This guide is by no means an expert level analysis of the destroyer class. Looking around I had a hard time finding an entry-level guide to the destroyer. Personally, when learning a game, trying to do it all at once is overwhelming. So for now, I am going to leave out a lot of the specific ability names and just aim to give enough information to get started.
Table of Contents
A sample build is provided at the end of the guide.
Key Terms:
DMG = Damage
CC = Crowd Control
DoT = Damage of Time
CD = Cooldown
Tech = (F) retreat
Tech Chase = Chasing opponent after they perform their retreat
Trinket = Basic 36 CD escape ability
Red/Blue Buff = Fury / Persistence respectively
I-frame = Invulnerability frame
Crowd Control effects explained:
Stun: enemy unable to move, retreat not available.
Daze: enemy unable to move, can retreat
Knockdown: enemy unable to move, can retreat and use on ground abilities
Knock Up: enemy knocked into the air, no actions available.
Unconscious: enemy asleep on ground, regens hp during effect, awakes upon DMG
I: Abilities Pre Talents
Before looking into how to fight other classes, let’s take a look at our own skills.
1) Blitz: Stuns enemies for 2 seconds. Charge. Generates 10 focus.
2) Ram: Stuns enemy for 2 seconds. Charge. Generates 10 focus.
3) Emberstomp: Deals damage and puts down an area of effect DoT. Costs 20 focus.
4) Axe Sweep: Knockdown enemies for 2 seconds. Costs 20 focus.
(Tab): Hurricane: User is resistant to Stun, Daze and Knockback. Removes snares on use. Costs 20 focus.
(Tab): Gust: AKA trinket. This is your escape ability. Before talents removes knockdown or unconscious. 36 second cooldown, generates 30 focus. Will go into more details later.
(z) Body Kick (Drag): Knockdown enemies for 2 seconds (Pulls and dazes enemy for 2 seconds). Costs 10 focus.
(X) Smash: Deals damage, bonus damage to enemies that are stunned, dazed or grabbed. Costs 20 focus.
(C) Searing Strike: This is your I-frame. Chains into scorching strike. If you are attacked during use, allows you to use Scorching Strike. Costs 20 focus.
(C) Scorching Strike: Charge ability that is only available after being hit during Searing Strike. Knocks opponent into the air and allows you to use Piledriver. Costs 20 focus.
(V) Stone Shield: Heals for 20% HP over 4 seconds. Blocks frontal attacks.
(Q) Typhoon: This is red spin. The key can be held down to continuously spin. If specced into column 2 or 3, can be used multiple times consecutively.
(E) Fury: AKA Red or Blue buff. Red buff has a 45 seconds cooldown while Blue has 60 seconds. Red buff is for damage, and blue is a defensive cooldown. Will go into more details later.
(F) Grab/Knee: Grab can be used while the target is Stunned, Dazed, Knockdowned, Unconscious or Defending. Knee can be used after a critical hit or when a target is defending is specced for it. More details later.
(F) Piledriver: Grabs enemy out of the air and deals considerable DMG. Disables charge and defensive skills for 4 seconds. Knocks down enemy for 2 seconds. Available after pressing 4 during grab, Upward block (4 points in Axe Sweep) or Scorching Strike.
While grabbed by an opponent:
- Thrash/Reaching kick: This is your generic auto attack while in a grab/phantom grab.
- Chop: This is your counter attack while in a grab/phantom grab. If used at the precise moment of an enemies attack, you will break out of the grab.
While knocked down:
- Tempest: This is your generic way to get up. Performs an attack while getting up.
- Retaliation: This is another counter. If timed correctly, right when an opponent attacks you, they will be knocked down and you will get up instantly.
(F) Retreat: This is your roll ability that can be used while you are on the ground (Knockdown). Cooldown of 12 seconds, has a short I-frame of 0.5 seconds upon use.
(SS) Leap Back: This is your basic backstep. Use it to get out of snares, I-frame yourself briefly, or use it to close the gap when being kited.
These are the basic abilities before adding talents.
