it had Catalyst on it but I guess that as those damn Berenstein Bears at work again... Oh well, there's still the spellpower, which I'd argue is of a lot of importance to a spellblade, especially since the damages of the Gladius and the Dawnsword are at least comparable, even if the Flametongue falls behind slightly there. The Spiraled Blade and Scythe retain them presumably because you can't combine them with a proper Focus.

For the second point, yes, but no; the Dawnsword's Acc + Crit will apply to Power Wave and Smite Evil, but not because of anything relating to Wave spells, but because those spells have the [Weapon] Tag on then, but Celestial Smite or Jade Fire for example won't gain any benefit from it, as they would from a proper Catalyst weapon with beneficial stats, like the Scythe or Spiraled Blade.

 

[Ranirain]

Correct me if i'm wrong but Sanctified Gladius doesn't have catalyst tag tho? So it doesn't apply catalyst buff to spell. Its spell power buff is really good tho so it's still ok for a spellblade

Crap, you are absolutely correct, I was sure it had Catalyst on it but I guess that as those damn Berenstein Bears at work again... Oh well, there's still the spellpower, which I'd argue is of a lot of importance to a spellblade, especially since the damages of the Gladius and the Dawnsword are at least comparable, even if the Flametongue falls behind slightly there. The Spiraled Blade and Scythe retain them presumably because you can't combine them with a proper Focus.

For the second point, yes, but no; the Dawnsword's Acc + Crit will apply to Power Wave and Smite Evil, but not because of anything relating to Wave spells, but because those spells have the [Weapon] Tag on then, but Celestial Smite or Jade Fire for example won't gain any benefit from it, as they would from a proper Catalyst weapon with beneficial stats, like the Scythe or Spiraled Blade.

Yeah if you are building a spellblade that actually use spell like that, i have no comment. But my spellblade build is on a more physical side of thing, i use charge weapon/holy shock/power wave/smith evil/assassinate. I'd say my spellblade is a more of an enchanter type of spellblade. Holy Shock is a bitch to get on hand tho. basically you have to fight a boss who can mind control party member, have em brainwash Arona wearing the holy shock, and hope for that best that you survive until u get holy shock from Arona

 

[Sacremas]

Yeah, that's a nice build, but you don't have an AOE (though you can use some regular Weapon skills like Cleave and Deadly Shadow to at least get the Charge Weapon bonus)... and I don't actually know any way to get Holy Shock without save editing, as far as I know Arona is the only one with it, and that's only after doing her quest, so can't Mirror it while she's still an enemy, and no other way to learn it according to the Wiki at least, and I haven't found an enemy that uses it otherwise.

 

[Ranirain]

Yeah, that's a nice build, but you don't have an AOE (though you can use some regular Weapon skills like Cleave and Deadly Shadow to at least get the Charge Weapon bonus)... and I don't actually know any way to get Holy Shock without save editing, as far as I know Arona is the only one with it, and that's only after doing her quest, so can't Mirror it while she's still an enemy, and no other way to learn it according to the Wiki at least, and I haven't found an enemy that uses it otherwise.

Holy Shock is a bitch to get on hand tho. basically you have to fight a boss who can mind control party member, have em brainwash Arona wearing the holy shock, and hope for that best that you survive until u get holy shock from Arona

 

[SeveringCrisis]

Yeah if you are building a spellblade that actually use spell like that, i have no comment. But my spellblade build is on a more physical side of thing, i use charge weapon/holy shock/power wave/smith evil/assassinate. I'd say my spellblade is a more of an enchanter type of spellblade. Holy Shock is a bitch to get on hand tho. basically you have to fight a boss who can mind control party member, have em brainwash Arona wearing the holy shock, and hope for that best that you survive until u get holy shock from Arona

I think Annika gives holy shock now.

 

[Sacremas]

I think Annika gives holy shock now.

Yep, just checked, she does, thank you.

 

[Ranirain]

I think Annika gives holy shock now.

nice, no more convoluted grind fest

 

[Ireyon]

Class: Any. Warrior will give attack power and survivability, Thief will give the raw damage as long as you can apply negative status effect first and with level 7 perk can either extend that or grant great duelist boosts, while White Mage can now add bonus Holy damage on level 7 potentially, and Black Mage can manage better crit for your spells and a weakness to them with the level 7 perk, or great summons to distract enemies for you, Charmer is the worst of the options but still comes with some innate good stances and buffs and lets you be more of a bard-like "swashbuckler" type of distracting roguish character that uses some spells along the way, and the highest sexiness bonus even if you don't focus on it, as long as you avoid heavy gear, which will make a Tease an attack that could end up dealing more damage than many spells against enemies weak to it. Gun to my head and pick one, I'd go for Thief however.

