Dual Blades help

Ok, so I'm going with Dual Blades for my scrapper. My secondary is still undecided, though likely irrelevant for what I'm asking for. Basically, I don't quite understand Dual Blades. More specifically the combos. I understand which powers are needed for each combo. I even understand, sort of, what each combo does. Should my goal be to get all the attacks for all the combos, or do people go for certain combos that they prefer? Are any of the combos "must have"? Are any of them "meh"? I notice that the finishers for a couple of the combos come really late in the game. Is it a good strategy to pick up the powers for the earlier combos until I get the other ones and then decide what to go with from there? If....and I say IF...I were to essentially ignore the combos and just pick powers as if they were like powers in other sets, would I be 'gimping' myself? Are the attacks by themselves weaker in any way because they have combo potential? That's all I can think of to ask. Thanks for your time in reading and responding.

Comboing definitely adds to the attacks. They're still usable without putting them into combos but you are losing out on a lot of damage/mitigation potential without tapping into them. What I'd recommend doing is using dual builds and with your first build, focus on the low level combos while leveling up. Then, once you're higher level, use your second build for the other (imo better) combos.

I agree with both of them. For the same reasons they stated as well as since this is your first time using the set, getting the early combos will be good practice of using the combo system and allow you to get your timing down for when you run into recharge situations and how to still be able to get the combos off.

I still have a DB alt with all the combos. When I got attack vitals and sweep, I forgot all about weaken and empower and ended up forcing myself to use them just because. Anyway, get them all and see what you like then figure out what combo you can do without and make your 2nd build based on that.

I'd say that Attack Vitals is the only “must have” combo, as Blinding Feint -> Attack Vitals is the DPS chain of choice. There are better chains, but they require crazy amounts of recharge that are generally only reachable on unlimited budget Super Reflexes builds. On my Dual Blades/Willpower, I was running that chain while Hasten was up, and adding a Power Slice at the end while Hasten was down. Worked fine. If I were doing it again, I'm not even sure I'd take Hasten, since nothing else in the build benefits from it.

Sweep is popular as well.

I completely skipped Hasten. I used the Weaken and Empower combos until around lvl 20 or so and the respeced out of them both, dropping Nimble Slash. However, the other guys that suggested keeping them on another build if you plan on exemping down are right on. I need to do that myself actually.

The BF - AV - Power Slice chain is great if you don't have a ton of influence and/or recharge available to you.

I primarily team with my DB/WP and I use the Sweep Combo for its mitigation. I usually wait to see what the Tank or whoever is going to do (usually some sort of knockdown going on) and then I'll fire off the Sweep Combo to keep 'em down so nobody is getting hit as much. Then I just alternate between the two combos...no need for Hasten because they both recycle in plenty of time. And, I'm only using a combination of the Crushing Impact, Mako and Scirocco (sp?) sets.

My DB/WP has quickly become my all time favorite toon…I hope you enjoy it as I have!

Yea, I never really used the lower level combos at all. But the moment you can start the Attack Vitals and Sweep combos, grab them and have fun. Like most have said, start your combo with Blinding Feint, the roll into the AV combo. Fire off the Sweep combo when you need a second to catch your breath. When you can get yourself positioned right with a large group in front of you, the combos combined with the AoE and Arc damage will put some nice orange numbers up to ALOT of baddies. It's fun.

Maybe I'm wierd/wrong, but I use the Sweep combo for the AoE. 1kCuts is big by meelee cone standards, and does nice damage*. The 50% added damage on Typhoon's Edge turns it into the second most damaging PbAoE Scrappers get. The KD is nice, but I tend to see the AoE damage as the main point.


*Yeah, crappy activation time, I know. OTOH, it's nice and big, and has a 10 target cap, if CoH isn't lying to me.