II: Core PvP Talents
Rows T1/T2/T3/T4/T5 – Columns F1/F2/F3/F4/F5
Gust:
F1/T3: This allows your tab escape to also remove Grab/Phantom Grab/Grapple
F3/T3: This allows your tab escape to remove Stuns and Dazes, and now when you activate your trinket, you DAZE the enemy for 2 seconds.
Explanation: F1/T3 or F3/T3 always. You pick one or the other. Against classes with potent grab combos, you will spec into F1/T3. Examples are Blade Dancers, Summoners, other Destroyers and possibly Force Masters and Kung Fu Masters. It is not needed vs assassins and blade masters.
Blade Dancer grabs are considered phantom grabs. You are lifted into the air.
The Summoner grab to look out for is not actually from the Summoner but their cat. When the cat pins you down on the ground and grapples you, you must trinket out of this as it’s when they will murder you.
Kung Fu Masters tend to not use their grapples at higher ratings, but that’s not saying you won’t get grappled before reaching the higher tiers.
Hurricane (Tab):
F3/T2: This is what allows you to “spin to win”. This talent is a must because it allows you to deflect attacks and stun the enemy during the first 0.5 seconds of your spin. If you are attacked during the second 0.5 seconds of your spin, not will not deflect.
In addition upon a successful deflect, you gain 30% increased movement speed and you are resistant to slows for the next 3 seconds. You also gain 30 focus.
Typhoon (Q):
F2/T2: This talent will double the cooldown of your Typhoon from its original 30 seconds to 1 minute. This talent has a lot of text so I’ll give you the short summary. It allows you to have another I-frame for the 1st second of use. With this talent you are also immune to ALL crowd control abilities. I’d consider this talent core, as it gives cheap damage and lets you spin to win.
F2/T3: The 3rd point in typhoon makes it stun enemies for 2 seconds after hitting them 5 times with your Q. I personally don’t think it’s worth it in the arena, but maybe for 3’s you will like it.
Fury: Red/Blue Buff, also known as Rage:
F1/T4: Red Buff! Your ultimate damage ability. Gives you 100% crit rate with 30% bonus crit damage. Generates 180 focus. Reduces your defense by 100%. You are also immune all crowd control effects EXCEPT knockdown and grab. This means the against another destroyer in 1’s or 3’s, if you see them red buff, don’t use your stuns or dazes. Use AXE SWEEP!
F3/T4: Blue Buff! This is essentially another trinket for you. It will get you out of Stun and Daze, and make you immune to slow and snare. The catch is what I am about to tell you. On use it makes you immune to the next 5 instances of damage and status effects! This is similar to the ability used by blade dancers when a sword circles around them. Generates Focus as well.
Grab:
F1/T1: I’d highly recommend at least putting one point in grab for this UNLESS, you are playing a quick slam build versus KFM/FM/Assassin/BD. If playing a quick slam build, put no points in grab. It increases the duration of grab by 2 seconds. This can give you more time to wait for cooldowns, or give your teammates the chance to destroy your target.
F1/T2: Personally, I am a big fan of this talent. It makes you reduce your target’s armor by 10% for each (1) used during the grab, stacks up to five times. So, you can do insane damage with a drop combo or a power slam after stacking the debuff.
The other variation is viable, as it gives you more focus. F2/T3 is more of a pve talent that greatly increases your party’s dps.
Knee:
F3/T2 is what you want to be looking at. Not only does it break through the target’s defense, but it disables it for the next 6 seconds. After it breaks the defend, it dazes the target for 2 seconds. So who is this best against? KFM and BM! Whenever they block you gain access to this ability. Honorable mentions, breaking destroyer shields and charging into assassin’s and summoner’s during counter.
Blitz: F1/T2 OR F2/T2. The explanation, the latter is a great tool to pierce spin. Against Blade Dancers and Destroyers this talent is a must. Keep in mind this REMOVES the stun part of Blitz and enemies can not roll out of the daze. For all other cases, You want to go with the first option that increases your Stun from 2 seconds to 3 seconds.
