In-Depth Sword Guide (or not so depth)

[Myrtsin]

Table of Content:



1. Ideal Skill set for each element and situation

2. Strategy on handling Boss Solo

3. The Good and Bads of Using Sword


Introduction

First and foremost I am by no mean Veteran in either using sword and the game. But Knowing the last Guide made for Sword was a long time ago, and a lot of new skills, weapons, as well as boss have been added ever since, and a lot of new players have been started to play the game, i decided to create another guide for those who are interested in using sword as their primary weapons. You can say this is a Follow up from the following guide :

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1.Ideal Skill Set for Each Element and why

After you look at the guide i mentioned above. now you know the function of each skills the sword has to offer.
There're few skills that are missing in the guide since a lot of new skills have been added (mostly are Event Exclusive / Limited time Gacha unfortunately) but there're still few new skills that can still be obtained (I won't add the skills and ougi that are Event Exclusive and Limited time Gacha only):

Ougi Gargoyle Lance (Obtained from Point Daruma)

Function almost simillar to Flying Strike / Flying Lightning Strike except it has a big AoE and there're 3 variation which are Fire, Lightning and Ice

Ougi Iceblast Embers, Thunderblast Embers, Bursting Embers (Inhale Ougi for Gargoyle Weapons & Obtained from gacha)

Function simillar to True Spirit Blast, except it has different element and hit multiple times depending on the rank.
rank 4 hit once, 5 hit twice, 6 hit three times.
The element are pretty much self explanatory. Iceblast ice/rain, Thunder Lightning/mountain, Bursting Fire/wind.

Ougi tenryuu flame, Houryuu wind, Uryuu wave, Datenryuu force (Inhale Skill for Dragon Ark weapons / Obtained from gacha)

Cast a whirlwind in front of you creating a small Aoe. The elements are Slice/fire/holy, slice/wind/mountain, slice/rain/lightning, Slice/Dark Respectively

Ougi Soul Reaper Scythe

Throw 2 (or 3?) Scythe in front of you hitting enemy in its path. Hit multiples times, too much element to remember though mainly dark mixed with slice and impact probably?

Ougi Visuul Haal

Creates a Shockwave in front of you dealing a massive damage. it's 2 hit but with different hitbox 1 is from the shockwave, 1 is from the slash animation. Rank 6 gives the shockwave a homing property. Slice and Holy a great skill

Ougi El Grace

I forgot about the details since i've never actually use it

Water Bound Blade

Works the same as Collapsing Blade, except the element is Slice/Ice

Now with all the new skills covered, its time to dig deeper into the the "Ideal" skill set for Sword and element of your choice. Note that some part of this guide will be opinion based. but i have done a lot of testing not only doing sword but also the other weapon as well using the exact same build for each element for comparison and accuracy purpose.

Before i continue, there're 3 things i need to mention:

1. I don't know what its officially called but i will refer it as "Skill follow up"
this is when you use 2 skill consecutively in rapid succession. the benefit of doing this is, the Attack speed of the second skill you use after the first one will be greatly increased even going faster from the "50 p.atk speed" limit. so keep this in mind for just in case.

2. Effective Distance. Idk if people are aware of this but when you hit an enemy closer than the Effective Distance, your damage will be slightly reduced (you can tell by damage number showing a lot smaller) The effective distance for most sword skills are 2.1m ~ 3m away from the target. When you are closer than 1m, your damage will be reduced, and you won't hit the target if you are more than 3.1m away from your target so keep that in mind.

2. I won't cover every element and will only cover the main feature for most of sword skill setup which are Fire, ice and Lightning. The core for the skills setup is Lunge step. It is Necessary for almost every build. The reason behind this is lunge step has the fastest starting speed and has no delay upon use (not to confuse with cooldown). Meaning as soon as you use it, your avatar will dash forward on the direction your camera pointed to and close the gap between you and your enemy. meaning you don't have to run to close the gap and you can avoid the risk of being hit when closing the gap. The max distance Lunge Step can cover on single use is 11.3m

This is very useful for clearing dungeon faster as well as doing a hit and run boss fight, and is also useful for those "Oh Sh*t" moment as a getaway utility along with thunder beast. Now combine this with the Skill Follow up, with enough Cooldown Cut, you are basically floating around while hitting the mobs without the need of running around.

Fire

Among other fire skill, Crimson sword/Phoenix slash is the fastest and most versatile fire skill the game has to offer IMHO
Why?
-you can cancel the skill in mid animation, meaning you can do an emergency guard when you are in the middle of the skill. making it useful for a hit & run kind of situation (especially useful for boss fight)

-It cannot be interrupted. meaning if your character is tanky enough to hold the damage, you can just continue the skill until you decide to stop or just finish the skill as intended.

-it utilize the combo system (like the normal attack. idk how to explain it lol). Unlike the others which hits multiple time in a single combo (with Crimson Cross Cut rank 6 & 7 as exception), Crimson sword/Phoenix slash have have a 3~4 combo. so it gives you more room for mistake and can easily be canceled during any time of the combo.


