Lost Ark Deathblade Guide: How To Build A Deathblade – In this Lost Ark Deathblade Guide, I’m going to show you what it means to play as a Deathblade in terms of how well they perform in combat, the best Skills, and Tripods to focus on, and the playstyles available to them based on the Class Engravings they choose. If you’re searching for a Melee DPS Class with the ability to deal excellent damage and buff everyone in the party, then this Lost Ark Deathblade Guide is for you!
Be sure to check out our other Lost Ark Class Guides including: Shadowhunter, Sorceress, Gunslinger, Paladin, Gunlancer, Wardancer, Scrapper & Sharpshooter!
The Lost Ark Deathblade is one of the Advanced Classes that fall under the Assassin Class. They wield Dual Blades and a Longsword, which allow them to deal incredible damage up close at an astonishing pace. However, they’re difficult to pilot as a solo player especially when it comes to higher-tiered content because they have to constantly change positions to maximize their damage output.
- High DPS
- Excellent Mobility
- Self and Party Buffs
- Skills with Super Armors
- Skills with Back Attacks
As a Lost Ark Deathblade, you’ll be able to inflict high damage combos thanks to your fast attack and movement speed. These qualities enable you to dart in and out of combat quite effectively when you need to slash enemies for the kill or evade them altogether. Deathblades have to keep moving behind their foes, especially fast-moving ones, in order to deal Back Attacks. However, what’s good about their corresponding Skills is, they also gain a lot of Super Armors or immunities, thereby protecting them from crowd control. In terms of buffs, Deathblades can boost the party’s movement speed and both their Frontal and Back Attacks for better damage.
Lost Ark Deathblade vs Shadowhunter
Deathblades and Shadowhunters deal commendable DPS and are considered as some of the fastest classes in Lost Ark but there are a few differences that set them apart. For instance, Deathblades are capable of buffing their overall speed, attack power, and mana recovery while boosting the capabilities of their comrades. They require some learning curve to pilot effectively but they’re very satisfying to play. Comparatively, Shadowhunters can transform into a demon to enhance their burst damage and movement speed, and to make use of their strong, demonic skills. They’re considered beginner-friendly because of how straightforward their skill rotation is. But if you’re looking to play a more challenging class where positioning is key to winning encounters and you’d rather take advantage of the Super Armors that you have at your disposal, then you should certainly choose the Deathblade.
Deathblade Class Role and Identity
The Lost Ark Deathblade is a Melee DPS Class that capitalizes on inflicting high sustained damage. As an Assassin, their mobility is very impressive since they can blitz from one point of an area to the next, making it difficult for slow-moving classes like the Gunlancer, to catch them by surprise. Because of this, they can get away with having relatively lower HP. What makes the Deathblade a highly versatile class is their buffs and Super Armors, specifically Paralysis Immunity, which they gain from a variety of skills. Although, it’s important to remember that they don’t have a lot of staggers so they’re unable to impair enemies as much.
All Advanced Classes in Lost Ark have unique features or Identities that differentiate them from the other classes. These can either unleash more damage or enhance the buffs they grant. For the Lost Ark Deathblade, it’s the Death Orb Identity, which is divided into two categories, namely the Deathblade Arts and Deathblade Surge. With Deathblade Arts, you significantly boost your movement speed, attack speed, attack power, and mana recovery while reducing the cooldown rate of your Normal Skills. You also gain immunity from crowd control. The effectiveness of this self-buff relies on the number of filled-up death orbs. If you activate Deathblade Arts when three orbs are full, then you receive the highest amount of buffs for the longest time. Once all Death Orbs are empty, then the Death Trance or Deathblade Arts Mode will end.
What makes this Identity even more interesting is the fact that Deathblade Arts can lead to another mode known as the Deathblade Surge when you activate it a second time. This not only grants you Push Immunity but it also allows you to deal massive burst damage upon slamming your sword on the ground. Activating Deathblade Surge completely consumes any remaining Death Orbs.
Note that when either of these skills is active, your Lost Ark Deathblade won’t be gaining energy. But when you return to your Normal State, you can once again fill up your Death Orb Meter by successfully hitting enemies without having to wait for a couple of seconds unlike with the Shadowhunter’s Shadowburst Energy.
Lost Ark Deathblade Best Skills and Tripods
By the time your Lost Ark Deathblade reaches Level 60, you will have unlocked a total of 20 skills comprised of Normal and Awakening Skills. To add to this, you’ve invested several points into Normal Skills to specialize further by unlocking their respective Tripods. The Tripod System allows players to customize their skills in various ways like increasing the Death Orb energy you gain or boosting inflicted damage. In total, you only need 8 skills per character with a select number of tripods. In this section, I’ll cover the essential Normal Skills and tripods you should allocate points into regardless of the playstyle you end up choosing.
