
Blader Guide
Blader class guide for Cabal Online with recommended builds, combos, BM2 and BM3 advice, buffs, and progression notes.
Contents
Overview
Blader is a DEX-based melee class with very high single-target damage, high Defense Rate, high Evasion, and strong self-sustain. It is one of the best classes for boss-focused farming because it can deal strong damage while staying safe in close range.
It is one of CABAL Online's original battle styles, dual-wields Blades or Katanas, and wears Martial Set armor (light armor).
Grappler BM2 handles single-target bosses, while Knucklet Striker BM3 covers cleanup and damage while BM2 is unavailable. Blader clears large packs slower than dedicated AoE classes.
Stat Distribution
Meet the gear requirements first, then put everything else into DEX. DEX gives Evasion, Defense Rate, and Attack Rate, which makes it more valuable than STR once your gear requirements are covered.
General Passive Skills
For most classes, both attack passives are the default first picks. Attack Rate passives are usually next because some late-game monsters can have enough Defense Rate to block most of your hits if your Attack Rate is too low.
Mana Mastery is the situational answer to Mana Freeze, which appears in PvP and PvE and can reduce your Mana by up to 1,500. If temporary buffs already cover your mana needs, that slot becomes a flex point instead.
Defense is usually better than Defense Rate for PvP. It is also more reliable against monsters with high Attack Rate.
Recommended Blader Passives
For Blader, the default six passive skills are both attack passives, both attack-rate passives, Mana Mastery, and one defense-rate passive.
Other Options
These are the remaining alternatives you can choose if you want a different setup than the default recommendation.
Vitality Mastery is usually not recommended. You already gain a lot of HP from other progression systems, so spending a passive slot on flat HP is usually a weak trade compared to damage passives, attack rate, mana coverage, or a defensive passive.
Blader Class Passives
These are the class-exclusive passives for this class which you can purchase from any skill instructor. You max them all. Once you start increasing your Overlord Levels, these passive skills will improve even further.
Battle Mode 2
You unlock BM2 after completing the level 50 rank-up quest. Blader BM2 is Grappler, the class's main single-target damage mode and one of the highest single-target DPS battle modes in the game. Grappler also gives strong Evasion, Defense Rate, and PvE defensive stats, which keeps Blader alive in close range while bossing. For bossing, set the BM2 attack pattern to 1 so Attack #1 repeats.
Hover skill icons for full stats.
This skill activates BM2. At max level, Grappler gives Defense Rate +1800 and Evasion +1000, plus PvE Defense and PvE Defense Rate.
Use BM2 attack pattern 1 so this attack repeats. It is the fastest step in the chain and the main bossing hit.
Part of the BM2 chain, but not the main repeat step.
Part of the BM2 chain, but not the main repeat step.
Part of the BM2 chain, but not the main repeat step.
BM2 special attack with Down. Like most BM2 specials, it is rarely used in PvE. It is mostly a PvP opener, finisher, or control skill.
Battle Mode 3
You unlock the BM3 at level 130 after completing the BSLV-Up quest. Blader BM3 is Knucklet Striker, mainly used for AoE, cleanup, and damage while BM2 is unavailable or not worth using. BM2 remains the single-target default. Knucklet Attack A and B receive a 1.35x PvE multiplier on 1 target, 1.12x from 2-6 targets, then normal damage at 7+ targets. Knucklet Striker also has the highest Evasion and Defense Rate among BM3 transformations.
Hover skill icons for full stats.
This skill activates BM3. At max level it gives Evasion +1200 and Defense Rate +2000.
Attack A has worse AoE than Attack B. Its damage also depends on how many targets it hits, so check the Target Damage Multipliers page for the actual values.
Attack B is the better of the two regular BM3 attacks for coverage because it has area 3. That is better than area 2, but still not ideal compared with the strong AoE classes that reach area 4. Its damage also depends on how many targets it hits, so check the Target Damage Multipliers page for the actual values.
After using A and/or B four times, you can use Specialty 1. Players also call these the Fatal skills, so this one is Fatal 1. The longer cast time and minor damage increase are usually not worth it, but it bypasses normal evade and block checks.
After Specialty 1, you can continue into Specialty 2, also called Fatal 2. The longer cast time and minor damage increase are not worth it in most cases, but it bypasses normal evade and block checks.
