A Little About Myself
Change Log
Introduction to Blackfeather
Game Sense
The Build
Combos
Synergy
Synergy
Execute Math
Which Infusion? (CP)

Hi! I'm slashingwinds, and I've been playing this game since the update before Vox, although I've had two breaks, one of which I recently came back from. You might recognise me from the Vainglory Forums, where I pretty much wrote random pieces of 'lore' and ****posted. I have over a thousand wins on my main account, and I hovered around high SA until I took my break. I'm trying to rank up again, recovering from decay. So far, it's going well. I've played a crazy amount of BF from the moment he was released; and instantly fell in love. He's alot of fun, but I didn't find any sort of good guide for him on this site. None were very in depth, or useful. So hopefully, I can share some of my experience and wisdom with you guys.
Cheers :3

Update 2.1, Guide Created.
- Added Alternate Build (More Meta Focused) and followup note in the builds section.
- Added Carry Synergies.
- Added Battle Royale and Blitz starts.
- Added some small additions to item descriptions (Crystal).
- Corrected Execute Graph.
- Combo List Added. Update 2.2 is dropping today. The hype is real :0

Update 2.2. Excited to see what this patch holds. Need more experience with Grumpjaw to see how he matches up with Blackfeather. Poison Shiv buffs might make it a better pick than Bonesaw, although it's probably still situational. Vox and Petal nerfs and Krul buffs might mean risk reconsideration. We'll see.
- Fixed error in the Combos section.
- Added some small additions to item descriptions (Weapon).
- Added Grumpjaw to Risks and Synergies. Tweaked Fortress in Risks, due to his buffs. Apologies for the late update, wanted to test the effectiveness of Grumpjaw. CP Grump guide coming soon (???).
- Added small details to game sense, altered Petal risk descriptions, added table of contents, added 'Impact' in Introduction to Blackfeather. (For more information on what 'Impact' is, go to this small explanation http://forums.vainglorygame.com/index.php?threads/122740/)
- Edited WP+CP Blitz Start, Changed Meta Build Name (2.2), Added Table of Contents
- Small edits to risks, including locating spelling/grammar errors
- Added Comps Section, for some quick comp making advice and examples

Update 2.3. Attackspeed changes went through, alongside nerfs to Tyrants Monocle and Breaking Point. Tornado looks to be a better item on Blackfeather, and the Bonesaw buffs were nice. Poisoned Shiv is probably still only going to be a counter item, mainly due to the massive crits Tornado Trigger can provide.
- Small changes to threats
- Small changes to item builds and the build section. Update 2.4 is coming soon and I can't wait to play Baptiste. It's been a while since we got a melee laner, and these tend to be some of my favourite characters.
- Title Change. I have a Baron guide in the works and wanted to keep the titles consistent.
- Build Alternative Irems Edit (CP). Changed threat of CP Fort down (WP), Added Baptiste Threat. Note: I will be doing a talents section once they come out, and giving my opinions on them!

Update 2.5. Stormcrown nerfs came through. Atlas got some strange nerfs. Might replace Atlas with MJ for the core build. Small edits to the risks section.

Blackfeather is a Melee Assassin, originally designed to be primarily a weapon laner, although he was made to be able to fit all roles, and almost any build, even roam (although this knowledge for this type of build is too different from weapon or crystal to include in the same guide). He has a good mix of damage, mobility and defence, with a small amount of team utility such as his slow and speed boost. Personally, I enjoy Blackfeather as he was intended; a weapon laner. This is mostly because of the large amount of gold you can generate from it. However, Blackfeather has seen much more success in the jungle in professional play, as both weapon and crystal, so in all honesty, play like you want to play!

PASSIVE: Heartthrob

Blackfeather's attacks and abilities apply Heartthrob stacks to enemies. This stacks twice on minions and monsters and up to five times on heroes and objectives. Any time stacks are added or refreshed, Blackfeather also deals 5-10 (+10% crystal power) crystal damage for each stacks of Heartthrob already on the target.

Instead of energy, Blackfeather uses focus for his abilities. This is capped at 100 and naturally regenerates 10 per second. Blackfeather also recovers an additional 10 focus for each basic attack he lands.

For weapon, this passive allows you to quickly get your execute from Feint of Heart ready and allows you to quikcly recover your special resource, focus. As crystal, this passive serves are your damage for your basic attacks, letting you do damage from a source other thsn your On Point.

A: Feint of Heart

Blackfeather lunges to his target and basic attacks them. For the next 4 seconds, the target leaves behind a rose trail that grants Blackfeather and his allies movement speed when moving through it.

