Yuketsu’s PvP Assassin Guide
“sin or not to sin” – a light novel by yu-kreygasm-ketsu
Who am I ?
My name is Robert, born 1991 (Germany), started gaming in 2006 with Counter Strike 1.6 and Warcraft; my nerd life began. Back then i watched “Giga TV”, a tv channel that showed professional level Warcraft 3 – i was hypnotized. Later on I picked up Call of Duty. I loved Call of Duty 4 Pro Mod and that was the time where the competitive mindset starting growing on me. I played many scrims/matches via ESL.
Being better, faster, smarter than your enemy – that’s what it was and is about. Superiority, obtained by skill. I’ve played multiple MMO’s – started with FlyFF, then some random asian MMO i forgot the name of, later on World of Warcraft and Guild Wars 2. I hit 2300 Rating in Season 6 with Rogue (me)/Warlock as well as 2300 in 3v3, Rogue, Ret, Hunter.
Besides that, I used it be a raid- and rated battleground leader in WoW. Objectivity & Performance are the keywords. Do your job and I will give you the world. Be shit and expect to be called out / replaced. I decide to not have patience with bad or weak minded players.
I am playing Blade & Soul since Alpha 2 NA/EU, which started October 16 2015.
My highest rating in Alpha/CBT was 1696.
I then started writing this guide (time between CBT and Launch) and got supported by amazing people like VoidkIng, Arrow (now Virus), Himelia, Xukania, suk12355, SolemnHan.
I hit 2158 (Diamond) in Pre-Season 1, which was first applied on launch. I hit 2200+ last season (Pre-Season 2), which was Rank 1 Sin on the 26th of March. As you can see I greatly improved by talking to outstanding Assassin Players, analyzing footage, etc.
Changelog
30.01.2016 – 13:38 – introduced Changelog to show changes, making it easier to stay up to date
30.01.2016 – 15:22 – updated Summoner Build & matchup section, updated credits & how to support
01.02.2016 updated Force Master matchup section
06.02.2016 MASSIVE overhaul of entire guide up until matchups (content, formatting) – continuing tomorrow!
07.02.2016 Massive overhaul part 2 – I made it until KFM (i mean i stopped right before KFM) – more tomorrow!
07./08.02.2016 Finished the update! (also minor spelling corrections)
16.02.2016 Updating the guide for the Rising Waters Patch!
17.02.2016 Updated all builds for all matchups (HM1 to HM5)
21.02.2016 Fully updated for Rising Waters Patch!
26.03.2016 Updating the guide for Silverfrost Mountains Patch
13.04.2016 Misc. Updates
Introduction
Welcome to my Arena PvP Assassin Guide for Blade & Soul (Region: North America & Europe).
The consensus you will dive into has been and is a living, breathing & ongoing effort of me, Yuketsu, and the PvP Community (Official Forums, Dojo, Reddit, Twitch Chat) that decides to support and help me in this project.
In here you will find a wide & deep range of information, suitable for Beginners, Rookies and Veterans of either the sneaky, shadowy class we cover here, Assassin, or any other class, eager to nick every little advantage they can get from other class guides. You’re all welcome to participate in the conversation!
Tip for beginners: Sit down with a cup of your favorite coffee/tea & read up every ability & sub-spec on Bns Tree – while I will go over the abilities, listing every detail about a point spent would bloat this guide by a lot; and it’s already pretty big. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Disclaimer
This Guide is purely for Arena Player versus Player (1v1). I don’t cover PvE or Open world PvP
Terms & Keys
General
BM Blade Master
Des Destroyer
Sum Summoner
FM Force Master
KFM Kung Fu Master
Sin Assassin
BD/LBM Blade Dancer (old: Lyn Blade Master)
WL Warlock
LB/LMB | RB/RMB left (Mouse-)Button & right (Mouse-)Button
Tech / Teching rolling out of dazes or knockdowns
Trinket escape mechanism (tab by default)
Tech chasing frame perfect control follow up on enemy techs
Trinket chasing frame perfect control follow up on enemy trinket(s)
i frame invulnerability frame(s) within an animation
Neutral Game neither player has a positional advantage
(often times when 2 players are at 10m-20m range)
Combo Game how well a class can juggle
Punish Game how well a class can capitalize on an opponent’s mistake
Auto Combo combo that is inescapable
ani cancel cancelling an animation of an ability which has
already been registered as “hit” by the system
cc crowd control – status effects like a slow, stun, knockdown
gcd global cooldown – the cooldown one has after using an
ability (not every ability has/puts you on gcd)
cd cooldown
gc ground counter or grapple counter
oos out of stealth
ooc out of combat
oom out of mana (in B&S that’s focus or Chi)
regen can mean regenerated or regeneration
ku knockup / airborne
kd knockdown
Ms movement speed
daze groggy
unconscious paralyzed
F 1/2/… Form 1, 2 etc. for skilltrees (horizontal)
T 1/2/… Tier 1, 2 etc. for skilltrees (vertical)
Sin specific
Body swap Tab skill [out of Stealth] / Turning Leaf
Flower V-Skill / Lotus of- Escape/Poison/Rescue / Fighting Spirit
c iframes c speced into Lotus Fury
c stun c speced into Lotus Kick
Smokebomb Smoke Screen
Decoy Stance oos
Stealth Stance in stealth
Tech Retreat
Trinket Stealth
Air Bomb Throwing Mine T3 F2
Infiltrate Shadow Dash
Moths Venom Swarm
Shadow Step Sneak Attack
Web Webbing
Silver Wire Highwire
SS Backstep
Firecracker Bombard
Sidestep / Q Shadow Step
Key
[C] Core for a successful PvP Build
[O] Decent option
[E] PvE talent
[G] Garbage talent
Class Synopsis
Assassins are almost what you expect from the name in conjunction with an MMO.
Stealth, Poison, Dagger, Crits. While these parts stays the same, the Assassin plays different if you compare it to the Rogue in WoW. We still have the ability to stealth, it’s – with a few exceptions – very short-living. The secret for a longer time in the shadows is to refresh it; and here lies the tricky part. On another note, we aren’t directly “invisible”. One can see the silhouette around us.
Talking about difficulty, the publisher itself rates it 4 out of 5. The highest is currently Kung Fu Master with 4,5. The community says it’s the second hardest class. Our combo potential is mind blowing; a skilled Assassin is able to juggle the enemy as he pleases. While that takes a good amount of game knowledge & mechanics, it is extremely satisfying. On the flip side, we can lose the control of the fight in a blink of an eye, and here comes the intricate part of the Sin – if the enemy counters something, how well are we prepared; what countermeasures did we commence 10 steps before that happened?
Examining the combat of the Assassin – we (can) have the steering wheel. We set the pace, decide what we do with our enemy, the positioning & the order of events. Our main focus lies in tracking enemy escape abilities & punishing them on use. While that sounds easy, Assassins can be “read” like every class, so it is our job to make surprising, unexpected attacks to throw our enemy off.
Mastering the combo game is exciting! Poisons, Knockdowns, Stuns, Dazes – while there are “cookie-cutter” combinations, you have to adapt to the situations. Enemies will use their escape mechanics differently.
Skilltree- & Ability Analysis
[TAB]
Trinket
0/3 only bails you out of kd and unconscious, too weak by itself
1/3 mandatory. You need to get out of stun and daze [C]
2/3 optional. Against classes that grapple – Des, FM, BD [mandatory against
Summoners]
3/3 I personally consider 3 points a complete waste, 5% Heal on a 36s
cd and ONLY when used from grapples? Please.
