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Deathblade performs a quick forward slash to create a gust of blades that lasts for 1.5 seconds. The gust inflicts moderate damage and pulls enemies close. Pushed enemies are launched back in the air. With the recommended Tripods, Wind Cut becomes an extremely reliable offensive tool with a very short cooldown. Thanks to its multi-hit nature, it is also one of your main stack builders for Surge. Use it as often as possible to accumulate stacks. 

• Attack Type: Back Attack 

Level 12

1. [Level I]  Quick Preparation - Reduces the cooldown of Wind Cut by up to -4 seconds (at Rank 5). With this Tripod, Wind Cut's cooldown becomes negligible. This is a must-have as it helps with Surge stack generation. 
2. [Level II]  Sustain Enhancement  - Increases Sword Energy Duration and the Total Outgoing Damage of Wind Cut. We use this Tripod to bump up Wind Cut's damage, which works very well with the reduced cooldown. 
3. [Level III]  Thick Sword Energy - The sword energy gradually expands. Radius up to +100% as it hits foes. With this, Wind Cut's AoE can cover a lot of additional ground, making the skill more reliable. 
4. [RUNE] Rage - Gives you a chance to gain an Attack Speed/Move Speed buff for 6 seconds after Wind Cut is used. This Rune will help you increase the speed of your Skill rotation. 

Deathblade spins towards the target location, moving X meters and inflicting relatively high damage. Spincutter has 2 charges, which means that it can be used up to two times in a row. With the Open Weakness Tripod, Spincutter will also apply a powerful debuff that increases the target's damage taken - you should try to keep this effect active at all times. Along with Wind Cut, this skill is your main Surge stack builder because of its multi-hit nature. 

• Attack Type: Back Attack 
• Super Armor: Paralysis Immunity 

Level 11

1. [Level I]  Open Weakness - With this Tripod active, Spincutter applies the Open Weakness debuff to the target, increasing the target's damage taken from all party members by 3% (from the front) or 9% (from the back). The debuff lasts for 10 seconds. This mostly rewards back attacks, but frontal attacks still benefit from it to some extent.  
2. [Level II]  Quick Preparation  - Reduces the cooldown of Spincutter by up to -5 seconds (at Rank 5). This is very important to have as it helps you with Surge Stack generation. 
3. [Level III]  Triple Spin - With this Tripod, Spincutter becomes usable 3 times in a row (instead of 2 times). This amplifies the skill's ability to generate Surge stacks quickly. 
4. [RUNE] Quick Recharge - Gives a chance to reduce all Cooldowns on skill use. This rune works very well with Spincutter's charge system (you get 3 chances to reduce cooldowns instead of 1, basically). 

Deathblade charges the skill to move 5 meters forward before attaching her enemies. Using the skill uncharged results with a dual-blade attack that deals moderate damage. Charging it to stage 1 makes it inflict high damage, and overcharging it results in high damage hit followed by an additional longsword slash that causes extra damage and knocks enemies away. This is one of the strongest offensive skills Deathblade has in Her arsenal. 

• Stagger: Mid 
• Attack Type: Back Attack 
• Super Armor: Paralysis Immunity 

Level 12

1. [Level I]  Vital Point Hit - Increases the skill's Critical Rate by up to +40% (at Rank 5). This Tripod, combined with a high Crit stat build results in a very high critical chance for Blitz Rush. 
2. [Level II]  Charge Enhancement - Increases outgoing damage per charge level. With this tripod, you'll want to fully charge up Blitz Rush whenever possible (it gives up to +35% damage per charge level, which is massive). 
3. [Level III]  Shadow Rush -  An afterimage attacks instead of you, inflicting +40.0% Damage. Excellent Mobility will not be applied. This Tripod makes Blitz Rush much more convenient to use. 
4. [RUNE] Protection - With this Rune, you'll receive 8% of your Max HP as a Shield while casting Blitz Rush. This is quite important, as it gives you some much-needed survivability. 

Deathblade charges to deliver a powerful thrust to inflict moderate damage before being fully Charged, and high damage when overcharged. With the selected Tripods, Soul Absorber charges up much faster and deals increased damage with higher reliability. Also, it is a great Dark Orb Meter Generator - this is its main purpose in the build. 