When this ability is used against a target with full Heartthrob stacks (shown as broken hearts) it will execute the target for bonus true damage based on the target's missing health (capped against non-heroes).

Overdrive: The rose trail also makes Blackfeather and allies unslowable. Additionally, the cooldown for Feint of Heart is reset if the target is killed within 0.5 seconds.

For weapon, this ability is a high damage execute, allowing you to do massive missing health damage to a target with five heartthrob stacks on them. This also resets, and gives him slow immunity, which is quite useful against characters like Skaarf or Reim. For crystal, this ability is an extremely potent speed boost for your team, alongside instantly applying all your heartthrob stacks, letting you instantly get to your maximum power with your normal attacks.

B: On Point

Blackfeather pierces all enemies in a line, damaging them and applying a decaying slow for 1 second. The duration of the slow is increased by 0.3 seconds for each stack of Heartthrob on the target.

If this hits at least one enemy hero, Blackfeather also gains a barrier that scales with 10% of his bonus health and recovers 35 focus. The amount of focus recovered is further increased with 2% of his Max Energy and 50% of his Energy Regen.

Overdrive: On Point gains increased range.

For weapon, this ability is your main tanking tool. It slows enemies, and gives you a strong barrier, allowing you to tank some of the damage that will inevitably hit you as you dive. As crystal, this ability is your main damage, dealing massive poke and burst. I always max this for its extra range; it's extremely useful and allows you to deal some sort of ranged damage.

C: Rose Offensive

Blackfeather cuts through his opponents, basic attacking all enemies along his path. During the dash, Blackfeather is immune to negative effects and has fortified health.

This ability has 2 charges.

For both weapon and crystal Blackfeather, this ability is extremely important. It allows you to dive, dodge, tank, surprise, deal damage and more all in one fantastic ability. It has two charges, meaning you can use it twice in a fight, although early on it has quite a long recharge time, meaning you might be caught in a teamfight with only one charge.

Pros and Cons

Weapon Blackfeather
Pros:
- High burst and consistent damage
- Very tanky with constant barriers
- High mobility
- CC Immunity
- Easy Atlas
Cons:
- Weak early game
- Almost no ranged damage
- Prone to being bursted down
Impact (Early - Late)
Damage: 4-7
Defence: 3-6
Mobility: 3-7
Team Utility: 3-2

Crystal Blackfeather
Pros:
- High poke
- Massive team utility through rose trail
- High mobility
- CC Immunity
- Easy Atlas
Cons
- Weak early game
- Low tankiness, prone to being burst down
- Particularly weak to Breaking Point
Impact (Early - Late)
Damage: 4-6
Defence: 3-3
Mobility: 3-8
Team Utility: 3-6

Early Game (Lane)

Early on, Blackfeather is at his weakest. Pick up a Book of Eulogies and defence against your lane opponent, unless your jungle allies are also late game. In that case, pick up Sprint Boots, so if needed you can rotate down and support them in their jungle fight. SAW and Lyra are your biggest enemies during this phase; if you see either of them, build defence against them. They will try to bully you out of lane or kill you, so your allies shouldn't need THAT much help. Start with your On Point; it lets you pick up farm you would have lost, and trade against ranged opponents decently well. Watch out for ganks, especially those from Koshka and Lance; against these two, an early back to purchase Travel Boots and your defence might be a good idea.

Early Game (Jungle)

In the jungle, you'll 100% want to start Blackfeather with a Swift Shooter, but the second item comes down to the enemy. Against a much stronger early game enemy, such as Reim, Flicker or Lance, you'll want to build Sprint Boots. If the enemy is fightable, such as a Glaive and Ardan, build against the major damage type (If you're not sure, go for armour). If the enemy is weaker, such as a Krul or Baron, it might be good to go for a Weapon Blade to accompany your Swift Shooter. Most of your early game will be farming and avoiding enemies, but if you can get a lead, push it as hard as you can. When ganking, try to use your Feint of Heart to help your Captain catch up (Refer to Combos: The Rose Trail). Remember to invade the enemy jungle if your laner pushes out and comes to rotate; although you may be weak early on, you can't lose a 3v2.

Mid Game (Weapon)

Towards mid game, Crystal Blackfeather is pretty strong. Using your ult, you can easily punish overextending squishy carries, particularly Ringo and Celeste. Your ult offers more options than that, however. Escaping from ganks is even more reliable. You can gain fortified health to survive against ranged attacks that could kill you. Overall, you have many more options. Invading also becomes easier, since you can jump over walls for engaging and initiating. If you see an isolted squishy, go for them. Getting any sort of advantage at this stage is massive, as it can allow you to snowball like crazy.