Notes: Can be iframed and chased – very obvious where you will land. Adapt
on your opponent and keep in mind that you can save 1 skillpoint against every
class other than Des, Fm, Sum, Bd.
Body Swap
-/-
Notes: CAN be blocked. Enemy can’t turn camera after usage, standard combo here is [TAB] + [1]. The short “disable” cannot be trinketed. Viable opener in arena out of Glide / Midair, as well as great against spinning classes because it goes through spin. If it’s on cooldown, it won’t show in the “cooldown bar” – keep track of it! (18 sec)
Shadow Kick
-/-
Notes: Basically NEVER in use for the Damage or 2 Chi generation. Extremely good to cancel stealth early . Example: into Body swap followed by Infiltrate.
Hook Kick
-/-
Notes: ONLY use when enemy is poisoned, you gain stealth AND 5 Chi, but cost
1 so overall +4, 3m Range. Great re-stealth mechanic. Part of all major damage combos.
Flash Kick
any/any – [G]
Notes: Considering you NEED webbing to effectively make use out of the enemy’s status effect ku/kd by setting up your combo, preparing for the next phase of the match, I won’t go into detail here. It’s a bad talent for PvP.
One of the worst Sin abilities in the game.
Webbing
2/3 allows you to keep enemy kd/ku for 4 seconds, core [C]
3/3 this only increases range from 8m to 16m, not worth
Notes: Absolute essential, only 1 point in Webbing needed – the extra range is redundant. Web is one of your key-components for the combo game. Great to place flower, smokebomb, moths and more. Ku can NOT be trinketed, Kd CAN.
Depending on the timing on Webbing after Sweeping Gale/Volley you can either hold them in the ku or kd state. Most of the time we are aiming to get Webbing off on the kd, that way we can Infiltrate. (More on that under: Advanced Mechanics > Combos)
Sweeping Gale
-/-
Notes: Needs Daze/Stun – Necessary for air combo- & combo initiation. Be careful on pressing “Tab”, because it can accidentally trigger Webbing right after Sweeping Gale got used & you miss the opportunity to squeeze more damage in with Volley.
Also has a cooldown that has to be tracked!
[F]
Shadowslip
-/-
Notes: A teleport. 2 Chi regen comes in handy, also the range is surprisingly high, 16m. Shadow Slip is used in 2 ways: You gap-close or just iframe something with SS and follow up with Shadowslip; then Leaf Shift procs. The other way is to instantly use it after you tabbed, followed by Spinal Tap. Careful: Enemy’s can turn 180° and block you. Can be ani canceled in stealth, with Lightning Rod.
Lightning Crash
-/-
Notes: ALWAYS procs after Heart Stab in stealth, sort of ani-cancels with each other. Regenerates 1 Chi.
Dark Strike
1/2 1 Chi Regen on a crit is decent
2/2 increased damage on 5 poison stacks & stacks 1 bleed
Notes: Depends on playstyle, I love Lightning Pierce a lot more than Dark Strike, and it’s easier to pull off, because you don’t have to think about pressing F in between your regular RB/LB ani cancel – works good against summoners if you go for the CC style of play.
Close Shave
2/2 our go-to F Skill, great to use between combos [C]
Notes: Extremely valuable – our filler between stuns in our main damage combo. Renders enemy “cc’d” the same way Body swap does.
Lightning Pierce
2/2 Lightning Crash on steroids, only procs on Heart Stab crit, decent for
the stealth playstyle.
Notes: A possible 2-Point ability to increase damage against Summoner, mainly.
Stomp
-/-
Notes: Default “F” against enemies in melee range & knockdown state. I have honestly never found myself in a situation where I used this.
Swiftstep
1/1 changes the default Daze after Swiftstep to kd, great against spinning
classes (Destroyer, Blade Dancer)
Notes: 2 Ways to use: SS -> Shadowslip -> Swiftstep or just out of Woodblock. Great to get enemy to tech. CAREFUL: Enemy can turn around 180° and block/deflect. The kd is amazing to bait techs from spin classes or just instantly web them (make sure you’re familiar with a different combo rotation because you can’t knock up – considering you have no web). Core part of the dazelock combo if no points are used.
Tech
-/-
Notes: Your main cc removal for daze/knockdown. 12s cooldown. Can be tech chased. Has i frames in its animation.
[1]
Thrash
-/-
Notes: One of the 3 abilities you’re able to use while grappled / suppressed / force-gripped. Players tend to spam this for damage. Dangerous to use, because it uses a gcd; unable to use the Counter.
Shuriken Flurry
-/-
Notes: Let’s you stand up after a kd, damage is basically non-existent, slows enemy for 8s. CAREFUL: Knocks you down again, if enemy hits you in the animation. Can be blocked/deflected. Stun, daze, knockback, kd resistant for 1s on successful escape.
Cyclone Sweep
0/2 renders enemy unconscious for 30s, possible use: Pet CC
Does have a higher cd though – 45s
1/2 spending 1 point makes it a kd, great for stun/daze immunities
2/2 F1 range is now 4m, can only be used if in range
the 6s movement-ability lock is great against charging classes
2/2 F2 turns it into a 3 second daze
Notes: The kd forms are great against LBM/Des because spin only grants daze/stun immunity. F2 Cyclone Sweep is great for tech-chasing . Be careful to not get caught by spins or the reflect trying to use this.
Shadow Drain
2/2 great for the Stealth-Spec vs Sum & FM
Notes: Splendid stealth harassment tool, as it not only refreshes stealth but also works as a Chi generator. Only worth specing into classes that have no easy access into stealth removal/aoe (Best used against: Sum & FM; mediocre usage: BM & KFM, figuratively impossible usage: Des & BD)
Infiltrate
0/4 one of THE abilities a sin has. Either a charge tool or our simple
stealth, if used behind/sideways an enemy.
1/4 increases the speed/animation time – necessary
2/4 F1 built-in evasion bonus – really only comes in play when simply
charging from the front
3/4 F1 reduces cooldown to 6s. This is the GOAT. [C]
4/4 F1 gain -1- additional Chi when entering Stealth, pretty pointless,
especially because you, most of the time, cap Chi on use.
Notes: Range 1m-4m is a deadzone and good players will know how to abuse this.
Taunting cats are an amazing re-stealth opportunity – make sure to track position and abuse that as much as possible.
Sidewinder
2/3 F2 turns your 9s/6s charge that provides stealth you into a 30s [G]
garbage ability that cripples you, please keep away.
3/3 F2 removes the 1m-4m deadzone from the above, wish Infiltrate had
that
Notes: One of the worst sin abilities in the game. Should never be used.
[2]
Slipping Lotus
-/- requires good timing. 0,8s window to counter, breaks grapple.
Notes: Some classes are easier to counter than others, watch out for certain animations, I will go into details under the matchups.
Time Bomb
0/2 decent damage for 1 Chi, unspeced 60s cooldown. Has an
interesting mechanic with mines.
1/2 any points invested lower CD by 15s, dazes. Removes
mine-interaction. [O]
2/2 changes daze to knockdown, which works well against BD/Des
hardest part is going to be to place the Time Bomb – too risky
Notes: Explosion does NOT break Webbing. Really good synergy with Shadowstep (Tech bait/ Tech punish). Keep in mind that Time Bomb also does not trigger (the first step of it, the plant) any sort of blocks, not even Wood Block or the Dandelion from Summoners. More about this under Advanced Mechanics.
Straw Doll
-/- basically Woodblock, just on 0,8s channel time.
Notes: Keep in mind that it’s not always good to instantly spam Straw doll, adapt to your enemy, have different timings. Can be deflected if proced off of Spins.