Abilities: Strength for Attack Power, Agility for Accuracy and Willpower for Spells. For boosting any of those, Lupine, Catfolk or Wyld Elf respectively are your bets. Get Cunning, Endurance or Presence depending on need from Drinks and other Boons.

Weapon: Sanctified Gladius, or Flametonge, the issue with Dawnsword people don't seem to understand is that unlike them, it's not a Catalyst, and so it won't apply its bonuses to other abilities that aren't weapon-tagged, which they will, and they have Spellpower inherent as well. An alternative would be El's Scythe or the Spiraled Blade as a two-hander. Chrysanthemum Petal just got nerfed to be much less useful here as offhand, at least for spellblades, use a focus or a twohander instead.

Other gear: Whatever gives you high spellpower, attack power and crit, with secondary focus being keeping you alive, Evasion-boosting stuff is great here, since it won't even check your resistances. Thief's Ring is good to keep enemies from focusing on you, as are Everblossom Hood to heal you and lower your threat whenever AOEs and similar hits you, but both of those options are going to be instead of items like the Big Hat or Circlet or Guldring that could boost your offense.

Powers: Charge Weapon for that nice Holy damage bonus, including an AOE every time when combat starts. Power Wave for delivering that damage, including hitting flying enemies with your sword with no penalties, then either another Weapon-tagged power, or something like Whitefire or Celestial Smite to deliver more of that sweet Holy damage, or an AOE, with Smite Evil or Deadly Shadow for Encounter power or a Summon, and Assassinate for your Ult.

A small comment on the catalyst tag: OP wants a spellsword build and with the recent update there are more than enough spell abilities that have the [weapon] tag:

So both Dawnsword and Sanctified gladius will apply their relevant stats. If you're willing to take Inner Flame over Smite evil and take Acid Vial over one attack (the former gives a boost to your attack power, the latter puts sunder for 3 (or 6) turns on the enemy) you don't even need to invest in strength. Inner flame plus Ryn's two turn Blessing plus Inner Flame provides more than enough attack power and sunder takes care of armor so you don't need much armor penetration either. Dawnsword's new Deflection ability means you're pretty tanky so you can instead put points into presence to boost your team.

 

[Ranirain]

A small comment on the catalyst tag: OP wants a spellsword build and with the recent update there are more than enough spell abilities that have the [weapon] tag: View attachment 29838

So both Dawnsword and Sanctified gladius will apply their relevant stats. If you're willing to take Inner Flame over Smite evil and take Acid Vial over one attack (the former gives a boost to your attack power, the latter puts sunder for 3 (or 6) turns on the enemy) you don't even need to invest in strength. Inner flame plus Ryn's two turn Blessing plus Inner Flame provides more than enough attack power and sunder takes care of armor so you don't need much armor penetration either. Dawnsword's new Deflection ability means you're pretty tanky so you can instead put points into presence to boost your team.

Holy shit this is wild, where did you get the reaping blade? I've been waiting for a blight spellblade spell for a long time

 

[Ireyon]

Holy shit this is wild, where did you get the reaping blade? I've been waiting for a blight spellblade spell for a long time

It's from RynQuest. So unless you're a backer you'll need to wait two weeks to get it.

Actual proposed build for a presence spellblade:

Class: Thief, level seven perk should be "Eye for Weakness".

Gear:

Weapons: Dawnsword/focus (bull totem currently, Rimescore once it's in the game, for two-hand options there is a really nice hammer in Ryn's quest.)
Hat: Titanic hat
Armor: Regal Kimono/Panoply of the Holy City (first boosts fire/blight skills, second has immunity to sunder)
Cloak: Cloak of the deeps/seaweave shaman's cape (first is great stat boosts all around, the latter also grants immunity to sundered if you prefer the kimono like I do)
Boots: Winged sabatons
Waist: Senninbari/Champion's Belt (former if you have Kiyoko)
Neck: Whatever, none of the neck options are really good (Amulet of Union is good but you lose it if you free Kiyoko, Choker of the Pain Slut reduces crit damage in return for libido increase)
Rings: Ring of fortune *2, ring of fortune+lucky strike, ring of fortune+mare's ring (pick any combination you like or desire stat wise. Guldring would be great on this build but we want the Dawnsword so...)

