| “ | A dagger for damaging opponents' weapons. Lowers enemy attack power. |
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The Swordbreaker is a Dagger in Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night.
Description[]
The Swordbreaker is a "thrust-motion" weapon with the anti-flier Thrust damage attribute and a +24 ATK boost that puts it above the +19 ATK Kukri. It carries the unique trait of inflicting a damage-down debuff indicated by a "STR down" icon that appears on the struck enemy; this is inherited by both Dagger techniques that may be performed while wielding this weapon, including the Assassinate technique (↓ ↙ ← → +ATK, 30 MP) that this weapon is capable of by default. If you master the other technique, Surprise Gift (↓ ↘ → +ATK, 30 MP), on another dagger so that all daggers become capable of it, Swordbreaker effectively grants the ability to debuff a distant enemy's attack damage via a long-range projectile.
You can craft Swordbreaker as soon as you find Damascus Equipment/R in the Underground Sorcery Lab with the help of the Reflector Ray shard earned there. By that point, you will have access to the Damascus needed for this by farming Axe Outsiders (12%) and Lance Armors (8%) in various midgame areas, as well as blue chests in Underground Sorcery Lab and later Livre Ex Machina. Axe Outsiders also drop the required Mithril (10%), which can be found in blue chests in Livre Ex Machina, Hall of Termination, and upper Dian Cécht Cathedral.
Relying on the above easily-gathered midgame-tier materials for crafting copies of this weapon is preferable to buying the copies for 10,800G each. You will need two copies to top off the final two ranks of the Dagger Expertise passive shard dropped by the Killer Barber in the early Cathedral. (Converting it into a skill shard in this manner can heavily improve the damage output of all dagger weapons.)
Swordbreaker is also the first of a four-stage "crafting series" that will eventually lead to the strongest Dagger in the game, the Mandau Pasir, with the Main Gauche and the Carnwennan being the stages in between. A Main Gauche is created by "upgrading" a Swordbreaker with 1 Gold item (ideally farmed from blue chests in Hidden Desert) and 1 Steel (easily dropped from early "big enemies"), and it requires Gold Equipment/R to be found in later Livre Ex Machina. Notably, Main Gauche appears for sale in Dominique's supply post midway through the game without needing to craft it first.
Availability[]
- Can be crafted from Mithril ×2 and Damascus ×1 (requires Damascus Equipment/R).
- Can be bought for 10,800G from Dominique's store once crafted.
The Swordbreaker can be crafted once the player has found the Damascus Equipment/R recipe in the Underground Sorcery Lab about halfway through the game. Its required materials are both fairly common.
Usage[]
While Swordbreaker is equipped, Miriam's attack becomes the "dagger thrust" with a +24 ATK boost and the Thrust attribute. As its description implies, it also inflicts an ATK debuff on successfully striking an enemy, though the precise mechanics of this are not clear.
It is initially capable of the Assassinate technique (30 MP, Down → Down-Back → Back → Forward + Attack), which will be passed onto all daggers once mastered.
Swordbreaker is a material used for crafting the following item:
- Main Gauche (Swordbreaker ×1, Gold ×1, Steel ×1)
Swordbreaker is used to enhance the following shard:
- Dagger Expertise Ranks 8, 9 (Swordbreaker ×1)
Trivia[]
- A swordbreaker was a type of parrying dagger used by European duelists in the late Middle Ages. It would be held in the user's off-hand (usually their left) and had a serrated comb-like blade that was used to snag an opponent's sword. It is said that sharply twisting the weapon could snap a caught blade, though scholars have cast doubts on whether this would be possible with a well-made period sword.