Decoy
0/3 one of our main abilities, crucial to use well timed
1/3 4 instead 3 Chi recovery, very weak talent
2/3 F1 creates a shield if it doesn’t proc – decent against better players
who have the patience to wait out Decoy
3/3 F1 besides the T2 effect, also heals for 2% [O]
2/3 F2 gives dandelion protection to nearby party members within 16m,
chi recovery, reduces the cooldown shadow invasion by 6s [E]
3/3 F2 on top of the T2F2 bonus, also grants 5% over 10s – bad
2/3 F3 reduces the 1,5s channel to, burns 2Chi/20Chi for Des
3/3 F3 on top of the T2 effect, also has the deflect effect [O]
Notes: Form 1 is great for survival/time builds, mostly going to be used against Summoners/Persistence Destroyers (maybe even FM). F2 is a pure PvE talent and its “party member” applications do not apply to you. Form 3 is great against Force Masters and Blade Dancer, it requires delicate timing but has incredible potential (Blade Dancers pentaslash can be daze-wood blocked this way)
[3]
Bolt Step
0/3 simply stuns the enemy
1/3 reduces the Chi cost
2/3 increases CD to 60s but refreshes stealth, core [C]
3/3 besides the T2 bonuses, also blinds/muddles enemy. optional [O]
Notes: Great re-stealthing tool – beginners will trinket this stun, leading into a very favorable situation. Good players will read you using this ability and counter you. Stun can simply be avoided by either spinning or SS-ing, as well as sidestepping it. You won’t see people do this in Bronze or low-mid Gold though. The “jump back” part of the animation can be canceled, more under Advanced Mechanics.
Shadow Slash
0/5 simple Damage Ability, not worth specing into
1/5 increased Damage
2/5 F1 stacks poison on certain status effects & deals extra damage, still
meh
3/5 F1 100% crit chance vs -other classes cc- and Stun/Daze, really good
for burst damage [O]
5/5 F1 faster animation, let’s you cast it twice – my new favorite ability!
2/5 F2 turns into AoE, can be used to get people out of stealth
3/5 F2 increased damage, F2 seems pointless
5/5 F2 generates chi & resets cd on kill – solely for PvE in my opinion
3/5 F3 still AoE, knockdown for 3s, locks movement abilities AND slows,
amazing punish tool, great against spin classes [O]
5/5 F3 8m range knockdown, adds a poison stack – top tier ability
2/5 F4 lowers damage, as well as cd to 3s – PvE Talent [E]
3/5 F4 reduces animation time from T2
5/5 F4 Turns Shadow Slash into Venom Slash
Notes: T3F1 (as well as the HM version) is a huge damage boost, best used after a c-stun, T3F3 is an amazing tech-punishing or cc-prolonging tool. You do have to invest 3 full points into it though, to gain any value out of it. All other forms are useless in my opinion.
[4]
Lightning Rod
0/3 core Ability by itself
1/3 reduces Chi Cost by 1, putting it to 3 – worth if you have too many
points
2/3 F1 from the 3 possible forms to go, this is what we are looking at
reducing the CD by 6s can come in really handy! [O]
3/3 F1 1 Chi regen per enemy hit
2/3 F2 sets chi to 0, increases damage, lowers CD loses stun, PvE [E]
3/3 F2 20 Chi gained over 5s when enemy hit
2/3 F3 sets chi to 0, changes target mechanic, lowers CD, but PvE tool
3/3 F3 recovers 3 chi on successful hit, as well as T2 bonuses [E]
Notes: The most “viable” talent point distribution here would be T2F1. The reduced cooldown and cost make it great!
Poison Breath
0/3 great tool against Sin Mirror to get the enemy out of stealth (also
optional against Summoners [O]
1/3 increased damage, has casting time
2/3 same as T1
3/3 same as T1
Notes: Your choices here are: Either specing 0 points into it, receiving a great tool to reveal enemies in stealth (using this as a Poison-Stack tool is rather bad, there are better ways), spending 3 points to get Venom Swarm, or Choke Bomb – more on those abilities further down.
Moths
3/3 simply Amazing. The Sin’s bread and butter [C]
Notes: Moths are a gift of the gods. It has a slow travel time, which has multiple facettes. You can bait out SS’ from your opponent, use it before starting your Wombo Combo (right before Infiltrate), use it in the Opening/Neutral Game – it’s mindblowing (more about that under Combos/Neutral Game).
Choke Bomb
3/3 has high cooldown, but instantly applies 5 poison stacks.
Notes: Can be used against either FM’s or Sum – instantly stacks 5 Poison Stacks – followed up by Lightning Stride, great for quick burst, big downside is the 60s cd, restricting its use to 2 times in an arena. The choice between Bomb and Mist comes down to personal preference.
Plaguemist
3/3 15s less cooldown than Choke Bomb, requires enemy to stand in the aoe to stack up the poison stacks (best used when opponent is cc’d)
Notes: Depends on how long you can lock someone in one place, the longer your enemy stands in the Mist, the more Poison stacks are applied (which is probably the con, making it too bad to use – Moths or Bomb are much more reliable). Can be used 3 times in Arena, due to its 45s cd.
[LB]
Thunderstruck
-/- your ku finisher, best/only used when Webbing is on cd.
Notes: You will ask yourself why Sins don’t often/ever use Thunderstruck to finish the air combo. The reason behind that: Considering you have Webbing, you have another 4 seconds to set up Flower, Mine, Smoke, Moths, Infiltrate and more. Does stack 1 poison stack for 10 seconds, though.
Volley
-/- refreshes ku status, used after Sweeping Gale.
Notes: Make sure to target your enemy (directly look his direction) while he is ku, you have a small time window to either moths, smokebomb or flower for example.
Spinal Tap
0/3 one of our core tools to begin/prolong combos.
1/3 just reduces Chi cost by 1, not worth as a standalone skillpoint.
2/3 F1 core, pierces defense, amazing against BM, Des, Sum, KFM, Sin [C]
3/3 F1 You stay in stealth after usage, removes piercing defense – not
worth
2/3 F2 Chi regen instead of consumption, removes Stun [E]
3/3 F2 reduces cd, increases damage from T2
Notes: The pierce defense is always a safe route and generally considered core. I started using T3F1 against FM’s and Summoners. It’s great against FM’s to bait out trinkets & great against Summoners to pump in 3-4 seconds of RB+F, try it out.
Mist Slash
0/3 50% of our conventional ani cancel, 1 Chi regen
1/3 increased damage
2/3 1 additional Chi regenerated on Crit [O]
3/3 F1 additional damage on stunned/dazed targets
3/3 F2 increased damage on poisoned targets
Notes: I love to put 3 points into Mist Slash – Form 1. The damage is surprisingly high and the additional Chi makes Heart Stab cost 0 after a crit – definitely worth experimenting with – now with the last patch it’s almost core to have at least 2 points.
Silver Wire
-/- mostly used after Swiftstep, has 3 ways to “finish”
Notes: Has a 9-16m range, meaning 0-8m is a deadzone. Can’t be trinketed
Best/easiest use is after the stun from Swiftstep. Core tool in our daze lock combo.
[RB]
Blink Step
-/- Gain stealth after use, putting you on the opposite side of your
enemy.
Notes: Is very easily countered & punished, because easy to read, use carefully. Can only used when sprinting/gliding.
Guard Break
-/- one of the 2 “pierces defense” abilities a Sin has.
Notes: Great for any classes than can block/counter, can be used in and out of stealth.
Heart Stab
0/4 our other 50% to our main ani cancel combo.
1/4 this point allows to remain stealthed when used Heart Stab.
2/4 allows instant-animation against certain CC types.
