It is highly recommended to use Blood Axe before casting Desperado to negate its HP consumption. If you’re using Blood Axe β, it’s recommended to jump behind the enemy before charging to avoid dropping below 100% HP and losing the damage buff.

HP consumption is 20%/25%/30% at based on what level you charge Desperado to. Desperado will not reduce your HP to lower than 1.

Pairing Desperado with Ignition β will consume 90% HP while increasing Desperado’s Damage by a further 200%. Desperado α’s second attack consumes an additional 60% HP, bringing the total to 150% in this scenario.

β increases damage if your HP is low enough to fall within certain thresholds. β is mathematically slightly stronger in DPM than α due to its cooldown reduction (1305% × 6 vs 1800% × 4). However, this requires a situation where a Twin Striker can attack without interruption, and more importantly, factoring in Blood Axe β makes Desperado α the stronger option. Additionally, quick, short bursts of high damage are often more valuable than long-term sustained damage in BLUE PROTOCOL. Desperado β’s high damage can still be useful for getting highest single-hit damage in raids or in Score Attack.