Mid Game (Crystal)

As Crystal Blackfeather, your mid game very strong. With your maxed out On Point, you can poke enemies out of lane, leading to you either picking up easy kills or pushing free objectives like turrets and gold mine. Your Rose Offensive brings the same options as Weapon, and your speed from Feint of Heart will start becoming very noticable for you and your enemy team. When ganking, your Rose Trail is incredibly powerful, so try and use its speed as much as possible.

Late Game (Weapon)

Late game, Weapon Blackfeather is a boss. Your dives are amazing, and you can easily take out a backline squishy, as long as your team will follow you up, and you don't get kited. Using your stacks, junglers aren't much of a threat either. Look for Rose Offensive strikes over walls; the element of surprise can easily lead to won battles. If the enemy is also strong late game, try not to initiate yourself; you might get wrecked. Instead, try and get your Roam to catch out the enemy squishy, then go in. Careful not to dive in too deep, as it can often lead to enemies collapsing onto you and your death.

Late Game (Crystal)

Late game, your playstyle doesn't change much from mid game. Simply land pokes against the enemy, disengaging while your On Point comes back. Once fights break out, try to dive onto squishies and use your large burst to take them out, and dodging their damage with your stutterstepping. Watch out for Breaking Point enemies; especially an enemy Weapon Vox. Try to avoid going into their auto attack range, until they're very low, with no Fountain of Renewal or Roam in sight, or when your allies have started a dive and are tanking for you.

Weapon

On Weapon Blackfeather, the main features we're aiming for is lots of fast diving and damage, alongside being able to come back and fight off an enemy tank afterwards. We're also looking for decent tankiness and synergy with his abilities. Use these items on him for the best outcome!

Serpent Mask is core on BF. It has synergy with all his abilities, and is just fantastic overall. When hitting a whole team with your Rose Offensive, it will allow you to heal for every hit, which can lead to some clutch lifesteal. When executing with Feint of Heart, you gain a large amount of HP back from the sudden burst. In between using your autos and On Point barrier, you can stay extremely tanky yet do alot of damage. I build this item basically every game.

Breaking Point is a fantastic item on Blackfeather. Not only do you do a large amount of damage with your normal attacks, but you can gain a large number of stacks with your[ [Feint of Heart]] execute and Rose Offensive. It also scales your Feint of Heart and On Point damage well, allowing you to 1v3, in the right circumstances. There are very few times you shouldn't build this item, but if you're up against two late game weapon carries, it may be better to trade this out for another attackspeed or crit item.

Bonesaw is a personal favourite of mine, although it isn't viable in every situation. It allows your normal attacks to shred armour, which can allow you to rip apart Metal Jackets, which many carries will finish their build with, particularly TyrantPoint builds like the one on Vox. Its attackspeed also builds upon Breaking Point, and it brings his attackspeed to one that lets you almost ignore your stamina costs, as you generate it back so quickly. Obviously, don't build this if the enemies aren't building armour; other items are much more worthwhile.

Tyrants Monocle is a very situational alternative to Bonesaw, with its crits allowing Blackfeather to do a large amount of burst damage quickly, alongside stacking Breaking Point and scaling off it well. However, it doesn't have attackspeed, so you may need to use your abilities sparingly compared to a main attackspeed item. This item is most useful against squishies that lack a meaningful amount of armour, and when you have Breaking Point. Overall, Tornado Trigger does more damage over time, but Tyrants CAN be useful against hyper squishies.

Poisoned Shiv offers slightly better stats than Bonesaw, but it doesn't have the armour shred, instead offering Blackfeather a mortal wound, which is quite easy to proc. Although powerful against other lifesteal or healing characters, in other cases, other items are more valuable and powerful. Note that this item is very cheap, allowing you to buy it much faster than any other weapon item (excluding Tension Bow).

Tornado Trigger, in its new buffed form, is amazing on Blackfeather. The atackspeed and Crit give him basically anything he voild want. It allows your passive to stack quickly for Feint of Heart, and ghe crit can also stack Breaking Point quite effectively.

Note: Alternate Build
The standard build, although stable and always useable, isn't the best for this meta. Currently, since Breaking Point is so powerful, you need straight up killing power when diving enemy carries. The alternate build doesn't have many replacements for items either (replacing Breaking Point for Poisoned Shiv is the only good option IMO), so I haven't made nearly as many notes on it. I do reccomend the standard build for practicing, however; since you have a more forgiving lifesteal build, meaning you can make mistakes and not be punished nearly as hard.