3/4 this point unlocks Venom Pierce
4/4 reduces Chi cost from 3 to 2 – vital. [C]
Notes: This is basically THE Sin ability that defines our class. High damage, poisons, can be used in stealth. Core tool for animation canceling, more about this in the sections below.
Firecracker
3/4 turns Heart Stab into Firecracker – No. [G]
4/4 just No.
Notes: Bad. New year’s eve is over.
Lightning Stride
-/-
Notes: One of our hardest hitting abilities, damage mainly depends (scaling) on Poison Stacks (which are consumed on successful hit) also a great mobility tool (Can even dodge enemy abilities with it – Shadow Dash Stun from Sins i.e.). Good as a “finisher” after a combo.
[Q]
Sidestep
0/2 the conventional sidestep/Q – procs stealth on resist [C]
1/2 increases Chi regeneration to 6, from 4, weak point.
2/2 makes Heart Stab 100% Crit on Proc
Notes: Amazing Tool to get another chance to restealth, you can Q charges.
Sidestep Left
2/2 increases range to 8M, great tool against ranged classes [O]
.
Notes: Really strong against all ranged classes, considering all of them have way to cc you that they can kite you. Can be used as a gap closer. I started using this as a default tool.
[E]
Shunpo
0/3 simple, nontarget dash – 8m in camera direction
1/3 30% ms buff for 6s after use
2/3 F1 adds iframes & cleanses charge removal, invaluable! [C]
3/3 F1 readies Lightning Stride on resist (does NOT RESET cd!)
Sidestep Right
2/3 F2 basically the T2F2 Q with a ms buff, .5s iframes after cast, a longer cd &
no stealth on resist [O]
3/3 F2 readies Shadowslip on resist
3/3 F3 readies Dark Strike/Lightning Pierce on resist [E]
Notes: Shunpo is not the hero we deserve but the hero we need(ed). Now with Silverfrost Mountains & its balance updates we finally received a real immobilize cleanse. It’s great for juking, initiating, disengaging & pretty much everything you can make out of it in the appropriate situation. It’s our most valuable utility tool & overall enhances the already fast pace of sins. Get used to use it a lot.
[S]
Backstep / SS
-/-
Notes: Very versatile tool, can be a gap closer as well as an escape mechanic. Built in iframes (even slightly after the animation) making it possible to iframe ranged attacks, charges & more. Allows great counter plays.
[Z]
[Y] (for German Keyboards)
Mine
0/3 great tech chase tool, even without any points spent [C]
1/3 8s slow allows for great RB F harassment in stealth
2/3 this Tier allows to daze (on top of kd) for ani cancel [O]
3/3 launches dazed/stunned enemy into the air
Notes: Can also be used in stealth to deploy. One of the core punish tools against enemy Tech. Easily setup after Webbing. Careful: T2 daze only procs on poisoned enemy.
Ice Mine
2/3 freezes opponent, increases CD massively [O]
3/3 disables movement abilities for 6s after freeze.
Notes: Careful: Enemy is invulnerable while frozen. Casting Moths too early makes them disappear in the nether. Decent option against Des with Fortitude or Sin mirror. I have also started using this against Blade Dancers.
Throwing Mine
2/3 turns your regular mine into a throwing mine – Stacks poison. [O]
3/3 F1 reduces Chi cost by 1 – rather weak point
3/3 F2 the so called “air bomb” – very high damage, increased Chi+cd
Notes: This is a decent option for 2 reasons: Throwing Mine is effective against ranged classes or allow for a more passive playstyle. The default damage is rather high and the cooldown of 24s allows us to spam it fairly often, the poison stack comes in very handy. The air bomb is actually better than it looks. The damage is one of the highest damage abilities Sins currently have and our current patch has comparatively low HP numbers. More on that under Mechanics & Matchups. Don’t count as projectiles, can’t be blocked.
[X]
Shuriken
0/3 Range Chi Generator, generally rarely used
1/3 F1 increases Damage
2/3 F1 increases Chi regen to 2
3/3 F1 crit procs Shadow Slip
Notes: Compared to Smokescreen a rather weak ability on its own, generally more of a PvE skill.
Smokescreen
2/3 F2 amazing Chi regen tool, the immunities are very useful [C]
3/3 F2 10% HP regen if you stand in full duration, also increased cd
3/3 F3 an instant stealth without any prerequisites [O]
Notes: T2 is what I consider core, has amazing synergy with our main combo because our stunned target (if he did use Tab) is stationary for the entire duration. Our F3T3 is also amazing & strong against classes with overwhelming openers (like pentaslash from BD/BM as well as a core for me, against Summoners)
Throwing Dagger
-/-
Note: Prerequisite for Shadow Step (below). Careful: Can be deflected. Stacks 1x poison. Additionally, falls under “projectile” category, multiple classes have tools to iframe those. Also applies 15s slow
Shadow Step
0/2 teleports you to target, stacks bleeding, useless without the cc
1/2 adds 1 Chi regen,
2/2 F1 dazes enemy for 2s, great setup tool after using Flower [C]
2/2 F2 doesn’t cc, 7 Chi regen -> PvE [E]
Note: Falls under the category “charge” – can be Q’d and punished in other ways, more on that under Mechanics.
Acrid Star
-/-
Note: Procs after you resisted an enemy ability, stacks 1 poison stack AND provides Chi regen, try to always use when available. Can’t be deflected, so always safe to use.
Highwire Act
-/-
Note: Only available when enemy is affected by Silver Wire, kd on the spot. Can be used in combination with body swap.
[C]
High Voltage
-/-
Note: Usable after Silver Wire – I personally love to use High Voltage and body swap right after that – the damage is also one of the hardest hitting abilities from Sins.
Lotus Fury
0/3 simply a damage ability
1/3 grants iframes for the entire duration of the animation [C]
2/3 this point adds healing to our iframes, extremely strong
3/3 adds another second of iframes after the animation
Note: I am going to combine the notes for Lotus Fury & Kick below.
Lotus Kick
2/3 lowers cd, chi cost & range – removes iframes, adds stun
3/3 increases the stun duration by another second [C]
Note: Lotus Fury & -Kick are one of our most important tools – it’s amazing that we have the choice between either having a “Penta Slash” with full iframes & built-in heal or a great stun mechanic. Depending on playstyle, enemy class & enemy player, this is one of our most valuable skills, more on that under mechanics & matchups.
[V]
Lotus of Escape
0/4 a 2-step teleport – #1 place down a stationary flower #2 teleport to
it – highly valuable and very versatile in usage, HP +Chi regen, iframes while usage and 1s after
1/4 gets us out of stun, daze and grab [C]
3/4 F1 moves near death party member, PvE Talent [E]
4/4 F1 increases duration [E]
Note: 20s lifetime when placed, 45s cd when used, 30s cd when used while not being cc’d. Our mini trinket – unmeasurable value. Aim for a 100% uptime to always use a flower before trinket. Can also be simply used for mobility. More on that under mechanics. F2 isn’t worth looking into, concerning PvP.
Lotus of Poison
3/4 F2 completely changes the mechanic of Lotus of Escape. Teleports
an enemy, poisoned enemy.
4/4 F2 adds 3s daze
Note: 20s lifetime, 45s cd. I have honestly never used this ability in arena, so it’s hard to give feedback/advice on this one. I feel that T3F1 Flower is by far the strongest: it’s simply…almost another trinket.
Lotus of Rescue
3/4 F3 completely changes the mechanic of Lotus of Escape. 15s stealth for
you when flower is placed, party members get teleported to you on
2nd use if they stand in the flower aoe
4/4 F3 adds 3s stealth for party members after the teleport
Note: I only see this being used to skip trash mobs in PvE.