Specialty 3, also called Fatal 3, has the same issue as Specialty 2. The longer cast time and minor damage increase are not worth it in most cases, but it bypasses normal evade and block checks.
Blader Buffs
These are Blader’s core buff skills. Level all of them and keep them active.
Hover skill icons for full stats.
Intuition is your immortality buff. It gives Complete Evasion against incoming hits and status effects, plus a small heal and movement speed. Its effector can improve the healing, duration, and movement speed even further.
Short control-resistance utility skill. It gives Resist Unable to Move, which can matter in PvP and control-heavy situations.
Short offensive buff built around Add. Damage. The base Add. Damage scales poorly in late game, but Overlord and effector upgrades add stronger stats such as PvE Critical Damage, PvE Penetration, Penetration, and Ignore Damage Reduction.
Long-duration offensive self-buff. It gives Sword Skill Amp and Attack.
PvP utility skill used to avoid certain negative effects.
Blader’s strongest short PvE burst buff. At max level it gives PvE Critical Damage +90%, PvE Sword Skill Amp +12%, Critical Rate and Max Critical Rate +3%, Penetration +50, Attack +90, Critical Damage +35%, and Sword Skill Amp +4%, with Evasion and Defense Rate downsides.
Short sustain and survival buff with HP Absorb Up, Max HP Steal per hit, Ignore Accuracy, PvE Ignore Penetration, and Resist Critical Damage.
Blader’s main party buff. At max level it gives Critical Damage +20% in a large area, with a long cooldown, so use it in a good damage window.
Blader Debuffs
Blader has one debuff: Field of Fear. It lowers enemy defense and defense rate in an area.
Hover skill icons for full stats.
Blader’s main debuff. At max level it lowers Defense by 174 and Defense Rate by 500, and Overlord enhancements can add more Defense and Defense Rate reduction plus Resist Critical Damage reduction.
BM3 Synergies
Blader BM3 synergies are triggered by specific A/B attack sequences after Fatal I is activated. You can stack up to three synergies before activating them with the specialty skill. Repeating the exact same combo three times can sometimes be better, but it comes with diminishing returns and is usually not the best default.
Repeating the same BM3 synergy uses diminishing returns. The first application is x1, the second is x1.5, and the third is x2. Fractional results are rounded down. For example, if you use a +5% Critical Rate synergy twice, you will gain +7% Critical Rate and +10% Critical Rate if you use it three times.
| Synergy | Activation Sequence | Effects |
|---|---|---|
Frontal AttackRecommended | → → → | HP-50013sSelf Crit. DMG+30%13sSelf |
Accumulated DamageAvoid | → → → | HP-50013sSelf Add Damage+50013sSelf |
Increased Fighting SpiritRecommended | → → → | Defense-10013sSelf Crit. DMG+20%13sSelf Sword Skill Amp.+4%13sSelf |
Reckoning FatalityRecommended | → → → | Defense-10013sSelf Crit. DMG+20%13sSelf Crit. Rate+5%13sSelf Max Crit. Rate+5%13sSelf |
Recommended Synergies
These are the default BM3 synergy combos worth repeating when you want reliable bonuses without overthinking the sequence order every pull.
Balanced Damage Combo
Max Critical Rate Combo
Combos
On Blader, you play through BM2 or BM3 and only fall back to normal skills between battle mode windows. If you have to use normal attack skills, use low-cast-time skills for single target damage and large-area skills for AoE.
Single-Target Opener
Assault is very fast and can apply Silence, but its cooldown is too long for a normal loop. Treat it as an opener or PvP/control tool.
Single-Target Combo
Use fast, short-cooldown regular attack skills here. This is a speed-first non-battle-mode chain; depending on your stats, a slightly slower skill with more amp can beat a faster low-amp filler.
Gear Cheat Sheet
These are general endgame gear priorities. Your server, episode, and budget can change the right path.
- Main damage rule: when your effective critical rate is already very high, usually around 90% or more, aim for about a 1:2 amp to critical damage ratio.
- Max critical rate slots: suit, gauntlet, and vehicle max critical rate has diminishing returns, so stacking too many is usually inefficient unless you are forcing a very high critical-rate setup.
