EGOs have long been a focal point for serious builds in Limbus Company, and Project Moon seems to be trying to use them to buff certain specific Identities more and more. This has never been more true as with our latest EGO, Shadow-vested Bladesinger, a Meursault EGO specifically meant to empower his Blade Lineage Mentor Identity.
While the EGO can be run with any Identity, it definitely has a focus that can be easily abused. Just how easily? Let me give you a demonstration with the best Shadow-vested Bladesinger Meursault build I’ve managed to put together, alongside some alternate options.
How Does Shadow-vested Bladesinger Work?
Shadow-vested Bladesinger is an HE-Rank Pride Slash EGO with a 2 coin Awakening with Coin Power 4 and Base Power 12, and a 4 coin Corruption with Negative Coin Power 2 and Base Power 13. The EGO usually costs 4 Pride, 1 Wrath, and 1 Envy, but is actually discounted on first cast if run on Blade Lineage Mentor Meursault, only costing 3 Pride.
Shadow-vested Bladesinger – Awakening
Before the attack goes off, Shadow-vested Bladesinger gains Clash Power and deals extra damage based on Meursault’s Poise, increased by 1 stack for every 4 Poise he has. If Meursault has already gained Drink to the Fallen earlier in the fight, he deals 100% increased damage to the main target. If Blade Lineage Meursault is the user, he deals +200% increased damage instead.
Shadow-vested Bladesinger gains attack weight based on Sin Resonance, up to 3. At least 3 allies gain +4 Poise count. The allies affected increases based on Sin Resonance. When it ends, 4 other Blade Lineages heal 10 SP and Meursault gains 4 Drink to the Fallen.
Drink to the Fallen is one of many buffs provided by Shadow-vested Bladesinger, and is arguably the most important. Drink to the Fallen grants Meursault 1 Poise for every stack at the start of turn, 2 if he’s Blade Lineage Mentor Meursault. When active, Meursault deals up to 15% extra damage on crit, and his Base Skills that grant Poise and Poise Count gain Clash Power +1. Meursault loses 1 sack at turn end,
The actual coins of the Awakening are simple: the first inflicting 4 Bleed, and the second inflicting +2 Bleed Count. While the attack itself isn’t crazy on initial cast, the strength comes from its myriad passives.
Shadow-vested Bladesinger – Corrosion
Shadow-vested Bladesinger’s Corrosion has the same before-attack effects as the standard Awakening, with one exception. Before the attack goes off, Meursault grants all allies and enemies 4 Poise Count, 1 Slash DMG Up, and 1 Slash Fragility.
The Corrosion has 4 coins, each stacking additional Final Power if they crit. The first three coins each inflict 1 Bleed, while the final coin inflicts 2 Bleed Count. Thanks to the Unbreakable coins, the Corrosion can act as a way to activate the EGO’s Passives if you can’t win a slash with the Awakening.
Passive – Beads of Liquor at Bladepoint
A first for Limbus Company, Shadow-vested Bladesinger has a passive that’s always active, even before it goes off. Exclusive to Blade Lineage Mentor Meursault, Shadow-vested Bladesinger grants Meursault Bleed on hit, turning him into a Bleed/Poise ID.
This is massive for his effectiveness in Mirror Dungeon, and allows extra synergy with units that care about Bleed, like the Kurokumo Clan.
On use, Meursault gains a stack of Drink to the Fallen every time an ally dies, 2 stacks if the ally was a member of the Blade Lineage. On turn start with Drink to the Fallen, Meursault enters Resentment. Resentment grants Meursault +2 speed and the ability to heal based on 10% of the damage he deals.
Blade Lineage Meursault additionally gains Resentful Scabbard whenever he gains Resentment. Resentful Scabbard allows Meursault to stack Growing Resentment whenever he or an ally takes damage. He also gains maximum stacks of his In Memoriam passive, even if all allies are alive.
Whenever Meursault activates Pride Resonance while in the Resentful Scabbard state, he grants all Blade Lineage allies other than himself Swordplay of the Homeland – The True Essence. That’s a total of FIVE UNIQUE PASSIVE EFFECTS all packed into this one EGO passive. Let me take a moment to break them down for you.
- Drink to the Fallen gives Meursault Poise, extra Poise if he’s Blade Lineage!
- Resentment gives Meursault extra speed and some healing on damage dealt.
- Resentful Scabbard gives two extra buffs, Growing Resentment and Swordplay of the Homeland – The True Essence. Additionally, it buffs “Yield My Flesh”, Mentor Meursault’s Skill 3, allowing him to easily lose the clash and activate “To Claim Their Bones” at little risk to himself.
- Growing Resentment stacks when allies take damage, with a maximum stack of 999. To Claim Their Bones and Yield My Flesh both gain extra damage based on these stacks.
- Swordplay of the Homeland – The True Essence is granted to other Blade Lineage allies, giving them extra Final Power based on the number of Blade Lineage allies on the field. Blade Lineage Salsus, like Faust and Yi Sang, gains an extra Final power and more damage. All allies gain Haste the next turn.
Should Meursault’s HP hit 0 while he has Drink to the Fallen stacks, he drinks them instead to regain 25% HP for each stack. This EGO is a monster, singlehandedly bringing the Blade Lineage into the modern era. Now the question stands, what’s the best lineup to run it in? Let’s take a look!
Best Shadow-vested Bladesinger Builds and Teams
As an EGO, Shadow-vested Bladesinger can easily be slotted in alongside plenty of Meursault Identities. Here are a few of my recommendations, as the HE slot for Meursault is also taken up by Capote, a great option for Burn and Tremor teams.
The Mentor and His Apprentices – The Blade Lineage
Now for the easy slot in, the Blade Lineage is exactly where this EGO wants to be. The Shadow-vested Bladesinger grants unique benefits to the Blade Lineage Mentor and his Salsus, and can be popped as early as turn 2 easily.
The lowered cost to 3 Pride means that Meursault can pop it ASAP, drastically increasing the Poise generation of the Blade Lineage and allowing them to hit their conditionals very fast.
Meursault especially becomes a monster, dealing mountains of damage and tearing through enemies with ease. Shadow-vested Bladesinger makes the Blade Lineage shockingly effective in modern content, so run them with the Mentor and get ready for the upcoming Refractrial!
The Lord’s Foreign Aid – Rupture Heishou
While Meursault doesn’t have a Heishou ID, his Cinq Association West Section 3 Identity can easily slot in. It was even featured alongside them during the last Refraction Railway!
Since Cinq Meursault cares about Poise, and the Heishou cover a variety of Sin Affinities he can’t. Shadow-vested Bladesinger can be easily fueled with a bit of planning, allowing him to speedrun his Poise generation and deal serious damage.
As his only other Poise ID, this is where Shadow-vested Bladesinger will see use, even if it’s less effective than the Blade Lineage. Options are important after all!
