Intro
Hello! Welcome to the 3rd rendition of my beginner KFM guide. I am Turbo, a KFM who has been playing since the launch of Blade and Soul in NA and have tanked almost every instance in the game. I’m not the best KFM out there, but I felt like I had enough knowledge of the class to write up a guide and help new KFMs. I have played both Fire and Wind KFM, started the game with Fire and switched to Wind with the release of BT. My KFM
This is a guide to help newer KFMs that are starting out and to help new players to the game who are interested in playing the class. In this guide, I will be going over KFMs skills, combos, and general KFM knowledge to help you through the leveling process and into endgame content. Please keep in mind, that KFM is a melee class and is considered one of the most difficult classes in the game. The class is also considered to be a tank class; however, you can still play as a pure DPS + buffer (but let’s be real, tanking is pretty fun). Newer players to Blade and Soul, keep in mind that this game does not rely on the “holy trinity” unlike other MMOs. Every single class can be a DPS and every class can tank a boss. Where KFM shines is its ability to tank and keep the boss still in one position without having it move around and to keep the boss facing one direction so that the rest of the party can DPS without getting hit. Remember, this is only a guide meant to help and give advice. Experiment with different skills and see which ones you prefer. Most importantly, have fun!
To see a list of updates that have been made to this guide, check the reddit post
Abilities
I will be going over all of the KFM abilities down the list based on level for both Wind and Fire build. Keep in mind some of these skills are used in PvP and I will not be covering those in detail. BEFORE WE START: You need to know what iframes are if you do not already. iframes, or invincibility frames, are skills that let you become invincible from damage and cc for the duration of the ability’s animation. These are very important in Blade and Soul as it will be your best way to avoid damage in this game. Every class has them, but they are essential to the KFM’s kit as you will need to use these to play the class properly. To see which abilities are iframes, hover over the ability and it will say “User resists damage and status effects”. Alright, onto the abilities.
Note: for newer players to the game, I will mark basic rule of thumbs for the game with: RULE OF THUMB.
[LMB/R] Straight Jab
An essential ability for Wind KFMs but not used too much for Fire KFMs outside of leveling.
- Move 1: PvE for both build
- Move 2: used in PvP
[1] Counter/Elbow Smash
This is KFM’s main block ability. You’ll be using this to counter enemy attacks and avoid damage. Remember, you can only block attacks with yellow indicators. Also keep in mind that KFM’s block only blocks against 1 ability, after the ability lands you will have to wait until the ability comes off cooldown to use it again.
- Move 1: used in PvE and PvP. This is your main block ability. You will use this while leveling and when you are not tanking in dungeons.
- Move 2: this is your threat counter, used when you are tanking to help maintain threat. Block attacks to constantly refresh the 150% threat buff.
- Move 3: Elbow Smash. This is a weird ability, as you block while attacking at the same time. Using this is pure preference. Elbow is quite harder to use compared to Counter due to the block not lasting as long (0.7 seconds compared to Counter’s 1 second) but the upside is that you will be dealing a bit more damage; when you block an ability, you will deal damage back to the enemy at the same time. Personally, I use Elbow as it also has another upside, it casts faster. The timing is very miniscule, down to milliseconds, but this ability casts faster than counter if you find yourself blocking attacks at the last second. (and every second counts in Blade and Soul).
Try both Counter and Elbow Smash out to see which one you like more, it’s all preference.
[2] Swift Strike (Wind)/Tiger Strike (Fire)/Gale Fist
This is one of the core damage abilities for both Wind and Fire KFM. If you have low enough ping and the right gear, this isn’t used for Wind build as much (I will go over gear and how it changes your rotation later in the guide). This is your main damage ability in Fire build.
- Move 1: used in PvE, no doubt about it, best choice. Also used for PvP for Fire build cheese.
- Move 2: used in Wind build in PvP.
- Move 3: used in PvP against assassins. As hitting an assassin out of stealth with this ability will stun them, it gives an advantage in a rather weak matchup for KFM. Be wary of spamming it in PvP as you will lose focus quite fast.
[Tab] Flying Slam
A gap closing move for KFMs, this is mainly used at the beginning of a fight, but doesn’t get used as much later on as [RMB] Guiding Fist is much faster.
- Move 1: used in PvE, no need to spec into any of the other moves for PvE.
- Move 2: rarely used at all. Not as good as move 3 for PvP.
- Move 3: used in PvP, gap closer that also knocks up enemies. Don’t use this in PvE, RULE OF THUMB: you don’t want to knock up mobs or bosses in PvE (unless for a certain mechanic) as it is annoying for melee because they cannot hit the boss. Hinders DPS a tiny bit but it is more of an annoyance than anything.
