Sword
Overview | Lore | Dialogue | Sound effects | Gallery | History |
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Sword is a melee Phighter. He was released on 19 February 2022 with Playtest 1.
Overview
Sword is a melee Phighter that plays as a jack-of-all-trades in his category. He boasts decent mobility, high melee damage and decent bulk. He performs well in close quarters, but has limited options at ranged combat. Even with this, Sword can still maneuver well with his abilities and can even perform crowd control with his Phinisher.
Abilities
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Spirit of the Sword | |||
After hitting an enemy with Slash, give yourself a temporary shield. Shield: 5 for 10 seconds Max. bonus shield: 50 Each instance of shield gained has its own duration. |
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Slash | |||
Swing your sword forward and back. Damage: 13 Fire rate: 0.3 + 0.6 seconds The second hit can be cancelled. |
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Blade Beam | |||
Fire a slash which travels through enemies and shields. Damage: 20 Projectile speed: --- Range: Stops when hitting a solid object. Has infinite range and speeds up the longer it flies. Can pierce through multiple enemies. |
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Dolphin Splash | |||
Jump up, swinging your sword and sending enemies around you upwards. Damage: 15 Fling force: 30 studs Cooldown: 6 seconds Using Dolphin Slash during Lunge ends its effects early. It also carries the momentum of the Lunge. |
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Lunge | |||
Lunge forward and pin the first enemy you hit, bringing them with you. Damage: 15 Stun duration: Remaining Lunge duration Grab duration: 0.5 seconds Lunge distance: 50 studs Cooldown: 8 seconds Pinning an enemy while airborne will disable use of other abilities until Sword touches the ground. |
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All-Mighty Axle Arc | |||
Click to throw your sword which sticks onto anything it touches and explodes after pulsing 3 times. Damage: 25 (direct) + 75 (explosion) Reactivation window: 0.75 seconds Knockback force: 30 (explosion only) Casting time: 3 seconds Phinisher points: 75 Damage from All-Mighty Axle Arc does not generate Phinisher points. The sword is thrown in an arc. Longer distances require the player to point their crosshair higher. Sword cannot use any abilities until his sword returns to him after exploding. Will not continue to cast if Sword dies before throwing the sword. If Sword dies before the sword hits an enemy or the environment, the sword will disappear. |
Strategy
Pros |
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Cons |
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Sword requires an in-your-face, close-quarters approach to combat. His kit supports this: Spirit of the Sword grants extra survivability, while Dolphin Slash and Lunge act as vertical and horizontal movement and damage tools respectively. Slash does consistently high damage and Blade Beam can be used to finish off or chip away at enemies from a distance. His Phinisher, All-Mighty Axle Arc, is extremely spammable and recharges quickly, while also dealing significant damage. His consistency and simplicity make him a prime choice for beginners to learn the game mechanics.
A Sword player's greatest virtue is flexibility and versatility. While at first he may seem limited due to his lack of ranged options, Sword is an incredibly splashable character on any given team, and provides value simply by existing. He has no poor match-ups; he can easily trounce an unaided Katana in a one-on-one, bully Hyperlaser with his fantastic mobility, make quick work of Boombox with his superior damage output, and in all other cases he can usually come out on top. However, Sword suffers from one major flaw: longevity. Without the healing support of a Medkit, he is easily whittled down. Thus, it is recommended that you have a Medkit on your team for consistent healing.
Due to his fantastic mobility, Sword has a fairly easy time picking his fights, and due to his superiority in 1v1's, he is a good choice for a flanker. While he provides a significant amount of pressure on your frontline, he can also quite easily pick off an unattended Hyperlaser or Medkit and quickly get back to the front. It is recommended that you switch between flanking and frontlining as needed.
Your primary targets should be Medkit, Hyperlaser, and other Support classes. Otherwise, pick the nearest enemy and start slashing.
Ability usage
- Spirit of the Sword
- Any tips for Slash applies to Spirit of the Sword.
