Way of The Sword - A Swiftblade Guide

[[LC]makeitjazzy]

I'm not necessarily a good player, but I think I've played Swiftblade enough to give this a shot. I love this hero, so if you have anything else you think I can improve on, let me know.

This is only meant to give new or struggling Swiftblade players a starting base. This is not the be-all, end-all. It's always smart to adapt; just because this guide says something, doesn't mean you necessarily have to do it.

Also, this is my first guide, so I would love it if you could leave some feedback for me.



Swiftblade
A guide by Clusmiez


My take: Swifblade is easily one of the best heroes for dealing the hurt. His entire skill set is designed for taking out enemy heroes in a heartbeat, but the key with Swiftblade is knowing when to pull the trigger. If you time your attacks well, you will be an efficient killing machine.

Key Attribute: Agility
Strength - 20
Agility - 20
Intelligence - 14

Some tips:
- When building large items, it can be helpful to get some of the parts you need right now, then finish it up when you have enough gold. I'll be restating this often.
- Always be aware of your surroundings. Check your minimap often and assess the risks appropriately. To be a good Swiftblade, you need to know when to let it loose.

Skills:



Blade Frenzy
Description: Deals 80/100/120/140 Magic damage per second to targets units in radius. Applies Blade Frenzy to self for duration of activation. Lasts 5 seconds. (If active, removes Tablet of Haste on use.

This is going to be your staple skill as Swiftblade. It deals nasty damage, and it also provides Magic Immunity. This is also your ticket to early kills. A level one Blade Frenzy deals massive damage. If you manage to keep your enemy within your Blade Frenzy for five seconds, it can deal 80 x 5 = 400 damage for level one, 100 x 5 = 500 damage for level two, 120 x 5 = 600 damage for level three, and 140 x 5 = 700 damage for level four. Because it grants Swiftblade Magic Immunity, Blade Frenzy can be used to either render mages completely useless against you or it can be used to escape magic heroes. You should always max out Blade Frenzy before anything else.


Counter Attack
Description: Extensive training in melee combat has allowed Swiftblade to perfect the art of countering enemy attacks, granting a chance that he will retaliate every time an enemy hero attacks him. 15 / 20 / 25 / 30% chance to counter-attack if attacker is an enemy hero.

Level 1: 15% chance, Level 2: 20% chance, Level 3: 25% chance, Level 4: 30%

Since you shouldn't autoattack enemy heroes often, this skill shouldn't be a high priority on your list. Simply put, Counter Attack gives a chance that when you are attacked by an enemy hero, you will deal some damage to them. This skill is less important than the rest of Swiftblade's skillset, as even though dealing damage back when you are attacked sounds good, it's not something that should be relied on.


Way of the Sword
Swiftblade's unsurpassed skill at the sword has made him a master of hitting where it hurts, giving him a chance to critically strike opponents with each attack.

This skill is very useful for last-hitting and denying. However, you shouldn't rely on this to kill your enemy heroes; this is primarily your way of taking chunks of health out of creeps and towers. Maxed out, you can take out creeps at a pretty good rate. and all that last-hitting and denying should go a long way to helping you get the items you need.


Swift Slashes
Swiftblade attacks random nearby targets with such speed that he appears to teleport to them. Targets are randomly chosen, yet it is possible to teleport to the same target multiple times. Teleports self to random targets 3 / 5 / 8 times, dealing 150 to 250 Physical damage to each target. Applies Swift Slashes to self for duration of activation. Staff of the Master can boost this ability.

Level 1: 3 slashes, Level 2: 5 slashes, Level 3: 8 slashes

This skill alone will make you a force to be reckoned with in any 1v1 fight. If you catch an enemy hero alone in the forest, do note that all 3 - 8 slashes damage that one hero. Using this on a hero close to creeps is wasteful; save this for encounters that do not include creeps. The best thing about Swift Slashes is that it essentially disables your victim. Even certain blink skills like Valkyrie's do not warrant an escape from this skill. Like any ultimate, this skill should be learned immediately upon reaching level 6.

My skill build:
1. Blade Frenzy
2. Way of the Sword
3. Blade Frenzy
4. Way of the Sword
5. Blade Frenzy
6. Swift Slashes
7. Blade Frenzy
8. Way of The Sword
9. Attribute Boost
10. Way of The Sword
11. Swift Slashes
12. Counter Attack
13. Counter Attack
14. Counter Attack
15. Counter Attack
16. Swift Slashes
17. Attribute Boost
18. Attribute Boost
19. Attribute Boost
20. Attribute Boost
21. Attribute Boost
22. Attribute Boost
23. Attribute Boost
24. Attribute Boost
25. Attribute Boost

I personally like to get most of the skills down before I go all out with the Attribute Boost, but again, this probably isn't the best build out there. This is just a guideline to show you how I would go around distributing Swiftblade's skill points.

