Cna you guys teach me to Bulwark?

[Chenni]

I can take on the Substantial Threat on my Assault and Heavy without relying too much on medkits-----but on Minimal, I still take damage on extended engagements with my Bulwark ending up to use medkits.


Does his shield have any use in melee in Substantial?


Power sword or chainsword or fist?


Hunt elites like on Heavy/Assault or stay close to ranged teammates?

[Mandalorian Deathknight]

if you like to parry use chain sword much better parry window
stay with the squad the banner refills the shield bars
with the shield you can block hits but i have not tested the knock down ones

[B1GMike]

Fencing chainsword is probably the best bet, parry everything, hold C to block damage between your parries/attacks, control large groups by using the shock field on parry/armor break perks, and drop your banner when you or your team needs heal off a group/execution.

[Æɴɪsᴏ]

You parry, use his shock perks, bonk? Rinse and repeat.

Whenever you want to heal to full: Flag > Exe -

Use whatever you think it's most fun, but the best melee atm is chainsword, although fencing chainsword is bugged. (the one in the last tier)

Power sword for swag.

[The Grand Mugwump]

Always take the fencing weapon variant as Bulwark, no matter which melee weapon you're using. Bulwark is punished far more for missing a parry than all of the other classes, and their timing window is weird with balanced weapons.

Also the perk which causes enemies within 10m to take all ranged damage that you block with your shield is low key amazing as hell. It's great watching swarms of hormagaunts fall over dead when I block a venom shard barrage from a tyranid warrior, or watching tzaangor fall over dead when the chaos marines and cultists light my shield up with their massive ranged damage.

Take advantage of the bulwark's free heals. The perk which says it revives allies also gives max contested health. If you put the banner down right before executing something, you get healed to 100% every time your banner is ready. Bulwark also heals to 100% whenever they use the loadout pods at checkpoints, so use that too.

I personally prefer the versatility of the power sword because it can alternate stances. Its heavy stance is phenomenal at dealing with minoris enemies while also generating a lot of gun strike opportunities, and its light stance can do some decent single target damage. Maybe I just haven't played with chainsword enough yet on my other classes.

I was also kind of surprised at how much damage a Bulwark can do to a boss enemy with the AoE damage on a successful parry perk. That perk is nasty if you can nail your parries consistently.

[EastCLiff]

1) If you want to be an expert, Yes. If you just want casual play, No.
Shield bash and guard stance is needed on specific situations but it is only for veteran who seek details.

2) You are asking this question and it means power sword is out from your choice. Fist is bad for B. Actually, it is on very bad state but it can be good only for A. Choose chainsword and you would naturally learn whether to use or not the power sword.

3) Stay close. You can be flexible but remember being apart from your team is the most vulnerable situation for B. The best situation for B is that you absorb every minoris like sponge and team take down elites and ranges. B is excellent against hordes but slightly bad for elites. Psword and Fist are good for elites but fist is bad and elite hunt with Psword is very difficult. The weapon is good but it requires high level of control and analysis on battle field.

[TheBoxOfWar]