Lost Ark Deathblade Normal Skills and Tripods
Spincutter – Unlocked at Combat Level 10. Gap closer that allows you to spin towards a group of enemies 2 times. To increase the number of spins, and therefore the Spincutter’s damage, you should pick the Triple Spin Tripod. The other good upgrades to choose from are Open Weakness and Quick Prep. These improve the damage dealt by everyone in the party for several seconds and all of their Frontal and Back Attacks, as well as reducing the cooldown period of the skill itself.
Dark Axel – Unlocked at Combat Level 12. A very good mobility skill, which is made more effective with the right combination of tripods. Dark Axel works similar to the Gunslinger’s Somersault Shot in that your Lost Ark Deathblade is able to jump over a group of enemies to evade their attacks while dealing damage in the process. The best upgrades you should pick are Quick Pace, Corkscrew, and High Axel. This combination enhances your spin attack’s distance such that you traverse a longer distance while inflicting more damage. And when Dark Axel ends, you gain a movement speed boost to kill remaining enemies. If you feel like you need the extra Push Immunity while in the air, you can substitute Corkscrew for Tenacity instead.
Soul Absorber – Unlocked at Combat Level 14. This allows you to perform a mini lunge by stabbing enemies with a Longsword regardless of whether or not the skill has been fully charged. To make Soul Absorber more effective, it’s good to select Wide-Angle Attack, Ice Cold Hands, and Halve. These tripods boost your stab range and add a slash attack at the end to deal massive damage. Lastly, Ice Cold Hands freezes targets for a couple of seconds, which is perfect to create some space between the both of you.
Earth Cleaver – Unlocked at Combat Level 20. A Frontal or Back Attack, which enables you to deal great overhead damage. To charge forward to close the gap and inflict good damage, you’re going to need Push. The other Earth Cleaver Tripods to consider are Weak Point Detection, making this skill effective against Push-Immune or stronger enemies, and Leap Attack to forcefully slam your Longsword on the ground and significantly enhance your crit rate.
Moonlight Sonic – Unlocked at Combat Level 24. This allows you to execute big rapid slashes to deal massive damage against multiple enemies in front of you. The best Moonlight Sonic Tripods to choose from are Burning Hands, Quick Prep, and Shade Sonic. This combination lets you deal Damage over Time (DoT) by burning targets, reduce the skill’s cooldown rate, and boost damage by more than half due to your enhanced speed.
Maelstrom – Unlocked at Combat Level 32. Conjures a tornado to protect you from incoming attacks while dealing damage. To capitalize on the buffs granted by Maelstrom, you should acquire Orb Control and Dark Order. Orb Control boosts the Death Orb energy you gain from using Normal and Awakening Skills whereas Dark Order enhances all nearby allies’ movement speed as well as your attack speed. Lastly, Overwhelm enhances the damage dealt against Challenge or lower type monsters and paralyzes Normal ones. Note that Maelstrom’s tornado stays for a couple of seconds so you can continue reaping the skill’s benefits even as you attack with Normal Skills.
Blitz Rush – Unlocked at Combat Level 40. Another mobility skill that lets you approach enemies with swiftness and ease to deal damage multiple times. Blitz Rush can be transformed into a ranged skill when you select Shadow Rush. This tripod utilizes an afterimage to attack on your behalf, inflicting considerable damage. The other upgrades to take into account are Vital Point Hit and All-round. This combination improves your crit rate and changes the skill’s type from Charge to Normal so you can instantly activate Blitz Rush. But if you need the extra damage at the cost of being vulnerable by charging the skill first, then picking Charge Enhancement should solve the issue.
Void Strike – Unlocked at Combat Level 50. One of the highest damage-dealing skills of the Deathblade to destroy Normal monsters while inflicting significant harm against stronger targets. What makes Void Strike more useful is Orb Control, Fist of Darkness, and Dark Explosion. This combination increases the Death Orb energy you gain, boosts your overall damage, and deals additional explosive damage. But if you prefer to considerably reduce your enemy’s movement speed while inflicting some damage, then you can swap Fist of Darkness for Void Zone.
Lost Ark Deathblade Alternative Normal Skills and Tripods
Next, you can decide to equip either of the following skills if you want to impair enemies further or to receive Push Immunity.
Head Hunt – Unlocked at Combat Level 20. A Frontal Attack that lets you deal damage and stun targets. To lengthen the stun duration, you ought to pick Enhanced Stun. But if you intend to inflict more than 50% extra damage against Push-Immune enemies, then you should swap Enhanced Stun for Weak Point Detection. The other tripods worth taking are Weapon Destruction and Enhanced Strike. These upgrades inflict a debuff on enemies to temporarily reduce the effectiveness of their Attack Power and to boost your damage.
