Mastering the Glaive: What to Pair with This Versatile Weapon
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Glaives, with their unique blend of melee prowess and ranged capabilities, have carved out a distinct niche in the arsenal of many games. Pairing them effectively can significantly enhance their strengths and mitigate their weaknesses. The key to pairing effectively with a glaive lies in understanding its core function: a versatile jack-of-all-trades that excels at both absorbing damage and dealing it from multiple ranges. Therefore, the ideal pairings will either amplify this versatility or address its potential shortcomings.
Primarily, players should pair glaives with loadouts that complement their hybrid nature. This means considering weapons, abilities, and even armor that can cover the areas where the glaive might falter. It’s essential to recognize that a glaive isn’t just a melee weapon; it has projectile functionality, making pairing complex and exciting.
Let’s break down some of the best pairing strategies:
- Complimentary Weapon Types: Due to their unique nature, glaives don’t neatly fit into the typical “primary/special” dynamic, making weapon pairing more about balance. If you are using a glaive to engage primarily in close-range combat, consider a long-range option like a scout rifle or pulse rifle to pick off enemies at a distance. If you are utilizing the glaive’s ranged attack more often, a shotgun or fusion rifle could be ideal for close-quarters engagements. Avoid pairing with another mid-range weapon, or you risk overlapping usage and effectiveness.
- Ability Synergy: Abilities that either enhance melee damage, reload, or provide survivability are excellent companions for a glaive. For example, abilities that grant overshields can help you survive prolonged engagements, while abilities that increase melee damage will make your glaive hits more devastating. Pay attention to class-specific builds.
- Exotic Armor: The right exotic armor can significantly enhance a glaive’s performance. For example, some exotics boost melee damage, a perfect pair for glaives, while others increase overall weapon effectiveness, helping with the projectile component. Exotics like Synthoceps can enhance the glaive’s melee damage, turning them into a true force. Additionally, exotics that offer survivability or ability regeneration can be invaluable.
- Perk Synergies: Look for weapon perks that synergize with the glaive’s hybrid style. Perks that trigger on melee kills, or boost weapon damage after a melee hit are perfect pairings. Also, consider perks that enhance survivability, such as those that reload your magazine on a melee kill. The focus should be on increasing the glaive’s effectiveness, both in ranged and melee situations.
In essence, effective pairing with a glaive is about strategic complementarity. It is not just about choosing a single weapon but about crafting a complete loadout that empowers the glaive to shine in any situation.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What Perks Work with Glaives?
Glaives benefit from a range of perks, however, not all are created equal. Perks that enhance reload speed, like Lightweight Emitter or Light Mag, can keep your weapon ready for action. Impulse Amplifier helps with projectile speed, while Unrelenting can provide healing. Perks like Grave Robber, which reload your weapon on a melee kill, or Unstoppable Force, which enhances damage after blocking, can drastically improve a Glaive’s efficacy in close-range fights. Destabilizing Rounds works exceptionally well on a glaive, turning enemies into walking grenades.
What Are Glaives Good For?
Glaives are exceptionally versatile, excelling in a hybrid role. They can absorb enemy fire with their shield, then follow up with powerful melee strikes. Additionally, they possess a ranged projectile attack, granting them an edge in various combat situations. This versatility makes them adept at both clearing waves of weaker enemies and engaging tougher opponents with a mixture of ranged and melee attacks. They are considered a “jack-of-all-trades” weapon.
How Are Glaives Used?
Glaives utilize a combination of melee and ranged attacks. In melee, they involve sweeping strikes to disarm or incapacitate, and thrusting attacks to penetrate armor. Their ranged projectiles allow engagement from a safe distance and the shield feature is ideal for close-range survivability, allowing players to block incoming fire and close the gap to unleash melee attacks. The dynamic use of melee and projectile is the core essence of a glaive.
Do Glaives Work with Melee Exotics?
While Glaives use melee attacks, they do not trigger most melee-related exotics. This limitation is important to note when building your loadout, as the benefits of these exotics will not apply to your Glaive. This is something that may change but currently limits pairing options significantly.
Which Hunter Exotics Work with Glaives?
Hunter exotics that boost melee damage can still be effective with a Glaive’s melee component. However, it’s critical to note that melee triggers don’t apply. Examples of melee-boosting exotics can be used, but the interaction will not be as effective compared to typical melee weapons.
Which Exotic Glaive is Best?
Winterbite is often considered the top Exotic Glaive, thanks to its high damage, excellent add-clearing potential, and ammo efficiency. It’s closely followed by other notable options such as Unexpected Resurgence, Judgment of Kelgorath, Vexcalibur, Ecliptic Distaff, Lubrae’s Ruin, Nezarec’s Whisper, and The Enigma, each offering unique perks and playstyles. The best will always depend on player preferences.
How Do You Melee with a Glaive?
You melee with a glaive by using the melee button, which initiates a three-hit combo. This melee action does not consume any ammo, making it a reliable and consistent way to inflict damage at close range. The melee combo can be used quickly and repeatedly, making it reliable for close-range combat.
Can You Thrust with a Glaive?
Yes, Glaives are designed for both cutting and thrusting. The blade’s design allows for thrusting attacks that can effectively penetrate armor, making it versatile in both offensive and defensive applications. Thrusting attacks are a key element of a glaive’s offensive capabilities.
Does Striking Light Work with Glaives?
No, melee kills with a Glaive do not activate melee-related armor mods like Hands-On or Striking Light. Additionally, they also do not spawn elemental wells, further highlighting that Glaives have their own, separate rule set. This is important to consider when creating your build.
What is the Best Class for a Glaive?
Glaives are effective with any class, but classes that can capitalize on melee and ability synergy tend to excel with them. The Barbarian, Fighter, and Paladin classes are notable choices because they can effectively utilize the Glaive’s melee capabilities. The ability to withstand damage and enhance melee further enhances the effectiveness of a glaive, which helps to synergize with its unique design.
Is a Glaive Dex or Strength?
A glaive is considered a Strength-based weapon. It doesn’t possess the Finesse property, meaning that your melee will scale from Strength and not Dexterity. This is primarily due to the fact that Glaives are large weapons that require significant force to wield effectively.
What Melee Perks Work with Glaives?
Glaive melee attacks should ideally benefit from melee damage buffs, such as those provided by certain exotics like Winter’s Guile or Wormgod Caress. However, they should not benefit from weapon damage buffs like Rampage, Kill Clip or Swashbuckler. It is essential to use perks that specifically enhance melee.
How Do I Upgrade a Glaive?
To upgrade a Glaive, you will need to reach a certain level with the weapon. Once it reaches the required level, you can upgrade the Intrinsic at a cost of glimmer, Enhancement Cores, and Resonant Alloy. This will enhance the weapon’s base stats and overall performance.
Are Glaives Good in PvP?
Glaives are solid options in PvP, excelling in both close and mid-range engagements. The ability to block damage with the shield can partially reload the glaive and increases the weapons overall uptime. It’s a viable option in the right hands with effective ability pairing.
How Do You Guard with a Glaive?
Guarding with a Glaive involves deploying your shield before an attack hits. You then want to immediately drop your shield to regain full strafe speed. This allows you to block an incoming attack and then quickly follow it up with your own attack. Firing projectiles while using your shield extends its duration.