Dueling Blades: Tactics, Strategies Guide

Basics of Dueling for New Entrants in the Game

Everyone needs basics for any game and in this series, we bring you some basic things which play an important role in playing the game Dueling Blades. It will explain the things in detail so that every aspect of this game may be clear.

There are two main parts of a turn i.e.

1) Movement

2) Action.

Movement:  Character can be chosen by you to move within a certain radius of where you stand (hotkey Q). This radius is usually constant, though it can be temporarily reduced by certain enemy skills, like the Thief’s “Blinding Dust” skill.

If you choose the option "not to move" during your turn, you will regenerate an extra Energy Point. Keep that in mind.

Action:  Although this not compulsory but you can also take one action during your turn. A brief explanation of the three types of actions available to you:

standard attack can be performed with your weapon (hotkey W). These attacks swing in a fan towards a direction of your choice.

One of your Class Skills can be used instead of a regular attack (hotkeys 1-8, explained later on).

There is an option of Energy Points. You may charge your Energy Points (hotkey E). If you use this option, you cannot move during the same turn. The net effect of this option is +5 EP (1 from natural regen, 1 from not moving, and 3 from the charge).

In case of any mistake, you can reset your selected movement and/or action from the main turn menu. The reset button is on the far right of this menu (hotkey R). Remember, you only have 15 seconds to finalize your turn, regardless of whether you reset; make sure you redefine your movement and/or action before the time runs out, or you’ll miss out on those. Once the timer runs out, or both combatants
have finalized their movement and/or action (hotkey C), the action unfolds!

There are some priorities regarding Actions. If both combatants have landed in their opponent’s action fan, then the action with the highest priority is the successful one, and the action with the lowest priority is discarded. If the priorities are tied, then there is every apprehension of a Clash and both combatants engage in a mini game to determine which action is successful. In this mini game, combatants are shown numbered circles with rings that shrink around them. Click the circles as the ring touches their circumference to maximize your score. The combatant with the highest score wins, and their action is immediately successful.

At the end of each turn, all combatants regenerate 1 Energy Point (up to the cap of 10).

Detail of Priorities:

Priority 0: War Cry, Aura of Protection.
These skills will never damage an enemy so anything the enemy hits you with will connect. However, unlike most cases where your action would have been wasted, the buff will still be applied.

Priority 1: Standard attacks.
A direct hit in the red area beats a glancing blow in the yellow (and deals more damage as well), but otherwise two standard attacks will result in a clash minigame.

Priority 2: Broad Strike, Heavy Slash, Tri-Cut, Open Wound. (among others)
A glancing blow from these skills will beat a direct hit from a standard attack. Direct hits in the red still beat glancing blows in the yellow for skills on the same priority level, but unlike standard attacks, skills don’t deal more damage with direct hits.

Priority 3: Counterattack, Stun Kick. (possibly others)
Note: If two Counterattacks happen, it doesn’t trigger a clash.

Priority 4: Class Fury attacks, e.g., Berserker Fury, Dagger Fury, etc.
These skills are both powerful and rank higher than most in priority. It’s a huge risk to attempt but it can pay off quite well.

Priority 5: Tsubame Gaeshi, Shield Cover (maybe something else?)
I have not seen anything to date that can beat the Samurai’s counter. It will even attack a Warrior that uses Counterattack! Likewise, Shield Cover will block anything, including the ultimate Fury attacks from a class.

Detail of Common Strategies 

During battle, you will intend to know how to do a few things well:

Firstly, know how to space yourself from your enemy. Doing this well can help keep you from straying too close to your foe, especially brutal if you’re going up against a Thief class (due to their Stun Kick and very wide attack ranges). But then again, if you like chaos (or if you are a Thief-tree class), you may want to get right up next to the opponent…

Secondly, manage your EP well. If you don’t, you’ll end up being chased down when you can’t do any skills and eventually get knocked out by attacks you can’t beat. If a chance is given to restore EP safely, I would take it. Sometimes I would even take a hit from the enemy just to restore EP so I can have options again.