Blade

"Consumes HP equal to 10% of Blade's Max HP and deals Wind DMG equal to the sum of 40% of his ATK and 100% of his Max HP to a single enemy. In addition, deals Wind DMG equal to the sum of 16% of Blade's ATK and 40% of his Max HP to adjacent targets. If Blade's current HP is insufficient, his HP will be reduced to 1 when using Forest of Swords. Forest of Swords cannot regenerate Skill Points." (Lv.6)

Energy Gain: 30

Toughness Break: Target - 60 / Adjacent - 30

There is nothing special about Blade’s Basic Attack.

Since Blade’s Skill doesn’t deal damage, most of his DPS will come from the Enhanced Basic Attack. Because of this, his Basic Attack is the #1 leveling priority. Although, his Skill and Ultimate are close behind.

"Consumes HP equal to 30% of Blade's Max HP to enter the Hellscape state. When Hellscape is active, his Skill cannot be used, his DMG dealt increases by 40%, and his Basic ATK Shard Sword is enhanced to Forest of Swords for 3 turn(s). If Blade's current HP is insufficient, his HP will be reduced to 1 when he uses his Skill. This Skill does not regenerate Energy. Using this Skill does not end the current turn." (Lv.10)

Blade’s Skill has a lot to unpack. It reduces his HP, allows him to perform the Enhanced Basic Attack “Forest of Swords” for three turns, increases damage, and grants him an extra action.

First, let’s go over the HP drain. He drains 30% to activate his skill then immediately drains another 10% to cast Forest of Swords. Over the course of 3 turns, he’ll lose 30%-10%-10%-10%, for a total of 60% Max HP. Remember this because it’ll be referenced often from now on.

Secondly, it changes his Basic Attack into Forest of Swords. The most notable thing about it, other than the huge damage spike, is “… cannot regenerate Skill Points.” What this means is Blade will consume 1 Skill Point to cast Hellscape, but then won’t consume nor gain Skill points for the next two turns. Comparative to other damage dealers like Welt or Seele, who want to use their Skill every turn, Blade will use 1 Skill Point every 3 turns rather than 1 every turn.

Thirdly, Hellscape’s description says, “..his DMG dealt increases by x%…”. Not only will Forest of Swords deal increased damage, but his Ultimate and follow-up attack will as well.

Leveling up Blade’s Skill greatly increases the DMG buff from a whooping %12 (at level 1) to %40 (at level 10). It should be leveled in conjunction with the Basic Attack.

Energy Cost: 130 "Sets Blade's current HP to 50% of his Max HP and deals to a single enemy Wind DMG equal to the sum of 40% of his ATK, 100% of his Max HP, and 100% of the total HP he has lost in the current battle. At the same time, deals Wind DMG to adjacent targets equal to the sum of 16% of his ATK, 40% of his Max HP, and 40% of the total HP he has lost in the current battle. The total HP Blade has lost in the current battle is capped at 90% of his Max HP. This value will be reset and re-accumulated after his Ultimate has been used." (Lv.10)

Energy Gain: 5

Toughness Break: Target - 60 / Adjacent - 60

Death Sentence is a more powerful version of his Forest of Sword, but with the interesting mechanic of “Sets Blade’s current HP to 50% of his Max HP…”. This means it can be either a heal or a drain, depending on his current Health levels. Ideally, using it as a heal is better, so wait until he’s 30% or below for it to have a bigger benefit.

The biggest downside to his Ultimate is the massive 130 Energy cost, which is one of the highest in the game. Because of the cost, and the fact his Skill doesn’t generate energy, his Ultimate will be used less often than other damage dealers.

Leveling Death Sentence greatly improves the damage, but doesn’t change the potential healing or extra damage based on total HP lost in the battle. His Ultimate is a lower priority than his Basic Attack and Skill because of those reasons.

