The Swordsman

Ishamael Sedai

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: May 2005

While I hate to give my build away perhaps others will find it useful.

11 Healing Prayers
10 Swordsmanship (+3 rune, +1 hat) = 14
10 Tactics (+3 rune) = 13

Skills:

Live Vicariously
Healing Signet
Hundred Blades
Deadly Riposte
Riposte
Thrill of Victory
Galrath Slash
Final Thrust

The key to this build is to get enemies stacked together where 100 blades can take its toll. This isn't so much with the dmg 100 blades does but with live vicariously you are going to be gaining 11 health points per hit. In a crowd this can gain you a lot of health if you position yourself right. I suggest having at least two swords. One should have a 3 to 1 vamp hilt and the other a zealous hilt. Use the vamp until your energy gets low then switch to zealous. Your enchant is key so sometimes in the heat of battle if it is knocked off you need to put it back on. If you have to use the healing signet to gain 137 health back away because you take double dmg while it is casting. I also recommend the gladiators armor for extra energy.

This build will beat casters at melee range. You have enough power hits to take them down. Obviously this does not apply to an anti melee mesmer. This is also built to take down many warriors. Riposte is a 4 adrenaline skill which is almost automatic after using 100 blades. Normally when fighting a warrior I use 100 blades, riposte, deadly riposte, followed by thrill of victory. Most of the time they are scared off by this. I just blocked two early hits and returned 35 dmg on the one and 26 dmg on the other while making them bleed for 22 seconds. Now you have to watch out for gladiators defense warriors. Not that they are going to kill you, but that you could be wasting your time attacking them. Hammer guys can also be dangerous. Anything that interrupts 100 blades isn't your friend. Remember 100 blades is the key to at least 22 health points (more in a crowd) and a nice amount of adrenaline. If things are going my way and they are not running I just continue using 100 blades w/ riposte followed by galrath and final thrust.