[3] Leg Sweep
Ability that knocks down, nothing much to say about this. Only applies a single knockdown RULE OF THUMB: When you have to cc the boss for any reason, most of the time you will want to use stun or daze. Knockdown (or kd) will cause the boss to do a wakeup attack, which will hurt nearby allies. You will most likely not be using knockdown as much unless it is for a certain mechanic.
[F] Iron Shoulder
An annoying skill if anything, doesn’t do a lot of damage and interrupts the flow of your rotation most of the time. Both Wind and Fire builds use the F button in their rotation so just try to get this ability off and animation cancel it into whatever you need to press next. Can be useful to proc [4] Pivot Kick in Wind build sometimes.
[2] Shin Kick (Wind)
Mainly used in PvP. Can be used in PvE when a boss/enemy is stunned, dazed, or grabbed (by a Destroyer or Blade Dancer). Can be used to activate [X] Searing Palm, which is useful to stack to stage 4 (I will go over Searing Palm and how it works later in the guide), otherwise just use it to do damage with the normal 2rf combo when available.
[3] Blaze Kick (Fire)
Can be used in Fire build when an enemy is stunned, dazed, or knocked down. Though rarely used in PvP, when using it in either PvP or PvE, you want to get this ability off as it does quite a bit of damage, then animation cancel back into your normal rotation with a [LMB/R] Straight Jab into [2] Tiger Strike, the timing is quite weird so it’ll take a few tries to get the animation cancel down, but it’s not too big of a deal nonetheless.
[RMB] Guiding Fist
Basic gap closer skill, you will use this ability quite often, and it is preferred over [Tab] Flying Slam in terms of gap closers. Very important skill if you are using the Magnum soul badge (see gearing portion of the guide).
[LMB/R] Swooping Crane
Basic knockdown skill while Windwalking (running or gliding). Not used too much.
[Z] Rising Dragon
KFM’s main form of cc that can also be specced to an iframe. This ability also heals for a bit of your health so useful for staying alive.
- Move 1: Rising Dragon will act as an iframe, useful while tanking to have an extra iframe at your use. If the team requires a cc, spec it into move 2 or 3 depending on which form of cc you need. Otherwise, leave it at move 1 for an extra iframe.
- Move 2: Rising Dragon will act as a stun. This does apply a double stun. This move is used in PvP as well.
- Move 3: Rising Dragon will act as a daze. This only applies a single daze
[F] Smite
For Wind KFM, this is one of the ways you will be procing [X] Searing Palm. For Fire KFM, this ability will restore a big chunk of your focus, allowing you to spam more [2] Tiger Strikes.
- Move 1: used in PvE, not much to say here, spec this unless you are doing PvP.
- Move 2: used in PvP to knockup the opponent for an air combo.
[E] Footwork/[Q] Shadow Dance
This is KFM’s main iframe skill. USE IT. Q and E on resist will give you additional movement speed, recovers focus, procs [X] Searing Palm, and gives you a stack of agility. If you gain 3 stacks of agility, you gain 100% evasion for 6 seconds. The main attribute that makes this ability so good is that you can iframe as many attacks during the animation of the ability AND 1 second after. It might not sound like a lot, but this makes KFM one of the most slippery classes in the game in PvP and makes you virtually invincible in PvE. The iframe will feel very long, so don’t be afraid to iframe a bit early to avoid attacks as it lasts quite a bit. And as a bonus, if you iframe 3 attacks during a Q and/or E, you gain max agility which gives you that 100% evasion for 6 seconds, letting you survive hits for even longer. Be careful, however, as these abilities have 16 second cooldowns each. Keep track of your iframes and plan ahead during a fight to see what iframes you have left at your disposal and how many you will need. Be careful of moving or spinning the boss while using this ability if you are tanking so as to not let the boss hit your party members.
[1] Tornado
Basic getup ability after you have been knocked down. Remember, that if you get hit during this abilities animation by any normal attack, it will put you back on the ground. Be careful when using this ability however, as it will knockback targets hit and might cause the party to miss a joint cc onto a boss.
[2] Somersault Kick
Another ability you can use while you are knocked down. Countering an attack will daze the enemy and get you up off the ground.
