Best Build for Leveling in Blade and Soul

Blade and Soul will arrive in North America on January 19. Once it hits, experienced players who have been playing the beta releases as well as new players will want to know how to level up and progress quickly. Blade and Soul is fairly good about minimizing grinding. It is not necessary to grind on mobs to get to the level cap, although it is faster. In this post, we will talk about how to build your character and gear yourself for leveling.

Every class works differently, of course, but when it comes to leveling, there are two important characteristics. The first is how much AoE damage your class has and the second is the defensive strength of the class. A leveling build needs to be a compromise between dishing out damage and staying healthy. While some blade and soul classes have more HP or defense than others, you can affect this with skills.

There are some classes that are really built around AoE, like the Blade Master, and others that lack it, like the Assassin. Remember that you can always respect later when you are done leveling, so don't worry about a PvP build. The importance of AoE skills is in speed. The most efficient way to level up involves pulling lots of mobs at once and then killing the whole crowd at the same time. If you do not have a well-developed AoE damage source, then you will need to kill fewer mobs at the same time. You will still be able to level, but it will happen more slowly. It is also good to have some crowd control. Most mobs are very vulnerable to it, and against bosses it is essential.

Your skill choices affect your defenses. For example, the Assassin is weak defensively but has some skills to give it temporary resistance boosts while in specific stances. One important thing to look for is healing and regeneration. That applies to both health and Chi, or MP. Your build has to give you outlets for replenishing your health. When you are taking on masses of mobs, you will sometimes get surprised when they land a series of lucky hits, and you need to have a way to get your HP back. This lets you sustain your attack and you won't have to run away to heal. It is also a good idea to have an escape skill of some kind. This won't be as important as you learn more about playing your class, but mobs can be dangerous all through the game, and an escape can help prevent you from dying and wasting time.

Gear and weapons in Blade and Soul work a little bit differently from other games. There is just one weapon that carries you through the main story line of quests, and your decisions come down to when to upgrade that weapon. The upgrades start out easy, but become more complex and more costly as you go on. You should not try to upgrade your weapon to the greatest extent because after you get to level 45 and beyond, better weapons start to become available. You should upgrade whenever you feel that your attack damage is falling behind. This is a subjective feeling, but it will become clear as you play. There are specific stages to the evolution process. At one point, your weapon gains more critical chance, and after that it switches to critical damage. That is a good point to stop, as it should have enough power to get you through the main quests and to level 45. As for your soul shield and accessories, you can upgrade them as well, but it is generally not necessary because you will find new and better ones frequently.

You can level with quests, mobs, or both. The more quests you take, the more bosses you will face, and that will have implications for your build– more single-target damage and CC. There are two main kinds of quests– yellow quests, which are main story quests, and blue quests, which are optional. Both of them provide experience. Your build should be able to take you through both kinds. Sometimes dipping into blue quests can help you upgrade your weapon even if you do not need the experience, so keep that in mind.

Leveling in Blade and Soul is not just an end in itself. It is a way to learn your class and make some gold. Try to create a build that balances offensive power and defensive skills, and not only will that give you the strength to progress quickly, but it will also teach you what skills and forms to pursue. There is no single best build for each class, as long as you remember to emphasize AoE, escapes, healing, and defenses. You should also keep in mind that you can always try joining or forming a group. You might be asked to have different skills that are more suited to group combat, but you can get through tough areas and level up fast with the help of a higher-leveled character.