The adrenaline is pumping through you as you face the Monouga. He glances behind him to check for oncoming sneak attacks and charges you with his club raised high. He swings hard at you, you dodge out of the way and withdraw your sword and slice him in two. You wipe the blood from your blade, sheath it and walk away unfazed.

Chances are you'll never cut something in Asheron's Call into two pieces, but is this going to impair your adventures as a blademaster? Of course not! Blademasters can be the most noble and caring beings out there, but they can also be the most careless and blood thirsty. The blademaster has the largest supplement of weapons availiable for him. So, if you're interested, have a seat and prepare to listen well.

First off let me mention that these stats and skills are what I have found to be the most effective and most enjoyable throughout gameplay. Sure there are probably uber-swordsmen templates somewhere, but uber templates aren't as fun, as they have no flaws. If you don't have any flaws, then you dont have any fun, in my opinion.

Creation
The first thing that must be done in every new character's life is to be created. This is what you do:

Race: It doesn't matter. It's basically what you want your persona to be. Aluvian if you want to be more of a Knight, Sho if you want to be more of a Samurai and Gharun'dim if you want to be unique!

Sex: Male or Female, there is no difference in terms of character stats or skills.

Appearance: This has no effect on gameplay at all, except for the fact that it's what you look like. Basically, choose what you want yourself to look like.

Profession: You'll want to make him/her a custom character.

Stats:
There is alot of controversy over whether a blademaster should have magic or not. Turbine has recently stated that they have some plans for non-magic using blademasters. This guide will focus on non-magic users. Remember what I said, just because the template isn't uber dosent mean it isn't fun! Heres a breakdown of the stats:

Strength: 100
Endurance: 40
Coordination: 100
Quickness: 60
Focus: 20
Self: 10

Some people think they should have more focus, since the character is going to have healing. My advice is to just raise focus in the beginning.

Skills
Specialized: Swords
Trained: Arcane Lore, Healing, Lockpick, Melee Defense, Missile Defense

Now, you may be wondering why I chose these skills. Melee and Missile defense, because your going to want that extra protection. Healing and Arcane Lore, because I think every character should have them. Arcane is, of course, used for magic weapons. Lockpicking is good to have to start off with as well.

Starting Town:
Holtburg. This, in my opinion, is the best starting town.

Now, you just landed in one of the Holtburg outposts. What to do? Well, I'll tell you. Run to the town (follow the road leaving the outpost) and sell your boots! Now with that money and the 100p you start out with, buy a kite shield. Now, its time to do some killing!

A few notes on hunting around Holtburg. There are many dungeons for you to go into, but I suggest the Cave of the Alabree. A lot of people don't even know it exists. You can find it at 42.3N 29.3E. Its full of Gnawer Shreths, and incredibly easy creature that gives mild exp. I recommend it, because of the loot. Its not much, but mostly ever Shreths drops spell components. If you spend some time in there, that starts to add up, and on trips to town you'll be picking up pieces of chain like its nothing! The Holtburg Dungeon, at 43.6N 32.4E, is full of Drudge Skulkers, and is home to one of the SoLL keys. The Skulkers give pretty good exp., and are fairly easy. The only problem is they don't give as much loot as the Shreths. But if your looking to gain levels easy, that's the way to go. Now, you can fight in these dungeons till about 3-4, maybe 5 on the Holtburg Dungeon, but soon you'll notice the lack of exp.

By now you should have a better sword (just look in the weaponsmith for a Yaoji, but you should aim for a Tachi) and full Chainmail. Your going to want to raise your Strength and Coordination, because its they most important attribute for a blademaster. After Strength/Coordination, you should raise Quickness, and Endurance/Health/Stamina.Then Focus, and finally onto Self/Mana, which you should raise every now and then. At level 5 your going to want to hunt out near the Golem Hill and Holtburg Redoubt. If you go here: 38.8N 35.6E and head South, you'll enter some woods. This is a great place to level to 8, just one rule. Don't be stupid and attack things that can whoop on you. At level 8, you can probably kill Mud Golems at the Golem Hill (38.6N 36.7E). There are usually a lot of people there, so I don't suggest going there during primetime hours.

If your confused about those last 2 paragraphs, they may seem familiar. Yes, they are the same ones from my Archer Guide. Why did I copy and paste them? Well, because I believe that is good leveling up information for every class there is. Now, what to buy with your skill points later on in life? Well there are 2 routes. If your stubborn and want Magic like no tomorrow, then get Item asap, and get Mana Conversion. Otherwise, get whatever you want! Usually I dont give so much freedom in guide/tutorials, but honestly, this character is made to be played how YOU want him. Thats wy I like this one so much, because it really can be formed into what you want and not be a cookie cutter character.

With my experiences as a blademaster, this is what I think should be most helpful for you. If you have any more questions, anyone in the ACSS IRC Channel should be able to help and I'd be happy to help you. If you hate this guide, tell me, I'd like to know why so I can improve guides to come. If you loved it, I'd like to hear from you as well. I can be contacted at acss@stratics.com. Thanks, and I hope your adventures as a blademaster are exciting and profitable!