[F] Cyclone Kick (Wind)
This is Wind KFMs main damage dealing ability. You want to be hitting this ability as much as possible when it comes up. It can be procced by:
- [2] Swift Strike hit
- [4] Pivot kick hit
- [RMB] Avenging Fist hit
- [2] Shin kick use
- [Q/E] Footwork/Shadow Dance resist
- [X] Awakened Searing Palm (I will go over this later in the guide)
- On crit with Hongmoon [LMB/R] Straight Jab (Hongmoon skills will be explained later also)
[F] Searing Blow
This is Fire KFMs main way to regain focus after spamming [2] Tiger Strike for damage. This will also reduce the cooldown of [X] Searing Palm (although this is not useful if you are using the Magnum soul badge)
[Tab] Second Wind
Your main escape ability when you are dazed or stunned. Be careful when you are using this ability as it applies a daze onto the enemy and can cause your party to miss a joint cc.
[3] One-Two Punch
This ability becomes available when your target is grabbed by a Destroyer or Blade Dancer. A super powerful skill early on, but once you have endgame gear, doing a normal rotation on the boss tends to deal more damage. If you are lower geared, use it to deal massive damage to an enemy.
[X] Roaring Tiger (Wind)
Used to stack [X] Searing Palm, reduces the cooldown of Searing Palm as well.
[X] Leading Palm (Fire)
Used to stack [X] Searing Palm as well, but its damage is multiplied depending on what stage of Searing Palm you are on (will be explained later)
[2] Slip Kick
This ability becomes available when you get grabbed by an enemy in PvP. Use it at the same time your enemy is using an ability to counter it and get out of the grab. Not used in PvE.
[1] Body Kick
Similar to [2] Slip Kick, this ability is available when you are grabbed. Use it to deal minimal damage to an enemy in PvP. Not used in PvE.
[3] Emit Frost
Another ability that can be used while you are grabbed in PvP. Not used in PvE.
[C] Flurry
This ability is one of KFMs iframe abilities. Can also be specced to daze for PvP use.
- Move 1: an iframe that lasts 1 second and deals damage to the enemy at the same time.
- Move 2: an iframe that lasts the entire duration of the ability. Doesn’t do as much damage as move 1 does.
- Move 3: a daze used in PvP, not used in PvE
Choosing which flurry to use in PvE is generally personal preference. Many KFMs will use Move 1 because it deals extra damage, while others will use Move 2 for an extended iframe. Whichever one you use will come down to the fight you are on and personal preference.
[4] Comet Strike (Wind)
Comet Strike is KFMs hardest hitting ability. This ability should be used on cooldown during fights. It can be used a second time if the first cast is successful before having to wait for the cooldown to come back up.
- Move 1: used in PvE if you are not tanking.
- Move 2: used in PvP
- Move 3: used in PvE if are going to be tanking. This ability generates 300% more threat (meaning that this will deal 3x its damage in threat, not actually damage)
[4] Comet Strike (Fire)
Fire Comet Strike is different than Wind Comet strike in that it has a 0.7 cast time unless you are using it after a counter or while [X] Searing Palm is active. This move will also activate [X] Searing Palm. Fire Comet doesn’t let you cast twice, unlike Wind Comet, but it deals extra damage to enemies afflicted with [X] Searing Palm.
- Move 1: used in PvE if you are not tanking.
- Move 2: used in PvP
- Move 3: used in PvE if are going to be tanking. This ability generates 300% more threat (meaning that this will deal 3x its damage in threat, not actually damage)
[SS] Backstep
Another one of KFM’s major iframes. It is very similar to [E] Footwork/[Q] Shadow Dance, although it does not provide the extra 1 second iframe. It will stack agility and give buffs similar to [E/Q]. It has the benefit of only having an 8 second cooldown compared to the 16 seconds of [E/Q]. Be careful of moving or spinning the boss while using this ability if you are tanking so as to not let the boss hit your party members.
[F] Retreat
Basic escape ability after you have been dazed, knocked down, or rendered unconscious. It does move you back 4 meters so be careful of moving the boss if you are tanking.
[LMB/R] Tiger’s Pounce
A knockdown ability that can be used after using [SS] Backstep. Pair this with [3] Leg Sweep to perform a double knockdown.
[RMB] Sky Kick
An ability that will knock up stunned or dazed targets into the air. Useful in PvP, but only used in PvE for certain mechanics. If you remember the rule of thumb from earlier, you want to avoid putting bosses in the air if possible.
[LMB/R] Rising Kick
This ability is available on knocked up enemies and will extend the duration that they are in the air. Again, this is used in PvP and only in PvE for certain mechanics.
[LMB/R] Falling Star
This ability will bring targets that are knocked up back to the ground. If you or a teammate accidentally knocks a boss up (unless it’s for a mechanic) use this ability to bring the target back onto the ground.