Crystal

On Crystal Blackfeather, we're aiming to up his poke game and offer a large speed boost to our team, while maintaining part of the tankiness and diving damage from Weapon Blackfeather

Shatterglass allows the large CP scalings on Blackfeather to take effect, with the massive poke and speed boost coming out from his On Point and Feint of Heart respectively. Although this is replaceable, you should know when to switch to a different build quite early on. But if you want massive poke, this is your item.

Alternating Current allows Crystal Blackfeather to take advantage of his Broken Hearts, which make his auto attacks do damage based on his crystal and attackspeed. This also becomes his only sustained damage; the rest comes in the form of burst/poke from his On Point, and the base execute from his Feint of Heart. This also allows Blackfeather to have a smooth stutter step, as it offers enough attackspeed to close up the awkward gap in timing.

Broken Myth is simply required in every crystal Build. Its sheild pierce and damage amplification are just too powerful to pass up. If fights are taking a long time, this one should be a first or second item.

Aftershock can work in a Blackfeather build, but only if you plan to dive. If you plan to poke, and only initiate when you have an advantage, Shatterglass will be a much better item. The heal proc and cooldown reduction from it are useful, however. It's mostly useful against SAW, Ringo, Glaive and Lance, due to you almost needing to dive them at some point, or their massive health pools.

Eve of Harvest allows Blackfeather to purchase lifesteal without going for Aftershock, and allows him to maintain his poke heavy playstyle effectively. He also recovers a large amount of focus after every On Point landed onto an enemy character. This is mostly strong against burst characters, such as a CP Taka or Kestrel, as you can heal back from their attacks.

Clockwork allows Crystal Blackfeather to be quite tanky during fights, as his On Point and its barrier will come up more often, alongside his main damage source coming out often. However, this makes your On Points weak damage wise, until you build an infusion. If you can afford to only build one defence item, I would recommend this and Shatterglass as damage items. It can be useful for increased utility from his abilities when paired up with a very strong synergy, but I would only buy it if you feel you're not going to have much impact, and need your ally to carry.

Defence

Nobody can live with defence! As Blackfeather does alot of damage and has a good tankiness synergy with his On Point, it's important to make use of it with the right defence items.

Aegis is pretty much a core item on every carry, since it offers defence against mages and many roams, alongside having an inbuilt reflex block.

Atlas Pauldron can easily be applied by Blackfeather, letting him dive the enemy weapon carry much easier. In the current meta, diving the weapon carry is extremely important, meaning that this is almost an essential pickup. Always build this against a Weapon Krul or SAW; for obvious reasons.

Shiversteel allows Blackfeather to stick onto slippery enemies much easier. Although he is already one of the stickiest, if not the stickiest character in the game, it may be valuable to pick up if you end up missing your On Point, or are practicing Weapon Blackfeather. Never forget the Shiver-Offensive combo; if used correctly, it can slow a whole team for an allied ultimate.

Metal Jacket can be very valuable against weapon characters with low attackspeed, such as Joule or Kestrel. Usually, your roams Atlas should be enough. This can also be bought when the enemy has a crystal carry instead of a weapon one, with a weapon warrior jungler (excluding Krul) as atlas won't be as important. This is mainly due to the fact you won't be focusing them at first; and Metal Jacket will allow you to take less damage during your dive.

Slumbering Husk can be a very powerful pickup on Blackfeather, easily allowing you to get hits onto an enemy while your health bar is fortified. This can allow you to get one guaranteed kill before becoming vulnerable, alongside Breaking Point stacks for the second carry, if you build enough damage and dodge enough crowd control. Against an CP Assassin, however, I would buy Aegis over this; since you aren't focusing them, they will get two or more chances to jump in, do their burst and leave.

1. The Level 1
Attack - On Point - Attack
2. The Rose Trail
Sprint Boots (Optional) - Feint if Heart - Attack - On Point - Attack
3. Speed Assistance
Attack - On Point - Attack - Shiversteel (Optional) - Atlas Pauldron (Optional) - Feint of Heart
4. 10% Max Health Execute
Attack - On Point - Attack - Attack - Sprint Boots (Optional) - Attack - Feint of Heart
5. Proving Dominance
Shiversteel (Optional) - Rose Offensive - Atlas Pauldron (Optional) - Attack - On Point - Attack - Attack - Feint of Heart
6. Diving HARD
Shiversteel (Optional) - Rose Offensive - Atlas Pauldron (Optional) - Attack - On Point - Attack - Sprint Boots - Reflec Block (Optional) - Attack - Attack - Feint of Heart
7. Easy Triple
Shiversteel (Optional) - Rose Offensive - Atlas Pauldron (Optional) - Attack - On Point - Attack - Sprint Boots - Reflex Block (Optional) - Attack - Attack - Feint of Heart - Rose Offensive - Attack - On Point - Attack - Attack - Feint of Heart - Whatever you want (Chances are, it's only their roam standing.)
8. 1v3
?????

