Cruel Barb

Tips
Watch your gauges: It's easy to try to "draw from an empty well" - to trade so much mana for health that you have none left or to trade so much health for mana that you literally cause your own downfall. Pay attention to your gauges. It's better to strive for balance than to max out either one.

Time is right: The Cruel Barb is a subtle weapon and one your enemies may not realize you're carrying. You can use this to your advantage by setting up simple traps and deceptions - You can draw someone out of a fight as they attempt to "chase down that deader before he heals" only to trade your mana for health once you're alone, to turn the tables on your would-be murderer.

Pair with mana starved or weak dragons: Dragons that typically suffer from a lack of mana are a perfect candidate for the cruel Barb. A Novastar that can cast continuously is a terrifying thing... for your enemies.

Lore
The Oathbreaker was the greatest of the Fallen Blades, warriors of the Kjeld who sold their souls to Astaroth in exchange for power. When the dark lord came to collect the price for his gifts, it was the Oathbreaker who stared down a God and dared the evil being to take it by force. The Oathbreaker was no common sell-sword - she was an Archblade, a master of magic and combat. She knew as much about Astaroth as any sage alive and she knew that until the battle above was resolved, the god's power on this plane was limited. She could not kill the god, for who could? But, she could drive the evil thing away, using the very powers it had given her!

The battle between the Fallen Blades and Astaroth was as fierce as any dragon fight in the skies above; one by one the Blades fell in battle and the Oathbreaker soon found herself facing the demon lord amid a field of her moaning and wounded brethren. Her sword had broken, leaving the Archblade with nothing but her Babir dagger to protect her. Nothing that is, but her blade and a spell of channeling.

She charged the god, her little dagger poised to strike and as the demon drove his fiery fist to the earth to smite the foolish Oathbreaker, she dodged aside, sinking the dagger into the flesh of his gigantic talon, all the while screaming the charm of channeling. Astaroth roared in agony as this tiny, insignificant would, erupted in blue light. All around the Oathbreaker, her shieldmates rose, fully healed and ready once more to fight. The simple desert dagger had become a conduit, drawing out the life force of a god and imbuing it into the warriors directly.

Realizing that his undoing was unfolding around him the god fled in a blast of fire and brimstone, leaving a smoldering pool of slag behind - the remains of the Oathbreaker's dagger and the focus of her spell. It is said that the Fallen Blades settled in the World Forest, where now sits the village of Kjeldenbahd and that it is at the forge there that the Oathbreaker took the melted remains of her dagger and forged a new blade, the Cruel Barb.

With the Cruel Barb in hand, the Oathbreaker was said to be unstoppable, always seeming to gain the energy needed to continue, or to bounce back from any wound. Perhaps that is why she brought the Cruel Barb with her, when she took to the skies aback a Nightmare and fought for Hyperion in the battles above.