- Bulwark's playstyle & role
In my personal opinion, Bulwark should not be treated as a "dedicated support" class. You are the linchpin to the squad. A single drop of the banner has the potential to fully heal your squad and protect them against further harm, and your shield makes you excel at overwhelming otherwise dangerous ranged targets. You should be in a position somewhere in the center or frontline of your squad, depending on the team's composition. If you have a Heavy with a heavy bolter, for example, you might stay further behind to ensure his safety against a crowd. If your teammates are an Assault and Vanguard, you should shaft the spear of their charge. Regardless of your team, however, keep in mind of the presence of ranged opposition. With that shield you can run undaunted at any shooter enemy and lock them into close combat, preventing the heretic from suppressing your team. You are by far the most durable and resilient class in the game - weaponize it.
TL;DR: You are a duelist, but don't forget your brothers in need. It is your duty to kill those who would harm them, and raise the banner in desperate times.
- Use of shield in melee
Without class perks, the shield bash is just okay at pushing back a small group of Minoris. If you spec into it, however, it can be way better, such as making you unstoppable and staggering Majoris and Extremis-class enemies for much longer. It depends on how much value you want out of it. You can ignore the shield bash altogether or make it a core point of your build. Additionally, if you are being shot at while in a duel, keep an eye for good opportunities to raise your shield unless enduring the pain could lead to an execution - learn when to briefly withdrawal for superior positioning later.
- Melee of choice
The Chainsword is a very versatile weapon that won't let you down, regardless of what heretic it meets. It has decent cleave and stomp for crowds and enough base damage to do well against tougher foes. It is my personal go-to because it works well regardless of circumstances.
The Power sword focuses more as a duelist weapon, better at killing Majors and above. Its crowd control is passable to keep you alive, so long as you aren't surrounded on all sides by chaos. Keep some frag or shock grenades handy and her blade won't disappoint.
The Power fist is GREAT at reducing crowds to paste and does a surprising amount of damage to bigger targets. The major drawback is the weight behinds it attacks - treat this glove like a miniature Thunder hammer. Don't be afraid to use your sidearm against larger targets when a melee attack is an untenable risk.
- Secondary of choice
My personal preference of secondary is the Bolter Pistol. It's quick, accurate, an reliable. You can mix it into a duel while anticipating an attack and it's competent enough to shoot down Majoris-level Tyranids and soften Majoris-level Chaos if you go for the head. The Plasma Pistol is also an excellent choice, though I do warn of its ammo consumption. You have no primary weapon and ammo caches are better spent on your brothers, so every shot counts. Warnings aside, the ability to remove Majoris-level threats from a distance is a capability one shouldn't ignore - just keep in mind when you should close the distance with that shield and when you should take aim.

- My Bulwark Build :3
In case you are curious or want to know of a Bulwark build, here's mine! Keep in mind, there's a couple of great routes you can take - I just like this one.
1, Conviction: That 25% less health damage is huge upon the realization that if you constantly regain even a single segment of armor, this is almost permanently active.
3, Scrambled Targeting: I like this one for the situations where I am too busy dealing with a swarm to defend myself from ranged fire. 20% less damage is 20% less damage!
2, Steel Within: When stacked with other defense buffs like Conviction, this helps keep you standing in desperate times.
Team 2, Advanced Conditioning: ALWAYS USE THIS. Giving your entire squad double the time to recover contested health will save them so many downs and exaggerates the resilient nature of Bulwark, making you extremely difficult to finish off.
2, Rapid Regeneration: To be fair, Focused Strength is also nice, but I prefer a playstyle where dropping the banner has an immediate and significant effect rather than a place to hold.
3, Invigorating Icon: Being able to completely remove a mistake from yourself or a brother is wonderful, especially considering the remaining empty health will become contested by standard. Merciless Resolve is also a good perk for this slot if you'd prefer the unstoppable slaughter and feeds into the rest of the build.
1, Rejuvenating Effect: I genuinely don't think I need to explain this one. Being able to point at an ally and say "Your duty is not DONE, brother" is awesome.
Signature 2, Defensive Mastery: Honestly, I wasn't sold on this perk until I laid a Terminator on his ass over a single parry. The 2 minute cooldown is not a downside - it is a LIMITER to how busted this perk is. Think about it: effectively every small skirmish and multiple times per longer encounter, it is an immediate execution on high-priority targets you SHOULD be in melee range with anyways.

[Chenni]

Thanks all, I'll try those! I'll read all those tips (and what's to come) over-and-over until I git gud enough for Substantial 🙂

Hope other prospective Bladeguards find this thread helpful too!

[CHAO$$$]

use the shock grenade on perfect parry perk (this is the only version of shock grenade that doesnt damage yourself after using)
perfect parry
bait enemies into your shock grenade
repeat

if youre low on health wait for an execution on a majoris, pop flag to fill your white health to maximum, execute to regain full health

only weakness of bulwark is that it makes killing everything take longer

full charged plasma pistol shots are quite good to spam on majoris and fliers but youll prolly need an ammo crate to do that perpetually

[Sifer2]

Pretty sure people did research, and found his parry windows are not any worse. You just have to tap the button since if you hold it at all he blocks instead. His block, and special ability are both ridiculously powerful in PvE. You can just tank an entire enemy wave by yourself.