- Slash
- Slash's endlag is 0.1 seconds. Take advantage of the short endlag by using Sword's other basic abilities after the second slash lands to maximize damage output.
- Using an ability after the first swing will interrupt the 2-hit combo and slow your damage output.
- Slash's endlag is 0.1 seconds. Take advantage of the short endlag by using Sword's other basic abilities after the second slash lands to maximize damage output.
- Blade Beam
- Use Blade Beam to finish off enemies outside of your range or to chip away at their health.
- Dolphin Slash
- Using Dolphin Slash during Lunge allows the player to carry the dash's momentum forward. Use this for quick mobility or to close the gap against enemy players.
- The later you use Dolphin Slash, the more distance you cover. Using it early in the lunge can allow you to apply Lunge's damage and grab to an enemy within the first 50 studs.
- Dolphin Slash's low cooldown makes it excellent for getting onto high ground or avoiding damage.
- Using Dolphin Slash during Lunge allows the player to carry the dash's momentum forward. Use this for quick mobility or to close the gap against enemy players.
- Lunge
- Lunge serves as Sword's primary tool for comboing players. The stun allows Sword to weave in his Primary twice before it wears off.
- Jumping before using Lunge can extend the lunge distance from 50 to 70 studs.
- Jumping after using Lunge can extend the total distance from 50 to 80 studs, though the lunge will only hit players within the first 50 studs.
- Lunge is a strong displacement option. Sword can utilize the displacement to isolate valuable Phighters away from their team, or keep enemy Phighters away from his own teammates.
- All-Mighty Axle Arc
- Sword's Phinisher is very telegraphed and can be easily avoided if the player does not land the stick or aims poorly.
- Using the Phinisher out of sight or at an off-angle can take enemies by surprise.
- All-Mighty Axle Arc can be comboed with abillities that apply stuns, roots or slows to maximize the odds of a hit.
- The player can use Primary to throw the sword early.
- Casting Dolphin Slash before All-Mighty Axle Arc allows Sword to use the Phinisher without risking damage from most melee Phighters. It also gives the player a high ground to throw their sword at longer distances.
- All-Mighty Axle Arc has the lowest Phinisher cost in the game at 75, allowing Sword to be able to use it frequently throughout a match.
- Sword's Phinisher is very telegraphed and can be easily avoided if the player does not land the stick or aims poorly.
Counterplay against Sword
Badge
Name | Icon | Description | Reward |
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stuck sword | successfully stick your thrown sword into an enemy and kill them | Title - Mightiest Warrior Sticker - Confident |
Trivia
General:
- During The Voice Line Update, Sword was renamed to steve.
Development:
- Sword is based on the Linked Sword gear.
- Sword's abilities and appearance are inspired by Marth and Ike from the Fire Emblem franchise.
- In particular, his Q ability, Dolphin Slash is a reference to the same move used by Marth in Super Smash Bros. Melee.
- Additionally, his Phinisher line is a direct reference to one of Ike's taunts in the Super Smash Bros. series.
- Sword is the first Phighter to be developed. Sword was developed alongside the core gameplay systems used in PHIGHTING!, which took one month to complete.
Skins:
- Marshmallow Sword is a community contributed skin created by HattsOff_TheHatt.
- The skin placed 1st in the 2022 Summer Skin Contest.
- Follower Sword is based on Illumina.
Version history
V0.5.0 - 8 April 2023
The Voice Line Update - 1 April 2023
Playtest 4 - 28 October 2022
15 May 2022
19 April 2022
18 April 2022
17 April 2022
16 April 2022
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References
Phighters |
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Melee | Sword • Skateboard • Biograft • Katana • Ban Hammer |
Ranged | Rocket • Slingshot • Hyperlaser • Shuriken • Scythe |
Support | Medkit • Boombox • Subspace • Vine Staff |
Related | Badges • Status Effects • Phinisher |