The Blade Dancer

Rift is known for its ability to tweak conventional thought on what MMOG classes should entail, and the Blade Dancer is a subtle example.  Utilizing swords, quick attacks and avoidance the Blade Dancer is a whirling bundle of frenetically paced action. 

 

Pros

• Diverse playstyle
• Extremely fast paced combat
• Little to no down time
• Can go toe to toe with foes
• Isn't locked into repetitive ability spamming to build combo points that many rogue souls are.

Cons

• Not as strong against multiple mobs
• Doesn't work well in groups as primary soul
  
• Burns through energy quickly and can get overwhelmed
  

Overview

The Blade Dancer is most notable for being the prime secondary soul in a strong rogue tanking build, but it doesn’t always have to play second fiddle.  Utilizing quick attacks and gaining power by dodging and avoiding incoming attacks, the Blade Dancer challenges the Bard for the most unique playstyle in the calling. Players who are looking for something to keep them on their toes and thinking will appreciate the variety in the Blade Dancer’s attacks. Most rogue souls, and most dps souls for that matter, evolve into a succession of repetitive attacks that build toward a strong finishing move but the Blade Dancer rarely falls into that trap as openers and combo-building moves vary wildly depending on the situation.

Solo Play

Solo play is where the Blade Dancer truly shines. With a strong dependency on avoidance, the Blade Dancer thrives on toe-to-toe combat, which is in stark contrast to many other rogue souls. Blade Dancers can chew through a single opponent with dizzying speed and two to three foes at a time are also no problem, but pile on many more than that and trouble can arise. All rogues, other than the bard, can feel energy starved at times – but the Blade Dancer can feel downright exhausted.

Group Play

The vast majority of Rift souls have places in groups as main souls; the Blade Dancer however is not one of them.  The avoidance portion of the souls attack repertoire is simply snuffed out by in a group situation since tanks will always want and need to maintain threat. The Blade Dancer has prime potency as the secondary soul to a rogue tanking build though, so die-hard fans of this soul can still get their fix if they choose to go that route.

Pairs Best With

Assassin

Pairing a Blade Dancer with an Assassin in a DPS build adds a powerful layer of diversity to the soul. Assassins are the prototypical rogue, skulking through the shadows and unleashing powerful surprise attacks. While it may seem counter-intuitive to pair a hack and slash brawler with a backstabbing marauder, it works well here. Point investment can range anywhere from 8 points – which gives a substantial increase to crit and provides a poisoned weapon enchantment,  to 18-20 points which grants some huge gains in damage output and survivability.

Rift Stalker

The soul mate of the Blade Dancer is the Riftstalker, the rouge callings tanking soul. Going together like chocolate and peanut butter, the cohesion formed with these two souls among the best in the game.  Typically the Blade Dancer will take on the secondary role in the build, but it is possible to create a hybrid DPS build that can serve as an emergency or raid off-tank. As a secondary soul the Riftstalker quickly shores up the holes in the Blade Dancer weak defenses by adding increased armor, endurance and granting a stackable buff to help with damage mitigation.