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← Hero Guides · Weapon
Dual Blades
By Amya · Updated 2026-08-03
The ultimate high-skill weapon. Brutal learning curve, and no other class can cancel supply, flank with threat, or solo carry like it.
Loadouts
Four spell slots, three ways to fill them, and the armour each one wants. Alchemical Vapor is in all three: it is your only cleanse of CC, so it is never the slot you trade away.
pick one columnNo Butterfly
Before your shemThe one to run on Warbreaker. Strongest skillcap and impact in high lobbies. Start with this if you are confident and trust yourself to learn the playstyle.
QAlchemical VaporAlchemical VapoursIII16sRolls backward and drops a smoke bomb to vanish from sight. Grants Stealth for 6 seconds.Control RemovalRemoves Dazed, Knockdown, and Concussed upon use.BuffWithin 6 s, landing a hit before taking damage grants brief immunity to control effects; taking damage before landing a hit grants a 40% decaying damage reduction for 4 s.
EShurikenBo-ShurikensIII4sThrows darts in a frontal cone, dealing 189% base + 1971 Piercing Damage, then enters Stealth for 1.5 s.Effects on Enemies 1Darts poison enemies hit, dealing 200 damage every second for 3 s.Effects on Enemies 2The poison also slows enemies by 50% for 3 s.Effects on Enemies 3Enemies hit take 35% less damage from subsequent uses of this skill for 2 s.
RBombGreat ThunderboltIII12sThrows a concussion grenade, dealing 200% base + 1047 Blunt Damage and inflicting Concussed. Enters stealth for 1.5 seconds.Effects on Enemies 1Heroes and units hit take 20% and 40% more damage respectively for 4 s.Effects on Enemies 2Enemies hit take 25% less damage from subsequent uses of this skill for 4 s.
TSkylark / ButterflySkylarkIII6sLeaps forward with an upward dagger thrust, spinning in mid-air to strike enemies 4 times. Each hit deals 154% Base + 762 Slashing Damage. This attack cannot be blocked.Effects on Enemies 1Deals 200 damage every 1 s for 3 s. Stacks up to 4 times.Effects on Enemies 2Enemies hit take 45% less damage from subsequent uses of this skill for 4 s.Special EffectAttacks from behind deal 30% extra damage.ButterflyIII8sSpins and slashes nearby enemies 2 times. Each hit deals 158% Base + 990 Slashing Damage.Second pressTurns and slashes 2 more times. Each hit deals 158% Base + 990 Slashing Damage.Effects on Enemies 1Deals 600 damage every 2 s for 4 s.Effects on Enemies 2Slows enemies by 50% for 3 s.Effects on Enemies 3Enemies hit take 40% less damage from subsequent uses of this skill for 5 s.T is Skylark or Butterfly in a meta where you can kill heroes, otherwise Mark of Death.
Rogue's off the tutorial quests will do until Warbreaker, if you are brand new and not maining dual blades.
Shuriken + Butterfly
Learn on thisRecommended to start and learn with this build. Wants the epic schematic to reach its full potential.
QAlchemical VaporAlchemical VapoursIII16sRolls backward and drops a smoke bomb to vanish from sight. Grants Stealth for 6 seconds.Control RemovalRemoves Dazed, Knockdown, and Concussed upon use.BuffWithin 6 s, landing a hit before taking damage grants brief immunity to control effects; taking damage before landing a hit grants a 40% decaying damage reduction for 4 s.EShurikenBo-ShurikensIII4sThrows darts in a frontal cone, dealing 189% base + 1971 Piercing Damage, then enters Stealth for 1.5 s.Effects on Enemies 1Darts poison enemies hit, dealing 200 damage every second for 3 s.Effects on Enemies 2The poison also slows enemies by 50% for 3 s.Effects on Enemies 3Enemies hit take 35% less damage from subsequent uses of this skill for 2 s.RButterfly / SkylarkButterflyIII8sSpins and slashes nearby enemies 2 times. Each hit deals 158% Base + 990 Slashing Damage.Second pressTurns and slashes 2 more times. Each hit deals 158% Base + 990 Slashing Damage.Effects on Enemies 1Deals 600 damage every 2 s for 4 s.Effects on Enemies 2Slows enemies by 50% for 3 s.Effects on Enemies 3Enemies hit take 40% less damage from subsequent uses of this skill for 5 s.SkylarkIII6sLeaps forward with an upward dagger thrust, spinning in mid-air to strike enemies 4 times. Each hit deals 154% Base + 762 Slashing Damage. This attack cannot be blocked.Effects on Enemies 1Deals 200 damage every 1 s for 3 s. Stacks up to 4 times.Effects on Enemies 2Enemies hit take 45% less damage from subsequent uses of this skill for 4 s.Special EffectAttacks from behind deal 30% extra damage.
