Alrisaia's Guide: The Razor Shield Blender

[Alrisaia]

So - for the nox users there's the Noxbox (http://www.spacetimestudios.com/showthread.php?109038-The-Nox-Bolt-Box).

For the trap users - there's the blender :)

For the past 10 levels I have been using the Razor Shield as an offensive skill... think of the Scythed Chariots with archers on board - not only were they deadly archers loosing arrows into the necks of their opponents, the wheels of their chariots had razor sharp blades attached and would cause way more damage than their bows ever could - dismembering limbs and all around decimating the enemy as they drove their horse drawn chariots through seas of men.

http://www.cais-soas.com/CAIS/Images2/Achaemenid/Military/The_Charge_of_Persian_scythed_chariots_at_the_Batt le_of_Gaugamela_by_Andre_Castaigne_1898-1899..jpg

I'll try to explain it as best I can and hopefully it will help some folks when running elites (note this is a pro strategy that I find really anyone can pick up on and use, it’s rather simple and felt very comfortable to me since I started using it).

The idea behind the blender is that the rogue using the tactic is standing very close to or on top of the tank (who hopefully has all the aggro) from the pull. If you're using a choke point properly, all mobs with the exception of the ranged attackers will be within range of your blender (Razor Shield). The tank pulls the crowd of mobs over to a corner or choke point and the rogue joins in. Pro rogues do the pulling themselves since tanks don’t always know this tactic – thus, you instruct the tank to fight inside your smoke, and you mark your spot with a Shadow Veil and everyone jumps into the smoke with you (hopefully the tank is ready with HOR to protect you and pull aggro) because it gets ugly very fast.

Once the mobs are in place – we’re talking 3 – 4 seconds after the pull, you turn on the blender.
SV is already up
Hit RS, traps, and pet skill in rapid succession. Spam Autoattack between skills.
Continue to spam AS and the above three skills as they become available – charge nothing (except for SV). Hold Still. Spam health and mana pots. If your trap draws in the crowd – prepare to gain all the aggro from the tank, especially if you’re not positioning your traps correctly. You will be dead in under 2 seconds if you’re not spamming pots and ready for this. Luckily – the RS offers an additional 20% dodge, and your SV will help reduce some of the damage you’re about to take. If you’re combining a crit pet with your blender – prepare to see a massive amount of yellow fly and all but pro tanks will lose aggro regardless of whether or not your trap deploys properly.

PRO tip – Use Malison to start with, this will help reduce the amount of damage you take since you line up the pet skill (increased dodge) with your blender, and thus when you pull aggro, you will dodge most hits.

Tanks playing with a blender need to understand that they must hold still – if they move around – even if it’s to peel an add off of a squishy – this whole tactic falls apart. Tanks – hold still.

If you have a mage in the party – make sure they understand your strategy – the best mage spells to combine with this are ice, timeshift, and wind (the mage using the wind to move mobs INTO the blender – not out of it).

Battles with 20+ elite mobs will last about a minute, usually a little less. That’s enough time to deploy the blender twice, maybe three times.

See below for a few shots of this in action:

This one is combined with using crit pets: Look at all that yellow :)
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Non-Crit Pets
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[faychen]

Thanks for sharing <3

[Azepeiete]

I'd love to see how fast your teams could do maps max geared! Thanks for sharing :)

[iluvataris]

and watch razor shield make its come back muahahaha!

[Wowsome]

you're awesome.

[Bless]

Awesome guide. Any realistic benefits in Pvp? I think razer struggles to make a big impression on pvpers because its not versatile for fighting all classes and different builds.

[Zuzeq]

Havent use Razor since lvl 16 cap, but as shown above I have seen this tech first hand and It does some legit damage. Nice info brother (;

[Alrisaia]

I'd love to see how fast your teams could do maps max geared! Thanks for sharing :)


Me too! LOL - know anyone selling mythic helm and armor for 1.4m? :P That's all the gold in my stash atm...

[moot]

Nice knowing that I've been using this since forever. But for the dodge purpose not mainly for dmg. Is it ok if I dont upgrade for the bleed?

[Alhuntrazeck]

Nice!

I think I should respec. I originally made my rogue for PvP when I started out...but now im wondering if I should simply use it for PvE instead.

I'm running with AS, SP, RS, heal right now with NB as an additional skill. Should I make some changes replacing SP with trap and heal with SV?

What's a multipurpose build I could use for both PvE n PvP?

Thanks!

[moot]

Nice!

I think I should respec. I originally made my rogue for PvP when I started out...but now im wondering if I should simply use it for PvE instead.

