Blademaster/Infiltrator builds for hardcore

[Sir Yvain]

Going to start hardcore. Mainly looking for pierce blademaster/infiltrator builds. Are they viable for hardcore?

[gNuff!~©~gNom3™]

considering my BM ended up "vanishing"(ie dying) not really sure how valid this is, but i do feel regardless of über tanky builds that's a fate potentially awaiting all chars on HC:
"regular BM/infiltrator build" for hardcore, difference from softcore being; you focus a bit more on your defenses,
This means capping resists bloody asap, want to minimize that squishyness quickly and resists are one of those factors. DA up high, this means no fancy cunning dump like on softcore, you are pumping phys and relying on stat boosts/minimal cunning to allow your slicers worn.
Defensive oriented devotions, that means we aren't trying to go the fancy dps route of max +pierce dmg or oleron, soldier, or ulzaad. Ghould, Turtle, etc possibly ishtaak or healing rain gets mandatory (can even go for Crab), and all we are sticking to are resist reduct and blades of nadaan to up our or armor pierce
ex https://www.grimtools.com/calc/YNn0O9pV
notice how i used malmouth redeemer, it's because it's easy to craft, boosts defensively, and helps with resist even tho we sacrifice some armor pierce. I also used Runeguard boots for defenses before, https://www.grimtools.com/db/items/8018, but will change your components/augments abit compared to final march
craft things for stun resist (relic helm sword) or armor, Relic/serenity is gonna be your main boost with XYZ resist boost ex to get your stun resist up
^note you can go regular BM, i just personally feel it's way more squishy for hardcore even tho "technically" the masive dmg boost should let you nuke things fast enough to reduce incoming threats, i just like higher da and hp myself and the defensive oriented devotion more, because i'm a wuss on HC (once i had ishtaak+healing rain even before azrakaa was released) -tho like i said, eventually i did end up losing it

Like with all things hardcore, imo, defenses matter, armor, hp, resists, DA, circuit breakers dmg reduction and heals, so focus on that stuff and just accept it might take a few seconds longer to kill stuff, you should still be able to deal plenty dmg with a defensive setup if you lvl using 2x dermapteran slicers etc -and you can even use dermapteran slicer in offhand if you get some nice affixes that replaces MalmRedeemer

I have not done a HC infiltrator myself, so can't speak to that, feel it's even more squishy than BM, so not really something i have considered actually, but i'd assume it's every bit as viable and possible just the same as BM, possibly even "regular infiltrator"; just with some more care and maybe more mandatory defense setup, like boosting Seal for absorb etc

[Sir Yvain]

pretty interesting, thank you

[rufustfirefly42]

Not sure how an endgame HC inflitrator performs in terms of durability, but i was just leveling one these days. I'm lvl 84 now. Like with all other classes, the best way to not die is knowledge of the game. If you are familiar enough with mechanics/areas/bossess, most of what gNom3 said becomes unnecessary, at least for the leveling process/main campaign. Conversely, if you don't know what you're doing, like if you're trying HC before gettin to know the game sufficiently on SC, you will die, regardless of your defensive measures like resistances, circuit breakers, armor etc.
I went pure nightblade until around level 60, with two-hander, using maxed shadow strike, ring of steel and blade spirit, to get to really feel the class. After level 60 I took inquisitor, went for double slicers shard of beronath (kinda sucks) on steroids (attack speed currently at ~190) and WPS and gave up blade spirit for aura of conviction. I haven't played a pierce build before, so I went for devotions that seemed to make sense for that, with a bit of detour to get manticore for RR and ghoul for survivability, but nothing too extreme in terms of defense. I have unknown soldier as main tier 3 constellation.

Now that i've been trying a few very different builds on HC, i believe that every class combination is viable for main campaign, with a bit of knowledge and care. Differences in squishiness/survivability only count when doing end game content, like SR on higher shards or superbossess.

[gNuff!~©~gNom3™]

Originally posted by rufustfirefly42:

i believe that every class combination is viable for main campaign, with a bit of knowledge and care. Differences in squishiness/survivability only count when doing end game content, like SR on higher shards or superbossess.

this
experience and/or "reason" is gonna be more key survival factors than defensive stats for sure, and i'd definitely believe that all classes can handle campaign on HC too.
I'm just a wuss on HC so i always go way more defensive oriented than softcore. That's why i said i'm sure regular BM and Infiltrator can handle it too. I'm pretty sure i leveld my softcore infiltrator, in "zerker mode" with 0 deaths until began Ultimate Shattered Realm. -and even there my "wuss'ness" shows, only 10k hp and 2800 DA and even tho it's softcore i'm still not comfy running it in Shard 50+ lol. I just hate feeling that squishy, and even on softcore it "worries"/deters me from doing stuff -idono, i just prefer "tanky" stuff where can just facetank without much concern for whats happening or going on, and i suppose that just gets emphasized the rare times i play hc and then opt for going full turtle mode lol (regardless of class)
But the campaign is definitely easier than SR or crucible, so you have way more leeway and room to mess around, but not being overly reckless is definitely something to keep in mind (ie pay attention to ground effects, aoe, boss moves/sky shards shotgun blasts etc)