Turning Slash – Unlocked at Combat Level 28. Swings your Longsword twice to deal devastating blows. To add one more attack to increase damage while remaining mobile, you should choose the Triple Turn Tripod. For the rest of the upgrades, it’s best to select Enhanced Strike, which improves damage again, and Tenacity to receive the Push Immunity Super Armor. If you’re playing with a group, you’re going to want to substitute Enhanced Strike for Open Weakness. What this does is boost the damage everyone deals, regardless of whether they execute Frontal or Back Attacks.
Lost Ark Deathblade Engravings and Stats
In Lost Ark, every Advanced Class unlocks Engravings that allow you to further specialize in your chosen Class as these grant special effects, which you can activate by reading Recipe Books and equipping Accessories and Ability Stones. You’re able to obtain them as random rewards by completing endgame activities such as Chaos and Abyss Dungeons, and Guardian Raids.
In this section, I’m going to talk about Lost Ark Deathblade Engravings, which determine the playstyle you wish to adopt for your character and are class-specific abilities and traits. You gain access to this when you reach higher levels. The 2 Class Engravings available to the Deathblade are Surge and Remaining Energy. Let’s first discuss the Surge Class Engraving or playstyle together with the Stats that go with it.
Deathblade Surge Playstyle
Surge has a rather wordy and confusing description at first glance. But what this Engraving is trying to tell us is that you can still capitalize on Deathblade Surge even if not all of your Death Orbs are completely filled up. To do this, you have to continuously attack enemies using Normal Skills when you enter the Deathblade Arts Mode to build up your Surge Enhancement Effect. You can have up to a maximum of 20 stacks. The more stacks you have, the better your damage will be and the more Death Orb energy you gain after depleting the Death Orb Meter.
Additionally, to improve your Surge damage and attack power, you should at least aim for Surge Level 2. In order to fill up at least 1 Death Orb, make sure to have Maelstrom and Void Strike in your list of skills.
In terms of Surge’s Combat Stats, you’ll want to prioritize Specialization followed by Crit when gearing up. This setup enhances the damage dealt with Deathblade Surge and boosts the Death Orb energy gained upon successfully hitting enemies. It also improves crit rate and reduces the cooldown rate of your skills while in Deathblade Arts Mode.
Deathblade Remaining Energy Playstyle
Conversely, Remaining Energy provides a 2-second buffer when entering Deathblade Arts Mode, meaning, the Death Orb energy will only start to decrease after 2 seconds. When you activate Deathblade Surge, your attack speed, movement speed, and attack power will all be boosted for a certain period. To maximize the amount of attack power enhanced, you should aim to reach Remaining Energy Level 3 as this significantly improves your Build.
In terms of skills, you’re going to have a similar setup with the Surge playstyle such that you have to include Maelstrom and Void Strike to obtain Death Orb energy fast. The same is true for Remaining Energy’s Combat Stats where Specialization and Crit should be prioritized.
Final Tips
As a Lost Ark Deathblade, you’ll be adjusting quite a lot compared to the Shadowhunter since you’ll change directions more often. Moving behind bosses to execute Back Attacks significantly improves the damage you deal. In PvP, the Deathblade is a difficult enemy to go up against because of the Super Armors you have together with your excellent mobility. As such, you’re able to deal lethal damage in quick bursts, making it tough to go up against you. To succeed in arenas, however, it’s important to manage your skills’ cooldown rates, some of which may be longer than expected, as well as your low HP.
For skills like the Soul Absorber, Blitz Rush, and Void Strike, remember that you can easily change your orientation by turning around while charging any of them. Deathblades are flexible in this regard due to their spectacular speed, unlike the Gunlancer.
Between the Surge and Remaining Energy Class Engravings, the playstyle you decide to concentrate on will depend on whether you prefer a more balanced build, which capitalizes on buffs and mobility to deal consistent damage, or if you want to deal as much burst damage as possible every time you hit enemies. Regardless, however, both playstyles are viable in endgame so you can definitely try out either of them to determine which suits you best.
Lastly, it’s ideal to buff yourself and the party first before attacking your enemies from behind, allowing you to kill them efficiently in addition to surviving longer in combat. Also, regardless of the playstyle you choose, you can use Deathblade Surge at the start of an encounter or to finish off remaining enemies since it inflicts massive damage.
Stay tuned for more Lost Ark Class Guides and be sure to check out our Lost Ark Wiki or drop by our Twitch Channel if you have questions about the game. What did you think of this Lost Ark Deathblade Class Guide? What Advanced Class are you planning to try out first? Let us know in the comments below!