"When Blade sustains DMG or consumes his HP, he gains 1 stack of Charge, stacking up to 5 times. A max of 1 Charge stack can be gained every time he is attacked. When Charge stack reaches maximum, immediately launches a follow-up attack on all enemies, dealing Wind DMG equal to 44% of Blade's ATK plus 110% of his Max HP. At the same time, restores Blade's HP by 25% of his Max HP. After the follow-up attack, all Charges are consumed." (Lv.10)

Energy Gain: 10

Toughness Break: 30

Shuhu’s Gift is a powerful, full AoE attack, but a bit awkward and unreliable. In this example, we’ll assume Blade receives no damage from enemies because honestly, he doesn’t want to take damage as he’ll usually be at critical levels of health.

To trigger his follow-up attack, Blade will have to perform the following: Skill + FoS (turn 1) -> FoS (turn 2) -> Fos (turn 3) -> Skill + Talent + FoS (turn 4). By turn 4, Blade will have consumed 90% of his own Max HP before he’ll be able to trigger his self-heal. And he’s only regaining 25% back, leaving him at a 65% deficit. Do not rely on his talent for healing, as it’s a drop in the bucket of his (ironically) fragile life. This is why he’s required to run with a healer.

While his Shuhu’s Gift is Blade’s only full AoE attack, and is quite powerful, it can only reliably trigger once every 3 turns. Therefore it’s the lowest priority.

"Immediately attacks the enemy. After entering combat, consumes 20% of Blade's Max HP while dealing Wind DMG equal to 40% of his Max HP to all enemies. If Blade's current HP is insufficient, his HP will be reduced to 1 when this Technique is used."

Energy Gain: 0

Toughness Break: 60

Blade’s technique is alright but comes at the cost of 20% of his Max HP for only a small amount of extra damage. There are better, less risky, initiating Techniques that should be used.

>Branch 1: Vita Infinita

Vita Infinita is decent but a 20% healing increase isn’t good enough for him not to be run with a healer. What’s nice is it will improve his Talent’s self-heal. Boosting it from 25% to 30%.

>Branch 2: Neverending Deaths

Neverending Deaths is great, but it only triggers when hitting weakness broken enemies and only heals 5% Max HP, half of Forest of Swords 10% drain. Even with this branch, a healer will still be required.

>Branch 3: Cyclone of Destruction

Damage-increasing Traces like Cyclone of Destruction are unfortunately not great. The extra damage should have been incorporated into the Skill’s scaling, and replaced with a more usable passive.

Stat Only Branchs

>"Blade's Ultimate deals additionally increased DMG to a single enemy target, with the increased amount equal to 150% of Blade's total HP loss in the current battle. The total HP Blade has lost in the current battle is capped at 90% of his Max HP. This value will be reset and re-accumulated after his Ultimate has been used."

Blade’s first Eidolon just repeats the extra damage effect of his Ultimate. Unfortunately, this only affects his Ultimate and only the selected target and not adjacent enemies.

>"When Blade is in the Hellscape state, his CRIT Rate increases by 15%."

Extra Crit is always nice, but %15 is just not good enough for an E2.

>"Ultimate Lv. +2, up to a maximum of Lv. 15. Talent Lv. +2, up to a maximum of Lv. 15."

This is the Ultimate and Talent level upgrade.

>"When Blade's current HP drops to 50% or lower of his Max HP, increases his Max HP by 20%. Stacks up to 2 time(s)."

Blade’s Eidolon 4 is his best one. It increases his Max HP with no turn limit, which increases his damage and survivability. It’s a shame Rejected by Death, Infected with Life isn’t his E1 or E2.

>"Skill Lv. +2, up to a maximum of Lv. 15. Basic ATK Lv. +1, up to a maximum of Lv. 10."

Eidolon 5 is the Skill and Basic Attack level increase.

>"The maximum number of Charge stacks is reduced to 4. The DMG of the follow-up attack triggered by Blade's Talent additionally increases by 50% of his Max HP."

Reborn into an Empty Husk reduced the Talent from a 3-4 turn limit to a 2-3 turn limit, on average.

>The Unreachable Side

Blade’s signature Lightcone is undoubtedly his best-in-slot. It increases Crit, Max HP, and Damage. Not much to say about it. It’s a pure stat-stick with no additional passives.