Fighting Spirit
3/4 F4 completely changes the mechanic of Lotus of Escape. 15s stealth and
huge damage buff
4/4 F4 adds cooldown reset of all Poisons on 4
Note: High risk, high reward – it kind of turns you into a KFM. Steroid on demand but only one trinket. I only use it against Summoners, but it’s definitely viable in almost any matchup (I don’t recommend it against Destroyers/BD)
Pull Silver Wire
-/-
Notes: Pulls target in front of you, dazes for 2s. Viable alternative to High Voltage – enemy can be ku right after the pull. Careful: Be prepared for the enemy to tech. Mandatory tool for the long dazelock combo – mostly followed up by bodyswap.
Basic Mechanics
This section is going to cover the foundation, on which you will further build on. While this can be skipped by players who have played Sin in the past, one might as well give it a read. I am not going into detail about certain cooldowns / prerequisites of Sin abilities, because that information is in the topic above & on www.bnstree.com.
Under CC Types you will find terms of other classes that might sound confusing to you, check those out on bns tree as well to understand the mechanics, cooldowns, interactions.
Your mind
There are 2 keywords here. Objectivity & positivity. If you want to be a good or even better player you have to be able to take criticism and improve (it’s obviously important that the given critique is correct).
The other thing is your attitude.
If you’re not positive, thinking like a winner, the outcome is already determined.
Here are 2 videos I have bookmarked for several years now that nail what I am trying to say. (click the images)
“Turning pro is a mindset. If we are struggling with fear, self-sabotage, procrastination, self-doubt, etc., the problem is, we’re thinking like amateurs. Amateurs don’t show up. Amateurs crap out. Amateurs let adversity defeat them. The pro thinks differently. He shows up, he does his work, he keeps on truckin’, no matter what.” – Steven Pressfield
“Would you like me to give you a formula for success? It’s quite simple, really. Double your rate of failure.” – Thomas Watson
“If you ever blame the enemy’s class on your loss, I will find you and I will slap you.” – That’s from me
CC Types
Stun renders one stunned, unable to do move or use
offensive abilities
Daze puts one into a dazed state, neither movement nor
offensive are usable
Knockdown puts one into a knocked down state, enabling
“ground counters”
Knockup puts one into the airborne state, no way to escape
Unconscious puts one into a lengthy cc
High HP regen is enabled during this status effect
Taken damage breaks the effect
Grappled puts one into a state of suppression
Paralyze inescapable cc
Know your enemy
There are multiple approaches to learn about other classes. The first one is a rather dry and theoretical one, which is to read up on bns tree. One problem here is the difference in patches. So please take this information with a grain of salt.
The next step is to watch pvp guides from other classes, people normally go more into detail like I do, as well as talking about the Sin matchup, allowing us to steal precious information to cross their plans!
The last step is the most fun one – friends and guildies sparring you. You can learn from them; what goals they have, playing against you – as well as getting to know what they struggle with & what you are doing right. There is no point into rushing in arena when you don’t know enemy’s cc or ways to escape.
Your UI
Shift + F1
Make yourself comfortable. Your UI is what you will have your eyes on; a lot.
Configuring your interface as early as possible & making changes as you progress is the best way to get used to it – know it inside out. You have to feel every single pixel on your screen.
Tracking your cooldowns
It’s important to know your own cooldowns in and out – the best way of doing that is first of all obviously reading the tooltips. Above that it’s just gamesense, which is acquired over time; by playing a lot. The same goes for your enemy. A slight disadvantage is, that some abilities aren’t tracked by the cooldown tracker ingame, example: SS is, Body Swap isn’t.
Here is an example of my UI.
Buffs and Debuffs
These are easily tracked and should be put in a spot on your UI that makes it comfortable to read (Shift + F1 for fast access to the UI Manager). Examples: An important buff is your flower, a debuff on the enemy is your Throwing Dagger & a debuff on you can be the frost icon from FM’s.
Advanced Mechanics
Opener / Neutral game
You can use Flower, Body Swap, SS or Moths, for example “midair” between gliding,by pressing: Space > Ability > Space in rapid succession. This way you can place your flower safely, without risking to get caught by charges (which aren’t available to use against gliding enemies).
That allows you to have a more advantageous position of yourself and your flower. More about this under matchups. Note: It does put you into combat, disabling your ability to sprint again.
Always mix up your openers/tactics, especially from Gold on where you can see your opponent’s name & when you play against the same person.
Like endah says – “Play the player not the matchup boys.“
Mid-/Lategame
Time Bomb and Shadow Step Synergy
T1 Time Bomb gives us a daze, the plan here is to plant the time bomb & combo it with good timing with our Shadow Step.
Dream scenario: use Time Bomb -> use Throwing Dagger -> use Shadow Step -> enemy Tech -> Time Bomb goes off, punishing the tech -> proceed with combo
This requires timing, the right matchup (Time Bomb is extremely hard to pull off against Des/BD & the timing has to be precise, because Tech has iframes)
Swiftstep is a mechanic that can be ani canceled to avoid getting countered/punished for using an ability that is very obvious for experienced players because it has a long animation by itself. The best way to do that is between the 2nd and 3rd “step” of the animation (picture below). You will cancel that with Q if you anticipate that your enemy is trying to punish you for it. Another way to cancel it, is with LB. An amazing cancel is shown in the following video by suk12355 – a diamond Sin from KR – http://www.twitch.tv/suk12355/v/26936686 (17s)
Trinket: Upon hitting an enemy with the flash the enemy will be disabled (same thing that happens when you Body swap someone) for about 1 second. If you successfully manage to disable someone with the flash you can use that second to start off a combo. Tab -> F -> LMB is the combo here . This is possible because Shadowslip is available upon using your trinket.
This is however only recommended when the opponent has no trinket because you can get dazed by the trinket and further on chased and as you don’t have your trinket at this point, it puts you in a really bad spot.
Cancel Lotus Fury
The same way you can cancel Swiftstep. If you see your enemy using abilities into your animation, press Q for a free re-stealth.
In Sin mirrors it’s a known technique to Q the last animation of Lotus Fury- try to just cancel yours by stopping at 3/4.
Punishing Techs
We have a couple of different abilities to punish enemy Techs.
T3F3 Shadow Slash is an amazing tool for tech punish – you have to spend 3 though.
F1 of our Mine tree is also a great tool.
Shadow Step & Time Bomb are nice as well, but have to be thought about in advance.
Another, more tricky one, is your Leaf Shift after a Tech, you proc it via Decoy. Generally speaking, it is a better idea to use the other skills because it has the highest ramp up time.
iFraming Trinkets
In our conventional 100-0 combo, try to Q after the ku, Volley, Web, Moths and Infiltrate. Most Trinkets are used here, either before the use of Lightning Rod or even before that. Another common Trinket usage is (considering your opponent knows you speced that) right after your C Stun, because it is our longest stun & has a longer cooldown than Lightning Rod, but they pay with health for it.
Combos
Pocket Combos
SS -> F -> 3
Backstep -> Shadow Slip -> kd Shadow Slash
SS -> F -> C [speced C Stun]
Backstep – Shadow Slip – Lotus Kick
Tab -> Tab -> 1
In stealth: Strike (cancel stealth early) -> Body swap -> Infiltrate
Note: If you’re close enough you can Heart Stab before following with Lightning Rod or Spinal Tap.