Alternative Skill Build (by sneakysob)
Instead of alternating between Blade Frenzy and Way of the Sword, alternate between Blade Frenzy and attribute boost. The rest, I would assume, is essentially the same.

Items:



Starting Items:
x6 Runes of Blight (2 sets of 3) - 180 gold
x2 Pretender's Crown - 185 x 2 = 370 gold
x1 Minor Totem - 53 gold
Total: 603 gold

This is not only the starting item set I use with Swiftblade, but also the starting item set I use for some other Agility-based heroes. The Runes of Blight will give you some staying power, but do not use them way too quickly; if you can lane smart enough, you might not even need to use all six. The two Pretender's Crowns not only provide stat boosts, but they also give you a headstart on building Fortified Bracelets and Soulscream Rings. The Minor Totem also gives minor stat boosts. Although insignificant alone, the Crowns and Totem should give you a useful push early on.


OR



Phase 2:
x2 Fortified Bracelets - 2(510 - 185) = 650 gold
Total: 650 gold
OR
1x Soulscream Ring - 460 - 185 = 275 gold
1x Fortified Bracelet - 510 - 185 = 325 gold
Total: 600 gold

You should be able to get to Phase 2 very early. I usually go for one of the two sets above. 2 Fortified Bracelets give you a pretty good Strength boost, meaning higher health. 1 Fortified Bracelet and 1 Soulscream Ring give similar effects, but the Soulscream Ring amplifies Agility, so it's more of a balance-out between autoattack damage and survivability. If you are following the guide, getting these Phase 2 items should be much easier than building them from scratch, since you already have your 2 Pretender's Crowns at hand.



Phase 3:
Enhanced Marchers - 1500 gold
Total: 1500 gold

It is best that you get to Phase 3 as quickly as possible. These Enhanced Marchers are your best friend; they'll let you get out of tight spots, and they'll let you chase down weakened enemy heroes. Remember that there is a "Phased" ability which you can activate (by pressing the hotkey for the Enhanced Marchers' item slot), which grants the user a temporary speed boost. This is a very useful item for Swiftblade, and it is a MUST. Additionally, the "Phased" ability can be used in conjunction with Blade Frenzy. Need I say more?




Phase 4:
Runed Axe - 4350 gold
Shielbreaker - 4400 gold
Total: 8750 gold

It's only 8750 gold. Don't fret! If you've been doing pretty well with last-hitting and denying this should be as easy as pie. This should be your mid-to-late game phase. You don't need both, but it would be a nice incentive. For the Shieldbreaker, I recommend slowly building it. It requires 2 Warhammers (1600 gold each) and the Shieldbreaker Recipe. The Warhammers alone give you a nice little damage boost already, so keeping one of those at hand, then completing the Shieldbreaker when you have enough gold helps. Same goes with the Runed Axe; if you can't afford all 3 ingredients right away, get parts that you need most.



Phase 5:
Staff of the Master - 4300 gold

Apparently Swift Slashes can be amplified by the Staff of the Master. If it doesn't, please ignore this phase completely, and tell me too so I can make the change.



Luxury Items:
Hellflower - 5025 gold
Wingbow - 6000 gold
Symbol of Rage - 6150 gold
Total: 17175 gold

These are luxury items, and therefore optional. The Hellflower can cast a Silence spell on your opponent. The Wingbow will let you kill with deadly efficiency. The Symbol of Rage is good if you need Lifesteal. It has a base 25% lifesteal attribute, and when activated, the Symbol grants you 150% lifesteal for 3.5 seconds. These Luxury Items are outlandishly expensive, so if you can't afford them, you can choose to take parts of them.

Keep in mind that you should always adapt to what your situation calls for.

Lane-Buddies:



Pollywog Priest, Pestilence, or Andromeda

Pollywog's Magic Bindings are a great setup to your Blade Frenzy. When Pollywog holds an enemy, you can activate Blade Frenzy on him, and most of the time you'll either force them back to base or kill them outright.

Pestilence's Imaple stuns enemies around him and also slows them afterwards. Like Magic Bindings, Impale is the perfect setup for your Blade Frenzy.

Andromeda is a pure support hero. Her Comet stuns the enemy, then she can use Aurora to lower their armor, setting you up perfectly. She can even use Void Rip to bring victims back to you.