TMark of DeathMarked for DeathIII32sDashes forward, unleashing a 7-hit combo on the first enemy encountered and inflicting Winded. Each hit deals 70% Base + 1374 Slashing Damage. Winded is unblockable.Effects on EnemiesEnemies hit take 40% less damage from subsequent uses of this skill for 8 s.Butterfly is less forgiving than Skylark if you miss, but its burst and overall damage are significantly higher.
Always full STR if playing Butterfly.
No Ult
More riskBomb instead of the ultimate. More snowball and more potential reward, with more flop potential, so play it once you can read the lobby.
QAlchemical VaporAlchemical VapoursIII16sRolls backward and drops a smoke bomb to vanish from sight. Grants Stealth for 6 seconds.Control RemovalRemoves Dazed, Knockdown, and Concussed upon use.BuffWithin 6 s, landing a hit before taking damage grants brief immunity to control effects; taking damage before landing a hit grants a 40% decaying damage reduction for 4 s.EShurikenBo-ShurikensIII4sThrows darts in a frontal cone, dealing 189% base + 1971 Piercing Damage, then enters Stealth for 1.5 s.Effects on Enemies 1Darts poison enemies hit, dealing 200 damage every second for 3 s.Effects on Enemies 2The poison also slows enemies by 50% for 3 s.Effects on Enemies 3Enemies hit take 35% less damage from subsequent uses of this skill for 2 s.RButterfly / SkylarkButterflyIII8sSpins and slashes nearby enemies 2 times. Each hit deals 158% Base + 990 Slashing Damage.Second pressTurns and slashes 2 more times. Each hit deals 158% Base + 990 Slashing Damage.Effects on Enemies 1Deals 600 damage every 2 s for 4 s.Effects on Enemies 2Slows enemies by 50% for 3 s.Effects on Enemies 3Enemies hit take 40% less damage from subsequent uses of this skill for 5 s.SkylarkIII6sLeaps forward with an upward dagger thrust, spinning in mid-air to strike enemies 4 times. Each hit deals 154% Base + 762 Slashing Damage. This attack cannot be blocked.Effects on Enemies 1Deals 200 damage every 1 s for 3 s. Stacks up to 4 times.Effects on Enemies 2Enemies hit take 45% less damage from subsequent uses of this skill for 4 s.Special EffectAttacks from behind deal 30% extra damage.TBombGreat ThunderboltIII12sThrows a concussion grenade, dealing 200% base + 1047 Blunt Damage and inflicting Concussed. Enters stealth for 1.5 seconds.Effects on Enemies 1Heroes and units hit take 20% and 40% more damage respectively for 4 s.Effects on Enemies 2Enemies hit take 25% less damage from subsequent uses of this skill for 4 s.20% damage buff vs heroes, 30% vs units, plus ranged CC, one more invis and a 4th reset. You lose 1v1 pressure and pre-combo rune activation.
FULL HP can be played if bomb and shuriken poke only. Full STR is better if max potential is used.
Same weapon for all three
roll it once, it carries every loadoutAlso true whatever you slot
- Best gender
- Female (Animation Change depending on it)
- Aiming (Hero)
- Assisted yes, Locked no
- Aiming (Units)
- Assisted no, Locked no
- Armour class
- S LeadershipLeadership increases the number of units you can take into battle, making it the best value out of every stat you could wish to get. · AA HP / Crit Value · A Piercing Def / Slash/Piercing dmg depending on your weapon · B Rest
Gear Which set to build, cheapest first, and what to roll on the weapon. Leadership is a reforged armour stat you grind (lock it on every piece), not a flat set bonus. New to it? See crafting and honing.
Roll forSlashing damage 70%+ and slashing pen 55%+ of max on the weapon. Lock leadership on every armour piece.
Best runes this season Amya's picks for Chaos: A Realm Divided. Every piece holds at most 5 Rune Power, so each slot is a budget call. Open a rune for its full effect, or read the whole seasonal set on the Hero Runes page.
Night Raid
3
After entering [Sneak], Critical Value greatly increases every 3 seconds. The higher your base Critical Value, the higher the multiplier. This effect decays gradually upon leaving [Sneak]. It can also be triggered by [Bo-Shurikens] and [Great Thunderbolt].