Yes other weapon, has better damage output compared to sword, but so far, only sword that has all the 3 benefits above.
Bow with the highest damage but you can't cancel it in mid animation and can get interrupted when you got hit in mid animation, the same as Wand. Oodachi,Axe, and TS deals considerably higher damage but doesn't utilize the combo system meaning no emergency block / evade. Spear is OP but can only be canceled after the Fire animation is finished.

Now into the Skills Setup, this is based on my experience after managed to beat basically everything using no partner, mount or assist, and is my opinion. so if you think there're better setup, feel free to add it or correct my mistake.

Lunge step, Phoenix slash 6, Phoenix slash 7, 2x Ougi Gargoyle Flame lance
OR
Lunge Step, Phoenix Slash 6, Phoenix Slash 7, Ougi Gargoyle Flame Lance, Ougi Bursting Embers

As i mentioned early, Lunge step is the core on each of the skills setup, the reason behind this is Lunge step is the fastest start and has no delay. As soon as you use it, your character will move forward without any delay, then as soon as you're within the effective distance, use Phoenix Slash 6 followed by 7. DO NOT use Phoenix slash 7 before 6, because the last hit from rank 7 will knock the enemy away from you, and made you lose your momentum to use rank 6 unless you cancel rank 7 as soon as the 4th hit is about to be connected. Even most Bosses can get knocked back by the last hit.


Lightning

Sword Lightning Skills are kinda "Jack of all trade, master of none" stuff. Most of them have decent damage but fall short to the others. 2 of the skills are also available for another weapon and sword has the "weaker" version of it.
Oodachi and Axe also have Flying Lightning Strike and both have higher Skill Force and Multi target property.
Oodachi also has Void Lightning Slash but works slightly different. Its slower but Stronger and has multi Target Property, meanwhile Sword is weaker, single target but faster version of itThere're 3 main skills for sword. Those are Lightning Slash, Void Lightning Slash, and Flying Lightning Strike.
Each of those skills work differently, making it possible for a lot of build and situation.

Flying Lightning Strike x2 + Void Lightning Slash + 2x Gargoyle Thunder lance
OR
Lunge Step + Flying Lightning Strike + Void Lightning Slash + 2x Gargoyle Thunder lance
OR
Lunge Step + Lightning Slash + Void Lightning Slash + 2x Gargoyle Thunder lance

those are the best imaginable setup for a boss fight. and of course not without reasons

Flying Lightning strike and Gargoyle lance gives you a brief Iframe (Invincibility Frame, meaning you can't be hit during this frame of animation) when you're in mid air, making it a great utility for fighting a boss. When you timed it right, you can avoid getting hit at the same time, dealing a ton of damage.
Void lightning slash on the other hand, has a purpose as a "filler". the other 3 skills have quite a long cooldown time and meanwhile Void Lightning Slash has small to no cooldown time. making it a great opening skill when you're dead and just get revived (unless you use soul egg or get resurrected by other)
Lightning Slash is pretty straight forward, You slash the enemy once, and that's it. Though there're few good things about it.
There's a small chance the enemy will get paralyzed (obviously if the enemy you hit with Lightning Slash isn't dead) and it has multi target property, you can hit to max 3 target in a single hit without losing it's full damage.

So it's up to your choice, Lightning Slash and Void Lightning Slash for a fast but lower damage or Flying Lightning Strike for its Iframe and high damage but slower. You can try combining each one of them and find what you find best suited for you.
Personally I go with Lunge Step + Lightning Slash + Void Lightning Slash + Gargoyle Lance

Ice

Sword has only 2 ice Skills Which are Icicle Massacre and Water Bound Blade and both are kinda meh IMO. BUT there's something great about icicle massacre, what is that?
Let's get into it

If you use 3 Icicle Massacre in rapid succession, and all the icicle from the last combo Hits the enemy, you can STUN the enemy and some bosses too.
Yes, Stunning a boss, and the stun duration is considerably long, up to 2~4 seconds if my memory serves me right.
This has been tested to Satan & Infernal Gargoyle. unfortunately I haven't done another test with different boss. I'm Still on a journey to get my hand on Icicle Massacre 7. I might or Might not Update the guide, tho I'm not sure.

now into the build

Lunge Step + 2x Icicle massacre + 2x Gargoyle Glacial Lance
OR
3x Icicle Massacre + 2x Gargoyle Glacial Lance

Here's the thing with icicle massacre: the first hit from it can knock the enemy away, it can even knock boss. so making it difficult to be actually used in actual fight. This is where lunge step comes into play. If you hit your target before you use icicle massacre, the target won't get knocked back if you hit the target when its on mid recovery animation caused by lunge step. so make sure to hit your target with lunge step first before using Icicle massacre, else your next 2 hits wont reach your enemy.