- All Attack Up epic options: weapon and vehicle epic options that only give All Attack Up are generally not recommended.
- Suit and gauntlets: Master Craft is usually the top choice because the extra max critical rate often beats Dragonium's upgrade advantage.
- Boots: usually go full amp.
- Amulets: use a temporary +3 Amulet of Pain, then aim for Orphidia. Consider Gaia Force when its price fits your budget.
- Rings: progress both lines: Mergaheph → Tyrant → Awakened Tyrant → Dr. Mazel and Killian → Tempus → Muddy Undead → Hekaton. Equip at most one ring from each line. Fill the other two slots with one Critical Ring and one Ring of Luck at whatever grade you can afford.
- Earrings: Vampiric for life steal, Ascending Perius when it is the easier or cheaper useful option, or defensive earrings for survivability.
- Brooch: usually buy it instead of planning around self-farming early. Critical damage is the default best slot and usually the best general varying-stat direction too.
- Bracelets: usually start with Sienna + penetration slot, then move into the best Turmacan you can afford. Penetration is fine there, but All Attack Up is usually the better endgame slot.
- Simple upgrade rule: for Dragonium pieces, Arcana, Carnelian, Talisman, and Belt, buy or upgrade them as high as you can afford. For Epaulet, buy the best tier you can afford.
Equipment
These are examples, not a fixed build. Equipment prices and availability vary by server, episode, and events, while your full build, target, and budget determine which upgrade is worthwhile. Compare options in the Build Planner before spending heavily.
Weapons
Choose whichever weapon tier is available and suits your current build. These are options, not steps you must follow. Every choice depends on your budget, server market, events, overall build, and target.
Blade or Katana?
Higher Attack.
Higher Attack Rate.
The Katana’s Attack Rate advantage grows with weapon grade: it is smaller on lower tiers and substantial at Dragonium. Its extra rate is unnecessary in most content, but at endgame it can be the better choice for Attack Rate and Combat Power.
Demonite/Dragonium: Critical Rate or Critical DMG Epic; Critical Rate or Sword Amp slots. Cheaper non-BiS picks may trade damage for cost.
Meet your Critical Rate target, then use remaining weapon, helmet, and bike slots for damage.
For weapons you plan to keep, aim for +15; upgrade further when it is worth the cost.
Raise Divine and Extreme as your budget allows.
Optional: Mid-Game Weapon
Demonite Blade / Katana+15–+20
Endgame Weapon
Dragonium Blade / Katana+15–+20
Armor
For body armor, hands, and boots, compare Archridium, Sigmetal, Palladium, and Demonite; a well-priced Amp Epic with at least one Amp slot is a good first buy. Around 14%+ combined Amp is a useful benchmark. Compare Amp slots, Extreme and Divine levels, and total cost—higher grade adds defense, not automatic damage. For helmets, lower-grade Amp can be good value; Demonite and Dragonium favor Critical Damage or Critical Rate Epics.
Helmet
Lower-grade option
Choose by price
High-grade option
Demonite Headpiece
Endgame
Dragonium Headpiece
Body Armor
Endgame · highest damage: Master’s Epic combines All Skill Amp and Max Critical Rate. It is expensive; compare its total cost and damage against Dragonium. Use Max Critical Rate slots only where your build needs them, then fill the rest with Amp.
Endgame · more defense: Dragonium adds defense but loses the Master Epic’s Max Critical Rate. A well-built Palladium piece can deal more damage.
First upgrade
Choose by price
Endgame · highest damage
Palladium Suit · Master’s Epic
Endgame · more defense
Dragonium Suit
Hands
Endgame · highest damage: Master’s Epic combines All Skill Amp and Max Critical Rate. It is expensive; compare its total cost and damage against Dragonium. Use Max Critical Rate slots only where your build needs them, then fill the rest with Amp.
Endgame · more defense: Dragonium adds defense but loses the Master Epic’s Max Critical Rate. A well-built Palladium piece can deal more damage.
First upgrade
Choose by price
Endgame · highest damage
Palladium Hands · Master’s Epic
Endgame · more defense
Dragonium Hands
Boots
Endgame: Dragonium is the top-grade target; compare its total Amp upgrades and cost against your current boots.
