Full Build Friday - Blade
- bjacobt1
- Oct 3
- 12 min read
IT'S OCTOBER!!!
I've made macabre monsters, daring detectives, and sinister serial slayers for Spooktobers past. This time around, we're build a series of characters who hunt those things that go bump in the night, starting with the mack daddy of vampire hunters. As always, this build is conceptualized entirely in a vacuum, with choices made in my best attempt to fit the character. These choice may not hold up in a campaign with different themes and should be adjusted accordingly.
Start the month off right by checking out the video on Blade, if that's more your speed!
Don't B Negative - I'd rather you keep A Positive outlook on this build for Blade from Marvel Rivals!
BLADE
CHARACTER Eric Brooks
SOURCE Marvel Rivals
BUILD GOALS
o After his pregnant mother was bitten by a vampire, Eric Brooks was born as a half-vampire called a ‘Daywalker’ and wielding an array of supernatural abilities
o He honed himself to become the ultimate vampire hunter and took on the moniker of Blade
o As a duelist, he is focused on dealing damage but uniqeuly features higher health than normal for duelists
o He can switch between an Ancestral Sword or Hunter’s Shotgun as his primary fire with the former featuring a high attack speed and the latter working best at moderate range
o Scarlet Shroud is his secondary fire where he parries with his sword to reduce incoming damage and decrease the cooldown of his Daywalker Dash
o This dash causes him to move forward and either fire his gun to apply healing reduction or a cleaving blow that slows foes hit by it
o Through Bloodline Awakening, he increases his attack speed, gains reduced healing, but applies lifesteal with his attacks. He can also perform Whirlwind Slashes as part of this
o That leaves his ultimate, Thousand-Fold Slash. He charges power and dashes forward, cutting up all enemies within the area and applying reduced healing to them
o By teaming up with Cloak and Dagger, Blade can enter a Light and Dark Realm that grants him healing over time and invisibility
Summary of Goals: There’s a lot of supernatural effects mixed in with a switch hitter who operates best at mid to close range. Wielding sword and gun in accord will be important, but he has a good bit of lifesteal and healing reduction in his kit that I want to translate over. On the more skill side of things, he is a highly capable hunter of undead and can turn invisible with his team-up, which might influence some Stealth stuff.
LEVEL 1
Ancestry & Heritage: Dhampir Human
o Ability Boosts & Flaws: +Strength, +Dexterity
o Ancestry Feat: Eyes of Night
Background: Scion of Slayers
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Intelligence
o Skill Increase: Athletics (T), Undead Lore (T)
o Innate Spell: vitality lash
Class & Subclass: Laughing Shadow Magus
o Class Ability Boost: +Strength
o Skill Increase: Acrobatics (T), Arcana (T), Religion (T), Society (T), Stealth (T)
o Spellbook: Cantrips – gouging claw, shield; 1st – snowball
Details
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Intelligence (Str +4, Dex +2, Con +1, Int +2, Wis +0, Cha +0)
With Blade being born as the result of his pregnant mother being, the dhampir is an obvious fit and he once again utilizes the human ancestry with some mechanical advantage to it. He does start by making use of his dhampir heritage to gain his Eyes of Night since he operates without issue in the middle of night even while wearing sunglasses, so I’ve got to assume something like this is going on. For his background, scion of slayers felt like a supremely thematic fit even if he doesn’t actually come from a family line of undead killers. This does provide him with Undead Lore and a vitality lash that can use Intelligence as his casting stat for it, which works out perfectly for his class of magus. I probably wouldn’t go with this for a standard Blade build but when it comes to the Marvel Rivals version specifically, I think this works out really well. Of the hybrid studies available to him, I like laughing shadow or aloof firmament, but I think the former offers him some better studious spells. However, that all being said, I’m not super impressed with the available starting spells and encourage you to take whatever spells that suit your style – with a few addendums. I like gouging claw as a spell attack for him that is capable of inflicting persistent bleed damage and shield as he can use that to potentially block a source of damage to resemble his Scarlet Shroud. The only 1st-rank spell that stands out to me is snowball not for its damage, but because it’s an attack spell that has a slowing effect, similar to his sword strike at the end of Daywalker Dash.
