-9
Steel Charge
Squad receives +60% Melee Damage
Ash Prime
Marked Redline
Red-Crit Blade Storm
- Frame
- Ash Prime
- Forma
- 3
- Playstyle
- Helminth
- Replace 1 (Wrathful Advance)
Strength-forward Blade Storm Ash with Wrathful Advance for red-crit marks — Smoke Screen covers the cast window while clones delete Steel Path packs. Ash Prime’s extra polarities cut Forma versus base Ash for the same polarity story.
Alternative builds
- Quiet MarksSwap Wrathful for Silence + Savage Silence when you want finisher amp and stun aura instead of flat crit.
- Needle ProtocolKeep Shuriken with Seeking Shuriken when armored objectives need a reliable strip before marks.
- Smoke BatteryDrop the clone plan for a Roar/Eclipse gun platform under Smoke Screen.
Build dossier · Marked Redline
Loadout
Aura + Exilus on top, then eight general slots in two rows of four.
Arcanes
Recommended pair first, then flexible swaps.
Arsenal
Primary
Optional primer or slash gun — Blade Storm does the room delete.
Secondary
Primers amplify Condition Overload-style Blade Storm setups.
Melee
Stat stick / finisher tool for Blade Storm — mobility passives help the stealth loop.
Companion
Priming and health-orb generation keep Equilibrium comfortable under Blade Storm spam.
Playstyle
Cast Wrathful Advance, Smoke Screen, mark with Blade Storm, and optionally Teleport into the fray. Strength feeds both clone damage and Wrathful’s flat crit chance — Duration keeps invis and the Advance buff online.
Passive abilities
Ash’s passive bleeds enemies that are open to finishers — Blade Storm marks and Teleport finishers feed that pressure. Plan the kit around finishers (or Blade Storm hits) instead of raw Ability Strength alone.
Active abilities
- 1 Shuriken — Base kit opener / Seeking Shuriken strip tool. Often the Helminth slot when you import Wrathful Advance or Silence.
- 2 Smoke Screen — Primary invisibility and cast stun. Duration keeps you covered between Trickery procs; cannot refresh while already active.
- 3 Teleport — Reposition onto marks or finishers. Teleport Rush is the modern augment for parkour + invis extension when you want more melee flow.
- 4 Blade Storm — Shadow clones mark and finish. Scales with Strength, stealth multipliers, and your melee / Shadow Clones investment. Tap to mark, tap again to send clones.
- Helminth: Wrathful Advance over Shuriken — flat crit chance for Blade Storm and melee before you mark.
Mod breakdown
Strength
Primary stat — Blade Storm damage and Wrathful Advance crit chance. Blind Rage + Molt Augmented is the usual stack; Crepuscular adds more while invisible.
Duration
Smoke Screen and Wrathful uptime. Narrow Minded is fine because Blade Storm’s base range is already huge.
Efficiency
Mildly negative is acceptable with Equilibrium + companion orbs. Marks are cheap while invisible.
Range
Usually a dump. Raise it only for open-world mark distance.
Aura
Steel Charge buffs melee / clone damage; Brief Respite if you want shield-gate casts.
Exilus
Preparation for mission-start energy, or Power Drift for Strength.
Helminth
Wrathful Advance replaces Shuriken on this page.
- Keep Smoke Screen and Blade Storm — they are the loop.
- Teleport Rush is optional if you want finisher refreshes instead of Rolling Guard.
Mission Usefulness
Steel Path Survival / Defense / Disruption
Mark dense packs, stay invisible, let clones finish the room — the core Blade Storm loop.
Mobile Defense / Excavation
Mark waves on the point; Smoke Screen keeps you safe while clones work.
Exterminate / Capture Speed Runs
Fast rooms if you mark greedily; slightly slower than a pure gun plan on empty tiles.
Spy / Rescue / Nightmare
Smoke Screen keeps routes quiet; skip Blade Storm unless a tile goes loud.
Open World / Bounties
Packed bounty camps love Blade Storm marks; open travel is less natural.
Long-Range Gunplay / Eidolon-Style Content
Clones want clustered marks, not long sightlines or Amp hunts.