First upgrade
Choose by price
Endgame
Dragonium Shoes
Epaulet
Use the Fighter Epaulet for sword classes and the Sage Epaulet for magic classes. Compare the grade and price against your server market; a higher grade is only worthwhile when its stats justify the cost.
Palladium
Palladium Epaulet of Fighter
Demonite
Demonite Epaulet of Fighter
Dragonium
Dragonium Epaulet of Fighter
Bike
Choose Critical Rate only when your build needs it. Raise Divine and Extreme upgrades as your budget allows; the last levels can be expensive.
Recommended starting point: Compare the Epic roll and price against a Blue Bike. Critical Damage, Critical Rate, and Amp remain useful damage options, while the available values depend on the bike grade.
Buy a Blue Bike only if it is exceptionally cheap; otherwise, start at RW3 or higher. Bikes generally get more expensive at each grade, so move up when the upgrade is worth its cost. Choose slots to fit your build and target.
Budget-only option
Blue Bike
Recommended starting point
RW3
Higher-grade option
PW5
Endgame
QW7
Jewelry
Amulet
Orphidia’s Amulet is the practical target on many servers. Gaia Force is an optional upgrade when it is available at a price that fits your build.
Temporary option: Use +3 as a temporary placeholder until an Orphidia with worthwhile stats is available at a price that fits your server market.
Upgrade: Critical Damage and All Skill Amp are the varying stats to look for. Higher levels and stronger rolls are better when the server market makes them worthwhile.
Endgame: Consider it when the server market and budget justify the price. Higher levels and stronger varying stats are better.
Temporary option
Amulet of Pain
Upgrade
Orphidia’s Amulet
Endgame
Gaia Force Amulet
Rings
Each line is one ring slot: equip at most one ring from each progression. For example, use Tempus or Hekaton, not both.
Mergaheph progression
Killian progression
Fill the other two slots with one Critical Ring and one Ring of Luck. Both range from +1 to +5; higher grades are better, while +5 can be very expensive.
Earrings
A defensive earring and a Vampiric Earring cover different needs; use one of each when sustain matters.
Defensive option: A solid PvE and PvP choice. Buy the highest grade you can afford; +6 and +7 are options if +8 costs too much.
PvE sustain: Keep at least one HP Steal earring for PvE. Buy the highest grade you can afford; +6 is a lower-cost option before +9.
Endgame: Take the highest level your budget supports.
Defensive option
Defensive Earring
PvE sustain
Vampiric Earring
Endgame
Ascending Perius’ Earring
Bracelets
For varying stats, Critical Damage and All Skill Amp are usually better damage choices than Attack. Compare Sienna and Turmacan on your server before buying.
Budget choice: Choose Sienna when it is the better-priced option. Penetration is a strong slot choice.
Alternative upgrade: Use Penetration or PvE All Attack Up in the slot. Choose higher stats when the extra cost is worthwhile.
Budget choice
Sienna Bracelet
Alternative upgrade
Turmacan’s Bracelet
Belt
Upgrade gradually: Sword classes use Fighter Belts; magic classes use Sage Belts. Raise the level as your budget and current build make it worthwhile.
Upgrade gradually
Minesta’s Chaos Fighter Belt
Other Gear
Brooch
Raise as budget allows: Higher grades have stronger stats. Buy the next grade when its cost makes sense for your current stage.
Raise as budget allows
Unique Brooch
Charm
Prioritize Battle Mode Duration Increase; any charm can provide it. Then choose secondary stats for your build. Minesta’s Amethyst also adds Ignore Penetration; upgrade within your budget.
Optional combined charms: Each keeps Ignore Penetration and adds a defensive stat.
Battle Mode Duration
Minesta’s Amethyst CharmUpgrade gradually
Optional combined charms
Choose the secondary stat you need
Carnelian
Upgrade at your pace: Start with the level that fits your budget, then buy higher levels when their stats are worth the price.
Upgrade at your pace
CarnelianUpgrade gradually
Talisman
Upgradeable option: Raise its level when the stat gain is worth the cost.
Upgraded version: This upgrades the Chaos Talisman. Move to it when the stat gain is worth the cost.
Upgradeable option
Chaos TalismanUpgrade gradually
Upgraded version
Chaos Talisman of Destruction
Arcana
There are three Arcana slots. Chaos is the damage choice; Guardian and Laws add defense. Upgrade all three gradually as the stat gains justify their cost.