Body Kick AKA Drag: F3/T2 is where you want to start. You can leave it at 2 points giving you a way to bring your opponents to you. An additional point into F4 will give you an AOE vacuum effect that pulls enemies in. Going into F3/T3 gives you 1 more second, giving you a 3 seconds daze when you press Z. Having 2 helps a lot, the other points are based on personal preference.
Power Slam:
F2/T3: There are multiple reasons this talent is so great. First, it changes the animation time of your slam from 0.8 seconds to 0.3. This allows you to “quick slam” classes that have a way to escape from your grab. Think FM freeze, KFM freeze, and BD/BM flock of blades. If you are fast enough, a lot of the time you can get a fast slam off before they have time react. Why is this beneficial? Not only does it bait out their cooldown, but your new and improved power slam now generates 120 focus over 4 seconds. I’m pretty sure that benefit is self explanatory. Lastly, your slam now puts a DoT effect on the enemy for 12 seconds.
Smash:
F1/T4: Do you like big numbers? Do you like instant gratification? Then this is the talent for you. It turns your original lackluster ability into a power house. Not only does it add damage but it turns it into a 8m charge. Think 10k + crits while Red buffed.
Searing/Scorching Strike:
The talents here can be situationally good against certain classes. These are sometimes the points I will readjust against FM and Summoner to help you Iframe more often and gap close for less focus. 2 points in Scorching Strike is what you want against FM. It lets you charge towards them even while chilled.
Hurl:
F1/T2: Only applicable use I can think for this talent is taking a Summoner’s cat out of play for 30 seconds. The catch is the target you use this on will regen HP while asleep. So the Summoner can keep funneling health from its cat minding the spells cooldown. I have never felt a need for this talent against Summoner’s, try at your own discretion.
Ram:
F1/T2: Doubles the range of your charge and now you gain 30 focus instead of 10. F2/T4 makes your Ram ability grant damage resistance and status effects. Think of it as another I-frame.
Stone Shield:
F4/T2: You absolutely want to have at least 2 points into stone shield. Your ability now stuns a small area in front of you for 2 seconds when activated. Adding a third point turns it into a 3 second stun.
Emberstomp:
F2/T5: This is an ability you can only acquire from the bloodshade harbor “Emberstomp – Part 2” book. This is our dream pvp ability. It gives us resistance to status effects, 400% defense, slows and doubles your lifesteal rate. Think of a pseudo Guardian Tempest, the ability a of blade dancers when a sword circles around them.
Axe Sweep:
F1/T1: Slows enemies for 6 seconds and increases the range from 3m to 5m. 1 point in Axe Sweep can be extremely valuable to knockdown enemies more reliably, especially when considering ping. The second point disables charge abilities for 6 seconds. The third penetrates Defense/Deflect. If you feel comfortable with this ability try having 3 points in Axe Sweep to go through spins and blocks. The fourth point gives you a new ability called “Upward Block”. It knocks an enemy up into the air after they are knocked down and decreases their defense for 5 seconds. Try it out and see if you like it.
Wrath:
F1/T2: No exceptions. Your left click is now on steriods. When does it change to wrath? Originally only when the target is grabbed. But somebody else has to be grabbing them. With this talent you can use Wrath during Fury AND after a Power Slam. This greatly boosts your DPS.
Judgement:
Are points necessary here? It’s up to you. I don’t use any points here because most of the time I’m left clicking Wrath is activated. Some people do like it, worth trying out but I feel there are better uses for your skill points.
Cleave:
Last but not least ! Our biggest source of sustained damage is F3/T4. You now gain 10% of it’s damage back as HP. “Maximum Boost”, means the best animation speed you can get. Consecutive uses bring its Focus cost down from 30 to 20. Critical Hits restore 10 Focus. The one thing to keep in mind is this talent makes your right click ONLY usable when you are aiming and in melee range of a target.
DO NOT USE ERADICATE ! This talent may crit harder and be aoe, but it cannot be animation cancelled, which brings us to our next point.