Yang Fire VII
1
Increases Strength and Toughness by 2 points.
Yang Fire VIII
1
Increases Agility and Armour by 2 points.
Severed Hair
3
Damage taken from Units is reduced by 20%. When Health is below 50%, damage taken from Units is additionally reduced by 10%.
Yang Fire VIII
1
Increases Agility and Armour by 2 points.
Yang Fire VII
1
Increases Strength and Toughness by 2 points.
Art of Stillness
3
Damage taken is reduced by 10%. While in a Knockback, Knockdown, Knockup, or Concussed state, damage taken is additionally reduced by 5%.
Peach Garden Oath
2
Maximum Health increased by 5%. Upon death, surrounding allies immediately restore 10% maximum Health.
Line Breaker
2
Damage dealt to Units is increased by 6%.
Unexpected Strike
2
Damage dealt to Heroes is increased by 6%.
Yang Fire VII
1
Increases Strength and Toughness by 2 points.
Fight to the Death
3
When Health is below 25%, damage taken from Heroes is reduced by 50%.
Cyan Satchel
2
Bandage duration is reduced by 40%, but the total healing amount remains unchanged.
Guide
by Amya · 9 partsCore Philosophy
Dual Blades (DB) is the ultimate high-skill weapon. To master DB is to master the entire game.
- Light armor survival: Requires perfect positioning, spacing, and hitbox knowledge
- No unit-vs-unit tools: Forces you to learn unit matchups solo
- Assassin role: Must know every hero matchup
- Unique impact: No other class can cancel supply, flank with threat, or solo carry like DB
“You’ll have a brutal learning curve, but mastering DB means mastering the game.”
Your path to mastery: Die. Test limits. Learn matchups. Learn spacing. Learn how to bait spells. Press your map and ask, “Where should I be to be most useful?”
Key Spell Mechanics
- Ambush (cross spell in invis) +
ButterflyButterflySpins and slashes nearby enemies 2 times. Each hit deals 158% Base + 990 Slashing Damage.
Second press:
Turns and slashes 2 more times. Each hit deals 158% Base + 990 Slashing Damage.
Effects on Enemies 1:
Deals 600 damage every 2 s for 4 s.
Effects on Enemies 2:
Slows enemies by 50% for 3 s.
Effects on Enemies 3:
Enemies hit take 40% less damage from subsequent uses of this skill for 5 s. = ALWAYS back hit - Alchemical Vapor/Shuriken/Bomb: Invisibility + CC-i window (0.4-0.7s)
- Horse: Free invis + 200% speed for 3s
- Alchemical Vapor: Keep for post-combo escape (engage with Dismount-Invis)
- The Q-spell from any invis should always be used at the end of the invis window (0.1-0.2s before it ends)
Combo Guide
Full Combo (All Spells)
- Bomb/Dismount/Shuriken: Invisibility
- E (Kick): AA x2
- Bomb/Shuriken: AA x1/2 then Ult
- Roll behind: ButterflyButterflySpins and slashes nearby enemies 2 times. Each hit deals 158% Base + 990 Slashing Damage.
Second press:
Turns and slashes 2 more times. Each hit deals 158% Base + 990 Slashing Damage.
Effects on Enemies 1:
Deals 600 damage every 2 s for 4 s.
Effects on Enemies 2:
Slows enemies by 50% for 3 s.
Effects on Enemies 3:
Enemies hit take 40% less damage from subsequent uses of this skill for 5 s. or Shuriken (Roll animation cancel with block)
Enemy on Horse
- Sprint after them with your horse, jump once you’re out of stam (they’ll also be out of stam)
- Horse Q: E (Kick)
- ButterflyButterflySpins and slashes nearby enemies 2 times. Each hit deals 158% Base + 990 Slashing Damage.
Second press:
Turns and slashes 2 more times. Each hit deals 158% Base + 990 Slashing Damage.
Effects on Enemies 1:
Deals 600 damage every 2 s for 4 s.
Effects on Enemies 2:
Slows enemies by 50% for 3 s.
Effects on Enemies 3:
Enemies hit take 40% less damage from subsequent uses of this skill for 5 s. into AA
- Ult IMMEDIATELY as the horse death animation starts to catch them mid-air
No Ult Chase Combo
- Sprint: Shift attack (stagger)
- Butterfly
- Space (back off) and Shuriken/AA spam
Movement & Awareness
- Learn enemy spell CDs, bait them, punish greed
- Know every map/object hitbox, use the environment to survive
- Movement is survival, every duel is winnable with good spacing
- Autoattacks matter, squeezing in AAs will be a huge difference in DPS
- Stay active. You should ALWAYS be looking to catch heroes, help DPS units…
Gear & Weapon Guide
The short version is up in Loadouts. This is the full ranking.