Note: Although these combos apply for both paths, they are much more important as Weapon, since a large amount of your power from Crystal is poke. Remember that these aren't set in stone; You might need to reflex block earlier than you needed, or maybe boots aren't enough to keep up, and you need to use your second Rose Offensive charge. These are just some basic things you'll need to know.

Carry/Jungle

10/10
Crystal Adagio is very powerful with a Weapon Blackfeather. Not only does he cover up the early game weaknesses, but his damage is immense and having Blackfeather diving the enemy team gives him many more options for his Gift if Fire and Agent of Wrath. He also doesn't scale off as hard as Roam Adagio, still being a damage threat, even if he falls to more of a support role.

8/10 5/10
Crystal Alpha is the best diver in the game to pair with Blackfeather, with their relentless taking down any ranged carries. They can finish off eachothers targets with Feint of Heart and Prime Directive. However, Reim counters them both, and they're both not very good at seiging, so be wary of their weaknesses. Weapon Alpha functions well as a large tank, but she doesn't really need Crystal Blackfeathers movespeed. She can't offer her own poke either, which can be a problem when trying to get an advantage before fights.

9/10
Weapon Adan pairs surprisingly well with Blackfeather. The movespeed allows him to stick onto enemies and charge his Blood for Blood, and his barriers can support the Blackfeather dive. Although he doesn't offer any poke, he offers great initiation, so you can take advantages of enemies that have been poked down

3/10 10/10
Crystal Baron won't be effective with a Blackfeather, due to his lack of hard CC, setting up the powerful Porcupine Mortars. Although the Blackfeather can run Shiversteel to slow a large group of enemies with his Rose Offensive, this generally isn't worth it. Weapon Baron, however, is very strong with a Crystal Blackfeather. His dammage is massive, letting him carry hard. His range is massive, letting him poke alongside Blackfeather. And his weakness of being slower than Phinn is erased by the Rose Trail from Feint of Heart. If you can get this to late game, this combo is deadly.

1/10
Just don't!
Seriously, the enemy team will just focus you over the Crystal Cath.
So just don't!

2/10
Blackfeather doesn't enjoy defending an ally, he enjoys diving.
Celeste likes both allies defending her as she does massive AOE damage with her Heliogenesis.
The clash of playstyles doesn't really end well, as if you follow one of the playstyles, the one of the carries will suffer. Celeste can get caught out being aggresive. Blackfeather doesn't have any sort of hard CC to peel. Both of them will probably get die early/mid game.

7/10
His initiation is amazing, and his Binding Light and Fairy Dust are powerful tools with a Blackfeather... but you can get all the synergy in a Roam. So use him as one.

9/10
Crystal Fortress works quite well with Blackfeather. The late game is immense, and they both dive extremely well. And since you either have to focus Blackfeather or the wolves from Attack of the Pack, one of the two is bound to succeed and wipe the enemy team. It's all just a matter of time and farm.

2/10 6/10
Weapon Blackfeather and Crystal Grumpjaw don't really mix. You don't need a peelbot if you're a diver. Do yourself a favour and pick a different CP Carry/Jungler. Crystal Blackfeather and Weapon Grumpjaw had decent synergy. The Rose Trail allows Grumpy to use his Hangry to its maximum effect. They can help whittle down eachothers targets, until the enemy carry is dead. However, they don't have much synergy with Stuffed, so again, a different combo is probably better.

9/10
What's even better than Rocket axe cat?
Rocket axe cat with infinite movespeed and slow immunity!
Glaive is very good at picking off targets that Crystal Blackfeather has poked down with On Point, and the movespeed from Feint of Heart allows Glaive to be unkiteable, which is his major weakness.

4/10 9/10
Crystal Gwen is very good at controlling a zone, but only defensively. When playing agressive as Gwen, it's very easy to get caught out and dived on. Even though her damage is powerful, she will probably die following up on a dive. Weapon Gwen has a little more synergy, mainly with her Poke and Initiation from Buckshot Bonanza and Aces High, but she doesn't need Blackfeathers movespeed to succeed. Her Skeadaddle provides that already.

9/10 10/10
Crystal Idris is surprisingly strong with a Weapon Blackfeather. He has enough mobility to keep himself alive on the outskirts of fights, his damage is high enough for it not to be ignored, and they both have amazing late games. If he grabs a Frostburn, you can combo your slows, so that nobody will escape ypur grasp. Weapon Idris synergises even better. Idris was difficult to peel, but not impossible. But, if you tag a Feint of Heart onto his target... they're gonna die. He can also contribute to the poke game, and all your support can often lead to quick and effective team wipes.