[4] Pivot Kick (Wind)
This ability is mainly used to proc [X] Searing Palm. Nothing much else to say about it.
[4] Hellfire Kick (Fire)
Same as [4] Pivot Kick but this is also used to regen focus for more [2] Tiger Strike spam.
[Tab] Meteor Slam
This ability will grapple the enemy if they have been knocked up and are in the air. One thing you can do if you or your teammate accidentally knocks up a boss is to press this and it will bring the boss back to the ground and you will grapple it for 3 seconds. Some mechanics will require you to grapple a boss to delay a certain mechanic. This is not like a Destroyer or Blade Dancer grab, so your teammates will not be able to use restraint skills on the target. Here are the abilities you have during grapple:
- [1] Headbutt: This will deal small damage to the enemy and heal you for 5% of your health
- [2] Pummel: This will deal damage to the enemy and extend the duration of the grapple for 2.8 seconds
- [3] Chokehold: This will render the target unconscious for 30 seconds, making it so they cannot do anything
- [4] Armbar: This will deal small damage to the enemy and disable defensive skills for 10 seconds, mainly used in PvP
- [Tab] Clobber: This will apply a knockdown to enemies within 3 meters.
- [LMB/R] Ground Pound: This will deal damage to the enemy, can be casted 3 times.
When you grapple a boss/enemy in PvE, you want to ground pound them 2-3 times (depending on how many times your ping will let you) then use [2] Clobber to extend the duration of the grapple to a total of 5.8 seconds. This is enough of time to stall for a mechanic or to just let your teammates do damage to the boss.
[V] Tremor
This is another major ability for KFM as it boosts the damage of your main damage ability by 20% ([F] Cyclone Kick for Wind and [2] Tiger Strike for Fire) and buffs your party’s crit damage. Use it on cooldown, or try to time it with your [Tab] Fighting Spirit.
- Move 1: stuns targets, only used in PvP.
- Move 2: used in PvE if you are tanking, the ability will give you the 150% threat buff as well as generating 300% threat from the damage of the ability itself. Pulls enemies towards your location, good for grouping up trash mobs.
- Move 3: used in PvE if you are not tanking. Pulls enemies similar to Move 2, but also has the added benefit of doubling your Attack Power for 10 seconds if you pulled more than 3 mobs. Great for getting rid of trash mobs quickly.
[RMB] Triple Kick/Firestorm Kick/ Firestorm Kick (Fire)/Chained Mace (Wind)
This ability is not used as much but is a nice filler to your damage rotation.
- Move 1: basic stun to your target. Used in PvP, not used in PvE
- Move 2: similar to Move 1, but stuns in an aoe and has a longer cooldown. Used in some matchups in PvP, not used in PvE.
- Move 3, Chained Mace (Wind): basic damage dealing ability that recovers focus, can be used on resist with [E] Footwork/[Q] Shadow Dance, [C] Flurry, or [SS] Backstep. This should be animation canceled with [F] Cyclone Kick as soon as the animation for Chained Mace starts.
- Move 3, Firestorm Kick (Fire): unlike its Wind counterpart, Chained Mace, Firestorm kick cannot be animation canceled so it is used less. It is useful if you do not need to use the resist to proc [X] Searing Palm and you can use it to recover focus to keep spamming [2] Tiger Strike.
[RMB] Avenging Fist
This ability is mainly used to proc [X] Searing Palm. It can be used upon using [1] Counter/Elbow Smash, then pressing RMB. It can also be used as an iframe. The only downside to this ability is its long 18 second cooldown.