Armor (Epic Schematic 4-piece):
- GOD TIER: Heal / Leadership
- S+: Crit Value
- S: Piercing Def
- A: Slashing / Blunt Def
- TRASH: Crit Def
Weapon (Min Requirements):
- Slash DMG 70%+ Max Proc
- Slash PEN 55%+ Max Proc
- Min Slash PEN: 1800+ for Siege, 2000-2100 for TW / Ranked / Tournaments
Weapon Stats to Aim For:
- Slash DMG
- Slash PEN
- Crit DMG Value
- Bonus: Piercing DMG/PEN
Is Alchemical Vapor necessary?
Addition from Reddit commentary.
It is absolutely necessary, yes. While there can be debates about which build is better (No Ult build, Shuriken build, or Bomb build), all these builds include the escape skill because it’s your only cleanse of CC. In the current meta, where Poleaxe, Nodachi, and Shortsword are dominant, having your cleanse is non-negotiable. Honestly, in any meta, you’d always want it. The 0.4 seconds of CCI on Bomb or Shuriken is nice but will never replace a spell that can save your life multiple times in a single game.
As for your build, I see you prefer 
SkylarkSkylarkLeaps forward with an upward dagger thrust, spinning in mid-air to strike enemies 4 times. Each hit deals 154% Base + 762 Slashing Damage. This attack cannot be blocked.
Effects on Enemies 1:
Deals 200 damage every 1 s for 3 s. Stacks up to 4 times.
Effects on Enemies 2:
Enemies hit take 45% less damage from subsequent uses of this skill for 4 s.
Special Effect:
Attacks from behind deal 30% extra damage. over ButterflyButterflySpins and slashes nearby enemies 2 times. Each hit deals 158% Base + 990 Slashing Damage.
Second press:
Turns and slashes 2 more times. Each hit deals 158% Base + 990 Slashing Damage.
Effects on Enemies 1:
Deals 600 damage every 2 s for 4 s.
Effects on Enemies 2:
Slows enemies by 50% for 3 s.
Effects on Enemies 3:
Enemies hit take 40% less damage from subsequent uses of this skill for 5 s., likely for its lower cooldown, as many new players do. If I could give you some advice, it would be to start practicing with ButterflyButterflySpins and slashes nearby enemies 2 times. Each hit deals 158% Base + 990 Slashing Damage.
Second press:
Turns and slashes 2 more times. Each hit deals 158% Base + 990 Slashing Damage.
Effects on Enemies 1:
Deals 600 damage every 2 s for 4 s.
Effects on Enemies 2:
Slows enemies by 50% for 3 s.
Effects on Enemies 3:
Enemies hit take 40% less damage from subsequent uses of this skill for 5 s. instead. While ButterflyButterflySpins and slashes nearby enemies 2 times. Each hit deals 158% Base + 990 Slashing Damage.
Second press:
Turns and slashes 2 more times. Each hit deals 158% Base + 990 Slashing Damage.
Effects on Enemies 1:
Deals 600 damage every 2 s for 4 s.
Effects on Enemies 2:
Slows enemies by 50% for 3 s.
Effects on Enemies 3:
Enemies hit take 40% less damage from subsequent uses of this skill for 5 s. is less forgiving if you miss, its burst and overall damage are significantly higher. This becomes especially important when you have your Epic Schematic set, allowing you to reset your spells on kills. At that point, ButterflyButterflySpins and slashes nearby enemies 2 times. Each hit deals 158% Base + 990 Slashing Damage.
Second press:
Turns and slashes 2 more times. Each hit deals 158% Base + 990 Slashing Damage.
Effects on Enemies 1:
Deals 600 damage every 2 s for 4 s.
Effects on Enemies 2:
Slows enemies by 50% for 3 s.
Effects on Enemies 3:
Enemies hit take 40% less damage from subsequent uses of this skill for 5 s. becomes a must-have for maximizing damage output.