Damage option
Arcana of ChaosUp to +20
Defensive option
Arcana of GuardianUp to +20
Defensive option
Arcana of LawsUp to +20
Pet
Recommended PvE pet setup. Depending on your server and episode, this may still be called pet system or anima mastery but the core stat priorities are the same. On newer servers, you can also have the extra 10 Transcendence slots on top of the older 30-slot structure.
Normal (Lv. 1-10)
For PvE, Normal pet slots should usually be Max Critical Rate. This gives the crit setup needed before later pet tiers add stronger damage stats.
Covenant (Lv. 11-20)
Covenant is the clean crit-damage tier. Once the Normal row covers max crit rate, this row is the direct damage follow-up.
Swap every Covenant slot to Ignore Resist Critical Damage when you want this tier to help crack crit-damage resistance instead of stacking more raw crit damage.
Covenant Alternative
Trust (Lv. 21-30)
Penetration is the default here for general PvE. Ignore Resist Critical Rate can be a better option for maximizing DPS against certain ultra late game bosses.
Swap every Trust slot to Ignore Resist Critical Rate when the target has enough critical-rate resistance to make the default penetration stack less valuable.
Trust Alternative
Swap every Trust slot to Ignore Resist Critical Damage when you want this row to help break crit-damage resistance instead of staying on the broader penetration.
Trust Alternative
Transcendence (Episode 39)
Transcendence is the newer pet tier. The default recommendation is full Penetration, which gives +17 Penetration per slot.
Honor Medal
Honor medal recommendation copied into class-guide scope so it can diverge from planner defaults later.
Captain
DEX is the simplest default here. You can also use STR or INT, because those base stats can be compensated in the general stat distribution window. For example, if Captain gives you 40 STR, you can subtract 40 from the minimum STR requirement shown in the stat distribution section.
General
For General, go with Critical Damage. Ignore Resist Critical Damage only starts to matter later against very tanky bosses with high resist stats.
General Alternative
Swap the full General row to Ignore Resist Critical Damage for very late-game bosses with heavy resist stats.
Commander
For Commander, go with All Skill Amp.
Hero
For Hero, go with Penetration. Like General, the resist-ignoring alternative is mainly for very late-game bosses.
Hero Alternative
Swap the full Hero row to Ignore Resist Critical Damage for very late-game bosses. All 10 Hero slots give 7% each.
Legend
For Legend, go with Ignore Resist Critical Damage.
Crests
Formerly this was the costume system. Recommended crest setup for Blader.
Crest of Life
Keep the regular slots on Max Critical Rate and use All Skill Amp on the epic option. Penetration and Critical Damage are also good epic alternatives.
Penetration Alternative: Use this when you want a stronger penetration-focused Crest of Life epic instead of the default All Skill Amp setup.
Critical Damage Alternative: Use this when Critical Damage fits your current ratio and you do not need the default All Skill Amp epic.
Recommended
Penetration Alternative
Critical Damage Alternative
Crest of Earth
Use Ignore Resist Critical Rate on the regular slots for endgame bosses. Full Critical Damage at 3% per slot or full Penetration are also viable alternatives. For the epic option, All Attack Up is the default best pick, and Ignore Resist Skill Amp is also a strong endgame-boss alternative.
Crest of Earth Alternative: Use this version when endgame bosses make Ignore Resist Skill Amp more valuable than the default All Attack Up epic option.
Recommended
Crest of Earth Alternative
Crest of Sky
Use Penetration on the regular slots and Critical Damage on the epic option.
Recommended
Stellar Link
Recommended Stellar Link setup for Blader. This setup is currently the same for every class.
You gain these extra line bonuses when every node in the respective line shares the same color. For PvE, it is fine to start by settling for any Emptiness color in Lines 1, 3, and 5 because the reward for completing those lines is large, while Lines 2 and 4 mainly give PvP-oriented stats.
Myth Level
This is a recommended Myth Level for Blader. The priority is getting the correct node stats first. Rank is secondary, and this setup is currently the same for every class.
Treat this as a BIS-node guide, not a holy-power race. Lock in the stats you want first, then reroll those nodes for higher tiers. For full details, see the Myth Level Data page or plan a build in the Myth Level Planner.