[Tab] Fighting Spirit/Ice Guard
Since Ice Guard is only used in PvP, I will mostly be talking about Fighting Spirit. Fighting Spirit is a 10-second-long party buff (also known as Blue Buff) that enhances your entire party’s crit damage by 40%, crit chance by 50%, and lifesteal by 70%. On a 1 minute and 30 second cooldown, this is one of the main reasons that parties choose KFMs. The buff not only benefits your party, but yourself also. You get all the buffs mentioned above plus a boost to your main damage ability ([F] Cyclone Kick for Wind and [2] Tiger Strike for Fire) dealing 200% of your Attack Power as additional damage. But by far the most important thing this skill does is refresh the cooldown of your biggest damage ability, [4] Comet Strike every second the buff is active. This means you can spam Comet Strike for insane damage and more importantly, a lot of threat generation if you are tanking. This means you can hold aggro against people who outgear you by quite a bit. Do keep in mind, however, that the buff does not stack with another KFM’s or a Sin’s blue buff and your whole party will receive a debuff after activating Fighting Spirit that doesn’t allow you to receive the buff again for another 45 seconds. Use this ability on cooldown as much as possible, but try to time it to match with a Warlock’s Soulburn (another powerful buff that has a similar cooldown time, both these buffs stack to give the whole party a massive burst of damage)
[X] Searing Palm
Last but certainly not least is the KFM’s main ability, Searing Palm. This ability is only unlocked when you reach Level 45 and is thing that makes a KFM a KFM. We will be talking about Move 1, as Move 2 is strictly used for PvP. Searing Palm has 4 stages of use. Each use will give a stronger buff to the user. This ability will do a lot of things when applied to an enemy:
- Reduce the target’s movement speed
- Gives you and your party a buff called “Driven” which gives crit damage when party you and party members hit a target that has Searing Palm applied to them
- Gives the user a buff called Unleashed Flow, this is the reason why Searing Palm is very good. The buffs are as follows for each stage (stage 1/2/3/4):
- Critical Chance: 10/20/30/50%
- Critical Damage increase: 5/10/15/20%
- At stage 4 you gain 100% Critical Chance
Each stage also regenerates 10 focus, super useful to maintain a good rotation. The hard part about KFM is managing this and keeping it up at all times. With the Magnum soul badge, this becomes quite easier (will be explained later in the gearing section). This ability has a 1-minute cooldown, starting when you stack the 1st stage of Searing Palm. You do not have to wait for the cooldown to apply the next stage, but each stage has a timer:
- For Wind build, Stages 1-2 have a 15 second duration, Stages 3-4 have a 10 second duration.
- For Fire build, all stages have a 10 second duration.
This duration is the amount of time you have to apply the next stage of Searing Palm before it runs out. If the timer runs out, you have to wait for that 1-minute cooldown to come back up before you can use it again. This is a major DPS loss, so managing Searing Palm while keeping a rotation up is vital. There are various ways to activate [X] Searing Palm:
- Resist with [E] Footwork/[Q] Shadow Dance/[SS] Backstep/[C] Flurry
- On hit with [RMB] Avenging Fist
- On hit with [4] Pivot Kick (Wind)
- On hit with [4] Hellfire Kick (Fire)
- On hit with [2] Shin Kick (Wind)
- On hit with [3] Blaze Kick (Fire)
- On hit with [X] Roaring Tiger (Wind)
- On hit with [X] Leading Palm (Fire)
- On hit with [F] Smite (Move 1) (Wind)
- On hit with [4] Comet Strike (Move 1,3) (Fire)
Each build is going to use Searing Palm in a different way because of their rotations:
WIND
Wind build doesn’t have a consistent way to reset the cooldown of Searing Palm, so you have to wait out every single stage of Searing Palm and stack the next stage right as the duration of the current stage is about to end. This totals to approximately 40-45 seconds of Searing Palm used, leaving another 20 or so seconds of downtime. This is where your various abilities that reduces Searing Palm cooldown come in:
- [F] Iron Shoulder, 4 second reduction
- [E] Footwork/[Q] Shadow Dance/[SS] Backstep, 2 second reduction on first resist
- [X] Roaring Tiger, 4 second reduction
- Resist with [C] Flurry, Move 1: 9 second reduction, Move 2: 5 second reduction
- [RMB] Chained Mace, 4 second reduction
- [RMB] Avenging Fist, 5 second reduction
You will use most of these abilities naturally anyway, so as long as you don’t stack too fast, you should be fine. You should have no problem finding activators for [X] Searing Palm, as most of your abilities will be off cooldown for the next stage. More often than not, you will find yourself using too many activators. Resist the urge to press that [X] Searing Palm button until the stage is about to run out!
FIRE
Fire build is quite easier, as [F] Searing Blow is part of your main rotation. [F] Searing Blow will reduce the cooldown of [X] Searing Palm by 7 seconds. This makes it so Fire build can rush to stage 4, and by then the cooldown of [X] Searing Palm should be back up as you will be using [F] Searing Blow quite a bit. This doesn’t mean that the skills that reduce the cooldown of Searing Palm are not important, skilled Fire KFMs will rarely use [F] Searing Blow as it decreases their DPS (will be explained later in the rotations part of the guide).
One other thing that makes Fire different is [X] Leading Palm. Unlike [X] Roaring Tiger for Wind build, [X] Leading Palm has a damage multiplier added onto it. The higher stage [X] Searing Palm is, the more damage [X] Leading Palm does. So, you want to ideally save [X] Leading Palm for use at the very end of stage 4, where you will once again stack to stage 1. The activation period of [X] Leading Palm is enough to where if you use [X] Leading Palm with 1-2 seconds remaining on [X] Searing Palm stage 4, you can activate stage 1.