III: Animation Cancelling
A — Our bread and butter. No joke, this is how destroyers work. If you don’t want to do it, roll another class. Why animation cancel? Because when you do it right you hit the enemy with both your LMB and RMB in the time you would normally just hit one RMB. This gives your bonus DMG and FOCUS.
How to do it? It’s actually more simple than it looks. Press RMB then LMB.
RMB > LMB > RMB > LMB >RMB >LMB
The beauty is your aren’t constricted to using only your mouse buttons. If you’re like me, mashing left right left right isn’t comfortable.
The game binds R to LMB and T to RMB by default. You can mess around with the settings to change it to what’s most comfortable. This means you can animation cancel like this instead.
RMB > R > RMB > R > RMB > R
Some people say to hit LMB twice for every RMB. So that combo would look like this.
RMB > LMB + R > RMB > LMB + R
You really need to try it out for yourself to see what works best for you.
B — The rhythm
There are 2 different rhythms to animation cancelling based on one factor. When Wrath is activated, you can do it much faster. If you have the normal LMB + Cleave, you need to weave your combo a tad slower.
So after you Power Slam or use Fury, go fast !
Under normal conditions, you go slower.
When you are doing it properly, you actually won’t hear any sounds at all.
Practice under both conditions for perfection.
IV: Intro to PvP
It’s impossible to give you a straight up guide for each match up because people will alter their talents and play styles accordingly. All I can give you is pointers.
These are elementary ways to go up against each class. Take it with a grain of salt as I am not going to include many of your opponent’s ability names to avoid confusion.
Your opener in a 1v1 is incredibly important as it sets the tempo for the game. You will need to open differently versus different classes and skill levels of players.
Be aware that many classes can simply strafe around your charges.
The Destroyer class is the most aggressive of all. You want to be up close and personal. Don’t let your opponents breathe. Start each match sprinting out of the gates. Gliding is situational depending on the class.
A general rule of thumb is to bait your opponents trinket in a way that you still have cooldowns available to punish them for it. Destroyers are incredibly good at this, which is what makes them look overpowered in lower skilled brackets.
After their escapes are down, Ani-Cancel while weaving in CC abilities. If you are running Red Buff. Make sure to pop it before your combo.
An example of a dream combo: Blitz > Red Buff > Smash + Ani Cancel > Axe Sweep > Chase Tech with Drag or Ram > Ani Cancel > Drag or Ram > Ani Cancel > Stone Shield > Ani Cancel > Grab
If you are running defense reduction on your grab, you can do it in the opposite order for insane damage. Goes like this.
Grab > Stack debuff with wedge > let them drop naturally > Ram > Smash > Ani Cancel > Blitz > Ani Cancel > Etc
You can ad lib it any way that you want. The things to keep in mind are, make sure you have CC available before Red Buff, and to chase their roll. When your opponent Retreats, they will be I-framed for 0.5 seconds, so wait a brief moment before chasing.
Smash off your opener if it’s a stun. Red Buff when your opponent’s defensive CD’s are not up and you know you have CC’s available to get reliable DMG.
Every class has distinct I-frame type abilities. Look for their body shining/flashing.
Each class has a basic 36 second cooldown escape ability that gets them out of Status Effects. They all look a little different. Certain classes have additional escapes to be mindful of.
Des: You spin like a normal tab but it makes a different sound and you shine in a metallic way.
BM: Smaller version of what ours looks like.
BD: Even smaller version of what a BM’s looks like.
KFM: Jump up and helicopter kick. Think street fighter kick.
Summoner: Back roll into stealth.
FM: Spin into the air. Looks like BD without the sword.
Assassin: Roll back into stealth. Your screen is flashed white.
V: Class Matchups
Destroyer:
How do you win a mirror match up in any game? Mind games, and better timing. Open with either a Blitz (make sure you are F2/T2 to pierce deflect) or a Drag. Both of these will go through their spin and daze them. Your Ram ability isn’t reliable as you have to time it during the second half of their spin. Keep in mind Axe Sweep Tier 3 goes through spin and Stone Shield.