LEVEL 2
o Class Feat: Spell Parry
o Skill Feat: Eyes of the City
o Gear: psychopomp mask
LEVEL 3
o General Feat: Toughness
o Skill Increase: Religion (E)
o Spellbook: 2nd – invisibility
o Gear: +1 longsword, psychopomp mask, stalk goggles
LEVEL 4
o Class Feat: Exemplar Dedication – Barrow’s Edge Ikon
o Skill Feat: Quick Jump
o Gear: blazons of shared power, +1 longsword, necklace of knives, psychopomp mask
LEVEL 5
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Intelligence (Str +4.5, Dex +3, Con +2, Int +3, Wis +0, Cha +0)
o Ancestry Feat: Undead Slayer
o Skill Increase: Stealth (E), Survival (T)
o Spellbook: 3rd – vampiric feast
o Gear: +1 striking longsword, blazons of shared power, grim sandglass, necklace of knives, psychopomp mask, stalk goggles
With the concept of Blade’s Scarlet Shroud still in mind, he uses the Spell Parry magus feat, but then takes a brief detour into the Exemplar Dedication. Through this, he can get the Barrow’s Edge ikon, which has the Drink of my Blood transcendence to regain hit points after Striking a foe and is intended to resemble the lifesteal that he gains from his Bloodline Awakening. On the skill side of things, Blade can use Eyes of the City so that he can Track in cities, the favored hunting grounds of his favored prey. The use of Quick Jump is mainly just based on the general usefulness of the feat and typical superhero swiftness. A bit more pertinent to the character is Toughness since Blade does have more Hit Points than the typical duelist and then Undead Slayer. This provides him with bonus damage against undead, which is doubled against vampires! Speaking of, he finally gets access to the vampiric feast spell, which is going to be another solid way to represent his lifesteal ability as he Spellstrikes with it, notably this could stack with the healing of Barrow’s Edge and the temp HP of vampiric feast. Another notable spell is invisibility for his team-up with Cloak and Dagger.
LEVEL 6
o Class Feat: Basic Glory – Red-Gold Mortality
o Skill Feat: Slippery Prey
o Gear: +1 studded leather, +1 striking longsword, cape of justice, blazons of shared power, necklace of knives, Jack’s tattered cape
LEVEL 7
o General Feat: Ancestral Paragon – Vampire Lore
o Skill Increase: Intimidation (T), Vampire Lore (M), Occultism (T), Religion (M)
o Spellbook: 4th – call the blood, vampiric maiden
o Gear: endless grimoire, +1 studded leather, lesser boots of free running, +1 striking longsword, blazons of shared power, grim sandglass
LEVEL 8
o Class Feat: Spell Swipe
o Skill Feat: Sacred Defense
o Gear: ring of wizardry (type I), endless grimoire, clandestine cloak, +1 studded leather, +1 striking longsword, cape of justice
LEVEL 9
o Ancestry Feat: Multitalented – Witch Dedication (Paradox of Opposites Patron)
o Skill Increase: Stealth (M), Thievery (T)
o Familiar’s Spells: Cantrips – needle darts
o Spellbook: 5th – blood feast
o Gear: +1 resilient studded leather, deathdrinking weapon rune, ring of wizardry (type I), endless grimoire, lesser boots of free running, +1 striking longsword
LEVEL 10
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Intelligence (Str +5, Dex +4, Con +3, Int +4, Wis +0, Cha +0)
o Class Feat: Basic Witch Spellcasting
o Skill Feat: Swift Sneak
o Skill Increase: Crafting (T)
o Familiar’s Spells: 1st – infuse vitality or flense; 2nd – reaper’s lantern; 3rd – vampiric feast
o Gear: sanguine fang, +1 resilient leather, greater grim sandglass, ring of wizardry (type I), endless grimoire, +1 striking longsword
Aside from the Barrow’s Edge suiting Blade quite nicely, he can also use his exemplar archetype to gain Red-Gold Morality. By striking a creature with his imbued blade, he can curse them for a minute to reduce any healing that they would take for a full minute – which resembles the reduced healing inflicted by his Daywalker Dash and Thousand-Fold Slash. The use of Spell Swipe is intended to resemble his wider melee attacks, such as his Whirlwind Slashes, but after that, he uses the Multitalented ancestry feat to pick up a Witch Dedication and takes a Paradox of Opposites patron to provide him with divine spells, matching his vampiric nature. Following that, he can gain Basic Witch Spellcasting, which provides him with an array of divine spells. Of note, infuse vitality could help him in his crusade against undead, he could get an extra casting of vampiric feast, but most notable is reaper’s lantern. Through this, Blade can surround himself with a zone that can reduce the healing of living creatures within it or enfeeble undead to again call to mind his healing reduction ability. Keeping with spells, he mainly takes more life steal options with particular note being given to call the blood, which he could use to make himself quickened since he has the negative healing effect, and blood feast, which arguably fits him better than the other life-gain options as it has the attack trait.