DB Field Battles/Conquest Win Conditions
DB Win Conditions are:
- Final point cap
- Point near the final point cap
- Canceling supply on B fight reset/during the fight (delaying the resetup, canceling the 2 units strats is enough for your team to get B)
- Cap supply and get units out of it (then either stay on it if you want to win by B, or go to one of the 2 points you are pressuring)
- Pressure enough people for your team to have number advantages, don’t feel forced to fight if that’s the case.
- Move a unit that can kill afk units in the map border (there are a lot), and start your plan JUST BEFORE YOUR TEAM ENGAGES ON B (then worst case you will bait people out of the B fight and make pressure), NOT DURING, AS PEOPLE WILL RESPAWN.
Just need to understand that the “golden diagonal” is 3 pressure points:
- Final point
- Point near final point
- Supply
As a DB it’s IMPOSSIBLE to die if you don’t try to fight and just play safe. By playing around this golden diagonal, you have all the win conditions I quoted at the top. If you manage to execute any of them, you basically win alone. And if you don’t do any of them, by moving around this diagonal you force the enemy to have 1 afk unit on the final point, 1 afk unit on C/A, and 1 hero chasing you / afk on supply, which is already insane pressure, more than any other class could ever achieve. And yet even with that, you can still go for a supply cancel during the B fight.
Ranked & Tournament Value
As a DB, the kit of the class makes you able to often trade more than 1 person, which should be the primary rule: “Always try to have a value better than 1”, meaning that you aim, at any time, to take at least the value of 1 player, and your goal is obviously to have more.
What counts towards the value counter is:
- Player trades (unit trade vs them, blocking them somewhere)
- Supply blocking (add +1 to any player you block by not swapping units; when you cancel supply, always try to NOT kill the hero on it until the end of the push if you can, try to cancel it at the end of every 7s (swap timer) to take the least risk possible, and try to use your CDs smartly)
- Cav flanking pressure (sometimes the best cav flank is simply to NOT do anything: make the enemy see you, make their vocal go crazy about a potential cav flank, make the anticav afk right next to it, and then flank mid-end fight)
- Trouble you create in the enemy team: going for crazy kill pickups when you know you won’t even kill (but be safe) so they feel threatened, spamming their vocal with “be careful about this and this”
Often your best value will be by going for a supply cancel, but that you need to know how to do: useless to go for a supply cancel if the enemy will play around the respawn, useless to pre-afk near supply or to go at the same time as people are swapping… But you should not think “I absolutely need to cancel supply”: if you think it sucks, it probably does, and you should think about doing something else. Review your scrims: when you press your map, analyze what you could have done better, where the better value was, what you should change. When you die, ask why: could you have dodged that death, or, complete opposite, wasn’t it better to die early for a faster respawn? All these things have no “always right” rules, just big principles that you know and try to follow.
No Ult Playstyle (Bomb) or Ult Playstyle?
DatedTHIS IS A BIT OUTDATED as you should play the bomb+shuri playstyle, but it’s still good learning
Bomb is a 20% damage buff for heroes and a 30% buff for units. Opting for the bomb over the ultimate is particularly valuable in skirmishes due to its AOE CC, which boosts everyone’s damage. And it provides Ranged CC / 1 More invis / 4 Reset > 3 Reset.
However, sacrificing the ultimate comes with significant drawbacks, especially in specific scenarios like choke-point fights, 1v1 duels, and against CCi-Divers classes like Nodachi or Poleaxe. The ult provides strong 1v1 pressure, enables pre-combo rune activation, and secures kills more reliably. The build choice should also consider factors such as the number of enemy light armor (since playing without an ult can make you vulnerable if the opponent has theirs and knows how to play around it) and the frequency of skirmishes, as one build might prove more advantageous than the other depending on the context.
There are many additional factors to consider, especially when playing Duo DB like I do with GRK. In this setup, having one player without an ult and the other with an ult can be more effective than both using the ultimate. Situationally, both players might play no-ult, or one might swap out the shuriken for the bomb while keeping both ults in games with a low amount of fights. These decisions depend on the dynamics of every match and change a lot.
Ultimately, the key thing to remember for most is that having a bad game with a no-ult build is much riskier than an ult-focused player having an off game. A no-ult player might end up being relatively ineffective and farmed by the enemy lights, whereas a player with the ult still retains potential opportunities, even during pushes.
TLDRBomb is More Risk, More Snowball but More Potential Rewards, while also having more Flop Potential; you need to know when you should play it, always be able to adapt, and swap spells depending on the game mode/dynamics of the current lobby…
It also heavily depends on the current meta: a slow meta full of shield and brace units like right now will heavily favour a no bomb due to the low amount of skirmishes happening.