7/10 7/10
Crystal Joule is powerful... but she likes hard CC. However, unlike Baron, she can actually just go off her own CC! Namely Frostburn! However, unlike with Baron, buying a Shiversteel is actually worth it for her Big Red Button. Team Wipes! For Weapon Joule, her poke is great and she synergies with Feint of Heart very well. However, she isn't the best on initiation, as her Rocket Jump is unreliable at best.

3/10 4/10
Crystal Kestrel is very iffy with Blackfeather. Crystal can offer large poke with Glimmershots and has an amazing early game, but is too defensive and scales off too hard late game to work well with Weapon Blackfeaather. Her weapon path needs to stop to use her Glimmershots, so the Feint of Heart movespeed isn't very strong. She does provide strong poke, but she can't initiate well, usually ending in the enemy initiating onto you. But that's not the position Crystal Blackfeather wants to be in either.

2/10
Koshka isn't very strong with Blackfeather. Although her burst sets up kills, their powerspikes are the complete opposite to eachother, leading to one of the, being very weak at one point in the game. Their ability to dive well and lock down a target overlap and have no synergy either. Not the best pick ever...

1/10 10/10
Crystal Krul does one thing; offer a distraction. He doesn't do too much damage, but his weakness offers a large amount of utility, and the only way to get him to pop them is by hitting him... which is going to heal him up to full health and the cycle continues. However, Weapon Blackfeather doesn't need a distraction. He needs backup as he dives. CP Krul just doesn't offer that. Weapon Krul, on the other hand, offers two things; a distraction AND ramping damage. Ramping damage that makes him close to unkillable. Damage that you can support with your Feint of Heart and On Point. It's... insanly stupid to see a Krul as fast as Koshka sprint down after a Ringo, trust me.

2/10
Weapon Lance is amazing, but his synergy with Crystal Blackfeather is meh. He can line up an On Point with his Gythian Wall, but that's about it. Otherwise, this combo is pretty weak.

7/10
Crystal Lyra is quite powerful with Blackfeather. She can follow up on dives with her long auto and Imperial Sigyl range, and she can peel for herself with Bright Bulwark. The only issues are Blackfeather accidentally eating up the Imperial Sigyl for healing, reducing its damage, and the Arcane Passage accidentally screwing him up. Picking her up is a strong choice, however, as it eliminates one of his major counters.

5/10 4/10
Ozo is... meh with Blackfeather. Althoug both paths are individually strong, and their playstyles don't clash, they don't have the best synergy either. Crystal does tons of burst damage, but is inconsistent, which can lead to Blackfeathers late game power not seeing the light of day. His Weapon path is strong, but it already has the mobility needed to keep up; it doesn't need support from Feint of Heart

7/10
Petal works well with Blackfeather. Her damage output is nice, her heals are easy to land on him, and her early game lets her cover for his weakness, while he farms up. She doesn't scale off too hard in the late game either, making her a nice choice.

2/10
Phinn can't really keep up with Blackfeather. Similarly to Flicker, I would reccomend the roam route, even if they don't have much Synergy. At least you can get fortified HP from Polite Company with Roam Phinn.

1/10
Reim simply can't keep up.
So don't bother.

8/10 4/10
Crystal Ringo is pretty powerful, since while diving, there shouldn't be anyone able to dive him. This lets him use his Hellfire Brew twice, with his Echo, to do massive damage. Weapon Ringo doesn't synergise with Crystal Blackfeather much, unfortunatly. He generally doesn't need mobility, he doesn't initiate well, and his poke isn't very strong, but you can still make it work.

9/10
Weapon Rona is fantastic with Crystal Blackfeather. Although she doesn't offer poke, the speed from Feint of Heart and slow from On Point makes up for alot of her weaknesses. She initiates quite well, and you can easily help her stack the her Breaking Point.

10/10
Samuel pairs perfectly with Weapon Blackfeather. He can fight for himself, but he can still keep up with his dives, chipping away at the enemy jungler with the Malice & Verdict and Drifting Dark combo, as the enemy carry falls to your dive. This pick is especially good as it eliminates one of Blackfeathers many counters.

7/10 6/10
Crystal SAW is not only powerful, but he loves a distraction. Such as a diving Blackfeather. If he can position correctly, SAW can do massive damage with his Supressing Fire and Mad Cannon, and finish off enemies with his own execute, Roadie Run. However, he is squishy; and Blackfeather has trouble protecting him. Weapon SAW greatly benefits from the Speed Boost from Feint of Heart and pressure of On Point, but the lack of hard CC makes it difficult to defend him. Also, your abilities might not have scaled up in time, as SAW would lose most of his power at that point.

