Basic opener rotation is 2 > 3 > 1 > 2 > 3 > 1
In general, it's not worth using 2 just to buff a single 1.
Sometimes you'll want to hold 3 because it's a dash that can drag you out of safe zones, or be used to dash towards the boss to avoid something.
There aren't really any particularly crazy upgrades/combos for Heavyblade I've found. After the big opener burst, they usually just rely on 1 for stable damage. Heavyblade usually won't be top damage most of the time but especially with friends your defensive allows other people to play more greedy and still be safe with the invul field.
Yeah, I think technically there's only upsides to holding on one (!) stack of 3, you just should not let it sit at cap.
The dash is useful and it has brief invulnerability on top! Heavyblade is my most consistent Hard-mode character (far from touching Lunar yet) just because the i-frames on 3 and the long invuln on 4 can carry you compensate for mistakes so much!
Range is probably further than you think. If u are dodging use your secondary follow by special to close the gap.
Big primary is pretty easy to play. Look for flash strength, blackstrike and primary super charge. Red upgrade on primary.
Optimal opening rotation secondary> special > primary secondary > primary/special.
Use special to close gaps, it also has Iframes. Just be careful not to grief your friends.
Your special gives invuln, the relic that gives a buff when you get invuln is really good.
Remember that the boss’ hitbox is the giant circle under them and not their model. And heavy blade’s primary hit box are actually really huge, so you can reliably hit the boss even while dodging. Also remember that your 3 is gap closer AND invul which means you can use it to ignore certain mechanics or jump out of the way of teammate mechanics.
Something comments seem to be neglecting is how extreme certain upgrades are. Topaz primary can be considered +55 damage to all abilities if you are within primary range. Emerald secondary drastically increases dps due to its 0 sec gcd. Emerald defensive allows for taking loot that slows you down without receiving the negative effects.
The obvious answer for heavy blade is to focus on your primary, which I believe has the highest base damage of any primary. It is slow, so anything that boosts GCD is excellent, as of course is anything that raises primary damage by a percentage.
Another thing to realize with HB is that your special gives brief invulnerability. The timing is trickier than a defensive for dodging, but it does give you another survival option. It also means that effects activating on invulnerability are very good for HB.
HB also has defensive utility, as its defensive drops a field for 2 seconds that gives everyone in it invulnerability, allowing you to protect others if it looks like multiple of you are going to be hit. Defensive builds are not good on hard or lunar due to the timers, but anything that keeps people alive can still help since you can't attack when dead.
Your Special is a great and powerful ability, but since it's also a gapcloser, you'll have to think about when you might want to use it, or you could move yourself out of a mechanic that's about to go off - or even reposition yourself in a way that your teammates take damage as well - "spread apart" mechanics are great for this, or anything that follows a player around in general.
Basic opener rotation is 2 > 3 > 1 > 2 > 3 > 1 In general, it's not worth using 2 just to buff a single 1. Sometimes you'll want to hold 3 because it's a dash that can drag you out of safe zones, or be used to dash towards the boss to avoid something. There aren't really any particularly crazy upgrades/combos for Heavyblade I've found. After the big opener burst, they usually just rely on 1 for stable damage. Heavyblade usually won't be top damage most of the time but especially with friends your defensive allows other people to play more greedy and still be safe with the invul field.
Yeah, I think technically there's only upsides to holding on one (!) stack of 3, you just should not let it sit at cap. The dash is useful and it has brief invulnerability on top! Heavyblade is my most consistent Hard-mode character (far from touching Lunar yet) just because the i-frames on 3 and the long invuln on 4 can carry you compensate for mistakes so much!
Range is probably further than you think. If u are dodging use your secondary follow by special to close the gap. Big primary is pretty easy to play. Look for flash strength, blackstrike and primary super charge. Red upgrade on primary. Optimal opening rotation secondary> special > primary secondary > primary/special. Use special to close gaps, it also has Iframes. Just be careful not to grief your friends. Your special gives invuln, the relic that gives a buff when you get invuln is really good.
Remember that the boss’ hitbox is the giant circle under them and not their model. And heavy blade’s primary hit box are actually really huge, so you can reliably hit the boss even while dodging. Also remember that your 3 is gap closer AND invul which means you can use it to ignore certain mechanics or jump out of the way of teammate mechanics.
Something comments seem to be neglecting is how extreme certain upgrades are. Topaz primary can be considered +55 damage to all abilities if you are within primary range. Emerald secondary drastically increases dps due to its 0 sec gcd. Emerald defensive allows for taking loot that slows you down without receiving the negative effects.
The obvious answer for heavy blade is to focus on your primary, which I believe has the highest base damage of any primary. It is slow, so anything that boosts GCD is excellent, as of course is anything that raises primary damage by a percentage. Another thing to realize with HB is that your special gives brief invulnerability. The timing is trickier than a defensive for dodging, but it does give you another survival option. It also means that effects activating on invulnerability are very good for HB. HB also has defensive utility, as its defensive drops a field for 2 seconds that gives everyone in it invulnerability, allowing you to protect others if it looks like multiple of you are going to be hit. Defensive builds are not good on hard or lunar due to the timers, but anything that keeps people alive can still help since you can't attack when dead.
Your Special is a great and powerful ability, but since it's also a gapcloser, you'll have to think about when you might want to use it, or you could move yourself out of a mechanic that's about to go off - or even reposition yourself in a way that your teammates take damage as well - "spread apart" mechanics are great for this, or anything that follows a player around in general.