• Weak Point: Level 1 
• Stagger: Mid 
• Attack Type: Back Attack 
• Super Armor: Paralysis Immunity 

Level 12

1. [Level I]  Swift Fingers - Increases the Preparation and charge speed by up to 36% (at Rank 5). You should pick this Tripod to minimize Soul Absorber's animation time and smooth out your rotation. 
2. [Level II]  Fist of Darkness - Changes Soul Absorber's Damage to Dark and increases the outgoing damage by up to +60% (at Rank 5). 
3. [Level III]  Halve - Instead of throwing foes away with the Overcharged stabbing attack, you move in the cursor's direction after the attack and slash at enemies, knocking them away. Damage inflicted up to +144.0% (at Rank 5). This provides a high damage increase to the skill. 
4. [RUNE] Wealth - With this Rune, your Death Orb Meter gain from using the ability will be increased by another 30%. This is a rather significant buff to your Death Orb generation capabilities. 

This Skill has two modes. If Deathblade charges it and releases the key midway, it performs an upper slash with Her longsword to inflict moderate damage and launch enemies into the air. If she Overcharges it, the skill will push enemies back, inflicting high amounts of damage and launching them even higher into the air. To simplify the skill bit and make it more convenient to use, we recommend picking up the Dark Dimension Tripod. Just like Soul Absorber, Void Strike is great for generating Death Orb Meter (which is its main use in the build). 

• Stagger: Mid 
• Attack Type: Back Attack 
• Super Armor: Paralysis Immunity 

Level 12

1. [Level I]  Orb Control - Increases Death Orb Meter from the skill by up to +75% (at Rank 5). This solidifies Void Strike as one of the best Dark Orb Meter generators at Deathblade's disposal. 
2. [Level II]  Void Zone  - The Overcharged attack creates a void zone on the ground for 5.0 seconds, dealing +45.0% damage and slowing enemy movement speed by 30.0% (at Rank 5). Casts Darkness. 
3. [Level III]  Dark Dimension - Changes the Skill to Holding mode. Charge up the skill for a max of 1.5s to pull foes to you and deliver the Overcharged attack. This makes Void Strike much more convenient to use. 
4. [RUNE] Wealth -  With this Rune, your Death Orb Meter gain from using the ability will be increased by another 30%. This is a rather significant buff to your Death Orb generation capabilities. 

Deathblade creates a tornado that protects her and inflicts low amounts of damage. The tornado lasts for 6 seconds, inflicting damage over time, to all nearby enemies, for the duration. This skill is mainly used as a buff that increases Attack Speed for all Party members. It also increases your Death Orb Meter gain for a short time, which is great. 

Level 7

1. [Level I]  Orb Control - During the Maelstrom buff. Death Orb Meter gains +30.0% (at Rank 5) when hitting with Normal and Awakening skills. To maximize this effect, you should follow up the Maelstrom with as many skills as possible. 
2. [Level II]  Dark Order  - On skill use, Move Speed +19.8% for all party members within 24 meters for 6.0s. Adds the Dark Order buff of Attack Speed +25%. This adds a lot of extra utility to the skill. 
3. [RUNE] Focus - This Rune lowers the skill's Mana consumption by quite a lot, making it much more cost-effective. 

Deathblade performs a powerful vertical slash with her Longsword to inflict high amounts of damage and slam enemies onto the ground. Thanks to the Push Tripod, Earth Cleaver also moves Deathblade forward 4 meters, which helps with the build's overall mobility slightly. Earth Cleaver serves as the build's main Counter skill. Its secondary use is to generate a couple of Surge stacks. 

• Weak Point: Level 1 
• Stagger: Mid 
• Attack Type: Frontal Attack, Back Attack 
• Counter: Yes 

Level 10

1. [Level I]  Push - Before attacking, charge 4 meters forward, pushing enemies. Damage +40.1% (at Rank 5). This adds a nice movement component to the skill, making it more versatile. 
2. [Level II]  Weak Point Enhancement  - Damage to Push-Immune foes +70.0% (at Rank 5). With this, Earth Cleaver will deal much more damage to Bosses. 
3. [Level III]  Earth Explosion - After the attack, advancing columns of energy are shot through the ground, knocking enemies away with patches of earth. Damage inflicted up to +129.6% (at Rank 5). This adds another hit to the skill, allowing you to generate more Surge stacks. 
4. [RUNE] Overwhelm - A rune that makes the Skill deal +30% Stagger Damage. This will help you help your team with stagger checks. 