Arachna, Electrician, or Blacksmith

Arachna's Webbed Shot is what makes her such a good compliment to Swiftblade. A Level 3 Webbed Shot has 0 cooldown, so Arachna can use it to keep opponents slowed, while Swiftblade goes in with his spin.

Electrician's Static Grip makes him a good compliment to Swiftblade. Static Grip completely disables its target, so Swiftblade can attack whoever is being gripped without fear of retaliation.

Blacksmith has both a stun and a slow. His Fireball stuns its target, and with his "ultimate," Blacksmith can deal lots of damage to his enemies. His Hammer Throw slows the enemy. These two skills used in conjunction with Swiftblade's Blade Frenzy or Swift Slashes will kill many heroes easily.

Note: If you guys have any other good allies for Swiftblade, let me know, so I can add them.



Behemoth

Behemoth's Fissure is what makes him so great a compliment to Swiftblade's assets. A well-placed fissure can trap your opponents to one side, granting them no escape from your Blade Frenzy. His Shockwave skill, paired with a good entrance via portal key, will also take out creeps in a fight, opening the way for you to use Swift Slashes on nearby heroes.

Gameplay Mechanics

In this section, I'll cover how to play Swiftblade well and help your team to victory as a result. There will also be a lot of tips from other readers (It'd be great if you can drop tips here, guys!), so this will be a resource entirely focused on helping you step up your game.

Picking a Lane:
As Swiftblade, I always go for the bottom lane as Legion, and the top lane as Hellbourne. This is because these lanes are "longer," and there are many more spots to ambush and harass opponents.

General Laning:
Your attack animation is fast, so take advantage of that. Hover around the creep mob without attacking them, and when a creep (on either side) drops to critical health, finish them off for either the gold or the deny. Do note manually pressing A and clicking the allied creep will be required to deny. If players get too arrogant, use Blade Frenzy to drive them off.

Blade Frenzy:
It's important to know when's the time to pull off Blade Frenzy, and when it is better to hold back. If you are chasing a weakened enemy hero early on, don't continue to attack him if you know you're going to be near their tower and taken out by another enemy hero. You should also get some help from your teammate, especially early on; Swiftblade alone is a very vulnerable target, as he doesn't have a great Hit-Point count.

The key thing about Blade Frenzy is assessing the risks: Although it seems okay to go eye-for-an-eye, it's always better to wait for the perfect opportunity. If you struck at the best times, not only will you get a kill, but you'll probably also frighten the other enemy hero in your lane to fall back for a bit.

MAKE SURE YOU COMMUNICATE WITH YOUR LANE-BUDDY. I can not stress this enough. If you tell them you want to jump on someone before hand, say so. This will help you coordinate the attack much better.

You can also use your Blade Frenzy as a Defense Mechanism. You can use this to spin into a chase (i.e. enemy hero chasing your lane buddy), dealing some damage, then spinning after your buddy so both of you can make a clean escape. Alone, you can also use a combination of Phase Boots and Blade Frenzy to either chase down weakened enemy heroes, or make a quick escape (with Magic Immunity!).

(More gameplay stuff coming up)

Conclusion:
Swiftblade is a hero that is fun, but it takes time to fully utilize his abilities. The key nice of Swiftblade is the fact that he can deal gobs of damage.

Thanks for reading my guide! If you have things you think I should add or change, please let me know! I'm trying to keep an up-to-date resource for all aspiring Swiftblade players, so if you guys have ANY criticisms, don't be afraid to comment!

[sneakysob]

Eh, whirl, stats, whirl, stats, whirl, ult, whirl, way of the sword, ...

is better imo

Also vanguard is a **** item. Other than that good guide imo.

[[LC]makeitjazzy]

Eh, whirl, stats, whirl, stats, whirl, ult, whirl, way of the sword, ...

is better imo

Also vanguard is a **** item. Other than that good guide imo.

I'll add that as an alternative build.

As for Helm of Black Legion, any other item it should be replaced with?

[Hippie]

Just so you know, Wingbow is mathematically infinitely better than Flayer for any AGI hero lacking an evasion skill.

[[LC]makeitjazzy]

Just so you know, Wingbow is mathematically infinitely better than Flayer for any AGI hero lacking an evasion skill.

Which is why in the guide I stated that for 200 more gold, you can get a much more lethal item. Considering its price, Flayer is sub-par, so either I put a footnote about that or I delete Flayer from the Luxury Items list outright.

[LegoPirate]

flayer is stupid on heros with a built-in crit. otherwise its an amazing dps item.

[[LC]makeitjazzy]

Edited: Flayer removed. Gold sum appropriately decreased.

By the way, is there a much better alternative to the Helm of Black Legion?