Use your I-frames to bait out their crowd control abilities and give yourself the advantage to play aggressive.
If they use Stone Shield for the HP, be sure to either grab them through it or use your talented Knee.
Tech quickly out of their daze/knockdowns. Save your trinket for when they commit Red/Blue Buff.
Blue buff instead of Red buff is most likely better, although it is a matter of preference.
BM:
Knee them when they block (F3/T2). Quick slam or SS during grab while their Flock of Blades is up (their escape out of grab that IS NOT their 36 trinket). The SS after grab will Iframe you during the Flock of Blades knockdown if done correctly. If you can bait out this cooldown (60s), your next grab you will be especially potent. Be aware of their tech chase. Using an I-frame after a retreat can prove useful.
Do not attack in Block.
BD:
It seems like they do everything we do, but better. It’s very difficult to initiate on an aware BD properly. Use the same tactic as when versing a Destroyer. Blitz (F2/T2) or Drag. Like BM’s they can get out of your grab on a 60s cooldown. Bait it with a Quick Slam or SS immediately after grabbing them. A well timed SS during grab will dodge the knockback from their Flock of Blades entirely.
Things to be aware of. When they have a sword circling around them (36s CD), they resist the next few incoming instances of DMG and Status Effects. Run.
When their sword is behind their back, this is their DPS cooldown. Trinket right as you see this happen.
When they grab you your best shot at landing a successful reversal is when a black sword goes up into the air and strikes you. Press 2 right as the sword hits you.
Bait Trinket + Grab Escape + Spinning sword = Dead BD
KFM:
Like BM, Knee’em (F3/T2). Quick slamming is a must because they can freeze themselves during a grab. Sometimes you will get the bonus focus from a quick slam right as they use their escape CD. Other times they will be too slow and eat the floor.
Good KFM’s won’t be spamming block so the fight will turn into a technical battle. Play safe and smart.
Use your Trinket after seeing a blue buff on them (their DPS CD) or after you them commit a second stun (their stomp).
They have a fairly long I-frame to and gain an I-frame buff after successfully strafing around you 3 times. Do not attack into their block.
If you feel confident with your timing, you can actually axe sweep a KFM mid air as they leap into you. It’s hard to pull off but, extremely rewarding.
Blue Buff is probably better here.
Summoner:
Some people despise them, Destroyer’s not so much. A quick Destroyer can make short work of unaware Summoners.
Open with a Blitz out of a Sprint/Glide. This will stun both the Summoner and its Cat. Instantly smash to put it on its 45s CD. If you have lower ping you can get some autos in too. Grab but be aware a Summoner’s cat can get them out of grab without trinket. So generally perform a quick slam here. A lot of Summoner’s freak out and trinket here. After they roll back into stealth get ready to unload. As soon as they come out Ram them. If things go well they are stunned for 2 seconds without a trinket. When I say unload I mean pop Fury and Ani-Cancel. Before your stun is expired refresh with an Axe Sweep or Drag. If you chased them into the wall their Retreat won’t take them anywhere making it easier to Tech chase. Use Red Spin liberally.
When rooted spin out of it instantly. If you don’t want to spin, SS. Use your Stone Shield wisely to either maintain a stunlock or block ranged attacks for Focus and HP.
Use Searing Strike as a filler in between combos and a way to help you negate DMG while also closing the gap. 2 points in Searing Strike can be helpful.
Save your Trinket for when the cat pins you down. If you don’t have a trinket here you are pretty much dead.
Be careful when trying to grab a summoner, their cat can get them out of it if they are close to each other.
I’m a big fan of running Red Buff against summoners as it helps you kill them before they can outlast you.
FM:
Spin, Spin and Spin. Of course you were already doing this but be especially mindful against FM. This class can and will kite you. When you are affected by their chill debuff, you can’t use Blitz, Ram, or even Scorching Strike. If you spec into Tier 2 Scorching Strike, you can charge them even while under the Chill effect.
So how do you catch up to them?
You use Drag. Drag not up? Spin or SS to close the distance. By SS I mean jump, do a 180, SS. So essentially it’s a dash forward. Be careful not to run yourself dry on Focus spamming Spin.
