Howdy everyone surfing these fine forums ^^ I see a TON of questions on builds here, and I thought I’d write a tutorial on making an AoE blade. Sadly, I know that even if this becomes sticky’d, people will continue to post questions without reading any of the guides, but hopefully a few will see this and find it helpful, and maybe not have to post.

My Experience: 
I restatted to AoE blade at level 82. I am now level 110, with many hours of grinding under my belt. I’ve been through 2 builds myself, with various equipment setups. My knowledge is added onto by the various responses under this post. Thank you all for critique’s, opinions, experiences and all information that makes this guide better!

Up Front Requirements/Suggestions:
1.)Money. To go far fast with an AoE Blade, make sure you have heavy pockets for equipment, pills, etc.
2.)Partners and Contri Parties (pretty much applies to any character, at any level). Assists/RM’s with maxxed Cannon, Cats, and Heap is highly helpful. QuickStep is also rather helpful for collecting mobs faster. All buffs are useful, but those 3 or 4 will help you the most. 
3.)Patience (not the buff). If you can’t afford to go 1v1 until 75 and then restat, prepare to level slower than other mercs/blades (you’ll see why below). Being patient will pay off though, I promise.
4.)Azria. There are basically no mobs to AoE after Antiqueries, and even they are a pain. Azria from level 60 or 70 will save you time and headaches a’plenty.

Concept:
AoE Blades have been a kind of alternate-type character for a long time, such as 1v1 knights. Somewhere along the line someone tested blade skills and realized that 1.) there were two AoE skills, and 2.) they were primarily dex based. Whoever that was, let’s all thank them for discovering a great, fun alternate class that actually surpasses the main builds in several areas. 

AoE blades live and breathe Dex. That single stat gives you so many things: decent crit even when fully unequipped, very high natural (naked) attack speed, much higher blade-skill damage, and most importantly block/dodge. Uneducated people think all AoE characters are big, fat meat shields. But AoE Blades are an exception. They do what they do by having huge block and dodge rates, so that they don’t actually need 20k or more hp to get the job done, they can get by on as little as 10k (or even less if you start AoEing at level 65).

Benefits of an AoE Blade:
1.)Faster leveling. This is actually debatable, and depends on your equipment, partners, and parties, but generally you will level faster than a 1v1 blade up until they get their 90 or 105 axes. 
2.)Cheaper. In a sense. All classes thrive as they get better and better equipment, which usually means more and more penya. The most expensive thing an AoE blade has to worry about is their 105 Blain/Virain set, versus the 1v1 blade worrying about not only 2 LGA’s but also a good armor set as well. Let’s face it, all classes are expensive if you want to be really good, AoE is just a little cheaper. 
3.)Funny Arena Moments. If you walk in the arena, someone is bound to attack you, get a ton of blocks and misses, then say, “AoE? =o’’ or “what?”. It hasn’t gotten old for me yet, and surviving the occasional HoP/Asal isn’t a bad thing either.

Builds:
Alright, so all the AoE blade builds are 1.) basic (it’s hard to screw them up), and 2.) very similar. Which one you choose depends on your playing style and how much penya you’re going to put into your character.

1.) The Low Cash Build:
15 str
60-70 sta
xxx dex 
15 int
For those of you who can’t afford to Cashshop every once in awhile, or are just starting out and don’t have hundreds of millions to spend are best off with something like this build. The extra sta makes up for the fact that you will have limited block and dodge, so you can tank a few more hints. 

***However, I do not recommend even starting a blade if you don’t have the money to fund it. Every aspect of your character and your training will suffer, and it’s not as enjoyable. If you can, make a different character and save this one for when you can afford to do it the right way.***

2.) The Typical Build:
15 str 
40 sta 
xxx dex 
15 int
This is the typical build you’ll see on most AoE Blades, and that’s because it works quite well. The higher level you get, the more dodge and block you’ll get, and the less the sta will matter. The sta is only there for you to take the hits that get through. This is the build I run, and it works phenomenally. 
(Note: Used by those who can afford +5 to +8 sets, and levels 75 through probably 110. After 110, the next build might work, because of your near-100% block rate and amount of money to spend)

3.)The Full Dex Build:
15 str
15 sta (that’s right, the exact opposite of a typical meat shield)
Xxx dex
15 int
This build is only suggested for high levels with a lot of money. Why? Because the higher level you are, the higher natural block/dodge and HP you will have, and because lots of money will get you high +’d sets with 16% or 28% hp or defense, along with a ton of other goodies. This build survives off of having insane block and dodge, and doing lots of damage before the mobs take you out. It is important to note, however, that no matter how much dex you have, you will never have 100% block/dodge. In Flyff, block is capped at 96% and dodge is capped at 80% (I believe, someone let me know if this is incorrect). I personally do not recommend this build to anyone unless you want to do more damage with your skills and are okay with tanking less/dying more in the arena.