Loadout:

At-Will: Deflection (got a great boost, now nullifies attacks each round and lets you counter, makes you deceptively tanky)
Recharge 1: Acid Flask (recharge time 2 rounds) (stolen from Siorcanna Shaman, does a bit of damage and inflicts sundered for 6 rounds with the perk! This halves enemy armor and procs Twist the Knife, giving you 50 attack power for free.)
Recharge 2: Reaping Blade (recharge time 3 rounds) (stolen in Rynquest, blight damage and self heal that scales with damage and often fully heals. Benefits from Royal Kimono. Alternative is Shielding Smite which does fire damage and gives a one turn defensive buff to the entire team)
Encounter: Flames Within (Attack Power, Spellpower, and Sexiness by +50, +10 Initiative. We need all of that except Sexiness and it boosts our offense massively. Since we increase our HP with Presence and leech life with Reaping Blade the damage each round is negligible.)
Ultimate: Take your pick. (I prefer Assassinate to delete a boss instantly.)

Team: Etheryn (Queenly Raiment) and the tank of your choice. (Hopknight Quin, Knight Atugia and Arena Brint are very good.)

Stats: Pick Agility, Willpower and Presence.

FAQ: Why dump strength in a spellblade build?

Answer: Because our equipment, Ryn's two-turn blessing, Flames Within and Twist the Knife already give us (10+100+50+50) 210 Attack power. Max stats are level*3 plus 2. At level 7 max strength is 23, min strength is 9 (since every level up increases a stat by 1). Every point of strength gives 3 attack power.

So our max strength champ has (210+23*3+2) while the min strength champ has (210+9*3+2) attack power.

That's only an about 17% increase in attack power. Picking presence over strength boosts your entire team and gives you more health, meaning you're not made of glass and you do more damage as a team, which is a more than good trade-off. We also don't need strength for the armor penetration since sundered will be up permanently and already halves enemy armor for us.

 

[PalletTown]

Ok here is what I'm thinking, let me know if I am crazy.

Class: Thief (Eye for Weakness)

Gear:
Dawnsword
Regal Kimono
Seaweed Shamans Cape
Winged Sabatons
Champion's Belt/Evergreen Bag
Amulet of Union
Rogue Ring and Ring of Fortune

Powers:
Blue Flame blade
Cleave
Reaping Blade
Flames Within
Kitsunetsuki

Stats: Cunning, Agility, and Willpower

Weaknesses: Poor Survivability, Heavy Fire Focus, Crap Leadership

Questions: Does Fire resist affect Flames Within?

Is Rogue's Ring actually useful?

Do offhand weapons/catalysts affect the performance of the mainhand?

 

[Tony_Redgrave]

Questions: Does Fire resist affect Flames Within?

Seems so. With Warrior's new Tough Skin perk (20% to all resistances) + Fox-tail charm (25% to Blight Holy and Fire resistances), I am only taking -17 points of fire damage per turn as opposed to -30.

 

[Ranirain]

Stats: Cunning, Agility, and Willpower

a friendly reminder that stat buff alcohol exist, so you can just drink lover's dry and get maximum precense or cunning

 

[Tanhy]

A small comment on the catalyst tag: OP wants a spellsword build and with the recent update there are more than enough spell abilities that have the [weapon] tag: View attachment 29838

So both Dawnsword and Sanctified gladius will apply their relevant stats. If you're willing to take Inner Flame over Smite evil and take Acid Vial over one attack (the former gives a boost to your attack power, the latter puts sunder for 3 (or 6) turns on the enemy) you don't even need to invest in strength. Inner flame plus Ryn's two turn Blessing plus Inner Flame provides more than enough attack power and sunder takes care of armor so you don't need much armor penetration either. Dawnsword's new Deflection ability means you're pretty tanky so you can instead put points into presence to boost your team.

How do you get shielding smite?

 

[SeveringCrisis]

How do you get shielding smite?

next update, bring mirror stance to dungeon.

 

[Tanhy]

next update, bring mirror stance to dungeon.

I'm a backer so I guess it's the latest update content

 

[Dr. Bootytaste]

Never dump strength. Strength makes you very strong and sexy. Combine this with a small or average size for anime protagonist energy. This aesthetic is essential for any spellblade build.
Best necklace is matagama for additional hp, add cloak of the deeps as well for synergy with mares ring. choker of the pain slut is good but only if you are a lawful or chaotic bottom. Anime protagonists are usually lawful/neutral top so it doesn't meld well (Female anime protagonists are often more flexible in this regard).
Never use catalysts, as these are mega lame. Single hand the dawnsword for more anime strength and additional Chad energy. You may use a shield if you have ED.
Ensure you are wearing a thong/banana hammock to show of your bulge/buttocks and physique/curves so that you resemble a Baki character when disrobed.
Put your stats into str/will/agi to achieve peak anime strength. Being not only stronger and faster than everyone, but also being an insufferable know it all. Supplement with daily toughness or presence alcohol. You may roleplay as an alcoholic if you wish. Like, a sexy one, though.
Make sure to wear giants gloves because they are cool.
Most importantly, do your best.

