Welcome to our ongoing series where we focus on a class you can play in Blade & Soul. Today the Force Master burns a trail brightly through the limelight.

Check out our updated class page on the Force Master, where we’ve revealed techniques from the Hongmoon Secret Tome, plus wallpapers and a class video. Also be sure to join us on the official Blade & Soul Twitch channel November 19 at 4pm PST to see some high level Force Master play; or check out Twitch streamer Chinglish November 18 at 9pm PST as he shows off his skills as a Force Master.

The Force Master Overview

The Force Master is a ranged class that boasts powerful single-target spells, area-of-effect abilities, and significant crowd-control, but at the expense of defensive ability, limited escape options, and a requirement to carefully manage their resource: Focus. They’re also one of the few classes that rely heavily on debuffs to be effective. While they’re distinct tradeoffs, the result is a powerful spell caster in the right hands.

Force Masters utilize abilities that cause flame and cold damage, and can use more powerful abilities of each type by changing into their Fire Mode Stance or Frost Mode Stance. While not all abilities require a stance, all Force Masters will need to delicately juggle how to use each, and when.

Fire Mode Stance is the primary damage dealing stance, containing powerful abilities. Fire skills stack Embers on the target, and at 5 Embers allow the Force Master to detonate them to cause additional damage, and apply the Burn debuff. When enemies are burning, fire abilities deal additional damage.

Frost Mode Stance contains crowd control and defensive skills, as well as abilities that regain Focus; Frost skills also increase the Force Master’s character defenses. Repeated use of Frost abilities on an enemy will cause them to get the Chill debuff, which restricts movement speed. Enough Chill, and Force Masters can Freeze the enemy in place, even going so far as keeping the enemy entirely out of combat under a Deep Freeze.

The Force Master in Play

The Force Master focuses on dealing either Fire or Ice damage, but not all abilities are flame- or cold-based, as Force Masters can break through an opponent’s defenses to pull them in with Phantom Grip, holding them choking and dangling in the air, before draining their health, blasting them with unleashed energy, or even knocking them far away.

Abilities that do fall into Fire or Ice will have their damage increased with selection of the right items; so building a focus around these damage types is advantageous in the long run, especially as you get to the end-game dungeons.

For party play, the Force Master’s area-of-effect abilities help quickly eliminate enemies, while stacking their Burn debuff on bosses helps whittle down their health effectively. Switching over to Frost Mode Stance can isolate and impair the movement of smaller creatures the boss may call up; and if threat has been pulled away from another team member, Force Masters can instantly turn themselves to ice, becoming invulnerable and untargetable—before thawing to unleash their power again.

In Arena PvP, the weaknesses of the Force Master become more prominent; the limited number of escape abilities, along with the long cooldowns associated with those skills, makes playing a Force Master much more complex than simply choosing when to cast Fire or Ice abilities. Prioritizing instant-cast abilities, fast casting speed, and skills that pierce defenses over high-damaging abilities can all help to ensure the Force Master can hold their own competitively against the other classes.

Common Combos

1. Blazing Palm (LMB)

2. Phantom Grip (4)

3. Blazing Wall (V)

4. Phantom Push (2)

5. Inferno (X)

6. Blazing Beam (2) (Dragonchar) Tier 2 Stage 3

1. Blazing Palm (LMB)

2. Inferno (X) Tier 2 Stage 2

3. Blazing Palm (LMB)

4. Meteor Shower (V) (Blazing Wall) Tier 2 Stage 2

5. Blazing Palm (LMB)

6. Short Fuse (C) Tier 2 Stage 1

1. Frost Palm (RB)

2. Cold Snap (Z) (Ice Coil) Tier 3 Stage 3

3. Dragonwhorl (3)

4. Ice Rain (2) (Dragonchar) Tier 3 Stage 4

5. Ice Rain (2)

6. Ice Rain (2)

7. Ice Rain (2)

8. Ice Rain (2)

PvP Combo

1. Glacial Beam (3) Tier 3 Stage 3

2. Blaze Step (Q)

3. Frost Palm (RB) Tier 4 Stage 1

4. Blazing Palm (LMB) Tier 4 Stage 2

5. Impact (1) Tier 3 Stage 1

6. Fire Storm (Tab) Tier 4 Stage 2

7. Frost Palm (RB)

8. Blazing Palm (LMB)

9. Rising Blaze (Z) Tier 2 Stage 2

10. Phantom Grip (4)

11. Bolt Bash (1)

12. Frost Palm (RB)

13. Blazing Palm (LB)

14. Inferno (X) Tier 3 Stage 2