Deathblade jumps 6 meters forward, pushing enemies back and inflicting moderate amounts of damage. Upon landing, she delivers a powerful longsword slash, inflicting yet more damage and knocking enemies away. Pushed enemies are launched back into the air. Thanks to the High Axel Tripod, this skill is your main repositioning tool - you can use it to jump over Bosses to strike them in the back. 

• Stagger: Low 
• Attack Type: Back Attack 
• Super Armor: Paralysis Immunity 

Level 10

1. [Level I]  Swift Fingers - Increases the Attack Speed of Dark Axel by up to 27%. With this, you can reposition quicker. 
2. [Level II]  Tenacity  - Grants Push Immunity during the aerial attack. This ensures that you land where you intended to. 
3. [Level III]  High Axel - Move Distance +4 meters. Removes the last longsword attack. Enables a higher jump, able to go over Guardian foes. Sets Corkscrew‘s additional move distance to 2 meters. This is a game-changer for the skill as it allows you to reposition much more easily during Boss encounters. 
4. [RUNE] Galewind - Increase the skill's casting speed. With this, Dark Axel's animation lock becomes more manageable. 

Deathblade dashes 12 meters toward the target location, cutting through enemies with all her swords. Enemies caught in the attack receive high amounts of damage at the moment of impact and get launched in the air for an additional damaging hit. Flash Blink allows you to phase through enemies (even Guardians) which makes it extremely useful for repositioning/dodging attacks through bosses. It also generates a solid amount of Death Orb Meter and has a relatively quick animation when compared to Blade Assault, which makes it a more reliable and versatile choice than the latter. 

• Stagger: Mid-High 
• Weak Point: Level 3 
• Super Armor: Push Immunity, Debuff Immunity 

Surge Deathblade's rotation revolves around quickly gaining 3 Death Orbs, enabling Death Trance, and building up Surge stacks before unleashing Blade Surge for massive burst damage and recovery of Death Orbs to start over. 

• Make sure that you are behind the boss before you begin your main rotation.  Dark Axel should help you with this. Flash Blink can also be used to get behind the boss if needed. 
• You should Generate 3 Death Orbs at the beginning of the fight - without them, you won't be able to start your main rotation. Void Strike and Soul Absorber, together with Maelstrom, are your best tools for this, but you should keep in mind that these all have quite long Cooldowns and are also needed for your main DPS rotation. 

Your main DPS Rotation looks as follows: 

1. Use Wind Cut pre-emptively, so that it starts building up stacks when the Death Trance is used. 
2. Use Death Trance after accumulating 3 Death Orbs (these should be accumulated before you even start the rotation, as mentioned before) - this will refresh your CDs by 50%. 
3. Use Spincutter to apply its debuff. 
4. Follow up with the following sequence: Wind Cut ⇒ Blitz Rush ⇒ Spincutter ⇒ Void Strike/Soul Absorber. 
5. At 14 Surge stacks, relocate to the Boss's back (!) and use Blade Surge to regain 2 Death Orbs. 
6. Use Maelstrom to improve your Death Orb generation and follow it up with Void Strike/Soul Absorber to generate your 3rd Death Orb quickly. 
7. Repeat the Rotation as soon as you generate your 3rd Death Orb. 

1. Surge (Class Engraving) - Level 1: Deathblade Surge is cast in the max level of Surge Zero Form, regardless of the number of Death Orbs you have. When Arts is activated and skills other than Basic Attacks and Awakening Skills hit, the Surge Enhancement effect is stacked every 0.4 seconds. (Max 20 stacks). This effect causes Deathblade Surge Damage +7.5%. When Death Trance ends, gain Death Orb Meter for each Surge Enhancement effect you have. (5% each). 

This is the core Engraving of this build, but all you need is level 1 because other Engraving choices offer better returns (once you reach Tier 3, you can consider bumping this up to Level 3, though). 

2. Master of Ambush  - Increases the damage you deal with Back Attacks (Level 1 - +5%, Level 2 - +12%, Level 3 - + 25%). You should get this at Level 3 (which could amount to 25% increased DPS if you're perfect at performing back attacks). 