If you’re too far away (or just prefer that over Heart Stab) you can press X for Throwing Dagger. Warning: Using X here disables you to use smokebomb freely when you’re going for the “full combo” (explained below)
Note: You can ani cancel your Shadow Slip with Lightning Rod (4 in stealth)
Here’s a scenario for that:
[in stealth] SS -> F-ani canceled with 4
Backstep -> Shadow Slip -> Lightning Rod
Inescapable Mini-Combo
[not confirmed on Live EU Ping]
Tab -> 1 -> LB -> F -> Tab -> 4 -> F [optional: 2 -> RB]
Body Swap -> Infiltrate -> Spinal Tap -> Close Shave -> Hook Kick -> Lightning Rod -> [Close Shave] -> [optional: Decoy -> Lightning Stride]
Longer Combos
Main Combo [prerequisite: Opponent’s Trinket is down]
LB -> 2x-3x RB/LB -> Tab -> LB -> Tab-> X -> 4 -> 1 -> 4 -> 3x RB/LB -> F -> C -> 3x RB/LB -> F -> Tab -> LB -> 2x – 3x RB/LB -> F -> 2 -> RB
Spinal Tap -> Ani Cancel -> Sweeping Gale -> Volley -> Webbing -> Smokebomb -> Moths -> Infiltrate -> Lightning Rod -> Ani Cancel -> Close Shave -> Lotus Kick -> Ani Cancel -> Close Shave -> Hook Kick -> Spinal Tab -> Ani Cancel -> Close Shave -> Wood Block -> Lightning Stride
Here is a video how a similar combo looks like & the skill usage in a picture to visualize it
LB -> 2x RB/LB -> Tab -> LB -> X -> Tab -> Y/Z -> 4 -> 1 -> 4 -> 3x RB/LB -> F -> Tab -> Y/Z -> If enemy techs > 1 -> 3x RB/LB -> 2 -> F -> 2x RB/LB -> SS -> LB -> V -> 2x RB/LB -> Tab -> …
Spinal Tap -> Ani Cancel -> Sweeping Gale -> Volley -> Smokebomb -> Webbing -> Mine -> Moths -> Infiltrate -> Lightning Rod -> Ani Cancel -> Close Shave -> Hook Kick -> Detonate Mine -> If enemy techs -> Leaf Whirlwind T2F2 -> Ani Cancel -> Wood Block -> Leaf Shift -> Ani Cancel -> Backstep -> Silver Wire -> Pull Silver Wire -> Ani Cancel -> Sweeping Gale -> …
Alternative Main Combo –
up until the enemy is webbed on the ground (make sure you placed Mine) and you moths + Infiltrate him. You will then Spinal Tap, Ani Cancel – don’t Close Shave – instead use Decoy + Leaf Shift, if enemy techs, he runs into your Mine, if he doesn’t tech, carry on with main Combo https://www.twitch.tv/himeliabns/v/37167175
Matchups
Keep in mind that those aren’t the textbook “how to beat Class X” instructions. This is how > I < win against those classes; be creative and develop your own tactic .
Make sure to check out my YouTube Channel – I am constantly uploading videos of all matchups, to demonstrate you how I play against Class X with my builds!
Blade Master
Opener
Aggressive BM’s will try to instantly pentaslash you, this is best avoided by running backwards / sideways, jumping and then gliding. Putting down flower while gliding is a solid choice here, risk is basically non existent.
Obviously 3 points into the instant-stealth smokebomb is amazing & by far the safest. If you feel confident, feel free to use the glide + Moths against them, disabling their defenses, giving you a free Body Swap.
Another opener you will see from BM’s is their pull. It’s a throw and classified as projectile – if you “feel” he’s going to do it – either Smokebomb or SS it. Wood Block will not work, because it pierces defense.
Passive & defensive BM’s will wait for their pentaslash to be used in in different situation and will just play the waiting game, standing at the spawning point or go back into a corner – just be patient as well.
Be careful on using Blink Step, Blade Masters have their V (Flock of Blades) to knockback, greatly punishing you.
Neutral Game
Aggressive BM’s will always try to stay in your face, using Block in between, trying to apply as much pressure as possible. It’s a good idea to use Moths here. Additionally, make sure your flower has 100% uptime.
The other approach is that they try to play it slow. They wait for you to blow SS, Body Swap and Woodblock. Be prepared to get blocked when trying to leaf shift out of SS or Woodblock. Using Moths here is a great baiting mechanic for their SS, if they let it just affect them, it’s your time to attack.
Another great counter is to simply Infiltrate them from the front if you see them blocking, followed up by RB (Guard Break). Careful, good BM’s know this tactic and will either SS or Q here after you dashed to them.
There is also the option to Hook Kick them in Melee Range if you managed to apply poison on them (most likely via Moths).
Mid-/Lategame
BM’s are very afraid of your spinal tap.
If you applied Throwing Dagger you will see many BM’s in mid-high tier turning 180° degrees trying to block/deflect you on Shadow Step usage. Best way here is to either walk up to them because they can’t see you and then Infiltrate, or just Body Swap. If they turn around, Shadow Step.
Be careful when approaching them closely in stealth, they have an ability called “Cyclone” where they swoosh around with their swords, it does have pre-requisites though, make sure to read up on that on bns tree.
Overall it’s an “ok” matchup, their only out is Tab, make sure to not get knocked out of stealth with Flock of Blades or Cyclone.
Destroyer
Opener
Charge Opener can be avoided by gliding or spamming Q.
Their aerial opener will almost always be their throw that pulls you in, if you know your enemy & their plan you can use the Space > Body swap > Space trick to negate that. You might still get pulled, being behind him. The decoy between gliding works as well, avoiding incoming damage and stealthing. As it shows you in my build I am running T3F3 Smokebomb to avoid any possible harm done to me.
Neutral Game
Our neutral game is extremely strong against Destroyers, theirs is one of the weakest in the game. Smokebomb T2F2 or T3F2 can be used to iframe their throw, Q spam negates their Charge and Body swap is almost a safe bet against Des, unless you Body swap into a red spin.
Your kd Shadow Slash is also another chance for you to counter their spinning, due to the fact that Spins do not grant kd immunity. I personally don’t like the current one, because the range is very low and a 3 points investment is quite huge.
Mid-/Lategame
Their battle plan could be: High aggression, cornering us/pushing us against walls after a grab. Persistence (Blue Buff) is also a solid choice against Sins. Ice Mine can counter that plan pretty well, because it gives you time to breathe. I personally love to play throwing mine here & play the 3Minute waiting game.
Try playing with their patience using full duration stealths near them (not too close to get hit by Spins, not too far to still be able to initiate)
Always use Flower over Trinket, simply because it’s a lower cooldown.
If he forces you into a situation where your Flower & Tab is on cd – make sure to Q his charges. Their throw has a rather slow and predictable animation to be countered by either SS or smokebombing it.
Be careful on punish commitment – if your escapes are on cd they might just pop Persistence and blow you out of the water.
It’s very rare that we’ll use our Trinket on Grab – while they have us in a good position for them & will most likely put is with the back against the wall , wait for drop combo and get one big stun cd with your trinket or maybe even red/blue buff, counter all piledriver attempts from grab (animation has a big windup and it’s easy to time against, don’t confuse it with his grab spin windup)
After all I can say – it comes down to the player (Destroyer). If he plays damage greedy, with the regular (red) Fury you have a rather easy matchup, can easily spec into c stun and wreck them after they blew their tab. Persistence Destroyers are a lot harder to fight if you’re trying any kind of combo game, on the other hand – “Blue Buff” Des are extremely trigger happy when it comes to Trinket/Persistence – I’ve had extremely good experience instantly q’ing every stun I applied.
Keep the following 2 timers in mind: Regular Des Trinket (like every class) 36 seconds cooldown, Persistence / Blue Buff 60 seconds cooldown.
