When TTK dropped I picked up Nightstalker and didn't look back for about a year. The biggest reason? Vanish in Smoke. In year 1 I kept my fireteam fighting through Nightfalls with Bladedancer's invisibility, but as soon as Vanish in Smoke appeared, I picked up my Monte Carlo and became invisible at the touch of a button, no need to crouch or run into combat. It wasn't until I was reminded of Celestial Nighthawk's destructive power with ROI (as Nighthawk was near useless compared to Blackhole Shadowshot in King's Fall) that I touched Gunslinger again, and I'm glad I did. I love that subclass again, and I really wanted Bladedancer back. But it's useless now.
Bladedancer invisibility is pointless compared to Vanish in Smoke. Arc Blade is terrific in PVP, but for PVE, even with the buff to damage, it's horrible. It takes forever to chew into anything worth using a super on, so it sits there doing nothing, and not even Memory of Felwinter (lose super, gain extra grenade and melee) can make up for that, because the melee abilities aren't that useful anymore.
The biggest problem is that every other subclass in destiny has terrific synergies. All warlock and titan subclasses are fun to me because of it, but Bladedancer's only real synergy revolves around Shadowjack, and once again... Vanish in Smoke. I really wish they'd just replace Shadowjack with somethig better. Give the full invisibility timer to anyone who uses a perk slot on invisibility (they deserve it if they do), and replace Shadowjack with a useful PVE perk, with some real synergy. The best I've heard before is reworking Shadowjack to increase damage for all abilities used coming out of invisibility. They can make the increase totals different between PVP and PVE (the way they did during the Hunter nerf update) and that way it has something that Nightstalker doesn't while actually being worthwhile in WOTM. Bladedancer was incredible year one, and I want to use it again.
And I'm not talking about playing Bladedancer just for the heck of it, either. I've tried that multiple ways, with multiple set-ups and... there's just not a strong enough build for PVE. I've been searching through the internet and I can't find a good build for this subclass anymore, and I really want to play it again. BADLY.
Edit: I made a post very similar to this in the Subclasses thread, but then saw Feedback and thought it should be here as well. Here's the link if you want to check peoples' comments. https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/221279634?sort=0&page=0
Edit 2: More than a few suggestions have been given about builds to use, and after trying a few I've finally found one that's actually passable, though it still isn't as great as Nightstalker or Nighthawker and it uses your exotic armor and weapon. Fast Twitch for super quick melee recharge, synergised (finally, though a small synergy) with Hungering Blade means quick recovery when needed. This also means you can put blink back on if you like/miss Blink. Then wear the Sealed Ahamkara Grasps for the additional melee (which means you have more chance at a kill to Proc Hungering Blade, and if you roll Switchblade for it you can recharge melee even faster). Last but not least is the Monte Carlo, which reduces melee cooldown AGAIN and can fully recharge melee. SAG will also sometimes reload your primary, meaning more Monte ammo for more melees. It's a bit of a frantic playstyle, but like I said it's passable, and it might still hold together if you change one of the exotics. For the other perks, try Fleetfooted for easy escape and quicker time to target, Arcbolt for dealing with overwhelming adds, and Showstopper for area protection. I'm going to test it in Crota's End soon and report back, but I invite others to try it too and comment below.
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You mean striker titan, right. In what raid has anyone said check forums for a striker titan?
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When I first played and my options were gun slinger and blade dancer. I chose blade for PvP hands down. Gunslinger was more useful in pve. Nightstalker came and like you I used that in PvP and pve and never looked back. Invisibility and shade step and a bow an arrow you can't go wrong. But recently gunslinger is making a come back with me and found using it more in both modes. Blade however there isn't a lot of use when comes to super since its melee based and get close to the boss they just step on you. I use it now when the bounty calls for it then I'm done.
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Only thing I ever thought BD needed was an increase to orbs dropped besides that its fine as it is. The super is meant for adds not bosses or increase dps on bosses. Besides they already buffed it a year ago to make it more valuable in pve. The subclass works as intended.