>Something Irreplaceable

Something Irreplaceable is mentioned because it’s the permanent Destruction Lightcone and it’s the only one that recovers HP. The 8% heal is a decent amount but it requires Blade to defeat an enemy. Blade won’t make use of the 24% Atk buff since his Atk scaling is horrible.

>A Secret Vow

The only 4* Lightcone worth mentioning is A Secret Vow. All the others focus on increasing Atk, while Blade would rather increase HP or DMG. While Blade has less HP than the enemy, he’ll deal a massive 80% more damage.

Body

Although Blade is an HP-scaling damage dealer, he still wants Crit% over HP for the main body piece. HP% can be used, but only if it has greatly superior substats.

Feet

Blade is naturally slow, so he’ll gain the most from a Speed Feet. But, like with the Body piece, HP% is a less optimal option.

Planar Sphere

A Wind DMG% piece will increase Blade’s damage much more than an HP% will.

Link Rope

The Link Rope is the best piece to slot in an HP% main stat. But it should be noted that Energy Regen% has benefits as well. Blade has a huge 130 energy Ultimate, and the Link Rope is the only place to increase Energy Regen.

Sub Stats

Like all characters, reaching the Speed requirements should be the first priority. Blade is naturally slow and doesn’t care much about going first or as often as others. So his Speed requirement is low. Try reaching 121 so he can take an additional turn during the 1st and 6th cycles.

After that, equally focus on HP%, Crit Rate%, and Crit DMG%. Most of his extra HP will come from substats, but still aim for a good 1:2 ratio of the Crits to achieve high levels of damage.

2pc Effect: "Increases Max HP by 12%."
4pc Set Effect: "When the wearer is hit or has their HP consumed by an ally or themselves, their CRIT Rate increases by 8% for 2 turn(s) and up to 2 stacks."

The new set, Longevous Disciple, is tailor-made for Blade. He’ll have 100% uptime on the additional bonus. He’ll gain 12% HP and 16% Crit by running it.

2pc Effect: "Reduces DMG taken by 8%."
4pc Set Effect: "At the beginning of the turn, if the wearer's HP is equal to or less than 50%, restores HP equal to 8% of their Max HP and regenerates 5 Energy. "

Guard of Wuthering Snow is a very interesting set for Blade. While it doesn’t increase his damage, it helps overcome three of his biggest shortcomings; poor energy regeneration, low self-healing, and fear of being one-shotted.

The 8% damage reduction works wonders with Blade, as he’ll constantly be at low HP and in range of dying from one stray enemy attack. Guard of Wuthering Snow won’t prevent this, but it will help reduce the risk.

Since Blade will be at or lower than 50% for most of the match, he’ll trigger the additional 8% heal and 5 energy regeneration every turn.

If Blade is dying too often in battles, Guard of Wuthering Snow is highly recommended.

2pc Effect: "Increases Wind DMG by 10%."
4pc Set Effect: "After the wearer uses their Ultimate, their action is Advanced Forward by 25%."

Eagle of Twilight Line is a simple Wind DMG boost and helps compensate for his low speed. Unfortunately, he won’t be casting it as often as other Wind units.

2pc Effect: "Increases the wearer's CRIT Rate by 8%. When the wearer's current CRIT Rate reaches 70% or higher, the wearer's Basic ATK and Skill DMG increase by 20%."

The new Planar Ornament set also works well with Blade. The only downside is it requires him to use a Crit Rate Body piece and more Crit Rate subs than he’d like.

2pc Effect: "Increases the wearer's Max HP by 12%. When the wearer's SPD reaches 120 or higher, all allies' ATK increases by 8%."

Fleet of the Ageless is a notable mention as it’s the only one to increase Max HP. He won’t gain much benefit from the Atk increase, but his team most likely will.

Luocha is Blade’s match made in heaven. Luocha’s Field will heal more than the HP consumed by Blade’s attacks. And he’ll constantly be triggering Luocha’s auto-heal.

Bailu has one death defy per battle, which will save Blade more times than not.

And Natasha would be the free option.

Blade will grow stronger as more healers, 4* Lightcones, and Relics are introduced.