I was thinking a bit about stuff I haven't tried and despite having beaten Poe1 probably ten times or so (and many more half abandoned runs besides) I've never done a build that used the Unlabored Blade. In fact I generally never bother with it at all since you get it in WM2 which struck me as late.

But then I wondered, what if I built a character to use that? What would that look like?

Has anyone tried building a character with the goal of using this weapon? Rogue seems like an obvious choice. Fighter or Monk would also excel at it I'm sure. I imagine going for dual wielding it plus maybe Drawn in Spring would be the way to go. 

Barbarian is the obvious choice. Because high attack speed and especially Carnage will help to proc Firebug more often. Heart of Fury as well. Heart of Fury also helps a lot with achieving all those dmg related soulbound upgrades.

Barbarian's Carnage is also the case why the proc chance of Firebrand got nerfed so hard.

Firebug-kills trigger Blood Thirst - you you could even try a single dagger or dagger&shield setup (is faster with Durgan Steel than single weapon). Unlabored Blade + Bagradr's Barricade ist also a great combo (less procs of Firebug, but also procs Thrust of Tattered Veils quite reliably and often).

Drawn in Spring is great, especially with the high MIG of Frenzy. But with two daggers you'll only have slash damage output. So maybe keep some backup in a second weapon slot. Since Unlabored Blade works with every weapon focus you are free to pick.

Spelltongue can be used to prolong your buffs, including Frenzy and Bloodlust.

 

Edited October 22, 20196 yr by Boeroer

Hmm yeah I don't know why I didn't think of Barbarian. That allows for some fun multiclass possibilities when importing into 2 as well since Barb is a great multiclass candidate in Poe2.