Beyond that, vampires like grappling targets so that they can drink their blood, so I added in Slippery Prey. I used Sacred Defense based on that higher health that Blade has and works in Swift Sneak per his team-up with Cloak and Dagger. He also uses Ancestral Paragon to grab an ancestry feat that I liked at first level but couldn’t take because Eyes of the Night has to be taken at first level. So now he’ll take Vampire Lore to get scaling skill proficiency and a few other skills.
LEVEL 11
o General Feat: Fleet
o Skill Increase: Athletics (E)
o Spellbook: 6th – vampiric exsanguination
o Gear: +2 striking longsword, eyes of the moonwarden, sanguine fang, +1 resilient leather, deathdrinking weapon rune, ring of wizardry (type I)
LEVEL 12
o Class Feat: Expert Witch Spellcasting
o Skill Feat: Foil Senses
o Gear: +2 resilient leather, +2 striking longsword, greater endless grimoire, sanguine fang, astral weapon rune, greater grim sandglass
LEVEL 13
o Ancestry Feat: Daywalker
o Skill Increase: Athletics (M)
o Spellbook: 7th – frigid flurry
o Gear: +2 greater striking longsword, +2 resilient leather, master magus ring, greater endless grimoire, eyes of the moonwarden, sanguine fang
LEVEL 14
o Class Feat: Hasted Assault
o Skill Feat: Powerful Leap
o Gear: propulsive boots, +2 greater striking longsword, major grim sandglass, +2 resilient leather, ring of wizardry (type II), greater endless grimoire
LEVEL 15
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Intelligence (Str +5.5, Dex +4.5, Con +4, Int +4.5, Wis +0, Cha +0)
o General Feat: Incredible Initiative
o Skill Increase: Religion (L)
o Gear: +2 greater resilient leather, major stanching armor rune, propulsive boots, +2 greater striking longsword, master magus ring, holy weapon rune
Expert Witch Spellcasting is mainly used just to provide Blade with some extra spells at higher ranks, including more blood feasts. Through Hasted Assault, he gains an extra focus spell that provides him with the quickened state, calling to mind the enhanced attack speed granted by his Bloodline Awakening. He keeps up his eclectic mix of skill feats with this block’s Foil Senses in an attempt to evade the unique senses of vampires and their minions and then also has Powerful Leap to extend the distance of all his leaps and bounds just a bit more. Both of his general feats are about being fast – Fleet lets him run faster while Incredible Initiative should help him act faster. He also works Daywalker into his ancestry mostly because that’s what he’s known as. I’m not entirely certain how well it fits him, but does have some mechanical usage especially in a party that isn’t really geared to tend to somebody with void healing. He does get another ‘lifesteal’ spell with vampiric exsanguination but more important is frigid flurry, which will seem like an odd choice. But by casting this, he can slash through enemies in a line akin to his Thousand-Fold Slash and even covers the dash through them that he does as part of this.