Another complicated thing about Fire KFM is that you will often find yourself not having enough activators, unlike Wind build. If you look up to the list of activators, you will see that you cannot use [F] Smite to activate [X] Searing Palm. Instead you only have to rely on [4] Hellfire kick and [RMB] Avenging Fist. You want to save [X] Leading Palm for stage 4 burst, and you want to save [4] Comet Strike to use at stage 4 for extra damage. Since [4] Hellfire Kick has a 9 second cooldown, I tend to use Hellfire Kick to stack a lot. If your ping doesn’t allow this, feel free to use [4] Comet Strike, but try to save [X] Leading Palm for stage 4 use.
[X] Awakened Searing Palm
If there is a Warlock in your party, they have access to a powerful buff called “Soulburn”. This buff unlocks Awakened skills for every class and increases stats. KFMs awakened skill is Awakened Searing Palm. This ability instantly stacks Searing Palm to stage 4 and gives a special Unleashed Flow buff called Awakened Unleashed Flow. This gives all the buffs of stage 4 Searing Palm and lasts 10 seconds. Having Soulburn will change your rotation (will be explained later)
Hongmoon Skills
Note: These skills are placed in order of importance/priority. Also I will only be going over the PvE spec of the abilities mentioned and abilities that are worth getting (so any skills not mentioned are reserved for PvP or are not cost effective for PvE use). How to get these abilities can be found in your Achievements page (Default button “U” > Character > Skills).
WIND
- HM Comet Strike [4] [Move 1,3] (Comet Strike – Volume 2) – This skill is a straight up damage increase to your hardest hitting ability (until VT gear, which if you are new and starting out will be a long ways away). Get this ASAP if you are starting up a fresh KFM.
- HM Straight Jab [LMB] [Move 1,2] (Hongmoon Secret Technique – Straight Jab) – This skill will let you do the RF combo, as it allow Cyclone Kick [F] to be used after a crit with Straight Jab [LMB]. A pretty easy skill to get, this is on the same level priority as HM 4 and should be gotten ASAP.
- HM Counter [1] [Move 2,3] (Fateful Tome – Counter) – This skill adds a 1 second iframe after blocking, which boosts KFM survivability substantially and is a must have in high end boss fights.
Again, any skills not mentioned are either reserved for PvP or not cost effective enough to be worth grabbing them unless you got some money hanging around that you want to use.
FIRE
- HM Comet Strike [4] [Move 1,3] (Comet Strike – Volume 2) – This skill is a straight up damage increase to your hardest hitting ability (until VT gear, which if you are new and starting out will be a long ways away). Get this ASAP if you are starting up a fresh KFM.
- HM Tiger Strike [2] [Move 1] (Swift Strike Mastery) – This skill is a straight dps increase to your main damage ability, Tiger Strike [2]. A must have for fire KFMs. This skill is on the same level priority as HM 4 and should be gotten ASAP.
- HM Counter [1] [Move 2,3] (Fateful Tome – Counter) – This skill adds a 1 second iframe after blocking, which boosts KFM survivability substantially and is a must have in high end boss fights.
Again, any skills not mentioned are either reserved for PvP or not cost effective enough to be worth grabbing them unless you got some money hanging around that you want to use.
Alright, now that you know how KFM works, time to find out how KFM plays.
Rotation
To start off, we’ll go over the leveling process. You want to be using Fire build to level, as [2] Tiger Strike is aoe and makes killing mobs quite easier. The only problem is you’ll run out of focus pretty quickly. Use [LMB/R] Straight Jab when you run out of focus, and don’t forget your various focus recovery skills. Alternatively, you can spam [2] Tiger Strike and [LMB/R] Straight Jab for a simple combo of 2r2r2r2r. Remember to use [F] Searing Blows whenever it is up to recover focus also.
When it comes to endgame however, both builds play VERY differently. Both perform about the same, so pick whichever one you prefer or whichever one your ping allows.
WIND
Wind build’s main rotation is: 2rf
Since [F] Cyclone Kick is your main damage ability, you want to use [2] Swift Strike to proc [F] Cyclone Kick. You use [LMB/R] Straight Jab in between so you don’t run out of focus. Here is what it should kinda look like. Alternatively if you are having focus problems you could also use: r2rf. Remember to maintain your [X] Searing Palm and use your other skills to maintain focus if you are having focus problems.