 

[erectorz]

I've been liking righteous fury a lot on my current spell blade build. When dual wielding you apply righteous fury twice. This also carries over to all your weapon based powers I.e cleave, powerwave, since those apply attacks from BOTH weapons. This gives your basic attacks and weapon based powers an extra 24 flat damage assuming both hits land. The earlier perks are pretty terrible compared to say black mage, thief. But a flat 24 damage to basically everything a spell blade does is really neat.

Charge weapon sadly only applies to the main hand weapon, but even so dual wielding offers a lot of damage. Looking at base numbers for a second
Sanctified+dawnsword- 25 Pen + 10 Holy + Charge weapon + 11 Pen + 15 Holy= 61 + Charge weapon
vs
Spiraled Blade- 30 Pen + 20 Elemental + Charge weapon=50 + Charge weapon

With 23 willpower Righteous fury would add 12 damage and those numbers become
Sanctified+dawnsword= 85 + charge weapon
vs
Spiraled blade=62 + charge weapon.

A pretty sizeable difference.

If you compare dual wielding with a shield well its a sacrifice between being crit proof and doing much more damage. The crit chance thief and black mage offer are pretty enticing but 24 more base damage is kinda insane when you consider the fact base damage for two handers is only 50.

 

[PalletTown]

Apologies for the necro
I tested out some of the ideas for my build and I wanted to share my results
Kitsune
Regal Kimono
Hairpin (not the meta choice for this build but better thematically)
Flame Cape
Golden Carrot Bracelet (gloves of giant strength would also be good)
Fox Charm
Kunoichi footwear
Sanctified Gladius
Chrysanthemum Petal

Focus Agility, Cunning, Willpower

Powers:
Blue Flame Blade (Charge Weapon Backup)
Power Wave
Cleave
Flames Within
Kitsunetsuki
Eye for Weakness

So I tested this build out a bit and am in general really satisfied with it. Something I have notice. Flames Within is really really good despite its price tag of 1 action and damage every turn. Interesting the fact that you spend 1 turn buffing really helps with threat management and the damage per turn is easily managed with fire resist. Rogues Ring is not really good at threat management because it doesn’t reduce it enough to matter. Power Wave is really god stopgap power. Two lucky strikes or Hornets ring and Lucky Strike might be the way to go but this not the character i want to have gigantic boobs. While eye for weakness synergies very well with blue flame blade and makes kitsunetsuki hilarious, perfect positioning might actually be better. Flametongue blade with fox jewel sacrifices some attack and holy to make kitsunetsuki more hilarious. Chrysanthemum petal I feel is underrated just because it was once got tier.

 

[Verro]

Apologies for the necro
I tested out some of the ideas for my build and I wanted to share my results
Kitsune
Regal Kimono
Hairpin (not the meta choice for this build but better thematically)
Flame Cape
Golden Carrot Bracelet (gloves of giant strength would also be good)
Fox Charm
Kunoichi footwear
Sanctified Gladius
Chrysanthemum Petal

Focus Agility, Cunning, Willpower

Powers:
Blue Flame Blade (Charge Weapon Backup)
Power Wave
Cleave
Flames Within
Kitsunetsuki
Eye for Weakness

So I tested this build out a bit and am in general really satisfied with it. Something I have notice. Flames Within is really really good despite its price tag of 1 action and damage every turn. Interesting the fact that you spend 1 turn buffing really helps with threat management and the damage per turn is easily managed with fire resist. Rogues Ring is not really good at threat management because it doesn’t reduce it enough to matter. Power Wave is really god stopgap power. Two lucky strikes or Hornets ring and Lucky Strike might be the way to go but this not the character i want to have gigantic boobs. While eye for weakness synergies very well with blue flame blade and makes kitsunetsuki hilarious, perfect positioning might actually be better. Flametongue blade with fox jewel sacrifices some attack and holy to make kitsunetsuki more hilarious. Chrysanthemum petal I feel is underrated just because it was once got tier.

Given the mild necro I guess I'll ask since I'm curious. Does using Flames Within make up for dumping Strength, or do you buff Strength using alcohol?

 

[PalletTown]

Given the mild necro I guess I'll ask since I'm curious. Does using Flames Within make up for dumping Strength, or do you buff Strength using alcohol?

Flames within almost makes up the difference of dumping strength. Its about a 5 AP difference. If you buff by alcohol then you essentially double dip.

Guldring might be useful but only marginally so. This build dumps prescence so the buff would only be for 4 damage. If the buff effects both bfb and a weapon spell power then it might makes sense. I still think for this build, the Dawnsword is better.