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Unfortunately by the nature of it's super bladedancer just isn't going to be good in most raids outside of Crota's End and there's not much you can do about it without massively changing everything. That said, buffing shadowjack would probably help, but if you increased the duration that could get pretty ridiculous in PvP. Maybe you could add a PvE damage modifier when invisible, or perhaps buff the duration with Don't Touch Me, that shouldn't make a huge difference in PvP. Regardless, it's still quite viable in strikes for speedruns and the buff to PvE damage made arc blade surprisingly effective at cleaning out packs of majors, like those annoying arc-shielded minotaurs at the top of the stairs in Undying Mind. So it's not useless, but definitely better for PvP.
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KILL THE CAPTAINS KILL THEM DEAD, GUARDIAN
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Blade dancers have a purpose. If you have one in your group they can go invis and run by everything till you hit a forced encounter and you wipe to pull your team forward. They make strike speedruns possible.
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I maxed out bladedancer first on my hunter cuz I played lots of pvp, but then I went to do raids and stuff and I was sitting there like..., well lets just say I spent another week or two grinding to max my gunslinger. Regardless, bladedancer is my favorite subclass and I wish bungie would give it some over capability. Like anything. At all. A rock to throw at the boss or something.
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Before TTK hunters have always lacked the support role and have never been a class that people preferred over a self res or bubble.. until nightstalker. Nothing has changed with the original 2 subclasses, and that's not a bad thing. Hunters can remain powerhouses in pvp and in pve, no need to change. Maybe buff hit registration for each swing though, I've got hit multiple times by it and took no damage.
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When has blade dancer ever been good for pve? Other than going invis?
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There should be an exotic that grants Encore. I would simply add it to Mask of the Third Man
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i dunno, i think different subclasses have different strengths in PvE so i can see why you made this post, but i try to rely more on my weapon than my subclass in raids tbh. That said playing blade in the raid (back when i did the raid) wasn't a big issue for me.
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Edited by Kone19ps: 1/24/2017 7:04:10 PMIt has its place in crotas end but that's about it. Nightstalker almost makes it irrelevant there too. Strikes give more freedom than raids though
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Ever heard of using the best tool for the job? Bladedancer isnt the best tool for the job in the raid. No they shouldnt rework an entire subclass either just because u want to use it in the raid. On a side note.... I love seeing people in the crucible all decked out in their raid gear lmao. So many people in this game would rather look good then wear gear that helps give them the best oppurtunity to do well. I laugh everytime i see raid gear in the crucible lol. Reminds me of white men cant jump when billy tells wesley pipes that hed rather look good and lose then look bad and win lol.
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Bladedancer is a class that is built around close combat. Engaging in close combat in most high level PVE in this game is usually a VERY unhealthy thing to do. The class is fine. You just want to use a hammer to drive a screw. The Hammer's fine. You just trying to use it for the wrong job.
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trade dancer isn't all that great in pvp without skip nades.... lol
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.... It's not great for every part but there are several parts of the raid that it's absolute gold for.
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Why would you use blade dance on wrath of the machine? The object of most of the Raid is to DPS the bosses as fast as possible. Shadow shot is the best option on matter what. Increase DPS on boss Tether large groups of adds Create lots of orbs.
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The only time I use bladedancer is when the nightfall or strikes have arc burn for the week.
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Just buff damage and nerf the stuff no one uses bungee, then we can be happy, PvE can get stabbed repeatedly with a knife and you can go to bed with the happy feeling that you nerfed some weirdo's useless build. Case closed
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I use blade dancer alot and I don't have any invisible perks equipped iv never used em except in gorgons maze
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I don't really see any big problems other than some minor buffs. Like a buff to orb generation and movement speed for the subclass with the lowest armour rating. Maybe a nerf to target detection while blade dancing. Don't get me wrong, I'm a hunter main but I have to admit that their is a lot of broken mechanics (tethered through walls, Titans can be fast as or faster than hunters, stormtrance is op with exotic that grants super perk and the cross map chain lighting kills, chain lightning from storm and zhalo go through walls, weapon meta in general, and lastly matador 64) but it's likely that none will ever be truly fixed with d2 out in the horizon
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I play it perfectly fine... in fact I love it. In fact it's pretty damn good.
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Edited by TRDoug: 1/23/2017 11:12:09 PMOnly reason right now........"30 arc ability kills" lol!!!
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