7/10
Skaarf can protect himself, and he can do a large amount of damage, but he might not be able to follow the dive as effectively as other mages, due to his low mobility. It's all about trying to keep the fight near him, where he can Spitfire and Goop.

9/10 1/10
Crystal Skye can deal massive damage. She can follow the dive. She can protect herself. The only problem between their synergy is that if Skye gets caught, she's dead, and Blackfeather has no means of bailing her out. Weapon Skye and Crystal Blackfeather on the other hand, don't work well at all. She has all the speed she needs in the world with her Target Lock and Suri Strike, so there isn't a need for your Feint of Heart utility.

4/10 2/10
Crystal Taka and Blackfeather is not only excessive, but they can both be destroyed by silences. Since they share so many weaknesses, they will probably get wrecked. Even though Taka can use X-Retsu and Kaiten to burst someone, and have Blackfeather take them down, chances are the Taka will get caught out when Blackfeather finally becomes powerful, and will die. Weapon Taka is even worse, as he has tons of mobility with House Kamuha, and can't offer poke or initiate reliably. So, it doesn't really work out.

6/10 3/10
Crystal Vox works with Blackfeather to an extend. He can keep up, he can defend himself, but he can't fight a 1v1, due to all his damage coming from Julias Song and Resonance. This leaves Blackfeather in a tough spot sometimes, as he has to choose between the dive or saving his massive damage source. As Weapon, Vox can already peel for himself quite well, and he uses health bars to charge his Breaking Point, so poke isn't as powerful of an advantage as it normally would.

Roam

8/10 6/10
Adagio compliments Blackfeather quite well. His Gift of Fire is nice on a mobile target to help spread the flames, his Agent of Wrath can help Blackfeather deal increased damage, and his early game can make up for our highwayman. The issue is that Adagio is quite a weak roam later on, scaling off harder than any other roam, meaning that Lyra usually ends up as a better pick.

10/10 8/10
Blackfeather has alot of synergy with Ardan. Not only does the sad dad initiate fights very well with the Guantlet, but he can Vanguard the rose assassin, letting him stick onto enemy carries even better than usual. Blood for Blood can also effectively make up for Blackfeathers poor early game, as its base damage is quite high.

5/10 7/10
Catherine can be strong, but she doesn't offer as much to Blackfeather as the other roams do. She can lock down a squishy quite well with Merciless Pursuit, and the silence can initiate with Blast Tremor, but she has long gaps between stuns where the most she can do is bodyblock or use Atlas Pauldron, and her early game is quite weak, meaning that the enemy team can quite easily steamroll the game, if they play smart.

8/10 5/10
Flicker can initiate very well, slipping through the shadows using his Willow Whisper and Fariy Dust to cripple enemies, and blocking off escape paths with Binding Light. His Mooncloak can effectively allow Blackfeather and his team to initiate. The issue is that Blackfeather can't take advantage of Flickers strong early game, as it requires both of the jungle duo to play agressively. If he is in lane, however, this ends as a better pick due to Flickers ganking power.

8/10 4/10
Fortress is quite powerful when diving with Blackfeather. His lifesteal proc is nice from the Truth of Tooth, and its speed is very useful for chasing down a target. He initiates well, and he can give a mortal wound to Blackfeather through Law of the Claw without having to buy Poisoned Shiv. However, he doesn't have the defensive ability to keep his carry alive in some situations, and he doesn't have any sort of support with poke.

7/10 8/10
Lance can be very effective with Blackfeather. The crowd control from his Impale can allow Blackfeather to poke safely, or quickly dive in and take out carries. He can peel well with Gythian Wall, and has a strong early game to make up for our Highwaymans. Overall, Lance is just a solid pick.

9/10 10/10
Lyra synergies very well with Blackfeather. Her Imperial Sigyl heal is massive, and the speedboost can often let him manuvour around the enemy defences, and her Bright Bulwark can save his life in many situations. Principal Arcanum can slow enemies for Blackfeather to cut down, or to poke easier. The only negative is that her Arcane Passage can occasionally screw up a dive. However, picking up can remove one of your major counters from the enemy team.

4/10 5/10
Phinn is one of my favorite roams, but unfortunately, he does have one major flaw. His speed. Even though he can give Blackfeather plenty of tankiness and CC with Polite Company and Quibble, he often cannot keep up with a diving Blackfeather. However, with a poking Blackfeather, he is sloghtly more effective.