I'm running with AS, SP, RS, heal right now with NB as an additional skill. Should I make some changes replacing SP with trap and heal with SV?

What's a multipurpose build I could use for both PvE n PvP?

Thanks!

Yes replace heal with SV and replace SP with nox. You don't want to be helpless when fighting boss because you only have aim shot. Just choose 2 out of 3 from SV,trap,razor shield.

[JaytB]

Nice guide!

Love how the blurred out text is totally readable in that last screenshot :p

[iluvataris]

Awesome guide. Any realistic benefits in Pvp? I think razer struggles to make a big impression on pvpers because its not versatile for fighting all classes and different builds.
Meh... those narrow corridors in ctf allow razor shield to cause massive damage to a group with high critical ofc.
Ctf is mostly 5v5 brawls. Its great for that. Have you ever seen a razor shield rogue in a 5v5 situation?
Razor shield allows you to run through all those snared, rooted, slowed players to snipe the rogue/sorc or several.

[Alrisaia]

Meh... those narrow corridors in ctf allow razor shield to cause massive damage to a group with high critical ofc.
Ctf is mostly 5v5 brawls. Its great for that. Have you ever seen a razor shield rogue in a 5v5 situation?
Razor shield allows you to run through all those snared, rooted, slowed players to snipe the rogue/sorc or several.

I would think the movement upgrade for RS would be very helpful in PVP as well Iluva - Just think... snare and root having no effect on the rogue - he just runs right through that windmill into the mage's face and WHAM!...

of course... I'm just a PVE player - I am so suck at pvp - although many tell me I would be good, it's like a whole other game and I atm only have time for one :P

[iluvataris]

I would think the movement upgrade for RS would be very helpful in PVP as well Iluva - Just think... snare and root having no effect on the rogue - he just runs right through that windmill into the mage's face and WHAM!...

of course... I'm just a PVE player - I am so suck at pvp - although many tell me I would be good, it's like a whole other game and I atm only have time for one :P
And your doing a glorious job on the pve end : )
And doing great things for the community, Thank you for all your amazing guides : )

[Glasveena]

alrisaia, totally love the guide...!
I am on the right track, except, i unlocked shadow piercer.. (,might respec).
I love trap, but sometimes when i throw the trap, they are not in the place i expected. I stand in the middle of the mobs with the tank, but the traps still placed quite far from the mobs.
Is there any tips on how to place it correctly?

thanxxx

[Alrisaia]

alrisaia, totally love the guide...!
I am on the right track, except, i unlocked shadow piercer.. (,might respec).
I love trap, but sometimes when i throw the trap, they are not in the place i expected. I stand in the middle of the mobs with the tank, but the traps still placed quite far from the mobs.
Is there any tips on how to place it correctly?

thanxxx


Not all the traps deploy properly – I always try to face toward the environment wall when throwing out the traps or place them right in the choke point. It’s not really an exact science – but as long as the traps get placed so that they will deploy you should be in good shape.

A bit problem I run into is mages prematurely hitting timeshift or using Ice… they should wait until the mobs are grouped up really really tight ontop of the tank to hit the stun / cc spells. They may think they’re doing the right thing by holding mobs outside the perimeter of smoke – while in fact, it’s causing the run to take longer…

When you’re running with a blender – the more mobs the merrier :)

[Alrisaia]

I'd love to see how fast your teams could do maps max geared! Thanks for sharing :)

We're down to 17 minute cove runs and don't know all the pulls :) we just kill everything in the way leading up to the shark.

[IronMonkey]

This is what I call learning your class well, and Alrisaia is doing a great job learning and SHARING it with us.

:encouragement:

[Glimma]

Awesome guide. So awesome I copied and pasted it to our guild website :) Tyvm for this Alrisaia.

[Alrisaia]

wow awesome mind sharing a link?

[wiggy]

For RS (3/5), minus the bleeding and spinning freedom upgrade. However I see others getting the spinning freedom upgrade even in PvE.
Care to share why would you spend a point on the spinning freedom upgrade in PvE?

For PvP - the spinning freedom upgrade will remove the root trap on you cast by your opponent rogue right? Haven't done PvP yet, I'm building my gears first.

[Alrisaia]

i use razor shield when running through elites in place like oltgar or hall. if you get snared while running through the minimum you will suffer is the use of about 30 pots. the worst is death.

i do not recommend that upgrade for leveling builds or elite builds that don't venture into nordr..