LEVEL 16
o Class Feat: Preternatural Parry
o Skill Feat: Intimidating Glare
o Gear: major sanguine fang, +2 greater resilient leather, major endless grimoire, propulsive boots, +2 greater striking longsword, major grim sandglass
LEVEL 17
o Ancestry Feat: Symphony of Blood
o Skill Increase: Stealth (L)
o Gear: +3 greater striking longsword, greater boots of bounding, major sanguine fang, +2 greater resilient leather, major stanching armor rune, propulsive boots
LEVEL 18
o Class Feat: Patron’s Breadth
o Skill Feat: Legendary Sneak
o Gear: commandant’s scabbard, +3 greater striking longsword, quickstrike weapon rune, major sanguine fang, +2 greater resilient leather, major endless grimoire
LEVEL 19
o General Feat: Diehard
o Skill Increase: Athletics (L)
o Gear: +3 greater resilient leather, commandant’s scabbard, greater cloak of the bat, +3 greater striking longsword, greater boots of bounding, major sanguine fang
LEVEL 20
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Intelligence, +Wisdom (Str +6, Dex +5, Con +4, Int +5, Wis +1, Cha +0)
o Class Feat: Whirlwind Spell
o Skill Feat: Legendary Professional
o Skill Increase: Medicine (T)
o Gear: +3 major striking longsword, +3 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, true endless grimoire, commandant’s scabbard, quickstrike weapon rune, bloodthirsty weapon rune
Expanding out of his significantly earlier Spell Parry, Preternatural Parry is a reaction that is another solid way to resemble the damage-evading effect of his Scarlet Shroud ability. By taking Patron’s Breadth, he’ll have even more castings of the likes of reaper’s lantern and vampiric feast, which might be one of the greatest weaknesses of the magus class. He ends his class feats with Whirlwind Spell as that will best resemble his sweeping swings and even matches the name of his Whirlwind Slash. His skill feats for this level feature the basic but ever useful Intimidating Glare, Legendary Sneak to further match his ability to disappear per his team-up with Cloak and Dagger, and then Legendary Professional so that he can make a living by advising others on the slaying of vampires – going for a bit of that OG Van Helsing vibe. Through the use of Symphony of Blood, he gains an extra casting of vampiric exsanguination to Spellstrike with and rounds out the build with a Diehard feat based on how long he’s been carrying on in his role as a hunter of vampires.
FREE ARCHETYPE SUGGESTIONS: With a free archetype game, Blade does have the option of expanding the archetypes he already has here and would actually need to expand on his exemplar archetype if he wants anymore options. You have a good array of options, such as Exemplar Resiliency or Advanced Glory for a Vow of Mortal Defiance. Once that’s locked in, he can consider something like a gunslinger archetype mainly to look for feats such as Quickdraw to significantly ease his use of sword and gun. While it would be a bit more of a dual-wielding scenario, he could also potentially make use of some fun way of the drifter feats and features. Another option is the Undead Slayer Dedication and its following feats, which aren’t quite as specific but are still quite solid.
BUILD CONCLUSION
Eric Brooks, better known as Blade, is a dhampir human laughing shadow magus who comes from a scion of slayers background. That dhampir heritage of his serves to represent his half-vampiric nature and he even has a Daywalker feat to match the name that his prey has given him. The Undead Slayer and Vampire Lore feats will aid him in hunting though he won’t be wanting to wield his vampiric feast and similar spells against such enemies since those deal void damage. While he is a duelist, he uses feats such as Toughness and Diehard, as well as some Constitution investment, to be a bit hardier than most. As a magus, he can wield his sword or shotgun, which is more of a hand cannon, with ease and can simply use the basic action of Interact to swap his weapons or simply draw his firearm for a fast blast. To cover his Scarlet Shroud, there’s options such as Spell Parry and Preternatural Parry though the damage reduction comes in the form of shield or by slipping wooden double into his spellbook. For his Daywalker Dash, a Stride followed by an attack with his Barrow’s Edge will afflict foes with Red-Gold Morality and limit their healing though for a slowing effect, you could Spellstrike with snowball to do so. For his Bloodline Awakening, he can use haste before picking up hasted assault to get the increased attack speed whereas the lifesteal comes from a collection of spells such as vampiric feast or blood feast as well as the Drink of my Foes Transcendence offered by his ikon. Spell Swipe and Whirlwind Spell will reflect the wide swings and Whirlwind Slashes that he tends to perform. For his ultimate, he’ll first have to use frigid flurry to slash through a crowd of foes before calling upon reaper’s lantern to inflict healing reduction within an area that he can expand. Based on his ability to enter a Light and Dark Realm conjured by Cloak and Dagger, Blade invests significantly into Stealth but could also just pick up the invisibility spell to get the drop on foes.
Drenched in darkness and determined to defeat depravity, this daywalking dhampir dares to delve into dangerous dens to defeat the dire denizens that dwell in this dour dusk.
Lemme know what you think and what other builds you would like to see!
If you want to join in on the discussion of these builds and the ones I do for monsters or just hang out with a bunch of fellow TTRPG nerds, check out the Discord server. We also have a Twitter where we try to post teasers for the blog. With the first hunter of horrors made, I'm sure the next one will really pop.
Have a fantastic Friday!
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