Dive Comp
Alpha, Skye, Idris, Fortress, Ardan, Flicker
Dive comps is one of the best ways to play Blackfeather. Similar to Blackfeather, these characters can easily stick to enemies, and love diving into squishies and blowing them up. This type of comp is very good against comps with snipers and mages that will easily blow up, but you need to be careful and avoid the peel coming out from the enemy Jungler ans Captain. Be wary of characters like Krul, Reim, Samuel and Lyra on the enemy team, as killing them with this comp may prove difficult.

Buff Comp
Adagio, Lyra, Ardan
Although this comp is more restrictive on the characters you can use, it can be extremely powerful. Adagio and Blackfeather have amazing synergy, as Adagio can power through the early game, and act as a support in the late game. Blackfeather is an amazing heal target as he dives in, letting Adagio use his Gift of Fire to its maximum potential. If Adagio lags behind his team, he can simple slap Agent of Wrath on Blackfeather and watch him do the work. For a roamer, Lyra and Ardan work best; Lyra for a double heal comp, making Blackfeather into the ultimate tank, or Ardan for diving, and helping Blackfeather take out squishy targets.

Dive Comp
Idris, Krul, Vox, Glaive, Ardan, Catherine
Dive. Dive. DIVE! Instead of going ham straight away, I would reccomend trying to poke out enemies, and burst them down once their health is low enough. Similarly to Weapon Blackfeather, watch out for Lyra and Samuel, as they can avoid your dive, and Krul, because he can flat out fight you. Remember to try and hit two or more people if possible, and use your On Point to keep your Broken Myth stacks up.

Poke Comp
Baron, Kestrel, Catherine, Phinn
This comp is all about that sick POKE. Simply hit skillshots amd force them out of getting objectives. With a Kestrel, you can easily prevent enemies getting objectives early-mid game, and with Baron, your late game will be unstoppable. Remember that, if possible, give your allies your speed boost from Feint of Heart to peel or to secure kills, as none of them have particularly amazing mobility.

The Execute on Feint of Heart is one of the most important features of Blackfeathers kit to master, particularly if you're building WP, as it allows for a swift execution of the target, letting him move on to execute the next, and so on. The question is... when are you supposed to execute?
Well, guess who's here to tell you!
For the execute to kill, it meeds to deal as much damage as they have health.
The execute is calculated by multiplying the missing HP of the target by 20%, plus the Weapon Scaling (Bonus Weapon multiplied by 20%) and adding on the normal auto attack, all reduced by enemy armour. I've put the calculations and such in this post on the Vainglory Forums (http://forums.vainglorygame.com/index.php?threads/119774/); check it out if you want to figure out how I got this data, or to follow along.

Note: These calculations are based off 2000 health and 85 armour and sheild. Although I do know that the average base health is less than 2000, I rounded it up to this point due to adding in health from an Aegis and Boots. This also doesn't take infusions or RBing the execute into mind, so be wary.

As you can see here, BF's execute has the possibility to be...
Broken.
Hearts (I'm so sorry)
Without armour, and even without Breaking Point Stacks, Blackfeather can easily dispatch enemies with almost an 30% execute, although against a normal, armourless enemy, it would be closer to 40%, considering the BP stacks you get while diving the enemy carry. This means, an armourless carry without protection will most likely die as soon as you get your fifth Heartthrob stacks, by instantly using your execute. Keep these numbers in mind, and happy squishy murdering!

Crystal Blackfeather has a very interesting dilemma. Which infusion should you buy? Although crystal is much more popular, there are a few select that prefer a weapon. I've done some math (that you can see here: http://forums.vainglorygame.com/index.php?threads/119774/) which show off the damage per second of both Weapon Infusion and Crystal Infusion, assuming that heartthrob is fully applied, we are using the build I reccomended ( Shatterglass, Alternating Current and Broken Myth) the enemy is using the average base damage and sheild.

Base Defences: 765 < 821
Aegis: 522 < 583
Metal Jacket: 580 < 592
Aegis + Metal Jacket: 407 > 430

As you can see, using the core build I've used above, it seems that weapon, no matter what, will provide better dps with Crystal Blackfeathers autos. However, he will obviously do less damage with his on point, and have less speed with his Feint of Heart.

The only times I would reccomend this weapon infusion is when the enemy has build an Aegis, but not a Metal Jacket, or any sort of armour. The DPS increase is quite significant here, and the small execute damage bonus can make up for the speed and small amount of damage lost on his On Point (Since it also scales with weapon.)

Thanks for reading :3
I'm still currently messing around with the guide making on this site, and my resources aren't complete yet, but I hoped you enjoyed anyway. If there are any spelling or grammar issues, please point them out in the discussion, and if there's a problem with my math, lesve it in the discussion too, I'll fix it up in the next update.
Cheers!
- slash