Blackguard

Blackguard
"A melee class!"
Type:	Melee
Weapon:	Sword
Equip:	Armor
Skills:	Vice, Aura, Demon
Starting HP:	45
Starting Stats:	3 Dex, 5 Pwr, 4 Arm
Stat Gains:	2 Dex, 2 Pwr, 2 Arm, 20 HP
Unlock:	Get -3 in any stat

Skills

Vice

• Deals ((Pwr+d4)*Weapon+Aura) damage.
• Has an accuracy of (Dex+d8).
• Reduces your temporary armor by 1.

Aura

• Sets your Aura to (Demon*1.5) until the end of the fight.
• Can only be used once per fight.

Demon

• Permanently sacrifice 1 Dex and 5 max HP.
• Permanently increases Demon by 1.
• Gives an accuracy bonus of (Demon+2) until the end of the fight, temporarily compensating for your lost Dex.
• Can only be used once per fight.

Strategies and Tips

• Immediately right off the bat, you are torn between Scylla and Charybdis because you have two option. Go through the game with a sub-par attack that reduces your armor throughout fights without using the other two skills, or use Buffs/Debuffs that permanently improves Aura (which improves Vice), but also permanently reduce your Dex and HP (It has a really good temporary accuracy bonus).
• General rule with Demon is only use it max twice per level if that. Unless you have a lot of DEX to back it up or you cant hit an enemy and need the Demon accuracy buff. (Make sure you watch your HP cap because it can slip without you noticing. That -5 HP adds up)
• Make sure you have a decent amount of pots on you, because the key to using Demon (if you actually decide to use it) is praying to Spediphis (DEX>ARM) in multiple amounts. Because you are losing ARM you will be getting hit often with no reduction (Your Equipment will still reduce).
• The formula for Vice scales much higher with PWR then it does with using Demon/Aura with an upgraded sword, because Demon's multiplier in Aura is only 1.5. So if you are set in losing DEX, but want a high damage output, praying to Krillix is much more worth it in the long run as far as damage goes(plus you wont end up losing a turn). But be forewarned you will need a lot of DEX to make up for Krillix prays plus you don't get that sweet temporary DEX buff from Demon if you ever need it. Early levels Demon will be the best choice because getting a sword with a good multiplier wont come until the end of dungeon 1.
• Using Demon/Aura actually will help make early efforts easier, fights that go on longer like Kubes, Mobs, Wanderers (assuming you don't have gas cans/anti-kube). Also if you are low on dex and kind of in a bind in a fight, Demon does give a really good temporary accuracy bonus.
• As far as equipment goes if you plan on completely destroying your ARM with Spediphis prays, focus on maxing your sword, that small reduction is not worth the gold you will be spending for it. If you want to keep a good balance 1:1 / 1:2 ratios wont hurt (sword being the primary).
• It is possible to go an ARM stacking route, but if you decide to do this you will have to be very cautious using Demon at all. Praying to Armon will make you lose HP as well will using Demon. Not to mention you will at some point need to upgrade DEX, which will in turn lose ARM, taking a massive step backwards. Praying to Zorom is not a bad idea either considering this route will be focused on getting hit less if any at all, so sacrificing some PWR is not all too bad. You will need to focus on primarily upgrading your Armor Equip 1st. This will take a lot of patience farming, and battles will progress a lot slower. As always make sure you have an appropriate amount of pots.
• Another option is sacrifice all of your Pwr for HP (just don't let it get too far below 0), so you can afford to use Demon every fight and rely entirely on your Aura for damage. This allows you to completely ignore Dex as well, because of the huge accuracy bonus from Demon, and you can save gold by not upgrading your sword, since it doesn't improve Aura damage. You'll need to spend extra time saving up as much HP as possible before entering the PentPlane, because once there you won't have any way to get your lost HP back, so you can't last forever using Demon every fight.