The Dual Blade is a close-combat (melee) class that is only available to the Jin or Yun race. Dual Blades relentlessly pursued the mastering of the blade, an obsession which fully consumed the mind and body. Wielding a pair of swords, Dual Blades strive to push their limits with lightning-speed swordplay and fluid movement.

Playstyle

The weapons of choice for Dual Blade are Twin Swords—weapons that perform a variety of attacks depending on the skills used. The available specializations are Way of the Shifting Blades and Way of the Lotus. The two specializations differ greatly from each other. Shifting Blades utilizes various stances to deliver targeted attacks while Lotus requires resource management to enhance skills.

While there are no defined roles each class plays, melee classes are often the ‘tank’ of the party and Dual Blades will have no issues tanking a boss with numerous evade skills while providing continuous and high burst attacks.

Specializations

Way of the Shifting Blades

The Shifting Blades specialization focuses on switching between three stances: Skyfang, Skyblade, and Fangblade. Like stances with any other class, each stance unlocks certain skills and skill combinations to unleash devastating attacks best delivered by that stance. But unlike other classes, there are little to no cooldowns to switch between Skyfang, Skyblade, and Fangblade stances.

Use Switchblade (LMB) or Switch Strike (LMB) to rotate between the three stances. Certain movement skills also trigger a stance change such as Cut Off (Q) for Skyfang, Cut Through (E) for Skyblade and Backshift (SS) for Fangblade.  Whatever situation you’re in, change to the stance that would deliver the best attack against your enemy. Such as when an enemy is stunned, dazed, or knocked down, utilize the Fangblade Stance and the skill combination Deep Cut (V) and Storm Blade: Snake Bite (RMB) to deal additional damage. Or when your enemy HP is at a certain percentage, use the appropriate stance to deliver crushing damage.

Way of the Lotus

The Lotus Specialization does not use stances and takes a straightforward approach to swordplay. This specialization is as if the warrior is training under a forest of falling blossoms, whisking the fallen blossoms into the air in a deadly flourish of floral spectacle.

Under Way of the Lotus, you will need to manage the resource of Petals. Petals are stacked when Cyclone Slash (F) is used. Blossom (Tab) will also automatically stack 5 Petals. At 3 Petal stacks (or after Blossom is used), the Primordia effect can be triggered (Tab) and it will unlock skills like Wild Fire (V) and enhance other skills.

In addition to Primordia effect, there are two other effects that can be triggered by certain skill usage. Activate the Earth effect by using Downfall (C) > Double Cyclone Slash (F) > Double Upturn (4) and the Wind effect by using Upturn (4) > Double Cyclone Slash (F) > Double Downfall (C). The Earth effect temporarily resists debuffs and recovers Focus and HP, while the Wind effect increases your speed and the number of hits in Cyclone Slash (F).

The Dual Blade class can be an easy or difficult class to master depending on your specialization choice. Way of the Shifting Blades caters to those who seek a challenge, while Way of the Lotus embraces the straightforward bravado of a sword fighter. Be ready to create your Dual Blade when the Unreal Engine 4 Update goes live on September 8!