[wiggy]

I saw your point regarding the spinning freedom upgrade the moment, I walked on an ice patch in Nordr Lol. However I can manage to dodge those so I still didn't get the upgrade. It's just an upgrade that I wouldn't be using that often, so at the moment its a waste of skill point for me. I'd probably get it in my next level. Maybe.

[Alfai]

What other maps than nordr that makes good uses for RB for a pt run?might wanna try it.
For oltgar i normally run on the side walls and use slag buff for speed and panic the mobs group chasing me at a certain distance as the mean to slow them down,simultaneously spamming pots from mobs inflicted attacks.seems working so far tho i would want to try RB but i just feel the skill points are worth spending on i.e dmg or critd passive as atm it does less good for me even for pt.

Hows RB bleeding damage compared to trap?

I like RB when soloing to increase survivability when pushing thru mobs at creeps.bt for elite maps i am still trying to find a way to make it effective as as a solid defense mechanism it seems not quite working as i have to push thru middle for maximum effect which leaving me so vulnerable once the effect is off.i might hit a few mobs bt mobs control is none (This is using dagger). With bow i had to omitbRB as i use range and distance as engagement.do share some tips of how do i maximize RB ability in this situation thx in advance.

[wiggy]

I find RS very beneficial in tombs, while shooting using arrows. Using RB (as any other skill) is all about timing.

Offensively, RB can clear out dying mobs in an instant, you'll be like a walking tornado of doom. I usually jump into mobs when they only have 1/4 of HP. Thus providing me several kill steals in the process. :p

Defensively, I also treat RB like an escape button because of the 20% dodge bonus it grants. Like when running the tombs and our party is cornered in a mob riot and all of my companions died, I simple cast RB and force my way out of the riot and usually manage to get away alive thanks to RB.

*I didn't get the bleeding option of RB.

[Alrisaia]

I find RS very beneficial in tombs, while shooting using arrows. Using RB (as any other skill) is all about timing.

Offensively, RB can clear out dying mobs in an instant, you'll be like a walking tornado of doom. I usually jump into mobs when they only have 1/4 of HP. Thus providing me several kill steals in the process. :p

Defensively, I also treat RB like an escape button because of the 20% dodge bonus it grants. Like when running the tombs and our party is cornered in a mob riot and all of my companions died, I simple cast RB and force my way out of the riot and usually manage to get away alive thanks to RB.

*I didn't get the bleeding option of RB.

Walking tornado of doom - I love it! I have always told my groups that I'm a walking AOE DOT. then they o.0 at me and well... I just have to show them.

Some of the harder pulls in Nordr and even some Kraken Isles maps require that I hit RS mid pull or I'm dead. Recently I started some news pulls in Palm Rock and if I don't hit RS on the way back to the group from pull one and pull two - I'm done for.

[VanRah]

Ty for this useful guide Alri!

[Alrisaia]

I received a question regarding the Blender build via PM, but so that everyone can benefit:



Hi :) . I wanna try ur blender but my rouge is lvl 31 so can u tell me how upgrades to do and what to not do and btw in the blender is there any skill which I can replace for heal
Thnx


Hi there!

I actually wrote this guide during the Lv 31 cap, so it works quite nicely there.

I'd suggest the following skills and passives for a Blender build at level 31, this worked really well for me throughout the entire season and when you run with a solid balanced team it's really cool to see it in action.

Aimed Shot 5/5
Shadow Veil 4/5 (no combustion tank)
Razor Shield 3/5 (no bleed, no spinning freedom)
Entangling Trap 4/5 (no explosion)

This is the basic build above. Then, if you want to really help with your times, add in boss skills:
Nox 4/5 (no radius) - You could sub out this skill for Heal if you really want to, but to be honest, Heal is not a PVE skill at all.
Shadow Pierce 1/5 (just open up the skill)

Lastly, Passives are personal preference. Go with 5/5 Dex then either Might, Int, or DMG whatever floats your boat to be honest... OR - as you mentioned above, select Heal as a skill in place of some passive points.

There you have it - the level 31 Blender build for Rogues.

[wlsgh15]

I would think the movement upgrade for RS would be very helpful in PVP as well Iluva - Just think... snare and root having no effect on the rogue - he just runs right through that windmill into the mage's face and WHAM!...

of course... I'm just a PVE player - I am so suck at pvp - although many tell me I would be good, it's like a whole other game and I atm only have time for one :P

I wanna be your friend.

ramyunstyle. I enjoy pve too

[Eeilis]

Amazing guide. It truly works without a doubt! :)
Thank you for posting this

[Saribeau]

just because of this guide i may make a rogue to lvl up and pve. great guide thanks!