3. Grudge - Increases your Damage Dealt to Bosses (Level 1: +4%, Level 2: +10%, Level 3: +20%), but makes you take 20% more damage from them. 

This Engraving is extremely powerful, but it will punish you if you make a mistake. Pick it up only if you feel like you can avoid most (or all) avoidable damage during boss encounters. We advise inexperienced players to skip this one. 

4. Cursed Doll - Increases Attack Power at the cost of reduced 25% Healing Received (does not affect natural Health recovery (Level 1 - +3% Attack Power, Level 2 - 8% Attack Power, Level 3 - +16% Attack Power).

This Engraving is very powerful and very dangerous to its user, just like Grudge. Only pick it if you know encounter mechanics very well. If you lack experience, skip it. 

5. Sight Focus - This is a funny one, but it can be used to increase the Damage of your most powerful skill - Blade Surge by a lot. It increases your Offensive Skill's Damage by up to +28% (Level 3) for 6 seconds after you type "!!!!!" in normal chat. Basic Attacks are not affected and Awakening Skills only receive 50% of the effect. 

6. Adrenaline - When using skills other than mobile and basic attacks, attack power increases by (Lv. 1: 0.3%, Lv. 2: 0.6%, Lv. 3: 1%) for 6 seconds (stacks up to 6), and when this effect reaches its maximum stack, critical hit rate increases by an additional (Lv. 1: 5%, Lv. 2: 10%, Lv. 3: 15%). This effect is applied after the skill ends if the cooldown time reduction due to skill cancellation is applied. 

This engraving works exceptionally well for Deathblade as She uses multiple short cooldown abilities that can be spammed constantly. 

8. Super Charge - Increases the Charging Speed and Damage of Charging Skills (Level 1: +8% Speed, +4% Damage; Level 2: +20% Speed, +10% Damage; Level 3: +40% Speed, +20% Damage). 

As the description suggests, this Engraving will make your charging skills better, so use it if you want to improve your Soul Absorber, Void Strike, and Blitz Rush. 

9. Keen Blunt Weapon - Increases your Crit Damage (Level 1: +10%, Level 2: +25%, Level 3: +50%) but also gives your attacks a chance to deal 20% Reduced Damage. 

The more Critical Chance you have, the more beneficial this is but the previously-mentioned Engravings are generally better. 

• Gear Sets - As a DPS Class, Deathblade wants Her set to boost her offensive capabilities as much as possible. Here are the optimal Sets for each Tier: 
  • Tier 1: Seraphic Oath Set (Epic); Boisterous Elemental Set (Legendary) 
  • Tier 2: Marvelous Earth Set (Epic); Unyielding Will Set (Legendary) 
  • Tier 3: Twisted Dimensional Set (Epic); Chosen Set (Legendary) 

• Gems - You should use Attack Gems and Cooldown Gems on Blade Surge, Void Strike, Blitz Rush, and Soul Absorber. For all the remaining Abilities, use only Cooldown Reduction Gems. Also, you can only use 11 gems at a time, so we recommend you don't use any Gems for Earth Cleaver. 

• Cards - Depending on your budget, you should go for one of the following Card Sets: 
  • Light of Salvation Set - A Full set offers +30% Dark Damage Reduction, changes your Damage type to Holy, and increases your Holy Damage dealt by 15%. 
  • Thre Umar Families Set - A Full set offers -7.5% Damage from Guardians during Guardian Raids, +12% Back Attack Damage to Enemies, -5% Elemental Damage Received, +2% Elemental Damage Dealt, a chance to gain +24% Elemental Damage dealt for 8 seconds after a successful attack. 
  • Lostwind Cliff Set - A Full set offers +25% Dark Damage Reduction and +7% Critical Rate. This one is the cheapest of the recommended three. 

ENDNOTE

This is the initial version of our Lost Ark Surge Deathblade Raiding Build, where we tried to include all of the important information on how to set up this character while keeping the guide as compact as possible. If we've missed something of importance, please let us know! 

If you have any Build requests, please post them in the Comments section below. We will be happy to cover your most requested builds in the future! Also, we hope that you have found this guide useful and informative. Also, we will be happy to receive constructive criticism that will help us improve our future work, so don't hesitate to give us your feedback.