Equipment and Training:
Your success as an AoE Blade depends heavily on how you train, and what you train in. I suggest building a 1v1 blade to train from level 1 to 75, then getting a restat if you can afford one. This cuts your grind time up to 75 significantly, but if you can’t, here’s what you do.

Random note that I didn’t know where to stick: Since all jewelry is level 1 requirement now, get yourself The best Areks you can as soon as you can (or possibly some vigors for the 1v1 grind up to level 75). You can choose either Demol’s or Plugs, or a set of each, depending on what you prefer more or whatever helps you more. I personally prefer the Plugs. Plugs+9 or Demols+12 provide basically the same number to defense and attack respectively. However, the defense will drastically change the damage you take, where as the demol’s will only help your AoE damage by 200 or 300 at best, which isn’t a lot even at level 65. As pointed out by shootsandleaves, you can have those demols handy just for a little more damage once you can tank the entire spawn and don’t really need that extra defense from the plug.

If you have to start with the AoE build from level 15, you have a patience game on your hands. With no str to speak of, leveling as a merc is gonna be tough, but stick it out, you can do it, and it’s worth it! Get a party, a partner, and chug away. Along the way you will want to level Empower Weapon and either the 2 axe or sword skills following Empower Weapon on the skill tree depending on what you plan to use. Sneaker is also good to have for PVP reasons or to stop monsters chasing a party member.

Once you get to 60, get yourself the 60 armor set or the Shamutra set if you can (Clockwork Merc set) for extra defense and a few extra stat bonuses. Any awakening of str or attack power will help you out at this point, since you won’t get your AoE until 65. Chug away for 5 levels (its rather grueling, I know, but you can do it) until you have Blade Dance. Think of this as your bike with training wheels, since it’s the weaker of the 2 AoE’s. If you’re gonna start AoE’ing now, change out your equipment for anything you can find with Dex, Sta, Def, Attack, or Cast Time awakens that will help you out. Some FP awakes don’t hurt either. Important Note: Save enough skill points to master Blade Dance at 65 (45 total points required for level 5 Silent Strike and mastered Blade Dance) AND Sonic Blade at 70. 

Level 70: Nothing here except your new AoE: Sonic Blade. Start using it.

Level 75: Have you made it to level 75? If so, the hard work is over. Level 75 brings you Einy/Akan and Historic Axes (or possibly the new Lusaka 1H Axe). Einy is quite a good looking set, and the stats aren’t shabby either.(check out the wiki, all armor sets for blades here http://flyff-wiki.gpotato.com/index.php/Blade_Armor) You will become somewhat of a meat shield with all this new equipment because of the insane HP+% from all of it. 20% per ax (or 15% and +50 def from a Lusaka Axe), 15% from the set (and more if its +3 or higher). IF you’re uber rich, go +8 (which brings more stat boosts), otherwise stick +3 and keep chuggin away.

Another random note: why +8? Why do those plusses even matter? Because of the bonuses. Check the Bonuses section here http://flyff-wiki.gpotato.com/index.php/Upgrading.

Level 90: nothing here really. Well, kinda. Since sonic blade does in fact depend partly on the attack rate of your main hand weapon, you could decide to get yourself an angel sword for your main hand. You sacrifice 5% hp (HAxe = 20%, ASword = 15%) but the increased attack rate of the sword will help out your damage a little. I would suggest trying one of the character simulators to compare whatever HAxe you have versus whatever ASword you can find or afford. UPDATE: You could also try one of the new Lusaka 1H Axes if you want more attack. Just like the ASword, you lose 5% hp but the attack rate is much higher, so you will gain a couple hundred extra damage. Pick your poisen.

Level 105: Here’s a huge step in your career as an AoE blade, because you just gained access to Blain/Virain. What is this armor? Check the wiki http://flyff-wiki.gpotato.com/index.php/Blade_Armor. This set rocks. +3 is okay, but you will notice a huge difference in your leveling if you can get a +8 set, you’ll wonder how you ever got along without it. Be prepared to drop a B note (a billion penya. Ya, I know, a lot, but you’ll drop WAY more for 2 LGA’s these days) to get a good set, but trust me, its soooooo worth it. And about weapons: Stick with whatever you’ve been using, either the HAxes, ASwords, Lusaka Axes, etc. Otherwise if you can’t/don’t have those, go with blue weapons with good awakes. Now it’s just smooth sailing to 120 (a slow sail, but smooth).

Level 120: So you made it huh? Well awesome, I’m not even there yet >.> Anyways, stop here if you want, go master, whatever. By now you should be used to the game, the economy, etc. If you deem it necessary, go for your Nox and Bloody axes (I suggest the Bloody Axes for the stats, boosted attack rate in your main hand, and they look pretty awesome), or just stick Blain and HAxes/ASwords/Lusaka Axes, any combo is a good set up. (Check the wiki for Bloody Axe and Nox set stats) Enjoy your AoE blade.

If you had the patience to read all 3 pages of that, I applaud you, and I hope this information helps. I’ll check this every so often, so post a reply with anything you think I missed or any questions you have. Enjoy Flyffers!

Credits go to wintersteel.