Spellblade: Rip and Tear

Advanced progress Spellblade guide that allows for very quick clears.

Introduction

This guide is current for game version EA 10g2 released on May 17, 2024.

This build uses a minimum of 24 summons combined with abilities which will give you many complimentary upgrades so you will shred bosses seconds after they spawn in. In my experiences, I have been able to get all 6 abilities for the build to pop shortly before or shortly after the 1st set of bosses spawn in. With just the base 2 abilities you can beat the first bosses very quickly.

How far you go will depend on your ability to dodge around terrain that wants to hold you in damage circles since bosses die extremely quickly when your army of summons which have bonus damage vs enemies that have Burn touch them.

Single run finish screen example - 6:51 run time on 62 curse intensity the current highest level



Endless 7 run example on 62 curse intensity



Overlord 6 run example on 62 curse intensity



Single run finish screen example - 7:11 run time on 36 curse intensity - 600% prestige



Endless 8 run example on 36 curse intensity - 600% prestige



Overlord 7 run example on 36 curse intensity - 600% prestige



At 36 curse intensity you can get 600% prestige which is the maximum possible, making it the "easiest" level that you can still get maximum experience, so if you are just grinding for xp to max out your Skill Tree, this is the way to go.

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For comparison, these are the old screenshots used in this guide when the build could get 12 summons per Fiery Blade ability and the maximum curse intensity was 48.

Single run finish screen example - 8:01 run time on 48 curse intensity and prior patch version



Endless 4 run example on 48 curse intensity and prior patch version



Overlord 4 run example on 48 curse intensity and prior patch version



Disclaimer: to build this, you will need to have Spellblade already levelled to 70 and have crafted the weapon that unlocks at that level, Scorching Edge. Also, you will need the runic ability Singular Focus which unlocks when you finish Curse VI in the Caves of Dhal Zhog.

The current runs pictured in the screenshots used a Scorching Edge +4.

Abilities

This build only uses two skills, Firestorm x 2 and Fiery Blades x 4, both of which are granted by the Spellblade's 4th weapon, Scorching Edge.

Since both of these abilities share the Fire, Swing, Magical and Physical tags you will be able to get many different Multi-cast, Damage, Area of Effect, etc. upgrades which benefit all 6 of your abilities at the same time, giving you a huge boost in power every time one of those four upgrade tags shows up. Also, since the build uses at least two of each ability, you will also get upgrades covering Lasting and Summon which boost either two or four of your abilities as well.



The ability builds Burn stacks on enemies extremely quickly, these are important because:



Fiery Blades gets a bonus to damage for every Burn stack on an enemy. Even though the value looks low, it is enough to make low level bosses die immediately, while bosses at endless 4+ can measure their time left in seconds.

As you level up, you will get Area of Effect upgrades which will make your Firestorm ability expand off-screen, most enemies will die before you ever see them.

Runes

As this guide requires a fairly advanced character, I am listing the 10 rune slot build I use, though you can just drop some of them if you do not have the full 10 rune slots yet.

With the 1 year anniversary patch, runes are split into two categories, Versatility and Tenacity. The 3 Versatility rune slots are all free while 4 Tenacity runes cost points.

Versatility Runes:

Required versatility runes

1) Skill Inclination: Fire (0 points) - reach level 60 as a Pyromancer - Gives you increased chances of getting Fire skills. Skill Inclination: Swing also works, but you have access to more swing skills so it is a touch harder to get Fiery Blades and Firestorm by using it. The Spellblade has access to 9 Swing skills and only 8 Fire skills by default while using the 4th weapon.

2) Weapon Expert (0 points) - reach experience level 100 in a single match - You start the game with the special weapon skill for your currently selected weapon, this just allows you to get a quicker start and the special ability is the main skill we are using.

Optional versatility runes

Material Harvest (0 points) - unlocks on Legionnaire ascendancy - turns major soulstones into materials which is a huge help if you are farming up materials for other weapons.

Endless Refill (0 points) - unlocks on Elementalist ascendancy - whenever you enter a portal you gain 5 rerolls and 5 locks.

Efficient Extraction (0 points) - unlocks on Arcane Weaver ascendancy - increases the amount of materials collected by 50%. Great combined with Material Harvest, but Material Harvest alone is by far the superior source of crafting materials. Can replace Weapon Expert if you really need more materials for the tradeoff of a slightly slower start.

Tenacity Runes:

Required tenacity runes

1) Singular Focus (5 points) - defeat Caves of Dhal Zhog at Curse VI - You want to stack both of your abilities, and this makes it possible to have more than one of the same ability. The build doesn't work without this.