Summoner
Opener
The aggressive approach from the summoner here is to use their F (Doom’n’Bloom) on you, which leaves a dot on you, un-stealthing you if you managed to use Blink Step.
Other than that you will see Sums sometimes use their bubble (X heal with iframes) right in the beginning to negate incoming damage.
Watch out how you use your Throwing Dagger, that can be easily countered with countered with their Petal Storm or Dandelion.
Considering we now have the “Vanish Smokebomb”, my approach is to set up flower, instantly go in stealth and react to the summoner (Petal Storm, Block, maybe Cat Bomb)
It’s the safest way and makes sure we are not rushed down.
Throwing Dagger puts them into combat, making it easier for us to hit Throwing Bomb, as it can just be outrun. Don’t waste it by using Bomb first (Note: goes through Petal Storm)
Neutral Game
You will rarely see a true Neutral Game vs Sums – it’ll be a lot of action and games are rather fast paced. A good idea to regain stealth is to abuse the cat with Decoy, Q & Body Swap. Good Summoners are aware of that and will control their cat a lot better.
Since my approach is to delay / prolong the fight as much as possible, I try to (as you always should) have a 100% uptime on my flower and then try to get out of combat, to use Blink Step (preferably on the cat, because Doom’n’Bloom [same story as opener])
Mid-/Lategame
My goal and strategy might shine through my build: Stealth harassment with Shadow Drain, Throwing Mine, poking with dots & cat and mouse – very similar to the Destroyer matchup with Blue Buff. I love this way to fight summoners – considering their low HP pools you can take them out in 2-3 stealth durations with well played ani cancels. A general “just kill the cat/summoner” isn’t realistic. Depending on the player, it might be easier to focus the cat, for others it’s easier to just focus the Summoner. I’ve had overall good experience with split-pressure. Adapt here on the playstyle of your opponent – some might play extremely aggressive with SS into “Ahling!” – taking the cat out of a previous taunt, making it very vulnerable to harassment. Others are paranoid that their cat might die, leaving it in the distance, keeping it in taunt. That makes it very easy to burn down the main target. I have to admit that most of my games end with time – winning with score. Healing of the summoner is massive. There are cases…let’s say 2 in 10 games where the summoner or cat flops over rather fast into the game. Many summoners lose spirit and motivation to carry on, once their cat died.
Make sure to not blindly attack into Dandelions with Heart Stab/Lightning Crash & Pierce – know the cooldown (It’s the exact same one as our Decoy – 8 seconds with a 1,5 seconds cast). My tip is to keep clicking RB, enabling Guard Break whenever Dandelion is used. You will then often see Summoners trinket out of the Guard break stun, allowing for smaller stunlocks, burning through their tiny HP pool.
Keep track of the cat’s placement when it goes in crouch/taunt mode and use Infiltrate to refresh your stealth!
Try to play this game “slower” than other matchups – observation is key. Find out how aggressive “Ahling!” is used, if your opponent pays attention to the cat’s HP, as well position of the fight (There was a summoner who sat in a corner all game, causing me to lose it because it was very easy for him to get me out of stealth).
Force Master
Opener
Playing an aggressive start against FM’s is figuratively impossible – they have a higher range than you with their aerial & your Body swap is also not going to help (unless you know your enemy has long loading times, in that case you obviously abuse it to get a free stealth) Placing smokebomb & flower here is a solid choice.
You can try to use the Glide into SS. With the last patch, we received the 90s Smokebomb that grants a 10s stealth. Have an eye on them using Divine Veil, that works like Petal Storm – don’t use Body Swap or Throwing Shuriken into it.
Neutral Game
If you couldn’t manage to proc your Wood Block or Q to gain stealth, you are in a rough spot. There is always the possibility of dropping down your smokebomb (many skills FM’s have are projectiles which you resist standing in the smoke. If that happens, they will most of the time run towards you, using their 1 ability, that knocks you back – time to Q or SS. Most of the time FM’s will try to grab you
and throw you in a different direction, forcing you out of the smoke and knocking
you down. You can counter this by specing into your 8m Q (that’s why it’s core) and spamming Q as the forcemaster approaches you in attempt to grab you.
The grab has the same range as the 8M Q which means that you’ll burn a CD for the FM, iframe the ability and regain stealth. The problem is that the FM can wait out your 8M Q and then grab you. (risky)
Watch out for shockwave as it’ll get you out of stealth if you get hit by it, it costs no chi and can be spammed.
Mid-/Lategame
First of all, an important note: This is, hands down, the hardest matchup in the game right now. Don’t feel demoralized losing against FM’s – it’s extremely in their favor. I haven’t completely “figured them out” yet and this is so far the only approach I’ve tried / had success with.
A big point to note about Force Masters is that they can have 2 36s trinkets. Meaning that you’ll have to force out trinkets twice within 36s to start up a combo. Keep in mind that if the Forcemaster decided to spec into 2 trinkets he has no SS as it is his SS that is the second trinket.
Their freezing debuff is our biggest weakness, not being able to use movement abilities or stealth sucks. Iframing most attacks here and watching the “blue debuff” is crucial. Using the speced Q – Left Step – is amazing!
Kung Fu Master
Opener
The aerial Body Swap is a great choice against them. Blink Step is easy to counter for a KFM and most of them will expect that as an opener. They have an ice flower that freezes them on hit, making them immune so be careful how and when you’re using your Throwing Dagger, as you won’t be able to use Shadow Step if you threw the Shuriken into the ice flower.
More aggressive KFM’s will try to get an instant “penta slash” off of you so make sure you are in the air gliding (!!) so he can not target you.
Neutral Game
Using Wood Block within 3m of aKFM is one of the riskiest moves for a Sin, it can (and most likely will, because the majority of players will just hold down the key) get you stunned because it procs Triple Kick and eventually force your Tab. I advise you to only use it if you know you have a decent ping and use Wood Block for a quick Lightning Stride.
Keep in mind that their block has 1s duration, on a 1,3s cd, so you can time your Body Swaps in those 0,3 seconds.
Using Moths to get an iframe from them is a solid strategy. One of the scariest things in the neutral against a KFM is their Tab charge/jump. We can Q it but it needs to be spammed repeatedly AND the camera has to b aligned almost perfectly. It pierces defense so Decoy will not work.
Make sure your flower has 100% uptime.
Mid-/Lategame
Be aware – if you use your Shadow Step a KFM has a great way to counter it either using Q or E or just blocking behind them and dazing you afterwards (being blocked causes you to not go in stealth).
Using Swiftstep is also a very risky move and should (against experienced players) be ani canceled with Q to iframe cc’s.
Be careful approaching the KFM in stealth – this is the most intense part of the whole matchup for both.
KFM’s have a stomp on the ground that gets you out of stealth, an AOE stun with 360° (kick) that looks like a roundhouse kick (very similar to the trinket animation) and a frontal cone-kick. These are the abilities that get you out of stealth, into a lot of trouble.
It is vital to keep flower up the entire time; try to close the gap to the KFM with a 180° into SS while in stealth – this method safed me from many potential stealth breakers. Q is also an extremely strong choice. Keep in mind: The outcome of this matchup mostly depends for us on the stun initiation with Spinal Tap in stealth – and the outcome of this matchup for the KFM is almost solely determined by how good he can get us out of stealth.
I’ve seen 2k+ KFM’s time their SS so well that is immunes our Spinal Tap – it won’t happen too often but be prepared for it.
Keep poking him with your RB F and start chipping him down and just do some aerial combos here and there with Webbing afterwards.
Overall it’s a straightforward fight – force the KFM into a trinket and combo him.