When you have the Hongmoon skill for LMB (Hongmoon Pellet), you can rf. HM LMB makes it so when you crit on [LMB/R] Straight Jab, it procs [F] Cyclone Kick. The reason rf does more damage than 2rf is because of the skill speed. Because you can animation cancel rf much faster than 2rf, you end up doing more damage. This is only possible if your ping allows. If you cannot properly do the animation cancel, you will do more damage if you stick to 2rf. But if you CAN do the cancel properly, you will end up doing a lot more damage. You also need 100% crit chance. Because of this, you need to have the buff from [Tab] Fighting Spirit, Stage 4 of [X] Searing Palm, or have the buff from [X] Awakened Searing Palm. If you do it correctly it should kinda look like this.
Wind is the harder spec because you have to animation cancel. Animation canceling is the act of performing an action, then canceling the animation of that action, but still having its intended effect go through. The animation of [F] Cyclone Kick is going to be canceled (as seen in the gif) but its damage still goes through. This makes it so you can perform many more actions, resulting in more damage. Combine this with managing your [X] Searing Palm, doing boss mechanics, and even tanking, you end up with one of the hardest classes to play in the game. It’s hard, but rewarding; and if you find it enjoyable, then go ahead and play it!
So, in review, your main rotation is 2rf, and at Searing Palm stage 4, your rotation changes to rf (if you can do it properly), while maintaining your Searing Palm buff at all times.
FIRE
Fire build’s main rotation is quite simple: 22f
Since your main damage ability is [2] Tiger Strike, you want to spam this as much as possible. Your only limit is the amount of focus you have, because of this you want to have good focus management. Stacking Searing Palm, using [F] Smite for the 7 focus regen, and other abilities to keep the focus up. Obviously, if you can fit more [2] Tiger Strikes into your rotation, do so. 22f works when you have minimal focus. Also keep in mind that you have to crit with [2] Tiger Strike to proc [F] Searing Blow so stacking to the higher stages of Searing Palm will be important to keeping your crit rate as high as possible to consistently be able to proc [F] Searing Blow. Simple enough, it should look kinda like this. Because of this, Fire build is the easier build to play, but the class overall is still complicated enough that I enjoy it. If you love KFM and don’t want to get carpel tunnel playing Wind build, Fire might be for you!
So, in review, use Tiger Strike as much as possible, use Searing Blows to regen focus and to keep the cooldown of Searing Palm as low as possible. Use focus regen skills to maintain good focus while spamming Tiger Strike.
So more often than not, you will have a Warlock in your party to provide Soulburn or another KFM/Sin to provide another Blue Buff (Fighting Spirit buff). Your rotation will change when these buffs are active, so here’s what you will be doing.
- [Tab] Fighting Spirit (your own): During your own blue buff, you want to get as many Comet Strikes out as possible. Make sure to stack Searing Palm stage 3 before popping Blue Buff to get 100% crit and maximize your damage.
- Wind: 4rf4rf4rf4rf. Assuming you have HM LMB, your rotation will be 4rf. Since you have 100% crit with Searing Palm stage 3 and Blue Buff, you can rf and at the same time fit those Comet Strikes in there. Remember to cancel the animation of [4] Comet Strike with [R] Straight Jab and the animation of [F] Cyclone Kick with 4. And don’t forget to stack that last stage of Searing Palm to enjoy another 10 seconds of 100% crit and rf away.
- Fire: 4r24r24r24r2. Even though Tiger Strike’s animation is quite a bit longer than rf, since Fire Comet Strike doesn’t let you hit twice, you have the time to fit in Tiger Strikes. Just remember to cancel the animation of 4 with r similar to the Wind rotation and stack the last stage of Searing Palm at the end of the 10 seconds.
- Soulburn: During Soulburn, you get access to [X] Awakened Searing Palm. This will change up your rotation quite a bit as it does different things for both builds. Do remember that Soulburn lasts 15 seconds, while the buff you get (Awakened Unleashed Flow) lasts 10 seconds, so be sure to refresh the buff after it ends the first time so when Soulburn ends, you’ll have the buff for another 5-10 seconds.
- Wind: rf. After using Awakened Searing Palm, [F] Cyclone Kick becomes available for 10 seconds without any conditions. This means you can rf even smoother than before and push out even more damage. The damage of Cyclone Kick gets increased also, so it is not worth it to use Awakened Searing Palm other than to activate the use of Cyclone Kick. Remember to reapply the buff near the end of Soulburn to have another 10 seconds of rf.
- Fire: 22f. Awakened Unleashed Flow will also buff your Tiger Strike, so spamming more Tiger Strikes will get you tons of damage. Remember to reapply the buff near the end of Soulburn to have more uptime on the extra Tiger Strike damage.