Here’s the catch for their chill debuff. If they add another application of the debuff, you will become snared and the chill effects with go away. A good FM will look to refresh the duration right before it’s up. Use this to your advantage and I-frame right before they do this.
Along with their trinket, they have 2 different freezes they can use to protect themselves. One is a freeze that will happen if you attack them while a frost orb is orbiting them. The other will look bigger with more particle effects, it heals them and with heal them even more if you hit them during the freeze.
When grabbing an FM, if you hit 3 chill stacks and freeze yourself, they can stun you out of the grab. Be aware of the frost orb buff they put on themselves.
FM’s have a ranged grab that you need to aware of especially if you are using Stone Shield for the Focus/HP instead of a stunlock.
Assassin:
This class can be very frustrating to play against in a 1v1 scenario. This class is played correctly, may be the hardest for us do a decent chunk of DMG at once to. When versing an assassin, look to get chip DMG wherever you can get it, rather than waiting for the wombo combo.
You may have guessed it already. Since you can’t hold them down for long periods of time, red buff loses its value. Persistence AKA blue buff is a valuable tool to help break you out of one of their stunlocks. Think of it as another trinket.
Assassins are yet another class that can get out of you grab. Just remember when they use their escape, your entire screen is flash banged and white. If you have a DOT on them from talented Power Slam you can see the numbers pop up through it. If timed correctly, you can I-frame their Trinket with a fast grab into SS.
Be mindful of not accidentally popping your own trinket here. If you are spamming your tab and waste it, you have likely already thrown the match. They have a lot of ways to initiate on you from stealth or from a distance so be careful. If they are kiting you, use a similar tactic as versus FM. Use your SS to close the gap and spin to break them out of stealth.
Ways to prevent them from opening on you.
- When you see them pop out of stealth you can I-frame their opener with C or SS.
- Wall hump! Keep your back to the wall or corner to limit their mobility.
- Spin cautiously and knock them out of stealth forcing them to play the catch up game.
When they shoot their poison projectile at you, (looks like green butterflies) you can dodge it with an I-frame.
Pay attention to their purple flower they place on the ground. They can escape out of one of your stuns by teleporting to it.
Lastly, when you see them striking you while blinking back and forth, this is their I-frame. If you attack them during this animation (~3s) you will heal them.
VI: 3V3
3v3’s are a great way to introduce yourself to PvP. They are far less stressful than 1’s, and you get to play with your buddies! Let’s go over the mindset for 3v3 tag match in this game.
Imagine yourself at the bar with two of your friends. You have each other as wingmen, but ultimately you are on your own. So you’re in there smooth talking this girl, things are going well. You continue to buy her drinks and you can tell she is in the palm of your hand and ready to go. Alright let’s do this, Red Buff! All of the sudden her friend stomps in and trips you up. Get used to that, because that is how Tag Matches go. It’s a 1v1 with rude interruptions.
How do you combat this? Simple, you get your crew to wingman better. You guys are so slick that you know exactly when to perform an offensive interfere OR a defensive one. When the annoying friend pops in to interrupt your game, pop those I-frames and waste their interference. If you don’t have your defensive CDs up, let your friends know so they can help you recover your game. When the opponents defensive CDs are down, this is a destroyer’s time to shine.
Interfere aggressively by immediately Red Buffing. Charge in with Ram and perform a Smash. Ani-Cancel, re-stun with Blitz. Ani-Cancel your heart out as fast as you can. Once you get good at this you will obliterate your competition.
If you want a build to start doing 3’s with, start here. This will give you a well rounded build so you don’t need to move around points each match. This is a lvl 45 Destroyer @ HM lvl 1.
In 1v1 situations, this is far from optimal. Refer to my Core PvP talents section to make the best decisions.
Closing thoughts. This guide is still TO BE CONTINUED. I am aware that this is not an expert level guide by any means and some of the information may be a little off. Feel free to message me questions or corrections.
All images used in this guide credited to Blade and Soul.
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