[KaraTheImba]

bad guide sry l2p before making guides

vanguard on jugg??? is this a joke???
skill build is wrong too..

[Tsang]

The fact that there is almost no gameplay discussion is maddening to me. While item selection is important, its not nearly as important as the way you play swiftblade. For instance, there is no mention of WHEN you should perform your whirlwind + ulti combo (timing the attack as a new creep wave comes, so that when they eventually run from there creep, there is nothing else for your ulti to hit). There is also no mention in your guide about the additional slashes that can occur within your ulti depending on how much increased attack speed you have. This is what makes the ulti truly damaging late game and is something that should be included in your guide.

Because of the additional slashes produced with IAS, I tend to build him with a focus around that. This is highly situational and dependent upon personal preference however, so I'm not gonna knock you too much on your item selections. Once again, gameplay discussion is much more important.

You've laid a solid foundation, but at the moment its still very bare-boned. You should also include behemoth as a solid partner throughout the game. When laning, a well timed fissure block will make it so that the enemy has no where to escape to, making sure that you do as much damage as possible with the blade frenzy. During team battles, a behemoth that blinks + ultis will mean that all the creep go bye bye. In turn, this means that your ulti will be gaurunteed to hit only enemy heroes, wasting no hits on creep.

Its a good start, and I hope to see many more updates to this guide to make it as good as it can be. Swiftblade is also one of my favorite characters so I hope you do him justice with this guide.

P.S. You should mention Blade Frenzy + TP to get out of most early game ganking situations. Always carry a tp for this reason

[[LC]makeitjazzy]

bad guide sry l2p before making guides

vanguard on jugg??? is this a joke???
skill build is wrong too..

If you have nothing constructive to say, don't say anything at all.

@Tsang:
Thanks for your feedback, I'll work on integrating that in.

No one has given me a straight answer as to what I should do with the Helm of Black Legion (which has been getting a lot of flak).

[LegoPirate]

just dont get it? its a bad item. your better off rushing runed axe.

[[LC]makeitjazzy]

just dont get it? its a bad item. your better off rushing runed axe.

Well, people were saying that Black Legion was bad, but no one told me whether to replace it or remove the "phase" outright.

So revised I'll probably take out Phase 4 and move everything below up one.

Like Tsang suggested, I'll also put in a section of gameplay mechanics with Swiftblade.

[[LC]makeitjazzy]

Edited: Removed Phase 4 (Helm of Black Legion). Put in Behemoth in Good Lane-Buddies and placed a spot for Game Mechanics.

Thanks for the mostly constructive feedback so far!

[[SYD]Sukari]

Hey!

There's no lifesteal!? EDIT: nevermind, noticed that you mentioned it in the luxury items about getting "parts" of it.

By the way, I personally think that Staff of Masters should be a luxury item - because if your ASPD is fast enough, during his ulti, he will also do additional attacks which could potentially do more than an extra slash from ulti.

Just my 2cents, nice work though~

[Hippie]

IIRC Staff also reduces the CD on his ult, which is a welcome thing.

[[LC]makeitjazzy]

I added a Gameplay Mechanics section, and I would love it if some of the more experienced Swiftblade players can contribute tips.

[[S2]ElementUser]

Replace 1 Bracer or Soulscream Ring with Power Supply, it's way better.

Helm of the Black Legion (HotBL) is pretty bad on Swiftblade because it gives him pure defense that he doesn't actually need. A Bottle or Power Supply (or both) early game serves him really well. Actually I would recommend Bottle on Swiftblade just because it gives him a good & solid burst source of mana regeneration for his Blade Frenzy (and doubles as a useful burst HP).

And yes, Staff of the Master gives him more procs on Swift Slashes while reducing the cooldown drastically.

[Tsang]

I always begin the match with boots and and blight. I think swiftblade is one of the only characters you can actually begin the match with boots. This is because Blade Frenzy is such a devastating move in the early goings of the match that capitalizing on its awesome damage is more important than some stats. The best way to play swiftblade early on is aggressively, because blade frenzy is perhaps one of the strongest early lvl skills. You need the early kills to fuel your mid and late game.

[[SNAK]N9_1]

Lane-Buddies: u dont think glacius is good with swift lol?:P

[Pi1]

Lane-Buddies: u dont think glacius is good with swift lol?:P

Providing glacius skills tundra and ice prison by level 2 then that is one of the best lane partners there are. Not to forget the aura to help swift regen mana that he really needs.

Slither is also good as his slow lasts quite a while and good support during the laning phase. The DoT could set up a kill for swift to last hit.

Demented shaman for the slow/stun and the healing for babysitting purposes.