what is the point of Defense type-- Block for melee weapons?

[John Whack]

Can anyone enlighten me about how to properly use this type of weapons? Right now I think they are really bad to use.

[RhodosGuard]

The only advantage is higher base stats.
Which are useless if you cant parry because blocking knocks you back and locks you in animation.
So in any situation that is even close to seriously dangerous, you just get mince-meated because you get constantly knocked back, are locked in the animation and then hit by 3 more attacks.

I guess if you only dodge you might be able to make it work, but not being able to parry is just a ♥♥♥♥♥♥ trade-off for any kind of stat-advantage.

You basically only want to go fencing, or, if you are really good at parrying, Balance for more speed or cleave, but generally the most value in melee combat is in parrying, and since Block cant parry, you are best off buying Block weapons and then getting the Mastery Point with your armoury data.

[Doomvora]

It's noob bait.

[FromChaosTheory]

No idea. I don't use them much. I know it has a huge stat bonus but I don't find that enough for me. I'd rather have the other two.

[Bigamo]

i use it on assault all the time. Get in, attack and get out.

[Bill Waggoner]

Originally posted by John Whack:

Can anyone enlighten me about how to properly use this type of weapons? Right now I think they are really bad to use.

I'm using the 14 strength block relic chainsword vs the 10 strength fencing one. Because of the sheer number and health of enemies on Ruthless, I prefer the much higher damage block weapons vs the fencing ones.

How you use it? You dodge instead of parry and you take advantage of the 40% damage increase it offers you. You can bring enemies into execute range with a lot less swings.

But, to each his own. If you don't like dodging, grab a fencing or balanced weapon and parry away.