Avoid using Water Bound Blade at all cost when possible. Even if you are desperate for more damage. The damage boost doesn't worth the durability it eats especially for a long fight. FYI the sum of damage Icicle Massacre rank 6 produce can be equal to the damage of Water Bound Blade rank 5.

The rest of the element works similar to these 3 builds, with exception of Mountain and wind. I might update this guide later.

2. Strategy on handling Boss Solo

Now you know Lunge Step, Gargoyle Lance, and Flying Lightning Strike are more than just a skill, those 3 are utility you can use to your strategy.
be sure to always have 1 Lunge Step in one of the skill slot as your getaway tool in case of emergency. Having the latter 2 is also optional as your countermeasure to an attack that you can't be avoided or perfect blocked.

Always Use your lunge step first before you start your barrage of attack. It can boost your attack speed a lot. As soon as you finished with your attack or your primary skills are on cooldown, use lunge step again to get away from the boss ASAP. this works with literally all the bosses in the game and especially effective for the Gargoyle Family (All of them will do a sudden AoE attack after they lose certain amount of HP with no warning whatsoever slow even a fraction of second means death)

Now the actual use of Gargoyle lance Flying Lightning Strike is when you fight Sleetsword Gargoyle and Eldritch Beast.
Both of them have a Large AoE that is still unavoidable after using lunge step. To be specify, The one where Sleetsword Freeze the whole Floor and Where Eldritch Beast Stomp the floor creating a massive AoE which will also kill you instantly if you doesn't have enough HP.
Sure those 2 attacks can be perfect blocked but I believe not everyone can just Perfect Block those attack and also the existence of delay made it more difficult for a constant perfect blocking. Thus why using said would benefit not only as a attack but also as a tool to avoid enemy attacks. FYI all my weapons has at least 2 of the three skills i mentioned, which served the same purpose as i explained with exception of my Dark Element Build.

Do that with caution and all bosses will pose no threat to you, and I mean it. Except Blitz Tiamat tho. Thing is still a threat due to the fact that sword lacking the proper skills to actually use to beat them.

For the record, I managed to beat all the end game bosses using only Sword without the help of Vanguard, assist and mount Of course i also used Vanguard and Mount at some point to make my farm faster and I'm not trying to flex here, but just to give you the idea that Sword is still viable for the most part of the game even Oni difficulty. My IGN is all over the oni difficulty ranking. Every run was done using swords with Blitz tiamat, Palace of Rain, and Levinlance Gargoyle as exception since my sword time has been overwritten by my Bow run. Not for Satan Ignis tho. That sh*t is just a Freaking mess. I just can't do Sh*t without the help of vanguard. That sh*t is Satan on steroids, hits hard enough to kill me with 34k hp and 21 def with only 4 hits, continuous attack with no delay between attack, run all over the place and strong to every element. Idk what CS were thinking when they release Satan Ignis. you can't beat it without a fully awakened partner and not just any partner, certain partner are required...



3. The Good and Bad of Using Sword

Now we've known basically the "how to use sword" a bit better. its time to look at the last one we need to know : The good and the Bad of Sword.

Let's Start with the Good:
- Most of the skills are fast, can be canceled, and cannot be interrupted and fast cooldown time.
- Cover most of the elements the game has to offer (with exception of dark which only limited to ougi since collapsing blade for sword is not an option at all)
- Easy to use
- There's lunge step.
- Benefits from Fated Contractor Ornamentation stats (Slice element)
- Raijin and Fuujin Special weapons are sword (divine spirits blade replica & Divine wind oodachi replica). Those weapons are one of the the strongest Lightning and Wind weapon you can get when you are level 130.

The Bad:
- "Jack of All Trades, Master of None" its one of the weapon that has a lot of element it can use but fall short to many others. Compare it to its sibling Twin Swords which cover all of the elements yet some of them are still one of the Best out there (Dark, Rain, Wind, Ice, Holy).
- The base attack for most high end weapon stays the same after Shadowtusk Jahannam - Abyss. Meanwhile the other weapons keep increasing its number in term of base attack with Raid and White Brilliance as exception(just noticed this few days ago thanks to my friend)
- Most of the skills are single target and most rank 5 deals very small damage in comparison to rank 6 and 7 (excluding ougis)

That's basically everything i can cover for now. Idk how many times i have said this but i might or might not update this guide. Hope this guide will help and thanks for anyone reading through the end.

Cheers~

[Myrtsin]

*Edited the Effective Distance Section

There're few mistake I've now corrected.
- the effective distance is 1m~2.9m for most of the skills. attacking closer from 1m will result damage reduction.
- Lunge Step distance per use is now corrected. the actual travel distance is approximately 10.7m ~ 11.3m which previously I stated a fixed 12.2m. NOTE : Stutters, Lag and FPS may affect the actual travel distance when used.

[Riddras]

Thank you for the guide. It looks like you put a lot of thought into writing it.