- Soulburn + Fighting Spirit (Your own): Now you have the ability to reset Comet Strike as well, so let’s implement it into your combos. Remember to apply Awakened Searing Palm at the beginning and near the end of Soulburn.
- Wind: 4rf4rf4rf4rf. This combo will still do massive damage, so you want to spam this as much as you can. After your Blue Buff wears off, reapply Awakened Searing Palm and go back to rf.
- Fire: 4rx4rx4rx4rx. Since Awakened Searing Palm can also be activated by using [4] Comet Strike, this combo does massive burst damage. Remember reapply Awakened Searing Palm and go back to 22f.
As with anything, these combos are for lower geared characters. When you progress and get higher gear, combos will change according to your gear. I am aware that many of these combos can be adjusted to get the most damage out of the class, but this is what I am comfortable with. There are many different combos, find the ones that work for you!
Gearing
When it comes to gear, KFM is pretty straightforward. Here is a spreadsheet with most of the KFM gear. Do keep in mind that if you get some of these pieces of gear, your rotation and combos can change depending on what gear you have. Again, these combos that I have been using and they have been working for me. Many combos exist out there, find the ones that fit your playstyle and ping. Also keep in mind the higher you gear up, the more these combos will change.
Soul Shields
You want to aim for 8-piece MSP ASAP. This is core for KFM and will get you into BT for later soulshields. Next aim for 3 BT 5 MSP into 5 BT 3 MSP. 8 BT can be used, but only in a party. This is because 8 set will give 30% cooldown reduction on Fighting Spirit. It also synergizes well with Warlock’s 8 piece as it gives 30% cooldown reduction on Soulburn. Use 5 BT 3 MSP for solo play as it provides the most solo damage.
Legendary Weapon
Most KFMs will go Baleful as it is the better path. Seraphs can be used for Fire KFMs also, although personally I have not used it. Raven is super strong for KFM and provides a massive DPS increase. The Dawnforged/Riftwalk path is much cheaper however, so if you can afford to wait for it, go Dawn/Rift as you will save thousands of gold in the long run. But if you need damage immediately or don’t care about costs too much, go Raven. Dawnforged/Riftwalk want to eventually go Raven, as it is the best path in the game currently.
Soul Badge
The best Soul Badge at the moment is the blue Magnum badge. This badge will change your rotation significantly and make you do a lot more damage. The badge lets you apply stage 1 of Searing Palm using [RMB] Guiding Fist, regardless of the cooldown on Searing Palm. It will only apply stage 1 if there is no Searing Palm active, and doesn’t put Searing Palm on cooldown after applying stage 1. The badge also resets the cooldown of [X] Roaring Tiger and [X] Leading Palm after using [RMB] Guiding Fist. With this:
- Wind build can rush stage 4 Searing Palm without having to worry about timing the cooldown of Searing Palm, significantly increasing their damage and making it so they do not have to use 2rf anymore and can just rf after rushing stage 4.
- Fire build can stack Searing Palm a lot easier. You can use Leading Palm to stack without having to save it for the stage 4 burst, as the cooldown can easily be reset. This is a must have for KFM.
Mystic Badge (Amulet)
Wind: Skyrift
- This badge makes it so on hit with Comet Strike, Cyclone Kick becomes available for use with a 400% additional Attack Power Bonus added onto the Cyclone Kick. This will change your burst rotation whenever using Comet Strike into 4fr4fr. This goes for both when using Blue Buff and without it.
Fire: Revelation
- This badge makes it so that [2] Tiger Strike will recover 3 focus for 4 seconds after landing [F] Smite. Because of this, you can spam even more Tiger Strike without having to use Searing Blows for focus.
Bracelet
Both elements want to be using the Divine Dragon Bracelet.
Final Thoughts/Credits
Thanks so much for reading! This guide took a while to write, and being the 3rd version, many hours were sunk into doing the research and writing up this guide. I appreciate you all who made it all the way through ^-^ All KFMs play differently, many people have different preference and ways to approach situations during a fight, and the dynamic nature of the class makes it my favorite class in the game. Of course, if anyone notices mistakes in my guide, please point them out so I can get them fixed and get the right information out to readers ASAP. If anyone else has tips, feel free to leave them in the comments. Thanks once more for reading 😀
A shoutout to the guys over at BnS Academy, they have helped me a bunch with the content in this guide. For more advanced tips and tricks, I recommend joining the BnS Academy Discord They have many skilled KFMs that can help you polish and fine tune your gameplay to get the most out of the class!
