The Blademaster is a warrior (tank) that follows the Path of Harmony who relys on inflicting more damage than he/she recieves. Blademasters start off as the Guardian class and can be Firbolgs or Celts. There are basically three routes that a player can take with a Blademaster: Dual Blade Wielder, Dual Piercer Wielder or Sword and Shield User. Although you can become a "Bluntmaster", I highly discourage this because Blunt weapons are far too slow. You should decide which route you want to take before starting the character because attribute point placement is very important.

Dual Blade Wielder
This is my first choice and the most effective I think for this class. The Blademaster that takes this route must rely on Strength and Quickness. A high Strength will allow the Blademaster to inflict the maximum damage possible and a high Quickness will allow the Blademaster to swing his/her weapons more often. Starting attribute points should be assigned accordingly. Dexterity should not be ignored however with any melee class, because it determines the chances to hit your target.

The Dual Blade Wielder should specialize in Celtic Dual and Blades and these two skills should be kept at the same level as the Blademaster as often as possible. The reason for this is that Celtic Dual offers the combat styles that the Blademaster will rely upon to inflict increasingly more damage. Celtic Dual also affects how fast the Blademaster swings his/her weapons, which is the key to this class. Blades affects the damage potential when the Blademaster hits. Parry is a secondary skill for Blademasters and should recieve alot of attention as well. For every point in Parry, the Blademaster recieves a .5% bonus chance to Parry enemy attacks. Since the Blademaster cannot wear Scale Armor EVER, Parry and Evade will become your best friends.

When the Blademaster hits with both weapons in the same attack, he/she will be able to inflict so much damage that it will put other tanks to shame. (The only drawback is that the Blademaster will often have the aggro without even taunting because he/she does so much damage.) However, Celtic Dual skill isn't the only factor involved in hitting with both weapons. Weapon speed is an equally important factor. Whenever possible, wield the exact same weapon in each hand so the speed factor is the same. If you do this, you will hit with both weapon just about every attack. Combined with combat styles, and later with combat style chains, you will be able to inflict ridiculous amounts of damage against any foe. Dual wielding weapons that have a damage proc is the ultimate for this.

Sadly, I never saw any decent magical blade weapons until I hit the high 20's. At level 28 you can kill Withe (named Phantom Wickerman located by Druim Ligen) for a one time automatic drop of the pestilent sickle. If you can get another pestilent sickle and dual wield them, you will become quite deadly. (note: the sickle does not proc until lvl 30). The next step up the chain is the Crescent Reaver. The Crescent Reaver is a one time automatic drop to level 36 characters from Spiffnar (named Cruach Imp in Cruach Gorge by torc field). Once again, you need somone else to give you the the other one for a dual wield. One or two levels later, you can choose to trade up to the Gem Encrusted Claw (dropped by Gemclickers in the Corruscating Mines). This does more damage than the Reavers and has a proc with the same amount of damage. These however are not one time drops and you can get several in one night if you farm for them. After the Claws, you have several options. The Chieftain's Falcata is a lvl 40.5 epic quest item with a high damage and a weapon speed of 2.0. Dual Wielded this has an incredible hit rate. Darkness Falls also offers several different grades of weapons to choose from.

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Dual Piercer Wielder
The Dual Piercer Wielder depends upon Dexteriy and Quickness to hit super quickly. A high Quickness combined with the low speed factor of most piercing weapons allows the Blademaster to swing incredibly fast and hit with both weapons. The Blademaster that follows this route will swing faster and hit more often than a Blades wielder but will not hit as hard. This seems to be the second most common choice, but I have heard that it is not very effective at higher levels. In the lower levels, Piercers swing faster than Blades with almost equal damage potential, but in the higher levels the gap grows much larger between the two weapon types.

The Dual Piercer Wielder should specialize in Celtic Dual and Piercing and these two skills should be kept at the same level as the Blademaster as often as possible. The reason for this is that Celtic Dual offers the combat styles that the Blademaster will rely upon to inflict increasingly more damage. Celtic Dual also affects how fast the Blademaster swings his/her weapons, which is the key to this class. Piercing affects the chance to hit so the Blademaster hits more often. Parry is a secondary skill for Blademasters and should recieve alot of attention as well. For every point in Parry, the Blademaster recieves a .5% bonus chance to Parry enemy attacks. Since the Blademaster cannot wear Scale Armor EVER, Parry and Evade will become your best friends.

When the Blademaster hits with both weapons in the same attack, he/she will be able to inflict so much damage that it will put other tanks to shame. (The only drawback is that the Blademaster will often have the aggro without even taunting because he/she does so much damage.) However, Celtic Dual skill isn't the only factor involved in hitting with both weapons. Weapon speed is an equally important factor. Whenever possible, wield the exact same weapon in each hand so the speed factor is the same. If you do this, you will hit with both weapon just about every attack. Combined with combat styles, and later with combat style chains, you will be able to inflict good damage, often, against any foe. Dual wielding weapons that have a damage proc is the ultimate for this.

About magical Piercer drops. I myself have only seen one one-time only drop for a piercer weapon, which was a Rapier dropped by Dorbal (named Amadan Touched by Druim Ligen) at level 35. Although this is a great weapon, it is not left hand wieldable, and therefore interferes with the effectiveness of the Celtic Dual attack. If any of you have seen any decent magical Piercer drops appropriate for Celtic Dual, please let me know.

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Sword and Shield Wielder
This is perhaps the most ineffective route to go for this class (besides the "Bluntmaster"). If you want to use a shield you should probably make a Hero or a Champion because Blademasters can never use anything larger than a Medium Shield. The Blademaster that takes this route must rely on Strength and Dexterity. A high Strength will allow the Blademaster to inflict the maximum damage possible and a high Dexterity will allow the Blademaster to hit more often. Starting attribute points should be assigned accordingly.

The Sword and Shield User should specialize in a weapon style of choice (Pierce, Blades or Blunt) and Shield and these two skills should be kept at the same level as the Blademaster as often as possible. The reason for this is that the weapon style offers the combat styles that the Blademaster will rely upon to inflict increasingly more damage. Shields greatly improves the Blademasters defensive capabilities but reduces his/her special offensive abilities, Celtic Dual. Parry is a secondary skill for Blademasters and should recieve alot of attention as well. For every point in Parry, the Blademaster recieves a .5% bonus chance to Parry enemy attacks. Since the Blademaster cannot wear Scale Armor EVER, Parry and Evade will become your best friends.

A Sword and Shield Blademaster make better damage sponges than Dual Wielders, but they are less effective than Heros or Champions. Although this combination is possible and can work, I feel it is a poor chice for a Blademaster.