Assassin
Opener
Body Swap Glide or Moths Glide is amazing, really depends on opponent. Blink Step is extremely risky, can be countered with mine or 180° Poison Breath. Playing AFK , waiting for the enemy Sin to Blink Step -> into mine is fun. Vanish smokebomb works just as well – this matchup has probably the biggest variety in openers.
Neutral Game
Scenario almost all the time: Both Sins will do the same – Decoy, either SS or Body Swap, then either Body Swap or SS. Smokebomb is great to counter the Swap. Sometimes simply charging them into Guard Breaks works wonders. Highly depending on matchup. Decoy into Leaf Shift works as well – can be countered by decoy or Q, or even bomb.
Mid-/Lategame
Sin Mirrors are fun and boring at the same time. You want to do what the enemy wants to do, but faster, more efficient and un-countered, while you want to counter everything they throw at you without blowing any CD’s.
If Sin1 (in stealth) attacks into the counter of Sin2 (out of stealth, using decoy) with F or the Heart Stab before the Guard Break procs, nothing happens with the used Decoy.
If you managed to use Throwing Shuriken successfully and the enemy is in stealth (planning on using Swiftstep) hold down or spam X. As soon as he is out of stealth (because Swiftstep does get one out of stealth for a bit) you will counter his animation, dazing him instantly before he gains stealth or stuns you.
Tip: Use decoy on the last animation frame if the enemy Sin speced Lotus Fury, and if you spec it, cancel your last animation with Q. It’s a free Stealth which can just lose you the game.
Swiftstep is one of the easiest abilities to counter because it has a rather long animation time – standard or ice mine are a great tool.
Blade Dancer
Opener
Avoiding Pentaslash is your #1 priority! Flower Glide is awesome – they can’t target you with pentaslash when you glide. Abuse the iFrames on your SS & Flower if he somehow catches you with pentaslash. Body Swap glide also works very well – just be careful playing against more experienced players – they have the timing down to SS your Body Swap, putting you in a horrible spot. If you’d like to avoid the risk of getting caught early, run the vanish Smokebomb, it’s a safe bet and gives you plenty of time to think about your next step. Blink Step works, but can be easily countered by their aoe-pull.
Neutral Game
The neutral against Blade Dancers is a nightmare. First of all, we have to make sure to iframe every Throwing Blade. Make use of your Smokebomb and SS or even flower (that’s a very offensive move though) to avoid the throw – it regens a lot of Chi – one of the reasons Blade Dancers lose games is due to chi starvation.
Body Swap. The kryptonite against Spinclasses; the BD got another iframe (Maelstrom) that works in connection with their Spin, making it even harder for us to get a clean Swap off.
Using decoy is pointless because pentaslash continues, even if the target is in stealth.
Mid-/Lategame
It’s rather simple – don’t make your ground counters obvious, mix them up – BD’s have a very good ground game. Other than that it’s similar to KFM – bait trinket, blow them up. Watch out tho – the matchup is a lot faster & can be very hectic at times.
What it comes down to: It’s a spin class – never attack into the first 0,5 seconds of the spin, try to use Body Swap on cooldown but make sure it’s not getting iframed.
There are basically 3 ways to avoid pentaslash from happening. The “easiest” is to spec into Lotus Fury and sort of -mind-read- anticipate their pentaslash to negate it. The 2nd way is to place flower, gain a couple of meters range between and use the flower when pentaslash is incoming – but that is just the first part. Because the speced flower grants us 1 second of iframes after landing, we have enough time to SS or wait a bit and then Q. On paper that should negate the pentaslash and stealth us. It requires good timing, experience and just practice.
The third way is by far the hardest: CC the pentaslashing rat in the animation. There are multiple ways of doing that. I have had Moths on my opponent and Lotus Kicked him in the animation – allowing me to start my combo. Another CC can be the mine, it is extremely hard and delicate to time but it works; and let’s be honest: What would you give to make this happen? Try, fail, try more and succeed.
When grappled, which is going to happen a lot, wait – don’t use Thrash. The moment you see a blade spawning behind the Blade Dancer, press 2 – this is one of the most obvious, but also most dangerous abilities and is a MUST COUNTER ability, or you’ll take huge damage. Experienced Blade Dancers won’t use this ability (shouldn’t be seen under 1900). They are waiting for your Thrash and will then use the blade, because you are under the effect of gcd.
Warlock
Opener
To be honest, I still have to figure out how this matchup works – will be added asap!
I had more success running conventional summoner build, Fighting Spirit melts the damn pet.
Neutral Game
Mid-/Lategame
Additional Tips
Bugs / Glitches / weird interactions
There are 2 major interactions that seem to “not work as intended”.
#1 – Infiltrate is sometimes unusable if enemy got Body swapped out of the air.
That has, at least that’s what the community thinks, to do with the fact that the game thinks the enemy is at a different position than you see him.
How to fix: SS or strafe to gain range, then use 1 – Example
#2 – Infiltrate doesn’t grant you stealth after Body swapping.
How to fix: Wait a bit before using 1, don’t instantly use it.
Balance
Bomanis gonna bomani, man. Read this great post from a while ago, from Nigma.
The Dunning-Kruger effect is also a very nice read, Julianne Harty brought this to my attention.
Input Lag
There is a small detail many people don’t know – the Unreal 3 Engine (which is the engine Blade & Soul runs on) has a slightly longer delay when commands (via hardware) are put in with mouse, comparatively to keyboard. This is why you will hear the keybind “R” from time to time in the community. That is mostly used by KFM’s in their infamous “3RF” or in this case “3LBF” combo…which just doesn’t sound as cool. I am also currently practicing my ani cancel to be R/RB (can be seen on my keyboard overlay on my Twitch Stream or YouTube Videos). Here is also a great reddit post to avoid getting mouse-delay: https://redd.it/41wv2n <- This is not bannable! (confirmed by babbletr0n)
Fps Drops
Blade & Soul experiences Memory Leak in the Arena Lobby, this is why you will see pros like Jaesung “resetting” by leaving & re-entering the arena lobby (out of F9, rejoining via F9, not the entire game). Read more about this phenomenon on Wikipedia.
“Staying too long inside the arena leads to memory leak>fps drops,going out and in of it fixes it. “ owarishadow – reddit
Holding Buttons down
You can also hold down, let’s say your F for Tech, instead of spamming it. As far as I know it’s better to spam them because the game registers it faster, this is just a theory without any evidence backing this up.
tl;dr
SINS OP, PERMA STEALTH
Credits
NCWest – www.bladeandsoul.com
suk12355 (Diamond Sin in KR)
enoL_ (EU Platinum BM in CBT)
VoidkIng (EU Platinum Sin in CBT, Diamond on Live, preseason)
Arrow (now Virus) (NA Platinum Sin in CBT, Diamond on Live, preseason)
Yohmah (Diamond on Live, preseason)
Himelia / Ryuki
endah (NA Platinum Destroyer in CBT) & his Destroyer guide
Dakaringer (for bnsTree.com)
Cozou
FireZky
QuietSteps
Nyameria
Karazu
Secorak
Limejam
Thormond
Zarzi
Zhokye
Jondesu
ZilPui
iNqx
LovingXGamer
Dema1503
maxdcd1
How to support
Be a nice, active, friendly, helpful member in the Community – may it be ingame, on reddit, the official forums, the dojo, in any twitch stream, etc.
Being divided isn’t going to get us anywhere – if we want this to be a great community without toxicity that plagues other games, we have to get over our own ego and look at the bigger picture.
Provide the community with content
Art, Guides, Discussions, Videos, AMV’s, Jokes, etc.
Feel free to
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hang in chat ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Thanks for reading !