Optional tenacity runes

Mix and match these runes for more damage or more survivability to cap out your available space. The ones I consider more useful are at the top and less useful are further down the list, but there's really no bad way to go since it depends on your own preferences and play style.

Multi-cast Mastery (2 points) - defeat Caves of Dhal Zhog at Curse IV - More damage.

Dash Mastery (1 point) - defeat the Frozen Wastelands at Curse II - longer dashes.

Synchrony (2 points) - unlocks on Elementalist ascendancy - Inceases damage by 0.7% for each skill type your skills have in common, up to a maximum of 20%. Since you are only using 2 skills, practically everything is in common with everything else with 6 x Fire/Swing/Physical/Magical, 4 x Summon and 2 x Lasting so if the calculation works right we should max out at the 20%.

Critical Mastery - (2 points) - win a match with Curse III on The Whispering Grove - 25% of your critical chance is added to your critical damage multiplier.

Searing Intensity (3 points) - unlocks on Pyromancer ascendancy - Increases all damage you cause by 0.5% per stack of Burn or Shattered on the target, up to a maximum of 25%. This is extremely easy to get since you will hit 50 stacks of Burn in less than a second if your Firestorm is on an enemy.

Harmony (3 points) - unlocks on Beastmaster ascendancy - +0.8% extra damage per active summoned unit up to a maximum of 24%. Not as easy to achieve since if you have 4x Fiery Blades you will have a minimum of 24 summons up and you need 30 to reach the 24% which can be met with the right summon extra quantity upgrades, but it will be deeper in the run.

Elemental Flow (2 points) - unlocks on Elementalist ascendancy - damaging negative effects (Burn) deal damage 50% more often. I don't think this one would be of much benefit since your Fiery Blades are doing the majority of the damage.

Improved Repertory (3 points) - unlocks on Necromancer ascendancy - gain a 7th skill slot at the cost of 15% damage. This could get you a 5th Fiery Blade, 3rd Firestorm, or a buff skill such as Arcane Power, but the damage is already so good this would be a really minor benefit.

Surefooted (1 point) - reach level 90 in a single match - damage reduction

Upgrade Path

If you've got enough experience playing Soulstone Survivors to get to the point of using this build you've got your own preferences already so just go with what you know.

Be sure to get at least one instance of Ignition Point and Spontaneous Combustion as they allow you to apply extra stacks of Burn with each attack or crit when they proc.

Final Thoughts & Change Log

Be Excellent to each other.


August 7, 2023 - guide created
September 9, 2023 - updated for Frostborn Wrath update. Added overlord screenshot, expanded Runes section.
November 7, 2023 - updated for 1 year anniversary patch. Updated Runes section.
May 21, 2024 - updated for the Master of Machines patch. Uploaded new screenshots and updated relevant sections

[KoshLovesYou]

Interesting approach, I'll take a stab at it; given this class needs to sit around to farm up power for its ascendancy, I would have thought something block focused, but this seems more compelling.

[Arbitrary]

I'm having fun with this build. Thanks for the guide!

[Masked~Cheese]

i literally just made this build on my own without seeing this guide and was like holy shit this fucks. a+ guide homie glad someone is on the same wavelength

[matthew]

Awesome build, certainly very brutal. the only tiny thing I would correct, instead of Rip and Tear, I would say Slice and Dice. its more fitting the damage your doing.

But anyway, great build. and really fun to play.

[SpacePanda001]

i am very curious if the harmony rune is better than searing, as i just cleared loop 5 at curse 48 for 1.1mil prestige. im no longer farming mats so this isnt as OP since i cant transfer prestige, but this seriously rips and im thinking that the melt will get nerfed soon, because it shreds bosses. i would also note that intstead of trying to banish leviathan or other debuffs to find uncommons or rares, this build REALLY benefits from eliminating the uneeded 'group' buffs like area and casting time so you can get that sweet sweet dmg buff over and over. i was doing 5mil a sec on bosses and died because the void did over 500 dmg and comets were hitting like tanks att 150 and i just couldnt dodge in the caves around those brick walls :'(

[Turahk]

the pics? they don't work.

[Hooch]

Great build! I had to grind for about 5 hours to get the mats and level for this run. Just played first match, was able to get the additional power rune level for finishing stage 3 of boss run. This build is a beast. All you have to do is dodge ground attacks and direct swords to boss. EZ wins.

[kragaar]

Use the Singluar Focus rune, see the Runes section. :D

[Groom]

How do you hold same skills multiple times?

[Nothingness]

Thx for sharing!